-One year later-

The arid day seemed to go on forever as Kanari sat in the class of 2-D as she listened to the teacher go on about how Samurai were the proud defenders of Japan, and the strict code of honor that they were bound by.

"And in the worst case scenario," the teacher continued, "If the samurai's lord was killed in any way, it was common for them to commit seppuku, or hara-kiri, a ritual suicide in which they would disembowel themselves following a lavish meal, and then beheaded shortly after..." The teacher's voice trailed off as Kanari then felt an idea pop into her brain. 

She then flipped over to a blank page in her notebook, and she began to sketch what appeared to be a dome that was designed to hold at least five stories, And it was designed in a way that it appeared to be more fictional than expected.

This was a hobby that Kanari had picked up on over the years- sketching the layout of buildings. Kanari smiled to herself as she continued to sketch out all of the intricate measurements of the building.

Suddenly, the sharp ringing of the bell interrupted Kanari's designing spree, and she frustratingly snapped her notebook shut and began to put it away in her schoolbag.

She paused a moment before she stood up, thinking as to what her uncle was doing currently at home. Probably working. Kanari then stood up and began to exit the classroom. 

As she was walking down the hallway, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She pulled out her phone, and opened her messaging app. 

It was from Ryuji, 'Hey Kanari-chan, I was wondering if you wanted to hangout later.' Kanari hesitated for a moment before responding 'What's the occasion?' 

She waited a bit for a response, but there was none. Suddenly, she felt herself bump into someone's body. She let out an audible "Oof!" and she stumbled a bit, but a hand reached out to grab her elbow.

She opened her eye and looked at who it was, and immediately she felt her face flush in embarassment. "Are you okay there? You should really be watching where you are walking." came Ryuji's voice as she shook her head.

"Yeah I'm fine," she responded, "I was just waiting for a response."

"Really?" he asked, and Kanari just stared at him, and then his face changed to one of recognition, "Oh that's right sorry!" he rubbed the back of his head as he smiled at her.

"What's the occasion?" she repeated her question, putting her phone away quickly.

"Oh nothing, my mom was just wondering when we'll hangout again, it's been a while." he placed both arms behind his head as he turned around.

"Oh, that's..." she trailed off.

Ryuji took notice of this and he sighed heavily, "Look," he turned back to her, "I understand if me being around you makes you feel awkward, especially since the incident last year." he explained, almost forlorn.

She paused for a moment, "No, no it's okay seriously. It's fine, it's just..." she smiled shyly, "Okay, fine." she gave in, and Ryuji's face brightened.

"Well great," he replied, and he nudged her with an elbow, "We should go." He extended a hand to her.

"Wait, now?" Kanari stammered, "But I need to tell my-"

"Don't worry," Ryuji shot her the familiar toothy grin, "I made sure to text your uncle beforehand, he said something about 'Making sure that my niece is back by 11:00 pm' or something like that."

Kanari chuckled and she place her hand in his, which was oddly warm for the time of year. "Fine, you got me." she smiled shyly as he pulled her along the school hallway, and they had reached Ryuji's house by the time it reached 3:10.

Ryuji unlocked the door to his house and opened the door, and he held it open for Kanari to walk in. "What a kind gentleman." she remarked.

"Whatever." Ryuji shot back before closing the door. He set down his schoolbag on the nearby table. "Mom!" he called out, and Kanari flinched from the volume of his voice, "I'm home, and Kanari-chan is here!"

There was a brief moment of silence, and for a moment Kanari believed that she was alone. With her best friend. At his house.

Fortunately for her, before her mind could register anything else, the sounds of energetic footsteps were heard as Ryuji's younger sister came rushing down the steps.

Unfortunately though, she came down with a sped so fast that as soon as she ran to hug Kanari, they both fell over, and Kanari let out a large, audible groan of pain.

"Hello Kanari-san!" she called out, and Kanari returned the sudden embrace.

"Akari, I think you're crushing her." Ryuji told his sister, who pouted.

"I just missed her is all!" she reluctantly let go of Kanari, who slowly stood up, and rubbed her lower back gingerly.

"Man, Ryuji-kun, I don't ever recall Akari-san to have grown this much in what, a year?" Kanari looked at him, and Ryuji smiled shyly. 

Akari had dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and had bright blue eyes to match her personality. And at the present moment, Akari wore a black headband that prevented hair from falling into her face, a short sleeved red shirt, and a pair of jogging shorts. As far as Kanari could remember, Akari would always run around, spouting nothing except for what seemed to be pure optimism. And that was something that Kanari could have more of in her life. 

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck, "You never seem to want to hangout with me anywhere anymore." He then turned around, and Kanari began to panic, "Don't worry," he started, "I'll just change out of my uniform real quick. And with that, he was up the stairs, and Kanari heard a door close.

Akari immediately turned back to face the red head, and smiled. "I still have the old set of clothes you left behind last time," she began, her eyes shut to match her bright smile, "You can go put them on if you like."

Kanari nodded at Akari, "Yeah, that would be great." And on that note, Kanari headed off to Akari's room to change.

"You still remember where it is right?" she heard Akari's voice travel up the stairs.

"Yeah, first door on the left in the hallway, right?"

