AUTHOR'S NOTE: Fair warning - this one gets a little dark, folks.

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All around us things come apart
Broken pieces, broken hearts
Fix me, oil me, match me with the next best thing
Person to person or nation to nation
Heels dug in, no communication
Wily time sneaks her weathering
We've been wanting to be held by binding ties
We've been fighting for the love of our lives

-Indigo Girls

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Part 21: Fragments

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Awkward.

That was really the best word that Remon could conjure for the mood that had taken over the dorm room she and Kizuna shared the night after their unexpected tryst. Whole metric tons of awkward, with a healthy dose of uneasy to top things off. It wasn't so much an elephant in the room at this point as it was a prehistoric woolly mammoth, sucking all the usual warmth out of their evening.

They had gone through their nightly rituals normally, if quietly: brushing teeth, taking turns in the loo, getting into pajamas and settling in for some reading. Rather than sharing a bed for the latter, though, they were each quite decidedly sticking to their own sides of the room. Remon noticed a few times in which Kizuna looked like she wanted to break the silence, but each time her ginger-haired roommate stopped herself and returned to her book. Rather than press the issue (mindful of the thought that she might have pressed too much already), Remon went on studying halfheartedly as the long minutes ticked by.

Eventually, Kizuna put her book away and reached for her bedside lamp, so apparently tonight was not going to be the night that they talked about it.

Or so Remon thought, as Kizuna paused before switching off her light, then sat up in bed, took a long breath, and at last spoke. "Remon-chan?"

"Hmm?" Remon answered.

"I'm worried about Kagome-chan."

"Me too," said Remon quietly, feeling a churning of guilt that somehow this was an easier topic for them right now. "I think she's going to be okay, though. She's in good hands."

"Are the rumors true?" Kizuna asked. "You know... about her father?"

"I... don't really want to talk about that, Kizuna-chan," Remon sighed. "I'm sorry."

"But... you were there, right? You were there when they came and took her to the church."

"Yes, I was," Remon said tightly. "But that's exactly why I don't want to talk about it. As much as I love you, Kizuna-chan, it's totally not my place to talk about it, even to you. If Kagome-chan wants us to know about it, she'll tell us later."

Kizuna made a sour face, but even from the corner of her eye Remon could tell that it was worry rather than annoyance. "I guess so. I hope she lets us take care of her."

"We'll all take care of her," said Remon in as reassuring a voice as she could manage.

There was a lengthy pause, and Remon wondered if this would be the end of the conversation, letting her eyes track up and down along the same line of text as she waited.

"Remon-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"So, you... love me?"

"'Course I do."

"Um, thank you. I... I love you too, Remon-chan."

"Good to know."

Another pause, and then Kizuna surprised Remon by dipping her toes into the gulf between them. "Remon-chan, what are we now?"

"Well... that depends. What do you want us to be?"

"Um, please don't be mad, but... I talked to Chikaru-onee-sama about what happened last night."

"I'm shocked," Remon said, deadpan. "Shocked, I tell you."

"Are you mad?"

Remon shook her head, but did not look away from her book. "Nah. I figured you might. How did that go?"

"Well... she said some things that really surprised me," Kizuna said carefully. "But... she also reminded me of some things."

"Like what?"

"Like... how young we are. We're still kids, when you think about it. We're still figuring ourselves out. I mean, geez..." Kizuna gave a nervous chuckle. "We might not even be gay!"

"No, you're absolutely right," Remon nodded, mostly to herself. "We might not be gay at all."

"Yeah, I mean, we..." Kizuna began, but then she stopped abruptly. "Oh."

Silence stretched between them, until Kizuna cleared her throat. "So... you're sure, then?"

"Pretty sure, yeah," Remon said, keeping her tone conversational.

"Oh."

Awkward.

After a while, Kizuna made a business of taking a deep breath, then got up and crossed the room to stand at Remon's bedside. "Remon-chan, take your pants off."

"Wait, what?" Remon managed, finally looking up at her roommate. Kizuna's face was a bizarre mix of fear and determination, not to mention flushed a deep red.

"Take your pants off, Remon-chan. We're gonna settle the score right now."

