Yeah well uhm *clears throat* Remember what I said about this chapter being the end of arc? Well uh...

I LIED. LOL

Okay I didn't actually lie since I thought I could fit it all to one chapter but turns out I could not so expect the real end to be in the next one! And this time for SURE it's the next one.

SO I'm back again - I honestly took too long with this one, and I really feel like this is an off chapter for me. BUT I like to consider it an important part to the story even with its lack of *SQUEAL* moments for all you readers so yeah there's that warning ;w;

Next of course O.M.G WOW LONG REVIEWS! I FEEL LIKE I DON'T REALLY DESERVE IT BUT THANKS SO MUCH! They all mean a lot to me ;;w;;

Oh a warning before the chapter: KAYANO SPOILER IS HERE!

Ok let's get to those replies lol XD:

But I will first address a general reply since you ALL Seemed to like the Manaka part so THANK YOU LOVELIES FOR SAYING THAT! as Rio thought, bless such random ideas for existing XD I was actually eating fish when I thought about it LOL XD

Ace Clover: WOW LONG! Thanks! Hm, about your guess...hihi you'll only find out when we get there *w* And I VERY much appreciate how you took the time to tell me how you felt about those specific moments! It makes me feel proud of myself and I can see the Karmana feels qwp And about your questions on Asano and everyone well I'm not sure I'll make it such a big deal where the five virtuosos go to school to let alone mention it since they're not that big of a part. But hey I can be sure other 3-E students will appear! Don't you worry! OMG Chiba, Idk really XD 'make a move on her' yes yes he shoul- *shot by both snipers* Well yeah I hope you like Meiko-san ^w^ And whether she is a good friend or an antagonist, you'll have to wait and see ;D And yes it will be CF arc next and you'll only find out other stuff by then. Blushing delinquents make me happy. TwT Thanks for complimenting on the writing too 8") It really warms my heart ;-; And your grammar's fine enough! Don't worry! ^w^

Left-to-die: WHOA LONG! I appreciate your effort VERY much! I'll try my best to improve on my writing because of this 8") I'm REALLY Thankful for how you gave your opinion on the story and how I applied the characters to it. It really helps and motivates me. Actually in all honesty, I wouldn't have been able to characterize them well enough until I was sure about their personalities due to the reviews ^_^ So all of what you said, really REALLY brings joy to me. I try to make everything matter like those two things XD Well you know, try. The Fuwa crush thing came out of nowhere and yet people are beginning to like it so this brings me at ease ;w; Oh and on that comment you have on my writing, I'm glad you've come to accustom yourself with it and I'm sorry if it really put you off X'3 And yes I am sadly aware I have mistakes but eh...so little time so much to write TT-TT Another thank you for pointing out those parts you liked about the chapter - they give me a nice feeling really and assure me that the scene wasn't something that put people off, but that's just me overthinking lol XD And I'm happy to read about how much you enjoy reading the characters! And all of those mysteries will be revealed when revealed ;D

animeandmangafangirl: HEY! LONG TIME! Hope you're doing well in life, I heard you're pretty hectic now, right? But even so thanks for leaving a review again ^W^ HAHA EXPECT MORE ASANO SOME OTHER TIME WHEN I SEE IT FIT. Omg fangirl screams call a medic. Now. Babysitter? No you need a doctor-*shot by you* KIDDING! Good luck with Karma has a What?! ! And I hope you enjoy this one!

FreeWeirdGal: Wait, what? So this isn't a shameless romance with shoujo shit? THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS XDD OMG YOU DONT KNOW HOW HAPPY I WAS READING THAT XD So thank you very much. I was brought to tears when you mentioned thinking this was a straight from Japan thing ;w;

Mugipyon: OH! LONG TIME NO SEE/READ! Hope you're enjoying life at the moment since it looks like you're pretty busy o.o That being said, thanks for taking the time to review even in CLASS (bad mugi. bad. LOLJK XD)Oh! You don't have to apologize at all! I visited your DA a bunch of times! If you don't mind, can you show me some of your drawings of this beautiful ship or the ones you based off my story? It's okay if you don't but I really wanna see how you saw them since you're good at drawing and it's nice to see what you write come to view in drawing form ^w^ And I wish you a good day!

TheRoseShadow21: YO! Another review from you? Thanks very much! I'm not sure where the idea of them in elementary school came to in the first place and I found it really cliche but I STILL went with it for reasons 8"D Ooohh! Thanks for telling me what it means...now I can think about how Manaka is the center of their relationship-*shot* WE'LL GET THERE WHEN WE GET THERE! (I do hope we get there). And YES I have watched Nagi no Asukara and have been hit many times by the torpedo of feel because of it. And oh you'll find out what the logo is soon ;D Oh a oneshot? Do post it so I can find it and get reading! I love your stories and how you write, after all! Lol I'm glad me writing long chapters makes you feel good. *SLAPS BACK* Welcome to the club! XD

Title Unwanted: Thank you! And Aw I honestly thought that part was cliche on my part and very overused, but I'm pleased to hear you like it! Hope you enjoy this one!

kawaiichoconeko: NEKO-CHAN AGAIN! Thanks you as always~! Ohhh! Your Lie In April (#TimeToCry) Again, I'm very happy how you take the time to point out the things you really like in each chapter! I feel so warm inside and it makes me feel like it was worth it ;w; And Hanako is a character I actually look forward to letting you all know about...hehe we'll get there XD HAHA THAT HAIR TOUCHING PART! Actually, in all honesty I wondered what it felt like recently...Manami is a lucky girl indeed. And I'm thankful for how you take notice of her development and how it's slow but there ;w; and no YOU'RE the treasure here so yeah ^w^ Please enjoy this!

Sweetmoegirl: HELLO AGAIN! Sorry I'm not able to send you drawings! MY PRINTER BROKE AIN'T THAT WONDERFUL? X""D Thank you very much for telling me your favorite parts of the chapter even though that was so dora of me XD From Karmana to Manaka. All because of a fish LOL. Oh sunsets...I admire them in real life really X'3 And yes you will soon find out about her past. But not today ;D HAHA ERINA WILL RETURN 8D And I hope you enjoy! EVen though there's barely any Karmana for the chappie since it'll be in the next one.

eastfall: As always, your reviews are what I look forward to all the time X'3 REALLY MAN THEY HELP A LOT! And thanks for pointing that flaw out! (I can no longer live in shame now XD) And yes I agree that the prompt is cliche but reluctant as I was to use it, your same thoughts came to mind XD Now from such a cliche thing, I was able to think up a few things for the next chapters! And I hope I dont disappoint when they get to the logo and the CF! Oh and on your bit of Comabt Club Meanwhile...I got into a jumpy happiness episode because of it X'3 Again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I tried my utmost (I guess) for that chapter and Im very happy to hear that you enjoyed it a lot! Like the sunset scene I found beautiful too to be honest. Haha I really enjoyed writing Asano by the way even though he was there as a cameo and nothing more. Now I'm thinking about getting him in for a chapter just to appease myself XD

KisaragiMaru: Thanks for reviewing! Kind of been a while since I've seen you XD And yeah those two smartasses actually made it to this fic lol XD

Quilla The Silent: That hair touching part will always made me laugh whenever I looked at it XD And you'll only find out by reading more~! ^w^ Hope you like this next one!

I12Bfree: Thank you VERY much for pointing those out! I feel proud for being able to write it ;w; So I'm glad you liked those scenes! LOL that geisha part XD Thanks for the review!

