Part I
Chapter 4
The clamor of the bar seemed so mute in the ears of Minamo now, the sounds of the crowd and their activities being drowned out by the commotion of her internal struggles.
Why...?
A deep, distressed sigh escaped from her, the pleasant evening she had been enjoying now crumbling away. What initially was an attempt to find refuge from the gloomy clouds that had chased her all day had now backfired upon her, Minamo becoming trapped under their dark shadows as they rained down distress.
She continued to pour her stare into her glass, not wanting to look up and see the young couple that had caused her mood to become somber once again. This place was supposed to be her haven, her sanctuary against the times whenever malaise would enter her life, but the presence of those two lovebirds had now violated it. Although the bar had plenty of couples visit it regularly, Minamo was usually in much better control of herself when she witnessed them, her state of mind more intact and stable. But tonight she had been so weary, and the youthful adulation that the boy and girl had for each other had sent her over the edge, plummeting head first into the ravine where the worst of her memories lay strewn.
Maybe I'm not just meant for it...maybe I'm just a failure.
For as long as she had been trying, Minamo had never been able to experience what it was like to fall in love with another person, of which the sensation had been described to her over and over again by friends and family that had. It just always seemed that no matter how much of an emotional investment she would put into a relationship, the returns were never nearly enough to satisfy her, to reach a level where she could genuinely feel connected to someone else. Her affections for the guys she had been with had always stopped at a level of simple fondness for them, much the same as one would have for a good friend, and that amount of attachment wasn't anything that could be built into something more substantial, something that could fill that gaping hole...
She felt her chest tighten again, the reminder of that emptiness causing it to ache.
Damn it...
Minamo clenched her teeth as she tried to suppress her turmoil with anger, scorning herself for being so weak. Everyone she knew had always looked up to her as being a strong, resilient character, someone who had been able to deal with whatever challenge had come her way. Their belief in Minamo's fortitude had given her faith in herself as well, granting her a confidence that allowed her to accomplish anything she had set out to do. Her students, coworkers, friends, family, they had all come to rely on that self-determination of hers, to find aid in her capacity to always achieve her goals.
There was one trial, however, that Minamo had never been able to quite succeed at. Romance had always seemed to be her one bane, a test that was much too great for even her own dauntlessness to defeat. It was quite frustrating, then, when everyone else around her seemed to master it so easily, being able to become enraptured with another at almost their own convenience.
And so to see a fledgling couple, like the one in the bar tonight, experience something that she still had yet to go through herself was incredibly tough for Minamo to deal with. It made her feel like her heart wasn't capable of achieving love at all, as if it were much too dull to acquaint itself with such a colorful and wondrous feeling, much too prosaic for such a sensation.
Sometimes she felt, as hard as it was to admit, that fact might be the case. Being a diligent and studious individual could have its drawbacks, and Minamo was no stranger to being labeled as someone who could have a bit of a vanilla personality, sometimes being a little too serious for own good. But even if all that was true, that someone of her make wasn't just made to experience love, then why did its absence bother her every day? She thought she would have been able to move on by now and leave all of this romance business behind, to go on and enjoy her life as it was without the added stress that an empty heart could bring.
That had never happened however. The same old wanting despair that had always plagued her was still there, and the only thing that Minamo felt could finally satisfy it was the pure joy that could be experienced when one was able to fall in love. No other happiness she had gone through in life had ever filled that hole, and so the quest to find that one special person, of whom she could become absolutely enamored with, had become Minamo's last hope in her efforts to finally feel truly content.
But her heart had never wanted to comply with her desires. It didn't want to be swept off its feet, to surrender to that sublime feeling that Minamo needed so badly, and had instead always chosen to remain in a tortured state despite having the ability to become the end to its own suffering. Stubbornness had caked it, turning it into a defiant child that didn't want any taste of the medicine that could cure the painful ailment it was stricken with.
It was an insolent, rebellious little kid that never wanted to do what was best for itself, always acting just like...
Just like...
"Kurosawa!"
Minamo snapped her head up, staring in surprise at a quite angry looking Yukari who had practically climbed over the table to yell right in her face. "W...what?"
Yukari threw herself back into her chair, folding her arms across her chest as she scrutinized her friend ferociosly. "Geez, listen the hell up when people talk to you. Did you hear anything I've been sayin' this whole time?"
