After a tough start to his nightly departure, and despite his intentions to have journeyed farther than he had, Shujinkou knew that it would be best if to settle down for the night. There was no need to communicate that idea though, as Sayori was already laying on the ground, staring up at the stars above them.

Following his friend's lead, Shujinkou laid down next to her and did just the same.

"Hey, Shiko?" Sayori suddenly said.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Do you think there's anything out there?"

"Who knows? If there is, I hope they're friendly."

"Mm," Sayori giggled as she nodded her head in agreement. The two continued to stare up at the night sky in silence until Sayori opened her mouth again. Hey, Shujinkou?"

"Hm?" the young man couldn't help but feel surprised over hearing her refer to him by name. "Sayori?"

"Shujinkou?"

Blinking twice, Shujinkou was no longer was in a forest staring up at the stars; now he was in a school hallway staring at a vending machine. "Whoa."

"Shujinkou!" Now firmly back in reality, the young man immediately turned around. Behind him was a clearly perplexed Sayori. "What were you daydreaming this time?"

"What was I-? Um… We were pretty much in a fantasy world," Shujinkou said as he scanned Sayori from head to toe. "And you were a fox girl."

"A fox?" surprised, she waved her hands just above her head then just above her the back of her waist. "Sounds cool."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he recalled what he had just experienced.

"It kinda seemed like I was living another life there for a moment…" he thought.

"So, how'd things go with Rei yesterday?" Sayori asked. "Did you ask her to join the club?"

"Well… kinda. It's complicated."

"Huh? How's it complicated?"

"Honestly, I did ask her at first, but I didn't get a 'yes' from her. After that, I was more focused on trying to be a friend to her than just a passing by acquaintance."

Sayori silently stared at Shujinkou. Her curious face made it clear that she knew that there was more that he was not telling her. But instead of questioning him further, she simply smiled and reached into the vending machine.

"It's probably for the best you didn't focus on asking her again," Sayori said as she pulled out two chocolate bars. "Rei might have thought you were just trying to get on your good side if you did ask again."

"Yeah…" Shujinkou solemnly scratched his right cheek as he recalled Rei speaking to him. "Now that I think about… I didn't really recruit her or Kiyoko like you guys asked."

"You don't need to feel upset about that, Shujinkou. You can't control what their responses will be."

"Oh, I wasn't upset. I just realized that I didn't actually get any yeses. Honestly, I'm fine with the outcome if only because of what I learned doing it in the first place."

Once again, Sayori silently stared at Shujinkou. Unlike the confusion her face displayed before, it now openly displayed surprise. But just like before it was replaced with a bright smile. "That's a good attitude to have."

Shujinkou nodded his head as he reached into the vending machine, pulling out two more chocolate bars. "So, how was the club meeting yesterday? Did I miss anything?"

"Um… We went over some ways to spend our budgets… Ah!" Sayori's eyes widened with horror. "I forgot I have to bring the ideas to Fuyu to review! See ya, later, Shujinkou!"

With that goodbye, Sayori quickly dashed down the hallway before suddenly tripping as she tried to turn a corner. Before Shujinkou could respond, she quickly jumped back on her feet and continued running.

"Wonder what was suggested?" the young man wondered aloud before turning around. The moment he did, he gently collided into a familiar face. "Rei?!"

Rei blankly stared up at Shujinkou, seemingly unaware how nervous their how close their bodies was making him.

"H-Hey, Rei…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek as he just as awkwardly took a step back. "How've you been?"

The girl in front of him continued to stare at him in silence. Such a response made Shujinkou begin to question whether or not he had imagined what she had said to him last night.

"Um…" before he could say another word, Rei reached into her pocket and pulled out the pin he had given her the other night. "That's…"

Shujinkou could feel himself falling back into old habits as his vocabulary was slowly slipping away from him.

"Come on! I can't let this happen every time!" he vehemently thought. "I know what happened last night was surprising, but I can't let that be an excuse to go back."

Shujinkou violently shook his head clear of doubts and smiled. "You know, I knew that botanical gardens had a lot of flora and faunas, but I didn't know they had that much."

Rei slowly glanced down at the pin then back up at Shujinkou.

"Um… I can see why you wanted to go there. It was a really nice place," he continued.

Rei continued to silently stare into Shujinkou's eyes before suddenly stuffing the pin back into her pocket. Her single visible eye still trained on him, Rei raised her left hand and waved goodbye.

