I still can't help wanting to think that I just haven't woken up yet. It doesn't feel like it can be anything but a nightmare, even if I know that's just me trying to shield myself from what I didn't - don't, really - want to look at directly.

[Yukiko holds her left hand up, inspecting it. There's a little bit of yellow fluid pooled between what would be her thumb and pointer finger. It would be a small bruise forming from where she'd pinched herself, if this were anything but a wire frame. Nothing to worry about, and it would go away in a day or two, but a sign nonetheless.]

I guess I really knew when it hurt when I gave myself a pinch. It's not supposed to hurt in a dream. I still didn't really want to believe something like this.

But you're right, Yu-kun. I can't - even if it's true, that doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't have to say that I'm not scared of what it means, because, well, I am. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.

But I'm not alone. I don't have to face that fear by myself, and none of this means we can't change it, right?