—o0o—

Epilogue

{ Spring Melodies }

Houtarou was searching the contents of his bag when Satoshi dropped by and said, "It's White Day! Have you seen Mayaka around?" Satoshi searched the room for his beloved with a bag of white chocolate truffles and a long stemmed rose.

"I'm here, you idiot." Mayaka waves her hands furiously in the air while feeling as if she had become invisible. Fuku-chan laughs and hands her the chocolate first. "For you, my lady." He smiles then gives her the red rose. Mayaka blushes in front of him. Finally, a proper White Day, she thought. Meanwhile, Houtarou sighed in relief as he found that the chocolate he brought hasn't melted or broke into pieces in his bag and the peonies he got weren't wilted nor squished by the books inside.

Noticing this, Satoshi gapes. "Houtarou, is that actual chocolate you're going to give to an actual person?" He says in shock.

"Someone gave me chocolate a month ago." Oreki replied.

Satoshi gasps. "Someone willingly gave you chocolate last Valentine's Day? I am shocked!" Normally, Houtarou was used to his teasing but somehow today, it just got more annoying than usual.

Before Houtarou could retort, Ibara intervened, "Believe it or not, Oreki has a girlfriend." Houtarou snarled at Ibara's grimace.

"HOUTAROU HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?" Satoshi yelled so loud the room suddenly became silent and everyone in the room suddenly turned to Houtarou. Well there goes every last bit of his gray life.

"Pipe down you moron! You're attracting attention!" Oreki slapped Satoshi at the back of his head.

"But having a girlfriend is the final nail in the coffin on your dull gray life, my friend. How come I was not aware of this? Houtarou has a girlfriend… the world is totally ending." Satoshi slumped on the chair next to Houtarou.

Mayaka snickers. "I know right."

Oreki sighed. There was no point in appeasing his friends; it would waste more energy. "God, you don't have to poke fun at it. We agreed to take it slow and keep it on the down low for now but I guess you didn't scream loud enough for the whole world to know."

Satoshi laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He apologizes.

"Ah, so you're taking this the Satoshi way?" Ibara jests.

"Yeah, but minus the drama." Oreki and Ibara laughed.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Satoshi said dryly.

"Oh, before I forget," Mayaka interjected, "thanks for the wonderful gifts, Fuku-chan!" She wraps her arms around him and kisses him on the cheek. Satoshi became flushed. While those two lovebirds were busy doing romantic things, Oreki managed to slip out of the classroom without Satoshi and Ibara noticing.

He sneaks his way towards the next classroom and peaks into the room. Chitanda's indigo eyes spotted him at the door. She instinctively approaches him. "Hi, Oreki-kun! Is something the matter?" Chitanda says as they step outside the classroom.

Houtarou's cheeks turned pink as he was giving the chocolate and flowers to Chitanda. He couldn't fathom why he was this nervous for doing some mundane tradition. Besides the fact that his sister, Tomoe obliged him to give her chocolate because she was convinced that 'there may never come a chance for a girl to give you honmei again,' he believes that maybe if he played his cards right, everything will fall into place without much effort.

But his sister's voice echoed in his head. "Love requires your time and energy."

Houtarou averted his eyes. "I know you're not supposed to give and receive chocolates but…"

"Thank you," Chitanda interrupted and accepted the honmei chocolate that Tomoe had helped him make. Help was an understatement.

"If you really care about this girl, you should be willing to sacrifice that much." Tomoe's voice resonated once more.

He had to face the facts. His gray colored high school life ended just as his high school days started: the day he met the girl that stood in front of him, with curious protuberant pools of indigo, black hair that cascaded to the middle of her back, and a smile eagerly waiting for an answer to her questions. Houtarou realizes that he never had that gray high school life to begin with and now feels like he it's a waste of energy to go back to that dull life.

Satoshi and Mayaka were hiding behind the post, watching their friends do what looked like a confession. "Wait—wait, they're really a thing?" Satoshi whispers.

