Ken frowns, “I'm sorry, Nagisa. I know this was important to you.”

  “Yeah…it was. But it's okay.”

  My boyfriend ughs, “You're taking this better than I expected.”

  Chiyo nods and tilts her head, “Seriously. Are you sure it's not denial?”

  I'm with my fellow clubmates in the auditorium. We're all sitting on the stage. We had an informational meeting and demonstration pnned today. It was our st attempt at recruiting drama club members. With all of our exams, we only managed to do two of them. And no one came to either.

  I shrug, “I would like it if drama club continues. I would prefer that. B-but it's okay if it doesn't. There are other wonderful clubs here, so people will keep working together towards a common goal. That's what matters most.”

  Daiki nods and takes my hand with a smile, “I always love your optimism. What you said just now isn't that far from what you said the first time the four of us were together.”

  Chiyo smirks, “And this time I won't yell at you.”

  Ken smirks, “Thank goodness you've grown.”

  Chiyo narrows her eyes are him, “Oh, come on! She's so sweet it's hard to believe sometimes! I don't bme past me for thinking she was being sarcastic.”

  I feel my face getting red as they continue to talk about me.

  “I-I'm not that sweet.”

  Daiki smiles at me, “You are though. Sweet and caring. And genuine about it. It’s what first drew me to you.”

  I smile at my boyfriend, who also happens to be very sweet.

  Chiyo rolls her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. You are two sweet peas in a pod.”

  Ken ughs, “They really are.”

  Daiki says, “Anyway - we got off topic, as we often do. Drama club might not be gone forever. Someone could start it up again, like we did.”

  Ken nods, “That's true. Unlike our predecessors, why don't we leave something behind for any future members?”

  Chiyo scoffs, “The old members left a ton of stuff for us.”

  Ken nods, “I don't mean stuff , I mean writing something to tell them who we are. Tell them what drama club meant to us. Stuff like that. Not just a room full of junk.”

  I jump to my feet and head to the steps, “Th-that's a good idea! Let's go!”

  As I get down from the stage and head for the club room I hear Chiyo sigh and say, “What did you just get us into?”

  …

  We're in the club room now, sitting at our usual table. I have a pen and notepad out as we're brainstorming what we should write for future members of drama club.

  Daiki says, “Well, you're the one going to Tokyo University of the Arts for writing. I think you should do it.”

  I scoff and cross my arms, “I'll do most of it. But each of you need to write something too about what you got out of drama club. Or at least tell me and I'll write it down.”

  Chiyo ughs and takes Ken's hand, “We all found love in drama club. That's kind of funny. Maybe we should have advertised it as a dating service.”

  Daiki chuckles, “We probably would have gotten more people interested, that's for sure. But then we would have had competition.”

  Ken ughs, “Or…more option- Ow!” He rubs his arm where Chiyo just punched him. “Jeez, it was just a joke.”

  She scoffs, “Yeah, a bad one.”

  “You know I only have…well, not eyes but…all my other senses for you.”

  Daiki ughs and shakes his head at them. After that, I manage to get them all to focus and we write a little essay about our time in drama club.

  Dear future drama club members,

  Hello! We are the drama club members from the css of 2007. Unfortunately, all of us are graduating this year and we didn't manage to recruit any new members. So, we decided to leave behind a little welcome message, and tell you what drama club meant to us.

  If you're reading this, it means you're probably in the costume shop that is also our clubroom. We aren't the ones who left most of this stuff here, we inherited it too! And like you, we started the club up after a hiatus, so we have no idea where most of it came from. But there's a lot of useful stuff here, if you're willing to dig through it.

  In here you'll find most of what you need to do a py, including lights, costumes, sewing machines, and carpentry tools. We did our best to leave the important stuff out for you.

  It's wonderful that you are all interested in theater. You and your club mates will work together towards a common goal, and that’s something that will bring you all closer together. We hope you enjoy drama club as much as we did.

  Now, each of the four members will introduce themselves and tell you a little something about our time in the club.

  My name's Nagisa, and my clubmates are making me do most of the writing. But that's because being in drama club helped me discover how much I love to write. I'm even studying it at university. At the beginning of the year I had no idea what to do after graduation, so that's one of the things I'll always cherish about drama club.

  I'm Chiyo. Don't let Nagisa trick you into thinking she's just a writer, she's an amazing actress too! She just chose writing instead. Anyway, I'm also an actress and I'll be joining a professional troupe after graduation. Drama club helped me discover how much I love acting, and my club mates helped make me better.

  I'm Ken. Like Chiyo, I'm also joining an acting troupe. Unlike my fellow members, I'm blind, and that was a bit of a hurdle. But I really wanted to be an actor anyway. Without the support of my friends in drama club, I probably would have given up. I guess I'm saying…whatever your disability is, don't let it make you think you can't be an actor!

