Hebijo Clandestine Girls Academy, principal's office

Two weeks ago, Miyabi and Imu had successfully graduated.

That wasn't a surprise for anyone, yet a wave of heartbreak swept over a large part of the student body, saddened to see their idol Miyabi leaving the school.

For the strangest of reasons, Miyabi was pleased to know she wouldn't have to deal with her fangirls anymore…

She joined an evil shinobi squad alongside Imu.

Their missions consisted of Yôma hunting, much like every other shinobi those last days.

Both of them performed admirably, especially Miyabi. They had already completed nine missions, with a combined killcount of twenty-nine Yôma.

However, something was bothering Miyabi ever since she graduated.

In fact, she was thinking about it for months already, but never took any initiative about it. Up until today.

Hence her presence in her father's office, in a place she doesn't belong to anymore.

Unlike her, Miyabi's father hasn't changed at all in those past months. He's still a 45 year old man, rather tall and well-built, with white hair and green eyes. He's wearing a typical salaryman's black business suit, Miyabi barely saw his father wearing anything else in her life.

Her father was at first annoyed by his daughter's request, especially in those hard times.

But his daughter was determined to convince him and kept asking for him to do something.

Finally, the principal finally gave in. Did his daughter's words convince him? Was he just tired and accepted to get rid of his daughter?

Miyabi doesn't know nor does really care about it.

"Alright, Miyabi, I'll discuss it with the rest of the council later today. Now, let me work." Miyabi's father orders.

"Thank you, father." Miyabi says before obeying and leaving the office.

The white-haired woman feels a little guilty, but she's certain she made the right choice in the end.

The following day, morning

"Miyabi!" Imu yells out, running after Miyabi.

However, Miyabi doesn't say a single word in response and doesn't even look interested.

"I can't believe it! The evil shinobi council has just transferred me to another squad! How dare they…" Imu says, both angry and sorrowful.

Miyabi just sighs, and says the words she prepared:

"I know. Imu, I asked my father for that."

Imu freezes in shock, slowly raising her head to look at Miyabi's eyes.

The glassed girl then takes a few steps back, as if the ground before her was falling apart.

"Miyabi… Why?" Imu asks in a weak voice.

"I'm sorry, but I think it'd be better for you… To be separated from me for a while." Miyabi says in a sorrowful voice.

The white-haired woman is obviously sad to see her friend so disturbed, but her decision has already been made.

"You are my best friend; how could it be better?" Imu asks, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I know, you're my best friend too. But I feel like you're too…" Miyabi stops.

Imu is crying now, but Miyabi needs to tell her the truth.

"You are overly dependent on me. I feel like you just couldn't live without me…"

When Imu hears it, she falls on her knees as if her legs ceased to work.

"No, no…" Imu says, looking down.

Speaking words is becoming harder for Miyabi, but not hard enough to stop her.

"Imu, you must live for yourself, not for me. I will always by your side, but you need other people in your life too." Miyabi says in a comforting voice.

However, Imu doesn't feel better at all.

"I don't need anybody else…" She says, in a weak voice.

"Imu…" Miyabi reacts, trying to find other comforting words.

However…

"I love you, Miyabi." Imu confesses, her tone more defenseless than ever before.

Those words hurt Miyabi, who feels even worse.

"I love you too. As I told you, you're my best friend and…" Miyabi starts.

But, seeing that Miyabi didn't understand the meaning of her words, Imu rises her head, looks directly into Miyabi's eyes and yells out:

"IT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I'M IN LOVE IN YOU! I ALWAYS HAVE BEEN! WHY ARE YOU TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND?!"

Miyabi's eyes gleam over. The white-haired woman takes a few steps back, remaining speechless.

"I WANT TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER FOR THIS REASON! So please! Don't leave me…" Imu says, her face completely flushed.

Deep down, Miyabi was aware of Imu's feelings, but was subconsciously avoiding them.

