When club was over, Renge walked over to where Yugure's astronomy club was and waited patiently outside the door. Many students flooded out of the classroom, much to Renge's surprise, before Yugure walked out. When Yugure exited the club room, she seemed quite cheerful and once she saw Renge she asked her briefly,

"So I'm assuming you got Shizuka's text too?"

Renge nodded and the two walked over to the water fountains, hoping that they'd cross paths with Shizuka at some point before they reached the fountains. As the two of them were walking towards the fountains, they were met with a boy from second-year that Yugure seemed to know quite well, while Renge only knew him as a fellow yearbook club member.

"Hey Yugure, you haven't seen Satoshi anywhere have you?" The boy asked her as he stopped walking once the they were a comfortable distance apart to talk to each other from.

Yugure simply shook her head and said," Sorry Ryuuji, haven't seen him since last period before club. Have you seen Shizuka?"

"I think I saw her go to washroom, she seemed upset about something." Ryuuji said as he pointed to the front of the hall," Guessing it has something to do with Satoshi. It's weird, those two were like the dream couple of third-year and now they're like completely different people. Satoshi hasn't really talked to anyone from our group lately, and Shizuka seems really on edge."

"I don't blame her honestly, considering this week everyone from our grade has been trying to get a date for the grad dinner and dance the student council's organized and now, the person she had been planning to go with for months now has broken up with her." Yugure responded thoughtfully.

"Speaking of that dinner, are you going with anyone?" Ryuuji asked her, which made Yugure redden intensely.

"Um, I'm not sure as of yet why?" Yugure sputtered as she quickly shifted her gaze to Renge, who also seemed to be distressed all of a sudden.

"Well, you didn't hear this from me but, Shigeru's been thinking about asking you out for the dance." Ryuuji said in a low voice, looking both ways before he told Yugure and Renge.

Renge seemed very surprised by this, while Yugure to be unimpressed and maybe even a bit disdainful as she narrowed her eyes at Ryuuji. Renge felt like she was missing something as Yugure and Ryuuji stared each other down with Ryuuji shaking his head after a few moments, as if complying to Yugure's unspoken decline.

"I'll see you later." Ryuuji said as he walked away from them. Yugure waved him goodbye and Renge stared at Yugure in suspicion, wondering why she seemed so displeased at the idea of going to the dance with Shigeru. They may've broken up a while ago, but that didn't mean Shigeru didn't deserve another chance, did it?

"So Renge, do you have someone you're planning on taking as your date?" Yugure asked casually as they walked to the washrooms.

Renge scratched the back of her head, taking as long as she possibly could to answer the question, though her answer came to her immediately. Voicing this answer wasn't something she had prepared herself for as of yet, and she wondered if she was going to surprise anyone with her answer but, surprise wasn't what she was worried to see in Yugure when she answered the question. It was disgust.

"I was thinking about asking Nao." Renge replied, her voice getting quieter with each word to the point where the dictation of Nao's name was barely audible.

"Asking Nao?" Yugure repeated in an unintentionally loud voice. Renge's pupil shrunk in panic as she clamped Yugure's mouth shut with her hand in an instant, getting ready to reprimand her.

"Not so loud!" She yelled-whisper before she slowly removed her hand away from Yugure's mouth.

Yugure chuckled awkwardly before saying," Well, I don't think there's a problem in it."

"Y-you don't?" Renge asked as she looked at Yugure, her eyes still wide considering she was expecting Yugure to have been less ok with this notion.

"No, but...you guys did break up a while ago. So why the sudden interest in asking him now?" Yugure asked her in concern as Renge felt her heart writhe a little inside of herself.

"It's no sudden interest, I've been wanting Nao to been my grad date since we were dating. It seems so stupid of me to be this hung up on him, despite the fact that we don't see each other as often, but...when we do see each other it's like I can still feel that connection from a few months ago. As if, his feelings for me never died either. When I pass him in the halls, I swear it feels like he's looking at me seconds before I give myself the chance to get a glimpse of him. It's a little frustrating to be honest, to have these feelings continue to surface at random when I haven't talked to him in a while. I never fixed things between us, and I've yet to see him take initiative in anything regarding our relationship, or rather, whatever is left of it. So, maybe he's just waiting for me to try and mend things again." Renge thought to herself.

"There's nobody else I'd rather go with." Renge simply confessed," I'm thinking about getting Kokoro to help me ask him since she knows him excruciatingly well."

"Hm, well, maybe you should ask him soon." Yugure suggested plainly before Shizuka emerged from the washrooms.

"I was thinking the same thing to be honest." Renge said, taking a deep breath as Shizuka walked up to the girls. She looked miserable with her typically bright perky eyes red and messy, faint streaks of mascara had been smudged onto her cheeks. Her hair seemed a bit messy too as her usual effortless wavy curls had been replaced with flat, somewhat frizzy locks.

"Hey." Was all Shizuka said to the girls, her tone neutral and quiet. Yugure and Renge smiled to Shizuka awkwardly before she explained to the girls why she had assembled the three of them here today.