Minamo looked at her blankly, eventually putting enough of herself back together to engage in conversation again. "No..." She put an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand, sighing. "I'm sorry. I guess I spaced out a bit." Her voice didn't sound like she had wanted it to, so hollowed out now by the despondency that ate at her.
Yukari studied her for a moment before she turned her attention to the young couple on the other side of the bar. "Man, you sound pretty messed up. What, those kids get you down that bad? You're usually not so glum about this stuff."
Minamo brought her gaze down to the table. She didn't dare look over at the couple again, the pair already having done enough damage to her evening by reminding her of all the troubles of her love life.
She stopped her thoughts before they could ruin her any more than they already had, instead focusing herself on Yukari's question. Yes, it was true that those two had done a number on her, but she didn't dare tell her friend the extent of her injuries. Yukari would just make fun of her, always mocking her quest for romance as a pile of "storybook puke" whenever Minamo would get moody about it. There was no way she could tolerate the woman's insults in her current terrible condition.
"It...it's not them. It's nothing. I'm fine, really."
Yukari turned back to Minamo. "Then why do you look like shit?"
She didn't answer.
"Was it because of what I said? Look, ok, I didn't mean to call you pathetic and all that. I take it back, alright?" She slid down her chair, letting out a breath of exasperation. "Damn, I was tryna' be nice tonight, too."
Minamo lifted her eyes up at Yukari with curiousity. "What?"
Her friend took her time in answering, facing up at the ceiling. "Hmm...well, I heard you had a crappy day."
"You...heard?"
"From the kids."
It took Minamo a second to figure out what Yukari was talking about, but the instant she did her body cringed with irritation. Those girls. The students at the her school had undoubtedly spread the tales of how ditzy their usually cool and collected P.E teacher had been all day, more than likely contorting the reasons for her capriciousness to the whims of their imaginations.
Minamo groaned loudly. Not only had today been a total wash, but she was now dreading how bad the next few weeks would be as well. If there was one thing that Minamo couldn't stand it was rumors about herself, and she would probably have to spend a good amount of effort in scrubbing down all the dirt that would be tossed around the school walls for awhile.
With a heavy sigh Minamo slumped over the table, staring straight down into her glass again as she wondered how things could possibly get worse from here on out. There wasn't anything left in her tank now, no extra supply of strength for her to call upon so that she could grapple with all her problems. She was well past the limit for what even she was able to tolerate, putting up no further fight against the increasing depression that continued to creep over her.
"Hey...you ok?"
Minamo ignored her friend, having become deeply engaged with the contents of her glass.
Upon the liquid's surface the face of a woman had appeared. She looked so sad and tired to Minamo, like someone who had reached the end of her rope. Her blue-gray eyes were shot and a painful frown cut across her complexion, the corners of her mouth appearing to be pulled down by the heaviest of weights. Life had seemed to just completely pass by this miserable person, not slowing down enough for her to hop on and experience all of the joy and happiness that could be felt by riding upon it.
Minamo pitied her greatly, becoming entirely sympathetic to her plight. This dejected woman looked as if she had no one in the world to really care for her, no one to go to when times become much too hard for a single person to handle alone.
No one to tell her that they loved her, and allowed her to say that she loved them.
Love.
Minamo watched the woman smirk.
What a stupid word.
"It's 'cause of what I said this morning, right?"
She kept her focus on her drink, Yukari's words just barely piercing through her melancholy as she gravely replied. "This morning...?"
"You know, that love letter thing."
For an instant Minamo shivered, those two simple words bringing a slew of emotions into her. She somehow collected herself and looked up at her friend, who surprisingly was staring at her with what seemed to be genuine concern. "What about it?"
"That's why you were all mopey today, right? Don't lie to me."
Minamo turned her gaze to look past her friend. She didn't plan to fib about it, as it was more than obvious that the event that started her bad day had been Yukari's utterance of that little phrase, but she would have rather avoided the subject all together tonight. Part of the reason for that was due to how the matter made her feel, but more than that, she just didn't want to blame her friend for something that she herself should have been able to deal with. It wasn't Yukari's fault that she became so gloomy when a reference to that day was mentioned to her.
Minamo sighed.
That day...
