Herp derp, new chapter. It came out longer than I was expecting, actually. I'm glad I didn't struggle through partial consciousness to finish it last night. Mmkay, thanks so much for making it to chapter three! Now let's go~!

Chapter 3: Welcome

Four pairs of eyes traced the path of the second hand as it made its merry away around the clock, oblivious to the world. The expensive tea that filled the ornate cups had become lukewarm and unsavory, and an assortment of cakes sat half-eaten on the table. Golden sunlight filtered through the window, although the sun grew crimson and the sunset would give way to night before too long.

"He's not going to come, is he?" Ritsu sighed, leaning back in her chair and pushing at the crumbs on her plate idly.

"I can't imagine he's still in the school at this hour," Mio offered, "let alone planning on coming here."

"There's still a chance he'll come," Tsumugi encouraged in a largely vain attempt to rally her friends. "As long as we're here, there's a chance!"

"A 0.00000001 percent chance is still a chance, huh?" The light music club's president heaved another sigh in exasperation. "In that case, shouldn't we just stay the night? Heck, if we start living here, that means he's guaranteed to show up sooner or later, right?" Her sarcasm, born of fatigue and surrender, gave form to what they all knew was true: The soft-spoken boy from the previous day would not turn in an application.

Tsumugi opted to entertain the wild notion, "That wouldn't be a problem, would it? I can arrange for someone to bring a meal, and I'm sure our parents would—"

"It is a problem," Azusa interrupted irritably. "Applications for new club members were due this afternoon. We might be in trouble as it is since Sawako-sensei already went home."

The already stifling atmosphere became gloomier yet, and the despondent silence was finally broken by Ritsu's cry of frustration. She erupted from her chair and proceeded to the doorway.

"I'm going to go find him!" she declared, drawing open the door with such violence that it slammed against the wall. Mio frowned and stood to attract her friend's attention.

"You know he must have gone home by now!" she reasoned. "Even if he hasn't, what will you do when you find him? Threaten him to fill out the application?"

"If that's what it comes down to! It isn't fair that he'd get our hopes up like that and then not join!"

Azusa called for Ritsu to wait, "It won't do any good if you go." Her seniors turned questioning eyes on her, awaiting clarification. The smallest girl gestured to Yui. "The reason he's not coming is because of the way Yui-senpai reacted to him, right? So it won't mean a thing if anyone but Yui-senpai tries to convince him."

Yui, who would have her friends believe she had passed out from hunger an hour prior, raised her head at mention of her name. An angry pout claimed her features in response to the suggestion, and she turned away from Azusa.

"Why should I do it?" she complained. "It's not like we need a new member anyway."

"Because you made him cry," the girls words, despite her dull tone of voice, cut Yui sharply, "and because you made him hate this school. Are you okay with that? Your selfish actions hurt him more than he hurt you. More than that, what you did was intentional."

"She's a bully? No, she's a delinquent? Somehow it's really exciting!" Tsumugi was promptly sent spiraling into her own imagination, but her offhanded remark added immensely to Yui's grief.

"Fine! I'll go look for him!"

Yui's face was set with a discontent frown as she passed Ritsu and headed down the hall, but Azusa's accusation continued to worry her. As a girl who loved making friends and being friends, she considered it highly offensive to be labeled a bully. She reflected on the various ways to best phrase her apology convince the boy to turn in an application, ranging from casually asking for the paper to prostrating herself and begging forgiveness. She was unable to decide on a method before spotting a head of caramel-colored hair, however, as she made her way down the stairs. Their positions were such that the person on the landing had not yet seen her, so she ducked just below the railing to remain undiscovered. She crept down the stairs quietly and peered around the corner.

Sure enough, Yui found that her glimpse had been of the same boy that had visited the light music club the previous day. He held a sheet of paper tightly in his hands, his jaw set and his head turned slightly down, visibly caught up in a moment of intense contemplation. He glanced at his wristwatch and breathed a sigh, then loosely crumpled the paper and proceeded towards the stairs to the first floor. Yui uttered an exclamation, attracting his attention, and rushed out from her hiding place. She seized her target around the waist and very nearly threw him in the opposite direction from the stairs. The boy stumbled and fell to the ground, quickly turning to face his presumed attacker and staring up at her, green eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Yui pointed to the paper that had fallen from his hand and demanded, "You're gonna turn that in, right?" The boy dropped his defense and inclined his head to a side to break eye contact.

"No, I—"

"Well why not? Everyone's been waiting for you!" Her company's face fell, and Yui ceased her lecture. It would do no good to shout. Instead, she crouched in front of him, taking hold of the balled up paper and smoothing it out to a readable state. She was surprised to find that it was fully filled out. "I said something mean, didn't I?" she said. "On the rooftop, and in the clubroom too… Azu-nyan said you hate this place now, and that it's my fault."

"That's not—! I didn't mean…" He gave up at the sound of Yui's laughter.

"I'm sorry I said those things," she apologized, her eyes skimming over the contents of the club application curiously. "Anyone who likes music can't be a bad person, right?" She stood and offered a hand to help the boy up. Yui clasped the wrinkled paper in her arms protectively. "I'll turn this in for you!" She pranced up the stairs and turned on her heel upon reaching the second floor. A wide grin spread on her lips.

"See you tomorrow, Mana Satou-kun!"

I hate honorifics so much. They're just about physically painful to write. But I just can't hear it as Ms. Sawako or Azumeow or... or... I don't even know what you'd do with Ricchan to eliminate the honorific. I'll try to make this the last time I rage about it.

After an exchange with Unstable, I decided I really needed to describe Mana ASAP, but I couldn't find a place to nonchalantly fit it into the first chapter. This chapter's switch in point of view, however, presented the perfect opportunity that I totally wasn't expecting. Strike three on my lack of foresight. Lack of foresight, please do us all a favor and get off the field now. Anyway, I also drew a quick portrait of Mana, a link to which you can find at the bottom of my profile thingy, in case you're a visual person like me.

Next chapter probably won't come as quickly since the next event I have fully planned is the summer training camp and that would be a huge time skip. But yeah, thanks so much for reading all the way to the end of chapter, yay! As always, feedback would be super-great as I'm always eager to hear people's impressions of my writing. Mkay, I'm off to plan more thoroughly and maybe draw some more Mana. Thanks again for reading!