Have you ever had the misfortune of seeing someone you care about shut their eyes after the light left them completely? The fear and confirmation that they'll never open them again them no matter how much you beg and plead them too? A pain you could never get closure on because you had to bury for the sake of your remaining child who could only watch as he lost his sister?

I… Never truly had time to just take a moment to grieve Hiroko's de- passing. I couldn't with everything Shujinkou had gone through. He made it clear that he blamed himself for her passing and for Jomei leaving. He was so upset that he even broke off his friendship with Sayori, believing that he didn't deserve to have her as a friend.

But even after that, she did sneak over here behind his back from time to time to check up on him. I guess that's where my experience hiding Akira came from.

Thinking about it, that's just one of the reasons I view myself as a bad mother, at the very least, a bad one most of the time.

Beyond not being able to hold the family together, I don't feel like I was able to be there for my children enough. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't provide enough love and encouragement to compensate for Jomei's lack of fatherly affection.

And as I look at Shujinkou now, I feel one of remaining few of my family slipping away. And there's also part of his rebuilt life falling apart which relates to how his friends are dealing with what happened behind everyone's backs.

How could I have not known what happened during that time? How could I not know they were that close to-?

Hiro sighed.

I can admonish myself more later. Right now, I need to make sure I don't miss… Honestly, at this point it'd be a miracle to just get a response.

She looked down at her phone. Despite how much she wanted it, there was still no response to the request she made two days ago.

Her eyes then wandered just a bit, drawn to the time on top of the screen.

"School's almost out…"

…

Monika sighed as class was dismissed. The last few days of waiting for the day to be over was already excruciating enough for her but her talk with Kiyoko earlier made it even worse.

At least I can finally go home now.

She grabbed her things and stepped into a sea of faces scrambling towards their own locations.

"Finally can go home…"

As she muttered her thoughts aloud, Monika felt something pull against her sleeve.

"Monika-Senpai!"

Monika instinctively felt a chill as she turned around. Such a feeling could only be caused by one person.

Standing behind her with an innocent expression on her face was Mali.

"Mali?"

Her child-like expression and equally child-like way of grabbing her attention was surprising to say the least. It wasn't the first thing she expected Mali to do after not seeing each other for the last few days.

"Um…"

Perhaps it was because of how she felt, but it was a struggle to remember the intentions that lied beneath Mali's veil of pureness.

"What's wrong, Monika-Senpai?" Mali asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Well, you're actually referring to me by name for one…" Monika weakly answered, scratching her right cheek.

When she thought about it, Monika could count the amount of times Mali referred to her by name on one hand.

Looking back at Mali, she suddenly found herself a bit concerned by the amused smile she wore on her face, at least, more concerned than usual.

"Monika-Senpai, we need to talk," she said.

"About what?"

Mali pressed her right index finger against her lips and looked around. She then grabbed Monika's hand and said, "Not here, Monika-Senpai. We need to talk somewhere more discrete."

With that, Monika ended up being dragged throughout the school multiple times. Every time she asked Mali where they were going or why they were circling around to places they've already been, she received nothing but a lively, "You'll see soon."

After a few more trips around the building, Mali finally released her grip on Monika's hand.

"We're here!" Mali chirped.

Monika looked around. She was baffled to find that she was once again standing in front of her classroom.

"You led me around the school just to bring me back to where we started…?" Monika muttered in disbelief.

"Of course. I said we needed to go somewhere discrete and there aren't many places like that until everyone goes home or settles into their afternoon activities," Mali explained.

Monika scratched her right cheek. While there was some truth to that explanation, she was sure that Mali did all of this just to mess with her. But as she thought that, she noticed her younger associate giggling.

"You look a lot like Senpai right now," Mali noted.

Despite every fiber of her being telling her not to do so, Monika still asked, "How so?"

"You're copying Senpai's most notable quirk and your face is just as sad as his is half the time."

The regret she expected from asking hit Monika like a truck and Mali's subdued laughter at her expense added to it.

"Ah. Speaking of Senpai…"

Just when she thought Mali was about to say something to make her feel worse, the first-year instead reached into her backpack, pulled out a sheet of paper and presented it for her to see.

"What's this?" Monika asked.

"My application."

"Application for what?"

"To join the Literature Club."

"Join the…"

Monika solemnly scratched her right cheek.

"Wow… You really look a lot Senpai right now…" Mali marveled. "I thought I would have had to fill in for Senpai but it looks like you yourself may have that covered. For the most part at least."

