So, at long last, Lilium is finally concluding! God, this is a long time coming, and my writing hiatus is finally over. The end notes will explain why I took a hiatus from my OG works.
In the evening, the 7 girls made it to Ayumu's house, which was a quaint little house in one of the many neighborhoods of Tokyo.
"Ayumu-san," Chiyo said, "Your house is so quaint!"
"Thanks," Ayumu responded back, "Ma and pa were lookin' for a nice house to live in, so this fit what they were lookin' for."
" Welp, it sure suits you very well," said Kagura, who patted Ayumu's head.
"Thanks, Gura-chan," Ayumu said back, " Well then, let's go inside."
The seven girls entered the house, which has a spacious living room inside with a kotatsu inside.
"Y'all can relax in the comfy kotatsu," Ayumu said, "Ah'm makin' some tea for ya."
The six girls got comfortable in the kotatsu as Ayumu entered the kitchen.
"Ahh! This kotatsu is the comfiest one I've ever been in!" Said Tomo, who was completely inside of the kotatsu.
"Amen to that, Tomo," Yomi added.
"Plus, sitting in the kotatsu while holding Sakaki-san's hand is so romantic!" Kaori added.
"Hey Kaorin," Kagura then spoke, "you're in love with Sakaki?"
"Yeah, why are you asking?"
"I don't know… it's just that I'm starting to get some feeling for Ayumu…"
Tomo then started to crack a little bit, "You?! In love with Ayumu?! That's-"
"Enough!" Yomi interrupted, covering Tomo's mouth just in time, "Besides, you were the one who caused Ayumu's suffering!"
"Shut up, you two!" Kagura raised her voice to a scary volume, which made Tomo and Yomi become silent, "I think that you guys weren't the fault for what's going on with Ayumu."
"How do you know?" Tomo and Yomi said in unison.
"I felt Ayumu's chest, and it didn't feel like the jelly jiggly-ness of breasts. It felt more like… duct tape."
"Duct tape?" Chiyo said with confusion in her voice, "On Ayumu-san?"
"But, what sort of inhumane person would do that to Ayumu?" Yomi asked, tilting her head sightly.
"I think we have to find some clues in the living room," Sakaki spoke, "If anything, I bet something happened in the past that caused Ayumu's current situation."
And so, the six girls looked around the living room, trying to find any clues about Ayumu's past, when Kagura found a box with the word "Lilium" engraved on top of it.
"Hey Ayumu!" Kagura shouted, "What's with this box?"
"Oh, it's mah music box," Ayumu answered, "It has been with me since Ah was a baby."
"Say, does it work?"
"For now, it doesn't, but back then, it produced some sorta hymn-like melody."
"So, when did it stop playing?"
"Ah fink it was when Ah was beginnin' middle school…" Ayumu then paused, not wanting to relive some traumatic events from the beginning of her puberty, "Ah don't wanna talk about it."
"Ayumu, I know that I want to know what's causing your pain, but unlike certain people, I'm not going to pressure you into telling us more."
'But Kagu-" Tomo was about to shout, but Yomi covered her mouth in time.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, which freak out Ayumu.
"Y'all... Get outta here," Ayumu said in a panicked tone.
"Why Ayumu?" Kagura asked.
"If dey found out that Ah'm in love with somebody, Ah don't wanna fink about the punishment dey'll give me."
And with that, most of the girls were out of the house, though Kagura was resisting Ayumu's attempt of pushing her out, but that didn't work and Kagura was shoved out of the house.
"Kagura-san, are you okay?" Chiyo said to Kagura.
"I'm fine, thanks," The dark-skinned girl answered back, "But still, I haven't seen Ayumu so panicked before. She's normally a kind and sweet person with a calm demeanor to her, but never in my whole year in high school I haven't seen her like this."
"Ehhh, maybe Ayumu's a little shy!" Said Tomo, "She'll be back to normal, you'll see!"