"So, I'm guessing you guys want to know why I brought you guys here today." Shizuka began slowly, Renge hearing her voice crack a little before Shizuka exhaled a large sigh," Ok, I'm worried about Satoshi."

"Define worried." Renge interrupted.

"Well, he seems so...I don't know, vacant lately. Like, his mind is elsewhere. It's like something's eating away at him, but I don't what it is! And it's not like I can ask him, considering he probably won't give me the time of day and since I never even see him outside of class anymore." Shizuka explained distressfully, her hands unconsciously fidgeting as she thought about Satoshi.

"So we're looking for Satoshi today?" Yugure asked her.

Shizuka nodded attentively and vigorously," I have a few places that are worth scoping out, come on."

Kanari sat inside the near empty classroom beside Tsubaki, who was working on some questions that Kanari made for her. As Tsubaki worked tirelessly on the problems in front of her, Kanari watched her work away, having nothing better to do. Her blue eyes were fixated onto her paper as she was in deep thought, trying to solve the second question on the page. Today, her lemon yellow hair had been gathered up into a enormous bun and was quickly letting loose strands emerge as she continued to internally stress over not being able to understand the second question immediately. In just a few seconds, she was probably going to admit defeat and ask Kanari for help with this question, but it was worth a shot to try and see if her original solution was going to work. No dice, her answer seemed completely off, and she didn't even need to look at her answer key to know that she had the wrong answer. Tsubaki and looked over to Kanari, who simply gave her a smile of sympathy and took a scrap piece of paper from her binder.

"It's easier than you think, at least, when you have someone explaining it to you." Kanari declared as began to write on the scrap piece of paper," Just remember, Y equals mx + b for a question worded like this."

"Every time I hear that stupid phrase I get a headache." Tsubaki muttered as she wrote the formula on the corner of her sheet, before realizing she had just said that out loud," Not because of your tutoring of course! I've just never ever been good at math and I've been passing with high sixties ever since middle school."

"It's alright, math isn't really everyone's or rather, most people's strongest subject." Kanari reasoned as Tsubaki went back to work on her question.

"But, it seems to come so naturally to people like you who are actually really good at it. I don't think I've ever seen you stumped on a math question." Tsubaki stated, still working on the second math question," I guess that makes you blessed."

Kanari thought about the statement for a few moments and just before she was about to dispel the notion, Tsubaki asked her,"Do you have a date for the grad dinner?"

Kanari's pupils shrunk for a moment and her heart started racing uncontrollably as she stammered out," N-no, any reason why?"

"Just curious." Tsubaki answered tonelessly," It's seems like everyone's already got a date by now. Well, almost everyone."

"Are you thinking about asking somebody out?" Kanari asked, not realizing how red her face was getting.

"Well...I mean, there is someone I'd loved to go with, but they'd never want to go with me." Tsubaki said, her eyes downcast on her page as she drawing colouring a black little circle onto her page," Not to mention...oh God."

"I'm sorry?" Kanari said as she watched Tsubaki stare vacantly into the doorway of the classroom. Standing there was Kyo, looking around the room curiously as if he had forgotten something here. Before going to the two of them in the room, he walked slowly around the room, looking for whatever he forgot.

"Have you seen a grey scientific calculator with black and blue buttons around here?" Kyo asked them, not even making eye-contact with them as he continued to search the room while walking up to them. Kyo stood in front of them and Tsubaki was having trouble trying to form a decent sentence in front of him, before noticing what the calculator she had been using for the last hour looked like.

"O-oh, goodness I think I've been using yours for the last hour! I'm super sorry about that!" Tsubaki apologized as she snatched the calculator off the table and shakily handed it to Kyo.

"Thanks." Was literally all he said, only making eye contact for a second before he walked out of the room.

Once Kyo was out of the room, Tsubaki exasperated out an incredibly large sigh, slinking into her chair and resting her head against the desk.

"I'm such a mess around him..." Tsubaki sobbed, with Kanari awkwardly patting her back.

"That's the person you like?" Kanari asked her, eyes narrowed as Tsubaki groaned in frustration. Tsubaki nodded weakly and Kanari just let a tiny sigh escape her lips. Kanari looked over to the doorway where Kyo was just a few moments ago. Tsubaki seemed to have undoubtedly terrible taste in men, considering Kyo literally fled from their company and just retrieved his calculator while barely acknowledging the girls' presence. He had absolutely no tact and failed to noticed Tsubaki's painfully cute fluster in front of him. The thought of those two together was near inconceivable for Kanari, even while she knew about Tsubaki's apparently one-sided crush. But then, when Kanari turned to face Tsubaki to inform her this, Tsubaki still managed to looked distressed with Kyo now gone, yet she was sporting a strange lovesick looking smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Kanari asked in confusion as Tsubaki looked down into her lap.

"Well, I did use his calculator." Tsubaki said, though it didn't sound like the statement was directed to Kanari, before she placed her hands over her eyes,"I'm so hopeless..."