Akatsuki-Metal: Thank you for leaving another review! I'll do my best and I'll try hard!

Akabane-san: Hey there~! I KNOW THEY ARE ADORABLE TOGETHER! I just wanna...put them inside a bottle and shake it like Patrick did Squidward...LOL XD Never mind it's like 3 am here sorry XD YEs thank you! Please try to enjoy this one even when there's not much Karmana! YES I WILL DO MY BEST!

WHEW! I made this longer than it should be already. Again, KAYANO SPOILER IS HERE but it's not that big so don't really mind it...I guess...yeah.

ANYWAY! Get ready for barely any karmanami chapter I guess? Oh well, let's just wait til end of arc for things XD

Disclaimer: Friends, I am 15. You think I can own a big franchise at my age? No, point made.

ON WITH THE SHAMELESS CHAPTER~

Chapter 14: If I Were To Tell You…(Part 2: Something Precious)

After last year, the entire world looked monochrome to me.

I couldn't find enjoyment in anything else – I would find a few things fun, but absolutely nothing could compare to what had happened to me in the span of a year. The feeling of an emptiness that could not be filled by anything lingered about inside of me. While everyone else tried their best to move on and deal with their lives, I see through them – they long for it. That escape from normalcy; when it will come again, no one knows – in fact, it may never even come again. I find it pitiful how they try to distract themselves with their mundane lifestyles and only keep the lessons they've learned from the previous year in their hearts; I should be doing that myself, but the motivation and willpower to do anything in the norm had dissipated. Nothing piques my interest anymore, in this black and white world I now live in.

But when I saw her succumbing to it and seeing things the same way I have been – something rose inside of me. I didn't like seeing that, another me – with eyes that saw the world without love or color under grey skies; someone that didn't care about what would happen to her – or to anyone for that matter – with a heart that would be a challenge for anyone to pry into. My previous classmates are the closest thing I've got to that duration of my life; I wouldn't want any of them to forget about the things we've gone through together. So at the very least, she has to continue being the way she was – she can't stop caring about the world. I won't allow it; even though I have almost reached that point. Especially if it's her – one that did not hesitate to open her heart to people even if she was unsure of herself, someone that can remain kind and see others in a brighter light in the midst of her loss in the darkness of her own shell. So at the very least, I can bring myself to stop that from happening. I won't let you stop caring, Okuda-san – I don't want you to turn out to be in this miserable dilemma I've drowned myself into. However, I say this not for your sake, but for mine. Forgive me, but I don't want you to change like everyone else. In truth, I was happy to have encountered you in the same school – but to see how you've changed and certainly not for the better, I had to do something; something to get that you of last year back and ease myself of the worry that you might end up becoming someone I didn't recognize. Nakamura and everyone else has been focusing on their futures and are slowly moving on, with only that year of such extraordinary times left as a sweet memory that they will forever hold dear. Not for me though; ever since then, time had stopped right in front of me, while everyone else was moving forward, I couldn't bring myself to leave it all behind. To go back to beating up cheap delinquents no match for any of the assassins I've seen in that one year, to have regular teachers that are nowhere near my standard for interest, students all around me that can't even match up to those who studied back at that demonic discrimination-driven Academy I spent three years in. So you, at the very least, can't change that way. I'll be okay if time stops, but don't turn into someone I no longer know.

If you want, we can both just get stuck in time together – we can forget about moving forward; with you, I'm sure I won't mind. I've never had someone like you. And I don't want that to go away with the year. So at the very least, please stay the same way. Right now, the silly club I made and you most especially are the most interesting things I can get myself to get up and go to school for. Again, it's just for me, and I apologize if what I want is not what you want. But…to feel so devastatingly hollow inside and to not find anything worth time anymore…

I just want something that can fill that hole up.

Beep Beep Beep

Within a usually empty home where only one resided, the soft beeps of an alarm clock had a redheaded boy come to from his tranquil slumber. Rays of morning sunshine seeped in through the lowered blinds and painted the room with lines of bright gold that served as the only source of light in the dim room – some of which had landed upon a pair of drowsy mercury orbs that had revealed themselves ever so slightly. Red locks were a mess atop a white pillow that suffered under his weight as some of the cotton sunk down; and the mischievous boy woke up to the same organized room he did every day.

He didn't take too much time getting up – it only took a few ruffles of the bed sheets and quite the lazy effort to bring himself up to head out of his room and proceed with his daily morning routine; brush his teeth, serve his own breakfast, etcetera. Occasionally, he would take a glimpse of his cellphone to see if he had gotten messages from Nagisa and the others he were to see on that same day; thus explains the rather early hour he had chosen to awake which was about 7:45. But since it was summer, the days came longer than nights so naturally, the sun – though still at the far-east – glowed at a strong force that led to a number of people awakening to.

Just half an hour later, he was up and about – ready to face another day after he had put on a casual white buttoned, short-sleeved shirt with a long sleeved dark-blue undershirt that went with the simplicity of a black pair of jeans; perfect for easy movement and his laid-back attitude.

In the silence of his quite spacious home, he found himself with his eyes trained on the new addition to this house that sat on the kitchen counter inside of its relatively new, rectangular containment. He was still beginning to adjust to the fact that he was no longer the only one he had to feed under the same roof for it hadn't even been a week since this creature came – and all thanks to an introverted girl he knew next to nothing about.

For reasons he was unsure of, the sea animal had taken a considerable amount of his time just with him staring at it even while he was about to leave – a hand inserted to one pocket where he paid consciousness to his phone while the other would relax itself on his side from his position just a meter before the front door of his house.

'Manaka as in…Manami and Karma…'

He made it a point to feed it before heading out.

The streets were only beginning to become busy and the air was cool enough to be considered a morning breeze albeit it being the hottest time of the season once he started walking – arms stretched back to his head as he released a yawn and pretty much lived up to his reputation as a lazy delinquent with his gestures in the duration of his slow-paced trip. From what glossless, pale-gold eyes could take in, the blue in the sky left a much more energetic impression and had cotton-ball like clouds pleasantly arrayed freely as some of which would float with the wind.

To the ground where he was, on sidewalks here and there people already started to attend to their everyday responsibilities and customs. Nearby restaurants and pubs flipped their signs as some would either bring in a new chalkboard menu to renew or bring one out for another day of service. Eyes travelling to where the sound of chirping birds came, he was able to distinguish a nest upon one of the green trees that were lined on his side of the pavement and all the while, he had also been able to heed notice of a cat that stretched itself with its claws to the bark of the bottom of the same tree.

Although he had taken the time to take these observations to mind – he found all of them dull and didn't let his thoughts linger upon such for it was these trivial things he couldn't really stand; much unlike a raven-haired girl that came to mind after this. In contrast with how he considered most things to be unworthy of his time or attention, this particular person that invaded his mind at such an early hour surely saw such things under a different light – defined deeply and given significant meaning in her eyes; as opposed to he, whom didn't spare a second thought for things so mundane.

Speaking of which, there she was now by a set of trash cans outside of her apartment complex. She was wearing a spearmint-toned summer dress; sleeves were short but thick as they appeared to give the girl more freedom to move since it looked more comfortable compared to most of her civilian clothing – and around the waist area there was an evident ruffle of the clothing that came from the long, thin ribbon tied behind her with its tails nearly as long as the dress itself whose length caressed her knees. Did she always like wearing dresses? This is certainly the first time he'd seen her done so – then again, he was still a tad bit bothered by the fact he was unsure of many things about her so he just brought this random muse to the back of his mind.