  And stly there's me - Daiki. You've probably been wondering who did all the stuff that isn't acting or writing, and that’s me! I directed our pys, designed and built the sets, and did all the lighting and sound. Unlike the other three, I'm not continuing with a career in theater. But it's not because I don't love it! I've just always loved building things and solving problems, and drama club was a great way for me to do that. I'll be studying engineering at university, and drama club gave me lots of hands-on experience. My fellow club members are my closest friends, and I'll always value the time we spent together in this room.

  P.S. - We also all fell in love in drama club. So if you think one of your club mates is cute, there's a precedent for that working out. Good luck!

  P.P.S. - There’s a good chance your adviser won’t be much help, so we left our contact information, just in case you need some advice.

  “Okay. You have your pen and notepad, right?”

  I hold them up, “Yep.”

  Graduation is in two days and now that all the exams are over, Akane and I finally found a good time for me to meet her family. We're having dinner at their house and staying over tonight.

  She's been helping me learn sign nguage and I’ve practiced with her, Shizune, and Misha as much as I can. But I'm still not very good.

  I'm very excited to meet her family. But also nervous because of the nguage barrier.

  She nods at me and points to the side of her head, “I'm gonna take this stuff off. And remember while we're in there I can't speak. And you shouldn't either, ideally. You have the note pad if… when you aren't following.”

  I nod.

  She removes her equipment from both ears and both sides of her scalp, and puts them all in the pocket of her cardigan. She nods, and then pushes what looks like a doorbell. I'm confused by this at first, but then I see lights fshing inside.

  I start to feel nervous, but I take a deep breath and whisper, “Dorayaki.”

  Then the door opens and I see a short, smiling woman. She has her chestnut hair in a bun and her eyes are almost the same color. She's wearing an apron over her dress. She is fnked on one side by a young girl who has dark hair like Akane, but light brown eyes like her mother.

  She looks about 9. She must be the older of the two sisters. Akane calls her Miki-chan.

  The woman gestures for us to come in, and we step inside and take off our shoes. They quickly sign to one another, and I'm able to pick up enough of it to piece together the general meaning.

  <>

  The little girl tugs on Akane's sleeve and is smiling ear to ear and excitedly signing at the same time. I have a hard time picking anything up, but I think I caught, <>

  I'm more able to understand Akane than the others. I think it helps that I know her body nguage and mannerisms. Plus, she's the person I have signed the most with. She's also more aware of my limitations since she's my teacher, so I bet she uses more basic words than she normally would.

  She pats her little sister on the head and then signs, <> She spells out the letters of my name while her second little sister runs up and tugs on her skirt. She has her dark hair in twin tails.

  She’s 6 and called Mai-chan.

  Akane's stepmom turns and smiles very warmly at me and starts signing much slower than before, <>

  I nod and sign back, <>

  She smiles and signs even slower than she did before, <>

  I shake my head, <>

  Her smile gets even warmer and she gives my shoulder a squeeze just as I see Akane get dragged off by her sisters. She shoots me a look that says ‘Sorry.’

  Akane's stepmother signs, <>

  I reply, <>

  She shakes her head and points towards the living room, where Akane is sitting with the youngest sister in her p and the other is behind her with her arms wrapped around her shoulders. She's signing something to them and they are both giggling. It's a very cute sight that makes me a little sad I'm an only child.

  I nod thankfully to Mrs. Kuwa and head to the living room. When I do, the younger of the two girls hides behind Akane. But the older of the two girls runs up to me and signs something so fast that I don't know what she said. She looks as confused as I do when I don't respond. She looks at Akane who signs, <>

  Her sister nods and signs, <>

  I reply, <>

  Miki smirks at Akane and then signs something quickly, and I'm pretty sure I picked up <>

  I nod and Miki smiles mischievously and looks to Akane, who shakes her head.

  <> She shows me the difference between the two. Then she signs something quickly at Miki. Based on her reaction, she must have scolded her.

  Miki gingerly walks back up to me and signs, <>

  <>

  Akane is about to sign something to me but then takes my pen and note pad and writes, “Don't encourage her! They are always asking if I have a girlfriend.”

  I ugh, and write “Sorry. It's nice they ask, isn't it? It means they want you to find someone.”

  She sighs, <>

  After that Miki-chan runs off to her room and comes back with a board game she wants us to py. She holds up the box with a flourish like she's offering it to us as a prize on a game show. It's the game of Life, which I haven't pyed in a long time. When Mai sees it she gets excited too and runs up to her sister, forgetting that she was being so shy around me.

  Akane looks at me and I nod and she turns to her sisters, <>

  …

  We've been pying for awhile now. Luckily everything that happens is written on the board or on little cards we draw, so the nguage barrier hasn't been too tough.

