Smooth but Bitter

by Yuu Hiru

Summary: Life really is bitter; it gives me a sour taste and I hate that. I thought things would've gone smoothly but I guess I was wrong. At least I have people who actually understand how I feel.

1. The One Shot Itself

Now that I think about it, just what am I to them? Who am I meant to be in their eyes? Do I even play a part of a role for them? Am I even a part of their group of friends? Are they my friends? Does my sister really love me as she says she does? Am I thinking a bit too highly of myself for being loved? I shook my head. No, I thought, it's not because I think highly of myself. I sighed. They're just futile at this point. Our parents don't even have the time for us - they're always out together and don't even pay attention to us. But well, I don't mind it a single bit anymore. I stopped what I was doing and looked up at the ceiling.

"Are they using me for their own satisfaction of having things go their way?" I quizzed myself and got nothing in return, "How did I not see that until now?" I questioned myself once again and got nothing, "I guess I really am dense." I closed my eyes, "Was." I then heard a somewhat loud but not so loud thud from outside, snapping me out of my thoughts. Could be onee-chan, I thought to myself and walked to the door, which was leading from the room I was in. "Ah, onee-chan," I called out as I protruded my head from the door frame, causing it to open slightly, "your lecture ended already?" I let myself out of the living room and into the hallway before closing the door behind me.

"Uh," my sister started walking towards me, "yeah." She raised her arm and it seemed like she was about to place her hand onto my shoulder, "Listen, Akari-"

"Here." I offered a small bag of cookies to her.

"Huh, are those…" I assumed she inspected the bag thoroughly and carefully, "Cookies?" I nodded and smiled at her as she accepted the offer of cookies.

"I made them with the others," I remarked, "Yui-chan helped me a lot though." my eyebrow twitched.

"I see…"

"But," I spoke out of nowhere, potentially making her jump, "it's a gift from me to you." I folded my arms and turned my head to the side, "As a thank you for being nice to me." I felt my face heat up from embarrassment. Why, I thought, does it feel so embarrassing now? I didn't feel anything like this before. I turned my head frontwards and smiled with glee once more. "After all, you are my loving sister." I somehow felt her eyes stare back at me, "Truth is, I was just about to wrap them up with some cute decorations," I dropped my smile and turned my head to the other side, "but you came home first." I felt the radiation of the smile of her own from here, "Sorry if they aren't as good as you would hope for them to be." I felt a hand plant on my head, causing me to face her once again.

"I'm sure they taste as good as I'll always hope for them to be," she stroked my head, "my dear sister made them for me after all." Is this a comeback for saying 'thank you' to her?

"Well, I hope you enjoy them - once you finally have the time for them, of course."

"Yeah, I have the time," she gently squished the bag as if she was clasping her hands together in a casual manner, "but first, could you possibly go upstairs?"
"Ah," I blinked at the realisation of remembrance hitting me, "sure," I turned around and started walking towards and up the stairs, "I want to get changed anyway."

"Take your time."

"Thank you." I make my way up the stairs and into my room just to end up already dressed, even if I was deep in thought from thinking about the wonder of having to live with them. Then again, I'm not really obliged to attend the 'club activities' we do on a daily basis. We aren't even an official club but a rip off of absolutely nothing. Nothing more. Nothing less. Now I wish Sugiara had shut us down ages ago. Now that would've solved everything, or rather, it would have avoided the collision between Chinatsu and us three. Though, selfishness in this case is purely futile. There's no need for hope to get in my way. I've already lost it and cannot find it for the solution of the problem. They've forgotten my existence. So have I. Who am I? An outcast no one knows about, of course. I still remain known from acknowledging the existence of my own, and hopefully, my sister feels the same way for my sake. I then look down at the floor. I wonder if Rise, Chizuru and other people I know feel the same way. I sighed and exhaled deeply in frustration. Who knows, I thought. I then raise my head and walk up to the door. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to do anything to save themselves either.

"Akari," she yelled from below, "you can come down now!" She may have interrupted my thoughts but it didn't really matter to me at all, that being said, I started making my way downstairs and into the living room once again. She was already settled in a pillow with a cup of tea next to her. Since when did she boil the kettle, I thought.

"You made tea?" I queried, "You could've asked me to make some for you." I witnessed her perk up and turn to me.

"Really!?" I nodded.

"Yes, really." I then watched her look down at the cookie I had baked with Yui earlier. I'm not sure if she seemed disappointed or depressed, but based on the depressing aura surrounding her and I, it definitely felt like sadness and disappointment at the same time. I lightly chuckled to myself. "So," I somehow managed to attain her attention, "how are the cookies?"

"Ah, I haven't tried them yet." She spoke as I kneeled on the other side of the chabudai, watching her intently eat the homemade cookie's ear, "It's delicious!" Hearing that would've normally brought music to my ears but I wasn't as interested to hear feedback, "It's like those cookies you get from the store!" I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment, I thought and secretly sweatdropped to myself. The bear's nothing to me - not to anyone.

"You really think so?"

"Of course!" She sounded like she was adored, only just to convince me from the unwanted compliments coming through, "You're really amazing!"

"That's great to know, I guess." She then got a plastic bag out of nowhere and dropped the bear's head inside of it.

"Huh, you're only taking one bite?" I tilted my head and pondered.

"It would be a waste to eat it in one go, you know?" She looked at me with the same smile of happiness, "Don't worry, I'll eat it bit by bit."

"Alright." A drip of sweat trickled down my face. How was I meant to respond to that, I thought.

Today started off like any other normal day. Well, everyday is just an ordinary day; there's no actual difference between any other day. Though, it would be nice to not have obnoxious yells from across the classroom. Shouldn't those two be setting an example for the others? Are they abusing the fact that they're part of the student council? There's no need for me to even look deep into this other than calling them an old married couple.

"Huh, what's this?" I asked with pure wonder.

"A marriage registration from years ago."

"A marriage registration?"

"Yeah," the high school student overlooked the sheet of paper and looked up, "it's Himako and Sakurako's from years ago."

"Really?" She nodded at me.

"But they don't seem to remember." She sighed in disappointment.

Next thing I know, those two are already pinching one another with their stupidity growing over them. I sometimes can't even consider them as proper student council members anymore. I decided to pay no attention to it and continued painting over the sketch I had finished in just a few pencil scratches. Now all I had to do was paint Chinatsu's pink head to finish off the base, so I started just that as the teacher walked around to observe how we're doing and she sounded very delusional from the 'hidden feelings' those two hide from each other within the fights of death before walking off to observe the rest of the room. Honestly, I can't even tell if that woman's joking or not. I sighed and exhaled deeply before overlaying the pink paint on top of faded parts of the reference's hair. I felt the teacher's eyes lock onto my artwork, and out of nowhere, I was given a smile, based on the sound and radiation - specifically feeling. I then heard her footsteps go right around me. Well, I thought, that smile won't be forced on anymore. And, of course, I was right.

"Y-You're incredible, Yoshikawa-san," even I could hear the fear buried within her voice - it isn't even that hard to notice it but, of course, in Chinatsu's dense mind, she doesn't see nor hear it like that, "in plenty of ways."

"Oh, please, you're too nice, Azuma-sensei." What a shame, I thought, aren't teachers meant to be honest with their opinions and to be open about it? At this point, if no one tells her about it, she'll think a little bit too highly of her work and pride. And then the next thing you know, she's heartbroken by the fact that criticism gets hit right in her face without warning. I watched the teacher stumble away in utter disbelief from the horror she had just witnessed. Honestly, I thought, will I have to be the one who tells her the truth because it sure does look like the only way out of this hell of monstrosity. I deeply inhaled and exhaled once again. All I had to do was the eyes at this point. A creamy blue-looking eye, huh? What an interesting combination, not to mention the abomination she made with my 'silver' skin and what not. I still wonder if she's serious or just too dense to care. "Akari," Chinatsu disrupted my thoughts of ranting, "would you like to see mine?"

"Sure, why not?" She smiled at me pridefully and kept it on there as I had to witness the most horrid and disappointing 'masterpiece' ever. I would've frozen in shock or declined the offer only just to make up an excuse but someone has to tell a girl the truth, even if their hearts are 'fragile', as Kyoko would probably, but most likely, say.

"So, what do you think?" She asked pridefully. I sat there in silence and stared at the horrendous image of supposedly 'me' before creating a convincing smile.

"I think it's absolutely horrid."

"Huh?"

"Honestly, thinking too highly of yourself and your art will just affect you in the future life and you wouldn't want that, would you?" I rested my elbow on the desk before resting my cheek on my hand, "What a shame. Not even a teacher wants to break your 'fragile' heart. Face reality. We all fear your art and the things you make," she just looked at me as if I was crazy, "especially Yui." I saw her eyes widen from here. We then just stared at each other as if we were doing a try not to blink challenge before a grin of satisfaction crept onto my lips. I looked back down and added the last finishing touches of the painting as I felt the feeling of being watched whilst doing so, though, I didn't mind it a single bit - not even for a second. After doing the final stroke of my artwork, I raised my hand in the air and placed the brush to one side with Chinatsu's shocked expression in view. Someone had to do it, I thought, now I wish there was censorship over the portrayal of what's meant to be me; now that would be nice. But what's even more peaceful and relaxing about this very moment is her silence. It's hard to get her to zip her mouth shut - much worse than Kyoko. Then again, Yui has it much harder for the rowdy three we are.

"My privacy? Fix it, now!" I heard Sakurako's noise of being a squin.

"What's wrong with hiding your privacy to the public?" I frowned at the pointless response coming from Himawari. Well, not exactly three. There are definitely more loud and obnoxious little rats around here. I'm not even going to bother with counting how many we have though. It's futile. Even if I did bother, the number would just rise anyway. Though, I am grateful that there are at least some logical people around here that I speak and know of. Maybe I should change plans and find a new group, but that'll have to wait.

"Ah, Akaza-san," the teacher came up to me, "you're done already?" I nodded, unclipped the sheet of paper from the clipboard and handed it over to the teacher, "This is amazing."

"Thank you but it could be better." I replied and caught another glance at Chinatsu staring down at her work and to me before looking down once again, "There's always room for improvement."

---

Charming, I wasn't invited to go out with any of them today. That's great. That being said, I decided to slide away undetected just to get home but was instead ultimately stopped by a girl bumping into me. Great, I thought, did this really have to happen? Hopefully it's not someone I know. I almost fell to the floor but managed to avoid doing so by catching myself.

"Sorry," I scratched my head and raised it upright just to see someone I wouldn't expect, "Matsumoto-senpai." Her saying would've been inaudible and difficult to hear but as for me, I find no struggle in it whatsoever, "Nishigaki-sensei wants to talk to me?" She nodded before turning around and started the journey of our own, "Do you know why?" She shook her head, causing me to inhale and exhale in deep frustration, but then again, I couldn't blame her. Nishigaki is no ordinary teacher. She's one of the most randomest teachers you could ever ask for, not to mention explosive. I'm surprised she didn't get fired for endangering students and other faculty staff from her ways of fun and exploration for an adventure. And before Matsumoto and I knew it, a flashing blast caused the door on our side to fly off and hit the opposite side of where it used to rest, following along with black smoke making its exit before fading away. I sweatdropped. "Speak of the devil." I folded my arms as we heard loud coughing from inside the other room, leading into the school hallway, where we were standing and waiting for what was about to come.

"Ah," the adult figure grabbed onto the door frame and coughed once more, "Matsumoto." Matsumoto mouthed some words out to the scruffy teacher in front of us and she laughed, "Don't worry about it." She then turned to me with the same smile of joy she always has for everytime we see her, "Ah, you got Akaza."

"Just what are you planning to do this time?" I queried and raised a hand, "Are you going to blow me up?" I raised the other hand, making it look like I was shrugging, "Or am I going to be another test subject for your inventions that'll fail anyway - causing us to explode anyway?"

"Of course not." A short and sweet pause crept up the three of us, giving me the chance to drop my shrugging stance, "Maybe not anyway." She murmured with her head lowered.

"I heard that." I remarked with a straight face as Matsumoto and I stared back at Nishigaki.

"Anyways," she placed her hands on her hips, "I asked Matsumoto to grab you because you have been chosen to be another test subject, I mean, member of something." You can't take your correction back once it's been said, I thought.

"Matsumoto-senpai," I turned to Matsumoto, "are you sure you don't know why you dragged me over here?" She shook her head and made lip movements, "Typical Nishigaki-sensei."

"Don't worry. Don't worry." Nishigaki reassured us both and then responded to Matsumoto's remark with a laugh. I also somewhat heard Matsumoto chuckle under her breath.

"That's not funny," I sternly told them, especially Matsumoto herself, "Matsumoto-senpai."

"Don't be such a Akagaya!" Nishigaki jokingly pointed at me with a huge grin. Though it looked like she was about to burst out laughing once again, I didn't mind it. It's actually much better than having to live with two fangirls in one room after each other. Kyoko runs after Chinatsu because of her resemblance to Mirakurun, whereas Chinatsu herself is after Yui for God knows what reason. I understand that Yui's a mature girl and all but at least face reality for once. Well, now I just added another job for me to do on my list. The bear that hunts for its prey will be arriving soon.

"Yeah, we could do that."

"Huh?"

"Ah, Matsumoto just wanted to take our conversations inside," Nishigaki informed me, "of the student council, of course." She reassured me, "So if you're free, you wouldn't mind-" I cut her off.
"Yeah, why not?" I grabbed onto my arm, "It's better than nothing." I tightened my grip, "I don't have anything else to do anyway." I felt their eyes daunt on me. Dammit, I thought, I just ruined the mood, didn't I? I waited for a response to end this awkward silence once and for all. I definitely have. "Um, are we going or what?" I attained their attention and they seemed to have gotten the message, and took my word, and with that being said, we took off without saying a single word. It was rather awkward for the three of us and even I felt it. I'm not sure whether to feel sick to the stomach or unfazed. I wonder what they meant about Akagaya. I lowered my head and kept walking but was most likely focused on making theories about the random word. Akagaya, I thought to myself and rubbed my chin in the process, Akagaya. I sighed and exhaled before brushing it off. Never mind. Normally, I wouldn't have given up in such a flash but in this case, it was just not my type of thing to overlook because of how witless it is. There goes my perseverance, I thought. I then heard a murmur come from my side, causing me to turn my head to see what Matsumoto was up to.

"I'm fine," I assured her and watched her lips move before responding once more, "just eh, you know?" She looked at me as if I was crazy. Now, how am I supposed to reply? A picture of the rest of the student council members clicked into my mind. "Ah," I somehow managed to catch their attention, "are the other members in a meeting, still?" I asked in a calm and collected manner, "Or have they left already?" Matsumoto responded with another movement of lip syncing. That's good, I thought. Another mutter came out of her mouth. "Just wondering." I replied rather coldly. I didn't hear another word come out of her after that. Though, I did get a little awkward feeling about it but I decided to brush it off right after arriving at our destination. "That felt like a long walk." I spoke aloud.

"I felt that too." Nishigaki scratched her head and opened the door just to let us in, "Well, since we're in here, make yourselves at home." I sweatdropped.

"Do you live here?" She laughed.

"School is like a second home to us, you know?" I inhaled deeply and let myself into the other room.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I raised my hand in the air and waved it side to side a few times, "Come on, Matsumoto." I heard the footsteps of her entering the room before Nishigaki did the same exact thing after closing the door behind her. Wait, I sunk into a chair, why am I here? I can't believe I had only just realised that now. I had a chance to run off but I didn't take it. The bear remains still and slow.

"Something wrong?" Nishigaki quizzed me and I shook my head.

"Not really." I then heard a murmur on my right, "I told you already, I'm fine." Honestly, I thought to myself and watched Nishigaki sit in the chair in front of me, why do they need to be the type to ask the same questions? It's like a parrot repeating its owner's saying. How irritating. And so, we did nothing but just sit there willingly to kill time. Even if I didn't want to be there, I didn't bother a single bit trying to escape the school premises. I closed my eyes and already had my hands clasped together. This for some reason feels relaxing, I thought, maybe this is better than having to go through the hell of explosions from queen explosion murder, but most importantly without those three, makes me feel like my shoulders have gotten lighter. I then heard a mumble from behind. "Huh, Matsumoto?" I spoke with a hint of shock and uncertainty after finally coming to my senses of my shoulders being gripped by hand. She lip synced once more. "It feels good," I admitted out of being stuck in the moment, "but you don't have to..." She shook her head and mouthed some words out once more, "If you insist." I turned my head to face frontwards at Nishigaki, just to see her stare back at me.

"A massage from Matsumoto, huh?" She tilted her head from one side to the other filled with joy, "Must be a blessing." Matsumoto from behind spoke as if she was pouting, "I'm only joking," she laughed, "I don't need one," she said proudly, "not yet anyway."

"Is that so?" I asked, "You're just going to invent an explosive back scratcher, won't you?"
"Of course not." I sweatdropped, "What's with you and the assumption of me being so into explosions, that I would make myself a bomb?" Does this woman even observe and check herself out, I pondered. I sighed and then heard Matsumoto mention something I used to be sensitive about. I repeated her question in my head and attempted to think of an answer. Do I feel lonely? I cleared my throat.

"How could I feel lonely with you both here? It doesn't really make sense, you know?" Matsumoto murmured another group of words.

"She makes a point." Nishigaki remarked, "You don't need people around you to feel special," she repeated what Matsumoto had just said, "with or without friends and family is the same outcome with the feeling of loneliness," she continued, "and we all know that loneliness isn't just a word but a feeling. A strong feeling we all cope with until we break." She gave me a convincing smile of encouragement before Matsumoto continued her survey.

"Isn't it obvious?" I questioned her back, "Of course they've forgotten about me." I unpleasantly beamed at Nishigaki, "Just like how they forgot about you." The long murmur arrived. Damn, I thought, is this girl a human book of paragraphs or something?

"Matsumoto with the facts of truth," Nishigaki rubbed her chin and had that same grin on her face, "that's Matsumoto for you." She then cleared her throat, "But she is also right about that," she pulled her interrogative finger out, "even if they had forgotten about us, especially you," she waited for me to respond but I didn't say anything, so she continued, "we'll still remain in their hearts forever and ever." That smile, I thought and looked at the woman in front of me as if she was a disgusting fungi of some sort, is grossing me out, "It's true." She added on, "Besides being 'forgotten' is too strong and harsh, especially for your sweet mind," I flinched, "not to mention being with them for the long run."

"Long run?" She nodded.

"Long run." She dropped her interrogative finger stance, "Now, being forgotten doesn't just have its own meaning, you know?" I raised an eyebrow, "Forgive and forget," My eyebrows furrowed themselves, "that's all you have to do."

"How many times did you think I did that already?" I clenched my fists and then felt a hand rest on my head before it stroked my hair. Matsumoto murmured and it mostly sounded like a reprimand for Nishigaki.

"You're right," Nishigaki lowered her head, "sorry," she then perked her head up, "you're a hard worker." I tilted my head and gave her a stare that was meant to make it seem like she was at least crazy, but she didn't respond to it. Then the next thing I know, Matsumoto randomly wraps her arms around me and it was rather comforting.

