After a horrible school day, Nagisa closed the door to her room. She'd tried to find Chiyo, but the young girl had been avoiding her. Midori had walked past her a couple of time, each time letting out a cutting remark. Added to that, Nagisa had missed just about everything that had been taught in her classes because she had been so busy thinking about herself, Shizuma, and Chiyo.

Groaning, she dropped onto her bed. A few minutes later, Tamao entered the room.

Irritated, the blue-haired girl threw her cell phone on top of her desk.

"I haven't been able to talk to Miyuki in two weeks. I miss her so much! Whenever she calls me, I can't talk because I'm busy, and whenever I call her, I can't reach her. That is so frustrating!"

Nagisa stood up and hugged her friend.

"I'm so sorry! I can imagine how you must feel. When I was in Tokyo, Miyuki said how much she misses you."

"I miss her, too. But I have no idea how our relationship will survive for two years like that." She sighed. "You don't look all that happy either, Nagisa."

"I'm not. I've spent all day thinking about what happened with Chiyo-chan and what I'm going to do. Midori-chan saw us yesterday."

"Oh no."

"She wasn't exactly happy and accused me of cheating on Shizuma."

"Well, technically…"

"I know, I know."

"So did all your thinking help you?" Tamao asked.

"I'm not sure…you see, I always thought that Shizuma was the only one for me, but now, she's so far away, and she's changing. I don't get along with her friends, and she didn't even realize I was feeling awful."

"Okay, I can understand how that would make you feel." Tamao said slowly. "So you want to end your relationship with Shizuma?"

"I don't know."

"Would it help if you went to Tokyo one more time? Maybe it was only that one time and the next visit would be great."

"Maybe." Nagisa sighed. "I'll ask the Sister if I'm allowed to leave for this weekend, and I'll go visit her."

The redhead left the room and headed for Sister Hamasaka's office. 15 minutes later, she returned to the room.

"It's all set, I'm allowed to go." She reached for her phone. "How about you come, too?"

Tamao sighed. "I can't, Nagisa. I have so much to do."

"But you want to see Miyuki, don't you?"

"Of course. But I have to work all weekend."

"Then work on the train and while we're there, but you can't go on like that."

"You're right. I'll go ask the Sister as well."

Nagisa blushed. "There's no need. I asked her for your clearance to leave, as well."

"Nagisa, you're impossible." Tamao laughed. "Thank you." She hugged her friend.

"I'll call Shizuma's and Miyuki's landline, maybe we'll reach them both." Nagisa dialled a number.

"Hi Shizuma, it's me, Nagisa!...yes, I'm okay. How about you?...That's great. Listen, Tamao and I want to come visit this weekend. Is that all right?...Great. Is Miyuki there? Oh, okay. But you both have time this weekend? … Wonderful, I can't wait. Good night. I love you, too." She hung up again.

"Miyuki's at a study group, but Shizuma thinks she'll have time this weekend."

"Good. Oh, I can't wait!" Tamao exclaimed happily.

Three days later, the girls got off the train in Tokyo. Tamao flew right into Miyuki's waiting arms, while Nagisa approached Shizuma more slowly.

"Hi, sweety. I've missed you." the silver-haired beauty whispered when she finally embraced her girlfriend.

"I've missed you, too." Nagisa said. But she couldn't help feeling that she wasn't entirely truthful.

Miyuki and Tamao didn't look like they would be ready to let go of each other any time soon.

Shizuma loudly cleared her throat. "You know, the apartment is much more comfortable than this platform."

Tamao and Miyuki moved away from each other, looking sheepish.

"Sorry. We just haven't seen each other in such a long time." Miyuki said quietly.

"I know. Come on, let's drive home."

They climbed into Miyuki's car and drove towards the older girls' apartment.

While Miyuki showed Tamao the apartment, Shizuma and Nagisa went into the silver-haired woman's room.

Shizuma embraced her girlfriend.

"I'm so happy that you're here. It's a wonderful surprise."

Nagisa leaned into the embrace, but felt uncomfortable. She couldn't forget the last weekend she'd spent here, and the feel of Chiyo in her arms. Pushing those thoughts as far away as possible, she smiled at her girlfriend.

"I'm also really happy that you're here. What have you been doing?"

Shizuma launched into a long tale of her classes and projects. Nagisa oppressed a yawn.

"And what's been happening on Astrea Hill? I talked to Mimi a few nights ago, but she didn't say all that much."

"Oh, I haven't been up to much. I had a lot of studying to do, and I tutored Chiyo-chan."

