The next day, Sayori patiently stood in front of the Shujinkou's front door, curious as to why her old friend had called her over. Moments later, the door opened, revealing Shujinkou on the other side. He let out a large yawn before welcoming his friend inside.
"Did you stay up all night?" Sayori asked.
"Yep…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek, before another small yawn escaped past his lips.
"So, what did you want to show me?"
Shujinkou reached for a nearby item and presented it to Sayori. It was two small pieces of paper tapped together. Upon closer inspection, Sayori was surprised to find that each piece of paper had no words written on them.
"What is that?" she queried.
"I think it's some kind of clue," Shujinkou answered.
"A clue? A clue to what?"
"Well…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. "You remember that one time Granny Hisa gave us that idea that 'should bind us always'?"
"Um…" hearing those words caused Sayori's mind to dig up a past memory.
She could remember the two of them using their imagination in a cardboard box until they heard a knock from outside. Opening the top of the box, the two stuck their heads out and encountered Hisa.
"Granny Hisa!" they exulted.
"Hey, you two," she waved at the two children.
"What are you doing here, Granny Hisa?" Shujinkou asked.
"I was just in the neighborhood," Hisa nonchalantly shrugged. "Anyway, while I was here, I wanted to see if you two were interested in making a time capsule."
"A time capsule? What's that?" Sayori wondered aloud.
"It's a thing people put whatever they want in it and then the same people dig it up later years later," Hisa explained.
"Why would we want to put something we like in a box for years?" Shujinkou asked, scratching his right cheek. "Wouldn't that just mean we couldn't touch it for years?"
"I thought you might say that, so I'm going to appeal to both of yours' curiosity," his grandmother replied.
As she expected, Shujinkou and Sayori's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"What would you two say to making a time capsule with one thing that means a lot to you… but you two won't know what the other has put in there?" Hisa proposed.
Sayori looked up at Shujinkou; his eyes were filled with interest.
"What do you think, Sayori?" he asked.
"I think it sounds fun. We should do it!" Sayori beamed.
"Oh yeah!" Sayori shouted, back from her trip to the past. "We did do a time capsule! But I don't really remember much about that adventure."
"Well… You up for finding it?" Shujinkou proposed.
"Yes!" Sayori bubbled. "So where do we go first?"
"Well, I think the first piece of paper is one of those that use a special marker to reveal its secrets."
"Aah… Where can we get one of those?"
"Uhm…" Shujinkou crossed his arms. "Doesn't the arcade have one of those activity packs that come with one of those markers? We should probably go there first."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sayori declared.
Moments later, Sayori followed Shujinkou into the local arcade; her eyes lit with excitement.
"What should we do first?" she asked.
"I don't know," Shujinkou shrugged. He then looked around the establishment until he spotted something that caught his interest. "How about an old favorite?"
A bright smile stretched across Sayori's face as she slid her goggles over her eyes. She then revved up her snowmobile and waved at her opponent.
"You ready?" she asked.
"Yep," Shujinkou replied, revving his engine as well.
The two hit the gas and sped down the mountain. To Sayori's surprise, she finished the course with zero crashes… something her opponent could say himself.
"I must have gotten really lucky," Sayori mumbled in disbelief.
"No, that wasn't luck," Shujinkou assured her. "Though that says nothing about the fact that this was my worst run…"
"Ah!"
"What is it?"
"I just remembered that this game doesn't give any tickets…"
"Uh…"
Shujinkou and Sayori silently stared at each other for an entire minute before getting up from the game.
"How about we try that one game you used to get a lot of tickets from?" she suggested.
"Um… You mean the one where you drop the coins and hope they go down the path that's lit up?" Shujinkou replied.
"Yeah. I don't remember it well, but you must have been really lucky to get so many tickets from it."
"Not exactly."
Confused, Sayori used her eyes to silently plead for an answer.
"You see, I knew I would just be wasting my tokens if tried to play the game it was meant to be played so instead I focused on the many tokens at the bottom," Shujinkou explained.
"Um… There were two cliffs on top of each other right? With rake thingies pushing the tokens on the top a little? How did you get tickets from that?" Sayori asked.
"I usually time my tokens so they hopefully fall in from of one the rakes before they push it forward. If it works then the new token would be pushed into the first group, causing said group to move forward and hopefully drop some on the second group. When enough fall on the bottom group, then some tokens from that group would fall down and I would get tickets from that."
"Wow… That's a really smart way of still getting something from a luck-based game. So, we should try that one, right?"
"No. That game's not working right now."
"Oh…" Sayori scratched her right cheek as she pondered her friend's explanation and response. "Wait, I got an idea!"
