The rest of the month that Aya was gone, was filled with more sleepless nights for Hikaru as she reflected further on her feelings for Aya. Every now and then, she would get flashes of the last moment she saw Aya, and how hurt she had looked when Hikaru had refused to accept her feelings.

The day that Aya was said to come back was finally here…

Hikaru had set her alarm extra early to prepare herself, but she woke up even earlier than that, having been unable to sleep on the night before.

She reached out from the comforts of her bed, grabbing her phone at the side table, then tapped at it.

The calendar event that she had set was displayed on the front screen for Aya’s return.

“Ah, today’s the day Aya comes back…” Hikaru breathed, staring at the screen.

She pulled herself out of the blankets, then got out of the bed excitedly.

Heading out of the bedroom, and into her apartment’s living room, she walked into the bathroom, feeling the cold air of the high-rise.

Stopping in front of the sink, Hikaru stared at herself in the mirror, seeing her blushing cheeks.

“Why do I always look like a child?” Hikaru groaned, leaning closer to the mirror to inspect her face. “I wish my cheeks had less baby fat…”

She splashed water on her face, trying to clean herself up then proceeded to brush at her hair and a variety of other small things in an attempt to make herself look better.

“What are you doing?”

A voice came out of nowhere.

Hikaru froze and glanced next to her head at the mirror. At the open doorway that was once closed, stood her mother, Haruka, with raised eyebrows.

Despite the fact that Haruka was in her 40s, she still looked as though she could had been a teenager if not for the fact the expression in her eyes were that of a worried mother’s. It also didn’t help that she dressed herself like a mother, and tied her long black hair back in a similar fashion.

“Um…” Hikaru blinked at her mother from the mirror. She was holding a tweezer to her eyebrows, planning to pull away at some out of place hair.

“Aah!” Haruka shrieked, slapping her hands to her cheeks. “Did my baby Hikaru manage to find a boy that she likes?!”

“M-mum…” Hikaru said, but Haruka was already getting ahead of herself.

“I mean, today’s a school day, so that means they must be a student at your school. Any boy at Hibiya High must be super rich. Oh blessed lord, finally… you’ve heard my prayers! Now my retirement plan is secured!”

Haruka had her hands clasped together, staring upwards with teary eyes.

“M-mum!” Hikaru cried. “It’s not that!!”

Hikaru stomped over to the door then slammed it shut. She turned back to the mirror, continuing with what she was doing, feeling embarrassed.

After she was done, she tried on a number of different hairstyles with hairpins she had bought at the discount shop.

She posed in different angles at the mirror, trying to see how the new hairstyles looked, being unsatisfied with each one.

“I look like I’m trying too hard…” Hikaru mumbled.

She sighed, taking the pins out of her hair and placing them back in a plastic container on top of the sink.

Finishing with the rest of her morning routine and after getting dressed in her school uniform, Hikaru spent more time at the mirror until she heard knocking at the door, causing her to jump.

She rushed for the door, planning to leave for school since she knew it would be Itsuo waiting outside as usual.

“Hikaru!” Haruka was standing at the kitchen, watching her daughter. “Before you come home after school, can you help me grab some snacks from the convenience store downstairs?”

“What?” Hikaru stopped, pouting. “Why don’t you go? It’s just downstairs, mum!”

“Ah…” Haruka placed a hand to her cheek, laughing. “I spent the whole night yesterday binging that new drama show, so I haven’t really slept… I really should be sleeping now…”

Hikaru opened and closed her mouth, then shook her head. “Okay… but you really shouldn’t do that again, mum… that’s super unhealthy…” She sighed, knowing that her mother would pay no heed to her words.

“Thank you, Hikaru! I love you so much!” Haruka beamed.

“I love you so much too…” Hikaru replied back, then was about to leave, when she realised she forgot her bag.

She dashed to her bedroom, grabbing her bag before heading out the door to greet Itsuo.

“M-morning, Itsuo!” Hikaru stammered, closing the door to the apartment behind her. “Let’s go!” She started walking ahead, hoping that Itsuo didn’t notice anything different about her.

She didn’t really change much about her appearance, just fixing miniscule details.

“Wow…” Itsuo followed in Hikaru’s lead, watching the back of her head bob as she walked. “You’re fast today…”

Hikaru gave off a nervous laughter, as Itsuo caught up next to him. “Not really…”

Itsuo paused, then snapped his fingers. “Of course! Today’s the day that Aya’s back! How did I forget!”

Hikaru’s heart skipped a beat, hearing that.

“Hey Hikaru… Remember what I told you,” Itsuo said, as they began walking down the stairs. “Be careful around Aya… I know she’s your friend and all, but…”

“I will…” Hikaru didn’t want to argue with Itsuo. She always simply nodded when Itsuo gave her warnings about Aya. “Anyways, what did you think about the essay they made us do last week? It was really hard, right?” Hikaru tried to change the topic.