"Matsumoto-senpai?" I spoke with uncertainty once again. She murmured. 'I feel the same way as you'? "The same way?" I felt her nod from above, "What do you mean by that?" I then gave a glare to Nishigaki for a sign of an answer but didn't get anything in return, that is until she finally noticed the fact that I was staring at her.

"Oh," she jerked up without warning, "I think she meant about the feeling of being alone and being forgotten." She paused for a moment before continuing, "You don't sound like yourself," I beamed, "especially with the responses you came up with." I didn't respond but avoided eye contact, "Does it hurt?" She waited for an answer to come out of me. It was as if time stood still. I could feel it. If I could feel it, then they could feel it, too. Normally, I would have managed to avoid this type of conversation and be washed away from someone like Chinatsu. I should've taken some precautions, not to mention run away. Now I wish Sugiara came through the door just to call out Kyoko's name. The spotlight placed onto me felt too pressuring for me to even handle. Stop, I demanded internally, stop daunting me. It was no use. Not even my thoughts could process what was happening around me. I sighed in defeat.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Does it hurt?"

"What hurts?"

"Your heart." I looked down at the table and thought about it. I didn't feel anything but emptiness. I've never felt this way before. Not until now.

"No." I shook my head in denial. I assumed Nishigaki and Matsumoto looked at each other just by looking at the expressions on their faces. "What about you?" I queried and felt my blood boil from within. Nishigaki looked back at me as if I was crazy.

"Me?"

"Yes, you." I pointed at her, "does it hurt you?" She stared at me dumbfounded but before she could say anything back to respond to my backfire of a question, I cut her off, "Does it hurt being forgotten? Do you ever realise how forgetful everyone is to leave you behind the tunnel? What happened to being there for one another? It doesn't exist in their minds nor do we exist in the minds of our own. We're only there for each other just to end up lost. We use each other as a way to overcome the craving of having love and affection temporarily just to feel ungrateful and empty inside after leaving." I inhaled deeply once more, "What's the point in even trying? We're nothing but pawns intertwining into each other's fingers for their satisfaction and for the sake of fun." Nothing but silence erupted between the three of us. I should've taken the chance to make a run for it but didn't decide to do so. It was not like I was forced to stay with them for eternity. I just didn't think it was worth it at all. Although, I thought as my face tensed up and watched those who stared back, maybe ruining the mood wasn't such a good move. I then closed my eyes. No, it's not my fault for starting such a scene, I thought, they dragged me into this and Matsumoto asked me those random questions. I opened my eyes and glared at Nishigaki, who was in front of me. This feels like a one on one but in my case, it's a two on one, I thought with sudden but easy frustration, this sure is futile. Then, out of nowhere, a somewhat loud ring reached my ears from behind, causing Matsumoto to uncling herself from me. She murmured.

"Ah," Nishigaki's face rested itself, "right," she sat upright and seemed rather comfortable with the position she's in, "we might as well answer her." She let out a smile, "She must've been waiting for us to call her first, but, yeah." She scratched her head. Matsumoto, from behind, muttered once more before making the irritating ringing stop and started her words of wisdom - which, in reality, was just her greeting the person on the other end of the phone. The 'meet and greet' felt like it went by in a flash but it was also rather long and uninteresting to listen to. 'Why am I still here?' Is the only question I can ask myself for this one particular moment. I was just about to stand up but was ultimately stopped on the spot because of my name being heard before a bunch of polite 'yeses' came out of Matsumoto's inaudible but audible mouth before the call finally came to its end. I decided not to be nosy about who it was, so I tried to change the subject.

"So," I attained their attention, "may I go?" Nishigaki looked up, with a sad smile being shown upon her face, and nodded before looking at me.

"Yeah, sure," I raised my shoulders as if I was shrugging before dropping them down dead and standing up just to grab my school bag, "stay safe out there." Nishigaki saluted at me as I finally exited the student council office without giving a saying in return.

---

Why, my eyebrow twitched, why and how did I get myself into this mess?

"Let's play cards!" Sakurako yelled aloud enthusiastically.

"Don't you mean Old Maid?"

"Here you go, Akari-chan." Sakurako handed me a deck of cards.

"Listen to me." Himawari gave Sakurako a dead-panned glare and watched Sakurako give out the rest of the cards, "Wait, are you even counting the cards properly?"

"Count?" Sakurako tilted her head with a question mark popping off of her head, "Cards have to be counted?" We all sweatdropped at the clueless girl. No wonder why she's a failure, I thought, I can't believe I was dragged into such a time wasting change of event. I sighed.
"Give them here," I snatched the remaining cards from Sakurako's hands and swiped the rest away into my hands before organising them by giving the stack of cards a couple of hits on the table, "you're wasting your time," I blurted out as I settled the deck in the middle of the table, "which also means you're wasting our time." I beamed at Sakurako dead in the eye, skimmed and scanned my surroundings before deciding to get the cards ready. I didn't want to even stare back at their speechless faces, so I'm glad I focused on the task waiting to be finished by me. The process may have taken a while, not to mention awkward, but it was worth it, well, to me anyway, but as for the others, they just sat there in silence - which, oddly enough, brought music to my ears. "Are we going to play or what?" I asked with a loss of patience. They seemed to have snapped out of their thoughts, I assumed.

"Yeah, sure." Chinatsu started the chain of nervousness I could hear from within.

"Suits me." Himawari sounded like she lost her formality.

"I won't lose!" Sakurako somewhat shifted the mood into something much more competitive but also menacing.

"Good luck." I sarcastically attempted to cheer them on but ultimately failed, and though I paid no attention to it whatsoever, they all seemed to have forgotten what I had just said from earlier - based on the change of mood I was witnessing. Wait, I paused as we were playing mid-game, I just remembered the card equality, I then sighed in relief before continuing my chance of taking a turn, never mind, I made it so some decks are odd and even - Thank God for that.

"Everybody," we all turned to Chinatsu, who was holding her phone in portrait, "say cheese!"

"We're playing a game here." I said sternly but most likely straightforward, but she, of course, didn't respond to it and took the picture, "Ask for my permission-"

"And, sent!"

"Listen to me." I gave Chinatsu a dead-panned glare, "Yui won't be interested in you nor your ideas," I muttered after realising she didn't give me a sign of response, "so just give up." I raised my voice once again, "You're wasting you and Yui's time." I just watched her give me a quick glance before continuing on with the unwanted party. Of course, I thought, I did provoke her the other day after all. A loud vibration then came from the phone sitting on the table in front of me, causing me to pick it up and tilt my head with pure wonder.

"Who's emailing me at this hour…?" I questioned myself and checked to see who it was.

"Who is it?" Sakurako asked with curiosity.

"Don't butt into other people's business." Himawari covered for me, which I'm grateful for, "Oh, right, it's my turn, now."

"Ah," Sakurako swiftly faced Himawari, "come at me, booby monster!"

"What did you just call me!?" A vein popped out of Himawari's forehead as I, an intellectual, ignored them and investigated the out of the blue email that read 'Good evening, everyone'. I raised an eyebrow and decided to check who it was from. Great, I thought, what would they want at this time? I internally kept asking myself unanswerable questions before spotting out the fact that it wasn't just two people I knew, there were three. I tapped on the keyboard's keys with no interest shown on my face whatsoever and sent it, hoping that they would get the message. I sighed and exhaled with sudden relief flowing through my body, but before I could even put the phone down, the same loud but much quieter vibration rubbed onto my hand, causing me to let the screen get into my face once again. I then gave the screen a deadpan stare from the reading of: 'Matsumoto gave us your email address, so here we are. Anyways, this may seem awkward and all because of the little conversation we had the other day, but Omuro here, a person you may just be unfamiliar with, wanted to talk to you.' Why, I wondered and got another email from the same group that read: 'Accurately, I was dragged into talking to you.' That sounds like a Nishigaki thing to do, I thought and tapped on the keyboard before sending another email to the group before getting an immediate response after doing so, which read: 'Whatever works with you. What about you, Omuro?' Another vibration came into my hand with another email reading: 'Sure, Hanako has the time; and as you may know, Hanako's Sakurako's younger sister, Omuro Hanako. You can just call Hanako Hanako-san, if that works with you.' I assumed she didn't want to write a huge email about herself, so I tapped on the keyboard with the tiniest of interest and instantly got a response that read: 'Hanako loves milk. What does Akaza-san like?' I started tapping on the keyboard and increased my speed in doing so and got another response that read: 'Sakurako is nothing but a failure, in Hanako's opinion - just saying. But even so, onee-chan is a good example of being a role model for a sister, unlike a specific other.' I snickered and mischievously tapped on the keyboard before getting a response in such a flash, that now I'm not even fazed by it any more. 'Oh, it seems like we're on the same page. That's great. Sakurako never sets a good example.' I felt a smile radiate onto my face as I tapped on the keyboards with delight before getting another reply. 'Hanako likes to study during Hanako's free time or hang out with Hanako's friends while Hanako has the time, what about Akaza-san?' I thought about it for a while but it just grossed me out as I tapped on the keyboard once again as blood boiled from within. Another response came in reading: 'Oh, did something happen between you and Sakurako? That girl really is a failure.' I tapped on the keyboard with a slight hint of delight on explaining hatred and got another good response that read: 'Oh? It's not just Sakurako? That's unexpected.' I then tried to change the subject with another question and got the answer back. 'Well, Hanako doesn't mind cake shops that much.' Another question crossed my mind and made me write it down only just to send it and get another reply. 'Hanako likes pancakes.' I tapped on the keyboards with a slightly stronger hint of interest and right after sending it, I got another email from a certain other. I frowned at the sight of the name being in my face, so I just ignored it and read through the recent answer Hanako had just retrieved. 'They're very delicious indeed. Say, what blood type are you? Just curious.' That's the second time she's asked me a question, I thought as I tapped on the keyboard with full delight and got another reply. 'Hanako's blood type A, too!' My eyes sparkled.

"Ah," I somewhat heard the failure of the little bit of juice come out of the bottle from here, "we're out of juice." Sakurako put the bottle to one side and I could feel the radiation of her stare at me but not even in the slightest of being daunting, "Akari-chan,"

"Don't call me that." I told her straightforwardly as I stared at the phone screen.

"Could you fetch us some juice?"

"She isn't a dog!" Himawari came to my defense but I decided that hearing another argument just wasn't worth my time.

"Don't be like that!" Sakurako elbowed Himawari, "We're Akari-chan's guests after all!"

"Don't act like you've ever done anything for me as a guest." Himawari beamed at Sakurako as I stood up with my phone in hand.

"I'll get the juice," they both stopped to look at me, "so you both can just shut up already." I stood in front of the door and finished the sentence I sent to Hanako right on the perfect timing before turning around, "Is orange alright with you?" I queried and turned back around, "Well, that's literally all we have," I opened the door, "so there really are no options of flavour." I finally exited the room and got a vibration initially after doing so. I delightfully tapped on the keyboard's keys as I walked down the stairs slowly, not minding my step whatsoever. 'You really think so?' I placed a sad smile on my face as I finally made it to the bottom step and tapped on the keyboard's keys.

"Excuse the intrusion!" The voice made me look up as I finished the response for Hanako.

"You must be Chinatsu's sister." I lowered the phone to my side, "Good evening." Chinatsu's sister walked up to me.
"Akari-chan," she placed her hand on my head and petted me as if I was a pet, "Chinatsu's staying with you tonight, right?" I nodded after she removed her hand off of my head, "I'm also staying here for a sleepover, too!"

"That so?" She nodded.

"We're working on an assignment together."

"Don't mind us," my older sister said, walking up to us, "Have fun playing, OK?"

"Will do." I plastered a smile onto my face and watched my sister give Chinatsu's sister a pink box she had in hand.

"I bought these donuts for you."

"Ah," I looked at the box filled with donuts before looking up at Chinatsu's sister's face, "are you sure?"

"Yeah, you can share them." She handed them over to me and I took them.

"Thank you so much. It's really appreciated." My forced smile then faded as they both walked off and into my sister's room. Time to get 'master's' wants, I thought.

---

I opened the door.

"Thanks for waiting." I spoke sarcastically and just witnessed the scene of an unfunny comedy. I'll just take a picture and send it to Hanako, I decided. That decision being made, I picked my phone up from the tray with my other hand as I held the tray in the other, took a picture of the three doing such an unfunny way of entertainment, though, in their case, it's pretty obvious what their plan was. I then went and sat in my spot once again, placing the tray on the table in the process, and attached it to the email before sending it to Hanako. The immediate response made another smile creep onto my face. 'Looks like a Sakurako idea, all right. Honestly, the idiocracy of her rubbing onto others, especially Hima-nee makes Hanako feel sorry for you and the others for even taking care of her.' I chuckled and tapped on the keyboard before sending the response and pouring myself a cup of juice. 'Hanako's surprised herself, to be honest. Wait, Hanako's apologies for distracting you with your sleepover.' Another sad smile placed itself back on my face as I sent her another message and got a response. 'Are you sure?' I gave her another quick reply and got another reply. 'Hanako hopes you're not doing it for my sake, otherwise it'd be unfair for you and your sleepover with Sakurako. But then again, it's probably for the best. She is a troublemaker after all.' I smiled and immediately got another reply. Damn, I thought, she's a quick typer. 'Also, just what is the context between the three doing those rather odd poses? Did they want you to take a picture of them?' I shook my head and told her about me fetching juice for Sakurako. A reply instantly popped up on the screen. 'You were responding to Hanako whilst walking? That's dangerous. You didn't have to do that. Hanako has the patience to wait, unlike Sakurako.' She's too kind, I thought and replied back. A new reply. 'Hanako sees… Well, more power to you.' I decided to send her another email. 'Really? Tomorrow?' My grin widened as I emailed her back just to get a different response from someone else. 'We'll be there, too! Don't forget us, Akaza!' I sighed and exhaled. That's right, I thought, I forgot about those two. I then yawned and decided to end the thread there and now.

'I'll sleep now. I look forward to it! Hope you also have a nice one and take care.'

I finally turned my phone off and slowly turned my head to the rear of Sakurako and the back of Himawari. They haven't given up yet, I thought. I placed my phone on the table and looked up at the ceiling, leaning back and using my hands along with my arms as a supporter.

"Wow," I started, "I never would've thought that I was talking to myself this whole time with statues," I spoke aloud in a sarcastic tone, "how embarrassing." I leaned even further back, "Guess I'll just go to sleep," I stood up and walked up to my bed, "alone." I settled myself under the blankets and turned to my side, facing the wall, before closing my eyes into a deep slumber. But before I was barely fully asleep, I heard them all finally settle quietly into their spots and whisper, which I'm grateful for. At least they had some consideration, I thought.

"Alright," I heard Sakurako's voice raise, "round five! Bring it on!"

"Keep it down!" Even if Himawari's response was somewhat a loud whisper, it still made my eyebrow twitch. Never mind, they're just as inconsiderate as ever.

---

"Ah, Akaza," I stopped in my tracks just to look back, "good morning."

"Good morning," I replied, "Nishigaki-sensei." I then turned my attention to Rise, who was standing next to Nishigaki, "Good morning to you, too, Matsumoto-senpai." She murmured back with a warm smile. I then look back up to Nishigaki. "Remember about the arrangement?" She nodded.

"Of course." Nishigaki turned to Matsumoto with a grin.

"Good." I folded my arms and sighed in relief, "Well, I might as well prep up for the next period." My shoulders raised and dropped themselves as I spoke. I was just about to leave the area right after dropping my arms to my sides but was ultimately stopped in the process of doing so.

"Come to my office at lunchtime, I have-"

"Explosive experiments to use on me?"

"What's with you and accusing me of being explosive!?"

"Do you seriously not see it in you!?" I raised my voice as my teeth turned into shark teeth and my eyes turned white and into triangles, "Besides, didn't you say that explosives are essential!?"

"Huh," Nishigaki perked up and rubbed her chin with wonder, "I said that?" I drooped my head forward. Matsumoto came to my aid and it made me inhale and exhale in relief, but in the middle of trying to take deep breaths, she laughed and patted Matsumoto on the head from what I could see as I looked up. "If I don't remember, then it never happened!"
"Eh?" I gave Nishigaki a dead-panned glare.

"That being said, I have no idea what you both are talking about." Silence crept up between the three of us. Nothing happened within that one minute worth of silence - that was until I turned around.

"Whatever you say." I almost started walking for the second time but even it wasn't the lucky charm because I was ultimately stopped by a murmur coming from behind, causing me to spin like an absolute idiot, "What is it, Matsumoto-senpai?" She mumbled some more words, "Oh, you think so?" She nodded, "Thank you." She smiled at me as I returned it back as a sign of gratitude.

"Oh, I didn't even notice it at all," Nishigaki ruined the heartwarming moment, "nice catch, Matsumoto!" She stuck a thumbs up and had a star in her eyes, with, of course, her potential signature grin.

"Is this what you do for a living?" I sweat dropped after another long but not so long awkward silence.

"What do you mean by that?" Nishigaki tilted her head with pure wonder. Just how dense can an adult be, I internally screamed from within before shaking my head and turning around for the third time. Honestly, I didn't think I would be doing back to back twirling like a ballerina.

"See you at lunchtime, then." I raised my hand as I walked away freely.

"I'll make it quick!"

"Alright," I yelled back and muttered under my breath, "hopefully."

---

Charming, period three and four went by quick already. Damn, life really does go by once you realise how the world treats you as some type of weakling that doesn't even belong to them at all, huh? I'm not so surprised. Those who treat you like nothing but a ghost, those who treat you like nothing but a pawn, those who treat you like nothing but a play toy: don't deserve to even have a nice taste of expectations instead of brutal reality. They're nothing but gross creatures that make your skin crawl. We're the reason why the world is becoming such a failure. They're wasting Earth's space of trying to make it a much better place and never once did it turn out to become successful. How depressing. I finally stood up with my bag in hand, looked at my clean desk with pride. My small journey to Nishigaki's office got interrupted straight away after the start of it as if I had given up before I even started but in this case, it's not my fault for this cause.

"Good afternoon, Akaza-san."

"Ah," I looked up at Himawari, who just came out of nowhere, "good afternoon." I bowed and stood upright, "Did you need something?"

"Not really." She clasped her hands together with delight, "I just wanted to-"

"Woah," Sakurako slid in front of Himawari and pointed at me, "her buns aren't detachable!?"

"What are you saying?" Himawari attempted to whisper but I could hear her loud and clear.

"Kyoko-senpai lied to me!" I hummed with a sound of wonder.

"Is that so? I'm not surprised. People don't have anything but are filled with lies. It's the only skill they rely on to get on with their day, and not only do they lie to others, they lie to themselves. The outcome of life goes one way or the other." I straightforwardly spoke to the two, "Besides, hair isn't detachable in the first place unless it's hair extensions." I went around the two, "Get a brain and stop wasting other people's time because of the time you've wasted for yourself." I left the room and closed the door behind me before taking a short breather. What happened to the 'lack of presence coming from Akaza Akari', I pondered as I finally started making my way down the hall, what happened to not knowing that Akari's in the room? Just forget me already. I made it to Nishigaki's office, gripped on the door handle and awaited the expected. I stood there in silence, staring at the door in front of me. I waited. And waited. Waited until I got tapped on the shoulder, which almost made me let out a yelp.

