On other side of the town, Seiko was walking slowly with her bag. After running for a while from Ms. Seki and hiding from the police, the girl was tired and panting.

-I don’t have… much of a choice… I have to leave by… foot...- muttered Seiko to herself.

Seiko kept walking through the solitary street until she tripped with something and fell on the ground. The hit was hard and her arms hurt from the impact. She could feel the dry sidewalk on her face as she didn’t have any strength to stand up again. Seiko closed her eyes from a moment, trying to gather the little strength she still had, when she saw something.

In her mind, images from Doremi and the others appeared like pictures. How she met Doremi and Momoko, how Hazuki helped her with her homework, Aiko’s laugh and Onpu greeting her from her car every morning. The moments she spent along them, how they taught them to make cookies and how severe Momoko could be. She remembered observing Onpu signing to the little baby in the store with a happy face… All those images made Seiko cry.

-Why? Why am I thinking about them now?- muttered Seiko while crying. -They don’t want me… but I… I want…

Seiko could at least sat down on her knees and panted, trying to refrain her tears. When she lowered her eyes, she noticed something in front of her. Some flowers appeared out of nowhere, and each was of a different color: some were blue, some were white and other were pink.

-How are… flowers on… the sidewalk?- wondered Seiko looking at them closely. -Still, they are… beautiful…

Out of nowhere, more flowers popped out from the floor, surprising Seiko. Astonished, the girl saw more and more flowers kept blooming, forming a line that turned around a corner.

-What the…? What is going on here?- said Seiko. -This is so weird…

Slowly, the girl followed the path of flowers and turned around the corner. The more Seiko walked, the more flowers appeared in the street, and at one point, she found herself completely surrounded by them.

-Wait, what is happening? I can’t see a thing!- exclaimed Seiko.

Still, Seiko kept walking forward until she saw an opening. The girl rushed and finally found an open place. When her eyes adapted to the shining light, she was amazed at the sight in front of her. She found herself in the middle of a beautiful garden with hundreds of colorful flowers and plants all around her. In the middle, there was a patch with a lot of those flowers that she followed. Pink, white and blue were all intertwined and mixed. At that moment, she forgot what she was doing and how tired she was. The girl left her bag on the grass and stepped in the patch. Far from crushing them, the flowers she stepped on stood up again gracefully. Seiko sat down on the patch and touched the flowers with her hands.

-This is so… beautiful… I have never seen this kind of flowers but… they make me feel… calm and happy- said Seiko.

Suddenly, the flowers around her began changing color. As she looked around, there was a circle of pink flowers surrounding her. Seiko was surprised and laughed a bit.

-How did you do that?- said Seiko laughing. -But yeah, the pink ones make me feel way better…

At that place, time didn’t seem to flow. Seiko felt so happy that she forgot her original plan and just wished to remain there as long as she could. However, she heard some distant voices.

-Hey, watch out! That’s my foot!

-Are we lost? This is not a path, it’s more like a tunnel!

-Come on, we have to trust! We…

Suddenly, some bushes shook wildly and some people came out of them. After closer inspection, Seiko realized they were Doremi and the other girls, who fell on the ground.

-Ouch, can you please not crunch me?- asked Doremi from the bottom. After moving a bit, all of the girls stood up and she could be free from her prison. -Are you all OK? Then we… Ah! Seiko!

It was then that the girls noticed Seiko was sat down in the patch of flowers. Nobody said anything, but they noticed how Seiko’s face showed fear. Her heart was beating really fast and she sweated. The girl rushed to her bag outside the flowers and picked it up again.

-Wait, Seiko! Don’t leave!- exclaimed Doremi.

Seiko froze in place. Even though they got a bit closer, the girls kept their distance inside the patch of flowers. Panting, Seiko swallowed a bit and turned around.

-H… Hi! What a… coincidence!- greeted Seiko with a nervous smile. -What… what are you doing here?

-We’ve been lookin’ for ya. The question is, what are you doing here?- asked Aiko worried.

-Me? Oh, well, I just… got better from the cold, yeah!- lied Seiko. -And… and… my parents! They told me we have to go… my… my grandma is sick too! Nothing serious, but we all have to go to…

-Please stop lying!- said Onpu with a stern voice, scaring Seiko. -We’ve been in your apartment. There was nothing there. You’ve been living alone all this time, right?

Somehow, Seiko’s breath calmed down as she lowered her shoulders and looked down.

-Ms. Seki took you there, right?- asked Seiko in low voice.

-Not at all!- exclaimed Momoko. -We snooped your address out of her notebook and went there ourselves! Actually, Ms. Seki found us there and she was quite mad!

-Why didn’t you tell us?- asked Hazuki with worried tone.

-Oh, it’s not big deal, really. I just live by myself, it’s not that bad- muttered Seiko. -I can do most things by myself, and Ms. Seki helps me now and then.

-And why are you running away?- asked Doremi serious.

