Kyousuke stepped into the house with a chill of anticipation. He flinched at the unfamiliar silence. Then, he remembered the gristly confrontation from the other day and sighed. Now that Ayase had established herself as a regular at the Kousaka house, her absence now was that much more painful.

Kyousuke slumped up the stairs and headed wearily for his room. He passed by Kirino's room and heard her whining over the phone.

"Really, Ayase? Is it that bad? I was at your place yesterday! Every day? No, if you want to see me every day, you can come by like you used to. Yeah, I know, but I can make sure he's not here. I'll tie him up and lock him in his room or something. Ayase! Fine, I'll see you in a bit."

Kirino hung up and walked out of her room. She glared at Kyousuke in the hall. "Move, asshole."

"A jolly hello to you, too," said Kyousuke.

Kirino didn't even talk to Kyousuke for the rest of the day, nor did she for almost the rest of the week. Ironically, she didn't know about Kuroneko's role, far greater in the fallout than Kyousuke's. Therefore, while Kirino wouldn't talk to Kyousuke anymore, Kuroneko was sprawled on the floor in Kirino's room with several sheets of paper laid out, helping Kirino with her next light novel. Even if Kuroneko was jealous of Kirino, who had five volumes to her name, she still felt the need to help her friend.

"Kuroneko, what the hell is this? Did you bleed over my paper? What are these scrawls?"

"That's kanji. It's a very important part of our language. Start using it. I can only stand reading baby script for so long."

"I don't even know half these words!"

"That's because they're high school level."

"Goddamn it, Kuroneko…"

Kuroneko tilted her head haughtily. "Whatever. I guess some people are just allergic to good literature."

Kirino pouted. "Why did I ask you to do this again?"

"As an excuse to get me to hang out with you."

"You're right," said Kirino. "Let's talk about Kyousuke. Namely, why you're still with him."

"He's cute," said Kuroneko with a shrug.

"He broke my best friend's heart," said Kirino. "She hates him now."

Kuroneko turned her head away with a guilty look.

Kirino continued. "I mean, I knew it would happen. I just thought he'd be a little more tactful." Kirino sighed, and in a far more serious voice, added, "I mean, Ayase's my best mundane friend [Author's Note: "mundane" is a term meaning "not otaku"]. But she's always been a bit out of it. A little clingy and kind of lonely. After she got with Kyousuke, she started getting better. You'd think if he helped her that much, he would have known how to be more sensitive about it, right?"

Kuroneko glanced at Kirino. "He wasn't?"

"No, Ayase says he was really blunt and told her to get out."

Kuroneko lay back down on the floor. Aragaki never mentioned me?

Kirino sighed again and kicked her legs against her mattress. "Boys can seriously be mean. Or just stupid."

Kuroneko flexed her head up from flat on the ground. "Yeah, I know. But I love Kyousuke despite those."

"You mean you love him despite his flaws?"

"Yeah. He's got plenty of them. He's obnoxious and a little haughty, but he really cares about me."

Kirino gazed at Kuroneko with a strange expression on her face. "Yeah…"

Ayase curled up in her bed, hugging her pillow, deep in thought. She wasn't really angry at Kyousuke or his girlfriend. If she were, she would have revealed Kuroneko's role in the incident. The arguing and bickering between Kuroneko and Kirino that would have happened would have been revenge enough. But Ayase had her own reasons for not wanting that. No, she wasn't mad. Being mad only muddied things and made things complicated.

Even without Kyousuke, Ayase was feeling an urge to go to the local café. She lifted herself off the bed and walked all the way there. She sat at the booth, alone, and stared at the menu.

"May I take your order?" said the waitress.

Ayase bobbed her head slightly, inspecting the little black letters and the large color pictures.

"Iced latte, please."

Kuroneko lay on the ground in Kyousuke's room, drugged by the warm sun, too lazy to move. Kyousuke opened up the door, saw Kuroneko on the ground waiting for him, and joined her. For the next few minutes, the two of them relaxed on the floor until Kuroneko burst out the question she had been thinking for some time.

"Kyousuke, are you mad at me?" said Kuroneko.

"About what?" said Kyousuke.

"Well, about Ayase." Kuroneko had a look of anguish on her face, one that revealed the guilt and pain that had consumed her.

Kyousuke remained silent without an adequate answer. Perhaps the awkward silences that appeared whenever Ayase's name was accidentally mentioned had tipped Kuroneko off. Truth was, Kyousuke had no idea what to think about the whole thing. Really, he felt sorrier for Ayase than himself. She was broken after the confrontation, and it was all his fault for not standing up for her. Kuroneko had acted out of a false idea of Ayase she had, and it was all his fault for not correcting her. This delicate arrangement had collapsed into a mess, and it was all his fault.

"Kyousuke..." said Kuroneko, trying to prompt him into answering. Kyousuke grabbed Kuroneko and hugged her, satisfying her without giving a verbal answer.

The next day, Kyousuke walked home from school, alone. It was unbearably lonely without anyone else along with him. As he walked through the scattered groups of students going home from school, he could detect the fleeting sight of dark, midnight-blue hair. Kyousuke turned and saw nothing. Several days later, he saw the mysterious form again, but again couldn't catch it upon turning.

...

Kuroneko glided through the darkly lit shops of Akihabara, browsing through Maschera doujinshi. In the almost black air of the store, she nearly missed the only slightly lighter midnight blue hair of the person next to her. Kuroneko looked up, but the person (a boy or a girl?) was gone.