"Matsumoto-senpai?" I faced her after recovering from shock, "Where did you come from? You scared me." She murmured, "Ah, no worries. Just don't do it again, OK?" She nodded and went to the door I was at before sliding the door open herself. I instantly stepped out of the entrance's vicinity but was discreetly pulled into the room from Matsumoto's hand yanking onto mine. "Wait-"

"Oh, there you are." Nishigaki stopped herself from spinning on the chair. Matsumoto murmured and my face lightly heated up after Nishigaki laughed at the explanation. "Is that true, Akaza?"

"Yeah," I admitted, "I don't want to risk my life for your explosions."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Not at all."

"I confessed the scene of embarrassment of my own, so why don't you?" An awkward silence erupted between the two of us, "Nishigaki-sensei, are you even listening?" She didn't reply but turned her head to the side and whistled, "She dodged the question." I told myself out of habit. Matsumoto then mumbled something that made Nishigaki stop whistling and turn back to us.

"Oh, right, the-"

"Experiments of Explosion?" I said, straightforwardly.

"With the explosions," Nishigaki complained, "again!"

"It's part of your ego, isn't it?"

"I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about." I sweat dropped.

"Stop dodging questions."

"Anyways," Nishigaki put my two questions on hiatus, though, knowing her, she won't answer them in the end anyway, "there will be no inventions involved," I raised an eyebrow, "however," I took a step back as a precaution, "a camera will!" We then all stood there in utter silence. I was making a pose that made it look like I was in the middle of squatting whereas Nishigaki was just keeping her mouth open with glee - Matsumoto was the only one who treated the situation as if it was nothing.

"Eh," I broke the eerie silence, "a camera?" I tilted my head with wonder and Nishigaki nodded.

"A camera."

"It's explosive, isn't it?"

"Of course not." I beamed at her with a deadpan glare and she paid no attention to it whatsoever, "Anyways, Matsumoto," she attained Matsumoto's attention, "come here real quick please." Matsumoto obeyed and glanced at me, "You too, Akaza." I reluctantly took the time to step forward and volunteer on whatever she was planning, "Good," she moved Matsumoto near a wall and got into the place of her own for setup, "now, Akaza," she turned her spotlight onto me, "put your hand on the wall," I blinked with pure bemusement, "next to Matsumoto's head!" I then somewhat got the hang of what she was trying to order me to do; that being said, I slammed my hand into the wall and barely skimmed on Matsumoto's ear.

"Like this?" I asked and turned my head to her for a sign of approval but instead got yelled at.

"What are you doing!?"
"Eh?"
"Look down at her not me!" She sounded excited for God knows what reason, "Just pretend I'm not here, alright?" I dared not to respond and looked down at Matsumoto, who looked back up at me. Aren't I a bit too close? "Hold onto her chin!" I used my free hand to get a gentle grip on Matsumoto's chin, "Just like that!" I heard the snaps of the photos being taken but assumed that running away would make me fall into another trap of explosions, not to mention it taking much longer because of the commotion I would cause. Maybe I should give it my all just to get out of here quicker, I decided. "Bring your face in closer!" I did just that and got the sign of approval. How am I still here? Shouldn't I have just kept ranting on the nerve from- "Cuff your hand onto Matsumoto's cheek!" I obeyed. Maybe I shouldn't just ruin the mood for them like last time, I thought, otherwise it'd just be unfair. "Use both of your hands to pin her to the wall!" After all, they got Hanako and I together last night; well, not physically but if it weren't for them, then I don't think I would've even had a good time nor would I have ever lived through it, "Grab onto her shoulders!" I appreciate their help and all but just what is this even meant to do? What is it even meant to represent? What is it even meant to suggest? "Hips!" What is this now, I pondered, a biology lesson? I then checked to see how Matsumoto was doing and it took me a hot second to realise how close we were. Her eyes are just as pretty and glimmery as I imagined. It caused me to lean in closer. And closer. I had a gut feeling that our faces were just too close to one another. Was it worth the risk?

"Excuse the intrusion!" The door slammed open, which caused us all to come to a halt in our doings. I immediately turned my head to the side only to face a student I've never seen before until now. Nishigaki took the last awkward and out of place snap, whereas I'm not so sure on what Matsumoto was doing, I just couldn't tell, based on my focus being daunting on the newcomer, not to mention my senses coming back to me with just a flick of a thumb. The long and unawaited silence was dreadful to even experience. This is nothing compared to how the Amusement Club works. I could hear her breaths getting louder. I sighed as I noticed that she was about to make her getaway. "Sorry for-"

"Don't go anywhere," I spoke with no sign of embarrassment whatsoever and stepped back from Matsumoto, giving her personal bubble back, "if you go," I slowly and menacingly walked up to the pupil, "then the torture of being blown up will become a new nightmare for everyone to enjoy." Nothing but non-existent gibberish escaped her mouth, "You can only let loose," she almost made a run for it but I got a good firm grip on her shoulder, "You can only let loose," I repeated my last unfinished line as if I was a parrot, "if you erase this from your memory," I smiled with a shiny aura coming off of me, "understand?" I let go of her shoulder and let her run off after dropping the horrendous and unwanted smile. Hopefully, I thought, she got the message.

"Let's call it a wrap!"

"A wrap of explosions." I turned back to face Nishigaki, who seemed rather unfazed.

"Good job, you two!"

"She isn't listening."

"You're free to eat and do whatever you want, now!"

"At least try and make it convincing that you're totally not ignoring me."

"See you in the meeting!"

"The expression gives it away," I pointed out, "it's too forced." I then took a deep breath before letting it out and smiled secretly. I picked my bag up and excused myself out of the room. "Have a nice time being in a near death experience, Matsumoto-senpai." I warned Matsumoto and noticed that she was facing the opposite way before I closed the door behind me. Is she embarrassed that we both got caught in the act? I rubbed my chin as I walked away with wonder. Wait, I shook my head, that just sounds scandalous. Maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions, I thought, it's for the best. I then stop in my tracks and observe my surroundings. The students around me were just talking and having a good time with each other, eating with each other, trusting each other. I shook my head and continued walking without looking around. Good times always come to an end, no wonder why they're limited until it hits a certain point just to disappoint. The taste of even being around others makes me lose my appetite because of how everlasting such a relationship can uphold. Trusting one another leads to misunderstandings and trauma because of the ways they manipulate you into thinking and doing things that aren't as normal. Disappointing. Temporary. Trauma. The combination of sickness is all in there.

---

'Akaza, are you alive?' What kind of question is that, I questioned myself internally and tapped on the keyboard with one hand as I walked in a different set of clothing before getting a reply instantly. 'She's alive. :D' I tapped on the keyboard as I sweat dropped and finally made it to my destination. Now that felt long for a five minute walk, I thought, I wonder what they've been doing while I was gone. Hanako probably ordered pancakes after arriving. I assumed, Nishigaki and Matsumoto would also be there after Hanako, but would possibly be talking about inventions - explosive ones in fact. Maybe I shouldn't have taken my time with getting changed, I thought, maybe I shouldn't let them wait again. It gets lonely until company arrives. The feeling of loneliness is hard to overcome until trained to be at that exact point of getting used to it. And right as soon as I walked in, I spotted Matsumoto after our eyes met, causing me to walk up to her table and wave, "Thanks for waiting." I greeted her and was just about to sit down but was eventually stopped in doing so.

"Ah, it's Akari-chan!" I gave Kyoko a stink eye, "Yo!"

"What is someone like you doing here?" I asked severely as I secretly clenched my fist.

"To think of a name for our comedic duo, of course!" She gave off an irritating but cheery aura.

"We came here to study." I turned around just to see another person I knew.

"Explosives." Kyoko blurted out.

"Where did explosives come from?" Yui asked with genuine confusion.

"Yui." I caught Yui's attention and pointed at Nishigaki.

"Th… That makes sense." She sweat dropped.

"I seriously don't get it." Nishigaki told us with a convincing but not so convincing smile.

"You do get it." I told Nishigaki discreetly with a neutral expression.

"Anyways, how about we order something to eat?"

"She dodged the question."

"Kyoko, leave them be." Yui called out, "We still have studying to do."

"Alright," Kyoko slowly sat up and gradually made it to the seat of her own, "have a good kaboom!"

"Kaboom?" We all repeated amongst ourselves in unison.

"Haha," I mockingly laughed and sat down on the seat Kyoko sat from when I arrived, "very funny."

"Right?" She said with pride.

"I lied."

"Eh?" I felt Kyoko just stare at me with a fade of blue coming from her forehead as I turned to face the group on my table, instead of the duo aside from me, before finally noticing an entirely different face.

"Ah," my attention went from Nishigaki to the much petite girl sitting next to me, "you must be Hanako-san, if I recall correctly." A few seconds after saying that, I perked up and inspected her head to toe before rewinding it to toe to head, "Wait," we both said the same thing in unison, "it's you again!" I yelled as Hanako pointed at me before speaking.

"From the park!"

"Oh, so you've met each other before?" Nishigaki queried.

"This is so unexpected." Hanako stole the words from my mouth.

"I didn't expect this either." I looked at her as the feeling of excitement rushed through.

"Hanako never got to catch your name because of a certain someone." I sniggered at her truthful remark.

"But hey, that certain little someone isn't here this time, so we're free." She smiled back at me.

"You're right about that," she turned her upper body to face me as I did the exact same thing, "so, how has your day been?"

"Pretty normal, thanks for asking." I answered, "How about yourself?"

"Nothing special, thanks for asking." She then made eye contact with someone from behind me, from what I could see anyway, "And Hanako's assuming you know them?" The question made me turn my head to see the two people I've never met before, before making me instantly turn back at her.

"I guess you could say that." I wanted to frown but didn't because of another question being asked by Hanako.

"Hanako likes the new hairstyle." I looked at her as if I was fazed by the compliment, "It suits you really well."

"You think so?" She nodded.

"Ah, about that," Nishigaki started but Hanako got there first.

"Hanako was told that you would always have buns, just like from when we first met." She remarked.

"That so?" I tilted my head, "Well, I'm comfortable with my hair down, too, though."

"Are we even here!?" I heard Nishigaki yell out the question, making me turn to face her.

"Who are you?" Hanako and I asked in unison.

"What kind of response is that?" Nishigaki questioned rather straightforwardly before Matsumoto murmured something to her, causing her, Hanako and I to look at where Matsumoto was pointing.

"Seems like your friends have left, Akaza." I flinched at the unformidable remark and crossed my arms.

"Never once did I introduce myself and them as friends. If I did, then I wouldn't be here talking to you right now." The liveliness from before died down into nothing but close to a ghost town. I'm not interested in talking about friendships I was never in. It's too depressing. Way more depressing than killing the mood. I sighed. "Anyways, we assembled for a reason, right?" It took a hot second for Nishigaki to realise that I was staring at her but instead of saying anything, she looked at Hanako, who was sitting next to me, with a seemingly dense expression on her hopeless face. I then stared at Hanako and made our eyes meet once again. She also took a quick hot second to notice that we were placing the spotlight on Hanako herself and waved her hands slightly in the air quite erratically but nervously.

"Hanako doesn't think we need a reason." She spoke before turning her head to the side and muttering something inaudible under her breath.

"Ah, sorry," I apologised sullenly, "I didn't mean that."

"Huh?" Hanako looked back up at me, "Then what did you mean?" I improvised.

"Well, I dragged you out here, so…" My head drooped quite a bit.

"Oh, not at all!" Hanako said, "Hanako agreed to the invitation, so you technically didn't drag Hanako here."

"We're here, too, you know?" Nishigaki caught our attention once again, causing me to look up.

"Whom may you be?" Hanako and I asked in unison once again.

"What kind of question is that!?" Nishigaki queried. Matsumoto murmured to Nishigaki once more. "Ah, that's a good idea!" Her eyes sparkled, "Since we have nothing else to talk about, how about we overlook our project from earlier?"

"Project?"

"The project." I closed my eyes after Nishigaki said so.

"I politely refuse." I open my eyes just to see a hyped up Nishigaki with a camera, "Where did you get that from?"

"Want to see, Omuro?"

"What even is it?" Hanako queried back.

"Hanako-san," I attained Hanako's attention, "if you want to stay safe, then always check if Nishigaki-sensei's inventions and belongings aren't filled with explosives."

"Explosives!?"

"There are no explosives!" Nishigaki assured us both and Matsumoto murmured, "I swear there aren't any!" I inhaled deeply.

"Let's just get this over with." I leaned forward and held onto a menu nearby, "I'll look for something to eat."

"Killjoy." Nishigaki muttered under her breath and I heard it with ease.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Sure, it is." Matsumoto murmured, causing Nishigaki and I to jerk up and shout in unison, "We do not get along!" Matsumoto quietly snickered under her breath and murmured once more.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Nishigaki questioned with utter confusion.

"Don't compare us with people I don't know." I told them discreetly and scanned through the menu without finding anything appealing, causing me to put it back on its stand, "I've lost my appetite." I then sigh and exhale in relief after seeing a calm and collected Hanako overlooking the project of pictures before internally questioning myself about the project itself, and turned my head to face Nishigaki, "Nishigaki-sensei,"

"Hm, what is it?"

"About the project,"

"What about it?"

"Will this project be only for earlier,"

"Not at all."

"At least let me finish my sentence." I gave her a dead-panned glare.

"It's temporary for a week or so." Nishigaki put up her interrogative finger.

"Oh, woes, it's a countdown for our deaths of being exploded." I raised my hands slightly in the air as if I was surrendering, "Rest in peace to us, then, huh?"

"Of course not!" Matsumoto murmured to Nishigaki, "I know right? She always..." Matsumoto made her gradually stop from saying her sentence, "Oh, come on, not you, too!"

"Your formality points keep dropping." I pointed out.

"Now, what in the holy explosions are formality points!?"

"Um, Akaza-san?" Hanako managed to let the commotion drop dead on the spot, "Sorry, but Hanako has something important to do at home."

"Ah," I slid myself away and stood up from my seat, "that's understandable." We all watched Hanako bow at us before walking out the door, leaving us all in a deep abyss of nothingness and silence, "Maybe we were too rowdy for her to even cope." I theorised and then noticed the camera Nishigaki owned was now resting in Hanako's area.

---

'Don't worry, everyone, we'll be starting the second day of the project at 5 PM.' My eyebrow twitched at Nishigaki's announcement through a new email thread, which caused me to reply immediately and wait for a response without looking up from my phone. I sighed in relief after getting one after giving her a second to respond. 'I have my reasons.' The relief from earlier disappeared and awakened the opposite effect of relief, making me type back calmly but in reality, I typed my response out quickly and sent it before I got another reply. 'Just try and enjoy yourself, alright?' If only that were easy, I thought to myself as I looked up from the screen and watched a blonde turn pages after a few seconds or so, she must've forgotten, I gave myself a deadpan, books seem to be more interesting than a 'friend' who has no presence at all. I then turned my attention from the blonde, the bookworm, to a fangirling pink-headed jealous yangire wannabe rolling around on the floor like an idiot with both her and I's pillows. Life in the Amusement Club never changed and it'll always stay that way, even with just three members - never once will it see its fate until graduation. I decided to just face back down onto the phone screen just to witness a new reply. 'Akaza-kun,' the deadpan I wore on my face from earlier deepened, 'I'll make it up to you, I promise.' What did she just call me, I wondered and tapped on the keyboard before sending and lightly snickering under my breath from another response before mine. 'Did you just call Akaza-san 'Akaza-kun?'' Another email came through that responded to my question instead of Hanako's. 'I'll treat you to a meal.' I sent back my response before a black haired girl head chopped the blonde after yelling so loud for nothing and slid her reading book in her bag. Railroad Gourmet Serial Murders, I thought, sounds like a book she would read. My brain then clicked into remembering something rather futile but is mainly used for educational purposes, that being said, I put my phone one the table, grabbed my bag and pulled two books out, including my school equipment requirements before laying them out on the table. I felt a pair of eyes look down at me but I paid no attention to it and just reviewed the sums of questions. English, I thought, not the best but not the worst either. I sighed and picked my phone back up just to see another response from Nishigaki. 'Are you sure you're not into that?' I replied to her and requested something in addition to the email before sending it, but before I could even put the phone down and focus, another email was sent through, and it was from Hanako following alongside Rise's, and, of course, Nishigaki. In reverse chronological order, the majority of them had better things to do. 'The student council has some work to do, sadly, so I won't be much help. Sorry.' That's understandable, I thought. 'I am doing research for the project, so I don't have the free time to help.' Unnecessary attempt at understanding, I sweat dropped, it's not even a proper excuse. 'Hanako's free to help. Hanako's been studying English for whenever Hanako has the time to do so.' She really is a dependent girl, I smiled and replied back to her with a question. 'Oh, sure. Hanako can do that. I'll download it now.' I responded once again before closing the email tab just to scavenge for another app and open it. That was quick, I thought, did she only just download it just now?

Hanako Omuro

Hanako: Is it working?

Akari: It's working just fine.

Hanako: Great. What are you stuck on at the moment?

I lowered my phone from getting in my way of view, so I could reread what the question was before making my phone get up in front of me and my view once again.

Akari: I'd like some more coffee. I'm having trouble with the pronunciation.

Hanako: Oh? You wouldn't mind sending an example of you trying to pronounce it, would you?

Akari: Oh, sure.

I pressed and held the microphone button.

"I'd leake sumo moare cowfee." I released and pulled my finger away from the microphone icon and watched it send through. Then, out of nowhere, the blonde laughed.

"Your English is more broken than Yui's gaming disc!"

"Leave her be, English is hard." The black haired girl took a deep breath and let it out after perking up and beaming at the blonde with white triangle eyes, "Wait, Kyoko, you did what!?" The blonde then stood up from her spot as the black haired girl did so, too, running around the table with a maniac-like and endless laugh, "Get back here!" They both lead out of the tea club room after the two last slams of the door. How disappointing, I thought, though, it's not as surprising as others would hope for it to be. But even with that being said, I'm surprised myself for following their orders, following their way of fun and following their hearts for nothing but the opposite of understanding their feelings. I took a deep breath and let it out before noticing another message coming from Hanako.

Hanako: Your pronunciation isn't quite spot on, but at least you tried. ...φ(・∀・＊)

A sad smile plastered onto my face. At least I tried, I thought, at least I tried. A new message came from her, but instead of it being in a bubble with words, it showed a lot of wavy lines that came in and out of each other. I listened to it. Woah, my mouth gaped wide open, she's so fluent. I decided to try again after listening to her demonstration before pressing and holding onto the microphone icon.

"I'd likeh sumo moreh kohi." I released the icon and watched the voice recording send over to the other side.

Akari: It's not the best but I hope it's better than the other. You're too good. Too good to the point where it's impressive.

I waited for a response for a minute until she finally responded.

Hanako: Not at all! (^^ゞ Anyways, maybe I should've clarified on how some of the words work. I'll send an example by voice to make it more understandable. (✿◠‿◠)

Akari: Ah, take your time.

