Akari struggled to calm down as she nervously glanced around the empty schoolyard, the shade of the tree providing minimal protection from the overbearing sun. "She should be here any minute now…"

"Sorry I'm late! Have you been waiting long, Akari-chan?" Akari felt her heartbeat quicken as she turned to face Chinatsu, forcing a smile despite her nervousness.

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're only late by a few minutes."

"Thank goodness. One of the teachers needed my help, so I was really worried about being late." Chinatsu let out a relieved sigh before looking at Akari curiously, her hands clasped behind her back where she was holding her bag. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Right." Akari felt her throat tighten, and for a moment she was worried she might not be able to say it after all, but she couldn't back down. Not after calling Chinatsu out here like this. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before finally finding the courage to speak up. "Chinatsu-chan I…I'm in love with you!"

"Huh…?" Chinatsu seemed like she was having trouble registering what Akari just said, but she couldn't stop now. She'd already gone this far, so she had to go through with it.

"Every second that we're apart, all I can think about is you, how much I want to be back together with you again, and how badly it hurts to be apart from you. Whenever I see you with anyone else, I get this awful feeling, even though I know I shouldn't and I…" Akari's will finally started to falter and as she finally noticed the warmth on her cheeks, she realized she had started crying at some point.

"Akari-chan…" Chinatsu couldn't meet her best friend's eyes as she turned her gaze downwards, struggling with what she had to say next. "I'm sorry…" She was worried that she'd end up all alone again, that after hurting Akari so badly, she wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore; but at the same time, she couldn't accept Akari's feelings. "I…"

"I know." Akari interrupted Chinatsu before she could finish that sentence, flashing the same warm smile as always. Usually, that smile made Chinatsu relax, but paired with her tears; it just made Chinatsu feel sick. Knowing that she was the cause made it all the worse. "I know…you love Yui-senpai…I just couldn't hold it back anymore. You can…forget this happened…and we can just…go back to being friends, okay?" Akari struggled to get the words out. "I forgot that I need to head back early today." She turned on her heel as she started to run away. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Aka-…" Chinatsu started to reach out to her, but she held back at the last possible second as she remembered she was the one that hurt Akari. She couldn't possibly be the one to comfort her. She was silent as she watched Akari run out of the school yard, before finally shifting her gaze back to the ground once she was out of sight. "I did what was right…I can't return her feelings, and it wouldn't be right to lead her on…so why does it feel like I've done something wrong?"

Akari gasped and jerked upright as she woke, trying to catch her breath and calm her rapidly beating heart. She didn't need to check to know her cheeks were wet with tears. Whenever she had that dream, she always cried. "Dream…?" She felt an uncomfortable pain spread throughout her chest as she remembered something important. It was a memory, not a dream.

"Well…it's not like I expected anything else." There was a sad smile on her face as she forced herself to get up and start getting ready. After all, why would she ever want someone like me…? Four months had passed since her confession, and today would mark one month since they began high school. She didn't have time to be depressed, and besides, that wasn't what suited her. She was the always happy, always bright Akari. If she lost those qualities…then even the few friends she had might abandon her.

Even Chinatsu might…

"Ah, what am I thinking?" She slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of it. She had to be the same bright and happy Akari as always. Forcing those thoughts out of the way, she was quick to get ready as she headed downstairs, pausing to glance at her reflection as she grabbed her bag. Over the past few years, in addition to growing quite a bit taller, she'd also filled outwards quite nicely; and with her now much longer hair, she had stopped wearing her buns in favor of just letting her hair down.

On more than one occasion, Kyoko mentioned that Akari would actually be quite popular if it weren't for her lack of presence; but compared to the unique personalities of her new classmates, she stood out even less than she had back in middle school.

She smiled, checking her reflection to make sure it was the same bright smile as always, before stepping out the door. "Good morning!"

"Good morning!" Kyoko, Yui, and Ayano all said in quick succession with one another. This was probably one of the most surprising developments that had happened since their time in middle school, but all three of them had ended up in a relationship together. Akari was shocked when the three of them explained their situation to her on the first day of school.