  Akane signs, <>

  Mai picks up the blue peg, but then I shake my head at her and hand her the pink one.

  This makes her sisters ugh. Akane shoots them a brief gre and then takes her pink peg and puts it in the car, which now has two pink pegs in the front.

  She looks embarrassed while she signs, <>

  When it's Miki's turn to get married, I go to hand her the blue peg and she shakes her head. I look at Akane who looks dumbfounded, <>

  She shakes her head, <>

  Akane lets out a frustrated huff and looks at me and then back to Miki, <>

  <>

  Akane's eyebrows shoot up, <>

  Miki shrugs, <>

  A flustered Akane signs, <>

  I smile at Akane and hand Miki-chan the peg and she's very excited to put it in her car.

  When it's Mai-chan's turn to get married, she does the same thing. It makes me smile to see how accepting her family is of who she really is.

  She does have a lot of influence on these little girls. It makes sense her dad is so worried about her wearing her hearing equipment here. If this is any indication, they might be asking for surgery by the end of the night.

  …

  Akane’s dad got home a minute ago, not long after we finished our game. The family went to greet him, but I stayed in the living room. Normally I'd know I should go introduce myself because the conversation is over, but that’s a lot harder to tell when I can't hear any talking. The longer I sit here, the more nervous I get. I know he and Akane have their rough patches, so it makes me worry he won't like me.

  He HAS been supportive since their big fight though. She's even going to Tokyo Gakugei to study education, not to Tsukuba like he wanted. And he's paying for it.

  Just as I'm convincing myself he won't hate me, Akane comes into the living room with her father. I stand up off the ground and bow my head to him. Then I remember Akane telling me not to bow as long as I would with people who can hear, since it makes it hard for us to communicate. So I look back up at him after a short bow.

  Akane smiles at me and signs, <>

  Her father looks almost exactly how I pictured him when Akane told me stories. He's a tall man with excellent posture and a stern expression on his face. He has very short salt and pepper hair and thick eyebrows that are at a severe angle. It makes him look angry, even though I don't think he is right now.

  I'm worried at first. But then he gives me a small smile and a nod and I feel a lot better.

  He starts signing very quickly, but then stops himself and starts over.

  <>

  <>

  He looks at his daughter, <<’Sir.’I like that. You should be more polite, like Nagisa.>>

  Akane rolls her eyes, <>

  <>

  Her father smiles, <>

  …

  Just as we are setting the table for dinner, I see a light on the ceiling fsh brightly. Akane turns to me and signs, <> Then she signals for me to follow her.

  I'm confused at first, and then realize that must be their doorbell that I saw from outside earlier.

  Akane's mom lives further from Yamaku, so she's staying here for a couple nights before graduation. It's really nice that everyone gets along.

  I follow Akane to the door, who throws it open and immediately wraps her mother in a hug. Her mom looks a little startled, but returns the hug with a smile after putting down her bags.

  She's a tall woman, though not as tall as Akane. She keeps her hair very short but apart from that looks a lot like her daughter. They have the same eyes, they both wear gsses, and they have the same smile. Mrs. Fujiwara has a more athletic build than her daughter, though.

  Akane lets her in the door and introduces me to her. She smiles, <> I'm surprised when she hugs me before I can respond.

  After that we help her take her bags to the guest room. I notice one of them is long and narrow, and I become very curious what it could be. But I realize it would be rude to ask.

  Then we enjoy a nice hot pot dinner. I am surprised that there wasn't very much discussion at dinner. But then I realize that with everyone using their hands to eat, it's a lot harder to talk at dinner time for people who use sign nguage. After dinner though, the two little girls run off to take a bath while the rest of us talk. Well, I try my best to. When people sign directly to me, they slow down, but when the discussion is all around the table, I have a hard time.

  Right now I think Mr. Kuwa is asking Akane's mom about…something Mai wants to study, maybe?

  Just as I'm trying to follow, Akane smiles at me and takes my notepad. She observes her parents talking and then writes down, “Mai-chan wants to do kendo and my mom competed in it in high school and university. She still does kendo almost every day. So she's going to do a little lesson with Mai tomorrow.”

  Well, at least I got part of it. That also expins Mrs. Fujiwara's strange bag.

  I take the notepad and write, “That's cool!”

  Akane nods and writes, “I did it some when I was little. But I am not very coordinated. It was rough. Athletics and Akane don't mix.”

  I smile at her comment, and she writes, “I'll summarize the conversation here when I can, okay?”

  I nod, thankful that she's helping me understand everything.

  They continue discussing kendo a bit longer, and then Akane's mom turns to me and signs something.

  I picked up ‘study’ and ‘writing’ so I think I know what she is asking about.

