I just got off the train in Hikarizaka. I'm tired from a long ride, but I can't help but smile at all the familiar sights.

  There's no pce like home, after all.

  The train station is such a wonderful part of town. I've spent lots of time here and in the surrounding area with my family and friends.

  I stop for a moment and smile at the window of the music shop where we got Kotomi's violin repaired st year. It was really nice helping Tomoya figure out what he should do for her. It was also the moment when I realized for sure he was in love with her, so it hurt a little too, but it still felt really great.

  “Nagisa!”

  I hear a familiar voice and turn around just in time to be wrapped up in a tight hug from my mother.

  I drop my bag and hug her back and I can hear her sniffling, which makes me cry too.

  We've both always been such cry babies.

  “I'm so happy you're home.”

  “M-me too mom. It has been hard being away.”

  She breaks the hug and smiles at me, “It has been hard. But I cherish our phone calls. And you're doing so great. It's been worth missing each other.”

  I nod to her and pick up my bag, “It has been. But I wish I could be in both pces at once.”

  …

  My mom and I are walking through the park across from the bakery. We’ve had a nice time chatting about the town, the bakery and the cram school. But now my mother suddenly stops walking and says,

  “Nagisa, I’ve missed you so much. But…your father has had an even harder time with you being away. So he might be rather…needy. Please be patient with him.”

  “N-needy?”

  She nods, “He did beg you to come home, didn't he?”

  I ugh, “He did.”

  “So, just expect more of the same.”

  I’m not really sure what to make of her warning. My dad is always kind of silly and over the top. She should know she doesn't have to warn me about that.

  “O-okay.”

  We start walking again and go through the front door of the bakery, where my dad is closing things up. When I walk in he smiles from ear to ear and says, “Nagisa! Welcome home.”

  He just seems like his usual self. What was she talking about?

  In the next instant, he dashes over to me and throws his arms around me. I ugh and hug him back.

  “Thank God you're home. A father's birthday doesn't count without his daughter by his side, does it?”

  “W-well…I'm happy to be here. Happy birthday.”

  Of course, I didn't come home for mom's birthday and it still happened.

  Our hug goes on for an unusual amount of time before my mom chimes in, “Akio - she's had a long train ride. Maybe we should go into the house and have dinner?”

  …

  We're sitting in the living room around our dining table. We just had a great dinner. My mom's cooking is as good as I remembered. She's much better at cooking than she is at baking. I don't miss the cafeteria food.

  “So, what are the pns tomorrow?”

  My dad looks at me in confusion, “Pns?”

  “Yeah, it's your birthday. Are we having the usual cookout in the park with the whole neighborhood?”

  He takes a long drag of his cigarette and exhales, “I see enough of all the neighborhood jerks. I’m sick of them. Besides, some of the single ones might try and make a move on you and I don't want to get in a fist fight on my birthday.”

  My mother sharply says, “Akio, stop being silly and tell Nagisa what you told me.”

  He puts out his cigarette and sighs. He looks down at his hands and he looks more bashful than I’ve ever seen. He almost looks like a little boy.

  “I just want to spend the day with you two. Like we used to.”

  I smile, “That's what I would like too.”

  He looks up at me and grins his usual goofy grin, “Great. Papa will have two beautiful women taking care of him tomorrow. I’m the luckiest man in Japan!”

  …

  I'm getting ready for bed in my bedroom. It feels very familiar to be here. But it also somehow feels kind of strange after two and a half months at Yamaku.

  I've gotten used to sleeping on a bed, but I did miss my futon.

  I crawl inside it and get comfortable. I start to think about what we might do tomorrow. I’d be happy if we just sat around and ate and talked all day. It sounds like that might be the pn. Tomorrow is my only full day here, so I better make the most of it.

  Just as I'm thinking this, my phone chimes. I'm not used to the sound it just made, so it startles me. I'm too comfortable to get up, though. So, I close my eyes. Then it chimes again.

  I sigh and get up out of my futon and look at my phone. It says I have two messages.

  Before I left, Akane showed me how to text message. She said it's the main way her family communicates when they aren't together and it's really convenient so I should try it while I’m away this weekend. Chiyo also asked about texting while I was gone, so I told her she could too.

  But I’m in over my head. I'm not very good with technology.

