The next morning was extremely nerve-wracking for Hikari. She went through her morning routine slowly, hoping that it would also slow time and give her more time to figure things out. It didn't. Then she walked to school with her head hung down, hoping to avoid everyone who might distract her. She wanted her immediate focus to be on the matter at hand. However, when she arrived at the school yard, her hopes were crushed.

"Ah! It's Hikari, from the S.A.!"

"You look so pretty today, Hikari!"

Comments were coming at her left and right and she gave the crowd her usual sweat-dropped, annoyed face. She didn't understand the big fuss about being in the S.A. How did it make her so much more superior to the rest of the student body? In her eyes, it didn't.

"Hikari!"

Akira came flying out of nowhere and tackled Hikari, locking her in a bear hug. She loudly and obnoxiously questioned her best friend about the date that Takishima 'so rudely forced on her.'

"I'll tell you on the way to the greenhouse."

As the two girls set off for the greenhouse, Tadashi followed surreptitiously behind them. He had the intention of sneaking up behind Akira to scare her. He was feeling bold today. As soon as he got within striking distance though, he stopped and listened in to their now interesting conversation.

"Is that all that happened?"

"Well, later on we went to the park. It was nice. We ran into Megumi and Yahiro-"

"What was my darling Megumi doing with that monster?"

"Calm down, Akira. I don't know, Takishima pulled-"

"This is an outrage! First, Takishima forces a date upon you, and then that creeper has the nerve to go out with my sweet, angelic Megumi! What is wrong with people? Do they want to die?"

By this point they had entered the greenhouse. Ryuu, Jun, and Megumi were giving Akira a confused look until her name was mentioned, in which case, the attention was focused on Megumi.

"You were out with someone, Megumi?"

'No, of course not! I was at the park and he just happened to be there.'

"Who was it?"

'Yahiro...'

Ryuu and Jun gave Megumi a confused yet wary look before turning their attention back to Akira. She was crying for a moment into Hikari's jacket, but then Tadashi made one of his usual, stupid comments, and she unleashed a fit of misdirected rage onto him. And, as usual, he took off running before being beaten senseless and then went flying into the air, landing God only knows how far away.

"How did your date with Takishima go, Hikari?"

It was Ryuu's turn to make conversation. Hikari walked over to their table and sat down in her usual chair. She set her bag down and took out her cell phone.

"Oh, it went fine."

"Really? You don't sound to certain."

Just as she was about to continue, a certain tall, brown-haired boy walked into the greenhouse. He had a stack of papers tucked under his arm and was fiddling with his phone. Although he appeared to not be paying attention, he had no trouble dodging a frightened Tadashi whom was running from a still angry Akira. How he managed to do that was beyond anyone.

"Good morning, Kei."

Naturally Ryuu was the only level-headed one here. Tadashi and Akira were caught up in their usual violent routine, while Jun and Megumi were too quiet to say anything, and with Hikari being so distraught by yesterday, she wasn't her normal, cheerful self. He was the only normal one here today.

"Morning."

Takishima pulled out his chair and set his stuff down. Then he took his seat and put his phone in his pocket. Without making eye contact with anyone, he grabbed the papers he had tucked under his arm and spread them out on the table. They were clearly important business papers, each one reading 'Important!' on the top. He then quickly categorized them according to his own importance, or so they assumed, and he began sifting his eyes over them. With not a word being uttered by anyone, it became awkwardly silent.

Akira and Tadashi settled down after awhile when he decided to wave the white flag of surrender. He then sat bandaged up in his chair, waiting for Akira to appear with their morning tea and snacks. Ryuu decided to go tend to his animals, so naturally the twins followed after him, not wanting to share his company with them. That left Takishima and Hikari to sit in silence.

And even though it appeared that Takishima was just working and completely level-headed, he wasn't. He was trying to use the business papers as a distraction from the woman sitting next to him. She was obviously nervous and he knew there was no point in asking her for an answer today. She wasn't ready to give one.

But Hikari let her eyes wander back and forth between her lap and him. She wanted to give him an answer, but she knew she didn't have one to give. Her heart was pounding and her stomach was turning. Confusion and guilt were eating away at her nerves and the feeling intensified when he was around. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She was going to break the silence.

"Akira, hurry up in there! I want snacks now!"

Until Tadashi did it for her.

"Hush, Tadashi! It's almost ready!"

"Ugh, why does she have to take so long?"

The question wasn't really directed at anyone, but Hikari wanted to get rid of the awkwardness with conversation, so she answered.

"She just wants it to be perfect is all. Be patient, Tadashi."

"But I don't care if it's perfect, I'm hungry now, and as long as it's edible I'll be fine."

"She doesn't just cook for you though, and she takes pride in it, so let her make it however she wants."

Tadashi hung his head for a moment and then flicked it back up and smiled.

"You're right, Hikari. Her stuff always tastes better when she puts more time into it anyway."

Hikari smiled back at him in agreement and managed to carry on a conversation until Akira arrived. She brought out her tray of sweets and tea and then threw a hissy fit when she saw that half the group was missing. Hikari made an attempt to calm her down while Tadashi stuffed his face. Everything would have been fine if Takishima wasn't so buried in his work and chimed in like he normally would.

"Kei, I made this stuff for everyone. Take your tea and sweets already!"

Akira was always this hostile sounding when talking to him, and he usually responded with sarcasm or nothing at all, but today was different. Today he stood up abruptly and grabbed his things. He pushed in his chair and walked out the door.

"What was that all about? That little jerk!"

"Is something wrong with Kei?"

"Takishima..."

"Did something happen yesterday that you didn't tell me, Hikari?"

Now both Akira and Tadashi were staring at her and she felt more than backed into a corner. She had no choice but to respond.

"Well after we saw Megumi and Yahiro he kind of... sort of... told me he... loves me..."

Both Akira and Tadashi let their mouths hang open in shock. They knew that Takishima had liked Hikari for awhile now, but they never thought he'd tell her. Akira felt like her head was swelling up and was going to explode, but Tadashi was less dramatic. As Akira had her little episode, Tadashi prompted a question that Hikari couldn't ignore.

"So, what did you say to him?"

"A/N: Yeah, there's no good reason for my absence. I'm just lazy. But here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, even though it feels rushed to me. Reviews would be greatly appreciated."