[Just hearing "I want that too" is enough to help Kaoru relax a little, unaware of the fact that she's saying something and thinking the exact opposite. There's nothing he could be happier for than to finally be able to live out whatever is left of his life by his sister's side, unreachable in his first life and forgotten in his second. He doesn't think it's such a far-off goal; after all, he is still the same person that he had been before, beneath these year-softened layers that this new life has brought on. If it comes down to the lives of the Nagumo and being able to remain by Chizuru's side... well, it's a decision that makes itself.

But his posture goes completely rigid at the mention of the fireplace. In the fireplace... had he seen something similar? Was it in the fireplace? No, no... He can recall a man - a nation? Someone looming over them all... himself and three - no, four others. These are... the designated killers of his own season. Three, it seemed, because Touko is slower to come to mind.]

The chance to change... [A mistake in the past, to fix a possible poor outcome in the future. Regaining memories, attaining immortality, gaining the ability to resurrect the dead - these are the prizes they had played for. His grip tightens just a little.] We were... part of - a game? A gameshow? The fiftieth anniversary.

[Which is something Chizuru may or may not know, depending on how far the game progressed before she ended up killing someone - killing more than one? It makes dread sink to the pit of his stomach like a rock and at first he thinks it's solely because of the thought of Chizuru killing for him. That is horrific; it chills him to the bone. But there's more than that... There's something else forming a gnawing unease that's becoming hungrier by the second.]

No, no, no...! You "won". You "won" the "prize", you played the game—

[Why, why, why is that such a terrible thing? Why does that cause the anxiety festering in him to boil up again, stronger than before?]