Author's Note (3/9/2018): Wow, this hit 40 favorites! That's honestly crazy to me- for a Katawa Shoujo fanfiction released over 4 ½ years after the VN, I think it's pretty darn impressive! (And 29 followers as well- why would you follow a completed fic, you silly people?)

I've had a great time getting into this community over the past year and a half, and I'm still going strong working on my various KS fanfiction projects. Here's to keeping our community going years in the future!

So, thanks to everyone for reading and supporting this fic! I'm still super grateful to get feedback on my writing.

Hope you all enjoy!

5:00.

"Damn!"

I notice it only too late, glancing waywardly at my wrist as I drive back from the dry cleaner's.

For a second, I curse not having my old digital watch. I got used to setting all my alarms on it, so I'm totally out of practice for setting them on my phone instead.

That said, the new one was a birthday present from Shizune- a very expensive one, at that- so it would probably be insensitive to wear anything else.

For the time being, panic is the only thing on my mind. I hit the gas and shoot off down the road without a second thought. A fiery death in a car crash is one concern, but it pales in comparison to the fear of Shizune being pissed at me for my lateness.

My rush only gets me so far, however, and by the time I pull up to the driveway to the house, it's nearly 5:20. Suit in hand, I stumble out of the car only to get the clothes' plastic covering caught in the door, nearly wrinkling the suit in the process.

One quick look at myself in the side mirror tells me I'm a mess right now. This is not going to end well.

I place the suit under my arm and spend a minute sorting through my keys before getting the front door open. The foyer is empty and very quiet- and for just a second, I allow myself to think I may be safe. Just before reaching the closet door, though, an earsplitting snap grabs my attention from behind and my hopes are immediately shattered.

I am greeted by the lovely and unbelievably venomous scowl of my darling wife, already donning her business clothes and clearly not willing to wait for me. I smile apologetically as I turn back to the closet door, but she doesn't even wait for me to open it to begin furiously signing.

[Where the hell were you? I spent-]

I fish through the closet for a coat hanger, doing my best to be quick about hanging up my jacket so as not to miss the gist of what she's saying.

I fail.

[-get here!]

I frown slightly, tucking my suit under my arm to allow me to sign with both hands. [You are going to have to repeat that.]

[You are really trying my patience right now.]

[Sorry.]

She rolls her eyes, taking a step backward and leaning against the wall. [I said that I spent ten minutes trying to find you before I figured out that you weren't in the house. They are supposed to have already arrived, so you should be changed and ready to go by now.]

[Wait, you mean they're coming here? To the house? I thought we were going to meet at the restaurant.]

She looks appalled at me. I really need to get better about keeping those kinds of errors to myself. [Our house is right on the way there. I can think of two separate occasions on which we discussed this.]

[I'm really sorry; I'm kind of disheveled right now. I lost more time than I meant to at the dry cleaner's.] I glance over her shoulder at the driveway through the window. [To be fair, you are the one who insisted I take the suit there before we went to this thing.]

[I'm feeling merciful today, so I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.] She looks me over again with a contemplative frown, tapping her finger against her chin. [Go put your suit on. You look like you got caught in a hurricane.]

This doesn't exactly seem like the best time for an argument, playful or not, so I just nod dutifully and hurry across the main hallway to the bedroom.

I've never liked formal clothes, and this suit in particular is stuffy beyond words. Unfortunately, it matches Shizune's (above the waist at least) so I didn't have much chance of talking her out of making me wear it. It does look nice on me, admittedly, but that is to be expected considering the small fortune we spent getting it tailored.

I nearly choke on my tie when the doorbell rings, and, trying to look as put-together as possible, I run a comb through my hair and dash out of the room. By the time I make it back to the foyer, there is already a crowd waiting for me. Hideaki, Lilly, Akira, and… someone else? A thin, pale-looking woman with long hair that covers half of her face. She seems very vaguely familiar, but I'm at a complete loss for a name. Whoever she is, Shizune definitely did not mention her.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm here!" I blurt out, stumbling into the room with a magnificent lack of elegance. "I was just… cleaning up."

Shizune rolls her eyes as everyone's attention is immediately drawn to me. I am greeted by a quiet murmur of 'hello's from everyone else in the room.

"It's not a problem, Hisao," Akira says with a wave. "Good to see you again."

I nod awkwardly, glance shifting between the different faces in the room. "Likewise. Hideaki. Lilly…"

Lilly greets me with a polite smile, but it quickly shifts to alarm as she remembers the mystery guest standing behind her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I brought a friend… I hope it's not any trouble. This is Hanako Ikezawa; she was in yours and Shizune's class at Yamaku senior year. I'm sure you remember her."

"Of course," I lie, waving slightly in greeting. "It's no trouble at all. Welcome, Hanako."

Hanako smiles nervously at me, awkwardly positioning herself half-behind Lilly. "Hello…"

I'm not sure what to make of this, so I do my best to change the subject. "Er, don't let me hold anyone up with introductions. If we need to go-"

"It's fine, Hisao," Akira says with a shrug. "There's no rush."

Shizune squints at her with irritation. [Is that a joke? Of course there is a rush. We have a 6:00 reservation.]

"Is that a joke? Of course there is a rush. We have a reservation for 6:00." Hideaki interprets for her, catching me off-guard- it's virtually always my job.

I assume it's because he had to start doing it when I wasn't here to greet them at the door. Shizune is probably not very pleased with me for that.

"We won't have any problem as long as we leave relatively soon, will we?" Lilly asks quietly. "What time is it now?"

Akira checks her watch. "5:30."

"5:30? You're joking; that late?"

"I told you we were going to be late when we swung by Hideaki's."

"You didn't say it like it would be that much of a setback."

"It's not! We're fine."

"It is a thirty-five minute drive to the restaurant," Hideaki interrupts suddenly. "With light traffic. Right now there is heavy traffic. So we are not really fine."

Shizune makes a dramatic gesture. [Thank you!]

Hideaki interprets again, and I have to catch myself to avoid talking over him. "'Thank you.'" He blinks once. "…You're welcome."

I give Shizune my best disapproving look, not that it ever has any effect on her. "Being late is not a competition."

She rolls her eyes at me. [Naturally you would say that. You're the reason we're late, so that means you're losing.]

"Naturally you would say that, Hisao, since you're the reason we are late," says Hideaki. "…Shizune says."

I squint at her. "You're going to keep holding that over my head, aren't you?"

"Oh, Shizune, be fair, please." Lilly interjects. "Hisao isn't the reason we're late. We took much too long ourselves…"

"…Thanks to me, right?" Akira says with a grin, elbowing her playfully. "It's all right; I can take it."

Lilly frowns guiltily. "I didn't say that…"

"You implied it."

"You inferred it, that doesn't mean I implied it."

Shizune shakes her head and begins signing again. [It doesn't matter anyway, because if Hisao had been here to greet you all on time we could have left much sooner.]

"It doesn't matter anyway, because if Hisao had been here sooner we could have left sooner." Hideaki makes eye contact with me as he interprets this, giving me an unreadable expression.

"Shizune, please," Lilly sighs.

"It's fine; she's just kidding around," I say tiredly. "And besides, she's not wrong."

Shizune adjusts her glasses, smiling triumphantly. [Of course I'm not.]

Everyone gets the gist of that one before Hideaki even interprets it.

…Well, besides Lilly, anyway. I briefly wonder if it's a good thing that I've gotten out of the habit of correcting that kind of thing in my head around her.

Lilly sighs. "Still, if we hadn't gotten turned around on the way to Hideaki's-"

"-If Akira hadn't gotten turned around on the way to Hideaki's," Akira corrects.

Lilly puts a hand to her face with obvious exhaustion.

In the midst of all the commotion, a whisper creeps out from the back of the room. "M- Maybe, if we're worried about being late, we should just… l- leave…?"

Every head immediately turns toward Hanako, and she shrinks a little, clearly regretting having said anything.

Looking at her again, I realize that her hair is grown over her face to cover what looks like a pretty serious patch of facial scarring. That would probably explain why she's such a wallflower, come to think of it… in hindsight, I guess I do sort of remember her from high school.

Even still, it irritates me that Lilly would be presumptuous enough to bring someone so obviously socially inept to what was meant to be a relaxed family gathering. I can already tell that I'm going to be feeling awkward around Hanako for the rest of the evening.

"Hanako is right; we should get going," Lilly says quietly, surmising Hanako's anxiousness.

I take a step towards the door to hold it open for everyone else. "In that case, what is the driving situation?"

"Doesn't really matter right this minute," Akira says to me with a shrug, "but I was hoping you and Shizune would take Hanako and Lilly back after all your stuff is over?"

"You mean you're not coming up to the campus?"

"Well, hell, I didn't go to Yamaku."