My sad smile turned into a much more meaningful one. She really is one reliable girl unlike her sister I never considered as a friend nor did I know her. Unlike other people I never knew either, she actually takes the time to examine and work it out just based on the test material, not to mention the time she's been provided with. If only there were more people like her, then the more reliable, the better, but, of course, this will never happen in the law of idiocracy. I sighed and jumped in surprise from the sudden vibration sending a shock and a slight shiver down my spine. I checked and saw a twenty second voice recording come my way.

Hanako: I hope it helps! ＼(^o^)／

I smiled once more and tapped on the play button. The twenty seconds of explanation was just so easy to understand, that it even motivated me to try and pronounce it one more time and hope that it goes well. She went over the most vital points of pronunciation and spelling; it really helps a lot. I decided that I just couldn't help but burst, so I pressed and held onto the microphone icon and spoke.

"I'd like some more cawfee." I released my finger from the icon once again before it was sent over to Hanako. Third time's the charm, I thought.

Hanako: You're so close! Just try saying coffee once again! (・∀・)

I reached for the icon once again and used my finger to hold on to it for the last time.

"Cawfee." I sent it with just the flick of the thumb.

Hanako: Try again. You'll get there! (≧∇≦)/

"Cawfee."

Hanako: Not quite. ^m^

"Cawfee."

Hanako: Give it another go, maybe? (・.・;)

"Cawfee." A depressing aura surrounded me as I deeply inhaled and exhaled after not getting another response from Hanako. Maybe I really am just a failure to her, I thought as I lowered my head, one simple word just won't get away with me. I then perk my head up after feeling the vibration of my phone hit through my hand. A voice recording? I tapped the sideways triangle icon.

"Gween tea." Her voice made me automatically get my hands on the microphone icon.

"I'd like some more cawfee."

"I'd like some more gween tea." I chuckled and, in addition, I placed another sorrowful smile as a replacement for my show of excitement. Even though I have trouble with the pronunciation, I thought she decided to be patient and cheer me up. I'm surprised but not so surprised at all. She's as considerate as I used to be. She has the audacity to have the patience and tolerance to get backfired with untolerated, not to mention unnecessary, behaviour from a sister of hers. Maybe it isn't so bad to feel the opposite of being alone for once in a while. After all, I had to deal with the unknown teenage girls I saw from earlier, who were nothing but trouble. Self centred, confused with their love interests, and last but not least, uncaring unless it involves them. I shook my head. No, I thought, they aren't relevant to me anymore. I pressed and held onto the microphone icon once more.

"I'd like some more cawfee." I let go of it and watched it send before receiving another voice recording from Hanako but I noticed that the second duration was slightly over the average of her saying. But even so, I paid no attention to it at all and tapped on the play button. I expected to hear the repeated phrase, that was until the rowdy few came back in the tea club room, one laughing her ass off, sounding like an absolute idiot, one chasing the other with a vulgar tone and, wait, never mind, there is no third person in the mix. I tried to at least catch a word of the audio, turned up the volume, but in the end, got nothing out of it because of how blaring the constant ringing around the rosie was. I couldn't help but look up from my phone and watch them in pure disgust. To this day, I still find it shocking that I even bothered with these mongrels. The cat, the dog and the bear. Sounds like an innocent title for a story. It even mentions the bear, who is possibly the strongest species of the three, but instead, the supposedly big and dangerous bear used to be in that state of keeping the dog and cat warm and safe with its fur whereas now, it's lost interest in doing so and became cold, but instead of making the dog and cat fear the bear, the bear flees in peace, not because it's scared but because of the significance of the two. And even with the bear gone, the dog and the cat still play with each other as if the bear was never in their lives in the first place, all as if they were living in their own fantasy of nothing but alone with no one else but each other - forgetting their one guardian that they could've kept with them but decided not to. Fairytales are full of positivity and love whereas this one is the opposite of it. It isn't shown to the naked eye but after the thundering lightning of reality hits home, that's when the fairytales' backstories of depression shows you a world of something grueling from within the thunderstorm. I looked back down at my phone to go through Hanako and I's messages, but I couldn't help but notice that the voice recording she sent from earlier wasn't there anymore. Did she delete it? If so, then why?

---

"Ah, welcome back, Akaza-kun." Nishigaki waved at me as I looked at her as if she was a stranger.

"Thanks," I replied, "I guess." Didn't she say this for the third time today, I questioned myself internally.

"We've been missing you." Nishigaki informed me as she indicated to me to take a look at Matsumoto, who had just closed her book and lowered her head. She murmured something inaudible that even I couldn't hear.

"Is there something wrong, Matsumoto-senpai?" I asked eagerly. She looked up at me and slightly opened her mouth.

"Oh, how we missed working on the project with you." Nishigaki butted in intentionally or unintentionally, but I'm not so sure, she's a random teacher after all, "We were looking forward to it, too." She continued, "We needed you," the briefest of pauses ended before it even came to an end, "bad." I felt irritated already because of how dramatic she sounded. I sighed.

"Are you the parrot they told me not to worry about?" I questioned and she stopped doing her weird desperate moves just to look at me cluelessly.

"What do you mean by that?" She tilted her head with pure wonder as a question mark popped out of her head.

"Didn't we go over this this morning and this afternoon?" I answered her back and she just gave me a sharp move of a thumbs up and a wink with a star in the other eye.

"Must be deja vu!" Her grin widened.

"Since when did deja vu get involved?" I sweat dropped.

"Just now!"

"I can see that." A dark purple aura crept up behind me but instead of it gobbling me up into a dark abyss, it pulled away from me for as slow as it could.

"Great," she folded her arms, turned her head to the side and I managed to see a much more scandalous smirk before she did so, "wait," she turned back to face me before pointing at me and shouting at the top of her lungs, "why did you ask such a question!?" In addition to my sweat dropping collection, she just sounded utterly stupid in this case.

"Why're you asking me that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged and kept the stance as is before looking at her deep in the eye, "do you know?" She rubbed her chin as I decided to drop the shrugging posture.

"Do I know?" She questioned herself, making me drop to the ground, "Do you know, Akaza-kun?" I stood back up on my two feet and stuck my finger at her as if I was scolding her.

"How am I supposed to know?" I questioned back and dropped back to the stance of neutralness, "You put that question on yourself." She looked at me with a blunt but a seemingly genuine smile.

"I did?" She tilted her head as I turned my head to the side. She made it rhetorical, I thought before feeling my phone vibrate from within the bag of my own, causing me to unzip the bag and take the phone out just to be greeted with a LINE notification shown on my lock screen. "Ah, is that Omuro Junior?"

"Yeah." I replied as a moment worth of silence cued in on us. Even Matsumoto felt the awkwardness and the typical line of Nishigaki herself being the most classic but not so classic teacher. Nishigaki being Nishigaki would be the quickest way to describe her natural doings, even if others found it a bit out of place and out of character. I'm just glad that not everyone, including the rest of the faculty staff, doesn't know who and how this woman really is. Well, I'm not so sure about that. I'll just pray that they don't know about it, which is rather unlikely. I shook my head and dismissed the nonsense before reading the message Hanako sent.

Hanako: I'm on the way now, and don't worry about me trying to figure out where the Nanamori Middle School is - Matsumoto-senpai made and gave me a map the other day. (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

Akari: Alright, stay safe out there and take your time. I'm honestly glad that it was from Matsumoto-senpai and not Nishigaki-sensei.

Hanako: I think I already know the reasons why. (・∀・｀；)

Akari: You just blew my mind.

Hanako: Are you trying to be a comedian this time? （；＿；）

Akari: Ah, I should've said 'no pun intended'.

I unconsciously sigh as Nishigaki peers over my shoulder out of curiosity. Too close, I thought and tried to get a glimpse of her reaction to the conversation Hanako and I just had. It was still ongoing, though, a response from Hanako herself was on hiatus - possibly because she's finding her way around things, or thinking of what to say. It's both one way or the other. I decided to let Nishigaki off the hook for being so nosy, even if it's invading personal space, not to mention being so prototypical with the way and how she acts around us. She really is a hedge for bears and a wall for pine trees.

"I don't get it." She said aloud, catching my attention, and before she could say anything else, I managed to cut her off.

"Break the words down and figure it out yourself."

"Eeh?" She whined as I sighed and turned to face Matsumoto, who was patiently waiting and watching us squabble. She muttered something to us, but Nishigaki was too focused on figuring out what Hanako and I were talking about from the get-go.

"I can't agree with you any more." I told her as she quietly chuckled to herself, making me smile with relief. I turned my head to the side, Nishigaki really needs to give her happiness to us somehow, but not because she's a tad bit, no, predominantly random and out of her head. I'm still surprised she hasn't been fired yet.

"I still don't get it." Nishigaki lamented and probably lost most of her sanity - just based on her and the scruffiness she's adding to her appearance.

"Is it really not that obvious?" I put my phone on the table and used both of my hands to symbolise an X with my fingers.

"What are you doing?" Nishigaki inquired before turning to Matsumoto for the sake of her aid, "Do you know what she's doing?" Matsumoto nodded and I managed to get a good view on her lips. Her grin widened from before. That's great to see.

"I have my doubts." I remarked before dropping the out of the blue pose. A lull ensued in doing so.
"She's out of her head." Nishigaki slumped her back forward, head slightly up and pointed at me as she made eye contact with Matsumoto.

"If you think that's the case for me, then you sure are talking about yourself, huh?" I teased.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Nishigaki turned her attention back onto me with a completely different mood from a couple of seconds ago, leading me into letting out a little smirk, "Answer me!" My grin widened just like Matsumoto's.

"Kismet really is something, huh," I turned to Matsumoto, "Matsumoto?" She chuckled once again and nodded.

"I don't understand." Nishigaki said once more, "None of you make sense."

"Neither do you."

"Thanks for waiting." Hanako slid the door open gently and not so carelessly in comparison to Nishigaki from before.

"You got here pretty quick, huh?" Hanako nodded at me, "Wait," I felt everyone's eyes place onto me, "how did you manage to get here undetected by the students of Nanamori?"

"Such a silly question, Akaza-kun." Nishigaki butted in, "Omuro Junior is small enough to-" I barely managed to chop her forehead with my hand from below.

"Height has nothing to do with it." I gave her a death glare, "Don't treat her like a mouse." I complained sternly like a shrew.

"Are you sure you're not trying to become a comedian duo?" Hanako debriefed after going through the feasible task of having to get here without being spotted and investigated with an interview, well, to her anyway.

"Of course not." I retorted and remained calm for the most of it before coming back to my senses that never even left in the first place, "Anyways," I started, "we're here for the Nishigaki project, correct?"

"Ah, yes," Nishigaki prodded me dead on my shoulder, "Operation:" I cut her off before she said anything else.

"Explosion?"

"No."

"TNT?"

"No."

"An explosive invention to blow the whole school up into smithereens?"

"No." She groaned, "You know what project!" She thrusted her finger up and through the air, which actually addressed to me specifically, "The project of-" I was just about to cut her off, but, instead, was cut off by Hanako.

"Being a wing woman?" Hanako tilted her head. How does she even know what that means, I wondered with pure curiosity mixing within my mixed emotions of worry and concern.

"A what?" Nishigaki turned to Hanako with that same old smile of glee but it could've practically been an actual face of concern, too.

"She's spot on, you know?" I discerned before Matsumoto whispered a couple of words for the three of us all to hear, "Ah, you're right."

"We are pretty much wasting time here after all." Hanako chimed in with the party of agreement.

"That being said," Nishigaki pulled out the same camera, she had used the couple of days before, benevolently for the first time in her life, "we should get this started!"

"Wait," Hanako then got the spotlight turned on her, "how does it work?"

"You'll see." Nishigaki answered before pointing at an office chair Matsumoto was sitting on, "Sit over there as you please." Hanako opened her mouth, "You'll just be watching for the time being." Hanako closed her mouth. I suspired deeply before exhaling.

"Then what was the point of even dragging her along here if she's only going to watch and do absolutely nothing?" I suspected that Nishigaki was just more overly focusing on the real deal and not the actual point of Hanako being there or not. She rubbed her chin on the spot before leading it into a cue of nothing but utter silence, only just to come up with an answer of brushing it off with just a shrug. "You're hopeless." Matsumoto muttered once more, "Ah, that sounds like a good idea. Hanako," I turned my attention onto Hanako, who seemed like she was taken aback from her name being called, "are you fine with getting involved?" She must be improvising, I assumed, "You don't have to if you don't want to." Hanako slightly fidgeted, looking for an answer.

"I refuse to let Hanako join in!" Nishigaki attained our attention just by yelling.

"Then what was the point of dragging her along?" I asked as Nishigaki had one of those interrogative fingers stuck up in the air, but instead of responding to my question, she kept her pose going and stood like that for quite some time, all while we watched in the places of our own. Matsumoto, watching from the other side of the room and being comfortable in her personal chair, Nishigaki, sticking her nose and finger in the air as if she was giving us a lecture of some sort, and lastly, Hanako and I, staring at Nishigaki with a straight and strong deadpan. What is this, I thought, another mannequin challenge, but this time, I'm getting involved in it? But before I could even say anymore, Nishigaki made her move.

"Anyways," she stood upright without movement, "let's just," she turned her whole body to one side with zero effort, "get a move on." She started walking to the centre of the room so much like a robot, that it even convinced me that she was one herself and not an actual human - the same also goes for Matsumoto if I had to be honest. I glimpsed over at Hanako for her answer she was potentially trying to find from earlier, but even with all the time she was given to think about it, she shook her head and gave me an apologetic smile.

"Are you sure?" She nodded, "Whatever works with you." I smiled back at her to hopefully cheer her up.

"Are we starting or what?" I could feel the energy building up inside of Nishigaki from here, "We're wasting time, aren't we?"

"Pass that energy to me, why don't you?" I said, sarcastically.

Matsumoto murmured and chuckled before we did.

---

"Ah, Akaza-kun," Nishigaki saluted as I entered the room, "good evening once again," she lowered her arm and said, "You're pretty late than usual."

"Good evening," I greeted her back and closed the door behind me, "I was given a lecture from the teacher about something completely random." I then looked over to Matsumoto, who was sitting in her respective seat, relaxing, "Good evening, Matsumoto-senpai." She murmured back with a smile but, of course, Nishigaki decided to ruin the moment.

"Miss us already?" Nishigaki asked with such a playful tone, not to mention having the smug duck lips.

"I made an oath to myself to not miss you in the slightest of inches." I replied with a straight face but didn't take my eyes off of Matsumoto in the process of doing so.

"So mean!" Nishigaki complained like an elementary school student. Back to her old ways, huh, I thought, well, this has always been her way; there was never an old way for Nishigaki at all. I then snapped out of my thoughts on my own and observed the room.

"Where's Hanako-san?" I solicited aloud for an answer and looked at her.

"Ah," it seemed like Nishigaki came back to her senses of being in agony from the cause of grief, "she didn't say anything about having any plans."

"I see…" I folded my arms and looked down at the ground before jerking up just to face Nishigaki once more, "Wait," I caught Nishigaki's attention before she could even leave her forsaken thoughts of Hanako not being able to participate nor be in our sight, specifically mine, "did you even try emailing her?" Nishigaki didn't respond for a second or two and winked with a hand to her forehead, not to mention having her tongue stuck out.

"Teehee!"

"You're hopeless." I sighed and exhaled before taking my phone out of my bag, unlocked it, tapped on an application and lastly but not least, tapped on Hanako's name. Her last message for me was last night - nothing out of the ordinary really. I stalled for quite a while and thought of a way to at least try and catch her attention, that being said, I used both of my hands to type on the keyboard.

Akari: Hanako-san, are you busy for the day? If not, then why don't you come over?

I stopped my finger from even trying to get hands on the arrow. My eyebrows furrowed as I felt a pair of eyes or two barely daunt over me. My thumb immediately headed over to the backspace button only just to press and hold onto it until the whole message was erased, and, once again, unconsciously typed out what came to mind.

Akari: Where are you?

I shook my head and deleted every single word of it before retrying. Third time's the charm, I thought.

Akari: Are you busy? If so, then that's understandable.

I erased my traces of wording. Never mind, I thought, it's not a really polite way to approach her, I stared at the screen, it also sounds a bit too pushy.

"Raging at a game," Nishigaki bumped into my word of thoughts, "or are you trying to be a comedian for Omuro Junior's sake?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, straightforwardly with no interest.

"You really are a weirdo." Nishigaki inhaled and exhaled, crossed her arms with a seemingly disappointed facial expression.

"The only weirdo here is you." I dead-panned.

"You're right about that!" Nishigaki placed both of her hands on her hips with pride and cued in silence as I attempted to improvise with just the flicks of the thumbs, "Wait," she only just realised it now, I thought, "what!?" Matsumoto muttered with a chuckle, "That's not true!"

Akari: Were we too hectic? Did we leave you out unintentionally? Did you have any plans for the day without informing us? If so, then that's completely fine with me - since it's pretty understandable. Please message me back after reading. I just want to know how you're doing and where you are, or whether you're busy or not.

I let my thumbs rest from being abused because of the phone's keyboard and ultimately abused the backspace button once again before sighing in frustration, just to find myself sliding the phone back in my bag. Matsumoto murmured a question.

"We aren't starting without the required member." I remarked sternly as I turned around, pushed Nishigaki to the side without giving any sign of hostility of trying to harm her and slid the door open, "Don't be like those who attend the Amusement Club or whatever it's named as." I exited the room and closed the door behind me once again just to find myself running down and across the hallway. Don't be like them. Don't go your way for the sake of your own fun. Satisfaction cannot be passed onto others with just the interests of your own. Being blinded with the interests you love is just like an excuse to forget about the reality we're actually in and what not. Consideration may just be a word but the more you experience and return the favour, that one word will have its own meaning because of the actions you've taken to get that far into winning over the understanding of feeling. At least the confusion isn't so hard to gain nor leave behind. I gritted my teeth as I increased my sprinting speed. I won't make Hanako suffer the same way I did.

I checked her favourite arcade. I checked the restaurant we always used to go to. I even checked her school but in result, got absolutely nothing. No sight of her anywhere. Looking elsewhere would just put me back into the hole of square one. Think. Think. Think! I kept running up and down and across the neighbourhood as my brain fried during the process of trying to keep up with the stamina I have been provided, not to metaphorically state out the fact that the muscles in my limbs were being dragged down by the force of a boulder of some sort. I huffed and puffed as I ran past plenty of bystanders who just minded their own business, all while my heart was pounding from within, I could feel its stress of being able to keep up as I did so, too. The throbbing of the headache soon died down, but just even in the slightest for myself to finally reach out to my thoughts. My eyes widened as my sprint continued into the small park behind the school of Nanamori. The two tall but not so tall vending machines passed alongside me as the marathon carried on, but even if that was all I could get in my sight from the pressure of focusing on one objective, a second worth of flicker clicked in and burned through my vision. Don't stop. Don't fall. Don't feel weak and numb. Break one of those rules and the outcome becomes a much nastier result. Don't cry. Don't rewind time. Don't recall. Breaking one of these rules will lead to a sin of unforgiving and endless grief. Don't take it. Don't just stand there. Don't watch hopelessly. One of these rules will just be a war cry for forgiveness once broken, but why? Doing absolutely nothing leads it to that? How disappointing. How futile. How unsurprising. The rulebook will be digging deeper in the eyes of those who burned it into the vision of their own. I'm glad. I'm glad that Hanako hasn't seen it through. If she had, then I wouldn't have been who I am now to this unforsaken day. I suffered. She won't. I wailed. She didn't. I failed. She can't. I know she can't. If I know, she knows. That is, in my perspective, anyway. But even so, I hope she at least feels the same way.

