There weren't a lot of ways that someone could approach a sensitive subject, Itsuka realized, especially when their goal was to make someone hurt feel better. Some people would prefer to be left alone, and others would want the support of people near them. Some people would react aggressively, while others would just let whatever happened around them happy, without care or concern. And she didn't know if that would change the way that they wanted to be treated, or what they wanted.

When it came to her girlfriend though, Itsuka had no idea what she would want.

Setsuna was always hyperactive, cheerful, friendly and playful and flirty, and everything that came with each one of those adjectives. She was probably one of the most noticeably cheerful members of class 1B. Some considered her to be infectiously so. There was barley a moment where she was seen without a grin on her face, of a witticism on the tip of her tongue. Despite getting on everyone's nerves, she was well liked in their class.

Certainly, she'd managed to steal Itsuka's heart.

Itsuka had been lucky throughout her life. She hadn't had to ever deal with loss. Both her parents were still together, and alive. She'd never had a family member die, mostly because the elder ones were already dead by the time she was born. She hadn't ever even had a pet die while she was around.

So she didn't know what support she could even offer Setsuna.

The girl adored her lizards, and she treated them almost like they were people. She'd even joked a few times that they were her and Itsuka's children, and she coddled them enough that anyone who didn't know better would have thought so. It was one of her quirks that Itsuka loved – Underneath all the flirting, puns and jokes, was a caring and very human side that Setsuna would show to people she cared about. One that was just as vulnerable to pain.

Maybe more so.

It was because of all of this that Setsuna was a complete unknown when it came to support. Itsuka didn't know what to say. She'd been stood outside the girl's room for a solid five minutes now, whilst Tetsutetsu and Awase had been kind enough to offer to prepare a grave for Setsuna's lost pet.

All Itsuka really knew was that the one that was gone now was a blue-tonged skink called Azure, which Setsuna claimed to have had for as long as she could remember. It was the first one that she had gotten, and she'd managed to somehow convince the teaching staff to allow it, and the rest of her scaly pets, into the dorms. Shortly after though, it had died, suddenly. Maybe the shock of being moved to new surroundings, or maybe it had just had it's time. The reason wasn't clear. But it had happened anyway.

"Hey, knock knock." Itsuka quietly said as she tapped against Setsuna's door. There wasn't any answer to her callout, not that she had honestly expected one. "Hey, Setsu? Uh… Tetsutetsu and Awase are…. Nearly done. You… You feel like coming and saying something?"

Once again, no response. Honestly, Itsuka wasn't entirely certain what she had expected. One way or another, she was going to have to just head straight on in there and deal with whatever came her way because of it. Knowing Setsuna, if she wanted to be left alone, she'd probably throw something at whoever entered. So that was going to be fun.

She waited a moment, took a deep breath, and made her way into the room.

First thing – nothing hit her in the face, so she was off to a good start. The second thing was that Setsuna was indeed in the room, but she was curled up in the fetal position on her bed, her back to the wall, and her body facing towards the door. Her head was buried in the arms that were resting on her knees, hiding her eyes and the rest of her face.

"Setsuna?" Again, no response. Itsuka sighed, and made her way towards her girlfriend's side, and sat next to her. Setsuna seemed to move her head slightly, like she was glancing between strands of hair to see Itsuka, but quickly returned to her original position.

She wasn't entirely certain what she could say here. People in books and films always seemed to be able to relate to someone who had suffered a loss, but she couldn't. She wouldn't be able to say that she understood, that she knew how Setsuna felt, that she could offer her some reassurances and promises that everything would be okay. Because she just didn't know.

For maybe two minutes, she just sat there, trying to find the words. Trying to figure out what to say.

"…You know what sucks the most about this?" Setsuna was the one who finally broke the silence, shifting her head again, this time rising it off of her arms. Her hair flumped in front of her face, but Itsuka could see that they were red, from tears. "…It's how guilty I feel about things."

Itsuka blinked. Guilty? Setsuna had been nothing short of the best pet owner she'd ever met. She cared about her lizards like she was caring for her own child. She even referred to them as such. Once the pair of them had gotten closer and started to date, she even referred to her lizards as their children. She took care of them all, and did everything that she could to improve their enclosures every chance that she got. What did she even have to feel bad about?

Silly things, it turned out. "Not letting her out of her pen more. Not feeding her more... Not being a good parent... letting... This happen."

