Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to their respective owners.


A/N: I'd like to inform you that this is a side characters and OC-centric story. So please don't be confused if your favourite main characters won't be appearing much.

And also very slow updates.


TARGET ON!

"Spring Time"

"...Unfortunately, there have not been any further reports nor findings regarding the disintegration of the moon..."

Clad in a white shirt and baggy ripped jeans combination, Miki stood still a good distance away from the flat screen TV in the family room, an unreadable expression on her face as she digested the already known information in her head once again.

After recovering from the initial shock she experienced last night, Miki repeatedly tried calling Jungyoon in hopes of knowing if he was at least safe, even going as far as dialing his family home number. It was only after the fifth attempt when she had come to the conclusion that the phone lines must have been jammed that night, knowing that the incident had caused a worldwide panic.

They both were still working on his thesis when the painfully bright light came, so Miki knew that Jungyoon must be also in his bedroom at that time. It is very likely that he could be safe and unharmed and was just shocked and exhausted from the recent event, like she is. But still, Miki couldn't help but keep worrying, not just for Jungyoon's safety but also for her classmates'.

Apparently, everyone who were outside that night got blinded by the light, so a lot of drivers accidentally sped up and swerved off the road, or into each other. Vehicles piled up at every intersection and a concerning amount crashed onto stores, buildings, and even houses. Many people were injured in that instance, not only the ones that are inhabiting the cars but also many random passerby, even the ones who were deemed safe in their dwelling. In just a short time, the entire world was in panic.

Which is why, after this, she is planning to go around Kunugigaoka to check on some of her classmates. Miki only hoped that none of them got caught in the crossfire and at least unharmed.

"The phone lines came back about an hour ago but they're still rather weak, just to let you know," her father, who sat frozen on the couch with her mother, informed rather robotically.

The grip on her phone tightened at that. "Well, that's reassuring.." Miki sighed, pocketing her phone. And fast...

"Also," there was a slight hesitation in her father's voice, Miki noticed, "About your report card..."

"So you finally decided to take a look at it after a whole week has passed, congrats," Miki dryly stated as she wore the red flannel shirt that was originally hanging on her right arm. "You already knew whose fault it was in the first place so there's no need for us to discuss about this matter any further," she finished, her voice still even.

Her father didn't reply after that, suddenly finding the news broadcast more interesting.

Inwardly rolling her eyes at his sudden retreat, Miki turned to her mother instead. "Ma, I'm going out for bit. I'll probably be back around afternoon."

"Hmm?" Her mother tore her eyes off the TV and turned to her daughter, "It's still rather early, Miki. Where are you heading to?"

"Since I can't reach any of them just yet, I'm checking on my classmates to see if their fine," Miki readjusted her backpack a little before leaving the family room, but not without hearing her mother's warning. "The main roads are still unsafe! Be careful!"

"I will!" She strutted through the hallways until she reached the entrance hall, where she changed into her white sneakers. As her hand reached for the door handle, Miki turned back to where her parents are located at and announced for the last time.

"I'm off!"


In the midst of panicking and being shaken from the moon incident, there many things that hasn't fully registered onto Miki's mind when she woke up that morning. One of which was that she hadn't eaten her breakfast yet, since she woke up rather late than usual that she hadn't had the time to make anything for herself and her parents.

The idea of morning hunger only came to her when her stomach began rumbling after boarding the train that was designated to the other side of the town. But luckily, it was spring break and that most working schedules were cancelled so the train Miki was in wasn't even the least crowded. So the only thing she needed to worry about on the way was her empty stomach, which was beginning to drain her as the minutes goes by.

And another obvious thing that hasn't registered to her mind until she reached the second station, was that she had no idea where any of her classmates lived.

Miki silently groaned for the fifth time as she blankly stared at the mug of coffee next to her finished breakfast. The moment she left the train station, she immediately rushed to the nearest cafe she could find as she couldn't bear her hunger any longer.

"Why am I so stupid today?" Sighing again, she took a long hedonistic sip of her coffee as her mind started to wander off again.

All classes worldwide have been cancelled today, she remembered vividly, so it's likely that the deadline for Jungyoon's thesis will be moved... Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. That guy better not ditch my efforts and do it himself.

Another common trait she unfortunately shares with the Korean was that while they hated it when their own efforts are being ignored, they'd also rather do things by themselves and ironically refuses any help from others unless forced. While Miki had become more aware after the entire matter regarding her report card, she can't be sure if the same could be said for Jungyoon as the guy had grown more restless when the supposed deadline for the project approaches. No matter how many times he tried to reassure her that he's doing fine, Miki couldn't help but to notice how tired he looked and how pale he recently had gotten.

Ugh... I just hope that guy is at least eating well... She placed down her coffee and reached for the chiffon cake she recently ordered. With a rather condemned smile, she took a bite of the cake. It's so ironic at how our roles have switched in just six months... She sighed delightfully after savouring the fluffy texture of the chiffon cake. But hopefully, he'll handle it much better than I did...

"Oh! I thought I recognized that shade of blonde!" A painfully familiar voice called out her. Miki woke up from her reverie when footsteps began approaching her table.

As if some kind of force was pulling her, Miki suddenly whisked her head towards the direction of where the voice came from and nearly dropped her fork when she saw a familiar woman waving happily at her; a familiar mischievous glint always present in her jade green eyes. The auburn haired young woman clearly looked much older than the last time Miki had personally seen her, which made her come to a realization that a few years has already passed.

Miki sat frozen on her seat as she watched the woman taking the vacant seat at the other side of the table, whose grin never left her face. "Kitsune..." She barely let out an audible whisper.

"Long time no see, little sis!" The woman named Kitsune greeted back with her grin widening. "What brings you here at the other side of the town?"