"You're still allowed to come if you-"

"I know, I know; just teasing. I've got work shit to do. I just wanted to come up for dinner." She glances back over her shoulder as she steps through the doorway. "Besides, I doubt Hideaki would want to go off and get drunk with the graduates."

Hideaki nods mechanically. "I definitely do not want to do that."

"Well, sure, we can drive them back from the campus, then," I say with a shrug.

Shizune nods, taking a step past me. [Sure.]

"Shizune says that is okay," says Hideaki.

Everyone piles out onto the front steps, and I lock the front door behind us. Akira leads Lilly back to her car, and Hanako follows them very closely behind. That leaves me driving Shizune and Hideaki, which I'm thankful for. Shizune hates long car rides if nobody else can interpret for her- since she can't sign when she's driving and I can't watch her sign if I am, our car rides are usually pretty awkward and unengaging.

Shizune sits in the passenger seat next to me, but leans rather disruptively over the console between us in order to look at Hideaki, who sits opposite her in the back seat. I spend the majority of the car ride getting repeatedly elbowed, and I can't help but wonder if this is at least partly Shizune getting back at me for earlier. I can't tell just from looking at her, and she keeps shifting so I can't get a good enough look at her. That seems like a strategy to me, but who knows? I'll make note of this for later.

Hideaki and Shizune sign back and forth for a while as I drive in silence. Eventually this gets tiresome, so I decide to speak up to break into the conversation.

"It seems like your sign language has gotten a lot better since I last saw you, Hideaki. I was surprised to see you keeping up with everyone back at the house."

"I have been practicing on my own," he responds after a few moments. "But I do not think I did a very good job. I think I confused Shizune." After a moment, he adds, "Yes, I did."

"Crowds are hard to get used to. But this is good practice, at least."

"Shizune says she would prefer you interpreted for her at the restaurant."

"Of course. I was going to offer to do that anyway. To be honest, it's a little weird for me when someone else does it."

"It is better that way. You two are like a well-oiled machine together. Everyone is more relaxed if you are interpreting for her."

I think on that for a moment. "…That's good to hear. I think you're right."

"Do you not have to think about what you need to sign when you interpret for her?"

"No, I guess not. It's just kind of… what I do when we're in a crowd, like second nature. But that's what happens when you get fluent in any second language, I guess."

"That is my goal. For it to be second nature."

"That is really sweet, Hideaki. Shizune is touched, even if she won't tell you that."

He waits for a few seconds. "She made a face at you."

"I figured."

Hideaki and Shizune get back to signing to each other, and I catch myself smiling. It really is a nice gesture for Hideaki to go out of his way to improve his sign language, especially since Shizune and I don't even see him very often. I wonder if we'll ever get her father to learn… despite what she might say, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility.

The majority of the trip ends up being quiet, unfortunately, as speaking back and forth through Hideaki turns out to be fairly inconvenient (and a bit stressful for him, I suspect). I trail along behind Akira's car, and I can see its passengers laughing animatedly- presumably thanks to something Akira said. In hindsight, I'm surprised Hideaki didn't want to ride with her, considering how close the two of them are.

It's nearly 6:30 by the time we finally arrive at the restaurant. Shizune practically leaps out of the car, hiking up her skirt a little to rush inside and dragging me in alongside her. Akira, meanwhile, takes her time getting the others in, leaving me alone to have to speak to the waiter.

The interior of the place strikes me as unusually upscale- actually, 'expensive' is the first word that comes to mind, not that it's much of a concern. Either way, it drives up my expectations enough that I am legitimately surprised (and very relieved) when the waiter tells us our table is still reserved. Evidently the reservation was under a different name than I thought- they must have changed it when Hanako decided to come along.

Everyone else trails in through the entrance as the waiter pulls out our menus, and Shizune frowns with irritation at their nonchalance.

I nudge her on the shoulder to get her attention. [You see? We had nothing to worry about.]

[You got lucky.] She smiles competitively at me. [Don't start celebrating yet; you still have the whole rest of the night to get on my bad side.]

She struts off ahead of me to follow the waiter, prompting a laugh from Akira. Everyone else follows behind, and the waiter leads us to a broad circular table secluded in the back of the restaurant.

The place is shockingly empty, only populated by a few families and one young couple on a date. No wonder they had no trouble filling our reservation- I just hope that doesn't say anything about the quality of the restaurant.

Akira leads Lilly to a seat first, but Hanako rushes ahead to wedge herself into the chair between the two of them. I understand not wanting to sit near Shizune or me, on account of us being strangers, but I am still shocked and slightly offended by how transparent the gesture is.

Shizune takes the seat next to Lilly, and I sit beside her, leaving me next to Hideaki. Thankfully, the chairs are far enough apart that I don't have to crane my head much to see Shizune's signing.

The waiter takes everyone's drink orders, and I can't help but laugh when Lilly and Hanako order champagne. "Lilly, do you have any idea how much alcohol there is going to be at this reunion?"

"I doubt there will be anything nearly as nice as what they have here," she says confidently. "And besides, it's more tasteful to order something from the drink menu at a place like this."

"If you say so."

Hanako smiles gently at that and leans in to read the menu to her. Everyone takes a little bit of time to decide what to eat before starting any conversation.

"So, Hisao, you're in charge of organizing the reunion, right?" Akira asks after a few minutes.

"Not in charge," I say with a shrug. "I helped schedule some of the times and got the building open, but Oikawa did most of the organizational and logistical work. I was just backup, really."

Shizune adjusts her glasses and glares teasingly at me. [Such a lack of initiative!]

"Well, if you think you could do better, you can feel free to organize the next one yourself."

She grins. [Don't tempt me.]

Everyone chuckles as I interpret that. Akira leans back in her chair, swirling her drink around with one hand. "So that means it's okay if you're a little late, right? You don't have to be there right away?"

I nod. "It should be fine. There's nothing important planned to start. I think someone's giving a speech or something later on, but we should have plenty of time for that."

"A speech? Sounds pretty formal for a mostly class-organized thing."

"Yamaku's funny that way. Part of their whole philosophy is cultivating the future, you know? So now that the future is here, they take it pretty seriously."

Shizune makes an intriguing face. [Actually, I was the first person they asked to speak. I got an email about it last month.]

"Really? And you didn't accept?"

[They wanted me to go up and present, but I thought that was insulting. I asked why I couldn't just write a speech and have someone else read it, and they insisted that they wanted to send a message by having me do the whole thing in sign language. The message, of course, being how spectacular and helpful Yamaku is for the disabled.] She rolls her eyes.

Lilly perks up a little, intrigued. "So you think they just wanted you to give the speech because of your deafness?"

Shizune frowns drearily. [That was the impression I got.]

"Hm. That does sound insulting. How thoughtless."

For some reason that makes me a little defensive of my coworkers, and I try to dismiss it. "I wouldn't take it personally, Shizune. The faculty just wants to show how people have grown and succeeded since graduation, and they've heard me talk about you before, so… I think you were just a good example of that."

"That's a nice thought, at least," Lilly says quietly.

Shizune gives me a curious smile, one that I'm not sure what to make of. [Thank you.]

We exchange an odd glance, and I shrug. "You're welcome."

Hanako smiles subtly at us, but immediately covers her face with her menu when I try to make eye contact. I'm tempted to say something to Shizune about it, but since Hideaki would know what I was signing I figure that it may be dangerous, considering how blunt he tends to be. Akira seems to be getting a kick out of my awkwardness, at least, even if Hanako isn't.

Before long, the waiter comes back and I order for Shizune and myself. Lilly orders the most expensive thing on the menu, as is her style. I just hope she's not expecting us to pay for her side of the table. To my recollection, she offered to pay for everyone the last time we got together, so it seems like a possibility that she could ask us to pay this time.

I try not to be on edge about any of this, but it still ends up feeling difficult to make small talk. I regret that I don't have more details of Lilly's or Akira's lives to ask them about.

Thankfully, Shizune seems more willing to come up with something than I am. [So, I didn't realize this get-together was singles only.]

I follow her up as quickly as possible after interpreting. "Hey, that's a good point… what ever happened to that girl you were seeing, Hideaki? With the ponytail?"

"Oh, her." He prods his fingers together with an uncharacteristic amount of reservation. "I do not think that was very serious to begin with. I lost interest. It has been a few months since we last spoke."

"Oh, damn, really?" Akira pouts and leans into the table. "Man, that's too bad; she sure was cute. I wouldn't have minded keeping her around."

"She was not prepared for a serious relationship. She had no mind for the logistics of it," Hideaki says matter-of-factly. "…Also, she kept criticizing the way I dress."

"Man, you Hakamichis, I swear. What the hell are the logistics of a relationship?"

Shizune glares suspiciously at Akira. [If you have to ask that, you probably aren't prepared for a relationship yourself.]

I frown at her without interpreting. [Come on, you have to be more polite than that.]

[It's your job to pass my words on, not decide what I can and cannot say.]

[Well, it's your job to get along with your cousins without embarrassing us.]

