This story is something I've toyed with in my head for a little while. Shizune's bad ending seems to be very final in the way it shows things between the three friends. The trio have broken up beyond repair. However, it does open up a lot of possibilities for Misha and the development of her character. I'm one of those people that thinks Shizune's bad ending could be the triggering point for Misha's story to begin. They never gave Misha a route in the game, after all.

With all that said, let us begin exploring that idea. Please note that sign language sections will be written in bold text!

Cloudy Skies

"I need to be away from people. It's best that I wipe the slate clean," Those were the last words Shizune signed. It signalled the end of her relationship with a man that she had come to care for greatly for over the recent months.

Hisao felt his heart tighten with guilt as he cast his eyes back for a moment. There was little in the way of happiness to be felt in terms of how this situation played out. Shizune sat there on the steps behind the main school building; her eyes cold and lonely, while her expression remained ever distant with a hint of pain. For the first time in forever, she looked truly cut off from the rest of the world. Misha was not there to sign for her. Likewise, she had told Hisao moments before that they were breaking up.

There was no way Nakai; as his dark brown hair fluttered in the cool morning breeze, could entirely except the situation that had just played out before his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look at his ex-girlfriend for a moment longer... The young highschool student tore himself away. His feet moved further away from Miss Hakamichi, but there was conflict within those footsteps of his. They remained slow in their pace and hesitant in their execution.

He stopped, simply and abruptly, and his feet anchored into the ground, it was a mostly subconscious decision made within his mind, one the forefront of his brain didn't agree with. He made small adjustments to his collar as his body turned around to face the silent young woman for a second time.

"You say you want to be away from people like we mean nothing to you," Hisao spoke bitterly as his gaze beamed with frustration. His words were not signed, and it was certainly on purpose.

It was an expression of sheer anger that Shizune was far too distracted to even pick up on. Likewise, his hateful words were destined to fall upon deaf ears anyway. The young man spoke out of spite. It was the only way he could try and vent some of the pain he felt at being discarded.

Even with his ailing health; his brown orbs focused like daggers; his heart wracked with pangs of both discomfort and emotional pain, brought his stinging brown eyes down upon the limply dangling cat plush that flopped out of the top of Shizune's bag…. The blue-eyed beauty was still too far disengaged within her own thoughts to notice Hisao's expressions; his gestures, or the fact that he was now standing over her once more.

Slowly, painstakingly, the young Japanese man brought his hands down to grip Shizune by the shoulders. It was not a tight hold by any means. It was simply a hold with enough shock value to bring her back the same reality within which the rest of mankind was located. When she brought her sapphire blue gaze up to meet him, there was a flare of something in her semi-vacant stare that the young man had never seen before.

The ocean blue eyes of Miss Hakamichi bore such deep uncertainty. Though she would not admit it on her own accord right now, she truly felt alone and vulnerable. Such an expression was something that her now ex-boyfriend never expected he would see in his life. The sheer weight of it, the significance of what it meant, was enough to make Nakai's selfish anger dissolve in but an instant…

All the while, Shizune bore a look of deep surprise upon her face because of the way the man she had just dumped, was holding her. The young lady of deep blue hair remained motionless; her face slightly flushed, and her aura holding a projection of deep sadness. There was silence for a time that resembled eternity. Shizune would not move her hands, and likewise, Nakai would not release his grip upon her shoulders.

"You're not to blame for this," Hisao muttered softly. His gaze remained locked on the floor to hide his guilty expression.

The young gentleman released his grip upon the young woman quickly, upon which he simply brought his hands up to her line of sight. Slowly; heavily and shakily, he began signing something to the student council president.

'This isn't your fault, Hakamichi," he signed slowly with intent behind his gestures, "I don't expect you to forgive my lack of honesty, but I at least want you to know that you aren't the one to blame."

Shizune felt doubtful in her heart about the words that were getting signed to her. Her body language remained near enough unreadable. In the end however, she gave a simply deep nod of acknowledgement to the young man stood before her.

In what might well have been the last time he would see her alone until the end of school, Hisao took a moment to let things out, "I'm grateful for all the time we spent together. You're kind, and determined… and there's a part of me that will always care for you, Misha too."

His limit had been reached. Staying any longer was something Hisao wasn't able to do. The fear of his emotions, his sadness; his pain; his regrets, they were about to come pouring out. In order to preserve what shreds of manly pride he had left, which weren't much, he turned his back and gave a dismissive wave to Shizune.