"I'm planning to check on some of my classmates," she answered almost automatically. Blinking owlishly, Miki quickly regained her composure and straightened her posture. "What about you?" She raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, in Kunugigaoka? Don't you have work today? It's Thursday, after all."

Kitsune just shrugged nonchalantly. "Classes are cancelled this week, so is work, unfortunately," she sighed before shooting her sister a pointed look. "And I live here, excuse you."

"Not in this area," Miki shot back dryly, placing down her fork in exchange for her coffee. "Seriously, I thought you'd rather be more lowkey with your whereabouts and all. What if they find you?"

Her sister scoffed in response. "As if that old man would care enough to look for me," she spat out, "You think he would?"

"Ever since you left, he never mentioned you, not even once..." Miki paused and intentionally drank her coffee to buy herself more time to ponder over her answer. "So, no. I don't think he would," she let out a small chuckle, "I don't think he's even aware that you're in Japan this whole time."

Kitsune rolled her eyes with a smirk, followed by a small huff of breath. "Or the name change," the woman added slyly.

"Right, right," Miki put down her coffee once again. "What about Mom, though? Have you kept in touch with her, you know, in secret?" She whispered the last bit.

"Of course I did. She didn't even do anything wrong in the first place," Kitsune's smirk then widened. "Actually, we met up last month," she informed.

What met her answer was pure silence; no any sort of reaction from her younger sister even after a few seconds. Miki just stared at her, an incredulous and a rather betrayed look slowly contorting onto her face as she digested the new information.

After pondering over the new piece of information, Miki blinked a few times, then narrowed her eyes at her sister almost accusingly. "What do you mean by 'you met up with her'?"

"Just like I said," Kitsune leaned back with her arms crossed, her wide smirk fading into a small yet gentle smile, "We met up."

Disregarding the mild chatters resonating inside the cafe, the air around them became silent once again.

Swallowing, Miki apprehensively locked eyes with her sister when the latter refused to elaborate, not knowing what to say nor what to do. She knew very well that there is more to this matter than she could have ever imagined. With both her parents' nonchalance and Kitsune's vagueness, while they weren't really hiding anything from her, there was only so much information to decipher for her to conclude that the details should remain unspoken.

For five straight years, without any questions, Miki understood that very well.

Even until to this day.

"I see..." She responded rather quietly, orbs of crimson tearing away from jade. With a soft sigh, she quickly straighten her posture, arms folded neatly on the table; she gave her sister a polite smile. "Good for you, nee-chan."

The smile on Kitsune's face instantly dropped. "Miki..."

"I'm assuming that you have other matters to attend, correct?" Cutting her off, Miki didn't moved from her position, voice even still. "Then I must be taking you time more than I should have."

Kitsune faltered at that, her expression growing heavier the longer she continued to stare at her sister. Miki, on the other hand, barely reacted; the polite smile stayed on her face.

"Alright..." Kitsune sighed in defeat, running her hands through her hair. "In the first place, I'm not planning to stay here any longer. I only went in to say hi." She stood up from her seat.

Miki nodded quietly and lightly bowed to her. "I'm sorry if I ended our reunion too shortly," then she felt a hand on her head, lightly ruffling her hair.

"No worries!" Kitsune laughed softly, retreating her hand. "I completely understand. Just don't get in trouble," then she started walking away.

"Take care..." Miki trailed off, her eyes longingly following her sister's retreating figure as her posture began to relax. The latter raised her right arm, waving at her words in acknowledgement.

I won't ever question it, nee-chan... She stayed in her seat; her eyes helplessly lingered to where she last saw her sister standing at. I completely understand...

"Miki... san?"


"What brings you here, Chiba-kun?" Miki asked once they exited the cafe. The very first thing she noticed about Chiba when she saw him was how well he was dressed; a lime green collared jacket over a white shirt that broadened his shoulders a bit, black pants and white sneakers that emphasized his long legs, and a gray beanie to finish off the look. Not just his clothing, but the way he stood up straight with his arms tucked in his pockets made his height even more prominent.

He stands and dresses very well... Miki gave him a once over and mentally nodded in approval. He doesn't even look the least awkward.

Chiba scratched the back of his head rather awkwardly, his gaze anywhere but her. "All the shops and stores nearby have closed. Also, a car had crashed on Cyberia, unfortunately," he carefully explained when they began walking away.

Miki nodded in understanding. "Ahh, you also lived around there, I assume?" She prodded further, which earned her a silent nod. "Same neighbourhood?"

Chiba hummed in deep thought, hesitating before he spoke again. "I can't say."

"Hmm... you must have went here since it's quicker by train, right?" After contemplating his answer, she followed up another question.

He nodded this time and briefly added. "All the buses are unavailable at this time." They stopped before the pedestrian line once the light was red, even though no vehicles were driving pass them.

"I see..."

While waiting for the stop light to turn green, Miki discreetly examined his tall figure, taking note of the minor details she once had missed: like how his hair was more greenish than just pure black, how unbelievably clear his skin is (she needs to know his skincare routine if he had one), how she was now sure that they're the same height, and how sharp his jawline was like wow-!

Miki quickly teared her eyes from him, growing more conscious with how much she was staring. She could only hope that she didn't freaked him out.

Anyways, Chiba was one of the only two people in her small circle of friends whom she hadn't talked to much, the other being Hayami. But unlike Hayami, whom she was beginning to form a bond with from their similar interests, there was almost nothing she knew about Chiba, save for the small gist of his personality.

He was always at the back of their conversations, preferring to only listen instead of contributing into one of their many topics. Even when asked, his answers are usually short and very objective, which makes it extra difficult for Miki to deduce on what his best interests are.

