08/24

-Daytime-

I went to Junes for more training today. I found it surprisingly easy to pick up on the things I was supposed to say to customers and how to process coupons and stuff. After I had the basics down, it was a matter of recognizing produce so I could find the right product codes on the paper they had at every main till for the clerks.

08/25

-Daytime-

I did more training, supposedly my last one, and had to talk to the manager in charge of my scheduling about the upcoming end of summer break and my having to go back to school. I was told I would get four or five hour shifts after the school day ended on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and an eight hour shift on every second Sunday. I agreed to that, much to the man's surprise, and he let me note down which days I would be working this month, since my name wouldn't be on the posted schedule until they made the next one up. I was told that if I had any questions or ran into any problems while working, that I could ask a nearby coworker, or page a manager. I didn't think I would, though, considering they were pretty certain I'd just be running a till for most of my shifts and if I wasn't, I would be working together with someone anyway.

08/26

-Daytime-

I worked the till by myself for the first time today. I was a bit nervous, but things went just fine.

08/27

-Daytime-

I went to work today, too. I found I actually liked the work more than I thought I would.

-Evening-

Kanji and Rise asked me if I wanted to go to Yu's house with them, so I decided to go. Once Yu let us in, Kanji sat at the table with him and Nanako while Rise and I sat on the couch.

"Senpai said that Nanako-chan was doing her summer homework. You should've told me!" Rise said. "...But it looks like I picked the wrong day to come. I can't do any of this art stuff."

"Me neither..." Nanako said.

"I'm totally useless at it too..." I sighed.

"Huh...Let me see what you've got." Kanji then proceeded to carefully craft something with incredible detail.

"There's no way an elementary student could make that..." I muttered to myself upon seeing the thing.

08/28

-Daytime-

I had the day off today, so I hung out with Yukiko. We basically just walked around for a while, talking about random stuff and laughing at something silly for way too long.

-Evening-

I worked on my summer homework tonight and finished it off. It was a bit half-assed for some things, but I hoped it would be fine.

08/29

-Daytime-

It was raining today, but I went to an actual dance lesson instead of dancing in the rain.

08/30

-Daytime-

I got a call from Yosuke, who invited me to the fireworks festival with everyone tonight. So, I ended up agreeing, even if I was reluctant to go out and watch them from somewhere where they'd be really loud.

-Evening-

We met up and went to the hill overlooking the town.

"Ooh! The crowd's pretty thin here." Yosuke said, looking around.

"The riverbanks were packed. I'm surprised you found a quiet spot like this." Kanji commented.

"Oh no, I knew about it." Yukiko replied. "I pass by the mountainside a lot. Customers ask me about it, too. I wonder if Nanako-chan will make it. I called and told her where we'd be before I left..."

"Hey, where's Teddie?" Rise asked all of a sudden.

"Not only was he hitting on girls nonstop, he accidentally put the moves on Hanako and she dragged him away." Yosuke responded. "He ducked into his "bear skin" right away and acted like a bear, but he still got dragged off without a word."

"Pfft...!" I began to snicker.

"Wha-!? Can we just leave him like that!?" Chie asked, seeming a bit worried.

"Sure we can. His karma caught up to him." Yosuke answered, crossing his arms.

"Aren't you being a little cold to Teddie today, Yosuke-senpai?" Rise asked.

"When I think back to what he did this morning? No, I really don't. Truth be told, I wish I could send two or three more Hanakos at him..."

"Dude, that would kill him. What happened, anyway?" Kanji asked.

"I don't even want to remember it...He dug up some private stuff from my room and brought it to the Hanamura family breakfast. He was all like, "Yosuke, what's this magazine about?" Can you imagine the humiliation I went through because of him!?"

"It's your fault for having that stuff." Chie answered.

"Ah, don't say that, Chie...It's more like...he wasn't good at hiding it." I said, a bit sympathetically.

"It's not like I ever thought anyone would wave it around in front of my parents!" Yosuke got annoyed at us.

"Is this really what you want to be talking about with girls around?" Rise asked.

