Author's Note: This is part of two of five for this story.

Chapter 2: Night Owl

In general, I'm not a superstitious person.

Sure, there are the little rituals I follow at New Year's or during summer festivals, but I feel like I do those more out of a sense of tradition than a belief that they'll actually affect something. And when it does seem like they've affected something? That's just a coincidence. You don't objectively change things by simply carrying a little charm or writing what you want on a random of scrap of paper that just gets tossed. It might make you feel better, true, but that's really all.

Let me reiterate that I'm not superstitious. Really. But every now and then, I have seriously wondered about some things and whether or not they're just happenstance. It felt once like something happened for me after doing one of these little rituals during my summer break once. And thus I've occasionally wondered if I've written off 'lucky' things too quickly.

After being disciplined by our teacher, Kyouko and I made our way back through the art gallery in the museum. The lecture the two of us had gotten left me feeling ashamed and exasperated. When we rejoined Yui and Chitose, we browsed through the artwork there with them. As we did, Kyouko laughingly told them of our little exploit into Osaka. Granted, there wasn't much to tell, but that didn't stop her from making something up.

"And then!" Kyouko said, gesturing wildly. "We saw a group of magical girls fighting a giant monster! Of course, we didn't get involved, but-"

"Give it a rest, Kyouko," Yui said. I guess she had tired of Kyouko's incessant silliness for one afternoon. I'd have thought she'd have been more used to it.

"It would have been nice to get okonomiyaki from Osaka. Maybe we should do that before we leave," Chitose said. I was impressed by her ability to completely disregard Kyouko's inane story. Myself, I had been a little caught-up in it, but also feeling disbelief that she was still carrying on. That girl didn't have an 'off' button.

"Let's just move on," I said. Yui and Chitose took off in one direction, while Kyouko and I took off in another. We came to a picture of an owl sitting on a tree branch with a crescent moon behind it. The painting was fittingly titled Owl and the Crescent Moon. I was trying to be positive, annoyed as I was. Looking at this picture might have helped. "I really like this painting. It's soothing. What do you think, Toshino Kyouko?"

"Hoot!" Kyouko made an owl-like sound and laughed. I frowned at her. That we had gotten a stern lecture from our teacher didn't seem to have fazed her at all. That we had both be given some extra work because of our little unauthorized adventure didn't seem to bother her either. Maybe she just thought Yui or I would help her with it. That would probably be how things would end up anyway. But at that moment, I wouldn't have helped her. I wasn't in any mood for her nonsense. She didn't seem to catch on to that, however. "Maybe you can be an art model for something like this, Ayano! Can you turn your head around like an owl? Hoot-hoot!"

"Stop acting like an idiot and behave, Toshino Kyouko," I snapped, glaring at her. My words came out more harshly than I intended. I hadn't meant to sound so abrasive. I immediately felt bad for having spoken to her as I did. Oh, why did I keep messing things up like that? This was supposed to be my chance to get closer to her. Now I had taken one step forward and two steps back. I spent so much time thinking about her and me together, before finally realizing that I had to actually do something, not just ruminate on it. And when I did, I moved things in entirely the wrong direction!

"Sorry, Ayano," she said softly. The playful smile had vanished from her face. "I'll be quiet now." Her reaction, of course, made everything even worse for me, and I felt my heart sink. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her that my words had been wrong, that she should go ahead and say and do whatever she wanted. But once something is said, that's it. You can't go back and redo it; you can only try to go forward a different way.

"I…no, I didn't mean it like…" How had I meant it? What exactly had I wanted to say? Whatever it was, I didn't get a chance to say it. Kyouko had walked on to the next painting while I had stood there stammering at empty space. I sighed to myself and followed her. We looked at a few more pieces in silence, until we stopped at one that seemed to have caught Kyouko's attention in particular. Standing in front of this new picture, I looked at the piece in the frame. It was nothing but five rows of hearts, evenly spread out in a square across the white space. Each heart was colored differently. There was a red one, a yellow one, a striped one, and so on. Did someone just feel like painting a bunch of hearts? There was probably some deeper meaning to it that I didn't understand.

"They're actually made of paper, pressed onto the canvas and painted over," Kyouko remarked, her tone even and calm, not sounding like Toshino Kyouko at all. Well, if anyone would know, I figured, she would. I knew this wasn't the usual medium she worked in (that would be manga, of course), but I deferred to her knowledge here. Maybe she had created something similar once.