She cleared her head before her thoughts could wander back to that high school afternoon, not at all able to handle the feelings those memories always conjured up. Although she could never really recall everything that had happened then, much of it blurred by her attempts to leave those bitter events behind, she still felt quite awful over the parts that she did remember clearly. Just forget about it, just forget about it.
Her attention returned to her friend's question. "Even if it did, Yukari, don't worry about it." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself before she opened them. "I know I'm not being the best of company right now, I'm sorry. It's just been a long day and I haven't really been feeling well, but really, I'll be ok now. "
Yukari didn't seem to be satisfied with her answer, and neither was Minamo. They both knew that she wouldn't be "ok" for quite awhile, Minamo having a history of letting any depression linger with her for a good amount of time, especially if it was caused by a relationship problem. How she dealt with it then was by hiding all those troubles deep inside her, so that she could keep that happy, confident exterior that everyone had come to know her for. She had too many people that counted on her to be solid and dependable, and there was no way that she could let them all down by giving into her own dilemmas.
Even though Minamo felt like a complete wreck right now, with some time she'd be able to regain enough of herself to cover it all up, just like she'd always done before. It was her habit, the only way she knew how to live with what afflicted her. She never wanted to cause worry to anyone else around her, never wanted to drag them into her own sad troubles.
"You're too damn nice for your own good, Nyamo."
Yukari startled her, as if she had somehow been right in the midst of her thoughts. "M...me?"
Her friend shook her head with indifference and then looked down beside her seat again, eying her purse on the floor. That contemplative look of hers had returned, Yukari now thinking incredibly hard about her next course of action. After a few moments she nodded her head as an affirmation to herself and then took a deep breath, as if she were preparing to engage in some grand undertaking. She leaned down and took the bag, plopping it onto the table as she came back up.
"I was gonna' do this when we got home. Like leave it in your car before you left or somethin', but, maybe now would be better."
Minamo stayed quiet, not really sure what Yukari was talking about. She didn't care anyways. Her mood was too far gone to put up with any of her friend's antics tonight.
Yukari started to mumble. "Ok, how should I do this..."
For about a minute she had a conversation with herself, arguing over ideas and plans for something that Minamo had absolutely no clue about. But her eyes suddenly sparkled to life with that familiar mischievousness, her fist striking the palm of her other hand as an epiphany hit her. "I got it!" She looked over to Minamo, giving her a face that absolutely dripped with excitement. "Ok, so, do you still have that crappy old watch?"
"My watch?" Minamo lifted an arm up, the item in question wrapped upon her wrist. "I do, but what about it?"
"Gimme' it!"
She placed her arm back down, glaring at Yukari. "I'm really not feeling good, Yukari. Just finish your food and let's go home."
Her friend looked as if she was about to blow up and outright demand her watch, but she took a few breaths and settled herself down, closing her eyes as if she were meditating.
When she opened them back up, Minamo found herself looking at a completely different person.
"May I please see your watch, Minamo? I promise you can trust me with it."
Yukari has used the sweetest, most kindest voice she had in her arsenal. Minamo was a bit taken aback, not just from how cordial her friend had sounded, but also by how delightful she now appeared to be. Yukari looked so genuinely endearing now that it actually relaxed away some of Minamo's earlier worries, easing her to the point at which she felt that it would almost be a crime to turn down such a charming request.
She brought her arm back up and started to undo the strap. Her watch was about half-dead anyways, so she figured that there really was no harm in letting Yukari hold it. ''Alright...but what are you going to do?"
Yukari reached across the table and took the watch as Minamo handed it to her. "I'm going to show you a little Tanizaki magic trick. This is gonna' be so neat!"
Minamo couldn't have been less enthusiastic. She slowly dropped back into her chair and watched her friend go through what could best be described as a skit. Yukari had opened her purse and dropped the watch inside, closing the top back after it. She then lifted the bag into the air and shook it around, saying some words in English to the rhythm of an incantation. Minamo understood the language to a certain degree, but Yukari was far more fluent in it, speaking much too quickly for her to really grasp any meaning. All she could comprehend were a few things: "watch", "no money", "P.E. teacher".
Eventually Yukari finished her chanting and set the purse down, looking straight at Minamo with the most humorous face. "Ok! This part we have to do together. Are you ready?"
