The last of the fireworks burst into life, shining like flowers of light in the night sky. A faint, acrid trace of smoke laced the wintry air, and the crackling of the fireworks mingled with the peals of laughter of the girls who set them.

Yui sat by herself on the porch of the Yoshikawa residence, gazing absorbedly at the incense-stick firework in her hand. Though flame on her senko hanabi had long burnt past the peak of its brightness, a small droplet of light still continued, with a defiant, almost tragic, tenacity, to struggle up the sparkler.

It can't last much longer now, she thought. Almost, almost… A sudden earsplitting crack caused Yui to wince and blink. When she opened her eyes again, nothing remained of the light save for a wisp of smoke soon dispersed by the wind.

Yui sighed. A well-worn quote tugged at the edge of her mind. "If only these treasures were not so fragile as they are precious and beautiful," she murmured.

"But don't the poets say that their transience heightens their beauty?" Yui looked up in surprise. Chinatsu stood next to her, grinning. "Mind if I join you, senpai?"

"Not at all." Yui said, motioning to the spot beside her. "But why aren't you having fun with the others, Chinatsu-chan?"

"You mean, at the party?" Chinatsu gave her an odd look. "That's over for a while already! Didn't you see our last firework? It was the biggest one I've ever set."

"I might have heard it," Yui said. "Sorry. I was distracted –" She waved the senko hanabi; although charred now and cold to touch, an afterimage of the brightness still seemed to linger like a wistful mirage in Yui's eyes.

"At any rate, look, everyone's clearing up the lawn."

"So they are." Akari and Kyouko were picking up the debris from the grass and putting them into plastic bags, while Akane and Tomoko hauled the bags to the bins outside. Yui stood up. "Well, I guess I should go and help."

"Not now, Yui-senpai." Chinatsu tugged at Yui's sleeve, gently but firmly. "Sit with me for a bit. Your host's orders," she smiled.

Yui hesitated briefly, and sat down again. "You know, I rarely get to see this side of yours, Chinatsu-chan." She chuckled. "It's pretty interesting."

"That's because in the past I thought I had a chance with you, so I was always careful to…" Chinatsu paused. "Anyhow, now that I'm going out with Akari I'm no longer so reluctant to show you my real side. And," she added with just the barest hint of embarrassment, "those cups of sake I drank at dinner might have also …loosened my inhibitions a little."

"Haha, is that so?" For a while the pair sat in companionable silence, basking in the luxurious feeling of idleness that comes from watching others work. At length, Yui spoke again. "Thank you for inviting me to your party, Chinatsu-chan. Tonight was really fun."

Chinatsu returned her smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Yui, Kyouko and Akari met up that afternoon to walk together to Chinatsu's house. Between jokes and banter, Akari explained that Chinatsu's parents had taken advantage of the Christmas break to vacation overseas, leaving the Yoshikawa sisters temporary masters of the house; and they, in turn, decided to celebrate the occasion with a firework party. Dinner was to be prepared by Tomoko and Akane, the elder sisters of the Amusement Club underclassmen.

"So…" Yui said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. "In that case, Chinatsu-chan wouldn't need to, ah, trouble herself with making dinner, right?"

Akari froze. "I guess…probably not?" she said, and then, very softly, "Oh, dear…" The three girls exchanged a wordless glance, and each quietly made her own mental preparations.

Upon reaching the Yoshikawa household, the trio found Chinatsu welcoming them by the entrance. She eagerly ushered them into the living room, where Tomoko and Akane, lounging by the sofa, were chatting. At their entrance both looked up. "Welcome to our house," Tomoko said, with an effortless, refined graciousness.

"Thank you very much for having us," Yui replied. As the most levelheaded, or at least the least eccentric, of the quartet, she typically acted as their spokesperson in the realm of public civilities.

"Oh, not at all," Tomoko said as the newcomers took their seats. "I've always looked forward to meeting in person the friends my little sister keeps talking about. And also," she added, with a rather cryptic glance at Akari, "I want to see for myself what my rival looks like."

