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Lisa has always been able to tell when something's wrong with Yukina. Her friend is good at wearing a mask of cool and stoic indifference, not the kind of person to reveal her weakness to others, but Lisa knows better. From the way her eyes dull to the way her shoulders tense up and to the slightest waver in her voice, Lisa sees all the little signs. So she knows something is wrong with Yukina right away. She can't quite manage to ask what the problem is, though. They are together near constantly ever since she got back from Germany (another strange change, but not an unwelcome one), but Yukina is always asking her about her, her day today, if she misses anything from Germany.Lisa is quick to blame herself, to think that it is the natural result of the distance that appeared between them. It takes a little longer for her to realize that her leaving isn’t part of the problem. It is the problem. It makes her happy to know that Yukina missed her and wants to spend as much time together as they can before she leaves again, but it also hurts her to think about leaving Yukina alone like that. She told herself back when she first left that it would be good for the both of them, but now she is regretting that choice. It is difficult, trying to imagine what the past year was like for Yukina if this is what she’s come back to. Lisa can’t imagine subjecting Yukina to another such year. Yukina has always been able to tell when something is on Lisa’s mind. Her friend is good at hiding it behind her smile and cheery voice, never one to burden others with her troubles, but Yukina knows better. She sees the way her smile doesn’t quite reach up to her eyes, hears her quiet sighs when she thinks no one is listening. A few days after Lisa’s return, Yukina can sense something is wrong with her even before she consciously realizes it. She reminds her friend that she can always talk to her if she needs it, puts in the effort every day to ask her how she’s doing, if she misses Germany, and about a hundred other things Yukina suspects might be the cause. Each time, Lisa is vague and unclear, dodging the question while gazing right at her.There’s some frustration in not being able to figure out what’s wrong with her best friend by herself. But Yukina is ready to swallow her pride if it means helping Lisa. She calls Lisa’s old coworker, nodding in greeting at Moca when her face appears on screen. “Aoba-san, you’re quite close with Mitake-san, correct? What kinds of things would be on your mind if you were separated from her for a long time?”“Hmm...I would worry about her a lot, obviously. Things like how she’s doing without me, if she’s lonely, if she’s keeping up with her other friends, all that. Ran’s kind of a mess without me and the rest of Afterglow being there with her, you know? And she’s such a softie, she’d probably cry herself to sleep every night because she misses us, but she’d never let anyone know it.” Moca pauses and brings a hand up to her face as she thinks. “...Or, that’s how I would’ve thought of her in the past,” she adds, and there’s a mix of pride and wistfulness in her voice. “But Ran’s grown a lot, now. She’s probably stronger than I give her credit for.”“I imagine she’d survive,” Yukina agrees.“This is about Lisa, yeah?”“...Yes.” Yukina sighs. “Do you happen to know anything about it? I’d hope she’d talk to me about it if anything, but it’s becoming apparent it might have something to do with me so I thought perhaps...”“She hasn’t said anything to me, no.” Yukina nods, and is about to thank her and end the call, when Moca continues, “but I was at Yamabuki Bakery the other day, and Saaya told me Lisa was asking if she knew any baking schools in the area.”As the two of them hear the words out loud, It’s not hard for either of them to figure out what Lisa is thinking. “I see. Thank you for your help, Aoba-san.”The easygoing girl speaks with a firmness that Yukina has rarely ever heard from her. “Minato-san.”“Yes?”“Lisa really loves you, you know? Please take care of her.”“...I will.” Lisa has stood here on this balcony and called out to Yukina a million times before, but for some reason now she is hesitating. Could she really do this?“Lisa.” Yukina’s voice says from behind her, right there in Lisa’s room. The bassist jumps out of her skin.“Yukina?! When did you—how did you—”“The front door.” Yukina gestures to the phone in her hand. “I texted you.”Lisa quickly checks her phone and indeed sees a text from Yukina saying she’s coming over. “Oh, so you did.” She sighs. “Listen, Yukina, I need to talk to you.”“Me too.” Yukina walks up to the balcony doorway. “I’m going to Germany with you.”Lisa blinks. “Wh-”“Not for long, unfortunately, but I have some time before school starts again so I can come along for a week and a half or so. I hope you haven’t gotten too sick of me while you’ve been here.” Yukina gives her an uncharacteristically playful smile.“...Why?”“I want to see this new world you’ve found. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like for you to show me around. Show me where you hang out, introduce me to the friends you’ve made.”Lisa holds up her hands. “Yukina, wait, stop, stop. I’m...I’m not going back.” Yukina’s smile fades, and she just stares at Lisa, who takes it as a cue to continue. “I’m dropping out of the program. I’ll—I’ll find a school here, there’s lots of good baking schools, I’m bound to get in somewhere. It’ll be easier for the band if I’m right here, and you guys won’t have to play 4-man lives anymore, and—”“Will that make you happy, Lisa?” Yukina simply asks.“ Make me happy...?” The words feel foreign on Lisa’s tongue. It isn’t a question she’s used to asking. “It doesn’t matter, Yukina, I just want to be by your side and—”“And spend the rest of your life holding yourself back for my sake? Let me be the anchor that weighs you down and keeps you from being who you want to be?” Yukina speaks evenly as she steps closer, but her voice carries as much power as when she sings on stage.“Yukina, you know I’d never think of you like that.”“I know.” Yukina’s lips form a sad smile. “You’d feel upset eventually, but you’d never blame me. You’d pin it on yourself, talk yourself down for wanting anything more, tell yourself a better friend wouldn’t think such things.”Lisa hates how the words sound, but she finds she can’t say Yukina is wrong. “I just...want you to be happy, Yukina. I’d give everything I have for that.”The singer shakes her head. “We’ve known each other for so long, but sometimes I still can’t understand how one person could be so loving and selfless. And I don’t understand why you’d waste that love on someone like me.”“You’re worth it,” Lisa instantly responds.“No one is worth you throwing yourself away, Lisa.” Yukina gently takes hold of her hand. “If your kindness means hurting yourself, then I don’t want it. Yes, it’s been tough living so far from you, but I want you to be happy, to be all you can be. You want to be by my side, right?”Lisa doesn’t even think about her response. “Always.”“Then be by my side. Don’t follow after me like a helpless puppy." With her free hand, Yukina tugs her necklace out, purple and red catching the light of the setting sun. “I want to be by your side too. We already promised we’d be intertwined, right?” Yukina leans forward so their foreheads are touching. “Whatever happens, I will always be yours,” she whispers, and closes the distance between their lips.It’s sloppy and clumsy and nothing like the romance movies Lisa loves to drag Yukina to. But it is their sanctuary, and they sink into and get lost in each other, and when they separate, they smile fondly at each other.“Now come on,” Yukina says, tugging on her arm and getting up to jump across the balconies. “I’ll need your help packing.”Lisa laughs and lets Yukina pull her forward from the spot where she is standing, and moves to join her on the other side.