"Not you're not!" Kanari claimed, though she wasn't sure why she was doing this," You just need to take some initiative and ask him out yourself! Don't let this drag on for it to go nowhere, you don't have to wait for him to ask you out."

"Though I doubt he would." Kanari thought to herself.

"You think I should?" Tsubaki asked nervously as she dried her eyes.

"Sure! Renge's done it and she got a boyfriend, and if she can do it then so can you!" Kanari encouraged as she gave her a giant grin and thumbs-up.

Tsubaki seemed mildly intrigued by Kanari's first statement," Renge has a boyfriend?"

"Well, had." Kanari rectified sheepishly,"But I really think you should try ask him out! It's worth a shot isn't it?"

"I don't know, I've never actually asked a boy out before." Tsubaki declared worriedly," I usually just wait out my feelings instead of acting on them."

"But what if that guy likes you back?" Kanari pointed out," Wouldn't it suck if that was case?"

"I guess..." Tsubaki responded quietly, her gaze shifting to her worksheet," Alright, I'll do it tomorrow. And you're going to accompany me since you've encouraged me to do this."

"Um, sure of course." Kanari said as Tsubaki began picking up her textbook and worksheets to place them into her bag.

"I still want to know how you got so good at math though," Tsubaki stated all of a sudden as she and Kanari started walking out of the room," Was it really just luck that you'd happened to be as good as you are?"

"It's a long story." Kanari simply answered as she scratched her cheek.

"I'd loved to hear it." Tsubaki beamed before she and Kanari went their separate ways.

As Kanari walked out of the school, she felt herself get immensely excited for tomorrow though she wasn't actually sure why and was starting to wonder if she had just confused her excitement for nervousness. She folded her laced hands behind her head and walked passed the school yard, wearing only a spring jacket over her uniform. The days were getting marginally warmer now and the snow was nothing but a memory now. As she walked to the bus stop, she saw two kids, one boy and girl, who appeared to be either in middle-school or in first year at the very most sitting on the bench at the bus stop.

"Stupid Mr Kawasaki, giving me a twelve percent on the last test." The boy grumbled as he furiously crumpled up a sheet of paper in his hands, throwing it into the street.

"Aruhi, you shouldn't do that. Mr Kawasaki said we have to show our test papers to our parents." The girl said to him in concern with her brows furrowed.

"Screw that! There's no way they're seeing that math test." Aruhi grumbled," It's not like you got a better mark either Aika." The girl took a glance at the test paper in her hands, with a grade of forty-one percent written on it.

"I hate math so much, if my parents saw that mark they'd killed me!" Aruhi groaned as he held his head in his hands. Aika just sighed, likely in agreement as she scrutinized her test paper.

"Kawasaki...he's the middle-school math teacher." Kanari thought to herself as she looked at the two kids," I wonder what chapter they're doing right now."

"Get a bad mark?" Kanari asked the two of them casually as she approached them.

"Try worst mark in class." Aruhi spat out bitterly," Kawasaki's a jerk, he's making us take a retest against our will, like we want to go through the same torment again. I hate his dumb class!"

"It's my first failing grade ever." Aika declared as Kanari sat beside her on the bench, showing her the grade.

"Pythagorean Theorem." Kanari noted as she looked at the test sheet in her small hands," Well, why I do agree with you two about your opinion on Kawasaki, I for one think think math is actually important."

"When am I ever going use this garbage anyways?" Aruhi shouted as he pointed to one question on Aika's test sheet. Kanari looked at the page and took it from Aika, trying to think of an answer for Aruhi.

"You guys like road trips?" Kanari asked, not taking her eyes away from the paper as she looked at the first questions.

"Sometimes, but what does that have to do with the Pythagorean Theorem?" Aruhi asked her as he arched an eyebrow.

"Ok, name a place you want to go to." Kanari instructed, prompting Aruhi to begin to brainstorm some destinations. Finally, after a couple more moments he looked at Kanari dead in the eyes and said," Shinjuzaki Beach."

"That's only a half hour away!" Aika shouted, with Kanari waving a hand of dismissal to her.

"It'll work. So, let's say that Shinjuzaki Beach is this spot right here," Kanari began as she drew a triangle on the back of Aika's test, coloring in a large dot in the top of the triangle" So, there are two routes you could take; one has you going straight for three kilometers and then taking a right and getting you there in four more kilometers. The other one simply has you going straight down to get there."

Kanari then took out her phone and began punching in numbers into her calculator app," So, if we square-"

"Wait! This is the part that screws me over." Aruhi interjected," Why do we need to square the numbers?"

"The sum of the two squared sides is going to equal the square of the leg we need to calculate the length for." Kanari answered," So, if we multiply three by three and get nine, and then multiply four by four and get sixteen, we then need to subtract nine from sixteen."

"It's seven!" Aika chimed in before Kanari could subtract the two numbers.

"Would you like to do the honours?" Kanari then asked her as she handed Aika her phone. Aika slowly took Kanari's phone and looked down at the virtual keyboard, trying to find the button for the square root function.