She thinks on that for a second. [I'm just teasing.]

[That's kind of hard for me to convey.]

[…Okay, fair enough.]

I glance back over at Akira, who is watching us suspiciously. Before she gets the chance to ask, though, Hideaki jumps in to save us. "There is a lot to determine in a relationship. Who does what, who decides what, who gets to-"

"Oh, please, talk about cold and emotionless!" Akira interrupts loudly.

He flashes her a smug half-smile. "Well, I imagine there is not much left to discuss on that front when you are middle-aged and stranded in an old marriage."

"I am not middle-aged, you little shit!" Akira smacks him playfully on the back of the head, making enough noise to draw the attention of the patrons at another table. Upon noticing this, she grins with embarrassment and shrinks into her seat a little, quieting down. "I am in the prime of my life; this the best age to be a working woman… and my marriage is healthier than ever, thank you very much."

"If that is true, then why did your husband not come here with you?"

"Oh, give me a break. This is a business trip, not a vacation; he needed to take care of the kid. Or would you have me hire a babysitter for the entire week?"

"Like I said, it is a matter of logistics. If you spent more time planning these things, you could have just left Mami with family and made it a romantic getaway."

"Good one," she snorts. "They'll get her to themselves over my dead body. One week alone with 'em and she'd come out with a kilt and a business degree."

Shizune scoffs silently. [What's wrong with a business degree?]

"Oh, come on, you know what I meant."

Trying to avoid a conflict, I do my best to redirect the conversation. "Hey, why didn't you want to bring Mami down, too? I swear I haven't seen her since she was in diapers."

"It's like I said, it's just a business trip. She doesn't handle airplanes well, and she'd just have to spend the week in a hotel room." Akira hesitates for a minute, getting a bit more serious. "I want Japan to be special for her, you know? I'm already worried she's gonna feel distanced from it. If we're coming down, I want to make it a good memory."

"Wait, so you're staying in a hotel room? I assumed you and Lilly would be staying in that old summer house together."

"You mean the one up north? That's, like, a day-long train ride from here. I've got three conferences in the city; I have no time for that."

"But you aren't both staying together in a hotel room for a whole week, are you?"

"No, Hanako was gracious enough to let me stay with her," Lilly chimes in, tilting her head down. "…Which I greatly appreciate, by the way. I don't know if it would even have been feasible for me to come along otherwise."

"Mm, of course," Hanako says quietly.

There is a brief pause, and Akira raps her fingers along the table, apparently attempting to move the subject away from Hanako. "Hey, so if I can ask… how's my accent? Do you think it's gotten worse at all?"

"It's pretty subtle," I say with a shrug. "Barely noticeable."

"Agreed. It sounds fine to me," Hideaki adds. "It is much less pronounced than Lilly's, anyway."

Akira breathes a sigh of relief. "Great, I was kind of worried."

"Yes, and so was I!" Lilly says disappointedly. "What does that mean, Hideaki? Do you think my accent is severe?"

"It is definitely more pronounced than it was last year," Hideaki declares.

She sighs, turning in my direction. "Hisao?"

I am a bit startled by the confrontation. "Er. I mean, it's not exactly subtle…"

"Oh, I was afraid of that…" She puts a hand to her forehead, exhausted. "I think I tried to convince myself that it wasn't all that noticeable."

"Well, you still sound like you. Just, you know, a bit more… Scottish."

"I realize that. I'm just not totally comfortable with the idea."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you still speak better English than I do," Akira says with a shrug. "If you're worried about fitting in."

"Your English is perfect. You're just saying that."

"No, really. Between your skin and your accent, sometimes I forget you even are Japanese when you start speaking English."

Lilly frowns, resting her head on her hand. "Well, that's hardly what I'm going for."

Akira winces a little at having said the wrong thing, and there is a brief awkward silence. Hanako glances around uncomfortably.

I clear my throat. "…Is everything okay, Lilly?"

Suddenly a little self-conscious, Lilly sits up and arranges herself. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry to dampen the mood; I'm just being dramatic. Everything is fine." Still, she seems a bit down.

I cup my hands together and sit back, and end up locking eyes with Shizune, who raises an eyebrow and engages me privately. [Does she really sound that different?]

[Honestly, I don't think it's all that different from last time; it's been too long since we spoke to them last for me to gauge it accurately. But the accent is fairly strong.]

She purses her lips… I would almost say sympathetically, if I didn't know better.

Everyone at the table spends the next minute or two trying to come up with a way to start a new conversation, and our food arrives in the meantime. I poke at it absentmindedly as I try to come up with something to say, and Shizune gives me a disapproving look for my lack of manners.

"What about, uh… Roy, Lilly?" I ask after a while. "Didn't you say last year that he wanted to learn Japanese? I'll bet speaking more Japanese could be good for your accent."

"That's what he said, yes," Lilly replies. "I tried to teach him at the time, but he doesn't take to it well, and learning a language requires a lot of dedication as it is. It's hard to find the time…"

"A- are things going well with him?" Hanako asks out of the blue, taking me (and evidently Lilly as well) by surprise.

"Well enough," she says quietly. "Maybe moving a bit slower than I'd like, but… I think we're both focused on work right now."

"You need to focus on logistics," Akira hums, her mouth full. Everyone cracks up besides Hideaki, who just nods seriously without understanding the joke. Lilly seems to lighten up a bit after that.

Dinner drags on for an uncomfortably long time after that, and it gets dark while we are still in the restaurant. I notice Shizune neurotically checking the time, but surprisingly she never mentions us taking too long.

Her whole behavior all throughout the evening has taken me off-guard, though I admittedly may just have a low threshold for surprises when it comes to Shizune. Still, it's unusual for things to go so smoothly with Lilly and Akira, and even though I'm happy to see it, it makes me wonder if something is going on under the surface. It's been over a year since I last saw either of them, now, and I can't shake the feeling that they don't quite feel like family… as though the friendly air between us is just the impersonal kind of façade you put on around strangers.

That makes me feel guilty, but more than that it makes me concerned… she doesn't talk about it much, but I know Shizune's relationship to them is very important, even if only in principle. If she feels the same way that I do, it is possible this distance is making her more uncomfortable than she's letting on. And God knows she would never come to me to talk about that if she thought she could work it out on her own.

At the end of dinner, Lilly offers to cover the bill, and Shizune adamantly refuses, leading to an awkward little debate. In the end, they are both too stubborn to let up and we end up just splitting it halfway, with Lilly covering Hanako and Shizune covering Hideaki in retaliation. Only those two could make polite generosity into such a transparent competition. Nobody much dwells on the point, though.

We all gather around to split up in the parking lot of the restaurant. It's a full moon tonight, and the natural light is beautiful and atmospheric. It makes me thankful that I don't live in the city anymore, with all the light pollution. Shizune demanded distance from the city when house-hunting, and at the time I thought it was just her wealthy blood wanting a larger house. With time, though, I think I've come to appreciate the idea a little better. Shizune's little quirks like that usually turn out to be a lot more virtuous or at least good-natured than they look. It makes me really appreciate having her around- she gives me more perspective, I think.

Akira bids us goodbye and gives me a surprisingly strong bear hug. She promises us that next time she'll bring her family along so we can catch up, but I have my doubts. Hideaki, meanwhile, doesn't say much of a goodbye to Shizune or I at all, not that he's going anywhere far. He and Lilly just awkwardly acknowledge each other without hugging, and then he piles into the car with Akira. Lilly and Hideaki may just have the most confusing relationship of anyone in the bunch, come to think of it.

And that leaves me driving everyone else. The four of us get into the car without another word, and Shizune is left pouting in the passenger seat with nobody to talk to.

With Akira gone, the atmosphere is much quieter, and I am suddenly a lot more concerned about being able to make normal conversation. From the look of her, Hanako will have a nervous breakdown if I even breathe too loudly in her general direction, and Lilly seems to be dedicating most of her energy to making sure that doesn't happen.

As such, small talk seems pretty much impossible during the drive, so I dedicate my energy to navigating. Unfortunately, considering I drive to Yamaku every single morning, the route is basically automatic, and I can't stop my mind from wandering. Eventually I resign myself to eavesdropping on Lilly and Hanako's quiet chit-chat.

By the time we pull up to Yamaku's gate, I am immeasurably relieved to have the opportunity to be able to talk to Shizune again. The four of us stand side-by-side at the entrance, and, after I explain where we should be going, Shizune shoots off ahead of us, forcing the rest of us to hurry in order to keep up.

Despite the absolutely crammed parking lot, the grounds themselves seem deserted. A few signs plastered to the walls direct us to the cafeteria, where we are supposed to hear the much-anticipated speech. I had been under the impression the grounds would be open for us to walk around on, but judging from the fact that we're the only ones outside, I can only assume I misunderstood something.

