I wish it was Summer right now. That's why I wrote this. Also, I think Osaka would rock at the 'guessing' game, but I don't think she'd come up with the concept on her own. Characterization is a problem for me, so I hope I did okay.

--

Seasonal Lag

It's an unbearable summer afternoon. The sun beats down on three girls, making them wilt and lean against each other as they sit on a park bench. Osaka might actually be sleeping, but the others can't tell, and they're far too exhausted to move or otherwise attempt to grab her attention. Tomo is sucking down a soda, her third since the three girls met up earlier that day, but not even mass amounts of sugar can rouse the girl from her stupor. It's just too hot to move right now.

"To-o-o-mo." Yomi's voice is decisively whiney. "Can I have a sip? I'm thirsty."

"Nuh-uh," Tomo replies dully. "Should've bought one for yourself."

"You're such a pig," Yomi says without any real conviction. "I'm supposed to be your best friend. What if we were lost in the desert and that was our only water source, huh?"

"You're rambling." Tomo nods to the building by the edge of the park, where bottled water and soda are sold. "And we're not lost in the desert… We're sitting in the park."

"I know, but… I can't… move." Yomi sighs, closing her eyes against the sun.

Tomo heaves a sigh and nudges the soda toward her friend with one finger. "Fine… whatever."

After that, the minutes roll on silently. Yomi starts to drift off to sleep as well, her head drooping until it rests on Osaka's shoulder. Only Tomo keeps her eyes open, staring boredly at the nearest tree. Still, despite the heat, she has just chugged down three sodas, and she can feel the sugar tingling at her fingertips. It's not enough to make her jump up and move, as it usually would, but it makes her want to talk, at least.

"Hey, check out that old lady over there," she says, nudging Yomi, who grunts. "I wonder what she's doing?"

Yomi cracks open one eye. "She's just standing there."

"Yeah, but what for? Do you think she's lost?"

"What do you care?" Despite herself, Yomi opens her other eye.

"Oh, I dunno. Haven't you ever just wondered about people?" Tomo asks cheerfully.

"Sometimes I wonder about you a lot," Yomi grumbles.

Tomo stretches, still staring down the path, where an elderly woman is standing by herself, half bent over as if she's not entirely sure of her balance. "Sometimes I play this game," she says. "It's where you look at someone and try to guess stuff about their lives. You can do it while you're out shopping and it really helps to liven up a dull experience."

Yomi sighs, rubbing her temples. "You call it a game… I call it stalking."

"It is not stalking!" Tomo says indignantly, or as indignantly as she can manage. She grins. "It's just something to do for fun! Just guessing."

Osaka stirs from beside the two friends, her eyes opening blearily against the sun. It seems she's been awake all along. "Ya mean, make stuff up?"

This statement causes Tomo's grin to fade, if only slightly. "Well… yeah, basically."

"So if I said that lady's waitin' for someone important, it would be part of the game?"

"Mmhm. You got it," Tomo enthuses, giving her friend the thumbs up.

"Oh. Well, then, who's she waitin' for?" Osaka asks.

Tomo sits up a little straighter. "That's the part you're supposed to guess. But first of all, who is this old woman?"

"She looks like a Mayako to me," Yomi says dryly, not exactly playing along, but a little curious as to what her crazy friends will come up with.

"Oh! Good one, Yomi!" Tomo exclaims. "I bet she grew up in this area, but she hasn't been back in a long time. Yeah…" Tomo rubs her chin, that famous, diabolical grin creeping onto her face. "See, she traveled a lot in her youth, never staying in one place too long. It reminded her…"

"Of a lost love," Osaka supplies with a nod.

"Nice, Osaka! Now you get it! So, did he leave her at the altar?" Tomo asks.

"Nah." Osaka smiles in a way that is both infectious and a little creepy. "He died. It was a boating accident, a week before the wedding was to take place. Afterwards, Mayako ran off without tellin' anyone. She was just heartbroken."

"Yeah, she does look kind of sad," Tomo muses, leaning back with her hands locked behind her head. "Her whole family assumed that she drowned with her fiancé… But really, she was traveling all over the globe, trying to forget the tragic death of her one true love!"

"Okay, now you guys are taking it a little too far," Yomi says, not sure if she should laugh or scold them. "I mean, it's just an old lady in the park. Really, now."

"Eventually, she remarried," Tomo continues, ignoring Yomi, as usual. "And she never told anyone about her tragic past."

"Yep. And she's just waitin'," Osaka says softly. "Waitin' for the ghost of her one true love to appear before her and say—"

Even Tomo has to make a face at that one. "Osaka, that's lame! I'm embarrassed, and it didn't even come from me."

Yomi can't help but smirk. "Gee, Tomo, now you know how I feel every time you open your mouth."

"Oh, hush up, four-eyes," Tomo says dismissively.

"If it wasn't so damn hot, I'd be beating you. Badly."

Osaka smiles, leans back, and asks, "Does this mean the game's over?"

"Yeah, the game's over," Tomo grumbles, rising to her feet and fanning herself with one hand. "I'm going to get another drink. Any takers?"

"Me," Yomi says, handing over some change.

Osaka watches as the old woman begins to walk slowly and deliberatively down the path, her back to the girls, becoming smaller with each step. She sighs in what could either be disappointment or contentment. "Me," she says, ten seconds late.

--