TADAIMA!

The summer holidays would end by the following day.

Miyamae Kanako was already on a cab heading back to Ame no Kisaki High School although there was still one day off. She was heading back a day earlier to prepare for the next term and to clear up her dorm room.

"Dear mother up in heaven, finally I'll be stepping on this school again to endure another hectic study term. Please give me the strength to go on. " she thought, as she grabbed her bag tightly. The cab was nearing its destination.

"At least that Mariya's not around for the time." she let out a sign of relief as she stared out of the window.

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FLASHBACK………………..

Kanako slumped onto the sofa as soon as she got back home from the amusement park, looking very sick and pale. It was late in the evening.

"Man, I can't really believe how weak of ya, yet ya wanted to go to the amusement park to have fun." Shidou Mariya went up to her after taking off his own shoes. Matsurika followed from behind.

"If I can……..only blame someone for making me this sick, it would be you!" Kanako yelled back. "You're a guy, of course you wouldn't have this kind of……….uuurgghhh………..uuwwwwwweeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!!!" she grabbed the nearest bowl on the coffee table and vomited in it.

"Yuck! How disgusting." said Mariya, acting like a real maiden, covering his mouth with a hankie.

"As expected, Eifel Tower couldn't stand against sitting in a roller coaster and so on." Matsurika added.

"Urusai!!!" Kanako was very annoyed by then. "It's both of your fault to start with! First you two wanted to play the electro car, but you kept on banging me now and then. I didn't even have the time to recover from those momentums, then you …!" she looked straight at Mariya. "You wanted to go into the ghost house straight away, but who's the one playing scared in the end?!"

"What can you ask for? After all, a ghost house is a must at the park." jeered Mariya. "I didn't expect you to be this scared."

"That's right." added Matsurika.

"Then we didn't even rest for long and you wanted to ride the swinging ship for two rounds! And just after that, you took the roller coaster simultaneously. Do you know how badly it affects me in this case?"

Kanako held her mouth tight, almost wanted to vomit again. Mariya and Matsurika just looked at her.

"And not just that, you went straight for the Ferris Wheel just after we had that hell of a ride."

"You're telling me you're really afraid of heights?"

"Of course not, damn it! Then. You wanted to go through that irritating maze, and I got lost in there for more than an hour."

"Can't blame that one on me. You just didn't know how to differentiate directions around. And you didn't want to explore the maze together with me in the first place."

"Like hell I want to….. Urrrppp!" she nearly vomited again.

"Haih, can't help about it. Matsurika."

"Got it. I'll go get the medicines." she went straight into the kitchen.

"And don't forget the merry go round…."

"What's that supposed to mean? You didn't really complain at all when we sat that?"

"Arrghhh…….."

"Loser!!!" Mariya snorted at her.

"This was suppose…….to be my day, isn't it?" she held her forehead and closed her eyes. "What more can I expect next?"

"Hah, aho! The next thing you can expect is that school will be starting in three days time."

"Ohh, and I have to go back and tidy up first. Not in this condition." she kept her eyes close.

"Oh, come to think of it, I gotta go back home tomorrow. I haven't even pack anything yet for the new term." thought Mariya as he walked into the kitchen. Whether he knew it or not, Kanako's ears were fully fixed onto his words a while ago.

"Freedom, tomorrow….." she thought. And from the kitchen……

"I thought of buying some new figurines now, before school reopens." she heard Mariya saying.

"Don't forget that latest PS3 RPG will be out tomorrow." Matsurika's voice.

"Thanks Matsurika. You remind me. We'll go get a copy on the way home tomorrow.

"You wanna leave anything here for her? I really doubt that."

"Who knows? Better get packing first."

"Freedom….. Tomorrow……" thought Kanako once again.

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END OF FLASHBACK………

That was the previous day, of course. The cab stopped at the front gate of Ame no Kisaki. Kanako stood out of it, grabbed her bag tight and stared at the gate for a moment.

"Tadaima."

She entered the academy compound.

"Fortunately that damn Mariya won't be around here yet today. I bet she sure had a lot of things to spare back home. Not even his maids could do all the things for him, not if it's his own taste."

She walked down the pathway. The trees were still blooming flowers just like that Spring, when she first arrived. There were rarely anyone around. To put that simply, of course it would still be deserted, since it's still a holiday. But basically some students who lived at the dormitory might return a day earlier to clean up an prepare for the next day. And Kanako was one of them there, though she haven't spot a single soul around yet.

"Yo, Yonakuni-san. It's been some time, eh?" Kanako arrived at the front door of the dorm. The dorm mistress was not out there, probably having tea in her room at that moment. Yonakuni-san was sitting at the front door, guarding, with a bone laid next to him.

"Arff, arff."

"Heh, you're doing great guarding out here. Are, where's God? Not around huh?" she looked left and right. "Now's the chance." she thought.

"Well, later. I'm cleaning up."

"Arff, arff."

Kanako entered the dorm. She glanced at the hallway. No one was around. Though she could hear some sounds coming from the other rooms.

"At least I'm not the only one here. Summer studies, here I come!" she exclaimed loudly in the air as she walked up to her room door, twisted the knob and opened the door.