  Akane signs something to her mother and then writes, “She wants to know how you decided to study writing at university.”

  I take a deep breath, since it’s not a short simple answer. But I try anyway, limiting it to as few words as I can. I am very slow and have to stop time to time to find the right sign, and Akane helps me a few times. But the whole time everyone at the table is patient and listening.

  <>

  Akane rolls her eyes and adds, <>

  Everyone at the table smiles at me and seems impressed. Something I'm still not used to. But I'm getting there.

  Not long after that, Mai and Miki emerge from the bath and drag Akane away again, this time to their bedroom to read them a book. This prompts smiles out of everyone.

  When Mrs. Kuwa tries to start clearing away the dishes, Ms. Fujiwara and I stop her at the same time. We convince her to let us do it, since she prepared everything.

  After the two of us finish up, she smiles at me and signs, <> She pauses and her smile gets a little broader, <>

  I smile back, <>

  She looks confused, like maybe I didn't understand her. I think about trying to sign what I want to say, but realize I might mess it up. So I ask her to wait a moment and go back to the table to get my notepad. Then I go back to the kitchen and write, “Thank you for making her so great. She has been there a lot for me too.”

  She smiles at me and then gives me a hug, which I am more than happy to return.

  …

  It's bedtime now. Ms. Fujiwara is in the guest room, so Akane and I are in futons on the floor of her sisters’ bedroom. The two girls were very tired from all the pying. They were falling asleep before they even got in bed.

  Just as I'm starting to doze, I'm surprised to hear a voice for the first time in a while.

  Akane whispers, “Nagisa, are you awake?”

  Knowing she can't really hear right now, I roll over to respond. I can tell that Akane is lying on her side facing me. It’s too dark for me to tell anything else though.

  She whispers, “Good…I want to say some stuff. It's too dark for sign nguage or lip reading. And I won't really be able to hear you if you respond. But…it's kind of perfect, because what I have to say is embarrassing and I just need to get it all out.”

  She takes a deep breath, “I'm really going to miss you. I know you're gonna say we’ll both be in the Tokyo metro and all of that, but I know it won't be the same as now. We won't see each other all the time. Our lives will be very different. And that makes me sad. But…also really happy that I made such a good friend that I'm going to miss you this much. Among all the things you did for me, the thing I appreciate the most is that you…really helped me accept who I am. Being gay, I mean. I think at university I will be more open about it…and that’s thanks to you. I sort of thought there wasn't anyone who would accept me, apart from other gay people and my family. But you…and then Chiyo and Daiki proved me wrong.”

  She pauses for long enough that I think she's done. Although it seems a little abrupt. Just as I'm about to reach out to her, to let her know I heard, she continues.

  “Also I…can't thank you enough for staying close with me even after you found out about my feelings. You and Daiki were so sweet…and I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you. I…want you to know that I'm not in love with you anymore. I mean…there's a little something there, but it's kind of like a shadow of what I felt before. So…you don't need to worry about me hurting anymore. Because I don't!” She exhales, “I didn't mean to babble so much. Hopefully you didn't fall asleep listening to me drone on.”

  By now I have a few tears on my face, and I'm gd she can't see me. I reach my hand out and put it on her shoulder and give it a squeeze. She scoots her futon a little closer and hugs me, while I hug her back.

  I'm going to miss her too. So much. I wish I could tell her that she helped me accept myself too. I had such a low opinion of myself when I got to Yamaku, and while all of my friends helped me see that I was wrong about myself, she's the one who helped the most. I'll have to tell her tomorrow.

  Graduation is tomorrow. We just had our graduation orientation and rehearsal. It was the st time Akane and I will be in a high school css room together. Now we're at the shoe lockers and changing into our shoes.

  As I'm putting mine on, I hear Akane click her tongue while in front of her locker, “ Seriously!? ”

  I look up at her with a frown, “What's wrong?”

  She sighs and walks over to me with an envelope in her hand, “Some guy left a freaking confession.” She brandishes the envelope and groans, “I didn't think I'd have to deal with another high school confession.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  She shrugs and sits down next to me with her shoes, “Nothing. School is over. I'm not even going to read it.”

  “That's not very nice. I think you should read it. Let him know his feelings were heard, at least.”

  She groans, “Do I have to?”

  “I think so. He'll feel better if he gets a response, even a rejection.”

  She puts her palm to her forehead and thrusts the envelope at me, “ Fiiine. You read it.”

  I take the envelope and unfold the letter inside. It's very short and the handwriting is sloppy. I read it out loud.

  Akane,

  I've wanted to tell you my feelings for a long time. But I was scared. I don't want to graduate without telling you how I feel. Please meet me today at 5 in the cssroom we use for homeroom if you'd like to talk.

