[ The part of her that still thinks of herself as Rii-san, Prez, Rii-nee wants to pipe up in protest that of course she's to blame. Because if no one else is responsible then who else is to blame? It has to be her.

But. When she'd woken up crying and wheezing and hating herself that awful week she'd remembered Ruu, what had Junpei told her? It's not your fault. What had Ardyn asked her? Will you face that you're alive while she isn't--no matter the circumstances that will remain the case--and throw off that useless weight of regret in favor of letting failure teach you to never make the same mistake twice?

If she keeps fighting herself and blaming herself for everything now, isn't that the same as calling those words a lie? ]

I... I hate this.

[ She spits it out like poison. She's sick and she's tired, and she's sick and tired of being that way in the first place. ]

If there was never anything I could do then what was the point in even trying in the first place? If it was still going to end up like this with Kurumi and Miki-san-- with Ruu-chan and all the others! If we were always going to lose then why make us play in the first place?!