He laughed dryly to himself. Bitter resentment of his current situation coursed through his very being. True contempt for the self was raging within Hisao, "I'm such a bastard," the young gent uttered with the knowledge that his former love would not hear.

Alas, he walked away. His feet did not stop for a second time…. All the while, the seconds just moved in slow motion for the young deaf girl. Each moment of watching Nakai Hisao walk out of sight, it was so very hurtful… For the briefest moment, her fingers on her right hand became outstretched, as if she was reaching out for him. He did not look back, and she likewise did not pursue.

"Uhh," a low uttering of sadness slipped free from Shizune's mouth. Her face became hidden behind her upraised shirt sleeve. Something had to hide the tears.

No sleep graced Hisao that night. His mind was quite simply in overdrive. Minutes ticked by on the clock rather sluggishly. Nothing could excuse the actions that the young adult had partaken in.

"….I'm so indecisive. After all this t-"

The door quietly bumped a few times, perhaps to symbolize somebody quietly knocking at this late stage of the night. His scantily clad form still wrapped in the sheets, Nakai looked groggily toward the clock. What he saw was a source of great annoyance.

"Three in the morning, shit… Kenji, dude, go away," he murmured his words at the door, half in irritation and half out of sleepless confusion. The expectation of the young highschool student was to hear a low and masculine voice respond to his words. However….

"Hicchan, it's me," a voice so low; feminine and familiar came instead.

The heart in Hisao's chest nearly skipped a literal beat. His feet moved on their own for the second time today. His body half fell; half stumbled and almost entirely threw itself out of bed as he reached for his shirt and shorts.

It was late, so late that there wasn't a moment to lose. If anyone saw a girl in the hallway of the male dorms at this time of night, it would mean big trouble…. After his tired feet found their way to the door, Hisao's shaky hands fumbled with the lock on his door. There was a great deal of caution as he pulled open the door as quietly as possible.

Scruffy bubble-gum hair was the first thing that caught the attention of Mr Nakai as he looked into the hallway. There was a moment of stark quiet before he realized how carelessly he opened said door without using the peephole.

"Misha," he spoke at an almost silent whisper, his eyes observing her form. He scanned her up and down in a swift glance. His tired; unfocused eyes took in the sights of her slightly curvy figure, mostly concealed within a pair of very small shorts; a baggy Western style t shirt which did it's best to hide her ample assets within, and of course a pair of sandals.

It was only upon a second brief inspection during the silence, that Hisao saw the finer details. Miss Mikado looked sleep deprived. Dark circles and a slightly unfocused gaze from two bloodshot golden eyes were all the proof that was needed to confirm this.

"….I need to talk to you, Hicchan," she whispered tiredly, "There's something I want to say to you."

Misha's downplayed her usually bubbly personality right now. There was an air of nervousness radiating from her body. Her tiny chuckles were uneasy, with her face half turned away as she spoke.

Given the recent events at school, Nakai; a slightly uneasy expression curving his lips, eventually failed to see how things could get any worse, "Come in," he whispered slowly. The young lady entered swiftly and the door was silently shut behind her, and locked.

Moments passed in silence, they became minutes in almost no time at all. Hisao stayed sat on his bed. His body was leaned up against the wall. All the while, Misha sat on the opposite end.

"Haha," the girl laughed fearfully as she shifted her gaze upon the man sat across from her, "I've been a real idiot, Hicchan," she spoke almost silently. "….It's about what happened between us…. THAT TIME."

The very mention of that moment is enough to make Hisao Nakai, a man already of a fragile disposition at the best of times, place a hand over his chest as he felt a nervous twinge of discomfort coming from his heart.

"Go on," he spoke with nervous uncertainty over what would come next, "Maybe it's best if we talk about it after all."

Misha brought her golden gaze to meet Hisao's own brown-eyed glance. She kept her composure held between a half smile and nervous laughter, "If I asked you if it was stupid to love two people at once, Hicchan, what would you say to me?"

The young man sat in silence as he pondered that thought with great unease. It was unease that spawned from the fear of him knowing full well how this conversation might end. It's true, that at one point he still felt something distant for Iwanako while he was getting to know Shizune and Misha, but were those true feelings? After all, Iwanako stopped visiting him in the hospital, and even confined their last communication to a half-baked letter…. Then there was Misha to think about, the very same girl sat before him right now…

Still, there was a part of him that cared about her even now. Their night together wasn't something he regretted at all. That, and in truth, he was thinking about his feelings toward her for a while, and that was before he even became Shizune's boyfriend. Based on those thoughts alone, Hisao gave a nervous nod to show he reached a decision.

