Hi, my dear reader. It sure has been a while, hasn't it? Sometime ago, my friend ahsinam33 finished her first chapter-story, perfectly developing and fleshing out a spark of an idea I had given her. I enjoyed it a lot, and so I promised to write something as a gift. This is a sequel to my one-shot titled 'Incoherent', which I would like to dedicate to her. If you were hoping a continuation from Sakurako's perspective, I believe you will enjoy this one! : )

Disclaimer: I still surely do not own the anime or its characters.

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"...I love you"

Said the blue-haired figure who smiled to me in my dream.

I could not erase that thought out of my mind,

I cannot fool myself thinking 'that has to be someone else!'

I know far too well who this one is.

The one who is my childhood friend.

The one whom I claim to hate.

At least that is what I say.

I can always express myself fast in a way that is understood.

Until she comes in the room.

Usually, playing dumb would work; throwing jokes around made me more confident I could avoid this feeling.

It made me feel stronger.

Until it didn't.

A week from before I saw her smiling in a way that I had never seen before.

And the image was burnt into my eyes.

It wasn't just disconcerting.

It threw me off my rails.

It was not like thinking about you was bad in any way.

But this feeling was eating me inside.

And what am I going to do with it?

I had been thinking on it for so long that I lost sleep.

And though we were supposed to have fun with the other girls today, I simply did not have the energy.

And then I woke up to hear those three words which froze me right in the spot.

Could it be that I was still dreaming?

I could not move and let her know that I was awake.

I did not know whether to feel happy or let the nervousness take over; it was surprising I did not start trembling right way.

I waited until our train arrived, and for you to gently wake me up so we could ride on it.

It probably did not take as long as I felt it did.

And now I'm returning home, over sayings of 'but it's so soon!'

I could not take it anymore.

Could it be that I was still dreaming at the moment you told me those sweet words?

We were alone at that booth.

We were alone at the entire station.

Just the two of us.

I cannot fool myself thinking 'it must have been directed towards someone else'.

I wish I had the courage to say it, without messing it up even once.

But even if it's in my mind, I say to you those same three words, while I add another one.

'I love you, too.'

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Congrats to ahsinam33 for writing such a nice story. I hope you have liked this one, my friend. And if you, dear reader, have enjoyed it too, please make my day with a review!

If this has at all left you wanting more, who knows, you might want to hold your breath... : )

Until next time~