Hello, everybody! Reports of my early demise have been greatly exaggerated you'll be happy to note. First off, so sorry it took me the whole of six months to get a new chapter finished for this story. I've just been so entirely uninspired to figure out what I wanted to happen in the picnic scene that it completely took my writing desires away from this story for an inordinately long time. But here is finally the long-awaited 15th Chapter of Leave Me Alone!, and it is also by turn the longest thus far in the story, going way over 10 000 words in total.

With this move, by the way, this story now enters into the realm of stories exceeding 100 000 words in the Azu fandom, being the fifth currently online! Yippee!! I suppose this is a milestone of some sort as I've never written anything this long in my life.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this new instalment… as otherwise I'm pretty screwed.

– O –

"Bread... ham... lettuce... boiled eggs... cheese... lemonade..." Sakaki numerated as she filled the picnic basket for her and Kaori's little endeavour today.

By every count, Sakaki was happy. Ever since she had finally managed to get Kaori to agree on meeting her again for another intimate engagement, Sakaki had been feeling good about everything around her for a change, from cooking to playing with Maya. For the past week and a half Kaori had, to Sakaki's particular note, been occupying her mind to a surprisingly sizeable extent, even going so far as making her at times faze out completely from other tasks at hand. It wasn't really an obstruction to her daily life, but it wasn't regular for her to get lost in her thoughts like that, even when her mind was preoccupied by cute animals or the like.

Sakaki attributed a lot of this to a combination of things. Firstly, her want of keeping in touch with Kaori lest she disappeared again for another decade was an important consideration Sakaki wanted to peruse to its fullest. Secondly she also wanted to somehow make up for all the pain Kaori had been through on their group outing, much of which Sakaki still partially blamed herself for. And thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, her recent failures at getting in touch with the apparently very busy astronomer made the sum value of her first and second considerations gather momentum for an entire week to the degree of making them almost ready to burst out as if they had been stored in a pressure cooker about to pop.

In many ways, Kaori still presented to Sakaki an enigma she wanted to understand and for this purpose Sakaki needed to spend time with her so that she could better get under Kaori's skin and figure out what it was in her that made Sakaki feel so open and confiding near her, as well as finding out once and for all what exactly made Kaori "Kaori". And even if all this attention and wayward thoughts started to sound a little obsessive to Sakaki, she didn't want to waste any more time in building this relationship on more solid foundations. In a way, her focus was perhaps understandable enough when considering how uneventful her life really was, and on some level this interest could have also been attributed to a certain degree of boredom, but Sakaki adamantly rejected such shallow ideas from her mind straight off. She wasn't doing this just out of not having anything better to do, but indeed out of the pure desire to tie up the loose human knot that had been left dangling for way too long.

Sakaki had so hoped that the group outing last weekend would have been a means to accomplish a lot of what she had been thinking up since meeting Kaori again, but that had certainly not worked out exactly to Sakaki's satisfaction. She had had some precious familiarity time, but it had all unfortunately descended to a night of misery more than anything else. And thus her attempts to get Kaori inducted into her no.1 buddy list had been met with bitter failure and pushed everything back in a way that Sakaki didn't want. Not to mention it had caused some major friction with Kagura, which was certainly a very unwelcomed side effect, and which still required some kind of a resolution to make everything right again.

But for this specific attempt everything would be perfect Sakaki thought with conviction. It would just be Sakaki and Kaori. Together on a leisurely day out, eating sandwiches and enjoying the beautiful outside air. The weather was at its pitch summery perfect, and the temperature bobbing off at around 20°C that was complemented by a slight breeze, the air being neither too hot nor too cold… The perfect opportunity to bond and let friendship bloom the way it was supposed to. And by the end of the day, Sakaki had no doubt that she and Kaori from then on would be as if there had never been a 12 year gap in their friendship. Not to mention that their relations would hopefully be considerably tighter than they had ever been. Of that Sakaki was certain, and which excited her perhaps the most: the prospect of bringing alive a brand new friendship. There was just something so... beautiful about that.

And with the conditions this ideal, what could possibly go wrong?

While thus musing, Sakaki glanced at the clock. "Hmm... already half past 12. I better start heading off to Kaori's," she told herself as she did her final check-ups that everything they needed was in order. Once satisfied, Sakaki grabbed the picnic basket and headed for the door, "See you later, Maya. Behave while I'm gone," she said to her Iriomote cat and stepped out to begin her "Operation Kaofriend".

– O –

After a brisk walk of 30 minutes, Sakaki arrived at Kaori's apartment building just at the height of the day's beauty. Walking up the steps to the front door, she pressed the doorbell and waited for Kaori to open, while finishing up the last notes of the tune she had been humming on her way there. A few seconds later the safety lock clicked as the door opened and she was greeted with the slightly blushed face of Kaori. It struck Sakaki that she had actually very rarely really seen Kaori without a blush adorning her face, but she supposed Kaori was just one of those extremely bashful types who'd blush at the mere mention of something as banal as groceries or the like… And which might also explain some of the tangible nervousness her personality was always laced with.

"Hello, Kaori," Sakaki said as she offered a warm smile.

"H-hello, Sakaki-san," Kaori responded as her blush grew a few shades brighter, giving Sakaki's suppositions a bit more ground and amusement.

"Are you ready? I have everything packed up here and we're all set if you are," Sakaki said.

"Y-yeah, sure. I'm as ready as I suppose I'll ever be," Kaori told her.

"Great. Let's go then. I have the perfect place already thought up not too far from here, so we can walk," Sakaki explained.

"Okay, yeah... let's go..." Kaori said hastily, while trying to reign in her nervousness at the situation, and quickly closed the door behind her as the two women left off toward their picnic destination.

For Kaori this day aroused a multitude of really mixed feelings. She seriously didn't know how she should adjust to whatever this day was to offer. At age 16 she would have died if Sakaki had proposed a picnic to her. At age 29 she didn't know if this would be for the death of her. Ever since she had agreed to this little outing, Kaori's head had been swimming in thoughts of uncertainty and confusion. After all she was going on an intimate picnic... alone... with Sakaki-san. It would just be her and Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san and Kaori. Kaori and Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san. Once that realisation had hit her around 10 pm on Friday night, every waking moment – and sleeping as well – had been ripe with a few nervous breakdowns, a lot of needless sweating, a couple of miles worth of pacing around, and a burnout or two. This whole non-committal plan to Sakaki was not going exactly as planned.