Remon blinked at Kizuna a few times, then smiled, set her book aside, and scooted over slightly. Apparently taking this as a sign to continue, Kizuna sat down on the mattress and settled herself so that they were facing one another. Her breathing had quickened noticeably, and Remon could practically hear her pulse thudding away.

Still smiling, Remon eased herself closer to her longtime friend, until their lips were mere centimeters apart...

...and then reached around behind her and smacked her in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Kizuna yelped, lurching back and raising her hand to her head to rub the spot where Remon had struck her. "Remon-chan?! Did you just... dope-slap me?"

"Yep!" Remon grinned merrily.

"What did you do that for?"

"Because. You're being. A dope."

"Huh?!"

Remon couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, Kizuna-chan! D'you think this is how I want you? Reluctantly? Forcing yourself to hold serve, or something?"

"But... you do want me, don't you?" Kizuna asked, looking almost horrified.

"Sure I do," said Remon. "Doesn't have to be now, though. You think I want to rush you any more than I already did?"

"No, no, Remon-chan, I wanted you to last night. At least... I think I did, and... I mean, it felt good, but..."

Remon held up one hand to stop her. "Listen, Kizuna-chan, listen. I may not have had my glasses on last night, but I would have had to be blind not to see the look on your face there at the end. You didn't want to do it then, and you sure as hell don't look like you want to do it now. And that's okay. We've got nothing but time."

"But what if I'm not gay?" Kizuna blurted out, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

"Then... you'll probably get married one day," said Remon, "and if for any reason I'm not your Maid of Honor, I call shenanigans. I'll probably babysit your kids, and they'll think of me as that cool eccentric Christmas Cake auntie. You'll call me up and complain about how much it costs to send them to school, and I'll remind you of how much it cost to send us to school, so this is payback. We'll have long talks about how modern anime just isn't as good as the stuff we watched during our school days. And you'll be insanely happy, because everyone will know that if they ever hurt you, they'll have me to deal with."

Kizuna's tears began falling at about the halfway mark of Remon's speech. "But... then what happens to you?"

"Who knows?" Remon shrugged. "I'll do like gay Japanese women have been doing for generations, and make it up as I go along."

"It wouldn't be fair for me to be happy and for you..."

"No," Remon interrupted her. "It would be totally fair for you to be happy without me, and do you want to know why?"

Kizuna nodded silently.

Here, Remon could feel the threat of her own tears, so she did her best to hold them back with a smile. "Because whatever else happens or doesn't happen between us? Whoever you end up with or don't? I'll always know that I had the honor of being your first. Your first kiss, your first grope, and then last night the first one who got to hear you make those sounds and got to know that I was causing them." The smile broke into a grin. "I'll remember that forever, Kizuna-chan, and it'll always be a good memory."

Kizuna threw her arms around Remon and hugged her tightly, so Remon reciprocated the gesture, her hands rubbing slow circles over the other girl's back.

"Can... can I sleep here tonight, Remon-chan?" Kizuna asked in a tiny voice.

"Of course you can."

Kizuna went to switch off her bedside lamp, then climbed back into Remon's bed and got under the covers with her. "It's still okay to snuggle and stuff?" she asked, immediately grabbing hold of Remon and doing just that.

"Sure, sure."

"And... could I maybe still feel your boobs sometimes?"

Remon did her best to internalize the sigh as much as possible. "Such as they are, sure."

In the end, Chikaru had to be carried to the dressing room, with Shion lifting her from one side and Miyuki the other. There simply wasn't time to let her try to limp the distance on an ankle that was already swelling and turning an angry red. Shizuma and Amane wouldn't be able to ad lib that duel forever.

Once in the dressing room, they got her into a chair as gently as they could manage, at which point Tamao apologetically helped Chikaru out of the top of her Carmen dress, letting out a tiny "meep" as it became apparent that her senpai had not been wearing a bra underneath. At any other time, Shion would have been amused at the way the girl was trying so hard to look at nothing at all, with a topless Chikaru in front of her and her obvious crush Nagisa being hurried out of her uniform by Miyuki.