  I flip open my phone and see a message from Akane, “Are you safe at home?”

  It takes me a minute, but then I find “reply” and push the button. It takes me far too long to type out my three letter response. I have to press each key several times to scroll through characters and keep going too far. Eventually I end up with, “Yes.”

  Akane quickly responds, “That’s great. It's weird not saying goodnight in person like we usually do. But text is okay. So, goodnight.”

  I smile and slowly type in “goodnight” as a response.

  Just before I close my phone, I see that there’s another message too. This one is from Chiyo.

  “What happened with Daiki!? He confessed right?! I didn't get a chance to ask yesterday.”

  I feel my face flush as I remember his confession. It was my first confession and I still can't believe it happened.

  I very slowly type out my message. And just before I hit send I notice I misspelled some things. But I don’t have it in me to start over so I send, “He confesed. Don't have anser. Thinkig.”

  “We are SO talking about that when you get back.”

  I ugh and reply, “Good idea.”

  Then I close my phone and smile.

  It isn't quite being in two pces at once. But it's as close as it can get.

  …

  We just finished a wonderful breakfast. While we normally have traditional Japanese breakfasts, my mom and I always make my dad French Toast on his birthday. We use some of the sweet bread he bakes and it always comes out really well. He's smiling happily and rubbing his stomach with a silly grin on his face. It makes me smile.

  “So, what should we do today? I know we want to spend time together, but anything specific?”

  My mom looks at my father and nods. He nods back. The silly mood from before is suddenly gone.

  My father looks at me and says, “Nagisa…why are you so interested in pys?”

  Surprised by his question, I say, “Um…I…I don’t really know. But I really love them. Even more now.”

  My father sighs and knits his eyebrows, “You don't remember, then?”

  “R-remember?”

  He locks eyes with me, “You must remember deep down.”

  I look down at my hands, “I-I don't know what you're talking about…”

  My mom says, in her usual cheerful tone, “Akio. Just tell her.”

  I look up and he nods to her before looking at me, “I used to be a stage actor, Nagisa. You saw some of my pys when you were little. Or at least, some of the rehearsals.”

  I'm so shocked I raise my voice, “Wh-what?!”

  He smiles, “I was an actor. It was my passion. I loved it. Somehow…I think that got handed down to you, even if you don't remember.”

  “I-I don't understand…why did you stop if you loved it so much? Why didn't you ever tell me this?!”

  He sighs and takes a long drag from his cigarette, “Because I love you more, Nagisa. I didn't tell you, because I was worried you would feel guilty. I can tell from your face that I was right.”

  “S-so…it was…me? That's why you stopped? Because I started getting sick?”

  “I stopped because I wanted to work at home, and be around you as much as I could. Make some actual money. And help you as much as I could.”

  I put my hands over my face and say, “Y-you…lost your dream because of me.” I start to cry.

  In a surprisingly stern tone my mother says, “Nagisa! Stop that!”

  I remove my hands from my face and see her looking at me sternly too.

  “We made the choices that were best for us and our family. That's what you do. Neither of us regret it one bit! Your father only wanted you to know he was an actor since you're one now and he wants to spend his birthday bonding with you.”

  I didn't hear anything after she said, “Neither of us regret it.”

  “Y-you…gave up something too?”

  My mother shifts on her cushion and then sighs, “I once wanted to be a schoolteacher. Like Ms. Ibuki. B-but, we have the cram school here!”

  I put my hands over my face and start to cry again. “I-if…I wasn't sick. I-if I was a normal girl-”

  My mom sharply says, “Nagisa! I said stop!”

  “No.”

  “Huh?”

  “No! I'm allowed to be upset about this. D-don't tell me not to be! You both lost your dreams because of my health and I'm not allowed to feel disappointed about that?! D-don't tell me how to feel! I-it's up to me to decide that!”

  My parents are taken aback by my assertiveness. So am I.

  Akane would be proud, I think. But I shouldn't have raised my voice.

  Just as I'm about to apologize, my mother sighs and says, “You can feel however you like. But remember how we feel about it. We don't regret it. We are happy we made the decisions we did. We have lives we cherish. And a daughter we cherish more than anything.”

  I don't respond to my mother. I just keep crying.

