Chapter 11 - What Will You Learn Today?

"Waahh…"

Yawning widely, Yuki woke up from her sleep. Lifting her upper body up, she rubbed her eyes and gazed upon her surroundings. She was in a room, which confused her for a second before she realises that she's at St Isidore's College with the rest of her friends.

Exiting the sleeping bag, her hand touched a long object that's lying at her side. Yuki looked at it and saw that it was a sword, not any sword but Yuuta's Tamashiha, The Sword That Reflects One's Soul. She wondered why the sword was in her room until he remembered that this was not actually her room. The previous night, he had asked Yuuta to sleep in his room for company since she doesn't like the feeling of being alone in her own room. She also remembered that Yuuta exited the room and left the sword as his replacement so she wouldn't be lonely. But what came to her mind after that was how she kissed Yuuta before he left.

Feeling her cheeks heat up at the memory, Yuki shook her head to dispel the image. Deciding that it's better if she went to her own room before the owner came back, she got out of the seeping bag, folding it neatly, and went to the entrance.

Peeking her head from the small crack she opened, Yuki quickly moved to her own room after making sure no one was in the hallways. Inside, she changed her sleeping clothes to her school uniform, wore her cat-shaped hat, and walked outside for breakfast.

Closing the door behind her, she found Ryuuko also coming out of her shared room. Yuki approached to greet her.

"Good morning, Ryuuko-chan!"

Ryuuko turned her head and saw Yuki. Smiling brightly, she replied the greeting. "Yuki-san! Good morning to you too!" Then, she added. "Did you just woke up?"

"Ah… eheh…" Yuki scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah… but it's okay, right? I'm a college student now."

"You know, Yuki-san. I'm certain that college students need to get up earlier than highschool students," said Ryuuko while crossing her arms.

"Err… really?" Yuki asked doubtfully, not knowing how to answer. Thankfully, the door beside them opened, revealing Kurumi in her school uniform stepping out while carrying her shovel, with Maki close behind. The both of them seemed to be in a heated argument since they didn't realize the presence of Yuki and Ryuuko in front of them.

"I told you, it's not my fault that I ended lying on top of you!"

"Then whose fault is it?! Do you know how heavy you are?!"

"Then why did you have to sleep so close to me?! And I'm not heavy!"

"I deserve to sleep wherever I want! You can't order me!"

"Why you little bit-"

"Err… Kurumi-chan? Maki-chan?"

At hearing the voice, Kurumi and Maki turned to face Yuki and Ryuuko who's just standing in front of them with worried and fearful expressions on their faces. Immediately, the two grumbled a bit before turning their backs on each other.

"What's all the noise about?" A male voice was then heard by the girls. Behind them, Shuuya exited his room and approached them. "What are you girls talking about?"

"It's nothing, Onii-san," Ryuuko replied. "Kurumi-san and Maki-chan were just being their obnoxious self again and arguing."

"I'm not obnoxious!" Kurumi and Maki shouted at the same time. "The two then glared at each other. "Don't copy me!"

"Hey, why don't we all go to breakfast now?" Suggested Yuki since it was her original goal. "Aren't you all hungry?"

The sound of growling stomach was heard from the others, much to their embarrassment. Kurumi and Maki begrudgingly decided to keep silence for the moment while Ryuuko didn't bother to remove her brother's hand from her shoulder. Together, the group head out to find food, wherever the kitchen is.


"Oh, you've all come."

Yuuta stated obviously with a cracker in his mouth as Yuki, Kurumi, Shuuya, Ryuuko and Maki stumbled into the room, which was turned into a dining room by Yuuri and Miki. The newcomers grabbed a chair and sat near the table.

"Everyone, breakfast will be served shortly. I hope you wait for a little bit more," informed Yuuri while flipping the flat food in the pan. Miki was beside her, preparing the plates and brewing a jug of coffee.

"Oh, what are you all doing here?" In came Touko, Aki and Hika. "You're making breakfast? Can we have some?"

"Of course," Yuuri smiled at them. "I've prepared enough for everyone." With that said, she placed the food on the last plate. She and Miki then carried them over to the table and placed them in front of everyone's seat.

"Wooohhh! Pancakes!" Exclaimed the peoples sitting at the table.

As Yuuri and Miki sat on their chairs, everyone clapped their hands and said. "Itadakimasu!"