At least last time she could find solace in the fact she wouldn't be alone with Sakaki, but this time there would be no interruptions; no paying attention to anybody else but the two eating sandwiches and whatnot. It was almost too much. Kaori's dread quotient had been steadily rising ever since meeting Sakaki again a couple of weeks back, and each new encounter seemed to be making things that ever bit worse. Everything was so not going as she was hoping, and her attempts to keep Sakaki at a respectable distance was seemingly getting more and more difficult. At this rate, she feared that her old emotions might try and break to the surface again, as she could already have felt them subtly stirring in the darkest recesses of her heart she tried to keep hidden from everybody, including herself. She knew the dangers involved with that, and that was enough reason for her to try and reinforce her protective system the best she could. But it certainly wasn't easy in this kind of onslaught Sakaki was putting forth. Suddenly this whole friendship agreement started to sound like a very bad idea.

At the same time, Sakaki was quietly enjoying the warm weather and the thought about the day that laid ahead. It seemed that everything was conspiring to make this a most favourable day on just about every account. And to Sakaki's special note, even Kaori seemed to be embodying this atmosphere extremely well in her light, thigh-length powder pink sundress that made her look extremely cute.

With the thought that a complement is always a good way to start, Sakaki quietly said, "You look really nice, Kaori," thus breaking the silence that had reigned between the two women thus far.

"Oh my God!!!" Kaori screamed in her mind. That just came so out of nowhere. "R-r-really?" Kaori stammered as she felt every drop of blood in her body rushing into her head.

"Mmm. That dress looks really cute on you," Sakaki soberly stated.

"T-t-thanks... I… I just figured it's so warm out to h-have something l-light…" Kaori managed, feeling ever so much losing her strength... both physical and mental. "Y-you don't look too bad yourself," she offered a counter-compliment.

"Oh... these are just regular street clothes. Just a top and shorts. Nothing special," Sakaki said modestly.

"I d-don't think... they look... too bad..." Kaori attempted, feeling like needing to say something that sounded encouraging.

"I guess... but I'd still rather wish I'd be able to wear something more like what you are," Sakaki said back.

"Oh? Umm... you wish? What do you mean? Why couldn't you?" Kaori asked confused.

"Umm... well... it's just that I... just don't think I could wear something like that," Sakaki said.

"Why?" Kaori pressed, not really understanding what Sakaki was trying to say.

"Because... I'm... because I'm not that... well, I'm just not that... You know… cute... to be able to wear those kinds of clothes," Sakaki said with an effort, not liking to dwell on her being the very opposite of what she really wanted to be like.

"What?" Kaori wondered out loud, thinking that maybe she heard wrong.

"Yes. You wanted to hear a reason, so… that's the reason. There really is not much more to add to that."

"Oh…"

"Actually, come to talk about it… there are times I wish I actually looked more like somebody such as you, for instance."

"Like me?"

"Mmm... Petite... and cute... And fitting in with other people instead of being this tall and intimidating and... un-cute. Just so people would see me differently. Then maybe I would be thought of as being cute too," Sakaki elaborated in her own quaint, slightly naïve way, her cheeks forming a slight blush at her thought.

Kaori, however, gave a long, disbelieving stare at Sakaki before she felt something just snapping in her head. It was completely unexpected, but something about Sakaki's words had effected her so strongly that they caused a flare to go off in her mind that couldn't be held back, no matter how unadvised letting it out was, piercing a small hole in her inner firewall. Hardening her countenance with her uninvited new found resolve, Kaori stopped walking and began, "You know Sakaki-san. That just sounded utterly... absurd."

"Huh?" Sakaki looked back in astonishment, also stopping, not expecting a response like that to come out of her smaller friend's mouth.

"You heard me. Really, I don't know what you're thinking, but you are cute," Kaori loaded, not really caring what she was saying as her subconscious Sakaki musings started to surge out of the small outlet found in Kaori's closely secured armour. "Sure, you may not be short or something like that, but you're still cute... in your own way. I mean, even I can tell you have nothing to be ashamed about with how you look. You are beautiful, cute, and have a really warm heart which one would need to be blind not to see. I don't see what makes you say you are somehow not like that... or why you couldn't for some reason wear clothing like this for another matter."

Sakaki was left a bit speechless, but still found it enough to say, "I'm not that sure about that. I mean, everybody expects me to be a certain way... and they think I'm a loner and how I'm tough and..."

"So what?" Kaori interrupted, causing Sakaki to quiet down again and give another long stare. "So what what other people think? Where does it say you have to conform to other people's expectations?"

"Umm... well..." Sakaki stammered.

"If you want to be cute, then be cute. If that's what you want to be, then don't be afraid to show that. It doesn't matter what other people think you should be like, but rather you should be what you want to be. It's really as simple as that," Kaori said in the heat of the moment, aggravated by Sakaki's attitude.

Sakaki was bewildered, not knowing what to say or do. Nobody had really ever said stuff like that to her ­­­­ not even her other friends ­­­­ so it was a bit of a shock to have words like that thrown in her face so candidly, and by Kaori of all people. "Umm… I… I guess… that's so… but…"

"No buts!" Kaori quickly interrupted, still on a roll, "There's no reason why you should let other people dictate how you're perceived. Or feel like you need to care. I mean, what was it you told me that one time you came to my house? About being frustrated that people think you're different than you are in reality? Well… maybe you shouldn't blame other people for that instead of rather blaming yourself. Of course if you act like a loner or a tough girl people will also think that. But you know what, instead of just rolling around in self pity, why don't you instead do something about it and make a change? Dress differently. Act differently. Stop being your own worst enemy. If you just continue on believing you're all of that you said you are, then nothing will ever change, and you'll keep on being the loner you don't want to be. Just take a chance, ­ ­stop hiding and making excuses, and maybe people will start thinking differently of you. Just stop being such a wuss about it!" Kaori finished in a huff.

Sakaki's eyes were now staring at the flushed appearance of Kaori with wide eyes. This was the second time Kaori had exploded on her like that in the past couple of weeks… or come to think of it ever. Kaori had just always seemed so shy and demure that it still sounded so odd to hear her really go off like that. Maybe it was again due to Sakaki not knowing her well enough to know what she really was like, but it still felt a bit odd to hear her talk like that. And Sakaki had to admit, that what Kaori had said did make a whole lot of sense, telling Sakaki something she probably should have seen before, but had simply never really gone as far as to identify for herself. Indeed, why should Sakaki be so concerned for public opinion, and feel like the need to hide under some tough exterior, and then complain about being misunderstood when she herself was feeding into the misunderstanding more than anybody else? It was like a revelation… yet it seemed like one that Sakaki had known for ages, yet never draped it in understandable words on her own.