"Mali…"

"What? It doesn't hurt to talk about Senpai. I believe it's even medically healthy to do so. I mean, aren't you guys talking about Senpai more than usual during your club meetings?"

Monika shook her head.

"Mali… There hasn't been a club meeting for the last few days and I'm pretty sure there won't be any for the foreseeable future," she explained.

"Eh? Why not?" Mali innocently asked.

"Mali, you know why? What other reason could there be?"

"I get that. There's probably some sleepless nights, constant looking over your shoulder and most likely some PTSD you all need to work through, which honestly makes Senpai's coma look like a gift. Still, wouldn't that result in you close friends coming together in your time of need?"

Monika scratched her right cheek. At this point, she didn't know if that would have been the right thing to do right now nor did she know if she could voice her feelings about that to Mali.

As she pondered those thoughts, she noticed Mali looking at her strangely. There were no signs of her playful demeanor; instead she stared at her with genuine curiosity.

"Or… are you insisting on proving 'me' right?" Mali questioned.

Monika once again recalled "Mali" taunting her.

"Senpai's the 'heart' of the club according to you. Is it safe to say from your attitude that everything is meaningless without him?" Mali continued.

The first year student took a step closer and stared deeply into Monika's eyes.

"No, that's not it. You're…"

Before she could finish her observation, Monika turned and ran away.

"Wow… Ms. School Idol is so sensitive." Mali thought aloud.

"I think 'sensitive' is putting it lightly."

Mali turned around, amused to find Fuyu standing behind her.

"Madame President? How long have you been here?"

"Long enough."

"Oh."

A tiny smile formed on Mali's lips as she took in Fuyu's stern look. She wasn't sure whether or not she could do that without it "President Mode" until now.

"What was the point of messing with Monika like that?" she asked.

"I wasn't messing with her at all," Mali insisted. "Besides, if you think that's messing with someone then it's a good thing you didn't see what 'I' once said to her and Senpai."

"You know, Using relatives doesn't change the fact that you're messing with someone who's clearly…"

"Traumatized? Scarred mentally and maybe physically? Thinking bad thoughts?"

Mali's smile grew bigger as she watched concern appear on Fuyu's face.

"…Mali, don't you have any empathy?" she asked.

"I empathize," Mali replied. "But does that mean I have to walk on eggshells or mope around like Senpai's potentials?"

"I'm not saying I want you moping around, though the walking on eggshells has some merit. I mean, think how you would feel if you were taken and abused for superfluous reasons."

Mali giggled at Fuyu's question.

"You want me to picture if I was taken by selfish, sadistic and childish people? You ask me that even though I was there too? How come you're not worried about me having a fragile mental state too?" Mali questioned.

"I am worried, but you told me yourself that you involved yourself in that affair voluntarily and you seem pretty... unfazed," Fuyu explained.

"Of course, I involved myself. Senpai was forced into the center of a life and death situation and, as his Kōhai, I had to support him as much as I could since no one who could do something could help him.

And as for being unfazed, 'I' didn't have to worry about anything happening to me because 'I' was just so untouchable then. But even if it wasn't for that, I still wouldn't worry because… well, Senpai should have a hint as to why I wouldn't worry," she teased.

"But even if you felt you had no reason to worry, a part of you had to know how things could have been if you didn't have any aces up your sleeves or whatever Shujinkou did to get you guys out of that situation.

You yourself just now said it was a life-or-death situation and since you were there, you would know how close you all were to the second one. Isn't that enough to know why you shouldn't be so blunt with any of them right now?"

Mali eyes narrowed as she looked into Fuyu's.

"That's funny," she giggled.

"How?"

"Don't you know? You of all people should especially know that I couldn't be blunt with all of them even if I wanted to. But maybe you have a point about being blunt considering the reactions I got from the other three. Ms. School Idol's was honestly the least hostile."

Fuyu adjusted her glasses and sighed. She could tell by how the conversation was going that there was no point in trying to appeal to Mali any further.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" Mali queried. "Shouldn't you be in your office completely buried by your work like always?"

"I'm putting it aside today to go see Shujinkou." Fuyu answered.

"Really? What a coincidence, I was planning on seeing Senpai too. The four of can go together."

"You, me, Rei and Kiyoko."

"Wow… You skipped ahead in our conversation a little Madame President," Mali marveled.

"It's a time saving skill I perfected when on the job," Fuyu tirelessly explained. "Plus, Rei already went with Kiyoko earlier."

"Still, you may be a more impressive president than I gave you credit for. And here I thought all you did was leave things to Senpai."