Immediately, they all gobbled up on their pancakes and the syrup dressing. As always, Yuki ate with gusto while Miki took small bites before marvelling on the taste. The others, meanwhile, ate normally with a little chat slipped in here and there.

Before long, everyone had finished their meal and sipping their coffee except for the younger ones who settled on hot chocolate. While Yuuri and Shuuya were cleaning the plates, Touko decided to start a conversation.

"Man, that was real good. We haven't had a cooked meal in forever, right, Aki?"

Aki finished her drink before answering. "Yeah, since we always eat junk food and drink beer. It's nice to eat something descent once in a while."

"You should always take good care of yourselves. That includes eating a healthy meal everyday," Ryuuko chided them. "It's a very important thing, you know?"

"Well, it's not really our fault," Touko defended herself. "It's a very busy life in college, doing this assignment and that assignment, taking part in clubs, hanging out with friends, studying, taking part-time jobs, we only have a small amount of time to eat, much more eating something healthy."

"Also… we can't cook…" Hika spoke informatively.

"Hah! Then, why don't I teach you peoples to cook!" Maki stood up and puffed her(modest) chest out. "You should be thankful to have me volunteering to help you lot."

"Like I want to learn from you," Kurumi uttered out loud.

"I don't want to teach you either, you pigtails girl," countered Maki. "But I'm a very generous person, so I'll spend a little of my precious knowledge and time to teach you how to become a proper lady."

"Maki. Even if you say that, you don't actually come from a rich family, aren't you?" Yuuta questioned her. "So, to call yourself a proper lady is a bit of a stretch."

The others except for Ryuuko and Kurumi turned to Yuuta. "Really?"

"S-Shut up, Ruiko's Onii-san!" Shouted Maki as her face turned red. "Even if don't have a wealthy background, unlike you, I'm still the epitome of grace, loveliness, beauty and properness." Sparkles appear around her and a bright light shone from above as she collapsed on the ground dramatically, hands on the floor "Ah, I'm so fabulous that I'm too good for this world. Oh, who will save me from this cruel fate? Will he ever come to me?"

Yuuta, Kurumi, Miki, Touko, and Aki look unamused at the scene while Yuki, Ryuuko and Hika clapped their hands in amazement on the performance.

"That's enough, then." Suddenly, Yuuri came and hit Maki on the head lightly, resulting in the disappearance of the sparkle and the light. "If you want to hold a cooking class, you can do that, Maki-chan," Maki glared at her. "But I actually want to hold a teaching session for the other members."

Immediately, Maki's mood changed. "Oh. You want to hold a class then? I'm cool with that. If it's not too much of a bother I can join you too."

"All right, now that's decided, let's study hard for today." Yuuri clapped her hands together.

"But I don't wanna…" Kurumi protested lazily. "Can't we play some games for today?"

"Kurumi-senpai, it's importance to have some balance in our life," Miki stated to her upperclassman. "If you start playing games this early in the morning than I bet that you won't stop even when it's time for lunch. You can play games after you study first. Yuuta-senpai would agree with me. Right, Yuuta-senpai?" She looked to the seat beside Yuki and noticed no one's there. "Hey, where's Yuuta-senpai?"

"Oh, Yuu-kun went back to his room," informed Yuki. "He said he wants to stay in bed for a few hours since he didn't get any sleep last night."

"Oh, my! Is Yuuta-san still sleeping in irregular hours?" Ryuuko asked.

"That would explain why Kiriha yawns more frequently than before," added Shuuya.

"Yuuta-kun aside, let's go to another room now," Yuuri suggested. "He must be tired so he can be exempted from the class."

The others nodded and one by one they exited the dining room, leaving the three college girls inside.

"So…" Aki began. "What should we do today, Rep?"


Inside a room, several peoples were sitting around in their chairs with notebooks in their hands while a person was standing in front, writing something on the whiteboard.

"See, this is how you derive the formula from the equation. And this," using a long ruler, she pointed at another part of the board. "Is how you apply it properly and avoid some of the common mistakes made by other dumb peoples." Ruler in hand, she gazed at her students. "Remember this! Now, do those exercises that I've given you! And make it quick!"

"Yes!" Yuki, Miki, Shuuya and Ryuuko saluted at Maki and immediately went to work on the problems on the paper.

At the back, Kurumi whispered to Yuuri who's sitting beside her. "How did that brat ended up in charge?"

Yuri sweatdropped a little before replying. "Well…"

Yuuri scribbled something on the board. "This is how you write the word," she said.