"Huh? Is he not talking about his secret savings?" Yukiko seemed confused.

"So dense...!" I muttered, staring at her in disbelief.

"Secret savings. For a guy. Right. Let's just leave him be..." Rise decided not to explain it.

"Urrgh..." A familiar voice came from nearby and we turned to see the source.

"Teddie!?" Yukiko asked as the flattened bear came walking over to us.

"What a tragedy...My lovely fur is completely ruined..." Teddie cried.

"That's...Okay, that's worse than I was expecting..." Yosuke seemed to feel a bit bad for a second. "Anyway, people are going to stare at you like that. Hurry and take it off."

"But I'm like a newborn child inside...! Just like your magazine from this morning, Yosuke!"

"Quit reopening this morning's wounds!"

"There they are! Big bro!" Nanako's voice sounded from nearby and Teddie ran off as the rest of us turned to see the girl and Dojima climbing up the hill.

"Hey, Nanako-chan! Looks like Dojima-san made it in time." Chie greeted.

"Yeah! Dad came home early!" Nanako nodded.

"I'm happy for you." Yu said.

"Yep!" She nodded and smiled happily as she approached him.

"Sorry if I made you nervous. I didn't quite finish my paperwork, but I figured Adachi could handle the rest." Dojima said.

"Hey there, little lady. Wanna launch some fireworks of love with me?" Teddie walked up to Nanako then, human and clothed.

"How do you do that!?" Nanako seemed happy.

"Well...!"

"Nope!" I darted over to elbow the bear hard in the side to shut him up before he said something even more creepy.

"Cut it out, Teddie! Do you want Dojima-san to haul you in!?" Chie yelled at him too.

"Things are heatin' up down there." Kanji noticed, looking down the hill.

"Does that mean it will be starting soon?" Yukiko asked.

"Really!?" Nanako looked excited and we all turned our attention to where the fireworks would be.

Everyone made noises of appreciation at the first couple exploding colourfully in the sky, but I flinched and had to cover my ears.

"Tamayaaaaa!" I heard Chie shouting to my left, although it was muffled.

"Tedmayaaa!" Teddie was shouting too.

"Tedmayaaaa!" Nanako copied him.

"No no no. Don't listen to him." Yosuke was trying to correct her.

I laughed with the others as they talked about it, and caught Dojima's eye as he was smiling as well, then he turned to look back at the fireworks display and I did the same. They were pretty, but the noise hurt my ears, even with them covered. Then, they finished and I uncovered my ears with a sigh of relief.

"That concludes our program for the summer fireworks festival. Thank you for coming, and all of us here in Inaba hope to see you again next year as well!" The announcer said.

"Man, that was amazing! Totally worth coming out here for." Chie looked happy.

"Because you got to stuff your face, right?" Yosuke teased.

"So what!? You were all munching on snacks too!"

"An extra large steak bowl doesn't qualify as a "snack"..."

"Did you have fun, Nanako-chan?" Yukiko asked.

"Mmm-hmm." Nanako smiled, but she looked tired. "...I'm sleepy."

"Hahaha, I'm not surprised. It's about time for you to be home in bed." Dojima said, then looked to Yu. "I'll take Nanako back. Make sure you guys don't stay out too late."

"Bye-bye, Nana-chan!" Teddie said.

"Bye-bye..." Nanako waved and us girls waved back to her before she walked off with Dojima.

"The fireworks were great...but I dunno...It just feels like summer's just about over." Kanji said.

"Why'd you have to bring that up...?" Chie whined.

"I'm all right with that." Rise said with a smile. "When I'm working, I have to wear fall clothes during the summer, so I don't get a sense of the seasons changing. But this year, I went to the beach and saw some fireworks! I even got to wear a yukata out to the summer festival!"

"Yeah, that was fun." I smiled and nodded in agreement with her.

"The festival, huh..." Yosuke said, seeming thoughtful.

"Well, I had fun." Kanji said.