It's eerily silent at first, but as we get nearer to the cafeteria the sound of commotion starts to become obvious. As it does, Lilly tightens her grip around Hanako with a look of genuine concern. The four of us, all standing in a row, throw open the doors with a bit of grandeur, and the cafeteria full of people bursts into full view. An ocean of faces I barely recognize stretches on from one end of the room to the other. It's a little intimidating, even to me. Shizune, on the other hand, looks completely enlivened by the crowd, and her eyes dart around the room without paying the three of us any mind.

Hanako lets go of Lilly, her expression uncomfortable and afraid. "I'm sorry… where… where is the bathroom…?"

I point back the way we came. "Through the double doors, down the hall and on the left."

"Th- thank you…" she says quickly, slipping out almost immediately.

Lilly takes a deep breath, throwing her head back.

I guess now is as good a time as any to bring it up. "Uh, Lilly, is… she going to be okay?"

"I hope so," Lilly sighs. "…I'm sorry; it wasn't too presumptuous to bring her to dinner, was it? It seemed rude not to invite her."

"No; I would have done the same thing."

She smiles apologetically. "Thank you for saying that, Hisao. She just… well, I really thought it was important for her to come here tonight. She's a close friend of mine… I realize that you may feel a bit uncomfortable around her, so I appreciate the accommodation."

"You'd do the same for us," I say with a useless shrug, the undue praise making me feel unusually chivalrous. "I hope you don't-"

A sudden tug on my sleeve pulls my attention back to Shizune, who narrows her eyes impatiently at me. [Come on. I want to get a drink; I need you to stand nearby and look pretty.]

[Just a second.] I turn back to Lilly to finish my thought. "-Er, as I was saying, I hope you don't mind if we split up for a while?"

"Of course not," Lilly says gently. "We'll meet up later?"

"Right. We'll be around here if you need us."

"Okay. Thank you."

I turn back to Shizune, and she takes off into the crowd towards the far end of the room. It's an odd feeling to see people from my class again; I would be tempted to try and make introductions if there were enough people I was confident I could remember the names of. Unfortunately, most people feel only distantly familiar at best. I hope that Shizune is feeling more social than I am.

We find the bar quickly enough, and to my surprise it is in fact an actual bar, complete with stools and a college-aged bartender. I'm surprised to see that the school was willing to shell out the money to pay for that, but it pales in comparison to my shock when I order a drink for Shizune and myself and find out that everything is on the house. It seems like there has to be a catch somewhere, but I don't have time to figure it out before I hear my name called out and my thoughts are scattered.

"Hisao, good to see you! I was wondering when you'd show up."

It's Akio Mutou, my former teacher and current boss. He slumps into the stool next to me, his lumbering frame blocking most of the room behind him.

I slide my stool backwards in order to look at him and Shizune at the same time. "Akio! Been hanging around the bar all evening?"

He runs a hand through his greying hair, clenching his glass with the other hand. "You know me too well. I'd love to walk around and fraternize, but God knows I couldn't remember every kid's name, and I'd rather not embarrass myself…"

"Well, I hope you remember Shizune, at least."

Shizune gives me a suspicious look. [So, you're on a first name basis with our teacher now?]

[Well, I do talk to him virtually every day. So, we're friends, in a sense.]

She puts a hand to her head. [This is going to be awkward.]

I hold up a hand between them to introduce the two of them, and Shizune smiles with some discomfort.

Akio chuckles awkwardly. "Of course I remember. Although, I'm used to Hakamichi. But I guess Shizune would be more appropriate now, huh?"

Shizune grits her teeth. [Yes, of course. It's good to meet you again… Akio.]

I try to convey as little of her discomfort as possible when I interpret that.

"Anyway, you look great," he says with a shrug. "Hisao's told me a lot about you. I can't say I'm surprised to hear that you've been successful in the business sphere."

She smiles proudly. [Is that so?]

"Oh, yeah. You were one of my brightest students back in the day. You can usually tell who's going to go far and who isn't pretty early on."

"I don't think you're supposed to be saying stuff like that," I laugh, taking a drink. "Favoritism, and all that."

Akio shrugs. "Well, little late for that now. I'll let you in on a trade secret, Shizune. All teachers pick favorites. It's just how the job is done."

Shizune glares at me expectantly. [Really? All teachers?]

I exchange a glance with Akio. "Well, essentially. Some students are good, and some are impossible. But having favorites doesn't mean we can't be impartial."

[It sounds like you have too much power for your own good.]

"You shouldn't complain if you were one of the favorites," Akio says light-heartedly.

[Do you really mean that? I was one of your favorite students? I never got that impression.]

"Are you kidding? You had a great work ethic; that was all I could ask for, really. I mean, Mikado was a different story, but that had nothing to do with…" he trails off. "…Hey, wait, she's not with you guys, is she? Mikado? Because… that would really make things awkward, come to think of it."

I'm stricken by my own lack of memory for a second. "Mikado?"

Shizune jabs me in the arm with incredulity. [Misha!]

"-Oh! Oh! No, no, I don't think Misha is anywhere near here right now. She moved ages ago."

"Oh? What's she doing now?" Akio asks with mild curiosity.

"Last I heard, she was living in California. She wanted to teach sign language."

"California? No kidding?"

Shizune looks slightly concerned. [Haven't the two of you been keeping any correspondence?]

"Well, not lately. I've had a lot going on."

[So have I, but we've been emailing back and forth for a long time.]

"Oh. That's good; tell her I'd like to get in touch."

All of a sudden, I feel severely guilty. Misha was one of my closest friends for a long time, but I completely gave up putting in the effort to maintain a relationship with her. If she's been keeping in touch with Shizune this whole time, does she think I have been ignoring her on purpose?

Shizune pauses dramatically before elaborating. [Anyway, right now, she's working at a supermarket. She's still looking for work as a teacher, but she's worried that her English isn't good enough. She has only recently learned American Sign Language, so she feels that she's not a desirable candidate.]

"Hm. Well, you have to respect the commitment," Akio says with a shrug, taking a sip of his drink. "It's good to hear she's working towards something; I never had high hopes for that one."

I hesitate to sign this to Shizune. When I do, her face contorts into a defensive scowl, and Akio scratches the back of his head nervously.

"Er, no offense," he adds quietly. Shizune seems unimpressed by this, but chooses not to engage. Thankfully.

Clearly feeling awkward now, he slumps back into his bar stool and wordlessly passes his half-empty cup across the counter to the bartender to get it filled. I wonder how much they're paying this poor kid to cater for such a small event.

Shizune crosses her legs and gingerly wraps her fingers around her cup, her eyes scanning the room for people she recognizes. She looks very formal and businesslike, but… in a hot way. Watching her, I suddenly feel very out of her league, considering my own stuffy-looking suit and unkempt hair. She catches me staring and blushes, but then looks away as if she didn't notice. I fidget with mild embarrassment.

Eventually I settle into my seat, and the booze starts to kick in enough for me to relax about my own social awkwardness. I wonder vaguely why Shizune hasn't felt the urge to go make introductions, considering how interested she seemed in the crowd, but I don't feel bothered to ask about it. Once I start to scan the room myself, though, the reason occurs to me- she's formulating a strategy, just like me. Running through names to try and avoid getting caught off-guard. It's like going to battle. Placing names and faces is a form of ammunition.

We spend about five minutes doing this, and in that time I am forced to confront the fact that there honestly aren't that many people I remember well. In hindsight, I guess I didn't have many close friends during my year at Yamaku, but it seems like a rather oppressive fact now that I'm actually thinking about it.

One woman immediately catches my attention, though more due to the short skirt, stockings and low-cut top than my actual familiarity with her. I try to focus on her face, however, and I've nearly arrived at a name when she starts off in my direction. Unfortunately, as soon as she does, I'm caught completely off-guard and lose my train of thought.

To my surprise, though, she breezes right past me and squeezes herself into the gap between myself and Akio, her small frame making this more graceful than I would have expected. She leans on the counter and sticks her tongue out a little, making the bartender tug on his collar uncomfortably.

"Hiya!" she chirps at him. "You got vodka?"

He frowns confusedly. "Uh… yeah."

"Gimme a screwdriver."

"Okay…"

"But, I want, like, 80% vodka and 20% juice. Like, a hard screwdriver. Can you do that for me?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Great! Thanks, babe."

She winks suggestively at him, and he smiles uncomfortably, obviously intimidated. She backs up a little and crosses her arms, then notices me and smiles. Akio scoots away from her rather overtly, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"…Hi!" she says with a small wave.

I smile awkwardly, turning to Shizune to start signing again. "Uh… hi, how are you?"

She blinks as she registers that I'm interpreting for Shizune, then shakes her head and smiles even more broadly. "Great!"

"Great."

She stands there for a few awkward moments, a smile plastered to her face as she glances back and forth between Shizune and myself.

"Er. It's Hisao. This is Shizune."

