Chapter 4: It's Not Meddling, It's Called Setting Up

(Author's Note: As to the Japanese that seems to pop up like mushrooms after rain, I'll put in translations. But those that aren't translated are repeated in English by the characters themselves. So just keep a sharp eye out. Sorry, but I guess it's the only way I can maintain the "familiarity" without it looking too annoying. On to the show!)

-Tomiko-

"Heh? Who wants to be introduced to Rizu?"

"Kei yo, Kei," Sei replied, not looking up from Blade Of The Immortal. "Kei asked to be introduced to Rizu."

I stopped wiping the dishes dry and sat next to the bottomless blond pit sprawled on my dorm room floor. Sei stayed for dinner—again—and was taking up residence in my reading nook, bulldozing (as my mother liked calling it) through my novels and manga. My mom would call what I did bulldozing, but with Sei, there was the added bonus of having to clean up the stacks of books on the floor that seemed to magically grow with every passing hour she spent at my place. Not that there was much to do anywhere else, though. The rainy season had made the evenings dull and wet, drastically reducing the number of activities one could do outside. Especially if you lived a pedestrian lifestyle.

Which, of course, Sei didn't.

"Huh? Why?" I asked again, taking an old pile of books (it had been there for a day now) and placing them back on the shelves. Kei Katou shared some classes with me and Sei (which were, incidentally, all the classes I shared with Rizu), and well, she was two letters away from sharing more than just classes with the insufferable Sei Satou. Sei apparently encountered her again while helping one of her high school friends the other day, with her demanding from poor Kei the services of her dorm room. Honestly.

Sei put down the book and gave me a lopsided smile. "Females." She put down the book and turned to face me full on. "Why do you think she wants to be introduced?" she said, inching closer. I inched away.

"Is she…?" I asked, not exactly trusting the naughty-little-boy look I saw in her grey eyes.

"… As gay as springtime?" Sei finished, crawling close enough that I could feel her body heat. She apparently—and scarily—had a lot to go around. "Why, yes, my Tonko-neko."

WAY too much.

I scampered away from her as best I could, ending up on the other side of the room.

"Nandayo?" I gasped, trying to get as much oxygen into my lungs as humanly possible. "What the hell are you trying to do?!" Admittedly, having a tall blond something almost crawl all over you isn't exactly a very low-tension situation. "And what's up with that stupid nickname?"

Sei sat on her haunches, a smug little smile forming on her lips. "Hmm? You mean 'Tonko-neko'? Don't you think it fits?" she asked innocently. Annoyingly innocently. "Tonko's your childhood nickname, I assume, and you act like a cat. Hm, iya iya," she mused. "Nope, not neko. More kitten. Thus, koneko," and like a little boy managing to explain Fermat's last theorem, she said with pride, "Thus, Tonko-neko."

I felt a slow burn creeping up on my cheeks. I cursed the high heavens for letting Sei hear my mother call me by my horrid nickname. I cursed them even more for letting her come up with that ridiculous formula. I stood up and resigned myself to just picking up the rest of the books.

"I suppose that even covering you in honey and tying you to an anthill won't stop you from using that nickname," I sighed.

Sei shook her head happily, opening yet another box of Pocky she had retrieved from my little box of snacks. "Don't think so, though covering youin chocolate sounds infinitely better."

I grinned. "Tying a rope around you in a few weeks would prove to be difficult though, given how much and how often you eat here."

Surprisingly, uncharacteristically, she looked up at me like a deer in headlights, patting around her middle as if for reassurance. It was over quickly, though. She pulled herself up and smoothed down the front of her shirt.

"Anyway, we're going off topic," she said. "Like I said, Kei wants to be introduced to Rizu. What do you think? Should we help?"

"I can mention three different things you just decided to ignore with that one statement," I retorted, smirking and looking her in the eye. "But okay, I'll play along." I made a grand show of 'agonizing', putting one hand over my forehead, another on my chest. "OH, what-EVER do we DO?"

I panicked slightly when Sei stood up in a flash and took the hand on my chest and placed it on her heart, and pulled me to herself in an even grander show. "We shall run AWAY together, to a place where NO ONE knows our names. We'll lead NEW lives, start AFRESH," she said, taking said hand and placing it gently on her cheek.

Well, no, it wasn't exactly because she was manhandling me or anything, I had actually gotten used to her doing that. It was more of because Rizu was standing in the doorway to my apartment, her face a mix of surprise and amusement. The three of us stood dumbly for a few seconds before I twisted myself out of Sei's grasp, flushed and totally embarrassed.

