"Never have I ever… skipped school." Kokona said, looking around suspiciously.

Everyone was still, until suddenly, Junzo finally put a finger down, laughing to himself. "Alright, alright. You've got me there."

Kokona gasped. "Junzo?! You're secretly a bad boy! I would have never guessed it."

"Calm down Kokona, I've only skipped once," he said. "And it was for good reason."

Another student leaned in. "What was the reason?"

"Nope." Junzo shook his head. "I'm not telling. That's not part of the game."

There was a series of "awws" and "boos" from the group. Junzo simply shrugged in response. "This isn't truth or dare guys. You can't have any of my juicy secrets."

Budo snorted. "Juicy secrets?"

"I live a very intense life as a photographer reporter."

"Guys!" Kokona suddenly exclaimed. "Let's played truth or dare instead."

Ayato groaned. They'd been playing these games for the past hour. Still, it could've been much worse. Fortunately for him, Kokona had gathered some friends to hang with outside on the roof instead of downstairs with all of the loud music. It was less people and less noise but still, he wanted to go home. Badly.

"Alright Mr. Grumpypants," Kokona smiled his way. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." He didn't really want to answer any questions, but he really, really didn't want to have to walk off and do something stupid.

"Hmm." Kokona looked around. "Ayato, would you go out with anyone in this circle?"

He already knew his answer, but just to humor her, he looked around anyways.

Of the ten students in the group, Ayato only knew three of them by name. Kokona, Budo, and unfortunately, Junzo. Two of the other girls were friends from Kokona's drama club, three students were friends of Junzo, and the rest were with Budo. None of them stirred any type of emotion within him.

"No," Ayato answered.

"No?" Kokona echoed.

"Not even me?" Junzo asked.

"No." Ayato hissed. "Let's move on."

"But Yato~!"

Ayato cleared his throat. "Junzo. Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Junzo spoke without any hesitation. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Alright, Junzo. I dare you not to talk for the rest of the night."

Junzo opened his mouth and then quickly shut it, his eyes wide. The students directly beside him began to laugh. "Oh my gosh!" "Best dare ever!"

Junzo shot Ayato a look of utter betrayal. Ayato smiled in return. "You know, I think I might actually like this game after all."

Ayato watched as Junzo stuck his tongue out and pointed at another student.

"Me?" The girl giggled.

Junzo nodded.

She thought to herself. "Hmmm. I choose truth."

For the next twenty minutes, Junzo communicated with the group through text messages and pointing. It was actually quite entertaining. Kokona was dared to toss her shoes off the roof, another guy was dared to ask his crush for her number, Junzo was judo flipped by Budo (Ayato enjoyed that one immensely), and a blushing girl was told to give a kiss on the cheek to the cutest guy in the circle.

"C'mon," Kokona cooed, "don't be shy."

The girl's face was so red, Ayato thought that she might burst.

"T-That's so embarrassing! I-I could never!" She covered her face with her hands.

"You gotta!" Another girl said.

"Just a peck on the cheek!" One added.

Ayato watched her with slight interest. Was she embarrassed because she actually liked someone in the group, or did she just find the act of kissing someone embarrassing? He couldn't really tell. This girl was in the same drama club as Kokona, so the chance that she was just overreacting to giving someone a peck on the cheek was high.

She was taking an awfully long time either way. The sooner she did her dumb dare the sooner this game would end. It was just a kiss, after all.

A kiss..

He wondered what it would be like to get a kiss from Taro. Just the thought alone made his heart race. Something like that.. Something so soft and pure. That feeling-

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden pair of lips brushing against his cheek.

The girl reeled back, blushing furiously. Ayato stared at her as the group applauded. She did everything she could to avoid looking his way.

"Ay… Ayato-kun…" she began. "I.. um…"

Her voice trailed off. Ayato didn't really know how to respond to her lack of sentence structure, so he remained silent. His eyes trailed over to Kokona, who wiggled her eyebrows at him and mouthed say something smooth.

Ok. It was time to bail. "I… have to go to the restroom."

Before he could run away, however, another female student grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the ground. "Don't be shy, cutie pie!"

Ah. No. Ayato began contemplating on how he'd get away with the sudden murder of every student on this roof. The odds of success were extremely low, but it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

"Pause!" Junzo suddenly yelled. "I won't accept this!"

Everyone turned to face him. Budo shook his head in disappointment. "You couldn't go one night without opening that mouth of yours."

Ayato let out a sigh of relief. All the attention had been temporarily shifted away from him.

"Firstly!" Junzo continued, ignoring Budo, "When did this-" he motioned towards Ayato and the girl, "-start?"

As much as it pained Ayato to agree with Junzo, he had to admit that he was a bit confused as well. Him and the girl hadn't spoken not once before tonight. He didn't even know this student's name, though he'd definitely seen her in class.

"Chill out Junzo," Budo sighed, "they asked her to kiss a cute guy and she kissed a cute guy, it's not that deep."

"Y-Yeah!" The girl agreed. "It was just a dare!"

Junzo didn't seem satisfied with her answer. He continued to bombard her with questions while the other girls giggled and gave Ayato the occasional glance.