"Oh yeah, you were good at that candy-cutting...Wait, that's not what I meant!" Yosuke shook his head.

"I thought it was fun both times." Yu shrugged.

"W-Wait a sec...What does that mean?" Yosuke looked surprised. "D-Did you go with someone else the next day, too...!?"

Yu glanced at Rise, who blushed and looked down when their eyes met.

"What's wrong, Rise-chan? You seem fidgety." Chie looked confused.

"Your face seems awfully red, too." Yukiko noticed.

"Hmm? Does it?" Rise shook her head, then met Yu's gaze again and both looked away quickly.

"Dude...Seriously!?" Yosuke seemed to pick up the hint.

"Yosuke, you really do only think about girls, huh?" Teddie said with a sigh.

"Like you're any different! Besides, I was only asking because we didn't see them there-Ack!"

"Umm...Wait, did you go again, Yosuke?" Chie asked, looking shocked. "With who!?"

"W-Well..." He glanced at me, and I felt my face heating, but I smirked with amusement when he looked the other way quickly and seemed flustered.

"N-No way...! Kyoka?!" Chie turned her shock on me and I just smiled at her without answering.

"Huh?" Yukiko looked a bit confused.

"Oh yeah, should we have asked that kid to come with us today?" Kanji asked, changing the subject suddenly.

"What "kid" are you talking about?" Yosuke jumped on the chance to steer the conversation away from the festival.

"Uh, well..."

"You mean Naoto Shirogane?" Yu asked and Kanji blushed a little.

"Ohhh, him." Yosuke realized. "Yeah, I guess so. When you think about it, we were working on the same case, in a way."

"Yeah, that's true. I mean, we might not ever see him again." Rise said. "I'd hate to leave it with him like that...I said some harsh things..."

"You know, I remember him saying something that sounded pretty sad." Chie said.

"Yeah...Maybe we should've tried." I sighed.

"Then again, I doubt he's the type who'd accept even if we had invited him out to see the fireworks." Yosuke pointed out.

"I wonder if he's not here anymore." Yukiko spoke up. "He seemed to be busy, so maybe he's already working on another case in some faraway town."

We all were kinda quiet for a second before Rise spoke again, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be a downer! There's no point wondering what might have been."

"He was a pretty good-looking guy, too. He might have been a roadblock in, erm, other ways..." Yosuke said.

"Yosuke, you really do only think about girls, huh?" Teddie repeated.

"Shut up! You don't have to say it twice!"

The rest of us laughed a bit at that.

We ate a light dinner before going home.

08/31

-Daytime-

I was off today, but lazing around the house with my brother was boring. Luckily, Yosuke called and asked if I wanted to come eat a watermelon the Dojimas had gotten from a neighbour and I got something to do. However, when I arrived, I was less than enthused and my friends looked a bit confused at my companion.

"Hi, sorry for the intrusion. Nii-san heard "watermelon" and followed me..." I muttered.

"Whoa! Kyoka-chan's got so many friends now!" My brother looked around in shock, then grinned at them. "Yo. My name's Ryoku. Don't mind me." He then spotted the little girl watching him shyly and approached her. "Nanako-chan! Hey, you remember your cousin, right?"

"Ryoku-nii..." Nanako looked at him for a moment, then smiled. "Hello."

"You're as cute as ever." He smiled at her, then sat down at a chair at the kitchen's table as I stood next to Kanji in the living room.

"Oh, so you're Kyoka's brother...! Wow, I can see the resemblance!" Chie said, looking surprised.

There was a bit of talking amongst ourselves and introductions before Nanako spoke up. "Um, Dad got a watermelon from someone, so he said we should call everyone."

"Man, a watermelon!" Kanji looked excited. "'Cause of all the stuff that's gone down this summer, I completely missed out. So where is it? The fridge?"

"Gee, Kanji. They invited us over...At least show some manners." Rise chided him.

"We gotta smack it open first." Yosuke looked excited too.

"Huh? Are we seriously gonna do that? We can't eat it if it gets all crushed." Chie looked concerned.

