"Wait...you definitely only decided to write it on my hand because you knew it had a ton of strokes! You bully!" I yelped. "Bully? That's going a little far, isn't it? If that's the attitude you're gonna take, I think I'll go ahead and show you how I write my signature while I'm at it!" "Gyaaah! Cut it ooout!" One tiny complaint was all it took to line me up for a brutal counterattack! Mio made good on her threat, by the way, and really did write her signature on my palm, this time with a pen. She turned out to be a genuine celebrity: Her signature was completely illegible. Anyway, once those shenanigans were over and done with, we settled back down on the bench. All that squirming had made me work up a pretty serious sweat. "Ahh, I actually tired myself out laughing that much," said Mio. "You're the most ticklish person I've ever met, Yotsuba." "I'm not happy about that at all, just so you know!" "Aww, and here I meant it as a compliment. Oh, right! I should give this back before I forget," Mio said, pivoting on a conversational dime and handing me my uniform. She'd carefully folded it up and carried it around in a rather sturdy paper bag. She sure made that seem like an afterthought, but wasn't this the whole reason she called me out here in the first place...? "You sure you don't want me to get it cleaned, though? I could do that, no problem," Mio added. "That would take time and cost money, though, right?" I countered. "And it's not like you did anything that'd get it dirty." "Doesn't it bother you, though? Like, just the thought of wearing clothes someone else had on...?" "Not really. You're kind of a neat freak, aren't you?" "Ugh... I don't think I like you calling me any sort of freak," Mio said, pursing her lips with a wince. She might have been an active member of the working world thanks to her idol career, but she was also my age, and every once in a while she actually acted like it. Those little moments of childishness were kinda cute. "Oh, and you don't have to worry about the money part. I'm loaded." "That wasn't cute at all!" "I took a taxi here, and I'll be taking one home too. And it's late enough they'll be charging the night rate!" "You sound really proud about that and I have no clue why!" Even a little kid like me knew that taxis were pretty darn expensive! I wasn't totally sure what a night rate entailed, but it seemed safe to assume that it'd mean you'd have to pay a decent percentage more than they cost during the day. If I ended up in a position where my choices were to pay a rate like that out of my allowance or walk home, I'd lace up my shoes and hit the road for sure. "You really don't have to worry about it, though," I continued. "I mean, it's not like I got it cleaned before I loaned it to you." "I couldn't have asked you to when you were the one doing me a favor, could I...? But, well, if you don't mind, then I guess that's that," Mio said with a nod. She leaned way back onto the bench and heaved a heavy, languid sigh. Huh? I sort of thought we'd split up and go home right after she gave it back, I thought...but I didn't move either. I sat there for a moment, just watching her. "Man," said Mio, "it's like I can still hear it, even now." "Hear it...? You mean today's concert?" I asked. "Yeah. It's been a pretty long time since a performance left that much of an impression on me. Makes me wanna jump right into practice, here and now...or, really, it makes me want to put on a show of my own." The flames of motivation burning in Mio's eyes were so distinct, even I could see them. To me, performances were something to watch. Once you'd seen one, that was all there was to it. Mio, however, was a performer. For her, seeing a show was only the start. Something about that felt really impressive to me. I'd been super pessimistic about this whole endeavor from the start, and if I could turn back the clock and do it all over again, I still wouldn't have actively wanted to go through with something so risky, but now that it was all over, I could at least say that I was glad I'd managed to give her the chance to see the show for herself. "Hey, Yotsuba?" "Yeah?" "There's, well... There's a lot of stuff I'd like to talk about...but I'm honestly still a little worked up after everything that happened today, so this probably isn't the right time. I'll just leave it at this for now." She smiled at me. I had a feeling that it was the best smile that Mio—not Mio the idol, but plain old Mio Kuruma— could offer. "Thanks, Yotsuba!" ◆ ◆ ◆ ...And that was basically all there was to say about it. Nope! Nothing weird (in the sense of things that most people would consider to be cheating) happened between us whatsoever! I reaffirmed to myself. Yuna and Rinka, meanwhile, just looked at me. "Why are those stares so frigid?!" I wailed. I really, actually didn't even do anything weird this time! All I told them was the plain and simple truth: I met up with her to get my uniform back! No funny business whatsoever! "Well...whatever," Yuna sighed. "There's