"It's this one right?" Aika asked as she pointed to the button that resembled a check mark. Kanari nodded and Aika pressed it.

"It's two point six, I think." Aika declared as she gave Kanari her phone back. Kanari then went onto Google and started to search something up, not saying a single word as she did so.

Aruhi looked at her impatiently, saying,"What are you-?"

Kanari showed the two of them her phone, having typed up the problem onto the search bar and revealing the correct answer to be two point six. The two of them looked at her in astonishment while she snickered.

"We got it right!" Aruhi exclaimed as he stared at the phone screen, not noticing the bus coming from around the corner.

"Maybe this problem wasn't as hard as we thought, or we'll just really stupid..." Aika admitted sheepishly as she looked down at her test paper. Kanari held her index finger up to her and waved in a disagreeing manner.

"Don't assume you're stupid for not understanding it immediately, what's stupid is letting yourself believe that it can't be solved." Kanari declared as the three of them got onto the bus. The two middle-schoolers sat at the back of the bus while Kanari sat over at the front, having a fondness for the view as she seldom took this route. This bus ran every half-hour and was a nice alternate route for herself and Renge, though the two of them almost never rode this bus together. This route however, was longer but it was generally a quiet ride as the bus mostly went into the neighborhoods of Ozawa rather than go on the main roads.

Kanari looked down at her phone, the calculator app still opened. The bus was only populated by herself, and the two middle-schoolers; granting her the ability to listen in a little on their conversation. It wasn't that of an interesting one, considering that they were only talking about things like gym class and their own friends. Then, just before Kanari off the bus as her stop had come into view, she heard Aruhi grumble.

"It was really good of that girl to help us, but I can't say this changes anything about my opinion on math, it's still as frustrating as ever."

When Kanari got off the bus, she saw Aruhi looking as what most likely had been another test sheet that he had in his bag through the window. The bus drove away deeper into the neighborhood and Kanari walked to her house.

The walk was about five minutes or so because of the alternate route, and the little walk to her house gave Kanari time to think about what Aruhi had said before he got off the bus.

As Kanari walked into her house, it being currently almost vacant if it wasn't for Blake sleeping upstairs as her dad was at work and her mom had taken Ando to a dentist appointment, she lounged on the the three-seater in the living room.

"It's weird being able to find comfort in something few can enjoy..." Kanari said aloud absently as she looked up towards the ceiling," Sometimes, it's just the teacher. Other times, it really is a struggle to try and get through a question.

"It's even weirder when this 'talent' of mine either makes people think I'm either blessed or insane." Kanari added, inserting bunnyquotes on talent with her hands,"Always one or the other, never really in between."

Thinking about this made Kanari think about that question that usually followed whenever people discovered her little math talent.

"Did you really get this on the first try? Does it just all come naturally to you?"

The answer is yes and no. I never really thought I was going to be as good as math as I am now, but...that didn't mean I was dreading math before I first discovered my love for it. I was probably about eight at the time and I was as normal as any other kid, but if there was one thing that set me apart from the rest of my classmates, it was the silent jealousy I harbored for my sister. She was twelve at the time and she was doing things like hanging out with her cool-looking friends more often and talking about teenager stuff on the phone with her friends all the time (despite being only thirteen.) Mom said she was just going through some changes when Sayaka refused to play with me and say she'd rather be watching Ando watch his favourite tv shows. She was really moody for a thirteen year old, but that wasn't what made me jealous of her. It was the fact that she was on the volleyball team and that she was getting all of our mom's attention as my mom had been MVP on her high-school volleyball team. With all of the increased interest in Sayaka's life and afterschool activities from our mom, I felt really left out. Sayaka was making our mom really proud by being on the volleyball team and I wanted to do the same; the make her proud thing I mean, not volleyball.

I remembered one night, with just a few minutes before I went to bed, I heard my mom shouting at Sayaka because she had failed what apparently her third math test for the year. Sayaka wasn't able to formulate an adequate response upon being asked why she didn't ask for help and simply said," Because math sucks mom!"

Mom said nothing for a few long moments, a long enough to concern Sayaka greatly as she weakly said," M-mom?"

"I don't care whether or not you think math sucks Sayaka, but I'm not going to stand here and let you do nothing about your grades. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm getting you a tutor." Mom said in her sternest tone.

Sayaka began to bawl while shouting," Mom I don't want a tutor! I can do this by myself!"

"Sayaka, this isn't up for debate. You need all the help you can get, there's no way I'm going to let you fail another test." Mom said before she left the room, leaving Sayaka to cry all by herself in her room.

I remember laying awake in bed longer than usual that night as Sayaka's bawling slowly turning into barely audible sobbing. I felt really bad for her, despite the fact that she snapped at me a couple of hours ago for borrowing one of her favourite pencils without her permission. I started wondering if there was anything I could do to help her. It came to me in an instant, and though I was younger and therefore allegedly unable to understand her homework I had my mind made up. I was going to work as hard as I could on my math skills to help my older sister.

