Hikari experienced fear of changing as Madoka did. However, that alone is insufficient. Hikari thought that just having attained brutality of eating people as Madoka did would have completed the atonement. However, Hikari had no other way but to progress for atonement while Madoka had daringly taken her choice from alternatives. Their feelings could not be the same. Hikari cannot know the severity of the state Madoka fell into unwillingly, where either must be chosen within a limited time. Atonement may be only deception after all.
It is difficult to be lost in a crowd. It is a struggle trying to erase sharpness. Although Hikari keeps it in mind to cancel severe countenance, such stressful situations cannot be continued all the time. Time to lift her face above the water surface for breathing is needed. If you continue practicing it for some time, you would feel free with a sharp countenance and stressed with a loose expression. It is a twisted connection. You would feel uneasy when you catch sight of slack faces. Seeing that made Hikari smile wryly. When it struck Hikari that she should look very severe, she asked herself whether it was true she was relaxing that time. Then the question somewhat amused her. Her downy hair under the nose shone with bright sunlight through the window. Her sadness hidden somewhere on her face was watching for a chance to come out.
However, when the waiter who carried the plate went away, sadness of her eyes deepened at a breath. She sent her plaintive eyes to the waiter's back. Her eyes were dropped on the dish again. She kept looking at it. There were no signs that she begins to eat.
"Are you okay?"
Hikari turned her surprised face to the man.
"This is a snake, isn't it?"
Hikari replied, then the man called the waiter. The head of the snake appeared
in the salad instead of broccoli.
"Thank you." When the waiter made a humble apology to Hikari and had the dish
away, she turned her beaming face to the man.
"It is reasonable to tell it plainly, isn't it?" The man said.
"It is right, but I thought it might have been carried out purposely."
"Why?" The man laughed and she looked down.