no point worrying about you cheating—we'd never run out of reasons to keep questioning it, after all." "I really wasn't, though!" "We know, we know. You wouldn't do anything like that intentionally," said Rinka. "We can't, however, rule out the possibility that you did something accidentally." "Wait, so you believe me, but you're still doubting me anyway?!" Just how little faith do they have in me? I wondered...but on the other hand, I did recognize that I'd earned that skepticism. After all, who even knew how many times I'd bragged about my adorable little sisters in casual conversation before all that stuff happened. Not to mention that all it'd taken was a reunion with a childhood friend to send things in that sort of direction all over again... That said, it really does bear repeating that up until this year, I'd been very high up in the running for the title of "the world's least popular loner"! That had been my whole life! The fact that—disregarding Yuna, Rinka, and Makina for a second—I'd been blessed with friends in the form of Koganezaki, Emma, Mukai, Akksy, and Mio since I got into high school was nothing short of a miracle! Questioning whether they might have romantically inclined ulterior motives for getting close to me would be super rude to all of them! I mean, sure, Koganezaki had gone out of her way to ask if the Mio Kuruma incident had ended decently even though it had basically nothing to do with the Sacrosanct, and sure, I'd promised Emma that we could hang out again sometime next week, and sure, the "good work" message Mukai had sent me after the festival included an invitation to have an after-party for just the two of us at some point, and sure, Akksy had recommended a few of her favorite anime for me to watch, and sure, Mio had invited me to come see her concert...but that was just them being friendly, that's all! "Eh, it's fine," said Yuna. "Cheat all you want—we'll drag you back to us in the end every time, no matter what it takes." "Whahuh?!" "At the end of the day, we're your formal and official girlfriends, after all," said Rinka. "S-So cool...!" They were both just so dang confident—and maybe a little embarrassed, considering the slight flush creeping across their cheeks...which was super cute! I really had to wonder how I could be dating a pair of adorably cool girls like them. Maybe all of this really was just a dream? This would be the fifth time I'd questioned that this week alone... "Honestly, I'm more concerned about how you'll definitely get scammed by someone someday, at this rate," said Yuna. "Definitely?! Not 'might'?!" "Yeah, not much question left at this point," Yuna very bluntly confirmed. Rinka, busy chewing a piece of meat, nodded as well. Cute! I mean...if they're both sure about it, then maybe they have a point...? "Okay, but a scam...? What would that even look like?" I asked. "Imagine, like... Ahem! 'Hello, Yotsuba? It's me,'" Yuna said, clearing her throat before pitching her voice down ever so slightly and speaking in a sort of theatrical tone. Wait—that voice...! "Are you...doing an impression of me?" asked Rinka. "That's right—it's the Rin-Rin Scam!" Oh! Like those scams where people call up old folks and pretend to be their grandchildren, only she pretends to be Rinka instead! And the name's probably, like, a play on "Rinka" and "ring-ring," or something! But seriously, what sort of actual monster would impersonate Rinka just to scam someone (read: me) out of their— "'Yotsuba...I ate too much at a yakiniku place and can't cover the bill. Could you wire me some money to bail me out?'" "Sure! Right away!" Rinka gave me a look. "Yotsuba?" she sighed. "Ah?!" I yelped. I said yes! I didn't even hesitate! And I only snapped out of it when Rinka sighed at me...b-but these were super extenuating circumstances! "I couldn't help it! Yuna was being so cute, I just couldn't resist!" "Wait, I sold you on it? Not the act?" said Yuna. "I mean, you nailed her mannerisms...but no matter how good of an impression it was, there's just no way I'd ever mix up your voice with Rinka's," I said. I was sure of that because this wasn't the first time I'd considered it. Rinka had borrowed Yuna's phone to call me once, and I'd known it was her instantly, even though my phone had claimed that the call was from Yuna. I couldn't remember precisely when it had happened, but the point is, I'd given some real thought in the past to how well I could tell their voices apart. "But you doing an impression of Rinka is just the cutest thing ever, especially when I get to see it in person! Like, how you were trying so hard to mimic her tone of voice, or how you were focusing so hard on her vocal mannerisms that you ended up scrunching up your brow in the funniest way, or how you didn't even realize that your shoulders were all clenched and stiff!" "Wha...?! Wait, was I really doing all that?!" Yuna exclaimed. If that hadn't been enough to tell me that she hadn't realized it at all, the blush that flashed across her face certainly