'So what did everybody come up with?' Kodaka questioned the next afternoon after he had strolled into the Neighbours Club and settled his book bag down by the table. 'I managed to think of a few things this morning...something kept me up a little last night.'

He stole a quick glance across the table to Sena, and watched the tips of her ears turn a brief crimson while she kept the rest of her face hidden behind the screen of a laptop. If she was playing one of her ero-games, she'd have had large headphones containing the smut to herself, but she was playing a basic slice-of-life game with the sound down low. At this point, she would have preferred to have been hidden within the confines of her headphones, for her blush would have been concealed, but she hadn't thought to bring them today.

'I thought perhaps we could go to for karaoke again, senpai' Rika suggested. 'Rika knows how much you liked seeing her lick the microphone shaft up and down last time.' Rika gave Kodaka a suggestive glance and looked him up and down.

'You know that's a lie, Rika,' Kodaka said bluntly, watching her drop her head in defeat. 'But I did have a lot of fun the last time we went. I wouldn't mind doing that again.'

'I, too, had a lot of fun there.' Yukimura concurred, with her soft voice. 'We could go back to the amusement park, maybe?'

'That was pretty expensive though, wasn't it?' Kodaka thought, remembering that the only way they managed to get there the first time was through Sena.

'I could ask Daddy if we really wanted to go back there,' Sena said, closing her laptop with a little snap. 'But he probably wouldn't be too keen on shelling out for it again so soon.'

All of the club members groaned in acceptance.

'There is this one thing that happens a lot in the games I play.' Sena said quietly. 'They're called a sleepover, and it's when people with friends all gather at one person's house and they play games and have food and do other stuff.'

'Oh Rika's heard of those!' Rika piped up, with newfound vigour. 'There's a whole cult of games that people like to play, like "Truth or Dare" and "Seven Minutes in Heaven", and usually-' Rika swung another seductive look at pseudo-delinquent. ' There's a lot of touching each other in the middle of the night.'

Sena paled at the thought.

'I don't think Daddy will be overly accepting of...that, but I'm sure he would be okay with having a get together at mine. If we all agree on it, I can ask him.'

The girls all nodded enthusiastically at the idea, while Kodaka sat silently lost in his own thoughts. He had been to Sena's house on at least two separate occasions; one of them being much more of an exhibition than anticipated. He tried to shoo away the signs his body was giving him as the memory rippled into his mind's eye of Sena's naked form parading in front of him, because if Rika ever caught any hint of arousal, she'd do everything in her arsenal to take advantage of it. Still, the thought of them all hanging out in a group outside of the clubroom, and he was up for that.

'What did you think of, Aniki?' Yukimura's soft voice snapped him out of his reverie.

'Oh, right.' Kodaka mumbled, shaking his head lightly. 'Well, they've just finished building an arcade near the train station. That seemed like a lot of fun.'

'What a great suggestion, Aniki, as always!' Yukimura gushed. 'I wish that we could try them at once.'

'Well, what if we mixed them together?' Rika suggested with a large grin on her face. 'We could go to the arcade during the day, and then meet up at Sena-senpai's house for the evening. It'd be a good experiment to see how we'd fare when we find friends.'

'That sounds pretty fun.' Sena agreed, starting to join in with more of the conversation. 'We could all show off our skills in the arcade, which, obviously I'd win, but it'd be fun to keep partying at mine.'

'When did we want to do it?' Rika asked. 'Would Saturday work for everyone?'

'No!' Sena blurted out, quickly trying to back pedal from her outburst. 'I mean...I just have something really important to do then...' She blushed harshly with embarrassment. 'Can we maybe do the week after?'

'Rika has nothing planned.'

'I, too, am available, especially if Aniki is okay with it.'

'Sounds great. Let's message each other later to confirm it all.'

That evening after Kodaka had returned home from gathering groceries for the week, he found himself having to comfort his little sister Kobato during the midst of her own crisis. When he walked in the door, he found her sitting and watching her favourite series, Full Metal Necromancer; although, at least she had the television playing and the sound up to its normal blare, but she wasn't paying it any heed. Instead, she kept her eyes down and absorbed into a piece of paper she had clutched in her hands along with her stuffed patchwork bunny.

'Hey Kobato, is everything alright?' Kodaka asked, dropping the bag of groceries on their Western-decor table. Kobato didn't respond, while the characters on screen duked it out intensely amid flashes of colour and angry grunts. Kodaka switched off the television, but his pig-tailed sister still paid him no mind.

'Hey, Kobato, what's the matter? What have you got there?'

'An-chan... I... I...' stammered Kobata. 'I have a...party invitation.' Her voice became inaudible.

'A what?'

'A...party...invitation...'

'Kobato, you need to speak-'

'I have a darn cockadoodie party invitation!' She burst out, thrusting the paper into her brother's face and running off into down the hallway into her bedroom.