She assumed that he's the type that needs time to gather his thoughts before speaking, so she kind of hoped that he would be more elaborated through his messages. But unfortunately, Chiba was even worse in their groupchats, using stickers as responses and, out of rarity, types out one-word answers whenever they asked him any questions.

And that was the group chat she shared with the boys, not the groupchat for the entire class. Never once, from her daily monitoring, had she ever saw him send anything in their main groupchat. Miki couldn't be the one to judge though, with the amount of times she had muted her old class' groupchat just for the sake of being able to focus on her work, but she usually just kept her messages short yet meaningful and doesn't go as far as with replying only a word or a sticker.

Miki wondered how busy Chiba must have been in his home, despite the rather unproductive week they've received after landing in Class E, if he wouldn't even bother to write a message that is longer than a single word.

Or he could be just ignoring them just because. He gives off that energy after all.

"What about you, Miki-san?" She heard him asking, which immediately snapped her from her own thoughts. "What brings you here at this hour, if you don't mind me asking?" He elaborated further when she finally looked at him.

Another thing Miki had noticed was that, in contrary to how naturally deep and heavy his voice was, Chiba was a lot more soft-spoken and well-mannered than he appeared to be. While Miki already expected that kind of demeanor from Chiba, with the amount of time they spent together in the same group even without much talking, it was a bit disconcerting to see the difference between his quiet but gentle personality and his strong but mysterious appearance.

If Miki didn't know any better, she would've just assumed that Chiba was one of those lone wolf types who would rather watch instead of getting involved; doesn't bite but still dangerous.

"I don't," she firstly reassured him. "I woke up late that I couldn't make breakfast anymore, so I came here to at least eat something," she found herself smiling rather sheepishly when she revealed that, "and also, to check up on some of our classmates."

Chiba lightly tilted his head at her second answer. "Can I ask why?"

"When I heard news about the simultaneous car accidents, I got worried." Miki started slowly, crossing the highway with him the moment the light turned green. "But it was when I entered that cafe that I realized that," she turned her face away from him, the former sheepish smile becoming more deadpanned, "I don't even know where I could find them."

However, instead of poking fun over her mistake, Chiba raised an eyebrow with slight disbelief. "You never passed through any of their houses?"

"Not even once," Miki shook her head vehemently. "I'm usually the first one to arrive home when I walk with the girls. So I assumed that they must have lived farther than I do."

Chiba hummed in thought. "Is that all?"

"For today's plans?" She elaborated, which earned her another nod. "Yeah, I think that's all. But I've told my mother that I would be back this afternoon, so.." She trailed off, beginning to run out of words to make herself continue.

They both walked in nearly pensive silence, only the sound of their footsteps as well as the distant volume of the new broadcasts can be heard. For a short while, neither of them spoke, and yet the atmosphere wasn't awkward nor unpleasant but rather soothing and comfortable. There was something satisfying Miki found about the way their heels hit the pavement in unison, never missing a beat. They could even go on with this until the end of the day and she wouldn't even mind it at all.

Then from the corner of her eye, she immediately noticed how Chiba started to fidget, even as little as he could. From the way he bit his lip, Miki could only assume that there was something he wanted to tell her, but is still trying to figure out to do so.

He let out a small breath.

"If it's not too much trouble," he stole short glances towards her, the awkwardness in his voice growing more obvious with each word. "I'm planning to meet up with Sugaya after lunch. Would you like to join?"

Miki's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, certainly not expecting an invitation from him, of all people. She turned to him when they began to slow down their steps. "Had I did, would I be a bother?"

"Not at all." Chiba gently shook his head with a small smile. "There wasn't much to do today, anyways. Also, he seems more... 'aware' to where some of our classmates might be. If you're still planning to check up on them, that is." He quickly added after.

Miki looked at him almost curiously, staring for a few moments. While it's true that, despite the the panic caused by the moon incident, it had been a very slow morning. The street they're currently walking at is nearly deserted, and almost completely silent if it weren't for the distant new broadcasts. Plus, there is no way she'd encounter any of her other classmates at this point if she continued the solo hunt. Meeting Chiba in that cafe was just a very rare occurrence, and likely won't happen again anytime soon. But since there are no ways of contacting Sugaya, I'm practically crashing their meet-up... She mentally sighed. I guess it wouldn't be much of a problem since I was invited to join...

With that in mind, Miki let herself to return the smile. "I'd very much like that, Chiba-kun. Thank you..."

"It's nothing," Chiba simply waved her off calmly.

Miki then pulled out her phone from her pocket and quickly the time. "Anyways, we still have two hours left before lunch," she informed. "Do you have any other plans? I'm probably taking too much of your time."

The calm expression on Chiba's face was immediately shattered. "No, it's okay! I liked having you around!"

"You do?" Miki blinked at him, almost unsure.

Almost immediately, Chiba back-pedalled. "Ah... no! W-what I meant to say was that uh..." Then he briskly turned his head away from her, seemingly having difficulties with formulating his words properly.

Though it made her feel like a first-rated jerk, Miki couldn't help but to inwardly chuckled at how easily flustered Chiba had gotten because of his poor choice of wording. She couldn't blame the guy though. The meaning of his words could easily be mistaken as something else, and with the presumably fragile state of their friendship, the last thing they wanted is a misunderstanding.

Still amused by the situation, Miki softly called out to him. "Chiba, breathe..."

As if the words were magic, Chiba slowly turned back to her, his cheeks still slightly dusted with bits of red. Seeing the reassuring smile on the blonde face must've calmed his nerves down, since his shoulders began to relax again.

"What I meant to say was that," he continued after clearly his throat. "I don't mind the company, Miki-san. You can come with me, if you'd like to."