"Maybe… maybe she's right. Maybe I should try to be different… more freely allow myself to be what I want to be. Have I… Have I truly been the source for it all… and then blamed others? Have I really been that blind?"With those thoughts, Sakaki descended into an introspective silence, looking rather grim and annoyed as she went through her inner musings on the subject, feeling ever so more angry toward herself for possibly having been so callous.

Next to her Kaori, on the other hand, was starting to get nervous. The effects of her momentary state of insanity had finally hit the point in her consciousness in all its horrifying power as her virus protection system started patching up the little weakness found in her safety net. Hazarding a glance toward her idol, it was as she feared. Sakaki was looking less than happy, and most certainly it did nothing to ease Kaori's mind to find that she had now obviously upset Sakaki rather strongly. That was certainly the farthest thing she had wanted to do. She just couldn't help it. Something in her had made Kaori snap so badly that she had ended up berating Sakaki to an extent that she never meant to. It was only with great mental force that Kaori prevented herself from running off right there and then. And it certainly wasn't helping that she was feeling somewhat hypocritical for attempting to give advice like that considering her own disposition in hiding her true self from the whole world. "You stupid, stupid, stupid idiot! Why did you have to go say stuff like that to Sakaki-san for? Now you'vereally done it. Sakaki-san is sure to hate me now. I can live with a lot of stuff, and I know Sakaki-san's off limits, but… I still don't want her to hate me. But guess there's no helping it anymore…"

"Sakaki-san… I'm… I'm sorry," Kaori said glumly.

Sakaki interrupted her thoughts to look at the woman standing next to her. "Huh? For what?"

"…For saying all that stuff about you. I was completely out of line. I'm sorry," Kaori said with her gaze directed toward the ground, too ashamed to look straight at Sakaki.

Sakaki took her time in regarding Kaori before saying, "You have no reason to apologize, Kaori…"

"Yes I do," Kaori interrupted. "It's not my business to try and tell people what to do with their lives. It's… not my place to pretend I somehow understand…"

"Oh, but you do!" Sakaki interjected. "You do. Perhaps better than I do myself. You know I… I never really thought of it that way. I've always felt that everybody just wanted to see me as a tough girl but… but I never looked at it from the perspective that maybe I was feeding to the stereotype more than I thought I was. It's just that… well, I suppose I just… never saw that I was doing this… or didn't want to see it. And nobody else ever pointed it out to me. So… guess what I'm trying to say is that… you don't really have anything to feel sorry for. In fact, it's me who rather owes you a thank you."

Kaori said nothing as she looked up at the gently smiling face of Sakaki in thought. It suddenly struck Kaori how much Sakaki had actually changed. It wasn't something she could put her finger on specifically, but something about her had definitely evolved over the years. It was as if Sakaki had… become more comfortable with herself. She was still calm and composed and generally quiet and understated in her actions and talk, but when compared to the Sakaki of the past who barely ever spoke a word, and who seemed so entirely dispassionate of the world at large; who had seemed like an aloof goddess on her marble pedestal to the ever impressionable Kaori… or at least someone she longed for desperately, yet was too afraid to get too close to should she end up ruining everything as usual… even if the prospect broke her heart. No, this Sakaki was not like that at all.

This Sakaki just felt like being so… free. So much more… open. So much more… human. Approachable. So much less of a sacred idol or someone to be feared should you take one false step in her presence. It was as if she had over the intervening 12 years been learning how to live amid the regular people. How to not close herself off from others so exclusively, but little by little allowing people into her heart. Other people. Not just those within her elite group of friends. Letting more people give her warmth and care and deeper friendship… and perhaps even allowing herself to be left vulnerable to being possibly hurt for this loosing of constraints. Kaori had noticed this change in Sakaki before, but she hadn't in her panic-filled head up until now really paid as much attention to it than she was now as she gazed back into those hypnotically immersive blue eyes. Eyes that now held so much actual warmth and kindness than she ever remembered seeing them containing before all that time ago. If at all possible… Sakaki-san had perhaps just become even cooler than she was before. Cool… but delightfully warm and soft at the same time… yet, under this warmth and her cool exterior, there was still a woman uncertain and insecure of herself…

"How Sakaki-san is so much deeper than I ever imagined her to be in the past… I never understood how much so…" Kaori internally mused.

"Kaori?" Sakaki suddenly asked, popping Kaori out of the reverie she had been drifting off to. "Are you all right? You've been staring at me for a while now."

Kaori was startled, noticing how close she had come to almost allowing her guard getting down and, her face exploding fiery red in embarrassment, she shook her head to clear her mind and quickly said, "I'm fine… perfectly fine. I just… nodded off there for a while. B-but I'm fine now. Sorry. I didn't mean to be impolite or anything."

Sakaki acknowledged Kaori's concerns with a simple "Mmm… it's all right," while chuckling slightly at Kaori's utterly flustered condition.

"But still… I just want to be clear that my point was that you should simply be what you want to be, and what makes you comfortable. Not that you should conform to what people say… even what I say. Do what you feel is right, Sakaki-san, and I'll support it no matter what it is," Kaori murmured, composing herself as best she could, her legs starting to feel less like spaghetti but her being still feeling slightly shaken up.

"Mmm… Thank you, Kaori," Sakaki said back with a small smile, and the two fell silent again as they started on their way once more.

– O –

The park of Hamamatsucho was one of those places that just attracted people to it on warm days like mice are attracted to clichés. This was particularly true for this particular Sunday, when people wanted to escape from even a whiff of their daily worries, jobs and other stressful thoughts. It was a perfect place to simply relax without the necessity of driving hours to get away from the bustle of the city to reach the more meditative prefectures of a countryside. Indeed, the expanse of the park was a perfect destination for many pleasure seekers or young couples; a calm place right beside their doorstep, with a sizeable enough pond bordering on a small lake, and containing several walkways among the finely maintained shrubberies. It was like a paradise within the city, and many people considered it as such… Sakaki being one of them.

