TAMAKO / MOCHIZOU:

Mochizou sighed as he opened the drawer once more. He pawed though its contents, even though he knew them by heart. Still, he liked to look over them sometimes to be reminded of everything he'd gotten her over the years. A box of imported flour that must have gone stale; a bright purple and white T-shirt that he thought matched her eyes and her hair clips; a cheap bracelet...

Someday, he thought, he might have the courage to give them to her. He closed the drawer, as he'd done so many times before. Some things never seemed to change. Was this one of them? he wondered.


TAMAKO / SHIORI:

As she stirred the milk into her coffee, Shiori thought about why she'd found it so hard to talk to Tamako. She'd never had many friends, true, and she'd always wanted people to talk and laugh with the way Tamako and Kanna and Midori did with one another. But why was it that she'd focused so much on Tamako? It must be because she was always so friendly. Yes, certainly that was all it was.

So why was it that her stomach sank a little whenever she saw Midori or Mochizou looking at Tamako with their expressions of adoration?


MOCHIZOU / MIDORI:

I chuckled softly to myself. To think I'd seen him as a rival for Tamako's affections! Looking back now, I can see the tension between us wasn't rooted just in our attraction to her, but to each other…

His chest rose and fell slowly. He was beautiful, I thought. And tonight, he was all mine. I pushed him gently to wake him from the low slumber he'd fallen into, then leaned over his face to press my mouth onto his. He responded, a bit drowsily, by wrapping his arms around my shoulders, accidentally flipping me onto my side in doing so. I giggled. Somehow, Mouchizou was what I'd wanted all along.