It shouldn't surprise him how she was already up at this time – that was what made her live up to the mature-like personality he had allowed to get close to him; well, that was what he thought 'close' was.

"Oh, good morning Karma-kun." She presented him with a hearty smile – she must've been awake long before he was for such an active vibe to emanate from her. Finding this pleasant, he acknowledged this with an informal salute and relaxed smile "Morning."

This is the girl I don't know how I feel about.

"You're up early today." She voiced out this observation with her hands holding onto a single garbage bag that she was to take care of but had been sidetracked by her encounter with her redheaded friend.

"I've been invited by Nagisa-kun to go to some museum or whatnot to hang out." He replied and let his stretched arms rest to the sides to place his hands inside his pockets.

"Oh, is Kayano-san going with you?"

"Yeah, so are Isogai and Maehara."

"Oh, have fun then." She displayed him another grin and was about to carry on with the task she came out here for before she had been interrupted by a quizzical look from her friend "I heard there were others hanging out today from Nakamura. You're not going?"

She reacted with mild surprise to his question for a sound had come from her and her head sharply turned upwards to meet his eyes. "Eh—Well, I planned summer cleaning with Inari-nee today so I had to turn them down." She didn't appear to be disappointed by this fact, but she didn't look ecstatic over it either and just replied with another smile that gave out her sense of responsibility prior to leisure.

In understanding, he nodded "I see, then—"

"Manami! Where did you put the—Oh, it's you." Both teenagers turned their heads up to the overfamiliar woman that leaned her upper body out of the fence located on the balcony of their floor with the support of her elbows on the surface – a rug in hand as well as a spray in the other. She was in full-clad white pajamas that honestly fit her despite her age and a bandana over her maroon-crown that showed the boy how she was contributing to this cleaning session of theirs. Her voice was loud enough to be heard by anyone on the ground two floors below her, but the tone seemed to have changed once she saw the scarlet locks of her least favorite kid.

"Inari-nee." Manami acknowledged her rather enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Karma just found himself a morning treat – oh how he enjoyed messing with this person whenever she came up; just thinking about it already gave him the first cheeky grin of the day.

The older girl took notice of this and narrowed her eyes "Hm? What are you cockily smirking for?"

This was a fortunate day for him – she was the one who initiated her early-morning ridicule which made things more enjoyable. Smirk not faltering, he came back with a childish tone "Oh nothing, I just thought that even in the broad morning daylight you still look old to me."

She should be used to this – in fact she was starting to get the hang of it, but that didn't stop a vein from popping on her head "You don't run out of things to say, do you?"

Karma cocked his head to the side yet still faced upwards with a cunning grin "In any case, what's with that get-up?"

"What? You have a problem with that too?"

"No." Whatever sly expression he made remained just as he paused for while so that his next words may have an effect he would very much enjoy watching before he bluntly stated "Your bra strap's showing."

Immediately, Inari had been struck with shock that was unmistakable from the widening of her eyes – she only noticed now how her top was big enough to slide down her shoulder and reveal a black line. In her adrenaline rush, she exaggerated in her fixing by pulling the cloth too much to even hide her collar; blue lines appeared to have travelled down the upper half of her head as it even took on a dark-ish hue just to express her utter discomfort and disgust as she came to an agitated state "What the hell?! You perv—"

"Oh, How embarrassing~" the voice he used was loud enough for those even walking across the street to hear. He looked even more irksome to her now that his head lowered to have a somewhat shadow effect upon his eyes that turned up to her at the widening of his evil smirk. She didn't quite understand what he meant by that, but when she looked over to the other parts of the street – the sour stares of those who walked by and the distaste evident upon mothers as they pulled their children away and averted their eyes. That was when her anger dropped and had been replaced with absolute embarrassment for she even had to stop herself from hitting her head on the ledge – he practically saved her from a far worse mortification had he not pointed it out, but now that he did, she wasn't sure whether to thank him or to throw the spray can at his stupid, demonic face right now.

Inari clenched her teeth and decided to save her any more conflict (and humiliation) so early in the morning and turned a heel "Manami! Go inside when you're through and help me look for the remote!" without another word, she stormed inside – what they didn't know is that once she did she started pounding the sofa with an old baseball bat to relieve her furiousness.

"Oh, woops!" the dark-haired girl came to her senses; because all the while, the only thing she had done was shift her head to each of them whenever they came back at each other with a 'these two are hopeless' kind of expression – for she too had gotten quite used to this.

"Sorry Karma-kun, I have to cut this short." She bowed her head a tad and prepared to leave – the edge of her dress flying with her as she skipped with the help of the wind that just passed by. "Have fun!" she waved and was about to step onto the fire escape's stairs.

"Okuda-san." The sudden call of her name caused her to stumble a bit in the midst of her haste. A little far from recovering from a startled state, she turned her head back to him inquisitively "Hm? What is it?"

With the turn of her head, the braids flew – and that was where his eyes were focused on at the moment; but more specifically, he had his gaze on the white pieces of rubber that wrapped themselves around raven hair at the ends of constantly neat braids as they elegantly floated with the breeze. And for moments, that was all he did – heck, he wasn't really sure why he called to her all of a sudden. But after a second more of staring at it…

"No, never mind."

Karma turned a heel and stretched his arms up again to put-up a carefree behavior and prepared himself to leave "Good luck with cleaning." It came out lazily as he waved a goodbye but didn't spare another glance at her the farther he went.

"Ah, thank you!" he could tell she smiled brightly from the way she exclaimed it before he heard the light footsteps of a nearly featherweighted girl clank on the metal escape.

And that's when his eyes fell downcast.

'Again with the thank you, huh?'

It was quiet in the train albeit it filled with folks off to whatever business they have – so as a result, Karma had been left to deal with his own thoughts whilst he stood up with a hand on the suspended grip. The view was fairly pleasing to the eyes; a bright, azure sky that looked so close you could almost touch it for it had covered the town in its blue and white glory – heck you could compare it to painting for it seemed far too alluring for it to be real. And not only that, he had a sight of the sun still in the midst of rising up with its bright yellowish rays passing through the windows of the car and drowning those inside with a sense of warmth.

This wasn't the first time he had seen a sight this good, and this could hardly compare to all the others he had seen…

Especially the ones with her.

A sunset that reflected its light on the water as if it was by the work of creatures of a magical world, an isolated clearing by the creek of a radiant forest done by the natural beauties of nature under a starlit sky with a brightly shining crescent moon…

And in this same train, wherein they watched houses, trees and the like under the bright daylight – something he paid no such awe for, but what was kept in his memory was the picture of those almost empty, longing eyes when he touched on something he should not have – along with this, he was introduced to a new resolution; that he knew next to nothing of the girl he had considered he was closest to out of everyone he or she knew. But what was still most fresh was the starlit sky in a dark station where the only light provided came from a fluorescent lamp that attracted moths and the like – not a very 'beautiful' scene but what happened in it was what made him travel back to it.

Just when he caught himself with that same girl in his mind for third time that day, the grip he had on the handle tightened with the scrunching of his brows out of a rising set of emotions he quickly pushed down and got rid of – one of which was frustration.

The girl I don't want to know how I feel about.

And the train stopped.