Entering the park, the two women decided to slow down their pace and just ambled about in no hurry to find a suitable corner to hold their little picnic at. As was expected Sakaki, of course, had often come here with her other friends ever since discovering the place late in their third year of high school, and the park had since come to contain a lot of memories for her over the ensuing years; of the Bonkuras doing their silly little experiments, such as making an Osaka glider that didn't quite work as planned, or doing a rain dance that had only resulted in them getting completely exhausted before they even got started; of Chiyo's farewell party held there as she had left Japan entirely shortly afterward graduation; of the moments of bonding with the people in her circle staying behind who had remained somewhat distant to her before, like Yomi or Osaka; of just enjoying the company of her friends in quiet moments of happiness that invited no talk, of sadness when some of her friends hit rougher waters, and of many moments of simple fun that had given Sakaki a glimpse of a world that she had been unaware of for the majority of her childhood. A world where it was okay to have real human "friends" and to feel like belonging with something in this world that sometimes seemed just so cruel and cold and uncaring.

These fond memories Sakaki entertained of this place were one of the primary reasons she now brought Kaori over as well, who had never been a part of this place of lovely recollections for Sakaki before. Somehow this place was just so perfect for Sakaki's purposes to get to know Kaori better, and at the same time she could include her within these memories she held so dear… where she had really come to know her other friends so well, too. On her part Kaori, in fact, had been to this park as well before, but past a couple of random visits with Chihiro, the place had never formed into one of her regular haunts and thus held no particular significance. But Kaori couldn't deny the beauty of the place, and she had to admit that Sakaki did have an eye for beauty, which just went perfectly together with Sakaki's own goddess-like looks. This last thought, though, once more caused Kaori to quickly admonish herself for always allowing these pesky sensory backlashes to impede on her logical side's rationality of not thinking that way about Sakaki. Still, Kaori was certain those feelings would not be the last she'd experience, and resolved to try to keep all the more vigil from allowing her subconscious to stray too far into the forbidden zone, which had seemingly been getting more and more active in this regard.

With no hurry to get to anywhere, the two wandered a moment in search for a good place to set down to, quietly chatting about little insignificant – and to Kaori "safe" – things like books they had recently read, or of some minor topical news items while they were at it. It wasn't much, but it did help for the both of them to set into a kind of relaxed state of cosiness, which was certainly welcomed by both after the more edgy conversing they had engaged in earlier on their walk. Even Kaori was starting to get a lot more carefree about the entire situation and simply decided to try and enjoy the day to the best of her ability, decreeing to allow things to go on their own weight and only deciding to take action should things take a turn toward the more dangerous regions she didn't want to cross.

Having walked around for a small while, the two then decided on sitting down under the shadow of a large tree with long, overhanging branches overlooking the central pond with its water lilies and ducks. It was definitely one of those quaint, picturesque spots that could have originated from a Constable painting or something, with the exception of the signs of urbanity displayed by towering buildings beyond the treeline and the constant – though muffled – noise of the traffic outside. Thankfully none of this was really distracting in any way, so there was nothing really seriously impeding on the atmosphere of calm and the sweetness of summer, bringing with it one of those unique combinations of contrasts that Japan was so apt in providing.

Spreading out the blanket Sakaki had brought along, the two sat down and took a moment to admire the view opening in front of them.

"Wow… It's sure pretty out here," Kaori wondered out loud.

"Mmm… yes it is," Sakaki confirmed with a little dreaminess creeping into her voice, "I love this place. Particularly during the summer. It's so… nice."

"Ah… Yes, I see what you mean. So… you come here often then or…?" Kaori inquired, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yes. I actually do come here quite often when I want to relax a bit. This park to me is different to the shrine we were at earlier with the others. I go there when I want to meditate and not have anybody interrupt me from my thoughts, but… this place – has so many memories attached to it. It… well… it feels…" Sakaki said, searching for the proper words.

"Yeah?" Kaori urged.

"Oh… well… You'll probably just think it's stupid," Sakaki said a bit embarrassed.

"What? Why would I think that?" Kaori said with a faintly amused smile on her face.

"I mean… it's probably a little childish anyway…" Sakaki tried dismissing the thought she so carelessly had thrown out there.

"Oh, come on, Sakaki-san. You can't just leave it at that. Now… now I really want to know. Please, tell me. Please?" Kaori playfully begged, partly curious, partly somewhat amused at Sakaki's sudden bashful behaviour, and also partly in wanting to make her feel at least somewhat more comfortable in her desired path to becoming more open. "I promise I won't make fun of you. Hand on heart."

Sakaki gave a glance at Kaori's happily smiling face and, with a slight blush, said, "Well… it's just that… this place kind of… makes me feel like I'm… like I'm in a… a cradle." After that she blushed again and looked away in embarrassment. "A cradle… oh, that just sounded so… stupid. Kaori must think of me a complete fool for that," she thought in her head.

In response, Kaori just tilted her head slightly and asked in confirmation, "A cradle?"

"Um… yes… As in, this place just… kind of feels like… such a secure place. Where I can just… feel really comfortable at… like in a warm, comfortable bed… or like a cradle… you know…" Sakaki awkwardly tried to further explain.

"I see," was all Kaori was content at saying.

"I told you it was stupid," Sakaki said slightly dejected.

"No, no! Not at all," Kaori quickly said back when noticing Sakaki's changing mood, "I don't think it's stupid at all."

"You don't?" Sakaki asked as she again turned toward her smaller friend.

"No, of course not," Kaori assured. "In fact… I think I know exactly what you mean."

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Actually… I've got a place like this also, believe it or not."

Sakaki just looked on as Kaori continued.

"Yeah… I mean, it's not really as impressive as this place, but I've always felt that way about my bedroom."

"Your bedroom?" Sakaki deadpanned. Kaori felt her bedroom was like a cradle? Well… duh?

Kaori was quick to catch on to Sakaki's rather dumb expression, "No, I don't mean it like that! I mean it like… you know, like it's a… place where you can feel comfortable with yourself. Where… where you can just quiet down and feel safe. Relaxed… in harmony with yourself and your surroundings… well, you know what I'm talking about."

