NARRATOR: "I'm not sure I like the idea of airing private matters to the Student Council."
HISAO: "Nothing major."
MISHA: "Hicchan, lying is a terrible thing to do~!"
NARRATOR: "She's not buying it. Okay, give her something, but not too much."
HISAO: "We had a disagreement and haven't resolved it yet."
MISHA: "Oh? Why not?"
HISAO: "Because - look, I don't need to talk about this, okay? It's not a big deal, okay? I'm fine."
MISHA: "And Emi? Is she fine too, Hicchan?"
NARRATOR: "Misha's voice has taken on a decidedly serious edge. This is ridiculous."
HISAO: "I don't know, okay? I haven't asked. Things are complicated right now."
MISHA: "What kind of man are you? Things get a little rough and you're going to hide from them?"
NARRATOR: "Misha's sudden retort catches me completely off guard."
MISHA: "Shicchan would call that a cowardly act, and she'd be right too! You two were close! Happy together! And you're just going to roll over and die without a fight? You should be willing to fight for your girlfriend, Hisao!"
NARRATOR: "It seems that Misha is channeling Shizune at the moment. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Shizune gave her a script to follow based on my answer. Misha points an imperious arm at the classroom door."
MISHA: "Now you get out of the classroom and patch things up!"
HISAO: "Um, we've still got afternoon classes..."
NARRATOR: "This doesn't seem to dissuade Misha."
MISHA: "Then after class! You'd better do it, Hicchan! It's important that you don't leave things like this!"
HISAO: "Why?"
NARRATOR: "Misha regards me as one would regard an animal's droppings."
MISHA: "Didn't you care about her, Hisao? That's important, isn't it?"
NARRATOR: "Huh. She's right. I did... I do care about her. Don't I?"
HISAO: "Okay. I'll see her after class."
MISHA: "Great~! I'll let Shicchan know you're okay, then~!"
NARRATOR: "The lilt returns. I guess that means that Misha isn't angry at me any more. She waves and disappears down the hallway, and I eat my lunch. While afternoon classes draw to a close, I prepare myself for the task ahead. I have to see Emi; Misha was at least correct about that. Leaving the question of Emi and I an open issue won't work. At the very least, I need to apologize for what I said. I consider going to her room to find her, but she's probably still at the track."
NARRATOR: "The steps out of the main building and down the path to the track make me feel like a doomed man. I have a twisting, horrible feeling in my gut that this is all going to go horribly wrong, that I'm not going to accomplish anything. Except for maybe driving the final nail in the coffin of whatever it was Emi and I had. There she is, just as expected, running laps around the track after everyone else has gone to shower and dinner. I don't wave, or even make my presence known. I just sit down on the bleachers and watch her run her laps. It takes her a few trips around the track before she notices me, after which she skids to a stop, eyes wide in surprise. Surprise is quickly masked by anger, which in turn fades behind a mask that I already know is impenetrable."
EMI: "What are you doing here?"
NARRATOR: "Not quite the response I'd hoped for, but at this point I don't have much of a choice."
HISAO: "I wanted to apologize for what I said the other day."
EMI: "The other day?"
NARRATOR: "She laughs, a curt exclamation of disbelief."
EMI: "It's been almost a week, Hisao."
HISAO: "Yeah, well... better late than never, right?"
NARRATOR: "Emi crosses her arms and stares at me coolly, as if sizing me up. Finally, she nods."
EMI: "Hmmph. I suppose you're right. Water under the bridge, then. I forgive you. Is that all?"
NARRATOR: "Her almost impatient question catches me so off-guard that she's halfway down the track before I think to shout after her."
HISAO: "No, wait!"
NARRATOR: "Emi stops, turns, and walks back to me, breathing a little heavily and looking annoyed at my interruption."
EMI: "What?"
NARRATOR: "Okay, I need to make this right, somehow. I have to know where I stand, maybe patch things up."
HISAO: "Can you at least sit down?"
EMI: "I think we're okay talking here."
HISAO: "Fine, sure. Look, about us..."
NARRATOR: "I pause, trying to think of a good way to phrase what I'm about to say. But before I can launch into an impassioned plea for giving me another chance, Emi's already spoken."
EMI: "There's no more us, Hisao."
HISAO: "Why not?"
EMI: "We're just not right for each other."
NARRATOR: "She delivers this outrageous statement without even looking in my eyes."
HISAO: "I don't believe you! We're great with one another!"
EMI: "Says the guy apologizing for getting thrown out of my house last week."
HISAO: "It was a fight! I said something really, incredibly stupid and apologized for it!"
EMI: "And how many times had we already discussed the problem that started the fight? How many times had I told you that there was a set boundary that I wouldn't cross, and how many times did you keep trying to cross it?"
HISAO: "Because your boundary was stupid!"
NARRATOR: "Emi rolls her eyes, folds her arm across her chest, and cocks her head to the side."
EMI: "Do you see this, Hisao? This is why we're not right for one another!"
NARRATOR: "Her voice softens a little, and she reaches out to stroke my cheek."
EMI: "You're a good guy, but we're not going to work."
NARRATOR: "With a horrible lurching feeling, I realize that she's been practicing this. Maybe every day since I left her house. Even the cheek-stroke seems rehearsed, like something out of a movie. She never intended to give me another chance. Hell, she probably would have been fine with never seeing me again."
HISAO: "So that's it, then? Nothing else to say but “Gee, it was fun while it lasted, but so long?”"
NARRATOR: "This actually seems to amuse Emi far more than I wanted it to. She gives a rather morbid sounding chuckle."
EMI: "That's how I've lived my life, Hisao. You should know that by now. And it was fun."
NARRATOR: "A sad smile. She shivers slightly, and the smile vanishes."
EMI: "But it's over now. It's for the best."
NARRATOR: "I want to yell, to scream at her. Make her see reason, that this is stupid, the whole act. That she's just afraid of me, afraid of what being close to someone means. I want to tell her that I love her and that I can't just give up on her at the drop of a hat. Except... there's no point. She's made up her mind. We're done."
HISAO: "Fine."
NARRATOR: "Emi nods, satisfied. I want to hit something."
EMI: "Good."
NARRATOR: "She brightens with a false cheeriness."
EMI: "See you around, Hisao."
HISAO: "No you won't. You won't even try."
NARRATOR: "She shrugs, as if to say “Have it your way,” and turns her back on me once more, quickly accelerating around the curve of the track. I feel numb. This is it. The end of the road for us, whatever that was. Closure, at least. Emi rounds the track again without sparing me a second glance. She's running much faster now, and I can't help but think of that first run together. I ran to catch you, to try to prove I wasn't as weak as I knew I was. But it ended badly for me, didn't it? And now, you're off running too fast for me again, and I have the choice to run after you again. But I won't. Not this time. You'd never let me catch you."
NARRATOR: "I don't even notice walking away from the track, or walking into my room, or pulling a book out of my bag to read. Just before bed, I reset my alarm. Emi and I have had our final encounter. We don't speak again after that."
GAME OVER