One Year Later

4 | Girl Squad, Assemble!

"Aha! There you are!"

Asahina called out to the hall monitor that was in the process of trying to sneak into his dorm room. He froze halfway through opening the door. Chihiro, unable to see his face, couldn't tell if it was surprise or fear that halted his movements. But, either way, he stopped. Finally, at long last, they had caught that infuriatingly speedy prefect.

Asahina stomped up beside him, wasting no time in scolding him.

"Taka-kun! We've been trying to track you down since yesterday!" she reprimanded, giving his shoulder a slight shove. His eyes, wide and innocent, blinked.

"Oh?" No stammer— it seemed that Kiyotaka genuinely hadn't noticed. "I do apologize! I've been very busy trying to get approval from the headmaster for a proposition of mine, and it's had me running around the building quite a bit." His eyes glistened, and he clenched his fists. "To ignore my dear friends... How could anyone ever forgive such a thing?!"

His sudden burst of emotion seemed to stun Asahina out of her anger. She fumbled for a response. Sakura chuckled at the immediate change in atmosphere.

"Th-That's— You obviously wouldn't do that on purpose, of course! It's no big deal! You don't have to cry, really!"

"...R-Really? You aren't angry?! If you are, you may strike me! Only once, though. I have to look presentable for my presentation before the financial board tomorrow morning!"

"Taka!" Chihiro lightly slapped their overzealous friend on the back of the head, and that seemed to snap him back into his senses. Kiyotaka gasped in a breath, and his tears receded as quickly as they had appeared. "It's okay, really. It's just frustrating chasing you around, is all! If you're busy, it can't be helped. We have you now."

"R-Right. Of course." Kiyotaka grinned, having recomposed himself.

A little over a year ago, emotional outbursts like this had been commonplace for the prefect. He had been the sort of person who overreacted to, quite literally, everything. Now, after spending a couple of years picking up on social skills and developing healthy friendships, he was able to keep this mostly under control. Externally, anyway. He was still a very genuine and open person, emotionally (which wasn't a bad thing by any means— in fact, it was one of Chihiro's favorite things about Kiyotaka), but he could usually keep from having sudden fits of rage or bursting into tears without warning. He'd also learned to bite back comments that weren't appropriate for the time, and had started to loosen up a bit in regards to things like schedules and doing things simply to have fun.

The thought gave Chihiro pause. A lot of things had changed in such a short span of time. Hope's Peak seemed to have that affect on people. After all, two years ago, no one at the school had known the truth—

That Chihiro Fujisaki was a boy.

He smiled as he thought back on how remarkably understanding both Mondo and Kiyotaka had been. Chihiro had been certain, when he'd decided to tell them, that Kiyotaka would have some kind of nervous breakdown before he could accept it. And he had, to some degree— he'd cried confused tears and shouted so loudly that Chihiro had feared the entire school would unwittingly learn his secret. But Mondo had calmed him down, and then Kiyotaka had quietly asked for an explanation. Chihiro told them both why he he chosen to begin dressing in skirts, and when he told them this, they understood. And they'd sworn to help him out and keep his secret, no matter what.

They were good friends to him, those two. That day in the gym had been only six months ago, but it felt like it had been years— they'd both adjusted so comfortably to switching pronouns when appropriate, and neither one had had a slip of the tongue around the others. Chihiro had honestly expected Mondo to mess up by how. He had a habit of letting things slip that he hadn't meant to say. That, and Kiyotaka was almost incapable of lying... Even so, the secret had stayed with them, carefully guarded.