"Wait, that's wrong," Maki suddenly interrupted her. "That's a double letter you used. The correct word only used one."

"Oh, is that true?" Looking back at the board, Yuuri realised that the spelling suggested by Maki does sound more natural. "You're right, Maki-chan. I didn't know that, truthfully."

At hearing this, Maki rose from her chair. "Then why don't I teach this class? I've already learned everything that I could from Onii-sama, so this kind of things should be a piece of cake."

"Well, if you want to…" Yuuri relented.

"…That's how it went," said Yuuri after she finished recalling the event.

Kurumi slumped on her desk, the questions on the paper making absolutely no sense to her. She then turned to Yuuri. "Ya know, Ri-san. It's time like this that I wished you were stricter."

Yuuri raised her eyebrow at the question, not knowing what she meant. Then, much to Kurumi's displeasure, Maki came over to her table and looked at her paper.

"Hmm, you only got two out of twelve right. That's worse than the pink haired girl and Ryuuko," Kurumi's eyebrow twitched at the implication of her being dumber than Ryuuko and Yuki, Yuki of all people. "Maybe you have to spend more time…"

"Wait a minute!" Kurumi shouted and glared at the person in front of her. "This is nothing like studying in college! It's different from highschool you know. We're supposed to have a… autonomy? Yes, that. We're supposed to think about what we want to study first before entering the class."

Maki put her hand to her chin, not disturbed by Kurumi's screaming, and thought for a while. "As much as I don't want to admit it, you're right, purple haired girl," once again, Kurumi grumbled at another nickname she'd been given. "I forgot about it, since Onii-sama hadn't thought about the matter either." Returning back to the front of the class, she addressed her students. "All right, then. All of you, make a report on what field you want to study in and submit me a report after you've finished."

"Oh oh! A report! Lika a university student!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Ugh…" Sighed Kurumi at the prospect of doing more work.


"And that's why you interrupted me from my nap? To write a report?" Yuuta spoke after Yuki explained why she woke him up from his peaceful a and much-needed sleep.

"Yes, that's why!" Replied Yuki. "Let's write a report together."

"No," Yuuta returned the report pad back to her. "You have to decide it on your own. I can't help you much with it."

Yuki clutched the book and pouted. "But you're supposed to be my boyfriend, Yuu-kun. Can't you help me?"

Yuuta shifted his eyes to avoid falling victim to Yuki's eyes again. "I can only help you once you've chosen a path that you want to take. The future that you desire. Think for yourself once in a while."

"The path that I want to take… The future…" Yuki drawled out as mind wandered on the subject. Then, her eyes fell on the necklace that Yuuta gave her on that day he confessed to her. Instantly, she knew what she wants.

"I want to be with you…" she uttered slowly but with resolve in her voice. "The future that I want is the future where you're by my side, and we're always together in our journey," her pink orbs stared at Yuuta. "Is that fine, Yuu-kun?"

Staring back at Yuki, Yuuta showed her a little smile. "That's what I want too, and I couldn't wish for anything more than that," he took Yuki's hand and held it tightly. "But even though I despises it, there will be days where I won't be near you, days where we might get separated, and days where fate will tear us apart," his grip tightened. "That's why, I don't want you to be too dependant on me. I want you to be able to do many things by yourself without me helping, skills that are beneficial to you and our friends, knowledge that you can pass on to others, and strength to protect yourself… and me," withdrawing his hands, his smile turned into a grin as he patted Yuki's head. "So, can you do it, Yuki?"

"Don't underestimate me, Yuu-kun," Yuki replied after her initial shock disappeared. "I'll show you how good I am!" She said as she pumped her hands in the air. "Also… I'll protect you too when the time comes."

"Of course, I appreciate that," rising up from the floor, Yuuta held his hand for Yuki to take. "Because together, nothing can beat us."

Yuki accepted the hand and stood in front of him. "Yes!"

"Good! Now go write your report outside," Yuuta said as he pushed Yuki to the door. "I still need my nap."

"Ehhh," Yuki protested before she ended up outside the room and the door immediately closed behind her. "Yuu-kun, you meanie!" She pouted. Not hearing any response, she headed inside her room.


"Hey, why don't we go write our report in the library?"

