Soon after the photoshoot ended, the four princesses changed back into their casuals and saw the last of the students off who were going home for summer vacation.
"Bye princesses! Thank you again!" One of the students called from down the block of the main gate.
"They'll see real girls once they get home. So why do they go out of their way to come and see the fake ones before they go?" Yutaka questioned waving at them.
"Probably for some comfort I guess… even if their girlfriends dump them over the summer, they'll still have us at school" Yuujirou replied.
"I think it's a sweet gesture ya know? Almost like showing how loyal they are to the princesses" Kanade offered her two cents.
"That's a little naive to say, boys can be real beasts Kana-chan" Tooru said trying to wipe her thoughts. "Boys will stay in good relations with something they like or well, what they find attractive" he shivered.
"Huh?" the words Tooru spoke caught her off guard, as her cheeks started to redden she looked over to him with wide eyes. "Well, I mean that's true…"
"Thanks for your hard work!" Akira said popping out of nowhere, joining the other three.
"Sakamoto-sama!" Yutaka greeted him surprised by his presence.
"The photography session was a huge success!" Akira told them.
"I don't think it's something so great that it deserves Sakamoto-sama's congratulations, who's respected and bowed to wherever he goes…" Yuujirou teased him.
"That's true," Yutaka backed him up.
Akira gave off a small and awkward laugh, he never asked to be called 'Sakamoto-sama' in the first place.
Brushing off his uncomfortableness he asked, "Um… Kouno, your not going home?"
"Yeah, I'll be staying in the dorm for the whole summer vacation" Tooru confirmed.
"Shihoudani too?" Akira switched targets.
"Yup" Yuujirou nodded.
"Me too!" Kanade chimed in.
"Well, I'm going home!" Yutaka yelled out.
"Just as I thought, you're going home…" Yuujirou looked at him with apprehensive eyes.
"Your leaving us already Mikoto-kun? It's not even the first day of vacation yet" Kanade eyed him, scrunching her eyebrows.
"You're so cold-hearted, abandoning us and going back to your wife!" Yuujirou dramatically clasped his hands together
"You were just playing around?! You're so cruel Mikoto-san!" Tooru cried out, clutching his shirt in the same area where his heart lay.
"No, honestly I already understood! Our relationship is so weak, in fact our relationship is as fragile as a single piece of tissue!" Yuujirou placed a hand on Tooru's shoulder comforting him.
"My god, such drama queens…" Kanade whispered to Akira.
You could see the visibly shaken up Yutaka as their performance continued.
"Hey, that's enough already! Stop this nonsense!" Yutaka shouted at them.
"As expected, friends can't compare to a girlfriend" Kanade said watching this whole thing unfold. "If I knew it was going to be this good, I would have made some popcorn."
An audible chuckle was heard from Akira.
"Why do you guys have to hassle me so much! You too Kanade-kun!" Yutaka complained.
"Woah, what did I do?!" Kanade challenged him. "I've barely said anything!"
"The main point to get across from our dramatization Miko-chan, don't neglect your princess duties. Or we'll be sure to pay a visit to your girlfriend and bring a picture of you in a frilly frilly skirt just for the heck of it" Yuujirou threatened.
Knowing how serious Yuujirou was, Yutaka dropped on to his knees and begged, "please spare me from that! I'm begging you!"
"Alright, now you see where we're coming from" Yuujirou accepted his answer.
"I was thinking about going home without telling you guys, but I stayed because I thought it would be a cold-hearted thing to do. I should've just gone home without telling you!" Yutaka cried, having visible tears running down his cheeks from all the bullying.
Grabbing his bag Yutaka ran away from the group, "I hate you guys!" his proclamation echoing.
"Don't forget your princess work!" Tooru called out to him.
Yuujirou and Tooru smiled, laughing to themselves knowing that making sure Yutaka showed up was a success. No matter what method they had to go through to reach the conclusion.
"I-Is this really okay?" Akira asked, not knowing deliberate threatening was the only method to work on Yutaka.
Kanade laughed alongside them, "it's fine Sakamoto-kun, it's like this all the time."
"Say… Sakamoto, are you not going home?" Tooru asked, turning his attention to Akira.
"Yeah, there'll be a student council meeting in a little while. So I can't take off quite yet," he replied.
"Eh? That must be tough" Kanade sympathized, knowing Akira didn't want to be president anyway.
"Well, if you guys are around during summer vacation, come over and have fun at my place," Akira offered.
"That sounds like fun!" Kanade beamed, excited to at least have one plan for the summer.
"Oi!" A voice called from inside the gate.
The four turned to the source of the voice.
"Ah, Tsuji-senpai!" Tooru called back. "Are you leaving the dorms for vacation?"
Walking over he approached the four, "Nope I'm staying here" he replied. "But there's a pretty bad problem with the dorms during summer."
"What is it senpai?" Kanade asked.
"There's no air conditioning during the day, so it might get a bit hot!" Tsuji apprehensively. "Make sure your bodies can handle it."
"Eh?!" Tooru and Yuujirou exclaimed.
"What is she doing?" Tooru asked aloud slinking around in his unbearably hot dorm room. "The sound of her running around is making me even hotter."
"Is she going somewhere?" Yuujirou said, fanning himself with his school notebook. "It's too hot, how do they expect us to study?!"
Just then a knock on the door was heard.
"You guys it's me, open up!" Kanade yelled on the other side of the door.
"It's too hot to move! Get it yourself" Yuujirou responded back.
"Ah, geez. My hands are full!" Kanade shimmied her elbow to press the knob down and heard the latch unhinge. She pushed the door open with her body.
The two boys' attention was on her. She was dressed down in a t-shirt and shorts, with a small duffle bag in one hand, and gift wrapped box in the other.
"I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm going home for my kid brother's birthday and I'll be back tomorrow afternoon" Kanade informed them.
"Kana-chan your leaving us too? Ah, so cold-hearted!" Tooru whined teasing her.
"Oh hush up. It's a two hour ride by bus since I'm not rich, ya know." She defended herself.
"Two hours?" Shocked, Yuujirou looked at her with wide eyes. "What're you going to do on a bus for two hours?"
Kanade nodded, "you better believe it. She lives in the countryside in a small town, and to be honest I have no idea. It's my kid brother's birthday, so of course I'm going to show up."
"Wow, what a great older sister you are." Tooru remarked, that statement made him briefly reflect on his own situation with Sayaka, a distasteful look on his face.
"Well, I'll be back probably in a few days or so? In the afternoon? Maybe a little later than that." She informed them.
"You're coming back so soon Kana, won't your kid brother be disappointed?"
"Yes, but he understands… he's a real good kid. Smart one too, can read situations pretty well. Don't wanna burden Grandma ya know?" She dawdled on, the Yuujirou gave her a small quizzical look. He hadn't quite gathered the courage to ask her why she was even applied to go to an all-boys school in the first place, but Tooru nodded his head seeming to understand.
"Well, be careful on your trip Kana, we'll see you soon" Yuujirou said, wishing her well.
"Yeah, see you guys in a few days."
With that, she said her farewells and began her long walk to the bus station. Paying for her ticket with the extra pocket cash she earned from all the photoshoots, she was well on her way to celebrate her kid brother's birthday.