A/N:

The only assumption made for this story to work is that the MetaNav (or some variant thereof) has returned and all the Thieves know about and can access it. Oh, also this story takes place a year after Royal's ending. That's important to point out ASAP too.

Saturday, 28th April

"And third place goes to...Sumire Yoshizawa!"

The crowd cheered as a red-haired girl stepped onto the winner's podium and bowed. One of the judges placed a bronze medal around her neck and shook her hand as she raised her head. She smiled at him, but anyone watching closely would realize the gesture was hollow.

It was evening by the time she got changed and left the venue, almost falling into Ren's arms when she did so, but the spring sun made it hard to tell. She was silent at first, but after a few minutes of walking she opened up to her boyfriend.

"I'm so sorry, Senpai. I worked so hard on creating an all-new performance too..."

"It's fine." Ren gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. "You looked amazing as ever. You still got onto the podium, right? You were in the top three of...how many girls were there, 20?"

She nodded and leaned on him. "But I could have been better, I just know it. I kept telling myself 'If there's one meet you have to nail, it's this one. You have to do this, Sumire!' and...I'm sorry."

"Maybe that's why," he chuckled. "You know I'm always going to love what you do, right?"

She blushed. "...I suppose I did make myself too nervous. But, Senpai! We're so close to your hometown, this had to be my best performance yet! I..."

He squeezed her shoulders again. "Sumire, relax!"

She exhaled, then shook her head. "You're right. After all, we still have a whole week together. I can't wait!"

"That's the spirit!" Sumire was resting atop Ren's right shoulder: Morgana jumped out of his bag and onto his left. "Besides, there's always next time! Isn't that right, Sumire?"

She giggled. "Yes, Morgana-senpai!"

"It's good to see you smiling again," Ren bumped her forehead with his own, making her blush again. Before she could say anything though, the trio heard a long clang and a woman groan.

Exchanging a quick glance, the couple broke into a run, Morgana holding onto his partner for dear life.

Ren let out an audible sigh when they turned the corner. The sound had just been a lady dropping her shopping bags. She was on her knees now, picking all her purchases up. Sumire ran up to her without prompting and grabbed the few soup cans that had rolled further away. Smiling at how quickly she had reacted, Ren joined them.

It took almost no time at all for Ren and Sumire to hand the woman the last of the runaways and he took the opportunity to study the new face more closely. She was a redhead like Sumire, but her hair was a duller shade, shorter and messier, though she also fashioned it in a ponytail. If he had to guess he'd say she was in her mid-twenties, and it was with a youthful sounding voice that she spoke:

"Thank you so much!"

"Not at all!" Sumire curtseyed. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Oh, of course, yes. Sorry to worry you, I just...got distracted!" She chuckled to herself.

"Do you need any help?" Ren reached for one of her hands, but she drew it - and more importantly, the bag in it - back.

"No, thank you. I'm fine, I promise! Besides, I just live two streets down. Oh!" She beamed. "Why don't you join me? If you have time, I'll make you some hot chocolate as thanks for helping me...or would I be interrupting something?" She looked from one to the other with a sly grin and winked. As expected, Sumire turned beet red.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing at all. You're clearly a young couple in love and I wouldn't want to intrude on a date. Unless...you're not a couple?"

"We are!" Sumire clapped her mouth shut at how loud she had replied. "I-I mean, we are. Ma'am. But...but we're just walking back to Senpai's home!"

"Oh, you're already that far along, are you?"

Even Ren blushed at this remark, but Sumire blurted out before he could interject. "I-I'm just staying there for a week. W-w-with his family! We'll be with this family the whole time!"

Why is this stressing her out more than the gymnastics?

Ren hid his chuckle behind a cough as he saw the sparkle in the older woman's eye. Something told him they'd get along just fine.

The walk to her home was as quick as the woman had said it'd be. Ren and Sumire had each insisted on carrying her bags, but she had refused. "I may be older than you but I'm not old just yet!" She'd snapped, laughing when the pair exchanged an embarrassed glance.

The house was a single-storied bungalow. Ren and Sumire were ushered into the living room, complete with a bay window facing the street as their host put her shopping away in the kitchen. They sat on a double-seater couch and Ren placed his bag on his lap so Morgana could pop his head out. They took in the warm breeze coming through the curtains.