"Oh! Karma!"

"Long time!"

"Ossu." Karma saluted to the two boys waiting by the entrance gates of the National Museum of Nature and Science. From the looks of it, it seems that the two pigtailed characters of this meet-up failed to meet them on time since only Isogai and Maehara were present. The former had on a regular blue t-shirt and some brown pants – it was his usual, simple get-up; perfect for his character that captured his simplicity and humbleness whilst the latter had on a checkered red and black polo shirt and frankly nearly the same color of pants as his long-time best friend.

Once he had reached them, he had his hands back in his pockets casually before he mused "Nagisa-kun and Kayano-chan aren't here yet?"

"Nope. And she's Akari now, remember?" Isogai took the initiative to reply and even winked at his added note while placing his hands on his waist.

"And I heard the shorties started going steady." Although this was something to be happy about – with the way Maehara put it, the statement felt more like grim news due to the depressing tone and expression he had when he said that.

At this, the redhead smiled with mock innocence – because there was clearly mischief behind that tone. He could already picture what he could do to exploit the blue-haired boy now that this was in the air "Heh? That should be entertaining. But you seem crushed, Maehara." He smirked when he pointed this out and found a hint of enjoyment from the said boy's devastated reaction to this for it was as if his soul was just about to fly off of his body at his slouch forward.

The dark-haired boy smiled sarcastically – clearly he found his best friend's issue quite the drag to deal with as he answered for him "Oh, there was this girl that called him friend and now he's depressed over it." He said it in his usual active tone, but there was a tiny hint of exhaustion in it for he had been helping the boy with his problem for days.

"Hehh…" was the only thing that left Karma's lips after he heard that; at the same time his smile faded away as if he actually gave some concern regarding this. And through the short amount of time he paused in his statement, Maehara started to think he might actually be sympathizing but at the same time – "How shallow." – he knew he'd say that.

The boy in distraught jerked forwards as if he just got stung by a fifty watt tazer to his back at how blunt his former classmate was even at his time of woe – but it didn't take long at all for him to recover and retort strongly (and comically) when he had turned into some angry anime face "IT'S NOT SHALLOW!" at his next words, he put a fist to his heart as if he was stating the law "If a girl calls you a friend and you don't like it it's the first sign of love!"

"Yes, yes we heard that before." Isogai deadpanned and heaved a sigh. Karma on the other hand had unknowingly become curious after this – but still kept a lazed smile to keep that cool vibe "Oh? You're finally settling down on one girl?"

From what he knew, this notorious playboy couldn't care less if he'd gotten trash talked and ridiculed by some girl because he could always move on to the next one with his 'live-in-the-moment' character, but now that he'd actually taken some damage from this one girl (whoever she may be), he didn't just ask that out of whim.

"Well, kind of. But that's what I plan on doing." Maehara had recovered from his so-called distress and answered back with a thumbs-up and a grin that made it look like there was a star twinkling by the side of his winked eye.

"That so? Well then what's the news on Isogai's part?" he faced the former class representative whom responded with that cheery smile as he shared how his life had gone so far with enthusiasm "Me? Well, now that I've gotten financial support thanks to Karasuma-sensei and his other agent buddies, things have been going well so now I'm dead set on studying so that, well, just maybe I can try to become a social worker in the future." He had a sheepish grin at that last bit as he shrugged.

"Oh? That's like you. What school are you both going to?" and the conversation flowed on and on between the three considered most attractive men of last year's 3-E. But since one of them was not exactly as close as the other two, most topics revolved around regular things – home, what they've heard from other classmates or anything about the things they've done that year…for last year had not been touched.

Albeit being the one to initiate the questions most of the time, Karma didn't really feel what you would call 'happy' when he listened to them – it just reminded him of the fact that they were able to do something he hadn't; and he's not sure if he'll be able to do it either…

Move on…

"Oh! Nagisa and Akari-chan are here!" Isogai was the first to notice the two walk their way and it didn't take a second for the other two to turn their attention to the odd couple with the peculiar shades of hair. Upon further inspection, they were hand in hand – Akari had her hair down and wore a pink, white polka-dotted blouse that went well with the white shorts held by a brown belt whilst her presumed boyfriend (for he could be mistaken as a female by anyone else) had a pair of dark blue pants with a dark blue t-shirt with the print of his favorite comic series underneath a white, unbuttoned, collared, short-sleeved shirt.

"Yo!" Nagisa called to the three of them as he gently pulled his green-haired (it never went back to its original color) companion at a quicker pace. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" the jolly greenette beamed at them once they had come over.

"It's alright!" the dark-haired ikemen reassured them and welcomed them with an eager smile – as opposed to how Maehara took it for all he did was flame.

"YOU CALL THIS STEADY?! THIS IS PRACTICALLY YOUR IDEAL EVERYDAY COUPLE!" fortunately the short couple chose to pay no mind to whatever problem it is he had with them with a sweatdrop and some other remarks that the redhead didn't quite catch for he had still yet to let the fact sink in that they were that now.

"Yo. Long time, Karma-kun." He turned to his best friend whom offered him a hand to high five to – which he obliged by taking it. "Yo, Nagisa-kun. Seems you've finally proved some of your manhood." He said this with a mock childlike tone that came with a smile; and the bluenette knew then that he should be ready for a day of exploitation and ridicule from this delinquent friend of his when he quickly found the true intention behind that praise and found a nervous sweatdrop go down the side of his face.

"Hey, where do you think we should go first?" Kayano (Akari) cut into the boy's conversation – she may be a different person now but there were still points about her that resembled the Kayano Kaede of last year; like how she still had this energetic vibe to her.

A few more words and greetings were exchanged after that as they too had caught up with each other's lives and dealt with recent subjects like the reason the couple was late or whatever. And Karma didn't fail to notice how they were actually acting all couple-like even while they made their way to the entrance gates. But that wasn't the only thing he took note of – for one thing, the Kayano he once knew had stopped acting and now went by her real name, and Nagisa, whom proclaimed that he wouldn't let their experiences go to a waste with petty acting, had appeared to have grown accustomed to acknowledging her by her given name and has accepted her.

And the thought he had since the moment he got there finally resounded resolutely within his mind

Everyone's changing.

"Oi, Karma! We're going in." his train of thought had been ceased by Maehara's call before he turned around to find his group already through the gates staring at him for they had only stopped themselves from going in because of him suddenly going into a trance.

To hide his self-conflict, he smiled back like his usual self and jogged over "Yeah!"

Nagisa raised an eyebrow at this.

"You bought those for her?" a helmet-headed brunette gestured to a box as she walked alongside a fairly taller, lighter haired girl whom held it on a sidewalk this bright summer day.

It was about 2 pm when they cut their day-out short with the other Class E girls. The sun was high above the ground without a cloud there to block it from bathing the town with nearly merciless heat that led to the two girls underneath its full glory to sweat despite their rather fresh style of clothing today. Rio had on a purple, floral blouse that had thin fabric to them and were generally comfortable when you looked at it for it swayed as she walked to reveal a striped belt onto her brown shorts – in her hands was a box of donuts and a few other plastic bags that came from the earlier get-together. Yuzuki on the other hand had a sleeveless, bubblegum pink hoodie and a pair of white shorts that went well with her tastes and mood to wear something simple today – but even with her choice of clothing she found herself almost as wet as a man having intense gym class.