"Oh yeah, I remember. Did she pass her math test?"

"She did really well."

"Good." Shizuma slipped her arms around the young redhead and kissed her passionately. "But I think we can spend our time with better things than with talking about school." she whispered in a sultry voice.

As Nagisa's legs turned to jelly, she allowed Shizuma to lay her on the bed. The redhead submitted to her girlfriend's kisses, letting them sweep her into a sea of emotion and sensation.

Some time later, a soft knock sounded.

"Shizuma, can we come in?" Miyuki's voice asked.

"Sure, if you don't mind a rather flimsy dress code."

The two entered, both only wearing t-shirts over their underwear. Nagisa and Shizuma quickly covered themselves with blankets.

"We want to plan the weekend." Miyuki looked at the young girls. "We've invited friends for tomorrow evening, for cooking and games. If you don't want to, we can cancel it."

"No, don't. I really want to meet your friends." Tamao said.

"Well, Nagisa already knows some of them, and she had a good time at the party." Shizuma said.

Nagisa shot Tamao a look. Tamao shrugged.

"Okay, so tomorrow, we'll need to go grocery shopping." Miyuki said.

"How about we just go shopping? Have you ever been to Tokyo's city center?"

Shizuma turned to Tamao and Nagisa.

"No. I'd love to go." said Nagisa. Tamao nodded.

"Good. So what do you want to do tonight? Do you want to go out or just stay here and watch a DVD or something else?" Shizuma asked.

"I think staying here would be nice." Tamao said.

"Well, I know you and Miyuki would most likely love to spend your weekend in Miyuki's bedroom." A sly smile pulled at the emerald-eyed beauty's lips.

Miyuki and Tamao blushed.

"But I would love to spend time with Tamao, too." she continued.

"Okay, so we'll spend the evening together. Do you feel like ordering a pizza?"

"Cool idea." Tamao said.

An hour later, the girls were gathered in the living room, dressed in comfortable clothing, watching a DVD and munching pizza.

Nagisa lay snuggled in Shizuma's arms. She felt good, but Chiyo kept crossing her mind. That made her feel guilty.

After the movie, Tamao and Miyuki disappeared into Miyuki's bedroom, while Shizuma and Nagisa slipped into Shizuma's room.

Saturday evening, Shizuma, Miyuki, Tamao, and Nagisa had cleaned the apartment, set out some games, and had readied the kitchen after their long shopping trip in Tokyo's city center.

At 8 o'clock, the doorbell rang. Kenji, Suki, and Ran stood there, holding a bag.

"Hi! Thanks for inviting us!"

They entered, greeting Miyuki and Shizuma with kisses on both cheeks, and shaking Nagisa's and Tamao's hands.

"Everyone, this is Tamao." Miyuki introduced her girlfriend. "And Tamao, these are Kenji, Suki, and Ran. Suki also writes poetry."

Tamao's eyes lit up. "You do? I'm in my school's poetry club."

"Really? Which kind of poetry do you like?" Suki looked at the young girl, interested.

"Oh, it depends on what I'm writing about. When it's more of a sad poem, I prefer…" The two drifted into the living room. Nagisa stood and stared. Tamao seemed to fit in quite well. Before she could dwell on the subject, the doorbell rang again. Ryo and a young man Nagisa didn't know stood in the doorway.

"Hello, Ryo, Hello, Naoko!" Shizuma pulled them into the hallway. She introduced Naoko and Nagisa.

"Now we're almost complete, I think." Miyuki said. "We're only missing…" The doorbell rang again, cutting her off. She opened the door.

"Hi, Toya, hi…" Again, Miyuki was cut off, this time by Shizuma, who came running into the hallway, calling: "HIRO!"

She flung herself at the handsome young man, who caught her and whirled her around.

"Shizu-chan!" He hugged her tightly before setting her down.

"Nagisa, I want you to meet Hiro, my best friend. I've known him since I was three. Hiro, this is Nagisa."

"Hello, Nagisa. I've heard so much about you. It's great to meet you finally."

Hiro started a conversation with Nagisa, pulling her into the living room.

"Hi, Toya." Shizuma said, looking into the young woman's dark blue eyes.

"So you've got company this weekend?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah, Tamao and Nagisa called on Tuesday evening. I'm glad they're here."

"I can imagine." Toya smiled. "So what are we cooking?"

"Better ask Miyuki, you know of my non-existent talent in the kitchen. I said I'm taking care of tasting, eating, and serving the drinks. What would you like to drink, by the way?"

"I'll start with some wine."

"White, red, or rose?"