"That depends on how much you care about those two people. I mean, I think you can love two people," his words bore a large amount and certainty, "After all, I feel that way about y-"

"Hahaha," Misha's nervous laugh was enough to cut off Hisao's sentence, "….Then I'll be honest with myself for once, Hicchan!" This time, as she looked across to Hisao, her eyes bore not a hint of doubt.

"….I struggled with my image before I came to this school," she spoke in a gentle tone of admission, "I was never quite sure if… I was attracted to men, or women… What happened between us Hicchan, it made things very clear to me. If I love somebody, then that's all there is to it. Their being a guy or a girl doesn't mean much to me."

At that point Misha's smile became crooked, lopsided, a half testament to her mask of happiness, and a mixture of frustration in regard to her feelings, "I'm stupid," she said with very blunt honesty mixed into her tone of voice.

"Misha," Hisao wasn't sure about what to say. He stammered for a moment, but eventually just stopped speaking and gave a downcast little sigh, "You being attracted to both guys and girls... It's not something I'm going look down on you for... I care about you."

Nakai reached out to comfort her, this time not as physically as the last time she was here. She of course, accepted and threw her full body into his arms. She would not let her face leave the warmth of being nestled against the chest of the young man sat before her.

Eventually though, Misha pulled her face the slightest bit away from the confines of her friend's chest, "….This is something I could have never told Shicchan, especially now that I'm facing my true feelings."

Her eyes came upward to meet those of the young Japanese gentleman. They were pleading for him to listen to her, "….I fell in love with you too, Hicchan. That night, I didn't just want comfort… I wanted to tell you how I was feeling about you, and about Shicchan, but…. I made such a mess of things."

Hisao shook his head from side to side gently, "….You know," he started, "I felt the same way you did, and I still do. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, especially after how this turned out. There were several moments when you asked me if I liked you... The answer to that, is a yes..."

The young Japanese student brought his hand down to nervously pat Misha upon the head, "We both made a terrible mess of this, Misha. I don't know if we're going to be able to set things right with Shizune in what little time we have, but…. At least I can be honest with myself too…. I fell for both of you. Shizune because she was so bold... and you because you have such a soft heart..."

Misha sobbed quietly and kept her face hidden away in Hisao's chest. Her heart felt the slightest bit of warmth, but was also clouded by a sharp and horrible pain.

"Hicchan," Miss Mikado gripped Nakai's shirt softly and kept on crying silently, "….I'm horrible for this, and I know I am, but…. I didn't want to lose both of you…."

Unable to do much else but give her comfort, Hisao held her tightly and protectively as he cradled Misha in his arms, "No…Stop it," he whispered gently, "This isn't all your fault. It falls on me too, and, I'm just glad that even out of all this shit, and all this hurt, we both finally understand how we feel about things..."

Silence consumed the room for the longest time after that. Neither one of the duo said a single word, that was until Misha looked up Hisao and saw his expression. He was detached and off in a world of his own.

"Hicchan," she started a little fearfully as she lightly tugged his arm, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, "Hisao spoke unflinchingly, his expression unchanged, "….I was just thinking about all this…. I'm glad you come to me tonight. If you hadn't…. I think I would've just left this school and tried to bury the memories, but I can think a little more clearly now."

A heartfelt sigh of gratitude escapted from the lips of the young gentleman with the fragile heart, "It's all because of you Misha... Thank you..."

"I'm glad I could help," the pink haired beauty replied in a low voice. A shallow chuckle followed moments after. It didn't have the same warmth as usual.

For the remainder of the hour there weren't any more words spoken between the pair. Hisao simply held Misha in his arms, and she the same to him. Sunrise came forth to break through the darkness. However, by then the pair were asleep in a comforting embrace together...

This night served to help them understand their true feelings, and also come to realize the horrible results of their hesitant actions. It was likely that if they came clean to Shizune that there wouldn't be any forgiveness. However, it wasn't about trying to gain forgiveness. It was about trying to figure this whole crazy situation. Coming together like this was enough to give them some clarity, and that was at least a start.

The End?

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I tried to make it serve as a greater sense of closure to the bad ending, because we don't see much about how the group of friends deal with things in the game after they separate. On that note, I'm pleased with how this went, and I likewise hope you enjoyed it.

Please take the time to leave some feedback if you would like. All of your opinions on my writing are most appreciated! If you liked it then let me know - there might be a continuation later on.