"Yeesh! Tsubaki could give Ibuki a run for her money! … Pun intended." Nagisa snickered at her own clever little "run pun" as a breeze ruffled her, Hiiro, and Aoi's hair; the only thing Tsubaki left behind after fleeing the area… again. And as per usual, it was because of Aoi, but just like always, Aoi had no idea. She only tilted her head, looking after Tsubaki in puzzlement. Behind her back, Hiiro and Nagisa exchanged knowing looks, Nagisa's amused and Hiiro's exasperated.

ooo

"Nooooo, Rikaaaaa!" Saori moaned into her hands as Rika threw a chummy arm around her shoulder, bragging to any and all who would listen about what a wonderful DJ Saori was.

"Aww, c'mon, Saori, I'm just speaking the truth, here!" Rika grinned, completely unaware of her companion's discomfort.

Dalia and Marika hid smirks behind their hands. A second later, though, their smiles turned into shock. At last, Rika's compliments became too much for poor Saori, and she took off.

"Huh? Saori? Saori!?" Rika reached out, but Saori was already gone.

ooo

"Hello, Haruna! What are you doing here?" Miyu asked, noticing the other girl leaning against the brick wall surrounding the school.

"MIYU!" Haruna shrieked and whipped around as if she'd been caught in the middle of murder. Miyu echoed Haruna's yelp and then Haruna looked even more mortified. "Oh, Miyu, I'm so, so, so sorry! … I… I… I just remembered I have to do something for the Disciplinary Committee!"

Miyu barely had time to come down from her own fright when Haruna suddenly bolted.

"Wait! Haruna—!" It was already too late. Haruna couldn't hear her. You're going the wrong way… Miyu may not have been on the Disciplinary Committee, but she didn't need to be in order to know that Haruna running out of the Academy gates was not correct.

ooo

"Sheesh, Saori, you sure are quick for someone who isn't fit!" Rika chuckled to herself as she looked left, right, front, back, up, and down. Maybe Marika and Dalia were surprised by Saori's sudden departure, but Rika was not. She ran after her runaway DJ, ordering Marika and Dalia to wait for them until they returned. Bemused, and knowing that Rika never took "no" for an answer, they acquiesced.

"You're also sneaky for someone with such bright hair!" Rika added, her own fiery pigtails shaking as she shook her head. But even though she didn't find Saori, she found another DJ. "Wait a minute… Is that… Aoi Miyake? … HEY! AOI!" The figure turned. Yep. It was Aoi.

As Rika would soon discover, Aoi was looking for Tsubaki the same way Rika was looking for Saori.

"So, she ran out on you again, huh?" Rika snickered. She's just like Saori that way… I'm not even IN RONDO and even I know that!

But just like always, Aoi was still confused. "Hiiro said I should be the one to chase after her because I'm the one that found her the first time. She said I knew Tsubaki the best out of the three of us, so I would be the most likely to know where she went."

"Ah, a fellow hunter and tracker, eh?" Rika's face split into an even wider grin as she play-punched Aoi's arm. She was drawn to Saori through music the same way Aoi was drawn to Tsubaki. Rika was confident that she and Aoi could rework that magic of fate and find their missing friends.

Run, DJ, run! Run as fast as you can!

"H-Haruna? Hello? Haruna?!"

"Hang on, wait a minute, I know that voice…" Rika's keen ears picked up on something else, a soft and uncertain voice calling out as loudly as it could. Exactly as she thought, it was Miyu Sakurada. And if she was calling out for Haruna…

Rika turned to Aoi again. "Care to make it a party of three?" They were off to find yet another runaway DJ!

ooo

At the same time, the two runaway DJs and runaway vocalist found themselves sitting around a table at Café Vinyl, each one looking embarrassed. Tsubaki was the first to arrive, then Saori, then Haruna.

"I feel like such an idiot," Saori admitted, sighing. As if the whole compliment fest wasn't bad enough, she went sprinting away seconds later. And not only that, but when she arrived at Café Vinyl, she nearly collapsed from exhaustion and breathlessness. Rika's remark about her being out of shape was neither joke nor barb, just unfortunate and embarrassing truth.

"You think that was idiotic?" Tsubaki scoffed. She wasn't trying to compare her story with Saori, but to reassure her that she wasn't the only one who let panic completely replace rationality. "Aoi hadn't even been complimenting me!" Was that jealousy in Tsubaki's voice?

Before anyone could ask, Haruna jumped in with her support. "Well, that is understandable! Anyone would be flustered by the great Aoi Miyake!"

"Flustered?!" Tsubaki sat up straighter, leaning back in her chair. "Who said anything about being flustered?!" The Great Aoi Miyake? Well, it was true, but why did Haruna have to say it like that?

"I just feel bad because Miyu and I have been friends since early childhood," Haruna admitted sadly, completely misunderstanding Tsubaki's sudden reserves. "If only it was easier to tell her how I truly feel…"

Tell her?! Tsubaki reared back again, and this time, so did Saori. For them, telling the truth felt impossible, so to hear Haruna ponder the possibility forced them to confront it too.

