Nanase didn't need an Iris to see that the past week has not been very kind to Toru. For the past four days she saw him nodding off to sleep during lectures and drinking about five cups of coffee in one school day. She stole a look at the color of his wings, and they were a frustrated orange, while most days they were a cautious dark blue. During class, she would also see him massaging his neck almost as if he was sore all over, but she still didn't know why. Nanase was just itching to find out why, but she respected Koyuki's decision to give Toru some space.

It wasn't until she saw a bruise hidden under his sleeve she started to be concerned for the Iris Zero's life. Nanase knew that it might have been a bit too far-fetched to think that anyone was actually hurting him, but she couldn't help, but come to that conclusion. Was it abuse from his family? Or was this something happening at school? She didn't know if she should tell anyone. After all, she didn't want to cause Toru unnecessary drama in his life, it was only just a bruise.

She decided to wait it out for a while. That didn't stop her from trying to pry into his life through Hijiri. She confronted Toru's childhood friend early in the morning. She knew out of everyone, Hijiri was usually, surprisingly, the first one at school. He sometimes come before Koyuki, the student body president who made it her duty to be there at 7:50 a.m sharp every morning.

Nanase found him sitting inside the library completely engrossed in his book. He didn't seem to have noticed her yet. She slowly started walking towards the oblivious teen until she was right in front of him.

"Good morning Shinozuka-kun," She chirped.

Hijiri nearly jumped out of his seat from the sudden voice coming from his front. "Ah! Kuga-chan," He yelped trying to calm nerves, "g..Good morning, it's a surprise to see you this early in the morning."

"Oh, I just got ready much faster than I usually do," Nanase replied, still giggling from Hijiri's reaction. Spooking him like that was worth it.

Hijiri sighed. He knew that Nanase scared him just for her own amusement. And people wondered why he was slightly frightened of her. Hijiri closed his book knowing he wasn't going to be able to finish it that morning. "Well, do you need anything?" He asked.

"Who said I was going to ask anything?" She replied, the corners of lips quirking up.

Hijiri scoffed, so they were playing this game now. "Oh please Kuga-chan someone as organized as you wouldn't just happen to quickly get ready. You would probably take your time, so there was no reason for you to rush getting here. If you didn't have anything to say, that is," He observed, "and another thing, you usually come here with Tokita-kun why skip out on the quality time to spend with your best friend?"

Nanase sighed in defeat. "Well, you got me there," she admitted, "I need you to tell me about Mizushima-kun's family."

Hijiri raised a brow. "And why exactly would you want to know about Toru's family?" He asked suspiciously. She was a fool to think that Hijiri would give that information so easily.

"Because..." She started, trying to think of a convincing lie, "If I want to help Sasamori-chan get with Toru, I'm going to have to find out more about him." She thought that it was convincing enough, but to make sure, she stole a glance his wings. They first started off as a dark blue color then slowly but surely then shifted into warm yellow. He believed her.

"Alright," Hijiri reluctantly agreed. He didn't want to Toru to be the one she had to get the information from. Not because he feared for Nanase, but for Toru. Who knew what kinds of things she would do to get information out of his best friend? .

"His family..." He began, coming up with the perfect way to describe them, "…is eccentric to say the least. They all enjoy messing with Toru, but it's all fun and games. His mom and his two sisters are pretty nosy, but that's only because Toru won't tell them anything. They all want Toru to make some friends. The day I first came over, his mother nearly fainted in surprise." Hijiri chuckled at the memory then continued, "If I had to be honest, Toru takes after his dad more than his mom. Much more stoic and serious then the rest of the family." Hijiri paused thoughtfully before narrowing his eyes at Nanase, giving cool stare that sent shivers down her spine.

"If this is about how they treat Toru because he's an Iris zero," Hijiri remarked, eyes still holding that cold look, "they treat him just fine, those people are a few of the nicest people I've ever met."

Nanase started to feel slightly on edge. She had only seen Hijiri like this when she was the Iris Hunter, and that wasn't a very fond memory that she liked to remember. Nanase was about to reply, but a familiar face interrupted the conversation.

"Morning Hijiri, Nanase you two are early today."

The two of them turned around to see Koyuki smiling at them, blissfully unaware of the conversation Hijiri and Nanase was having before. The two greeted Koyuki as if nothing had happened earlier, but the tension from the conversation still lingered.

Even though she was a bit shaken up, Nanase still got the information that she needed. Hijiri made it pretty clear that Toru's family would probably die than do anything horrible to their son or brother. She could finally rest easy knowing that there wasn't any trouble in his family life, but there was still that question; how did he get that bruise? Nanase decided to put off the investigation until the next day. She needed a break from the confrontation.

Hijiri would've been lying if he said that if he hadn't been a bit too harsh on Nanase. Sure she was assuming the worst from his best friend's family, but he had no right to act so coldly to Nanase. He had been avoiding her all day trying to find a way to apologize to the girl. He just couldn't find the words to say to her. He had a slight suspicion that the question was not actually for Sasamori, but if it really was for the love sick girl, Hijiri had just scared Nanase away for nothing.

