Well, here we go again. I think I'll let you guys have another choice soon.

So, I've been just invited on big lunch with five other girls, three of which are from my class. Should Hisao decline for some reason, I'll be surrounded by them like a victim at the mercy of its predators.

...Or maybe I'm just imagining things.

I enter the classroom. It's still pretty empty in here. So far the only people inside are Taro, casually snoring in his place, the girl next to him, Misaki – large bags under her eyes have been noted – Shizune and Misha. Almost like she were under some sort of an alarm magic, pink-haired girl locks eyes with mine the moment I pass near their line of desks.

"Caschan." There's some strange note in her voice... I don't like it. The fact that she appears so serious also isn't something I'd call good for me. The matter must be really big. "Can we talk?" I can't say I didn't expect it. I've been avoiding her so much as two days already.

"Sure thing, Misha." I respond. She leads me out of the classroom, urging me to go somewhere. I reluctantly look at my cellphone. Well, it's still almost half an hour before the lessons start. Now that I think of it, why the hell would you want to appear here so early?

She invites me to some strange room I don't recall being into before. It's quite spacious, filled with desks and chairs... It looks awfully big.

"Well, what is it?" I ask. I think I know what will she say now.

"You've been avoiding me." The accusation in her voice is nothing like I've heard from her before. It's a mixture of pain, wrath and sadness... It's so not like Misha.

Then again, Misha herself proved to be more than meets the eye.

"A little, yeah." I suppose there's no point trying to wriggle myself out of this. Honesty time. "Is it that bad?"

"It hurts."

"I don't think I understand." There's a sad smile on her face for a brief moment.

"I thought... Maybe a little naively... That maybe..."

"I think we've settled it already, Misha." I look her in the eyes. She looks away. "You yourself said we're friends... And nothing more."

"...Yeah." There's a very weak laughter from her side as she begins to walk away. I'm not stopping her. She, however, stops just as she's about to leave the room.

"...I want to apologize." What? That catches me off guard.

"Huh? For what?"

"For lying to you. About myself." ...What?

"W-what do you mean?"

"When I mentioned me being... uh, such active when it comes to visiting people..."

"...Why?"

"...I, uh... I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Uh-huh. So in order to not weird me out as much, you claimed to be a local sex fiend. Very smooth, Misha.

"...I see." She then turns to leave for real... But something tells me to stop her.

"Misha. Wait." She stops. "Come here, please." She hesitates for a long time before finally turning back at me and closing a bit. It takes some courage from my side, but I manage to pull her into surprise hug. There's a longer moment of silence, both from me and from her. I'm pretty certain she's happy now even if she doesn't show it. "I want you to know that I still think of you as my friend. If you will ever need help, please tell me. I don't want to see you cry." Misha, quite awkwardly, hugs me back. We stay like that for a while.

"Thank you..." She whispers right into my ear, resting her head on my chest.

"Cheer up, okay?" I take her face in my hands. "I promise I'll be there on this lesson of chopsticks holding after school, alright?"

"Alright." For the first time today, Shiina smiles genuinely.

Well, it is time for me to arrive on lunch, alone. As much as I wanted to ask Hisao about joining, he wasn't at school during morning. Weird. Usually he wasn't the one to skip out the lessons. Maybe he's got a cold or something? I suppose I can come to check on him after that private lesson with Misha.

Heh. "Private lesson". Why my head is so full of dirty thoughts sometimes, I do not know.

Now that I think of it, wasn't I supposed to meet with Lilly on lunch with her and Hanako today? Crap. I don't want to sound like an ass... On the other hand, as much as I'm opposed to the concept of being surrounded by females, socializing with people, especially with those from your class is an important thing. I suppose I could take a lunch with them tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to get Hisao as well.

"Hanako?" I speak up quietly to the girl next to me. There's some progress as she didn't shy away like it was the last time when I asked her about what our Maths teacher said.

"Y-yes?" She responds.

"Look, I, uh... We were going to meet on lunch with Lilly today..."

"Oh... That... U-uh, I'm afraid we c-cannot."

We cannot?

"What do you mean?"

"Lilly c-called me on phone... She said she's s-sick. She has a cold a-and..."

"Oh... I see..." Well, that takes care of two lunches overriding each other, as cynical as it may sound. Suddenly, an idea comes to my mind. "So... What are you doing during lunch break?" She hesitates a bit.

