"So, Mali really is absent today…?"

Fuyu glanced up from her desk and met eyes with Sayori. It would not have been an exaggeration to say that the look of disappointment resting on her guest's face in this context was rare.

"As far as official records go, she is," Fuyu answered.

"Aw… But I really need to talk to her…" Sayori moaned.

"Regarding…?"

"You know, about Na-"

Sayori's words were immediately cut off by the icy glare Fuyu shot her.

"Eh… About something I found lying around one day." She continued with a weak and awkward chuckle.

"You… Let Mali take a look a whatever it is you found?"

"Well, not really. She kinda already knew what was going on like usual lately."

"And you're sure you want her involved in whatever delicate piece of your plan is?"

"Um… Sayori nervously scratched the back of her head. "To be honest… She can probably handle that part better than me."

Fuyu adjusted her glasses and turned her attention back to the files spread across the top of her desk. "If you say so."

"You really think it's that bad an idea…?"

"I just think that you have to remember that Mali is a bit of a wild card. I haven't told any of you this, but she's attracted attention before her prank escapade earlier this semester."

Those words reminded Sayori how Mali's classmates reacted to the missing student's name.

"You mean how like everyone in her class seems afraid of her?" Sayori queried.

"She did not waste any time alienating her classmates. She just knew what to say to get under their skin."

"Kind of like when Shiko first brought her to our club …And when she found us our clubroom."

"And then there was how she acquired that clubroom which, in hindsight, could be described as some well-deserved karma."

"Oh yeah, the guy who kidnapped Monika and the person you punched out."

"Plus, there was just the methods she used to get around the school during her escapades, the fact that she used the snare trap at school, snooping around, etc., etc…" Fuyu sighed.

"I know that but…"

Something Sayori struggled with ever since giving Mali permission to carry out her idea was finding a way to justify it. She truly believed that Mali would be a better fit for the job when all is said and done, but she also knew everyone else had a point too: There really was no way to know what Mali would do next.

Knowing that undeniable fact almost renders and argument she could make pointless.

"On the other hand, she did participate in rescuing you guys and she seems interested in helping with your Operation: DDLC before you even made it up," Fuyu admitted. "But at the same time, I can't help but she has her own angle in doing so. It's like I said, she's a wild card."

"Whatever the reason, she wants to help, at least for Shiko's sake, so I trust her not to try anything bad with the job she's taken, especially if it even indirectly means something bad for him," Sayori affirmed.

"If that's how you feel, then I won't question your decision any further."

Sayori nodded her head before a thought popped into her head. She looked around, her curious eyes scanning every inch of the room.

"Hey… Where's Rei?" she asked.

"I don't know." Fuyu answered matter-of-factly.

"And you're fine with that!?"

Surprised, Fuyu glanced up and asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that… when Rei first came here, you had Shiko look after her for a while and generally it just felt like you didn't want here out of anyone's sight for long…"

"Did I really come off like I wanted that…?"

"I mean, she's never really been seen alone for long so…"

Fuyu tapped her left cheek with her pencil, pondering Sayori's words.

"…I did ask for Shujinkou to look after her, but I never insinuated that he was to do so for as long as he did," Fuyu explained. "I'm pretty sure after the first few days he was just being a good acquaintance, not doing it out of duty."

"That was never in any doubt, but I don't really think I've seen Rei alone for long. The longest I can think of off the top of my head was during the Royal Rumble," Sayori recalled.

"The thing is… When Rei was first brought into my family, I was essentially tasked with being her guardian. We had to be by each other sides pretty much 24/7 to the point that she was moved into my room even though she could have had her own. Mom said she required human interaction.

The thing is, I didn't really know what for then and I was never sure if it really had any effect on her since she was always the same. It's because of that that I started having to argue with my mother about letting Rei actually go to school for that interaction since there was only so much I could do and she finally relented this year."

"I always though Rei just transferred here from another school."

"Nope, she was homeschooled until now. Anyway, I won that argument, but I forgot one important thing: I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her much here."

"So, you asked Shiko to do that."

