Knock-knock-knock-knock!

The young and innocent Furutani Kaede poked her head out from the doorway leading into the kitchen where her big sister, Himawari, was just about to prepare some lunch. The day had been pretty peaceful for the siblings so far and neither of them were expecting anyone to visit.

"Onee-chan, someone's at the door! Should I see who it is?"

Himawari sighed, stopped chopping up some tomatoes for the sandwiches she was crafting and walked over to her little sister. She patted her head with a weary but sweet smile. "Don't worry about it, Kaede. I'll answer it...I have a pretty good idea who it might be anyway..."

As Himawari slowly made her way to the front door she could hear the knocking on the door turn to banging...and from banging to outright slamming. One of the veins in her forehead began to pulse angrily as she began to unlock the door. "In what person's right mind...would YOU think...that trying to break down someone's front door to get their attention..." Himawari threw the door open with almost enough force to break it off its hinges. "...WAS A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE IDEA?!"

On the other side was none other than Himawari's closest friend and neighbor, Sakurako. The blonde was standing in a pose that made it look like she was about to deliver a strong tackle. Beads of sweat trickled down Himawari's face. She didn't really expect her idiot of a friend to actually consider ramming the door down. Meanwhile Sakurako was wondering why her friend looked so angry. Her face was cluelessly blank as she cocked her head to the side. "Himawari!...You okay?"

"You're seriously asking me that?!"

Sakurako responded with a simple head-tilt to the other direction, coaxing a long sigh from Himawari. After a bit, the blue haired girl finally spoke back up. "So what do you want then..."

Sakurako perked up at the question, but then instantly became annoyed. "Oh right! YOU SAID YOU'D HELP ME WITH MY HOMEWORK TODAY! I've been waiting at my place for you to come over but you never did!"

"I was PLANNING to go over a little later after making lunch for Kaede and finishing the last of my chores. Unlike you, I actually have responsibilities." Himawari crossed her arms, causing her breasts to lift up slightly. It was a small motion, but one that someone like Sakurako would immediately notice. Since the two grew up together, she'd been watching Himawari's breasts grow steadily to the point of them becoming a bit bigger than most other girls their age and even some older. It also didn't help that while Himawari grew, Sakurako's chest stayed as flat as a washboard. This was probably the biggest gripe she had with her best friend.

"Yeah, you obviously have to be responsible for keeping your milk sacks in check..." Sakurako growled. Himawari huffed in return, deciding to let the insult slide for the moment.

"I'll go over as soon as I'm done making lunch for Kaede, alright? So if you don't mind putting your patience to the test..." Himawari looked off to the side for a second. " I-I'll make some extra for you too, alright?"

"REALLY?!" Sakurako lit up like a Christmas tree. Himawari's food was never something to take lightly and the fact that she was going to be given some of it without any questions made it even better. She quickly contained her excitement by putting on a confident smirk. "W-Well...Then I guess the kind and forgiving Sakurako-sama can spare a bit more of her time."

Himawari nodded. "Good. Then go back to your house and I'll be there in about an hour." Without even waiting for a response, Himawari immediately shut the door in Sakurako's face. The blonde blinked for a second before turning on her heel and heading back home, completely unfazed and with a large grin on her face. "Free food is awesome, but free Himawari's food is even better!" Sakurako skipped away excitedly, hoping dearly that the next sixty minutes would pass by twice as quickly as normal.

On the other side of the door Himawari let out a flustered sigh before going back to the kitchen, taking a few extra ingredients from the refrigerator to up the number of sandwiches she could make. Kaede watched from the doorway. "Who was it, Onee-chan?"

"Eh? O-Oh, it was just Sakurako. I promised her I'd help her with her homework, but I needed to finish all my chores first." Himawari smiled slightly. Taking care of her own duties and her little sister was one thing, but constantly having to babysit Sakurako when it came to school just made things more tiring...Not that she minded, anyway.

"Sakurako-oneechan has a lot of trouble studying on her own, doesn't she?" Kaede tilted her head quizzically, causing Himawari to chuckle as she reached over to pat her head. "Most of the time. That's why I try to help her out."

Kaede smiled brightly. "You're both really good friends!"

Himawari was caught off-guard for a moment before answering. "I...suppose we are, yes."

After finishing up in the kitchen and leaving her sister to enjoy her lunch, Himawari decided to retreat to her bedroom and relax for a bit. Kaede's words were still floating around in her head as she let out a slightly sad sigh. She sat up from her bed and looked over to her desk, getting up and slowly making her way over. She crouched down and opened up the bottom drawer, taking out a ragged and old-looking piece of paper. It was an old marriage form, slightly pink in color and covered in slight creases and tears. It wasn't totally filled out, but what was filled was done so in crayon. There was no name under the section for the groom, instead both Himawari's and Sakurako's names taking up the Wife's space. The blue-haired girl stared at the form longingly, a slight hint of concern visible in her expression.

"I wonder...Just when did things between us change..."

"Oh, Himako. Sakurako's been expecting you."

Sakurako's older sister, Nadeshiko, stepped to the side to let Himawari enter their house. The Furutanis and Oomuros had been neighbors for a while now, with Himawari's family living in the apartment building just across the street from Sakurako's house since the two were little. Nadeshiko considered Himawari and Kaede her other younger sisters at this point.

