Chapter Twenty-One: And So The Second Year Ends

"Huh? Yeah, it's true. What about it?" Jasmine answered casually. "W-Wow," Haruna said. "It's kinda surprising to hear that you of all people would turn down three guys." On one of the days following Monday, Haruna had thought to ask Jasmine about the rumor she had heard. Considering her past, it seemed a little hard to believe, and yet there Jasmine was, affirming the truth of it.

"Y'know I haven't dated anyone in like, months, right?" Jasmine pointed out. "I know, but I thought you were just taking a break or something. Honestly, I figured once you got bored enough, you'd just go out with someone again." "I feel like you have a really low opinion of me Haru-chi," Jasmine said, sulking a bit. "N-No!" Haruna said back in a panic. "It's not a low opinion, it's just, ummm… You have a long list of ex-boyfriends?" "...Yeah, that's not any better," Jasmine said.

Letting out a sigh, Jasmine looked at Haruna. "Sorry we can't all find our destined ones or whatever." "Destined? What, me and Kanako?" Haruna asked. "Duh. Who else would I be talking about?" Jasmine said like it was obvious. "Come on, we weren't destined," Haruna said.

"You've known each other since childhood."

"Yeah, but-"

"Then you hated her."

"O-Okay, but-"

"You ended up falling in love with her while you were both chasing after the same guy."

"W-Well…"

"And now you're dating."

"…"

Haruna couldn't say anything back. "See?" Jasmine said with a small smirk. "If that ain't destiny, I don't know what is." "Fine, whatever! Call it whatever you want!" Haruna yelled. "But what about you, huh? Are you turning down all of the guys because of something like that?" "Not really," Jasmine replied breezily. "I think instead, I might just be waiting for love to find me."

"Find you?" Haruna repeated. "Yup," Jasmine said. "I mean, I tried lookin', and that obviously didn't go so well, so maybe I'll just sit here and wait for it to come to me." "Can love even work like that?" Haruna mumbled.

Currently, the two of them were standing in the hallway. It was after school, and while Haruna was waiting for Kanako to get done with her club, she had found Jasmine. "Actually, why're you still here anyways?" Haruna asked. "Don't you usually leave quickly?" Jasmine shrugged. "Not always. Besides, it's not like I go straight home anyways. Like, I'd probably just be sitting at a restaurant or something instead of being here, so it doesn't really matter."

Hearing that prompted a series of questions in Haruna's mind. "She would just be sitting at a restaurant? The way she said that, it sounds like she'd be alone. Is that what she normally does? Why not just go home?" The more Haruna thought about it, the more she came to realize just how little she knew about Jasmine. "I really… don't know much about her, do I?"

Initially, Haruna had only come to know Jasmine through Chiyo. Thanks to time spent together between the three of them, Haruna had eventually been able to consider Jasmine a friend. However, it wasn't until this school year (and specifically because of Haruna's love life), that Haruna had begun to truly spend time with Jasmine. But even then, Haruna realized that Jasmine hadn't said much about herself.

A part of Haruna wanted to ask, but she also wondered if they had a close enough relationship now so that she could ask personal questions without it being awkward. "I kinda want to ask about her home life, at least, but what if it's something she doesn't want to talk about?" Aside from knowing that Jasmine's mother was American and that her father was Japanese, Haruna knew nothing else.

"Y'know, if ya keep makin' that face, you'll get wrinkles," Jasmine teased. Haruna's face had begun to look a bit intense as she fell deep into thought. "Ya thinkin' about something important over there?" "Just that…" Haruna began to say. "… I really don't know much about you."

For a moment, Jasmine seemed to stiffen. "...Oh yeah?" she finally said. "Well, I guess it's true you and I haven't gotten that close until recently. But like, there's also not much to say. My life's pretty boring." Somehow, the way Jasmine said that made Haruna doubt her. "She has a list of ex-boyfriends, and she doesn't go home right away. Does Jasmine-chan seriously think I'd believe her life is boring?" Haruna thought.

"Though, just so you know," Jasmine continued. "You probably shouldn't say things like 'I don't know much about you.' Kinda sounds like ya wanna get to know me," Jasmine said with a sultry tone. "Even though you already have a girlfriend." "That's not what I meant!" Haruna exclaimed. "God, Jasmine-chan. If Kanako heard you say that, she might get the wrong idea."

"Hear Hiraoka-san say what?" a voice suddenly asked. Turning, Haruna spotted Kanako and Mayu walking up to them. "N-Nothing!" Haruna said, her voice cracking in the middle. Next to her, Jasmine snickered before going over to Mayu.

