"This year was… eventful, to say the least," Blaze sighed joyfully, stroking Xalia's feathers as she, Konata, and Shiro- together once more- followed the other students to the Hogwarts Express.
"I'll say. I mean, Shiro's predicaments… The new classes- Diviniation, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies were fantastic, by the way… The Hogsmeade visits… Th- oh, Shiro, I'm sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable," Konata said quickly. Shiro shook his head, gripping Konata's shoulder.
"Nah, you're fine," he assured her. The year had ended rather happily. Under unknown circumstances, Buckbeak had escaped on the day he was to be executed. Nobody knew of his whereabouts, but at least he was free. Draco didn't hold Shiro's promise breaking over his head, and surprisingly, never told anyone about Shiro's transformation. The trio had received straight passing grades on their report cards. The only disappointing occurrence was when Professor Lupin resigned, since word got out that he was a werewolf ("Parents won't want their children being taught by a monster"). However, Konata was slowly bringing up the nerve to reveal some more potentially upsetting news.
"I'll go find us a seat, okay?" Shiro offered. "I'll wave to you when I find one, you take your time to get on." The girls nodded, and he disappeared onto the train.
"So, Konata, what type of summer romance do you have prepared with Mr. Longbottom?" Blaze asked with a grin. Konata, on the other hand, was doing the opposite of grinning.
"Actually, I uh, was just about to say something about that…" She took a deep breath and said, "I broke up with Neville."
Blaze's mouth fell agape. "But you two were ADORABLE together! Why?"
Konata chewed the inside of her cheek, blushing slightly. She meekly returned the wave Shiro was sending them through a window on the train. "Well, I mean, we DID have some good couple memories… H-he was my first kiss, y'know." Her cheeks turned even pinker when Blaze whistled. "But… We're still young. I don't think either of us honestly thought we'd be together forever. Plus, I… I feel like there's someone else I should be with."
Konata's eyes were now drifting to the back of Shiro's head. Her heart stopped beating for a moment, and she felt like she'd just had an abrupt awakening from a long sleep. Her face flaming, she stared more deeply at Shiro.
Blaze caught on immediately. "Oh. My. GOD. You have a crush on Shiro!" she shrieked excitedly.
"W-what? I-I… No! Of course I don't, he's like, my best friend! Like my brother!"
Blaze smirked, casually striding toward the train. "If you say so… I have the whole summer to find out the truth."
Not taking fondly to the idea of Blaze pestering her to confess all summer, Konata bolted to her side and hissed, "Okay, maybe a LITTLE crush."
Blaze grinned and ruffled her hair, walking down the train's aisle. "That's adorable. And don't worry, my lips are sealed."
The girls soon found Shiro and slid into the booth with him. "Hey, you alright? You look… out of it," Blaze noted. Shiro blinked tightly and gave a convincing smile.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just zoned out for a second there." But he had more than zoned out. As if the planets had suddenly aligned, Shiro had realized that the girl his father told him about… The girl that loved him… She was Konata. No, he wasn't sure she was Konata. He… WANTED her to be Konata. He began running his fingers through Mischief's fur, throwing what he hoped appeared to be casual glances Konata's way. She caught one of them while looking up from tying a ribbon around Tar's tail, and grinned.
"Hi Shiro."
"Hello Konata." The planets most certainly must've been aligned, because at the exact same moment, Shiro and Konata thought: "I have some things to say when I get back from summer break."