After a slightly uncomfortable Sunday morning, Tamao and Nagisa were on the train, heading back to Astrea Hill. They had been travelling in silence for a while before Tamao finally spoke.

"Why did you break up with Shizuma?"

"She asked me what was wrong last night, and I told her about how I felt during my last visit and what happened with Chiyo-chan. And then, she asked me how I had felt with Chiyo-chan, and how she fit in my life, and how I felt about Shizuma, and how I fit into her life, and suddenly, it was clear that I didn't want to be with her anymore."

"How did Shizuma take it?"

"She tried to comfort me. It didn't seem to bother her all that much." Nagisa said.

Tamao huffed. "I doubt that very much. She probably just wanted to be strong for you."

Nagisa thought about that for a moment.

"You could be right." She sighed. "Anyway, it's over now."

"How do you feel?"

"Mainly relieved. It was difficult, trying to figure out what to do. But I really didn't want to hurt anyone."

"Sometimes, you can't avoid hurting someone. But it's best to be honest. Nobody would have gained anything if you would have put off your decision." Tamao slipped an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"What are you going to do about Chiyo-chan?"

Nagisa sighed again. "I'm not sure. She's been avoiding me after she heard me telling Midori-chan that I didn't know why I had kissed Chiyo-chan because I really love Shizuma."

"I can imagine that Chiyo-chan would be hurt by that."

"I know. I don't know why I said that. Probably because Midori-chan had me pinned against the wall and was glaring at me."

"Nagisa, Midori-chan is 12. You shouldn't let her scare you."

"Have you ever seen Shizuma glare?"

"Hai."

"Midori-chan glares just like her sister."

"Oh. Okay, then I can understand why you'd be intimidated." Tamao giggled.

"But seriously, you need to talk to Chiyo-chan."

"I know, I will as soon as we're back."

The girls lapsed back into silence for the rest of the journey. As soon as they had put their bags into their room, Nagisa set out to find Chiyo. She finally tracked down the young girl in a common room, reading a book.

"Chiyo-chan! I've been looking for you all over school. Can we talk?"

"Nagisa-oneesama." Chiyo stared at the older girl. She didn't much feel like talking, but refusing her oneesama's request would be rude and would cause more of a scene then to just go along with it. Sighing, she put her book down.

"Hai, we can talk."

"Good. But not here. Let's go outside."

Sighing again, Chiyo got up, returned her book to a shelf and followed Nagisa outside.

"What do you want, Nagisa-oneesama?"

"I want to talk about what happened after our picnic."

Chiyo blushed a bright red.

"And about what I told Midori-chan the day after. I didn't mean it, Chiyo-chan. She had cornered me, and I panicked."

"So what did you mean, Nagisa-oneesama?" A faint glimmer of hope appeared in the young girl's eyes.

The redhead took a deep breath.

"I spent this weekend in Tokyo and broke up with Shizuma. I…I want to be with you, Chiyo-chan."

Startled, the girl looked up.

"What?"

"I said I want to be with you, Chiyo-chan."

A huge smile spread across the petrol-haired girl's face.

"That makes me so happy!" she squealed.

Nagisa smiled and pulled Chiyo into her arms. "It makes me happy, too."

Miyuki opened the door to Shizuma's room.

"Shizuma, I know Nagisa breaking up with you was hard, but you have to get yourself together."
It was Friday evening, three weeks after Nagisa's and Tamao's visit. Shizuma had spent those weeks going to her classes and moping in her room.

"Miyuki, just leave me alone." a voice sounded from underneath the blanket.

Miyuki pulled the blanket away.

"Come on, you can't go on like that. Get up, take a shower, and put on some clothes, we're going out tonight."

Shizuma turned to look at her. "Where do you think we're going?"

"We're going to a bar with Ryo, Naoko, Suki, and Hiro."

"Hiro's coming?"

"He said he'd be there."

"Oh, all right. I'll come."

She slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Seven hours later, Miyuki and Shizuma stumbled out of the bar, intoxicated, and dropped into the backseat of a taxi. It took two tries before the driver understood the address Miyuki was trying to give him, Shizuma giggling the entire time.

The driver started.

"Y'know…thad weally was a good idea." Shizuma drawled.

"I dold you we'd have fun."

The driver took a curve a bit sharply, causing Miyuki's forehead to crash against Shizuma's.

"Oops." Miyuki laughed.

Suddenly, her lips were on Shizuma's. She pulled back.

"I really shouldn't have done that." she said, giggling.

"You really shouldn't have." Shizuma agreed, as she covered the short distance between them and resumed the kiss.

'So firm, but so soft', Miyuki thought. A small, red alarm light began to flash somewhere in her brain. She completely ignored it, exploring Shizuma's lips with her tongue instead, teasing a soft moan from her friend.

The silver-haired beauty opened her lips, allowing her tongue to gently wrestle with Miyuki's. Her hands were stroking the blue-haired woman's back, pulling her closer.

The cab driver could barely take his eyes from the rear-view mirror.

Miyuki's hands were slowly stroking across Shizuma's shoulder and collar bone, sliding the already low cut blouse even lower, caressing the silky skin of her breasts.