I nodded at her explanation, not really sure what else to say. Another apology almost reached my lips, but the words sounded shallow in my head. Standing alongside her while looking at this collection of hearts with neither of us saying much of anything? It was suddenly depressing. I didn't want to look at this thing anymore. I instead glanced down at the plaque below the piece. Its title was Moods of Consciousness. That struck me as weird. I tried to think of what it might mean, but I wasn't so great at interpreting modern art at the best of times, so trying to do so when something else weighed so heavily on my mind was impossible. I took my trip notebook out of my bag and made a note about this painting. When I worked with Kyouko on our trip report, we could write about it.

"That's pretty!" Turning around, I saw that Yui and Chitose had joined us again. Since Kyouko and I had partnered together for the trip, those two had also paired up. I was relieved to see the both of them, actually. The lull in the flow of talk between Kyouko and me was getting to me, along with my inability to fix it. Maybe with those two around for a bit, things could get moving again. As they stood with us in front of the painting, Chitose admired the rows of hearts. "Don't you think it's pretty, Funami?"

"It's very nice. The title makes no sense to me though." Yui sounded composed and collected, just as she almost always did. Some of us wear our emotions on our sleeves so readily, whether we mean to or not, including me sometimes. Yui, however, isn't one of those people. She's extremely level-headed and also knowledgeable. That she didn't get the painting title either made me feel a little better. She flipped through our guidebook, maybe hoping to find an answer in there. "According to the guide, the artist created this while she was studying overseas in Taiwan."

"Maybe she developed a Taipei personality while there," I suggested. Yui turned her head, snickering into hand. I don't know what it was about what I said, but I guess she appreciated it. Well, at least something went okay. Kyouko just tilted her head at her.

"Ayano-chan, let me show you something else over there," Chitose said, gently tugging on my arm. Turning to Kyouko and Yui, she added "Don't worry, we'll be right back! I just want Ayano to see this."

As I let Chitose pull me along across the gallery floor, I briefly looked back at Kyouko and Yui, still standing in front of the hearts painting. I wondered if they were talking about anything. I briefly looked up at the picture Chitose had led me over to. It didn't seem especially remarkable at first glance. I turned back to my friend. "This is what you wanted me to see, Chitose?"

"Well, you can look at it while we chat," she replied, smiling at me.

"Chat?"

"Yes. I thought you looked like you needed to talk."

"Humph. That isn't the case," I insisted. I turned back to the picture, intent on concentrating on it instead of talking, as I knew exactly what it was Chitose wanted to discuss. The picture was a photograph of a dimly-lit path through a bamboo forest. Now that I examined it closer, I decided that it was pretty. There was a lovely contrast between the green bamboo and brown dirt path that cut right through the middle of the photograph. If only my own way forward had been as clear and obvious as the path in that picture. "I don't need to talk, because there's nothing to talk about."

To try and make that clear, I even wrote something down in my trip notebook about the photo in front of us. However, Chitose saw right through my obvious smokescreen. "Ayano-chan, you don't have to behave like that with me. I can see you're feeling stressed or bothered. Did something happen between you and Toshino?"

I could tell that she wasn't going to let this go. I supposed it would be easier to tell her about what all else had happened. I usually inadvertently confided in her anyway; she could read me like nobody else could and had known about all my feelings for some time. Besides, she helped get me to where I was on this very trip. I looked over at her and took a deep breath. "I was upset about being lectured by our teacher, and I snapped at Toshino Kyouko. I think she took it personally. I didn't mean to come across the way I did." I said this all very quickly, as if that would make saying it out loud easier. As an afterthought, I added "And before you say anything else, I am trying harder. Or at least, I'm trying to try."

"I'm glad you're trying." She removed her glasses and wiped them with a tissue. "Your efforts can still lead to much better things, even if there are hiccups along the way. Ah…"

"But I…hey! I thought we were going to talk." She was staring off into space, her eyes glazed over.

"We are talking. Anyway, you shouldn't be so self-conscious, Ayano," she said, putting her glasses back on. That was easy for her to say. Chitose, from what I had seen, wasn't self-conscious about anything at all, and nothing ever seemed to bother her. "Toshino's an understanding person. And she knows you well. I don't think she'd hold a grudge over one irritated remark."

"Y-you think so?" I thought about what she had said. There were a lot of emotions swirling in me: confusion, hopefulness, irritation. It was a mess. Sure, maybe I brought some of that on myself, but only a little. "I could…oh, it doesn't matter to me! She just needs to behave."

"Of course, Ayano-chan," Chitose smiled at me. "But you wouldn't be thinking on it so much if it really didn't matter to you, would you?"

"Chitose?" All that got me was another gentle smile. I figured our talk had finished. I was last one who spoke, but the final word had been hers. And she was indeed right. We left the bamboo forest photograph and returned to the other side of the gallery. Yui was by herself, looking at a different painting now. I walked up beside her and then asked where Toshino Kyouko was. I hoped she hadn't just run off somewhere again.