Sakaki's expression softened in quiet affirmation, the type only Sakaki could pull off without overwhelming either the serene or the happy element in her expression. Indeed, that was exactly what she had meant. Kaori seemed to have just perfectly wiggled into her mind and dressed her thoughts into exactly the right words that communicated her meaning to perfection without sounding silly or childish. Once again Sakaki could feel that odd sensation emanating from the stargirl that told of a deeper understanding that just felt so comfortable and inviting, and made Sakaki feel all the more happy in getting to know her better. Ever since Chiyo left, she had desired such a friend who'd understand her in this way, and even if such a comparison was probably a bit premature to make at this point, Sakaki's want to have somebody like that in her life made Kaori at least seem like just such a person.

"Sakaki-san? You okay?" Kaori asked after a moment of silence.

"Huh? Oh… Oh, yes… I'm… I'm fine," Sakaki said blinkingly, emerging from that small moment of getting lost in her thoughts.

"Had a nice trip?" Kaori asked in amusement.

"Oh… it was nothing… sorry. Say, what say we eat something? I've… umm… packed a bunch of stuff for us to enjoy," Sakaki said quickly, slightly embarrassed for phasing off like that, and started sifting through the contents of the picnic basket.

Pulling out a Tupperware jug of cool lemonade with a couple of cups, a bag of bread, some bread toppings, various small foods on the side and even some fruit, Kaori watched Sakaki pile more and more food out of the basket, making her feel a little awkward and wondering how much food Sakaki had actually brought along.

"Wow… Sakaki-san. You sure don't pack lightly when considering there's only two of us," Kaori said with a nervous smile.

Sakaki stopped and blushed. She had been so excited about the day, that she had just packed as much food along with her for variety's sake and never really stopped to think of their actual practical needs. "Oh, umm… sorry. I… ummm… I just wanted to be on the safe side and take a lot of food along if you should not like something or…"

"No, no, it's okay. I didn't mean it as a criticism or anything. I was just a bit surprised, that's all," Kaori quickly said in defence, adding a moment later, "In fact… I actually feel a bit bad for not bringing anything myself."

"Oh, don't be. I mean, I told you I would handle the food part, so that you wouldn't need to bother with it. This was my idea after all," Sakaki said back, not wanting Kaori to yet again feel dejected or somehow sad for some perceived wrongs she seemed to be prone to entertain.

"Yeah, I know, I know… but still, you going to all the trouble and expense to get all of this food and everything, I just feel like I should have contributed somehow too…" Kaori started, but Sakaki again gently, yet firmly interrupted her.

"No, Kaori, please. I don't mind at all, and it's been no bother either. I guarantee you. So you don't need to worry at all about any inconvenience to me," Sakaki assured, loading as much confidence in her face and words as she could muster.

Kaori, seeing Sakaki was serious, decided to give up the argument with a weak look of defeat and nodded her head with a small, "Okay. If you say it's okay."

Sakaki just smiled back warmly, her thoughts again returning to that almost helpless air Kaori could sometimes adopt, and which had been one of the sources of worry for Sakaki when concerning the meek girl. "You really do worry about other people's feelings quite a bit don't you?"

"What? Oh… umm… well maybe… somewhat… I guess… I mean, who wouldn't…" Kaori stammered slightly embarrassed at the clear implications behind this sudden remark.

"Like at the restaurant? What Yomi said for instance? About you wanting to pay your own food instead of having Yomi pay it herself?" Sakaki said gently.

"Oh, well… t-that was just… I just… well, felt a little… you know, wrong… in making Yomi pay for an extra guest… I-it just felt like the decent thing to do…" Kaori said meekly.

"Or trying to leave like that just so the rest of us could still enjoy ourselves?"

"Umh… well, I was the outsider, after all…" Kaori continued blushing, her self-consciousness starting to arise on top from all this supposed "nobility" of hers Sakaki was clearly trying to hint at. After all, she wasn't trying to be some kind of a girl scout, but just wanted to do what she saw as being the right thing to do. She hated the whole concept of freeloading, or being a bother to anyone, and did her utmost to not be a burden to others or a selfish beggar if she could help it.

Sakaki simply regarded the embarrassed countenance of Kaori for a moment before lifting her hand on Kaori's shoulder, startling the smaller woman to instantly lift her eyes to face her former idol's face. "You know, sometimes it's alright to be a bit selfish," Sakaki said in an understanding tone.

Kaori blinked at this statement a bit, not saying anything, as Sakaki continued, "You don't always have to worry about offending others feelings. Sometimes it's okay to accept other people wanting to do nice things for you without them expecting anything back."

Kaori wasn't really sure how to respond to this so she allowed Sakaki to continue just a bit more, "I was once like that. Or… well, maybe not exactly the same, but close at least. I was once so afraid of letting people close to me. To let them effect my life in a big way, or allow them to see too much of me… I suppose this was one of the reasons I also ended up feeling so lonely and found it difficult to let others approach me. In a way I guess I also ended up being afraid to allow people to show me kindness or unselfish friendship… which is not to say that you're like that or anything… it just kind of felt the same to me or something…" Sakaki hastily finished in fears of stereotyping Kaori into being somebody like herself.

Kaori looked at Sakaki a while more without still saying anything, before offering a slight, tender smile, "You know, it's not exactly the same thing."

"Oh… well, yes, I suppose it isn't…" Sakaki said a bit embarrassed.

"But I think I understand what you mean," Kaori finished.

"Ah… well… that's good then…" Sakaki said meekly.

"The human heart yearns for the touch of others. And nobody wants to be alone… I guess that's normal for anybody," Kaori said.

"Mmm… that's true… Anyway my point was just that you should allow other people to be unselfish to you too sometimes. Otherwise it sort of defeats the purpose of their unselfishness, right?" Sakaki said as a summary.

Kaori just chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I guess so."

Sakaki also shared the smile, glad to have made Kaori feel a bit more comfortable again, and with that in mind turned back to the basket, "And speaking of unselfish things… I have something special for you."

"Oh?" Kaori asked slightly puzzled.

Sakaki dug a little inside the basket, and triumphally uncovered a platter that she smilingly handed to Kaori, "Here."

Taking the plate from Sakaki, Kaori's eyes widened at the sight, "Salmon?"

"Mmm. I remember you saying that you liked salmon, so I thought you'd appreciate this," Sakaki explained.

"I love salmon," Kaori said, her eyes gleaming in delight at the sight of the thin slices of fish on the platter in her hands, "…But… isn't this a little unusual for a picnic dish?"

"Mmm… perhaps. But, then again, this is our picnic, so I think we can shape it to suit our tastes, don't you think?" Sakaki said back.

Kaori smiled back broadly, "Well, since you put it that way…" and the two shared a relieving small merry laugh.

