At the shrine, Maya notes that Sensei never actually prays when he visits. He says that there's no point, which Maya calls a "right and a wrong answer wrapped together". She says that she doesn't care what people believe, and is only a shrine maiden because it's "how things are supposed to go". When she uses the phrase "grow as if it is a tree", Sensei feels suddenly angry, but does not know why. Maya talks about the approach of winter — the changeover will occur at the next reset, and nobody will think it strange. He asks what would change for her if either of them vanished in a reset, but instead of answering, she asks what he would do if she vanished, replaced by a new, ignorant version of herself. Thinking about it, he feels that a new Maya "just wouldn’t feel right".