Miki smiled further at that, slowing her steps down before gazing at the nearly empty road. "Alright," then she faced him again. "You can drop the honourifics, Chiba-kun.," she told him simply.

They both stopped their tracks and Chiba just stared blankly at her, somewhat taken aback by the sudden suggestion. "Should I?" He asked skeptically.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Miki elaborated, her tone even.

Chiba immediately broke eye contact and placed his hand around his nape. "Yeah... I guess we are..."

He frowned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "You can also just call me Chiba," he added rather quietly before he continued walking.

Amused, Miki lightly snorted at his actions and quickened her steps to catch up with him. "Where are we first headed to?" She asked simply, looking around the street for any signs of opened stores.

"I think the record shop nearby is opened..." Chiba replied, gaze transfixed on the road before them. Then he shortly glanced at her, "Is that okay, Miki?"

"GLOW's new album must've gotten delayed at this point..." Miki muttered, obviously disappointed. She returned his gaze and nodded at him. "Yeah, I'll go."

Chiba returned the nod and pointed towards the east direction. "The shop's just over there," he informed. "It won't take long."

Miki hummed in response, letting her mind wander off again as she quietly followed Chiba's lead.

She was somehow taken aback that, in just a few seconds, she had learned something vital about Chiba, specifically his interests. The moment he mentioned about going to a record shop, Miki had instantly came into the conclusion that the guy must be really interested in music if that was the first place he was planning to go. Since music is also something Miki enjoyed, she felt like there is finally something she and Chiba could talk about without any objectivity in the topic. She hoped that their journey at the record shop would allow her to discover what genre Chiba specifically listens to and what artists he follows, and she also hoped that some of their interests are similar.

And she's going to make that happen; the first half, that is.

When the designated shop has come into view, Miki took the opportunity to shift a bit closer to him. "Say, Chiba..." she started.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning his head slightly to her.

"I'm actually trying to expand my music range," she calmly admitted, her eyes still on the road. "Would you like to recommend me something? I'm open to any genre."

Chiba's mouth slightly dropped, staring at her before a mellow smile worked on his face; rather different from his usual polite ones. "If it's any genre, you said..." He trailed off. Miki then turned to him curiously and to her utter surprise, his smile slowly contorted into a full, somewhat roguish, grin.

"I do have some albums in mind for you to try."


It was early in the morning when Miki awoke, just as half-light was slowly seeping into her bedroom. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked away her sleepiness and gently brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. The crisp warm bed sheets wrapped around her, albeit a bit too tightly after a long night of rolling around, tempted her to fall back asleep for a little while longer.

Yesterday's events utterly exhausted her

Who would have thought that the idea of Chiba introducing new music to her would mentally drain her so much, especially the fact that the usually stoic guy was shockingly enthusiastic during the whole ride. It was like Miki was with a completely different person and if she couldn't see him physically, she would have never recognize him at all.

There was so much she learned about Chiba yesterday, from just their visit at the record shop alone, that her head was mildly aching throughout the day from receiving too much information.

The first thing she learned about him was that he particularly likes hardcore punk, which is one of the many genres she grew up listening to in the 2000's. He introduced her to many bands and artists, in which most clearly got her attention and might actually explore later, and casually just revealed that he was formerly a member of one of the bands, a rock band at that, in their school's light music club. As if the information he gave her wasn't that important, he proceeded to elaborate on what he used to do in his former club.

After leaving the record shop, their next destination was the music store opened in front, which where he showed her what instruments he played and what position he took in the band.

Chiba was an all-rounder, Miki concluded, with the way he demonstrated his ability to play any instrument normally used in a rock band in relative ease. But she clearly made up her mind about his band position when he showcased his outstanding skills in playing the guitar, whether electric or acoustic, with a level of expertise that is definitely far from being an amateur, as much as she could tell.

Then he dropped the bomb when he, again, casually mentioned to her that he only started playing around the final year of his elementary, which lingered onto her mind throughout the rest of the day, along with some of the songs he introduced to her earlier.

Her mind was in a complete daze that she could barely remember what happened when they finally met up with Sugaya after lunch. Miki vaguely recalled meeting him around the same district but she couldn't remembered anything else from that day. Heck, she wasn't even sure if she actually met up with any of her classmates as she promised herself to.

Sighing, she shook off the lingering thought, not wanting to stress herself even by just a little. She'll worry about it sometime later.

Her eyes were blankly staring at the ceiling before her when one of her phones began ringing underneath her pillow. Grunting, Miki wiggled one of her arms off the tight wrap and blindly searched for that particular phone.

Someone's calling... she noted, grabbing her phone the moment her fingers laced onto it. The phone lines are back to normal... Not bothering to check the caller ID, she swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello...?" She managed to croak out, still in the process of waking herself up as she struggled to keep her phone steady to her left ear with one hand.

"Happy Birthday to you~ Happy Birthday to you~"

Miki let out a very wistful smile on her face as a familiar voice gently sang out. With all the recent events happening one by one, she had nearly forgotten that today, the 14th of March, was indeed her birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Park Jinhee~ Happy Birthday to you~"

"Wow, Park Jinhee already," she mused, the smile never leaving her face. "Are we even gonna get married in the next ten years?"

"The love is strong!" Jungyoon loudly claimed, chuckling at the other line. "Let your boyfriend dream, at least!"

"Right, right..." Miki wiggled the rest of her body off the bed sheets and sat up. "What time is it?" She asked, tiredly ran her hands through her loose waves.

There was a pause at the other line, assuming that Jungyoon quickly checked the time. "It's only 6:30, rather early I think," he replied.

"And you woke me up," Miki sighed as her gazed the windows. "I think the sun's beginning to rise," she informed. She then crawled towards the spiral stairs attached to her loft bed and stepped down.

