"Uh…"Shujinkou's cheeks burned bright red as he desperately tried to keep his eyes glued to the ground. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't help but look up to catch another glimpse. It was like he was drawn in by a magnetic source to behold something that would have been impossible to behold before the school year begun. "This is too much…"

Any other male his age would have considered himself lucky to be in the position he currently found himself in, but Shujinkou could not help but feel extremely uncomfortable over being at the beach with his friends in their swim suits.

"All right, our spot is finally set up," Monika happily announced.

"I mean they're my friends… I can't look at them like that…" Shujinkou thought.

"I seriously still can't believe you guys convinced us to go to the beach," Natsuki complained.

"I mean, how would I feel if they were looking at me like that…?" Shujinkou asked himself.

"How could we go on a summer trip without going to the beach?" Sayori argued. "The experience wouldn't be right without it."

"Then again, that probably wouldn't even happen to me. It's not like I'm my father…" Shujinkou solemnly admitted.

"It's just that…" Natsuki exchanged glances with the group, before she lowered her head, giving her a chance to look at her upper torso. "What's there to even do at the beach?"

"He was always a 'ladies' man'. We're complete opposites when it comes to girls," Shujinkou continued.

"There's lots to do on the beach and it's a good way to kill some time until this evening," Sayori happily answered.

"The closest I am to being like that is that all my friends are female," Shujinkou thought.

"But don't you think the attire that we have to wear at the beach is a little… revealing?" Yuri worried.

"Then again, it's not like I want to be a ladies' man anyway. That's just not me," Shujinkou concluded.

"Honestly, it's not as revealing as anything as some of the cosplay outfits that some wore at the convention," Fuyu pointed out.

"Wonder why he was here anyway? Should I tell Mom and Granny Hisa?" Shujinkou wondered.

"Speaking of which," Sayori turned her gaze to her pink-haired roomate. "Natsuki, you should have brought your crown with you."

"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to wear that while here…" Natsuki crossed her arms as she thought of the reason why. "I really don't need to give that Xemnas guy an indicator of where I am."

She then shifted her gaze towards Rei and remembered how the silent girl performed during the event. "Not to mention, I only won because Rei just gave up during the semi-finals."

"So, what are we going to do while here?" Kiyoko asked.

Natsuki glanced down and, with a look of disbelief, watched Kiyoko stretch out on her towel. "You ask that and yet you look like you're not going to want to move from that spot."

"Well, I do want to make sure I get some downtime at the beach," Kiyoko chuckled.

"Hmm… Shujinkou?" Sayori glanced at her childhood friend, finally realizing that he was lost in his own thoughts. "Shujinkou!"

"Huh?" his train of thoughts brought to an abrupt stop, Shujinkou glanced up at his friends. Such a sight brought back the awkward feelings he left behind earlier. "Oh… um… Did anyone need something?"

"Are you okay, Shujinkou?" Yuri worriedly asked. "You seem a bit distracted."

"Or at least as distracted as you were earlier this year," Natsuki added.

"No, I'm fine… It's just…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he wondered how he could possibly explain how awkward he felt.

"Hm," a small smile stretched across Monika's face as she clapped her hands. "Okay, everyone, why don't we think about this in the water. That way we won't be burning up in the sun."

The group, sans Kiyoko, agreed to her suggestion and began to head to the water until Monika stopped them. "Shujinkou… You sure you want to go swimming in your shirt?"

"Huh? Uh…" Shujinkou glanced down at his upper body, realizing that he was indeed still wearing his shirt. "Oh right…"

He didn't really want to remove his shirt, but considering it was not the type of shirt that should be worn in the water, he had no choice. Slowly and awkwardly, he began to remove his shirt. He would have preferred to just get it over it, but the amount of awkwardness he had to deal with so far today slowed his movements. It felt like an eternity passed for him until he finally completed his task; the moment he finished he found that the girl were silently staring at him.

"What? Is there something on my chest?" Shujinkou examined every inch of his upper body but couldn't find anything wrong. With no clue of what was happening, the young man could only scratch of his right cheek. "Guys?"

"Huh?" the girls responded in unison. It was as if they had just awoken from a trance.

"Um, actually… I think I want to go make a sand castle…" Shujinkou said, slowly backing away. "So, I'll just make one by our stuff."

