The trains were packed that Friday afternoon as a bright red haired girl boarded. She had a very delicate step and made almost no noise as she pushed into the crowd of standing people though others groaned. She wore a school uniform as could be expected from someone coming from school directly to somewhere. Unlike the familiar Ryoo sailor fuku, however, this was more elegant. The thread count was noticeably higher.

'This was an odd invitation,' the girl recalled a series of text messages she had received and responded to from one of her old schoolmates. Her short hair and thin build meant that she didn't take up much space in the small vacuole she was allotted by the other passengers.

'Still,' she continued to muse, 'It would be nice to meet up with her. I remember some good times hanging out with Miyuki, though...'

The girl began to descend into a flashback...

"Such an disgusting odor!" A slightly younger Miyuki spoke, and was followed by a chorus of laughter from the small group. The classroom was very opulent and designed for human comfort. The desks had plush beige seats and fine wood tops, and the lighting came from a somewhat-pricey chandelier between the desks and the teacher's equally magnificent desk. Rather than a chalkboard, a large sophisticated SMARTboard lined the front of the room, with whiteboards around the side. The class was mostly out to a lunch break, getting delicious lunches from a cafeteria- the trio had brought bento boxes and were eating whilst the others waited on line.

"Yeah," a slightly younger version of the short haired girl spoke in response. She looked over to the nearby window and sighed at the scene of an early spring. The light cover of snow finally melting, the sun slightly higher in the sky, all just seemed to depress her.

"What's wrong Akane?" The third member of their trio noticed the crimson-haired one's aloof stare at the outside.

"Well, you know," Akane answered, "it's our last year here, and high school entrance examinations are coming, and..." she took a long pause before continuing.

"... It could be the last year we're in school all together like this, y'know?"

The third person in the trio was a few inches taller than Miyuki, and had a noticeably increased bust size. She brought with her an air of frailty that could offset Miyuki's cheery air. She seemed just a touch unstable physically and emotionally. If one had spent a day or two with her, they could tell that she was worried about something- specifically, about her family, which had itself become unsure in recent time from her parent's various fights and passive-aggressive hatred which may have result in something drastic. She wouldn't likely tell anyone, though.

"Don't worry," the white haired girl spoke, "we'll just all work hard and get accepted to a good high school then!" She laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Miyuki frowned. "Actually, I'm thinking about going to a less exclusive B class school this year... I'm thinking about going to... Ryoo, I believe it's called."

The other two looked at Miyuki- Akane with a surprised look, and the white haired one with a genuinely hurt look.

The train came to a stop. Akane snapped out of her flashback. She saw that a large number of people had gotten up, to the point where there was a seat available- which she took advantage of immediately. Worriedly, she looked around for indication of the stop. A minute of anxiety passed by, until the current stop was announced over the train's speakers. 'Ah... okay, two stops left.' she noted from her knowledge of the route she was on. The redhead breathed in the air, still reeking the odor of a crowded, hot room. 'It'll be nice to see her again, at least. I hope Hikari feels the same...'


On a train scheduled to the same route but 10 minutes prior, a white haired girl sat. From the past, Hikari's bust line had not grown much- it was probably about equal to Miyuki's at this point -and her hair was about an inch or two longer yet the same snowy tone it had been for all her life, as hair pigmentation illnesses tend to do that.

While this train was fairly empty, the white haired inhabitant bore a foul mood that seemed to depress the entire scene. She sat in the school uniform that bore so much resemblance to Akane's, save for the fact that it was far more well kept. Akane may have kept decent care of the uniform, but Hikari really cared for it like it was her child... her fancy, fancy child.

The train made a stop, then another. Not many people got on or off at either stop. The sun was noticeably low in the sky as it might be given the time. The train ride had been moving slower than usual to the point where the entire route was 10 minutes behind schedule.

'Next stop is mine...' she reminded herself before sighing and continuing her brooding. 'Why am I even here on this train to Saitama anyway... there's nothing to do there.'

The train started to move again.