"I'm almost a 100% sure." She replies with much certainty.

"I can't believe he was open to her like that. That's so unlike him. Oh my gosh, Mayaka! What do you think happened to our Houtarou?"

Houtarou heard whispers and turns around. Satoshi and Mayaka retracted their peeping heads, hid behind the post, and prayed that Oreki wouldn't come closer to find out that they've been spying on them. Chitanda, their saving grace, asked Houtarou, "Do you want to go to Pineapple Cafe later, Houtarou?" She smiles. This was the first time she has ever called him Houtarou.

"Why the sudden urge?"

"Are you curious?"

"Quite." Houtarou smiles.

Chitanda entered the classroom. With her hand still touching the door, she says, "Well, you'll have to come with me to find out."

Well played, Houtarou thought.

Satoshi looked at Mayaka with wide eyes. "Oh wow," he exclaimed, "they're actually going out!"

Mayaka massaged her temples and gave a deep sigh. "No duh, genius. Who else would be interested in that idiot?" Houtarou went back to his seat without bothering to see who was eavesdropping. It was too much of an effort for him to check. Assuming his hunch was right, he wouldn't really need to know. He wasn't particularly curious or interested. Mayaka and Satoshi tried their best to stay hidden. "Do you think he noticed us?" Mayaka asks.

"Maybe he hasn't… but I wouldn't be so sure. If it's Houtarou we're talking about, he probably has it figured out already and dropped the whole thing because it requires tapping his energy resources." Satoshi jests.

"What do you think they're going to do later though? Doesn't it make you curious?"

Satoshi smiles at her. "Of course it does. I've always known Chitanda-san has Houtarou wrapped around her finger since they first met. Apparently, he still is." He laughs. "Do you think they're going to…" He whispers something to Mayaka, which makes her cringe in disgust.

"Oh god, no. Fuku-chan!" She hits his shoulder. "We're all too young for that. Seriously, Fuku-chan, it worries me that you're into things like that."

"Don't get the wrong idea." He smiles mischievously.

—o0o—

The bell rings the last time for today and the students start to flock the exits of the classroom, Houtarou one of them. Satoshi and Mayaka exchanged looks. All systems go. The plan to stalk Houtarou has just been initiated.

They made sure to keep their distance—far enough for him not to notice and short enough to see where he's going. Houtarou has just made a right at the stoplight. Satoshi pauses and grabs several things out of his bag. While Mayaka puts on a new mint green cardigan, which she has never worn in front of the other three, Satoshi hands her a pair of non-prescription glasses, a white scarf, and a white sun hat embellished with a fake sunflower and orange ribbon wrapped around it. She puts them on while Satoshi donned a navy blue trench coat with a gray wool scarf wrapped around his neck and sported aviator sunglasses, which made him, look like a loosely based Sherlock Holmes.

"Where on earth did you get these?" Mayaka asks.

"Some of these I borrowed from the sewing club. These were meant for the the kids at the theater club."

The duo had made a considerable distance between them and Houtarou. As they tiptoed towards Houtarou, Satoshi steps on a twig. Hearing the crackle, Oreki stops and turns to find no one there. The bushes rustle as Mayaka and Satoshi hurriedly hid behind them. Houtarou decides to ignore it the fact that he's being followed and continues to walk the path to the cafe. Satoshi peaks from the bushes and tells Mayaka that the coast is clear.

Mayaka spots Houtarou entering the rustic cafe. Fixing their disguises, they entered the cafe and briefly looked around to locate Houtarou and secure a seat. Chitanda and Houtarou sat at the table in the corner. Satoshi leads her to a table, two tables apart from them. "Could you hear them?" Satoshi leans in.

"A bit. Now shhh, they're talking about something."

The barista had just served them a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of black coffee. Chitanda fiddles around with her spoon and looks at Houtarou. "Have you thought about which university you're going to apply for next year?"

Houtarou sighs. "So this is what you wanted to ask me in private?"