"I didn't think this was how we'd start Golden Week."

"Technically Golden Week starts tomorrow."

Sumire nodded. "Not starting with Shōwa Day still feels weird though."

Ren shrugged. "A day off is a day off. And I've been looking forward to these ones for a while," he smirked. She turned away and played with her hair as their host entered with a tray with three cups of hot chocolate (Morgana ducked into his bag, only his head now visible through the open zipper).

"Enjoy!" She placed it on the coffee table in front of the pair and took the separate single-seater couch, a cup in hand. The young couple took one each and sipped.

"Wow..." Sumire's eyes glistened. "This is delicious! Thank you so much, uh..."

Sumire, Ren and Morgana exchanged glances and realised they still didn't know the woman's name.

The person in question noticed their unspoken question and smiled. "My name is Hanako. Hanako Yamada."

Sumire frowned for a moment, then shook her head and bowed from her seat. "Oh! Then thank you, Hanako-san. My name is Sumire, and this is Ren-senpai!"

Hanako nodded to both of them before replying. "Not at all, I don't get many guests, so you two being here is all the thanks I could ask for." She beamed at them and placed her empty cup back on the table.

"You don't get many guests, Yamada-san?"

"Oh, first names please, Ren-kun. And no, I'm afraid I don't." Hanako's smile wavered, but she waved her hand in the air and just like that it was back on her face. "But that's just because I don't have much to talk about. Now, how about you two? How long have you been dating?"

"Huh?! Why are you starting there?!"

Ren, Morgana and Hanako all shared a chuckle at Sumire's expense before the former began to talk. "Well, we transferred to the same school at the same time, but we really got talking a month later..."

Ren told Hanako about their meeting on the train, followed by the Inokashira cleanup event (skipping where and why it took place).

"So...she wanted to talk more with you? Just like that?" She smirked.

"Uh..." Ren chewed his lip, but felt Sumire's hand on his own. He looked at her and she took over.

"Um, I was going through...some issues...with my gymnastics. I really admired him standing up for me and I just thought 'Maybe if I spend some time with him, I'll gain some confidence in myself again!' and...that was how it started."

"Oh, so you were captivated by him right away?"

Sumire blushed, but nodded. "Yes, I suppose so. I-I wasn't in love with him then, but I knew right away that he was special." She smiled at him. Now it was his turn to feel the warmth in his cheeks. He took a quick breath.

"How adorable!" Hanako leaned forward. "So? Go on, don't leave me hanging!"

Ren and Sumire exchanged glances. "Well, I don't know what else to say," the redhead continued. "Ren-senpai kept helping me as I tried to find different things I was good at and...somewhere along the way, I..." she blushed. Ren heard Hanako fake-swoon behind him as he gave his former kouhai a side hug.

"You fell hard, huh?" asked the older woman.

Sumire, still looking at the floor, nodded. "I remember going to the school festival with him. I was...so happy that evening. It was...I think that was our first date," she giggled. "But it-it wasn't until January that I realised how I felt."

"Oh?"

Sumire nodded, but before she could continue, Ren patted her hand. "You don't have to tell this part of the story if you don't want to."

"Oh, is it bad? Sumire-chan, I don't mean to pry if it's - "

"No, it's fine." Sumire smiled at them both. "I...went through some bad things at the start of the next year and...Senpai was there with me every step of the way. That's when I realised...you know." She hid her face as Hanako laughed.

"And what about you, Ren-kun? When did you realise you liked her?"

"Me? Oh, it was love at first sight."

"Senpai?!" Sumire leaned as far back as she could and he laughed. "Is-is that true?!"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"That's not fair!" Both women looked at each other in surprise as they had spoken as one, then giggled - also in unison.

"Well, I always knew you were special too," Ren kissed Sumire's forehead and she buried her head in his chest, whining.

Hanako cackled. "Oh, this is the best day I've had in years, I hope I had a childhood like yours!"

Huh?

Three pairs of surprised eyes met hers and Hanako froze mid-laugh. She pinched the bridge of her nose and chuckled, though all the humor had left her like air out of a balloon. "I don't suppose I can ask you to forget that last part?"

"Hanako-san, are you alright?" Ren leaned forward.