"Excuse the intrusion!" I opened the door in front of me, which was unlocked, and impolitely stomped to the other door following into another room before slamming the door open, "Hanako-san," I yelled, "are you here!?" I gasped for air for as long as I could after noticing Hanako sitting on the sofa with a remote in hand. She slowly turned her head my way as I was still suffering from heavy breathing of recovery.

"A-Akaza-san!?" She perked up after a few moments of realisation, "What are you doing here?" I managed to catch my final breath of recovery and slid the door behind me shut gently than earlier.

"I could be asking you the same thing." I somewhat barely managed to keep the deep breaths of pain inside with breathing in and out of my nose. She lowered her arm and lowered her head at the same time. Silence fell between the two of us for quite a while before I decided to even break it in the first place. "Did something happen while I was gone?" I queried and slowly started to walk up to her. She shook her head as I could easily see the face of another emotion that even I didn't expect from such an ordinary but smart child. "Are you sure?" I stood in front of the sofa, but instead of looking down at her I aimed for the spot next to her. I set my pair of eyes on her before she gave me a nod in return, making me let myself sit next to her with ease. I normally would have expected another normal conversation for us to enjoy but, instead, felt awkward with the avoidance of eye contact, not to mention the silence from earlier endlessly running and keeping up with the whole gist of it. I came here for a reason, I thought before breaking the silence for another countless time, "Is there a reason why you couldn't come to the third day of Nishigaki-senpai's nonsense of a project?" I gave her a moment to reply but got nothing in return, "I won't judge you," I reassured, "you know?" She looked up at me with an expression of wonder as her mouth was slightly agape. I stared back with a gentle smile as a much more warm moment of silence erupted between the both of us. I waited patiently for her to give me a calming response and a reassuring smile. Even though I felt like that was the case for a scenario like this, her eyebrows furrowed as she placed another new emotion of determination for the first time - from what I've witnessed over the days anyway.

"Um," she even had the tone of determination buried within her voice, "this may be a weird question to ask," she continued as I patiently stalled for an answer, "but..." I could tell that she was feeling intense, since I felt it, too, "are you dating Matsumoto-sama?" She interrogated me as if she were a mother suspecting her daughter to spit out the truth on if she's in a relationship with some boy or not, which honestly caught me off guard with the out of the blue question. Though I felt way more dumbfounded than willing to answer the most unexpected question of all, I remained calm and had a little moment of thinking to myself and within my small personal bubble - which Hanako respected.

"No," I spoke as the tables turned on her face of determination, rubbing off of her just for it to trade onto mine as if it were a type of game, "I'm not." She opened her mouth, "Matsumoto-senpai and I were forced to do such shameless things from Nishigaki-sensei," I mentioned, which caused her to close her mouth before sighing and exhaling with a sound of relief, "as you witnessed the scene of torture the other day." She smiled at me warmly as I returned it with a much brighter aura surrounding me, which immediately made me switch it off by facing the opposite way.

"Akaza-san," Hanako called out from behind, "is there something wrong?" I turned her way and shook my head.

"It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

"If you say so." Hanako leaned back into the sofa with comfort and ease as she stared at the ceiling watching us from above, causing me to almost do the same exact thing - just without the leaning back addition to it, "You should smile more," my eyes decided to focus back onto Hanako, "you know?"

"But why?"

"It's cute and it can make someone's day." I felt my face heat up a bit.

"That's not true."

"It is," I opened my mouth to respond to her false statement, but was interrupted by her comeback backfiring onto me, "in Hanako's eyes." I took a deep breath and let it out before sticking my nose up in the air to get a good view on the plain ceiling once again.

"What makes you think that?" I asked with pure wonder.

"What do you mean?"

"As in, why would a smile like that catch someone's attention and level their happiness up?"

"Well, there's a saying we have."

"A saying?" I tilted my head just to find myself staring at her once again. She nodded.

"A smile a day keeps the ghouls away." The ghouls, I thought as she turned my way, too.

"I've never heard that saying before." I remarked, "But even so," I continued, "breaking it down would give it a whole new meaning."

"Really?" I nodded and lowered my head before closing my eyes.

"The ghouls drag you down deeper and deeper from surface to the interior. Ghouls are the dark ghosts of pain and agony." I opened my eyes and slanted forward just to clasp my hands together as I looked dead into the eye of a muted television, "The ghouls are too strong to be overtaken by the angels. The angels are the saviors of the weak and are too hopeless to carry on, all while an archfiend or two drag you down even more away from the place full of hope and safety." I tensed up, "The angels were meant to be the smile of joy and glee, but instead, it confuses the naked eye and makes you feel betrayed. Doubts gush in like a clout. The more they mount, the more you count. You hear the shout and then the scout. Replacement. Forsaken. Forgotten. Futile." My face scrunched up, "It's just a bunch of lies."

"Uh,"

"The lies originate from the world we continue to live in."

"Akaza-san?"

"Honestly, it's like having a gun being pointed to your head,"

"Akaza-san?"

"But instead, it's the stupidity you hold from inside doing the job for you."

"Ak… Akaza-san…?"

"The lies always hide behind the puny mask everyone suffocates themselves in."

"Akaza-san...!"

"We're honestly nothing but dolls being toyed with and from others without realising it because of how dense we really are."

"Akaza-san!"
"Eh?" My face rested itself as I heard Hanako beside me take a deep breath in.

"Akari-sama!" Hanako raised her voice even more as intended and sat there as I did so, too, completely dumbfounded, "Akaza-sama," she jerked up with a strong hint of realisation showing up on her face, "Akaza-san!" I shut my mouth after it was agape before opening it once again.

"I hear you." I replied with a clear claim of assurance and the room fell silent after doing so. The only audible sound I could hear was my ears ringing loudly, even if I was focusing on Hanako herself and nothing else. Hanako then turned her head to the side as I could easily see her face flush red. I could feel the heat from here possibly because I always have the same comeback of an emotion. I decided to try and end her agony of potential embarrassment somehow but nothing would come out. Improvising didn't really help me one single bit nor did my brain want to cooperate with me. Scrambled words managed to cross my mind before heading off in and out of my mouth. "Don't worry about it," Hanako faced me once again, still with the fading blush from earlier, "it happens." I reassured her.

"Hanako didn't mean to."

"As I said before, it happens." I smiled at her warmly.

"Hanako knows that," she continued with a light hint of nervousness buried from within her voice, "though, Nishigaki-sensei calls you Akaza-kun," she stood up and walked in front of me, "but even so," she then kneeled down and curled up into a ball, "Hanako's sorry for the disrespect Hanako has given you."

"Huh," I blinked, "there's nothing wrong with it at all."

"But…" She sat up as I cut her off.

"I actually find it nice to be called that," my grin widened itself, "besides, it shows how close you think you are with me."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "Are you sure you don't mind it, Hanako means." She clarified as I nodded.

"It just caught me off guard is all." I explained, "Nothing special at all." She then stood up from the floor and looked down at me.

"Well, if that's the case, then you have Hanako's permission to call Hanako whatever you want."

"Hanako-sama." I saw her take a step back with a shocked expression slapping onto her face, "How's that?" We both had a staring contest for a while, but in reality, I had already lost it.

"How did you know?!"

"Know what?" I questioned with genuine confusion.

"My friends call Hanako that at school! Wait, no," she managed to calm her movements down but not her emotions, "the whole school calls Hanako that."

"You must be popular, then." I remarked as I watched her slowly turn into a tomato, "I bet everyone wants to be your friend there."

"Just where did this positivity come from?"

"From me," I pointed at myself before pointing at her, "to you."

"But weren't you just ranting on the angels and ghouls earlier?" I chuckled lightly.

"I must be a ghoul, then. Whereas you are-" I got cut off in return.

"The angel?"

"Correct." I winked, "And don't even excuse that fact, alright?" She nodded slowly. What am I saying, I questioned myself as I internally screamed for help, not to mention the embarrassment I had to hide from behind the scenes. "Hanabi."

"Hanabi?" She repeated what I said with utter confusion.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Hanabi. Do you like that name?" She folded her arms and fell deep in thought to herself internally before giving me a nod of approval, making me show relief.

"Hanabi reminds Hanako of the festivals we have." Hanabi smiled to herself warmly.

"Speaking of festivals," I butted in unconsciously without care and thought, "why don't we go to one in the future?" Her eyes lit up.

"That sounds like a good idea, Hanako approves." I smiled back at her with glee and stood up from the sofa.

"So, shall we get going?" I slightly slanted my head to the side with the same grin from a few seconds ago, "We don't want to keep them waiting now, do we?" Hanabi blinked frequently at me, and even I could see the question marks form around her face from here and there before fading. I opened my mouth.

"Oh, you mean Nishigaki-sensei and Matsumoto-sama?" I nodded at her correct guess before rotating to my side and protruded my left hand out the side.

"Shall we get going," I spoke as I uncontrollably grinned to myself, "Hanabi?"

---

"Sorry for the wait," I excused myself after sliding the door open, "we got sidetracked." I was about to close the door behind me, after Hanabi managed to let herself in the room, when all of a sudden, Nishigaki put me on a halt.

"Don't even worry about it!" Nishigaki yelled with such enthusiasm that even I wasn't so fazed by it.

"Why not?" I asked with pure confusion.

"We'll be cancelling the project for today." Nishigaki gave us both a bright smile, but I could instantly tell it wasn't the normal smile she would normally place up on her face.

"Did something happen while we were gone?" Hanabi queried, "Were you so bored and blew Matsumoto up, that you even banged your head against the wall?"

"Not at all," Nishigaki scratched her head, "well," she turned her head to the side and mumbled the inaudible before turning her head and attention back this way, which is our way. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that, I thought.

"Anyways,"

"She recovered quickly." I sweat dropped.

"She sure did." Hanabi also sweat dropped alongside me.

"To make up for the inconvenience,"

"What inconvenience?" My sweat drops doubled as the same happened to Hanabi.

"The simple solution is to solve the problem now."

"I've decided," Nishigaki continued, "to treat you all to a meal." Silence crept inside of the room and it gradually broke, "If that's OK with you, of course." Another moment worth of silence killed us all before it broke once more.

"A meal." I repeated as Nishigaki did the same and nodded proudly with her arms crossed

"A meal."

"What kind of replacement is that?" Hanabi quizzed Nishigaki after giving me a speechless stare just to pass it onto Nishigaki herself.

"It's not a replacement," Nishigaki turned to Matsumoto, who was just listening in and sitting on the same chair and desk from earlier, "right, Matsumoto?" Matsumoto muttered and chuckled, "Hey," Nishigaki started whining once again, "you're supposed to be on my side!"

"Since when did 'sides' get involved?" I questioned, straightforwardly as Hanabi did so, too.

"What's this?" Hanabi turned her head to face me, "Matsumoto-senpai stole your role of being a comedian partner with Nishigaki-sensei?"

"What!?" Nishigaki's attention pinpointed on us.

"How unexpected." Hanabi said, sarcastically.

"Very unexpected indeed." I also spoke as if I didn't care.

"Don't play along with her!" Nishigaki begged before Matsumoto whispered more words and laughed to herself quietly as we did so, too.

"Alright," I killed the mood of laughter and felt three pairs of eyes barely daunt over me, "that's enough bullying for the day."

"Huh?" Nishigaki looked at me as if I was crazy, "Really?" I nodded.

"That's very generous of you, Akari-sama."

"That's very bold of you," the spotlight of mine hovered over Hanabi immediately, "Hanabi." We both stared deep into each other's eyes.

"Woah," Nishigaki sounded taken aback, "woah," she continued, "woah," she then pointed at us, causing me to look at her, out of curiosity, "what's with…" She stuttered, "were you two always this close." She shook her head and rubbed her eyes before settling herself to stay comfortable, "What's with the weird nicknames?"

"What's the fuss about?" Hanabi and I spoke in sync before another hit of silence came to us. And after it had unfolded for quite some time, I watched Nishigaki stick her finger up in the air as if she was interrogating someone.

"You two are…" she slanted to one side before slanting to the other with ease but seemed like she was having back problems, "weirdos!" Stars of sparkles surrounded her as Hanabi and I sweat dropped.

"A weirdo calling others weirdos, huh?" Hanabi faced me.

"It's like a stupid person calling another individual that they're stupid." I replied with another rotation of a movement.

"What are you talking about!?" Nishigaki snapped as I sighed and exhaled on the spot.

"Nothing." Hanabi lied.

"Can we just get this over with? The restaurant's waiting for us, you know?" I mentioned, making everyone in the room change their focus.

"Aka-" I cut Nishigaki off.

"Nishigaki-sensei will be paying." Nishigaki paused and caused us to also pause in place before making a reaction.

"Why?!"

"You offered this treat to us."

"I did?!" She then rubbed her chin, "Did I?" A vein then popped out of my forehead.

"Don't play dumb with me." I watched her shiver to the core from my not so intimidating expression.

"Y...Yes ma'am."

"It looks like Akari-sama got her role as a comedian partner back." Hanabi remarked.

"That'll never happen." I said, straightforwardly as Nishigaki almost mastered it, too.

"I won't make it happen."

"So keep dreaming the impossible." We both spoke in unison as we, too, sounded dead inside, "The impossible never reduces to the possible anyway."

"Right…" Hanabi had sweat trickle down her cheek from the potentially unexpected response, "So," she managed to make things less awkward, "are we going to go or what?"

"Ah," Nishigaki and I came back to our senses before getting ready to leave, "come on, Matsumoto!" Matsumoto murmured and followed along as Nishigaki locked the door behind us after doing so. And just after a split second of Nishigaki catching up from behind, I turned my attention to Matsumoto before walking alongside Hanabi.

"Say, Matsumoto-senpai," she looked at me with wonder as we continued our relaxing stroll, "what do you think of Sakurako anyway? I'm curious." She blinked at me twice before giving me a long but short stare of confusion before muttering her answer. At least she isn't ignoring me, I thought as I responded back at the unexpected response for the sake of Sakurako. Maybe I haven't been doing a good job. I'm being too unfair on myself and others now, aren't I? But even so, I'm glad she's still smiling. "Oh, right," I turned to Hanabi, "speaking of Sakurako, how is she doing? The usual?" Just the four of us together is enough, but… I attempted to give Nishigaki, who was behind us, the spotlight from me. It feels like I've been with them for more than over a decade. "Nishigaki-sensei, you really need to catch up, you know?" Nishigaki laughed and jogged over alongside us, "You're the one who brought this up, you know?"

"I'll bear that in mind."

"So you never did in the first place?" I sweat-dropped. It's as if we were soulmates from the very beginning but didn't see it coming, I shook my head, that can't be the case, I thought, it's too coincidental for something like this to happen.

"Akaza-kun?"

"What is it?"

"What would you like for a meal?" Nishigaki asked me with a relaxed smile plastered on her face, "Omuro Junior,"

"Just what's with you and odd nicknames?" Hanabi asked with a deadpan as Nishigaki continued.

"Went with pancakes from the restaurant we went to before," I nodded as an indication that I was catching her sayings, "Matsumoto went with the choice of going to the local tea cafe." Doesn't the restaurant also provide that, I thought before opening my mouth after realising that Nishigaki didn't say anymore.

"What about you?"

"Me?" She pointed at herself with pure and utter wonder. I nodded as she dropped her raised arm to the side. "Well, I'm the one paying, so…"

"Well, you do have a point there." I then turned my attention to Matsumoto and Hanabi to get their reaction but, instead, got a promising stare back, that probably read along the lines of something the opposite of what I had just thought, "I mean, Hanabi's the only option we have, if I had to be honest." Matsumoto murmured with a lowered head, "I mean, they have tea there, if I'm not mistaken." Matsumoto mumbled once again, "How about this?" She raised her head and looked at me, "I'll make it up to you after, OK?" I watched her frown slowly uprise itself, "I'll even walk you home whilst I have the time." She nodded at me and continued walking as we all did so, too, before I placed Hanabi back into the spotlight of mine, "Say, Hanabi," Hanabi jerked up on the spot and stared, "what would you prefer? Pancakes or something healthy?" Maybe I shouldn't give myself the pressure. From what I've learnt, pressure gives the following person a misfortune of a negative outcome. I don't want to be one of those. I want to have a positive outcome of something much more. Something genuine.

"It depends on what type of healthy foods it is." Hanabi explained, "That way, the answer of mine would be more debatable, but as for now," we finally freed ourselves from the school building and kept walking from the exit, "the answer would be pancakes."

"You sure do love your pancakes, huh?" I said, mockingly as Hanabi nodded at me before I faced Matsumoto, "What about you, Matsumoto-senpai?" The pressure of mine isn't the only thing. Consideration is the only word that kept me going. It would be selfish of me to loosen up a bit too much, or even worse, be like them. Matsumoto muttered. "That's Matsumoto-senpai for you." I said with pride, "Honestly, I love the differences between the both of us four." I muttered to myself aloud and turned my eyes onto Nishigaki, "What about you, Nishigaki-sensei?" Nishigaki rubbed her chin, "Explosions are your favourite food? How predictable."

"Of course that's not the case!"

"Just messing with you." I didn't feel like chuckling at this point, "Anyways, what do you really want for a paid meal of your own?" She thought to herself for a small moment before giving me a look of her potential find for an answer.

"A hamburger steak sounds nice." She smiled to herself as she spoke. What a nice sight to see, I thought to myself and observed the four of us altogether. Matsumoto and Hanabi were having a conversation for once - what a refreshing sight to witness - Nishigaki drooling over the thoughts of food… probably. And lastly, me, the observer of the group, I guess? I then sweat dropped to myself. Why does it make me think of us as a small family instead of a small group of 'friends' I guess. I frowned to myself as if my thoughts deepened into something rather different, which it did. Though, if we did consider our group of four as a family, then I wonder who would play the roles of parenting and siblings. I raised an eyebrow at myself with utter confusion, which practically looked like the expression of disgust. My mind then clicked. Wait, I thought, didn't she just give out a random answer? I sighed and exhaled to myself before smiling. Typical Nishigaki, I thought once again, she obviously didn't listen and only goes for whatever comes to mind, which I can oddly relate to.

"Speaking of food," Nishigaki snapped me out of my thoughts, "what would you like, Akaza-kun?" She queried before saying more, "Whilst we're on the topic anyway." I internally thought to myself for a split second before shrugging at her cluelessly.

"I guess it depends on what there is." I remarked, "I don't really go there that much nor do I bother with even trying to remember the menu." She sweat dropped.

