Report 76

Plot
Having told Chizuru and Arata why it is so important for her to play in their last tournament together with Rena, Honoka adds that she cannot understand Rena's feelings and that she is afraid to talk to her as she worries that they might not even be friends anymore.

Chizuru feels a pang, and then tells Honoka that she had to change schools often in her childhood. She had to say goodbye to the friends she made every time it happened, and though she tried to stay in touch by sending letters it never took long until they stopped responding. Eventually her feelings grew numb and getting close to others lost all meaning since no-one would remember her anyway after she would inevitably move away again.

Seeing her current state as the unhappy result of giving up on having friends at all, Chizuru tries to tell Honoka she is envious of her friendship with Rena. However, reminded of the feelings she had rejected, Chizuru is absorbed in memories of the painful isolation in her childhood and is unable to finish her thought. She is pulled back to the present moment as Arata supportively places his hand on her back, and she manages to say what she intended to and to encourage Honoka to take good care of her friendship with Rena.

Honoka thanks Chizuru and Arata for helping her regain her courage, and says she will try to talk with Rena. Agreeing that it is time to go home they open the club room door to leave and find Rena, Kazuomi, Akira and Nobunaga sitting on the hallway floor, not having received enough of an advance warning about the conversation ending to escape in time.