Shrinking Violet

Truth

~Daytime~

Yoshizawa: "I..."

The girl in front of you stood on shaky footing, still shocked at what she had seen on that TV screen. But she wasn't the only one....

Who was she?

You thought you knew...but...

Maruki: "...it seems you remember..."

Yoshizawa: "That's right...I'm...I'm not Kasumi..."

You: "...what are you saying?"

She gave you no response, staying completely silent. You demanded answers, clenching your fist as you began to walk towards her.

You: "Kasumi, what are you-"

Akechi: "The girl named 'Kasumi Yoshizawa' is currently deceased"

You stopped in your tracks, your gaze shooting over to Akechi. Not only did he know about this, he had kept it hidden? But...she was Kasumi...all this time you had known her as such...how could that person be dead?

Yoshizawa: "The car accident last spring...Kasumi...she protected me from..."

No. Sumire had died in that crash, you knew that was true...it had to be. The woman who you called yours was tearing up as she continued to speak.

Yoshizawa: "I robbed Kasumi of her dreams...of her life!"

She fell to her knees, fully sobbing as she finished stating what you refused to believe....

Sumire: "I'm...her younger sister...I'm Sumire Yoshizawa!"

Maruki: "It's okay...I can take over from here. After all, I do play a part in this story"

You: "What?"

Maruki: "Sumire's cognition was changed to make her believe she was her deceased elder sister. To her, she was Kasumi, but to the people around her she was still just Sumire"

You: "But...her Dad...he called her by her name...didn't he?..."

You thought back, Shinichi having only ever addressed her as sweetheart and daughter and other pet names...never by her name. You had only ever known her name from her pocketbook from so long ago...

Akechi: "It appears you were clueless...but she was Sumire Yoshizawa from the start"

You looked back over to Sumire, the person you had thought you knew seeming like a stranger to you.

You: "T-This is a joke right? Kasumi?"

You looked at her, the young girl not responding to her name. You were on uneven footing. Her silence made your stomach knot up, your brain unable to process all of this. You clenched your chest, feeling the weight of all of this crashing down on you as she finally spoke.

Sumire: "After Kasumi died...I received counselling from Dr. Maruki. That's when I told him...that if Kasumi was gone and couldn't fulfil her dreams, then I wanted to become her and do it for-"

You: "Stop..."

You couldn't take this. You could hardly breathe at this point from how your body was reacting. You refused to accept this as the truth...it couldn't be...