"Why do you need my advices?"
Yumiko remembered Akiko's words when she asked her about how she would better say no to Ryou's feelings, thereby not upsetting him:
"Feelings can't be commanded. Just act according to your heart. You don't have to make anything up!" (Akiko)
"And you seem incomparably lovelier when you are shy of such questions, and when you blush and begin to pick up words awkwardly and seem even more charming, and when you frown..." (Akiko)
"I trust your decision, Yuttyan, since you know more about what you want... However, you shouldn't disown Ryo-kun, for love is an abnormal thing, so... maybe you should talk to him about it." (Akiko)
'That's true...' Yumiko was talking to herself, somewhere deep in her own subconscious. 'I can't live without them anymore, because they have become the only rays of hope in the darkness inside me.'
When she opened her eyes, she saw the face of the young man who had just confessed his love to her, shining with the rays of hundreds of fireworks that lit up the sky. He waited patiently until the brown-eyed girl moved her lips, for he understood her present situation.
After all, someone close to her had confessed his love to her.
She looked up at him and finally thought, 'I'd rather be the only one wrapped in these chains, so that no one else will be hurt.'
"I am not looking for a loving relationship. Forgive me, Ryou-kun, but we'll be better off if I keep fiddling with thoughts of study in my head like this..."
Ryou only closed his eyes slightly, and nodded and answered her: "So be it, but I won't ever give up. After all, I've already reached such a peak that there's no way I can get you out of my mind," and he widened his smile. "After all, you seem so charming when you try not to hurt anyone's feelings."
Yumiko opened her eyes in surprise.
"I admire all of you, Yu-chan."
'I feel both warmth and pain in my soul when I hear those words. It was as if he had confirmed to himself that he had gone blind and was no longer trying to resist... But most importantly, I kept guessing that he wasn't the only one who had renounced the thing he was most trying to pay attention to. Had we all become completely dependent... on each other's feelings?'
"My words are not an empty declaration of my confidence in what I am striving for... Yu-chan, as long as you are by my side, I have no threat."
Glenn awkwardly grabbed Akiko by the handles and rushed forward, hiding his gaze from her.
"Keep up."
Akiko acquiesced and decided to look only ahead.
'Have we all here before wished that someone would understand us...?' Yumiko could not utter a word, and her tongue refused to stop trembling with the sadness she least expected to see.
***
Several hours of the night had passed since the salute, which the friends had spent exclusively together. Without leaving the confines of the street where the apartment complex was located, they strolled along the city's lighted road in search of entertainment. By this time the town had subsided, and the celebration was coming to an end.
After all, dawn was soon to arrive, and together with Tamotsu, the boys expressed a desire to go up to the roof of the apartment to meet the dawn there in all its glory, from the very horizon. Akiko unobtrusively asked, as they climbed the stairs:
"What are we going to do if the roof doors turn out to be locked?"
Tomoyuki gave the answer without a second thought, subjecting everyone to a light chuckle:
"Break down the door."
Climbing the last steps of the clean and bright entryway, they reached the door through which they could exit to the roof.
"We shall see," Ryou said, "if the door really is locked, we may as well wait out the sunrise in the house."
"Eh? Don't we really want to break down the door?"
Tomoyuki played up his chagrin.
"I don't think that's advisable with regard to repairmen," Glenn consoled him.
"Then let's get a helicopter and go up," Akiko glanced at him, after which Glenn flinched slightly.
"Maybe we should have waited outside until dawn?" Yumiko asked.
"But you can't see a sunrise like that outside! "If we manage to see this event from the roof, it will be another nice memory for us to put in our piggy bank."
'So that's why he's trying so hard to show us the sunrise from the roof...' Ryou thought and reached out his hand to the metal door. 'Yu-chan probably wants to see that sunrise, too.'
"If we have to, we'll break it."
"Ryou-kun, this will have serious consequences!"
"Don't worry, Glenn. No one will notice!" Tomoyuki enthused.
As a result, Ryou moved the doorknob and opened the door without any difficulty.
"Oh, and the door wasn't locked! Probably for people like us!"
They stepped out into the open rooftop area that overlooked the whole of Tokyo.
"I can't believe it..." Akiko covered her lips.
"It's spotless clear here, and what an angle...! You can totally see the sunrise here."
The girls cheered. Lilia cautiously approached Glenn, who was standing with Tomoyuki at the parapets, gazing directly at the mesmerizing scale of the downtown buildings, and gently touched the edge of his coat with her hand.
"Brother, do you like it up here...?"
Glenn was slightly surprised, and expressed his gratitude: "Yes. It's nice to know that you're here with us. We're going to meet the sunrise together soon, so we' get ready."
Lilia became more confident, "Yes, let's hurry to the others."
On the other side stood the girls and Ryou, looking at the more ajar view, from behind the horizon of which the sun was about to appear.