“Well, that was…” Itsuo started to say as they headed out of the apartment building and on the road, but a cool breeze passed by, causing him to sneeze.

"Ah, it's so cold today..." Itsuo said, putting his hands into his pockets.

"That's right..."

~x~

Arriving at the school courtyard, Hikaru’s eyes were darting around nervously, glancing at the many students that were walking around, laughing, and chatting amongst themselves. There was a cheerful and anticipating atmosphere at the school, elevated looks on student’s faces.

“They say that Aya is coming back today…”

“I know! I’ve been counting the days for her to come back!”

“Aya’s coming back today…”

“Do you know what time she’s coming?”

Conversations about Aya spiralled around Hikaru, as she watched students stroll past her.

“They’re getting pretty lively, huh?” Itsuo said, watching the scene.

“Of course!” Hikaru said. “It’s Aya, they’re talking about… Everyone looks up to her here…”

Itsuo glanced down at Hikaru’s face, studying it for a moment.

“Hey…” Itsuo said. “Something about you looks different today…”

“Really?” Hikaru blushed, stepping back from Itsuo. “What do you mean ‘different’?”

“Better. I don’t know.” Itsuo scratched at the side of his cheeks, glancing sideways. “You know, Hikaru… there’s something I’ve been meaning to say to you…”

“Huh? What is it?” Hikaru glanced back around the courtyard.

“The truth is… I…” Itsuo shuffled uncomfortably.

But Hikaru wasn’t really listening.

Itsuo didn’t notice though, since he was looking away.

“Ah!” Itsuo sighed, still staring at the ground. “Just forget it.”

Hikaru glanced at Itsuo, tilting her head in confusion. “What is it, Itsuo?”

“Nevermind… Just pretend that I didn’t say anything…”

“Okay…”

Hikaru turned her attention back at her surroundings, then saw two familiar figures approaching her. One with purple hair and the other with caramel.

“Yo.” Fumiko greeted with a kitten-like smile. Then, jumped at Hikaru, pulling her into a hug. “How are you, Hikaru?”

“Hello Hikaru!” Sana laughed, then bowed politely at Itsuo with a smile. “Hello Itsuo!”

“Hello to you too…” Itsuo said, watching Fumiko play with Hikaru. He had warned Hikaru about Fumiko too, but it seemed like his warnings had been off. Fumiko had seemed like nothing short of a great friend to Hikaru.

“Fumiko…!” Hikaru laughed, as Fumiko tickled her playfully in the hug.

“You’re so fun to tease!” Fumiko giggled, letting Hikaru go. “Anyways, are you excited? Aya’s going to be back today!”

Sana jumped up in joy, surprising the group.

“I’m so happy!” Sana said. “I actually couldn’t sleep last night at all!”

“Me neither,” Hikaru nodded.

“You know, I actually went out yesterday to buy her a tonne of gifts to welcome her back!” Fumiko said. “I got these cute handcrafted twin dolls I saw online, made in Paris, and—”

“T-that’s okay, Fumiko…” Sana said. “By the way, has anyone seen her yet?” She turned her head around, looking. “We haven’t…”

“We haven’t either.” Itsuo shook his head. “I’m sure she’ll turn up one way or another.”

“She better!” Fumiko said. “I’ve waited so long for her to come back!”

Hearing that no one has seen Aya yet made Hikaru’s stomach drop.

Wh-what if she doesn’t show up…? Hikaru thought to herself.

~x~

Class was beginning, and Mr. Abe was starting to take the roll.

Still…

Hikaru glanced to the left of her seat, at Aya’s empty desk by the window.

Don’t worry…

Hikaru turned her head back to the front of the classroom, forcing a smile.

I’m sure she’ll come soon…

At that moment, there was a knock at the door to the classroom. Everyone in the class sat up in their chairs in alert.

Ah!! Here she is! Hikaru thought, trying to rise up slightly from her chair to get a better look.

“Mr. Abe,”

A voice called, but it wasn’t Aya’s.

A head poked in through the door, belonging to another teacher. “Just wanted to talk to you about the things from the teacher’s meeting last week…”

The whole class groaned audibly, seeing that the person that had knocked wasn’t Aya.

~x~

“Hey, where is she?”

“I thought she’s coming back today…”

“Maybe she did went to America for good…”

“I don’t think she’s coming back…”

Hikaru was eating her lunch, a plain bento that she had made, deciding to spend a bit more on grocery shopping during the weekend. She stabbed at some pickled vegetables, sighing as she listened to the conversations going around the classroom.

“Maybe she’s really not coming back, huh?” Itsuo said.

“She will…” Hikaru replied back.

“Argh!” Fumiko cried, her hands on her head. “Aya, come back already!!”

