At that very moment, the two quiet girls Kaoru had been wondering about were sharing secrets inside the shower room.
"Is it really okay for us to shower together?"
Miki held her clean clothes close to her chest, her legs drawn awkwardly together and the tips of her ears turning red.
"I-it's fine."
Airi was embarrassed too.
After spending so much time around Kei and Kikyō, she had gradually become accustomed to changing and bathing near other girls. She had therefore pulled Miki inside without thinking much about it.
Only once the door closed behind them did Airi belatedly realize how awkward the atmosphere had become.
She had never been especially bold herself, and her ears quickly turned red as well.
However, seeing that Miki was even more embarrassed gave Airi a tiny sense of pride.
She was an experienced, mature woman now.
Surely she ought to act a little more confidently.
Images of Kikyō, Honami, and Kei flashed through her mind, along with the kinds of things they would say in situations like this.
Airi gathered her courage and whispered, "I-if you don't like it, then maybe I should go back outside..."
Her eyes immediately became watery.
She could not do it.
The lines the others used were far too embarrassing!
Seeing Airi preparing to flee, Miki hurriedly caught her arm.
"N-no, you don't need to leave. We can shower together, as long as Airi doesn't mind."
Airi slowly turned back.
She wanted to look at Miki but felt too embarrassed to meet her eyes directly.
For a brief moment, she wondered whether dragging her friend in here had been strange.
"I still want to hear more about Mitoma-kun."
Miki lowered her head and looked at her feet.
She had already spent a long time listening to Airi talk about her experiences with Kaoru that day.
"Eh? Of course! Let me think of what else to tell you."
Airi sounded surprised, but happiness quickly filled her face.
Sharing stories about one's romance with a close friend was surely one of the greatest joys a girl could experience.
Now she had both friends and Kaoru.
Airi felt wonderfully fortunate and failed to notice just how unusually interested Miki had become in every detail of their relationship.
Had Kikyō been present, she would have sensed something immediately.
The two girls placed their folded uniforms and clean clothes aside before stepping beneath the warm water.
When Airi glanced over, she noticed Miki looking at her with a slightly puzzled expression.
"D-do I have something on me?"
Airi became self-conscious.
Aside from Kei and the others, she had almost no experience showering around another person.
"N-no, it's nothing!"
Miki waved her hands quickly.
"I was only thinking that Airi seems so grown-up and pretty..."
Airi's face turned bright red, and she instinctively folded her arms over herself.
"I-I'm not pretty..."
She still possessed very little confidence.
Kaoru constantly praised her, yet she could not easily accept another person studying her appearance.
Miki became faintly self-conscious in return.
Airi had beautiful skin, a graceful figure, and the kind of appearance that became unexpectedly striking once she stopped hiding beneath loose clothing.
Miki looked down at herself.
She was smaller and more delicate, which suddenly made her feel almost childish beside Airi.
In reality, Miki was attractive in her own way, with a slender waist, balanced legs, and a petite, endearing figure.
The warm water gradually filled the shower room with mist.
After a moment of hesitation, Miki poured some body wash into her hands.
"I can wash your back."
Airi startled slightly when Miki touched her shoulders, then gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Kaoru has helped me wash my back before too."
Miki's hands abruptly stopped.
After several seconds, her eyes widened.
"Y-you've showered together?"
"O-only sometimes. It isn't something we do often."
Airi realized she had accidentally revealed too much and immediately began stammering.
Her frantic denial made the truth even more obvious.
"You two haven't already... gone that far, have you?"
Miki nearly bit her tongue.
Several inappropriate possibilities flashed through her mind, turning her face completely red.
She had assumed their relationship had only recently begun.
Now it sounded as though Airi had already crossed into an unknown world far ahead of her.
Airi's face became equally red.
After a long silence, she gave the smallest possible nod.
Miki stared at her.
For a moment, she felt as though the friend standing before her was no longer quite the same shy Airi she had first met.
Airi had already experienced things Miki barely understood.
"I-I'll wash your back too."
Airi hurriedly changed the subject and poured body wash into her own hands.
Miki turned around, her emotions tangled.
When Airi's palms touched her back, Miki shivered faintly and quietly asked, "What was it like?"
The instant the question escaped, she realized what she had said.
Her face burned.
Why had she asked that?
"It was... frightening at first."
Airi spoke with intense embarrassment.
"But Kaoru was gentle, and after a while, I stopped being as afraid."
"Didn't it hurt?"
Miki remembered hearing that a person's first experience could be difficult.
"A little."
Airi's voice became quieter.
"But I was happy too, because it meant he trusted me and I trusted him."
Miki could not truly imagine what she was describing.
She had never even seen a boy closely enough to understand such things.
Her confusion only made her more curious.
"Could something happen afterward?"
Miki struggled to find the right words.
"I heard that couples can end up having babies."
Airi's face became even redder.
Perhaps because they were alone in the shower room, speaking openly felt slightly easier than usual.
"Kaoru said we're being careful, so that won't happen right now."