Chikaru did her best to plant with her good foot and raise her hips from the seat so that Tamao could slide off the skirt as well, leaving the Lulim president in the ignominious position of sitting there in front of them wearing nothing more than a tiny black thong. They took her decorative hair clips next, stripping her down like a mannequin for the sake of their impromptu understudy.

Luckily, Chikaru's shoes were close enough to Nagisa's size that she would be able to get by with them (there were no dance scenes still to come), and the elastic of the dress enabled it to fit the more petite girl snugly enough. Almost before she was fully dressed, Nagisa was quickly hustled out of the room by Miyuki, with Tamao trailing behind them, stopping only long enough to give a quick bow to the fallen star. "I'm so sorry, Chikaru-sama..."

"Please, just get her out there," Chikaru said, managing a pained smile. "The show must go on, right?"

Tamao nodded and hurried after her roommate and her class president, leaving Chikaru and Shion alone. It was at this point that Chikaru's smile dropped, and huge tears began to roll down her cheeks as she folded up on herself, shivering violently.

Shion knew full well that she was probably one of a very small handful of people who had ever seen Chikaru cry, and for just a moment she felt a tiny fragment of warmth at the thought that Chikaru still trusted her enough to see this. But it only lasted a moment.

"Are you cold?" she asked. "I can get you your uniform."

"Please," Chikaru managed.

She found the other girl's uniform hanging up (it was the one with her normal hair-bows clipped to the collar), and brought it to her, helping her into skirt, shirt, sweater and a sock for her good foot. All along, Chikaru shook her head and spoke in a small, trembling voice. "I don't understand it, I checked and re-checked the costumes. I made sure the shoes were safe for dancing. How could I miss that? How could I overlook it?"

"Everyone makes mistakes," Shion tried to assure her, but the words felt hollow even to her.

"I checked everything," Chikaru said again. "I know Amane-san was worried about the dance, so I checked them, I know I did."

"Chikaru, shoes break," Shion said, putting her hands on her old friend's shoulders. "This isn't anything you did wrong. This is live theater, remember? Aren't you the one who always told me that you never know what'll happen in a live show?"

Over the single ceiling-mounted speaker, the sound of the unscripted duel came to an end as a new voice rang out across the stage, heralding the arrival of the new Carmen. Chikaru stopped to listen for a moment, and then collapsed further into incoherent sobs as someone else stepped into the role she had wanted so badly. "This was... this was my chance, Shion," she wailed. "I wanted this all my life, and now it's... and now it's..."

Shion knelt next to the chair and hugged Chikaru tightly. She said nothing more, knowing that no words could possibly help at this moment, and instead just let her friend cry.

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Kaname's eyes popped open, and she took a deep, shaky breath. Momomi stirred against her, but did not wake.

Gradually, the scene faded from her mind as she stared up into the darkness of her familiar ceiling.

"Well... f*ck," she whispered.

The interview took place in one of the small offices attached to the cathedral, with two policemen seated to one side and Kagome and Chikaru to the other, while Sister Mizue loomed nearby. Chikaru recognized one of them as the inspector who had come to the hill to investigate Hazuki's sword, but the other was anonymous to her.

The former (Fukuyama, she eventually remembered), started in by telling them of the sensitive nature of this interview, and that while the Sister was present in the role of a guardian, to have Chikaru here was somewhat unusual. They asked her relation to the subject of inquiry ("I am her student council president"), and asked Kagome again if she was certain that she wanted a classmate here as they questioned her. When Kagome made it clear that she would not speak without Chikaru beside her, Fukuyama simply nodded and said that there would be non-disclosure forms to sign, while his partner continued scribbling notes on a tablet. They were asked if any of them objected to the interview being recorded, and none did.

The questioning began, and Chikaru felt Kagome's hand tighten on hers as she began to speak in a tiny, distant voice about what she had endured at home. She said that it had started in the bath, explained away as family skinship even as it became more involved and more intrusive. It was years before Kagome even realized that her growing feelings of revulsion were normal, and that families simply did not do this sort of thing.

Chikaru desperately fought every shiver and every tremor of her own, knowing that she needed to be strong for her junior: she was numbly afraid that she would grip the small hand in hers painfully if she let her own emotions out of their bottle. Enduring this was nothing compared to what Kagome had gone through, however, so she kept herself as steady as she could.