would have. I couldn't help but grin—not that it was anything to be embarrassed over—and apparently that just made it worse than ever for her. Her response: lashing out by swiping a piece of skirt steak that Rinka had been carefully cooking, right off the grill! "Hey!" shouted Rinka. "I-I'm not blushing! I'm just flushed because I'm so hungry, that's all!" Wow, that was a terrible excuse! Yuna's never that bad at thinking on her feet! It was over in a flash. Before Rinka could stop her, Yuna had practically inhaled the piece of meat. She'd been prioritizing talking over eating for quite a while, and apparently she hadn't been totally making up the part about being hungry—the next thing I knew, she was filling the grill with rib meat again! "Honestly... Not that I really mind, I guess," grumbled Rinka. "Ha ha ha..." I awkwardly chuckled. "Oh, right—hey, Rinka?" "Hmm? Yes?" "You should try doing an impression of Yuna too!" "Wha—?!" Rinka said in a strangled half gasp, dropping the towelette she'd been wiping her hands on. She definitely hadn't seen that request coming. "Wait, but— why?!" "I just wanna see it! I'm curious!" "She's got a point, actually," said Yuna. "I did you, so fair's fair, right?" "Nobody asked you to mimic me!" Rinka snapped back. What would it look like if Rinka did her best Yuna impression...? Adorable as all get-out, obviously! Which wasn't to say that Rinka wasn't cute as herself, of course. That was a given! But the thing about Yuna and Rinka was that they generally made sure that their personalities—as they chose to portray themselves, anyway—didn't have too much overlap. I wasn't totally sure if it was something they'd learned to do unconsciously over the course of their close, long-standing friendship, or if it was something that they'd done on purpose to help prop up the Sacrosanct image, but I sort of suspected that the truth was a little bit of both. That was why seeing Yuna emulate Rinka's mannerisms on purpose was such a rare treat...and why I was really sad that I hadn't been quick on the draw enough to record it! Which, in turn, was why I pulled out my phone and booted up its voice recorder app! "Wait, you're recording me?!" said Rinka. "Of course! Don't worry—I'll have Yuna do hers again at some point over the next few days so I can save it too..." "Mmgphgh?! Agh, haugh!" Yuna choked on her food! Please, though? It'd be the perfect thing for me to listen to every night before bed... "Oh, but come to think of it, maybe it'd be better to give you some time too, Rinka? That way you can think a little harder about your lines," I mused. "N-No, thank you! I'd rather get it over with now!" said Rinka. "It feels like the longer I put it off, the higher I'll be raising the bar for myself... We'll do mine now, and Yuna can handle hers later!" "I never said I'd do it again at all, actually?!" Yuna exclaimed. "Huh? You don't want to, Yuna...? I mean...if you really hate the idea, I won't force you or anything..." "Ugh... I-I didn't say I wouldn't do it either...!" "Woo-hoo!" "You made that way too easy. Not that I'm any better..." Rinka groaned. Heh heh heh! Sometimes it pays to be needy! With that settled, I turned my phone's microphone in Rinka's direction. "Okay, the stage is yours!" "Umm... I'm supposed to act like I'm Yuna talking on the phone, right? Okay, then," said Rinka. "'Hey, Yotsuba? It's me...wh-what'cha up to?'" "Squee! Not much! Doing great!" "Hold on a second, Rinka—you're not even trying to fool her!" Yuna cut in. "This is a Rin-Rin Scam, remember? There's no point if you don't put in the effort to make it convincing!" "It's not a 'Rin-Rin' Scam if I'm imitating you, is it?" Rinka countered. "Actually, can we drop that name altogether? It's vaguely humiliating." "Okay, okay! You're pretending to be me, so it can be a Yu-Yu— No, scratch that. I see your point now. Saying it myself makes it feel like I'm being super attention-hoggy." "But 'Rin-Rin Scam' and 'Yu-Yu Scam' both sound so cute!" I said. "And actually, I think Rinka had your voice down pretty darn well! It was the cutest thing ever!!!" "W-Was it...?" Rinka muttered. It seemed like she couldn't quite decide whether she was happy about that or not, and chose to snag a piece of Yuna's rib meat instead of pressing the issue any further. "I get you. Should we be happy or upset right now? I have no clue," Yuna said with a deep, understanding nod. I noted that she hadn't protested the meat theft at all. I mean, look—even I could tell that Rinka wasn't totally on board with this, okay? The thing is...I just couldn't help myself. And can you blame me? This is the very first afterparty I've ever been to in my whole life! People always get just a little bit more assertive when they're thrown into open, unreserved situations like this! I think it's called getting drunk on the atmosphere, or something? I never thought the day would come when I, Yotsuba Hazama, would experience that particular brand of intoxication... If you'd told me a year ago that this would happen, I