It wasn't this hot in the morning, so they should just be glad they decided to hang out in the morning with the others – but they had to leave early due to the agreement these two had that they would spend time with their bespectacled introvert for the rest of the day; thus clears up where their next destination was.

"Yep." She held up the box of donuts with a keen smile "We can share this with her when we get there since she didn't get a chance to hang out today. So the least we could do is pay her a visit since we're practically already a month and a half into our summer break and she still hasn't accepted any of our offers. And besides…" the honest and good-willed smile had completely vanished when it shifted into her classic, evil smirk as her eyes resembled stars for a second underneath the shadow of her hair – clearly she had something up her sleeve again that would may or may not ruin someone's life "I may as well get some interesting scoops and find some of her most shameful possessions~"

"You were going to use donuts as a bribe, weren't you?" Yuzuki didn't even try to stop the sweatdrop that formed at the side of her face at how unbelievable her friend's behavior was, and her bothered state only increased when she was replied with a wicked snigger; then again, when did she not feel this sense of disappointment around her since they'd become close? Getting used to this woman's snoopiness by now, she let out a sigh as they went up a set of metal stairs that were supposed to serve as a fire escape – but since there was no harm in using it they did so anyway.

"But how'd you get her address anyway?" the otaku brought up another concern of hers as they've already reached the last of the steps to the floor of their desired location.

"Oh, I looked it up in her school record." The English veteran worded this out as if it was just another regular statement and not something that had caused Yuzuki to stop in her steps and have an eyebrow twitch in slight frustration for her friend had yet again done something unbecoming of a decent woman

"…Couldn't you have asked it from her normally?" her tone expressed how much her respect for her started to dwindle into single, sad digits – screw starting to get used to this, this girl needed serious help with how she treated her friends; since she had to take into account how she had not really had any girl from last year get close to her.

Rio pouted as they were just a few more steps away from the front door of 560 "That makes things less interesting~" and for the second time in their travel to their small friend's residence, another malicious smirk crept up to her features in a downright mischievous manner "I'd like to look forward to the face she'll make when the miraculous coincidence would occur and that I would walk into her showering." She winked and stuck a tongue out to express more of her troublemaking attitude.

And now, whatever respect the mangaka wannabe had for the blond had dwindled down into negative digits after the twitch of her eye. Walk into her showering? Is she even serious? The very idea of it just made a chill go down her spine before she put her palms to her face and spoke with a muffled voice of utmost disappointment "Rio-chan, you perverted freak."

"I'm just kidding~" and another mocking tongue was stuck out of her lips "Don't be such a worrywart, Yuzuki-chan." And with that, she rang the doorbell and waited at the front door while Yuzuki leaned to the wall right beside it to rest from the hot, clothes-drenching trip – and to think about how she had come to be friends with such a creep, who is deep down a practical genius (oh if only she showed that side of her more).

'Walk into her in the shower? What on earth is she thinking?' she thought as her brow twitched again as she let her foot tap onto the metal impatiently.

The door opened with a click, and almost immediately Rio yelled "Oh!"

An electrical surge suddenly came through Yuzuki's body as she ever-so-sharply turned her head to where the golden-haired girl now had an expression that said she liked seeing what she saw. "What? Did you really walk into her showering!?" Without a moment's hesitation, she stepped to the door to see what it was – Rio's reaction to her sudden exclamation brought a question mark to the side of her face as narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously; but this had quickly been brushed away the instant she turned her attention back to the dark-haired girl that opened the door for them.

After seeing her, the otaku also released an "Oh!" out of how adorable she thought the girl looked with that summer dress – plain, but it enticingly fit her a lot. And all the while the two girls just stared at their eye candy with enthusiasm albeit her staring right back at them with bafflement all over her features; but just as she was about to question their reason for coming here or how they actually found her-

"Manami, take these to—" naturally narrow eyes grew wide from pure shock and with this reaction from the middle aged woman, the box she was just carrying that contained a number of useless junk she was about to donate dropped to the floor in a loud clutter of noises once she had perceived the two familiar newcomers to her doorstep.

That was when both girls let out another "Oh!" – but this time it was due to the same shock the red-haired woman had for the unexpected fact that-

"Manami-chan! You live with Inari-sensei?!"

To say Inari was disgruntled was a bit of an understatement. But that didn't beat down the amount of stress that seemed to emanate around her and create a sulky aura when she slumped herself down onto one of the dining chairs of their kitchen table with her hands on her temples as if she currently had a massive headache at the moment. To be found out once (and by someone problematic) was enough for her, but to be found out twice and by two people too (whom she hopes are decent), within the same year seemed to have been quite stressful for her judging by how her bangs just draped over her eyes to create a pitch black shadow as she slouched on her seat.

Meanwhile, as this nearly-doomed-to-be-single-woman wallowed in her misery, the three freshmen girls gathered themselves by the living room area (with a slightly battered couch).

"W-W-W-Why are you two here?! U-Uhmm, h-how did you know I lived h-here? A-And a-ahh—ermm…" Manami was still distant from recovering from her flustered state as she twiddled her fingers and frantically moved her head from side to side with her shoulders occasionally shuddering– who could blame her? She's bad enough at social gatherings, but to have some of your closest friends barge into your house suddenly would be a troublesome thing even for a person without introverted issues.

"We just wanted to hang out with you since you didn't get to for all the times we invited you. Now is that so bad?" Rio was the one to put her hands on her shoulders in an attempt to relax them as she stated this as if it were an obvious fact with a polite grin.

The lavender orbed girl hysterically shook her head at the question "N-N-No o-of course not i-it's just…" she decided that it would be best to calm down a little if she wanted to speak properly and not end up a stuttering mess. So with a gulp and still evident agitation, she felt herself frown "H-How did you get my address?"

"There's no need for you to know." She had been hushed by the blond's finger to her lips as she had presented her with a grin of what may be mock innocence – which left Manami in quite the daze for she turned to Yuzuki whom stood behind her with her arms crossed and a look that really convinced her that she didn't want to know judging by how downhearted that smile was.

"O-Okay…" was all she could stifle out for she had just been reminded of the time back in school excursion and how she was just pulled out of the car by the same girl with the kind of creepy that made it a little hard to go to bed at night. Rio moved her hands to her waist and raised an eyebrow teasingly "Since when did you wear dresses?"

A blush rose to the braided girl's face "A-Ah th-this? W-Well…I found it cute so I bought it a long time ago…" she had to look away to even mumble this out as she played with her fingers behind her – this earned her a pair of smiles coming from them as they eyed her with interest and looked to be criticizing it what with the nod of their heads as they rubbed their hands upon their chins.

"It fits her, to say the least." Yuzuki nodded and even put her hands together to form a rectangle at her picture of the innocent girl.

"Right? It really gives out her conservative and simple personality and there's a strange sense of her meticulousness to it." Her blue-orbed friend nodded and winked as if to say 'not bad, not bad at all.'

"Me-Meticulousness?" Manami furrowed her brows in confusion along with the tilt of her head.

"Hoh! Nice pose! I approve!" it would be nice if Yuzuki had a camera right now – she wouldn't just be moving the rectangle she formed with her hands here and there if she did.

"Mhmm! No complaints here!" Rio looked even more pumped up for this for she had even raised a fist and nodded vigorously "I got struck the moment I saw her at the front door! It was quite the surprise."