– O –

Over the next hour, both Kaori and Sakaki simply enjoyed themselves as best they could, eating Sakaki's food and talking of work, art, entertainment, and generally what had been going on in their lives. Following all the moments of near disaster already that day (and in some way the past couple of weeks as well), it was clear they certainly welcomed the lightened atmosphere with alacrity and were both keen on maintaining it. Sakaki in particular was really enjoying this feeling of relaxed and long-overdue bonding as she thought of it as being. And, to help matters along even better, Sakaki once more noted that odd feeling of ease that seemed to be associated with the petite woman. Somehow it just felt so… safe and comfortable to be with her. Kaori didn't demand anything from her, and now that she was considerably more relaxed, and not so fidgety and nervous all the time – though those qualities never really seemed to completely disappear – she was also proving to be a nice conversationalist. Particularly when Sakaki brought up Kaori's astronomy work did she really seem to explode into life, talking excitedly and with abandon about stars and constellations and of the "fantastic scientific discovery she had made" that would be a milestone in the field of universal research. Sakaki admittedly didn't really understand a lot of that, but seeing how much it meant to Kaori, it didn't really matter to her at all, and for once it was just so nice to hear the normally shy woman being so fearless.

Sakaki especially noted that for a while that inexplicable melancholy that seemed to reflect in her eyes so often disappeared nearly completely. It still somewhat boggled Sakaki's mind what could possibly be bothering Kaori so much that the melancholy was such a constant in her being… not really layered at the top, but Sakaki could still see it just beneath the surface. Oh well, Sakaki supposed this would eventually open up to her in some revelation the better she got to know Kaori, but it probably wasn't wise to try and coax it out of her now when things were going so smoothly.

Kaori on her part was also enjoying herself to a degree she didn't know she would be. While still trying to somewhat hold up that barrier she used to protect herself from being swept away by Sakaki's undeniable graces, she also found herself to be a lot more at peace without needing to constantly beware of faltering down in tragedy. What surprised her was exactly how easy it was to talk to Sakaki. It was as if the gentle smiles and her non-intimidating behaviour were making things so much more easier for Kaori to just loosen up a bit and try to have fun. Sakaki certainly seemed so different now. In the past it was so hard to even say a word to her, let alone maintain a lengthy discussion before Kaori felt compelled to think she had overstayed her welcome. But now none of these feelings were really there at all, and Kaori was to her great surprise actually enjoying this companionship. Also the ease she found in talking with Sakaki was truly a relief, prompting her to consider that maybe those silly high school feelings of hers were finally starting to fade away. At least so she hoped was the case. It was odd how much time could change people or perceptions, but this seemed to have happened with Sakaki, and Kaori had to admit she liked it. In a friendly way, she added internally, as if needing to remind herself of not going any farther with these thoughts. And the platter of salmon certainly was a most positive addition to this day.

Having all but finished eating, Sakaki and Kaori were now winding down under the comforting brightness of the sun and the blue sky, descending into a thoughtful silence of introspection; Kaori lying down on the blanket and Sakaki sitting hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking somewhat reflective, as if caught in a deeper thought of something that had wiggled into her mind. Above the birds were chirping and the steady, low rumble of the pulsing city around them was creating an ambiance that was both a reminder of the never-ceasing life of Tokyo, yet at the same time also giving a strange sense of soothing calm that was neither disturbing nor offensive.

"It really is pretty out here…" Sakaki mumbled disconnectedly, earning a small glance from Kaori.

The latter woman turned her gaze back toward the sky and likewise mumbled an affirmative "Yeah… it is," while trying to peer through the veil of blue standing between her present location, and the vastness of the many galaxies beyond it, including her grand discovery… though her success was rather poor due to her unfortunate lack of telescope vision.

Sakaki tilted her head a bit backward when a small gust of wind blew in her face, making the strands of her long black hair sway in the breeze before the cooling breath disappeared again as quickly as it had appeared.

Beside them, ducks were waddling aimlessly around the edge of the pond and in search of something to eat.

"Say, Kaori…" Sakaki momentarily said in a subdued tone.

"Yeah?" Kaori asked as she again tilted her head slightly toward the sitting Sakaki.

Sakaki stayed quiet for a moment, before saying with a slight shake of her head, "…never mind."

Kaori kept her eyes at her raven-haired friend for a moment longer, seeing if Sakaki'd continue with whatever she was going to say, but seeing her apparently shrugging off the entire matter prompted Kaori to ask, "What is it, Sakaki-san? Is something the matter?"

"Oh… no. It was nothing at all. Just something I thought of… it's nothing important," she dismissed while seemingly focusing her eyes somewhere beyond the pond.

Kaori, though, wasn't that convinced it was nothing as she quietly gazed at Sakaki's eyes, that seemed to have adopted a small amount of introspective sadness to them. Surely something was not quite right with her, and it made Kaori worry somewhat considering how Sakaki's mood seemed to have taken a slightly downbeat tone almost out of nowhere, "Sakaki-san… if there's something bothering you, please tell me. I promise I'll listen."

Sakaki glanced at Kaori's sincere face for a second, but turned her eyes back toward the pond, "Thank you for the concern, Kaori… but really, it's nothing at all."

"Please, Sakaki-san. I wish you didn't try to hide your troubles like that. I can see something's on your mind. Something troubling. You know it could make you feel better if you just told me what it is. Please?" Kaori gently coaxed.

Sakaki hesitated a moment more, but seemed to cave in finally, "I was just thinking… do you ever think you'll find that someone special to share your life with?"

"W-what!?" Kaori choked, not really expecting a question like that.

"I mean… It was just something that I wondered… As in is there any truth in what people say that everybody has somebody in this world they belong with? A… soul mate or something…?" Sakaki said somewhat melancholically.

"Umm… well… I guess… maybe… I… I don't know really…" Kaori stammered, being a bit lost for proper words.

Sakaki sighed deeply, "It's nothing, really. Just a thought I've sometimes entertained… That you may walk your entire life on this planet and never chance to find that one person to feel… whole with. Happy with… to share your secrets and trust with… You know, just somebody to… to… maybe… just c-cuddle up with… or something… maybe you see what I mean. I… I guess it sounds a little silly… But after all this time of not having anybody like that… It kind of would just be… nice. It would be nice… to experience. Not to mention it seems at times like I've almost been left off the relationship train that makes me wonder about it more often than usual recently. I guess that's all really," Sakaki quietly spoke, her face turning redder by the moment, while keeping her gaze directed straight in front of her.