"I, uh... I-I think I'll go to the library..." Should I invite her? She's not exactly the most sociable person around, especially around people she barely knows. Yeah, Miki, Suzu and Molly are from her class and I'll be there as well, but then again... Nah. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Oh. I see..." With that, we go back to our business.

I appeared on the roof as the second-to-last person. Emi and the trio from my class was already there.

"Hi there." The girl with twintails greets me cheerfully. Suzu also nods hello in her own, slightly detached way. The other two, however, seem slightly surprised at my sight. "Oh, I invited him." Miss Ibarazaki explains to them.

"More or less." I add, nodding. "Good morning to you, Miss Kapur, Miura-san."

"Sheesh. No need to be so formal." Miki responded, waving with her stump dismissively. Right. I forgot about how people here are so laid-back in that regard.

"Actually, this is the first time an other student calls me "Miss"..." Molly mentioned, smiling awkwardly. Well done, Mr. Stratoavis, such a wonderful first impression. You've just made the biggest dork ever out of yourself.

"Sorry for that." To be honest, I'm somewhat grateful I didn't invite Hanako in here. Not only would she feel here uncomfortable, but the thought of embarrassing myself in front of her seems a bit... icky. Most definitely pride-shattering.

"Hey, no need to apologize." Emi butts into this conversation. To be honest, I somewhat regret coming here.

"A habit of mine. So-I mean, alright..." Miki doesn't help matters, chuckling quietly.

"No matter, no matter." She responds, grinning widely. "Always nice to meet a classmate."

"That's true." I nod. Interestingly, Suzu does the same.

"I always found it funny that this place..." She starts, staring somewhere far away. "of all places is the one people so rarely."

"Huh? You mean barely anyone comes here?" I ask, slightly surprised. Blue-haired girl nods. There's a longer moment of silence... Awkward silence.

"Now that I think of it, where's Rin-in-the-bin?" Miki asks, stretching a bit. Huh. True, auburn-haired girl is not here.

"She mentioned she'll be late." Emi responded, sighing. "She didn't specify how much late though, so..."

"Will we be waiting for her?" I ask, perhaps a little too selfish. Thankfully, the others don't seem to mind.

"Well, of course! Dig in, everyone!" Twintails girl grins as she opens her box of bento...

Alert. Chopsticks.

Thankfully I brought something of my own work as well. It's a couple of simple sandwiches, but they will suffice.

"A sandwich?" Molly seems vaguely surprised.

"Yeah." I respond, perhaps a little too fast. "I'm not the biggest fan of bentos. They just sort of don't fit with my tastes."

"Oh, I see." Despite the cheerful atmosphere, there's still an incredible awkwardness in the air. Is it because I'm the only guy in here? Or maybe it's because my disability is so disconcerting? Emi wears leg prosthesis, true, but covers them up with thigh-high socks. Miki's stump in place of her missing hand is noticeable, but can be easily hidden, say, in a pocket. Suzu's narcolepsy isn't even apparent, apart from her constant yawning and bags under her eyes. Weird. I thought a narcoleptic actually sleeps well. Molly also misses legs, but this doesn't seem to concern her that much as she doesn't wear any coverage on her prosthesis. There's Rin, but for now she's absent...

Leaving only me and my deformed mug.

"So, uh..." I swear, it's just like that lunch with Lilly and Hanako. Again, the levels of awkwardness are too high to be even measured. If that's the case, I need to break said awkwardness somehow. Back then, we've managed to find a topic all three of us(or maybe just me and Hanako) enjoyed. Okay, deep breaths, big guy. You're surrounded by four cute girls, but that doesn't mean you have to act like an idiot. Relax. Think about... something relaxing. "How did you end up here?" It's the first question that comes to my mind and, dear God, that was the worst possible question I could ask. I feel my cheek burning red. The silence doesn't help matters.

"Well, I guess we can be honest on that matter." Miki breaks the curtain, grinning. "I mean, the question was as subtle as a rhino, but you're a new guy, so it's forgiven. Am I right?"

"I dunno. I don't mind." Suzu responds, shrugging and putting a small piece of fish in her mouth. Her moves are slow and very, very calculated.

"Sure." Molly nods. "To be honest, I'm quite curious about..." She doesn't finish, but I know what is she talking about. I glance briefly at Emi who gives me a slight smile. Guess she's okay with it too.

"Since you're the one who brought the topic up, you will start." Miki's thinking makes sense.

"Shouldn't we going with the good old rule "Ladies first"?" I respond jokingly.

"We're not ladies, just a bunch of cool gals." Dark-skinned girl grins smugly.