By the end of their impromptu lunch date, however, all three of them felt a little bolder. Inspired by Haruna's talk of confession, Saori and Tsubaki felt pressured to measure up. They were older, and yet Haruna was making more headway. But Haruna took inspiration from them as well, admiring how they were able to at least talk to their objects of affection without becoming a stuttering, sputtering mess.

"I respect your ability to remain calm in such situations, even if you feel anything but," Haruna told her companions. "I aspire to be like that one day, that I might be able to talk to Miyu with more confidence."

"Hmph, you're braver than either of us," Saori muttered. "At least you're thinking about it…" The thought of telling Rika anything felt impossible. Rika would never let her live it down!

"But, wouldn't that be a good thing?" Haruna asked. "You are fond of Rika, so wouldn't you want her to reciprocate?"

"No!" Saori snapped. "I mean, yes? I mean…" She sighed.

"I understand," Tsubaki gave Saori another dry smile. Saori looked a little more relieved.

ooo

Unintentionally, the three lifted one another's spirits until they finally felt ready to take flight.

"Come on." Saori was the first to rise, inspired enough to take the lead. "It's time to go home. The others are waiting…" For a moment, Haruna and Tsubaki looked hesitant, but then their faces set in determination, and they nodded once before rising as well.

Tsubaki reached the door first. After opening it, she shrieked and jumped back, crashing into Saori who then crashed into Haruna. Tsubaki was deaf to her companions' yelps, distracted by the face peering at her through the door, inches away from her own. "RIKA?!" And so it was.

And as soon as Saori heard that… "RIKA?!"

"Ha, ha! Called it!" Rika bellowed proudly over her shoulder, throwing the door open wider. "I knew they'd be here!"

If Tsubaki looked horrified before, that was nothing compared to now. "Aoi?!"

At the same time, from Haruna, "MIYU!"

The only thing that kept them from fleeing again was the fact that their objects of interest were blocking the doorway.

"Haruna! Thank goodness you're all right!" Miyu was the first to speak, looking quite relieved that her dear friend had been with Tsubaki and Saori the whole time. She even smiled and waved warmly at them.

Saori gave her an awkward and embarrassed wave back. Ohhh mannn, I hope Miyu doesn't think poorly of me after this…

Tsubaki, meanwhile, was frozen in terror, eyes glued to Aoi. "H-how…? How did you… find us?"

"Is that even a question?" Rika shot back playfully, smirking knowingly at Tsubaki. "I'm the Hype Detective! Tracking is my specialty! Especially when it comes to friends!" Her gut had told her that their missing friends would be at Café Vinyl. "And was I right, or was I right?!"

"Way to be humble, Rika," Saori sighed. As… weird as this day was, just being around Rika and her usual high energy made everything seem a little more normal. Ha! What a life they lived to say that Rika made things feel normal!

"No, Rika was truly spectacular!" Miyu gushed. "She found you three so quickly! Aoi and I would've easily been lost!"

"I was going to check the chapel first," Aoi admitted, rubbing the back of her neck as she smiled as Tsubaki, as if apologizing that she hadn't known Tsubaki as well as Rika.

"N-no, it's fine," Tsubaki choked. It was sweet enough that Aoi came looking for her, and even sweeter still that she'd almost gone to the chapel. Tsubaki actually had considered going there, Café Vinyl was just closer.

"Random chance? No way!" Rika laughed, then she looked at Aoi knowingly.

"It was fate," Aoi nodded back, sounding completely convinced. "I mean, what are the odds of all six of us being here today?"

Despite themselves, the others paused. Coming from Rika, it sounded a little silly, but when Aoi said it…

"Maybe it's a sign?" Saori whispered in spite of herself, eyes flickering between her trio and the trio still in the doorway. She wasn't trying to get all metaphorical, but surely it had to mean something! It wasn't just the sheer coincidence of it all, but the fact that three of them were outside while three were in, and all six were crowded around the threshold…

Are you coming, or going? Speaking or staying silent? Running or remaining?

Tsubaki and Haruna both looked at Saori out of the corner of their eyes. Just like before, her words inspired them. Their faces set in determination again, and they nodded in unison. It was time to run towards something rather than away.

"Epic!" Rika grinned, holding out a hand. Aoi and Miyu mirrored the gesture. There was a second of hesitation from the other three, but it was only a second, then Saori took Rika's hand, and Haruna took Miyu's. Last, but certainly not least, Tsubaki took Aoi's. This time, they were going to stay.

AN: I know Tsubaki running from Aoi is literally one of the biggest running gags of D4, but tbh, Saori and Haruna run away too. I'm starting to sense a pattern here… LOL!

Also, I didn't complete the line because it felt a little too silly, but "run, run, run as fast as you can!" was going to have a second part: "cuz you're being chased by a detective lesbian!"