probably would've bought one of those page-a-day calendars just to count down the days until the moment arrived! But, anyway...I should probably apologize, shouldn't I? Good manners are important, after all, even with the people you're closest to. "Sorry, Rinka," I said. "But, umm, I really meant what I said about it being cute, and I know I'll never forget it for as long as I live...a-and all that stuff about recording it was just a joke! I was just kidding about recording you later too, Yuna!" "Why're you acting so timid all of a sudden?" asked Yuna. "Well...I might've been having fun, but I didn't want to make you two have a bad time for my sake. If I did, I'd end up going home and spending all night regretting it for sure," I mumbled. "I could say the same about wanting you to have fun," said Rinka. "It's not that it really bothered me...embarrassment aside, I mean. Making sure you enjoy yourself is my—is our highest priority." "And in that sense, I guess we hit it out of the park tonight," Yuna said with a slightly tired chuckle. A moment later... "Okay, here's your order! One plate of intestine and another helping of rice!" "Oh, that's mine! Thank you!" I said. The waiter set my food down in front of me and I started moving the intestine over to the grill right away...only to notice that Yuna and Rinka were both giving me the same sort of strained-butamused looks. "Yotsuba...you're a pretty heavy eater, aren't you?" said Yuna. "Right? She hasn't stopped for a moment since we got here," Rinka noted. "Wha— Really?! I thought I was really slowing down," I said. "Slowing down, maybe, but you haven't stopped at all," said Yuna. "You've been grilling and eating the whole time, even while we were talking. Also, how many bowls of rice does that make?" asked Rinka. "Umm..." I said, pausing to try to remember...and giving up. I might not seem like the sort of person who'd stress about her weight, but there were some realities not even I was prepared to confront. "I-I don't eat this much every night, just so you know! It's just that we're at an all-you-caneat place, and this one has really good intestine, and I'm a little worked up about being at my first after-party, and on top of all that, I'm sitting in front of a pair of super pretty, incredible girls! The atmosphere's making the food taste so good, I just can't stop!" "It's incredible how effective your casual flirting can be," said Rinka. "And the fact that she doesn't have any ulterior motives when she compliments us makes it so much worse," added Yuna. My impassioned appeal didn't seem to have resonated with them. They were watching me like a pair of parents would watch over their child. Ugh... Well, fine! I wasn't kidding about how much fun I'm having, or about how the food's so tasty I could keep eating forever! I thought before defiantly placing yet another order with the table's tablet. Time was a-wasting, after all! ◇◇◇ Some time later, when our two-hour limit had run its course... "Blugh... I ate way too much. Think I'm gonna be sick..." I groaned. "What did we tell you?" Yuna sighed. "I knew you were pushing your luck." "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down for a moment?" asked Rinka. "Sure, thanks... Sorry for the hassle..." I'd filled my stomach with meat, then kept going until I was right on the verge of bursting. The unsurprising result: intense nausea. Yuna and Rinka ended up having to hold me upright as we walked along. Ugh... I feel terrible, in more ways than one. Had the restaurant cast some sort of yakiniku magic on me? Or had I just been too hyped up on first-ever-after-party adrenaline to regulate myself? Or maybe the meat that I'd eaten had swollen inside my stomach postconsumption?! One way or another, I felt ill in the same sort of way I always felt when I got carsick...and the fact that all the meat had been a lot fattier than I'd given it credit for in the moment probably wasn't helping. My first-ever after-party and I dropped the ball at the last second... "I see an open bench just in front of the station," said Rinka. "Should we stop there, Yotsuba?" "Sure..." I groaned. "Oh, but it's pretty late. Maybe you two should just go home...?" "Dummy," said Yuna. "Of course we won't leave you alone," added Rinka. Ugh... Of course they'd say no, and of course they'd scold me for suggesting otherwise. I sat down, and Yuna and Rinka sat on either side of me. Rinka gently stroked my back, while Yuna pulled a plastic bottle of water from her bag and offered it to me. Their nursing had me feeling a little better already...and the relieved sighs they let out made it clear that they could tell. "This is the most you thing you could've possibly done, honestly," said Yuna. "Isn't it just?" Rinka agreed. "And when there's still so much left to do this evening." "Huh...?" I grunted. I wasn't quite picking up on what Rinka had meant to imply with that. I'd been under the impression that we'd be having a meal, then going home... "Hey, Yotsuba. What day is it tomorrow?" asked