Shiho: I talked with Chouko-san.
Shiho: She agreed to meet me on the roof.
Shiho: She wanted to talk alone.
Akira: I'll send Morgana.
Shiho: No, I want you to come.
Akira: Uh?
Shiho: When we talked, she seemed agitated. I couldn't tell if she was angry…or guilty.
Shiho: I don't want anyone to get hurt.
Akira: I'll be there.
Shiho: Thank you.
Akira was already on the roof, this time making it a point to get there early. That way, at least it could look like he was just there by coincidence.
Although Shiho would probably tell her anyway.
When the door behind him opened, he turned around. The first person to show up was surprisingly not Shiho, but Chouko instead. She stopped in her tracks when she saw him, before scowling.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing."
"…Hey, you're Shiho-san's friend, right?"
"Yeah." Akira raised a brow, never expecting this Chouko to converse with him.
"Is she…doing all right?"
"You're concerned?"
"Of course I am! I never…I mean, I did, but I didn't."
"You'll have to be more specific."
"I'm not telling you anything."
"Sorry I'm late." The two turned to the door where Shiho was standing, and huddled against her chest were three soft drinks. "Um, Chouko-san, you liked 1UP, right?"
"Y-yeah…" Hesitantly, Chouko plucked the 1UP can from Shiho's arms.
"Akira, I think Ann said you liked Starvicks?"
Akira nodded, graciously accepting the drink before moving away to the side. After Chouko's outburst earlier, he had a feeling he wouldn't be needed. Sometimes he forgot how different country folk were from city folk.
"Chouko-san…did you really reveal my history with Shūjin Academy?"
Chouko squirmed on the bench. "…Not everything. Just that you tried to, y'know."
"Why?"
"I hated you." Chouko paused, expecting Shiho to recoil, but Shiho didn't even budge. Akira smiled, satisfied and a bit proud. "We were the best. But then you got into Shūjin…and I didn't. You had the opportunity to go to nationals, become the best volleyball player ever. But then you threw it away! I still don't know why you did what you did, but with the Phantom Thieves thing from last year and your school, I can take a guess. But when you came here, I thought it was fate bringing us back together. But then…then you…!"
"Shunned you." Shiho winced, but keeping her gaze on Chouko. "I…wasn't myself. I still don't know if I am myself."
"Still. That doesn't mean I should have done what I did. The moment I heard the first whisper, I wanted to kill myself." Shiho couldn't hide her shock this time around. "You came here to quietly finish high school, right? Why did I ruin that for you?"
"Chouko-san…"
"But then you just…stopped caring. Honestly, I wondered if you cracked. I definitely wouldn't have forgiven myself if something happened to you again."
"It's not that I stopped caring… I've been working towards putting that part of my past behind me. Slowly, but it's been working. I won't deny that it's made making new friends impossible, but it's not like I was trying to begin with."
"I'm so, so sorry Shiho…"
"Chouko…"
Chouko suddenly stood up. "We don't have a volleyball team here. But I'll make one for the students next year. When I do, how about you be the student coach?"
"H-huh?" The mood whiplash struck Shiho and Akira.
"Obviously we'd have graduated by then, but it wouldn't hurt to get started for the future students, right? And if you work with me, we can dispel those rumours. What do you say, Shiho-san?"
Shiho sat in stunned silence, thinking long and hard. Until she also stood up to face Chouko. "I can't. I'm still patching things up with myself. And…I kind of want to move away from volleyball. By putting all my efforts on volleyball, I missed out on a lot of things in life. Like how my friend was doing. I could only see volleyball. So… uh, did that make sense?" Shiho winced. "What I mean to say is…no."
Chouko huffed. "Blunt as always, girl. But… I think I understand. After all, my obsession with volleyball caused all this. That's why I want to redeem myself and volleyball."
"I know you'll do it, butterfly of the courts."
"Pfft, that's…" Chouko blushed. "Leave me alone, volley-bell."
With haste, Chouko left the rooftop, and Akira and Shiho were by themselves.
Akira turned to Shiho. "Volley…bell?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Don't make me ask Ann."
"Don't. Worry. About. It."
"All right, I'll ask Ann."
"Akira."
"But seriously, I'm impressed of how well you handled that."
"I don't think I did anything that special. Didn't you forgive Mishima-kun too?"
"Except you came here to escape your past."
"Which was my mistake." Shiho walked closer to him and started to speak in a lower tone. "I ran away. I see that clearly, now that I've experienced moving on with you. Before you came, I just let the days pass without putting in any effort to change. Just get through high school, I thought. My mom thought. But I never would have been all right if I did that."
"I was like that too."
"Huh?"
Shiho looked at Akira in surprise, and he gave her a warm smile. "My first few days in Tokyo: just get through the year and not get involved with anyone. But then I met Ryuji. I encountered a situation that made me realize I can't just ignore everything around me if I want things to get better."
"Except yours was on a much bigger scale than mine."
"It's not a competition," Akira smirked, and Shiho looked away, her smile returning to her lips.
"Thank you, Akira."