"Oh, come on, have you got such a bad memory?" Toya teased.

"Of course not, I'm just joking." She disappeared in the kitchen and brought her friend a glass of red wine. Toya took a sip.

"Perfect. Thank you."

"I aim to please." Shizuma bowed, smiling.

She then proceeded to fulfil her other guests' wishes, leaving Toya to talk to the others. Soon, Miyuki appeared to round up her helpers for cooking, while the others decided on the games to play.

After dinner, Nagisa was sick of it all. Ran still made cutting remarks at her expense, but so skilfully, that no one really noticed. Tamao seemed to be Suki's new best friend, the two of them talking and laughing together all evening. Hiro and Nagisa had run out of topics after a while, and she simply couldn't really talk to any of the others.

"You don't look all that happy." A young woman with dark blue eyes and long black hair approached Nagisa.

"Come on, I want to have a cigarette. Join me on the balcony."

Nagisa followed, wondering what the young woman wanted.

"I'm Toya, by the way. I think we missed the introduction when Hiro abducted you."

"I'm Nagisa."

"I know. I think I would have recognized you everywhere, considering how much I've heard about you from Shizuma."

Nagisa smiled. "She really talks about me that much?"

"Hai, she does." Toya smiled as well. "So what's bothering you?"

"Well, I don't think I fit in with Shizuma's college friends. Last time I was here, we went to a party, and I thought it was really awful. Shizuma thinks I had a good time, she didn't even realize I hated it. Then, there was Ran-san. She kept hitting on Shizuma all night, and tried to put me down anyway she could. She's doing the same thing tonight, but no one seems to realize. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

Toya laughed gently. "You're not. I noticed that she's been giving you a hard time. I'm sure the others are noticing, too, but that's just Ran. She does that to everyone. And she's got her mind set on bedding Shizuma, so I can imagine why she'd be harder on you. Ran is actually straight as a doornail. She's just curious how sex with a woman would be, and she's picked Shizuma as her science experiment. But I can assure you that Shizuma knows what Ran is up to, and has no interest whatsoever in being a project."

She lighted up her cigarette.

"And I know what you're talking about when you say you feel like you don't fit in. I used to have an older girlfriend who started college. And I went to visit her. I had just turned 15, she was 18, and her friends were between 19 and 25. I spent a couple of weekends with her and her friends, and I felt really awful. They had different hobbies, different things they were interested in and thought I was just a little girl."

"So how did you cope?"

"I didn't. We broke up soon after that. It wasn't just the different development, it was also the distance. I lived in Tokyo, she was studying in Osaka. And neither of us had the money to travel often."

"That's awful."

"Well, I guess it was for the best. We're good friends now, that's easier to handle at that distance."

Nagisa thought about it. Chiyo once again crossed her mind.

"There you are!" Shizuma suddenly stood in the doorway. "I've been looking for you, Nagisa. Come on, we want to start playing."

Nagisa smiled and followed Shizuma inside. Toya finished her cigarette and quickly followed.

Several fun-filled hours later, the last guest had left and the apartment was cleaned up. Shizuma pulled Nagisa into her bedroom, peeling of both of their clothes as soon as the door was closed. Constantly kissing her girlfriend, she manoeuvred the young girl onto the bed.

Shizuma kissed and caressed, stroked and petted. After a while, she looked up.

"Nagisa, what's wrong?"

"What? Why do you ask?"

"Because I've been doing my best to get you hot and bothered, and you haven't even given me a token moan."

Nagisa blushed. She hadn't meant to talk about anything this weekend. She had wanted to see how she felt, then go back to school and think about everything before she made a decision. But she didn't know how to handle this situation without telling Shizuma the truth.

"Well…I'm distracted."

"I noticed. By what?"

"There's a lot on my mind right now, Shizuma."

"What's worrying you?" the silver-haired woman asked, gently stroking Nagisa's head.

"I…I'm not sure I want to talk about it."

"I wish I could help you, sweety."

"I don't know." Nagisa sighed.

Shizuma studied her for a moment. "Well, you know I'm there for you if you want to talk. I can tell you from experience that talking helps more than brooding."

"I guess you're right." She took a deep breath.

"You know when I visited you and we went to that party?"

"Of course."

"I had an awful time."

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?"

"Because you were having a great time. And it's not your fault that I don't get along with your friends."

"But I want you to feel good when you're with me, honey."

"Well, I do feel good when I'm with you. I just can't talk with your friends because we have nothing to talk about." Exasperated, she brushed her hair out of her face. "Tamao fit right in, with her poetry. I have no real hobby, no real interest. At school, that doesn't matter, but here, it's awful."