"Shizune. Hisao. …Hisao! Oh, thank God. I was gonna guess Haruto… oh, it's Emi, by the way!"

"Emi!" I declare with a snap of my fingers. "I knew it!"

"Oh? You, uh… you remember me?"

"Yeah, we spoke a few times senior year. You ran track, right?"

"That's right! Nice memory!" She pauses for a second, thinking. "Hisao, Hisao, Hisao… wait, Shizune? As in Shizune Hakamichi? The Student Council president?!"

"That's right."

"Wow! She- er, you… uh, you look great, Shizune!"

Shizune looks Emi up and down, smirking judgmentally at her outfit. [Likewise.]

I do my best not to convey the blatant sarcasm. Emi does not pick up on it.

"Were you friends back then?" I ask. "I don't remember you ever talking."

"Oh, well… eh, you know…" Emi says with an uncomfortable smile. "Everyone knew Shizune back then. She was kind of a figurehead!"

"A figurehead?"

"Like, you know… the big, loud, lady in charge. In a manner of speaking. You know?"

"Uh. Sort of?"

Shizune gives her a suspicious and slightly offended glare, which impressively Emi is able to ignore completely. There is an awkward silence for a few moments, which is interrupted when the bartender clears his throat and sets down Emi's drink on the counter.

With a slightly relieved smile, she grabs it, downs it in one go, and slams the glass down dramatically on the counter. "Ooh, very hard. I like it. One more for the road, hun? Eh, actually, two."

"Uh… sure…" the bartender says softly, taking the glass.

"Thanks!" She turns back to Shizune and me, making an odd face. "So, are you guys, like…?"

I squint at her. "Married."

"Oh! Great! You guys are cute together. I like your matching suits!" She giggles off-puttingly. "Wait, so that means you went to Yamaku together? Oh, that is so sweet!"

"Yeah, I guess."

Shizune adjusts her glasses with a smug grin. [You are unmarried, I take it?]

Emi frowns guiltily. "…Yep. That obvious, huh?"

[You seem very fond of the bartender.]

I interpret that as quietly as possible, glancing over the counter. The bartender seems to be taking his sweet time. I suspect he is procrastinating talking to Emi again.

"Well, you know, they say people are supposed to be all depressed and desperate at high school reunions. Y'know, and available."

[Well, I can't think of any better conditions to get a date than that.]

"Exactly!" Emi proclaims unironically. "When opportunity strikes, right?"

"But the kid's not even from our class. He looks like he's barely even graduated from high school at all."

"Hm, but it's the atmosphere of the thing that has that effect on people, isn't it?"

Shizune barely suppresses laughter. I narrow my eyes at her disapprovingly, but she doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

I do my best to look earnest. "Is that what the vodka is for?"

"Yeah, well, sorta. I guess I'm just trying to cut the stress right now. I've had a long night."

"That so?"

"It's a long story."

"Uh, ma'am?" the bartender whispers from behind us, sliding two glasses of murky orange beverage across the counter.

Emi drinks one immediately and takes the other in her hand. "Hey, I've gotta run, but it was really nice to catch up with you guys! Shizune…!"

Shizune nods, still smirking.

Emi turns to leave, then immediately skids to a stop and turns back to us again. "Oh, but before I go. Have either of you seen Rin Tezuka tonight?"

The name is immediately familiar to me. "The painter?"

"Yeah! Have you seen her?"

"No, but I knew her at school. I've seen her stuff in magazines."

"Mhm, she did some, like, commissioned stuff for a museum or something a while ago. So everyone's heard of her here. She's like a guest of honor."

Shizune squints with a degree of irritation. [But no, neither of us has seen her anywhere.]

Emi pouts a little. "Damn. Well, thanks anyway! Have a good night!"

She rushes off, clutching her drink. Akio gives me a confused look as he slides back towards me, and I shrug.

[Talk about desperate.] Shizune wrinkles her nose and grabs her drink off the counter.

I smirk at her. [Not a fan, huh?]

She holds up a finger as she finishes drinking, then sets the glass down on the counter. [Not a shred of dignity. Did you see that top?]

[It was pretty hard to miss.]

[Exactly.]

"Uh oh, Hisao, here comes Sweater Vest," Akio cuts in suddenly, raising his glass to gesture to the front of the room.

Sure enough, the lights dim as attention shifts towards a portly man in a sweater vest opposite the entrance. Shizune straightens her glasses, glaring curiously. [Who is that?]

"That's Oikawa," I say with a shrug. "He's from a different department."

"History," Akio groans.

"…He's doesn't care for the History department."

"Nor should you, Hisao. That guy's unbearable to talk to. Such a weirdo. We men of science need to stick together."

Akio takes a drink and rests his arm on the counter, sighing dramatically. Shizune looks appalled at his bluntness, though probably just because it sounds out of character to her. After all, for her, he's still just Mutou. The thought makes me laugh.

A few awkwardly loud taps on a microphone silence us, along with everyone else in the room. The front of the room stays lit, putting Oikawa in the spotlight. He smiles uncomfortably, fidgeting with the mic in one hand. "Uh, hi- uh, hello everyone… good evening."

I turn towards Shizune, prepared to interpret for him, but she gestures towards the front in order to point out that they already have a sign language interpreter standing off to Oikawa's side. I guess it makes sense, considering that there is bound to be a number of deaf former-students at the reunion, but it hadn't occurred to me before now. With that taken care of, though, I relax into my stool to listen more attentively.

Oikawa takes an awkward pause, as though he is genuinely waiting for a response. Akio groans and taps on the counter to indicate for the bartender to top him off.

"…Er, so, thanks for coming out," he continues. "I didn't teach when you all went here ten years back, so… I know you all probably don't much care to hear from me, heh… heh heh…"

He wipes sweat off of his forehead and adjusts the microphone. I can almost feel people's stomachs turning at his poor public speaking skills.

"Uh, s-so, anyway, we just wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on things, uh, a little bit. I- uh, we got in contact with one of the graduates from your year, and I know he has a speech prepared; just a little something to, eh… to do that. So I don't want to hold that up any longer. Without further ado, um… Kenji Setou, everybody. I'm sure many of you remember him… so…"

Shizune suddenly turns to me in shock, but I am so shocked myself that I can barely even address her. Of all the people they could have gotten to speak instead of Shizune… I can only imagine how much of a train wreck this will be. I briefly consider slipping off to the bathroom to avoid listening to this.

A scrawny man in a bold white tuxedo slips into the foreground, and there is a brief, muffled exchange between him and Oikawa. I stare with disbelief for a few moments… whoever this Kenji is, he's nothing like anyone I recognize. His hair is slicked back like a movie star, and he is surprisingly handsome and put-together- moreso than me, I imagine, as embarrassing as the thought of that is.

"Thanks, thanks; alright, take a seat, buddy," Kenji laughs, patting Oikawa on the back as he takes center stage. "So, yeah, hi, everyone. I'm Kenji; you may remember me, you may not. Either way, welcome back to Yamaku. I'd say you all look well, but according to my optometrist I think that would probably just be a 50/50 guess."

His joke actually gets a good amount of laughter out of the audience. He adjusts his glasses coolly- they're thin and frameless, and surprisingly fashionable.

"I know what you're all thinking," Kenji declares with a dismissive hand wave. "What's with this asshole in the suit? Why are we trapped here listening to this? Nobody came here for a lecture, right? We graduated so we could be done with them." He shakes his head dramatically, chuckling to himself. "Well, this is only going to take a couple of minutes; I know we're all still catching up. I just want to make a little statement, maybe create a little perspective. Because this is about more than just catching up, isn't it? This isn't just some party. And God knows we don't need an excuse to get drunk with our friends."

He holds out his hand, and Oikawa passes him a bottle of water, which he takes a long drink from. "No, no, there's meaning behind this, right?! This represents something. Something more than, 'look, we're all still around.' We didn't just graduate from high school, we graduated from Yamaku. And that means something." He takes another drink. "Alright, alright, do me a favor. I want you to picture, just for a second, your first day at Yamaku. It's something I'm sure everyone can remember, right? Does an image strike you? There was- is- an atmosphere here, a distinct one. No matter what your background is, no matter how you ended up here, there is a reaction that I'm sure we can all share. Canes, and dark glasses, and bandages, and prosthetics. It's a strange feeling to become a part of a place like that. Even if you yourself are 'healthy', so to speak, you became enculturated. It's the structure of this place. It's how engrossed you felt in everyone's health, and in trying to pretend to be 'normal'. For some, it was new, and for some, I'm sure it had followed you your whole life. But it was there, right?"

He shrugs and takes another sip of water.

I cup my hands together, surprised by how eloquently he is speaking. When I knew Kenji at Yamaku, I would have doubted he was even capable of having such a long and yet still coherent train of thought, let alone giving it as a speech.

