"Jhin, is Ichi-chan eating properly over there?"
"Don't worry, Mom. With me here, there's no way Bocchi-chan's going hungry."
"Jhin! Jhin! Big sis can't get any pictures of penguins — can you take some and bring them back for me?"
"Sure, but Futari has to keep up with her studies first."
"I will!"
"Then we won't take up any more of your time. Take care of yourselves out there."
"We will. Thank you for looking after us, Dad."
Today was the day of the New Year's Eve countdown broadcast. Before the stream went live, Jhin was on a call with Hitori Gotoh's family — checking in, letting them know everyone was safe. He had wanted to pull his girlfriend in to say hello, but the moment a camera lens pointed anywhere near Hitori Gotoh, she dissolved on the spot into a shower of pink dust. Appearing on camera together was simply not an option.
Jhin caught a glimpse of the three so-called "friends" of Miyake Hinata's standing just off to the side of the television frame. He tilted his head and sent a quiet look in Shirase Kobuchizawa's direction, then stepped away from the camera. Shirase, who had already told Jhin exactly what she intended to do, understood at once. She set her jaw and walked — with an expression of pure, unwavering resolve — toward the very camera she had never once been able to face with any composure.
"Excuse me. Could you please stop bothering Miyake Hinata?"
The three girls on the screen looked up at this unfamiliar black-haired girl in genuine confusion. They had no idea who she was. What gave her the right to say something like that?
"Shirase?!" Miyake Hinata, who had still been wrestling with whether or not to forgive them on live broadcast, hadn't expected Shirase Kobuchizawa to pull something like this at all.
"It's because of you that Hinata went through hell and had to drop out of school. You probably think she spends every single day crying over what happened in the track and field club."
"Hinata is not that kind of person!" Irisu Makina, who had become Miyake Hinata's gaming partner at the Antarctic base, slammed both palms on the table and roared: "She plays games with me every single day with a huge smile on her face — you absolute piece of bleep bleep bleep bleep—"
Suou Amane clamped a hand over Irisu Makina's mouth at lightning speed and stuffed the rest of the censorship-required vocabulary back down her throat. "Okay, okay — you've made the point that Miyake-san isn't being haunted by her past. That's enough."
"Hinata has already moved forward — with us — all the way to Antarctica!" Tamaki Mari, one of the broadcast's on-site reporters, pressed both hands on the table and rose to her feet in support of Irisu Makina's declaration.
"Hey..." Miyake Hinata was worried the New Year's broadcast was about to go completely off the rails. She moved to stop Shirase — except her legs didn't move a single step.
Do I actually want to forgive them?
The question kept circling in her mind, round and round.
Shiraishi Yuzuki appeared at her side and pulled her into a tight, fierce embrace. "This is how it should be. This is what friendship looks like."
"I'm not like Hinata — my personality is terrible, so I'll just say it plainly." Shirase Kobuchizawa's eyes blazed with contempt and fury as she stared straight down the camera lens without flinching. "You can spend the rest of your lives feeling guilty. That's the price for hurting my friend. And now you come crawling back to clear your own consciences? Don't make me laugh."
"Well said, Kobuchizawa-san!"
"I honestly thought you were the comic relief of this whole trip — didn't know you had something that cool in you."
The girls gathered around the broadcast site burst into applause, voices rising together to condemn the three "friends" on the screen.
Only Shirase Kobuchizawa was visible on camera, but every other voice rang out crystal-clear through the speakers. Exposed and with nowhere left to hide, the three of them could no longer stand to remain on the broadcast. They slunk away.
Miyake Hinata collapsed into Shiraishi Yuzuki's arms, sobbing without restraint. Jhin walked over to Shirase Kobuchizawa and raised his hand. She slapped it — a clean, solid high-five.
"Kobuchizawa-san," he said, "congratulations on escaping the comic relief stereotype."
"I — I am not the comic relief. I just wasn't used to being in front of a camera, that's all," Shirase said, the words entirely unconvincing even to herself.
Takako Kobuchizawa watched her daughter with a heart full of quiet, overwhelming pride. Even after losing her mother's presence, Shirase had grown into someone strong and kind.
Gin Toudou, who had been watching everything unfold from a distance in silence, felt the same warmth. She had been worried that Shirase wasn't ready to face the inland base — but she realized now that the worry had been entirely misplaced. The one who had truly been afraid to look the truth in the eye was herself.
Gin Toudou smiled, rose quietly, and said to Kanae Maekawa in a low voice: "Start preparing the exploration plan."
"Yes."
After the broadcast ended, Miyake Hinata sought Jhin out on her own and brought him back to the same secluded spot where the two of them had faced off before.
"Thank you, Jhin." Miyake Hinata looked down at the ground, hands clasped behind her back, scuffing the packed snow with the toe of her boot. She couldn't quite bring herself to meet his eyes — not after the way she'd treated him earlier.
"I barely did anything. If anyone deserves credit, it's Shirase and what she said."
"You're way too modest." Miyake Hinata knew perfectly well that without Jhin's nudge, Shirase and the others would never have checked that email — and would never have learned any of this.
She fidgeted for a moment, then decided that this nervous, awkward version of herself really wasn't like her at all. She took a deep breath, turned, and bowed deeply at Jhin — eyes squeezed shut — and called out in a loud, tense voice:
"Please let me enroll in Mihama Academy!"
Jhin hastily helped her back upright, caught somewhere between laughing and sighing. "Miyake-san — I think you might be misunderstanding something. I'm not the one in charge of Mihama Academy. The most I can say is that I know the principal. I don't have the authority to just let someone in directly — there are entrance exams and screenings you'll have to go through regardless."
"Academically, I'm confident. I won't disappoint."
"Good to hear. Come take the exam after we get back from Antarctica. I'll put in a word with the principal."
"Got it!"
The two of them headed back into the base — and the moment Jhin stepped through the door, he was immediately surrounded by the other girls.
"Jhin, what were you two whispering about out there?"
"Miyake-san didn't secretly confess to you, did she?"
"Wow — confessing to someone she knows already has a girlfriend? That's bold!"
None of the girls had made any particular effort to keep their voices down. Miyake Hinata heard every word. She caught the three deeply meaningful looks from her best friends, turned scarlet, and shouted her rebuttal:
"Raphiel-san, stop making up stories! I just told Jhin I'm planning to enroll in Mihama Academy, that's all!"
"Really?! That's wonderful, Hinata — congratulations!" Tamaki Mari immediately sent her warmest wishes.
As everyone sat together eating their New Year's soba noodles, Gin Toudou stood and made a public announcement.
"After the New Year, we will be commencing the re-exploration and reconstruction of the inland base."
Shirase Kobuchizawa's chopsticks froze in mid-air, a cluster of noodles suspended between them. She didn't even notice when the noodles slipped free and fell back into the bowl.
The inland base. That was where her mother had disappeared.
Even now, she still refused to use words like gone or dead. Because as far as Shirase was concerned, her mother had simply gone to Antarctica for a three-year research expedition — and just hadn't come home yet.
____
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