"And the rest is history. The point I was leading up to is that awhile after she came here, she's been going off on her own time and again and I guess no one has noticed because we don't perceive her leaving much of a noticeable presence when she isn't actively doing something in front of our eyes."

"Oh… Um… I kinda feel bad now…" Sayori said, scratching her red right cheek. "But you and your Mom's okay with Rei going off without knowing what she's doing?"

A dark, solemn look hung over Fuyu's face as she sighed. "…Well, for someone who thought she was just weird and creepy years ago, I don't really have much of a right to complain when she's off doing her own thing."

"Ah! …Come on; you don't think that bothers Rei, do you?"

"Probably not and I've said it to her face. But it bothers me that I even thought that, let alone said it."

"…I guess that's how Shiko felt for awhile too," Sayori muttered. "But that doesn't mean anything for you two now, right?"

"Now there's a question. …I wonder…"

…

I seriously didn't see this happening…

Peeking over her shoulder, Natsuki confirmed that Rei was still following behind her. In her sleeve covered hands were four grocery bags.

I still can't believe Rei's helping me like this… I mean, it's not like I don't believe she wouldn't but… Is this her way of repaying me for going with her on that trip? It's not like I actually needed to be there; most would have found that patronizing.

Natsuki continued to wrack her head as they crossed through the local park. A soft breeze gently caressed her face, bringing her back to reality for a moment.

"Hey, Rei…"

Words quickly failed Natsuki the moment she met eyes with Rei.

"…It's nothing," she said, turning away. "I was just thinking Shujinkou's lucky to have a friend like you that goes out of her way to do something for him."

As expected, silence was the only response to the compliment Natsuki struggled to let out. But perhaps it was for the best; she wasn't sure whether she could continue that branch of dialogue after an awkward beginning.

But as she thought that, Natsuki realized something: it didn't feel like she was being followed anymore. Turning around, she was shocked to find Rei staring at the ground.

As she approached her silent acquaintance, Natsuki instinctively asked, "You okay, Rei?"

Rei raised her emotionless gaze to Natsuki. After a moment of neither saying a word, Rei's gaze shifted again. Following her gaze, Natsuki discovered that Rei's attention was drawn to a familiar face.

"Hiro?"

Sitting on a nearby bench was the mother of their friend. As they slowly approach her, Natsuki was drawn to the trance like expression on Hiro's face.

"Hello?" Natsuki waved her hand in front of Hiro's face.

"Hm?" As if waking up from a trance, Hiro looked up at Natsuki slightly dazed. "Natsuki? Rei? What are you doing here?"

"Long story short…: I went grocery shopping, ran into Rei and she's helping me bring them home. What about you? You looked like you were out of it."

"Me?" Hiro tapped on the bench as she considered how to answer that question. "My mother really insisted that I get out of the house and I found myself here. So, I've been sitting here since thinking."

"About what?"

"The past really."

"The past…?" It was at that moment that Natsuki was reminded of a certain question about that subject that she asked Hiro not too long ago. "Speaking of the past… I'm sorry again for that thing I asked about the other day."

"Oh, that? No, it's not a big deal, really," Hiro assured her.

"Yes, it is. It really wasn't any of my business."

Hiro was silent for a moment.

"…When Jomei left, it hurt. I didn't really have the time to rationalize it because I had Shujinkou to worry about, but it did hurt. In fact, I felt a lot of pain back then because I lost three people I loved at once in three different ways: Physically, Mentally and Spiritually. And it wasn't until recently that I could even try to do anything with that."

"Uh…!" Natsuki's eyes darted across the immediate area. Her face was flushed before suddenly becoming filled with anger. "…Dang it! Why'd I have to find out about any of this the way I did!? I'm not even supposed to know this stuff about you and Shujinkou, but no, I had to learn it because the guy who kidnapped wouldn't shut up! Seriously, the only time he shut up was when Shujinkou shut him up!

Soon after her rant came to an end, Natsuki's face went red with embarrassment. She timidly peered at Hiro, noting the stunned expression she wore.

"Sorry…" Natsuki quietly apologized.