Ryuuko and Yuuri perked their heads up at Miki's suggestion. The three of them were currently in the dining room, sitting around the table with the report pad in front of them. Yuuri and Miki had pens in their hands, trying to find an idea on what to write while Ryuuko was… well… she gave up on writing a few minutes ago and began fiddling with a piece of cloth and a sewing kit that she procured from her pockets.

"My, that's a great idea, Miki-san," proclaimed Yuuri.

"But why~?" Ryuuko whined suddenly. "Libraries are boring~, right?"

Miki gasped at the words that came out of Ryuuko's mouth. 'To think, that someone would actually call them boring,' she thought inside, but the words that came after shocked her even more.

"After all, they're full of so many dusty books and books without pictures and other dull things. Only a desperate person would enter the place," added Ryuuko, oblivious to Miki's darkening mood.

Ryuuko-chan, you shouldn't call them like that," Yuuri advised her as she saw Miki reaching towards something beside her. "It's not nice to do that."

"Yes, I know," Ryuuko responded somewhat guiltily, and Yuuri started to sigh in relief. Too bad she never got the chance. "But the place is so boring, and scary, and dark, and quiet, and dull, and… have I mentioned boring?"

"Yes you have…" replied Miki who had taken her sword out of the sheath. "And if I heard you say that word again when describing the library or the books inside, I will make sure you regret it. Understand?"

Ryuuko watched fearfully as the blade was pointed at her. "I-I was just kidding, Miki-san! Of course, I would love to go to the library and read oh the many exciting books inside. After all, who doesn't like them? Hahaha…" she laughed nervously.

"Let's ask someone for direction, then," Miki placed her sword back into the scabbard. She then exited the room followed by Yuuri and a slightly afraid Ryuuko.


"Library? Yes, that's good."

Aki spoke when Miki, Yuuri and Ryuuko knocked on her door and asked about the status of the library. "Just follow the directions pasted on the wall and you'll soon arrive there."

"Thank you," Miki bowed to her.

"If you're going to go, though," Aki spoke again. "Be careful of Master."

The three girls stared confused at her. "Master?"

A few minutes after, the small group arrived at the university's library. The interior was dark and scary(much to Ryuuko's displeasure and protest) so Miki took out a flashlight from her backpack to light their path. Yuuri and Ryuuko followed closely behind.

"It really is dark and scary in here," Ryuuko complained. "I want to clean this place up a bit but I'm not sure I can withstand this dusty place." She looked to her right and added. "And don't you've got the feeling that someone's watching you from the shadows?"

"Ryuuko-chan, that's not funny," scolded Yuuri. "There's nothing wrong with this place, and I'm sure there's nothing scary lingering in the dark."

"Actually, Ri-san," Miki raised her hand. "I do sense some presence when I entered. Though I might be wrong and it's just my nerves."

As the trio continued their walk, they heard some sounds coming from their left side. Turning to that direction, a hand suddenly landed on Miki's and Ryuuko's shoulder along with a cheerful voice.

"What are you doing?"

The scream that came from the girls could be heard by the undead outside.

"I see, you already met Touko."

Currently, Miki, Yuuri and Ryuuko were conversing with the person who startled them. She was a woman with short, wavy pink hair which covers her left eye. She wears a normal white shirt and black pants.

"Yes…" Miki stopped, not knowing her name.

"Ryougawa Rise. Call me Rise," the woman helpfully introduced herself.

"Do you live here, Rise-san?" Questioned Yuuri.

"I go back to eat food, but I'm normally here."

"Why would you want to live in here?" Ryuuko voiced her thoughts. "Do you like these books so much?"

Rise chuckled lightly. "Well, it is my dream to read eery book in this library." The trio nodded. "For me, I want to read all the cool books in the world," touching the books on the bookshelf affectionately,she resumed. "It suffocates me, when I think there is a cool book I haven't read yet." Miki, Ryuuko and Yuuri stared at her. "But you see, no matter how much I read, new books always come out." Still staring, the three girls stood there. "So I am a little relieved," Rise then turned herself from the bookshelf and spread her arms, a bright shine came from above and feathers of light fell from the ceiling. "What I meant to say is, there won't be more books, right?"

Ryuuko shielded her eyes from the brightness while Miki and Yuuri watched the scene with passive faces. "It's a good time for people who like books," Rise grinned at them.

A little more waking and the four arrived at another section of the library. "Here, you should find something useful in this area."

"Call me when you are finished," Said Rise while touching Miki's shoulder. "Ah, yes…" Replied the white-haired girl uncomfortably.