"Sorry for any inconvenience I may be causing." Himawari smiled and bowed as she slipped off her shoes. Nadeshiko responded with a lazy wave of her hand. "S'not a problem. You know you're always welcomed here. Sakurako's in her room doing her homework."

"Eheh...I'll believe it when I see it..." The blue-haired girl made her way over to Sakurako's door, slowly peeking inside. The girl was seated at her table, staring hard at her notebook. Himawari was amazed; Sakurako actually was trying to do her homework. It took a moment before she actually entered the room. "Well...It seems someone's working hard."

Sakurako looked up as her eyes instantly lit up like fireworks. "HIMAWARI! DIDJA BRING THE FOOD YOU PROMISED ME?"

"Yes." Himawari pulled out a small package from her bag. "Two sandwiches, like I said I'd make."

"YAY! Gimme gimme!" Before her friend could take hold of the sandwiches, Himawari quickly pulled them away and out of her reach. "No. Not until you finish your work. If you do, then you get your food."

Sakurako pouted. "Ugh, fine...This'll be no problem!" She quickly picked up her pencil and went back to concentrating on her notes while Himawari took out a book to read in the meantime. Every few pages she would glance up to make sure everything was going smoothly. Most of the time she'd usually find Sakurako goofing off or sleeping, but for some reason this time was different. Her friend hadn't lifted her head up from her work, tapping the end of her pencil on her chin in thought. It looked like she really was putting thought into it. What only seemed like a few minutes or so passed before Sakurako's voice broke the silence.

"BREAK TIME!"

"Eh?" Himawari set her book down. "We never agreed to any breaks!"

"But I'm already half dooone..." Sakurako flopped onto the table, puffing out her cheeks. "Can't I eat now?"
Himawari sighed and took the sandwiches out of her bag and started to hand it over. Right before her friend could snatch it away, she quickly pulled back. She gave Sakurako a stern glare. "Only one sandwich. ONE. When you finish the rest of your work, then you can have the other. Got it?"

"Fiiiine..." Sakurako groaned before perking back up with joy as Himawari handed over one of the sandwiches. As the blonde happily ate, Himawari took the chance to slide her notebook over. "Just so we're clear, I'm gonna look over your work just to make sure you aren't trying to pull a fast one..."

Sakurako took a big bite out of her food. "Mmph! Do whatever you want, I ain't lying or anything this time! Honest!"

"We'll see about that." As Himawari flipped through the notebook, her expression of doubt changed to one of disbelief. Every question and every problem was completely answered. No shortcuts, no half-answers, nothing shady. It was proper work. Himawari was more surprised than impressed as she looked back up to Sakurako.

"You...You answered these all by yourself? You didn't have any help from Nadeshiko-oneesan?"

"Nope!"

"...From Hanako-chan?"

Sakurako growled. "HANAKO'S IN GRADE SCHOOL! Is it that hard for you to accept that I did it all by myself?!"

"I-It's not that, I'm just...highly impressed. Usually you try to speed through everything just to get it over with, but looking at this I can't really find anything wrong..."

"HA! See? When I put my mind to it, I can do anything! Including boring homework!" After finishing her first sandwich, she reached back out to Himawari. "Now gimme my book back so I can finish and get my other sandwich!"

Himawari was still pretty skeptical. "...Y-You're sure you're not just working hard because I brought food?"

"Ugh, the food's PART of it but I'm mainly just doin' it like I'm supposed to! Now can I just finish it please?"

After a moment, Himawari slowly handed the notebook back over. Sakurako snatched it out from her hand and went back to work, leaving Himawari even more surprised. "She really is putting in effort...It's like she doesn't need me to breathe down her neck..."

After an hour or so, Sakurako slammed her book shut and threw her hands victoriously into the air. "DONE!"

"I'll be the judge of that." Himawari took the book one more time to review the answers. As she got to the last page, she looked up and gave a polite smile. "Well, I can't believe I'm saying this but it looks like you did everything correctly. You should be proud."

"Haha! So that means...?"

"Yes, yes. The rest of the food is yours." She handed Sakurako the rest the other sandwich. The blonde cheered as she quickly snatched it away and went to town. Himawari sighed as she watched on. "I never thought I'd see the day where you'd do all your work without my help. It's like I never even needed to come over."

Sakurako grinned. "Heh, it's like you didn't even need to come by! At this rate I won't even need ya around anymore, huh?"

Himawari fell silent. The thought had never crossed her mind until just now. If Sakurako could start to do her homework by herself, then Himawari didn't really need a reason to come over all the time anymore. All the time she usually spent with her best friend would most likely just disappear. Himawari figured this was a good thing, since it meant Sakurako would become more independant...So why did she suddenly feel so depressed?

"Himawari? Oi, you okay?" Sakurako waved her hand in front of Himawari's face, snapping her out of her current train of thought. "What's the matter? You look like ya just saw a ghost or something."

"Eh? Uh, nothing...I-I'm just gonna head back home now. Glad you liked the food." Himawari stood up and took hold of her bag, giving Sakurako one more small smile before quickly making her exit. Sakurako was left still feeling confused.

"Himawari...?"