Cover of volume 2:
Splash page for volume 2:
Hiro's been absent from school ever since her big fight with Nagi; it's been 4 days now. Nagi goes to her house to see her, and finds out that Hiro hasn't been eating since the fight either. She does up to Hiro's room to see her, and discovers that Hiro's room is covered with pictures of her.
She wants to believe the pictures don't mean what she thinks they mean, but...
Hiro returned to school, but Nagi couldn't look her in the eye. Hiro tried to talk to her, but Nagi put her off. Afterwards, Hiro went and slammed her hand so hard on the piano that she hurt herself. She tried to keep on doing it, but Nagi stopped her.
Nagi has come to see Hiro in the hospital. She's worried that was happened was her fault. She asks Hiro if she's in pain, but Hiro says no. Nagi says that Hiro is anemic because of lack of food, and suggests they stop by the hospital on their way home from school.
Hiro confides in Nagi: she's an only child, and nobody's ever played with her. There were plenty of people who paid attention to her, but only when she was playing piano. Nagi's the only one to ever tell her she liked her whether or not she played piano--Nagi saved her.
Hiro asks Nagi not to hate her. She promises to take care of herself and not be a bother to Nagi, and pleads with Nagi not to leave her. She tells Nagi that she likes/loves her and wants to keep her all to herself.
Nagi apologizes for the awful things she said before, and says she'll stay by Hiro's side. She assures Hiro that she won't end up hating her.
Nagi remembers what a former classmate of Hiro's told her about Hiro before: that Hiro will do whatever it takes to get the things she wants, even if it means hurting herself. Nagi thinks to herself that she hurt Hiro with her words and attitude. She doesn't want to see Hiro hurting--if possible, she wants to just pretend nothing happened and go back to the way things were before: talking on the phone every day, hanging out on the weekends, seeing each other during winter break, sharing lots of conversation and laughter...
After that, Nagi felt like they were growing apart--like there was a wall between them. But she tried not to let on about that to Hiro. One day, she saw the guy Hiro gave the sweater to (Tokiwa), and apologized to him again; after that, Nagi and Tokiwa were on good terms again, and they started spending time together. Nagi didn't tell Hiro about that either--she thought that as long as she and Tokiwa were no more than friends, it wouldn't hurt Hiro. She felt bad about lying to Hiro, but didn't want to hurt her. She even tried to put some distance between herself and Tokiwa.
But one of Nagi's friends realized what was happening and told Nagi she shouldn't sacrifice her happiness for Hiro's; she even told Hiro that Nagi was trying to get away from her. After that, Hiro revealed to Nagi that she knew she was a burden on her and that she knew about Tokiwa, but that she still expected Nagi to choose her over him because of her earlier promise to stay by Hiro's side.
Nagi tried to stop seeing Tokiwa, tried to choose Hiro over him, but it didn't work--she couldn't stop feeling the way she did about him. She needed to tell Hiro about her new relationship with Tokiwa but didn't quite know how; she ended up telling Hiro that both she and Tokiwa were precious to her but that she liked/loved them in different ways. Hiro said she understood, but Nagi had her doubts about that.
It's now Valentine's Day. Nagi made too many chocolates, so she's brought some in to share with her friends. Hiro tries one, and tells her they're really good.
Nagi, narrating, tells us that she's having too much fun every day, and that the more she cherishes what she has, the more she fears losing it. If it was fate that led her to Hiro and Tokiwa, then what does the future hold for her? She wants this time to last as long as possible, even if it's just a minute or even a second longer. When she can't see them, she feels anxious. She's so preoccupied with her own feelings that she doesn't realize she's hurting Hiro little by little.
Meanwhile, Hiro throws away the gift she got Nagi for Valentine's Day.