"I won't deny I asked for his help before, but I only did so because I believed he was the best option for the things I've asked of him."

"That's true, but it still doesn't change the fact that you left your lawful sister and a problematic first-year to a normal student who clearly had his own issues," Mali mocked.

"That's true, but should you really be teasing me about that? After all, isn't the reason I believed he was the best option the reason you find him so interesting to be around?" Fuyu countered.

"Oh… You're in a real combative mood right now, Fuyu."

Fuyu adjusted her glasses and sighed. "More like in a glum mood."

…

"Got any fives?" Hiro asked.

"Go fish," Kiyoko replied.

Soon after that declaration, a playing card hovered in front of Hiro's face.

"Thank you, Rei."

Hiro graciously accepted the card Rei had given her and prepared for Kiyoko's turn.

"Got any sevens?" her guest asked.

With a defeated look on her face, Hiro gave Kiyoko the very card she was just given.

"Kiyoko, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Did Shujinkou ever mention anything about what was going on back then to you?"

Kiyoko shook his head.

"He only mentioned how concerned he was about everything," she answered. "Not really sure if he knew anything back then and even if he did, I'm not really sure he would really tell me that. I get the feeling he would keep that to a need to know basis in regards to people who aren't law enforcement or family."

"Oh."

Part of Hiro wondered if that was a fair question to ask of one of her son's friends, but that feeling went away as Kiyoko continued.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up for not knowing anything, you know. From what I've gathered, everything seemed to happen all at once behind everyone's backs." She added.

That had to have been at least the third or fourth she had heard some variation of that phrase. Despite her appreciation of the sentiment, it just wasn't having its intended effect. All it did was remind her o what she was waiting for.

"Kiyo's right about that," a voice interjected.

The three followed the sudden voice to Shujinkou's bedroom door. Standing there was Fuyu and Mali.

"Pardon the intrusion," Fuyu apologized.

"No need to apologize, Fuyu," Hiro assured her.

"Huh? You know who I am?"

"I saw the vacation photos."

"Oh."

Fuyu wasn't sure if her surprised reaction was justified or embarrassing.

No, I'm embarrassed either way.

"What about me? Do you know who I am?" Mali asked.

"Well, based on Shujinkou's descriptions, you must be Mali, his Kōhai." Hiro answered.

"Senpai actually told you about me? And he referred to me as his Kōhai?" a bright smile stretched across Mali's face. "That makes me so happy."

Fuyu was taken aback by the smile on Mali's face. It was vastly different from her usual one.

"You know, you look a lot like your son too," Mali continued.

"Huh?"

"Or maybe, he looks like you. Either way, you two have the same look in your eyes; that same innocent look."

"Oh, um… Thank you?"

As Hiro pondered what she was told, Mali approached Shujinkou's comatose body. As she looked upon his face, she couldn't help but remark, "Oh Senpai, even now you can't rest, can you?"

"Not exactly something you'd want to say in front of his mother…" Fuyu mumbled under her breath.

Fuyu anxiously turned her gaze to Hiro. She was worried that Mali's comment may have upset her friend's mother, but Hiro didn't seem to mind.

"Got any tens?" she asked Kiyoko.

"Go fish," Kiyoko declared.

As Hiro reached for the card Rei presented her, she felt a strong vibration against her right thigh. She wasted no time in picking up her phone gazing upon the screen, something Mali found curious.

"I'm really sorry, but something important just came up," Hiro apologized as she jumped on her feet. "Thank you very much for coming. Stay as long as you'd like."

With those parting words, Hiro stepped out of the room.

"Important? More important than Senpai?" Mali thought aloud.

She then looked back at Shujinkou.

"Oh Senpai…" a small smile crossed her face. "You always make your emotions so obvious no matter what."

…

Hiro clutched her chest as walked into Diamond Delights. Even though what she started was her idea, she still could not believe she was going through with it.

"It's for Shujinkou's sake…"

She quietly repeated those words as she looked around.

I guess I got here first. At least, I hope that's the case.

With no other option, Hiro sat down at one of the open booths and waited.

"It's for your son… For your son…" she repeated.

"Is that why you called me?"

Hiro looked up. She felt a variety of different emotions as she looked upon the face of the person she called.

"Yes. That's right," she nervously answered. "Please, take a seat if you want."

"Of course."

Her guest sat down on the opposite side of the booth and took note of the clear concern on her face.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Nothing like that. I mean, that's not exactly the reason I called you here. I didn't call you here to yell or fight," Hiro assured him. "Really, I'm just grateful you really showed up… Jomei.