"She really said that?!" It was Kiana who was most surprised by Bronya's answer.
She looked down at the black writing on her hand, then at Bronya's clearly troubled expression, and quickly asked again.
Bronya rolled her eyes.
Are you asking me, or am I asking you? It's already impressive enough that I even have a vague recollection of such an abstract question, okay?
"Bronya is unclear. Perhaps you should ask Sister Mei," Bronya waved a hand dismissively, carefully placing the smoothed-out wrappers on a nearby table. She picked up her controller again and started a new game.
"Eheheh... Mei's resting right now, I don't want to bother her..." Kiana scratched her head awkwardly but showed no intention of picking up her controller to play with Bronya again.
"It's just, I'm really curious. What if I really did forget someone important? What kind of person do you think they'd be?" Kiana sat down cross-legged, swaying slightly as she asked.
"Someone important to Kiana..." Bronya fell silent. In the game, her character got hit by a monster that popped up during this moment of distraction, instantly turning the screen red.
"For Kiana... shouldn't everyone be important?" Bronya said. "If Kiana truly forgot someone, she would definitely find them again, get to know them all over..."
Bronya looked at Kiana and spoke very seriously.
She knew this about Kiana ever since she saw her leap out of the window to save her...
Bronya's hands suddenly stopped moving.
Wait... Was Kiana alone when she saved her back then?
It felt like... there was someone else?
[DEFEAT!]
[YOU DIED!]
An unspoken understanding passed between them as they both fell silent. Bronya put down her controller again. Kiana's gaze returned to the words on her palm.
On the game screen, the Homu hero knelt amidst a vast white mist, staring blankly into the distance. A small green figure flashed past in the corner of the screen.
"This train really is moving slowly..." Bronya looked up, pulling aside the curtains she had drawn for a better gaming experience, and commented abruptly, gazing at the vast, snow-white landscape outside.
"Huh?" Kiana looked up, puzzled, and leaned over to look outside too. "Oh yeah... The train feels really slow these past two days... I remember it wasn't this speed before."
"Logically, we should have reached our destination—Padrica—this afternoon. But in reality, we won't arrive until the day after tomorrow."
"Moreover, at this current speed, I'm afraid we won't reach Padrica even in another two days..."
Bronya's tone was somewhat dazed. The slow speed had clearly been an issue for several days, yet why were they only noticing it now?
Had they overlooked something?
Bronya turned her head to look at the very old candy wrappers on the table.
She had found these wrappers somewhere on the train a few days ago...
But why did she suddenly decide to rummage through corners and old candy tins on the train? What was she thinking at the time?
...
Oh... a stack of her game cartridges had fallen under the bed. When she bent down to look for them, she happened to find this candy tin... Never mind then...
Bronya's previously furrowed brow smoothed out again.
Seriously... letting Kiana drag her into thinking about these things... There wasn't any problem at all...
Bronya sighed in relief, deciding to wait until Mei was well-rested before talking to her about inspecting the train and getting it back up to speed.
Bronya moved away from the window, leaving Kiana staring silently at her own palm.
"Mei said I forgot someone important... Mei said I forgot someone..." Kiana muttered, her expression growing heavier.
So... what kind of person would be important to her? Was it really like Bronya said, that every living person was important to her?
...
[Someone who will definitely come save us if we cry and scream...]
...
"Mei!" At the dinner table, Kiana put down her bowl glumly, drawing the attention of the other two.
"Kiana, are you in a bad mood?" Mei asked strangely, simultaneously placing the fourth bowl of rice she had just filled in front of Kiana.
"I'm full..." Kiana glanced sullenly at the bowl and shook her head.
Both Bronya and Mei paused.
Mei had only refilled Kiana's bowl twice, and there was still plenty of food on the table. How could Kiana be full already?
Mei put down her chopsticks and gently placed her hand on Kiana's forehead.
"Mei, I'm not sick... Huh?" A sudden sense of familiarity made Kiana pause. She glanced at Mei's concerned face. "Mei, did you just touch my head like this recently?"
"No... Kiana, what's wrong with you?" Mei thought back. She was certain that although Kiana had used plenty of excuses during study time, she had definitely never used the 'I have a fever' excuse.
Mostly it was 'my leg hurts, I need to rest for a few minutes,' after which she could focus intently on studying for a short while...
Excuses like having a fever or being sick, which could justify a long absence, weren't something the current Kiana would say. She only slacked off in small ways now...
So... that scene definitely hadn't happened.
But Kiana didn't dwell on it that much. She simply attributed the familiar feeling to her own laziness during studies and turned back to Mei with another question.
"Mei, do you think it's possible we've encountered some kind of weird curse?"
Mei looked utterly bewildered at the secretive Kiana. "What curse?"
"You know, the kind that makes people forget things!" Kiana stated immediately. "Otherwise, why can't I even remember what I studied last night?"
Mei: "..."
"Kiana probably doesn't even remember what she ate last night, right?" Bronya chimed in smoothly from the side. The scene then fell into a long silence following Kiana's exclamation of, "How did you know!?"
Bronya suddenly felt like maybe there really was such a curse... How else could she have so naturally finished Kiana's sentence?
Kiana couldn't sit still anymore. She glanced down at her palm, then abruptly stood up, grabbing Mei's shoulders. "Mei, did you or did you not say that I forgot someone really important!?"
"Ah? Huh!?" Mei flinched, startled by Kiana's actions. "Did I?"
She looked frantically towards Bronya, only to see Bronya sigh and shake her head.
"I... I probably did..." Seeing that Bronya couldn't provide an answer, Mei could only subconsciously offer one first.
An affirmative one.