We tried to be, when we could. But it wasn't always doable, especially back at school. It's funny -- for how small it was, you'd think we'd be in each other's pockets all the time but we were really only together for meals and heading to bed.

[ Her voice is distant and there's something in it that's a little like nostalgia. She can't believe she's at all nostalgic for any of that but looking back, something about it seems warm and curiously innocent. ]

We'd all have different things to do -- Kurumi was the one who always went on patrol and I'd be the one keeping track of our supplies or keeping the garden going on the roof. And Yuki-chan was... Yuki-chan was doing her best to keep living a fun school life, even with everything that was going on.