I don't think I had ever worked so hard in my life to master something and while a lot of the lessons in my workbook for my year were easy enough upon reading the instructions, there were a few problems I faced once I tried to work on the problems from the textbooks that were a year ahead of me.

My mom and Sayaka eventually noticed that all I mostly seemed to be doing was math and my mom was feeling both immensely proud yet concerned at the same time. Whenever she asked me why I was working on math from fourth grade textbooks, all I said was, "Secret." and continued to work away. There were so many days when I got too frustrated to work and soon, once I was working near the middle of the fourth grade textbooks, I took week long periods away from working in the textbooks because I was getting so sick of math. I think the longest I went without working ahead on in those textbooks I borrowed from the library was about four weeks or so. I quickly got back into it once I heard Sayaka sobbing into the phone from her room saying she couldn't go to her friend's sleepover because she got grounded after failing another test and not telling our mom about it. I ripped out the textbook from under my bed and started working at it again. I was looking at the question I had left unfinished for a near month and was drawing a blank, not sure of how to do it.

I read over the formula again and believed I found a solution from reading over the formula. I worked quick and was jabbing numbers into my calculator quickly and when I came to answer, I checked the back of the book to see if it was right.

To my surprise it wasn't and I was super upset about it. I nearly cried as I looked down at the page, trying to figure out what I did wrong.

Just then, Sayaka came into my room, probably to ask if she could borrow something but whatever it was that she originally came in for I'll never know as she ended up running over to me as she saw me curled up into a ball on my bed with the math textbook in front of me.

"What are you doing?" Sayaka asked as she ran over to me and looked at the book beside me," Ugh, you're working ahead again?"

This accusation and the bitterness in her tone took me by surprise, but I couldn't say a word, knowing I would probably burst into tears if I tried to do so.

"Why? Why have you been trying to work ahead and show off?" Sayaka questioned sounding unreasonably upset.

"I was just trying to help." I ended up saying before I bursted into tears.

Sayaka then looked really regretful and sat beside me with a guilty expression on her face only saying," All of this working ahead...was for me?"

I never was able to catch up with Sayaka and help her, but instead, she suggested I try helping out some of the kids in my class in an effort to not let all of my hard work go to waste. I did end up doing that for a solid year and then I kinda just stopped after losing interest. But, it felt good to help out my classmates, it felt good to do something for them.

Kanari then crossed her legs on the couch, and thought about what Tsubaki said to her before the two of them parted ways.

"I'd love to hear it."

"I wonder if she actually meant that..." Kanari thought to herself as she stared down at the floor. She then reached into her shirt and pulled out a chain slung around her neck that she had been wearing the entire time. On the pendant of the chain was a seahorse, revealing it to be the necklace the Tsubaki gave her for Christmas. She was zoning out as she started gazing at it.

"Agh, no!" Kanari shouted as she let go of the pendant, snapping herself to her senses before she got too deep into her own thoughts," I'm going to support Tsubaki as much as I can tomorrow and help her get a grad date!"

Renge laid awake in bed, later than she had ever expected with only a half hour until midnight. Squinting at her phone screen with her glasses on her side-table, she felt her heart throb madly as she looked at the text she just sent.

"Hey Kokoro, sorry for bugging you at this late hour but, I was just wanting to know...how would I go about asking a certain someone aka Nao, to be my grad date?"

"I keep asking Kokoro for help because I have no idea what I'm doing half the time and I'm too scared to ruin things, as usual. I'm such a wimp." Renge groaned as she continued to look at the screen.

"It seems I'm always coming to Kokoro for answers when it comes to Nao and it's weird knowing I'm on better terms with my ex's ex rather than ex."

"She must hate it whenever I bring up Nao...I'm being too insensitive, maybe I should just-" Renge was about to tell Kokoro to completely disregard that last message before she received a response from Kokoro.

"Hm, well, I think you should go about it casually even though I know that likely isn't going to be the easiest thing but it would make the both of you feel less uncomfortable. Because, aside from myself, Nao's never been asked out to be someone's grad date, at least as far as I know. He'd probably be just as awkward as you would be if you over think things while asking him out. Just be calm, normal and hope for the best. Try and make things light between you and him try not to bring up the break-up in a negative sense. If you feel like you need to, you can say something like, 'I know things we a little confusing when we were together...' and one more thing, try not to make it sound like you're pressuring him into going with you. Because, that actually freaks him out when he gets pressured into things. Just be yourself and I'm sure things will be fine. If you also want me to tag along for support, I'd be happy to come~"

"How is she so good at this?" Renge wondered aloud quietly before texting her response.

"Alright, I'd love for you to come along, make things a little less tense, So at lunch tomorrow? Thanks for your help!" Renge texted back before she turned off her phone.

"Is this really going to work?" Renge asked herself very quietly before she went to sleep.

The next day, Renge stood in the back hall, her eyes downcast and her heart accelerating. She stood in a corner where she couldn't be seen by those in the back hall and took a deep breath as she waited for Kokoro to come out of her class.

"What if I start rambling?" Renge said to herself in her most quiet voice as she looked around the hall, making sure no one was in sight," What if I forget to ask him? What if I freeze up?"