At this strange turn of events, it was as if multiple question marks just hovered above the chemistry lover's head as she tried to catch up with the two in their little criticism session on a dress she wore on a whim (and because it was hot). All she could do at the time was say "Uh…?" from time to time.

"But on more important news." Manami raised her head from her fidgety state once she sensed how a new topic was about to be brought up by the still-eager Nakamura Rio "I never would've thought you lived with Inari-sensei of all people! That was a bigger shocker there!" this all came out honestly, but with no intention to bring offense – it was just out of utter astonishment from how her tone was and the faces she made.

That's when Yuzuki let her curiosity get the best of her as she absentmindedly blurted out "Why do you live with the school nurse?"

The brunette had been immediately struck with regret after she formed an uncomfortable air in the room accidentally. Clearly she had just stuck her nose into a topic that was not to be casually discussed in this residence for over at the table, Rio didn't fail to notice how the woman who had just been sulking abruptly stood from her seat and walked away from the scene by disappearing into the hallway to her left in quite the relaxed manner but there was something about it that held a lot more meaning – resultantly, this had left the trickster with confused blue orbs that didn't stray away from where the nurse sauntered away to before the petite girl finally made a sound after what felt like minutes but were truly just seconds.

"Ah…erm…" but that was all she could get out of her mouth as she lowered her head to the ground where she could see her toes curl up on her slippers uneasily.

Understanding the situation, the other two girls exchanged a look and made a silent agreement that it was best to back off.

"You don't have to answer that." Assured Yuzuki with the added support by her hand to the shorter girl's shoulder – to which Manami nodded to with a somehow relieved smile, however this had been short-lived for not even five seconds passed before she went back to her agitation "O-Oh yeah! I have g-guests! S-S-So what should I serve you two—"

"No need~ We brought you food." Rio chimed in as she brought up a box full of donuts with a toothy grin.

"O-Oh, well i-in that case I'll get you drinks—"

"No need for that either~" just as the golden-crowned girl said this, she had already taken the girl's small shoulders and started to gently push her out of the living area "Why don't you take us to your room?" there was every hint of mischief and slyness in the tone she used – obviously, she was up and at it with her plan on getting the shy girl to spill about things and all in all basically make a source of entertainment out of her.

At the statement, purple eyes widened behind their shiny pieces of glass as the owner of which had been caught at a bewilderment at the taller girl's actions – but also, a slight panic rose within her that didn't allow for such to happen; after all this was her room they were talking about, the place where she keeps everything and anything (yes, even she has things to be embarrassed about in there). "H-Heh?! Can't we just do it in the dining table?"

Yuzuki took this question for her and only displayed the bespectacled girl with an exasperated smile as she walked alongside her with arms crossed and head facing upwards as she deadpanned her next statement "Just give her this."

"C'mon! Let's talk about the day you left Yuzuki-chan's house and went all alone with Karma-kun!" No longer able to hold her ecstasy, Rio's feet kicked up high behind her in a slow jog as she carried on in prodding the science geek into where she thinks her room is – and she guessed she was right considering how she didn't try correcting her direction and that this was the only other hall where some rooms were located

Perplexed, Manami had yet again been confused by the sudden topic she wanted to discuss when she knew there much important matters that needed attending to that day – eventually, those are what came to mind "E-eh?! But why? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the clu—"

"Don't worry, it's going real swell~" Yuzuki gave a thumbs-up and a wink as she continued walking by them at a relatively slow pace; proud of how her work had been going lately thanks to her boom of inspiration and the help of Sugino's own personal art experience.

It didn't take another second for her to try and retort back to their behavior not only just because they were about to invade her private space, but also because of the growing guilt she'd be stuck with if she actually went with it and enjoyed herself. With a turn of her head, she tried to face the blond properly to address more of her concerns "But I have to help Inari-n—"

Right on time, her eyes caught her caretaker back at the kitchen table after coming from the hall directly across theirs giving her gesturing to shoo her away with a nod and her other hand upon her waist; as if telling her 'I'll handle the rest, go have fun.'

Manami blinked at this for a few moments, still a bit hesitant to leave her with all the unfinished business in this hot afternoon – but if Inari were to tell her to do something, she wouldn't allow her to disobey; she was stubborn that way. So instead of resisting, a grateful smile crept to her lips – she had secretly always looked forward to a day where she could hang out with friends during breaks anyway; lots of people her age did it, and whenever she would see them she'd get that desire to do the same but never really had the chance to due to her shy character. And now that the opportunity was already within her grasp, she was nothing less than thankful to her guardian for being so generous to her all the time. A happy feeling forming in her chest, she let her two friends urge her to her room with her leading the way properly.

In all honesty, Yuzuki couldn't help but look forward to this day session of theirs – it should be nice to spend time with a friend she had only come to get close to this year; but whatever smile she had while thinking this turned into one of cynicism when she thought about spending this girl's hangout with a cheeky blond with a knack for messing people up…

After a few more remarks exchanged between the three of them, they turned to open a door at the very corner of this dim corridor.

Oh how Rio was going to enjoy this.

"Hey, Karma."

"Hn?"

By the time the sun had started to sink down to the west, the group of former E students had finished up with their sightseeing and were currently settled at one of the nearby restaurants. They had chosen a seafood restaurant as a result of the majority's preferences (and the fact it was cheap), and to their luck, it wasn't so packed as there were barely any people despite the astonishingly delicious food they had atop their table at the moment – speaking of good food, while everyone else chowed down, a particular redheaded delinquent had hardly even touched his plate.

Why did he order Takoyaki again?

But noticing his little dilemma since he had seen him, Isogai leapt into action for he had eventually given into his concerns as he started a conversation with the taller boy seated next to him while the other three continued with whatever they had occupied themselves with – he kind of wanted this conversation kept between the two of them, after all. "Is there anything bothering you?"

Karma blinked at this – he shouldn't be surprised that the ever- diligent class rep. would question him sooner or later, but if he had to admit, he actually tried to put up a casual front today. "What do you mean?" he replied a little indifferently as he took a sip of his drink

"Well, you haven't been talking about yourself. And there's just something a little…off about you." The dark-haired boy had his brows furrow with worry.

Karma attempted to pretend he didn't know what he was talking about and gave him a somewhat puzzled look "Is that so?"

Isogai nodded "If it's anything troublesome, you can talk to us about it." He presented him a grin for moral support, but all he got after that was a brief silence from the other – expression inscrutable.

"I see." And then another carefree smile came to his face before he pushed himself off the seat and started to head for the door with his hands stretched to the top of his head lazily. Naturally, this would get everyone's attention as four pairs of eyes followed his departing figure.

"Eh—Where are you going?" Maehara spoke what was on everyone's minds aloud with scrunched eyebrows.

"Just outside for some air." And with one last lazy wave of his hand, he was out the glass door and sauntered the rest of his way with his hands to his pockets.

This had left Isogai with a troubled frown – they weren't 'close', as one would call it, but he always tried to involve himself with this aloof boy; but seeing as he doesn't seem to oblige with his reaches to him, one can only feel a bit upset.

"Nagisa, isn't there something weird about Karma-kun?" Akari hadn't let her gaze leave the door in her bewilderment.

"Yeah, I noticed how he kind of lost his oomph since I saw him." The brown-haired boy commented, also quite bothered by the behavior his old classmate put up today albeit it being what one would deem 'normal' enough.

And the blue-haired boy did not let his eyes stray away from where his best friend had gone off to, but not with question – rather, he had an idea what made him act that way in the first place.

