I will neither agree nor disagree with you
Eight years has passed and Yuriko has hardly changed. Muroto spots her in a crowded Japanese bar in Tokyo. He'll be giving lectures at Tokyo University over Hologram programming. He's made a considerable amount of money doing so and it's been eight years since they split ways. Yuriko told him that she didn't need him anymore, it had been a lie but she told him that she wanted him to live his life how he wanted and she didn't need him checking on her anymore.
"Mifune." Muroto said and tugged on her shirt.
"You little imp, it took you forever to come over here and talk to me. Too busy ogling the college girls?" Mifune asked, Muroto shrugged and sat down across from her.
"It's nice to see you too, Mifune."
"Hmph," She said and turned her nose up then folded her arms across her chest. "You look great, Muroto." She managed to spit out before going back to pouting.
"What is it, you can only pout for so long. For some reason you refuse to breath while you pout." Muroto said, he snapped his fingers and signaled over a waitress who took their orders.
"You never invited me to the wedding. I thought we were… I thought I was your…"
"Best friend?" Muroto asked, "No need to worry, no one was invited because the wedding was canceled."
"And why are you just telling me!" Yuriko exclaimed and slammed her hand down on the table drawing a bit of attention. A few college students walked up and began to interrupt Yuriko, she helped up her hand silencing them. "I am talking to my friend, you can wait your turn." Yuriko dragged him out of the tight cafe before they even managed to get their drinks. "Poor Muroto, was she an evil witch?"
"We just grew apart, it happens. It happened to us." Muroto said and then kicked a rock. He didn't want to talk about what happened with Sasha.
"It never happened to us." Yuriko said as she walked with him down the streets.
"It did, Yuriko." Muroto said, she stopped walking and turned to stare at him. "It's been eight years."
"Yes, we grew as people but you never stopped being my friend."
"I neither agree nor disagree with you." Muroto said in his deadpan voice.
"How dare you, Muroto!" Yuriko said, "I sent you postcards, letters, emails and-"
"When?" Muroto asked, she stumbled backwards and looked up at the sky. "What is it? Why are you being so dramatic?"
"You never got my letters? Or phone calls or…"
"No…" Muroto said, he spoke slowly but knew it was a mistake. As soon as he spoke she fled down the street running through the crowd ignoring his shouts. He didn't like raising his voice but did so and it hadn't stopped her. In the sea of black and brows he was unable to find a tall woman with light blue hair.
He found Yuriko in a park. From the camera feeds he saw that it showed that she might have stopped here. Muroto's conclusion was corrected he found her sitting on a park bench alone in the dark of night.
"What did the letter say?" Muroto asked while sitting beside her on the bench, of course his feet hung over the edge high above the ground as always. It was something others teased him for but never Yuriko. As always he never teased too much but he was generally curious what could make her run away from him.
"Doesn't matter." She said and kicked a rock near her foot. Unlike most times that she pouted this time she was breathing.
"I neither agree nor disagree with you," Muroto said, "But it's bothering you."
"I confessed everything. My feelings for you, how I wanted things to turn out like Manabe and Haruka." Yuriko said, he could see she was crying but didn't say anything. "I tried to be coy for years but you never… I just thought… after the letters and messages that you didn't want anything to do with me."
"You're my childhood friend." Muroto said and scooted closer to her, "Besides, I always thought you were a strange."
"I can't believe you..." Yuriko said and then hung her head in shame. "You don't hate me, do you?"
"No, I don't hate you." Muroto said while hopping down off the park bench. Yuriko wiped her eyes and stood up and began to walk beside him as they left the park. "Besides, who knows it probably would have been you and I getting married.
"WHAT?! Are you serious, Muroto? That makes me feel worse!" Yuriko said, her shoulders slumped and she began to drag her feet.
"Wait, you don't still have those feelings for me, do you?" Muroto asked, Yuriko ran away from him crying the entire way and leaving him on the outside of the park. "What I wouldn't give to read minds right now. Wait! I'll call Haruka, see if she can make sense of this."
Author's Note: I binge watched this cute little anime and was saddened to see it wasn't one of the more popular ones. I was really drawn to the secondary pairing of Yuriko & Muroto. It was super cute, thanks for reading.