Kyoko waited for Kuri-chan to return. With everyone gathered together memories tagged along as well, most but not all of them pleasant.

A few unpleasant enough to provoke lies, like when she lied about not knowing what had happened to Noriko during her last year in middle school. That had been a lie out of consideration, but there were other lies as well.

Midsummer's eve 2040 ran from sunny evening to blue dusk, and as the sun set on their party so did her memories. Her first year in high school had been when she came alive for real, but living hadn't been painless. But for the support of Yukio she wasn't sure she could have held on to what was important to her.

And Kuri-chan of course. Without Kuri-chan her life would have been a very different one. One where she survived rather than lived, just like her parents.

So Kyoko sat down and waited for the woman who had been her closest friend for so many years. There had been betrayals, but in the end none of them felt betrayed.

In the beginning there had only been the strangest of friendships.