Obviously, Akari wasn't the type of person to judge her friends for something like that. The way she saw it, as long as they were happy, then she was happy. Although, she would never admit it to anyone, but when she first learned Yui was in a relationship, she was overjoyed; but that happiness quickly turned to guilt the moment she saw that look on Chinatsu's face when they told her. I really am an awful person sometimes.

"Shall we head to school?"

"Forward march!" Out of their group of friends, Kyoko had grown into the tallest, and the rest of her body had grown alongside it. Her curves weren't nearly as defined as Akari's, and at some point she had gotten into the habit of wearing her hair in a side braid.

"Geez. You're a high schooler now, so act like it, Kyoko." Yui let out an exasperated sigh at Kyoko's outburst, but she didn't seem nearly as upset with it as she would've been back in middle school, and Akari recognized a softness to her smile that wasn't present back then.

Between the three of them, Yui was the shortest, but the difference in height between her and Ayano was only noticeable when they were standing right next to one another. Yui was also the one that had changed the least, looking nearly identical to her time in middle school, aside from the extra height.

"Hey, Akari-chan…" Ayano paused to consider something, before making a decision and continuing with that line of thought. "…is something bothering you?" Akari hadn't been there to witness it herself, because the trio had kept their relationship a secret until Akari and the underclassmen had entered high school; but apparently Ayano had gotten more and more perceptive to these types of things after their relationship began and she got over her embarrassment with all things related to romance.

Ayano had switched over to a double ponytail at some point, and she was just slightly taller than Yui; while the rest of her body had developed nicely, with just a bit more definition than Kyoko's.

"Nope. Everything's perfectly fine as always." Akari said confidently, wearing her normal smile; but it must not have been very convincing because even Kyoko had come to a stop to give Akari a concerned glance.

"Akari…"

"Ayano's usually right about this type of thing." Yui said matter-of-factly, but unlike Ayano and Kyoko, she didn't seem like she was about to push the topic. "If you don't want to talk about it right now, that's fine. Just remember, we're your friends. Whenever you wanna talk about something…we'll always be here to listen." Despite the fact that Ayano and Kyoko were both still very clearly worried, they didn't press the issue any further as their girlfriend spoke; and in that way, it was clear that the three girls had matured for the better from their relationship.

"I know. But really I'm…" Fine. She wanted to say it, but the word got caught in her throat. She had even believed it to be true until she started to say it to the faces of three of her friends. "I'm not okay." She couldn't meet their eyes as she spoke in a low voice, barely more than a whisper. "But I'm not quite ready to talk about it yet..."

"Then we don't have to talk about it right now." Yui glanced at her phone as she said that before glancing over to the other two. "Actually, we need to hurry to school, or we'll be late."

"Hehe, gotcha!" Kyoko said as she grabbed Akari's wrist and rather forcefully pulled her along as she dashed off in the direction of their school.

"Still has no problem stringing everyone along in her wake." As Kyoko and Akari peaked over a hill, the smile on Ayano's face faded as she glanced over at Yui. "Is this really okay?"

"I think...it's probably not okay. It was pretty obvious that she's in pain, but we can't make her talk if she isn't ready. Trying to push the issue now will probably just make it worse." The pair decided to start catching up with the others as they resumed walking. "If we really start to get worried, we could always talk about it with Chinatsu-chan."

"I suppose she is Akari-chan's best friend…" Ayano let out a resigned sigh as she took a hold of Yui's hand, accepting that there was only so much that they could do. "I just wish there was something else we could do. I really hate feeling so helpless."

The Reformed Amusement Club (officially recognized as the Manga Club by the school) was hectic as always. Both the upperclassmen and the underclassmen had attempted to continue the activities of the Amusement Club after the upperclassmen graduated; so when the underclassmen joined them a year later, the two clubs merged as the Reformed Amusement Club.

Whereas the original Amusement Club had just been made up of Akari, Kyoko, Yui, and Chinatsu; the Reformed Amusement Club was made up of the four members of the original AC, Ayano, Sakurako, Himawari, Chitose, and Chizuru.

When they were all together like this, it really made the developments in their bodies all that much more obvious. No one was really surprised that Himawari had the best figure, but pretty much everyone had been surprised that Akari had developed into having the second best figure. For a few months, Sakurako had even considered Akari's growth a betrayal to their friendship.

