Mari is sprawled forward on the pavement of a walkway in the Hanayashiki amusement park. Within moments of her fall from a low wall bordering a landscaped hill, a small crowd gathered, and a few people in the crowd asked if she was okay. Mari is clenching her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as she sits up and clutches her leg. One college-age woman kneels close by Mari and helps her sit up. She seems Mari's tears and says, "It's going to be okay." Mari shakes her head, tears starting to leave tracks on her cheeks, "No, no it's..." but the woman leans close, as the crowd around Mari grows, and whispers, "She'll come back, you know. It will be okay." Mari's eyes spring open and lock onto the stranger, "How do you..." But the woman just smiles and helps Mari stand. She turns to the crowd and says, "She's going to be okay. I'll take her for first aid. Thank you for your concern." Her curt bow seems to dismiss the crowd, and they move along, leaving Mari and the woman all but alone for a moment. Mari limps to a nearby bench, the woman supporting her with an arm around Mari's shoulder. Mari's face is stricken, the woman's kind. As Mari sits, the woman moistens a handkerchief in a nearby water fountain and brings it to Mari, who dabs at her eyes, and looks up at the woman sitting beside her. "Who are you?" The woman laughs, "You a few years older, I guess." Then, in a conspiratorial whisper, "My first date was at Tokyo Disneyland. It was on our second date that my girlfriend," Mari looks up and the woman laughs, "yes, my girlfriend, got upset and ran from me. We couldn't be together in school or at home, so all the pressure was on us when we were out, and I think," she looks down a moment, then back at Mari, "I think I handled it badly." Mari's watery eyes locked onto the face of her new acquaintance, inches away. "And now?" she whispered hoarsely. Again the woman laughed, "Things are much better with us now, dear, yes!" There was something about what the woman said and the calm way she said it that made Mari smile, too. Mari smiles for a moment, then her smile fades. "But I'm really so stupid, just so stupid!" She covers her eyes again, this time with the woman's handkerchief. She starts to sob, "I'm the worst kind of friend!" The woman stands, and helps Mari up by the hands. She looks at Mari's scraped leg. "Can you walk? Quickly?" Mari nods, and the woman asks. "So? Where do we look for her?" Mari is about to answer when the woman looks shocked. "Oh! My manners! I'm Hashimoto Kazumi." She stopped and bowed so formally, Mari, startled returns the gesture and introduces herself, "Kumakura Mariko." The woman's eyes light up, "Hee hee - I like that you're so proper, Kumakura, but you can call me Kazumi. Now, where should we look for..." "Akko," Mari smiles. "She likes to be called that. And everyone calls me Mari-chan, and... And we have to meet with my brother- Oh no! I told my brother to meet me, and I'm sure I'm late!" When the woman asks where, Mari tells her, and then the woman grabs her hand and starts to run really fast through the crowd with Mari just barely able to keep up. "Waaaah! Fast!" Mari thinks. Within a few minutes, they are near the spot, and Mari slows down, letting go of Kazumi's hand. It's later in the afternoon, and the crowds are beginning to thin out, leaving an open space in the middle of the narrow crossing of paths where Mari and Takeshi had arranged to meet. As Akko leads Takeshi from one side of the junction at a run, Mari leaves the side of Kazumi and starts toward her. With Takeshi and Kazumi hanging back, the two girlfriends cover the distance quickly, grasp hands, and then embrace in the half-shade of an old, leafy tree. Not many people notice them, and only two seem to watch, hanging back. Both Mari and Akko start talking at once, Mari beginning "Akko, I'm sorry..." and Akko weeping through the words, "Mari, I need..." And, holding each other tight, they laugh a little. Akko leans back to look at Mari, and with a serious look says, "You first!" Mari leads Akko to a bench in the shade, out of sight of most passers-by. They sit, and she takes a deep breath. "I was going to apologize, Akko, but I think I need to tell you something I still haven't said. I love you, Akko, and..." a sob interrupts her, "and I have for so long, I don't even know when I started to feel this way," and Akko lifts a hand to brush back her hair. "I love you, too, Mari," Akko whispers. This time, their kiss is so light they barely touch, but a surge of feeling passes between them, Akko starts to pull Mari closer and Mari's hair stands on end. "Whaaaat? Akko, not heeere!" Akko leans back and laughs, "Oh, Mari! What the heck? I don't want to hide!" "I know," Mari says softly, blushing, "I don't either, but I don't really want to show off that much!" Mari sees Kazumi and Takeshi standing and watching, about twenty feet apart. "We couldn't have done this alone," she tells Akko, standing up. "I need you to meet someone." And Takeshi and Kazumi both walk, smiling, toward the girlfriends. Introductions are made, and the sounds of their relief and laughter fade into the waning afternoon noises of Tokyo.
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