"Now think on your first week. Your first month. The people you met. People that you're probably surrounded by right now!" He does a broad gesture with his arms. "How long did you spend thinking about all that other nonsense before you had to start stressing out about a test, or getting to club meetings, or making friends? Think about how quickly it turned normal for you. You may have had to go to the nurse every day. You may have had to take three dozen pills before every meal. Who knows? But that's got nothing to do with your memories of this place, or of your education, does it? You did make those friends, you did take those tests, and at the end of the day, you got along fine. And here we are, ten years later, and, well, damn, there's canes and dark glasses and bandages and prosthetics here, too, but that's got nothing to do with it, does it? That's not why we all came tonight."

He shakes his head a little neurotically and hands the water back, gripping the microphone with both hands. "Okay, where am I going with this…? Listen. They called me up and asked me to give a full-fledged speech. They wanted me to talk about my organization and the charities it gives to. Rattle off names, do some gloating. They wanted me to talk about the kids I'm giving a second chance, because those charities are paying their tuition here. But I thought that would miss the point. 'Cause, shit, who am I giving a second chance? Who is Yamaku giving a second chance, for that matter? That's not what this reunion is about. Not second chances. It's not about making up for our 'problems'. Playing catch-up. It's about… adapting."

He sighs loudly into the microphone, leaning back on an unoccupied table. Dramatically removing his glasses, he makes a serious face as though to seem down-to-Earth. "I don't want people to look at my achievements and say, 'Wow, look at how Kenji overcame the odds. Look at how much a Yamaku kid was able to accomplish.' No, that's the wrong mindset altogether. Because, say what you will about what I've done with my life… the real accomplishment is one that everyone here has done. I adapted. I'm a part of the world. A regular guy. It's not because I got a second chance, and it's not because I played catch-up. It's just because… I adapted. And everyone here has done that. That's what we should be commemorating tonight. Commemorate all the little things in your life you have to be proud of. The normal things. Your husband or wife. Your kids. Your career. That's the point of this. Be glad that Yamaku gave you the space to do it, but don't give anyone credit for what you've done. Because you adapted, too. That is the point of this. And the only thing I want to do is make sure everyone here realizes that."

He puts his glasses back on and takes a dramatic pause, to rousing applause. He smiles charmingly, standing and waltzing back to the center of the room. Personally, I'm still a little too shocked at Kenji's demeanor to will myself to clap, even if the speech was fairly impressive. I crane my head towards Shizune, and she gives me an unusually fond smile, which takes me a little off-guard. I wonder what she'd have to say about all that business about refusing to talk about accomplishments.

"Okay, okay, that's my cue, right? Yeah, my fault for saying 'a couple minutes'," Kenji laughs. "Fine, fine, I'll just say this. It's a beautiful night out, so if you want to get some air, the grounds are completely open for the rest of the evening. High elevation here, so it's good for your lungs. And if you're worried about students… well, most of the kids are gone for the summer, but if you see one, just give 'em a dirty look and tell 'em it'll be their turn next decade." He raises an arm to gesture toward where I'm sitting. "Enjoy the open bar; that's totally on me. Be nice to the poor kid, he's been in that suit for four hours now. Aaaand… that's all. Have a good night, everybody!"

The lights flicker back on over the rest of the room as Oikawa takes the microphone back from Kenji, bookending the speech with another loud screech of mic feedback. After a few minutes of getting back to normal, everyone gathers up again and gets back to fraternizing, though I notice a handful of couples heading out the double doors, presumably at Kenji's recommendation to walk around the campus.

Shizune stands, raising her eyebrow at me expectantly. [You always made him seem much worse when you talked about him.]

I shrug. [He was a lot weirder in school. He must have mellowed out since then.]

All of a sudden, I become extremely curious as to whether he's married or not. Kenji seems to have disappeared by the time I look up again, though, which presents an entirely new set of questions.

Intrigued, I decide to stand to get a better look… but I barely manage to take one step away from the bench before Shizune slips in front of me to cut me off. [Are you bored?]

[What?]

[I'm bored.] She snaps her fingers commandingly. [This is embarrassing. We look like vagrants when we hang around the bar with Mutou and his awful brown trenchcoat.]

[He always wears that coat.]

[He also barely shaves and smells perpetually like alcohol. What's your point?]

I glance over at Akio, who raises his glass in acknowledgment. It occurs to me that I have yet to see his glass empty. After a moment of thought, I turn back to Shizune. [I guess I can't argue with that. I would have gone and worked my way into a crowd, but I feel like I don't remember anyone well enough.]

She straightens her glasses and makes a deliberately condescending (albeit cute) smile. [Feeling shy? How endearing.]

[I hardly see you acting like a social butterfly. I assumed you were conducting recon so that nobody would catch you off-guard. But then, you're probably too prideful to admit that you've forgotten anyone's name, aren't you?]

[Me? Prideful? Never.] She narrows her eyes, then steps forward and grabs my collar in order to pull me into a kiss. I instinctively blush with embarrassment, and after noticing this, she pulls away with a teasing push. Clearly this was just a maneuver to catch me off-guard and therefore gain the upper hand… but, unfortunately, it worked. [You think you understand every little thing about me, don't you?]

I fix my tie as quickly as possible. [Yes, I did, right up until about five seconds ago.]

[You shouldn't have let your guard down.]

[I just didn't think you'd want to draw so much unnecessary attention to yourself. You aren't usually so showy about it.]

[Showy? Don't be so dramatic; nobody even saw that.]

[That's what you-]

"-Hey, excuse me! I hope we're not interrupting…"

[-think.]

I jolt my head up to see a small crowd- two men and one woman. Lilly stands off to the side of them, Hanako suspiciously absent.

I point upwards to direct Shizune's attention. […Nobody, huh?]

She grimaces with sudden defeat and turns to face the crowd. As soon as she lays eyes on them, her expression shifts to something opaque and unreadable. Lilly fidgets with her cane, frowning apologetically.

"No, not interrupting," I say calmly. "You're friends of Lilly's, I take it?"

"Sure, but old friends of Shizune's, as well!" the man in front insists. "You're Hisao, right? It's Masaaki; good to meet you. This is Shunichi, and Yuho. We're all Yamaku graduates."

The other two both say 'hello' simultaneously, with a measured degree of awkwardness that Masaaki seems oblivious to.

I just smile and nod. "It's my pleasure."

"Pleasure's all ours." He turns to Shizune with a slick smile, which she returns halfheartedly. "Shizune. It's good to see you again! We were hoping to get the chance to talk to you. Everyone's been asking what Hakamichi is up to."

[Hello. It's been a long time.] Shizune signs more coldly and firmly than usual. I'm not sure what to do about it, so I just interpret as normal.

"It sure has," he says quietly.

"You're all friends of Shizune?" I ask, looking back and forth among the three of them.

"From Yamaku," Shunichi corrects. "It's like ancient history now, right?"

Shizune squints at that remark. [Ancient history.]

"I can't believe none of us have met, in that case!" I declare. "Shizune and I were really close during senior year."

"Is that when you met?" Masaaki asks with a shrug. "I guess that would explain-"

"Student council," Lilly suddenly interrupts with uncharacteristic loudness. "We were all in Student Council together. Earlier on."

She clears her throat and tilts her head down, as though she can sense everyone's sudden glares.

Student Council, huh? I guess that would explain it. It really does seem like ancient history to me, but I know from experience that bridges burned in Student Council don't get mended easily.

[Too bad that didn't last.] Shizune purses her lips a little, clearly a bit defensive. The desire kicks in to prevent a conflict, but I also don't want to overcomplicate things if it's just a little leftover resentment from high school.

"Yeah." Masaaki glances back at his posse, and they shrug at each other. "But you really made it work! You and Mikado. It was cool how you guys transformed it."

[Hisao, Misha and me. We put in a lot of work to put the Student Council where it was that year.]

"Right." He looks me directly in the eye, flashing a pseudo-nostalgic grin. "Shizune was the hardest worker back then. Put us all to shame, heh."

"I would imagine," I mumble, trying to gauge him. Shizune hesitates to add anything to that.

He clears his throat and nods, triggering an awkward silence. Lilly sighs, as if to say to them, 'I told you this would happen'.

The woman in the back, whose name I've already forgotten, speaks for the first time in an attempt to be diplomatic. "So, uh, Lilly says you teach here, Hisao. How'd that end up happening?" Nobody seems too excited about this direction of conversation, but we're locked into it now.

I shrug. "Hm? Oh, I don't know. It was a personal sort of ambition, I guess. Yamaku meant a lot to me."

"It must take a lot of patience, to teach at a place like this."

"Patience? I don't know, I guess. I think it's rewarding."

"What are the students like?"

She seems to be genuinely curious, but I don't really know how to respond. "Uh, pretty normal. Lazy, but they ask a lot of questions. It's always been my experience with students here."

"Oh. That's, uh, nice."

She sighs, and the other two guys exchange a not-very-subtle glance. I wish I had more to talk about, but the question is pretty broad.