Granted, after the two finally confessed to one another, Himawari and Sakurako finally stopped fighting all the time; and after mellowing out a bit, Sakurako forgave Akari for outgrowing her.

"So? What are we all doing here?" Chizuru spoke with an annoyed tone as she glared at Kyoko from across the table. The club met pretty much every day, but considering they actually spent some time fulfilling the club's actual purpose (which is, again, Manga); not every member attended every single day. Kyoko only called every member whenever she got fired up about one of her crazy ideas, and even Chizuru had long since given up trying to ignore her when she got into one of these moods.

"We're going to be playing the King's Game! Special Penalty Edition!" Kyoko shouted excitedly as she jumped up to her feet, a mischievous grin on her face. Usually, they tried to keep their volume relatively low, but not only was school already over; all the other clubs had already gone home for the day. Somehow, Kyoko had gotten permission for an overnight stay.

"I know what the King's Game is…" Himawari started to say.

"...but what's the 'Special Penalty Edition'?" Sakurako finished for her. The fact that they were doing it subconsciously made it all the worse, but they did this all the time ever since they'd started dating.

"Either of the numbers called out by the King can choose to refuse, and if they do, both numbers have to take the penalty." Kyoko found herself on the receiving end of glares from both Chizuru and Chinatsu.

"And just what kind of a penalty would we have to take?" The pinkette snapped as she clenched her fists. She didn't despise Kyoko anywhere near as much as she did back in middle school, when Kyoko was obsessed with her; but she still wasn't particularly fond of her.

"They have to take a shot of this." Kyoko said as she placed a bottle of something on the table, and everyone fell silent as they registered this new development.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd do something like this but…"

"...where and how did you even get that?" This time, the ones to finish each other's sentences were Ayano and Yui, as they both gave Kyoko looks of exasperation.

"Don't sweat the details." She placed a series of shot glasses on the table as well, with nine in total; before looking out over the others. "So? Who's in? And who's going to pus-chicken out?" For her credit, Kyoko did manage to correct herself at the last second.

Ayano, Yui, Himawari, and Chizuru exchanged uneasy glances at the thought of something like this when they were all underaged. Chinatsu and Sakurako lacked any such hesitations, agreeing pretty much immediately. Chitose made it clear that she'd prefer just to watch.

"Let's do it." As Akari spoke up, everyone looked at her in surprise. The vast majority of the girls still saw Akari as the most innocent member of their group, so they could hardly believe she would go along with this without even objecting.

"Kyoko-senpai…" Chinatsu shot her an icy glare, and even Kyoko couldn't help but shudder underneath that gaze. "You didn't by chance coerce Akari-chan into going along with this idea of yours did you?" Over the past few years, Chinatsu had gradually stopped using the frilly schoolgirl facade in favor of her true, short-tempered and crass personality; and the members of their group had gradually come to accept it, with the exception of Akari, who had accepted Chinatsu for who she was from the very start of their friendship.

"N-N-Not at all." Kyoko nervously stuttered as she moved closer to Yui, preparing to dive behind her in case Chinatsu decided she did do something.

"Chinatsu-chan, calm down." Akari stepped forward and placed a hand on Chinatsu's shoulder, trying to get the pinkette to calm down. "Kyoko-senpai didn't coerce me into anything. I decided to do this on my own." Even if she did end up taking a few shots here and there, it would be nice to unwind for a little bit.

"If you say so…" Chinatsu didn't look entirely convinced, but she wasn't going to doubt Akari. Back when they were in middle school, Chinatsu and Akari had been nearly the same height, but now Akari was noticeably taller than the pinkette; and Akari's curves were a full size larger.

Begrudgingly, nearly all of the others agreed. Normally, over half the group likely would've bowed out, but only Chitose and Chizuru decided not to participate; choosing instead to simply observe, which was probably for the best.

"But...doesn't the punishment aspect of this kinda defeat the purpose of the game?" Yui asked, as a beaming Kyoko prepared the chopsticks.