Not too long after those words were spoken, Sayori and Shujinkou happily rode a spinning tea cup as they searched for an arcade game to play.
"You see anything?" Sayori asked.
"I think I see myself getting a head ache," Shujinkou replied. "Maybe we're thinking about this too hard. Let's just pick one that gives out tickets at random."
"Okay," Sayori nodded her head in agreement.
The moment the tea cup stopped, the two jumped and landed in a rusted gate.
"Ready?" Shujinkou asked, brandishing a M4A1 assault rifle.
"Ready," Sayori sported a confident grin as she did the same.
As if on cue, several zombies rose from the ground and lurched towards the two. They wasted no time in slaying the humanoid abominations and opening the gates to the nearby derelict mansion. They continued to fire at several humanoid, canine and plant based zombies and broke into the mansion, only to be confronted by a large hulking vermillion figure.
Its blood shot red eyes looked down at them as if pleading as its long tongue licked its scaly lips.
"Shujinkou?" Sayori nervously glanced at her companion.
"Hold on…" Shujinkou dropped his rifle and pulled a CGM missile launcher from behind his back. With a confident grin, he explained the sudden gear change with, "Score Bonus."
Pulling the trigger, several missiles flew forward and instantly killed the beast.
With the final enemy defeated, the two zombie slayers placed their weapons back into their holsters and watched as their tickets poured out of the machine.
"This should be enough," Shujinkou said as he glanced at his phone. He then ripped the tickets out of the machine and held them up. "Want to turn them in now?"
"Okay," Sayori beamed. "Oh, wait."
"Yeah?"
Sayori turned around and pointed to a photo booth, "Let's take some funny photos."
"Alright," Shujinkou agreed.
The two wasted no time in squeezing into the booth and Shujinkou paid the machine's asking price.
"What settings should we use?" he asked.
Sayori shrugged her shoulders.
"Random it is," Shujinkou said as he picked the aforementioned option. He then submitted their phone numbers, pressed the start button and leaned back near Sayori.
They both enthusiastically put on their best funny faces as the camera took their picture seven times.
"I wonder how they turned out," Sayori wondered aloud.
The two curiously glanced down at Shujinkou's phone; the results of the photos causing their faces to turn red.
While their faces in the photos were silly, the theme the settings chose from random framed it in a romantic view.
"Out of all the settings…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"Eh… Maybe we should turn in the tickets now…" Sayori nervously chuckled.
The two exchanged the tickets they earned for a magic pen activity set and walked out of the arcade.
"So, where to next?" Sayori wondered aloud.
"We'll know just as soon I use the marker on the clue," Shujinkou answered.
As Shujinkou got to work uncovering the first clue, Sayori impatiently looked around until she spotted something interesting.
"Ah!" she gasped. Sayori couldn't believe her eyes, but she could not deny the fact that she spotted two familiar people sitting on a bench not too far away from them. "It's Fuyu and Rei!"
Shujinkou looked up from the first clue and followed Sayori's line of sight.
"What do you think their doing together?" she asked.
"I don't know," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he glanced at her. The look on his face made it clear that he was aware of her intentions. "Want to go see why?"
Sayori eagerly nodded her head and shouted, "Fuyu! Rei!"
The two looked up and turned towards Sayori and her friend.
"Shujinkou… Sayori…" Fuyu solemnly replied.
Rei slowly raised her left hand and just as slowly waved at them.
"What are you two doing together?" Sayori asked.
"I'd figure that Rei would like to get out of the house today," Fuyu answered.
"I didn't know that you two were friends," Shujinkou said.
"Actually…" Fuyu remained silent for a moment, as if contemplating her response. "We're sisters."
"WHA?!" Sayori and Shujinkou exclaimed. "Sisters!?"
Fuyu nodded her head.
"When did that happen?" Sayori asked.
"Since my family adopted her years ago," Fuyu answered.
"Wait a minute…" Shujinkou silently scratched his right cheek. "You didn't make it sound like you two were sisters when you first introduced me to her. Actually, it seemed like you didn't even know her at all back then."
"That was my intention," Fuyu replied as she adjusted her glasses.
"But why?" Shujinkou asked.
"Well, I did tell you that I wanted to leave her in the hands of someone I trusted, but I also wanted her to be treated as a normal student, not the school president's sister."
Fuyu adjusted her glasses once more, her face now expressing disappointment.
"What's wrong, Fuyu?" Sayori worriedly asked.
"It's just that… Though I'm getting her out of the house to do stuff, it's kind of a sad alternative to what she really wants to do," Fuyu answered.
Sayori and Shujinkou simultaneously shot their president a curious look.
"I'm sure you two know how unresponsive she can be at times…" she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "But the entire time I've known her, I noticed that whenever she sees this picture, she seems very interested."