The flustered young man wasted no time in turning around and walking back to where they left their possessions. Once there, he grabbed a small shovel and pail and began constructing his sand castle.

"Were they eyeing me?" he wondered with bright red cheeks. "I want to say that it can't happen because it's me, but there's no other explanation I can think of. And even if I could think of one, how do I know that it isn't just a result of my self-depreciation? I never figured I could have that kind of effect on girls, but then again there were a lot of things I never expected to happen happen. Maybe I did get something from my father in that department after all… Or maybe I'm just going to the other extreme on the appreciation/depreciation scale.

Either way, my heart can't take all of this; I won't be able to make it to the fireworks tonight if this keeps up. Maybe I can find a cardboard box and hide there for a few hours… Nah, that wouldn't be nice. I should really just suck it up and get back out there."

A deep sigh burrowed through his sealed lips. "That's easier said than done…"

The troubled young man continued to work on his sand castle, smoothing out the walls and building a lookout tower on the four corners of his of his property. But just as he began to work on an expansion on the rear, a hand, possessing a seashell, entered his field of view. Following the hand to its source, he would soon discover it belonged to a very familiar silent girl kneeling right beside him.

"Did you find this on the beach?" Shujinkou asked.

As usual, Rei did not answer his question. Instead she just simply moved the seashell closer to him. It looked as if she was offering it to him. Going by that assumption, Shujinkou slowly reached for the shell and lifted it off her hand.

"Thanks, but don't you want it?" he asked.

Rei simply stared at him. In the face of such an awkward silence, Shujinkou raised the shell to his right ear and closed his eyes. It was just like when he visited the beach when he was younger; any shell he came across, he would lift to his ears to see if he could hear the ocean. He used to think that of course you would hear the ocean near the sea and as he later found out in life, he was partially right. Still, hearing the quiet roars of the ocean's waves crashing onto the beach filled him with a since of nostalgia; a feeling that would usually have filled him with sorrow and yet he didn't feel that way this time. He felt a sense of serenity, a feeling he hasn't felt in a long time.

He then opened his eyes and found Rei still staring at him. But there was something different about her stare this time. It looked like she was confused.

"Hey, did you know that if you hold a seashell to your ear, you can hear the ocean?" Shujinkou presented the shell to the silent girl in front of him, urging her to accept it back from him.

Without saying a word, Rei accepted the shell and raised it to her left ear. The young man sitting next to her watched her only visible eye close and her expression change to one he had yet to see from her. She looked tranquil.

"Wow…" Shujinkou quickly shifted his gaze upwards and found Fuyu standing next to them. "I've never seen her look so… calm."

"Never?" Surprise was all Shujinkou felt at that moment. Deep down, he assumed that Fuyu had seen Rei emote at least a little more than what he had seen

"Not even when she's asleep," Fuyu answered. "It makes me wonder what she'll look like when she sees the flowers that had caught her eye."

She then awkwardly adjusted her glasses and sighed. "Hey, Shujinkou…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for inviting us out here. I know it had to be weird since it's not like we're more aquantences than friends."

"You know… Kiyoko said something similar to that. I invited her out here on this trip even though we haven't really interacted that much." Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he chuckled. "You know, 24 hours ago, I probably would have some sort of negative reason for why I did so. But, I think I already admitted the real reason. I know we're not really close friends or anything, but I would like it if we could at least become friends."

"R-Really? Fuyu's cheeks faintly grew red as she adjusted her glasses. "That's weird to hear. Not many people want to be friends with the 'ice queen' student president. For justifiable reasons."

"Hey, Fuyu, why do you have a scary presidential side?" Shujinkou questioned.

"Believe it or not, I was kinda worried that I wouldn't really be taken seriously as president if I was myself. So, I tried to put up a very professional act that ended up coming off as a scary ice queen. Honestly, at this point, I think that it's pretty much a part of cause I can turn it on and off like a switch. From an outside perspective though, I'm probably come off as living by the age-old phrase, 'It's better to be feared, than love.'"

"Huh, sounds similar to the philosophy that I went by for a while, "It's better to live in fantasy, than live in reality'. Though because of that, I sometimes kinda just blank out of reality. Mine's not always a flip of the switch."

"Mom would say that's pretty unhealthy. But… it sounds nice to do sometimes."