"Don't be. I didn't mean to cause you to feel that way, I was just confronting something head on. I'm actually mostly at peace with my own issues on that. At least, as much as I can given the circumstances."

"Really? You kind of looked a little upset… I mean, it's not like it's wrong to be upset over losing someone…"

Those words struck a chord with Hiro. Without saying a word, she stood up and walked past Natsuki and Rei.

"Ah…"

In that instance, Natsuki felt something heavy weigh down on her heart.

Dang it, stop acting stupid!

Peeking over her shoulder, Natsuki was shocked to discover Hiro kneeling in front of a nearby pond. Letting her natural curiosity guide her, she approached the perched Hiro.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Staring at the pond," Hiro answered.

Hiro then turned towards Rei and smiled, "Would you like to join us, Rei?"

Rei slowly nodded her head as she joined the two. She perched down next to Hiro and stared into the pond.

"What are we doing, again?" Natsuki asked.

"Just staring into the pond," Hiro answered.

"Uhm…" A revelation immediately hit Natsuki at that moment. Realizing that it was pointless to ask further, she sat down and looked along the surface of the pond.

Her eyes were distinctly drawn to her own reflection. The sight of her image easily distorted by the ripples in the pond was slightly discomforting to her.

"Natsuki, Rei, how was your day at school?" she heard Hiro suddenly asked.

Natsuki's attention was instinctively drawn to the reflection of her fellow pond watchers?

"O-Our day?" Natsuki sputtered.

"Was it good or-?"

"I… I guess it was fine. The first part sucked 'cause I hadn't eaten anything last night and didn't have lunch today?"

"Really? How come?"

"The same reason I went grocery shopping after school: No food I could eat."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Yuri shared some of hers with me. Good thing for me that she got distracted by a stuffed bear."

"Oh, you mean Grimm?"

"You know about Grimm?"

"I heard about Grimm from Yuri."

"Heh. You know, if I ever needed proof that Yuri is a lot chattier than before…"

"You know, if you're ever in a situation like that again, I could make you something to eat if you'd like," Hiro offered.

"Eh?!" Natsuki exclaimed. "I can't bother my friend's mom that much!"

"Huh?"

"I mean… It's just kind of weird."

"Is it? But I did that for Sayori a lot."

"Sayori's a special case…"

Natsuki hung her head. She felt like begging someone to deliver a strong punch to her gut.

"What about you Rei; did anything interesting happen today?" Hiro asked.

Rei raised the grocery bags just enough so the others could see their reflection in the water. The sight was enough to elicit a warm, gentle smile from Hiro.

"You've really been helping everyone out lately, haven't you, Rei?" she noted.

"You mean with all the flowers she's taking the time to get?" Natsuki qurierd.

"And other things. She's really been helping me out with things I lament out loud without asking."

"Really…?" Natsuki hung her head once again. That kinda makes me feel a little worse about how I thought of Rei until now…

As she looked Natsuki resumed staring at her reflection, she began rubbing her left arm.

"Is your arm better, Natsuki?" Hiro asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect to have something hurt a lot more than when I stuck with Akui for that little while."

It that moment, Natsuki caught a glimpse of Hiro's reflection twiddling her thumbs.

"You know, I don't mean to push on such an uncomfortable subject, but are you okay?" Hiro questioned.

"You mean with what happened? You'd think I be super traumatized by that, but I guess how weird it got around the end somehow made it more bearable," Natsuki admitted. "I… guess the first moments and days after were a bit hard, but… I guess we were just lost."

"But now?"

"I'm fine, I guess. I mean, I have to be since it was pretty much decided that we should just simply move on with our lives."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"I guess… I don't know, I guess it's just really strange to just easily move on from something like that and… I guess its weird that hardly any of us is talking about what happened before the strange end.

Before any of that, I was suddenly taken off the streets and held captive by a someone who's casually and vocally wondering if I would make a good 'man's slave'. Then my friends are captured and then we're used as damsels in some messed-up man made final battle and… Part of me feels like that first part should have traumatized me more than it should have. But every time I think back to everything, I always seem to just think about what happened on the roof of that hospital.