-What? Why do you say that?- asked Seiko scared.

-Because your clothes were gone and your books were thrown in the garbage bin! We read your diary and the note you left for Ms. Seki!- exclaimed Momoko.

Seiko was shocked. The girls got scared for a moment as well, but nobody moved at all. Seiko lowered her head.

-How much do you know?- asked Seiko.

-Everything… Ms. Seki told us everything… about you- muttered Doremi.

Silence filled the air, but Seiko showed a sarcastic smile.

-Well, I guess now you have a good excuse… You surely don’t want to hang out with a trans girl, that would be too much of a bother- said Seiko with irony.

-That’s not true! We...- tried to say Doremi.

-Please, it’s OK, I get it- interrupted Seiko. -You wouldn’t be the first ones to do it. I’m a trans girl and I’m happy for that, but I have accepted that I will be forever alone. Wherever I go, no matter how much I try to make friends, I will always cause problems or they won’t like who I am. I must accept I am a bother.

-STOP SAYING THAT!

Everybody looked at Aiko in shock as she shouted with all her might. She could no longer refrain her tears. Then, Aiko approached Seiko and grabbed her by her shoulders.

-Don’t ya ever say that again! I don’t wanna hear that word from ya no more!- exclaimed Aiko while looking at Seiko’s eyes. -I don’t wanna… I don’t…

Aiko couldn’t say any more words. Everybody saw how that girl rested her head on Seiko’s shoulder and burst into tears. Seiko was in shock as her friend cried and wailed from the bottom of her heart.

-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!- apologized Aiko. -I didn’t mean to say those horrible things! I didn’t think what I was saying at all! You are not a bother! I’m stupid! I had fun with you aroun’, really!

As she heard her friend saying all those words, Seiko felt something that she already lived once. Just like when Ms. Seki talked to her and accepted her, she felt… moved. Slowly, for instinct, she approached her hand and put in on the back of Aiko’s head. Some tears flowed from her eyes as well.

-I’m sorry...- apologized Seiko as well. -I didn’t want to… worry you… or make you feel bad… I should have told you all… everything but… I was scared… I wanted you to see me as… myself…

-Don’t apologize! You didn’t need to say anything!- exclaimed Aiko, now hugging her friend. -There was nothing to say! You are you! You are a girl from the very beginnin’! Being trans is OK!

This time, Seiko felt something warm inside her that made her surround her friend with her arms as well. Seeing the scene, all the girls began crying a bit as well. Onpu approached Seiko and Aiko.

-She’s right- said Onpu. -You probably noticed, but there are lots of different kinds of girls out there. Even each one of us is completely different from each other, just like you noted down in your diary. We are all girls with our own unique traits. And you are one as well, with your traits, feelings and troubles that make you unique.

As everybody got closer to Seiko and Aiko, Hazuki noticed something. She looked at Momoko’s feet and said:

-Hey, Momoko, come here for a second.

-What do you want?- asked Momoko while walking towards Hazuki.

-Oh, nothing. I’m just… testing something- said Hazuki with a smile. Then, Hazuki walked towards the two friends hugging each other. -Aiko, can I take Seiko for a moment? Come with me, Seiko.

Aiko stepped aside while removing her tears and Hazuki extended her hand to Seiko, who took it shyly. Then, Hazuki pulled her friend inside the patch of flowers.

-Look down- said Hazuki.

Seiko did as told and noticed again that the flowers around her were pink.

-Oh, yeah, I noticed this before. These flowers change color! They are funny- said Seiko with a blend of happiness and nervousness.

-Now look at our feet. All of us- asked Hazuki.

At that moment, Seiko noticed that the same happened for everybody else: as the other girls stepped inside the patch, the flowers changed around them, forming pink circles around their feet.

-I think these flowers change color to represent who we are- explained Hazuki. -Blue for boy, pink for girl and white because it has all the colors at the same time. And as you see, your flowers are as pink as ours. Just like Ms. Seki said, you are one of us in your heart. We already understood this, but I think this is very clear, right?

Hazuki smiled at her friend, who was still holding her hands. Seiko was really close to cry. Then, Doremi got closer.

-Seiko… We are all sorry- said Doremi. -You have been alone all this time. We know how it feels. We had our fights as well and felt lonely because of that, but worked hard to amend things. Since we took your friendship for granted, we didn’t think about what problems you might have, and instead, we complained about you as if nothing. You went through your problems and fears and worked hard to do everything by yourself, but you don’t need to do that anymore, because you are not alone. We are here for you because… we are your friends! And I want you to be our friend forever!

Seiko reached her limits. When Doremi finished talking, the girl rushed towards her friend and burst into tears, her cries echoing through the flower garden as if there wasn’t any other sound at that place. Doremi returned her hug, and then, the other girls joined the group hug as well. Seiko couldn’t say anything as all she felt was happiness and relief. The flowers in the patch changed their color at the same time, forming a beautiful pink garden around them.