Lilja
...I can't think of anything. My pen won't move...

Lilja
Even if they tell me to write freely...

Lilja
yaaawn

Hikari
It's a time when you'd usually be asleep already. It's rare for you to be awake now.

Lilja
I was told I can't sleep until I write. But I can't think of anything without sleep...

Hikari
Until you write...? Oh, could it be the comment for the artist you were talking about yesterday?

Lilja
Right. The manuscript paper won't let me sleep...they said even one word is fine, but that makes it harder...

Hikari
I know the feeling. I struggled with not being able to finish my book reports too.

Hikari
Even free Lilja-san worries about freedom sometimes, huh?

Hikari
But it's about the artist from the other day, right? When I saw the work, I thought it was so innovative! Art is explosion!

Lilja
As Hikari says, I do think it's innovative. I've looked at all the works that will be displayed at the solo exhibition.

Hikari
Couldn't you put that 'innovative!' feeling into a comment?

Lilja
...I understand the beauty that person is aiming for, but just as that person has their obsessions, I have mine too.

Lilja
So I can't just praise the work, and I don't want to. Because it would be lying to both myself and them.

Hikari
Hmm...so you need a comment where Lilja-san can be honest with yourself and the artist would be happy to receive?

Lilja
That's why I'm being told to write freely...

Hikari
It does sound difficult, but I'd just freely write what I thought. If I thought it was amazing, I'd say amazing, if I didn't understand, I'd say I didn't understand!

Lilja
But is that really free?

Hikari
Um, what do you mean...?

Lilja
Freedom isn't something forced by anyone. It's just being natural, being how you want to be.

Lilja
So the request itself to "freely submit a comment" feels like it's taking away freedom.

Hikari
Ah! That's true! The moment you're asked to be free, it's not free anymore!

Lilja
Right. This is unfree freedom.

Lilja
If it's truly okay to be free, there's also freedom not to write a comment. Even submitting a blank comment should be free.

Hikari
Wouldn't that trouble management and the artist?

Lilja
I think the management and that person want my freedom. If they're asking for me to be myself, I should do as I think.

Hikari
W-When you put it that way, maybe so...

Hikari
Lilja-san's idea of freedom is deep...it's philosophy...

Lilja
Hikari should follow my example. I'll express freedom with a blank comment.

Lilja
The beauty of a pristine manuscript paper, untainted by anything. True freedom not confined by the frame of a comment.

Lilja
That person has a good eye, so they'll surely understand what I want to convey.

Hikari
As expected of Lilja-san! I'll submit my summer vacation free research blank too! Because it's free!

Lilja
Yeah. The password is, freedom.

Hikari
Freedom!!!

Gingaza Troupe Member
Good work!

Hikari
Mm, today's rehearsal was fun too! I feel like I've been doing well lately. Ehehe.

Koyomi
This doesn't count as a comment, Lilja-san...

Lilja
But...

Hikari
Huh? Koyomi-san and Lilja-san...? I wonder what's wrong.

Koyomi
...I reminded you countless times, didn't I? And yet on the deadline day, you haven't written a single character...

Lilja
I didn't not write. This is the result of expressing freedom in my own way.

Koyomi
Admittedly, giving it a hundred steps, a completely blank manuscript paper is self-expression...

Hikari
Huh? Could it be that submitting it blank wasn't okay?

Koyomi
Of course it's not okay...

Lilja
These things happen. Aesthetic sense differs, so it can't be helped.

Koyomi
It's not a matter of aesthetic sense or artistry...you were asked to "write" freely, weren't you?

Lilja
So I wrote my own freedom. On that blank manuscript paper, I wrote free feelings with invisible ink that those who can read can read.

Koyomi
...I understand. I'll write the comment, so please give me your thoughts...

Lilja
But I put what I wanted to say into the blank paper?

Koyomi
I want to convey Lilja-san's lofty thoughts to the public as well...

Lilja
...What does Hikari think? I want a free comment.

Hikari
Is it okay if I think of it?

Lilja
Because it's free. I think there's also freedom to ask a friend for a comment.

Hikari
I see...! As expected, Lilja-san is freedom!

Hikari
Then, um-

Koyomi
Don't let yourself be talked into this, Hikari-san. What's being asked for is Lilja-san's free thoughts.

Koyomi
Of course, even freedom means freedom within the constraints of manuscript paper.

Lilja
Uuu...being confined to a frame makes me unfree...

Lilja
Help me, Hikari. The password is...?

Hikari
Freedom! But...

Koyomi
Freedom is something that exists upon bearing minimum responsibility. Hikari-san too, please don't follow her example carelessly.

Hikari
I see...freedom is difficult...

Edit

Pub: 10 Dec 2025 21:21 UTC

Edit: 12 Dec 2025 19:38 UTC

Views: 10