As the woman left them, Ryuuko decided to speak up. "See, libraries are scary, and they make people who stay too much in them a little…" she struggled to find the polite word. "Unhinged…"

"Ryuuko-chan, it's not good to speak badly of others like that," Yuuri scolded her again. Looking to her side, she saw Miki putting her fingers on her chin as if thinking about something deep.

"No… that's not it," said Miki cryptically to herself.


"Hmm… I can't think of anything to write," with a pen between her upper lip and nose, Ryuuko spoke of her frustration.

After leaving the library with several reference books, Yuuri had pulled Ryuuko into their shared room to make sure she completes her report and had confiscated her other items to achieve that goal. The girl obviously protested but after a staring showdown gave up and picked her report book and pen once again. Meanwhile, Miki had retreated into her room hurriedly to write her own report.

"You just have to think harder, Ryuuko-chan," said Yuuri.

Seemingly giving up on the task, the little girl set down her pen and lay down on the floor, her face facing the ceiling. "I can't help it! I'm just a middle-schooler! I'm not smart like Maki-chan or Ruiko-chan! I'm just a normal middle school girl! These kind of things are too hard for me!" Whined Ryuuko.

Yuuri sweatdropped on her roommate's behaviour. She paused from her writing and went over to Ryuuko, sitting next to her. "Well then, why don't you write something simple? Like your ambitions, your hopes for the future, and things like that. We've done something similar before."

Ryuuko closed her eyes as she began to think. "Hmm… I don't think I have any ambitions, apart from being a simple housewife. As for the future… well, I do hope the world get better."

"Isn't there anything else aside from that?" Yuuri asked.

Shaking her head, Ryuuko rose from the floor and sat cross-legged across Yuuri. "What about you, Ri-san? What do you want to do in the future?"

"I… just want to take care of everyone in the club. That's all I want for now," answered Yuuri. "Though, just like you, I too want to marry a nice man, have some children, and enjoy a good and long life."

"Hehehe, a good and long life. That's so fairy tale-like," Yuuri blushed at Ryuuko's words. "You know, I kind of admire you, Ri-san. You're so mature-like, kind, friendly, responsible, pretty, and have a nice body to boot. Compared to you I'm…" she touched her chest to demonstrate her point. With a sigh she added. "I'm not like Ruiko-chan who's very pretty and smart that guys fell for her left and right, or Maki-chan, who's intelligence made other peoples apart from Ruiko-chan look inferior and had a decent amount of people admiring her even with her superiority complex. Compared to them, I'm no one special," rubbing the back of her head, she chuckled. "I guess that makes me the Yuuta-san among my friends, huh?"

Then, Yuuri unexpectedly hugged Ryuuko, which of course surprised her. "Ryuuko-chan, don't belittle yourself," she said. "Even though I'm flattered that you thinks so highly of me, you must remember that everyone have their own strengths and weaknesses. There must be something that you're good at, am I right?" The girl in her arms nodded. "Then, you just need to improve yourself, think further, and become a better person than before," giving a gentle squeeze, Yuuri released Ryuuko from her hug. "And, I also view you like my little sister, so you can come to me if you have any problems afterwards, okay?"

"Thanks, Ri-san. I feel slightly better now," smiled the redhead, before she clapped her hands joyfully. "Ah! But there is a way for you to be my big sister."

Question marks appeared above Yuuri's head. "How?"

"You can marry my brother!" Ryuuko said bluntly and cheerfully, which would have made Yuuri spurted her drink if she was drinking. "You're just his type, after all."

"R-R-Ryuuko-chan! What are you saying?!" Shouted Yuuri, her voice a mixture of panic and embarrassment, as with her face. "And what do you mean I'm just his type?"

"Oh, that's related to his 'secret', which only Yuuta-san and I know. Do you want to hear about it?" Her voice was as if she's telling her a gossip rather than talking about her brother. "Well?" Ryuuko quirked her eyebrow.

As she expected, Yuuri gave in to her curiosity and nodded. Grinning widely, she uttered one sentence. "My brother's a pervert!"

To say Yuuri was confused would be an accurate description of what she looked like. Opening her eyes, she asked Ryuuko for clarification. "What do you mean that Shuuya-kun is a pervert?"

"It means exactly as I said. Onii-san is a pervert, and a massive one at that," standing up, Yuuri watched as Ryuuko went towards her bag and pulled out of it a book. Walking back towards her, she showed her the cover. "See, this is the things my brother likes to read at home."

