"A stage of new revelation…"
"You don't understand me at all, Umi! All I want was to spend my times with you!" Maki shouted as she suddenly rose up from her seat and glaring at the blue-haired girl
"I know, Maki. Me too. Please understand, okay? Both of us need to finish our tasks first, right? Don't be a spoiled little girl all over again." Well, Umi herself was a little bit irritated by the red-haired girl
"Wha-? Spoiled little girl?" her eyes suddenly seemed empty and she concluded the whole fighting conversation "Fine, then. I will do as you wish, Umi." Umi tried to hold Maki back, but the junior wouldn't care at all at this point and she just went straight to the door, leaving Umi alone there, confused.
Maki's mind was too occupied with Umi's not-so-harsh words and from that point onwards, she always avoid seeing her senior. Obviously she also rejected all calls she got from her, so did she ignored all the messages. At first, even Eli tried to reconcile both of her juniors, but to no avail. She knew it too well that dealing with Maki plus Umi took more than just a status of her as their senior. After Maki said that she would end their fight soon, Eli stopped meddling with their affairs. Kotori also said to Eli, if both Maki and Umi were fighting, it's best to leave them alone because they would reconcile all on their own. Well, the senior accepted the theory in the end.
It took almost a month after the fight they had at their usual café. No reply and no call whatsoever. "She was really mad at me, huh?" mumbled Umi as she stared at her coffee. "I know it's my fault for saying things like that, but it's almost took a month and she didn't even had a will to reconcile? Am I that worthless to her now?" her tears started to fall slowly as she tried to calm herself before everyone in the café realized she was crying there alone.
Calming down was successful and when Umi was about to leave, someone she knew approached her. It was Mika, her fellow students back in Otonokizaka who took her study at Maki's university. And by the way, she knew about her relationship with Maki. With that in mind, she happily greeted her long-time-no-see friend and said that she was really envious of Umi and Maki who would go to Uchiura tomorrow. At this point, Umi was confused. She was in the middle of her fight with Maki, so there's no way her junior would invite her. But since it would do nothing good if she revealed that fact to her excited friend, she acted happy in front of Mika. After the talk, she went back to her house as fast as she could.
"Tomorrow, huh? Uchiura… Ah, Yoshiko-chan's place. But she might be overreacting if she knew I want to go there. Oh, Riko-chan! Yes, Riko-chan!" as if a wondrous idea visited her mind, Umi took her cell and called the girlfriend of her cousin. When Umi told Riko about her predicament here, the younger girl happily accepted the request and said that she would find her teacher for Umi. Right after the call, Umi started to prepare for her sudden trip tomorrow. Even if Riko didn't find that hard-headed lovely girl she would find her herself.
Morning came but there's no call from Riko. "Wait a little bit more, then…" said Umi to herself as she fidgeted and walked around her room with uneasiness. Hours passed and it's already 2. "If only I didn't pissed her off that day we might be heading to Uchiura together right now…" she blamed herself almost the same way as her junior did in Uchiura. She waited and waited while she held on the tears of worries that might fell at any moment now. Luckily, after an hour of constant dilemma, Riko called her. And much to her delight, she confirmed that Maki was there in Uchiura. So, without a moment's hesitation, Umi went out from her house and told her parents that she's heading to Numazu to help Yoshiko with her study so she might spend the night there.
Meanwhile, in Uchiura Riko was having a trouble. A big one, that is. After the call earlier, she finally took a glance at her phone and realized that the number of missed call from her girlfriend was exceeding 50. "What should I do? What should I do? She might be crying right now…! Uwaaaaaaa" Riko talked to herself, worrying about the chance that Yoshiko might be coming to Uchiura right now because of her. And not long after her premonition, the fallen angel really did came to her house. After a series of acting like she's not home, Riko finally surrendered to her fate and let Yoshiko inside (Riko's parents were not in home).
"Where have you been, Riko!?" Yoshiko's tone was drenched with the visible anger and sadness in her eyes
"I-I was at Mari's place just now, Yocchan…" Riko realized that Yoshiko didn't call her Lily and it must be a big wave of scolding not long after this
"Is that so? Then why didn't you answer my call?" Yoshiko's eyes started to seem teary and slowly tears fell
"I-I left my phone at home just now, Yocchan. Forgive me, okay?" hoped for simple forgiveness
"Here you are playing happily with others while I was really worried there! What if something happened to you!? Can't you understand that I'm really afraid of losing you, Riko!?" Yoshiko no longer hold down and so she scolded her senior
In her head, Riko had no way of escaping anymore. If she wanted this matter with her girlfriend to end well, she needed to sacrifice Umi-san. But if she did so, she might be punished later on by the older girl (she got one hell of a scolding when she was yelling at Yoshiko half a year ago when they were supposed to be alone together until suddenly Umi arrived at Yoshiko's place). Then again, if she had to choose between the two girls, it's obvious whom she's going to choose. So, with that in mind, she hugged her girlfriend, forcing the junior to hear all of her real reasoning.