Shizuma's hand slid beneath Miyuki's shirt, stroking upward, pulling the fabric up with her.

The cab driver stopped at a red light and stared into the mirror, mesmerized.

A loud honking tore him away from his fantasies come true, and he continued driving. Miyuki and Shizuma completely ignored the sound.

"Oh, I hope we're home soon." Miyuki whispered.

"Me, too."

A few minutes later, the taxi finally pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building. Almost without breaking the kiss, Shizuma pushed a note into the driver's hand and climbed out of the car.

Kissing and tripping, she and Miyuki made their way through the foyer to the elevator, pressing the button haphazardly.

As the door opened, the two stumbled inside. Miyuki shoved Shizuma against the wall, unbuttoning her blouse just enough to reach her breasts.

Shizuma moaned loudly. Her hands were both inside Miyuki's shirt, pushing impatiently against her bra.

"Your room or mine?" the silver-haired woman panted.

"Never mind, I doubt we'll make it past the hall." Miyuki moaned.

"There's no way I'm taking you in the hall."

"But I'm definitely going to take you in the hall."

The elevator came to a stop, releasing the two into the hallway. Shizuma unlocked the door, sending herself and Miyuki tumbling into the apartment.

The blue-haired woman pushed her friend onto the floor and kicked the door closed.

With one rip, the still-closed buttons of Shizuma's blouse flew off. Miyuki allowed her friend to rise from the floor far enough to push the fabric off her shoulders and unclasp her bra. The silver-haired reached up and pulled off the blue-haired woman's top, taking the bra along, then pulled her friend down for a deep, soul-searching kiss.

Miyuki's thigh slipped between Shizuma's legs, causing the emerald-eyed woman to gasp. Pushing her leg against the former Etoile's body, the blue-haired deepened the kiss, until her friend pulled away, breathing hard.

"Your…your jeans…are getting wet." Shizuma panted.

Miyuki backed up just enough to get rid of her shoes and jeans, pulling off Shizuma's short skirt and string in the process.

"I'll leave your boots." she whispered, eyeing the thigh-high black leather boots appreciatively.

"Come here." Shizuma moaned, her arms outstretched.

Obliging, Miyuki kissed her again, massaging the silver-haired woman's breasts, her thigh slipping back between the other woman's legs.

Shizuma moaned and pushed her hips up.

The blue-haired woman trailed kisses across her friend's cheek and neck, moving lower to her collar bone.

"Miyuki, please…get on with it..." Shizuma moaned.

The blue-haired woman obeyed, fastening her lips where the slender legs met, sliding two fingers inside, sending her friend into oblivion.

15 minutes later, both young women were lying in the hallway, panting.

"Can I take my boots off now?"

"Sure." Miyuki turned to face her friend. "Your room or mine?"

"What?" Shizuma paused in the process of unzipping her boot.

"Well, you said that you wouldn't take me in the hall."

"Oh yeah. My room." She pulled off the second boot and held out a hand, waiting for Miyuki to grasp it.

"Are you up for part two?"

Miyuki woke slowly from deep slumber, wondering why her head felt like a sledgehammer was drumming inside. She carefully opened her eyes.

'Why am I in Shizuma's room? In her bed? Naked?' she asked herself, wincing from the additional pain the thinking caused her head. As she moved, the sticky wetness between her legs answered the question she hadn't dared ask herself.

"Oh my God." she moaned.

"What?" mumbled Shizuma sleepily.

"I think…I think we had sex."

Shizuma seemed to ponder this for a while when her eyes were finally open and her brain functioning.

"I think you're right. But my headache keeps me from remembering."

Miyuki sat up, but dropped down again instantly.

"The room is spinning."

"Maybe we should just try to sleep some more."

"I can't sleep, my head hurts too much."

"I'll get you a pill." Shizuma pushed herself into a sitting position and waited until she's gotten used to the spinning room. The wavy floor made walking a bit difficult, but she reached the door. In the hall, her eyes landed on the heap of clothing. Shrugging, she continued, getting the pills out of the bathroom and a bottle of water from the kitchen.

When she returned to her room, Miyuki was sitting up, leaning against the headboard.

"Do you have any idea where our clothes are?"

"Out in the hall."

Shizuma popped two pills into her mouth and flushed them down with a generous swallow of water before handing the pills and the bottle to Miyuki.

After the pills and some strong coffee had cleared their heads, the two young women were sitting in their living room, recounting the night before.

"God, I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I cheated on Tamao, and I can't believe I started it." Miyuki buried her face in her hands.

"You don't have to tell her." Shizuma stroked her friend's arm. "I'm sorry I went along with it."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"I know this is uncalled for, but it was incredible." Shizuma said.

"Yes, it was." Miyuki agreed.

"Okay, let's stop dwelling on it. I mean, we've known each other forever, you had a crush on me for most of that time, you had your first time with me, we had a foursome with our girlfriends, and now we got impossibly drunk and landed in bed. We won't tell Tamao or anyone else about it, and we'll ignore that it happened. Okay?" the silver-haired beauty suggested.

"Okay." Miyuki sighed, relieved. Telling Tamao about this would have been more than uncomfortable. But Shizuma was right, last night meant nothing. They could simply ignore that it had happened.