"But, but, doesn't it sound like fun?" Yukiko looked excited too.

"I wanna do it too!" Nanako looked happy and stood up.

"Yeah! What's summer without smashing a watermelon or two?" Ryoku grinned.

"You already smashed and ate the one Mom got without asking..." I sighed at him.

"I'll swing at it with everything I've got!" Teddie said passionately. "The splattering fruit juice! Bursts of joy! One night of love...The bitter sweetness of those days is the essence of youth!"

"That makes no sense at all..." Yosuke muttered. "And dude, will you cut out those commercial lines of yours!?"

"That's the essence of youth!" Nanako repeated happily.

"Oh no, he's already corrupted Nanako-chan...!" I muttered.

Then, the door opened and Dojima said, "I'm home-whoa, that's a lot of shoes. How many people are here?"

"Welcome home!" Nanako ran to greet him. "Um, let's split the watermelon open!"

"Say what!? ...Uh, well, you see..."

Turns out, the watermelon was already cut and shared with the neighbours. Nanako was disappointed, but we all ate the watermelon anyway. Yosuke, Teddie, Yukiko, Ryoku, and I sat around the table inside while Dojima sat in the open door to the small deck next to it that Yu, Chie, Nanako, and Rise sat on and Kanji stood next to as we all ate our watermelon. I wasn't particularly fond of watermelon, but it tasted a bit better than usual today.

"C'mon Nanako, don't pout. Everyone came here to hang out, right?" Dojima tried to cheer the girl up. "...I'm really sorry. It never occurred to me you'd want to do that..."

"Hey, Nanako-chan. Let's do it again sometime." Chie suggested. "Next time, we'll do it right-at the beach!"

"Seconded!" Rise sounded happy.

"Whoa...Does that mean we get another chance to see you in bathing suits!?" Yosuke seemed excited, then said, "Oh...but there probably aren't enough days left. We'll have to do it next year..."

"Next year..." Nanako repeated, then looked to Yu. "Will you play with me next year too?"

"Of course we will!" Chie answered while Yu nodded.

"You betcha!" Kanji added.

"You betcha!" Yukiko repeated, and I found it funny.

"Did you hear that, Nanako?" Dojima asked.

"Yep! Thank you!" Nanako nodded, seeming happy.

We had fun for a while more, but people started having to leave and we ended up being one of the last ones because Dojima and Ryoku were catching up. Yosuke left while they were, so I decided to just tell my brother I was leaving with him and was waved off with a joke about not staying out too late with my boyfriend. I rolled my eyes and said I didn't have one, so he didn't have to worry.

"...I can see what you mean when you say you feel like the older sibling." Yosuke laughed a bit as we were walking home together. "He seriously just followed you?"

"Yeah." I sighed, a bit annoyed. "He's leaving to go back to university tomorrow, so hopefully it'll be the last time."

"You really don't like him being around, huh?"

"That's not it...I'm just dreading the interrogation I'll get when he tells Mom about my friends." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I can feel the headache already..."

"You've complained about how your mom is a lot, but I've never actually met her..." Yosuke sounded thoughtful. "Is she really that bad?"

"No, she's nice and all, but she's nosy. And a little overprotective sometimes. It can be really exhausting, so I hope you don't meet her unless you absolutely have to."

"What does that mean? When would classify as "having to", anyway?"

"Um, if something happens to me, if my brother gives her a description and she runs into you somewhere and decides to talk to you, or...If you're my boyfriend, I guess." I shrugged.

"Y-Your boyfriend!?" He got really flustered, so I couldn't help my amused snickering.

"I mean, a serious boyfriend. It'd be difficult for me to hide from her, so she'd probably pester me to bring my boyfriend to dinner sometime. I wouldn't willfully ask that of someone unless I actually wanted things to work out in the long run. It's also fair exchange, though, since I'd probably meet their parents too if I was asked."

"...Geez, you can be really mature sometimes." He sighed, shaking his head as we continued walking. "Even if you do laugh way too easily at stupid jokes."