"Aw, and here I thought I could get some dessert after – now I've lost my appetite." A tall, scarlet-haired boy sauntered about on the glossy, gold-ish, kaleidoscope-patterned floor that reflected his blithe form and outwardly indifferent features.

The ground floor of the mall conveniently put up beside the museum was a little of what you could consider empty. Only a few were caught walking in groups while there were those that only passed by – probably due to the hour which was about late 4 pm. Karma had only taken notice of how fast time had swept by when he was met with an orange light that glowed against the ceramic floor where his feet patted upon just by the large, wide, entrance that lacked a door, but such could be justified by how it reached up to ten meters above the ground; most likely it had been put there for visitors to have a view of the sunset mercury orbs now laid upon.

As he approached the road outside of the building, the sight of an overfamiliar river came to his observations – it was the same one he would pass by every day. From what peripheral vision could take in, the only things with him on the narrow road were a few bushes and some other weeds that needed picking as they were sticking out of some patches of the grass.

But something drew him closer to the picture in front and had himself positioned just by the edge of the slanted, downhill, grassy portion that stretched almost as infinitely as the river itself which created an enticing glimmer as the comforting light from the sun spread its glory onto the rippling body of water. It was an admirable scene, he'd give it that – but there was something about it that had him completely entranced, not only was it familiar, but it let a similar, but more alluring image come to mind. His head would make it out as a little blurred – kind of like how a camera was in the middle of focusing itself as he would slowly let that radiant smile take over his thoughts; the river, the black hair that shined against the same color of light in front of him right now, and the movement of her lips when she said…

'You can have Manaka.'

And a breeze went by that let his hair fly to the side in a graceful manner – his expression had gone soft and serious just by thinking back at that. He immediately thought of distracting himself with the direction the wind went as he turned his head to the right where it continued to drift by; there, he caught sight of the long, metal bridge he knew all too well. Despite there being a sunset where his area was, that portion of the town looked quite cloudy – therefore no such light reflected against the almost rust-less passage. If he were to estimate, he stood about 5-6 kilometers away from it.

'…I can't promise you that, Karma-kun.'

Once he realized that she had just come up again as his thoughts piled up, he clenched his teeth a tad; how many times was it now on that day? Seeing that he couldn't find relief even with isolating himself, he exhaled through his nose and just caught himself in a bad mood. He was about to turn tail until-

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" And there came the sound of a girl's panicked screeching which originated from his left side where he sharply had his eyes move to. It took him quite some time to take in what had happened, but upon seeing pale brown hair fly uncontrollably, he didn't even have to guess who it was, especially with that big bow she always had on – today it was blue.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Yep, there was his senior right now on a bike going downhill at a speed that would've gotten her a warning ticket from traffic officers – screaming with all her might as her vehicle only went faster the lower she travelled down the steep hill. He didn't get another chance to react to this and only watched in confusion for in no time at all she made it to his level of ground and had her bike ram into a pole sitting close by; but it seemed that was not the end of it for misfortune must have hit her bad today as his head followed her rather short figure get thrown off the bicycle by the impact of her crash to the (now slightly bent) pole.

An 'OOMPH!' came from her when she fortunately crashed onto the bushes coincidentally over to the right of where he was positioned (yes, that was how far she was able to fly.). At the very least, he could be sure that she wasn't dead for a groan came from behind it – but that didn't really ease most of his concerns as he raised an eyebrow and felt some sweat by the side of his head at how disconcerted he was with what had just unfolded.

But being genuinely worried about the girl, he approached the set of plants.

"Urrgghh…" was all that came out Mai's mouth when he found her there with eyes that resembled swirls at the moment as her body had itself sprawled onto the greenery a little comically – twigs and small leaves were sticking out of her already tangled up hair as he could spot a few of the other green still in the midst of falling slowly onto her light blue parka. After a few seconds, she came to and sat up groggily with the help of her arms – but this state of dizziness had dissipated the instant she lifted her head and saw a familiar face "Oh! Akabane-kun! Good afternoon! Coincidence seeing you here! What are you doing here? And that bike's not broken is it?"

Her happy-go-lucky personality made it look like she hadn't just gone through an almost death-defying crash – his senior was naturally odd that way, he knew that much, but that didn't stop him from extending a hand with a serious expression, but there were hints upon it that he was yet to recover from such a random happening in the midst of his contemplation.

"On more important matters; senpai, are you okay?" this came out quite casually despite still being a tad bit disturbed as she enthusiastically took hold of his hand and let him help her up.

"Yep~! I'm A-okay!" she displayed him a jolly grin and an exaggerated thumbs-up "Just have a little…motion…sickness…"

After a gag, she dove into the bushes again and barfed – Karma impulsively stepped back and watched while she did so.

Conveniently, there was a line of vending machines just on the wall behind the two.

After Isura Mai relieved her stomach of its contents, her junior had offered to get her a drink so she could feel better and rest a bit before she had to ride off to wherever she had to again – but he had been denied when he also insisted on paying; for this second year appeared to have 'Senpai Rules' that would not forgive such. Without much conflict between the two, it ended up with the girl getting what she wanted and paying for both of them.

For a few minutes, all the pair did was sip on their drinks as they enjoyed the view given to them freely by nature's splendors in a surprisingly comfortable silence though the two weren't close friends – the explanation for that may be because the shorter girl was just naturally a good person to be with because of her welcoming aura. Karma went with his usual juice box whereas Mai had a drink befitting of her – canned café au lait, that she was still yet to consume for it had only rested itself between her palms.

A soft expression was on when she sprung up a conversation between them unexpectedly "Well?"

Karma wasn't sure where she was going with this for the tone she used could be compared to that of a kind teacher asking a student for results in a motherly way. He separated his lips from the straw and turned to her with question "Well…?"

"What's brought you out here? What were you thinking about to yourself all alone?" she didn't sound inquisitive; rather, it was like she had this tone in her voice that made it sound jovial but at the same time it's as if she saw through him. Like she already knew the answer somewhere there and was aware that he had not taken notice of his own actions for she had on a knowing smile and had her eyes closed peacefully – not even glancing at him while she spoke.

A little taken aback because he had been read, and that he had only realized his actions himself at the moment, he had failed to respond to the older girl which only prodded her to proceed with what she wanted to say.

"Akabane-kun, ever since I met you I've had some suspicions on your character." She chimed with a mock detective-like tone and a wag of her finger as if he was being scolded in a polite manner for she kept her smile on – which lived up to her adorable reputation.

Karma had a hint where this was going from then on – it was probably a lecture of some sorts; the reason for such, he couldn't quite grasp, so he decides to just go with the flow for the meantime by responding to this with a smirk "Aw Senpai, you make it sound like I'm a criminal at large."

Mai giggled at this "Not that kind."

The brunette soon found herself locking her blue orbs with the orange horizon – the clouds were beginning to pile up around the source of light, and yet the said source still managed to keep itself within view and harmonize perfectly with the cotton-like material as it only made the river down below look enthralling.

She started again in the same matter-of-fact tone she used earlier that made her sound like she was counseling him with another wag of her finger "Akabane Karma-kun, you seem to be quite lost, aren't you?"

This got his attention – how is it this girl he barely knew had been able to see through that as well? Was he that obvious, or did this senpai just have a knack for knowing when things were amiss? But in his slight confusion, he merely remained silent and listened to what she had to say since it had unknowingly piqued his interest.