  Akane groans again as I finish the letter, “You're going to make me do this, aren't you?”

  “I think you should. He did something brave to tell you. Plus, you said st night you don't want to hide that you're gay anymore. This is an opportunity to tell someone.”

  She sighs and sags her head, “Fine. I'll go. But you're coming with me. Dude might be a creep. ”

  …

  Akane and I are sitting in our seats in the empty homeroom cssroom. We're a few minutes early. Akane is anxiously tapping her fingers on the desk and looking at the letter, “Must be someone in our css, right? They wrote ‘our’ cssroom.”

  “Oh, I guess so.”

  Akane takes off her gsses and pinches the bridge of her nose, “I swear to God , if it's Ichiro, I'm gonna punch him.”

  I ugh, “I don't think it's him.”

  Just then, the door opens and then closes without anyone coming in. Then it opens again, before closing once more.

  Akane ughs, “Guess they chickened out.”

  The door opens again, and this time someone bashfully steps through it. Before standing in front of Akane's desk. It isn't at all who we were expecting.

  It's Madoka. The most popur girl in our css. And she looks very nervous.

  Apparently, Akane doesn't understand the situation. Akane says, “What are you doing here? You come back to reminisce on the day before graduation?”

  Madoka looks down at the ground and chuckles, “K-kind of, I guess.” Then she looks up and gnces at me, then the letter in Akane's hand, and then locks eyes with Akane, “Y-you…got my letter?”

  Akane's jaw drops as she looks from the letter to Madoka and then back at the letter.

  And she tells me I'M dense.

  Flustered, she says, “Th-this was from you !?”

  Madoka wrings her hands together and then nods.

  “Wait… seriously ?”

  Madoka frowns and her voice becomes unsteady, “Y-yes, seriously .”

  Akane's jaw drops and Madoka gets a look of panic on her face as her eyes get wide.

  She quietly says, “I was wrong, wasn't I? You're not-?”

  “N-no…um…I am. But I don't even know what to say.”

  Madoka crosses her arms and nods toward me, “Still in love with her, then?”

  Now Akane's the one whose eyes get wide, “Wait. Hold on. H-how do you even know that I'm gay? And about how I felt about Nagisa?”

  Madoka grins, “B-because I've been watching you for a while.” She blushes and brushes some of her blonde hair out of her face, “Do you remember our css trip to Sakunami st year?”

  “Um…yeah? But what-” Akane freezes and her eyebrows shoot up.

  Madoka ughs and starts to fiddle with the bow on her uniform, “You and I ended up in the bath alone one night a-and um…well let's just say um…seeing you that night…was an awakening for me.”

  Akane blushes, “Wow…that's… very fttering.”

  Madoka ughs, “Good. Anyway…I've been…kind of in love with you since then. But I didn't think you were gay. I mean, I noticed your nails but that wasn't nearly enough to give me any courage. But when I saw you and Nagisa get close, I was sure you were. I thought…you were a couple actually, until Daiki.”

  Wait a minute…

  I speak up, “Why did you joke about Ichiro being in love with her if you liked her?”

  Madoka ughs, “Because it was funny. Well, and because based on her reaction I would get a better feel for whether she was gay.”

  Akane ughs, “And?”

  “You freaked out. So…it was another thing that made me think you might be gay. But it wasn’t until like a month ter I was sure you were, because of how you looked at Nagisa and stuff.”

  Okay. I'm dense too.

  Akane nods and thinks for a moment and then something dawns on her, “Are your feelings why you were so nice at the festival and let me cut out from the booth early?”

  “Kind of. That was for both of you. I thought I'd try and help the only lesbian couple I knew spend time together at the festival.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  She nods and says, “But then…the morning she told you about Daiki…”

  Akane looks bewildered, “Huh? What about that day?”

  “Um…she encouraged me to go talk to you.”

  Akane's eyes get wide, “Jeez, you really have been watching…”

  Madoka sighs, “Yeah. Sorry, seems pretty creepy now that I put it all out there, doesn't it?”

  Akane smiles, “I-it's okay. Sometimes you have to watch closely to see if the girl you like is gay. I've been there a couple times.”

  Madoka nods and smiles, and then takes a deep breath and locks eyes with Akane, “M-my point here is…I'm in love with you.. A-and…I wanted you to know, before we graduate. I didn't want to regret never letting you know.”

  Akane looks back at me nervously, and I encourage her to respond with my eyes.

  “I…uh…thank you, Madoka.”

  She rolls her eyes, “ Just what a girl is hoping to hear after making her first confession.”

  “I'm sorry, okay! I think you're like… super pretty too, but I'm still processing this. This…this comes as a surprise. A big one. You've dated guys, haven't you?”

  “Tried it, yeah. Wasn't for me.”