Kaori listened mutely as Sakaki's words bombarded into her with a quiet efficiency. Why was Sakaki suddenly bringing this issue out? Soul mates and special someones and cuddles… just the thoughts Kaori wanted to avoid with Sakaki… not to mention it brought once more to the surface her own pitiful loneliness she rather didn't want to think about.

"And I guess I'm also just a little jealous of the others," Sakaki added.

"The others?"

"Mmm… like Osaka's already found hers and they're very happy together… And I've heard from Chiyo that she's seeing some American boy… Max I think she said his name is. Even Tomo, Yomi and Kagura have had better success than me… I just… would like to get to experience the same… even once…" Sakaki said as she fell silent, turned her gaze to her side slightly embarrassed at what she had just said and instead focused her eyes on the ducks wandering nearby.

Kaori looked at Sakaki a moment longer as she stopped talking, feeling a small element of understanding enveloping her for their similar situations in life. Kaori had to admit that she too was lonely as Sakaki apparently was, and she too would have liked to have someone special like that beside her. Just someone to fill an empty void she knew was there, but which she tried to reason away with cold logic. Yet at the end of the day, what did she really have? Astronomy and a cold, empty apartment. Was that enough? Kaori had to wonder.

Turning her head away from Sakaki to hide her own growing blush – though Sakaki wasn't exactly looking at her anyway – Kaori started talking in a hushed tone, seemingly more to herself than to the other woman, "I think I can understand that, Sakaki-san… It's not silly at all. I… I guess I can sympathise with what you said. After all, it's not like my love life is really all that active either. Not that I can't be happy alone, but… maybe it would be nice to have somebody like you described. Just so you could… share your problems with someone. Or your moments of happiness. Or to have somebody wrap their arms around you and keep you warm during evenings… Just to love someone and be loved back… To feel the closeness of another human being… to long to trust somebody you can consider your own, and with whom to share your life's situations with. I… I guess it's not very scientific, but… well…I suppose some things in life aren't supposed to be. I don't know… Whether you'll find your soul mate I suppose is a question of perception… Mathematically the odds are probably against you… but… I think sometimes you just need to trust in fate. Or just keep on hoping… even against hope… maybe the dreamers can get lucky sometimes…"

Descending into a slight apathetic state, Kaori stopped talking, still facing away from Sakaki, and feeling the years seemingly just piling over her body second by second. Lonely years filled with empty hopes and ruined dreams with no promise for better… no matter how much she rationally tried to deny the existence of these feelings. It all was just overwhelmed by a future that seemed to promise as little change as the past had given her reason to expect it. Was that truly all there was ever going to be, Kaori sadly thought. She hoped not, but she couldn't rationally close the possibility away completely, either. Her moment of depressive apathy, however, didn't last very long as she forcefully reminded herself of where she was, perking up as much as she could, and turning her head back toward Sakaki, "But never mind… I'm sure you'll… you'll… huh?"

To Kaori's infinite surprise, where she had expected to again meet the imposing façade of Sakaki, she instead was faced with… nothing. Sakaki wasn't there. A bit puzzled, Kaori sat up and looked around her. Indeed, it didn't take a lot of searching to spot Sakaki having moved away from the blanket, and being now seemingly walking toward the pond for some reason – though hunched down and with an extended arm, curiously enough, as if she had suddenly decided to indulge in some kind of ex tempore performance art.

"What's she doing…?" Kaori asked herself before calling out to Sakaki, "Sakaki-san! What are you doing? Where are you going? Sakaki-san!"

Sakaki didn't seem to hear, though, as her attention was now entirely absorbed by the wobbling duck moving in front of her, clearly heading toward the safety of water. Trying to not spook the bird, Sakaki moved as slowly as the duck while trying to reach out her hand to touch it. Sakaki had petted many animals in her life thanks to her pet shop, but she had never been able to try out a duck, and every past attempt had always been met with failure. She didn't really care about possible germs, the idea truthfully not really crossing her mind at the moment, as she just wanted to quickly touch it to see how it felt like. To just gently graze that fascinating looking cover the bird had. "Please… wait…" she tried to telepathically send out, but the bird didn't seem to hear or understand.

Then, just like always, the edge of the pond was there, and the duck promptly jumped in. Not wanting to be faced with another failure so close, Sakaki reached her hand further over the edge, trying to even slightly brush the silky-looking feathers of the duck that now hovered just inches beyond her reach. So far did she reach that finally the expected happened and she ended up loosing her balance, teetering on the edge of the water, while trying to regain her lost equilibrium as gravity was inexorably pulling her in the other direction.

Kaori had been observing all of this somewhat confused, but seeing Sakaki in danger of falling in the pond, she was suddenly zapped with some hidden energy as she immediately got up and raced to her rescue without a second thought, "Sakaki-san!!" Reaching her just as Sakaki was about to flounder over the edge, Kaori managed to luckily grab Sakaki's shirt… only to have the laws of physics finally win over the battle a fraction of a second later, causing both girls to yell out and then fall head first into the water in a splashy heap.

– O –

Walking down the street was not the most reassuring moment either of the two women had ever experienced. Having rather thoroughly been drenched from top to bottom, they had decided best to just wrap up the whole picnic thing and head on back home again. And even if the sun was shining down on them warmly, it wasn't sweltering enough to dry either of them up any time soon, so fearing the possibility of a cold was enough to make them rather not risk it and sought rather to get dry clothing as soon as possible.

However, this wasn't actually the most pressing reason to choose this mode of action for the two women… or perhaps not so much for Sakaki, than it was for Kaori. You see, as much as Sakaki's denim shorts and similar sleeveless top were uncomfortable to wear wet, Kaori's soaked dress had the unfortunate side effect of turning rather… transparent.

It was assuredly embarrassing to the ninth degree to let everybody have pretty much free visibility through her garments and not really being able to do anything about it. Certainly Kaori didn't really like parading her body around the streets like that and did her best to try and hide behind Sakaki's tall body, but it was definitely not a very effective or reassuring cover. Now Kaori wished they had taken the car instead of having walked there, her face having adopted a consistent beet colour all throughout that wasn't about to go away anytime soon.

After as brisk a walk as they could safely manage without drawing too much attention to themselves, the two arrived at Kaori's apartment. Kaori was quick to get up the steps to her front door to open it, while Sakaki followed in her trail.