It was a porn magazine.

A porn magazine with a picture of a big-breasted woman on the front.

A big-breasted woman with long brown hair and green eyes, posing lewdly only scantily clad in a small bikini.

Immediately, Yuuri covered her eyes and retreated away from the book. "R-Ryuuko-chan! Put that magazine away! Where did you get it anyway?"

"What, you're freaked out just from the cover? I haven't even shown you the contents yet," Yuuri could hear her flipping the pages. "And I secretly took this book from my brother. He had a lot of these things in his previous room. I also think that this is one of his favourites since the pages look more crumpled than the others," peeking one eye from her hands, she saw Ryuuko placing the book at her side. "But~ if you don't want to read it, I understand. Any normal girl would react like that if they were suddenly shown that."

Opening her eyes back, Yuuri put on a stern look. "Ryuuko-chan, that's not very good of you to take away Shuuya-kun's things, even if it were that… book."

Unfortunately for Yuuri, Ryuuko doesn't seem to be affected by her glares, just like her brother. "It's fine, he has a lot more after all. I'm sure he wouldn't notice one missing from his collection. What d'you think he's doing in his room right now?"

"What he's doing…" Yuuri's mind wanders towards the implications which result in her face turning a very dark shade of red. Quickly, she shook her head to remove the thoughts. "I-I must say that I'm very surprised by this… information," she spoke after her thought process returned to normal. "Shuuya-kun doesn't seem like that kind of person."

"I know, Onii-san is so perfect-looking at school, what's with being one of the most popular guy, ace striker of the team, his gentlemanly behaviour and his good looks. I'm not surprised that many girls want him to be their boyfriend," then, Ryuuko sighed. "He's not always like that though. I remember when I was little that he was just a normal, nice, boring boy who spent his time playing with Yuuta-san and Sakaki-san. No specialties, no overly kind personality, no whatsoever. Then, he suddenly changes at the end of elementary school. He became extremely hardworking to the point that I could see his stress and frustration even when I was just a little girl. I think maybe that was when he took up reading these things as a way to vent out his stress. Honestly, I'm repulsed by his change and more so since he didn't tell me the cause of it. But still, I kept his secret from others because I know how damaging it would be for his reputation if people found out about his unpleasant side. He's still my big brother, you know?"

After hearing her speaking so lengthy about her brother, Yuuri smiled gently and patted Ryuuko on the head. "You're a good girl, aren't you, Ryuuko-chan?"

"Yes, I'm aware of it, though I can be feisty when I need to," grinned the little girl. Then, she added. "I hope you don't hate Onii-san after this. I just want him to find someone that he can bare his heart out and won't judge him just from what he looks like on the outside, but also on the inside."

"There's no reason for me to hate him," Yuuri replied her. "Even if he has an unpleasant side, he's still a nice guy, is he not?"

Ryuuko smiled at the words and immediately asked another question. "Then does that mean you will marry my brother?"

The flush returned to Yuuri's cheeks at the inquiry. "Hold on, Ryuuko-chan. We just met a few days ago. I don't think it's appropriate to marry someone you just met. We don't know that much about each other after all," she added more in a low voice. "I'm not Yuki-chan."

"Then let me tell you more about him!" Exclaimed Ryuuko. "I'll tell you everything I know about him, and then, you can tell me all about yourself so I can tell him." Yuuri twitched a little at the plan, but Ryuuko noticed it and immediately stared cutely at her.

"You wouldn't mind, won't you?"


Inside the dark corners of the campus library, Rise sat on a couch with a book in her hands. In front of her on the floor was her sleeping bag and facing the wall beside her was a table with a lamp on top illuminating the small space.

Flipping another page, she saw Miki coming from the corner of her eyes. "You came again," she closed her book. "What is it?"

"This…" Miki held a stack of papers in her hands and showed it to her. "Please take it."

Rise accepted and flipped through the pages. "Did you make this?"

"Yes. I borrowed the photocopy machine," answered the whitehead.

"Graduation album," putting a finger on her chin, Rise thought about the book's placement. "Is it part of 915 Japanese Literature Diary Letter Travel?" She turned to Miki. "Yeah. Thank you, I will read it."

"Look," Miki suddenly spoke. "I like books. I want to read new books too. I wish that there were more books."

Rise stared at Miki before turning her eyes to the page in front of her, a picture of Miki pasted on the paper. "Yes, I'm curious to see what's next."