Yuna. "Umm... It'll be, uh, November 2nd...?" "Right. And what's November 2nd?" At that, the free-spinning gears in my boiled brain finally clicked together. They only managed to produce one answer, mind you, but it seemed like a pretty likely one. "It's...my birthday?" "Exactly!" Yuna and Rinka said in excited unison. It was true. November 2nd was indeed the one and only birthday of one Yotsuba Hazama. You might think that this would be the part where I pathetically groused about how gloomy loners like me didn't deserve birthdays—it would be pretty in character—but my family always made a point of celebrating with me every year, and last year Yuna and Rinka had done so as well. It was one of the most special days of the year for me, no question about it. Was it really special enough to make a big deal out of it the evening before, though...? "And your birthday this year will be a first for us," Yuna continued. "A first? How?" I asked. "Our birthdays are both in April," said Rinka, "and back then, we weren't in this relationship yet, were we?" "Oh..." I instantly realized what they were trying to say. Tomorrow would mark the first time one of us had had a birthday since I started dating the two of them. "We know that you've always celebrated with Sakura, Aoi, and the rest of your family," said Yuna. "They're the ones who've always made the biggest deal out of your birthday. But the thing is—and maybe this is just a little selfish of us, but still...it'll be our first birthday with you as your girlfriends. This year, we want to be the ones who make the biggest splash, you know?" "So we decided to cheat the system a little," said Rinka. "We made plans to celebrate before your birthday technically arrived." "You...did? Is that what this was? I had no idea..." "Because we were careful to make sure you wouldn't notice," Rinka said with a slightly bashful grin. "But considering the state you ended up in, and that we really don't want to make it worse, it looks like we're gonna have to stick to giving you your present and calling it a day," said Yuna. "Ugh... Sorry..." "Look, we're saying you don't have to apologize! We got to watch you have a blast today, and we had plenty of fun too! Right, Rinka?" "I couldn't have said it better myself. If we're with you and you're having a good time, we're guaranteed to have just as good of a time too." Yuna clung to one of my arms, while Rinka took my other hand in both of hers, cradling it in front of her. I felt incredibly loved, which was both wonderful and a little embarrassing. And, more importantly... "I-I don't stink right now, do I?!" I yelped. "Oh, jeez, I just know I smell like a barbecue pit...!" "No, you don't," said Yuna. "And even if you did, we would too. Does the way we smell right now bother you?" asked Rinka. "N-No, not at all..." "Then it's all good!" said Yuna. There was no way I could ever think that the two of them smelled bad (on account of the fact that my brain had never been equipped with the capacity to see either of them in a bad light to begin with), so all I could do was accept that they'd won this round. What was all that stuff they were saying about celebrating my birthday early, though...? "I think it's time for us to cut to the chase, Yuna," said Rinka. "Oh, right! We didn't get to cuddle at the restaurant, so I couldn't help myself for a minute there," Yuna agreed. She spent a moment fishing around in her bag, then pulled out a gift-wrapped package. I couldn't tell what was inside, of course—gift wrap does that—but it did look like it had to be expensive, judging by how carefully packaged it was. It had, like...an elegance to it, I guess? "Here you go, Yotsuba," said Yuna. "We're still a little early...but happy birthday," said Rinka. Yuna held the gift out to me, and Rinka guided my hands toward it. It was physically light enough to easily hold in one hand, but the weight of the feelings that had clearly been poured into it was so great that I was a little worried about whether or not I could bear it. I could feel my fingers trembling, and I knew that Yuna and Rinka had noticed too, but neither of them said a word about it. All they did was wait and watch over me. "Can I open it?" I asked. "Sure!" said Yuna. "Of course," said Rinka. I slowly, carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. I wanted to see what was inside as soon as possible, but it had been wrapped so beautifully that it would've felt wrong to just tear it open. I was also still pretty worn out, so it took quite a while for me to get it all opened up, but when the package was finally free from its paper, I found myself holding a very classy-looking box. I'd opened one package to reveal another, like some sort of present matryoshka doll—y'know, those little dolls with littler dolls inside them? My anticipation was building. My real present would be inside that box...! "O-Okay, I'm opening it," I said before timidly cracking the box open to reveal...a necklace. Its design was fairly understated—the