Editing White Album 2 Omake/Story03/Chapter 2 (section)

==2==

"Well, having said that, the end of the term's already over~!"<br />
"What's with the ''"having said that"'' anyway...?"<br />
"Sweepy..."<br />
"......... grr..."

''"Having said that"'' now...

The term exams stormed through in an instant, and finally ended with English on Thursday, today.

"... you're again talking down on me quite a bit, Haruki. You planning to go out with a bang and hit the top on all subjects?"<br />
"Like I can do something that doesn't have such bang for buck... obviously I'm going for average here."<br />
"Well now, you're already sleeping. And randomly talking gibberish."<br />
"I had a lot of stuff to deal with. Graduating is a quite a bit to handle... and also, I'm awake."

The cafeteria had fewer students than usual. There were four people seated at one of the tables, liberated from the exams.

Haruki, "self-proclaimed" best friend Iizuka Takeya, bad company "both in name and reality" Mizusawa Io, and...

"... zzz..."<br />
"... you should wake up soon, Patrasche<ref name="dog">From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dog_of_Flanders A Dog of Flanders]</ref>. You'll freeze to death."<br />
"Mmm...?"

Kazusa, who was fast asleep already being called to God, was beside Haruki as he rubbed his eyes, having used up all his strength.

"Touma-san, you've been out of it recently haven't you? In a lot of ways."<br />
"Hey Haruki, I know you've been the enemy of 90% of the men during the school festival, but you're pretty aggressive to be picking a fight with the remaining 10%..."

The two spoke up, astonished at this spectacle of a defenseless Kazusa. She placed her head on her boyfriend's shoulder in complete relaxation, Haruki taking it naturally.

Io and Takeya were aware of the details. This scene was mostly seen by the class E students as if it were a puppy that were playing around. Though those sentiments were rather empty.

"Come on, don't stare if you're so sleepy. I'll give you a handkerchief..."<br />
"Who the hell is Patrasche<ref name="dog" />? And besides, not like I'd sleep with this guitar player who's so tone-deaf. Even if he got a picture of Rubens<ref="dog" />, it'd be a calculation sheet instead."

Leaving such a belch on their words, unlike what she usually did, the puppy would wake up, not think of a single thing, and just sleep until the day after tomorrow.

"Even if I go to take everything at the Touma household, I won't send you anything. I'll just take it for myself and live happily."<br />
"What do you call that... you really are a depressing guy, Haruki."

The two felt a little helpless and even more sick to their stomach, seeing her snore ''"zzzzzz... zzzzzzz..."'' like that.

"Well, doesn't matter if you're hiding your own embarrassment, but shouldn't you wake her up soon?"<br />
"No one's doing that. Besides, she's..."<br />
"Setsuna-chan should be heading back here right about now..."<br />
"........."<br />
"........."

It was as if Takeya remembered, but when he chose to mention it was at his own discretion. At the same time, the entire table immediately returned to the previous atmosphere.

"Ah~, you guys are here! Sorry to keep you waiting~"

Indeed, as estimated, Setsuna came calling within ten seconds.


----


"Artists seem to have some different kind of sense from normal people I hear."<br />
"Hmm?"

The closing party for the exams was something she insisted on, at {{Furigana|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;her home turf&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|the karaoke in front of the station}}.

Setsuna led everyone there, and along the way, Io caught up to her. She made sure that no one could hear them talk as they entered the shopping district in front of the station.

"That girl, you know, she seems a lot like a child, doesn't she?"<br />
"She's really cute, isn't she~"<br />
"Well, I guess... my impression of her changed a lot since I first met her."<br />
"That'd be well... because of girls often doing ''that''."<br />
"Yes, ''that', ''that''..."

''That'' being "if they fall in love"...

... indeed, no one would hear them say such embarrassing things, but even so the two could understand exactly what the other wanted to say.

"How should I put it, there's so many things you could tease them about, it's a bit troubling~"<br />
"Yeah, I get that. She won't get the jokes... if it's about a specific topic."

Kazusa had dramatically changed within the span of a month.

She'd react strongly to {{Furigana|&nbsp;a particular topic&nbsp;|anything about Haruki}}. If one had to provide examples, she'd quickly get angry, suddenly get embarrassed, immediately become stubborn, and then it's as if she might cry.

It brought back some uncomfortable feelings to Io, with people teasing her going ''"nyaah, nyaah~"'' back in primary school.

"She really is so pure, so serious......... and so precious, I think."<br />
"......... y, yeah~. Umm. Look. Don't get yourself down."

Incidentally now, she happened to realize that Setsuna stepped on a landmine that would make her uncomfortable for different reasons.

"Come on now, I'm not depressed or anything."

At the very least, Setsuna should have realized her own feelings, though she didn't know if anyone else noticed or didn't notice.

"Besides, I was rejected, you know?"<br />
"Setsuna..."<br />
"I didn't follow your advice, Io... no, even if I did, the result would have ended up the same. I completely lost to Kazusa."

:''"He's really serious, you know, so it's better if you hurry."''

"Even so, I think the way things ended is for the best."

Though this end was what Io feared.

But it seemed to be something that Setsuna wished for.

"Because this was the best choice so that the three of us could be together."<br />
"The three of you... huh."<br />
"Haruki-kun's so kind to me even now, and I finally became Kazusa's best friend."

Yes, Setsuna and Kazusa became best friends.

The week following the school festival, on the rooftop in the evening.

:''"Can I... can I call you Kazusa?"''
:''"Ogiso..."''
:''"......... let's try again."''
:''"......... Setsuna...!"''

"So I'm fine now, okay?"

Just like that time, when Kazusa cried like a child.

Just like that time, when Setsuna smiled a little devilishly.

"The two of them granted my wish, after all."<br />
"I see."<br />
"Yup, they did."

The two of them vowed to be together as three.

Though they left out one guy in this, but Setsuna understood that.

"Then, be sure to hang in there, Setsuna."<br />
"There's nothing to do about that~, come on! I'm having the happiest and best time of my life, so why should I stop?"

That would be called a future that one person desired...

"Then it's fine... well, if anything happens, just ask us. We'll hear if you have complaints or whatever."<br />
"... Io, you make it sound like you're an outsider, you know?"<br />
"Well, because I..."<br />
"You guys have other problems that you need to get cleared up, right? It's like you can't get ahead at all, even after six years."<br />
"Wha...!?"

Setsuna fired back at her, demonstrating a thorough understanding of what Io meant by ''"one person other than us"''.

"If anything happens with that, you can come join our group. Do your best until it's just the two of you. Ah, if you have any complaints, I'll hear them out."<br />
"H-Hey, Setsuna...!"<br />
"Spring won't come for me... such a new school term isn't so bad, you know?"

She gave a wink to the dumbfounded Io who stood there, without letting the guys notice.

"Come on~, hurry up, hurry up! Service time for the day ends at 6 PM, you know~!"

And then Setsuna left Io there, speeding away.

"Hey, how many hours does she plan on singing for...?"

Finally murmuring an interjection to herself, Setsuna no longer showed her that wink.

Setsuna had delicately changed within the span of a month.

She felt like she had broken down a wall that had been there until now. For example, she became a little more chatty, mischievous, nosy, and she always smiled.

"Setsuna, you..."

Io continued to murmur quietly to herself, not really talking to anyone anymore.

"You became a little more of an adult."

Did she naturally become like that, or was it necessary for her?

Was it proof that she had grown, or was it the result of losing something?

There was no way for Io to tell.


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===Notes===
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