"Right after you and Chitose left, she said she had to go to the bathroom," Yui answered. "Don't worry, she should be back shortly. She won't go off on another excursion unless she has a co-conspirator. Probably. What did you two go and see?"

"A bamboo forest," I replied. Kyouko rejoined us while I was describing the photograph to Yui. Upon hearing my description of it, Yui decided that they needed to see it as well. So, the four of us went back over. Since I wasn't alone with Kyouko, I still had no chance to say anything substantial to her. When we later left the museum, she and I were still not making much more than simple, polite conversation. That was better than not speaking at all, but it wasn't where I wanted to be.

Indeed, our entire group seemed to have become a bit subdued. The four of us ate dinner and bathed together, but for the most part, there wasn't much conversation from Kyouko and me. It was mostly Yui and Chitose chatting a bit about Osaka. I wanted to speak with Kyouko alone, but I still couldn't seem to find an opportunity to do so. Chitose would have created one for me, sure, but she was clearly enjoying herself with Yui, and I didn't want to pull her away from that. After listening to them for a bit, I turned to Kyouko and tried making conversation with her. She did seem to perk up some, and I was glad to see it. Maybe she had forgiven me for snapping at her, but I resolved to still apologize the next time she and I conversed alone. That was politeness, of course. Additionally, she and I were trip partners and thus needed to communicate. There weren't other reasons, I half-insisted to myself, even though there were. I had become oddly proficient at holding conflicting views sometimes.

When we got to our hotel room, even the conversation between Yui and Chitose died down. I think this was more due to all of us being worn out. After the lights were turned off, I lied back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. I was tired, sure, but I realized that sleep wasn't going to come so quickly that night. I rolled my head to my right and saw that, next to me, Chitose's eyes were closed and that she was breathing softly and evenly. Well, sleep came easily to some of us, it seemed. I looked back up. Tomorrow, I told myself. Tomorrow, I would make things better. Kyouko and I would get along okay and then maybe something might happen. Or maybe nothing would. It was all well and good to think these things, but nothing would change unless I actually said or did something. I just couldn't quite figure out how. You'd have thought I would have at that point, but there were a bunch factors in the way.

"Hey, Ayano." Kyouko's voice suddenly cut into my thoughts. "Are you asleep?"

I turned onto my left side, facing her. She was lying there in the futon next to mine, looking at me. It was hard to completely make out in the dark, but it looked like there was an uncharacteristically timid expression on her face. I also wasn't used to seeing her without the red ribbon she always wore in her hair. I briefly wondered if we'd be overheard talking. But it appeared as though she and I were the only ones awake. I knew that Chitose was already asleep, and Kyouko's other side, it looked like Yui was as well. "No, Toshino Kyouko. I'm not asleep. What is it?"

"Are you still angry at me? You seemed like you were earlier. But then we talked more at dinner. I just wanted to check."

"No, I'm not angry at you." I wasn't. I had been annoyed. There was no question about that. But even that annoyance had faded. And just like that, I was suddenly handed my chance to say one of the things I wanted to say to her. "Though for a bit, I did wonder if you were angry at me for snapping at you. I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to. I was just very frustrated."

"I could never be mad at you, Ayano." Maybe I was reading too much into things, but her reply touched me deeply. "You don't have anything to apologize for anyway. But I think I do. I'm sorry for getting you into trouble today."

"I forgive you. It was quite an experience, but please don't do something like that again, okay?"

In the dark, I could see the corners of her mouth twitch. "Well, maybe not exactly like that…"

She was definitely back to normal. That was the expected response from her. I knew it was pointless to expect her to just change who she was and to behave any way other than the way she always did. I knew very well that you can't change fundamental aspects of your being. No, I might as well have asked the wind to stop blowing. Anyway, even if she did somehow change, then she wouldn't have been the girl I had fallen for. This was what I had signed up for. I smiled at her. "You're hopeless, Toshino Kyouko."

She grinned at me and sat up. I guess she wanted to talk more. As for me, well part of me wanted to roll over and go to sleep and the other wanted nothing more than to stay up and talk to her. The latter part won out. I sat up as well. I told myself I was doing this only because I knew she'd probably pester me until she exhausted herself and went to sleep, but that, of course, wasn't entirely true.

"We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," I reminded her. "We really should be trying to get to sleep."

"Soon, but I'm not tired yet. Ayano," she said, looking aside shyly. "I made something for you. I don't know if it balances out everything that went down today, but…"

She was giving me something again? In spite of myself, I felt my face growing warm again. "Y-You made something for me? That's very kind of you, but you didn't have to do that."

"No, I think I did. I got you into trouble this afternoon. I want to make up for that."