sort of jewelry you could easily wear on an everyday basis—but I knew for a fact that its price tag had been anything but. I recognized the logo inside the box, after all. It was famous enough that even someone totally unacquainted with fashion like me knew it on sight. "WhWhere did you get this?!" I yelped. "Oh, y'know! We splurged a little," said Yuna. "M-More than a little! This must've been so expensive..." "It took a chunk out of our savings...but that's fine with us," said Rinka. "We'll only get one chance to celebrate our girlfriend's birthday for the first time, after all." "We can just get part-time jobs and save up again," Yuna added. They were making it sound like no big deal, but I was convinced they'd really had to push themselves to get ahold of my gift. For a moment, I felt bad about it...but then I shook my head. Apologies weren't in order this time. "Thank you... I love it!" I said. I still felt a little bad, but my gratitude outweighed the guilt tenfold. "We were thinking about getting you rings at first, but they would've stood out too much to wear at school, and you just know we would've ended up fighting over whose would go on which finger," said Yuna. "Getting one from each of us would've probably been hard for you to deal with too, and we didn't exactly have the money to—" "I thought we agreed we'd be keeping all of that to ourselves, Yuna," Rinka interjected. "Ah... R-Right, my bad. She just looked so happy, I started blabbing without thinking..." She was right that getting two rings would've been a little hard for me to deal with in the long term...but on the other hand, I had a feeling that I wouldn't have thought about that at all the moment they gave them to me. I would've just been ecstatic. "So the two of you worked together to pick this out for me...?" I asked. "Oh, umm... Yes," said Rinka. "I guess the group gift does raise some questions, huh? I was thinking of getting you something on my own, at first, but I knew that Yuna wouldn't be happy if I cut in line to give it to you first, and I wouldn't have wanted her to do it to me either. Then when I decided to talk to her about it, it turned out that she'd been thinking the exact same thing, much to my—" "Now you're oversharing, Rinka," Yuna sighed. "Oh! Sorry," said Rinka. She'd scolded Yuna less than a minute ago, only to get scolded right back. The sheer length and depth of their friendship was on full display again. There was definitely something special there —something truly precious that nobody, me included, could ever intrude on. I'd felt it when I watched them up on the stage too...and the fact that they were using that perfect synchrony to tell me they loved me was far more than I could have ever dreamed of asking for. "What...?" said Yuna. "Why're you smirking at us?" "I was just thinking about how lucky I am, that's all," I said. "Because we could only buy you one present...?" asked Rinka. "J-Just so you know, we didn't go in on it together because we were cheaping out on you!" Yuna insisted. "And we're planning on celebrating one-on-one with you later on too...but, umm, it'll have to be a celebration that doesn't cost very much..." "You're going off the rails again, Yuna." "Ugh...! Like you're not just as broke as I am right now, Rinka!" "Wh-What does that have to do with you running your mouth?!" "H-Hey, come on, you two! Let's all calm down, okay?!" I said. It took seconds for them to get all prickly with each other out of nowhere! I tried to play peacekeeper, but the sparks just kept flying until finally... "Hey, Yotsuba!" "Yotsuba!" ...both of them wheeled around at the same time to face me! "I swear I'll make you happier than Rinka! Just wait!" "I'll make you happier than Yuna ever could, I promise!" They made their declarations like they were reciting lines from a script, in such stunningly perfect harmony that nobody who witnessed it could ever have disputed the fact that they'd earned their Sacrosanct title. I was so overwhelmed, all I could do was nod vigorously. I guess I really am the villainous interloper who stepped in to ruin the Sacrosanct, I thought as I stowed the necklace away in its box, clenched it tightly in my hands, and made a promise to myself. One way or another, I'll be doing something even crazier to celebrate both of their birthdays next year!!! There wasn't a moment to waste. April 8th and 16th would be here before I knew it, and I had so much allowance to save up and so many preparations to make! And I'd burned through my savings ages ago by spending freely while I hung out with the two of them! Oh, but wait—even before their birthdays, I have Christmas and Valentine's Day to think about...! I-Is my allowance going to be up to the task...? Especially considering I'll have to get birthday presents for Sakura and Aoi, and for Makina, and I guess Koganezaki and Emma too... I have to celebrate my friends too, right...? "All right—I've decided!" I shouted as I shot to my feet! "Huh?" said Rinka. "D-Decided what?!" yelped Yuna. Their