"Yep, that's the one!"

After Kanari had reached the door, she opened it and walked inside, making sure to lock the door after closing it.

She then approached the room's closet, and in there was a variety of clothes, but Kanari drew her attention to the ground. And sure enough, there was a paper bag on it labeled "Kanari's Change" in white marker.She frowned. Everyone in the Sakamoto household knew of her true hair color,but she ignored it, as she believed it was just coincidence. 

She grabbed the bag and changed into it relatively quickly. She looked at herself in the mirror. At the present moment, she was wearing a green and white striped shirt that had a blue design on the front. To go with it she wore a set of loose jeans, and she frowned a bit. She then walked out of the room and proceeded to enter the unoccupied bathroom, where she took off her medical patch from her right eye.

And staring right back at her was the familiar purple eye that lingered with her since the age of six.

She raised her hand to feel the area around it for a minute, before she reapplied the patch to her eye, concealing it yet again from the world that had cursed her eye with her sight.

She took a deep breath, and she walked out of the bathroom, and she headed down the steps. 

There, she saw Akari engaged in a conversation with her blonde friend. He was wearing a set of dark pants, and... Kanari felt her heart speed up a bit. 

He was wearing the same purple sweater that she had gotten him on the day of the incident.

Ryuji looked up and noticed her, and he smiled at her. "I see that Akari kept your clothes here." he remarked at her.

"Yeah, well I think that my uncle wouldn't like me going home in this outfit." she replied.

"Awww, but it looked real great on you!" his compliment didn't help her situation at all, and Kanari found herself attempting to cover her face with her carmine locks.

"Geez, what has gotten into you?" Ryuji didn't appear to notice thhe ever-growing blush on her face, and Kanari turned away. Akari laughed.

"You wouldn't understand oni-san," Akari began, You don't understand!"

"Hey! That's not true, is it Kanari-san?" he asked her.

'Darn it Ryuji-kun!' she thought, 'Don't put me on the spot like this!' "S-Sure, it isn't true." she complied.

"You see Akari, I do understand." he bragged to his sister, and he brought her in for a hug.

And for once in her life, she felt herself at ease.

It didn't take long for Ryuji's Mother to return home, and she found Kanari's presence to be relieving, as Akari and her twin Haru were being a tad too much for her and Ryuji to handle by themselves as of late.

"It's been busy," she began, "Especially since..." she trailed off, and Kanari was worried.

"Since..." Kanari continued, eager to learn more.

"My mom's engaged," Ryuji began, "To a much better man."

Kanari's smile brightened, "That's great Ms. Sakamoto! When's the date?"

"We're planning within the month, so things will get much, much more livelier." she responded.

Kanari then eventually was put in charge of making sure that Akari was well tucked in bed before she relaxed on the couch. Ms. Sakamoto sat down on it not much longer after her. "So," she began, "How have things been between the two of you?" she inquired.

"Things have been great, why're you asking?" came Kanari's response. "I just wanted to make sure that my son has good influences on him in school, you know how he is nowadays..."

"Oh no, everything's good."

"Whew! That's a relief. Anyways, I have to continue planning for my big day, again... So I'm off to bed! It was great though, seeing you again Kanari-san. Thanks for stopping by."

And with that, Ms. Sakamoto stood up and headed off to her room, leaving Kanari by herself on the couch. She stared at the ground in silence, almost as if she were a deer in the headlights. 

"Hey, you okay?" came Ryuji's voice, and Kanari turned her head sharply at him, and his expression was... Saddening.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked, and Ryuji sat down next to her.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them. "I'm sorry." Ryuji's voice cut through the silence.

"For what?" Kanari was confused.

"For the incident, if I hadn't inter-"

"That wouldn't have changed a thing," she cut him off, "It would've happened eventually anyway."

"I just-"

"No Ryuji-kun, it's fine. It is in the past now, and that is all that matters. Besides," she nudged him with an elbow, "It's not like anything will happen to us anyway."

Ryuji seemed to tense at this statement, as if he took it seriously.

"Are you okay?" Now it was her turn to ask the same question.

"Yeah," Ryuji mentioned, "What would happen to us in the future though?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Forget it. I'm too tired to think right now."

"Hold on, I want-" 

Kanari never got to finish her sentence, as she felt a high-pitched ringing start inside her head, and Kanari shut her eye and held her hands to her ears, seething out loud in pain.

"Are you alright!" Ryuji's frightened voice was muffled as Kanari began to hyperventilate.

She was like this for a moment until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and pulled her in close to them. 

"It's alright Kanari-chan, I'm here." her blonde friend's voice soothed her panic, and she slowed her breathing to a normal pace. "You good?" he asked her, and Kanari nodded. "Okay, that's great." Ryuji let out a sigh of relief.

Kanari turned around to look at him, and her eyes widened at what she had seen.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, "You're looking at me as if I'm some skeleton dude."

And he wasn't far off. Kanari swore that her blonde friend had the aura of a skeleton pirate, and it was using a ship as a hoverboard.

And she couldn't discern as to whether or not it was a good or bad thing.

Translation Notes: Tamuro U, which translates to hangout, which I believe is  たむろう