Graduation. One last day in the club room. Earlier, Houtarou had gotten insinuative looks from Satoshi, Mayaka, the underclassmen, and now only he and Chitanda had shown up.
When he started to go find the others, she leapt up, opened her mouth —
Silence. Her eyes caught him.
Silence burned out the familiar words, a hole in a page, sucking him through into the depths, toward her...
Suddenly Chitanda blushed at her shoes, looked up at him shyly, no longer a curious goddess.
Just a girl.
Who would like to be kissed.
And he knew...
the energy it would waste...
regretting...