"I guess that's fair…?" She told me with a strong hint of uncertainty, causing me to raise an eyebrow once again but instead of it being a rather disgusted type of frown, it turned out to be a bemused looking one - from what I could feel and imagine anyway. What else am I supposed to think of, I questioned myself internally, am I like an expectational robot that's supposed to just remember everything based on a skim and scan? It's not so surprising, not to me anyway, it is what we're expected to do. "Akaza-kun?" Nishigaki interrupted my rant of thoughts once again, and before she could even say anything, I cut her off as a repayment to cutting the thoughts of my own off.

"I'll make my choice once we get there."

"Alrighty, then." She nodded at me and faced forwards as we continued our walk. After an awkward silence erupting between the both of us with the only sound of source coming from a conversation next to me, I decided to take a deep breath in and out before opening my mouth and facing Nishigaki's calm and collected face - something you don't see everyday.

"Nishigaki-sensei,"

"Hm?" She turned my way as I did so, too, but even if I thought I was mentally prepared, I sure wasn't, just based on the staring contest we're currently having - not what I intended to do in the first place. She opened her mouth, immediately causing me to make my move.

"Do you think we're like a family of some sort?" I asked rather quickly without a moment's hesitation and left my forceful smile up on my lips for quite a while, slowly fading into the color of white. I felt, not only one pair, but a couple pairs of eyes daunting on me. And it was at this time that I knew, I messed up. "Forget I said anything."

---

"Hello?"

"Sorry to call you out of nowhere."

"Don't worry about it." The receiver on the other end waited for a response from the other and broke the silence of their own, "So what did you want to talk about?" Another brief pause erupted between the two, "You noticed it, too, right?" The caller's eyes widened slightly, "Is this what it's all about?" The caller sighed and exhaled loudly into the phone before staring out into the abyss of darkness.

"I guess you could say that." The caller broke the silence of her own, "But that's not the point."

"Then what is?" Another brief pause daunted over the caller coming from the receiver, "What is the point?"

"It," the caller gritted her teeth before continuing, "it feels different."

"What feels different?" The question crossed the caller's mind as the receiver on the other end awaited her response patiently. The caller did nothing but stand there, touching the cold glass as drips of rain attached itself on it from the other side.

"It feels like we're missing something." The tables turned over having the receiver stay quiet for a while before responding.

"I get what you mean." The receiver's reply left them both in silence once again as the caller had her phone up against her ear.

"It's been too long," the caller mentioned, "don't you think?" The receiver had some time to herself without distraction.

"Indeed it has."

"Are you even fazed by this?"

"Of course I am," the receiver wasted no time after the question came out, "if I wasn't, then I would have dodged the topic we're on right now." The caller's eyes widened even more with her mouth agape, causing another brief pause to bump into the two of them, and before the caller could even say anything else, the receiver prevented her from doing so, "I'm surprised that you're the only one who noticed."

"Huh?"

"I mean," the receiver cleared her throat, "from what I've seen from you," the receiver paused for a moment before continuing, "well," the caller received an eyebrow, "you're the unexpected."

"The unexpected?"

"Yes," the receiver repeated, "the unexpected."

"How so?"

"My answer doesn't matter whilst yours does."

"What?"

"There's only one cause," the receiver didn't sound like her normal self as she spoke into the caller's ear, "meaning that there's only one solution." The caller silenced herself and tightened her grip on the phone.

"It's been too long." The caller retorted.

"I understand." The receiver's voice somewhat and somehow managed to at least relieve the frustration the receiver could hear from the caller, "I'll think of something."

---

"It's already that time, huh?" I over-exaggerated with my somewhat curious question as I observed my surroundings of the blooming and bright area we were perching in.

"Time really does go by when you're having fun." Hanabi said as she and I admired the view.

"Right?" I shut myself up and blew on the steaming tea I had poured in a little while ago before taking a sip. Now this is relaxing, I thought as I felt weight come off from both my shoulders, much more quiet than normal, I smiled to myself and watched a pink petal slowly make its way onto my tea and floated on the spot, well, aren't I lucky? Rise murmured something to me, making me respond back. "Of course," my smile widened itself as I spoke, "it's like getting rid of all of my worries." She smiled back at me. It's very rare to get such a warm moment like this, I thought to myself gratefully, I'm glad. I then heard a somewhat muffled giggle from behind Rise.

"Marvellous." I heard a click, "This is what we all need in life!" I sweat-dropped along with Hanabi and Rise, from what I could feel.

"Do you mind?!" I reprimanded as Hanabi chimed in, too.

"We're trying to have a good time here!" Rise muttered once again in a sound of disappointment, which I can totally relate to, so I can't really blame her for that, if I had to be honest.

"These are my new life savings!"

"She's not listening."

"Typical Nishigaki-sensei." I tutted as I shook my head in utter disappointment.

"Just what can we do without her?" Hanabi sarcastically spoke as she raised her arms in the air as if she were shrugging but surrendering at the same time. Rise whispered the answer and made us chuckle.

"She's not wrong." I placed my teacup on top of its tea plate and let out a small sigh, "Well," Rise and Hanabi looked at me as if I was scheming, "if she's happy, then I'm fine with it." I watched the radiation of their gleeful smiles creep up onto their faces.

"Then we are, too." Hanabi looked up at the swaying cherry blossoms as our hair followed along with the flow of the wind brushing past us.

"We could do this all day," I said to myself out loud, "if we could."

"If only that were possible." Hanabi sighed in relief and in agreement. We all, excluding one, shut ourselves up and decided to appreciate the beauty of the view we were overlooking from below. Finally, I thought, an event that isn't so chaotic, not to mention dramatic, I quietly sniggered to myself, I should really learn how to stop ranting, even internally. I let myself off the hook of moaning like a cat of some sort who always runs after attention, which I give myself in the end anyway. I then felt a large ball of fluff fall onto my legs, immediately giving me the sense of being a bit too curious, and having to suppress my urges to look down only just to see a face of Hanabi. She gave me a rather nervous smile (from what I could see) as I gave her a positive look. But before I could do or say anything, I got greeted by a tap on the shoulder from a certain someone.

"Is there something wrong," I turned my head slightly to my side to the other just to find the source of where her quiet muttering came from, "Rise?" She had just finished her line, but I didn't really focus on what she said, so my smile went from hopeful to tense, "Sorry," I apologised, "but I didn't get that." I scratched my head as I continued, "Please repeat what you were trying to say." Rise repeated the explanation of murmuring from earlier without a single hint of being annoyed because of me, "A camping trip, huh?" Both of my eyebrows raised themselves in surprise, "I mean, I don't mind," Rise's eyes sparkled, "but I'll have to figure out my schedule, you know?" She nodded in understanding, which relieved me at least a bit in the slightest, "But what will we be doing on the trip?" She looked at me cluelessly before giving me another murmur of question, "I mean, it'll only just be the four of us." she blinked and whispered another response of explanation, causing my eyebrows to furrow, which changed the mood instantly, just based on the look on her face, "I have other plans." She muttered, "I'm not going." She grabbed onto my shoulders and murmured once more, "I wouldn't mind if it was just us four," her grip tightened, "but with them?" I shook my head violently, "You can go, but I definitely won't." I said, straightforwardly. Rise murmured desperately. What kind of talk have you gone through with them, I pondered, if anything, it's more like a futile trip. The loud clicking from behind had already stopped, leading into utter silence between our group of four, whilst the only source of sound came from the people of admiration also doing the same thing of what we were just doing before the small outburst occurred.

"Akaza-kun," I didn't dare move as a fleeting pause swiftly came and went, "I set this up."

"Why?"

"Because," I had a feeling that she raised an interrogative finger, "because," her enthusiasm started to gradually die down, "because…" She trailed off into muttering and silenced herself.

"Because Nishigaki-sensei wants you to have fun." Hanabi remarked.
"I'll only have fun with you three," I retorted, "just not them." Another moment worth of silence erupted between us.

"Since when were you the type to pick favourites?" Nishigaki sniggered and attempted to muffle it, "That's not so Akaza-kun-like now," she continued on with her tease, "isn't it?" I slowly turned my attention onto her and beamed into her eyes, that went from cocky-happy to the face of finding out that her explosives had been hidden away from her - probably. Rise murmured once again. "Sorry," Nishigaki gradually kneeled upright, "I'll stop now." She then jerked her head up instantly after lowering it, "But hey," we all stared at her with a deadpan, "we can still have fun, right?" I shook my head vigorously once again and looked away.

"Not happening." I retorted once again, "We've talked about this." Nishigaki chuckled to herself anxiously. Out of words, I thought. Rise mumbled but I didn't bother with listening and kept my attention on the cherry blossoms instead as if I were star-gazing.

"I'll be going." Hanabi mentioned, "It'll be lonely without you, though." I silenced myself as she did so, too.

"That so?" I asked.

"Yes." Hanabi reassured me softly but determinedly, causing me to sigh and exhale as I was colliding in with my thoughts. For a night and a whole day, I thought, they won't be here. They've had little interactions with them from what I can remember. Do I have plans? I pondered and nothing came to mind, no, I do not, I wondered to myself once again, can I create plans? No, I cannot. There's nothing I can do. My sister might have a lecture and will be busy with other plans, I ranted.

"Akaza-sama?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked down at Hanabi, who was still resting her head on my lap in a comfortable state, "You don't have any change of plans, do you?" I took a deep breath and let it out before viewing the cherry blossoms from above, causing our scene to lay quiet and still as the pink petals waved around like a feather and landed safely on the ground. I opened my mouth.

"I give in." A set of eyes all landed on me, "I don't have anything else to do, really." Three versus one isn't going to settle it, I thought.

"Really?" Hanabi asked me with uncertainty written all over her face as I nodded.

"Yes, really." Rise's murmur came in cue, "Only just to get it over with."

"That was a quick recovery from disagreement." Nishigaki pointed out.

"Well, if you're all going and begging me to join in," I explained, "then fine. I'm completely fine with that," they all looked at one another and smiled, "however," their pair of eyes gave me the spotlight once again, "I won't be doing anymore projects in the near future as you planned," Nishigaki jerked up as if she was taken aback, "since you tricked us into doing the other project of yours over more than one week." Nishigaki struggled to think of words and stuttered in the process.

"I…" Nishigaki finally started speaking a proper and real language for once, "I went overboard, OK?"

"We already knew that." Hanabi and I said in unison as Rise muttered along with us.

"And don't even bother with making up excuses." Nishigaki briefly sat there on the spot before laughing to herself and scratching her head as she endlessly sweated. I smiled to myself. Well, I thought, if I'm at least with Hanabi and the others, Nishigaki and Rise specifically, then I guess it wouldn't hurt; after all, I've never met the huge group that Rise's talking about in the first place anyway - gives me another excuse to ignore them.

"Ah," Hanabi interrupted my thoughts unintentionally, "our tea's getting cold." She sat up and picked up the cup of her own as Rise did so, too, motivating me into getting my cup of tea. And just when I saw it, it was buried with a pile of pink petals, which came from the cherry blossoms.

"Akaza-kun," Nishigaki pointed at my cup of petal tea, "just what happened within our few minutes of talking?"

"Beats me," I sighed and exhaled before chuckling to myself lightly, "I really have lost my luck after all, huh?" Rise whispered to me, giving me a let out of a snicker to occur once again, "Do you think death awaits me?" I jokingly questioned the three with a smile, but with an uninterested sounding voice tone.

"Looks like projects that relate with 'proper' inventions will have to wait, then," Hanabi tagged along, "huh?" Nishigaki perked up with shock once again.

"It appears so." I played along for the sake of teasing Nishigaki for the first time in a while. Glad it didn't go overkill, I thought as I smirked in relief before a question crossed my mind. "Ah," I turned my attention back onto the potential schemers, "question," I watched as they all looked at me and blinked, "just when is this trip and where is it being held?" The trio looked amongst themselves before nodding.

---

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, sighed and exhaled in relief and slumped onto the sofa nearby. That took longer than expected, I thought, probably the lack of motivation, I theorised as I closed my eyes, will it really be worth it? I heard a rather soft and muffled thud from the hallway, which made me open my eyes as a voice followed in with the muffling.

"I'm home!" My sister opened the living room door, looked to her left before looking to her right just to see me lazily sink into the sofa I had just collapsed onto.

"Welcome back." I exhaustingly greeted her with an attempt of being enthusiastic, which failed ultimately into making me sound like a sarcastic and uncaring person - probably. I watched her overlook my small but heavy backpack and gave me the spotlight of her view, which didn't really bother me.

"What's this for," she pointed at the luggage, "I wonder?" I sat up and let a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

"It's for tonight." I explained with little detail as she tilted her head with pure wonder, "They've," I stopped myself for a brief moment before continuing, "we've planned a camping trip for the night." She looked at me as if she were taken aback.

"A set up camping trip?" She queried, "All of a sudden?" She continued, "I thought you didn't have any plans with anyone."

"That's what I thought, too." I shrugged in disappointment, "I guess plans don't always remain the same," I ranted, "not even after such a long time of doing the same exact thing." I shook my head and dropped my previous stance and stood up from my spot as she watched in the process of doing so, "I'm going off to take a walk, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course not," she kept her dear smile up on her face, "just stay safe out there, OK?" I nodded in assurement and walked up to the door that linked to the hallway next door, but I left the room and left the door open in my hands.

"Oh, by the way," I caught her attention, "did you have your lecture," she jerked up as if she were taken aback once again, "or did you go out to buy a few things?" I asked after noticing her holding a white plastic bag, that looks like it's full of things. She swiftly got her phone out of nowhere and gasped in terror. There's my answer, I thought as I watched her go all panicky and ran around the house like a lunatic, sorting out her purchased items, boiling the kettle before bursting into the living room once again, a sister that is the speed of light is more fitting for her if I had to be honest.

"Feel free to make yourself some tea!"

"Sure," I replied unwillingly, "thanks."

"See you tonight!" She hopped out of the room.

"Stay safe out there." I waved at the door and heard the front door slam shut. But I won't be here, I thought as I sweat dropped, then again, she is in a rush after all. I stood up from my seating spot and casually walked out of the living room just to enter the vicinity of the kitchen before getting a hold of the kettle, taking it off of the hob and putting the fire to rest. I'm not in the mood for tea, I thought as I sorted the equipment out, but thank you anyway. My way of moving around too much made me stretch after doing so, and let go of the stance I was holding for a second or two. What is there to do, I pondered, what is there to do to kill time? I repeatedly questioned myself internally and got no answer in response, causing me to sigh and exhale on the spot. "Guess I'll just go on a walk, then." Hanabi would probably still be packing things up with Sakurako, not to mention dealing with her, I thought as I settled myself and walked out of the kitchen, making my way down the hallway once again, what a downer. I bent down forward, grabbed one shoe, and ultimately stopped in the process of doing so. I turned my head to face the opposite direction of the door. Maybe after a bath, I thought.

---

"Hanako," Nadeshiko called out to her younger sister, "bath's ready." She opened a door that led into the living room and dried her hair with a towel in the process of doing so just to witness a flustered Hanako throw her phone on the sofa and brush past Nadeshiko's refreshed body. The scene caused an eyebrow to raise itself from Nadeshiko herself, made her drape the towel over her shoulder, after vigorously drying her hair, walked over to the sofa Hanako was sitting on earlier, but ran away from, only just to pick the girl's phone up and see the most recent notification of a message pop up in front of her face. The curious got the best of her as she, an intellectual, tapped on the notification, unlocked through the password and checked it out just to find the eyes of her own widened.

---

"Stay safe out there."

"OK!" Mari assured her relative's temporary farewell.

"And don't forget about the little reminder in your bag."

"OK!" Mari reassured Yui's reminder once again, "I'll be off now." Mari waved at Yui as she did so, too, before leaving the house and closing the door behind her gently.

"See you later." Yui sighed and exhaled to herself in relief before looking up at the ceiling sullenly before muttering herself a question, and as for the other side of the door, Mari stared at the gloomy and cloudy atmosphere from above, thinking to herself internally, and slowly trailed off.

---

"And I'm done," Himawari wiped the sweat off of her forehead and deeply let in and out a deep breath of relief, "for now."

"Onee-chan," Kaede called out to her older sister,

"Hm?" Himawari turned her attention onto her younger sister.

"I've finished packing my things up." Himawari smiled.

"That's great," Himawari gradually managed to pick herself up from the floor and bent down to give Kaede a prideful pat on the head, "would you like something to eat before we go," Himawari queried, "or do you want to wait until we have something to eat at the camp later on?" Kaede smiled at her sister.

"I'll wait."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Himawari lightly sniggered to herself.

"Whatever works with you," she blurted out deliberately, "it'll work with me." Kaede's grin widened itself before dropping. Himawari noticed this immediately. "Is there something wrong?" Kaede fidgeted on the spot, twirling her fingers around the other endlessly before talking her thoughts out, "Do you think..."

---

"Nee-san," Chizuru caught a calm and collected, not to mention relaxed, Chitose's attention, "I'm ready."

"That's nice," Chitose smiled at the younger sister of her own, "good job." A brief moment of silence somehow caught up between the two twin sisters, "I have everything I need, too."

"That's nice, too." Chizuru replied with a sweatdrop. 'Isn't the bag a bit too big and heavy-looking?' Chizuru questions herself internally about her own sister's way of taking trips.

"Oh, and by the way," Chitose caught Chizuru's attention in return as she stood at the bedroom door, "make sure to have fun with everyone," Chitose's innocent smile still stayed, "and I mean everyone." She repeated with delight but with a slightly different tone than she would normally have. Chizuru felt a shiver down her spine. "Alright?" The daunting atmosphere reversed back into normal as Chitose tilted head positioned upright, "I'll be on my way to a small meeting," She mentioned, bringing Chizuru back into reality, "I'll be there, OK?"

"OK."

"Great."

"Take care."

"You, too."

---

"T-Toshino Kyoko," Ayano spoke into the phone as a lazy sounding Kyoko on the other end replied without a single hint of enthusiasm.

"Oh, Ayano, what's up?"

"You sound tired." Ayano pointed out the obvious, "Did you even sleep last night?"

"Of course not."

"I expected that from you." Ayano muttered to herself.

"What did you say?" Kyoko questioned with a genuine question popping out of her head, "I didn't catch that."

"It was nothing," Ayano sighed and exhaled on the spot, "forget I said anything."

"So, what does Ayano want from me this time?"

"Why are you acting like I'm dragging myself for your sake when it's the opposite?"

"I don't understand a single thing you're saying."

'There she goes again.' Ayano thought to herself.

"Just what did you call me for?" Kyoko complained.

"Did you forget?"

"Forget what?"

"The camping trip." And the next thing Ayano hears is a screaming Kyoko with a lot of ruckus coming from the other end, "You definitely forgot."

"I was just reading manga!"

"There's no use in making excuses at a time like this." Ayano spoke rather straightforwardly, "But wait, before you hang up,"

"Mhm?" Kyoko hummed playfully in a melody.

"Do you think..."