"Is this really worth the trouble?" Renge asked herself quietly before she saw Kokoro walking up to her. She then remembered those times of pure joy she had with Nao at her side in art club and wasn't able to think of anything else for those next few moments.

"It is." Renge answered herself as Kokoro greeted her with a smile.

"Ready?" Kokoro asked her.

Renge found herself unable to respond and nodded weakly as she and Kokoro walked up to the spot where Nao usually had lunch. Kokoro led the way cheerfully while Renge was too busy to notice the other kids glancing at her briefly, too occupied by her own internal screaming.

Meanwhile, outside in the school's front yard, Tsubaki was standing behind a tree with Kanari at her side. Tsubaki gazed at Kyo sitting with his group of friends on the lawn and shut her eyes tightly while shaking her head.

"I can't do it! There's too many people around!" Tsubaki declared in panic.

"Want me to scare them away?" Kanari offered.

Tsubaki sniffled and looked at Kanari with a puzzled expression before asking her," How are you going to-?"

"Rawr!" Kanari shouted as she bared her canine teeth, pretending to be a tiger.

"What are you doing?" Tsubaki asked between laughs, feeling a little less stressed out and more grateful for the comfort and ease Kanari provided her by just being here," Thanks for coming. I don't think I would've been able to even stand here right now without you at my side.

"Don't mention it!" Kanari responded with a giggle as she put her hand behind her head," Now, go get yourself a grad date."

Tsubaki nodded and walked over to Kyo and his friends slowly. Everyone in Kyo's group noticed Tsubaki walking to Kyo except Kyo himself. Tsubaki took a deep breath and didn't let this faze her as she drew closer.

"Hi Kyo." Tsubaki said softly as she stood in front of him," Um, could we talk for a moment?"

Kyo stood up and Tsubaki walked him over to the tree that she had been standing at a few moments ago, with Kanari standing a few feet away from them, pretending she was minding her own business as she played a game on her phone.

"I have to do this! I absolutely have to!" Tsubaki said in her head," Kyo, would you like to be my grad date?"

Kanari stopped playing her game and her eyes went over to Kyo and Tsubaki. Standing in front of Kyo, who was about the same height as the tall girl, Tsubaki looked completely different with that very timid expression on her face that she tried masking with a kind smile.

Kyo didn't even smile back or anything and just looked at her with his typical neutral expression, saying," I'm taking somebody else, sorry."

Tsubaki looked at Kyo wide-eyed with hurt and simply smiled as she replied," Ok, I hope you and your date have fun together."

Kyo walked away and Kanari rushed up to Tsubaki who looked like she was on the brink of bursting into tears.

"You know, this is ok! Actually this is good, great even! You don't need to have him as your date anyways considering how inconsiderate he's been to you all this time!" Kanari claimed.

"Or maybe dating just isn't for me." Tsubaki suggested solemnly," I'm only good for annoying and irritating the boys I crush on."

"If you want a date so badly, then I'll be happy to be your date!" Kanari declared in a tone louder than intended. Some people stared at her curiously and in the heat of the moment before she could hear Tsubaki's response, she ran away. Off into the direction of the school and into it's doors she dashed into from.

"Nao," Kokoro said as she and Renge stood in front of Nao, who was watching some video on his tablet.

"Yes?" Nao replied dully as he looked up to Renge and Kokoro.

"Renge has something she'd like to ask you." Kokoro began as she looked over to Renge, who looked over at Nao with fear in her eyes.

"I'm just going to get rejected." She thought to herself and in an instant, she ran off.

"Renge?!" Kokoro shouted as she tried grabbing onto Renge to keep her from running, but was too late," Just give us a second."

Renge ran as fast as her legs could take her, not having run so fast in such a long time.

Kanari shook her head as she ran away, feeling absolutely humiliated by none than herself for asking Tsubaki such a thing when she clearly really liked Kyo.

The two of them bumped into each and fell to their feet, moaning as they rubbed their backs tenderly.

"Oh my god, that hurts..." Renge griped as she rubbed her shoulders," Kanari?"

"Renge?" Kanari said with her eyes narrowed," What are you doing?"

"Running away from my feelings what else?" Renge answered haughtily as she slowly got up," What are you doing?"

"Same thing you were doing." Kanari replied awkwardly as she rubbed the nape of her neck.

Renge eyed her in suspicion and asked," What?"

"I just offered to be Tsubaki's grad date." Kanari confessed with a drawn out sigh.

Renge raised her eyebrows and said," And, you didn't want to come to me for advice or anything? I would've love to help, you know that right?"

"Look, it was a spur of the moment thing, I didn't think I would do it." Kanari stated in dismissal," I didn't think you would've wanted to considering your break-up with Nao a little while ago. Wait, why were you running away from your feelings?"

"I was about to ask Nao to be my grad date."

Kanari looked down at her feet as she got up, saying nothing but," Oh."

"It's weird, all of a sudden...she feels distant." The both of them thought to themselves.