  Akane chuckles, “I see. I guess…I've just been blind, huh?”

  She nods toward me, “Yeah…well…maybe if she hadn't transferred in you would have noticed me this year.”

  Akane ughs, “Maybe. But you might not have figured out I was gay without her.”

  Madoka sighs, “I guess that's true.”

  Just as I'm about to ask if they want me to leave, Akane smiles at Madoka and says, "Listen…do you want to go somewhere and talk, just the two of us?”

  Madoka raises an eyebrow and smiles mischievously, “A-are you…trying to sleep with me?”

  Akane waves her hands, “N-no, I didn't mean like that, I-”

  Madoka bites her lip and turns bright red, “B-because…I would be thrilled with that. I-if you…wanted to do that.”

  Akane's jaw drops for the second time in the conversation and Madoka and I both ugh at her reaction.

  After our ughter Madoka asks, “Do you…have experience?”

  Akane nods sheepishly.

  “Well…it's the night before graduation. I don't want to graduate as a virgin and I've…wanted to be with you for a long time. I-if…nothing else, I'd like my first time to be with you. It…doesn't have to mean anything.”

  Akane frowns and looks down at the letter in her hands, “I…um…uh…”

  Madoka frowns and turns bright red and turns towards the door, “O-okay. I get it. I'll go.”

  Akane stands up and grabs her hand as she turns, “You…don't have to.”

  Madoka turns and smiles at Akane, who says, “Let's go talk in my room. A-and…we’ll see about that other stuff.”

  My face flushes as I realize what is probably going to happen.

  Akane looks back at me and waves, and I shoo the two of them off to spend the evening (and the night?) together.

  “I'm…kind of nervous.”

  Daiki and I are at The Shanghai. We're meeting my parents for breakfast the morning of graduation. We've come here a few times together. We discovered he can sit in the booths, if we push the table away a little bit.

  I smile at my boyfriend and take his hand. Well, more like I put my hand on his. It's hard for me to ever be the one to take his hand, since it’s about three times the size of mine.

  “I know. But it'll be okay. They like you.”

  “But they haven't met me. They just like me from what you say.”

  “Well…I only tell them the truth. So, why wouldn't they like you?”

  He shrugs, “You got me worried about your dad when you warned me.”

  I told him my dad is silly and will make some jokes. But he should just ignore them.

  I nod, “I do wish he wouldn't be so silly. I know my mom's probably trying to get him to behave. But it never works. Just…ignore him.”

  Daiki scoffs, “He's your dad . I can't just ignore him. And I want him to like me.”

  I sigh, “I know. But he's…possessive with me. It’s out of love…but it also means he's going to be hard to win over.”

  Daiki nods, “Well…I'll do my best.”

  …

  Well, I can't say I didn't see something like this coming.

  My parents came and we enjoyed a nice meal and Daiki was cute and charming and everything was going so well. For once I thought my dad was under control. But now…

  “You can only have my Nagisa if you can beat me in arm wrestling.”

  Daiki looks taken aback and then looks at me, “ H-have her?”

  I sigh, “Don’t worry, I know you would never put it like that. H-he's just being silly, like I said he would be.”

  My mom nods.

  My dad crosses his arms and gres at Daiki, “Tch. I knew you were just big. Not strong. How are you supposed to protect her if you're this weak?”

  My mom and I scold my father simultaneously. But both men act like we didn't say anything. I'm surprised to see a fire in Daiki's eyes.

  “Fine. I'll arm wrestle you. If that's what you need for me to prove myself to you. Seems ridiculous to me. But whatever.”

  My dad grins, “Did I awaken the sleeping giant?”

  Daiki scoffs, “Whatever. Let's just get it over with.”

  As the two of them stare each other down my mom and I get out of the booth to give them room.

  This is so embarrassing. Do they have to do it here? But Daiki already agreed, and I don’t want to stop him. I'm also curious because I'm not sure how this will go. Daiki is really strong, but so is my dad. I think Daiki is probably stronger, but it's going to be close.

  We stand at the end of the table while my dad rolls up his sleeve and extends his arm out over the table, resting his elbow on it. For Daiki there aren't any theatrics, he just puts his elbow on the table. While the size difference isn't as big as between me and Daiki, Daiki's arm is still much bigger than my dad's. My dad flinches slightly when he notices the difference, but of course he doesn't back down. Even when it takes awhile for him to find a way to csp Daiki's hand the correct way. His hand is so much higher and so much bigger that it's hard for him to find a way to hold on. Eventually though, he finds a way.

  With their hands csped, they continue to stare into each other's eyes. Then my dad says, “Sanae. Give us a countdown.”

  My mom nods, “3, 2, 1…start!”

  My dad immediately strains with all of his might, with his face turning red and veins bulging in his forearm. But Daiki's hand only moves ever so slightly.