"Ready to go?" Jasmine asked. "Yes," Mayu said back pleasantly. "Huh?" Haruna thought. "Wait a minute. Was Jasmine-chan just here waiting for Kawaguchi-san?" Watching the two of them and how they interacted with each other, Haruna began to wonder just what kind of relationship they had.

"It's nice that they get along so well," Kanako commented as the other pair walked away. "I'm just surprised to see that Jasmine-chan was waiting for Kawaguchi-san," Haruna said. "Yeah, I never thought Hiraoka-san was the type to do something like that," Kanako agreed before turning to face Haruna. "Shall we go as well?" she asked as she took Haruna's hand. "S-Sure…" the other girl sputtered.

She thought holding her hand was something she had gotten used to, but apparently, having Kanako officially as her girlfriend just made Haruna more conscious. Although, for as conscious as she was, Haruna also felt fairly calm. "This is nice," she thought idly.

While the two of them walked home, they talked about this and that, until finally a dreaded topic arose. "Finals are next week huh?" Kanako said with a sigh. "Ugh… why'd you remind me?" Haruna groaned. "At least we've been getting plenty of review," Kanako said. "But…"

""I haven't been paying attention at all.""

Both girls said the same phrase. Looking at each other, they couldn't help but break into a fit of laughter. They knew why neither of them had been able to focus. The reason was of course the person next to them. A head filled with love was hardly fit for studying.

"S-Should we have a study session?" Kanako suggested. "That might be a good idea," Haruna said. With that decided, the two girls continued on their way, until eventually, they reached their houses. "W-Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Kanako said shyly. "… Would it… sound really cheesy if I said I didn't want you to go yet?" Haruna asked quietly. "A-A little," Kanako said with a small laugh. "But it makes me happy to hear that."

Turning fully to Haruna, Kanako took up both of Haruna's hands. "We're together Haruna," Kanako said. "Going back to different places… it's really only a temporary thing, right? A-After all, one day…" Her face getting redder and redder, Kanako's voice became inaudible. "One day what?" Haruna asked curiously. "O-One day…" Kanako sputtered. "W-We'll...um… We'll always be together…"

Haruna didn't quite understand. "Uh, yeah, isn't that the point?" she said. "I-I'm sure you'd look really pretty in a dress Haruna…" Kanako said quietly. "A-Anyways, um, t-thanks for walking with me! G-Good night!" Speeding off, Kanako left a confused Haruna behind.

"Always together… Me… in a dress?" Haruna repeated, trying to piece it together. Suddenly, the word "marriage" came to mind. "A-Ah… ahhhhhh! M-M-M-Marr- Kanako! H-Hey! Aren't you trying to move a little too fast?!" Of course, Kanako was already inside, leaving Haruna to just shout into the air.

"Marriage…" Haruna muttered to herself. Bringing a hand up to her mouth, a couple of her fingers brushed against her lips. "That… might be nice…" she said, with her voice barely above a whisper.

*****

"Sorry I made you wait," Mayu said as Jasmine walked with her. "You didn't make me Mayu-chi. I told ya I would, so that's what I did," Jasmine said with a bit of a huff. "Well, as long as it's not a bother… Wah!" Mayu said. Suddenly, she felt a hand ruffling her hair. "J-Jasmine-chan?" "You're adorable, ya know that?" Jasmine said with a beaming smile. Seeing that, Mayu could feel her cheeks redden. "Y-You're just teasing me again," she pouted. "Nope. Not one. Little. Bit," Jasmine said, tapping Mayu's nose with her index finger.

Feeling flustered, Mayu moved for a change of topic. "A-Are you ready for finals?" Jasmine shrugged. "I guess. It's not like any of the tests are hard." "You really don't think so?" Mayu asked. "I mean, it's not like I'm a straight-A student or anything, but like, I don't really need to worry about my grades. So to me, the tests seem easy. Only the genius kids and idiots are worried."

"I suppose I understand," Mayu said. "Y'know, speaking of idiots," Jasmine said. "Where's ours?" "Are you referring to Itsuki-chan?" Mayu asked. "Who else?" Jasmine asked. "I wish you wouldn't talk about her like that. She may not be good with studying, but she has talent in sports," Mayu said, defending her best friend. "Yeah I know," Jasmine said. "But it's not like I'm really wrong, y'know?" "I… can't really deny that," Mayu said with a sigh.

Admittedly, it wasn't as if Itsuki had horrible grades. However, in comparison to the rest of the class, she was certainly closer to the bottom. "So, where is she?" Jasmine asked. "She told me that she would be skipping club to focus on studying for the finals," Mayu said, a bit of confusion in her tone. "Is that really so weird?" Jasmine asked. "Itsuki-chan trying to cram before finals isn't weird, no, but she's never skipped club to do it. Actually, now that I think about it, she's been acting a bit odd the last few days."

