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[one-sided KobatoxFujimoto, almost-FujimotoxSayaka (much as I don't want it!) ]
From afar, as if within a dream, Kobato watched Fujimoto with Sayaka-sensei. She watched every small but true smile, every lingering glance, every gentle touch.
She wanted to cry for the impending death of her love, but the feeling at the bottom of her heart was too heavy to be dislodged by one cleansing session. All she'd get, she knew, were swollen eyes and general hopelessness. While she could still observe and hang onto her composure, heartbreak would remain at bay. Heartache and heartbreak felt very different from each other, and she much preferred the former over the latter.
Unfortunately, her clock was ticking and time was running out. She was only a few candies away from her goal (and- or, she corrected herself- two weeks away from her failure) and she needed to come to a closure now.
The problem was, it was going to be unpleasant either way. He could win Sayaka-sensei from her lingering attachment to the debt collector; he could declare his feelings for Kobato (burning eyes, intense voice, hidden sweetness...if only). But then what would she do? Leave him, and all that she had discovered? Stay, and forever renounce that place?
Currently, she was very tempted to let things run their course and leave (abandon) the two to their own developing (love) story. Fujimoto, for all of his gruffness and curt words, was not a mean or ugly man; and Sayaka-sensei was graceful where she was clumsy, assured where she was tongue-tied, womanly where she was still a child to be taken care of. They looked destined for each other, the couple that everyone smiled at and sighed over as the perfect ending to a fairytale.
But Kobato's gut rebelled against such a quiet and abrupt quitting from the scene. She had grown to know them well, especially Fujimoto (stay safe, don't work yourself so hard!) and to leave them without a farewell after all they had done for her was wrong, wrong, wrong. The most logical thing was to congratulate them and wish them well until she felt it.
A memory broke on her; the woman turning in her divorce papers, resigned to her solitary fate as her supposed mate for life, looked away for his true love. Then, Kobato cried for her, cried for her hidden unhappiness and fear at her changing life, cried for her disillusionment with happily-ever-afters.
She wished someone would cry for her.
Maybe she would feel a little better about the foregone conclusion.

(Following Meet and Greet)
"What's going on?"
"I thought I just told you: she --her name's ~~~ by the way-- is taking us me to the Con-meeting. We You might learn something that you can use to get out of here. And since I haven't told you yet, please don't make me go back. I like this world, thank you very much."
"But I can't not have a shadow! People would talk! And what's the Con-meeting?"
"Let them talk. It's not like it's my business- you deal with it. The Con-meeting is a meeting where any problems that can't be resolved privately are taken. It's like a court where the majority of attendees will make the final decision."
"Oh...but how do I know what's going on?"
"...I'll tell you."
"Really? Oh thank you! Thank you very much shadow!"
"Don't fawn on me. And don't ask for running commentary; I'm not a tireless machine who serves your every need. Don't make a sound unless you absolutely have to- above all, stay hidden."
"But I thought the whole world was flat. How can I hide if there's nothing to hide behind?"
"Who told you that? We just passed by a 3-d building. It doesn't have a shadow, of course, since there's no sun; but inanimate objects can stand. Shadows save a lot more space by casting on a chair instead of casting full-length on the floor."
"...There's no sun?"
"Look up, you idiot. Notice a lack of blinding sunlight?"
"Oh. Oh yeah! Heeheehee. So, what does casting mean?"
"Where shadows appear. It's impossible for a shadow to exist in mid-air, so casting is the process of showing up against a surface."
"Oh...but how do you know all of this stuff if you've never been here before?"
"Do you ever stop asking questions?"
"It's part of my job as a journalist! People tell me my questions are cute."
"Well, I don't think so. Has it ever occurred to you that they might be lying to you so they might be promoted?"
"But they're so nice to me! Besides, their parties are a lot of fun. They couldn't possibly be that sly."
"...Your name defines gullible, I swear. Hey, hide in that corner and stand very still. Shadows will think you're a new furniture style and ignore you. If they cast on you, let them. Things don't move suddenly if they aren't alive, not even here."
"Yes sir!"
"Say that a few more times without acting dumb in between, and I will officially like you."

Kobato knows some things as absolutely true: her name, her mission, and the job.
Her mission: to heal hearts and collect candies until the bottle is full. Only then can she go to the special place.
The job: to help at Yomogi Nursery so she can heal Sayaka-sensei.
In the beginning, the job is a phase in her mission. Her energy and enthusiasm easily slip into the nursery's routine, and eventually become routine.
Without fanfare or special notice, Fujimoto stops scowling suspiciously at her every move. The children expect her clumsy falls like clockwork. Sayaka-sensei smiles more and relaxes.
Kobato relies on them as part of her life. The job becomes her job, and her job becomes the mission. And eventually, she learns to time her rush to school a scant minute before she's late. She learns every child's favorite activity. She learns to protect Sayaka-sensei from the debt collector's warnings.
With more time, she learns to turn her head at a flash of long auburn hair- at the supermarket, on the streets, behind the plastic table. With more time, she learns to wake up earlier and listen to his quiet padding around the neighboring room, fighting sleepiness the whole time. With more time, she learns to catch a tiny glimmer of his smile every day on arrival.
With more time, she steps a little deeper into love.
Slowly but surely, the children quiet down around the two, sneaking away in clumps to give them privacy. Sayaka-sensei prods at Fujimoto in isolated moments, snickering whenever he is caught off-guard.
An unacknowledged relationship forms, of teases and fights and tight hugs. He protects her, and she heals him. It is a happy time, sweet like clear water and uncomplicated unlike TV dramas.
All the while, candies add up in her bottle until, to her surprise, only one more is needed within the next week to fulfill her wish. To go is to leave Fujimoto for the special place she had always yearned for, but to stay is to give up her dream. She cannot make a decision until the last day, thinking about the dilemma long and hard. Even on the last day, she still isn't altogether sure if either move will give her what she really wants. But there is no more time; the sun is setting.
With shaking hands, she lifts her filled glass bottle to the reddish-yellow light, watching sunbeams dance through the tiny gaps between candies. She imprints the image on her mind, along with everything that has ever happened on Earth.
Then she drops the bottle.