Fuyu raised her phone for the two to see; the tiny device showing a picture of a White Lotus flower.
"I get it… You want find some of these for Rei," Sayori concluded.
"Exactly," Fuyu confirmed. "But… I haven't exactly been able to find any anywhere… At least, in a way that I could afford."
"We know where you two could find some," Sayori grinned.
"You do?" Fuyu's eyes lit up with hope.
"We did find some around a pond somewhere near Granny Hisa's place a long time ago," Shujinkou explained.
"Oh…" Fuyu's expression returned to its previous disappointed incarnation. "That would fall under the 'I can't afford' option."
"Um…" Sayori pondered Fuyu's dilemma until an idea popped into her head. "Hey, maybe we could…"
"Maybe we could ask Granny Hisa to put you two up?" Shujinkou suggested.
Fuyu's eyes lit up with surprise, a sentiment Sayori shared.
"Really?" Fuyu asked.
"Yeah, in fact, me, Sayori and the others are heading up there for the upcoming festival. I'm sure Granny Hisa won't mind getting a room for you two if you come with us," Shujinkou assured her.
"Well… I don't want us to be a burden on anything."
"I'm sure she won't mind. She's really 'the more, the merrier' kind of person."
"Mm…" Fuyu adjusted her glasses and entered her "President Mode." Unlike the other times though, she was smiling. "We'll consider your offer."
Shujinkou nodded his head and exchanged phone numbers with Fuyu. Once everything was settled, Sayori and Shujinkou watched Fuyu lead Rei away. The moment they were out of sight, Sayori stared at Shujinkou bemused.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's just that… You know, I don't think you would have extended an invitation like that earlier this year," Sayori happily chuckled.
Shujinkou simply smiled and looked back down at the list, "Okay, next stop is… across the street?"
The two hunters looked across the street and beheld their favorite desserts-only restaurant: Diamond Delights. Sayori followed Shujinkou to the front of the restaurant, sharing his confusion of their latest location.
"Why here?" Shujinkou glanced down at the next sheet of paper and used the marker gained from the arcade, sighing in disappointment when nothing happened.
Sayori's eyes excitedly searched through the various sweets that were displayed in the front window until they were drawn to a sign read: "Today only. Free Sweets. 2-4 p.m."
"Shujinkou! There's an all you cat dessert thing going on right now!" Sayori said with pleading eyes.
"Really?" Shujinkou followed Sayori's stare and confirmed her info. "Um…"
The two nodded their heads in agreement, found a table and placed their order. Not too long after, a waitress came by and placed two large vanilla sundaes topped with chocolate sprinkles, chips, and shavings.
"Good thing we got here when we did," Sayori beamed with delight.
"Yeah," Shujinkou agreed before taking the first bite.
"By the way, what do you think about adaptations?"
"What about them?"
"Monika and I came up with the idea that we should talk about adaptations of any literary works anyone wanted to talk about."
"Adaptations?"
"Mm-hmm. There are lots of things to talk about like differences, similarities and if it kept the overall tone of the original source," Sayori beamed. "Though I did warn Monika to not mention a certain live-action adaption of one your favorite series."
"Ugh…" Shujinkou's head dropped as he groaned. "You know… If it didn't carry the name, it would have been an okay movie."
"I think we could start with saying something to about that one Romeo and Juliet movie we saw when we were younger."
"You mean the one that took place in more modern times where the two families were bickering rival mafia families that would have shootouts just for looking at each other?"
Sayori nodded her head.
"If that movie was realistic, it would have ended at the first scene," Shujinkou pointed out with a chuckle. "How they got away with a public shootout is crazy."
"See there's a lot to talk about with that one," Sayori happily noted.
"Mm. You know, I don't know if I ever told you this, but you're a really dedicated VP."
"Hm? You think?"
"Yeah. You're thinking about the club while we're on break."
"Just doing my job. Hehe. It's kinda funny you would say that, considering you said that it was hard for you to imagine me being one."
"In my defense, while I did say that, I did say that it wasn't that I believed you couldn't do it. By the way, remember that poster you asked me to work on?"
"Did you finish it?"
"Yeah. I just want to see if everyone's okay with it first."
"That's great! I'm sure the moment we post it up next semester; we'll be getting a flood of new members."
Shujinkou smiled in response and scoop up another spoonful of ice cream. Following suit, Sayori downed spoonful after spoonful of ice cream before suddenly dropping her spoon.
"Brain Freeze!" she cried.
"You gotta take your time, Sayori," Shujinkou reminded her.
"But it so good."
Shujinkou glanced back down at the latest blank slip of paper and analyzed as much as he could. A defeated sigh escaped his body and he raised the blank clue up in the air.