Haha. So funny.

"Alright. Well, I'll be quick and stuff." I clear my throat. "Sulfuric acid. Psychotic ex-girlfriend."

"Ouch..." Emi seems to be the most moved out of all people here. "That must have sucked." No, it was fine and dandy, dammit. Of course it sucked.

"Yeah, it did. But it's okay now. In most cases." I'm quite sure twintails girl still remembers what happened yesterday on track. A small shudder does not go unnoticed by me. The others, thankfully, seem focused on me. Not sure if I should be glad because of it. "Anyway, I'm finished. How about you?"

"Myself, I lost the hand in an accident. A dog bit me and, well, he had quite a grip. He didn't quite bitten it off, but the damage was sufficient enough for an amputation. Thankfully, I'm not a lefty, so I'm faring quite good." I shudder. I am left-handed and a prospect of losing left hand is something I can only describe as unbearable. Actually, losing any hand or any leg would have similar effect. I don't even want to imagine how awfully my manual abilities would be impaired.

"I was diagnosed with narcolepsy when I was eight... or maybe nine, I dunno. Anyway..." Suzu clears her throat. "It's not that bad. I can sleep through lessons and they let me get away with it most of the time." She giggles, amused. "Besides, as long as I have something to do, I can avoid sleep."

"It doesn't sound that bad..." I respond.

"Actually, it's a serious thing. I can fall asleep everywhere and at any time. Not a biggie if I just fall asleep in class, but while, say, walking down stairs..." Ouch. I cringe a bit.

"I see your point." A small nod from my side and my eyes switch at Molly. Initially she looks away, but gets better just a few seconds later.

"I, uh... I was born like that." She says and there's a notable hint of embarrassment in her voice. Nothing to be ashamed about, this stuff happens... Then again, at least you're better accustomed to this than me or Miki. It's always like that. There's a longer moment of silence as all eyes turn in Emi's direction.

"A car accident." She responds quite lightly. "Took me a whole year to relearn how to walk straight." There's something bitter in her giggle and, well, that doesn't seem very surprising to me.

Wait. A whole year?

"...So you're year older than us?" I ask, slightly surprised.

"Yup." She nods quickly. For all it's worth, she looks like sixteen at best. Those Japanese, they never cease to amaze me.

"By the way, Casper... You're not from here, are you?" Suzu states the obvious, but because it's Suzu I guess I can tolerate that.

"Yeah. Half-German, Half-Polish, born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. Moved to Tokyo and after the incident, here." I recite on one breath. "Europe is a fun place. A different one than here."

"What do you mean?" I think it was Molly who asked the question, although I'm not quite sure.

"Oh, the cultural difference. Here, people are in most cases nice to each other. Back there... Not quite. No matter." I take a bite out of my sandwich. "I wonder where Rin is, to be honest." Emi appears worried and my words only strengthen the effect. "Shouldn't she be here?"

"She usually takes long... But this?" Molly also seems worried.

"Maybe let's go and look for her?" Miki suggests, getting up.

"A nice idea it is." I respond, nodding.

There are still twenty minutes to the end of lunch break, but Rin just cannot be found. People asked all said: Dunno. Emi starts to look panicky and I must say, it's getting contagious. So far, only me and Suzu preserve any kind of calmness, though in latter's case it might be just her narcolepsy.

Rin is nowhere to be found. We look everywhere Emi mentioned that auburn-haired girl likes to be. It's like she disappeared.

"This is bad. This is so very bad..." Petite blonde is on the verge of some minor breakdown and it isn't something I would like to see. Miki and Molly also look pretty nervous.

"Are you sure we've checked everywhere?" I ask once more.

"Yes. Everywhere... I don't know, I don't know where is she..." A few more seconds and I swear, she will start biting her nails off.

"Saki might know." Miki mentions offhandedly, trying her best to look cool. I think I raised my eyebrow. A new person?

"You think? She's knowledgeable, but Rin isn't exactly your standard issue person to find."

"It's worth trying." Molly adds, forcing a small smile. Emi lets out a small sigh.

"Alright then. To the art room!" Huh. So that Saki person is an artist, just like Rin. I suppose that makes sense if she knew where the armless girl might be. Then again, isn't Emi supposed to be Rin's best friend? If she does not know... Why someone else would?

I guess we'll see once we talk to that Saki. Perhaps she's this weird kind of person who knows exactly what's going on and stuff.

I hope.

It was a long time since my last update, but here you go. :) Hope you liked it. Read and review, as always. :)