Ayano hadn't slept well. But she considered the night well spent. It had given her all the time she needed to put her feelings into words, the best way she knew how.

She had the letter clutched in her hand as she wound up the walk to Akademi High. She'd used pink notebook paper and scented it with a bit of perfume; it was written in her most perfect calligraphy. She didn't dare look at it again or she'd start second guessing every phrase, every stroke of a pen, but by now she knew it by heart.

Taro-senpai,

There's something on my mind, something I need to tell you, but I can't bear to do it face to face. I'm sorry this has to be anonymous like this. I'm sorry for a lot of things.

A while ago I was fighting with a friend.

Well, she had been fighting, and Osana was her friend... the timeline was wrong, but Ayano still wasn't lying.

I was so mad at my friend that I didn't care what it took to get back at her. I didn't care who I hurt.

You don't know me and you don't know what I did, and I'm afraid I'm not ready to tell you. But you were nearby... and you got hurt because of me. And even though you didn't know I was to blame, I felt horrible.

Don't worry about me and my friend- we've made up. And I feel weird apologizing to you when we haven't even met. But it didn't feel right leaving it this way. You've taught me something very important and I want you to know I'll never be that careless again. I hope you can forgive me.

Ayano left it unsigned. But if she ever left Taro a note again, she'd use the same paper and same perfume. He'd know it was the same person.

She picked up her pace; there wasn't much time left before school started. The shoe locker halls were empty; Taro's was on the far left. Ayano tried not to crumple the note in her excitement as she opened the door and breathed in the scent of her senpai's outdoor shoes. Sliding the note lovingly in between them, Ayano wondered what Taro would think, if he'd be mad or feel touched or-

"There you are girl!"

Ayano jolted at the English word, whirling around and finding herself face to face with British Bandana Boy.

"I told you I'd find you at school," he said with a grin. "I'm dying to hear what New York was like."

"I said leave me alone!" Ayano tried to sidestep him but the boy threw an arm out to stop her.

"Not so fast cutie." Bandana Boy leaned closer. "Just give me what I want already. Make this easy."

"Stop."

The other male voice speaking English startled British Bandana Boy and made Ayano's heart skip a beat.

Taro grabbed Bandana Boy's shoulder and pushed him away from Ayano. "What is wrong with you!? Cornering girls like that- you're scaring her!"

"H-hey, I just wanted to talk," Bandana Boy said.

Ayano's heart was pounding. Her senpai had stepped in to save her. She felt lightheaded as she slid down the lockers to sit on the floor.

"If you want to speak English, here you go." Taro pushed Bandana Boy away from Ayano. "Leave her alone you sick boy. Anything else?"

Bandana Boy glowered at both of them and stalked off, hands in his pockets.

Taro knelt by Ayano, hand outstretched. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Ayano quickly covered her mouth to hide the grin seeping across her face and nodded frantically. He was looking at her he was so close his eyes were so caring his hand was near hers she could reach up and kiss him and-

"Get away from her!" Osana came barreling through the plaza doors.

Taro looked up at her but didn't leave Ayano's side. "I was just-"

"I saw what you were 'just'- now stop scaring her more!" Osana hoisted Taro to his feet. Ayano twitched to see Osana handle their senpai so roughly, but at least Ayano could breathe easily again. Osana gave Taro a little push towards the stairs. "G-go to class; we're late!"

"Uh... take care!" Taro called out to Ayano. Then he ran off.

Osana glared down at Ayano. "What even was that!? I thought- We said-"

"That was a mistake," Ayano said, getting to her feet. "I was talking with someone else and-"

"I saw." Osana looked over her shoulder with an impatient sigh. "Look... there's this animated music video contest."

Ayano blinked. "Okay?"

"And Raibaru and I have to get our entry ready, so we'll be busy in the computer lab all next week." Osana swayed, her ponytails swishing. "Look, I'm trying to say- I'm going to be out of the way for a while. I'll be busy and I can't be watching you and Taro all the time. But I... I need you to keep your promise! Please!" She folded her arms. "Please don't do anything weird with Taro while I'm gone, ok? Please give him time and... and space and... stuff."

Ayano folded her own arms. "Okay. But I need something from you." She sighed. "Taro... thinks I hate him. If I'm going to stay away from him, you have to be the one to convince him I don't."

Osana nodded. "Ok... consider it done." She pointed at Ayano. "But you'd better keep your word, ok?"

"Ok." Ayano nodded.

"I'll be at class- make sure to change your shoes!" Osana sprinted up the stairs.

Ayano looked down at her feet. She had nearly forgotten about her own indoor shoes in the chaos. She went to her locker and opened it. Her eyes widened.

