**NOTES** I have not read the manga continuation so any similarities are coincidental and probably are due to the Kimi writer's hints of what will come.

Names can be confusing, right? Here is a short list to remind you of who's who in the U.S. fashion of First Name followed by Last Name, then aka nicknames.

Sawako Kuronuma aka Sadako

Shota Kazehaya

Chizuru Yoshida aka Chizu

Ryu Sanada

Ayane Yano aka Yano-chin

Kento Miura

"Pin" Arai

Tomo Endou

Ekko (Eriko) Harano

-o-o-o-o-

CHIZURU

The festival clean-up day had been more eventful than ever before. First, the rumors of Sawako's ability to bewitch even Kazehaya almost started a riot in the foyer. In response, Kazehaya announced to the entire classroom (in front of Sawako, no less) that the two were officially dating and no black magic was to blame. Then the jealous Kazehaya fangirls almost ruined my perfect record of no fights since I entered high school. Luckily, Ayane was there and talked some sense into them before I began throwing elbows.

As students made their way home, I found Sawako outside tending her precious flowerbeds. While Ayane and I were dealing with the angry posse, Sawako had paid a courtesy visit to her true rival. Now, as she watered her little purple flowers, she described the encounter to me. I could see she was saddened by the whole messy ordeal. Her relationship with Kurumi was more complicated than I could apprehend.

Normally I would have been like, "Girl, you won! Be happy already!" But my own heartbreak was still fresh enough for me to feel sympathy for the loser.

I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If I were you," I told her seriously, "I think I would have done it the exact same way. There's nothing you could've said to make it easier." I recalled the worried faces of my friends after I learned of Tohru's engagement. No one could touch the tearing pain that burned in my heart that day. The truth hurt, more than anything I'd ever felt, but it was necessary to begin my healing.

My melancholy reminiscences were interrupted by the arrival of Ryu and Kazehaya. My heart leapt with joy and excitement for my friend and her new love.

Now to make sure they have some couple time…

"Ryu!" I called out, leaping to my feet and chasing after him. I grabbed onto his arm and swung him around to walk with me, leaving the little lovebirds their privacy. "See you, Sawa!" I waved.

"What?" Ryu asked.

"Come on." I pulled him forward. Geez, way to draw attention to my ploy!

"See you, Shota," he called as we walked away.

A happy grin covered my face as I imagined the two behind me. They're just so stinking cute!

Ryu caught on finally. "Oh," he drawled. "I see."

I wiggled with suppressed energy and made happy noises.

"Oh, by the way, Chizuru," he said, stopping mid-stride as he remembered something.

"What?" I looked up to see him watching me with a serious expression.

"I like you."

My heart skipped a beat and I froze in place. "Wh-what?!" I felt a flush covering my cheeks. Ryu turned and continued walking as if nothing important had happened.

What kind of a love confession was that?! He knew I wasn't interested in him romantically. I figured he felt the same way. Was he serious or just kidding around? And what was the point, anyway? He obviously wasn't waiting around for me to return the sentiment.

Suddenly aware that my paralysis was being observed by the lovebirds, I yelled after him, "Hey, quit freaking me out!"

"Just saying…" he tossed over his shoulder.

Anger rushed in to cover my embarrassment. Well, if he was going to act all casual then so would I. "I knew that already!" I ran up and body slammed him for good measure.

"Oof." He took my abuse with his usual forbearance. We walked for a few minutes in silence.

"That was a goofy thing to say," I sulked.

A few more paces, and he said, "I just thought you should know."

I didn't have the answer he wanted, and I didn't want to hurt him either. Frustration fueled my temper, and my arms thrashed about as I yelled at him. "Why are you saying these things? We grew up together! You're like my brother! How can you even…" …think of me as a woman. I don't think of you as a man. When we're together we're just kids.

I stepped back for a moment, taking him in, the whole long length of him.

I gave him that buzz cut, just as I'd been doing for several years now. He always sat patiently, never batting an eye as I bent over him in all sorts of intimate positions to finish the cut.