"Uh… Should I stay?" Rizu asked after a few seconds.

"Yes, yes, PLEASE stay!" I said, fending off Sei's hands. She liked giving Rizu the whole lights and sounds show of her molesting me, for some odd reason. Rizu magically manages to remain unflinchingly stoic every time, though, so it would suffice to say that Sei tries harder every time. Wriggling out of a deathgrip glomp-hug combo, I put water in the siphon and turned on the fire. "I'm brewing that special mountain coffee you like so much."

"And you were just the person we needed to see," Sei added, grinning.

Rizu now (at least) looked a bit wary. "Hm. Why?" she asked, padding her way to a place at the low table. "I just came over to congratulate Tomiko—and well, you, Sei, since you're here—for finishing in the top five best dancers in your class. And well, maybe have some coffee and snacks," she admitted, taking Sei's Pocky box and pulling out five sticks at once. The tall blonde fat something glared at Rizu and claimed back her box.

"Na, Rizu," Sei started, Pocky stick jiggling from her lower lip, "How do you feel about blind dating?"

Rizu looked at her incredulously, quickly recovering when I served the coffee. "Blind dating? What brought this on?" she asked. "When did you get into this kind of thing?"

Sei leaned on her elbow, knocking back her cup of coffee. "Not really into that kind of thing, but I was thinking that you should try it." She looked at me then, and I could almost swear that I saw her eyes send a little message of help my way. She definitely wasn't going to convince Rizu that way.

I cleared my throat and said, "Well, what Sei's trying to get at is that someone wants to meet you. Not really a date date, but it more of a 'formal' introduction." I felt my own bullcrap filling me up so fast my eyes were probably turning brown. "Well, that is, if it's okay with you."

I was hoping that Rizu's wordless stare into her cup meant any indication that she was mulling the date thing over. Finally, she said, "I think your coffee's turning a tad stale."

I almost fell off my seat. Kei would probably have to take it the hard way, poor thing.

Rizu put down her mug and stood up, taking a few more Pocky sticks from an annoyed (and greedy) Sei. She adjusted her pants waist and put on her slippers, and then stopped in the doorway.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, turning around. "What time did this person want to meet, and where?"

I was, in a word, surprised. Sei's mouth was slightly agape, so much so that I was afraid that her spirit might escape her body. One thing I had to say about her, though, was that Sei recovered VERY quickly. Fleeting as it was, though, that one look was something I'd remember with a big grin for the rest of my life.

"Ah," she said, putting her hands behind her head, "Sunday, at around eleven. Meet her at the Aloha Café at the Takashimaya."

Rizu grinned. "Ah, so it WAS a girl."

Duh, not like there were any boys at the university.

She stole one more stick from Sei and was back in the doorway in a flash. "Alright, we'll se you there," she said mildly. And then the door closed.

I looked at Sei. She was grinning. I can almost see the wheels in her head turning.

Whether or not that can be a good thing for my friend eludes me.

-Sei-

Let's backtrack a bit, shall we?

This whole Kei-wants-to-meet-Rizu thing started maybe a few days ago, when Kei suddenly turned up at my desk in one of our classes together. I wasn't really surprised to see her; she'd helped me out when Yumi-chan, my darling little friend in high school, got soaked in the rain following some drama that had been going on with her and her Onee-sama. I'd forgotten her name, but now I knew who she was, so I grinned.

"Hai, Kei. What can I do you for?"

She smirked at me. "Nothing, Sei, you couldn't possibly afford me."

"Is that a challenge?"

Kei looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. "No, but if it's a challenge you want, I have something of the sort for you."

I put away one of Tomiko's manga, which I'd filched from her bookshelf. I'd been spending some time at her dorm (lots of time, actually, because it takes at least two hours for dinner, clean-up, and manga-bonding), and she had an unbelievable number of things to read. Heaven for the pig, the pig being me, thanks to Tomiko's cooking, which was just as unbelievable as the number of things she had to read.

"Okay," I said to Kei. "What's the challenge? Don't tell me you want to make a move on Yumi-chan. She's taken. Quite taken." With her Onee-sama, I added silently.

Kei pulled up a chair and sat down in front of me. "No, I'm not interested in your friend in THAT way…it's…a…" She stopped.

I blinked. Wow, was she actually blushing?

"It's…?" I prodded.

Kei cleared her throat. "I…I'd like to talk to your other friend, actually."

