Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 32

Disclaimer: Not even necessary this chapter, because no copyrighted characters appear in it.

*the next day*

"Well, you're certainly glowing today. Who's the lucky guy?" Hanna asked.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"So you haven't moved on to the next stage of adulthood?"

"…I assure you that no man has breached the sanctity of my lady parts," Katsura deadpanned.

"I see. So does this mean you and sempai are back together again?"

"We never broke up in the first place. But, yeah… you could say that."

Hanna sighed. "I'm happy for you, but…I'm going to miss the two of us getting into 'trouble' together."

"…Yeah, me too. Although, maybe we can still do that… Hopefully yesterday helped oneesama get over her possessiveness over me just a bit."

"I don't follow. How would the two of you having sex make her less possessive of you?"

"Who ever said it was just the two of us?"

"A threesome, then? …Wait, I thought you said that you hadn't been with a guy!"

"A foursome, and I haven't."

"…There is such a thing as maturing too quickly."

"Yeah, I've been a bit concerned about that too. Perhaps a bit of flirting with older boys is just what we need. You mind if we accompany you to the high school today, Mayu-chan?"

"Actually Shun usually meets me here…high school students come by here all the time to walk younger siblings home, so his uniform doesn't stand out as much as mine would there."

"Is that even the real reason you want to go there?" Hanna asked.

"Yes. Stop insinuating otherwise. Just because I enjoyed myself yesterday doesn't lessen my attraction to boys."

"As much as I'd love to hear you go on about your dalliances with other girls, it's time for class to start," interjected the class rep, Kuwata Shirou.

"Smartass. Butt out, will you?" Hanna defended.

"Perhaps your friends need someone to set a better example for them," he retorted. There was no time to carry the matter on further as class began, Hanna trying to keep her rage from boiling over.

By the time they were again free to talk, the tension had passed—more or less. "I really hope we don't end up in the same class again next year," Hanna said.

"But then you'd have to serve on Student Council with him," Katsura pointed out.

"So? It's still better than having to deal with his smug face lording his status over me all the time!"

"How long has this been going on?" Mayu asked.

"Pretty much since the start of school. Obviously we didn't have the class rep thing to compete over back then, but we were always competing for the top spot in the class. And more often than not, he won."

"Well, you know what they say about hatred and love…"

"Don't even joke about that. Yeah, I'll admit that it would be nice to find a guy who's my intellectual equal and he'd fit that bill, but that's all he's got going for him. And our rivalry's too deep-seated for that." (CCX: You know, it's really tempting to not get them together, just because this guy has clearly been set up as a love interest for Hanna. I'm sure you can already picture this guy in your mind, because it's such a clearly established character type.)

"So why aren't we going to the high school itself?" Katsura asked.

"Street clothes would be just as conspicuous there as a junior high uniform," Hanna replied. "Also, we'd run the risk of running into my brother."

"Right. This is stupid; nobody just goes to places to hang out anymore. All we're going to meet here are couples. And…apparently the occasional brother-sister pair."

Hanna slapped Katsura in the back of the head. "Pay more attention. She's wearing the high school uniform, too; she's obviously older than she looks."

"She could just be one of those kid geniuses that started high school at age ten. She looks to be about my sister's age."

"She just looks young. What are you two doing here? This is really more of a place you go when you've already got a boyfriend."

"That's what I told Hanna-chan. Didn't you say that your uniform would stand out too much?" Katsura asked.

"At the school, not here. It's not like there are color-coded bands on our uniforms denoting what year we're in, so I can pass as only one year younger to anyone who doesn't know better," Mayu replied.

"So you actually know the one who looks like a little kid?"

"We've never formally met. But apparently I owe her a great debt of gratitude. I guess you do, too, since you were the reason we crashed that party in the first place."

"I don't follow."

"Well, Mai-tan told me that she got in in the back of her father's police car. He was called to the scene in the first place because of a misunderstanding that arose when another couple walked in on Kumaya-san and Ichirei-san together in a back room and mistook it for something criminal. But forgive me for not introducing myself; I'm Chura Shu," he said.

"I-I'm Himiya Katsura."

"Watagami Hanna."

"Ah, yes, I vaguely remember your name being mentioned. Something about being cynical of my intentions with Mai-tan?"

"Ah, I…we've never met; how could I have passed judgment—?"