At this Akane started making frantic shushing gestures from across the table, while Kyouko, for once, appeared awkward to the point of speechlessness; but the rest of the troupe, fortunately, remained in blissful puzzlement.

Dinner, when it came, was a lavish, multicourse affair, and as they ate Tomoko declared proudly that everyone in the house that afternoon had contributed to its making.

"Can you tell which dish I made, Yui-senpai?" Chinatsu asked, sounding quite pleased with herself.

"Could it be…that one?" Yui pointed to a plate placed discreetly by the very edge of the table. Though the constituent parts of the food resembled nothing Yui could identify, together it somehow gave her the impression of the ruptured innards of an antediluvian behemoth, mashed and stewed in the noxious slime of some primordial marsh that had never seen the light of the Sun.

"Amazing! How did you guess?"

"It was easy," Yui answered honestly. "It distinctively displays the uniqueness that characterizes Chinatsu-chan's handiworks."

"It really does!" Tomoko gushed. "And it's delicious too!" She took a massive helping and dug in enthusiastically.

"Try some, Akari-chan?" Chinatsu grinned winningly at her friend, a misshapen, unwholesome-looking lump of dripping blackness in her chopsticks.

"I…" Akari darted a quick glance at Tomoko, who was munching happily away. "I guess it couldn't…hurt." She tentatively accepted Chinatsu's offering and placed it in her mouth.

"How is it?"

"Y-yum…" Akari whimpered valiantly. Beads of cold sweat dotting her forehead and her eyes were blank and dead.

By the time she fully recovered, dinner was almost over. Even without Akari's participation, however, the rest of the girls managed to finish the dishes, with Chinatsu's concoction, thankfully, eaten with unfeigned relish by her sister.

Tomoko and Akane took charge of cleaning up the tableware, while the Amusement Club members were tasked to carry the stash of fireworks from the storage room to the yard. When they were done, the two elder sisters joined them in unpacking and setting up. Many hands made work both light and quick, and soon fireworks began lighting up the night sky, to loud exclamations of appreciation and delight.

As the display went on, the assembly split up into smaller groups. Kyouko, sparkler in hand, started re-enacting a number of Mirakurun's battles and trying her best – vainly – to convince Chinatsu to do the same. Akari engaged in an animated discussion about the merits of each firework with Akane, while Tomoko looked on jealously from behind. Yui, who became increasingly withdrawn as time passed, retreated to the porch with half a dozen incense-stick fireworks. These she watched, to the exclusion of all else, with a closed, secret look.

"So what are you going to do to win her heart, Yui-senpai?"

"Huh?" The abruptness of Chinatsu's question startled Yui out of her reverie. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Don't worry, Kyouko-senpai isn't here." Chinatsu jerked her thumb at the house. "They've all gone back inside." Her tone softened. "It's easy to tell when you're thinking of her, Yui-senpai. You stop paying attention to everything else."

Yui glanced around to make sure they were indeed alone, before replying. "Kyouko and Ayano are going out together. It wouldn't be right to try and come in between them."

"So you're just going to stand aside and wish them happiness?"

"It's the right thing to do," Yui said. "And I do wish Kyouko to be happy," she added, with somewhat more conviction.

"But with you!" Chinatsu exclaimed in exasperation. "Senpai, if I were you, I'd do everything in my power to make Kyouko-senpai choose me, and I wouldn't even think about stopping until I succeeded!"

"Even though you say that, in the end, you still gave up on me, didn't you?"

Chinatsu laughed, a little ruefully. "Haven't you figured it out, senpai?"

Yui blinked. "Figured out?"

"That's not important." Chinatsu shook her head. "What's important is – Yui-senpai, have you even told Kyouko-senpai how you felt?"

Yui looked away. "I think she knows."

"She knows! Of course she knows! But you never told her?" Yui hesitated. Chinatsu planted her face close to Yui's. "Go tell her. Tonight – tomorrow, at the very latest. You owe it to her, Yui-senpai," she said quietly when Yui still wavered. "You owe it to yourself."