"Oh, okay. See ya later, Rei," Shujinkou said, waving as she walked off.

A potluck of emotions attacked Shujinkou at once as he reviewed what just happened. He knew deep down that he should not expect Rei to suddenly talk all the time and even felt a little guilt over even thinking so. But those feelings also led to him asking the same question he had on his mind since last night.

"Why did she talk to me last night?" he wondered to himself. "Why me of all people?"

Shujinkou shook his head. "No, I shouldn't be treating it like that was the ninth wonder of the world. If I do, then I'll be more focused on that then trying to be a better friend."

"That was painfully awkward, Senpai," a sharp chill shot up the young man's spine as he heard a familiar, innocent-sounding voice flatly tell him that. He looked around, but the owner of the voice wasn't around. "Up here, Senpai."

Shujinkou followed the latest trail of words up to find Mali sitting atop the vending machine. A bright smile filled her face as she looked down at him. "When is Senpai going to learn to look up and down?"

"I never really thought about someone sitting on top of a vending machine…" Shujinkou weakly argued.

"You know… Senpai is always surrounded by women, but he always seems to struggle to get through a conversation with them."

"Not always…"

"And yet Senpai is well liked by a lot of girls anyway. Senpai, should have more confidence," Mali dropped down from the top of the machine and daintily landed in front of Shujinkou. "Maybe the reason Senpai struggles sometimes is because he has other things in mind? Senpai pretty much admitted that he finds his friends attractive. It's probably hard to just look at them as friends when he's also distracted by their cuteness and beauty."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered what he was just told.

"That's kind of a lose-lose question she's throwing at me…" he thought.

Mali giggled as she took note of Shujinkou's relatively relaxed expression.

"Oh, Senpai is pretty adaptable," she casually approached him and stood on the tip of her toes, bringing her face closer to his. She then gently pressed her chest against his; a knowing smile forming on her lips as she watched his cheeks grow bright red. "Yeah, Senpai is much better when he's like this."

"What are you-?"

"Senpai was like this earlier with his silent friend. I'm pretty sure Senpai had plenty of moments like this before, so it's pretty surprising that he's still acts like this whenever he experiences physical contact with a girl. And yet at the same time, it's that very innocence that makes Senpai so alluring."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek and responded by taking a step back.

"Oh, Senpai is more adaptable than I thought," Mali giggled. "But Senpai, you are going to have to get used to close contact eventually. You never know when someone may take you for themselves."

"M-"

"Or does Senpai think that's not really possible. Does Senpai have a low opinion on himself when it comes to girls?"

Shujinkou averted his gaze as he scratched his right cheek. He was pretty sure she caused him to do that more than he usually does when they talk.

"Aw, poor Senpai. He shouldn't really have a reason to be so down on himself there and yet he is so down on himself," Mali once again approached him and wrapped her arms around his. "But don't worry, your Kōhai's here for you."

"Huh?"

"Don't look so surprised, Senpai's the one that wants us to all be friends, which naturally includes the two of us. Aren't friends supposed to help each other?"

"I don't think they do on such a subject…"

"That's only Senpai's opinion," she said with an innocent smile.

"Uh…" Shujinkou had no idea how to respond to that..

A soft giggle escaped Mali's lips as she continued to watch his face contort in anxiety and confusion.

"Mali…" Shujinkou suddenly said.

"Yes, Senpai?"

"…Thanks."

"Huh? Thanks for what?"

"For your concern. You have your own way of showing it, but I appreciate your concern."

Genuine surprise was on display on Mali's face. But it was soon replaced with her usual innocent smile. "Senpai really is something. But that's what makes him so interesting."

A small smile crossed Shujinkou's face as he scratched his right cheek.

"Senpai, isn't there somewhere you're supposed to be right now?" Mali suddenly asked. "A certain after-school activity with cute girls?"

"That's not why I'm there!" he vehemently denied.

"Senpai still isn't denying the 'cute girls' part," she giggled.

"…I gotta get going," Shujinkou weakly freed his arm from Mali's grip. "See ya later, Mali."

As she watched him drag his feet down the hallway, Mali raised her hand and cheerfully shouted, "Bye, Senpai."

As if triggering something within him, Shujinkou stopped moving. For the next two minutes, he stayed like that before suddenly turning around. With a warm smile, he replied with a simple, "See ya, then."

"Senpai?" Such a response left her almost speechless, a feeling she hasn't felt for a long time. As she watched him take his leave, all she could do was wonder, "What was that just now, Senpai?