However, it's now impossible for her to pretend to not know anything about them. She must give her friend an answer.

"Imu, your feelings touch me, for real. But I just don't feel the same way, I am sorry…" Miyabi admits, feeling bad about her best friend.

Imu falls to her knees again, but without breaking eye contact with Miyabi this time.

For years, Imu imagined how her life would have looked like once married to Miyabi.

Having a house, sharing bath in the night, cooking for each other, and, why not, raising a child together.

It wouldn't be exaggerated to say most of her free time was just her thinking about her dreamed life.

And now, the one she loved that much just broke all of her fantasies in mere seconds.

Hundreds of hours of dreams now annihilated, in mere seconds.

It sounds unreal to Imu, who barely realizes she just got rejected.

The glassed-girl feels empty, as if she was dying.

Her ideal world will never exist, but what hurts her the most is something she ignored for long.

It was certain.

Imu isn't the smartest person in the world, but she's clever enough to notice how obvious her feelings for Miyabi are.

After all, even her comrades were making jokes about it, sometimes in front of both her and Miyabi.

And the white-haired woman never felt ashamed or happy… But embarrassed or annoyed.

Obviously a proof that she wasn't interested in Imu at all.

At this moment, when Imu realized it, she begins to sob.

Then, when Miyabi notices her best friend's whimper, she pounces on her and takes her in her arms.

"It's alright, Imu, it's alright…" She says in a comforting voice.

Imu doesn't calm down.

"You are the best friend I could ever dream of, and you always will be." Miyabi says, crying, but smiling cheerfully.

Imu finally calms down a little.

"Miyabi… MIYABI!" She yells, hugging Miyabi in return.

Miyabi doesn't say anything else, she's focusing on comforting her friend.

She still believes she made the right choice, taking her distance with Imu for a while. All she hopes now is for her to be able to find other people important to her too.

Three days later, by a pond at Okinawa

Imu is starting at the water, so pure it reflects everything like a polished mirror.

She finally accepted that she had to leave Miyabi and move to another team.

She was introduced to her new teammates, but she didn't really care about knowing them more.

For now, Imu just wants to be alone and peaceful. They have to head out for a mission tonight and her day was exhausting, she needed a break.

At least, that's what she told her new leader.

"Um…"

Being far from Miyabi and her love confession being rejected by her still hurts her a lot.

And that feeling of emptiness is still here, as if her soul was gone.

But someone is going to put a stop to her loneliness.

"Eh! Imu!" A girl voice shouts.

That surprised Imu, not to say that it scared her.

"What?" Imu says in a cold voice.

"What're ya doing? We barely met each other and ya ran away like a damn thief! Not kind of you!" The girl says.

She's younger than Imu, likely 18 or 19 years old. She had yellow hair and rose eyes, stood at 5'8 feet tall, and had a tanned skin. She's wearing a pink sweatshirt a purple skirt and black shoes. She also has red wristbands on both of her hands.

However…

"What was your name again?" Imu asks.

"Seriously? It's Akiko! A-ki-ko!" Akiko yells, pouting.

Imu doesn't look interested, but…

"Akiko, okay, I'll try to remember it…" She says.

"Don't dare forget it, or I'll bite that forehead of ya!" Akiko says.

"But… Why do you people always make fun of my forehead!" Imu asks, blushing.

However, Aikiko smiles in return.

"Just kidding, I can't bite such a beautiful forehead! It'd be a crime against humankind!" Aikiko tells Imu in a grandiloquent voice.

"T-Thank you but… Are you sure you're not going too far?" Imu asks, embarrassed.

"Maybe… Eheheh…" Akiko says, nervously laughing.

Imu stares at Akiko for a few seconds, before giggling too.

"Ya look interesting, can't wait to work with you!" Akiko says in a joyful voice.

Imu smiles, then answers:

"Can't wait to work with you too, Akiko."

Special thanks to Neodinglebat for his proofreading and suggestions