Mayu answered, "You said that there was only one reason why a high school boy would want to be with someone our age. Which reeks of hypocrisy given that you're now here with the intention of flirting with high school boys, but that's beside the point."

"Er, that was really more of a generalization…"

"It's cool, Watagami-san. As a generalization, it's perfectly rational."

"Thanks. You seem like a decent guy, not that I really know you. We should probably finish up here and get going."

*White Day*

"…Shun?! What are you doing here?!"

"Why wouldn't I be here on this day? Besides, a gift like this should be delivered directly to your house." He took out a bouquet of roses. "Can I come in?"

"Uh…"

"Who are you?" her father asked.

"Forgive me for not coming forward sooner, sir, but I'd like to date your daughter. I didn't want to keep it a secret from you and your wife, but Mai-tan wasn't sure how you'd react to the idea of her dating an upperclassman. Still, after the gift I received on Valentine's Day, I couldn't keep this a secret any longer."

"Gift… ah. I do vaguely remember an overwhelming chocolate scent pervading my house when I came home from work on the thirteenth of February, more than what the chocolate my wife gave to me could produce. Mayu-chan, was that your gift to, erm, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Ah! Where are my manners?! I'm Chura Shu."

"Aoba Daisuke. Thank you for being honest about your feelings towards my daughter. If she'd been carrying on a relationship behind our backs for a long period of time, then I might be angry, especially if we only found out because something serious happened…how long have you two been seeing each other?"

"Only since January," Mayu and Chura both said.

"That's not too long. Though I am a bit disappointed that you didn't think we'd approve of your choices in boys, Mayu-chan."

"I'm sorry now that I didn't have more faith in you, father."

CCX: I'm a bit disappointed that these chapters seem to be getting shorter…but I suppose we can't always have chapters as long as the "average", otherwise the average would just keep going up. And my silly insistence on keeping the exact year in which this story takes place vague prevented me from going into any more detail about that scene, since in one of the two years that I'd previously identified as "most likely", White Day would be on a Sunday, whereas in the other it would not. (The scene of Chura showing up at her house in the morning works equally well regardless of whether it's a school day or not. If it is a school day, then we are probably to assume that he's wearing a coat over his uniform, thereby preventing Cpl. Aoba from noticing that he's wearing the high school uniform. And, yes, I realize that I've already used that first name before, but it's a very common Japanese name and besides the first Daisuke in the story is unlikely to be appearing again.)

CC: Why don't you just tie it to a year? By sheer luck, all previous dates that you've explicitly lined up with being a school day would still support the idea that the start of the story is in the same year that you actually started writing it. I know the idea is to avoid it becoming 'dated', but that's probably inevitable anyway.

CCX: Well, I did confirm it to be the 21st century—although like I said before, the prevalence of cell phones pretty much ruled out the 20th century anyway and I'm not about to try to predict what things are going to be like in any later ones. But remember, the other year I identified as a "likely candidate" was set in the past.

CC: …Except you screwed that up eleven chapters ago when you referenced a study you'd only just recently read.

CCX: …Shit. Okay, fine, we'll assume that this is more or less present day, or rather it's currently taking place about six months in our future. Which means…

Disclaimer: Some of the characters appearing in the remainder of this chapter aren't mine, unlike the characters who have appeared in it thus far.

"Nice, honest boy…who wouldn't dare take his coat off and reveal a high school uniform," Mayu said after they'd left.

"Honesty is overrated. And I am, in a manner of speaking, your senior."

"Except you'll never actually be at the same school as me. Did you even go to my school for junior high?"

"Nope."

"Hey, Mayu-chan. Wake up."

"What? I wasn't asleep."

"No, but you were daydreaming," Hanna said.

"Sorry. Shun surprised me this morning, came to my door and brought me roses."

"What happened to keeping your relationship a secret? No, don't answer me now; tell me at lunchtime."

She did. "Shun acted the perfect gentleman, said he didn't want to keep it a secret any longer and asked for forgiveness for having kept it from my parents for as long as he did, and, well, my dad seemed okay with it."

"Does he know that he's in high school already?" Katsura asked between bites.

"N-no…ah, now there's something I didn't consider. What do we do about 'graduation'?"

"Um…isn't graduation in the afternoon?" Reina asked. "B-both of your parents would b-be at work by then, so…"

"I thought it was more like late morning…but either way, my father doesn't work twelve-hour shifts anymore, so he doesn't go into the station until somewhere around 2:30."

