Thoughts of Yumiko at home brought Akiko to mixed feelings. One she realized that her hatred was driven by a tendency to aggression towards pretend girls like Yumiko; the other, from today, was seized by doubts about Yumiko's nastiness, because she had provided support at an important moment for Akiko. Her warm, sincere smile on the bus was remembered by the maiden, making her involuntarily recoil from her warm feelings for the Yumiko she hated; or it was the principle that lay a rock in her ideals, born in the aftermath of a doomsday for her.
The next day it was half past six on the clocks of all Tokyo apartments, and no sooner had the sun invaded from the clouds than it was already setting behind the new buildings and shafting over the mountains, following to the illumination of the next points of the world. Be that as it may, Japan was not the only country in the globe, but covered only a small part of the earth. At this evening time, in one of the thousands of uninhabited courtyards, where, like everywhere else, the wind blew in from all corners, scattering the fallen leaves from the roads away, four schoolchildren met each other.
There was a silent patience in their gazes, combined with a certain handful of sadness in their eyes. It was Saki who was looking at Masashi with a confused look, clutching her wrist, and when the boy's confident gaze bladed to her, she quickly averted her childish gaze. The two girls had the whole fate of a longtime love couple on their hands, and Yumiko could feel the weight that hung over her. It was exactly the same weight she had felt with the child she had met in April. Goosebumps ran through Akiko's body, but she did not flinch.
Determined to end the dead silence, Yumiko straightened up and gathered herself to make a prearranged speech:
"I will give my full opinion, leaving you two to choose how best to proceed. Having been in contemplation since yesterday, I realized that I am not inherently commanding, and I would rather erect my opinion without any intention of forcing you to comply."
"Please," Masashi said quietly, nodding. Saki, on the other hand, already knew what her new acquaintance would be talking about, but she was petrified all at attention, wanting to hear her conclusions again.
"I have noticed that both of you are not trying to resolve your personal relationships by eventually coming to the idea of signing a form in Daisuke. However, you have to consider your feelings as well, because you may not internally agree with our opinions, so I'm counting on your discretion," she sighed, having the courage to interpret in front of an audience, even though that audience consisted of three people. "I think a compromise must be made. First, according to Togo-chan, she wants to develop further in her career; second, Miura-kun is not trying to find out the reason for the broken bonds; and third, Togo-chan believes that she does not need relationships in her life. After thinking deeply about these points, I want to tell you, Togo-chan, that the relationship is unlikely to affect you in a bad way, because Miura-kun himself understands your desire to strive further into the future."
Yumiko paused briefly, switching her eyes to Masashi and stretching her fingers, and continued again:
"Still, no one forbids you to continue communicating as before, but on weekends, so that Togo-chan can handle the timing. Relationships are meant to help each other, then why can't Miura-kun help Togo-chan with her burdensome and time-consuming development? For example, you can meet on weekends and vacation together, there won't be a problem with that. Togo-chan, I think that might be the best choice to continue the relationship," Yumiko finished, taking a step back, thereby clarifying that she was done.
Masashi and Saki's confused looks were wrapped in doubt and confusion, resisting the inevitable sadness. Even then, she hoped to be right in Yumiko's gentle and ardent words. And then, an inconspicuous Akiko stood in the middle, and lifted her previously downward-facing lashes.
"It's not about time at all, (it's about desire)" she declared, taking control of the conversation. "Yumiko, I understand that you want this to end in a happy ending for everyone, but there is a catch here that such a choice has not been made by them before," and then the couple's eyes widened, wondering if she had at least figured it out. "No timing type nonsense is going to affect their future relationship, and that's because they decided everything a long time ago. They just needed an excuse not to frame each other for fools. At the sight of them, I was troubled by doubts about the sincerity in their candid words about remaining in love. In reality, it was a common lie. An unwillingness to accept the truth."
The couple's lips clenched tightly and their teeth were gritted in guilt and resentment. But this resentment was cast solely toward themselves, not toward Akiko, who brought them out in the open. After a brief pause, Akiko continued to tear the couple apart with bitter facts:
"I can't judge. Your relationship lasted a happy three years, bestowing upon you the love and value of life. You decided a long time ago, but you didn't want to upset each other. This has brought you to the point that now you can not even look at each other. What kind of conversation in private can we have?" she scowled at Yumiko. "Do you get it now, Yumiko-chan? Things don't always end well. Not speaking of a good note, one must realize that reality is full of misery and dishonesty. The absurdity of it all is that negativity wouldn't exist at all if people appreciated each other. We all sin with it, that's why we're not perfect. Open your eyes, Yumiko-chan, it's only sadness caused by people's mistakes. This is the world we live in."
For Yumiko, her friend's words sank deeply into her soul, though she refused to believe this reality from Akiko's point of view, the brown-eyed woman could not hide her face of frozen intemperate shock. Akiko's words unwillingly tore part of the template of idealism within Yumiko, built like a great portrait from her childhood.
"Togo-chan has chosen her own way, and Miura-kun should come to terms with that," Akiko added, lowering her tone. "And yet Miura-kun wanted to know if he was doing the right thing by not publicizing his feelings of lost love," her voice boomed again, as Miura immediately fumbled for his heart area in sadness. "But these days were worth it. I'm sure Togo-chan had the best relationship."
Saki covered her bewildered face with her thin hands, barely restraining her cries lest she upset the boys. Once again, she realized she didn't want to upset anyone.
"Akiko-chan," said Yumiko weakly, whose heart was pounding deafeningly, making her feel every pulse, "So that's what you meant by 'You don't understand anything,' and I really couldn't imagine…"
"Don't worry," Akiko calmed down, removing her emotions, "Everyone's been through this. That's why I was scared to imagine if Miura-kun and Togo-chan got caught by those who didn't know a lot about dating at all," she turned to the couple, taking a step aside.