"Yeah, well… I didn't do it short bursts. But I think that I'm getting better."

"Hm..."

"Hey, Shujinkou," the young man followed the sudden voice to its source to find Monika smiling down at him. "You think I can take a moment of your time?"

"Huh?" that was all he was able to say before she reached down and softly squeezed his right hand. The sudden contact momentarily stopped all of his thought processes, making it easier for her to guide him on his feet and toward the water. By the time he snapped out of his trance, Shujinkou found himself swimming with Monika. "What's happening?"

"Just making sure you enjoy some time in the water," Monika giggled.

"Uh…" Shujinkou glanced down at the water as he realized what kind of situation he was in. But we wasn't alone with his thoughts for long as he felt his hands connected to Monika's and was once again guided through the water. "Um, Monika…"

"Yeah?"

"Um… I'm feeling kinda…"

"Awkward?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Shujinkou then felt his arms gently tugged forward and found himself only a few inches away from Monika.

"I was wrong earlier; I shouldn't try to suck it up! I'm really not going to make it to tonight at this rate!" he thought.

"Is it as awkward as when I was dressed as a maid?" she asked.

"I guess that would be more awkward…"

"Yeah… Imagine a lot of people you don't know arriving just to stare at you. The only thing worse than that is having your friends catch you in that situation. That was super awkward. Don't think there has been a more awkward moment in my life."

"Really? I kinda expected you having to kiss me just to keep your story a secret would be your most awkward moment." The moment those words left his mouth, Shujinkou had to fight the urge to kick himself for admitting that out loud.

"Far from it," Monika flashed a knowing smile as she said that. "It's actually connected to a personal victory."

"Personal victory? She must be connecting it to her not having to reveal her story," Shujinkou concluded. "I never expected her to do such a thing to win. I hope I never have to seriously compete with her."

The moment he finished riding his train of thoughts, he realized that Monika had been silently smiling at him the entire time.

"And I'm sinking," putting on a casual façade, Shujinkou proceeded to sink under the water to give him breather from the tense atmosphere. Not too long after diving, he felt something brush against his left cheek. Due to his current location, he couldn't specify what it was. He wasn't even sure if "brush" was the proper way to explain what her felt. Perhaps pressed was against his cheek was a better description, but since it only lasted a few seconds, he couldn't be too sure. But despite that, he cheeks couldn't help but turn bright red; this act only serving to add to the confusion. He immediately resurfaced only to find Monika was no longer in front of him. "Monika?"

He then felt something tap his right shoulder, prompting Shujinkou to turn around to find his frined giggling behind him with equally red cheeks.

"Race you to the shore!" she suddenly said before taking off towards the finish line.

"Not even going to try…" he weakly chuckled. Knowing he was outmatched, Shujinkou proceeded to take his time swimming to the shore. The moment he finally reached land again, his vision immediately went black.

"Guess who?" he heard.

"Sayori," he answered.

He heard the sound of giggling as light returned to his eyes.

"You always get that right," Sayori's grinning face soon jumped into his view.

"Well, you are the only one who does that to me," Shujinkou chuckled as he scratched his right cheek.

"Oh, by the way, check out what I did with Yuri," she directed his gaze towards their aforementioned friend. She was reading a book like she was often seen doing, but there was something different about her this particular time.

"Yuri?" Shujinkou called.

"Yes?" the young maiden glanced up from her book with a curious look on her face.

"You're a mermaid," Shujinkou glanced at her lower body, currently covered in sand that was shaped after a mermaid's tail.

"Well… I didn't see any harm in participating in such a thing," Yuri replied. "I think it will be nice to one day look back and remember that I was a mermaid once."

"Just like I do when Shujinkou made me a turtle," Sayori interjected.

"You made Sayori a turtle?" Natsuki asked as she approached the three.

"Actually, I was going for a Koppa Troppa from the Super Mario games," he answered.

"So… a turtle."

"Well… Pretty much." Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he thought about the designs of one of the most iconic enemies from the Mario franchise. But like every other time he did so, he eventually found himself wondering why none of them looked like their king, Bowser. He then slapped his cheeks, effectively bringing a halt to his train of thoughts before he could lose himself again. The moment he was firmly brought back to reality, he couldn't help but notice Natsuki wearing a very intense expression on face as she silently stared at him. "Natsuki?"