"It's still dark here," Jungyoon informed also, "I think."

"Naturally, it would be..." Miki muttered as she approached the windows and opened the curtains. Almost immediately, the once darkness of her room was immersed in the gentle bluish glow of the dawn. Her eyes then gazed around her room, marveling at the softness of the light that had illuminated it.

"Anyways," Jungyoon interrupted from the other line, "I called in just to sing for you. Couldn't think of anything else to say, mind is still asleep," then he yawned.

Miki chuckled at that. "Thank you either way," another smile worked its way on her face. "Now get some sleep, you muscle-baby."

"Don't call me that~!"

He childishly wined in reply, which caused her to chuckle a bit louder. "To me, you still are," though Miki couldn't see him, she knew that he is already pouting at her.

"Well then, sleep well. I love you~" She walked towards her bed and sat on the stairs.

The other line as silence for a few moment before a softer voice rang out. "I love you too..."

Before the call ended, Miki immediately recalled something from yesterday's events. "Oh, by the way!"

"Hmm?"

"I met a really hot guy yesterday!" Miki grinned slyly. "Want me to introduce him to you? He seems to be your type~"

There was loud coughing at the other line, which caused her to laugh louder since the question really threw him off. "W-what? Huh?!" Flustered, Jungyoon sputtered out.

"Interested? You seem to be," Miki's grin widened even further.

"A-am absolutely not! You're out of your mind!" He barked out. "I'm hanging up!"

With that sudden announcement, the phone call ended.

So cute... Still grinning, Miki pocketed her phone and climbed up the stairs to retrieve her other phone, which has just now began ringing from messages. As soon as she grabbed it, she sat down at the stairs once again, swiping her lockscreen open to check all the missed messages.

Miki opened her LYNE app and checked all the messages she just now received. Most of them came from their main group chat, in which most are about asking each classmate if the others are fine. But seeing that everyone was asking and that no one seems to reply to each other, Miki assumed that the messages from that night was just now being sent. To her relief, she saw that everyone was asking the same question, meaning they were all unharmed and are asking about the others' safety.

Then a new message popped up, and to Miki's surprise, it was from the group chat she shared with the boys.

Mimura: Good morning, Miki-san!

Mimura was a boy, with mushroom-styled ginger hair and is of average height, who recently joined their small circle through Sugaya, who he became friends with because of their similar interests. As a dancer, Miki more or less found herself immersed in their discussions, especially with particular topics such as filming and stage directing. Although it has barely been a week yet, Miki hope that she could get along with their new companion even further, since she heavily felt like she could learn a lot from him.

He must've noticed that I'm already active... She mused, clicking on the notification that led her to their personal group chat. He's early...

Miki: Good morning too, Mimura. You're up early.

Mimura: I slept the entire afternoon since I stayed up late editing.

It could be about something else... Miki sent out a shock-faced sticker. But I think he must've filmed the accidents caused by the moon...

Mimura: What about you?

Miki: Nothing much. I normally wake up around this time.

Mimura: Ohh! An early bid, I see.

Miki stood up from the stairs and walked towards her unconventionally long study table(s), which was (were?) behind the tall bookshelf that was connected to her loft bed. She pulled out the office chair and comfortably sat on it, even letting herself spin playfully.

Miki: Apparently, catching up with requirements got me used to it.

Mimura: I hate those...

Miki chuckled loudly at his reply, finding herself relating with him. Then two new accounts became active and joined them.

Okajima: Deadlines? Never heard of 'em lol

Sugaya: Good morning!

Okajima: Oho what's this? Mimura are you already making a move on our resident woman of culture? ;)

In an instant, Miki's mouth hanged open in exasperation as she sensed that the resident pervert would assume something like that. Sighing, she quickly typed out her reply before any other member could do so, not forgetting to tag him specifically.

Miki: Okajima Taiga And who are you to say something like that?

Okajima: Ah Miki! Good morning!

Of course he'd ignore my remark...She sweat-dropped.

Miki: Did we woke you two up?

Okajima: Nah it's our class group chat that woke me up!

Sugaya: My phone just started ringing I literally jumped.

Then the last member of their group chat, Chiba aka their resident mute, went active and messaged them with shockingly two words.

Chiba: Good morning.

Okajima: Woah did you just typed more than a word?!

Mimura: Wow that's a first!

Sugaya: Miki, what did you do to him yesterday?

Chiba: Ah, Miki.

Chiba: Happy Birthday.

He sent out a cake sticker with confetti around it and balloons that spelled out the greeting 'Happy Birthday'.

Miki: Thank you.

After that, the group chat became noisy, with Okajima demanding answers from Chiba as to why he had knowledge of when her birthday was while they don't. Mimura and Sugaya both greeted her after, to which she gratefully thanked them for. It was only after around 5 minutes when Okajima finally remembered to greet her, albeit a little bit too excitedly.

Miki just laughed out her exasperation, feeling completely awake from just interacting with the boys. She even felt liked a single ridiculous message from Okajima is enough to wake her up.

Then a new notification popped up, which was a message from Nakamura.

Immediately, she clicked on the notification and it brought her to the group chat she shared with Nakamura, Kurahashi, Yada, and Hayami. The other blonde had sent her something along with a picture, tagging her also.

RIO: Yamazaki Jenny HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE LOVES!

Then the picture Nakamura sent was a selfie of her winking at the camera flirtatiously and her lips are pucked as if she was about to kiss someone.

Miki wheezed out an ugly laugh while saving the photo onto her gallery.

J-MY: Beautiful

She quickly sent a selfie of her returning the kiss, with her free hand on her cheek and her head tilted.