"I guess I'll just uh..." Kanari said as she pointed to the direction from which she came.

"Yeah um, me too..." Renge said as she pointed in the other direction. The two of them went their separate ways, feeling quite confused as they walked off.

Renge decided to instead walk outside into the east school yard, where she would enter the school again from the other doors that would let her successfully evade Nao and Kokoro. That was so embarrassing, being unable to say anything to him and just running off. She didn't even ask him, she just ran without saying a single word.

"He's just one person, why is this so hard?" Renge asked herself before she finally took notice of someone who had been calling her name for a few minutes now.

"Renge~!" Yugure shouted.

Renge spun her head around and saw Yugure standing a few feet away from her, offering a small smile of concern.

"Hey," Renge said as she slowly walked up to her.

"Is there something wrong?" Yugure inquired as Renge came closer. Renge stared at Yugure for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not telling Yugure what just happened was going to benefit her.

After exhaling out a large sigh, Renge nodded and answered," I don't think I've been a good friend to Kanari lately."

Kanari just ran again, towards the west entrance of the school, not wanting to cross paths with Tsubaki again. She had a feeling that Tsubaki was probably looking for her, but she really didn't care. She just wanted be alone so badly right now. Kanari shut her eyes for a moment and just then she heard someone shouting her name before she made it through the doors of the west entrance.

Kanari skidded to a stop unwillingly, not even trying to identify whose voice it was as she looked over and saw Chiyo standing beside the doorway.

"I'm not in the mood right now Chi."Kanari declared as she pushed the doors of the west entrance open.

Chiyo complied and didn't say anything more, but Kanari felt herself wavering as she pushed the door. She knew she really didn't want to talk to Renge right now and the last thing she wanted was to go see Tsubaki, so maybe Chiyo would've served as a nice alternative.

"Me and Renge having been...it's feels like we've been drifting apart lately." Kanari explained.

"A bad friend to Kanari? How?" Yugure questioned in astonishment as she and Renge sat on the grass of the lawn. Renge didn't make eye-contact once within the last few minutes as her thoughts were distracting her, reminding her of how needlessly secretive she had been over the last few months.

"I guess I made her feel like I wasn't there for her or something. We don't tell each other things like we used to." Renge confessed.

"Is this all because she didn't tell you about her tutoring sessions with Tsubaki and that she was going to help her confess to Kyo today?" Yugure questioned as she looked at Renge with a worried look in her eyes.

Renge shook her head, resting her head on her fist as she said," No, not entirely. We don't hang out as much as we used to and, she didn't even tell me that she had patched up things with Miki and to top it all off, I let her go into that Delinquous a few weeks back, knowing that she was claustrophobic. What kind of friend does that?"

"She's been insincere lately, she never ever tells about her problems. But, I know she's having a hard time, I can see it in her face, but she refuses to tell me anything. Does she think I won't understand or something? Because even if I don't, I could still try couldn't I? I'm still a little surprised that I found out about her break-up along with all of you guys at the same time and that I didn't hear about it from Renge herself." Kanari explained, feeling as if a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She and Chiyo were currently sitting under a tree and Chiyo was listening intently while remaining silent during Kanari's confession.

"Renge's always been shy right? So, maybe she's just uncomfortable with the idea of confiding in people." Chiyo suggested.

"But, I'm her best friend. If she feels like she can't tell me anything, then what kind of friend does that make me?" Kanari asked her, looking at Chiyo with a worn-out expression on her face," And, she's also been hanging out with Yugure and Shizuka a lot lately, like she's been avoiding me."

"Well, can you blame her?" Chiyo asked, catching Kanari off-guard," You've been spending a lot of time with Maizawa as of lately."

"But, we just got back to being friends a little while ago." Kanari claimed in her defense.

"It is anything different than Renge suddenly hanging out with Shizuka? Because,the two of you are still neglecting each other." Chiyo stated sternly," Renge may have not been right for spend less time with you and more than Shizuka but, you're not necessarily any better since you've been forgetting about Renge and hanging out with Maizawa. And shall I remind you of ditching her at the party? What about her play?"

"Ok, I've done things to Renge that weren't things a best friend does but...friendships are a joint effort. How am I supposed to show her I care when she won't do the same? We've known each for years now and it's frustrating to know that it hasn't gotten any easier for her to confide in me despite how long I've been here." Kanari exasperated.

Chiyo took a deep breath and looked at Kanari saying," It's girls like her who needed to be reassured that they have others to confide in, not because they don't believe you'd care but rather, they don't believe they have it in them to voice they're problems without your support. You did say friendships were a joint effort, didn't you?"

"You know Renge, not telling Kanari about your worries and issues is probably making her feel like you don't see a friend in her anymore." Yugure reasoned after Renge just confessed what had been on her mind lately.

"Why? I mean, I know I don't tell her things but, at least I'm there for her!" Renge said in her defense.

"Friendships need trust so, trusting in Kanari and telling her your problems may seem risky to you but, would not telling her and worrying her in the process be any better?" Yugure asked her," Rose and Skyla wouldn't have approved of this, would they?"