For a tense moment the two girls stared at each other. At last Yui glanced away. "Maybe you're right," she conceded. "Tomorrow I'll try to tempt Kyouko over with food; if she comes…" Yui paused, shook her head. "Tomorrow," she repeated, and smiled. "Thanks, Chinatsu-chan. You're truly an invaluable friend."

"We-well, that's…" Chinatsu stammered, blushing.

"At any rate, it's getting late," Yui said. She stood up. "We should be heading inside too." She walked to the door, pulled it open –

And found herself face-to-face with Kyouko.

For a heartbeat there was utter silence. Without a word Yui spun around and rushed out of the yard.

"Yui!" Kyouko ran after her.

On the porch, Chinatsu gazed anxiously after the pair. When they were out of sight: "It's not the same, Yui-senpai," she whispered to the empty street. "Because Kyouko-senpai loves you too."

Then she closed the door gently behind her, and went into the house.

"Yui, wait!"

Ahead of her Kyouko saw Yui stiffen and freeze. Kyouko stopped too. The waning moon cast on Yui a faint silhouette of pale rime, and Kyouko shivered suddenly.

"Kyouko, just now…you heard everything, didn't you?" Though Yui spoke very softly, the chill wind carried it well across the dark, still night.

Kyouko drew a deep breath. "Yes."

"It's…true, Kyouko." Yui half-turned, as if unable to face Kyouko fully. "I love you. Ever since we were children, you're the only person I've ever looked at."

"Yui…"

"But I guess this is too late, huh?" Yui tried to smile, but her mouth felt twisted and strange. "I mean, since you're already going out with Ayano."

"I couldn't wait for you forever."

This remark startled Yui into looking straight at Kyouko for the first time that night. "You were waiting for me?" she asked incredulously.

"Couldn't you tell? I always wanted to – to let you know." A sliver of anger entered Kyouko's voice. "But every time I tried you'd just hit me, or scold me, or push me away."

"How could I know you were being serious? You flirt with everyone you meet – Chinatsu, Chizuru, Ayano…" Yui lowered her voice with effort. "I didn't want to have false hopes."

"You could have asked! You could have asked me out."

"You're my closest friend and I didn't want to lose that. I thought that even if things remained that way, it wouldn't be too bad…" Yui's voice faded. "I wasn't brave enough," she admitted finally.

"Ayano was."

"But if you like me why would you agree to go out with her?" Yui realized that she was shouting again, but she no longer cared. "You could have confessed to me!"

"I even told you about Ayano's confession beforehand." Kyouko continued as though she had not heard. "I did everything I could to give you one last chance to steal me away. To be honest when Ayano asked me to meet her that afternoon, I was really happy. I thought that if this couldn't make you confess nothing would." She paused. "It didn't."

"You mean you…" Yui struggled to find the words. "Did you even consider Ayano's feelings?"

"I did!" Kyouko shouted back. "Of course I did! I'm a terrible person, aren't I?" She buried her face in her hands. "I tried to return Ayano's feelings, I really tried; but whenever I close my eyes the face I see is yours. And I kept hoping, all the while, that you would…" She started sobbing. "I hate myself."

I made Kyouko cry. A cold pain lanced through Yui's heart. "Kyouko…" she said, stretching out a hand. But at the same time she could not, to her horror, suppress the thought that she had not seen Kyouko's tears since they were children, and that Kyouko crying looked as cute now as she did then.

"Yui, don't." Kyouko looked up, wetness shining brightly on her cheeks. "Goodbye, Yui." She turned away and ran towards Chinatsu's house.

At this point, Yui knew, the hero would rush after the girl, and embrace her, and comfort her; then they'd kiss, and fall in love anew in the starry, tear-washed night. She took a step forward.

"Yes, Mom, the ticket's settled at next Monday. I'll be in Tokyo Tuesday morning. It's fine, I've already run this by the teacher; he said it's okay since lessons at the end of term usually aren't serious. Kyouko? You don't have to worry about her. Do you know, she's going out with the President of the Student Council! So she's not going to be lonely at all…"

Yui's hand dropped. She, too, turned around, and began the long, slow walk back to her apartment.