"What... what exactly are you trying to say!???"
[anger value, +99.]
[anger value, +99.]
Turning back, Sakiko glared at Shouko.
Although she knew that Shouko meant well...
...having her boundaries and pride repeatedly assaulted had driven her into a total rage.
Or rather, it was more like a hysterical attempt to reclaim even a tiny bit of her self-respect.
However... Shouko wasn't about to indulge Sakiko.
Since she had already gone this far, she might as well be thorough.
If the health bar isn't emptied, the lesson isn't fully learned.
And without a thorough lesson, how could a new friendship be properly forged between them?
"Your mother is dead, and your father is a wreck. If you bring him back, do you plan on supporting him for the rest of his life??"
"None of your business!!!"
[anger value, +99.]
[anger value, +99.]
Sakiko clenched her fists and shouted in fury.
"Do you think this... is normal..."
"Huh!???"
Still fuming, Sakiko was caught off guard by Shouko's question.
"You've fallen this low and your father is ruined. Do you really think your family didn't play any tricks??"
"Are you saying my family caused all this??"
"Even commoners fight over interests; do you think it doesn't happen in great families??"
Shouko shook her head with a smile, looking pityingly at the hesitant and contemplative Sakiko.
Her saying this didn't mean she actually knew the truth behind the situation.
But whether she knew or not, or whether it was true or not—did it really matter?
She just needed to apply a classic conspiracy theory; as long as it emptied Sakiko's health bar, that was enough.
"Right now, the one in charge of your family is your mother's father, right?"
"To be blunt, considering his age, how many years do you think the old man has left??"
"With so many descendants and branches, wouldn't ruining one person mean everyone else gets a bigger share??"
"Not to mention, does your family not have a single enemy??"
"Don't forget, your father was just a man who married into the family..."
"Don't look at me like that. The Fool card you drew from the tarot cards already revealed everything."
"A man in a woman's role; he rose to power by using your mother."
"So, why was your father ruined immediately after your mother passed away??"
"Do you really think it's just a coincidence that your father ended up like this??"
"Because, driven by massive interests, someone—or perhaps more than one person—wanted to pull him down."
"Those without ability get pulled down, and those with ability are even more likely to be pulled down. Do you understand?"
"And next..."
"What do you think your future holds..."
"Just now, when I told you to kneel, you were unwilling. You should be able to understand that feeling of humiliation."
"But, for the sake of survival, to take care of your father, and for your ridiculous Young Lady's pride and self-righteous dignity."
"How do you think a beautiful girl makes money the fastest??"
"Do you really think that when people go to see a performance, most of them are there to listen to the music??"
"Of course, you wouldn't take that step right away at first."
"But as life gets harder and harder, you will bow your head to life bit by bit."
"Do you think your future is a new beginning???"
"What a pity; that's the opening of the gates of hell, and you will slowly sink into it."
"You will keep working hard, yet you'll be unwilling to let go of your past band dreams."
"Later, you will reform the band, but the members ultimately won't be puppets for you to control."
"The more you hope for success, the more you want it, the more pressure you will put on them."
"And the harder a spring is pressed down, the higher it bounces back."
"When the new band you cultivated with untold thought and effort falls apart..."
"You..."
"You will also become a broken doll. Giving up on yourself to keep 'supporters' company won't seem like such a big deal then."
"And once the gates of hell open, star slave, jumping off a building... that will be your life."
[anger value, +666 points.]
[anger value, +666 points.]
[anger value, +666 points.]
Glancing at the anger value prompts before her, Shouko continued.
"Ridiculous, unbelievable, angry???"
"Do you think a little girl like you can really climb up based on your own ability??"
"You're not a small child anymore. Ask yourself, on what grounds??"
"Living in a great family, no matter how much you were pampered, you must know the extent of your family's power."
"For an ordinary person, succeeding is already extremely difficult."
"But you also have to face the oppression of great families. Why should you be able to succeed??"
"Because of your good looks, or because you sound good when you scream??"
"Do you know if you eat seven out of a thousand cucumbers, how many are left??"
"You don't know about these things. You don't know at all."
"You are just naively living in your own ridiculous world of Young Lady's dignity."
"What a pity..."
"The others are high and mighty elites, while you're just a pathetic little girl. You can't possibly win against them."
"Some people only need a single word to make your life turn completely dark."
"You don't really naively think they'll let you use the band to succeed and then return to take over the family with your powerful influence, do you??"
"No way, right? No way???"
"Do you think that after living for so many years, all those people are inferior to a teenage girl like you??"
"In that situation, you..."
"Can only struggle helplessly, feel lost, and sink..."
"Finally, amidst infinite unwillingness and daze, you'll take your final step."
As Shouko spoke, she spread her arms, a brilliant and crazed, twisted smile blooming on her face.
Looking at this scene... Sakiko seemed to see the image of her own incredibly tragic future before her eyes.
Amidst the crazed and twisted brilliant smiles of others, she, stripped of all dignity, was being trampled upon ruthlessly.
Helplessness, unwillingness, confusion, sinking, giving up.
Finally... Two-ball poaching cold clothes three-way walkIX she really took that step and leaped from the rooftop.
At that thought, Sakiko suddenly snapped out of it, her whole body trembling violently in spite of herself.
"Enough!!!!!"
"Enough, enough, enough, don't say anymore."
[anger value, +6666.]
Sakiko shouted, tears streaming down her eyes as she knelt before Shouko.
She let the rain keep beating down on her, having no heart to care anymore.
At this moment... the utterly wretched Sakiko, soaked through by the rain and kneeling with a face full of pain... formed a sharp contrast with Shouko, who stood there with an umbrella, her body clean and her face filled with madness.