Tomiko? For some reason, I felt suddenly territorial. "Why?" I asked.

Something in the tone of my voice made Kei look right at me. "Oh…" she said, cryptically, before grinning. "No, no…I'm not interested in HER either. Rather, I'm interested in…" she stopped again.

The suspense was killing me. Well, maybe not the suspense. Just the curiosity. "Kei, spit it out. I can't hazard a guess, and if I did, it'd make you blush all the way to your toenails. What do you want?"

Kei lowered her eyes and mumbled something. I leaned forward. "What?"

"I want to talk to your friend about hurr frrrnd."

I took Tomiko's manga and gave her noggin a good tap. She flinched, one hand reaching to rub the offended spot, and I settled back with a lopsided grin. "I hope I fixed your speech impediment, because if I did that again you'd probably get amnesia. Katou Kei, what do you want?"

Kei took a deep breath. She'd turned pale, then red, and then pale again. I didn't really know her very well so I wondered if this was out-of-character for someone who seemed so composed.

"I want to talk to Tomiko-san about her friend."

Finally. I thought I'd have to shoot her in the knees just to get it out of her. "Ah, Rizu?"

Kei's eyes lit up. "Hai, that one. How did you know?"

I shrugged. "Who else could be so closely associated with her?"

"Gee, I don't know. You?"

I lifted a solitary brow. "You wouldn't be talking to me about it then, would you?" I lowered my voice conspiratorially. "Interested in her, are we?"

Kei folded her arms across her chest. "What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing." I thought about it for a moment. Kei HAD done me a favor by taking both me and Yumi-chan in out of the rain and drying Yumi-chan off. I suppose I could help her.

"Let me talk to Tomiko," I told her, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

Kei seemed slightly worried. I must have had that devilish look in my eyes, because she said "What are you planning, Sei?"

I grinned, lifted a finger to my lips, and said "Secret."

-Tomiko-

I looked at my watch. It seemed everyone was late.

It was Sunday, the fateful day for Kei, I suppose, and because I had nothing to do, I got the great idea of coming to the Aloha Café early. The sky looked kind of dark for a morning, so I had foregone staying in the al fresco section of the café. The Aloha Café was a relatively new manga kissaten (trans. Manga café) on the top floor of the Takashimaya, one of the biggest department stores in town. It had always rained at night recently, but middays always seemed to be relatively sunny. The blustery winds tempted me to take an outside seat, but I declined its caresses. After all, if everyone started showing up and I looked like some ridiculous storybook witch with wild hair, I feared finding out what Sei would say to that.

I walked to a couch by the corner, cradling my cappuccino and a copy of Lucky Star under my arm. I had barely set my cup on the table and cracked my volume open when I saw Sei walk into the store. I prayed that she wouldn't find me so soon in the morning, I tried to slouch into the cushions as much as I could, but unfortunately she grinned at me and made a beeline for the couch. She immediately grabbed me and squeezed, sinking both of us into the soft sofa.

"Hello, sweet," she said, nuzzling my cheek.

I started hitting her repeatedly with the manga. "Stop it, stop it! People are watching!"

"Hmm?" Sei regarded the people in the café with as much interest as she would take in an uncooked yam. "Let them. It's not like we'll see headlines in the newspaper about this tomorrow morning."

"It's not THAT!" I hissed, wriggling away from those grubby, grubby hands. "Have some decency!"

"Ho? I am being decent," Sei said, finally settling into the couch and taking the manga from my hands. "I am merely protecting you from untoward advances by establishing my presence with you."

"That is some twisted logic," I murmured. I made a move for the seat across the couch when Sei took my wrist and pulled me back down.

"Tch, tch, okay, okay," she said, smiling at me soothingly—at least heridea of soothingly—while she took a drink out of my cup. "Fine, I won't cause any more damage to your reputation today. It is Kei's day today, after all, and I need you to help me help her."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Isn't this meddling?' I asked.

She wagged a finger at me. "No, no, no, my dear Tonkoneko. This isn't meddling, this is called setting up. We just provide them with the occasion. What they decide to do with the setup is their own doing."

"I don't know about that," I retorted. "Besides, I think you've damaged my reputation today well enough. I don't think I'll get hit on today."

"O? Why, were you really expecting to meet people today?" Sei asked, actually looking amused. "But I thought you were going to be faithful to me?"

"Yakamashii." (trans. "shut the hell up.")