fight (if you could even call it a fight, which honestly, you really couldn't) had been momentarily forgotten. I turned to look at them...and declared my intentions at the top of my lungs! "I'm gonna get a part-time job!!!" Silence. Wide-eyed, gaping stares. Expressions that practically screamed, Where on earth did that come from? then quickly faded away, replaced by something more openly apprehensive. "I'd, umm, really like to say that you should go for it, and that we'll be cheering you on," Yuna somewhat uncomfortably began. "But I don't really think you're very suited for that sort of thing," Rinka said, stepping in to finish the thought. "Whaaat?!" That was a really calm, gentle way to completely shut me down! Granted: I can't actually picture myself doing well at a part-time job either! "And more importantly, you know that finals are right around the corner, don't you?" asked Yuna. "Have you been studying? We don't have midterms in the second semester, but that's no good reason to let your guard down! It means that finals are weighed more heavily in our final grades, actually!" "And now we're jumping straight into a super serious reality check?!" "There's also the school marathon to worry about," noted Rinka. "You really trailed behind the pack last year, and I'm worried it'll make it hard for you to enjoy the school trip if you repeat that performance this time. It's right after the marathon, after all." "I totally forgot that that hell on earth was even a thing, and now you're telling me it's coming up any day now?!" My moment-of-excitement declaration had already been put on ice. This was no time to think about getting a job! A very unpleasant dose of reality had just come knocking! Seriously, why are high schoolers this busy?! There aren't enough hours in the day for me to get ready for all this stuff at once! They say that blessings don't come in pairs, so why do trials get to come in sets of who even knows how many?! "It's fine, Yotsuba! I'll help you study! Your goal this year's to not fail any of your finals!" said Yuna. "And I'll help you get in shape," Rinka chimed in. "It'll be hard to build up much stamina in the time between now and the marathon, but we can at least work on controlling your pace and polishing your running form. That should make a huge difference." They're so helpful, their goodwill is blinding me...! Can I really handle preparing for the tests and the marathon at the same time, though...? There's only one of me to go around, you know...? "And now that that's decided, this is no time for us to be fighting!" said Yuna. "Agreed. It's our duty as Yotsuba's girlfriends to make sure she overcomes all the challenges in her path!" said Rinka. Is it just me...or are they super fired up now?! Weren't we celebrating my birthday just a minute ago?! And giving the cultural festival a send-off before that...? We're moving through topics at light speed, here! Can't we stop and enjoy the moment?! Like, just take it nice and easy for a little...? "Don't worry, Yotsuba! I'll make you the perfect study schedule—you'll see!" "And I'll put together a perfect training regimen!" "H-Ha ha ha... Yaaay..." Yup, I'm sure they will. That schedule and that regimen will be as perfect as they come, except for one tiny little problem: I'll be the one who has to put them into practice... Flanked by my hypermotivated girlfriends, I finally realized that the end of the cultural festival had not, in fact, marked the finish line for my troubles and tribulations. No, it was just the starting line to a whole new set—a fact that I grimly accepted as I held back the urge to cry. If only I had a few extra mes to help, maybe I could... Actually, no. On second thought, no number of mes would be able to pull this off! Afterword Thank you very much for reading Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta The Fifth! With this volume, the childhood-friend-centric storyline that began in The Third has reached its end. What did you think of it?! I'm sure plenty of readers will react with something along the lines of "That's what she settled on?! Really?!"—but Yotsuba Hazama is, by her very nature, a girl who always takes the most direct path to the outcome she desires. Have mercy on her, please! Now then, there were all sorts of twists and turns along the path that led us to this point, but I'm truly glad that The Fifth managed to make it to publication in the end. It feels like I've really accomplished something—I wrote all sorts of scenes that I'd been wanting to put on paper for a long time, and got to enjoy plenty of Kuro Shina's illustrations while I was at it. There are still plenty of sides to all of the characters that I'd like to show more of, but on the other hand, I do feel like I've been able to depict all of them as at least a little more than their most basic selves, hopefully. In all likelihood, this volume will mark a stopping point for this series. That is not, I assure you, because I decided that here is where the story should