Kagome went on to tell how she had tried to go to her mother, but was asked angrily to never speak of this again, to her or anyone else, lest they both be punished. Her mother had disappeared soon after, much to her father's raging, but he promised Kagome that they were still a family, and that with her having run away, he would make up for the absence by being closer to his little Kagome-chan than ever...

She then went on to tell them of the punishments, and the beatings: always careful not to leave marks anywhere that would show while wearing a school uniform, always conscious of how long to hold off when the next measuring day was approaching, and always with the promise that worse would come if she were to share their "family secrets" with anyone else. The frequent notes excusing her from physical education were not because of her asthma, but to prevent her from having to change clothes in front of anyone while the bruises were still fresh.

The questions became more specific, and Kagome explained in horrifying detail not only the violence and molestation she had experienced, but the lewd acts she herself had been compelled to perform. By the time she told the inspectors about the way her father would photograph her in one demeaning position or another ("So that he could see me even when I was away at school"), Chikaru was having to forcibly swallow back the bile rising to the back of her throat, and she realized that she, a mortal woman suffused with the healing energy of the life-bearing goddess, wanted nothing more than to end a man's life in the most painful manner possible.

The interview wound down soon after this, with Fukuyama asking Kagome if she might know where her father kept some of these photographs (she did, and gave them the appropriate details), and then asking the Sister about the possibility of a physical examination to help corroborate some of the claims (Chikaru felt her other hand clenching into a fist at the idea of these being called "claims," but she knew that the inspector was merely speaking the language of his job).

Here, the formal interview ended, so Kagome hugged Chikaru tightly, telling her senpai that she was going to stay another day or two with the nuns before coming back to the school proper. Chikaru held the tiny girl against her, grateful to be allowed this trust, and said that all her friends would be there waiting for her upon her return, and would take care of her and keep her safe and loved.

Next, once Kagome had been escorted away, it was Chikaru's turn to describe the events from the previous morning. She repeated every word and detail to the best of her ability, telling herself that it was for Kagome's sake, and that reliving the scene in her mind was the very least that she could do. Fukuyama asked whether Chikaru had ever noticed a history of Kagome fabricating stories for attention, and it was all Chikaru could do to not snap angrily at the man, telling herself once again that he was only doing his job. Instead she told him, without exaggeration, that she had never met a less duplicitous person than Byakudan Kagome.

Once satisfied that they had heard enough, the inspectors gave Chikaru a series of forms to sign, after which they were escorted from the church. After several long minutes in which she stood very still and tried not to scream, Chikaru made the long walk back to St. Lulim, so that she could at least attend some of the day's classes before diving back into her work preparing the opera. The fury gradually cooled, leaving her numbed to the core, and she realized that she could barely feel her own Souma. For a moment, she wondered what good it did to possess this healing essence if she could not use it on someone who needed it so desperately.

Just as quickly, though, she dismissed that thought. She could not magic away the horrible memories, nor did she want to. That would be the easy way. That wasn't what a friend would do.

That would be what a goddess might do.

"I had a dream about you last night," Tamao said into the silence.

Hazuki shifted slightly in her bed and looked down at the girl in her arms, whose face was still mostly buried against her chest. "A dream? Or... do you think it was a memory?"

"I want to say it was a memory," said Tamao, "but you'd know better, of course. It was about you and Chou'un."

"Hmm," Hazuki acknowledged, wondering vaguely if she might be in trouble. "Where were we?"

"You were sitting high up on a hillside, drinking wine and eating something... bamboo shoots, I think it was... and you were watching the sun go down and talking to one another."

"Ah, yes..." Hazuki said carefully. "That was during my boon."

"It's strange, though, because I would have assumed that if I were seeing a memory of yours, I'd be seeing it through your eyes, but I wasn't. It's like I was observing from outside, taking in the entire scene."

"Yeah, I've noticed that as well. The last time this happened, Chikaru said something about our dream-state subconscious re-framing the scene based on the known data, crafting it into something that makes better sense to our dream-eyes. Or... something like that, anyway. She made it sound a lot smarter, though."

"Hmm," Tamao nodded against her, but said nothing more specific than that.