Sei ordered a strong blend from the waitress who approached us (she liked her coffee strong, with just a little sugar and milk), and turned to me. "I passed by your dorm on the way here," she said, managing to look like a little hurt puppy. "You had already left, the girl who lived next door said. I wanted to have breakfast."

Not looking up from my book, I replied, "Sorry, but I don't really like being late for things like these. And besides," I continued, flipping a page, "the main reason I left early was that I could have some peace and quiet. It's Sunday, for crying out loud."

Sei pouted. "Ho? I can give you peace and quiet, see?" She pulled me to herself and put both arms around me. "I can stay like this the whole day and not say a word, or put a toe out of line." I could feel her murmuring into my right shoulder, her eyes peering at the comic I was reading.

I felt a caustic protest bubbling in my throat, but when I opened my mouth to verbalize, a small yelp came out instead. Why were my cheeks flaring, and my heart beating so damn fast? I wanted to tell her to quit playing her stupid flirting games with me, but for some odd reason, being like this with her felt… how should I put it?

It felt okay.

But I had to retort somehow.

I shifted away—just a little, without breaking away.

"Dochi de mo ii," I said. "Do what you like."

Flipping a page of the manga, I realized that I was probably in the same situation as one of the girls in it. Her name was Kagami, and her friend Konata (around whom the story revolves) always drives her up the wall with anime references to no end; and sexually harasses her on occasion. With Sei, the frequency of the anime references and the sexual harassment were reversed, though.

I wondered if that was a good thing for me.

I had gotten a little ways into the manga when Sei murmured into my shoulder again.

"Ne, Tonkoneko, have you ever been in any of those situations in the manga? Like, say, getting swept up in a crowd at a comic convention, working at a cosplay café, those things?"

"Hah?! Real-life experience? With Lucky Star?!" I resisted the urge to guffaw.

Sei shrugged, not letting go. "It's possible, right, if it's loosely based on real-life experiences…"

I rolled my eyes. "Only if you spent every day with an otaku."

Sei squeezed me teasingly. "Ho? So Tonkoneko didn't have any otaku friends in high school? Maybe you're the otaku or something, what with all that manga."

I smirked. "Maybe, but I don't play any dating sims or anything. I think I'm more like her." I pointed to Hiyori, a girl in glasses, the doujin artist.

Sei squinted over my shoulder at Hiyori, who was now going postal over losing her mechanical pencil. "What's she like?"

I smiled. "She's a doujinshi artist. She obsesses over perfecting her technique. And it's not always exactly a good thing." Visions of old high school memories clouded my head unexpectedly, and I brushed them away with a flip of the page. "I was one in high school. It was mostly stuff for Otome Road." (trans. note: Otome Road is where yaoi and yuri fanatics—mostly girls—get their doujinshi, or fan art fix. Lots of stores there that sell them.)

Sei's eyes lit up, and it contrasted the overcast dark grey sky outside. "Uwo, you made manga? I'd love to see 'em! Tonkoneko, misete kure yo! Show me!" she exclaimed, nuzzling my cheek.

I wriggled away. THAT was too much to take. The rain must be making me feel very weird. "ONLY if you can find them," I replied, sticking my tongue out at her.

Sei grinned at me evilly, which made me retract my tongue quickly. "Sou? Sou desu ka? Is that so?" she said, drawing herself up and taking me with her. "I guess that's a challenge, then." I thought to myself that if Sei ever showed any enthusiasm like this at school, she'd probably be Student Council President by now.

"Deal," I said.

I made a mental note to hide them somewhere she definitely would not find them.

Satisfied with her new little game, Sei settled into my shoulder once more.

-Sei-

Being this close to Tomiko was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because it felt good. Yumi was the only one I really cuddled (read: sexually harass) in high school, and that was, for the most part, just to get a reaction out of her and her Onee-sama, but with Tomiko it was starting to feel like I was doing it for self-gratification. It simply felt nice. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Or maybe eating too much Pocky from Tomiko's stock really DID addle my brain.

The bad thing was, I got a bit too lost in that warm cuddle and that outrageous manga Lucky Star that I didn't notice how much time had passed. I heard Tomiko's stomach suddenly give up a rather vicious growl, and that was when I checked my watch and saw that…

Wow. Rizu and Kei were THREE hours late.

I gave Tomiko's shoulder a little nudge with my nose. "Say, Tomiko, you know what?"

She didn't take her eyes off her manga. "Hm?"

"Rizu and Kei are LATE."

