Final chapter... It's been a good run with you guys. :) Enjoy the epilogue~

The resulting torrent actually hadn't been as bad as I'd expected. After overcoming the first few insanity based questions, my friends calmed and adapted to the information they'd received. It was also a good thing I'd had Natori-san to back up my claims. He had added in a couple of his own as well, for which I was grateful. They had eventually demanded the full story, without allowing me the chance to say 'no'. So, I stopped trying to avoid it, they knew half of it already, courtesy of Matoba-san, what good would it do if I deigned it none of their business? Thus, I told them my story, and once I'd reiterated everything – with the exclusion of the more personal and upsetting tales – Sasada and Taki had immediately smothered me in a huge hug. They weren't long followed by Kitamoto, Nishimura, and Tanuma either. And while they knew I'd abridged multiple parts of the story, they were simply content with the fact that I'd trusted them enough to tell them that much. It was past dark by the time we finished talking and as we'd be in enough trouble as it was we agreed to put the conversation on hold and head home. For the rest of my life I would always remember what they had told me before we parted ways.

We'd agreed to meet up the next day, having finally come to a decision on the way we'd spend the weekend. And, as if offering her blessing, the sun was bright in the sky and a warm breeze ruffled the trees.

Perhaps, I should have told them all sooner? Maybe I should have taken a leap of faith instead of letting things unfold the way they had. I could ponder all I'd like but it wouldn't matter anymore, they knew now and we were still friends. For once in my life I felt lighter, as if a truly arduous burden that had solely been mine to bear was now shared equally among my friends. While I still couldn't inform Touko-san and Shigeru-san of my problems, I now had friends who were willing to support me. And that truly made me happy.

"Come on, Natsume! Hurry up or we'll leave you out of this round! We have a tight schedule if we want to get through all these games!" Nishimura called out.

"I'm coming!"

"You'll always be our friend, Natsume, no matter what happens."