Miusagi sat beside Nanako on the roof at lunch the next day. She had asked him to join her, insisting that she just needed to vent and didn't want the whole team to be dragged down by any of it. While they ate, she told him about her visit with Adachi. "So you spent the day hanging out with the guy who tried to kill you when you were a kid? That sounds rough."

Nanako nodded. "It was. I brought him a cabbage."

Miusagi looked at her in his peripheral vision as he ate his ramen. "Why?" he asked curiously.

"He likes it," Nanako replied flatly. After a moment of silence, they both laughed hysterically.

Miusagi nudged her side with his elbow. "You want to know how I spent my Sunday?" he asked.

"Yes," Nanako said. "I'm dying to know. How did you spend your Sunday?"

"Watching Teddie pour glitter all over himself and a bunch of little kids, and watching Kanji try not to kill him."

Nanako giggled. "How did he keep his self control?"

"He figured the kids would tell their parents if he lost it. I think he's all ready for this dad thing." They both laughed again. "So how come you asked me to lunch? You could have vented to anyone. Emiko's your best friend, right?"

Nanako shrugged. "You listen and don't judge. And Emiko's too worried about Takeyoshi to think about much else right now, anyway."

"Oh, right. Cool," Miusagi said, feeling slightly flustered. "I mean, you're the same. Non judgemental and all that. So, thanks. Not many people would listen to me this way, either, but I know I can count on you, senpai."

Nanako rolled her eyes. "Enough with the senpai already."

Miusagi raised his eyebrows. "Hey, I'm just trying to show some respect."

"I've only ever heard you use honorifics with Sanae and Naoto. I think you've decided that calling me senpai bugs me like when you call Kanji 'mister'. You just think it's funny."

Miusagi grinned. "It bugs you, does it senpai?"

"Shut up!" Nanako said, slugging him on the arm. She tried, but she couldn't keep from laughing.


After school, they returned to the TV world. It was a long afternoon full of difficult fights. Emiko's ability to guide them and analyze the enemies helped greatly, but the enemies were tougher than the ones in Sanae's place had been. They finished floor 6 and decided to stop for the day to heal up and get some rest. "I thought we would make it further," Emiko said with a frown when they made it back to the food court.

Nanako nodded. "I know. Souji said things tend to escalate, though. It's just harder here than anywhere we've been before."

Emiko sighed and nodded. "It's fine. I'm just so worried about Takeyoshi."

Nanako gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry, Emi-chan. I promise you we'll get to him in time."

Everyone said goodbye and started going their separate ways when Sanae stopped Miusagi. "What have you been doing every night?" she asked. "I've come by a few times to see you and no one was there."

"Oh. Umm, sorry, Sana-chan. Mom hasn't been home hardly at all, so I've been hanging out at Kanji and Naoto's house a lot."

"Oh," she said, sounding a little hurt.

"Something wrong with that?" he asked softly.

"No. I just… You could have called me. We could've hung out."

"Yeah. You're right. Are you doing anything now?"

"No. Sis has work until late."

"Want to go hang out by the river for a while?" Miusagi asked.

Sanae smiled gently, searching his hazel eyes. She found nothing but honesty in them, as always. "Sure, let's go!"

They walked by the river, skipped rocks like they did when they were kids, and talked about nothing until the sun started to go down.

"I'm really glad we did this," Sanae said. "I've missed you terribly, Miusagi."

Miusagi looked up, surprised. "You have? Really?"

Sanae nodded, and Miusagi's face lit up. "I've missed you, too. I guess things have been really chaotic lately. I figured you needed some space."

Sanae laughed. "When have you ever given me any space? You've been up in my face since we were five-year-olds."

"Yeah, I know," Miusagi said, blushing a little. "I just thought, it seemed like you didn't like that I was being overprotective. So I backed off a little." He shrugged, trying to look like it wasn't a big deal.

"I kind of like that you want to protect me," Sanae said shyly. "So long as you don't try to do stupid things like prevent me from fighting alongside everyone else," she added with a frown.

Miusagi sighed. "Yeah. I know." They sat together in silence for a long moment before he spoke again. "Hey, you want to go get some topsicles? If we hurry we can make it before Shiroku changes over for the night."

"Sounds great!" Sanae said enthusiastically. They ran as fast as they could to the shopping district, arriving 5 minutes before the Shiroku store closed and the Shiroku pub opened.

"Phew," Miusagi said, out of breath from running. "I don't think I could have waited til tomorrow for a topsicle. It's a good thing we're fast." They two teens laughed together, then shared their topsicles outside on a bench. When they were finished, they walked home together, both feeling less alone than they had in weeks.


Nanako spent her evening with Chie and Yosuke. Souji had to work, so he tasked them with showing her the ropes at buying armor and keeping her team's weapons upgraded. They took her to Daidara, the store her friend Miwa-chan's uncle owned. Miwa and her uncle lived above the store. It was really strange for Nanako to be buying weapons from him. Thankfully, Miwa-chan wasn't in the store when they arrived. That would have been difficult to explain, Nanako thought.

"Hey, Daidara-san!" Chie greeted the shop owner cheerfully. "We have new materials for you!"

Daidara looked at them with mild surprise. "It has been a while. Are you needing some new things?"

"Mmm hmm," Chie answered. "Nanako-chan here will likely be in quite a bit."

"Wow!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Look at those knives!"

Chie smacked him hard on the arm. "We're not here to shop for you, Yosuke!"

"Alright, geeze, calm down. You brought a list, right, Nanako-chan?"

"That's right." She handed the paper to Daidara-san.

"Let me see what I have in the back," he said, walking out with her list in hand.

Nanako let out the breath she'd been holding. "What's wrong, Nanako-chan?" Yosuke asked.

"Oh, that's right!" Chie exclaimed. "You're friends with his niece, right?"

"Yes. This is super weird," Nanako said quietly.

Chie put her arm around Nanako's shoulders. "Don't worry. Daidara-san never asks any questions about what we need this stuff for. I doubt he would say anything."

A few minutes later, all three of them were loaded up with shopping bags full of armor and various weapons. They walked it all back to Yosuke's house. "I'll have Ted help me bring it all to Junes tomorrow before you guys get out of school."

"Oh, great! Thanks, Yosuke! I don't know what I would have done without either of you today!"

"Anytime, Nanako-chan!" Chie said brightly.

Nanako walked home, feeling relieved that Miwa-chan hadn't seen her purchasing weapons. Enough of my friends are involved already, she thought. Keeping so many secrets was starting to feel overwhelming.