Lilly, evidently fed up with this, takes a breath and turns to leave, throwing her cane out in front of her. "…I'm sorry. It's been fun catching up, everyone, but I really think I should go find Hanako… she went out to get some air ages ago and still hasn't returned yet."

Masaaki suddenly looks alarmed. "Oh, that's- yeah, you said you were with her. Well, uh… good night, then, Lilly."

"Good night. I'm glad we got the opportunity to do this. I'd love to get lunch the next time I'm in Japan."

"Definitely," says Shunichi.

"It was good to meet you again, Lilly," says the woman.

Lilly pauses next to me before taking off for the door. "Look for me and Hanako outside when you're ready to leave, would you, Hisao?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you."

Before long, she's slipped through the double doors.

"Good night again, Lill- I- yeah, she's out of earshot." Masaaki cups his hands together, frowning awkwardly.

I look Shizune in the eye, hoping for a reaction, but she simply continues to smile dully. I'm not exactly sure how to amend this situation, so I'm just thankful that everyone else seems to be as uncomfortable as me.

I open my mouth to make a second attempt at small talk, but am immediately preempted by a sudden surge of excuses.

"Uh, so-"

"Yeah, maybe we should-"

"I think I have to-"

"Right, may as well get moving."

"Ahem."

I blink once. Masaaki smiles at me. "Yeah, but it was great to meet you, Hisao."

"Definitely," says Shunichi.

"It was good to meet you again, Shizune," says the woman.

They wait just long enough for Shizune to sign, [Good night], before breezing past me in a single-file line. I don't even have time to interpret it before they are out of earshot.

Shizune and I are left standing in the middle of the room by ourselves, surrounded by a swarm of less socially-awkward peers.

I turn to Shizune. […Well, that was weird.]

She rolls her eyes. [I don't know what they expected.]

[What was that woman's name again?]

[Yuho.]

[Yuho! I forgot.]

[So did I, to be honest. Until they reintroduced themselves, that is.] She squints with frustration. […They hate me.]

[Come on. Don't say that.]

[No, it's fine. It doesn't bother me. I was a real taskmaster back then. We never really became that close as friends.]

[Well, that's no excuse.]

[I think it is. It was my fault we stopped speaking. I don't blame them.]

[Be reasonable. I'm sure it wasn't all you.]

[You're sweet. But…] She smiles at me, a little disheartened. […Well. Either way, that killed the mood, didn't it?]

[I guess it did.]

After a moment of pouting, she dramatically snaps her fingers, startling a few people near us. [Let's go for a walk. I could use some air.]

[Me, too. That sounds-]

Before I finish, Shizune turns and brushes past me. I allow myself one loud sigh, an indulgence I rarely take.

She leads me outside, barely even checking behind her to make sure I follow along. It's too dark out to navigate properly, and the campus has only a few scattered lights, making it hard to see our surroundings. I see a few people wandering around- mostly coming up and down the hill- but Lilly is nowhere to be seen. I'm briefly concerned for Hanako's sake, a feeling that surprises me.

Shizune allows me no time to dwell on it, though. Lost in thought, I walk forward for a solid minute or so before realizing that she has begun to trail far ahead me, taking severe, purposeful steps.

I roll my eyes and rush to catch up with her, briefly grabbing her shoulder in order to get her attention. She does turn around, but it seems to irritate her, and she straightens her glasses with a firm expression.

I return it. [Are you okay?]

[I'm okay.]

[What's your rush?]

[I'm not rushing. I was just thinking. It's not my fault you're slow.]

[You're doing that thing again.]

[What thing?]

[The thing where you're obviously upset about something but won't talk to me about it.]

[But I'm not upset about anything.]

[Really?]

[Really. I told you, I'm just thinking.]

[Okay. I'll play along.] I take a breath and briefly glance around, laying my eyes on a bench. With a beckon, I set off towards it, and she follows me with a pout. Leaning back on the arm of the bench, I begin to sign again. [What are you thinking about?]

She crosses her legs and shrugs. [I'm making you worried about me, aren't I?]

[A little.]

[Please don't worry about me. It makes me feel guilty.]

[I won't be worried if you just tell me what's on your mind.]

[Fine.] She puffs out her cheeks, thinking. [Do you think Lilly finds me irritating?]

[What? Of course not.]

[She used to.]

[Well, sure, in high school. You really think she's not over that?]

[I think we just agreed to drop it on behalf of being family, since she went away. But it gets worse every time we see her.]

[Come on, Shizune. She likes you fine.]

She pouts. [I wish she didn't just 'like me fine'. At least when we were fighting all the time our opinions were out in the open. Now it's like we aren't even close enough to be honest about it.]

[I guess I understand that. But I thought you said you weren't upset about anything?]

[It's not upsetting me. I'm just feeling a little contemplative, I think. That's the point of a reunion, right?]

[To be contemplative?]

[To think about the direction your life has gone in! You should be feeling that way more than anyone, since you still have this school in your life. That's a constant that most people don't get to keep, you know.]

[I don't know what you mean. Yamaku has barely changed at all since we went here, save for the students.]

[But your life has changed a lot, hasn't it?]

[Sure it has.]

[So, that's my point. You have a point of comparison.]

[I never thought about it like that.]

[Then it's a good thing you have me, isn't it?]

She rests her arm on the back of the bench and closes her eyes, nestling into her seat with a relaxed smile. She looks too comfortable for me to force her to talk to me, so I take the opportunity to look around.

The people wandering around look like lost students, especially from a distance. I wonder if they can even remember their way around, considering how long they've been away. The campus hasn't undergone any renovations that I can think of, so it really hasn't changed since then. But memory can be an unreliable thing.

I catch myself yawning, and rub some sleep out of my eyes. Despite it being late, I don't look forward to the end of the night. Even if the entire rest of the night has been awkward and unorthodox, I still feel kind of nostalgic about just hanging around on the campus with Shizune.

Lilly is still nowhere to be seen. Who knows how long those two are going to take?

I tap Shizune on the leg with my foot, and she opens her eyes suddenly, surprised. [I have an idea.]

She sits up a little. [What is it?]

[You should come check out the Student Council room.]

Shizune hesitates for a second, glancing towards the building across the courtyard. [The academic buildings are closed.]

[I have a key.]

[That sounds like a flagrant abuse of your authority.]

[Well, sure it is. But do you want to do it?]

I raise an eyebrow, and she smirks at me. [Of course I do.]

[Then come on.]

Shizune stands expectantly, and I laugh at her sudden eagerness. The two of us stalk across the courtyard as stealthily as possible, which is not very stealthily, admittedly, but nonetheless get to the door unseen. It takes me almost a full minute to find the right key, but aside from that, the break-in is basically flawless.

The halls are illuminated only by moonlight, making the atmosphere relatively eerie, but I hesitate to turn on any of the hallway lights and attract too much attention. We both know the way to the Student Council room from muscle memory alone, but I cut her off from entering just to build up the suspense a little more.

I run my hand along the wall until I find the light switch, and the room flickers into view. It's actually mostly a mess, with posters and school supplies basically scattered across most of the desks, but I imagine it's more a sign that people have been busy than anything else. Shizune crosses her arms as she steps into the room, her eyes wide with mild astonishment.

Her hands run along some of the papers on a desk towards the back of the room, and she nearly laughs out loud as she reads one of the lists.

[How many kids are part of this?]

[Twenty-four.]

[Twenty-four? Are you serious?]

[Completely. Five different people ran for president last time around. They would have absolutely put our run in Student Council to shame.]

[Blasphemy.]

[Community outreach, Shizune. Community outreach.] I make my way towards her desk and fish through one of the stacks of paper to grab a flier for their newest event, shoving it into her arms. [Would you believe they wanted to organize a second community festival? One in the spring, near the end of the year.]

[That sounds like far too much work.] I raise an eyebrow at her, and she grins. […But I probably would have killed for it at the time.]

With an amused grin, I walk past her to towards back of the room, gesturing to a board near the corner. On it, ten generations of Yamaku's Student Council, starting with the ridiculous end-of-the-year photo of Misha, Shizune and me. Looking at the photos down the line, the growth is obvious: five members the second year, eight the third, eleven the fourth…

Shizune makes a sour face at the first photo. [You didn't.]

[I sure did. I hung it up myself a few years ago.]

[It's so embarrassing.]

[Blame yourself! It was your idea to pose like that when we took it.]

She tilts her head a little, smiling fondly at it, then turns back to me. [You're making me all nostalgic.]

I sit on my desk and kick my feet up onto the nearest chair. [Well, we did come here to bask in the past, right?]

[As I remember it, we were thinking about the directions our lives have gone in. And how I was feeling contemplative. And then you had the idea to come here.]

[Oh, don't you dare go where I think you're going.]