"Huh?" appearing as she had just awoken from a trance, the pink-haired girl violently shook her head before slapping her own cheeks.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I was just thinking about Sayori being a turtle. It just sounds weird."

"It wasn't that weird. I made a great turtle," Sayori protested.

"And how long did it take you to burst out of the sand shell?" Natsuki questioned.

"Eh…" a nervous chuckle was all Sayori could respond with. "Um, hey, don't you think Yuri looks great as a mermaid?"

"I don't think it's fair to use me as a way to change the subject," Yuri said in response to Sayori's question.

"Uo…" with no other choice, Sayori ducked down and started digging in the sand. When she had the amount of sand she desired, she crawled into the hole she dug and started to fill it up.

"What are you doing?" Natsuki asked.

"I'm showing you that I can be a great turtle!" Sayori answered in a huff.

"Koppa Troppa," Shujinkou corrected.

"Koppa Troppa!" Sayori declared.

"Where?" Fuyu curiously asked.

"Sayori," Shujinkou answered.

"Sayori's a Koopa Troopa?"

"She's trying to make a Koppa shell."

Fuyu glanced at the results of Sayori's "Koopa Shell."

"It looks like you made yourself a Goomba," Fuyu nervously critiqued.

"Goomba? What's a Goomba?" Yuri questioned.

"You haven't heard of the Goombas?" Fuyu asked back.

"I think I heard it from Yuki…" Yuri mumbled aloud.

"Yuki? Who's Yuki?" Monika asked.

"Oh. Um… She's my younger sister," Yuri answered.

"You have a little sister?!" Natsuki exclaimed. "How come you never mentioned her before?"

"An opportunity never presented itself to ever talk about my home life," Yuri pointed out.

"She's right. The only reason that I knew about her was because Yuri let it slip when we worked on our poster for Granny Hisa," Sayori added.

"Really? So, you knew about Yuki too?" Shujinkou asked.

"Wait… You know about her too, Shujinkou?" Sayori gasped.

"Did everyone here know that Yuri had a little sister?" Natsuki wondered aloud.

"I found out about her yesterday," Monika nervously admitted.

"Urk-" taken aback by from what she had heard in the past few moments, Natsuki couldn't help but express how she felt. "Why does it feel like I'm always the last to know these things?"

At that moment, Kiyoko slowly sat up and stretched her arms. "What are you guys talking about? You talking about, Yuki?"

"You knew too?!" Natsuki exclaimed once more.

"Just kidding," Kiyoko chuckled. "Sorry; couldn't resist."

Later that night, Shujinkou found himself staring at himself through his bedroom mirror. He felt a sense of nostalgia as he inspected every part of his yukata. "I never thought I would be wearing one of these again."

"Been a while since you worn one, huh?" Kiyoko asked as she tied her hair back. "Been a while since I worn one too."

"Really? When was the last time you wore one?"

"To my parents' funeral."

"Oh… Um…" the young man was taken aback by the how his roommate could so casually drop such information. "I-I'm sorry…"

"No need to apologize; I'm the one who brought it up. Anyway, no one told me what to wear, so I picked the closest thing that I thought looked appropriate. I really stood out in the crowd that day."

"…I'm sorry."

"Seriously, you don't need to apologize."

She stood up and brushed her ponytail off her shoulder. "You ready to go?"

"Y-Yeah…" That was the response Shujinkou could muster up. He was still stuck on how Kiyoko could be so casual about her parents' funeral.

He proceeded to follow her out of her room and down the hallway.

"So… what happened yesterday?" she suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Shujinkou questioned back.

"You seemed to be super happy all day yesterday."

"Oh. I just had a really nice conversation."

"Well, it's good you're happy; wouldn't want you to be super upset on the last night."

"The last night…" those three words reminded Shujinkou of how close school was to starting once again. He would no longer have all the time in the world to do what he wanted or spend time with his friends. "Well, there's no helping that."

The two would soon enter the lobby where the others were waiting. Not too long after they arrived, Lady Hisa approached the group, sighing deeply before crashing into one of the couches. "Finally; some time to rest. I think this was the busiest year yet."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he watched his grandmother bury her head in one of her pillows.

