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“Why did you call me here?” Riko asked, wondering why Yoshiko had called her to the location along the sea where they had first confessed their love to each other. It was a cold day in January’s frost, and they would usually meet together under a kotatsu in one of their houses if they wanted to meet together.
Yoshiko’s face was solemn; she looked at the ground as if she was ashamed of a past deed. She shook her head before lifting it up and speaking. “I hate to be the herald to shout ‘misfortune’ to her fellows and followers; unfortunately, little demon Riri, I, the great fallen angel Yohane, am compelled to tell you something momentous.”
A small sense of unease welled up in Riko’s mind, wondering what Yoshiko could be referring to. “What are you talking about Yocchan?”
“I’m sorry, little demon Riri … I’m afraid my romantic feelings for you have been carried away by winter’s breeze.”
“You don’t mean ….”
Yoshiko bowed ninety degrees as a sign of the sincereness of her apology. “I’m sorry, Riri … but I do mean it.”
“Let us part ways on good terms then, Yocchan,” Riko said. Walking away, she used her scarf to wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes. Sniffling, she looked back at Yoshiko; the girl was still bowing, enduring the blistering cold that swept through Numazu. She found a feather on the ground and picked it up, lifting it to the sun, which was almost shielded from vision by the weather conditions. “Here’s to the preservation of our mutual respect and continued friendship, Yocchan … I hope that this doesn’t turn into anything worse.”
“Good practice, everyone! I expect that we’ll have the songs down in no time, and we’ll have mastered them by the time our live show rolls around!” Dia said, picking up her water bottle.
“Well, goodbye, everyone! It’s my turn to help Shiitake, and You promised to help me, so we’ll both be off! Bye bye!” Chika said, waving as she and You walked out of Uranohoshi.
“I believe Mari and I have some documents to sort out regarding the state of Uranohoshi, meaning we’ll have to leave; I hope she does her fair share of work,” Dia said, intensely glaring at Mari.
“It’s joke~,” Mari said.
“If you spent as much time working as you did pulling off your ‘jokes,’ maybe we’d actually get something done,” Dia said, pulling Mari away. “Also, Kanan, could you accompany Ruby home? She had to go home early, and I don’t want her to go home alone.”
“Sure thing.”
Six of the girls had already left, leaving Hanamaru, Riko, and Yoshiko. Riko felt a pain in her stomach, churning and turning her insides into jelly and glue. This is terrible, she thought. Do I have diarrhea? “I’m sorry, my stomach hurts a lot; I’m going to go to the bathroom before leaving.”
“Alright, Riri,” Yoshiko replied, waving goodbye.
Riko stumbled, making her way to the bathrooms at Uranohoshi. On the rooftop, Yoshiko and Hanamaru were having a conversation. “Zuramaru? Can we go to the club room? I want to talk to you about something important.”
“Sure; what is it, zura?”
“I’ll tell you at the club room.” They walked to the club room together, filling the hallways with their idle chatter. They navigated the hallways of Uranohoshi, worry filling Yoshiko’s head. What if she doesn’t like me back? She violently shook her head, attracting some attention from Hanamaru, though she brushed it off as an anomaly.
“What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Yoshiko-chan?”
Yoshiko gulped; the critical moment had arrived. Should I brush it off as a request that I now want to retract? Or should I tell her my true feelings? “Zuramaru … I’ve been wanting to tell you something.”
Hanamaru’s ears perked up, wondering what Yoshiko had in store. “What is it, Yoshiko-chan? Why do we need to be in the club room?”
“It’s about my feelings, Zuramaru,” Yoshiko said. Hanamaru nodded, taking a snack out of her bag, slowly munching on it as if Yoshiko’s future statement captured her interest more than her snack, a good sign for Yoshiko. “Ever since my breakup with Riri … for a while after our split, I was devastated; however, a while after, I discovered that I had feelings for you. Zuramaru … will you accept the great fallen angel Yohane’s feelings?”
Hanamaru’s face brightened, her neutral feelings turning to ecstasy; she had felt something towards Yoshiko for a large part of high school; she traced the origins of her feelings back to their earlier days in kindergarten. “Of course, Yoshiko-chan,” she said, forgetting her normal “zura.” “I wholeheartedly accept your feelings for me, and I return them,” she finished.
Yoshiko cried tears of joy, jumping onto the shorter girl. “Thank you … little demon Zuramaru.” The two of them shared a moment together, both of them joyful in their newly found companionship.
In the bathroom, Riko had let one last painful groan out; she had finished her stomachache off. Thankfully, it’s gone now; I’ll go retrieve my stuff, she thought. Walking out of the stall, she hummed a happy tune; after all, she had just rid herself of stomach pain.
When she made it to the club room, she was shocked by the sight that awaited her; she thought of it as the treachery of the highest degree. Yoshiko and Hanamaru were hugging, embracing themselves in a way that Yoshiko had rarely embraced her. She watched from the door, looking through the open slit that represented a window, painfully watching them engage in skinship. Yocchan … where did I fail where Hanamaru succeeded? Please tell me; I’m desperate to know. I want to know what I can do to have you back again. Her trance was broken when she felt a tear drop hit her eye; she was crying, and she had just realized it.
Unable to take the sight of her ex-girlfriend displaying affection to someone else, she barged into the room, opening the door with a loud bang. “Ah, little demon Riri!” Yoshiko shouted, startled that someone had discovered her and Hanamaru.
“Ah, no need to worry; I saw your whole act, but I won’t tell anyone. I’m just here to grab my stuff and leave,” Riko said, stifling sobs. She saw Hanamaru and Yoshiko clearly sigh in relief, indicating that there was some spice and chemistry between them. “Though, I don’t think we need to do that anymore,” she said, pointing at Yoshiko.
“What do you mean, Riri?” Yoshiko asked, a puzzled look on her face.
“We don’t need those nicknames anymore,” she said. Breathing in and sucking in her tears and fears, she made sure to emphasize her last word with as much force and spite as possible, even though she still held romantic feelings for the target of her anger. “ Yoshiko. ”