---

"Are we all ready, Matsumoto?" Nishigaki asked one of her calm and collected students after sliding the window down from her van. Rise nodded before muttering once again. "Oh," Nishigaki gave Rise a look as if she were crazy, "this is nothing, really." Rise tilted her head, "A car's a car." Rise theorised quietly, "Yep, you got that right." Rise sighed and exhaled, which, in the end, gave her a light chuckle to go along with it, murmuring once more after doing so, "Good question," Nishigaki cluelessly protruded her interrogative finger out once more, "I don't know." She then moved her arm to one side and opened her hand, "We either have a lot of people to take for the trip," she repeated the same process with the other arm, "or we have just us four altogether." Rise ended Nishigaki's supposed theorising by continuing what Nishigaki was about to follow on with a mutter, "I know right?!" Nishigaki comedically sighed and exhaled in relief as she shrugged, "At least it won't be as cramped," she then gestured a finger gun or two at Rise, "right?" Rise let out a deep sigh but didn't really mind it at all, and as she did so, it led to a rather awkward silence between the two of them, "Say, Matsumoto," Nishigaki attained Rise's attention calmly, "do you think..."

---

I lazily slumped back into a bench nearby after a brief stroll of getting to a park of some sort. The waves of fresh air brushed onto and past me as I let myself have a good view of the clear ocean sky. I can't even tell if I'm on the surface or in that one situation where the world's point of view turned upside down. And even after a supposedly refreshing bath, I still didn't feel as loose as I was meant to be.

"Huh," I heard a small voice reach to me as I somehow managed to snap out of my forsaken thoughts, "Akari onee-san."

"Ma..." I tilted my head in pure wonder, "ri...?" I assumed with uncertainty and attempted to get a proper look on who the girl may be after an eye squint or two, which then led to her giving me a somewhat sullen look in return.

"You're right, it's me." Mari clarified, "Can I sit next to you?" I stayed silent for quite a while before responding.

"Sure, why not." She walked up to the bench I was sitting on and jumped onto it before settling herself in with ease, "So," I turned my head to face her as she did so, too, "what brings you here?" We both asked each other in unison, leading our conversation into an innocent quarrel of who'll talk first, which continued for a few minutes or so. I slumped my head forward in defeat.

"Fine," I raised my head up once again to see a much happier Mari, "you win." I let out a smile, too before starting a proper conversation we've never had until now, "You must be brave to go out alone." I remarked, "Did someone train you?" She nodded in approval.

"Yes, onee-chan taught me to go on errands alone."

"That's great to know." At least she's doing something productive for once, I thought, not that I care, "But wait," she tilted her head in wonder, "wouldn't she be gone by then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't she have to do 'other things'?" She jerked her head up, possibly indicating that she understood what I was talking about.

"Oh, no." She shook her head and chuckled rather lightly, "I'm coming with her." My eyebrows both raised themselves with surprise.

"Really?" She nodded. I didn't think she'd bring a child in a potentially dangerous direction, which could have a turn of events out of nowhere, I ranted to myself internally, though, I'm not so surprised. My eyebrows went from raised to furrowed in just a tick. It's either laziness or slavery, possibly both, but what do I know?

"Kaede-chan will be coming, too." I blinked frequently, taking a small moment to think about what Mari had just said. Extra people means more chaos, I thought.

"That so?" She gave me a polite grunt of approval in return.

"I bet it'll be fun!" Mari remarked with nothing but utter excitement.

"Looking forward to it." I replied sarcastically as I took out my phone and went over Hanabi's way of getting in contact with her after noticing the time and that she wastes no time.

Akari: I'm assuming you're all ready and packed up? Σʕ-᷅ᴥ-᷄๑ʔ

I started my way of passing time by stalling at the phone screen for a brief moment before getting a response in return.

Hanabi: Indeed I am. Just having fun with Kaede before we head off to the van. (ノ＞ൠ＜ )ノ

I smiled forcefully at the screen. A van, I thought and snapped out of it instantly after realising that Hanabi had sent a picture to go along with her response, which caused the force of a discombobulated expression to eventually fade away as the photo showed me what Hanabi was up to without words. Hanabi taking an innocent selfie with Kaede in a house - probably her own or another's.

Akari: Glad you're having fun. I hope this'll be worth it, or else. ʅʕ•ᴥ•ʔʃ

Hanabi: I'm sure it will. (((o(*ﾟൠﾟ*)o)))

I then got a new notification out of nowhere, and tapped it out of habit before reading the quick and simple location without explanation. I raised an eyebrow and decided to go along with it, but gradually managed to snap out of my inner thoughts of bemusement from catching Mari from the corner of my eye, who was alongside me.

"Ah, sorry," I apologised with a straight face and without sympathy, "don't you have an errand to go to?" She perked up in shock as if she had also just remembered it but with such a stronger reaction than mine.

"You're right!" She hopped off the bench as I did so, too.

"Well, then, I'll see you at the camp," I said before mumbling to myself, "I guess."

"See you later!" She ran the way she came from as I went the opposite way.

"Stay safe." I then sighed and exhaled to myself. One way to make farewells less awkward, I thought to myself as I sweat dropped, is to take things into a much smarter way, and what I mean by that is go the opposite way as planned, I scratched my head, I was meant to go the way she was going, but I guess there's going to have to be a change of plan - as expected.

---

Fortunately enough for me, I managed to find numerous ways of getting there without bumping into Mari once again, that being said, I took the easiest route I could find and made it to the location I was set to be in, letting me have the deepest and biggest sigh I could ever have and receive to absolutely nobody. I went through the automatic door openers and looked around the restaurant itself as I slowly walked around a lane of tables just for someone to catch my attention from afar.

"Akaza-san," a girl of the same age as me waved, "there you are!" She then gestured and indicated a want to come over to her, "Come here, come here." She tilted her head in delight as I just stood there, watching dumbfounded, "I would like to talk to you." I sat still, not moving at all, hesitating to walk over, but since there was no way out, I tutted to myself in defeat before forcing myself to the girl. I should've checked the name first, I thought to myself as I sat myself down on the opposite side of the table, where I could face her face to face properly.

"You needed something?" I asked sternly after swiftly settling myself in the somewhat comfortable chair. She nodded at me innocently with the normal smile she barely forces.

"It's just," she started before giving us a brief pause, "I haven't gotten to see you in a while and decided to talk with you."

"Everyone else is busy," I beamed at her, "aren't they?" Her smile never fell as she nodded once more.

"Correct." Can't you just wait it out like you normally do, I internally questioned myself with the same frown, from before, which occasionally deepened and did the opposite from time to time.

"Well, make it quick," I sharply demanded, "I don't have any interest in getting involved with you."

"Practically you do." Ikeda clasped her hands together and tilted her head as if nothing was wrong, "If you didn't, then you wouldn't have come over as told in the email I sent you." I looked away and tutted to myself. I can't tell her that I didn't read the sender's name, I thought. "Not to mention that you came over as requested by me, you know?" How scary, I thought as a drip of sweat dribbled down from my cheek, I never thought she'd be this scary, especially for an innocent looking supposed angel I would normally name her - probably. She snickered. "Don't worry about it." She assured me unconvincingly, "I mean no harm." It sure doesn't seem like it, I thought.

"Just what do you want from me anyway?" I asked, straightforwardly with a strong message of disinterest. She rubbed her chin. Didn't think of a reason, huh, I thought.

"I just wanted to talk to you," she claimed, "that's all."

"About what, though?" She stayed quiet for a moment before opening her mouth.

"Anything really," she answered before pouting - what a rare sight to see, "is that too hard to ask for?" Scary, I thought as another drip of sweat slid down my cheek, Ikeda's scary.

"Not really." My voice almost trembled.

"Well, then," Ikeda plastered her normal and innocent smile once again, "how have you been all this time?"

"Living the life without the rest of you." I replied, coldly.

"Fair enough." Ikeda took a sip of tea she had probably ordered a while ago, "Though, I guess you're not the only one." I opened my mouth before closing it, not knowing what to say, "Living the life without you is a different story."

"How so?" She looked at me with the same-stuck smile.

"One is living the life without you, but in a different way," she explained, "whereas another is not living the life either," I raised an eyebrow in utter confusion of what kind of message she was trying to potentially give off, "and one of them is talking to you right now." She revealed the answer fairly quickly, I thought.

"Sorry for not being able to be in your life twenty-four-seven," I sarcastically surrendered and raised my hands in the air, but before I could say anymore, she placed a finger on my lips with a smile.

"Hopes," she remarked, "Hope's looking out for you."

"Hopes…?" I said softly with uncertainty after she removed her finger from my personal space as she nodded.

"Hopes."

"I don't get you."

"Nor do I." Ikeda's response backfired out of nowhere, "It's not like we're connected."

"We have the mindsets of our own." She nodded in agreement.

"We aren't one of all to judge," I cut her off.

"Since we're all in the same space." What is this, I pondered, a chanting rant? And after finishing that final thought of confusion, she let out a yelp and downed her tea as if it were nothing and stood up from her seat.

"I didn't think such a conversation would take up so much time." She remarked with a light hint of either panic or surprise, or even both.

"I'll be off, too, then." I stood up from my seat before muttering something under my breath, "Off to hell."

---

"Now what did I just get myself into?" I murmured under my breath as I overviewed the white van in front of me - top to bottom.

"Oi, Akaza-kun," Nishigaki called out, "you comin' in or what?"

"What happened to your accent?"

"C'mon, ain't we wasting time?"

"What is this? A race?" Nishigaki beamed at me with a deadpan, "Fine." I forced myself into the van and sat on the seat next to her, "So, I'm assuming that Hanabi is with her sister?" Nishigaki shook her head and started the car up.

"She's with Matsumoto at the back."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Nishigaki didn't reply but looked at me with a smile, "What?" She shook her head.

"It's nothing." She then pushed her foot on the accelerator as she fiddled with the gears and wheel at the same time.

"I request a safe driving."

"Are you doubting my driving skills?" Nishigaki asked me as if she were taken aback but couldn't really show it due to her focus on the road.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." She chuckled.

"You really are one interesting girl." Where did that come from, I wondered as my lips unsealed themselves to ask the same thing.

"Where did that come from?" She snickered once again.

"Don't look much into it."

"Are you feeling alright?" This is weird, I thought as a drip of sweat ran down my cheek.

"Of course," she claimed, "so don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say." I figured dismissing would be the best option to go for, since it would be pointless if we kept going into a loop of making progress or going back to square one for every topic we think of. But even with the avoidment of conversating, she decides to make one up anyway.

"You know," I turned my view away from the window just to face Nishigaki next to me, "you have more worth than you think you do." I opened my mouth and closed it once again, "You see yourself as someone different, don't you?" She paused for a brief moment before continuing, "I'll take that as a no, then. Anyways," she dismissed her own question, "you may think that the presence Akari once had was once here, and it is. You're the one who's been leaving Akari behind. Akari loved her friends no matter what. Akaza-kun forgot them and left them out to rot, and she thinks they deserve it - Akari doesn't. Akari had fun, even if Akaza-kun told her that it wasn't worth the fuss. Akari lacked the presence of hers because of how many friends she has, and finally, Akaza-kun. Akaza-kun isn't the one lacking Akari's presence, but she's draining her out and reversing the process with them." Just what is she blabbering on about, I pondered in pure confusion as I turned my attention back onto the outside world from the window, "It's affected Akari greatly," she continued and paused, "and she's not the only one."

"What do you mean by that?" She then, out of nowhere, inhaled and exhaled.

"Akari would have already known the answer by now."

I didn't bother responding.

"Took you all long enough to get here." Nishigaki complained in a joking manner as she was leaning on the van and crossing her arms as if she were awaiting for an important meeting with no one in particular.

"I'm assuming you all took the bus and such?" Hanabi theorised as everyone nodded.

"Yes, we did."

"See? I told you!" Sakurako butted in as Hanabi sweat-dropped.

"What did you tell me?"

"How did you forget?! So much for a younger sister."

"Whatever you're trying to say will always be the opposite." Himawari bumped into Sakurako's self-fame, "You're not as reliable as you think you are."

"What was that?!" Sakurako 'menacingly' walked up to Himawari.

"I said," she pulled her interrogative finger up, but instead of letting the squabble happen right in front of our eyes, I decided to break it up.

"Shut up, you're getting on my nerves." They dared not to say anymore and looked at one another before coming back to their senses, making them line up as if they were soldiers prepping up for something big, "It's not that hard to reject your beliefs, not in my case anyway." Silence erupted between the whole crowd of us before Rise came from behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder just to whisper to me, causing me to tut, "Fine."

"Sorry about that." Nishigaki apologised to take over for Rise as she forced a smile, "Oh, and by the way," everyone turned their attention onto her, "do any of you have a tent?" Wind blew past us, giving us an awkward breeze we didn't ask for.

"I'm taking that as a no." I broke the silence and turned around, "Guess it's best to go home."

"Actually, Chizuru and I do." Ikeda's voice could be heard from behind, causing me to stop in my tracks and let out a big sigh, "Sorry, my brain took a while to process." She explained, casually. My ass, I internally screamed. "It will be a little bit cramped, though."

"Oh, don't even worry about it!" Sugiara then butted in as if a miracle happened, "The student council never stays unprepared!" She chimed in as I heard a small but loud thud from behind, daring not to turn around.

"Except for one thing." Ikeda remarked but didn't specify, making everyone give her a look of visible confusion as I barely flinched.

"Nee-san?!" Chizuru called out in shock before silence daunted over them once again just for Ikdea to break it as if it were nothing - as expected from her.

"Anyways, how about we start setting off?" Ikeda mentioned with the same feeling of a smile from before, "Sounds good?" Everyone then nodded in agreement as I was turning around to see their clueless faces of the remark she had made. I guess it's safe to say that they really are nothing but pure deep in their heads. Well, except for the Ikeda sisters. Those two really are a mystery.

"Well, then," Nishigaki then butted in, "I'll be off now." She then stood upright before explaining why as she walked up to the driver's door, "I have a lot of work to do, you know?"

"Uh, huh." I sarcastically responded and nodded slowly.

"Boss's orders." She opened the door.

"Take me with you."

"Like hell I will." She scolded me with a deadpan and settled herself into her driver's seat before starting the van up.

"I'm not so surprised." I told myself aloud, sighed and exhaled before turning around to only get Rise and Hanabi back in view, "So, shall we go?" They both looked at each other, blinked and nodded at each other before turning back to me once again. Rise nodded and whispered.

"Sure, but where to?" Hanabi asked, making me rub my chin for quite a while before finally figuring out what the best thing for me to do was.

"Well, getting the taste and feeling nature sounds nice," I suggested, "but if you aren't so interested, then that's fine." Rise muttered as she waved her arms in reassurance.

"It sounded like something you would do." Hanabi mentioned, "That being said, I would love to!" She smiled, causing a bright and sunshine-like aura to surround her.

"Are you sure you aren't saying that for the sake of my satisfaction?" She shook her head.

"Of course not." She claimed, "And I'm sure Rise-sama would say the same exact thing." Rise nodded in agreement.

"Well, if it works with you, let's go elsewhere quiet."

"Sure thing!" Hanabi turned around to face the forest as Rise did so, too, murmuring her positivity over to me in the process, "Lead the way." I'm not sure whether I should be concerned or happy for her, I thought as I did what she requested, something just doesn't feel right. She's been way too cheery for her own good. Not that I'm complaining. It's not like it's a bad thing to keep her smiling, but something feels like it's not unintentional.

"Aren't we far enough?" Hanabi remarked, snapping me out of my thoughts and making me check how far we had already gotten. I shook my head after realising that they were setting their tents right next to the area they were settling in.

"Let's find a much more peaceful place elsewhere." I said as I continued our stroll of searching for a good place to settle in ourselves. Just when I thought a time like this would be the best with having to deal with peace, I complained to myself internally, only just to find out that I was dragged out here for an unknown reason. Regardless of not knowing what it is, it's starting to link up. I then snapped out of the thoughts of my own with ease after realising that the cheers and yelling had died down from afar. Now that walk felt longer than intended, I thought and observed the trees from below, seeking for the perfect tree.

"Ah, are you looking for a tree like that?" Hanabi pointed at a tree from a few yards away, which had a fat arm of bark protruding out of it. Rise murmured a theory of it's stability, and I agreed.

"It looks strong enough to hold the three of us." I remarked as I walked up to the seemingly stable tree and climbed up onto the protruding arm with ease, "That felt way too easy to be my first time in years."

"That was your first time," Hanabi shouted in disbelief for no apparent reason as Rise murmured in slight shock herself, "in a while?!"

"Pretty much, yes," I replied and turned around, utterly bemused by their reactions, "So…" Their reactions changed into as if they were being interrogated for no reason whatsoever, "can you climb up, or do you need a hand?" I offered my hand to the first one who would grab onto it if they needed it, and the first one was Hanabi - that was after convincing Hanabi herself to come to me for help by Rise. She really is generous, I thought and pulled Hanabi up and waited until she was fully settled on my left side. "Rise," I protruded the hand of my own to reach out to her, "would you like a hand, too?" She attempted to reach out for my hand but looked reluctant from doing so, "Is there something wrong?" She waved her arms around and tried to reassure me that everything was OK with quiet but audible sayings before actually holding onto my hand for the sake of making life much easier with doing an over-complicated task. She muttered her thanks after settling herself on my right side - as I managed to turn around on the rough bark by temporarily standing up before fixing my position of seating.

"It's pretty out." Hanabi remarked as the wind continued to brush past us with ease, causing our hair to sway in the breeze. I nodded in agreement as Rise did the same.

"It's peaceful." I then remarked, reminding them the real reason why I had dragged them out here, "It's so peaceful, that I can even hear the sea from here." They both stayed quiet as I closed my eyes with focus. A brief moment of silence didn't bother me at all. This isn't so bad, I thought, though I didn't expect them to get into it. I should've done this with them more often. It would've honestly made life so much easier with meditation. Just seeing the bright blue sky daunting over us gives off a feeling of the sea itself. It's like the sky was the sea the whole time - not that I'm complaining.

"You're right," Hanabi bursted through the silence without causing a commotion for us, "you can hear it as if it were in your ear." Rise then added onto her short feeling of imagining the sea from afar with a murmur.

"I used to do that all the time." I replied, calmly, "It was fun whilst it lasted," I continued, "but it was relaxing either way."

"I wish I had the time to do it," Hanabi added, "but with my sister around, it's just too embarrassing to go through."

"I see why." I sighed and exhaled, loosening up my chest from the stress I had as Rise snickered, indicating agreement, "But whilst we're here, why not make the most of it?" Hanabi herself then chuckled and turned to me after I did with a look of confusion written all over my face.

"I should be telling you that." I stuttered and dismissed her remark before focusing on mother nature once again, blocking out the yells of pain of mine.

Time went by as admiring nature from the forest turned into an event of star-gazing. And even if there weren't so many stars to properly overlook and create shapes, we still had fun sitting there chatting away with the hobbies and interests of our own, learning new things about each other and considering hanging out with just the three of us at some point after this dull trip. None of us barely moved an inch off of this tree branch, and it's still stable from what we could feel, which is honestly just as surprising for a somewhat thick branch to carry the three of us for almost the whole day. Is there common sense in logic and physics, or not? Not at all. Very surprising, though, I thought, but then again, we didn't dare move that much just in case the unfortunate incident did occur. It was as if it were a whole new experience for us and that we've already mastered it. Well, that was until our focus was completely broken by someone behind us.

