The next day, Shujinkou paced back and forth in front of his classroom door. He had figured that it would be best to ask Kiyoko about joining the club first and, while waiting, decided to use his morning time to develop a pitch. He needed to try and figure out how he could convince her when she had already told him why she had quit her previous club. It would be hard for sure, but he still needed to try his be-

"Shujinkou?"

"Huh?" forced out of his thoughts by a singular word, the young man glanced up to find the subject of his first objective standing in front of him.

"Kiyo?" he bleated. All Shujinkou had thought of at this point was that he had to think of something to say. Right now he felt like he was auditioning for a role he had yet to prepare for.

"'Kiyo?'" the golden-haired girl in front of him shot him a curious look.

"I mean… Kiyoko," his cheeks grew red with embarrassment over his mistake. "Sorry, I was out of it for a moment."

"No need to apologize. You can call me Kiyo if you want," Kiyoko shrugged.

"Oh, okay," Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. Despite his lack of preparation, an opportunity to make the proposition was right in front of him. "Um… Kiyoko, there's something that I wanted t-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of homeroom bell loudly rang throughout the building.

"Really should have seen that coming…" a slight chuckle escaped past his lips. The timing of the interruption was too perfect to be considered a coincidence even if it was the only logical explanation.

"What did you want to say or ask?" Kiyoko suddenly asked.

"Ah… I'll tell you at lunch."

"Okay," she casually shrugged.

Though he believed it was the best decision he could have made at that moment, Shujinkou would soon find out that it had the adverse effect of making the day seemingly move on slower than usual. Sometimes the break for lunch seemed far away already, but with the addition of the anticipation and anxiety his quest gave him, the time he had to wait was beginning to become unbearable. It just seemed like it would never come at this point.

"Shujinkou," hearing his name once again broke him from his trance. He turned around to find Kiyoko tapping on her desk. The rhythmic sounds of her tapping sounded vaguely familiar. "It's lunch."

"Wow…" Shujinkou could not believe it. He had become so wrapped up in how long it was taking to get to lunch that, from his perspective, had given him the rare experience of time going both fast and slow.

"So, what were you going to say earlier?" she curiously asked.

"Right. That," Shujinkou solemnly scratched his right cheek. "Um…Well, the club just got a clubroom."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mali found one for us."

"Good for you guys. I know it's got to be better to have your own space instead of one you have to share with others."

"Yeah. Natsuki did express his happiness over that. But that's not all…" Shujinkou stopped as he was hit with a sudden realization. "Or maybe that is all and it's just coincidental timing… Anyway, there were apparently talks about-"

"Senpai!" a familiar cheery voice effortlessly derailed his train of thought just as it got going.

Shujinkou and Kiyoko followed the direction the voice came from to the classroom door just as Mali walked through it.

"Mali…?" Confused, Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as she cheerfully approached him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to have lunch with Senpai, of course."

"Lunch…?"

"Does Senpai not want to have lunch with me?"

"It's not that. It's just…" Shujinkou anxiously glanced at Kiyoko.

"Don't mind me. I'm not going anywhere," she assured him.

"It's settled then!" Mali wrapped her arm around Shujinkou's and swiftly led him out of his classroom.

After an "interesting" lunch with Mali, the young man returned to his classroom, flustered, but ready to resume his quest. Just as he got back to his seat, the bell rung.

"It's not as funny as the first time…" Shujinkou sighed.

With no other choice, Shujinkou waited until the end of the day before another chance to talk to Kiyoko presented itself.

"So tired…" Kiyoko yawned.

"Hey, Kiyoko…" just as he prepared to make his proposition once again, Kiyoko's phone started to ring.

She wasted no time in answering it and brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"…"

"On it." With that single confirmation, Kiyoko ended the call and grabbed her bag. "Sorry, Shujinkou. Gotta go."

"O-Okay…" he watched her walk out of the classroom before his head dropped in disbelief.

He felt nothing but disappointment as he dragged himself to the new clubroom. Upon his arrival…

"Did you talk to Kiyo or Rei yet?" Sayori eagerly asked.

"No. I tried to talk to Kiyoko but I got stopped at every turn," Shujinkou sighed.

"Eh? But you guys are in the same class. How'd you get stopped at every turn?"