"You already apologized, and I accepted your apology," I replied. It was amazing to me how quickly my attitude had changed from earlier today. Our teacher lecturing us and my frustration with her afterward both seemed like they had happened a long time ago. Kyouko pulled something from under her pillow, but I couldn't quite make it out what it was. She held her closed hand out to me.

"Still," she insisted. "Here, this is for you. Please accept it." She opened her hand, and in it was a little paper owl about the size of my thumb. It was spreading its wings to take flight. "I didn't really have any of my art supplies with me here, so it's just paper."

"Toshino Kyouko…" My face burned. Was she able to see that in the dark? I took the owl from her, held it in my hands and admired it. When had she made this? Was it when I was off looking at the bamboo forest photo with Chitose? Could she have made something that quickly? It was a little bit of paper, folded, with the owl's features drawn on with what looked like a dark ink pen. Like all of her artwork, it was skillfully made, and to me it was incredibly precious. "Thank you very much."

"It matches the painting you liked."

"I see that. It's beautiful."

"You'll need to name it too, Ayano."

"Oh, it doesn't have a name yet?"

"No, it's yours, and I'm sure you'll think of a good one. And remember – that owl is good luck too! Hoot!"

Of course, I thought, owls are considered lucky. And supposedly, white owls brought happiness. I looked at the little owl in my hand. Was it really good luck? I wasn't sure if luck was entirely on my side or not, but maybe Kyouko's little gift gave me another opening. Maybe that was how it brought luck. I decided I may as well try. My heartbeat quickened, as though it immediately knew what I was going to try and say. I hesitantly spoke. "T-Toshino Kyouko?"

"Yes?"

"I had a good time with you today, as crazy as it was."

Kyouko smiled at me. "I had a good time with you too, Ayano. I always do."

"T-that's very sweet of you." My nerves were wracked, and my stomach felt like it was tied in knots. My heart was now beating even faster and harder. Ba-dump, Ba-dump, Ba-dump. I half-thought it would leap out of my chest. I wished I could tell it to calm down. I looked down at the owl and back up at her. "I want us to…um…be closer."

"Closer?"

"Yes. As in…that is to say…" I wasn't sure how to say it without sounding completely sappy. Every line I had practiced in my head, everything I had wanted to say to her had now fled my mind. Did I really have the wherewithal to do this?

Kyouko just tilted her head again. "You mean you want us to spend more time together, just the two of us?"

"T-That too, yes."

"Really? Ooh, I'm glad, Ayano!"

"Y-you are?" Did she really understand what I had been getting at? Well, her reaction made things easier for me.

"Yes! And tomorrow, we'll be together every waking moment! You just wait and see. We'll have a wonderful time together, just like we did today!"

Was she getting carried away again? Was she unclear on what I was saying? Did that matter? I had taken a huge step, and I had done so without making a complete fool of myself. I chuckled nervously. "I'll look forward to it then, since we are trip partners, after all."

"You know Ayano, before you said that, I was thinking that I wanted to spend more time with you too. Even before the school trip, I mean."

"Y-you did?"

"Yes. And then look at what happened!"

I felt a little confused. Did she really do all what she did that day just so we could spend time together? At the time, it had just seemed like the sort of impulsive thing Toshino Kyouko would do. Other questions ran through my mind. Did she just pull me along because I was with her? Did she predict that I would follow her? Did she have some other intention behind that? Was I overthinking all of this again? I couldn't answer any of that, but her words still made me happy. My heart, while still going much faster than normal, had slowed a little.

"I see. Let's not run off away from our class to get food again. There will be many opportunities for us to eat." Was that the wrong thing to say? It had sounded in better in my head. For her part, Kyouko didn't reply and just giggled at me. That was a relief, at least. I lied back down and stretched out, staring up at the ceiling. I felt far happier and lighter than I had been earlier. "It's late. Let's get some rest."

"Ayano, Ayano," Kyouko sang. "We're going to enjoy ourselves tomorrow." This time, I didn't think she was teasing me. She sounded like she was genuinely happy about what the next day would bring. I was too, both about that and us making up over her getting us into trouble and me scolding her. This all portended good things, I hoped. We'd get along; we'd talk and see everything together. Maybe I could be as carefree as she was. Maybe I could build on what I had begun tonight. Maybe, just maybe.

"Go to sleep, Toshino Kyouko," I said to her. We really did need to sleep or else we'd be dead on our feet the next day. And I knew from our itinerary that our schedule was packed.

"But now I'm too excited to sleep!" Kyouko protested. To be fair, so was I. I was doing my best to hide it, but I felt a little giddy. We were getting along even better than I had hoped, and I thought again on how we'd spend the entirety of the next day together. What more could I have asked for, aside from the obvious? I closed my eyes, doing my best to try and fall asleep. I still held the precious little paper owl in my hand.