Airi wanted to cover her face.
Even so, occasionally she caught herself imagining a distant future where it might.
"What will all of you do later?"
Miki asked softly.
"Being married to several people isn't legally possible."
"We... don't need to decide that yet."
Airi sounded guilty.
"Even without marriage, I still want to remain with him."
Miki did not know whether that answer would truly work.
After washing each other's backs, they stood beneath the warm water and rinsed away the soap.
"Miki, do you want to fall in love too?"
Airi suddenly asked.
Miki immediately became flustered.
Then she noticed that Airi was merely blinking at her with innocent curiosity and relaxed slightly.
"I-I don't know. Someone like me probably couldn't."
Miki hesitated.
"I don't know how to deal with other people. I can't even make someone dislike me properly, so how could I make anyone like me?"
Airi understood that feeling.
She had once possessed the same lack of confidence.
"Whether it's boys or girls, I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
Miki stared at her hands.
From kindergarten through middle school, she had always been alone, like a pocket of air nobody noticed.
"I think... the way things are now is already enough."
Seeing her expression, Airi unexpectedly found her courage.
She caught Miki's wrist, startling both of them, and blurted out, "That isn't true! Miki isn't alone!"
Miki stared at her in surprise.
Airi seemed equally shocked by her own boldness. Her hand retreated as though she had touched something hot, but she forced herself to continue.
"M-Miki isn't alone anymore."
"I used to think the same way. I didn't want anyone to notice me or look at me. I thought living alone inside my own world would be enough."
"But it isn't."
Perhaps because she understood Miki so deeply, Airi's words came faster than usual.
"People can't live completely alone. When something happy or painful happens, you want to share it. When you see beautiful scenery, eat something delicious, or discover something fun, you instinctively want to tell somebody."
"It's too lonely to keep all of that inside forever."
"We're friends now. I want to share my feelings with Miki, and I want Miki to share hers with me."
"I want to learn everything about you because you feel like someone who understands me."
"Kaka is our friend too, but her personality is different. She can't completely understand what it feels like for us."
"Miki was the first person who made me feel as though I had met someone truly like me."
Airi's voice continued gathering momentum.
"I was afraid of speaking to people, but communicating online meant I didn't need to face anyone directly. That was why I tried becoming an idol."
"I wore the face my fans wanted and worked hard to play that role."
"Eventually, I realized that communicating with others could genuinely make me happy."
"Even if the world isn't always kind, meeting Kaoru and meeting Miki made me feel incredibly fortunate—cough, cough!"
She had spoken far too quickly.
Airi suddenly began coughing, completely overwhelmed by the pace of her own speech.
For her, talking that rapidly was practically a life-threatening athletic event.
Miki panicked and hurriedly supported her.
"A-are you all right?"
"Uuu... I spoke too quickly. I couldn't keep up with myself."
"Eh?"
Tears appeared in Airi's eyes, and all the confidence from moments earlier vanished.
After a short pause, she finally recovered.
Then she met Miki's gaze and seemed to realize exactly how much she had just said.
Her face turned scarlet.
"Wah! M-Miki doesn't need to pay attention to any of that! I was only talking to myself!"
Seeing her friend transform back into the familiar frightened little hamster finally brought Miki out of her daze.
Warmth rose inside her, seeping into a place deep within her heart.
Was this feeling friendship?
Without noticing when it had happened, she was no longer alone.
"I-I'll treasure what Airi said."
Miki gently took Airi's hand.
She did not know how to express everything she was feeling.
"I was never able to develop proper social skills. Even after entering high school, nothing changed."
"It was Mitoma-kun, Airi, and everyone else who chose to speak with me."
Airi's words had touched Miki deeply.
Kaoru could understand her, but only Miki gave Airi the feeling that they shared the same wounds.
That was why Airi was willing to tell her everything, including the happiness and fear of her relationship.
"I understand how Miki feels!"
Airi became excited again because she felt exactly the same.
Miki smiled with relief.
Her earlier emotions toward Kaoru and Airi suddenly seemed strange.
They were close friends.
That was what mattered.
Airi felt equally happy.
Her bond with Miki had grown deeper, and having a friend who could both share her secrets and truly understand her made her heart feel wonderfully full.
Then she remembered graduation.
They were already second-year students.
In another year and a half, they would reach the end of their time at this school.
Would she be separated from Miki and Haruka then?
The thought inevitably made Airi anxious.
She did not want this friendship to become nothing more than a brief memory.
She wanted all of them to remain together forever.
Ideally, they would never separate for the rest of their lives.
Airi bit her lip.
It might sound childish, but for someone who had struggled so desperately to find friends, this mattered more than almost anything.
If only there were some way...
Suddenly, an idea appeared.
"Miki, you should date Kaoru too!"
Airi excitedly seized Miki's wrist.
If Miki also became one of Kaoru's girlfriends, then all of them could remain together forever!
Miki stared blankly at her for several seconds.
Then her eyes slowly widened.
"Eh?"