"You don't look very happy to be here," Beverly observes, flipping through channels on the TV. "I hope you don't have anything against a sleepover with me."

"No, no. It's not that," Cailey assures her friend, idly fiddling with Bessie in her lap. The cow had been awfully silent lately, and normally she'd think it was a red flag, but honestly, she was just glad to have a break. But not glad about what she confessed to Beverly. "I—it's just, Dad came home from work. He hardly ever does that. He noticed my hair, by the way. I think Mom did, too, but she didn't say anything."]

Beverly sighs dramatically. "Aww man, guess I o you twenty bucks. But wait, that's not anything to get upset about."

Cailey tries not to sound too resentful as she explains the situation. "It's just that, he only came home to grab more stuff so he could stay at work even longer. Apparently, there's some experiment or project or something they're working on, that everyone needs to help with. Both Mom and Dad are going, so that's why I need to stay here for a while. Don't get me wrong it's not that-it's not like I don't wanna sleep over but…"

"You miss your parents," Beverly finishes their friend's sentence, with a sympathetic look in their eyes. "Don't worry, I get it. But still, I think we can have a fun time together."

"Indeed, we can."

"Well, that was certainly an experience," Taker says, looking and sounding tired.

"Yeah." I can't help but agree. "I was on the fence about having kids before, but now? It doesn't even feel like a choice."

We leave the baby block to its slumber, moving away as quietly as possible. I realize that I'm still holding the little music box and slip it back into my pocket. I'm about to enter the next room, when I suddenly realize something and turn to face my companions. Esmie almost doesn't stop in time and stumbles to keep from banging into my legs.

"H-Hey!"

"Speaking of choices, I think it's high time I know what you guys choseto hide from me."

Taker tenses, which is pretty impressive seeing as he's made of clay and doesn't have muscles. Esmie fiddled nervously with her gown. "W-what do you mean?"

"That. That right there is what I mean, Esmie." I feel bad about speaking that way as soon as the words exit my mouth, but I hold my ground. Something is obviously wrong. Taker and Esmie were almost certainly keeping something really important from me, and I had to know what it was.

"Ever since I woke up this morning, you two have been acting weird. And I know it's because of something that happened while I slept because you asked me if I remembered it. There's no way it could've been just something said in my sleep, because I'm weird, but I'm not that weird. So, please, tell me what's going on already!"

Esmie is clenching bundles of her outfit in tight little fists now, her breath coming in shallow, trembling gasps. Taker pulls himself more upright for a moment, as if he was going to fire back, but he just slumps forward a few seconds later. Good. He knows when he's facing a battle he can't win. There is hope for him yet. "Very well."

Esmie jumps, as if she'd been shocked. "Wha?"

"We can't hide it from her anymore, Esmie. We shouldn't have in the first place."

"Damn straight! Now, spill."

Taker sighs, motioning for the door before us. "At least sit down, first."

That bad, huh? I wonder. Why the heck did they keep it from me so long?

We step into the room, and Esmie and I immediately notice the old, gameboy-esque device that was there. "Oh, I forgot this was here!" She chirps, practically bouncing as she brings it over to me. "You should check it out."

Again, feel super bad about this, but I give the demon girl a long, hard stare. "Esmie," I say, trying to mimic the tone my mom uses when I'm about to make a mistake. "If this is your way of trying to get yourself out of trouble…"

"Nonononono that—that's not it at all!" She's quick to backtrack. "I just… I want you to have one more fun time before it's ruined. Is… is that bad?" And dang it, if that doesn't take the wind from my sails real quick. Before, I'd thought that Esmie didn't live up to her species' nature of devious deception, but boy was I wrong.

I sigh. "No, Esmie, it's not. Tell you what. I'll play one round of whatever this game is, and then, we will talk about the elephant in the room."

Esmie nods, and we all make ourselves as comfortable as we can in the dirty room. "Now let's see here… how do you turn this thing on?"

Esmie shows me how, and a cheery eight-bit song comes out of the speakers. "Sunshine Academy," I read out loud. "Wow. As cute as that is, I seriously doubt anyone who's in their right mind would name a school that. Aren't schools usually named after the founder? So is there like, some family with the last name Sunshine in this universe? We've only just begun and I already have questions."

Moments later, It becomes apparent what exactly this game is. The good news is that it's not another of those terrible Spooky parody games. The bad news is that it's something much, much worse!

"Esmie, did you seriously set me up to play a freaking dating simulator?" I ask in a loud whisper.

"I-it's not really…"

"Oh it's disgusting! It's hideous! It's infested with cooties! It's… hey, the sound Ume makes when she talks is kinda cool, sorta sounds like she's singing."

"… I knew you'd like it."

For the next minute or so, I amuse myself by trying to sing Ume's lines with the same random notes that were given along with them. The results are… iffy. Let's leave it at that. Moments later, however, the game takes a dark turn.

"You know," I begin. "I'm no expert when it comes to dating, being aroace and all, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to talk about flies and dissolving eyes to a girl you're crushing on. I mean, maybe it'd work with an edgy goth chick, maaaaaaybeee? But Ume Ito isn't that. She seems to be more of the cheerful sunshine type. Maybe that's why the game's called Sunshine Academy. Wow, I wish I had a school named after me. What would that be like?"

Hopefully it's not like this game. I can't tell exactly how things ended, it was all rather vague, but one thing's for sure. Ume Ito deserved better.

"Ugh, I should've known this would be some crappy pasta. And only one girl?"

Esmie is quick to console me. "There's actually a better ending. If you play it through a couple more times—"

But I'm not having any of it. "Esmie. I said one time, and I meant one time."

"… Okay, okay."

I smile, taking the little girl's hand. "Thank you. If I feel like it when we're done talking, I might try to get that other ending."

Taker scoffs. "Doubtful, but I suppose we'll see. So, when you went to sleep last night…"