She grins, encouraged by my dissent. […So, as I see it, we're here so that you can force me to look at my glory days. To rub in my face that I've already peaked.]

[Please stop.]

[And thus to show me how much of a failure I really was at that time, in retrospect.]

[You are impossible.]

[Am I? It can't be a coincidence that we met the old members of the Student Council, and then you brought me here.]

[That's not fair.]

[Oh no?]

[You are really going to drag this out of me, aren't you?]

[I have no idea what you are talking about.]

I shrug, resigned. [Fine, then. You clearly did not peak in high school.]

[Well, that is an interesting thing to say. What about Masaaki and the others? They fled from me in horror.] She makes a dramatically sad face just to mock me.

[Nonsense. They were obviously intimidated by you.]

[And why is that?]

[Well. Because… you are the most intelligent, and capable, and accomplished woman here. And, frankly, it makes everyone else feel insecure.]

She purses her lips. […You forgot 'beautiful'.]

[I thought that might be chauvinistic.]

[Okay, fair enough.] She smiles coyly. [But it's true, right?]

[Well, obviously.]

With a childlike smile, she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me, pulling me a little off the desk. I push myself off the rest of the way in order to accommodate her, running my hands up her back under her shirt. Before I get the chance to do anything else, though, she stops me and pulls away, giggling audibly in-between uneven breaths.

I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair, leaning back on the desk again. [I can hear your voice. You're giggling; it's cute.]

[Shut up.] She collects herself for a moment, obviously embarrassed about that. [Where do you teach?]

[What? Why?]

[I want to see your classroom.]

[It looks basically the same as this room.]

[But it's your room, and I want to see it.] She snaps her fingers loudly, which instinctively makes me look back to make sure nobody heard it. […Also, I want to have sex on your desk.]

I'm taken aback for a second. [What? Is that a joke?]

[Do I look like I'm joking?]

[You are aware that you accuse me of being perverted, right?]

[It's on my bucket list.]

[Having sex on my desk is on your bucket list?]

[Sex on a teacher's desk.]

[That's weirdly specific.]

[Well, I'm married to a teacher, aren't I?] She pauses for a second. […I have a very realistic bucket list.]

[I don't know. I was in the mood a minute ago, and then you killed it by confusing me. Why would you want to have sex on a teacher's desk? It just sounds kind of uncomfortable.]

[It's scandalous. A classroom is a sacred place for education. Don't you think that's exciting?]

[I don't really get it. It's just… where I grade papers and that sort of thing.]

[Really, you don't get it at all? It's like a scene out of a movie.]

[I honestly don't think it would be as erotic as you're imagining it.]

[Stop trying to spoil my fun.] She adjusts her glasses, looking businesslike again. [Would you at least be able to brush everything dramatically off of your desk and then lay me on top of it?]

[That sounds messy.] She rolls her eyes, and I shrug at her. [I would have to unplug my computer and set that off to the side… and I would probably have to arrange my papers together and sort them, and then file those away… but I could probably arrange to sweep some pens off the desk. Maybe a paper clip or two. How does that sound?]

[Spoilsport.] She takes a breath, looking around the Student Council room a second time. [Let's go. I still want to see it.]

[Suit yourself.]

Shizune glares judgmentally at me as I rearrange the papers we sifted through and shut off the lights. I lock the door behind us, and deliberately don't wait for Shizune to begin hurrying off through the hallway to the stairwell.

The building is still completely empty, and the sound of our footsteps echoing off the walls makes me a little uneasy about getting caught. How fortunate that Shizune doesn't feel the same way. I think.

After a bit of walking we reach my classroom, situated somewhere in the middle of the second floor. Shizune runs her hand over the plate with my name on it, as though she has some kind of admiration for it or something. Her face looks totally genuine, but I can't help but wonder if she's mocking me.

Once I get the door open, I reach for the light switch, but Shizune stops me, so I shut the door without touching it.

She appraises the room with an air of self-importance, then turns to me. Thankfully the moonlight coming in through the windows illuminates her enough to make out her sign language. [You have a favorite student, right?]

[What makes you say that?]

[You said it yourself, when we were at the bar with Mutou.]

[I guess I did, didn't I?] I laugh self-consciously.

[So who is it?]

[Probably… Ishikuno. He's this sweet kid that had to move to the area to be closer to a hospital. He pretends not to know the answers to questions so he doesn't have to talk in class. I call on him all the time, though, so it's alright.]

[Of course you like the smart one.] She wanders over to my desk and picks up a pen, twirling it in one hand. [I've learned this horrible, grave truth about teachers. My whole life's work is being invalidated by favoritism.]

[I think you are attributing way too much significance to schoolteachers.]

I laugh, and she raises an eyebrow at me. [Maybe you just aren't attributing enough. Give yourself a little credit.]

I walk over towards her and snatch the pen out of her hand, placing it carefully back down on my desk, then make my way past it to the chalkboard. I lean back on it to look at her, and she approaches me.

[Well? Is my work space as titillating as you imagined?]

She places her hands on the chalkboard on either side of my head, then leans forward and kisses me. [I do like it in here. I like it when you talk about teaching.]

She presses herself against me and begins to work on undoing my belt, but I place my hands over hers to stop her. Unfortunately, we have to keep breaking apart and keeping distance in order to sign to each other, which cuts down significantly on the intimacy of the situation. For that reason, we usually don't talk so much, but she keeps piquing my interest.

I pull away from her again. [You know that that is a really weird thing to say, right?]

[Why? It's true.]

[You can't just make a statement like that without any explanation.]

[I do have an explanation.] She kisses me again, smiling eagerly. [When you talk about that kind of thing, it reminds me of what I like about you so much.]

[Well, I'm glad you find my mediocrity so arousing, then.]

I chuckle to myself at that, but she seems totally unamused. I shake my head to dismiss it, but she moves away from me when I approach, leaning on my desk.

She raises her hands to sign, but hesitates for a moment before following up. [Hisao, why did you say that?]

[I don't understand. Did I say something wrong?]

She bites her lip, then shakes her head. […I don't think you're mediocre.]

[Shizune…]

[You keep saying things that give me the impression that you think I feel that way.]

[I didn't mean to do that.]

She glances around the room, looking off-put. [Can I ask you to be honest with me about something?]

[Of course.]

[Do you feel like I'm supportive of you? Think about it.]

[I…] I make direct eye contact with her, and she frowns seriously at me. [What makes you think I don't?]

[I was thinking about it before. I don't say 'I love you' enough.]

[Please don't be dramatic.]

[I'm not being dramatic. It's true, I don't. I think I am a little afraid of intimacy sometimes.]

[You literally dragged me in here because you wanted to have sex on my desk.]

[Not like that, idiot. I mean… emotional intimacy. I'm always trying not to shut people out like that. And you're the reason for that. So it's really, really important to me that you don't feel like I'm not supportive of you.]

[I don't feel that way. Our relationship is just a little weird.]

She perks up, suddenly alarmed. [What do you mean by that?]

[No, no! Relax, please. I just mean that it's structured a little differently than most. I make peanuts compared to you. I might feel a little insecure about that sometimes, but it's because you are supportive of me, not because you aren't. I feel like I'm not doing enough sometimes. You make it easy to feel incompetent in comparison.] I flash her a light smile, and she thinks on it for a few seconds before reciprocating it. [But it's not a bad thing. It makes me strive to be better than I am.]

[You're so compassionate.]

[You don't have to flatter me.]

[Hisao, for God's sake, learn to take a compliment.]

[Okay, fine. Thank you, then.]

She nods approvingly. [The reason I get worried about these things in the first place is because you are so outrageously supportive of me, and my career. You're always worried about me and how I'm feeling, and whether I am comfortable with my life, and that sort of thing. You really are a very compassionate person. I really admire that about you.]

[Wow. That… that means a lot.]

[I really love you. And I want to be more like you, especially in that regard. I'm sorry if it doesn't come across all the time.]

[I love you, too, Shizune. And I feel the same way. We make each other better people.] She tilts her head with a slight smile. [Doesn't that just mean we have a really good relationship?]

[Absolutely.] She stares at my face for a few moments, smiling fondly. […I don't know why, but for some reason I was expecting that to go differently.]

[Did… we just… fix… our marriage?]

[I think… we did, yes.]

[Wow. We are the best.]

[It's nice to reaffirm that every once in a while.]

I take a step off of the chalkboard and wander over to the window. Yamaku's campus stretches out seemingly endlessly, and it's all beautiful under the moonlight. Somewhere down below, I spot a patch of blonde hair and realize that Lilly has apparently reunited with Hanako. Something in the back of my mind wonders if they are waiting for us by now, but I quickly sort out my priorities.

Shizune stands to my side and spots the two of them as well. We turn to each other with the same knowing look.

She pouts a little, looking disappointed. […We're never going to have sex on your desk, are we?]

I check my watch- for a second, it makes me wonder how many months' salary she spent on it. […We have time.]