"…You can't blame yourself for a pet dying, Setsu. It just happens. You did your best."

"And a lot of good that did..."

"Setsuna -"

"She wasn't just a lizard, Itsu." Something in her voice sounded angry, but also didn't. It was hard to describe and pinpoint in its entirety. An emotion that just came when one was in mourning, perhaps. "She was my baby. Our baby. And now she's gone... So, what even happens now?"

An eyebrow on the red-heads face rose. "What happen – What do you mean?"

"Here! Us! What do we even do now?" Frustration, fear, uncertainty. That was what had been in her voice before. Where they came from… That was another matter.

"What, do you think I'm going to leave you because your pet died?" Itsuka was honestly taken aback by something like that. She didn't even know where it had come from, and just sort of blurted out her blunt assessment of what she'd heard without thinking.

Was that what was going on? Did her faith in everything just get shot, and that was why she was so reclusive? It made nearly no sense, but it was all she had right now.

"No! Yes! I..." Setsuna's eyes seemed to have welled up, and she wiped them with her sleeve. Her voice cracked once she spoke again. "I-I... I couldn't stop this, and all I can think about is what I could have done better. So... W-What does that mean here? Am I just going to end up doing the same thing again? To a gecko? To a bearded dragon?... To you?"

Mistakes.

That was what she was afraid of.

Setsuna was a person who loved to be spontaneous. To be free, to just do things now, and worry about what happened later. Now though, she was being forced to question that. She didn't know if that was the right thing to do. Because of the mistakes that she could make.

And then, when someone, or something, was gone, those mistakes went with them. And that would be it. To Setsuna, losing a lizard, and all the times she'd messed up something with them, were the same as doing that with a person. And the loss had hurt her, but the realization had hit her more.

She had lost more throughout her life. Two relationships down the drain, because of mistakes.

Mistakes that were made, and then they couldn't be redone. Mistakes that made things leave her, one way or another.

It had to have existed in the back of her head at. All the time. But the loss of her oldest pet, her child, had been the trigger to push all of these things to the front of her head. Maybe that had upset her more than the loss of the actual pet. Perhaps it was the other way around. Honestly, Itsuka had no idea.

"...You can't blame yourself for them not being immortal, Setsuna. You took the best care that you could for them…"

"No... I can blame myself for not being better though."

"...I don't remember your lizards ever complaining."

For the first time since Azure had passed, Setsuna managed to get a small chuckle out of her system. "I thought I was the reptile whisperer between us."

"Did you ever hear them complain then?"

"...It's not about that. It's ...Everything I love just leaves. It happens all the time, and I don't..."

"...I'm not leaving you, am I?"

"…That's what I'm afraid of..."

At that point, Itsuka had heard all that she had needed to hear. Maybe that had made Setsuna think like this made sense, and perhaps it didn't. Honestly, she didn't have the answers because she hadn't gone through anything like this, but she didn't need to. Not when she could see something that had been buried deep inside Setsuna and made her worry so much.

She hugged Setsuna, pulling her shorter girlfriend into a warm, comforting embrace, gently running her hand over her green hair, and resting her head gently atop her chest.

"You're an idiot." She said, with a gentle laugh to her voice. Honestly, even after dating Setsuna, she had no idea how her brain worked, or how she'd even ended up at this sort of idea in her brain. It didn't matter though. "Your lizards stuck with you till the end. What makes you think I'm planning on any different?"

For a while, Setsuna just let it out, and cried against her girlfriend's chest, and allowed herself to be held and comforted. Itsuka didn't know how long they were there for, but she didn't mind. Whatever Setsuna needed over the next few weeks, she would get, until she was back to her normal self, and felt ready to face the world again as the hyperactive lizard girl she was.

Once she was finished crying Itsuka held onto her hand, and led her out of the 1B dorms, to say her final goodbyes.


I actually really enjoy the potential for dynamics with Setsuna and Itsuka, so I wanted to play with them a bit. I'm a fan of SetsuJirou and Itsumomo, but I do honestly do like the idea of these two as well. I think they could be cute. I'm also a fan of the idea of a 1B relationship, just totally independent of 1A, with nothing to do with them. It'd make Yuuei feel more alive, and a place where people live, and not just exist and that stuff happens away from 1A.

Next time - TooruMei