"Nagisa, don't put yourself down like that. You're young, you still have so much time to develop. Don't pressure yourself." Shizuma stroked her girlfriend's cheek.

"But I really don't fit into your college life. I feel like foreign particle."

"You don't have to come here and visit if you don't want to. I can come visit you and we'll stay in the summer home."

"But, Shizuma, that's no solution. You'd just live two lives."

"Well, yes, but if you don't feel comfortable here, then I'll do that."

"What kind of relationship would that be? You'd always have to choose between me and your friends."

"I think it's obvious how I would choose." Shizuma raised an eyebrow.

"I know. But that's no way to plan our future. What if I never fit in with your friends?"

"Then we'll just have to find friends that are compatible with both of us."

Nagisa sighed. "I doubt we'll manage that."

The emerald eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say, Nagisa?"

"I kissed Chiyo-chan."

Shizuma looked at her, speechless for a moment.

"This is rather unexpected."

Nagisa just looked at her.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because…because…" she looked at her girlfriend helplessly.

Shizuma leaned back and crossed her arms.

"First, you tell me you don't fit in with my friends, then you tell me you don't want me to divide my time between you and my friends, and then you tell me you kissed someone else. It sounds like you're trying to break up with me."

"I…I didn't just kiss her." Nagisa mumbled.

"What did you do?"

"For Chiyo-chan, that must have counted as making out."

"You know, Chiyo-chan is very young. And you know that she's had a crush on you since she started at St. Miator. Kissing her just because you just felt like it would be quite cruel." Shizuma observed.

"Oh, like you used to with Miyuki?"

"Nagisa, that was low and uncalled for. I wasn't aware of Miyuki's feelings. Okay, I admit I was extremely blind, but I really didn't know. And Miyuki and I have worked out our problems."

"I'm sorry."

"What I was going to say, is that I don't think you'd do something so cruel. And I think you wouldn't kiss Chiyo-chan unless you felt something for her."

Nagisa was silent. Shizuma had her pegged.

"What if I did feel something for Chiyo-chan?"

"Then you'd have to decide with whom you want to be. I doubt Chiyo-chan would be willing to share you. And I'm not sure I'd be willing."

"I don't know what I want." Nagisa sighed.

"Does Chiyo-chan fit into your life, just the way it is?"

"Hai, she does."

"What did you feel when you were with her?"

"A…tingling. And if felt good. And I felt sure of myself, and in control."

"How do you feel when you're with me?"

"It's exciting. And I often feel nervous. And completely out of control."

Shizuma looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, that sounds pretty clear."

"I…I guess." Nagisa looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"Don't cry." Shizuma pulled her into a tight hug.

"But…but I don't know what to do." she sobbed.

"Yes, you do, Nagisa." The silver-haired beauty's voice was gentle.

The young girl looked up. "Hai. But I don't want to say it."

"Well, you'll have to."

"I know." She sighed, then took a deep breath. "I think it's better if we break up." She looked at Shizuma.

The silver-haired woman swallowed hard. She had known what was coming, pretty much ever since Nagisa hadn't reacted to her kisses and caresses. But really hearing it was tougher than she'd expected.

Pulling herself together for Nagisa's sake, she pulled the redhead into a hug.

"So now you've said it. Do you feel better?"

"A little bit." She looked at Shizuma. "But we'll stay friends?"

"Always." The emerald eyed hid her face in Nagisa's red hair.

After a long time, Nagisa was finally asleep. Quietly, Shizuma got out of bed, slipped on a robe and went onto the balcony. There, she finally let her tears flow freely.

"Shizuma, what's wrong?"

Miyuki slipped her arms around her friend.

"Nagisa left me for Chiyo-chan."

The blue-haired woman hugged her tightly.

"That's pretty bad."

Slowly, Shizuma's tears stopped.

"I didn't even hear you come out here." she said, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her robe.

"I was just getting something to drink."

"You should get back before Tamao misses you."

"Don't worry. I don't want to leave you alone."

"Oh, I'm fine, Miyuki. Mimi had told me to talk to Nagisa and find out if everything's alright. I just didn't think it would end this way."

"How do you think Mimi knew? Hanazono intuition?"

Shizuma laughed. "No. I guess she saw them. But it's good that she didn't tell me outright."

"True. If you're sure that you're okay, I will go back to bed. I'm tired. Don't stay out here too long, okay?"

"I won't. And, Miyuki?"

"Yes?"

"Arrigato."

"Always, Shizuma."