Fourteenth

"Tamao-chan."

Tamao turns around to find a pair of concerned-looking maroon eyes staring at her.

"Hi, Nagisa-chan…"

"Tamao-chan," Nagisa sits down next to her friend and looks at her worriedly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Tamao's depression the past few days had alarmed the redhead. She had never seen her friend submit to melancholy. Even after those first few difficult weeks when she had started going out with Shizuma, her best friend had been enthusiastically, if somewhat painfully, determined to be happy for Nagisa's sake. It had relieved Nagisa later on when Tamao had become Miyuki's protégé (and she suspected, something more besides) and eventually Miator Student Council president – though the relief had been tampered by loneliness and more than a little jealousy. While she had been happy that her friend had found a way to move on, she had been pained nonetheless by the fact that they no longer had much time to spend with each other.

But now, suddenly, Tamao had become withdrawn and listless. And as with Nagisa's observation, she had not spent time with Miyuki the last few days.

"Tamao-chan…?"

Tamao takes a breath and turns to smile sadly at her best friend.

"Nagisa-chan, have you and Shizuma-sama ever wondered how things will go once she graduates?"

Nagisa is surprised at the question. She doesn't see how it can be related to her friend's depression, but wants to help her in any way she can.

"Well…" the redhead pauses, then speaks again. "I honestly got worried about it at first, but you know Shizuma-sama. She's not the type of person that would let concerns about the future bother her too much. But when she saw that it was really making me anxious, she told me not to worry, that we'd still be together.

"How?" The blue-haired girl looks at Nagisa, the expression in her gray orbs telling her that she is somehow counting a lot on the response.

Nagisa hesitates, unsure about the kind of response Tamao is expecting. "She said that she'd work for her family's firm for a few months while waiting for university exams. Both family company and university she wants to enter are close enough to Astraea Hill that she can visit me on weekends. I know it'll be difficult…not seeing her every day, but this is honestly the best way for us to still be together.

While Nagisa had been speaking, a tiny spark of an idea had begun to glimmer in Tamao's mind. Gray eyes widen with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Tamao thinks, "It's not
guaranteed, but it's the only chance Miyuki-sama and I have!" Jumping up, she impulsively seizes Nagisa and hugs the redhead hard. Looking into her friend's startled eyes in hope, she says:

"I love you, Nagisa-chan. I really, really owe for this one."

With that, the blue-haired girl walks away, leaving a somewhat bemused yet happy Nagisa behind.

"No problem, Tamao-chan." She whispers as her friend disappears from her sight. "No problem at all…"

"To whom do I owe the privilege of a visit from the student council president herself?"

Tamao is standing quietly at the greenhouse. The former Etoile Hanazono Shizuma waters a few potted roses, a sardonic gleam in her green cat-like eyes. Just a few months back, Tamao would have quavered at the prospect of a private interview with the older woman. Today, to her own surprise, she finds herself unmoved by Shizuma's mocking air.

"My sincerest apologies for not calling on you sooner, Shizuma-sama, but we have been preoccupied with…more important things."

The silver-haired woman raises an eyebrow at the girl's smooth response. A tinge of respect softens the amused glint in her eyes. The older woman then nods slowly at the younger girl.

"I can see why Nagisa-chan loves you much, Tamao-san, and why Miyuki chose you as her…protégé. You have a formidable character despite your delicate appearance. I don't suppose you came to listen for praises."

"No indeed…Shizuma-sama. Tamao responds in an even tone. "And if I did, I'm sure that this conversation wouldn't take longer than a minute. I'm here, Shizuma-sama, to ask for your help in a matter relating to Rokujou-sama."

Shizuma continues to water the roses. "Miyuki is not the type to send others in order to ask for help."

"Rokujou-sama believes that she can't be helped, so she is not the one doing the asking."

"In that case, does Miyuki know that she's about to be…assisted?"

"Not yet…Shizuma-sama, I would prefer telling her when and only when the plans have a little more certainty in their outcome."

The silver-haired beauty looks away, a faraway gaze in her eyes.

"An arranged marriage is not something to be taken lightly or meddled with, Tamao-san. Miyuki comes from a traditional and distinguished family."

"So do you, Shizuma-sama, yet you are free. Wouldn't you wish the same for Rokujou-sama?"

Resolute gray eyes look into considering green ones. Tamao speaks again with her head bowed down, trying to stifle the tears from falling.

"You said it yourself, Shizuma-sama… You said…that everyone deserves a second chance at something." The blue-haired holds the folded letter in her hand. "I am willing to take the risk…because I don't want this chance to slip away."

As the silver-haired woman continues to ponder, considering the younger girl's words, Shizuma finally surrenders. Moments pass, the former Etoile gives her answer.

"Miyuki deserves the best that life can give her, Tamao-san. If there were any way I could help give that to her, then I would do it."

As the sound of Tamao's footsteps fade, Shizuma puts her watering can down with a sigh. She had once believed that she had felt all the violent emotions life was capable of making in the brief span of eighteen years, but today, for the first time, she feels shame. She had known for years that Miyuki felt bitter about her arranged marriage; at the same time that she had known how desperately Miyuki had loved her. Her initial reaction had been a studied ignorance; after Kaori's death, it had become a scornful apathy. Shizuma compares her past indifference with Tamao's current determination, and winces inwardly. Still, she has a few weeks left to make up for the past six years. She hopes it will be enough.