She wasn't at all, and Minamo was beginning to get angry with Yukari's little play. Her friend knew that she felt terrible right now and had a desire to exit the bar as quickly as possible, yet Yukari still chose to waste all their time by forcing Minamo to bear witness to her usual idiocy. But she eventually realized, however, that they might be able to leave faster if she just went along with whatever her friend wanted of her.
She sighed and nodded with some annoyance. "Yeah, ok. What do you want me to do?"
"You have to say this with me, otherwise it won't work!" She brought her hands up, twinkling her fingers. "Alakazam!"
Minamo looked at her cynically. "Is that English? What does it mean?"
"Don't worry about that. Just say it with me. Al-ah-kah-zam!"
"This is stupid, Yukari."
"You're stu-!" She caught herself quickly. "Err...I mean, uh, just go along with me please, Nyamo!" An innocent giggle followed her words.
Minamo shrugged her shoulders, rolling her eyes. Whatever. She mouthed the phrase a few times to get the hang of it first, trying to say it like Yukari did. When she got close enough to where her friend was satisfied with the pronunciation, she was asked to say it with her on a countdown.
"Ready? Three...two...one...Alakazam!"
"Alakazam..."
With a sudden zest, Yukari flipped the top of her purse back open, making an explosive sound at the same time, and then waved her hands about as if she was clearing smoke. "Wow! I think it worked, Nyamo! Check this out!"
She watched as Yukari placed her hands inside the bag, pulling out a small box that was wrapped sloppily in what appeared to be newspaper. "Ta-da! Here you go!"
Minamo wasn't quite as enthralled about this little act as her friend was. She took the small package as Yukari handed it to her and examined it. The material it was covered in wasn't actually newspaper, yet Minamo still felt some familiarity with it, as if she had seen this kind of paper on a regular basis. The patterns on it were comprised out of blocks of text, and upon closer inspection she saw that the words were made of a foreign language.
Wait a minute...
She looked up at her friend unbelievingly. "Yukari...are these pages from your textbook?"
Her friend appeared offended, even hurt, by Minamo's accusation. "Come on, why would I do that? I have to give that thing back every year. I'd be in so much trouble."
"Well, alright. But-"
"It's from one of my kid's books. He left it on my desk, and I was kinda in a rush, so, bam, instant wrapping paper! Pretty smart, huh?" She leaned back, shrugging coolly. "I mean, he doesn't even read the thing, so no problem, right?"
Minamo could only stare at her in shock. How have you not been fired yet?
"What? What's wrong?"
She shook her head, trying to forget about the educational atrocity that Yukari had committed. Her friend just sat there naively, honestly not understanding what the issue here was. "Forget it, forget it. So, what, is this for me?"
"Well, duh. Open it!"
Minamo obliged with an obvious lack of interest, turning the box around to find a good place to start. The wrapping and tape that held it together was so terribly done, and she couldn't figure out whether Yukari really had been in a hurry to bundle it all up or just had no idea how to package something.
Probably a little bit of both. She pulled on a fray piece of the wrapping and started to tear it all off, feeling slightly guilty about it since she knew that it was comprised from the pages of a student's English book. Minamo somehow managed to shove that thought aside though and pulled away the last remaining scraps of paper, finally exposing what had been underneath.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she instantly recognized what Yukari had gotten her.
"Oh my god."
She fumbled with the box, not entirely believing what was in her hands. The black and blue logo of a famous sports company adorned the front of it, Minamo's absolute favorite brand, and placed right below it was a small picture of the box's actual contents: a top-of-the-line, first class, premiere sports watch.
Minamo didn't even have to read the details on the cover to understand just how good this thing was. She knew all about its features, its quality, everything about it already, as she had always wanted this particular model when it had first come out. The price had been so ridiculously out of her league though because of all the high-tech attributes that came with it: GPS navigation, waterproof sealing, a plethora of ways to record things such as lap times and jogging routes, and could even send all that information to a computer thanks to a little uplink. The durability of it was fantastic as well, immaculately made for even the most rugged of environments that one could take it into.
Overall, the watch was just about as perfect as one could get for a sports enthusiast like Minamo, who was feeling blessed by just being able to even hold such an expensive item in her hands. She looked up at Yukari, who was grinning eagerly at her. "Wh-where did you get this...?"
"Do you like it?"
"Well, of course I do! It's amazing! I...but...how did you-" She stopped, suddenly putting things together as she stared at her friend in bewilderment. "Yukari...no, you didn't..."