Though the kiss did startle him, Ayato didn't really care too much about the reasoning behind it, and he wasn't sure why Junzo was so passionate about it. But there was one thing that he was certain of: there were still too many people staring at him. He did not sign up for this level of social interaction. It was time to bail. Again.

He stood and turned towards the door. "I'm going to the restroom."

This time it was Kokona who tried to stop him. "Last time you went to the restroom you didn't come back until we sent Junzo in to drag you out."

"True," Ayato agreed, not slowing his pace. "Bye."

He hurried through the double doors and shut them behind him, pausing to take a deep breath. He then pulled out his phone.

A.A.: Didn't you say something interesting was supposed to happen tonight?

Ayato glared at the screen, waiting for a response.

InfoPerson: Yes.

InfoPerson: That is what I said.

A.A.: …

A.A.: Well? It's been a couple hours.

InfoPerson: And?

A.A.: And nothing's happened. I'm tired of this place. Why don't you just explain whatever it is you wanted me to see so I can go.

InfoPerson: Be patient.

A.A.: …

InfoPerson: ..But when things do start getting "interesting"

InfoPerson: The occult room would be the best place to check.

A.A.: …

"Ayato?"

The doors to the roof slowly closed, with Budo standing in front. Ayato slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Hmm?"

Budo came closer. "I was just heading to restrooms to make sure you were alright, but uh, I guess you didn't make it to there yet."

"..They've already sent someone to get me?" Ayato glanced at the doors. "It's only been a few minutes."

"Oh, no! I mean, no one sent me. I sort of came here myself-well, not sort of, I definitely meant to come. I mean you just looked a bit upset when you left and I-"

"Thanks Budo," Ayato cut him off, "but I'm fine. I just needed a moment to myself."

Budo smiled, "Yeah, understandable."

There was a moment of silence between the two. Budo cleared his throat. "Well, that's good that you're alright. I'll just go back outside now-"

"Actually," Ayato said, "I'd like to ask you something."

It had been on his mind since earlier today.

"Remember this incident?" Ayato pulled out the small piece of cloth that Budo had given him.

"Ah." Budo eyed the cloth with an expression full of loathing. "...yes I do."

"Good," Ayato took a step forward, decreasing the space between them even more. "So, explain."

"Well, there's not much to explain really," Budo said, "the martial arts club is getting a little understaffed and I was out looking for potential members. Standard stuff."

"Then why were you so nervous?" Ayato asked.

Budo broke eye contact with him. "Nervous?"

"Nervous. Kind of like you were just now when you first came in to see me."

"I uh…" Budo muttered. "I can't exactly answer that."

"Why not?"

"...Because."

Ayato frowned. "Really?"

"Really." Budo said. "Hey, here's an idea. Let's just forget about all of that and continue on with our everyday lives. Sound good?"

Ayato didn't really like not knowing things, especially when it had to do with him. But it didn't seem like Budo was going to budge on this one, so he was willing to drop it for now.

"Budo-"

Just as he was about to speak, a chorus of screams echoed through the halls. Ayato felt a strong sense of deja vu. "What the hell?"

Budo was on high alert. "Sounds like it came from the courtyard."

That was where the main event was being held. "Well, that is where all the students are. It's probably chaos down there."

"We've got to make sure everyone's alright!" Budo exclaimed, grabbing Ayato by the arm.

And just like that the pair were at full speed. Ayato pulled back as Budo dragged him down the stairs. "Ack! Budo wait! Stop! Let go!"

He had very much underestimated Budo's strength. Ayato stood no chance against Budo's tight grip. "Budo! Budo! BudoBudoBudoBudoBudoBudoBUDO!"

"WHAT?!" Budo snapped, turning to face him.

Ayato glared daggers at him. "Don't drag me down there with you! Let go of my arm!"

"Ayato people are in potential danger! We have to help!" Budo stated as they ran down the hall.

"You go! Leave me out of this!" Ayato yanked at his arm again. "I don't know martial arts!"

Budo laughed, his voice still strong despite all of the movement. "Well believe it or not, I have just the club for that!"

"You're not funny! Let me go!"

"Listen you don't have to fight! Just help out!"

"I'll help out someplace else! Let go!"

"I assure you, the courtyard is where all of the help is needed!"

Before Ayato could retort, Budo suddenly stopped.

Ayato let out an annoyed, out-of-breath hissing sound. He looked at Budo, who still hadn't let go of his arm. "What are you-"

"Shhh." Budo put a finger to his lips, then pointed at a set of doors.

Ayato gave him a confused glance. Then he heard it.

Through the double doors, there was a low constant growling. Ayato could see strange flashing lights and small puffs of dark smoke leaking through the cracks of the doorway. He suddenly remembered what Info-chan had said about the occult club.

This was it.

"I'm going in," he whispered.

Budo frowned. "You didn't want to help with the students but you have no problem with whatever that might be?"

"I'm not a people person," Ayato answered. "You coming, or are you going to finally let go of my arm?"

Budo looked at the creepy doors, then to Ayato, then back at the creepy doors. "Well I can't let you go in there alone. Besides," Budo smiled, "you don't know martial arts."

Ayato rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Let's go."