But Kagura didn't think that what Tomo said would be true. After all, Ayumu isn't just a normal person by mental standards, and her living conditions aren't what people consider normal. Something didn't feel right about Ayumu.
…
The next day, it was PE, which would normally make Kagura really happy, but that thought from yesterday was still in her head, which made her have some not-so-serious migraines. Still, she was doing some stretches as normal, only to see that Chiyo was trying to help Ayumu stretch to her feet, but the ditzy girl's stiff body made it impossible to go farther.
"Chiyo-chan," Kagura said as she came to the little girl's side, "What seems to be the problem?"
"Kagura-san, I'm trying to help Ayumu-san to stretch," Chiyo answered, "But she's so stiff, that I can't push her."
"Don't cry, Chiyo-chan," Kagura smiled as she pats Chiyo-chan, "After all, you have some friends that can help you. And I'm going to help you!"
And with that, the other girls gather around Ayumu, with Sakaki, Yomi, Tomo, Chiyo, and Kaorin grabbing her arms, and Kagura was behind her.
"Okay girls, on the count of three, I'll start pushing and you start pulling!" Kagura shouted, "Now then… 1… 2...3!"
The girls in front started to pull Ayumu while Kagura pushed the girl's back, hoping that Ayumu can reach her feet. But as they push and pull, Kagura felt the tape underneath Ayumu's shirt starting to tear apart, which meant that her plan is working. After a lot of pulling and pushing, there was a…
*RIPPPP*
"Guys!" Tomo shouted, "I think Ayumu has finally got to her feet!"
"No…" Sakaki blushed, "I think the ripping sound came from… me."
And with that, Sakaki dashed to the girls' room.
"Uhh, what's the deal with Sakaki?" Kagura asked, which made Kaorin, Yomi, and Tomo cringed a little.
"Well… About Sakaki-san…" Kaorin said before whispering the secret into Kagura's ears, which made the tomboy's face turn strawberry red.
"SAKAKI HAS CHINSUKO HIDING IN HER UNDERWEAR?!" Kagura shouted.
"One, I said penis, not chinsuko!" Kaorin corrected, "And two, what's chinsuko?"
"Oh, that's a shortbread biscuit from Okinawa, and it's really delicious!"
As Kagura explained some Okinawan culture to Kaorin, Tomo couldn't help but giggle at some of the words Kagura blurred out, which made both Yomi and Kagura really annoyed. Soon, Sakaki returned from the girls' room, and the girls returned to helping Ayumu with her stretching.
"Look, guys! I don't think our current configuration is not working!" Kagura shouted, "I think we should change of configuration! I'll be at the front, while you guys push her from the back!"
And so, the girls did just that, with Kagura pulling Ayumu's hands and the others pushing her back. The ripping sounds got louder and louder as the girls kept on pushing and pulling Ayumu.
Ma, Pa? What's that duct tape for?
Ayumu dear… we're goin' to bind yer breasts.
Why's that?
Because men will want to take advantage of ya… you are too pretty for yer age…
HELP ME!
The tape ripped even more until…
*RIPPPP*
The rip sound echoed through the wind, and the pieces of duct tape fell to the ground. Ayumu then looked to see that she finally saw that she finally reached her feet. She cried as Kagura came to comfort her.
"You did, Ayumu," Kagura said, "You're finally free."
"Yeah… Ah am free…" Ayumu said as she reached out and kissed Kagura.
Meanwhile, in Yukari's classroom, the teacher closed her eyes and smiled. "Well, Osaka's dead," She thought, "And Ayumu is reborn."
And in Ayumu's house, the music box started to play. Finally, Ayumu is back from the dead.
So, in November of last year, my grandmother from my mom's side of the family died, and a few months later, my grandmother from my dad's side died. That massively affected me and my writing capacity. Also, the rush to college was coming, and I have to that a hold on writing. But, I got my mojo back, and I will continue to write for everyone in the AzuDai fandom. Thank you, everyone.