"Yocchan, calm down and listen to me!" she hugged Yoshiko
"No, I'm leaving!" refusal
"Please! I will tell you what actually happened, okay?" she tried
"No, I don't want to!" another refusal
"C'mon, it's also involved Umi-san!" and after Riko's words, Yoshiko stopped her struggling to leave Riko's arms
"T-Then, explain it to me…" Yoshiko stopped her crying and now her ears are willing to hear the whole story
So Riko explained about the request she got from Umi. At first Yoshiko was surprised that her cousin didn't contact her and instead called her girlfriend, but when Riko said that her cousin wanted to avoid getting caught heading there by her own girlfriend, Yoshiko accepted it. Well, she knew she's almost in euphoria state every time she knew her cousin was going to her place. And after a series of apology kisses from Riko, Yoshiko finally calmed down and thus they waited for Umi who's heading to their place.
About an hour later, Umi called Riko and said that she was close so she needed Riko to pick her up. So, Riko and Yoshiko left to wait for the bus in front of the bus station near her house. A few minutes it took and there was Umi getting out from the bus and Yoshiko suddenly ran and hugged her there. Well, Umi squeezed her cheeks and said that if she's going to be a bother then she would never accompany her again in Tokyo. And so, with Riko's visible jealousy and Yoshiko's acceptance, the three of them went to Chika's inn.
Knowing nothing about her girlfriend was just a few meters away from her, Maki was currently resting herself inside her room after a series of people (actually, just two of them) falling unconscious when they saw her. She was a bit surprised that after all these five years, their group was still famous and considered to be a legend. Well, it did make her happy. Then, Chika knocked her door.
"Maki-san, are you there?" confirming
"Ah, yes. Wait a moment." Maki stood and went to open her door "What is it, Chika-chan?"
"There's someone who came to meet you." Chika was warned to not the fact leaked that it was Umi who came for Maki
"Who?" Maki did wanted the one who came for her was Umi but her hope soon died as Chika answered her question
"It's my friend, Riko-chan. Sakurauchi Riko. She came from Tokyo, too. And she also said that you are her teacher back in there. Is that true?" not exactly a lie, right Chika?
"Ah, I know Riko-chan. Well, that's true. By the way, where is she waiting for me?" said Maki as she remembered the girl who was really exceled at piano back then
"This way, Maki-san." Said Chika as she led the older girl to the girls who waited for her
So, as soon as Maki and Chika reached the lobby of the inn, the red-haired girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of a girl she thought was giving up on her. There she was, the girl of Sonoda, running to her as fast as she could and immediately hugged her in front of the younger girls around them.
"U-Umi…, what are you doing here?" Maki was confused but the warmth she really longed for was there engulfing her and soothing her loneliness
"I missed you so much, Maki! Why did you left me alone? Why did you reject all my calls and ignore all my message? I'm really worried about you! I was really afraid of you leaving me, Maki!" well, the blue-haired girl instantly cried as she enjoyed the smell of her beloved junior
"I thought you were the one who would leave me because of my childishness. I-I was afraid I might hurt you again, Umi. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Umi…!" Maki tightened her hug
"There's no way I would leave you, you fool! I love you so much, Maki!" Umi locked her gaze now solely on the eyes of her beloved junior in front of her
"Me too, Umi! I love you so much!" Maki also declared her deep affection for her beloved senior
Then, after You-chan's voice who was looking for Chika surprised the couple who hugged there, Umi then kissed Maki right there and said that she would visit her again tomorrow. Well, at first Maki insisted they spent the night together in her room, but after remembering about how bad the situation would be if she started pushing her idea again, she accepted her girlfriend's wish and waved goodbye as the blue-haired girl left the inn with Riko and Yoshiko. Chika and You-chan were in awe from the kiss they saw just now. Maki smiled and then said good night to the duo there before going back to her room, her mind filled with joy and expectation of a great tomorrow.