  Daiki has a look on his face I have seen a few times before. It's the same one he has when Akane tries to rile him up before tests. He never really gave in to her jabs, just smiling calmly at her. And then he alway beats her on the test. He's smiling the same way right now. Which probably isn't good for my dad.

  My dad struggles for what seems like a minute, but he doesn't make any progress. When he realizes the futility of his actions, he ughs wryly, “Go on then, finish it.”

  Daiki nods and without straining at all, pins my dad's hand to the table.

  My mom immediately starts cpping and cheering but I'm so stunned that I forget to until she nudges me.

  My dad sighs and shakes his hand like it hurts, “You’re as strong as an ox even though my daughter tells me you're a bookworm. I've arm wrestled many men, and never lost so badly. Are you sure that's a disability?”

  My mom and I scold my dad again but both men ignore us. Daiki ughs, “I'm sure. Wait until you see me walk. But there are some perks. You should have chosen a competition where I can't so easily take advantage of my leverage and mass advantage.”

  My dad chuckles, “Well…you definitely sound like a bookworm.”

  Daiki shrugs, “Since I won, does that mean you'll stop with the jokes?”

  My dad scowls for a second, but then smiles “Fine, fine. You're strong enough to protect my Nagisa. You have my blessing.” My dad pauses and stirs his coffee before grinning at Daiki, “But I'm still going to make jokes.”

  Graduation is in about an hour. Akane, Chiyo, and I are hanging out in my room one st time. Almost everything is packed away now, though. It looks much like it did the day I moved in.

  But I didn’t have these two great friends when I moved in. I really love these two girls and I'm gd we're all graduating and moving on, but I'm going to miss them.

  Akane’s right, even though we won’t live that far apart, we’ll never see each other as much as we do now. And Chiyo will be all over the country with her acting troupe, so who knows when we’ll see her again. I mean, Kotomi and Tomoya are two people who I care deeply about, and I never see them since they went to university. Is that what’s going to happen with these two?

  I’m a little distracted from how bittersweet it all is, though. Because I really want to ask Akane about her night with Madoka. However, I decide she'll talk about it herself if she wants to.

  “What happened with Madoka?”

  Apparently, Chiyo isn't as patient as I am.

  Akane sighs, “Nothing, really. Well, I mean…we made out some and cuddled and slept together. Mostly we talked a lot.”

  “Oh. Did she decide not to go all the way?”

  Akane shakes her head, “She wanted to. But from talking to her, I think she really, truly loves me.” Akane ughs wryly as her face flushes, “She’s the first who ever has. A-and…I was worried I would really hurt her if we did that. It reminded me…of when I was in love with Misha. Sleeping with her made it so much worse when she dumped me. And I told Madoka about that, and she reluctantly agreed.”

  “I see. Well…that's understandable.”

  Akane smiles at me, “I knew you'd approve.”

  Chiyo asks, “So, that's it with her? Kind of seems like a shame.”

  Akane shrugs, “It might not be. I told her to keep in touch. We'll be two hours away by train when we're at university. So, maybe we'll go on some dates. We'll see if we follow through, though.”

  Chiyo grins and csps her hands together dramatically while nudging Akane with her elbow, “I'm sure she will. It sounds like you're her dream girl. Do you like her ?”

  Akane's quiet for a moment, “It's too early to tell. I do think she's really pretty, and I like her as a person. And…kissing her and stuff was nice. But I need to get to know her better before I'll know for sure.”

  “Well…should we get out of here?”

  Graduation is over. It was all sort of a blur. But it was very exciting to have my name called and walk across the stage they set up on the athletic fields. For a long time, I didn't think I would ever be able to finish high school. It took until I was 20, but I did it. I feel a little emotional about it all, but Akane sounds like it's any other day.

  “U-um…yeah. Let's try to find the others.”

  We’re all going to hang out in the costume shop one st time.

  Akane nods and then points, “Well, your boyfriend is over there.”

  I follow her gesture and see Daiki speaking with Mr. Mutou. The science teacher and Daiki's favorite teacher at Yamaku. I always had a hard time following his lectures and thought he seemed kind of sleepy all the time. But then, I really love Mr. Suzuki, and Daiki doesn't much care for him.

  I shouldn't interrupt their conversation.

  Just as I'm about to rey this information to Akane, I see a pink streak in my peripheral vision and hear, “A-AKANE!”

  Akane grunts as Misha tackle hugs her with teary eyes. She sniffles and looks up at Akane, “I-I'll miss you.”

  Akane smiles down at her, “I'll miss you too.”

  Just then, I feel a tap on my shoulder and when I turn to see who it is, I see a familiar face.