"Only some stupid jokes." I defended, although I was smiling.

"Yeah, sure." He rolled his eyes and had a sarcastic tone.

We talked a bit more about various things before we had to part ways and I went home.

-Evening-

As I expected, my brother threw me to the wolves over supper. He told my mother I had seven friends and four of them were guys. Though, he seemed to regret opening his mouth when he was subjected to just the same amount of questions as I was in response. Especially when it came to if I was dating any of the boys and she was skeptical when I said no. Ryoku did redeem himself a little by stating he was pretty sure no one in the group was dating anyone and convincing Mom of that, though.

09/01

-Early Morning-

Today was the first day of second term, so I headed to school and ran into Chie and Yukiko on the way. Then, we saw Yu as we were approaching the gate.

"Mornin'." Chie called out to him and he turned around to face us.

"Good morning." Yukiko said.

"Morning." I mumbled, holding back a yawn.

Chie sighed. "Summer vacation's over already."

"Yo, guys. I got lost on my way here." Yosuke walked up to us.

"Isn't that Kyoka's line...?" Chie responded, looking at me and I just smiled sheepishly at her, since I probably would've been lost if I didn't run into them.

"The vacation was pretty long." Yukiko said.

"Not THAT long. Sheesh..." Chie wasn't impressed and we all started walking toward the school building again.

"Good morning." Shirogane had apparently been waiting for us in front of the school, and was wearing the uniform now, too.

"Y-You...!? You're that, uh...pint-size detective!" Yosuke seemed surprised.

"It's "Detective Prince", I think..." I sighed at him.

"I beg your pardon!? My name is Naoto. Please, don't give people bizarre nicknames you make up on the spot." Shirogane directed the annoyed comment at Yosuke.

"Um...You know this is a high school, right?" Yukiko asked.

"My cooperation with the police has come to an end. However, there are aspects of the case with which I remain unconvinced. There are some family-related issues as well, so I've decided to stay here for the present. From today forth, I'll be a first-year at your high school."

I tilted my head with curiosity at what Shirogane said as he walked away a bit, then turned around again to say something else.

"And I felt that I should at least introduce myself to you all. I trust our relations will be cordial, Senpai." And with that, Shirogane walked away into the school.

"Senpai...?" Chie repeated. "That detective boy's our underclassman?"

"Ooh, really!? We get such a cute kohai...!" I grinned, and they gave me strange looks.

"K-Kyoka, don't tell me you're...?" Yosuke started, but I tilted my head at him in question and he sighed. "Never mind."

-After School-

I walked to the shoe lockers with Yosuke, Yu, Yukiko, and Chie.

"Man, school's as dull as ever." Yosuke said. "With the case closed, the days feel so empty all of a sudden..."

"C'mon Yosuke, everything went back to normal. It's a good thing!" Chie said.

"I didn't mean it that way. It's just..." Yosuke trailed off.

"But it is kinda boring..." I sighed.

"Hey, we're stopping by Junes later, right? Why don't we ask Naoto-kun to join us?" Yukiko suggested. "Oh, I just thought...Since he doesn't know anyone yet, he must feel lonely..."

"That's true." I muttered.

"Didn't he say he came here to help out with the murder case? With the case closed, he's just an ordinary guy now." Yosuke said and looked at Yu. "And if you think about it, that makes him a transfer student...just like us."

Yu nodded to him.

Then Rise walked up to us and said, "Hello, Senpai!"

"Maybe he transferred here out of plain stubbornness. 'Cause it doesn't seem like he's only in it for fun." Yosuke continued.

"Why would going to school be fun...?" I asked, tilting my head a little as Rise looked confused.

"Alright, let's see if he wants to hang out with us." Yosuke decided.

"A celebrity coming to school is already a surprise, but a detective is even rarer. I'm a little curious to see what his family's like, too." Chie said.

"Detective family probably." I answered with a shrug since the Shirogane name was pretty heavily associated with that career from what I knew.

"There's that, and the fact that he's a detective at his age." Yukiko added.