The collar of his button-down hung open, exposing the neck I'd often throttled in moments of frustration but little of the rest of his torso. I'd seen his bare upper body too many times to count… from when we were little and he had to change out of a shirt we'd muddied in a wrestling match to post-bathtime hangouts playing video games in his room to the thousand times he'd shed his sweaty tunic after a baseball game. I'd never stopped to look at him, and he'd never been embarrassed in front of me.

He met my fiery gaze with his usual placid expression. He shrugged, his answer to my question apparently. Typical Ryu.

I started walking again and tried to change the subject. "Don't you have practice today?"

"Yeah, but not until four. Pin has some teacher meeting or something."

My stomach growled. "Aagh, I need some ramen. I worked too hard today. Pin had me carrying all the float pieces down to the dumpster. It was like twenty trips!"

"He made us clean his office."

I wondered how he could stand having Pin as his baseball coach. But then, the bombastic man really, really liked to win, and I did appreciate that in a person.

"Do you have any practice matches coming up yet? I want to come watch," I said brightly.

"Oh." He scratched his head as he thought. "After the class field trip, I think."

We stepped up to his front door and the sweet smell of ramen called to me. I blasted inside, yelling out, "Hey, Pops! How's it going?"

Ryu's dad was clearing away a place setting at the bar and I hopped up to sit in front of him. He exchanged a nod with his son, who continued on upstairs.

"Can't complain now that you're here, Chizu-chan," he smiled broadly. "You look hungry."

"You know it! I'll have the usual—as fast as you can make it. I'm starving!"

While I waited, my mind flashed back to Ryu's stilted confession, if that's what it was. My face flushed and I squashed the thought down.

I didn't want things to change. I'd finally reconciled myself to losing my dream of being Tohru's wife. I didn't want to risk losing Ryu as well.

-o-o-o-o-o

KAZEHAYA

For future reference, it's nearly impossible to get to sleep before your first date with the girl you love. I slept in fits and starts, always waking instantly with one thought foremost in my mind: soon we would be out on our date.

It seemed like an eternity before finally I found myself seated on a retaining wall at the park where we'd agreed to meet. It was a perfect day, as if God were smiling on us after all our heartaches and misunderstandings. If I were God, I'd definitely smile on Sawako, er, Kuronoma. Her heart is so pure and full of goodness and love and gentleness and…

A splash of yellow blew in the mild breeze and I caught my breath at the sight of her. The wind played with the long strands of her dark hair. The sundress she wore made her appear even more graceful and feminine than usual.

As she spotted me her eyes widened. Chagrin laced her tone as she said, "Oh, I've made you wait again. I'm sorry!"

A familiar protective instinct welled up inside me. I wanted to put her at ease, but I was still trying to get over the shock of seeing her looking so pretty. "D-don't worry. I just came early." As it often did in these situations, my mouth blurted out the truth before I could censor it. "I was so nervous that I woke up ahead of schedule." I stood and started to walk.

"I did too!" She fell into step beside me. I liked it.

The air around us seemed to hum. Everything was more beautiful because of this happy feeling inside. I slid my hands into my pockets and snuck a glance at her.

Her eyes were on me as well, and she blushed. "Sorry," I said with a faint smile. "I have to keep checking to make sure this is real."

Her big brown eyes widened but sparkled with gratitude. Her lips firmed in resolve and she nodded agreement. It was a little easier to say these embarrassing things now that I knew she felt the same way.

Before we could trip over a curb or something, I broke eye contact. I tried changing the subject. "What's your family doing today?"

"Oh, um. My father went fishing. He does that a lot." We turned down the street leading to the planetarium where we were headed. "And I think my mom has some work to do."

"She can work from home?" I asked. "What does she do?"

"She builds websites and keeps them running. I…I really should know more about it, but when I ask she says she doesn't want to talk about the same thing she's been doing all day."

"That makes sense. You don't have any brothers or sisters?" Why don't I know that anyway?

"No. I wish I'd had a little sister to take care of." That longing on her face melted my heart. She looked up suddenly. "But I might have scared her too, and that would have made me feel awful!"