"Please, come in," Kaori invited as she got the door open as Sakaki reached the top, both women unhesitatingly stepping inside the safety of the house. "Whaaaauh!! Safe at last!" Kaori exclaimed in relief.

"Mmm…" Sakaki simply responded.

Without wasting much time in getting out of her embarrassing dress as quickly as possible, Kaori quickly excused herself, bidding Sakaki to make herself comfortable, and promptly disappeared into her bedroom.

Sakaki, though, was left somewhat oddly uncomfortable alone there in Kaori's living room as she didn't quite know what she should in actuality do to make herself comfortable. Should she sit down? Her clothes were still very damp due to the denim being rather absorbant material so maybe that wouldn't be exactly a good idea. Then should she just stand around? Seemed kind of aimless. Or maybe pretend to do something or look around some… maybe…

But before Sakaki managed to reach a satisfying resolution, Kaori emerged from her private quarters, now dressed in a simple T-shirt and shorts, while carrying a bundle of other clothing in her arms.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," she said amicably.

Sakaki just nodded dismissingly as Kaori continued, "I've got some extra change for you as well. I figured you'd probably like to put on something drier…"

"Oh, no. Really, Kaori, I'm fine…" Sakaki tried to dismiss the need.

"No, no, it's no bother at all. I'd be happy to borrow something of my own. Look. Here's a T-shirt that's a bit over-sized for me, but should fit you pretty well… and here's a skirt that goes all the way down to my ankles, so it should be good on you since our waists aren't really that different in size… Umm… I don't think my underwear's really fitting on you, though…" Kaori said blushing.

"No no no! That's… that's fine… I… I'll bare the… the wet underwear…" Sakaki interrupted equally embarrassed at the thought.

"O-okay…" Kaori said meekly as she handed Sakaki the dry clothing. Sakaki graciously accepted them and upon Kaori's beckoning retreated to the bedroom Kaori had previously been changing clothing at.

A few minutes later Sakaki emerged herself, now wearing Kaori's clothes that were over-sized enough to fit on the taller woman without seeming too small on her.

"Ah, do the clothes feel good, Sakaki-san?" Kaori asked as Sakaki stepped into the room.

"Mmm… they're fine," Sakaki responded, "Thank you for lending them to me."

"Oh, no problem at all. I'm glad to be able to help," Kaori beamed. "Chocolate milk?"

"Oh, thank you," Sakaki said as she accepted the drink Kaori had quickly prepared during Sakaki's absence and, after taking a small sip from the glass, added a bit more regretfully, "And… let me just apologise to you one more time, Kaori."

"Ah, no. It's… it's all right. You don't need to apologise," Kaori reassured.

"Yes I do. It was my fault we had to cut our picnic short like that. Not to mention the discomfort you had to go through on the way back…" Sakaki said with shame in her voice.

"Please, Sakaki-san. Don't worry about it. I'm not angry at you or anything. It's all okay," Kaori said weightily before Sakaki grudgingly accepted to not blame herself… too much.

Seating themselves down on the sofa, they sipped their drinks for a while in silence, neither really knowing what to say, before Kaori cautiously inquired, "Sakaki-san? Are… are you okay?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes… I wasn't injured in any way."

"No, I mean… before that. You just seemed a bit… out of it back at the park. You know… just before the swim."

"Oh…" Sakaki blushed, "I'm sorry about that… I guess… maybe I just phased off there for a moment. I didn't really mean to do that."

"You sure? I mean, you want to talk about it some more?" Kaori asked sincerely.

Sakaki simply offered a reassuring smile and said, "No, it is all right. Sometimes I just think of things that may put me off a bit… but I'm fine now, really. Sorry for making you worry."

Kaori thought to question her a bit more, but decided against it as she didn't really want to face those same depressing questions again right now, instead opting to just gently smile back and say, "It's okay, Sakaki-san. It was no problem at all. Oh, and you know – just as a side note now that I thought about it – you really should learn to try not to apologise to me so much."

"Umm… yes… Sorry… ah… oh, sorry… no… ah… umm… I mean…" Sakaki mumbled, seemingly not being able to escape from the "sorry" limbo.

Kaori simply smiled back and, hearing Sakaki stumbling about in her words, gave a happy giggle at the amusingness of it all, and shortly thereafter drawing Sakaki into the laughter as well, "What'd I just say?"

"Guess it's just in my nature," Sakaki concluded good-humouredly.

Kaori accepted this with a smile and, after another small sip of her cool drink, added, "But I did have a good time today. Thank you for taking me out like this, Sakaki-san."

"Mmm… It's alright. I figured you could use it. Particularly after the last couple of weeks," Sakaki said.

"Very considerate of you. It did do me good to unwind a little. I get to do so little of these sorts of things that anything like this is a thing to cherish," Kaori said happily.

"Mmm… I'm glad to hear that."

"In fact, it almost makes me want to return the favour in someway."

"Oh, really, you don't need to…" Sakaki panicked, not wanting to be a bother to her obviously busy friend.

"No, no. I want to. It'd be the least I could do after you've been so kind to me these past few days. And actually I think I have the perfect idea how to repay to you, too," Kaori said back, putting on a somewhat sly smile.

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Yes, I do. Sakaki-san… How would you like to… come see the Triad with me next Saturday?" Kaori slowly said, emphasising the message she wanted to convey.

"What?" Sakaki asked puzzled.

"You know. Join me at the observatory. How about it?"

"Umm… I don't want to be any trouble…"

"You won't be. I assure you. Besides… this is an event of a lifetime. I guarantee you'll never see anything like this again. I know if it was offered to me I'd take it without hesitation."

"You're an astronomer. Of course you would," Sakaki mentioned sarcastically.

"…Well… even so. Come on, Sakaki-san. I know you'll like it. I promise it'll be something you will never forget. And you'd get the best seat in the house, not afforded to just anybody," Kaori said compellingly.

Sakaki hesitated a moment longer, but then opted to give a smile and said, "Well… I suppose it would be rude of me to say no to such a gracious invitation. And I guess it might be very interesting… All right. If you're sure it'll be okay."

"It won't be a problem. And I'm sure you'll love it. Kaori's word of honour," Kaori finished, forming the victory sign with her fingers.

– O –

At 3.47 pm, seven girls stand in line at the bus stop and dance the stomp.