"Hmm? Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

"I don't mean to pry, but we'd be happy to listen if you need to get something off your chest." He looked at Sumire, who nodded back.

Hanako sighed and leaned back. "Well, I did basically pry into your lives, so it's only fair you learn about mine. What's left of it, anyway..."

"What do you - "

"Hanako-san, do you...have amnesia?"

Ren turned to Sumire and saw Morgana do the same from the corner of his eye. "How do you know that?"

"Um...Good Morning, Japan did an interview with an amnesiac author a few years ago and he said that unidentified men and women were usually called Taro and Hanako Yamada."

"Oh..."

Hanako nodded. "She's right...oh! Now that I think about it, I remember reading somewhere that the director of that show is called Yoshizawa too, isn't he? Is he a relative of yours?"

Sumire nodded. "He's my father."

"Oh, how lovely! You must be pretty rich then."

"Hm?" The younger girl reeled back. "Oh no, it's nothing like - "

"I'm just teasing, you don't need to feel guilty!" Hanako laughed again before brushing a tear from her eye. "Well as I said, you're right. I only remember the last few years of my life, but that just means I have to live...three times as hard from now on, right?" She beamed, but Ren and Sumire struggled to smile back.

The girls moved onto small talk about Sumire's gymnastics career, but it was clear that whatever spark their conversation had held before had been lost. It was fortunate then, that the sky finally darkened as Sumire recounted the practice she'd done for her most recent meet, which gave Ren an excuse to get her attention. Hanako looked out the window when he did so and jumped to her feet.

"Oh! I didn't realise it'd gotten so late! Today was wonderful, but shoo! Shoo!"

The teens gave confused laughs at her choice of words, with Morgana mumbling "Just because I'm a cat," so only Ren could hear. He slung his bag over his shoulder and Sumire slung hers under her own as Hanako wrapped her in a tight hug. Sumire yelped.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Hanako pulled back, arms still around her. "I just don't have the chance to talk to such wonderful people every day. Good luck with your next meet, Sumire-chan!"

"Yes! Thank you!" They hugged again, Sumire returning the gesture this time, albeit still surprised at Hanako's strength. Seeing her eyes widen filled Ren with a dull sense of dread, but fortunately Hanako only held out her hand to him.

"You too, Ren-kun. College can be tricky, but I'm sure you'll have a much easier job than I did. You know, since you actually remember everything and have such a cute girlfriend cheering you on." Sumire blushed, but neither of them knew how to respond until Hanako winked, at which point Ren smiled.

"Thank you very much, Hanako-san." He took her hand.

"?!"

He yanked it out of her grip.

"Ren-kun?"

"Senpai?"

"Ow..." he shook his arm, still numb from the shock that had surged through it as time seemed to resume. "Sorry, just static electricity I think."

"That was quite the static then," Hanako got her own breathing under control and held her hand out again. Ren took it with a slight pause, but there was no problem this time.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He smiled. "Today was great, I hope you'll have us around again."

"Oh, I do too!"

Sumire bowed from in front of her house and Hanako saw them off from her doorstep, waving until they were out of sight. Ren kept flexing his fingers as they walked.

"Are you alright, Ren-senpai? She has a really tight grip, doesn't she?"

"She does, but it's not...actually, don't worry about it."

"Senpai?" Ren smiled and looked ahead. She relented and did the same a few seconds later. "Alright, I guess...oh?"

Sumire pointed ahead of them. Ren looked down to see an apple on the pavement.

"Do you think that fell out of her bag?"

"I think so. She did have a lot. Wait here, I'll go give it back to her." Sumire walked towards it.

"Should I come with you?"

"Oh, it's fine, Senpai," she smiled. "She's right around the corner, isn't she? You can just wait for me here."

Without waiting for a response, she took off, apple in hand. "She eats very healthily," Ren heard her mutter under her breath.

"Are you really okay?" Morgana stuck his head up once she was out of earshot.

"I wonder..."

By the time Sumire arrived, Hanako had already turned the lights in her living room on, but when she approached the front door she heard an odd sound coming from the open windows. A moment's pause before her curiosity won over, making her crouch and creep over to them. And freeze.

Hanako...

...was sobbing.

Sumire stumbled back, staring at the drawn curtains.

She placed the apple in front of the door.

Rang the bell.

And ran.