Hijiri had considered all his options. He could ask Tokita how to apologize to the girl, but if he were to do that he would risk having to deal with an overprotective childhood friend, and that just seemed to exhausting to do. Asahi was completely out of the picture. if he tried to explain the situation to her he would have to face the wrath of a raging she-demon. He shuddered at the idea. Sasamori was just...no. She was too curious and would want to get deeply involved. The only option he had left was Toru or that girl Rei. He didn't really know Rei too well, so he was left with Toru. Talking with Toru seemed that an iffy idea, but he was the only choice he had.

"Toruuuu!" Hijiri cried while running towards his best friend. School had just ended and Toru was just about to leave the school when Hijiri slung his arm around his neck. "Toru I messed up!"

Toru tiredly looked up at Hijiri, half expecting him to say something along the lines of 'I forgot to turn in my class work.' but that didn't seem to be the case today. "What is it Hijiri?" He asked while continuing to walk.

Hijiri took a deep breath before speaking. "I may or may not have accidentally terrified a girl," he wailed.

Now that had Toru's attention. "I'm listening," He answered curiously. This story seemed worthwhile. Hijiri was one of the friendliest people that Toru knew besides Koyuki, but at least Koyuki didn't have any motivations behind her attitude besides just making people happy.

Hijiri explained his situation albeit leaving large portions of the story. He didn't tell Toru that he and Nanase were talking about him, nor did he tell his friend that they were talking about his family. To put it simply, Hijri told Toru that Nanase was asking him a question, but Hijiri had a bad morning, so he answered her coldly. That seemed to have fooled Toru, because he went along with the story.

After listening to Hijiri's woes, Toru was quiet. He wasn't really sure why Hijiri would come and ask him about a problem like this. He had a reputation for being cold and insensitive toward people. To be honest, the answer was simple. Hijiri just could go up to Nanase and apologize. Nanase would easily pick up on his sincerity and forgive him, but it seemed like that was an approach that Hijiri was trying to avoid. Then again he didn't care much about what his friend wanted. Hijiri asked for his opinion so Toru offered it.

Upon hearing Toru advice Hijiri sighed. "Thanks Toru...I think I really needed someone to say that out loud," He admitted.

Toru just waved his hand dismissively. "No problem," He assured.

The two walked all the way to Toru's house before splitting off into their own directions. Hijiri's house was only a few blocks away from Toru's place. Once he finally got inside he collapses in his bed. Toru was right, he knew all along that telling her up front was the way to go, but he just wasn't too sure right now… he just hoped that it was going to work.

Nanase wasn't sure why she found herself up early in the morning at school again. It wasn't like she needed to talk to Hijiri that day. She slightly shuddered at the thought of the teen. She was sure that Hijiri didn't mean to act that way, but she could never be sure. Nanase walked around aimlessly until she ended up at her classroom. It was a practical place to wait, but it just didn't feel right to be there right now. She walked some more until she found herself in front of the library.

She didn't exactly know why, but instead of quickly leaving the area, she lingered. As she decided to leave, she heard someone call out her name. She turned her head only to see Hijiri putting down a book that he was reading to rush towards her. Nanase actually considered running away, but Hijiri was too fast anyways. When Hijiri finally approached Nanase couldn't help but tense up. Luckily for her, he didn't seem to notice.

"Shinozuka-kun, good morning," She said, finally after a few minutes of silence, but instead of getting a normal greeting, Hijiri bowed. Nanase was taken aback by this action. Then she looked at his wings. Guilt.

"I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed his head still down, "I shouldn't have just assumed what your intentions were, and I definitely didn't have any right to just talk to you like that," Hijiri confessed. mustering up all the sincerity he could.

"Shinozuka-kun…" Nanase started, "please put your head up," she asked. Hijiri hesitantly raised his head. Nanase smiled at the teen. "I think I should be the one saying sorry," she said, "You were just being a good friend. I pried too much, so I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright," Hijiri exclaimed, "you were just curious, but why exactly did you want to know about his family?"

Nanase looked away for a second. "...I was being stupid," she blurted, "I saw a bruise on him, and I assumed the worst."

Hijiri took a few seconds to process what Nanase had just said and then he started laughing. Nanase felt her cheeks flush. She huffed and crossed her arms. Hijiri attempted to calm himself down, but he still was wheezing.

"S..sorry Kuga-chan," he was able to say in between giggle, "I'm not laughing at you I swear, it's just," Hijiri's sentence was interrupted by another chuckle. As his laughter died down Hijiri could finally explain the situation to Nanase.

"It's just that Toru got that while trying to learn how to do a back handspring," He explained, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

"Eh!"

"Yeah, his sister was trying to teach him how to do one and he ended up getting a bruise there," Hijiri recalled.

Nanase sighed in relief. She was worried for nothing then. She felt kind of stupid. This whole thing could've just been avoided if she had just asked Toru. "That's a relief," She remarked, "well, now that we have that out of the way, Hijiri what was that book you were reading…."