I called Saori. She picked up the phone right away, and answered using her nerdy, old-fashiond otaku voice. "Hello Kyousuke-shi! Been a while indeed, hasn't it?"

"Yeah... sorry about that." I answered. "I've been busy with various things. Uh, I know this is a bit sudden, but would it be alright if Kirino and I came to meet you? We could come to your place if that's easiest, or meet you somewhere else."

"Indeed, that would be fine! I would very much enjoy meeting both of you again. Should I indeed invite Kuroneko as well?"

Kirino grimaced when she heard that last part. "Uh, better not ask her," I said quickly. "To be honest, this isn't just a social call. We need your help with something."

"Indeed!" She said, suddenly serious. "Then, I shall indeed come to your house right away."

"No!" Now I panicked. "Please, don't come to our house. Uh... a lot has happened. We can meet anywhere else, but not there."

"I see." There was a pause. "Perhaps you should indeed tell me right now what help you need from me? I will try my best, indeed."

I paused and looked at Kirino. She answered: "We need... we need you to help us get a place to stay!"

"Yeah" I added. "We're trying to rent an apartment but they keep rejecting us. Maybe you could co-sign for us? Or we could rent a place from your family, if you have any spare rooms."

A pause, and then Saori answered with an oddly flat tone. "Indeed, I believe I understand the situation. I will try to help, but I can't promise anything. Please meet me at our usual cafe in Akihabara, indeed."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. Kirino and I looked at each other.

"Do you think she knows what's going on with us?" I asked.

"Yeah, probably, Saori is always smart about stuff like that. She should be able to help." Kirino said firmly.

Some time later we arrived at the maid cafe in Akihabara where we had first met Saori. It was the same as ever- cute girl waitresses dressed in maid costumes, terrible and overpriced food, and filled with weird otaku customers. Saori was already there, sitting alone, so we took a seat across from her.

"Kirino! Kyousuke! It is indeed good to see both of you again! It has been to long indeed!" Saori greeted us warmly.

"Saori! Yeah! I'm so sorry that we kinda lost touch" said Kirino.

"Me too" I added. "I just wish we were meeting under better circumstances.

"I did indeed sense some trouble when we spoke on the phone. is there something that I can do to help you two?"

"Well, to put it simply..." I started to explain, but Kirino broke in:

"Those damn real estate agents! They won't let us rent a place without a reference, even though I've got tons of money!"

"Hmm? You are trying to rent an apartment, indeed?"

"Yes" I answered "And like Kirino said, they won't allows us to rent without a reference. We were hoping that you or your sister could be our reference."

Saori looked pained. "Sadly, my sister has indeed left the country again. She has found some new obsession, so I do not think she will return soon. And I do not think I could help you myself, since I am indeed only 17 myself. I have never rented a place of my own, I have always lived in places owned by my family, indeed."

Kirino and I looked at each other. Saori seemed to sense that we had some real trouble going on and asked "Could you not ask your parents to help you rent an apartment? I believe they did once before when Kyousuke was studying, indeed?"

This time Kirino answered. "No. That's... that's impossible right now. They would never agree to help us with this."

"Indeed. And... does that mean that you are no longer living with them? Do you require a place urgently, indeed?"

"Yeah. as soon as possible."

There was a moment of silence as we all stopped to think.

"Saori..." I hesitated. "I know this is a lot to ask. But could we possibly move in with you?" Kirino was glaring at me, but she didn't stop me. I figured this was just her being embarrassed at having to ask for help like this, so I continued. "You seemed to have a lot of spare rooms at your place when were there before. Maybe we could stay in one of those?"

"Hmm..." Saori paused and considered. "Just one room?"

"I mean... more would be nice, but we can get by with just one."

"Indeed... then I take it that you two have renewed your 'special' relationship?"

Kirino and I looked at each other. She blushed furiously and looked away. I didn't really want to answer either, but I figured it was my duty. "Yes" I said simply. "We are a couple once again."

"So, I indeed understand. You become a couple, so you needed to leave your parents house. You wanted to rent an apartment, but you cannot. And you would be living at my house, with me, but as a couple with each other. Is that indeed correct?"

"Um, yes that's pretty much right. We can pay you if that would help..."

Kirino interrupted. "You mean *I* can pay, you stupid NEET! All this would be so much easier if you had a job!"

"I'm a regular student! I'm only 18, isn't that normal at my age? You're the one with a skewed sense of normality from eroge and cell phone novels!"

Seeing us bicker like this, Saori laughed, but then turned serious again. "Indeed, I do see the problem. But I do not think I can help."

"Eh? Why?" Kirino seemed shocked.

"Indeed, I do have many rooms at my house. But... I am still rather shy when not in costume. And my parents do visit sometimes. And also... how do I say this... living as a 3rd wheel to two siblings seems rather awkward, even for someone like me who enjoys weird things."

I was shocked. Saori had helped us so many times before, I couldn't believe she would let us down this time. But I suppose it was rather a large favor we were asking her.

Kirino didn't take it well. "Saori, what are you saying! What is this nonsense!? Just let us stay in one of your spare rooms. We won't bug you or your parents, and we'll move out as soon as we can. Can't we just stay there for a few months? Don't you owe it to me as a friend?"

Saori didn't answer right away. Instead she turned away, and when she turned around again, she had replaced her crazy spiral glasses with mirrored, military style sunglasses. That was always a bad sign.

She screamed at us: "Me! Owe you!? What are you talking about!? Don't you know how much I've done for you!? How many times have I helped you with all your crazy problems, and asked for nothing in return!? Even though you never helped out with the club, and you suddenly disappeared to America without even telling us, and you were always chose Kuroneko over me, and you stopped hanging out with us after you started dating this guy!

"And I... I *tried* to tolerate it, I really did. Even though I like him too, I tried to help get you to together. But it still seems weird to me. And you dated, then broke up, and now I guess you're dating again? No, I'm not going to fix your problems this time. You'll have to solve this one on your own."

And with that angry outburst, Saori got up and left, still wearing her mirrored sunglasses. As she was leaving, she added "Call me again if you can ever just be regular friends again." She left us sitting there in stunned silence.