"Don't sweat the details, Yui." Kyoko answered without missing a beat as she held out her hands, offering the now marked chopsticks to the group. After everyone pulled one, a triumphant Kyoko held up a chopstick marked with a crown. "I'm the King first!" She filled each of the shot glasses to about half, before grinning at her group of friends. "The King's orders are absolute! Everyone has to take a shot, King included." Barely a second passed after she made her declaration before she picked up one of the glasses and downed it instantly, slamming the glass back down against the table, far more dramatically than was necessary.

"Why do you look like you've done that before?" Yui muttered under her breath as she took one of the shot glasses, reluctantly downing it with a bitter expression on her face. "Ugh."

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Ayano said as she tentatively took a sip before shaking her head and placing it back on the table. "No way."

"The King's orders are absolute, Ayano; and the penalty for disobeying the King…" Kyoko slipped her arms around Ayano, having expected her to react like this as she picked up Ayano's glass and poured it into her mouth, before pressing her lips against Ayano's; seperating a second later with yet another mischievous grin. "But if you want me to give you your penalty like this every time, I wouldn't mind."

"Ready?" Himawari and Sakurako had twined their arms together and downed their shots like newlyweds, both reacting with a bitter expression. "Together then."

"That didn't make it any less disgusting at all. We should've gone with how Ayano and Kyoko did it." Sakurako found it hard to believe people enjoyed doing this as she placed her glass back on the table.

"She really might die one of these days…" Yui muttered with concern in reaction to the heavy thump as Chitose collapsed, blood pouring from her nose as Chizuru caught her glasses before they could fall and hit the ground alongside her. Ever since Kyoko, Ayano, and Yui had started dating; Chitose's nose bleeds had reached an entirely new level, since it wasn't just her fantasies anymore.

"Akari-chan…" Chinatsu downed her glass without a second's hesitation, and similarly to Kyoko, her reaction implied this wasn't the first time she'd tried alcohol; but she was far more concerned with Akari. "...if you don't want to, you can always just choose to bow out of the game, you know?"

"I already said I decided to play on my own." Akari had a determined look on her face as she picked up the last shot glass and, before she could lose her nerve, downed the entire thing; her face almost instantly flushing a deep red, a bitter expression showing and then fading just as quickly as it appeared. "Next round!"

Even Kyoko seemed surprised as she looked at Akari, quickly pulling Yui aside. "Hey...doesn't Akari look a lot more present than usual?"

"Why would you word it in such a way that it makes it seem like she's usually daydreaming?" Yui let out an exasperated sigh as she stole a glance at Akari. "Still...I get what you're trying to say anyway. Her presence seems a lot stronger than it was a moment ago...it couldn't be…"

"Akari said next round!" Having gotten tired of waiting, Akari snatched the chopsticks and held them out for the group to take. Once everyone had one, Akari glanced down at her chopstick with a disappointed look, then did a double take before triumphantly leaping into the air with the chopstick clenched tightly in her fist. "Akari's the King!"

"After just a single shot..." Chinatsu muttered in disbelief. "...she's totally drunk, huh?"

"King Akari says Number 6 has to switch glasses with Number 1."

"That's not that bad, really…" Sakurako breathed a sigh of relief as she revealed herself to be Number 6, and switched glasses with a concerned looking Chinatsu, who was Number 1.

"Maybe not for a normal person, but the last time we played the King's Game, Akari-chan was incapable of doing anything even slightly mean. She gave commands like be my friend forever. If this is what she's like after a single shot…"

"We might have a problem if she has to take too many more…" Yui finished, taking note of the mischievous light in Kyoko's eyes. She's definitely going to do everything she can to get Akari drunk.

"Next round!" Akari shouted yet again, holding out the chopsticks yet again.

"Hehehe, Sakurako-sama's the King!" Sakurako grinned as she glanced around the room, satisfied with the position of power, even as fleeting and pointless as it was. "Number 4, take off Number 3's skirt!"

"Akari's Number 3!" Akari shouted as she jumped to her feet, and Chinatsu faltered. After a few seconds, Chinatsu placed her own chopstick on the table as she spoke up.

"I'm Number 4...we're taking the penalty." A satisfied looking Kyoko poured their penalty glasses, and both Chinatsu and Akari downed it without a second's hesitation; but while Chinatsu still seemed perfectly sober, Akari looked as if she'd just finished two bottles, not two shots.