  <>

  I smile, <>

  <>

  I nod, <>

  Shizune puts a hand to her mouth and ughs softly, <>

  I nod, <>

  She nods with a smile and then walks away.

  When we finish our conversation, I see that Misha has calmed down. But now Akane is a little emotional. She's tearing up while Misha is trying to comfort her.

  I know they had their ups and downs, and I don’t think I will ever fully understand what their retionship has been these st few months. They aren't together, but they have sex and talk all the time. I guess they are what people are referring to when they say ‘friends with benefits.’

  Even if I don't understand, I know they really care about each other and that’s what matters.

  Just as I'm starting to feel unsure about whether I should approach the pair, I hear a familiar voice behind me.

  “Congratutions, Nagisa!”

  I turn around and see a smiling Saki.

  “Thank you.”

  “You're welcome.” She starts to fiddle with her cane nervously.”I um…know how hard it has been for you to get here. To finally graduate, I mean. And it's…really amazing you persevered through everything and got here.”

  “Thank you. I know you're going to persevere too."

  She nods, “I definitely will.” She hugs me, “It was nice getting to know you a bit this year. It’s kind of a bummer you were only here for a year.” She breaks the hug and cringes at herself, “N-not that I wanted you to get sick and stay!”

  I ugh, “I know what you mean. I wish I had more time here too.”

  She nods, “Stay in touch, okay? You have my number, right?”

  I nod, “I do. I will.”

  “Good. Well, show them who’s boss at university!”

  After Saki and I exchange our farewells, I see that Misha and Akane are heading my way. They both look like they've calmed down.

  When they get close Misha says, “Congrats to both of you! I hope I follow in your footsteps! Wahahaha~”

  I can't help but smile at her ughter, “I'm sure you will.” I look at Akane and hesitate for a moment, before saying, “Thank you for being there for Akane when…everything happened.”

  Misha frowns, not something I have seen a whole lot of. “I was…going to say the same thing to you.” She looks at Akane and then back at me, “You were there when I hurt her. And what I did was way worse than…just not being able to feel the same way.”

  Before I can respond she smiles like she doesn't have a care in the world, “But…it's all water under the bridge now! Congrats to both of you.”

  I just got back to my room after spending one st day with my friends. Tonight will be my st night in the dorms.

  When I step into the room and turn on the light, I'm surprised when I see something on my desk. I have packed everything up, so there shouldn't be anything there. I walk over to my desk and see a small book with some paper on top of it. As I get closer, I see that there's an envelope with a post-it note on top of the book.

  I peel the post-it note off and read it:

  My cousin asked me to use my dorm key and leave this here for you. I was going to refuse, but then I saw what it was and knew you'd want it.

  -Shizune

  So that means, Lilly asked her for a favor? Those two haven't spoken in months. And she did it just to give me something?

  Now that I've removed the post-it note, I see that the envelope has my name on it. I open the envelope and pull out the letter, which is written in very small, neat handwriting.

  Nagisa,

  Lilly and I wanted to come to graduation. But I got scared. I'm sorry. I wish there had been a dress rehearsal for me to go to. Anyway, hopefully this little gift will make up for our absence.

  Congratutions,

  Hanako and Lilly

  I put the card aside and pick up the little book.

  “Oh!”

  Embarrassed at my loud excmation, I look around my room. There's no one there of course, so no need for me to feel embarrassed.

  But I couldn't help it. My gift is too exciting for me to stay silent.

  They got me Living with Father , so that I could have my own copy. I smile at the book in my hands and then hug it to my chest as a few tears spill over my cheeks.

  This py will always be special to me. I'm very happy to have my own copy. It was very sweet of them to get this for me.

  …

  I'm in bed for my st night at Yamaku and my head is buzzing with so many thoughts and mixed emotions

  Many of my thoughts are about the future. I'm nervous about university. I'm nervous about living in Tokyo.

  But I'm also thinking about the past. And especially the 11 months I spent here.

  “Thank you.”

  I might have said it to an empty room but it's a ‘thank you’ to everyone at Yamaku who has helped me. To all my friends and my boyfriend, and the faculty and staff too. Without the nurse or Mr. Suzuki, I wouldn't have made it.

  But it's also a ‘thank you’ to the school itself. Maybe that sounds silly. You don't normally thank buildings. Or campuses. But I'm so happy I came here. It's a special pce. And part of me really doesn't want to leave.

  I started the year with so many worries. I thought I wouldn't make friends. I thought I wouldn't stay healthy enough to graduate. I thought I wouldn't get over Tomoya.

  But I made many friends. My health became less of an obstacle. And I fell in love with someone who loves me just as much. I'm leaving Yamaku happier, healthier, and more confident than I've ever been.

  So, I don't think it's silly to thank Yamaku at all. In fact, I think I should do it again.

  “Thank you… so much.”