After a long pause, Hazuki figured she might as well venture into the deeper waters. "So... what do you think? About what you saw?"

Tamao thought about this for a while. "She's... an amazing woman," she said at length.

"That she is," Hazuki agreed, but felt a dull stab to the heart as she realized that the more accurate term would be "was."

"Beautiful, graceful, wise in a trickster-goddess kind of way... very flirtatious..."

"Tamao-chan, am I in trouble?"

"Did you do anything that would get you into trouble?" Tamao said in what Hazuki hoped was a humored tone.

"Well... no, I don't think I did, but..."

Tamao finally giggled, and Hazuki felt herself being left off the hook, or so she thought. "You were faithfulness itself, Hazuki-chan. I mean, if you don't count the hugs, the forehead touches, the held hands, the indirect kiss, the cheek-kisses..."

"She's a very affectionate person," Hazuki sighed. "And... honestly, Tamao-chan, so am I."

"I know, silly, I'm just teasing," said Tamao, shifting in Hazuki's arms to smile up at her. "On the contrary, you scored some major girlfriend points with me, as far as I'm concerned."

"I did?"

"Of course you did. You were with a gorgeous woman in an incredibly revealing kimono, sharing a bottle of wine, sitting in a high place watching the sun drench the endless fields of ancient China with its golden, twilight rays... and what did you do?"

Hazuki pulled a blank, and could only stare back into Tamao's humored violet eyes.

"You asked her for advice on how to be a better lover to the women you were coming home to," Tamao grinned. "I'm impressed, Hazuki-chan. There you were, sitting with a goddess-tier beauty in one of the most romantic settings possible, and you still made it all about us."

Tamao laid her head back down on Hazuki's chest, still smiling. "I think I understand now what she means to you, Hazuki-chan. I feel like I finally got the chance to meet her, and I'm grateful for that. It still feels strange to have intruded on your memories, but... I'm actually kind of glad I got to see that. Your bond with her is part of what makes you... well, you. I can't be upset about that, any more than I could be... well, upset about... about what happened with Eve-sama."

"You're... not upset about that?" Hazuki asked quietly, somewhat surprised that Tamao had brought it up.

"Not with you, Hazuki-chan, no," Tamao clarified. "The way you reacted to her was proof enough of your feelings."

Hazuki frowned, finding it still somewhat difficult to focus on that restored memory. "It was a selfish reaction, though. I was afraid that what she was doing meant I was a terrible person."

"And if you were a terrible person you would have taken her lead," Tamao said in a small, somewhat cold voice. "She assumed the worst of you, Hazuki-chan, and you proved her wrong. I'm... proud of you."

"...Thank you, Tamao-chan," Hazuki whispered, tightening her arms around the smaller girl.

There was another long silence, and Hazuki attempted once more to pick through those memories, trying to attach the images with the emotions. Confusion, mostly, bleeding into sheer horror...

"Do you think Eve-sama is still in love with you?" Tamao eventually asked, dropping the difficult question into their laps.

"I don't know," Hazuki admitted, grasping for the words Eve had said at the end of the aborted encounter, in which she absolved Hazuki of blame, and instead pointed to her own regrets. "I... really don't know."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried, Hazuki-chan," said Tamao. "Not about you, of course, but... about what she might do."

"Are you angry with her?" Hazuki asked.

Tamao snuggled into her a little before she spoke again. "I don't feel angry so much as... shaken. Disappointed, even. And... truly, a little bit scared, though I don't know if I'm scared of her or for her. Are you? Angry, I mean?"

"Furious, when I think about it," Hazuki nodded. "But I also... can't help thinking it's my fault, somehow. I have so much baggage with her, Tamao, and I've always blamed myself for everything that went wrong between us. It's a hard habit to break. This time, though... I don't quite know what to think. It's like... is it okay for me to feel like I was the one who was wronged this time?"

"Well, I certainly think it is. You did the right thing."

Hazuki let out a slow sigh. "Well, one thing's for sure."

"What's that?"

"The next visit to the Great Library is gonna be a little awkward."

Tamao couldn't help a giggle at that. "I'm sure Lilith-sama will find a way to keep the mood light."