"Well, the first time I tried, the first bell rung. The second time at lunch, Mali suddenly showed up and invited me to lunch. Then when I tried again when I got back, the next bell rung. Then when classes let out, she had to go somewhere."

"That's… It truly sounds like the world is conspiring against you on your quest, Shujinkou," Yuri noted.

"It is…" he groaned.

"Maybe you can try and call her right now," Sayori suggested.

Heeding her suggestion, Shujinkou pulled out his phone and called Kiyoko. It went straight to her voicemail.

"Ugh…" his head once again dropped in disappointment.

"Shujinkou, if I may, it may be beneficial if you visit her at her home," Yuri suggested.

"Huh. That could definitely work," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he considered the possible consequences. "I just hope she doesn't think I just want to come over because of how nice her place is."

Later that evening, Shujinkou made his way to Kiyoko's residence. Upon his arrival, the gates opened as if personally inviting him inside. As he proceeded through the gate, the young man began to hear music. Once he reached the house, Shujinkou found Kiyoko playing a song on a guitar.

"You play guitar?" he said in amazement.

"Yep," she casually answered before glancing up. "What brings you around here, Shujinkou?"

"Um… I was…" his train of thoughts were brushed aside as he heard Kiyoko play another chord. "Is that the menu theme from Sly 2?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded her head as if it was nothing special.

"Wow." Despite her blasé attitude, he was sure his jaw would be touching the ground if it was possible.

"So…" Kiyoko gently laid her instrument to the side. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to come over to ask you something," he replied.

"What you were trying to say earlier?"

"Yeah," Shujinkou anxiously scratched his right cheek. Half of him expected another out of nowhere interruption while the other half felt nervous that he had a chance of actually getting to finally say what he wanted to say all day. "Um… It probably sounds like a dumb question since you told me why you quit your previous club, but I was wondering if you would consider joining our club."

"Really?" Kiyoko's eyes slightly widened with curiosity. "You guys want me to join your club?"

"Yeah."

"Even though you and Sayori know why I left my last one?"

"Well, Sayori said you could be as uncommitted as you want."

"Really? You guys are a really interesting club," she chuckled. "Hmm… Can I think about it?"

"Yeah. There's no pressure or anything," Shujinkou assured her.

Kiyoko then reached for her guitar and played a few strings. As she hit her stride, Shujinkou was hit with a sudden revelation.

"When I really think about it, I don't really know much about Kiyoko and Rei" he thought. "In fact, despite me saying and thinking that it would be nice to be friends with them, I never really went out of my way to try. The only times I have were situational… Like with Fuyu…"

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he averted his gaze. "Sayori said that I was the closest to them and, though that may be true, that doesn't mean that I'm that close to them…"

He glanced back at Kiyoko. "Hey, Kiyoko…"

"Yeah?"

"You told me during the summer that we weren't friends. What would you say we are now?"

"Um… Friendly acquaintances. Why?"

Shujinkou let out a disappointed sigh. "It's just that I said that I would like to be friends but I haven't really did much to make that happen."

"Don't beat yourself over that. It's not like every relationship a person have is a deep close friendship. Sometimes it's just the kind that involves 'hi' and 'bye'," she casually pointed out.

"Yeah… But I really did intend on trying. Or at least I thought I did. But so far, it seems like our interactions only come up from situations that call for it. Other than that, nothing…"

"Huh…" Kiyoko played a few more notes on her guitar. "Well, like I told you back at your grandma's place, it's a two-way thing. If that's how you feel then I'm as much to blame for not trying that hard too.

So, how about this? I may not know if I'll join your guys' club or not, but if any of you want to come over for any reason, feel free."

"Really?" Shujinkou replied, perplexed.

"Yep."

"Okay," a small smile formed on his lips as he felt as sense of accomplishment. "And if you want to do the same you can too."

"I'll be sure to take you up on that offer," Kiyoko wiggled her fingers before gently placing them back in position. "Any requests?"

"Any?"

"Any."

"Um… Can you play Batman's theme from his 90s cartoon?"

"There's a classic," she grinned as she strummed her first note.

As Shujinkou listened to an amazing cover of one of his favorite heroic themes, he was hit with another revelation.

"If Kiyoko and Rei joined the club, we would be like the Straw Hat Pirates of school clubs," he chuckled as he thought this.