"Yes! I didn't feel like bringing this up in the clubroom because I didn't want to make it feel like we're all leaving so soon." Chitanda takes a sip of her hot chocolate and looks away.

Houtarou wasn't exactly sure how to respond but manages to make a reply anyway. "I haven't given it much thought. I might just stay here since it's closer to home, but I have been thinking about applying to Tokyo or Kyoto."

"I've been thinking the same thing!" Chitanda rejoices.

In the not so far off distance, one could hear Mayaka and Satoshi's expectation bubbles pop. Mayaka thought this was going to be a romantic date while Satoshi, well, he thought of something more than just a date. Both expectations were so off it kind of upsets them. As the two slumped at their tables, Houtarou calls out to them. "Ibara, Satoshi, you can come out now."

Satoshi turns his head to face Houtarou and guiltily smirks. "I guess we're busted."

Ibara and Satoshi take off their disguises as they make their way to their table. Satoshi takes a seat next to Houtarou and Ibara next to Chitanda, just like the seating arrangement in the clubroom.

"Eh? They were here all along?" Chitanda was caught by surprise.

"Sorry Chitanda-san! We were curious." Satoshi tells her.

"Here I thought you were on a date with this fool." Mayaka jumped in on the conversation and gestures to Oreki.

Chitanda circled the rim of the cup with the tip of her index finger. "But we are on a date." She blushes. Oreki choked on the coffee he was drinking knowing that Satoshi was going to make fun of him later. Mayaka gaped. "But now that we're all here, we could go on a double date!" Chitanda smiles.

They all turned red. This would be the first time they're ever going to do this and Houtarou wonders whether this is going to be a thing from now on. They found themselves caught in an awkward silence. This went on for a while until Houtarou, to their surprise, made a statement. "Why don't we just pretend like we're in the clubroom instead of a date? That should make things simpler." They exchanged looks and agreed their course of action.

And so they went on chatting until in turned dark in Kamiyama. Each of them said their goodbyes and parted ways. Satoshi walks Mayaka home and Houtarou with Chitanda. Chitanda, holding her bike at the handles while walking, tells Houtarou, "You don't have to go with me. Isn't your place around this area?"

"It's fine. It's getting dark, Chitanda, I'll walk you to the last junction." He paused and instinctively held her hand. "I'm sorry I attracted enough attention to Satoshi and Ibara to meddle with—" he trails off, "—our date."

"It's fine. If you think about it, it's kind of inevitable." She kids. "You know you could make up for it later though. We could go somewhere where only we know sometime during the weekends so we won't be followed."

"Somewhere only we know?" Houtarou asks. "Where would that be?"

"I don't know. We'll go on an adventure and find it!" She suggests.

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"We'll take it one step at a time. I don't want you to lose your energy."

Houtarou releases a sigh of relief. "I guess that sounds good to me."

They reach the stoplight near the path to Chitanda's house. "Here is far enough. I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

"Chitanda, tomorrow is a Saturday."

Chitanda tilts her head. "Oh right! Well, I'll still see you tomorrow then?" She smiles at him and lets go of his hand. Oreki nods in response. She stands on her tiptoes and embraces him, wrapping her arms around him. Houtarou felt the Chitanda's warmth spread to his body. Thinking he had to do something to make this not awkward, he put hugs her back. "Take care on the way home." She whispers to his ear. She leans back and lets both her hands find their way to Houtarou's.

Houtarou's cheeks turned a light pink. "I think that's supposed to be my line." He said. "I'll see you tomorrow… Eru."

Chitanda's smile slowly widened and without thinking kisses him under the clear star speckled sky. "Goodnight." She said as her hands break away from his.

The words resonated in Houtarou's mind: "You have an infinity to tell me that."

A/N: I think I made it in time for White day lol. I haven't been writing because of quizzes, final reports, and midterms all crammed in the span of the last update to this one. College is seriously killing my free time.

Again, thank you so much for reading all this fluffiness and following this story up to the end! You guys are awesome!

Happy White Day everybody!

Love lots,

bitter-saccharine 3