J-MY: Thank you, my dear~

RIO: Looking schmexy ;)

Miki bit down a laugh.

RIO: Anyways, wanna go shopping later with the girls?

RIO: You probably can't pull a party at this point so let's make your day better!

RIO: Whaddya think about it?

A warm smile worked its way onto Miki's face.

J-MY: Yeah sure. Let's do it :)

RIO: That's great! Let's meet up at the station near our school. I'll let the other girls know when they wake up!


"What's this?"

Miki blankly stared at the small envelope being handed to her by her father, whose deep russet eyes never leaving hers.

After chatting with Nakamura for a bit, she quickly took a warm shower and put herself into the simplest combination of clothes she could find- a caramel coloured baggy t-shirt which she tucked under a denim jumpsuit overalls and a black bucket hat. A white tote bag hung on her shoulder and she decided to keep her hair loose for the day.

Her father sighed, scratching the back of his head vehemently. "It's all the monthly allowances you haven't been getting since December, along with this month's," he answered shortly.

Miki cautiously took the envelope, rather perplexed. "Thanks, I guess..." She muttered as she slowly opened the envelope and took a peek inside it.

Her eyes popped open when she first saw the ten thousand yen. Her guard sprung up as she carefully counted the amount of papers that are in the envelope. What the-?!

"Dad, this is a lot!" Miki exclaimed, waving the money in front of her father's face.

Her father barely reacted. "It's called saving," he corrected.

Miki looked at the wad of cash once again, still unsure. "But this... this is a hundred thousand yen! You're basically spoiling me at this point!"

"Your monthly allowance is approximately 25,000 yen," he started, "All of that is worth four months of your allowances, it's nothing different."

"But-!"

Her father interrupted her quickly. "You said you're going shopping with your friends, right?" Miki nodded at that. "Then go have fun!" Then he lightly patted her shoulder, "It's been a rough month for you lately, Miki. You deserve this..."

Their eyes met briefly again, in which Miki immediately noticed the hint of guilt on her father's, a blatant reminder that her harshness towards him yesterday hadn't been forgotten.

"Alright..." Miki replied softly after a moment of hesitation, pulling out her wallet from her bag to store the wad of cash in.

Her father hesitantly let go of her shoulder and he looked unreasonably solemn, it was like as if he he was stuck between bidding her farewell or just retreating without saying a word.

The silence was painfully awkward, as obvious as it is. While her grip on her wallet tightened, Miki slightly grimaced towards herself and began feeling more restless than she already was. The alarming atmosphere between the two of them, where they are both unsure and too wary of each other to even say anything else, was beginning to devour her emotionally.

She doesn't like it. Not one bit. And Miki was sure that her father felt the same way.

Suddenly, her phone rang, which quickly cut the tension between them like a knife. Miki thanked the heavens for the distraction, since she really need to run away from the apprehensive atmosphere that was around her and her father.

She pulled out her phone and swiped the screen open. It was from the girls' group chat, as Nakamura was the one who sent it. Quickly, Miki opened the app and read her message.

RIO: Miki you ready? ^3^

Miki's eyes widened and quickly typed out her reply.

J-MY: Yeah, I'm about to head out!

RIO: Great! See you there!

Miki immediately pocketed her phone and stuffed her wallet into her bag. She then faced her father once again, "Dad, I have to go."

Her father just nodded in response and simply moved out of her way.

Miki then muttered a small 'thanks' then walked past him and made her way towards the shoe rack, where she changed into her white vans.

"I'm off!" She announced before shutting the door.


"Miki!" Nakamura's enthusiastic cheer rang out when Miki neared the train station. The other blonde wore a very casual combination of 3/4 sleeved pink shirt, calf-length white pants, and a pair of white runners. Nakamura had her hair in its usual loose manner and carried a cream-coloured stringed bag.

A smile formed onto Miki's lips as she approached Nakamura, who was already with the other girls.

It appears that the clothes they wore for today was very casual. Yada wore a simple combination of a yellow shirt, tucked under a white denim skirt. A similar combination was on Hayami as she put on a white loose short sleeved shirt that was tucked onto her high waist denim shorts. Kurahashi, on the other hand, wore a simple but cute combination of a cream turtle neck sweater over her red plaid flowy skirt that reached above her knees. Coincidentally, like her and Nakamura, they all wore white running shoes.

"Happy Birthday, my loves!" Nakamura cheered as she lunged towards the taller blonde, tightly clinging on her left arm in an instant. Miki found herself laughing when the shorter began nuzzling her head onto her shoulder.

Sighing, Miki raised her free hand and gently patted Nakamura's head with a small smile. "Thank you, my dear~" She recited out the message she sent earlier this morning.

One by one, each of the other girls gave her a hug as they greeted her a happy birthday, with Kurahashi's being the longest as Miki doesn't seem to want to let her go.

Their first destination was a thrift store that was nearby, in which Miki excitedly ran towards the moment it came into her field of view. The action stunned the girls for a moment before they quickly followed her inside.

"I've never been to a thrift store before..." Kurahashi sheepishly admitted as she watched Miki going through the rack of jeans displayed. Surprised, Miki quickly turned her head to her and blinked owlishly. "Really?"

Kurahashi shook her head in response. "I've also never been to one..."

"I've been to one," Yada piped in, "but I've never bought anything yet." She added, which Hayami nodded agreeably to, meaning that it was the same case for the latter.

"I got most of my clothes in thrift stores," Miki revealed, holding a baggy ripped jeans, which was similar to the one she wore yesterday. "In fact, what I'm wearing right now all came from thrift stores," she added, gesturing on her shirt and jumpsuit combination. "Even this bucket hat."

The three girls exchanged looks of agreement and nodded towards each other and her.