As Mayu explained, a frown grew on Jasmine's face. "She's right," the gal thought. "Itsuki-chan has been a little distance lately. I wonder if…" Thinking, Jasmine looked at Mayu, and swore she saw a bit of loneliness on her face. "Yeah… she would look that way if her best friend wasn't here," Jasmine thought. "I wonder… if she would prefer Itsuki-chan was here instead of me?"

Jasmine didn't really want to consider the idea, but for some reason it persisted in her mind. "Hey, Mayu-chi," she thought. "If I wasn't here… would you have an expression like that for me?" It was a thought she dared not speak. Honestly, Jasmine didn't even understand it herself, and if she didn't understand, how could she ask such a thing to Mayu?

So, instead of asking, Jasmine just shook her head. "I don't know what I'm thinking about," she thought. "Mayu-chi is my friend. Itsuki-chan is too. There's no reason to think about stuff like that and risk ruining all that."

"Jasmine-chan? Are you okay?" Mayu suddenly asked. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Jasmine said, being snapped out of her train of thought. "You were making a weird face," Mayu said. Reaching up, Jasmine pulled on Mayu's cheeks. "Pets shouldn't say such mean things to their owners," she said with a smirk. "I'm noh a pesh!" Mayu cried. Once Jasmine let go, Mayu brought her hands up to her cheeks. "Ow…" she groaned. Giving a half-glare/half-pout, Mayu looked at Jasmine. "Meanie…" she muttered.

It wasn't long after that that they arrived at the point they split off. "See you tomorrow," Mayu said with a wave. "Yeah, see ya," Jasmine said. Turning, Mayu began to walk away, Jasmine watching as her back get smaller. For some reason, something made her want to call out to Mayu.

"Mayu-chi!"

Before she knew it, Jasmine had said her name. Hearing it, Mayu turned around. "Yes?" she asked, surprised to hear her name being called so suddenly. "Uh… um…" Jasmine flailed. She had said Mayu's name without even thinking. Naturally, hardly anything to say was coming to mind. "D-Don't…" she said. "forget… to study…"

In response, Mayu smiled. "Yes. I won't forget." Then she faced forward again and continued on her way home. "Don't forget to study," Jasmine repeated to herself. "God, that sounded so stupid. Why'd I even say that?" Of course, she didn't even know why she had stopped Mayu anyways, so there was no way to know the answer.

"Did I just not want her to go?" Jasmine wondered, but she quickly dismissed the idea. "No, that's just as stupid. I'll see her tomorrow." Although, when compared to the prospect of going home, Jasmine found that she would've really preferred to still be with Mayu.

*****

Finals came, and then finals went, leaving devastated students in their wake. Even with all of the review, the combination of the cultural festival plus it being almost the end of the year was deadly for some. Watching the hallways of Iwanai High was like watching the walking dead.

"That was awful…" Haruna groaned during lunch. "Told ya you should've studied," Chiyo said. "Like you did any better," Jasmine pointed out. "Hah! I'll have you know that I had a very good tutor this time around, so I got pretty good grades this time!" Chiyo bragged. "Tutor? Who?" Haruna asked. "Mi-chan!" Chiyo said back excitedly. "You actually got her to tutor you? That's like, an achievement on it's own," Jasmine said, a little amazed. "It was fun! Although, she did yell at me for goofing off," Chiyo said. "Now I'm not as surprised," Jasmine said.

"Hey, y'know what we should do after the graduation ceremony?" Chiyo suddenly said. "We should throw Kana-chan and Haru-chi a celebration!" "C-Celebration?!" Haruna exclaimed. "Yeah, because you two are finally dating! That's something to celebrate, ain't it?" Chiyo said. "You just want a reason to throw a party," Jasmine pointed out. "That's not true!" Chiyo shouted.

"I appreciate the thought," Haruna said, cutting in. "But I think Kanako and I would like to keep this to ourselves a little longer. It's kinda nice feeling like we have some sort of secret. And…" "And?" Chiyo repeated. "...There's the issue of how to break the news to everyone," Haruna finished. "Ah…" Chiyo and Jasmine said simultaneously.

"I guess that makes sense," Chiyo said. "But I still wanna celebrate!" "Go party with Chitose," Jasmine said. "I can't. She had classes this week," Chiyo said with a sigh. "So she does go to class…" Haruna mumbled to herself. With how much she had seen Chiyo's older sister, she had begun to wonder if Chitose actually was a college student or if she was just telling people she was.