"Oh, Chizuru-senpai," Hanabi caught Rise and I off guard with the out of nowhere name callout, "did you need something?"

"Nee-san told me to get you all over back at the camp," she replied, sharply as she pointed behind her with her thumb, "we just finished making the curry, but 'we won't dig in without you' is what she said." Chizuru's sounding softer than ever, I thought with a sweatdrop, what got her into the 'good' side of this? Rise muttered at Hanabi and I, causing me to let out a deep sigh.

"Alright, but I'll be here." Hanabi and Rise looked at me as if I was crazy, "I already have food with me, so I don't need anything from them."

"I see," Chizuru said with not even a single hint of interest at all, "well, it's up to you." She then turned her attention onto the other two beside me, "What about you? Will you two be coming?" They both looked at one another before turning their attention onto me as if they were relying on me for an answer. I didn't bother to answer and decided to give them both a nod of approval, making them look at one another before hopping off of the arm.

"Enjoy your food." I said, softly and waved at them as they did the same without saying a word before letting Chizuru lead the way without saying another word. I watched them gradually leave my point of view from afar and finally decided to drop down from the tree branch and grab onto my bag, which was right underneath the branch itself, before hopping back onto it slowly with settling myself in afterwards. I opened my bag and took a medium-sized bento out of it and laid it on my lap after leaning the bag against the tree trunk whilst trying to balance it at the same time. I untied the red ribbon and opened the bento carefully as if it were fragile just to see a major variety of different sushi to choose from. Onee-chan, I thought to myself as a drip of sweat trickled down my cheek, is this what you were actually doing last night? I sighed and exhaled before smiling to myself. Typical Onee-chan. I slowly clasped my hands together.

"Thank you for the meal." I said, got a good grip on the chopsticks from the side and dug in. It's good, I thought as I chewed and swallowed, just like how I expected it to be - coming from Onee-chan, I grabbed another block of sushi, nothing ever changes, I then looked up at the pitch black sky, it's much better than having to taste somebody else's homemade food other than hers, I guess. The clouds broke in between the night sky and ruined its nice view of bright stars, that I awaited to at least crack through and appear for the first time in a while. Such a shame, I thought and turned my admiring subject towards the trees in front of me, but it's better than having to deal with a rather less menacing atmosphere. I shook the feeling off as if it were nothing, and continued eating before finding myself finished without realising. Though it had only felt like a few bites, I could've sworn that there was way more food in stock for me to feast on, but even so, I paid no attention to it whatsoever, grabbed the thin black lid nearby and clicked it on top of the now empty food container. Now that is a feast I would have every night, if I could, I thought as I let out a deep breath of satisfaction. Maybe night time isn't so bad after all, and hopefully the cooker isn't who I think it is.

"Akari-sama," I turned my head around to face the name caller, "we're doing a test of courage," she mentioned, "would you like to join us?" I opened my mouth and let the aura of awkwardness erupt between the both of us.

"Sure." I finally managed to say, "Is Rise getting involved?" I barely managed to make out the nod she gave out to me.

"But she's already going with Mari and Kaede." Hanabi's response made my face scrunch up, "And we aren't allowed to have more than at least three."

"I see." I said, bluntly. What a disappointment, I thought. "Are you with anyone?"

"No, which is why Hanako came here to tell you."

"Oh, well," I paused for a brief moment, "if you insist." I then heard her panic slightly

"You don't have to if you don't want to, though." She assured me as I shook my head adamantly, slid my bento into the leaning bag once again, closed and grabbed the bag itself before hopping off of the comfy but solid branch.

"I don't mind anything," I assured her back, "as long as I'm with you, anything is fine by me." She fell quiet, but I didn't think much of it and brushed it off, "So, shall we get going, then?"

"Are you sure you're not doing this on purpose for Hanako's sake?" Hanabi asked

"Of course not," I replied and patted her head, "besides, it's not such a big deal as they make it to be." I could barely see the look she had on her face, but I could tell that she was satisfied with the reply given from me to her, "Well, then," I then continued, "let's get going, shall we?"

"Sure thing." She turned around after I removed my hand from her head, "Let's just hope it's worth it."

"Seems unlikely." I said before I followed her from behind.

"Hanako hates to admit it, but I can't help but agree with you on there for some reason."

"You'll find out why. Though, I don't think that'll be needed with it being in our faces already."

"Hanako can already see it." Our relatable rants came to an instant halt after making it to the campsite with ease. I expected there to be people, I thought to myself as Hanabi then got dragged away by nothing, oh, I see it now. My mind clicked and gave me a view on a huge crowd I didn't want to see, but ignored it either way.

"So what are you?!" Sakurako yelled with a big grin placed upon her lips, "Are you scared of the dark?!" She teased.

"Of course not." Hanabi dead-panned her own sister, who was meant to set a good role model example, but failed ultimately. As expected, I thought.

"Omuro." I attained the older sibling's attention coldly and just glared. She slid backwards and excused herself with a fake-sounding chuckle.

"Alrighty, then!" I heard another blondie from afar, who was always, not to mention mainly the centre of it, "Who will go first?" I sighed and exhaled.

"Hanabi and I will." I raised a hand as I felt a bunch of eyes look down at me.

"That's settled, then!" Toshino dramatically threw a torch at me as if she were in a baseball game, but it wasn't that much of a challenge to catch it at all. I stared at her with a straight face as she stared back with an oblivious wide open mouth. "Nice catch!" She gestured to me with the finger guns out of nowhere.

"Maybe lazing around is the reason why you forgot how to do simple tasks as a preschooler." I told her, straightforwardly with no hesitation and brushed the rest off, "Let's go," my attention grew onto Hanabi, "Hanabi." She nodded at me and then followed me as I walked towards the dark abyss of the deep forest.

"Hanako didn't expect a forest to be so intimidating." Hanabi remarked as we got even deeper into the woods.

"I felt the same way as you did when I was eating alone earlier." I explained the experience of my own as we dismissed the conversation and moved onto another by saying absolutely nothing other than listening in on our surroundings. The disturbing chirps and warcries of the forest came through to us, crying out to us, but it didn't really appeal to me at all. It was rather eerie, but I didn't really mind it a single bit. The air went foul with its temperature dropping, but it wasn't so bad. I stopped in my tracks and felt something bump into my back.

"Oh, sorry." Hanabi apologised, but the accident didn't really bother me at all.

"Are you scared?" I queried out of curiosity.

"Not really." She replied without breaking character, "It feels somewhat relaxing more than thrilling." She then murmured.

"Did you say something?"

"Of course not." I dismissed her claim and moved on from the setback with her previous response.

"Well, I guess it's because we've done nothing but chat all day in the same area," I continued my fair explanation, "and, well, you and Rise's already been through it with Chizuru, haven't you?"

"You do have a point there." We continued our stroll through the dark forest and left the topic behind before reuniting with a new one, "So, where would you like to go?" I questioned out of the setback of awkwardness I felt, "For the hangout, I mean." I clarified after a second after asking.

"Oh, well, Hanako thinks that anywhere is fine."

"I see," I thought about it internally, "I'll see if I can set something up for the three of us."

"They're already here!" Hanabi and I snapped out of our own little words and turned it against the loud callout source from afar.

"Did we go in circles?" I wondered aloud.

"Seems like it." Hanabi somewhat confirmed this with an assumption.

"And we didn't even realise." I added onto her potentially correct statement as we finally arrived back at the campsite.

"Did you two take a shortcut?" Funami queried as Toshino did so, too.

"That's cheating, you know?"

"How is it?" I stepped in and turned off my torch before lowering it.

"You didn't get enough time to feel the thrill!" Toshino explained with nonsense.

"What thrill?" I questioned back.

"But it seems like a certain someone did!" Toshino placed both hands on her hips with a smug face as she creepily looked down upon Hanabi next to me, who had her arms wrapped around my free arm. Since when, I pondered, since when did she grab onto me?

"Po, po, po." Omuro made an odd, but not so odd, over-exaggerated laugh with her hand over her mouth, "Couldn't take it, could ya?"

"That's not true!" Hanabi argued, "It just happened out of habit."

"Sure it did." Omuro continued snickering, causing me to glare at her and it seemed like she got the message after witnessing her standing upright as if she were a soldier.

"Anyways," I dismissed the topic once again, "I'll be off to sleep now."

"Already?" Toshino asked desperately.

"That sure was a fast decision." The Ikeda sisters nodded at each other in agreement to somewhat another degree.

"Are you sure you want to?" Furutani then stepped in as if this whole scenario was an interview of Hanabi and I after doing something 'unordinary' or something along those lines.

"Very sure." I nodded.

"I guess there's no helping it." Sugiara remarked.

"That's what you always say." I responded and felt Hanabi's physical contact ditch me as I ditched myself out of this mess, "All of this talk is making me even more tired." Some of them opened their mouths, "And there's no need to apologise if you've already made life tiring from the very beginning."

---

I opened my eyes up with ease and observed my surroundings. Not even the littlest sound of noise caught up to my ears; it was completely silent. Too quiet. A little bit too quiet. Not that I was complaining, of course. I sighed and exhaled in relief for whatever reason before sitting up and picking myself up in the process. What a peaceful yet bright morning, I thought to myself as I exited the tent carefully, making sure I didn't disturb the others' deep slumber, I observed the tent externally, smiled and nodded before zipping the vestibule up. I then turned around and stretched from side to side, only just to find myself having nothing to do afterwards. Now what? I scratched my head. There really is nothing to do. It can't be helped. I observed my surroundings and sweat dropped. The silence isn't helping the situation at hand at all. Going home would be nice, but wouldn't that just count as running away? I brushed my thoughts off and decided to give myself something to do other than observing the sky that stung my eyes from how bright it was. One reason why I prefer the night sky. Regardless of a few minutes of my life span being wasted, I managed to kick the day off by washing my face from the nearby sink, which wasn't so far ahead.

"I expected it to be much colder." I mumbled before drying my face with the towel I had taken with me on the brief journey, "Not like complaining is going to fix anything."

"Ah, Akaza-san?" I turned my head to the side to see a face of cluelessness.

"Sugiura." I said back, not giving Sugiura a chance to break the awkward silence.

"What are you doing here?" She then asked out of the blue after walking up next to me.

"I had nothing else to do and decided to come here." I briefly explained.

"I see." She said with a strong hint of uncertainty as she washed her face and dried it with the towel of her own. I took this chance to walk off and leave her be.

"Oh, that reminds me." I stopped in my tracks when I shouldn't have, "I know this is random and all, but have you seen the view from the mountain?"

"What mountain?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be taking that as a no." She chuckled nervously, "But you wouldn't mind me taking you there, right?"

"Why?" I didn't face her.

"Well, from what I've heard, you've been the type to have a perspective on views and such." She told me in order to add support to her answer. There's no doubt that it was them, I thought.

"I guess it can't be helped." I responded, "Only on one condition."

"A condition?"
"I'll only go if it's just Rise and Hanabi."

"I figured you would say that."

"It's only natural that I would want to be with people who aren't as blind." My remark made another anxious snicker get out of her.

"I understand."
"Shall we go, then?"

"Sure." I nodded and started walking off to my tent as Sugiura followed slowly from behind, "But I have to ask you," she caught my attention after managing to get up to my pace of speed, "how did the four of you get together?" What a good question from someone so blind, I thought, but she has a point. What exactly brought us all together? It is no coincidence that Rise saw right through me… and to add onto that, if she hadn't, then I wouldn't be here nor would I have met Hanabi again. Could it be luck? Gods? Or could it possibly even be…

"Who knows?" I brushed it off, "I guess it was fate reaching out to us."

"Fate, huh?"

"Not that I'll let it rub off on you, of course."

"I-I didn't say that it would!"

"Good." My last words came out after we had briefly parted ways to put our towels away. And even though I gave her some time to spare, she was just there, standing into space as if she had forgotten something and despaired over it. I really had no choice but to walk up to her. "Earth to Sugiura." Her intense blinking rampage then came to a halt after hearing me.

"Oh, sorry." She then explained, "I was lost in space."

"Fair enough."

"But it's fine," she waved an reassuring hand, "you don't need to worry about me."

"I never said I was worried."

"Oh, I see," a nervous snigger came out of her, "I suppose you do have a point." I noticed that she was tilting to the side to see what was behind me, "Where is Hanako and Matsumoto-senpai?"

"They've only just woken up."

"Ah, fair enough."

"So, shall we get going?" She fell silent, "Sugiura?"

"Can I ask you another question?" What is it this time, I thought.

"Fine, but make it quick; I don't have the time to sit here all day."

"Why do you acknowledge me?" Her question made my vision blur. Out of all of the people I open up to, it's Sugiura. But why? I made an oath to myself not to talk to any of these selfish people. Could have this been fate with someone new? No, it can't be; things don't work like that. It's way too late for fate to come in again. There would be no point whatsoever. So why? What does she have that I don't? "Akaza-san?" My vision focused once again, "Are you OK?" I didn't respond and looked down at the ground, "You don't have to answer; I was just curious is all."

"Say what you like, but you won't get anything from me." I clenched my fist before hearing a voice from afar do the opposite of fading away.

"Akari-sama, are we ready to go?" Hanabi asked as Rise muttered a question on our future whereabouts.

"It appears so." I then witnessed Hanabi skim and scan her surroundings.

"No, we aren't."

"We are, though." I argued back.

"I'll just get them."

"Why, exactly?" Hanabi didn't bother replying and went into other tents, "Sugiura, what did you set up?"

"Nothing at all."

"What happened to that 'one condition'?" Rise murmured a comeback to support the other, "I hate how irritating and complicated you're all making this."

"Akaza-san…" Sugiura responded, disheartened.

"Let's just get this over with; this is a waste of my life span." Rise then retorted to my complaint, "How am I even being dramatic anyway?" I shrugged it off and turned my attention to Sugiura, "Are we going or what?"
"Oh, right. Off we go." I nodded and followed her out of the campsite they had all set up.

"Did it go well?" Hanako asked Rise and got a negative whisper, "I see." Hanako rubbed her chin, "After all, she is a tough nut to crack, as a term people would say." Rise nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's our job, is it not?" Sakurako chimed in, stretching in the process of arriving at their spot.

"You're right." Himawari said with certainty, "We have experienced how it's like being in her shoes."

"Indeed." Yui folded her arms, "And it really does get lonely."

"Aren't you always lonely, though?" Kyoko asked with a clueless look on her face. Yui groaned as she felt her face heat up from the embarrassment.

"S-So what?!"
"Nothing at all."

"Then don't ask anything about it, dammit!"

"This isn't the time to be messing about, you know?" Chizuru remarked, making Mari and Kaede nod in agreement as they were by her side.
"Chizuru makes a good point;" Chitose supported the younger sister of her own, as an older sister would, "We can't be losing time like this." They all nodded at one another before turning their attention onto Chinatsu.

"Remember the deal?" Chinatsu nodded.

"It really can't be helped." Chinatsu herself shrugged.

"Then it's settled. More settled than the technical settlement from before."

---

"So this is the view you were talking about, huh?" I asked, showing my disappointment of the beauty expectation not being reached, "I barely expected more."

"I-Is that so?"

"If it wasn't I wouldn't have said so."

"I see." Sugiura sounded more anxious than ever, "You've changed a lot."

"Everyone says that." I sternly replied without a single hint of interest.

"You say that, but it's true." Sugiura said, "You really have changed." I stayed silent, "And not in a good way."

"What are you implying?"
"Nothing," she answered, "nothing at all." I then felt a more intense aura coming from her, "Which is why…" Her voice trembled, and after a brief moment of silence, she continued, "Which is why…"

"You want to apologise?" I covered the answer for her, "That was what you were planning, correct?

"That may be true, but you're wrong to one degree." I then finally made the decision to turn around with a raised eyebrow, "We all came to apologise!" She physically turned into a star. I didn't say anything in return yet hummed skeptically. "I should've been more considerate about how you felt about being left out, but I would always come to the club just for Toshino Kyoko's reports and such!" She placed her hand on her chest, "As a student council member, I'm disgusted by my own actions, and will atone for what I did."

"Aren't you just the dramatic type?" I responded, "Not only that, you only specified things with Toshino." I saw her get taken aback, "So why not pick up the courage and get things over with?"

"Th… That's not…!"

"Yo~!" A blonde came out of nowhere.

"Kyoko," another voice could be heard from behind the blonde herself, "what do you think you're doing…?!" She then karate chopped her.

"Speak of the devil."

"T-Toshino Kyoko...!?" Ayano jumped to the side. Funami apologised, but I spoke over her to muffle it.

"Not to mention that you really can't accept anything. None at all." I beamed, "What kind of student council member does such a thing?"

"Akari-sama, arguing back doesn't mean anything." Hanabi butted in.

"Hanabi, what are you trying to say?" I asked and felt like I was stabbed in the back after getting a view on the other remaining students behind her and Rise.

"Stop running away."

"I'm not running away."
"Then what are you doing?" My eyes widened once again from a question that came from someone I had long trusted, "What were you doing all this time?"
"It's my fault." An adult-like voice came from behind Rise, "If only I had done something about it seriously, then Akaza-kun's ego wouldn't have gotten worse." My ego...? I pondered with uncertainty. Rise murmured and nodded.

"It's not your fault;" Mari butted in as Kaede finished it off.

"It's ours." I couldn't do anything but stare. Funami took a step forward.

"Akari, you're right, we should have seen it sooner." Don't call me that, I thought as Toshino took a step forward.

"We indeed were selfish for our own wants and needs," Toshino protruded her interrogative finger up in the air, "right~?" She then got karate chopped in the head once more and by the same person.

"Things felt really lonely." Omuro, the dumb one, remarked as the other Furutani joined in, too.

"And we hadn't really given thought into any consideration whatsoever."

"If only we had the chance to talk more earlier, then I could've told you something else, you know?" The older Ikeda sibling winked at me.

"What good would that be?"

"Nee-san tried to help you." The younger Ikeda sister retorted, "Could you not read the signs?"

"Though, I guess you're not the only one." The voice echoed in my head, "Living the life without you is a different story."

"I don't get anything you're trying to say." I retorted back at her only just to get another echo of voices to end up in my head once again.

"One is living the life without you, but in a different way, whereas another is not living the life either, and one of them is talking to you right now." Is that what she meant? "Hopes." Hopes… It all makes sense now. I ignored everything she had originally intended to tell me about. I changed 'hopes' into fate. Rise murmured, breaking the headache I had endured from the echoes.

"So this is what you were hiding from me." A familiar voice came from behind Yui.

"Onee-chan?!"

"You should really be open about things with me, you know?" She remarked with the littlest hint of worry, "I'm your sister after all."

"So I was deceived by everyone," I added, "is that what's going on?" They all nodded.

"But not in a bad way." They all said in unison, "But even so," they then all bowed, "thank you for putting up with us from before."

"That's all that we wanted to say." Yui explained as her phone gave a response with Akane's voice.

"It looks like it's settled."

"We'll put this on standby for the time being and see if it properly helped the situation at all." Nishigaki remarked from Rise's phone.

"We'll be off now, then." Sugiura said, making everyone turn around and walk away.

Hanako looked back only just to see Rise walking up to Akari, and therefore, she ran.