Yukari waved a hand around, shoo'ing away Minamo's words. "Yeah, yeah. Don't make a big deal out of it."
"But that was your money!" Minamo had found her voice again, the meekness that had possessed it earlier now washed away by a sense of urgency. "Why would you go and spend it all on something stupid like this, after all the effort you put into saving up for that system?" She put a hand on her forehead, thinking of what to do. "We need to go the store and re-"
"Just shut the hell up and take it!"
Minamo recoiled back, closing her mouth.
Yukari glared at her, tossing her hands up in aggravation "Holy shit, this is why I don't buy anything for you, 'cause you always start freakin' patronizin' me about it." She sat back in her chair and looked away, appearing pouty.
Minamo could do nothing else but gawk at Yukari, unsure of what to really do or say now. She eventually got control of herself though and slowly shifted her stare down to the incredible gift that was in her hands. Yukari's benevolent exploit had totally caught her off guard, and Minamo wasn't at all prepared to see the evening take such a surprising turn. The watch was easily in the range of fifty or sixty thousand yen, and she felt genuinely bad for even holding such an extravagant item, knowing that her friend had given up so much to get it for her.
"But...why? Why did you buy this for me?"
Yukari still didn't look at her. She started to play with her ear, looking a bit diffident now. "Well...I kinda felt bad after I mentioned that letter thing this morning, 'cause you looked like crap after that." She shrugged. "You always get so lame about that stuff. So, I dunno', I kinda' wanted to make it up to you, or something."
Her friend looked a bit uncomfortable as she spoke, and Minamo knew that it was because Yukari wasn't used to being so open about herself. "Geez, I didn't know that you were feeling guilty about that." She placed the gift down on the table, keeping a hand on it. "I mean, I really appreciate it, but...this is a bit too excessive, don't you think?"
Yukari finally turned towards her but avoided eye contact. "Maybe...I kinda thought so too, at first. But, you know, that whole letter deal kinda reminded me of those old times when we were kids." Her hand went up and held the back of her head, rubbing it up and down as she look towards the table unassumingly. "Like, that day with the letter, that was when we first met...right?"
Minamo found herself touched that her friend would remember something like that. "Yeah, it was."
Yukari seemed to be a little more apprehensive now. "Yeah...uh, do you remember how long ago that was?"
"I don't know. Twelve, thirteen years?"
"Mmm, I think so. But, yeah, that's a long time to know each other, right?" She reached across the table and flicked the watch's box with her finger. "That's why I decided to go with this."
Minamo looked down at her gift. "What do you mean?
Yukari sat herself back in her chair, turning away from Minamo again. "Umm...it's an anniversary present."
"Anniversary? Of what?"
"Us being best friends."
Yukari had said her last words with such a serious tone, something that Minamo didn't know she possessed. Her friend was trying to appear as if she didn't really care how Minamo would react to her actions, putting on a front of bravado to try and convince her that she was only doing something like this for her sake, that such kind affections were far below someone of her hardened personality to regularly partake in.
But the guise was so easy to see through.
Minamo stared at her friend in silence. It was a bit strange, but she couldn't ever really recall when Yukari had used the word "best friends" in a personal conversation between themselves. They had known each other for years and years now, but Yukari had never talked about their relationship in such a formal way before. It just always seemed a bit too much for her pride to handle, to admit that there was someone out there that she actually felt close to. But Yukari had done just that tonight, revealing to her fellow teacher where she stood in the framework of her life.
And it was that fact, the knowledge of what Yukari really did think of her, that had caused Minamo's eyes to become damp.
Yukari looked to her, the stoic facade she had been trying to pull off quickly morphing into real concern as she saw her friend getting worked up. "He-hey, you ok?"
Minamo brought a hand up to rub her eyes with her palm, smearing away some of the tears that had formed, and then nodded towards Yukari to let her know that she was alright. It was unknown for her to ever cry, but the sheer thoughtfulness of Yukari's gestures tonight had moved her so much, a mix of new emotions quickly replacing the anguish that had gripped her so tightly before. Although the gift she received had caused Minamo to feel wonderful, knowing the sacrifice her friend had made for it, what had really set her spirits soaring was Yukari's acknowledgement of how close she felt to her old companion.