Nagi, Hiro, and a couple of their friends:
A TV crew came to film Hiro; Nagi didn't find out about it until a teacher told her. They asked Hiro to play something for them, and Nagi protested, trying to protect Hiro. Hiro agreed to do it anyway, and played an original composition that didn't require the use of her injured finger. Nagi was amazed, and told Hiro so. It turns out that Hiro has been going to rehabilitation every day with a new doctor, who also set up the TV filming.
Hiro had changed, and Nagi realized that she'd been so concerned with protecting Hiro that she never really understood her at all.
Hiro's new doctor said some untrue things about Hiro's homeroom teacher and fellow students on TV, which led to Hiro being the subject of nasty pranks (which she attributed to her fame; she said people had done even worse things to her in the past). Nagi confronted Hiro about keeping her in the dark about the important stuff in Hiro's life, and discovered that Hiro might have feelings for her new doctor. Hiro also mentioned that the doctor bought her anything she wanted. Nagi was upset because Hiro was looking at her so coldly. She also had her doubts about the doctor's character, but her boyfriend convinced her to not judge him so hastily.
Speaking of Nagi's boyfriend, the two of them continued to get closer; he arranged for them to go on an overnight ski trip together during spring break but Nagi had doubts. Hiro overheard Nagi talking to another girl about the trip, but didn't seem upset about it. Nagi ended up going on the trip, and was relieved to discover that they got separate rooms (she realized she wasn't ready to sleep with him).
When Nagi got home from the trip, her mom told her that Hiro called. Nagi went to visit Hiro and saw her kiss the doctor in his car, then wipe her mouth off. Hiro turned and saw Nagi there. Nagi gave Hiro a cute charm she'd gotten for her on the trip. Hiro invited Nagi in, but Nagi said she had tons of homework to finish. In her head, Nagi remarked that Hiro was changing rapidly and wondered if it was the doctor that was causing it; she also wondered what that kiss meant to Hiro.
Nagi and Hiro's 3rd year of high school began (the school year starts in the spring there), and they ended up in different classes. Nagi suggested that they take the same electives and continue to eat lunch together.
Nagi asks Hiro to sing Come Rain or Come Shine for her again. Then she asks if Hiro is in love with the doctor (Odate). Hiro says yes. Nagi persists, asking if Hiro loves him like in the lyrics of the song, to which Hiro replies that the song seems more applicable to Nagi and her boyfriend (Tokiwa). Nagi asks about Hiro's feelings for Dr. Odate a third time, and Hiro gets pissed off, telling Nagi her half-hearted meddling isn't appreciated. She starts to get up and leave, but Nagi stops her.
Nagi says that Hiro doesn't seem happy at all. She lets go of the piano lid, and Hiro slams it closed. Nagi asks Hiro if she's all right, but Hiro just tells her to leave her be.
Hiro asks Nagi what love is; she reminds Nagi that Nagi said she loved Hiro and Tokiwa equally and yet spends all her time thinking about Tokiwa. Hiro asks what the difference between them is--is it that Tokiwa's a guy and she's a girl? The feeling of caring for someone isn't any different.
"Have you forgotten, Nagi?" Hiro asks. "The person I loved like in the song was you."
Nagi finally realizes that Hiro isn't the one who's changed--she is.
In the last chapter of volume 2, Nagi's mother finds the pictures Nagi took during her trip with Tokiwa (one of which is of Tokiwa sleeping, since he fell asleep in Nagi's room that night). Her parents tell her to stop seeing him; Tokiwa tries to convince them to change their minds, to no avail. Hiro confesses to Nagi that she deliberately called while Nagi was on the trip and said things to make Nagi's mother suspicious. She thinks she doesn't deserve to be Nagi's friend; Nagi only blames herself for what happened (because she lied to her parents), but doesn't say anything in reply to Hiro. Nagi's going crazy missing Tokiwa, but then he turns up, saying someone (Nagi thinks it's Sato, but who knows, it could be Hiro) told him she was looking worse and worse. They start seeing each other behind her parents' back.