It was only on the bus that Mamimi realized what incredible folly she was walking into. She had a lot of memories in Mabase, and a lot of people had memories of her. Two years wasn't enough to scrub her reputation clean, not like the river always used to do. The ashes from her previous actions weren't going to sift away on the eddies and currents of time just so easily. She'd only make good by working at it diligently.

Wasn't that the entire reason she had left? Mamimi had become lazy, slothful even over the years - She just let herself go with the flow, even when it took her somewhere she didn't want to go. It wasn't enough to fool herself into thinking she didn't need others to care for her genuinely - She had made herself think that she was in some position to lord over others. Takkun - Not Naota, the Takkun who wanted to be called that - Had rescued Mamimi from herself once, but apparently, she'd been too dense and caught up on her own perverted addiction to private misery to make the most of it.

But Naota and that banshee Haruko, together (and in an indirect way for sure), had done it again, and from a much worse situation. The bus was heading over the bridge. The bridge. The bridge that had been her home for so, so many years. Damn that bridge straight to hell. Two years in the real world had kicked Mamimi in the ass, spun her around, and shoved her into a little thing that Naota had been tugged by, along with herself: that irritating little thing called reality. Being forced to put her photography to use for work, learning to cook for herself, having normal, human relationships had showed her what a fool she'd been.

Now, it was only a matter of proving to Naota she had changed. And wasn't that going to be a fun time had by all? She'd nearly destroyed his home town and caused the closest thing to a happy replacement for his big brother to leave. The biggest favor Mamimi had ever done Naota up to that point was going far, far away. There were going to be no delusions, illusions, or fanciful daydreams about how this was going to go down. Naota was likely going to slam the door in her face, and she just had to be sure she could impart some kind of coherent apology before she was closed out of his life permanently.

Off onto the bus stop. Down the street. Turn two corners. Straight past Café Bleu. Turn another corner. This was a roundabout way, but Mamimi had to collect her wits about her. She had to make sure that Naota could see she wasn't the same moody, smoking, catastrophe-in-waiting daydream believer from before the pendulum swung in a new direction for her life. If she didn't make a good first impression here, she would never, ever forgive herself as long as she lived.

All too soon, she found herself at her destination: the Nandaba family doorstep. Carefully, Mamimi raised her hand and knocked. As soon as the door was opened, she quickly flew into speaking without looking. "I'm so sorry to bother you, I know you probably don't want to see me of all people, oh my God I just wanted to apologize for - ..." Whomever this was, he was directly on eye level with her. Through the bright smile, she could tell, it really was...!

"Wow, Mamimi! I never thought you'd come back!" Shellshocked, she found herself dragged in with the kind of strength and vigor that Kamon normally imposed. Speak of the devil, Kamon was soon right there, making some kind of lewd comment about her arrival. Mamimi's first greeter aimed a swift elbow for the older man, and led Mamimi to the living room.

Despite herself, despite all her lofty goals of correcting herself, two years later, Mamimi was struck completely and utterly dumb save for a silly jumble of five words:

Two years treated Naota well.