It's like I moved on from the first half of the night because of the end and now I have to move on from the unexplainable and somehow, I feel like I can even though I'm still stuck on the human slingshot. I was thrown off the roof and I'm still stuck on that fact! How weird is that?!"

The was an uncomfortable period of silent after her outburst. Peeking at Hiro's reflection she was mildly surprised to discover she was no longer staring into the pond. Looking up, Natsuki soon met eyes with her.

"…I don't want to sound cheesy, Natsuki, but it sounds like part of the reason you're not as traumatized as you feel like you should be is because you're actually concerned with your friends more than yourself," Hiro noted.

"…Is that really all that is or am I just using them as an excuse to avoid the pain?" Natsuki vacillated. "'Cause what you say sounds more like a Shujinkou response."

"Well… How does it feel when you think about that night?"

"It… It makes me worried. Everything's back to normal now, but can it really just be normal now? If something like that can happen once, it could happen again, can't it? And if something like that happens again then… What would happen if that happened again?"

"That doesn't sound like someone who's running away from a problem."

Natsuki sighed to hide the small smile that was briefly on her face. "Ok, you got me there. But seriously, why am I not as upset by all this like I feel like I should be?"

"I can't assume to know what you're feeling, Natsuki, but maybe it simply just doesn't bother you?" Hiro suggested.

"That… doesn't sound possible."

"You've said it yourself, you feel like the end of that night essentially erased the feelings that should have arised from everything before instead of it all coming together. And now, you're coming to terms with the part you've been stuck on little by little.

It also sounds like that's the reason you're questioning if everything's back to normal now instead of definitively sounding like it can't."

"Okay, but there's still the question of what if what happened at the end happens again?"

Hiro shook her head. "I can't answer that, Natsuki."

"Right… Of course, that's an impossible question…" Natsuki faltered as she began to wonder if there was any point to asking in the first place.

"I know no one likes to hear it because it sounds a little unempathetic, but it does feel like the answer is as simple as picking up the pieces and moving on," Hiro continued.

"That's because it isn't as simple as it sounds."

"No, it isn't, but…

…My father, Hiroko, Jomei… I never thought I would be able to pick myself up from that. It felt like the only reason I still functioned was because I still had Shujinkou to care for. I was always afraid that something would take him away too, or that he may do the deed himself.

That last one almost made me a little grateful that he coped by daydreaming, because at least he wouldn't be in a state to do something that could physically harm himself.

But then this year, I watched him unknowingly pick himself up little by little and I came to realize after he fell unconscious that I have been too. If it happened any sooner, I feel like I may have mentally collapsed in on myself.

It wasn't easy to get there, and it wasn't easy to discover what happened but… I know what I've been through doesn't compare to what you and the others have been through, but I really believe that no matter what happens, you and everyone will somehow be able to move on from it."

"Y-You really think that I can do that?"

"I do, especially since you're doing that now, aren't you?" Hiro affirmed with a smile.

What Natsuki felt at that moment was something she couldn't put into words. It was suffocating, and yet wasn't painful.

"Plus, you should remember that instinctively caring for your friends like that isn't a Shujinkou exclusive trait," Hiro added.

Still unable to form words, Natsuki meekly buried her head into her arms.

"Oh, you're back already, Rei?"

Huh!?

Natsuki instantly looked up to be greeted by a handful of pebbles.

"When did you go and get these?" she asked.

"She left a little while ago, but I didn't know what for," Hiro admitted.

Before anymore could be said, Rei picked up one of the pebbles in her hand and skipped it across the pond.

"Heh, now you're just showing off, Rei," a boastful look fell on Natsuki's face as she reached for a pebble. "Watch this!"

Natsuki threw the pebble, the small rock sinking the moment it touched the surface of the pond.

"How many of those do you have left…?"

Later that night…

Natsuki breathed of sigh of relief as she finished washing the dishes.

"Glad that's finally done…"

Drying her hands, Natsuki heard the creaking of a door in the distance. Peeking out from the kitchen, she had a clear view of her father stepping into her home.

"Papa?"

She watched her stumble further into their home and up the stairs without saying a single word.

Papa…