Zetsubouda-san (
Summary[]
After another day on the roof, Rentarou and company take their leave... except...?
Rentarou's Family is leaving the rooftop while talking about a popular new fairy tale book called "Yume's Home in the Clouds"; it's a hopeful story with cute art and a powerful message, conveying something to all that read it. Yet as they leave, Rentarou notices a strange girl headed for the roof; she has long disheveled hair and a creepy smile, as well as eyes with literally no glimmer of hope within them. Rentarou decides to follow her to find out what she's up to and discovers her standing by the railing as if she's about to jump off the roof!
Rentarou asks this strange girl what she's doing, and she merely responds "just wallowing in despair"; she turns around and Rentarou "Zings" with her, identifying her as a Soulmate; he tries to ask what this girl is despairing about and she merely answers coldly "the world", stating it oozes in nothing but despair. Rentarou realizes with the despair this girl has, the only way to boost her up is to give her hopes and dreams to focus upon; he brings up "Yume's Home in the Clouds" and offers to read it with her due to the hopes and dreams within it. Yet in a bigger shock, the girl reveals she's the author of that very book! As she reveals it, an artist' beret flies through the air and lands on the despair girl's head; she states it was carried off yesterday (making Rentarou wonder if it wasn't there at the start to make the reveal too obvious); he states this is a miracle and that it's proof hopes and dreams are real, but the girl states this is merely a silly contrivance.
The girl states that with the despair in the world, the only means are by picture books filled with hopes and dreams; in other words, "Fairy Tales". She states that she wished to better mankind by other means but those are the mere dream of a child; revealing that she was a good child who did her best for all when younger, but started to learn of the misfortune, sorrow and anguish of man as she grew older as she became tormented by those who saw her as nothing but a suck-up and a goody two-shoes. At first she thought it was an opportunity to learn of the suffering of the world to discover the source of it, but the more misfortune she learned, the more despondent she became until, six months after beginning her research, she came to the final conclusion that "this world was irredeemable" and there was no hope at all. However in her despair, she discovered hopes and dreams were not in the world but the hearts of man; watching a kid read a book of fairy tales, she realized their purity and how this purity is pushed onto the young to give them the hopes and dreams of a better place. Diving into the abyss of despair, the girl pushed herself to have a greater and greater yearning for fairy tales, creating the book that she had published to draw out the hopes and dreams of all who read it. Hearing the girl's tale, Rentarou wishes to know of the misfortune she's seen to bear her weight with her; but she states his eyes still have hopes and dreams in it and she wishes to not snuff them out. Rentarou realizes that despite her despair, the girl never curses others and wants happiness for others, just as she did before she fell into her anguished state.
The girl states she was too long-winded in sharing herself with him but it's "time to go". Rentarou states there may be another salvation other than "Fairy Tales", and that is "Love"; it is what he lives for and devotes himself to; the girl responds that love is only beautiful in fairy tales and it only possesses greed and concession in the real world, but Rentarou states it isn't easy, that you have to better oneself and work with yourself and your partner to create happiness in order to create a joy that can save others. He brings up his state of being barely able to get by prior to having his girlfriends, but that now he's excited to get up every day due to how much he loves them. He offers her to feel the bump on his head for how he wakes up bashing it excited, but the girl states bumping it in reality is as fantastic as any fairy tale and confirms that those who have the privilege of such love are those who put the effort in for it; but it won't save her since she doesn't have the effort to exert to the extent Rentarou does. Rentarou states she may not but he still loves her and that he doesn't want to see her throw away her life; wanting her to live a life of joy and laughter he will guarantee he'll make happen for her.
Even with her face lost of emotion, the girl starts crying, wondering about a great calamity that could still happen that ends this, but Rentarou states even if despair shatters joy, you can always get back up and keep going at it. He states if something horrible happened to him, merely holding hands with the person he loves would be enough and nothing could drag him away from this happiness. The girl feels her heart beating fast as she states until now she felt nothing but despair within it, but now believes love is like "a real-life fairy tale" and asks to go out with Rentarou; Rentarou states he will if she doesn't try to "do it again"; the girl states saving her means nothing with how much despair the world has, but Rentarou brings up the belief that she was going to jump over the railing off the roof. The girl states she had planned no such thing; she merely wanted a birds' eye view of the town for art references but stopped due to the despair she felt in all the houses she saw. The girl admits that she has already dedicated her body and soul to finding salvation through fairy tales; she believes she'll only leave the world by two ways: if fairy tales deliver the world their salvation or when the fairy tales have come to recognize her achievements. Rentarou is happy to hear this, believing this girl is actually someone enthusiastic even as she wallows in despair all the time.
Characters[]
- Meme Kakure
- Shizuka Yoshimoto
- Rentarou Aijou
- Shiina Usami
- Hakari Hanazono
- Eira Kaho
- Aashii Kedarui
- Karane Inda
- Meru Zetsubouda
- Matsuri Dei
- Himeka Saiki
Quote[]
Beginning: Opening the door to the unexpected.
End: Once upon a 29th time.
Next Chapter: Next time, introducing the family to her (fairy tales).