"We'll try looking for something we like!" Kurahashi announced, determined. But before Miki could even give her response, they all went around the store in their separate ways

Miki just shook her head in slight exasperation, continuing her search for new jeans.

Then Nakamura, who was on the other aisle, enthusiastically called out to her. "Miki! I found black combat boots!"

"!" As quick as she could muster, Miki left the clothes rack, a pair of high waist baggy jeans hanging on her arm, and dashed towards to where the other blonde was. Nakamura happily waved at her and pointed towards the shoe rack that was next to where the flannels are located at.

Another mad dash and what met her eyes first was the black Cassandra combat boots that was placed on top of the rack, it's height outing the other boots next to it. Almost shakily, Miki carefully took one of the pair and inspected it. It looked almost new if it weren't for the scratches on its soles.

"Is it size 7..?" She muttered, checking for any sticker that indicates its shoe size and to her utter luck, it is size 7.

Biting down a really wobbly grin, Miki faced Nakamura with a very determined expression on her face. "I'm buying this," she announced in a hushed whisper. Quickly, she snatched the other pair from the shoe rack and hugged them protectively, as if anyone was planning to take them from her.

"Wah you're so cute~" Nakamura cooed, snuggling her arms around the taller girl's waist.

Miki let out a huff in reply. "Combat boots are life," she declared.

After snatching a pair of black jeans, a white flannel, a cropped hoodie, and a denim jacket, Miki went to purchase what she took and patiently waited for the other three to come back.

"That would be 9,500 yen in total, Miss," the young clerk announced, handing her two paper bags: one contained the clothes she bought and the other for the shoe box.

Nodding, Miki took the two bags with relative ease and opened her wallet, handing the clerk a ten thousand yen bill.

While waiting for her change, Miki felt a light nudge to her right and met eyes with Nakamura.

"I saw a wad of ten thousand yen cash on that wallet," the other blonde stated blankly. "Are you actually rich?"

Miki frowned at that. "It's called 'saving', Rio," she repeated her father's words earlier this morning. "And that my parents' jobs pay them well, but I'm not rich," she added after retrieving her change.

"We're back!" A cheery voice made the two blondes to turn, seeing Kurahashi waving at them with Yada and Hayami trailing behind, both seemed to be conversing to each other.

The three of them seemed to have only taken one item, as Miki realized. Kurahashi was carrying a white beret hat with cute black feather designs, on Yada's arms was a gray sweater which seems to be low cut, and Hayami hugged the denim dress overalls tightly.

Slinging an arm around Nakamura's shoulders, Miki announced to them. "We'll wait for you guys by the entrance."

"Take your time!" Nakamura followed, waving at them.

The store only had few customers inside, so walking towards the entrance, despite tightly latched onto each other, wasn't a difficulty for the two of them.

"After this, let's go to the nearest opened food place we could find," Miki informed, sighing vehemently. "I'm starving..."

Nakamura, who had just sneaked an arm around the taller girl's waist, chuckled in response. "We already had a restaurant in mind. It's at the other street."

"Oh, thank goodness," Miki turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Say, what did you even buy? I didn't see you get anything there."

Nakamura winked at her in response. "I bought your heart~"

Miki then fondly rolled her eyes at that, slightly amused. "Yeah, love you too."

"Of course, you do~" The other blonde laughed.


"I'm home!" Miki announced while changing into her indoor shoes.

Then her mother, who she had not seen since morning, peeked out from the kitchen. "Oh, you're back already! How was your day, sweetie?"

"Good," she answered honestly, walking past her mother and is about to climb the stairs.

After leaving the thrift store, they immediately went to the previously mentioned restaurant that was located at the following street, where they had a light lunch before continuing their shopping date. They spent to longest time of the day at the cosmetics shop, where Miki took almost an hour trying to find the right shade of foundation that matches her really pale skin. After finally finding the right foundation, she took notice of a makeup brush set that was displayed at one of the aisles and quickly got herself one. She also paid for the lip tint that Nakamura took a liking to without any problem.

Then they spent the rest of the afternoon looking at shops, not really buying anything nor even entering the said shops. Yada had suggested a purikura photo booth for them to try, which they all agreed to. However, the only photo booth they could find that day was the one located at the train station, specifically the one that only produces grayscale photos. Although slightly disappointed, the girls wasted no time getting inside after Miki's remark about the grayscale photos being a pleasant aesthetic to look at.

But since the booth was rather small for all four of them to do a group photo together, through Hayami's suggestion, they all decided that Miki should take a photo with each of them by every shot. Though it was a struggle not to get in the frame when Miki takes a photo with one girl, they all managed to make it work in the end.

Turns out that Miki was right about the grayscale aesthetic being pleasing, they all were against the idea of customizing it and decided to keep it as it is. They printed out two copies, one for them to cut up and divided for each of them, and another for Miki to keep as a whole.

After that, they decided to walk her home, not without excited chatters between them, before going to their separate ways.

Miki looked up to her mother and smiled at her. "I had fun."

"That's great!" Her mother returned the smile with her own, her emerald eyes softening.

Miki turned and climbed upstairs. "I'll be at my room," she announced.

"By the way," her mother mentioned, which caused to turn back to her again. "There was a package sent to you this morning. I placed it at your room."

A package?

Quirking an eyebrow, Miki muttered her mother a small thanks before going to her bedroom. Turning the lights on, before she put down her bag, an unfamiliar sight at the corner of the room had caught her attention.

Cautiously, she approached on what was placed on the low table in front of the TV and surely enough, there was a giant stuffed of what looks like an alpaca placed on top of the table. Next to it, was a small bouquet of white roses and what seems to be a sealed envelope.

Miki knelt down before the table and checked the cards that are tied around the neck of the stuffed alpaca and on the ribbon of the bouquet.