  Suddenly, I hear a loud sm on the table. I look up from my hands and see my dad's fist on the table. When he sees me looking at him he says, “You're being foolish.”

  “Wh-what?”

  He grits his teeth and raises his voice, “You're being a fool! You told us not to tell you how to feel. But now you're trying to tell us how we feel?! That we have to feel disappointed?”

  “I…I didn't mean to.”

  “Tch. You keep talking about our damn dreams from the damn past. They don't matter. Our dreams changed. We have a different dream now.”

  I sniffle, “Y-you do?”

  “For you to realize your dreams. We feel like right now, we're living that dream.”

  “B-but…I don’t even have any dreams.”

  My mom responds, “Yes you do. Why else would you be working so hard at school? And on this py?”

  I sniffle, “But I…don't even know what I want to do when I finish at Yamaku. Is graduating from high school and performing in a school py enough of a dream for you two?”

  My father smiles, “More than enough, Nagisa. Our dream is for you to be happy. And you are. Happier than I can remember.”

  My mother nods, “I think it's because your health is more manageable now and you've made such good friends there.”

  “Y-yeah…I have.” I sigh and look at my dad, “You don't wish sometimes…that you could have kept acting?”

  My dad looks uncomfortable, “Sometimes…I do imagine what that would have been like.”

  I nod and look down.

  Of course he does. Even if he doesn't regret it, it was what he imagined for himself for a long time.

  “But I would much rather be here, baking bread with my beautiful wife, and having my birthday with my beautiful daughter. Family is what matters most to me.”

  My mother beams at him and then at me.

  I have a hard time not smiling back when she looks at me like that. I wipe my tears and say, “Okay…I won't cry about it anymore. But…I do want to thank both of you for being such good parents.”

  My mom smiles, “You’re very welcome, Nagisa. Thank you for being a wonderful daughter. Akio - now that you told her you two share something, tell her what you’d like to do today.”

  My dad grins and pulls out a stack of video tapes, “Now that you’re an actress, I thought we could watch some of my old performances. And talk about your py.”

  …

  It's been a really nice day. It was a little shocking seeing my much younger father perform at first, but he was a really good actor and I think I actually learned a lot from spending the day with him.

  I'm getting a little sad now, though. We just finished dinner, and I'm now very aware of the fact that I leave tomorrow.

  Just as I'm feeling down about this my dad says, “I know you leave early tomorrow and we've spent the day together talking. But I’m not quite ready to be done. There's something I need to ask before we go to bed.”

  I look at my mom, who shrugs. I guess this isn't something they pnned together like the conversation after breakfast.

  “O-okay.”

  “You do seem quite happy at that school. And I’m very happy about that.” He leans forward and puts out his cigarette on an ashtray, before locking eyes with me, “But…there's…not some boy trying to take my beautiful daughter away from me is there?”

  Holding Daiki’s hand fshes in my head. So does what he said to me.

  “How are you anything else other than an amazing woman?”

  I blush and say, “Um…w-well…actually…”

  My dad jumps to his feet and yells, “WHAAAT?!” loudly enough to shake the walls.

  After he calms down, I expin how Daiki confessed to me, and that I’m not sure what to do.

  My father crosses his arms and scoffs, “Tell him no. That he could never compare to your ruggedly handsome old man.”

  My mom replies, “ Akio - Nagisa is 19, she will have a boyfriend at some point soon. And likely be a wife one day too. It’s about time you accept that other men will be in her life.”

  My father looks unconvinced, “Tch. He can only have you if he can beat me in a fight.” My dad stands up and starts flexing in various poses, “I bet this wimpy high school boy can't stand up to my full grown man muscles.”

  I start to giggle uncontrolbly.

  I got back to Yamaku today. It was sad leaving my family after such a short visit, but I'm also happy to be back. Mixed feelings are funny things.

  I'm meeting Daiki tomorrow to respond to his confession and I still have no idea what I'm going to do. Talking with my parents didn't really help. My dad just kept saying I should reject him and my mom just kept saying I should follow my heart.

  I invited Akane and Chiyo to my room to help me talk through things. Chiyo is here now, patiently waiting in my desk chair to hear what this is about.