"Your character seems to be lacking a clear straight path as of late. You're presented with many but you can't choose one – or rather…" she paused for a bit, but did not turn away from the view as her expression softened "…you dare not take one. Am I mistaken?"

This time, she spared him a glance – only to be displayed with how he had averted his eyes and somehow gave her the cold shoulder; clearly in no mood for this kind of talk, and yet Mai saw this as another chance to continue, for it had just proved that he was troubled by something and she just got it right. Now, in a more serious tone "You're confused – it's written all over your face. You…" Bright blue orbs traveled to the light that twinkled upon the undulated water "Lost a vision you once had, didn't you?"

Still perplexed on the issue he had at how this senior was able to read him so easily, and that she had brought this up out of nowhere, he spoke with a low, serious tone but refused to meet her eyes by letting his red hair block his features "Why are you telling me this?"

"…I've been there before." She was calm in saying this, but didn't let that ebullient character leave her entirely for she kept her smile as if she were talking about just another common matter when really it must have been something big, judging from that look he found in her eye when he took a glance – Karma knew better than to pry and kept himself mute to have her continue; this time he knew that by her next words, she spoke solely from experience "That feeling where you can't see if there's anything else left for you…"

She blinked and moved her gaze downcast "It was like I saw myself in you, that's why. So I guess…" moving her head to his side (knowing he was now looking at her), she beamed "I can try to relate for a while."

He only blinked back a few times, but kept stoic and chose not to respond by looking away again and let the stubborn side of his personality come up – she had been cold-shouldered once more and put on a sad smile; it was exactly how she was. In truth, she didn't plan on shoving this so suddenly at his face – even if she had thought about having a talk with him for some time now – but seeing as there was clearly an internal struggle with the way he looked when she saw him, she just had to leap into action.

Mai took a moment to think about her next words. Once she had grasped an idea, she held her head high and faced the horizon with a brightness to her features as her hands moved to her back to intertwine themselves "Akabane-kun, do you ever wonder why I'm so dead set on helping you and your club out?"

Now that she mentioned it – she had been a little too giving of her time and effort for them specifically. He had wondered before how she dealt with her other responsibilities and the rest of the clubs she had given her support to since she was found paying more attention to their group than necessary; he wasn't sure if she was aware of that habit of hers until today. And with a spark of curiosity, he managed to look to her as an indication for her to go on.

The brunette didn't let the sky stray away from her vision as she replied "The reason is because I see how happy you all are when you're together. I rarely see people that enjoy each other's companies the same way you do. And I'm sure that you've gone through things together that made you all share such a bond."

So, she was right even about that. And the redhead had a thought sound in his mind as he stared at her

'What's up with this senpai?'

"To me, people's smiles are a precious thing." Karma watched her pause and took in how she lowered her orbs to face the grass – smile never wavering as she may have thought of a grim memory with how her feet brushed the soil just now.

By this time, the stubbornness inside of him had gone away as he properly faced her – after she said that, his bad mood had somehow been lifted up from the newfound –well, he couldn't really describe what new opinion he had on her at the moment, but the closest word would be trust.

Mai put a hand to her chest as if to ease a pain that had been brought by a memory as she closed her eyes "I'd like for them to keep doing so even when in pain…" droopy, blue eyes revealed themselves and went over to the red-haired boy next to her "Akabane-kun, don't you consider your clubmates as something to hold dear?"

Yet again, he had not seen this question coming and had to be given a moment to think about his answer; his brows furrowed and he let his head lower unconsciously just by giving it deep contemplation "I…haven't really thought about it…but…"

Now that he had answered her, Mai felt relief wash over her for a second as a pleased grin graced her face – simple it may be, but it lightened up her mood. She started with a genuine smile and stared at him with a sense of tenderness; heck even her voice brimmed with sincerity and wisdom as she said-

"Everyone needs something precious to keep themselves going."

Karma blinked at first, but found himself taking her next words into consideration for she spoke with the same tone and the same expression when she locked her eyes with the sun again "I ran for president last year because I found what mine was. Even if I didn't win, that was the start of my clear road. We all look for something to hold dear. When we realize it, that's when we take a step forward." Another pause before she reverted her kindhearted gaze to her junior.

"What do you consider precious?"

Moments of silence drifted by for the umpteenth time that day as he gave that question another space for his mind to be on about. After putting two and two together, and thoroughly looking through if he still found anything in this monochromatic world of his, he replied with a forlorn smile because of how laughable his dilemma was "…I don't think there is one..."

"I'm sure that's not true." Mai wasted no time in answering back to this – which earned her a somewhat sharp turn from the boy before she beamed.

"If it was, you wouldn't be standing out here thinking about it."

Once again, this senior had caught him to a tongue-tie for he couldn't deny the fact that what this girl had done right now had somehow gotten him to discover a new respect for her – and on the same day he figured he could trust her too. Evidently impressed, Karma looked at her with a bit of admiration.

"Senpai…when I think about it, you tend to give good advice." – it began to become clear to him why his bespectacled friend had come to look up to her so much.

"Hm? Really? Well…" the brunette stretched her arms upwards as if reaching for the sky as she said her next set of words with resolute, blue eyes "I want to be prepared for whatever life throws at me after all."

And just as she was relishing on the feeling that she had done well with this little talk she initiated judging by the results she got, her shoulders abruptly jolted up as she had alarm precipitously surge through her body "Ah! I took too long! Sorry! I have to go!" as she said this, she was already in the middle of jogging back to her (miraculously unscathed) bike – swiftly picking it up and throwing her leg over it before she saluted, soldier style "Omo-chan's been harassing Pres. From what I heard! I'm off to their rescue to settle their differences!" she didn't need to inform him of this, but she did anyway as she put her arms across each other to create an 'X' as if some police guy what with the mock man-face she made just now; but such dropped in a second when she gave him another energetic beam and rode away, café au lait still yet to be consumed for it was still within the same hand she used to wave goodbye to him "I wish you a good day~!"

For a moment there he forgot she was the owner of a mysterious hybrid creature he could've lived without encountering, thus he shouldn't be surprised by her oddness. But even with that thought, he still made an effort to raise his hand in farewell to the older girl he had come to change his views of – even if it had all started with her getting thrown off the same bicycle she rode right now.

Speaking of how she left, Karma had not let his eyes leave the girl's departing form as another observation came up in his head. Since she waved him goodbye, she had her full on focus to what's in front of her while she pedaled away – but there was more to that, of course.

Senpai…doesn't look back…

Now that his previously troubled mind had somehow come to ease, a smile crept up to his features as he turned his attention back to the still lowering sun and rested himself on the grass casually.

Something precious, huh…

Okay I know it's not much and yet it's so darn long you must've been snoozing halfway, but eh ;w;

I tried, and I will do better in the next chapter because I honestly look forward to the end of this arc VERY much.

And no I will not tell you why. You just have to wait *tsundere look away* b-baka! *is slapped by readers* XD

By the way, If ya'll are gonna ask why Inari being found out is such a big thing for her…think about it real hard 8D

I mean that school spreads rumors like wildfire on gasoline even if they have smart students.

ALRIGHT THEN~! It may not have been the best but I still hope you enjoyed!

Now, TO BE CONTINUED!

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND WARN ME FOR OOC. (Seriously especially the utatan...and Karma /w\)

Jaa ne!

~TheFlowerWeSawThatDay