end. Rather, it's because of the fact that unless the series manages to make some sort of dramatic, status-quo-upending breakthrough, a variety of practical considerations make its further continuation unrealistic. If you're wondering why I didn't decide to bring it to a clear and formal conclusion...well, just think of it as a show of stubbornness on the part of me and everyone who's helped make this series a reality. I do have (some) ideas for what a continuation could look like, after all! The tragic reality—if that's the right wording for it—is that I'm grateful just to have been able to keep this story going for as long as it has. In light of this likely being the final opportunity to do so, I also themed the bonus short stories available by purchasing this volume at particular retailers around a "What if?" sort of theme, setting each of them several years down the road from the point at which the story ends. (They are all just what-ifs, of course, and should be viewed as purely hypothetical thought experiments for what might happen in parallel universes that might not even necessarily totally stick to the continuity as established in volumes one through five. I hope you'll be able to enjoy them with that caveat in mind!) All in all, I'm glad that I was able to bring this story to a conclusion that I enjoyed. Needless to say, I most certainly did not make that happen on my own! To start, the illustrator who's been providing incredible artwork for the series since its very inception, Kuro Shina, deserves tremendous credit for everything from the initial character designs to the stunning illustrations that made all of those characters more lovable than ever. I also owe it to my initial editor, who found the short story that this series was initially based on rolling around on the internet and made its long-form publication into a reality, inspiring all sorts of new characters and plot developments along the way, and to my second editor, who facilitated the publication of the fourth and fifth volumes despite the year-and-a-half-long gap between them and the third. If even one of them had been missing, this story could never have turned out the way it did. Finally, this story could never have reached this point if it weren't for all the readers who've followed it. If it had been canceled after the first volume, then Makina would never have appeared at all, and Koganezaki would never have gotten to be anything more than a member of the fan club. It's all thanks to you that that didn't happen, and from time to time I still go back to read the reviews you've left for it— they never fail to encourage me! I deeply regret that I can't satisfy the readers who've made it clear that they want the story to keep going...but fear not! As of 2024, the moment at which this volume was initially published, the world has begun to enter an unprecedented yuri boom!!! Yuri-themed novels and manga are being adapted into anime form one after another, and new series are coming out in droves as well! There've been all sorts of developments throughout the light novel industry, and the possibilities for what could come next are genuinely exciting. I'm positive that all sorts of new and compelling series will be coming your way soon enough! One of the most fun things about books is that you can never know when a reader will encounter a volume for the first time. Some of you likely eagerly awaited this volume's release, bought it on that very first day—Christmas Day, 2024—and read it immediately, while others probably waited for the New Year, waited for another New Year on top of that, or even picked it out from the old-books shelf at a used book store. If that sounds like you, and if you read this afterword and find yourself thinking, "Too bad...I wish I could have read more," I encourage you to not stay trapped in the past. Instead, face forward and channel that energy into cheering on all the wonderful series you're sure to encounter from here on out! That's the best possible way to play your part in supporting them. That's a fact that has always been true and will never change! Speaking personally as a fan of the yuri genre, I look forward to watching it grow and mature from here on out, and I can't wait to find whatever new series happens to become my next favorite! So...that probably would have been a mildly sad but stylish way to wrap this afterword up, but the truth is that even as I write these very words, I've been working on a brand-new series. Its name: My Older Stepsister Wants to Be My Little Sister (Final Title Pending)!!! I've only written a plot outline so far, but the plan is for it to be just as fun, wild, and slightly morally dubious as Yuri Tama. Speaking as a self-proclaimed member of the Make Overlap Overlap with Yuri Culture Committee (current membership: just me), I fully intend to continue to be an active participant in the yuri boom! I hope you'll look forward to it! And with that, thank you very much! Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!