Renge's head shot up and she looked at Yugure in shock, only being able to say," How did you-?"

"-That day when we had the barbeque. Me and Chiyo found your note from ten years ago." Yugure explained.

Just then, a loud piercing shriek could be heard coming from the track on the other side of the school. Renge and Yugure looked at each and nodded before running towards the school track.

The two of them saw History and Arithmetic fighting against a Delinquous made from what seemed to be a phone that was currently stuck on the stop-watch app, showing that they only had three minutes until something would happen.

"Just in time girls!" History shouted as she jumped onto a tree and leapt onto the Delinquous from it.

"Pretty Cure, study session!" Renge and Yugure shouted in unison.

"The subject of writing and awe-striking empathy, Cure Literature!"

"The subject of experiments and endless discoveries, Cure Science!"

Zephora looked very uninterested in today's battle, as her mind seemed to be elsewhere. She remembered how she overheard a conversation between Vice and Temptasia and it was all she could think about right now.

"Phase two starts today, alright Vice? Don't disappoint me." Temptasia said to Vice before he left. Zephora stayed around a little longer just to see what they were going to talk about after Temptasia told Vice to stay back for a few minutes after Zephora," Though I could never see you ever doing such a thing."

Currently for all she knew, Vice was lurking around the school for something, but she didn't know what it was that he was searching for. Did Temptasia have a lead on the book? But, they couldn't touch it. Well, they couldn't when the scepters were being used to purify a Delinquous. Maybe Temptasia found her mole.

"Rishi once said I knew too much for my own good. He's probably right." Zephora remarked with a shrug.

"This Delinquous going to disperse into thin air and corrupt everyone at the school's Inner Scholar if we don't purify it in time!" Arithmetic declared as she summoned her Algorithm sword.

"Jika would approve." Zephora commented flatly.

Arithmetic plunged her sword into the back of the Delinquous and found herself unable to get the sword out as she tried pulling it out with all her might. The Delinquous noticed that someone had been on it's after a few moments and tried swatting them away. Literature then jumped high and kicked the Delinquous hard enough so that it would fall flat on it's face, causing Arithmetic to fly up a little and pull her sword out with the help of Cure Literature.

"Go!" Arithmetic and Literature shouted to History and Science, who had their scepters in hand already.

"Pretty Cure, Storming legend!" History shouted as her scepter transformed into it's staff form in mid-sentence.

"Pretty Cure, Galactic Mirage!" Science yelled as her scepter turned into it's caduceus form.

Their attacks together were enough to short-circuit the Delinquous and once it got hit, it was fried and defeated, unable to move an inch.

"Now!" Literature and Arithmetic shouted in unison.

"As my journey to find myself begins, I call upon my scholar within!" Literature chanted to summon Lia who conjured up the bright gold key.

"Boom snap clap!" Arithmetic cheered to summon Bertie who conjured up the metallic blue key.

The girls inserted the keys into the bottom of their scepters and they all held the scepters up high.

"With ardency!" Literature shouted.

"With precision!" Arithmetic shouted.

"With justice!" History shouted.

"With wonder!" Science shouted.

"Pretty Cure, Scholastic Examination!" They shouted in unison, with the atmosphere around them turning white.

"A-plus!" The Cures exclaimed together, each of them giving a wink as they did so, with only eighteen seconds to spare before time ran out on the Delinquous' timer.

"Maybe Vice found his mole or whatever he was looking for by now." Zephora thought to herself idly as she disappeared.

Once Zephora left, Literature looked over to Arithmetic with sincerely apologetic look on her face.

"Kanari, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you lately. I'm sorry for not wanting to confide in you because I felt like I'd be a burden, despite the fact that you're my best friend." Literature apologized.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for your play and ditching you at the party and for ever making you feel like you couldn't depend on or confide in me. You know I'm always here for you, right?" Arithmetic asked.

"I do now." Literature said as she hugged Arithmetic.

"I need to find Kanari, but I don't know where to look." Tsubaki sighed as she checked behind a tree with only about five minutes left until class. Most of the students that had lunch outside cleared out from the school yard by now and Tsubaki was the person out now.

"I hope we find her soon..." Tsubaki said as she looked down at her feet, taking a momentary break from her search.

"Maybe she just went to class." A bright green little creature with magenta eyes suggested from beside her.

"Perhaps but, she looked so panicked, I can't get that look she had in her eyes out of my head." Tsubaki confessed," Hoops, want to check behind that tree?"

Hoops didn't give her a response.

"Hoops?" Tsubaki repeated, curious to why Hoops didn't respond to her as she turned around. She went pale with fear seconds later as she was face to face with Vice who had Hoops in his grasp.

Tsubaki could barely make a sound and finally stammered out," G-give Hoops back now!"

Vice snapped his finger and a dark indigo haze circled around Tsubaki and drifted her into a deep sleep, having her falling into Vice's arms.

"Phase two is now a quarter complete." Vice declared as he disappeared with Tsubaki.