It was funny to her, how, only just a few minutes ago, her mood had been absolutely torn apart by all that had happened today. But now here she was, the terrible feelings that had taunted her being chased off by a wave of sheer delight. The bad day at work, her romantic troubles, the young couple, all of that had now been forgotten thanks to the act of one person showing how much they really cared for her.
A foolish looking smile came on Yukari's face, finally realizing that Minamo's tears were ones of joy, not sorrow. "So...so you're happy, right?"
Minamo sniffled a few more times before she replied. This was the part of Yukari that she wished everyone else could see, the reason why she had always chosen to remain with her friend despite the depth of differences they had between them. "Of course I am. It's just..." She put a hand against her chest, breathing a few times to calm herself. "It's just...I didn't know you thought of us like that. It's silly, but...you don't realize how much it means for me to hear you say something like that." She placed both hands around her gift, holding it dearly. "Thank you so much, Yukari. I couldn't possibly ask for a better best friend than you."
Yukari looked down shyly, smiling awkwardly, as she wasn't at all used to having such kind things said about her. "Yea-yeah..." She looked up a little, bringing her hands together into a little prayer as she bowed her head, appearing as if she were getting ready to take a blow. "Um...so, am I forgiven, please? Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..."
"For what?"
"You know...what I said, that stuff..."
Minamo quickly picked up on what she was referring to. "Oh...Yukari, there's nothing to forgive. I shouldn't have talked to those girls about you like that, so it's really me who should be apologizing." Her friend didn't look happy with that answer, so Minamo decided to concede. "But...yes, of course I forgive you, silly."
Yukari clapped her hands, exhaling her breath as if she was a kettle. "Whew! Man, I thought that you were gonna' be mad at me for awhile." She started to laugh heartily, dropping her anxiousness in an instant as she resumed her usual happy-go-lucky self. "I was worried about this all day. I'm not really good at this kinda' stuff, you know, I didn't want to screw it up." She pointed towards Minamo's gift. "Like, especially with that thing. I asked the guy at the shop today to gimme' the best one, 'cause I didn't know jack about it. That's the one you wanted, right?"
Minamo nodded to her friend. She was just about to explain some of the reasons of why this particular watch was so good, when she realized that there was something a bit odd with what Yukari had told her. "Wait...you went today and got this?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Did someone give you a ride to the store? Because you came to work with me today."
"Nope. I ran."
Minamo blinked. "You ran?"
Yukari looked a bit offended. "Well, yeah. I went there when you were swimmin'. What, you think I'm too fat or somethin'?"
Once again, Minamo could only gape at her friend. So that's why you looked so tired today. The nearest store that would sell anything like a sports watch was at least a handful of miles away from the high school, so she imagined that Yukari must have sprinted all the way there during her practice, bought the watch, and then had bolted back to the campus so she could wrap it up before they both headed out for the night.
When Minamo had met her in the parking lot afterwards, her friend had made it seem like she had just been dozing off the entire time, when in reality...
She frowned. And I got mad at you for sleeping in the car...
Although Minamo thought she had regained her composure, it quickly fell apart again as a fresh surge of joy suddenly shot through her, causing her to cry even more forcefully than before. She really couldn't believe that she had been blessed with such an incredible friend, someone who had literally run farther than anyone else in her life for her, all in the hopes to just see her be happy.
Yukari was skittish once more. "W-what's wrong? Why are you cryin' again?"
"Because..." Her voice started to crack as more and more emotion poured into her. "Because...you're crazy..."
She placed her hands over her face in an attempt to hide her sobbing, breaking down completely as pure exuberance filled her. Even though Minamo was enamored with what she was experiencing right now, the problems of her life and relationships all but forgotten, she couldn't exactly fathom why it feltthis wonderfully good to her. She had obviously been delighted with what Yukari had done for her tonight, but all of that shouldn't have sent over the edge to this degree, causing her to fully lose possession of herself.
Why is this making me so happy? I've never really cried before, and now I can't stop...
The tears kept coming out, as if some hidden reservoir of euphoria had been smashed open inside of her, gushing forth uncontrollably now.
I feel so amazing...
Her joy kept escalating, up to a level that was all but foreign.
And it's all just because she...
It kept rising and rising, gradually reaching its peak...
Because she...
...and when it did, she wasn't at all prepared for what would happen.
For but the briefest of moments, just barely tangible amid all the emotions that she was going through, Minamo felt her heart twitch.