Ah, I've already gotten some reviews for the third chapter! Thank you SO much! 3

All right, on to the last chapter! Enjoy!

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Everyone at the table was watching the courtyard through the windows. Chihiro and Kimiko had joined hands and were hoping, hard, for everything to go well. Chiyo wasn't positive as to exactly what was going on, and asked Osaka; however, the Kansai girl was focused on the goings-on outside, and didn't respond. Yomi would have been watching just as intently, but Tomo was leaning over her (on her, rather), and poor Yomi was fighting the urge to shake Tomo off. Kagura was grinning, having decided that if this plan worked, she would run an extra lap that afternoon. Maybe two.

As they watched their smitten classmate getting closer to Sakaki, they all went silent. This was it...

---

Kaorin came to a dead stop barely five feet from the tree. There was Sakaki- still, stoic, and stunning as always. She was leaning against the rough bark, hair drifting in the wind and gaze fixed on the clouds above them. This seemed quite contrary to the information Kimiko had supplied.

"S-Sa-Sakaki-san, wh-where's the danger!" Kaorin looked frantically around the small patch of trees in search of the unknown threat. Surprised, Sakaki turned around to see what the commotion was about.

"Danger?" She looked at Kaorin curiously, taking a moment to brush a few strands of long black hair behind her shoulder.

"Abe-san... she said," Kaorin wheezed, "there was an emergency." She stumbled forward and leaned against the tree, entirely out of breath. "I was... worried."

"Oh..." Sakaki nodded slowly, wondering what sort of plan Abe Kimiko had devised. "I... think Abe-san may have been mistaken. There isn't any emergency, really."

"R-really?" Kaorin looked up at her, still trying to catch her breath.

"Yes. I'm all right." Sakaki smiled. But when she did so, Kaorin noticed the slight redness in Sakaki's eyes.

"Are you... sure?" Kaorin frowned, looking around again. "Has anyone been giving you a hard time, or anything like that? Because if they have, I'll make sure they don't harm you in any way, Sakaki-san!" Kaorin looked entirely serious, to Sakaki's surprise. The taller girl giggled.

"That's very kind of you, Aida-san... but, no, there's nothing like that going on." Sakaki crouched low and held out her hand to a grey cat that had poked its head out from behind another tree. "I've just had something on my mind, is all." The cat slowly approached as she spoke.

"Is it something you want to talk about?" Kaorin couldn't believe that she and Sakaki-san were really talking like this. Simple questions about homework or exchanged "hello"s on the street had always been a big deal to her; to have a conversation was an incredible experience.

"Actually... I wanted to ask you a question, Aida-san." Sakaki said after a moment. She curled back the fingers of her outstreched hand and retracted it, placing both hands on her lap. Kaorin sat next to her, listening intently. "I've been wondering... well, worrying, a little... that maybe..." Her voice trailed off, and she sat there in silence, twisting the fabric of her skirt in her hands. She glanced over at Kaorin, looking unsure.

"You can tell me, Sakaki-san. I won't make fun of you or anything, no matter what it is..."

"That's nice to know." Sakaki felt a little more relaxed speaking with Kaorin. The smaller girl seemed to be a very good listener. "You see... well, up until a minute ago," she began with a quiet laugh, "I was afraid that you didn't like me."

"Wh-wha?" Kaorin stared at Sakaki in utter disbelief. "I... you... huh?" Her head hurt. "Sa-Sakaki-san, it's entirely the opposite! I like you a lot!" As soon as she uttered this, Kaorin clapped a hand over her mouth and stared hard at the grass to her left.

"Aida-san... you... you do like me?" Sakaki's voice was soft, and coaxed a nod out of Kaorin. After a moment, she put her hands down on the ground at her sides, and began tying knots in a blade of grass.

"Sakaki-san, I really... really... really like you." Kaorin's voice became quieter with each word, and by the time she reached "you", she was barely audible.

"I'm happy to hear that." Sakaki sighed. "Although, I've heard that a lot of girls that seem to like me, only like me because they think I'm... cool. Something like that. But I'd rather be cute, than cool."

"I think you're very cute, Sakaki-san." Kaorin felt her heart skip a beat when Sakaki blushed.

"Do you?"

"Yes! I-I really do..." Kaorin felt like her cheeks were on fire when she noticed Sakaki shuffling a little closer to her. "I... I don't care if you're not really the 'cool' type... I like you anyway."

"And you don't think I'm scary at all?"

"No way!" Kaorin quickly shook her head back and forth. Smiling, Sakaki reached out towards the cat again. It walked towards her cautiously, paused for a moment, then continued.

"Come on..." Sakaki waved her fingers a little, and the cat came closer, closer... and clamped its teeth down on her hand. "Ah!"