Kodaka watched his little sister tear up to her bedroom before looking down at the wrinkled paper. It was a black and white piece of paper adorned with balloons and confetti. Apparently, a girl in named Ritsu from Kobato's class had given her an invitation for her birthday. Kodaka sighed before turning off the television and then knocking on her door.

'Kobato, listen-'

'Go away, An-chan. I don't want to go.' Kobato's voice was muffled.

'I'm coming in whether you like it or not.'

The door pushed open with a small creak, and Kodaka sat on the edge of the bed. Kobato had run in and thrown herself face down onto her pillow. She was still clutching her rabbit as the frills from her Lolita dress surrounded her like a soft blanket.

'Kobato,' Kodaka pressed softly. 'Tell me why you don't want to go this.'

'Because.' She replied flatly into her pillow still.

'That's not an answer, you know.' He retorted with half-closed lids.

'It's...it's...' she muffled.

'Look at me when you're talking to me.'

Kobato raised her blonde head, a terrible pout twisted on her mouth.

'It's because I'm afraid that they won't like me.' She whispered, dropping her gaze afterwards.

Kodaka knew that feeling all too well. For as long as he could remember, people had judged him on appearance alone without giving him the time of day to actually get to know him. He would often wonder how his dad was so well liked and successful on his own, since he had inherited his father's stern appearance. To add to it, his mixed hair colour was his mother's biological gift to him, which only further cemented the distaste people held for him, since it made him look like a thug.

'Well, you seemed pretty popular at school when we went to go see your film...what was it? "Princess Kobato"?'

'Don't call me that.' She bit at him harshly.

'That being said,' he ignored and pressed on. 'Did everybody in the class get an invitation, or did only a select amount?'

'...'

'Answer me.'

'...only a few...'

'Well, you should take that as a compliment. If not everybody has an invitation, then that must mean they like you in some way.'

'But I'm not allowed to access the Akashi Records for tests or-'

She gulped before pressing on.

'-be myself.'

There was a lot more pressure on Kobato than Kodaka had originally thought. He looked at the invitation again and noticed something else that gave him an idea.

'It says here that it's a costume party. You've practically got this covered.'

'What do you mean, An-chan?'

'You practically dress up every day when you're not at school. You don't need anything new, and you won't be uncomfortable wearing something else. If anyone asks what you're from, you can talk to them about your show.'

'I guess...'

'Kobato, I really think that you should consider going. I don't want you to throw away a chance to maybe make a friend. Isn't that what you joined the Neighbour's Club for?'

'...do you think I should?'

Kodaka placed his hand on her head and pat it slowly, a warm smile on his face.

'I think it's the right thing to do. I'll even help you pick out a present for you when we go shopping.'

'Really?'

Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

'Can I get something too, An-chan?!'

Kodaka blanched a little.

'Er, yeah okay. But only if you promise that you'll go.'

'Okay! Ku-ku-ku...' she laughed, putting her left hand over her left eye in a peace sign.

'Oh my other half, you're truly worthy of being in my presents.'

'It's "presence" and you're welcome. Now wash up for dinner.'

'A hot bath will be the perfect offering for this member of the Night Tribe-'

'Yeah okay, your Darkness. I'm putting this on your desk, so don't lose it okay. You're going to need it for ...eh?'

Saturday.

After dinner, Kodaka retreated to his bedroom, once again laying facing up at the ceiling with his hands laced behind his head, when suddenly his phone buzzed next to him.

I was going to talk to you after Club today, but I was 1000 points away from unlocking Yukiko's bunny outfit, so I figured that was more important (-.-)-

Naturally, a text like that had to have been sent from Sena.

-but I wanted to ask you, what made you change your mind last night? (^.^).

Kodaka sighed and let his fingers glide over the keypad.

[I hadn't exactly changed my mind. You never let me explain.]

A few moments passed before the next text came through.

No, you totally said that you didn't want to go out with me..

[You just assumed I was going to ask you out.]

...

Well...weren't you? :(

If he was being honest with himself, Kodaka had been toying with the idea of asking Sena out for a few months, but he had constantly weighed it against whether it was worth risking the Neighbour's Club for something so selfish. He liked all of the girls, but there was something about her that made him feel both at peace and at war inside. They could spend time together and she'd give him this vibe of being in his element; but when he looked at her, genuinely admired her, it sent his heart beating with such intensity that he thought it would rip through his being.

But that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

[I had been planning on it, but there were some things I had to think about.]

...

So is Saturday just to make me happy?

...

[No. I want to see where we go.]

...

You know, I'm really excited for it. You're not like other guys, Kodaka.

...

I think you're special *heart*

Kodaka's heart gave a little flip at the last message, and he couldn't help but let his lips turn into a soft smile and the glow from his heart course through him.

Where did he even begin to tell her what he felt?