Akira rolled up to the girl's dormitory like the kind of person who thinks the world is her oyster. Parking her car by the sidewalk so that it took up enough space next to its neighbors for two cars of its size, she strode, swaggered, really, into the red brick building, her suit (she had two others exactly like it and a dress for mass and confession, which she hadn't worn in years) rustling softly. She ignored the girls in the lobby as she turned onto a hallway, smiling cheekily as she rapped on the door she wanted.
        It wasn't long before the door cracked and a soft voice answered, "May I help you?" Akira snorted.
        "I dunno, wee lass, d'ye ken my sister?" Talking in Scots had become something of a game to Akira recently, because it annoyed her mother.  Lilly just gasped and pushed the door wide to hug her older sister tightly. "Akira!" she cried.
        "Hey, little sis." Akira laughed. It was always nice to visit Lilly.
        They went inside Lilly's room. It was strictly ordered, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Akira knew very well why it was so neat, but couldn't help thinking of her own bedroom, with the floor obscured by dirty laundry and empty beer cans. She mentally shrugged. The two sisters made their way to the short, wooden table and had tea, or rather, Lilly had tea. Akira had never liked the stuff. For a while they talked about this and that, and had a high old time until they arrived at the reason Akira had come to visit.
        "So what was it you wanted to talk about?" The older sister asked, wondering what could have prompted her so-very-independent little sister to ask to talk to her.
        "Ah." Lilly's face fell slightly. "Just a moment." She stood up and walked over to her desk, connecting a travel-sized speaker system to a CD player and turning it on. A piano concerto began to play, and, much to Akira's surprise, she turned it up until it was slightly louder than listening to a live pianist would have been.
        "Do you remember," Lilly began, "my friend Hanako?"
        "Shy, slight girl, stutters? Of course I remember Hanako."
        "Do you also remember Mikado-San? She was Shizune's friend more than mine-"
        "I keep in touch with Shizune, yeah. The two of them are like a single entity, these days, you never see them apart."
        "Did you know she's, what do they say nowadays..."
        "A flaming homosexual?" Akira was mystified as to what her sister is getting at, but isn't going to admit it just yet. It's much easier to tease.
        "Well, yes. Have you ever thought that Hanako might be... like that?"
        "Hanako, gay? Hmm." Akira bit her lip and reviewed what she knows about Hanako.
        "Nah, can't say I have. Why?"
        "I would have said the same thing, until she confessed to me the other day!" Lilly's tone was bemused and frustrated.
        "What are you so worked up about?" Akira laughed a little. "It's not as if she's the first, or even the first girl."
        "This is different!" Lilly insisted. "Everyone at St. Joseph's knew Maya was gay, and Suzu was just doing it for her politics."
        "So Hanako might be gay for you, why are you so upset?"
        "Because I don't think she's actually a lesbian, Akira."
        "Huh. You think she's jailhouse gay?"
        Lilly vacillated. "I don't know, Akira. I suppose I'm afraid of doing what Shizune's doing to the Mikado girl. Just...stringing her along for my own benefit without letting her have any closure or resolution-"
        Akira interrupted. "Hold on, Lilly. I know you haven't had much respect for Shizune since that festival, but she's been completely upfront and straightforward with Misha. All the misery Misha's put herself through by sticking with Shizune since then is her own fault."
        Lilly sighs. "I suppose so,"
        Akira continued, "If you really think that Hanako's misinterpreting her feelings for you, then you have the same choices as if she really does like you that way. You can turn her down, or..." Akira smirked. "Maybe you could experiment a bit. Do something uncomfortable. Nothing you do in High School counts afterwards, y'know."
        "Akira..."
        "Hey, big sister advice isn't always 'good' advice, but it can still be good advice." Akira knew that Lilly couldn't see her waggling her fingers to form quotation marks, but she did it anyway, out of habit. "Anyway, I have to go now, I'll see you around, okay?"
        Lilly stepped around the table to hug her again. "Drive safely, Akira. And thank you."
        "Anytime, little sis. Anytime."