A piece of folded notebook paper was lying on top of her shoes. Ayano took it out and opened it. The handwriting was delicate with little flourishes on the tails, the message short and to the point.

I need to talk with you about domestic abuse.

Meet me by the fountain at 5:00 PM.

I'll be waiting.

Ayano was dumbfounded. It was so similar to the note she left for Kokona. Was this some kind of signal? Did this get put in her locker by accident?

Slowly, she folded the note back up and put it in her pocket. No time to worry about that right now. Class had already started.

Saki barreled towards Ayano as soon as lunch break started.

"You've heard the news?!" She planted her hands on Ayano's desk. There was alarm in her green eyes.

Ayano shook her head. "I... I was late today."

"Kokona's social media is getting hammered. She didn't even come to school today!" Saki pulled her phone out and showed Ayano a Facebook feed.

Some blonde girl had reposted Ayano's photo of Kokona from the Juicy Girl blog and tagged Kokona in it. The thread beneath was 50 comments long.

Ayano took Saki's phone and scrolled down. There were four or five different blonde girls who had made most of the comments; the names they used for Kokona were disgusting and they called for Kokona's expulsion. Saki had replied to several of them pleading for reason, that there had to be an explanation, that this one photo didn't prove anything and Kokona would never do anything like that, but she was drowned out by the blonde crew mocking her. Several other Akademi students threw in their own two cents, takes ranging from lukewarm to scalding.

"Come on, if she was taking money for dates wouldn't I be all over that?" Horo asked.

"You're as disgusting as Kokona is," Blonde girl #1 replied.

"Actresses gotta get ahead somehow amiright?" said another blonde girl.

"For shame! The drama club recruits on pure talent and the notion that ANY of our members would be involved in something like that is despicable!" Tsuruzo had posted.

There were four replies to Tsuruzo piling on jokes about how he should know about women of the world, considering what his mom's job was. Two were from the same blondes, but two were from boys Ayano didn't recognize. A fifth boy was making a crack about how Tsuruzo couldn't get a girlfriend even if he was open to bribes.

The other drama club members, especially Riku, were also trying to defend Kokona in the comments. But they were outnumbered by the students expressing anger, disgust, or shocked belief.

"Well." Ayano held the phone back out to Saki. "Now what?"

"What do you mean now what!?" Saki seemed on the verge of tears. "This is horrible! This is everything she was afraid of! I-I don't know if she can ever come back to school again!"

Ayano idly shrugged. "Clearly, making more posts on the internet isn't going to help. We should just ignore them."

"Y-you... you don't even get it!" Saki folded her arms. "I thought you were Kokona's friend!"

Ayano looked at her folded hands on her desk. "I'm sorry. I have a hard time caring about the opinions of others. I'm not used to imagining what it would be like to be someone who does care."

"W-well... trust me, then, it's bad!" Saki's breath hissed as she sighed.

"All right." Ayano met Saki's eyes again. "But I don't just want to commiserate. You know more about this kind of thing than I do; what do you think I could do to help?"

"Oh... you..." Saki dropped her arms to her sides. "I thought you were being flippant. You genuinely want to know what do to?"

Ayano nodded. "Kokona is my friend. Of course I want to make her feel better."

"Well..." Saki put a finger to her lips. "I... I wanted to make her some cookies... do you want to bake with me?"

"Right now?"

"Well... after school."

Ayano couldn't think of anything better to do. "I have someone I'm meeting at 5 though. And if Taro is there..."

"He won't be; he already got his activity quota over with and doesn't seem eager to do more." Saki's face softened. "I... I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I just... I just..."

"I understand," Ayano lied. She stood up. "Thanks for inviting me. I'll meet you in the cooking club room."

"Thanks." Saki hugged Ayano. "I'm going to call Kokona... I'll tell her you're thinking about her."

Ayano watched Saki leave, swaying unsteadily on her feet. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. Kokona was... Kokona was sweet. Cheerful. But easily scared or hurt. She was also a model student, but the words of others upset her so much she wasn't coming to school.

It started from a photo Ayano had took. Was this all her fault again? Was that all she was good for... hurting others by mistake? Did she already break the promise she'd made to Taro?

Ayano folded her arms around her stomach, like she could measure the growing pain inside her and figure out where it was coming from. No... that wasn't fair. She just took the picture. She wasn't the one who put it online. She wasn't the one who called Kokona cruel names for no reason at all.

And then Ayano knew what she was feeling. Slow, boiling rage.

She would find who this 'JuicyGirl' was, and smash her into a pulp.