"Hah!" she peeped into it.

"Ara?"

Truly to be expected, nothing had changed in there. All the things were still intact at their places.

"Fuh." she sighed in relief, went straight in, threw her bag aside and threw herself onto the bed.

"Ahh, peace for another day." she exclaimed out loud like a distressful person, well she was a distressful person, since Mariya came into her life.

Kanako didn't realized how long she had been lying on the bed, she heard a knock on her room door.

"Who's there?" she called out lazily.

"Kanako-san? You're back? It's me. Ryuuken."

"Ryuuken-sama?" she jumped out of bed straight away and rushed to opened the door. There stood Ishima Ryuuken, clad in her casual attire.

"Oh, Ryuuken-sama, it's been some time."

"Yo, Kanako. I thought you might've come to clean up, so I drop by to check on you."

"Oh, Ryuuken-sama." her eyes sparkled. "You really still cared about me."

"I just hoped you had a good summer vacation. Nothing happened right?" she rubbed her head.

"Err.. No, nothing happen. Really. Everything's fine. Ryuuken-sama care about my vacation, I'm already happy enough."

"You know, I actually wanted to drop by your house to check out, just in case. I was thinking of staying for the night as well, but then, my family already had their own plans, so forgive me if I couldn't visit you."

"Err, no, it's not a problem. I already said I'm okay. Ryuuken-sama shouldn't worry about me all the time. I don't want Ryuuken-sama to lose focus on her own holiday just because of me." she tried to put on a smile, but she knew it really well.

"At least she didn't come at all. Oh, the truth is, I really want Ryuuken-sama to come visit me. But then…… that damned Mariya's with me, I bet he would've came up with a scheme to get rid of her if she ever came by. That nasty boy, he's the best when it comes to getting rid of obstacles." she thought.

"Well, I guess that's unavoidable. But anyway, since I'm already back here as well, I'm glad to see you here as well." Ryuuken gave her a wide grin.

"Oh, Ryuuken-sama." Kanako's eyes sparkled again. "Oh, really my onee-sama." she thought again.

"Ja, if nothing more, I don't wanna bother you. If you need anything, you can find me at my room, I'll be digging out some stuff back there. See ya later." Ryuuken turned around and walked down the hallway. Kanako observed her until she vanished from her sight, before closing the door.

"Ahh, it's really a great day to be back here." she felt like in heaven, as she walked around her room. "I better clean up too, like Ryuuken-sama." she went to the closet. But just as she reached for the handle….

"Chotto……. What if that weird thing's still in there? And still alive?" fear engulfed her mind again. Her hand trembled. Looking back, she haven't even changed her clothes yet.

"Err……. Maybe later. I don't want that thing to spoil my good day today. Not even tomorrow, when school reopens. I just want a peaceful summer this year." she threw herself onto the bed again, looking up at the ceiling.

"Haih." she covered her eyes with her arm over her face.

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Kanako didn't realized how long she was sleep again, she was totally exhausted after that trip to the amusement park. When she opened her eyes, she realized it was already late in the evening. The sun was already setting. She sat up, and looked at the window.

"Aiih, what a day." she rubbed her eyes, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Dare da?"

No answer…….

She walked up to the to the door.

"Is it Ryuuken-sama again?" she thought as she grabbed hold of the handle. "Maybe she came to check out on me again because she missed me. Oh my."

But that was just her over imagined thoughts again, as usual. For the one who stood out there waiting, was her worst nightmare, once more.

"Yo, Kanako-san. I'm here." Mariya waved out in a intrigued manner. Matsurika was standing behind him, carrying the bags.

"What….. What are you doing here???!!!!!"

"Huh? Of course, I came to clean up too. It will be bad to just let the senpai do all the cleaning job by herself, isn't it?" he said in a polite manner, displaying his girl attitude again.

"Argh, in the end, it will be me doing all the donkey job again!" she exploded. "And I though I had lots of things to do back home! How come you can come here this fast?"

"I just let my servants do the jobs for me. Piece a cake."

"Everyone in the household knows Mariya-sama and Shizu-sama's taste very well. It's not problem letting them directly do all the job." added Matsurika.

"You don't have to tell her that, Matsurika. What a waste of time." Mariya jeered back.

"Waste of time was you, Mariya-sama, looking up and down the entire store for those figurines."

"Damn you. You won't have any dinner tonight." he said, softly.

"Antatachi….." Kanako was getting annoyed.

"So, how long are you gonna let me out here? Are you gonna leave your kawaii little kohai out her in the cold?" There went another of his cute etiquette.

"Grrr….." she tried to hold back her anger. "Get in!" she went back to bed and sat on it. Mariya and Matsurika walked in graciously into the room.

"Matsurika."

"Understood."

Matsurika went to the secret compartment to open the secret room behind Kanako's room. Mariya just stood there watching.

"There goes my dream day. Where are the peaceful days that I longed for again? Oh, Ryuuken-sama, if only you can help me with this, I would want you to chase this idiot away." Kanako smacked her head in disappointment. Mariya noticed that, but kept mum about it. He only let out another sly grin.