"Hey, Yukari, Yukari!" a young girl, of maybe six or seven, called to another girl.
"Oh, hi Mayu!" the other girl replied "What's up?"
"Look at what I found! Isn't it pretty?" Mayu held out a small flower.
"Yeah! It's really, really pretty!" Yukari replied happily "It's a sad they can't last forever,"
"Yeah..." Mayu replied, letting out a sigh.
Yukari saw Mayu sad and quickly tried to think. Flowers always went bad after a while, but...
"Oh! I saw my Mommy reading an article about how making flowers flat can make them last longer!" Yukari told her friend.
"Wah, really?!" Mayu replied "Can we try it?!"
"I'll ask Mommy, but, she'll probably let us!" Yukari told her happily.
The two girls smiled at each other, walking to Yukari's house. When they got there, they asked Yukari's Mom if they could press the flower and got premission and help.
"I'm so happy it can last really long now!" Mayu told her friend happily.
"Mhm, me too!" Yukari replied.
"Hey, Yukari, I wanna give it to you," Mayu told her with a smile.
"Eh? But, you really like it Mayu,"
"Yeah, but...I think it would look really, really, really pretty in your room! So, I think you should have it!"
"Wow, thank you Mayu!" Yukari happily accepted the flower.
"Hey, Yukari, let's be friends forever, ok?" Mayu asked her friend happily.
"Of course!"
The two then played, laughed, and had sweets together.
...Forever, huh? Yukari, now a young adult twirled in her fingers what remained of the flower from that time.
"Mayu, have you been feeling ok?" Yukari, at about age twelve, asked her friend "You've seemed really upset lately..."
"Yu-Yukari, it's horrible!" Mayu started "My parents took me to this doctor the other day, and, they want to put me on permanent medicine! I don't wanna be on medicine, Yukari!"
Mayu's tone was wobbly, her eyes filled with tears. Yukari quickly hugged her, and stroked her back.
"Mayu, i-if it's medicine, shouldn't it help?" Yukari told her "M-Maybe they just want to make sure you're happy and safe,"
"I-I guess..." Mayu mumbled "...Ok-k, i-if...If you say so Yukari, I'll try it..."
But, did you even try? What, did you try for, like, a day?
"M-Mayu? I thought you had something to do after school today, w-what are you doing at my house?" a sixteen year-old Yukari asked Mayu, who was sitting in her room.
Mayu quickly hid something behind her back.
"U-Uhm, i-it...It got canceled!" the dark-blonde nervously blurted out "A-And I had nothing to do, s-so, I decided to come here, a-and hang out with you!"
"Mayu, what do you have behind your back?" Yukari asked, worried "Y-You don't need to steal something from me, if you need something, I could just help you get it-"
"N-No, i-it, it wouldn't be the same!"
"...M-Mayu, w-what do you have?"
Mayu gave in after a few seconds and revealed a pair of underwear.
"M-Mayu? W-Why would you want that?" Yukari asked, shocked and a bit scared.
"I-I..." Mayu stuttered, sounding like she was about to cry "Yu-Yukari, I...I really love you!"
Yukari was silent.
"I-I've loved you for a long time! A-And not just like a friend, b-but...A-As someone who wants to kiss you, and, d-do other things..." Mayu continued "...D-Do you love me back, Yukari?"
Once again, Yukari was silent.
"Yu-Yukari? Yukari...D-Don't you love me?" Mayu asked "Yu-Yukari, p-please answer me! Please!"
Mayu hugged Yukari tightly, looking up at her, tears in her eyes.
"Please answer me! Please! Please!"
"I-I don't know!" Yukari finally responded, now afraid of her 'friend' "I just...I've never thought of you that way before..."
"O-Oh..." Mayu let go. She made a gloomy expression and stared down to the floor. Yukari let out a sigh.
"...C-Can I just have some time to think, Mayu?" Yukari asked "I...I just need to sort everything out..."
"Ok-k," Mayu said, a bit of a smile on her face.
I never felt that way for you...Couldn't you realize that? How couldn't you realize that? Why...
Yukari, now nineteen, and in college, was running to her apartment. Her parents were coming over for dinner with her boyfriend, and, she was running extremely late. As she approached her door, she noticed something.
It was open. After a moment of hesitation, Yukari quietly walked into her apartment. As she entered, she pulled out a small hand-gun from a tiny, hidden compartment by the door. Her Father had given her this as a last resort to protect herself. She heard some rustling in her room, and, slowly and quietly started walking towards it, gun in a ready position.
As she got closer, she soon realized that she recognized the laughter coming from her room. She wnet closer, and, saw the terrible sight of her parents and boyfriend on the ground, bloody and mangled, with a familiar figure standing over them with a knife.
"M-Mayu?"
The figure turned around. As soon as she saw Yukari, she smiled.
"Yukari!" the dark-blonde said happily "Yukari, I've missed you for so long!"
"M-Mayu...W-Why?"
"Well, Mayu realized something," Mayu started "Mayu realized that medicine she was taking was only holding her back...Back from you,"
Yukari stood there, stunned.
"That then made Mayu think that, she needed to get rid of everything else holding her back from you, so, that's just what she did!"
"Mayu, b-but...Th-They were-"
"All Mayu needs is Yukari, and, all Yukari will need is Mayu!" she said with a giggle "Wait...Does...Does Yukari not want to be with Mayu? Is that it?"
Yukari stayed silent. Saying anything could set her off...
"I-In that case...Mayu will have to make sure you stay with her forever!" Mayu took a swipe at Yukari with her knife. Yukari narrowly dodged.
"M-Mayu, please stop!" Yukari pleaded with her, aiming her gun.
"No, no, no. Mayu needs you to be with her," Mayu started to answer "Mayu won't stop until you're hers,"
Mayu took another swipe, Yukari once again just barely getting off unscathed.
"M-Mayu, please!" Yukari said, franticly pleading with her "I-I could help you if you just stop! I-I...I don't want to shoot!"
"You will be Mayu's!" Mayu charged to make a swipe at Yukari, and-
Bang. The next moment, she fell to the ground, a bullet hole in her head.
How...How could she have shot her? Her...Her best friend...
Yukari stared at the flower she had in her hand. After a moment, she looked over to her, now deceased, past friend. Yukari slowly got up, and, placed the flower on her chest.
...Goodnight and goodbye, my childhood friend...