"R-right…but, you'll find something."

"Yeah." She turned her attention elsewhere. "Geez, Katsura-san, what's with all of the chocolate?"

"You're the last person I want to hear that coming from, Mayu-chan, considering that monstrosity you made for your boyfriend last month. It's weird, you'd think more guys would get chocolates for the girls who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, what with how well-known it is that women love chocolate."

"I've seen a fair amount of chocolates being handed out," Hanna said, "but of course, those are store-bought, because most guys don't bake."

"Well, Oneesama does bake, and her chocolate is delicious! And she made mine the biggest even though I know that my chocolate wasn't the best she received last month."

"…Eh?"

"She brought all of them with her. She even let me see for myself that, yes, mine was the bigger one."

"…The other one for Bannings-san?"

"Nah, I figure she'll probably be getting a gift from Arisa-san today…"

"So here you go. It's not as good as yours, I'm sure, but it's the best I've got," Suki said.

"Well, thank you, Suki-chan," Suzuka said, already chewing on some chocolate. "I think you're due some chocolate as well…though I'm not sure if Arisa brought your gift with her or if she was going to give it to you later. I'm sure you know where to find her."

"Yeah. Easier than finding you. I'm glad I remembered that you were Student Council."

"…Was that a junior high uniform?"

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't ogle my friends, Gasuken-san. She's already taken, anyway."

"Yeah…I think I made a mistake scheduling a meeting for White Day. Everyone's minds are clearly elsewhere," said the student council president-elect, Hourai Hikari.

"You're learning, Hourai-san. It could be worse. I tried to hold a meeting on the last full day of school last year," replied the soon-to-be-graduating president, Mantako Chizuru.

"Although I do think that there are some other errors in judgment here, regarding certain council members' choices in White Day gifts for their girlfriends and/or said girls' decisions to partake in those gifts at this time."

"…Why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden?" Miki asked, pulling a rather large lollipop out of her mouth.

"Um, maybe you should've had the cherry one here, or the mint, or watermelon or, well, any one but that one," Izei said. "Not that I mind watching you enjoy your gift…"

Miki stopped sucking on it again. "But the piña colada flavor is so good!"

"Yes, yes, I know. Perhaps it was my fault for getting you lollipops that large. Those things take up almost your entire mouth and, well…"

"Ah. I see how it is," she said, continuing to lick it, a bit more delicately. "The 'legal jailbait girl' is struggling to fit her mouth around something white and sticky…naturally all of the boys are going to stop and stare, right?"

"Well, the suggestive nature is quite obvious, Ichirei-san…and even more so now that you've caught on and are actively fellating your lollipop," Hourai replied. "It's not so much about whether they're turned on as that someone with your, ah, youthful appearance behaving in such an adult way is going to turn a few heads."

"Yeah, you're probably right, Hourai-sempai…but it's still too big for me to just pull it off of the stick and suck on it like a jawbreaker."

"Just…just be discreet about it."

"You really can be such a troll sometimes, you know that, Miki-chan?"

"Oh? What did Miki-san do that was so outrageous?" Kanna asked.

"I was just enjoying my White Day gift from my boyfriend," Miki said with mock offense, pushing the lollipop to the side of her mouth. It had diminished in size to the point that she didn't even need to take it out of her mouth to speak. "An assortment of gourmet lollipops. Some people just have dirty minds."

"Gourmet…those big things that take hours to complete? Judging by the way you're speaking without removing it, I take it you've been working on that one for awhile…"

"Yeah. Everyone started staring, so…maybe I decided to tease them a bit."

"More than just a bit, Miki," Izei said.

Miki took the lollipop out of her mouth, allowing Kanna to see what color it was. "Enough to make you want something else white and sticky in my mouth?"

"This is what Suzuka-chan was referring to. You're so crude."

"You didn't say no. Shall we go somewhere more private?"

Izei sighed. "Yeah, yeah…"

"I've got to admit, she's got a lot of guts. I can just picture that thing at full size, probably bulging out of her mouth."

"Down, girl."

"It's an…interesting mental image, that's all."

CCX: Much better. We brought back some of the older characters, and added some new ones. I would've liked it better if I could've spelled the outgoing student council president's name "Montako", but that wouldn't have resulted in the right pronunciation, and I was already frustrated enough that I couldn't make a short i sound. Cyberchao X, signing off.