"Look, Mari-chan," Akiko pointed to her with her hand. "There's a park with a big Ferris wheel in front!"
"Yeah, I see it!"
'That park is where I performed my first questionnaire, after all...' Yumiko thought to herself, remembering the child she had cared for at Glenn's request back in April.
"And that street over there is where we used to walk after school all the time. There's a little park not far from the school, over there."
"I see it, too! You showed it to me when you gave me a tour of the city."
"And where did you get such a keen eye?" Akiko puzzled, after which Mari smiled broadly.
"It's because I never forget the places we went to, sis!"
"Mari-chan..." Akiko showed her sentimental side, then leaned toward her. "I'm not giving you away to another family, just know that. How can I do that when I love you too much?"
Yumiko smiled contentedly at them, who made a sweet scene.
"So many good memories... I can't believe I could go through this with all of you. This is where I remember all the good things."
The rest of the guys gathered around them, too, after which Akiko walked over to her and intertwined the fingers of their hands.
"Yuttyan, I have to be honest, this day was the brightest and most beautiful day for me, and it will forever be imprinted in my heart. I won't ever forget all those days I spent with any of you. From this day on, I realized that I could not be who I am today without you, my darlings.
They approached each other amicably and showed their sincere smiles, testifying to their strong friendship. Yumiko could barely hold back her tears and ran her finger under her eyes just in case.
"It's already beginning to lighten... Tell me, have you ever seen a sunrise from this height?"
"Only once," Tomoyuki replied. "To tell you the truth, I wouldn't say I had much fun at that time," and he scratched the back of his head.
"Hmm. It seems we still have a lot to learn about you, Backstabber-kun," Akiko said sullenly, after which Tomoyuki became uncomfortable. "But come on!" she returned to her original state of emotion, causing Tomoyuki to sigh, thinking she was a girl with oddities.
The friends gathered in a row at the edge as the cold brightness outside began to build rapidly, and in complete patience they gathered to wait for the sun to rise. Such calm prevailed that their ears heard only the intangible hum of the wind blowing directly at their backs. After a few thoughtless seconds, a glow appeared on the horizon. Soon it grew more noble, rising swiftly upward. So the glow recreated the image of the upper edge of the bright sun and grew into what might be called a perfect sunrise.
"At the enthronement of the sunrise, be sure to make a wish. Make a wish within yourself and it will surely come true!"
They, after listening to Akiko, lowered their eyes, closed them and began to make a wish. Akiko's job was to make all her friends' wishes translate into the goals they wanted to achieve, so it was important for her to ask them to make a wish.
'I want to get to know Lilia-chan better, and for Glenn-sama to build a close relationship with her beloved little sister. Oh, I think that was two wishes already...! Is it possible to wish for two? Ah... This is the third one already,' Mari pondered to herself.
"I wish to become friends with Mari-chan and my brother," thought Lily.
"I wish to become the closest person to Yu-chan," wished Ryou.
'I wish that our relationship doesn't turn into a collapse and continue to motivate me to get better, for I see no future without them,' Tomoyuki hoped, cursing his insecurity.
'I want to find myself,' Glenn was in deep thought. 'After today, I have questions for myself. What should I do with my life next, if I have achieved my main objective — survival?"
Both girls' hands were intertwined in fingers, which solidified their affection for each other, and enveloped in the warm glow of dawn.
'I want Yuttyan to be able to find her happiness in the world. She's a quiet person, so I'm sure there are many thoughts lurking inside of her that don't give her peace, but she won't tell anyone about it... Even if I'm wrong, and thank goodness if I am, but I wish she would find her true purpose anyway. She is like a beautiful planet that scientists would not believe existed if they had not seen proof of its existence, and so I will continue to be her companion, help her in all kinds of trouble, but the final choice she must make herself. I will not reproach or hinder her, for I trust her more than anyone.'
Their hands clasped even tighter together, and Yumiko kept her happy look on her face. Every day since their reunion, she wished a happy future for all her best friends around her, for she could find no other appropriate words.
But today something was changing in her that had long delayed her development. Development toward the future.
Tamotsu, standing with Yumiko at the edge, stared pensively into the distance of the horizon. His face lent mystery, and his tired, averted eyes gazed fixedly at the horizon without regret. It seemed that in a moment the darkness that lurked in his modest eyes would thicken enough to burst out, piercing everything in its path.
And then Yumiko turned to face him and asked: "Did you make a wish, Tamotsu-kun?" which brought him to his senses.
"Ah, a wish... Yes, I made one."
"Why are you hovering in the clouds like that. I understand that you want to sleep... We'll be home soon, okay?"
Tamotsu said magnanimously: "Of course, of that I have no doubt."
Thus the New Year's Eve celebration came to its conclusion.