Tomiko's head snapped up. Her eyes located the wall clock and subsequently went wide with alarm. "You're right, they ARE."

"Yeah, and I'm hungry." I actually was, because I hadn't had breakfast. "Aren't you? I heard your stomach go "GRAOORRR!" just a few seconds ago."

Tomiko looked contrite. "I'm so sorry…I got so absorbed with this manga, I completely lost track of time."

I grinned. "Don't mind, don't mind," I said, waving a hand dismissively. I guess you should call Rizu, find out where she is."

Tomiko shrugged her way out of my hold on her and took out her cellphone. After finding Rizu on her list of contacts, she called and held the phone up to her ear.

Five minutes passed.

"She isn't answering!" Tomiko put down her phone and looked at me. Her eyes were wide. "What could have happened? Where could she be?"

If I were an anime character, I would have 'sweatdropped'. Tomiko really did have the Sachiko tendency to go into hysterics at times. "Take it easy, Tonkoneko. It's not like Rizu can't take care of herself, you know."

"Well, yeah, but..." she snapped her fingers. "Call Kei? Maybe it's easier to get in touch with her."

Between the two of them, yeah, Kei would have been the one more likely to pay attention to her cellphone. But there was one problem.

"Ah…well…as to that…" I scratched at my cheek. "I can't."

Tomiko's voice rose up a notch. "What? Why?"

I grinned sheepishly. "Because I don't have her number."

Tomiko stared at me incredulously for a minute. "You're telling me that you didn't bother to get her number even though you KNEW we were meeting up today??"

"Ah…hai. Warii!" (trans. "My bad!")

"Yes, it IS your BAD! Sei! What was all that talk about today being Kei's day and setting up the stage and—"

"Well, we DID set up the stage, Tonkoneko, and set it up pretty well. Unfortunately, the actors decided not to show up."

Tomiko half-rose from the couch. "Let's go back to the dorm!"

I grabbed her by the waistline of her pants and yanked her back down, then secured her in place with an arm around her shoulders. "Calm down, Tonkoneko, you'll get a heart attack. If you go into hysterics like that, you'll faint. Let's order something and wait a bit more."

"They're three hours past the time we set for our meeting! How much more do we wait?"

I pretended to think about that one. "You might be right, koneko-chan, but if we go back to your dorm, what then? We probably won't find them there either. There's really no help for it, you know."

"Still," Tomiko began, getting up again. "I really think we ought to go look for them."

That was when it happened. Lightly at first, and then coming down like buckets in just a matter of seconds, the rain fell from the dark sky, obfuscating the world outside.

Tomiko groaned. "Uso da ne? (lit. translation: "It's a lie, isn't it?") This isn't happening, right?"

"Sorry, Tonkoneko. It looks like things aren't going in your favor today."

She had both hands on either side of her head. "And I completely forgot to bring an umbrella! Did you bring your car?"

I shook my head. "I thought it'd be easier to just walk it. I didn't think it'd rain so early."

Tomiko groaned again. "Oh, this is just perfect."

Indeed. Serendipity had its moments.

"Sit down, Tomiko. We can't go anywhere in this weather. Let's order something. I'm sure you know what's good here, you being such a foodie and all that."

She sniffed. "As a matter of fact, I do know, but—"

"Ja, order something for both of us. Rizu and Kei will probably show up soon. Don't worry about them. They're big girls, I doubt either one got kidnapped or anything stupid like that. Hora, there goes your stomach again. Go on and order something."

She probably WAS hungry, because she settled down—a bit reluctantly—and took up the menu that was lying off to one side and started going through it. I picked up the Lucky Star manga and made a show of reading it intently just to set her mind at ease. Honestly, this girl was going to lose her head if she kept worrying like that. It occurred to me then that I was going to have to distract her, even if it meant using underhanded tactics.

Well, that wouldn't be too hard. We WERE in a manga café, after all, weren't we?

I hoped I wasn't grinning TOO widely.

At that point, a waitress came by and asked us if we would like to order anything. Tomiko was still in the process of choosing, but I told the waitress to…ah…wait…and then told Tomiko I'd be right back.

I zipped off and picked up every interesting-looking manga and light novel I could find, then came back. Fortunately, Tomiko was still there and hadn't snuck off to look for Rizu or Kei. She seemed anxious though. As I approached, she looked up at me, and then at the stack of manga and books I was carrying. "Nandayo sore?" (trans. "What on earth is that?")