"Here..." Kaorin reached over and very gently tapped the cat on the head. Surprised, it loosened its grip, allowing Sakaki to withdraw her hand. Kaorin then pushed her hand between the cat's jaws, which quickly closed on her. "Sakaki-san, I think... it'll let you pet it now." Sakaki nodded her thanks, and nervously reached out to give the cat a tentative pat on the head. It did not resist, and immediately, a smile spread across her face.

She sat there for almost a minute, stroking the cat's soft steel-gray fur. Finally, she pulled back her hand, and Kaorin followed suit. The cat stood there for a few seconds, then suddenly darted back towards the school fence.

"I got... to pet him," Sakaki said, watching the cat as it fled. She looked content... almost like a cat herself. "Oh!" She turned to Kaorin. "Is your hand all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Kaorin nodded. "Is yours?"

"I'm used to it... cats bite me all the time." Sakaki reached over and gently took Kaorin's hand in her own. "Here, let me see," she said with a smile. Kaorin nearly died. "Ah. It's nothing serious... you'll be fine." Kaorin nodded quickly as Sakaki's hand returned to the grass. And it took Kaorin a moment to realize that her hand was there right along with it. Sakaki, her idol Sakaki, was holding her hand.

Kaorin leaned back against the tree, then gulped and moved a little closer. Sakaki didn't seem to mind. Summoning all the courage she had, Kaorin picked her hand up off the grass- pulling Sakaki's with it- and scooted closer so that they were directly side-by-side. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she felt the slightest squeeze from Sakaki's hand. Before she could think of something to say, the unthinkable happened.

Sakaki's hand slipped out of hers, and suddenly Sakaki's arm was around her shoulder, gently pulling her closer, and her head was resting on Sakaki's shoulder... but she didn't feel nervous or flustered. Instead, she felt... she felt... at home. There at the base of that tree, with the soft grass beneath them and a bird chirping nearby. Shyly, she lay her hand on Sakaki's leg, and Sakaki leaned her head to the side so that it was resting on Kaorin's.

"Aida-san?"

"Yes?"

"Would it be all right if I called you Kaori?" Sakaki's voice was quiet; she was just as shy as Kaorin was, the short-haired girl realized.

"Y-yes, I'd... I'd like that." Kaorin gave the slightest nod.

"And... well, my last name, it's written with the kanji for a camellia tree... right?"

"Mm-hmm." Kaorin nodded.

"Well... I don't think it'd be right to use my last name in such a situation. My last name also... isn't very cute. Though, I do like camellia..." Sakaki didn't say anything more than that. Kaorin sat in thought for a moment, and finally it struck her.

"I see... so, then. Would you like me to call you... Tsubaki-chan?" Kaorin smiled up at Sakaki, who smiled back. "Or maybe... Tsu-chan?"

"Tsu... Tsu-chan." Sakaki nodded. "I like that. It's very cute."

"I think it suits you, S- ah, Tsu-chan." Sakaki nodded again before tilting her head to the right, off of Kaorin's. Then she slowly got to her feet. Her arm was still hooked around Kaorin's shoulder, and the shorter girl stood with her, not really wanting that arm to go anywhere. By the time it had unraveled from around her, that arm was next to hers, and Sakaki was holding her hand. "I want to thank you," Sakaki said honestly.

"Hm? For what?"

"For liking Sakaki-san... and for liking Tsu-chan, too."

They walked back across the courtyard together, through the door, and a few steps across the cafeteria floor. Then, they noticed that the entire table was watching them, grins on the face of every girl save a slightly confused Chiyo.

"All right, Kaorin!" Tomo cheered, accidentally striking Yomi in the head with her thumbs-up. Aggravated but not deterred, Yomi gave Kaorin a proud smile and a nod of congratulations. Osaka was explaining the situation to Chiyo, who was slowly starting to grasp the situation. Kimiko and Chihiro were clapping quietly in their seats. And Kagura, shaking her head, laughed and rested her cheek on her hand as she looked at the pair.

"Looks like I'm running a few extra laps today," she mused.

"What's all this?" Sakaki looked around, not quite sure what to make of the situation. "Is this for you? For me?"

"I think," Kaorin began as she squeezed Sakaki's hand, "it's for us... Tsu-chan." Their eyes met, and Sakaki squeezed back as they smiled at one another.

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Squee! x3 Another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it! This is the final chapter, though I might do an epilogue (no promises! xD) if I can think of some ideas. Then, maybe a sequel, if my reviewers would like one. I had lots of fun writing this. And hey, now that it's finished, I think I'll spend a good bit of my summer working on For You. I think it could use some revision.

A little note: "Tsubaki" means "camellia", and "Sakaki" means "camellia tree". Hope that clears the little thing at the end, for those who didn't know. 3 See you all later! Thanks for taking the time to read this fanfic!