So, we went to the hallway to find Shirogane more or less being cornered by two girls.

"Oh, speak of the devil. There's the little guy." Yosuke said.

"You dunno the area yet, right? C'mon, we'll show you around." A conniving girl said to him.

"There's probably tons of places to hang out that only we'd know about." Her friend added.

"That won't be necessary." Shirogane shook his head. "I'm not interested in "hanging out", and neither am I interested in you two."

"Huh? Hey, what did you say!?"

"What's with that attitude!? We're just trying to be friendly!"

The girls stepped closer to Shirogane, looking mad.

"Geez...Way to make an impression." Yosuke muttered.

"Pfft...! It's great...!" I choked back a laugh.

"Yo, Naoto-kun. How's it going?" Yosuke decided to approach them.

"Oh, um..." The conniving girl seemed unsure what to say.

"H-Hey guys. 'Sup?" Kanji walked up then, greeting our group.

"Uh, well, we'll be going now..." The girls more or less ran away because they got intimidated by the combination of senpai and the scary looking punk. So, we all walked over to stand in front of Shirogane.

"So we meet again. May I help you?" Shirogane didn't seem bothered by the interruption.

"Hey, Naoto-kun. If you're not doing anything after school, wanna come with us?" Chie asked.

"Come with...You mean me?" He seemed confused and surprised.

"Who else?" I smiled and he looked down in thought for a second before replying.

"...Perhaps another time. I have some things to mull over."

"Things to mull over?" Rise repeated.

"I must go straight home today. I promised my Grampa so."

""Grampa"...?" Kanji repeated.

"Oh well...That's that, then. Let's hang out some other time." Chie said and Shirogane nodded.

And so, we ended up at Junes, around one of the tables in the food court.

"Man, did you see Naoto's attitude...? He sure blew his debut at school..." Yosuke said. "Is he gonna be okay at Yasogami?"

"Pfft...! What're you talking about? That was awesome...!" I grinned, highly amused.

"Geez, is that really what you're into...?" Yosuke looked at me uneasily.

"He is different, but he has this...mysterious air around him that draws your attention." Yukiko said.

"Whoa, Yukiko, I never knew...You like younger guys too?" Yosuke sounded teasing.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Yukiko denied.

"To be honest, I think Shirogane-san's cute like a kitten that tries to be aloof, not really as a "younger guy" type thing..." I shrugged.

"S-Seriously...?" Yosuke muttered.

"Naoto-kun said he has "things to mull over", but he's gotta be talking about the murder case." Chie changed the subject.

"He's some ace detective, right? I bet he's not satisfied...even though the case is closed." Yosuke replied.

"That's true...but..."

"I'm not really satisfied either..." I muttered, and we all went quiet for a second.

"This place isn't our "special headquarters" anymore..." Chie said sadly. "Eh, let's talk about something else."

"Isn't the class trip coming up soon?" Yosuke brought up. "Um...Where are we going...?"

"Tatsumi Port Island." I answered.

"I heard it's an artificial island that faces the ocean. It's a pretty big city." Yukiko added.

"Huh? Port Island?" Rise repeated. "I did tons of shoots there. It's just beyond the Moonlight Bridge, yeah? Should be lots of places to hang out there."

"Uh, actually...we may not have any time to goof off during this trip." Chie said. "I heard the school board is changing the trip's schedule this year. The idea is, we're gonna visit a private school there. Like, to have local and urban students interact or something. It'll be all about studying and serious business...Yuck."

"Ugh...They're totally missing the point of a class trip." Rise was disappointed.

"M-Maybe the school will be interesting?" I suggested, although I wasn't convinced myself.

"What kinda place is this private school?" Yosuke asked.

"I heard it's really good. They have nice buildings and everything." Chie answered. "But it's closed on the day we're going there, so they're going the extra mile to make this work. They want us to tour some factories on the second day, and then we're coming back on the third day."

"That's no different from a social studies field trip!" Yosuke complained. "Urgh...I didn't want to know that..."