I sat down. "Well, you got me started off on Lucky Star, so I thought I'd look for some other things we might be interested in. I might even find some ideas I can use in my writing, who knows?"

Tomiko blinked. "Ah…you were writing something?"

I nodded. "For class. Some project the teacher saddled us with. I'm a little stumped right now, but since we're in a manga café and I'm with maybe one of the most creative minds I know, maybe I can change all that." I set all the stuff down and pushed several her way. "There, I thought you might like some of those."

Tomiko looked a bit surprised, but she turned and picked one up anyway. Her face immediately turned comical. "What the--? Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon??" She started laughing. "Where did you pick this up? The classics section?"

"Oi, what's wrong with five or more girls in short skirts prancing around and whacking monsters?"

"Nothing, apparently, from your point-of-view. I don't really enjoy shoujo manga." She put it down after another short fit of the giggles, then picked up another. "What's this? Ouran High Host Club? Sei, are you sure you aren't planning to go into the male escort business when you graduate?"

I laughed. "That'd be kind of hard, considering I don't have the proper equipment for it. What IS that all about, anyway? I just picked up random titles."

We started talking easily about the stuff I had brought back, going so far as to analyze characters and plots, comparing real life and real people to the ones drawn and written on paper, wondering why some were exaggerated and some were not, and generally having a good time. Tomiko grilled me about the story I was expected to write for class and helped me wring out a decent plot for it by crossing over an insane number of manga and anime titles. I noticed that she seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing, even though I barely introduced anything about myself into the conversation, and found myself wondering—maybe even wishing—that it meant something.

I didn't notice when, but when I lifted my head and looked out the window it was dark, and the rain had stopped. "Hey, look, it's finally cleared up."

Tomiko looked surprised, too. "Are? It's evening already? Have we really been here the whole day?"

"Rizu and Kei didn't show up either." I sighed, smiling in resignation. "Looks like we were the only ones on this double date, eh, Tonkoneko?"

Tomiko snorted. "It isn't a double date. We were only supposed to make sure those two met up and had a good time."

I lazily stretched out my arms over my head. "Well, I don't know about those two, but I certainly enjoyed myself." I looked over at her. "I hope you did, too."

Tomiko looked back at me, meeting my gaze. She smiled. "Come to think of it, yeah, I guess I did."

There was a moment of silence between us.

And then Tomiko's cellphone began ringing. She picked it up and flipped it open. "Hai? Oi, kora!" Her slightly irritated expression told me it was Rizu on the other line. I chuckled. Perfect timing, Rizu.

"I was so freaking worried!" Tomiko was saying. "Are you with Kei? Oh, this is her phone? You left yours at home?" She gave me an exasperated look. I gave her a resigned shrug in return. "Where are you guys? You went home?" Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "You were at the Aloha Café? We were at the Aloha Café! We still are! We've been here the whole day!" And then her expression changed from exasperation to bewilderment. "Are? You were at the second-floor Aloha Café?"

Tomiko sweat-dropped. I hung my head over the back of the couch and groaned. Yes, there WAS another Aloha Café on the second floor of this building. And no, I hadn't really specified which one we'd be going to.

"We're at the one on the roof deck. No, I guess we weren't specific about which one. I just assumed that since this was newer, you'd think about this one." She sighed in resignation and smiled. "Guess you and Kei think alike, huh? Hai, just tell me all about it when I get home. Sei and I are about to leave. Ja."

She closed her phone and turned to face me. There was something about the look on her face that struck me as impossibly funny. She must have seen a similar expression on my face, because her lips started twitching. I gave in earlier and started laughing my ass off at how everything had turned out today, and Tomiko joined in immediately. A good number of people were looking at us like we were a couple of idiots, and heck, maybe we were. But we had both enjoyed ourselves today, and to me, that was all that mattered.

I stood up. "Sa, let's go."

Tomiko nodded.

We left the Aloha Café (one of them, anyway) and headed on to Tomiko's dorm. It was a damp, wet, soggy night, and the feel of rain was still heavy on the air, but I thought that today was one of the best days I had ever had.

Chapter Epilogue

-Tomiko-

I bid Sei goodbye at the dorm's gate. It was getting late, and she had a long ways to go. I climbed up the steps and headed for Rizu's apartment. I could still hear muffled voices and laughter, so I decided to skip knocking and headed to my room for a much-needed bath and rest.

The next day, I asked her what had happened, but I guess where Rizu's concerned, I shouldn't expect. Period.

-Rizu-

Us? We had fun.