"Whoa!" he gasped.
"What is it?" Sayori questioned.
"Take a look," Shujinkou answered, passing the clue to her. "Raise it up to the light."
Following his instructions, Sayori raised the blank paper up towards the ceiling lights, revealing a faint image of a crudely drawn bed.
"I must have done this one," she concluded.
"What makes you say that?" Shujinkou asked.
"Cause you never drew something this bad," Sayori giggled.
"Right…" Shujinkou weakly chuckled as scratched his right cheek. "It's not that bad…"
"Um…" Sayori intensely examined the faint drawing. "I think we gotta check your bed."
"Why would you think that?"
"Just a feeling I got."
Following Sayori's hunch, the two journeyed back to Shujinkou's room and looked under his bed.
"A lot of stuff under here," Shujinkou said. "I'm surprised I found the clues in the first place."
After moving various crates filled with books and art supplies, the two found a small teal box and pulled it out.
"Ready?" Shujinkou asked.
"Ready!" Sayori grinned.
The two opened the box and pulled out two blankets. Sayori quickly uncovered hers and waved a white shirt sporting the insignia of the Cooper Clan.
"My old t-shirt!" She said in delight.
"You… You put in that into the time capsule?" Shujinkou said in disbelief.
"Yeah," Sayori's cheeks grew red as she diverted her gaze. "It was one of the first things you got for me, so it means a lot to me."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek and looked down at the blanket he was holding. He slowly uncovered what he had hidden in the time capsule and raised it up for her to see. Complete shock was all Sayori felt the minute she laid eyes on a slightly crumbled drawing of their younger selves playing.
"You still had that?" Sayori sputtered.
"Well, yeah…" Shujinkou admitted. "It was birthday present that means a lot to me."
Having no idea how to respond, Sayori glanced down at the time capsule, triggering a strange reaction in her brain.
"Wait a minute…" Sayori stared at the box more intensely. "Now that I think about…"
Sayori's mind was soon thrust into the past, just after the two finished their time capsule.
"So… what do we do now?" she asked.
"I guess we go hide it now…" Shujinkou replied.
"Like where? Doesn't it have to be a special place that we would have to go out our way to find?"
"Uhm… I think so…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he shot the box an uneasy look. "Do you have any idea where we should hide it?"
"Um… I got nothing," Sayori admitted.
"Neither do I. Um… How about we think of a hiding place later? I'm pretty sure one of will get an idea if we stop thinking about it."
"Okay!"
Sayori watched as Shujinkou slid the capsule under his bed.
"I just hope we don't forget about it," he said.
Returning from her trip to the past, Sayori immediately looked up at Shujinkou, "Wait! We never actually got around to hiding our time capsule! We forgot about it under your bed!"
"Whuh?!" Shujinkou exclaimed.
And if we forgot about it under your bed, then that means we never made treasure hunt-esque clues to find it either!" Sayori continued. "Which means…"
Shujinkou suspiciously scratched his right cheek.
"You planned this whole thing, Shujinkou!" Sayori deduced.
"Guilty…" he admitted with a small smile.
"But why did you got through all the trouble to find the time capsule instead of just telling me you found it?"
"Well…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "Because we both wanted to go out of our way to find it."
"But you already knew where it was, so the finding part was ruined for you," Sayori sorrowfully pointed out.
"I know, but it wouldn't be for you and that was enough for me to make something up. Besides, considering how you've went out of your way to make me smile this year… I couldn't really consider myself best friend material if I didn't do the same."
"'Out of your way to make you smile…' Ah!" Sayori reeled back with shock as she realized the meaning behind her friend's words. "You… You heard what I said back then?! You were actually awake the whole time?!"
"Well… yeah…" Shujinkou nervously admitted. "It's just that… I just couldn't bring myself to say anything back then."
"But… But if you heard what I said back then, then why would you join the club the next day? I admitted that I've been selfish in trying to get you join when you didn't want to."
"No. I was the one being selfish. Personal problems aside, I shouldn't have just cut myself off from you and mom like I did. All I thought about was myself, not even realizing that I was hurting people who cared about me more than they probably should. I'm… I'm really sorry I haven't been the best friend I should have been for a while. I really wanted to make it up to you, so I joined the club in order to do that."
"You mean you joined the club just so I could be happy?"
"Yeah and… Honestly, I wanted to be with my best friend again too."
Sayori's cheeks grew bright red as she processed what she was just told. It was really something she did not expect to hear. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Shujinkou, squeezing him tightly.
"I… You…" Words escaped Sayori as she hugged her best friend tighter.
Unable to find the word either, Shujinkou warmly smiled and hugged his best friend back.