"Can't expect much from a school-sponsored trip, I guess." Kanji said. "Well, we'll be around, so if it starts to drag, we can ditch."

"Ditch...?" I repeated.

"I'll show you guys around!" Rise said excitedly.

"But we're in different years..." Yosuke pointed out.

"Oh, didn't you know? The excursion will be like the campout. They're going to combine the first and second years." Yukiko said. "Since student enrolment is down and they're low on funds, they've cut the excursion back to once every two years."

"Well, at least we won't be bored with you around, Senpai." Kanji smiled.

"Gosh, I'm trying to remember the last time I went to Port Island and I wasn't working..." Rise chuckled. "This'll be great!"

"I wish I could be that positive about it...Doesn't this seem like a pain in the ass to anyone else?" Yosuke said.

"I think it's a pain to go on a trip at all, but...Maybe it'll be fun...?" I shrugged.

"Some people were against the proposition, but it's been decided. Oh, and guess who's idea it was? King Moron's. It's just the kind of thing he'd come up with..." Chie said.

"Nooo...King Moron...! Why must you torture us from beyond the grave...!?" Yosuke whined and I laughed a bit.

"Noooo...King Moron...!" Teddie came running up in his costume.

"You don't even know who that is." Kanji told him.

"Hey, tell me more about this trip." Teddie said cheerfully. "Where is Port Island? What's there?"

"Get back to work, will ya?" Yosuke said to him.

"Well, even though the class trip is coming up, it's still a ways away." Chie said. "What should I do until then...?"

"Well, it's not like we got much to do here in the first place...Man is just an animal trying to figure out how to kill time through his days..." Kanji said.

"Huh. You made that sound like you were being philosophical...Yet it made absolutely no sense."

"S-Sorry..."

"It means something like, "Humans have already figured out how to survive pretty easily, so they have to fill their days with other things and thoughts", or something..." I said, shrugging. "It's basically just saying that compared to other animals, humans think way too much about what they should do in the future."

"...Snrk." Yukiko snorted and I sighed.

"Never mind..."

09/02

-After School-

I went to dance lessons today. It was storming out, but Tanabachi seemed to deal with the thunder by turning the music up louder. I didn't really understand, but she asked me to bring a mask next time I came to a lesson, if I had one. I thought maybe it had something to do with improving my head movements, so I didn't really question it.

09/03

-After School-

I had work today, so I went straight to Junes after school. It was kinda exhausting after my days off, but I didn't feel like it was particularly difficult to keep up. On my break, I went to the food court to get some soda and sit down for a little bit. As I was sitting and rubbing at my eyes, I heard someone approaching and looked to find Yosuke standing next to me.

"Hey, Kyoka...How're you holding up?" He asked with a smile.

"I'm okay." I smiled back at him, albeit a bit tiredly.

"You sure? If it's too much work, I can ask for-"

"You don't have to do that." I waved off his concern and continued to smile at him. "You've got a lot more work than I do, so worry about yourself. Besides, if I want something, I should ask the manager myself, right?"

He seemed a bit surprised, but then smiled softly at me. "Yeah...I guess you're right."

"Thanks for the offer, though. I appreciate you looking out for me."

"O-Oh, yeah, well..." He looked away, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, my break's almost over. Sorry, I gotta go." I noticed the time on my phone and stood up, taking my half-empty bottle of soda as I walked off to go put it away in the staff room with my bag before I had to resume working.

09/04

-Daytime-

I had to work today, so I went in to Junes again. I also made sure to let the manager know which days I needed off for the school trip while I was there.

09/05

-Early Morning-

I met up with Kanji on the walk to school, so we chatted a bit as we walked.

-After School-

I had to work today too, so I went straight to Junes after school.

09/06

-After School-

It was raining, but I was busy with cleaning duty today and then Yu wanted to study together in the library for a bit. So, I ended up chatting with him a little in between him explaining problems to me.

09/07

-After School-

Even though the trip started tomorrow, I had a shift at Junes, so I had to go to work and just worry about packing after I got home in the evening.