"Or Ken-chan will say something inappropriate to break the tension."

"Oh, definitely."

The conversation trailed off again, and eventually Tamao lifted her head in an attempt to see the clock. "What time is it, Hazuki-chan?"

"Seven-fifty," Hazuki sighed. "About that time, then."

"So it appears."

Tamao gave the other woman one last warm squeeze before getting up off the bed and smoothing out her uniform. This had become the new routine, seeing as neither of them wished to push her luck with Sister Mizue. They could still have an abbreviated evening together, but it was back to their respective rooms by eight o'clock.

"I love you," Hazuki said softly, getting up from the bed as well and giving Tamao a lingering kiss.

"Mmm, I love you too," Tamao whispered, hugging the taller girl tightly.

"Want me to walk you to your room?"

"No, I'll be fine. We stayed a little late tonight: no sense risking you not getting back in time."

"Okay. See you at breakfast, then."

Tamao smiled as she opened the door, but there was a melancholic tinge to it. "Hazuki-chan," she said then, "I... I've really enjoyed getting to spend the last few evenings with you like this."

"Me too."

"Even so, though..."

Hazuki nodded. "I know, Tamao-chan. Soon, I hope."

There was no need to specify what "soon" meant, of course.

Kagome's return to the normal routine of classes, dormitory mealtimes and club activities was handled as quietly as possible, almost as though no one wished to acknowledge that she had ever been absent in the first place.

There were differences, of course, not the least of which being the buzz of hushed conversation that would break out as soon as she left a room, or the fact that she was never unaccompanied, with one or more friends hovering protectively over her at every turn. The first of those, Kaname found, made her clench her fists at the thought of what they might be discussing behind the girl's back, and she wanted nothing more than to scream at them to shut the hell up.

The second of them, of course, was making it difficult to get the chance to talk to the Lulim second-year. Not that Kaname was intimidated by any of the girl's unofficial escorts, of course, but rather it was...

Well, to be completely honest with herself, Kaname was not sure what it was, but after a few days of this, she decided that enough was enough. She found Kagome having lunch out on the lawn of the dormitory courtyard, in the company of Tsubomi and Chiyo. In and of itself, it made for a cute picture: three diminutive juniors, one from each of the academies, sharing an awkward meal together. In any other circumstance, even Kaname would have found it mildly adorable.

This, however, was not any other circumstance. "Byakudan-kun," she said in a quiet voice as she stepped closer, positioning herself opposite their little confab. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

Kagome looked up at her senior, eyes and expression completely blank. The reaction of her companions, however, was more telling: Tsubomi was guardedly hostile, while Chiyo was obviously intimidated, which translated into babbling. "Kenjō-senpai!" she gasped. "Um, hello, Kenjō-senpai! Um, is there something Kenjō-senpai needs, Kenjō-senpai?"

"Hello, Tsukidate-kun," Kaname acknowledged the Miator girl, who looked shocked that Kaname actually knew her name. "I was hoping for a chance to talk to you, Byakudan-kun. Would now be a good time?"

Kagome gave her a slow nod, but neither of the other two made any indication of leaving, so Kaname knelt to bring herself closer to the girl's eye level. "Byakudan-kun... may I call you Kagome?"

Another nod, which Kaname took as a good sign. "Okay then... Kagome-chan..."

"No," said Kagome suddenly, even as the other two girls visibly flinched.

Kaname blinked a few times. "My apologies, then. Should I stick with Byakudan-kun?"

"You can call me Kagome," the Lulim girl said quietly. "But not... that other. I don't want to be called that anymore."

"I understand," Kaname nodded, even though she didn't. She could hazard a guess, though, and she did not like it at all. "Kagome, then. You know, I never thanked you for what you did for me a few weeks ago."

Kagome turned her head slightly to one side, but as was her custom, said nothing.

"The time I came to the naginata team to have a spar with Hazuki, and there was that accident," Kaname elaborated. "There were a lot of people who were upset with me... not that I can blame them... but when Nanto-san was laying into me over in the waiting room, you stuck up for me. I never thanked you for that then, so I wanted to do it now. It was nice to think that someone understood."

"You didn't hurt Hazuki-senpai on purpose," said Kagome in a grave voice.