“He-hey… relax, Fumiko…” Sana rested a hand on Fumiko’s shoulder.

“I can’t, Sana!” Fumiko exclaimed. “Not until Aya comes back!”

“Where do you think she is?” Hikaru asked.

“I don’t know…” Fumiko picked up her phone from her desk that was stacked next to Hikaru’s. She stared at the screen, tapping on it. “Well, when I asked Koji last time, he said it would be a month…”

“Maybe he doesn’t mean exactly a month…” Itsuo said.

“Wh-what?!” Fumiko shook her head. “That’s impossible…”

“Fumiko…” Sana said. “Are you sure you didn’t get the dates mixed up…”

“Ugh…”

“Don’t worry…” Hikaru smiled, trying to cheer Fumiko up. “We will definitely see Aya again! I’m sure of it!”

Fumiko glanced at Hikaru with tearful eyes. “You’re always so positive, Hikaru…”

“That’s not true…” Hikaru laughed, embarrassed.

“Ah, you’re like an angel, Hikaru!” Fumiko grabbed onto Hikaru, hugging her tightly. “I don’t know why I ever picked on you before!”

“F-Fumiko…”

~x~

“I guess she isn’t showing up after all, huh?”

Itsuo stood next to Hikaru, waiting outside the school as students slowly dissipated from the school courtyard. The sky had turned orange with the gradually descending sun, and most of the students had grown tired of waiting for Aya.

He glanced at the depressed look on Hikaru’s face and sighed, brushing his chocolate-brown hair backwards.

They stood in silence, next to a cherry blossom tree near the gates of the school.

“Let’s go…” Hikaru said sullenly, starting to walk off.

Itsuo nodded, then followed in her lead as they headed back to the apartment block.

It took a long time before they finally arrived at the bottom of the apartment block, Hikaru stopped.

“Ah,” Hikaru said, remembering something. “I’m supposed to buy some snacks for my mum.”

“Oh right,” Itsuo said. "Did you want me to come with you? I don't have anything else to do tonight anyways."

“Just go first, Itsuo,” Hikaru smiled, “you’ve already waited with me long enough." She bowed cutely. "Thank you so much for today!”

“No problem…” Itsuo’s cheeks reddened, seeing Hikaru smile. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then… same as usual…”

“Same as usual!” Hikaru beamed, then turned around to head back to the convenience store that was next to the apartment building.

It took only a few minutes before she arrived, stepping inside the automatic doors of the brightly lit store.

“Welcome!” An employee standing at the register next to the doors greeted Hikaru.

Hikaru bowed her head, smiling politely at the employee, then headed inside, going to the snack section of the store.

“Let’s see…” Hikaru’s eyes scanned the aisle, looking for her mum’s favourite snacks.

She paused, staring at the snacks, as her smile slowly fell, realising that no one was watching. She was filled with a sudden fatigue, tired of pretending to be happy all the time.

Staring blankly in front of her, Hikaru felt a dry mouth and tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

Something gentle went over Hikaru’s eyes covering her vision.

“Guess who!” A familiar voice said from behind her.

She froze, recognising the owner of the voice, but it felt like a long time since she has heard it.

“…Aya…?” Hikaru whispered.

A soft laugh, and then the hands that were covering her eyes moved away so that she could see again.

“You’re right, Hikaru…”

Hikaru spun around, then saw Aya standing there, with a small smile, dressed in a winter coat and a scarf warmly wrapped around her neck.

She was as beautiful as always, her flowing dark hair falling past the sides of her flawless face, some of it tucked neatly behind her ear. Hazel eyes that sparkled like diamonds and features that seemed placed to perfection.

“Surprise!” Aya laughed heartily. “My plane was delayed so I couldn’t go to school today. I was waiting outside for you at your apartment, but I saw you coming in with Itsuo, so I thought I would see you at school tomorrow instead. Then, I saw you heading to the convenience store, so I decided to surprise you…”

“A-Aya…”

Hikaru couldn’t believe her eyes that Aya was standing in front of her after being gone for so long.

“I’m sorry, Hikaru…” Aya said, rubbing the back of her head with a guilty look. “My parents forced me to go overseas with them for some business conference… They saw that I was really upset at the start of the trip, and so they didn’t let me use a phone at all because they thought something at school made me that way… Otherwise I would had definitely called or messaged you.”

“…”

“Those stupid parents of mine! Grrr!” Aya complained, crossing her arms and knitting her eyebrows in a jokingly angry way.

Hikaru felt tears surfacing on her eyes, her teeth clenching as she resisted the urge to cry.

“Hikaru?” Aya stared at Hikaru with a concerned look. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Ah, don’t tell me, you’re still angry about last time? Please forget about it, that was my fault. I shouldn’t have—”

Hikaru stood up on her toes, leaned towards Aya and covered her lips with her owns.