  When Akane enters the room, the energy changes completely. I'm not sure why, but both Chiyo and Akane's eyes get wide and they both look like they are thinking about leaving.

  Eventually, Akane sits down on the bed next to me.

  “Um…th-thank you both for coming, I'm having a hard time with something, and I need your help.”

  Both of them seem to loosen up when I say this.

  Akane puts a hand on my shoulder, “What is it, Nagisa?”

  “Um…Daiki confessed to me st week. I told him I'd have an answer when I got back. But I still don’t.”

  Chiyo nods and says, “I was wanting to talk about that. So…how do you feel about him?”

  Akane snaps at her, “If she knew that, she wouldn't have invited us over. Or said she needed time to think.”

  Chiyo rolls her eyes, “Obviously. I’m not an idiot, Akane. Don't talk to me like I am one.”

  “Well…from the question you asked, I couldn't be too sure.”

  I just realized this is the first time I've been with both of them at the same time. I see them both so much, but never together.

  Chiyo stands up with clenched fists and scowls at Akane, “God, you haven't changed at all have you? Still a complete fucking bitch, huh?” Akane recoils from her words, and looks down.

  Chiyo aggressively walks to the door and throws it open. Then she sighs and says, “I'm sorry, Nagisa. I can't be in the same room as her. I tried my best. Let me know when she leaves, and I’ll talk about this with you.”

  Chiyo leaves and Akane sighs. I am completely stunned and unsure what to say. It takes me a moment to repy the conversation in my head to even get a vague understanding of what happened.

  “…you two don’t get along?”

  Akane sighs and hugs herself before shaking her head, “We were…best friends our first year. But we had a big falling out. Haven't talked since then…until just now.”

  I frown, “I’m sorry. I didn't know. I didn't even realize you two hadn't been around me at the same time.”

  She sighs and runs her hand through her hair, “I knew you were club friends and she did your nails, but I didn't realize you were this close until you mentioned her visiting you when you were sick. Ever since then…I’ve been really worried that this would happen. I didn't ever want you to find out about this.”

  “About…what?”

  “Nothing. Forget I said anything.” Akane sighs again, “Do you really want her here? With me? To talk about this?”

  I nod, “I would like that. But, if you don't get along…”

  Akane sighs, “No. I think we can both put things aside for you.”

  After about five minutes, Akane comes back looking frustrated.

  “Okay. I was wrong. She won't even answer the door.”

  I sigh, “Oh.”

  She forces a smile and sits down next to me, “You can still talk about it with me, though. We always help each other with stuff, we don't need her.”

  I consider it for a moment, and then I say, “You’re my two best friends. I want to talk to both of you. What happened between you that you can't even be in the same room together?”

  Akane wrings her hands and looks down, “I did something…bad. Something I don't want you to know about. A-and it isn't my pce to tell you, anyway.”

  “Huh?”

  “Just…forget about it, okay? And let's talk this out, about Daiki.”

  I cross my arms, “No…I’m not talking about this unless I can talk to both of you.”

  “I get that. I do. And you can talk to both of us about it…just…not at the same time.”

  “I want it to be at the same time.”

  “You're not being reasonable. There's no way you can convince her to be in the same room as me. Not after what just happened.”

  I don't respond.

  Akane sighs and then pyfully tugs on my arm a little, trying to uncross them, “Come on, Nagisa. We talk all the time without her. There's no reason we can't now.”

  I need to get them to talk about what happened between them, whatever it was.

  I leave my arms crossed and shake my head, “Not this time. I'm only doing it if she's here too.”

  Anger fshes across her face and she raises her voice, “Yeah? Just me suddenly isn't good enough, huh? I thought I was your best friend.”

  “Y-you are!”

  She scoffs, “Sure doesn't seem like it. Do you really think I'm too stupid to notice she knew about this before I did?! I-it's because it's about a guy, isn't it?! Now that you might have a boyfriend, you don’t need your gay best friend anymore!? Is that it?”

  I'm so stunned by her questions that I finally uncross my arms, “Wh-what?! No! That's not it! I…”

  She gres at me so fiercely that I find myself unable to complete my sentence.

  “Yeah, whatever. You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to talk to you, either. Might as well invite Chiyo back so you can talk to your real friend."

  Akane gets up and leaves without another word, smming my door behind her.