"Y'know, if ya really wanna celebrate something, you could celebrate us making it to our third year," Jasmine said. "Ah, you're right! We could do that!" Chiyo said excitedly. "Wow… we'll be third-years huh? That's kinda crazy." "Yeah, especially considering someone like you made it this far," Jasmine joked. "Why do you have to be so mean to me Jas-chin?!" Chiyo cried.

"Third-years…" Haruna thought as the two gals continued jabbing at each other. "That means only one more year left until we graduate." Putting it that way, it was a bit surreal. Although, while graduating on it's own was important, Haruna had something bigger on her mind. "Does that mean… I only have one more year with Kanako?"

She had no idea what the future would hold. Once high school was over, would they end up having to go their separate ways? "Then again…" Haruna thought. "She brought up marriage…" Surely that meant Kanako had long-term plans with Haruna, right? "But, plans can change… what if something happens that makes her go in a different direction?"

Worry after worry threatened to pile up in Haruna's mind, but before it could go any further, she put a stop to it. "It doesn't matter," she thought. "Because no matter what happens, I know I want to be with her. As long as I have that, everything else will work out."

Perhaps it was a bit idealistic and optimistic to think that, but it brought peace to Haruna's mind.

*****

The next day marked the final day of the term, which meant it was also time for graduation. All of the students filed into the gymnasium, teachers lined the sides, and one after the other people came up on stage to give speeches. For the most part, it was a boring affair. However, there was one event that everyone was looking forward to.

Just like any other graduation, the graduating students walked across the stage as each of their names were called. As the speaker went down the list, more and more murmurs could be heard.

"Here she comes!"

"It's gotta happen today!"

"No way, I'm totally winning this!"

That's right. With the end of her third year, that meant it was also the end of the pool to see if Izumi Komatsu would trip over her own hair. The shorter-than-short girl had made it all of her life without tripping over her blue hair that was so long it should've slipped under her feet and caused her to fall. And yet, somehow, it was as if she had full control over every strand. Never once had she even stumbled, and now, on the last day of her high school career, the president of the Girls Snowboarding and Skiing club, Haruna's former president, and future Olympic talent, walked across the stage.

Many people held their breath. Others quietly cheered for her demise. Step by step, she went up the stairs as the name "Izumi Komatsu!" rang out. Striding across the stage, she reached the principal and accepted her diploma. Then, she continued on, taking each step slowly (seemingly almost on purpose) as she finished crossing the stage.

Bounding down each step, Izumi landed on the floor. And with that, her high school career was complete without a single incident.

"YES! I WON THE POOL! I TOLD YOU ALL SHE WOULDN'T FALL!" A boy declared to the entire audience, which was met by several groans. Immediately after, Izumi ran back up on stage and snatched the mic out of the announcer's hand.

"HAH! YOU ALL LOSE SUCKERS!" she shouted. As it turned out, she had known about the pool all along. "And hey, hey!" she continued as she dodged the man on stage trying to get the mic back. "To the guy who bet on me! Wanna go on a date?" Hearing that, the boy's jaw dropped. "Ah, um, y-yes! I would love to!" "Awesome, awesome!" Izumi said back, beaming.

Some teachers had their hands to their foreheads. A few students felt embarrassed watching the scene unfold. However, the thing that dominated the space was laughter. For those that knew Izumi, it made perfect sense that this was how her graduation would go.

"Yep. That's just like her," Haruna said as she watched. "Will you go talk to her after the ceremony?" Kanako asked. "No way. She's gonna be swarmed by people. I'll catch her later," Haruna said with a smile.

After that, the ceremony concluded without further incident. Plenty of tears were shed, and the third-year students of Iwanai High got an excellent send-off.

"Well, I guess that's it," Haruna said once it was over. "Yeah. I-It makes me a bit nervous to think that that'll be us next year," Kanako said. "We should all go on a trip together after!" Chiyo suggested. "As if the camping trip and school trip with you weren't bad enough," Michi groaned. "I think it would fun!" Itsuki added. "Perhaps we should focus on our last year first," Mayu said. "Only one more year of high school… Why can't it be over now?" Jasmine said. "I-I just hope i-it goes well," Hinami said.

Everyone's current school year was complete. Now, the students would all be moving up a grade. Kanako, Haruna, Michi, Chiyo, Jasmine, Mayu, Itsuki, Hinami, and some of the members of the cooking club were now all officially third year students of Iwanai Municipal High School. What the future held, none of them knew, but there were certainly high hopes that it would contain plenty of good memories for them to look back on.

End of Volume Five.