I laughed. "Kuronoma, you're not as scary as you think. I'm sure your little sister would have loved you." Just like I do.

We had reached the building, and I opened the heavy glass door for my date. The airy lobby was mostly empty, but a friendly looking older man moved to the ticket counter. "Here for the ten o'clock show?" he asked.

At my nod, he confirmed the price. As I reached for my wallet I noticed Sawako unclasping her purse.

"Kuronoma," I said sharply. She froze and met my stare. I laid my hand over the one she still rested on her purse. "Today is my treat. Okay?"

Her eyes grew wide and she nodded her assent. I removed my hand from hers, now conscious of what I'd done. As I finished purchasing our tickets, the cashier said, "There's still awhile until the show starts. You can visit the exhibits room," he gestured to a doorway nearby. "Or," he leaned toward me with a conspiratorial smile, "you can feel free to find some good seats in the theater and just wait for the show." Sawako was looking away toward the theater entrance, and the man winked at me. "You never know. Might be a crowd if you wait," he said, still smiling knowingly.

I was pretty sure there wouldn't be a crowd at this time of day. I blushed furiously. "Thanks," I choked out, turning quickly toward Sawako. I heard a chuckle behind me.

I stepped away from the counter and Sawako followed as I'd hoped. I stopped before the door to the exhibits room. "Do you want to look in here first? Or…" I couldn't say it without remembering the cashier's implication. It was just too embarrassing.

"Um, if that's what you want to do. But he said we should get seats for the show first, didn't he?" Her face was open, unaware of his plotting.

I looked away from her intense gaze. "Ah, yeah. He did." I rubbed the back of my neck and took a deep breath to steady my nerves. "Let's go," I said encouragingly.

We passed through the curtain single file to a dim interior illuminated only by strip lights along the side of the ceiling. Sawako drew in a breath. Funny how I could hear the wonder in it before she ever said a word.

"It's so big!" She was gazing up at the large domed ceiling, her delicate mouth hanging open. A warm feeling flooded through me and a genuine smile came to my lips.

When she'd had her fill of gawking at the structure, I asked her, "Where do you want to sit?"

She demurred, refusing to make a choice, so I picked for us. The velvet seat backs rocked a bit as we plunked ourselves down.

"Wow! They recline!" She sounded amazed. I loved how the simplest things seemed to delight her.

I finished settling my bag in the seat next to mine and relaxed back into the plush chair. With my long legs it felt comfortable to recline. I turned my head to answer her. "It's different from a movie theater, isn't it?" I said, happy to share this with her. She was in a similar position facing me.

Her luminous eyes captured mine and I drank in every detail of her face. I could see the delicate curve of her eyelashes, the straight line of her dainty nose, the way her upper lip jutted out just a bit over the lower.

I could scarcely believe after all the months I'd waited and wished for this that finally we were together and I could admit how I felt for her.

Our shoulders brushed and I became aware of how close we were. The desire to kiss her flashed through me with a zing. I didn't know what to do with it, but I knew now was not the right time. Heat was creeping up my neck, and Sawako was starting to blush as well. I jerked my head forward and tried to settle my uneven breathing.

After an awkward pause, I heard her draw in a fortifying breath. "Um," she began hesitantly. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"

"Oh, sure," I grabbed onto the neutral topic but kept my gaze on the ceiling for now. "I have a little brother. He's nine."

"Ohhh!" Delight colored her tone. "That must be so much fun!"

A laugh burst from me. "He's alright I guess. He likes to hang all over me and get into my stuff. But most of the time I don't mind."

"He- he probably admires you so much!"

I turned to face her again with a smile. Her eyes were full of admiration and I felt the usual mixture of pride that she thought well of me and worry that that was all she really felt. My mind flashed back to the confession she made in the classroom the other day. In that moment I was convinced that she really cared for me as I did her.

Coming back to reality I saw that Sawako wore an anxious expression. Probably my face had betrayed my misgivings. I reached over and gently brushed her bangs back. "Thanks," I said softly.

She seemed to relax and the rest of the time flew by as we experienced the thrill and the awkwardness of being together, really together as a couple.