"Good thing everyone leaves for the festival…" she continued.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if there's going to be any special fireworks this year," Sayori wondered aloud.

Hisa's eyes widened as she processed the verbal representation of Sayori's curiosity.

"Oh yeah…" Hisa awkwardly scratched her right cheek as she looked up at her special guests. "There's not going to be any fireworks this year."

"Eh?!" Sayori and Natsuki exclaimed.

"That's kinda what happens when the point that was hit the hardest by yesterday's storm included the stash of fireworks."

"Well, that sucks," Kiyoko casually shrugged.

"But wait…" Fuyu adjusted her glasses as she took a moment to ponder the situation. "It's entirely possible to still have a festival but, in moments likes this, higher ups would try to salvage this by offering an alternative to alleviate disappointment."

"That's exactly what they're doing," Hisa smiled as she sat up. "Instead of fireworks, we're working with floating lanterns, also known as Sky Lanterns."

"Sky lanterns…" Hearing those words reminded Yuri of the afternoon she spent making their hanging variants with Shujinkou. Memories such as those were enough to put a small smile on her face. "I think those would be a good alternative."

"Mm-hmm. All those little lights coming together to light up the sky may be even better than the fireworks could have been," Monika agreed.

While the feeling of relief washed over the girls, Shujinkou was experiencing a different feeling.

"We should hurry up and get to the festival in the city before all the food is gone!" Sayori suddenly said.

"Is food seriously all you ever think about?" Natsuki chastised.

"No. I also sometimes think about the stuff you bake."

"That's still food!"

"Um, guys…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he attracted his friends' gazes. "You think I could catch up with you guys later?"

"Eh?! But why?" Sayori questioned.

"There's just… There's something I have to do for later tonight."

"But what about the festival?"

"I'll make sure I don't miss the whole thing. I just really have to do something before the night is over. Do you think that you could lead them to the place later if I'm not there by then?"

A disappointed look rested on Sayori's face. With no other choice, Shujinkou leaned over to her right ear and whispered what he had to do. In no time at all, Sayori's expression changed from displaying her disappointment to displaying her surprise.

"Really?" she asked.

Shujinkou silently nodded his head.

"Okay, Shujinkou," a big smile stretched across Sayori's face. "Do your best!"

"I'll try," he replied, scratching his right cheek.

With Sayori's urgings, the girls travelled to the city to participate in the local festival as planned. They played games, won prizes and Natsuki had to pry Sayori away from areas that offered food more than once. They also made sure to grab some sky lanterns before they missed a chance.

A few hours later, Sayori led the group a little way from the city in order to introduce them to the location Shujinkou had promised to take Rei. The moment they arrived, the girls were in complete awe of the beauty the field of Night Lotuses offered them.

"They're so pretty," Yuri admired.

Rei walked closer to the field of flowers and kneeled down next them.

"Hey, they're letting the lights fly!" Sayori suddenly announced, prompting the others to look up.

As she said, a plethora of lanterns were slowly floating up into the air.

"Guess it's time for us to also do the same," Fuyu said.

"Ah! But Shujinkou isn't here yet! We can't do it without him!" Sayori insisted.

Just then, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "Guess who?"

"Shujinkou?! You made it!" Sayori beamed.

"Mm-hmm," he nodded.

"Yeesh, what were you doing that made you almost miss everything?" Natsuki queried.

"Something very important," Shujinkou said with a smile.

Taken aback by such a happy answer, Natsuki found herself unable to respond back.

"Alright then…" Monika reached for her lantern and held it close to her. "We don't want to get left behind by everyone else."

Following Monika's example, the rest of the group lit up their lanterns and held it in the air. "Okay everyone… Let them fly!"

All at once, they let go of their lanterns watching in awe as they float up to join the others.

"Last but not least," Shujinkou reached down and picked up another lantern. Unlike the other ones, this one appeared custom made. Its brilliant blue coloring and bright yellow star centered on all four sides contrasted greatly to the others. "This one's for you, Hiroko."

He then lit the lantern up and watched it float away from him. As it continued to float up to the sky, its shape suddenly began to distort and grow blurry. He then felt something hot run down his cheeks, prompting Shujinkou to wipe his eyes before anyway could see his tears.

"See ya…" a small smile formed on his face as he tried his best to blink back his tears.

DDLC My Reality Act 1: The End