The couple was barely going to move their shaking lips. Inside, their souls were screaming out loud for the truth that they had hidden deep within them in such a way that they themselves believed the invented false facts. Akiko's raising their doubts finally prompted the couple to think about the real thing, their future life and relationship.
"There's no point in lying to myself anymore," Masashi revealed, gradually releasing his trepidation and rejection. "I'm tired of hiding under a false mask that doesn't match my very nature," his body cried out with surging emotion, as if the guy felt alive. Glancing over at Saki, he continued: "I've decided that we should forget about the vulnerability in our hearts, and end the relationship. It will be better for ourselves."
"Uh-huh," Saki hissed awkwardly like a bunny. "We have to move on. Go forward without fear of obstacles. For me, the main obstacle to moving forward was only you, Masashi-kun… All I could think about was you, and all my thoughts became dependent on you alone. I don't want to…depend on others anymore."
Akiko was flustered by the maiden's reply, but as she measured her eyes over their guilt-ridden faces, the girl guessed that the pair had made their choices so sure. Yumiko couldn't help it anymore, and closed her astonished mouth, lowering her eyes slightly. The fight was won by Akiko without a doubt, and under the veil of feelings that came over the couple, they forgot at all about the existence of any other option but Akiko.
Once everyone had calmed down, it was time to say goodbye. Masashi and Saki thanked them for their favor, and the young man added that the girls had successfully done their job. In addition, he summoned a cab to the nearest street so that the keepers would leave in one piece.
"See how happy they are," Akiko muttered as she glanced at the former couple walking away on the opposite side of the road. Now, however, they had become regular friends. Yumiko only followed the gaze of a tired, happy Akiko. "I think it's the perfect outcome. Even though he's not successful from some point of view: he's gifted them with happiness. Isn't that a victory?"
"Yes. It's their innocent choice."
"Good point. It's just that no man with a little bit of intelligence in his head is capable of choosing for others, much less having others choose for him. We, in turn, pushed them to make true choices, even though they had to go through the pain."
Akiko wondered inwardly why Glenn had quietly chosen this particular case, and whether he knew what might have happened, or was counting on intuition. Akiko hadn't seen the whole picture, especially since Tomoyuki wasn't saying many things either. She thought that if Glenn wanted to bring her and Yumiko closer together in this way, he was a complete fool. She stopped in impatience, appearing behind Yumiko with a gloomy look of personal doubt. Yumiko stopped, too.
"Yumiko-chan, give up on Ryou," she suddenly declared, leaving a questioning look at Yumiko. "Stop contacting him, please. Leave him to me, or I won't be able to control myself."
"Akiko-chan, what do you mean?"
"I want to get Ryou. At any cost."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with…"
"Because I can no longer treat you like I used to," Akiko fell in spirit, lowering her head. Her thoughts settled beneath a fog through which only darkness and boundless space could be seen. "I thought you were a bastard, Yumiko-chan. A bastard who didn't go with Ryou for his own good. But I realized that things were far from what I had learned to think. I've been thinking all sorts of nonsense, and I'm sorry for that."
"Akiko-chan… you're sad again. Please stop torturing yourself."
"There's no other way. We can't be friends because I still hate you. I mean, I don't like you. Things must be called by their proper names. The truth is, I don't want to do anything.
I'd rather keep it that way than try to change it. I'm haunted… haunted by a dreadful pain. Next time I won't be able to talk to you the way I used to, because it just doesn't make sense anymore. I've had enough of the old lying conversations… I almost forgot myself in these reveries. Just, give me Ryou."
Clenching her hands into a fist, Akiko said softly:
"You are a good man who always thinks of others. Then… please — think of me. It would be the best way out for me, because I can no longer understand what I am doing or where I am. I am haunted only by pain."
Above their heads hung a ringing stench of desolation and acceptance of the bitter truth. Heavily closing her eyes, Akiko hummed, and Yumiko's wide eyes seemed to pass through pain and compassion for others. Something awoke in Akiko that engaged part of her hazy mind in a change, bringing a warmth to it. Looking back at Yumiko, the girl saw the brown-eyed, pained girl squeeze a warm, guilty smile on her tired face, and that chagrined smile brought even more warmth and tenderness to the red-eyed Akiko.
"The work is done, I'm going home," Akiko retired with quick steps, looking down. So, Yumiko suppressed her feelings and was left alone, waiting for a cab that took her straight to her quiet home. Upon entering her cozy den, the schoolgirl felt faint, and without fail lay down on her bed, taking off her skirt and the dark tights with which she went outside.
The next sunny day, the phone lying beside her vibrated, and finding out who had texted her, lying Yumiko was surprised. In the general chat room, Glenn wrote that the next profiles would be a while away; and Akiko replied for him to go to private messages. Suddenly, Tomoyuki texted the brown-eyed girl personally.
[Yam: "Did you know that Glenn doesn't really pick questionnaires by chance?"]
[Yumi-kun: "What do you mean?"]
[Yam: "All of these cases are chosen by a clearly stated design. Only Glenn-kun himself knows what] he wants to accomplish."
[Yumi-kun: "Are you sure?"]
The young man responded by throwing a smiley face with his shoulders shrugged and palms raised to the side.
[Yam: "All I know is that Glenn has access to a selection of any type of questionnaire from somewhere. You do remember that you can only choose questionnaires based on your specialty or skills, right? So how come Glenn-kun has five at once?"]
'I'd like to know too," Yumiko whispered, sleepily. "Akiko-chan, are you okay…'
Lying on the bed, Akiko turned off her phone, texting Glenn, and it was obvious from the red in her eyes that she had recently cried. In aimlessness, her gaze froze motionless at one point.