After hearing the last bell of the day ring, I decided to leave and go straight to the dorms. I packed up my stuff, headed towards the door and started to make my way through the corridor. It was a beautiful day, so wasting it inside my room would be pointless. I managed to get past Kenjis room without having him assault me with his endless talk about the feminist propaganda and how we have to get ready for battle and all that crap. Man, the guy's a nutjob.
 
I could hear a voice when walking up the stairs. I won't be alone on the roof today. After opening the door, I saw what might as well be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Hanako was sitting on the bench, singing.
”If we could put our names on a piece of our memories and preserve it, wouldn't that be the perfect treasure? These excitement-coloured days have filled our hearts to their full capacity...”
 
She has mentioned that she enjoys singing, but it's something that I've never seen her do. The wind made her long, black hair flutter about in the wind which just contributed to the overall scene. It also gave me a good view of the scars she has over half her body. She truly is perfect, in a very unorthodox way. This anxious, scarred girl has matured so fast that it has surprised both me and Lilly. Showing her scars doesn't bother her nearly as much as it used to, she even wears her hair in a ponytail sometimes when she's around me and Lilly.
 
All I could do at that point was to stand in the doorway, arms and legs crossed and smile.
She hadn't noticed that I was on the roof yet. After a while, her voice faded out, and she was just sitting on the bench, observing the clouds passing by. I started clapping my hands slowly while walking towards her.
I startled the poor girl so bad that she flew up about 5 feet into the air, but she can handle it. The past month has done so much good to her.
”H-Hisao! Y-you scared me!”
I have to admit, she's almost at her cutest when she gets scared.
”Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. Your singing voice is absolutely fantastic.”
Her face went bright red upon hearing those words and she lowered her head and mumbled a barely audible ”T-thank you...”. I couldn't help myself but to bend over and kiss her on the forehead and fumble around with her hair a bit, which made her cheeks shine even brighter.
 
It's been one week since we both managed to come to terms with what we actually feel for each other. One week since we spent the night together. Now when I look back at it, I realize that I didn't handle the situation as well as I could have done. It was a weird situaiton for both of us, though. Hanako, being as damaged as she is, and me, who misread the entire situation. That's in the past now, though. It's useless to focus on what could be done instead of what can be done. We started dating, and my love for this woman grows more and more every day.
 
”Hanako?”
”Yes?”
”I was talking to Lilly and Akira earlier. What would you say if the four of us went to the karaoke bar together? It'd be a good way to celebrate since they came home from Scotland earlier than expected.”
”I-I'd love to...”
 
She fired off another one of those sweet, tender smiles that pierces my heart like a silver arrow. I can't even begin to describe how lucky I am to have her, and in a way, she's lucky to have me too. Lilly likened it to a caterpillar that erupts into a beautiful butterfly. ”You made Hanako into the person she is today, Hisao, and I'm very, very thankful for that”, she said.
 
We met up outside of the school's main gate. Akira was wearing her usual suit and tie, Lilly was wearing a long, white summer dress, but Hanakos outfit caught me off guard. She wasn't wearing the beret like she used to, but her hair was neatly tied up in a ponytail. Not only that, but she was wearing a short sleeved black dress shirt with a red tie, which almost fully exposed her arms and the burn scars on them. I could hear Akiras ”Yo!” somewhere in the background, but I was zoning out. She's exposing her scars. She's actually exposing her scars. I would never think she could be capable of doing something of this calibre. It shows that she's been able to put her dark past behind her for good, that she's been able to overcome the obstacle that she's been facing for almost 10 years. This marks the point where she finally erupted into the butterfly. I looked up, and her eyes met mine. She knew that I was surprised, and the smile she gave me was almost enough to give me another heart attack.
 
”Do you like it, Hisao?”