“Umm…so when you said this could be your ‘last chance’ back then…?”
“Oh, you heard that…? I meant it was the last chance I’d get to put on a play with these club members, of course. This is curable, but I’m still gonna need to be hospitalized for at least half a year, so all the current third-years are gonna graduate on me…”
“Oh… Ohhh. I see. That…ha-ha…”
Sora attempted a dry laugh. Back when the vice president gave him the name of Kaede’s disease, if he had asked for more details instead of saying, “Oh, I know it,” none of this would have happened. But didn’t he say that she had no chance of graduating? He must have meant that she wouldn’t be graduating with the rest of the current class. What kind of bastard leaves out important details like that?
“But I’m glad, though.”
“Huh?”
“The plan is for me to repeat a grade and still be in my third year of middle school next year, but I wasn’t too sure whether I wanted to stay in the drama club or not. But you’re gonna keep working on acting, write the greatest story ever, and perform alongside me, right? If that’s what you’re saying to me, no way I can stop now. I have some long rehab ahead of me, but I’ll try my best to get on the mend as soon as possible!”
“Oh… Yeah. Good luck. I’ll be waiting, I guess?”
Kaede’s melodious voice made Sora’s heart skip a beat. He basked in the joy of learning she wasn’t going to die, even as the embarrassment almost made him spontaneously combust out of shame. Why did he let that happen? He just wanted to crawl into a hole.
But just then:
“Hee-hee-hee… I heard the whole story.”
Yuu, who had slinked on up while he wasn’t paying attention, smiled a very meaningful smile. Shiori was next to her.
“I’m glad your disease isn’t so incurable after all,” she said as she tromped up to Kaede. “Here’s hoping that you’ll make it back to school sooner than later.”
Kaede raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Ah… Thank you?”
“Wait… But wouldn’t it be better for you if she died, Yuu?” Shiori said.
Sora gasped at the sudden morbid turn in this conversation. “Whoa, Shi! What are you talking about?!”
Yuu looked back at Shiori. “Hee-hee-hee… Indeed, Auntie, what are you talking about? If she dies, she’ll become someone completely unforgettable to him.”
Someone unforgettable—just as Kasuka, whose name could also be read as “Yuu,” was to Yuu’s own parents.
“But if she’s still alive, I can still defeat her—whether she’s the main heroine of this story or not.”
The ferocity behind Yuu’s resolute smile was greeted with a lonesome grin and an “Oh…” from Shiori.
“Um, Yasaka?” Kaede said, looking up at Yuu.
“Yes?”
Kaede slowly got up from her wheelchair, looking straight into Yuu’s face.
“Wh-what?” Yuu said, falling back a bit.
“I’m not going to lose, either.”
“…?!”
Sora and Yuu’s eyes opened wide.
“Kaede, do you mean…”
Do you mean you have a thing for me? The thought made Sora’s cheeks flush as Kaede continued.
“Because I’m going to be the star performing alongside Sora…and he’ll write the greatest story ever told for me!”
““Huh?””
Sora and Yuu just stared at Kaede. She stared back.
“Huh? You’re talking about joining the drama club and trying to take my heroine roles from me, aren’t you, Yasaka?”
Yuu deeply sighed. “…………Uh……well, let’s go with that.”
“Hee-hee! You always were a good actor, Yuu.”
Shiori couldn’t help but get a word in.
“Shi?!” Yuu yelled back. “…Hmph! Ugh. What are you, one of those oblivious protagonists that were popular in early 2010s’ romcoms? Because that’s fine by me, but I dunno how Sora feels about it…”
“What was that? Something about peelings?”
“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?!”
“Of course I am.” Kaede smiled at Yuu’s ranting. Then she turned toward Sora. “Sora, I’m going to focus on getting better for now. Can you wait around half a year for me?”
He stared at her for a few moments. Then:
“Y-yes! I’ll wait for however long you need until you’re back in school!”
His breathing grew ragged. Yuu’s lips flapped helplessly as she failed to find any words; Shiori’s entire body shook as she contained her laughter; and behind Kaede, her mother muttered. “Ahh, she likes them younger than her, huh? Just like me…”
“Anyway, Sora, see you later.”
Kaede sat back down in the wheelchair, her mother gripping the handles.
“Yeah. See you.”
Sora smiled, Kaede waved back, and her mother slowly wheeled her away. Yuu watched Sora see her off, a visible sadness in her eyes. Shiori, in turn, watched Yuu watch Sora see her off, eyes full of emotions too wicked to really be called love.
Nobody knew how this quartet’s story would unfold from here on. The romantic comedy had only just begun—and so the protagonists marched on to their futures, no matter whether it proved to be a comedy or tragedy to them all…