Onihunter Yuna 2

116 An Unexpected Encore (Present)

***

"Wow. What a show," Gorou marveled.

"Really." Yuna had only seen the band for the second time, but this gig here was much more energetic than the one at the club back then. The reinterpretation of 'Sakura Sayonara' was less depressing than the premiere. And the second encore. Even Yuna sang loud, as she knew the song and had heard it many times.

The first students left the hall to go home. The murmur of the students was constantly getting louder. In a corner, someone spotted a stack of fliers and picked it up. More students became aware of it and the fliers moved through the hands of those present. The conversations became even louder. "Do you know what's going on?" Gorou asked, looking around.

"No idea." Yuna noticed that more and more looks were hanging on her. Before she could get restless, her power lay protectively around her. She looked at Nisha, who was staring at something in her hands with Rin. She looked up and stared wide-eyed at Yuna.

What the hell is going on here?

"Typical." - "Wasn't that already a rumor?" - "I've never liked her."

"What's going on?" Gorou asked someone next to him. When he didn't get an answer, he squeezed through a few students until he spotted someone with a flier in his hand. He snatched the paper and studied it. "Impossible." He looked up and at Yuna with the same gaze as some others.

She could only stare at him. "What?" He lifted the flier so she could read it.

Yuna Masuda and Wataru Shimada are a couple. The story of the year.

Below followed in smaller writing a whole text. For a moment, her heartbeat stopped. That couldn't be true. Why now? She peered forward, where she suspected Hikari. Maybe she could still reach and warn her best friend before she saw the flier. Maybe she still had a chance for damage control. Under a few venomous looks, she pushed forward to the stage.

"He's way too good for her." - "She just gets everything." - "What does she have that I don't?"

Yuna tried to ignore the other students. She recognized Akemi. Certainly Yui would be with her, and Megumi, and possibly also Hikari. "Excuse me. I have to go through." She looked around again, and on her left she saw another collection of fliers spreading. More glances hit her. "Make room!" She pushed between other students to the stage. Instinctively she looked to the right - more fliers. This action was planned. She stopped and turned to the exit. Yukiko's eyes lit up between a few students. She watched Yuna spitting out a, "shit." Faster than before, she fought her way forward.

Please...

At last she spotted Hikari. As fast as she could, she went to her best friend. "Hikari-chan!"

"That's impossible," Hikari whispered, reading a flier as Yuna came within earshot. "They can't even stand each other."

"Even I knew that, Wada-san." Megumi glimpsed at the blue-haired girl. "There she is. Just ask her."

Hikari spun around, staring at Yuna with watery eyes. "Say it's not true."

The tall girl stopped and swallowed hard. "So... I..."

"You would have told me. I know that very well. We don't lie to each other," asserted the black-haired girl.

"I'm sorry." Ashamed, Yuna looked down. "I'm really sorry, Hikari-chan." Around her, students gathered to attend the spectacle.

"I'm sorry." Hikari crumpled the sheet of paper in her hands and sobbed. "You're sorry... why?" When her best friend didn't look up, she yelled, "Why didn't you say anything?!"