Once again, spoilers lurk beyond this point, especially in the story-specific sections. You've been warned.
On 'The Second Farewell'
- imouto-chan: 'dear little sister'
- natto: fermented soy beans, often eaten with rice at breakfast.
- Yuta quite casually calls Yumi 'Yumi-san', while Yumi is more formal,
calling him 'Ito-san' in return. In retrospect, Taka should probably be
calling Yumi 'Yumi-chan' throughout this story, but I didn't want to bog
down the narrative, so I've chosen just to use the affixes to shine some
light on the way Yumi and Yuta perceive each other.
Epilogue
"He what?"
"He said he's going to ask Yumi out sometime," Kana says, with a mischievous grin. "Actually, he said he's been interested in her for ages, ever since the first time they met."
"Humpf." I settle down in my seat and stare out the train window at the passing scenery.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Kana teases, sliding closer to me and laying her head on my shoulder.
"Jealous? No! Why would I be? Good luck to them, I say!"
Kana just smiles, slipping her arm through mine, and closes her eyes. The motion of the train is smooth and relaxing. There's hours to go before we reach our destination.
"I love you, Kana," I tell her, resting my head against hers.
"I love you too, Yuta..." she murmurs.
I jerk away from her, sending her sprawling across the seat. "What?"
Kana just picks herself up and grins at me. She laughs. "Got you!"
Okay, Yumi and Yuta fans – I'm just kidding! (Well, kind of.) If you'll notice, I haven't gotten the two of them together. I just hinted that they might. You can take it wherever you want from there. =)
I hope that my Yumi agenda has become more clear through what she's said in this story. I genuinely don't believe that Yumi is a terrible person. She doesn't chase Taka in the game to spite anyone – she chases him because she decided, a long time ago, that he was the one for her. While her methods may sometimes be questionable (date rape, anyone?), her intentions were perfectly understandable.
As for Yuta, well... I'm not his biggest fan. Let's just put it that way. I never saw anything in the way he was presented in the game that suggested to me that he was a good match for Kana. He was a little too casual, his attempts to pursue Kana were sporadic at best, and he seemed more 'curious' about her (as a concept) than dedicated to her as a person. It doesn't help that he comes across as a womaniser. At least, that's my perspective on him.
But anyway, he and Yumi are welcome to each other. I've really just suggested their pairing as a slight lampooning of the numerous fanfics I've seen from other properties, where any and all characters can be linked romantically with nothing more than an x (eg HarryxDraco, SakuraxTomoyo, TakaxMiki). I actually haven't given any thought to whether or not Yumi and Yuta would be good for each other – but then again, knowing Yuta, neither has he!
Thank you to the people who have written to me about these fanfics, offering feedback, counterpoint and debate. You've certainly contributed to these stories, more than you may know. I certainly couldn't have reached my conclusions about Yumi (and, to an extent, Taka and Kana!) without your help. You all know who you are. =)
There will be at least one more fanfic to come. My brown-haired, violet-eyed muse has decided not to leave me in peace just yet...