"Next round!" Even more fired up than before, Akari held out the chopsticks again.

"That makes me the King." Himawari held up the chopstick identifying her as the King as she looked over all of her friends, trying to guess their numbers. "Numbers 1, 3, and 5, take off your tops for the rest of the game."

"Akari's Number 1!" The redhead shouted cheerfully, easily demanding the most attention out of anyone in the room, in contrast to her usual lack of presence.

"I'm Number 3." Kyoko grinned as she looked around the others, waiting for Number 5 to decide whether they wanted to go through with it or take the penalty.

"I'm Number 5." Ayano muttered quietly as she looked down at the ground. She wanted to take the penalty, but she also wasn't sure it was the best idea for Akari to drink any more. "I'll go through with it." Originally, Kyoko had intended to take the penalty of any command that put her and Akari together, but given the intense glare Chinatsu was giving her; she decided it'd be a lot more fun to go through with this.

Kyoko and Akari had their respective tops off in no time, although Akari did struggle a bit with the buttons in her current state, revealing their contrasting (and surprising) fashion sense when it came to their underwear. Perhaps it wasn't actually all that surprising that Kyoko still wore bunny print bras, but nobody was expecting to see Akari wearing black and red lace. Even Kyoko seemed at a loss for words as she looked at Akari.

"Hurry up, Ayano-senpai. Stop staring and strip!" Unconcerned with all the eyes on her in her drunken state, Akari was simply trying to keep the game moving. It took Ayano quite a bit longer than it had Akari, but in her case, it was a matter of embarrassment; not her inability to handle buttons. Ayano's underwear was a simple black pair, without any pattern or extra flair. "Next round!"

"Maybe we should stop for the night…" Yui said as she comforted an embarrassed Ayano, glancing over at Akari with more than a little worry evident in her expression.

"Yui-senpai's right. Akari-chan's barely standing upright at this point." Chinatsu was quick to agree, worried for her friend in more ways than one. It wasn't like Akari to agree to this kind of thing in the first place, and there was no way that Chinatsu would've let her participate if she knew that Akari was such a lightweight.

"No way!" Despite their protests, Akari herself still wasn't satisfied, and unlike her usual passive attitude; she was anything but in her current state. It even seemed like she could sweep Kyoko along with whatever crazy idea she had, in contrast to how Kyoko was usually the one leading everyone else along. "We have to keep going. Even if nothing else, we have to do one last round."

"Fine. This is the last round then." As everyone grabbed one of the chopsticks offered by Akari, Kyoko paused before grasping her own, a mischievous smile touching her lips yet again.

"Since it's the last round let's do something special. For this last round, this is no longer The King's Game Super Penalty Edition; it's just The King's Game! Which means..."

"The King's Orders Are Absolute." Everyone said it in unison, making it clear that they consented to the new rule. Satisfied Kyoko took her chopstick, and then made a disappointed face.

"Hehehehe…" Akari grinned as she twirled the chopstick in her hand before tossing it into the air and somehow managing to catch it as it fell, showing off the crown marking her as the King. "Akari's the King once again."

"Was she imitating an anime there?"

"That's not important. Seriously, how did she catch that? She can't even stand still. She keeps swaying."

"King Akari demands…" As she spoke, Akari reached over to take the bottle from Kyoko, making sure the cork was firmly in place before she slammed it down in the middle of the group. "...whichever lovely little kitten the bottle lands on has to kiss the King."

"Did she really just say…"

"...lovely little kitten?" The group shared a moment of silence as they all collectively reached a certain decision.

"We can't ever let Akari-chan get this drunk again."

"We have to get Akari this drunk all the time!" Everyone but Kyoko said the exact same thing in perfect synchronization, with Kyoko reaching the opposite conclusion.

"The King's orders are absolute!" Unconcerned with the conversation the others were having, Akari shouted that once more as she spun the bottle, before stumbling back to watch it as if she were entranced.

The room seemed to fall silent as all nine of the girls (including Chitose, who had by now managed to recover) watched the bottle slowly come to a stop.