'If it wasn't for Akane-chan, there's no damn way I'd be coming out here. If she didn't want to come... ugh. Why did Miyuki have to message us, why couldn't she just... leave us alone? Why can't she just get along with her new friends, at her oh-so-precious-new-school?' She spoke this last phrase with a combination of ridicule and heavy disdain.

As the train zoomed through the land, Hikari began to fall into a sort of trance, reminiscing...

Miyuki frowned. "Actually, I'm thinking about going to a less exclusive B class school this year... I'm thinking about going to... Ryoo, I believe it's called."

The other two looked at Miyuki- Akane with a surprised look, and the white haired one with a genuinely hurt look.

Realizing the impact this brought, the pink haired girl rushed to apologize. "I-I'm dearly sorry Hikari, Akane... but I wanted to experience more typical education. I've liked this time we've shared together as students, but I fear that if I keep coming here, I will grow up to become too sheltered for the real world."

Miyuki commented to herself with a light blush, 'Not to mention the fact that all the sweets for breakfast and lunch here are giving me so many cavities I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to be brave enough to get them all fixed!'

Akane quickly averted the look she was giving and tried her best not to look saddened. "It's okay, Miyuki," she spoke, "I understand."

Miyuki looked guilty, like she was showing her mother a report card with all F's... save for the fact that this was far worse. She looked like she was on the brink of crying.

Hikari looked paralyzed, like she had just touched two power lines barehanded, and hurt, like someone had just went through her heart with a katana... which someone might as well have done for how heartbroken she was.

The least endowed of the three knew her best efforts were not proving enough, so she tried just a little more. She forced a kind smile. "Hey, come on," she said, in a steady, cheerful voice, "let's not worry about this! We have an arts festival and more than a whole trimester to have as much fun as we can, so let's do this!" The other two looked at her almost instantaneously.

Miyuki cheered up a little, her eyes having watered. "Okay, Akane, it's a de-"

Hikari stood up. "Whatever. I... need to go." She began to walk out.

"Hikari..." Miyuki rose and reached out to Hikari. "Hikari... I apologize... I... I didn't know you cared so... so... so much."

Hikari sighed. "Miyuki... I really don't want to go." A blush spread across her face. "But... I really can't help it if you want to go to another school, and I wouldn't want to hold you back.

Akane joined in the forming conversation, "Plus, we'll still see eachother around, and we can still stay in contact through email and meet up that way."

A touch of blush had creeped up Miyuki's face by this point. "Okay..." She tried to remedy the awkwardness, "Don't worry Hikari-san, we can message eachother each day about our new schools, and maybe go into a chat room on weekends!"

Hikari responded in a notably upbeat mood, "Yeah, absolutely."

People from the cafeteria began to come back, and the trio went back to their lunches and their idle conversation, although an awkwardness had spread over them, such a shroud that would never lift for the rest of the year...

The fancifully uniformed girl came out of her flashback trance. The train had already come to a stop- the stop she knew was hers- and she disembarked the train, no happier. She knew how the resolutions would turn out, how the time after the argument would pass...

"Hey, Hikari!" Akane shouted from across the terminal. The red haired girl had arrived not long before.

The frail one ran over to her. "You have the directions to the cafe, Akane-chan?"

"Yep, here are Miyuki-chan's directions." The more cheerful of the two unfolded a piece of paper from her pocket. "Let's go."


"Can you bring my books home for me?" Tsukasa kindly asked her pigtailed twin as the train began to grind to a stop. Kagami nodded.

Tsukasa stood up from her seat next to Kagami on the bullet train. "Thanks! Seeya later, sis!" she cheerfully said to Kagami as she disembarked from the vehicle.

Kagami grunted as polite an acknowledgement as she could muster, looking tired as ever as her sister left. While Kagami may have been exhausted, Tsukasa was quite unusually full of life.

The youngest Hiiragi sister looked at a clock somewhere around the terminal. 'Oh, my transfer is already here!' She had been coerced to hang out with Inori and Matsuri today, apparently to shop for manga at some new place she'd never been to yet. While manga wasn't one of her key interests, she was running low on manga... 'And I can't remember the last time we've really had any time to hang out,' she thought, 'so this should be fun!'