"And I appreciate it that you knew that," Kaname nodded. "So, again... thank you, Kagome."

"You're welcome," Kagome replied, bowing her head slightly.

Kaname paused, wondering if she should say the rest, but in the end she could not stop herself. "Kagome... there are some ugly rumors going around right now, about things that may have happened to you. I don't know if they're true or not, but if they are... then I want you to know that you and I have something in common."

She gave a shocked Tsubomi and Chiyo each a glare in turn, as though daring them to add that particular grist to the rumor mill, then looked once more into Kagome's eyes. "So that in mind, I wanted to make you a promise, Kagome. If you ever need help, if he ever tries anything like that again, I want you to come and find me, and I'll protect you, just like you protected me. That's a promise."

To Kaname's shock, she suddenly found herself with her arms full of Kagome, who sprang up to hug her senpai tightly. Kaname returned the embrace, for the first time truly realizing how tiny Kagome was. Her mind roiled between gratitude for this trust, fury at the idea that anyone could have hurt this delicate little girl, and a dark loathing that reminded her that Kagome was only a year younger than Hikari had been when Kaname had...

They broke, and Kaname nodded to the other two girls. "Tsukidate-kun, Okuwaka-kun, I'm sorry to have interrupted your lunch. Thank you for taking care of her." That said, she stood up, and gave Kagome's hands one last squeeze before excusing herself.

She had made it about forty meters before Tsubomi caught up with her. "Kenjō-senpai, wait!"

Kaname took a steadying breath, then turned back to her pink-haired kohai. "Yes, Okuwaka-kun?"

Tsubomi gave a small, squirming frown, which normally meant that she was about to say something hugely inappropriate, even knowing full well that she shouldn't. "Is that true?" she blurted out. "About... about you? Someone... hurt you like that?"

"Someone did," Kaname nodded, crossing her arms and giving the smaller girl a challenging glare.

It was Tsubomi who finally broke eye contact. "I... I don't get it," she said in a low voice. "If you know what it's like, then... why did you do those things to Étoile-sama last year?"

Kaname actually let out a single wry laugh at that, then gave Tsubomi a pat on the head. "You're a good girl, Okuwaka-kun. You really are."

"Don't patronize me!" Tsubomi snapped, then made a visible struggle to rein herself in. "I mean... senpai..."

"No, I mean it," said Kaname. "You managed to nail the difficult question right from the start. I don't have an answer for you, except that... we each deal with things in our own way... and some of those ways end up being even more f*cked-up than what caused them in the first place. All we can do then is try to make amends. Speaking of which..."

To Tsubomi's visible shock, Kaname turned and bowed to her. "Okuwaka-kun, I apologize for threatening you after you saw me coming out of Hazuki's room that night. I have no excuse."

"Um... well... that's..." Tsubomi stammered, then took a breath to collect herself. "Well... if you hadn't done that, I might not have asked Hazuki-senpai for self-defense lessons, and then we wouldn't have started that new club, so... in a weird way, it kinda worked out."

"Hmm, I'm flattered," Kaname smirked. "But hey, if my being a f*ck-up can keep someone else from getting hurt, then so be it."

"You really have changed, haven't you?" Tsubomi said, her eyes wide with disbelief in spite of her words. "I mean, Étoile-sama always says you have, but..."

Kaname crossed her arms and regarded the younger girl. "Well, Okuwaka-kun, someone once said that the alternative to change is death. Maybe I just got tired of being dead?"

She nodded to the girl, then turned and continued on her way. This time, Tsubomi did not follow.

Next: Sitsprobe

AUTHOR'S OTHER NOTE: Today marks eight years since I posted the first chapter of Strange Fire.

Eight. Years.

It, um, wasn't supposed to take this long, and for that, I apologize. We're in the winding-down phase now, though, with a handful of chapters left, culminating in the performance of Pirates of Penzance, and the events that follow. After that, we'll see about a Book III. I have lots of ideas, but the fact is that Yamibou is a fifteen-year-old show now, and Strawberry Panic is not far behind. I'm honestly not sure how much of an audience is left at this stage.

Those of you who are reading this, thank you for sticking with me thus far. Cheers!