Tomitake: "......Shall we call it a day? It doesn't look like you're in the mood for this today."
Takano: "Eh?......My, that's not true. I'm sorry if I looked that way to you."
Takano-san has been looking through the viewfinder since earlier, but I haven't seen her push the shutter once.
She's only coming along with me, it doesn't look like she's in the mood for wild bird photography at all herself....
Ever since the announcement of a change in policies at the new board meeting the other day, Takano-san has been looking depressed.
...I don't blame her. The Irie Institution was created by her to begin with.
It was created so that she could devote her life to the research of Hinamizawa Syndrome.
For that to be rejected, and then being asked to wrap up the research within a few years, you can't blame her for being depressed....
On top of that, it's not as if the remaining time will be spent working hard on the research either.
The fundings will be cut down gradually, by the end, they'll probably only be able to do some cleaning up of unfinished tasks, let alone research things.
......She said that she is the granddaughter of the late Takano-sensei.
...And that she has come this far with her determination to complete the research that her grandfather wasn't able to finish.
Not to mention the fact that things have actually been going pretty well up to this point... must've made the impact from the sudden change in wind direction even more severe....
The coup of the masterminds in the government appears to be quite a big one.
The new board of directors has been completely swapped out, I also hear that personnel shifts have been occuring to people or projects that the Koizumi faction used to be involved in as a warning to others.
Also, this sudden change in directions doesn't look like it'll be changing again in the near future.
......Hope is thin for a Koizumi faction comeback, no matter how much the Irie Institution tries to appeal itself, it was impossible to expect the same level of support it had received in the past.
Takano: "......Really, is there nothing more that can be done?"
Takano-san whispered as if talking to herself.
......It's a sad thing to say this, but... you're exactly right. There's nothing more that be done....
Tomitake: "............At first, the board actually talked about terminating the research immediately.... And it took a lot of convincing before they managed to make it a gradual suspension over several years.......The people who took care of us when Irie Institution was first born, that is."
Takano: "......*giggle*.... I see. So even this worst looking situation at one glace is actually the result of someone's hard earned victory from the shadows, huh...."
Tomitake: "And the time we have won is... no more than 3 years. I did my best too, for what it's worth. I went through the documents Takano-san had prepared up to this day with the board, and tried to explain just how important of a research this is...."
Takano: "......But even then, it's still all over in 3 years, isn't it?"
Maybe Takano-san doesn't know just how much hard work I had to go through to explain to the new directors on the board.
...Because in her words just now, there was a ring to it as if saying "no matter how many years we get, it doesn't change the fact that we're finished".
...Knowing that I wasn't able to meet her expectations, and dissappointing her... As a man, it hurts my chest.
Tomitake: "The best I can do is... route as much funding to the project as possible, so that at least you can study to your hearts content for a few years before the research gets wrapped up................I'm sorry, for not being able to do anything more."
Takano: "It's alright. If that's Jirou-san's best effort... then I'm really happy just for that."
......Her words were a little painful.
...I kind of wished she could've been a little smoother with her words, but it would be shameful as a man to expect something like that from her when she's hurt like this.
...Because this is exactly the kind of time where I have to understand her pains.
Besides, I also knew that she called the deceased Koizumi-sensei affectionally as grandpa.
For her, Koizumi-sensei's death is not just a start of a coup or a change in direction.
......There's probably also sadness from losing a protector who has always looked after her.
No matter how much she tries to stand on her toes and look mean... She wasn't someone who belonged in this world to begin with....... She's just, a normal woman.
But she became fascinated with the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and her research couldn't be continued without help from those with more powers than her.
......And there, extending its hands out to her... is the dark side of the world that, originally, she shouldn't have been involved with.
Inside this world, now left all alone, she's still putting on a strong looking face....
Takano-san must be thinking of me as an unreliable man.
...In reality, I'm not the kind of person who can meet her expectations...... nor do I have the power to.
The only thing I can do...... is to offer her my sincerity by being her ally until the very end.
As much mobility as she has... there are times where you can't tell what she'll do when she's cornered.
......I wanted to believe that it's impossible with her, but...... there's still an uncertainty where I don't know what she might do at the very end.
It'd be great if I could at least become a support for her heart during that final moment, before she makes that move.......
.......I felt pathethic for being so useless I can't even gain enough trust from her for that....
As a man, the feeling of wanting her to rely on me... exists, of course.
But that's not it....... At the very least, someone had to be an ally for her, who has been abandoned inside this world all alone.
And, if I'm the only one who knows about that... then, doesn't that make it my role?
I know very well by now that she's not the kind of person who askes for helps.
...Even if she thinks it's none of other's business and distances herself, I know that someone has to be there by her side.
I don't think I'm suited for that job.
...I think there must be lots of other reliable people who are far more suited for that job than me.
But still, that doesn't mean it's ok to just leave her all alone like this until someone like that appears for her....
Tomitake: "......Takano-san. I may be an unreliable, pathetic man...."
Takano: "Hmm? What's that, all of a sudden? What's wrong, Jirou-san?"
Tomitake: "Even then, I still think there must be things I can help you with if you asked. So-"
Takano: "Thank you. But I don't really believe that your heart can be lightened just by talking. I'm sorry. But I'm really happy just knowing that you cared."
Tomitake: "......I, is that so? It's alright then...... I will always be your ally, I hope you can at least believe me on that."
Takano: "Of course I believe you...... If you find out any good ways to convince the board, please let me know, ok?"
Tomitake: "Yeah.... I'll try my best too on my own."
Why, I wonder.
......I know that she's the one who has always been standing upright, and that my help isn't of any use to her whatsoever.
......Yet, I feel like she is in need of help and support right now.
...Even though at one glance, she doesn't look any different from her regular, strong self... For some reason, only I, who has always took all these photographs with her, know this.
Because, they say that a viewfinder is also a window to someone's heart.
...If course, if I say something like that, she will say that I'm out of character again, so I won't say it out loud.
Anyway.... I don't think she needed support any other time more than she needs it now....