Over the terminal PA, an announcement was made stating that the train Tsukasa had to board was leaving in one minute.

'Oh no!' Tsukasa ran at full speed toward the train which held Inori and Matsuri, clumsily hitting into people on the way over. "Excuse m- sorry, sor- I apolog- my apol- uhh- excuse me..." the poor girl growing more and more embarrassed with each passing bump.

She saw it- the train she was supposed to board! 'Yay, I made it!' A smile spread across her blush-covered face. This smile began to dispel as she heard the air brake disengage. The train was starting to leave without her!

"Aaaahhhhhh!" Tsukasa made a spectacle of herself as she sprinted toward the train! 'One, two, three and jump!' She managed the kind of leap she'd never be able to accomplish in a hurdle race, drawing the further attention of everyone inside the train as she landed just a few inches from the door. Nearly toppling over from such an odd impact, she stood up and realized that everyone on the train was staring at her.

"Uh... sorry!" She attempted a cute moe smile before being pulled into the one open seat by Inori. The train started moving fine.

"Girl are you crazy?!" Inori scolded Tsukasa. "You made yourself a fool in front of the entire terminal! I'm so embarrassed....!"

"Now now Inori," Matsuri attempted to calm her sister down, "it's not such a big deal." She turned to Tsukasa. "You should be in the long jump at the next athletics festival!" Matsuri and Inori giggled, and Tsukasa nervously joined in.

"So where are we going onee-san?" Tsukasa innocently asked.

Inori and Matsuri looked at eachother, giving an evil smile, and then turned to Tsukasa. "You'll know veeeery soon.


"

"Wow, 3rd chapter done. I am on a roll!" Sojiro cheered, pumping his fist in the air several times. "Let's celebrate with some-" He glanced at the clock in the lower right corner of the computer. 4:43.

'Oh crap, I've spent too much time with this!' he thought, frantically. He almost jumped to get to the kitchen and fearfully rummaged through his spices and various cooking supplies. The widowed otaku got several ingredients out- rice, pots, pans, chicken, at least five spices, and-

'Damn it!' he thought, beginning to sweat in his traditional clothing. 'I forgot the fresh curry leaves! Noooooo!' The man fought the urge to scream out loud in a dramatic manner. 'And these onions are rotten!' He sighed, and held his head in between his hands. 'What am I gonna do what am I gonna do...'

He looked up at the clock on their microwave. 4:48. "I know!" Sojiro thought out loud, "I'll go get those ingredients!" He put on slightly more appropriate outerwear attire and unknowingly left his cell phone in the pocket of his robe, which he threw in a pile by the kitchen. Kanata would've been annoyed beyond belief.

He ran outside triumphant and filled with vigor, which drained quite fast as he rode the bike he never used previously to the supermarket. He had to take at least 10 minutes to recover when he got there- more distraction for a man who was pressed for time already.

Meanwhile, back in the Izumi house, a familiar voice erupted with a yawn that had been heard many times before in the mornings of this house. Under a kotatsu, Konata stretched out.

'Wow, I must've passed out from that day! School really wore me out.' the smaller of the two inhabitant otaku thought. She got up and shivered. 'Why didn't I just stay under the kotatsu?' Konata thought with a sense of regret- before she realized that she was sleeping in her own room. 'Wait.... wha? How is that even possible?'

Konata turned off the warmth and lifted the kotatsu piece by piece into the living room, unlike her father's less efficient back-pulling method. When it was all reassembled, she realized something key was missing. "Hey dad, y'here?" she proclaimed. No answer. She glanced in the kitchen to see his robe. Picking it up she noticed a small piece of plastic fell out.

'Dad never leaves home without his cell phone...' Konata picked it up, then put on an air of seriousness. 'Wait, does that mean...'

"Dad's missing..." she deftly wore her SOS armband and cat-like grin, "looks like we have a mystery!"