complexrestart | 015 [video/action]

[Rika is currently sitting under a tree on the outskirts of Violet City, and she's holding a badge in her hands.] Mii. I am sorry that I did not tell anyone that I would be challenging Falkner today. Satoko, I thought it would be better to show you a more even battle since I was too strong for Falkner and the battle went by quickly... I was not able to fight to my fullest, and I want to show you what my team is really like.

[She's silent as she shifts around, putting the badge down on the ground and picking up her Shinx and setting it in her lap.] ... I have also been thinking about Johto and everyone here lately. We all come from different places, and I've wondered if, given the choice, would you go back home right now? Would you forget all of the memories you've made here?

Or would you prefer to bring all of your loved ones here, and leave your home behind? ... Or maybe you would leave all of your loved ones at home and just stay here? [Rika opens her mouth again as she prepares to say something else when her Shinx licks her on the cheek. Her attention immediately turns to the pokémon and she smiles at it.]

Mii? Would you like something to eat? [Rika cuts off the feed as she reaches into her bag to look for food.]

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Neither do I.

... It worries me.

Even if we did go back to Hinamizawa, the chances of you remembering everything would be a lot higher than me or Satoko.

... Well, it would probably take me a while, but Satoko is another case.

[She smiles a little.] I would like to hope so. However, this isn't a fragment of Hinamizawa, which makes me believe that I may not remember anything when we return home.

[Keiichi is quiet for a moment. He never really thought about the situation like that...]

[Rika is silent as well for a few moments.]

... How many fragments of Hinamizawa do you remember?

[He takes a deep breath because this is going to bring up some painful memories.]

Alright, I'll tell you all of them that I remember... The first one was where I went crazy and killed Mion and Rena. I remember that delusion I saw too... The needle in my Ohgai? That was just hot sauce. I was really sick and thought it was a needle.. The reasoning behind this was from a childhood trauma that came from a scary comic book that I read when I was younger.

And then there was another where we thought Mion was behind your and Satoko's disappearances, but it turned out to be Shion. And then there was another where I ended up killing Satoko's uncle... Then there was another where Rena went through the same experience that I did and distrusted everyone. She became really scary back then and almost blew up the school. [He wouldn't mind fighting her on top of the roof again, though. That part was really exciting and fun to him.]

As for the last one I can recall... It was where we all banded together to save Satoko from her uncle and we succeeded! But on the night after the festival... You told us that someone was out to kill you and we confronted those people. And it turned out that the true enemy behind everything that has happened to us up to this point... is Takano-san.

... I see. I did not expect you to remember almost all of the fragments.

They've been all coming back to me little by little... Er... Is this a good thing or not?

It is bad because you have to remember painful things. However... I also believe it is good since it gives you the will to fight harder.

Yeah... That's right! Fate can be crushed as easily as a thin sheet of paper!

And you know... Even though this isn't a fragment connected to ours, that doesn't mean that we won't remember everyone. Who said that we couldn't? After all, the bonds we've made here are stronger than any distance between worlds.