【渦と淵】白瀬咲耶

すべての希望を反射する鏡

Sakuya and P are at a meeting with the staff for a magazine that’ll be featuring Sakuya in an upcoming special feature. Everything about the job appears fairly normal, but the topic of the photoshoot’s theme immediately stumps Sakuya. The staff want the centerpiece to be “the self I wish to capture, the self I wish to convey”, stating that they hope the piece isn’t something just made for the fans, but rather becomes something that Sakuya wants to create for herself as a personal piece. Sakuya can’t immediately drum up any ideas for this direction and the magazine editor explains that they have ample amounts of time to think it over, asking P if it’ll be alright for them to give it more thought throughout Sakuya’s schedule until then. Producer agrees to take the time and the two leave to mull over the project some more.
Outside, Sakuya apologizes to P over her hesitation, not making any further fuss about it. Producer notices that something is bothering her beyond the undetermined deadline and tries to dig deeper. Sakuya then begins to explain that the theming of a “self she wishes to capture” is seriously stumping her. If it’s “wholly her” then it should certainly please the fans, but whether or not the point of pleasing fans fulfills the purpose of conveying her true self is creating some mental conflicts. Sakuya always keeps her fans in mind first and foremost, so the two agree that it certainly isn’t a wrong choice to be thinking about them, but it’s also not Sakuya’s pure, unfiltered hopes. Producer admits that the problem is “troublingly convoluted” and urges Sakuya to really take her time thinking about it while they have such a lengthy chance. Sakuya giggles at P’s assessment.

LEFT CHOICE: ? Was I wrong about something…?
Sakuya explains that she was laughing about his “troublingly convoluted” comment as she assumed that something being convoluted already implied it being troubling. Going out of his way to add “troubling” on top of it made it seem like he had a positive attitude that didn’t consider convolution to be inherently problematic, giving her a new outlook on the situation. P says it wasn’t meant to be that deep, but asserts once again that she doesn’t need to force herself to take the job if it’s too complicated.

TOP CHOICE: Maybe try surrounding yourself with the things you enjoy or something.
Sakuya jokingly responds that P will have to gather the rest of L’Antica for that to happen, asking if he can manage that with their schedules. Producer takes it seriously and says it’d take maximum effort to get it done, but he’s willing to try. Sakuya tells him she was just kidding, but then adds that he’ll have to be there by her side as well since he’s essential to her beloved L’Antica, a comment that makes P feel a bit embarrassed.

RIGHT CHOICE: …Well, just take it easy.
Producer suggests heading back to the dorm and just taking things slow since they’re clearly not getting too far at the moment. He asserts that, while he can’t think up the answer for her, P is always available for consulting should she need it. Sakuya appreciates the notion and decides it won’t hurt to head back and relax while mulling it over some hot chocolate.

あたたかい色のつめたい波

The two arrive at the beach as per Sakuya’s request. Sakuya is still struggling to come up with an exact plan, but wanted to come out here because she loves the sea. She believes that a personally important place like this would please the fans, yet the idea doesn’t fully appease her after they arrive. Sakuya says the autumn ocean is quiet; it’s different from the dazzling summer scenery people envision when they hear “ocean”. She explains that the hushed beach might seem lonely to the audience and that something more lively might be better.
As Sakuya begins to say that she doesn’t want to bother the staff over her preferences, she’s cut off by Producer who tells her to stop considering the other party. Keeping them in mind will inevitably dilute whatever she envisions to be her unfiltered wish, and since the staff have requested that she take care to think about what that wish might be, she’s going to have to ignore them until she figures it out. He adds that they’re all wanting to hear her out on whatever the plan may end up being, so there shouldn’t be any consideration for the other party’s preferences. Sakuya understands and concurs, but she also admits that she can’t really separate pleasing others from her own wishes. If she were to offer something like the still ocean as a setting only for the staff to find it difficult to work with, she wouldn’t feel zealous enough about it to not want to change the plan. Sakuya decides that she needs to find a setting that she can ardently stand behind without compromise and tells P that she’ll need some more time to find it.
LEFT CHOICE: I’ll be waiting for you.
Producer is certain that Sakuya can find whatever it is she wants to convey. When Sakuya questions him believing in her despite her clearly being lost, he claims that that much should be obvious and notes that being lost isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just means she’s taking things seriously.

TOP CHOICE: Let’s do our best together, alright?
Producer declares that whether it’s going out to places like they did today, looking for information, or anything else he can manage, he’ll help out in any way. (I mean, that’s literally his job, so)

RIGHT CHOICE: —Do your best!
Producer cheers Sakuya on, but then immediately backpedals to tell her not to overdo things. He says that the theme should be a self that she “wants to capture” and not a self that she “needs to capture.” Sakuya’s obviously excited about the job, so it’d be a shame if she thought too hard about it.