"It's only one volume. I want to read lots more."

"For that… there must be more writers. The population has to increase first," uttered Rise. "Then the food must be safely supplied and then there's hygiene and education… It's civilisation revival. But won't it be difficult?"

"Yes, but that's the book's purpose," Miki spoke of her opinion. "Ah, I'm sorry. I feel like I was bragging." She then apologised.

"No, I enjoyed it," Rise grinned.

"Well then, excuse me," Miki bowed and walked away.

"Take care," waved the older girl before looking back towards her new book. "That's the book's purpose."


The day had turned to night and the members of the newly-named Campus-Life Club retreated to their own rooms after showering and having dinner. As with the previous night, Yuki entered Yuuta's room to sleep, only to have him leaving later for patrolling. Due to the information dump received by Yuuri from Ryuuko earlier that evening, her interaction with Shuuya turned really awkward for her part, despite her not wanting to. Miki picked a new book to read from the library and Ryuuko went back to doing something with a new piece of cloth. Meanwhile, Kurumi and Maki avoided each other like cats and dogs, which is not a good idea when they share the same room.

Currently, the two of them were lying on the floor in their sleeping bags, their distance as far away as possible from each other in their not so spacious quarters. They were also looking away from the other person, or at least Kurumi was since she couldn't see her roommate's face.

Suddenly, Maki spoke. "Hey, purple haired girl."

"What?" Replied Kurumi with contempt. "And I have a name, you know. It's Ebisuzawa Kurumi."

"If you didn't notice already, I'm bad at remembering names," the blonde gave her reason, which did not make sense at all for Kurumi considering the girl can remember facts and information perfectly but not her companion's name? Yeah, not possible. "Yeah, it's true," Maki said again in the silence. "I only remember the names of my parents, Onii-sama, Ryuuko and Ruiko. And Shuuya-san only entered the list because Ryuuko urged me to, but that's not relevant." Turning to her right, she stared at Kurumi. "I want to know, did Onii-sama said anything to you in his final moments?"

Hearing the question, Kurumi was shocked beyond words. After a few seconds, she recovered, only to fall into panic when she realised that Maki somehow knew that Sakaki spent his last seconds of life with her. "W-Wait, how did you know Subaru-kun was with me when he died? No, moving back, how did you know he is dead anyways?"

"The signs are too obvious," Maki sighed and reached for an object in the pocket of her pajamas. It turned out to be a smoking pipe. "First, the fact that Onii-sama didn't come to me immediately when this all happened means only two things; one, he was staying with another group of people in a dangerous area, or two, he fell victim not soon after the incident from being too nice for his own good," she then neared the pipe to her mouth, but no smoke actually came out. "If we're going by the first option, then he must have been with you in the group since you are, though I loath to admit it, his girlfriend. And if we go by the second choice, for the same reason he should be with you when he left this world. But, since I don't see him around with you and Ruiko's Onii-san doesn't say anything about him, I'm going to assume that my second hypothesis is correct and he died in the early days of the incident, perhaps even the first day. Well, not that it matters," inserting the pipe back to her pocket, she sighed again. "He's already gone now."

"You're entirely correct," muttered Kurumi, her gaze to the ceiling. "Subaru-kun did die on that first day when he helped people but got injured instead. He died in my arms, well sort of…" she declined to told Maki that she was the one who killed her brother. "But anyway, you took the news surprisingly well. I thought you admired him greatly, don't you?"

"Yes, and I still do. But, as the days passed my hopes began to dwindle fast due to me being aware of the possibilities and chances of him being alive. That's one of the disadvantages of being too smart, you ceased to believe in hopes and miracles." Shaking her head, she stared at Kurumi. "But that's not what I asked earlier, right? I asked you what were his last words. Can you tell me?"

Closing her eyes, Kurumi tried to recall what Sakaki said to her in the final moments where he is still sane and hasn't turned into 'them'. "What Subaru-kun last said was… 'Is it over already?' …I think?"

"Really, Onii-sama? Of all the things to say that's what you choose?" Maki remarked. "I'm quite disappointed. I'm going to sleep now." With that said, she turned away from Kurumi and went to sleep.

'Geez, what's with her? Acting all serious one second then turning uncaring the next, she's really weird,' sinking into her sleeping bag, Kurumi quickly dozed off.

Unknowing of the sobs of her roommate.