With the fanciest cursive form she had ever seen, the words 'Happy Birthday' was written on the mentioned cards.

Suddenly, warmth began growing onto her and her eyes started to sting, knowing that any time soon, tears will start to fall. Miki felt the once stiffness on her facial muscles soften and she shifted, sitting cross-legged instead.

She took a deep breath and released it in the same manner, Miki tried to calm herself down as she gently took the envelope, and carefully unsealed it.

Taking out its contents, and to her outright resentment, the letter stuffed inside was ridiculously long. It was as if at least four long bond papers were taped together to form this scroll-like letter and it honestly surprised Miki that it was even approved to be sent.

It came to her realization as to why the paper was long when she took notice of the unpleasantly awful romanized hand writing in English by someone she knew all too well. Just the fact that the words are huge and the amount of paragraphs he used was enough to give his identity away.

Leaning onto the table with a mellow smile, Miki read the letter.


To My Precious Sunshine,

Happy 15th!

If you're reading this letter at night, on your birthday, maybe after whatever celebration you've done with your friends, then the mission is a success! It's the first time I've ever given you a gift without personally seeing you, so I was very anxious through the process of putting this all together.

I wrote this letter and bought your gift last Friday, so I have plenty of time to pull this off. The plan was to call your mom this morning so that I could ask her if she can retrieve the package and arrange them in your room. I don't really like your father, so I can't really trust him into doing this.

Just now, I literally laughed at myself for insulting your father like that, why am I like this? If you were with me as I write this, you would've thrown the alpaca at my face hahaha.

Well, if you were with me. Gosh, it hasn't been a year yet and I'm already feeling lonely.

I missed you, you know that?

Of course you know that. I tell you that every time we call, silly me.

Okay, enough about me. This letter was meant for you. It's your birthday, after all.

How are you doing? Good? Are you feeling better now? You've went through a lot of stress ever since we've parted, so I'm really hoping that you are doing fine now. You do have plenty of rest ever since you've dropped out, after all. You're probably back to your healthy, stubborn, and strong usual self. I can't really see you clearly from our video calls, so I hope you don't mind me asking.

Honestly, you are so strong and even one of the most stubborn people I've met in my life. Do you have any idea how much I panicked when I received news about you passing out in the middle of a class presentation? And what was that about you doing an entire research project, which was apparently meant for a group of eight people, on your own? Are you trying to kill yourself mentally? Argh you're such a pain, you know that? And the fact that, despite me already knowing all about these, you never mention them to me whenever we call just makes it even worse.

Because of that stunt you pulled, I've been paranoid lately that I might end up doing the same thing. We don't want that. Period.

But thanks for the warning, though.

Supporting others in service is a wonderful thing, I understand that. However, make sure that you also support yourself.

And that drives me to get you that giant stuffed alpaca. Their symbolism just loudly screams 'Jenny Miki Yamazaki', it's not even funny.

Would you like to bother knowing what they symbolize or nah? Oh wait, this is a letter. I shouldn't be able to hear you.

So, knowing the symbolism it is then!

You have the ability to adapt to any situation you find yourself in. Know that whatever loads you are carrying right now, you will be able to manage and see them through. With that in mind, alpacas could be reminding you that your biggest focus should be yourself, and that personal growth should be you highest priority of all times.

You also tend to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and have a strong connection to the environment and its subtle changes. If you are treated unfairly, you're very vocal about it. You also choose your friends carefully.

Basically, alpacas are symbolizing that you have the strength and endurance to reach your goal. Also, they're reminding you that you are worrying too much and carrying too large of a load.

Yes, I read these online. And no, I did not copy and pasted them. I paraphrased them!

To summarize those three paragraphs, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!

I can't keep reminding you that everyday since I'm still going to be stuck here for the next four months. Which is why you better drill that information into your memory so that should be what comes to your mind whenever you see that alpaca.

Your safety and happiness should always come first before everything else. I cannot stress this enough.

Just... stay happy, alright? You just turned 15 today, you still have decades to go. So live your life to the fullest. You and your life is very precious to me and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you.

Happy Birthday, My Sunshine. I wish you all the happiness until the end.

From the bottom of my heart,

I love you.

With Sincere Affection,
Jungyoon


A/N:

I am done! Please take note that after the second scene with Kitsune, everything else was written in less than a day without any proof-reading nor grammar and spelling checks. So pardon all the mistakes that you've encountered!

I was meant to have this done this morning but I immediately got stuck with the last scene, no not the letter. But thankfully I managed to go through it!

I'm still sleep deprived, but since my mind is back on full gear, I'm gonna start replying to reviews!

TwelveTurquoise12: This chapter just outright stated Miki's circle of friends, so you'll know on which 3E kids she'll be hanging out with a lot. Unless you want some back of the class shenanigans, Karma is just a seatmate (Nagisa? Never heard of 'em lol). And this is what my old school had done to me, giving me the ability of projecting the feelings of a student who was played unfairly. Looking back, I think I did executed the breakdown rather well :)

Guest: Thank you ehhehe! I feel like I knew who you are lol. Miki is the only OC I've worked hard to develop and I hope that I could showcased her character here well!

Greengargouille:I'm like really picky of what I write and I usually like to make them as detailed as possible, so that the events could be easily visualized without having to guess additional elements. Which is why this chapter kind of frustrates me since a number of scenes are somewhat vague with its setting and all. But I don't want to make this chapter really long so I literally had to summarize some events, against my will. Actually, I did consider about sleeping in the entire morning. But my brain was still very active until it was like around past 3 AM when I slept, but I woke up at 7 so it's no use lol.

Thank you for reading and please review if you ever had the time! :)

~松原⽂⼦