等身大に触れる

Back at the 283 Office, Producer is flipping through material trying to ascertain something, but is clearly failing. He decides that he’s not getting anywhere and starts picking everything up to move it back into storage. Partly through his transport quest at the stairwell, he realizes far too late that he made a considerable mistake and is carrying way too much at once. He can’t see in front of him and is about to fumble the load when Sakuya arrives just in the knick of time to save both him and the stack. She lightly scolds him for taking on too much at once before offering to help him out, taking from the top of the stack and quietly noticing what the materials he’s carrying actually are.
After successfully moving everything into the storage room, Producer apologizes for messing up like that and admits he must have looked really uncool back there. Sakuya disagrees and says that his determination to get things done makes him far cooler than he may think, leaving P feeling embarrassed. What makes him even more embarrassed is Sakuya pointing out that there were pictures of her in the pile and asking what exactly he was studying. P admits that he was trying to find anything that could help her with the current photoshoot conundrum, but has failed to figure anything out. He starts frustratedly belittling himself over having failed and making uncool mistakes, but Sakuya reassures him that his efforts always make her feel better. Having put so much thought towards her and letting her see a cuter side of himself, she feels that they’ve somehow managed to grow closer to each other than they already were. Upon saying all of this, Sakuya’s tone quickly changes and she goes quiet.

LEFT CHOICE: Could it be…
…and it is. Sakuya says she’s figured it out and requests P’s time for some advice.

TOP CHOICE: What’s wrong?
Sakuya quickly retracts an earlier statement about P’s feelings being enough for her, saying that he’s actually just given her some substantial advice. With this, she’s finally found the photoshoot’s theme.

RIGHT CHOICE: Sakuya?
Sakuya mumbles to herself for a moment before proudly declaring that she’s figured out how to sum up the “self she wishes to capture”.

私を見て、私を知って

At the studio for the shoot, Sakuya is going over her plan with the cameraman. She’s suggesting sharper expressions and potentially needing a few takes to get things right, to which the cameraman agrees and excitedly rolls with her every instruction.
Off to the side, the magazine editor approaches P and begins to thank him for Sakuya’s fervent participation. Her energy has gotten the staff’s morale remarkably high. The editor begins to admit that he honestly thought Sakuya’s vision would be different from what she eventually relayed to them. He says her smile left a strong impression on them and Producer agrees as he mentions this feels like a new challenge for himself as well.
The scene then flashes back to Sakuya detailing her plan for the photoshoot’s theme. In regard to the “self she wishes to capture, the self she wishes to convey”, Sakuya has decided on presenting the self that she’s frustrated with over being useless. She explains that, even now, she tends to find herself to be pathetic. Idols work to express themselves and should be able to consider such things spontaneously, but she couldn’t manage to do that. The point of this photoshoot is to capture the frustration over her failure as a candid self, hoping to convey how she feels while also vowing to remember the emotion and continue to grow past it. When the scene returns to the current time, Sakuya is hard at work getting takes for the feature.
Flashing back to her discussions with Producer at the office, Sakuya says that this may not be what fans are wanting from her, but she wants them to understand that there’s no distance between them. Similar to how Sakuya felt happy having seen a glimpse of P’s self which he was attempting to hide, she hopes that her fans will feel closer to her when they see the magazine feature. Naturally, she has no intentions of quitting and is only showing the good-for-nothing side of herself, wanting it to be an oath of improvement. Back in the present, P feels certain that Sakuya’s feeling will make it through to the audience as her work is brimming with passion. The magazine editor tells him to leave the rest to the staff as everyone now wants to see the final product come through.

TRUE END - 未だ書きかけの物語

Sitting by herself after work, Sakuya gets a message from Producer saying that his meeting has wrapped up faster than he expected and asking if they can meet up. They eventually find each other outside and exchange the usual rounds of greetings/apologies for inconveniences/etc.. When P apologizes for his timing, worried that he may have hurried her out to meet him, Sakuya retorts that his timing was perfect, almost as if it were a moment straight out of a book. She regales him with pleasantries about his rescuing her from returning to the insipid routine of daily life and P feels embarrassed again as her words seemingly make him out to be some exaggerated hero. Sakuya asserts that it’s necessary for her to say all of this because otherwise he won’t see himself in such a positive light. It’s because of him that her heart has become so enriched.
After hearing her out, Producer accepts her gratitude on the condition that she accepts his own. He feels lucky having caught Sakuya after work, saying that he doesn’t want to leave her alone during slow hours. Sakuya calls him overprotective and notes all the cram school shuffling about during his so-called “dead hours”. Despite challenging his claims, Sakuya says that protectiveness is part of why she’s happy. She can almost feel his heart as he works so hard to take care of her. P decides not to question it any further, believing that so long as she’s getting takeaways like that from his actions, then he’s happy too.