"I see Isuke is back to sleeping in class," commented Nio amused, looking over at Isuke, who was sleeping soundly in her seat, her head resting on the table.

Casting a glance over at her, Haruki couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was when she was asleep.

"Yeah," she nodded, "All is right in the world and stuff."

After they had gotten back together, it almost felt like all their worries had disappeared.

Haruki was aware that it was only a temporary state; that the problems would come around eventually. No matter how much she wished for a carefree life, the world just wasn't like that.

Long ago she had realized that the concept of perfectionism was nothing but a wild fantasy and that it didn't truly exist. Sure, sometimes it could feel like everything was perfect, but that was only when you pretended all of your troubles were nonexistent.

"It's great that you two are together again," the bubbly girl exclaimed, "Everything is a lot better when you're together than when you're apart, you know."

"Yeah," she agreed absentmindedly.

At this point, thinking back felt strange. Only a few months ago, she didn't even know Isuke. Back then, all she really cared about was taking care of her family. That was still her first priority, but now she felt like she had created a life for herself.

Going to Myojo, hanging out with Nio, working at the café with Mahiru, and being with Isuke…

It was all so precious to her, because it was all hers. Her school, her friends and her girlfriend. She was finally doing something with her life; something of her own.

"Hey, earth to Haruki!" Nio waved her hand in front of her face, trying to bring her back into reality.

"Huh?" she asked in confusion, only then realizing she had totally spaced out.

"I said," the blonde repeated, "Do you wanna go grab something to eat?"

She hadn't thought about it before now, but she was starting to get rather hungry, and the food at Myojo was great, so there was no way she'd want to miss eating lunch there.

"Sure," she replied, "Should we wake her up?" She gestured towards Isuke's sleeping form.

Without answering, Nio trotted over to her and grabbed hold of her shoulder, trying to shake her awake. The first few times Haruki had tried to wake Isuke, she'd attempted to talk to her, but eventually Nio had taught her that waking Isuke was no easy task, and that talking normally didn't have any effect.

"Go away," Isuke muttered drowsily, blindly waving her arm around in a feeble attempt to push Nio away.

"No, you're gonna come eat lunch with us," she argued, now trying to pull her up, which also proved to be impossible.

"Just five more minutes."

"I'll pour a bottle of water over your head," Nio threatened, her voice dead serious.

The redhead found herself laughing at the two of them. She'd always gotten the impression they were really close friends, judging by how they interacted with each other. She was happy about it, though, seeing as both girls could use good friends.

She had good friends now, as well.

"Man, the food here is great," spoke Haruki just after finishing the last piece of her lunch.

"Yeah, especially the melon pan!" agreed Nio, still chewing on her favorite snack.

Isuke shook her head and sighed, unable to understand their cheap taste.

"I don't understand you sometimes," she exclaimed, referring to Nio's love for melon pan.

"We can't agree on everything," she shrugged casually.

"You two can rarely agree on anything," Haruki corrected her. Neither of them could deny that they had their disagreements, but it didn't really bother them.

She looked up at the large clock on the wall, noticing they only had ten more minutes before class started, and at the same time spotting a girl with silver hair and a scarred face in the other end of the cafeteria.

"I'll see you in class," she excused herself as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" questioned Nio, curious as always.

"Banba is over there," she informed, "I figured I should thank her, and maybe ask her about work and all."

"You're going to keep working there?" Isuke snapped immediately.

Hadn't that idiot learned anything?

"I swear I won't work that much anymore, Isuke-sama," she said, attempting to reason with her, "It's only gonna be in the weekends and perhaps a couple of afternoon shifts every now and then. I really need the money."

Although reluctant, she decided to accept this. It wasn't as though she had the right to deny Haruki to do anything. She could oppose to it, but at the end of the day, the decision was Haruki's.

Besides, if she didn't work at all, her family would probably starve.

"Fine, fine," she grumbled, "Isuke can't stop you."

Haruki smiled gratefully and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for understanding, Isuke-sama."

With that, she strolled over to where Mahiru was and settled down in the seat beside her.

Isuke looked after her for a while, but then became disturbed by Nio's uncharacteristic silence. Shifting her gaze to the blonde, she saw she was looking at someone.

Following her gaze, she spotted Sumireko at a nearby table, chatting casually with some girls she didn't recognize.

"Have you talked to her yet?" she asked as she became aware that Isuke had caught sight of her too.

"No," she replied curtly.

After their kiss, she hadn't known what to say to Sumireko. It had further complicated things for both of them, and they both regretted it.

"I think you should."

"Who asked you?" she snapped back, but then she realized it was unfair to take it out on Nio. "Sorry. It's just… difficult, I guess."

Sorting things out wasn't her forte. She made the wrong choices and ended up creating arguments and hurting people. She had always been more skilled at destroying than at fixing.

"You and Haruki made up after all that. Fixing things with Hanabusa should be easy compared to that," declared the girl.

"I don't know her that well," she complained, "I'm not sure what she wants to hear."

She was scared that if she said the wrong thing, it would get worse than it already was. It wouldn't be the first time, after all.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is what you want to say, 'cause that's what's genuine, right? If you just tell her what you feel, I bet it will all be ok."

"Since when did you get so damn deep?" joked Isuke with a chuckle, "You should stop watching so many cheesy movies."

But there still was some truth in her words, Isuke knew that. She would figure out a way to sort things out with Sumireko, too.

The waitress swept the moist cloth across the table, catching a number of crumbs on the way. She was completely focused on the simple task, gazing at the table in order to avoid eye contact with the person she was talking to.

It was always easier to speak when she had something to preoccupy herself with.

"So… you're really going to keep working here?" she asked, still finding it hard to believe. "I-I mean, after everything that happened…"

The golden eyed girl shrugged casually.

"Well, I still need the money, so I guess I don't have a choice," she replied.

"But-" she began, but stopped herself from saying anything more. It shouldn't concern her that much. She and Haruki were nothing more than colleagues, so she had no right to question her decisions.

"It's fine," Haruki reassured, "I won't work as much this time. I had to promise my siblings and Isuke that so they'd let me keep working here."

Mahiru let out a sigh of relief. When the girl had collapsed she'd been frightened, and afterwards she had worried to the point where she considered visiting her at the hospital, but in the end she had refrained from doing so.

"Oh, t-that's good," she spoke softly. She turned her back to Haruki and started cleaning another table. "It's nice… having you around and all."

She just stood there for a while without saying anything, Mahiru's comment having caught her completely off guard. She hadn't thought that, even if the girl did enjoy her company, she'd ever be able to admit to it.

"Thanks," she retorted awkwardly, wising she knew something more intelligent to say, "I kinda like working here, I guess."

Mahiru didn't like it all that much before. Not because it was a bad job, but because she had to be around so many people, and yet it felt so lonely.

Talking to strangers made her feel uneasy. When she thought about it, she felt uneasy no matter who she talked to, but that didn't mean she didn't want friends.

That's why it had been more fun working here since Haruki arrived. She knew she couldn't call her a friend, considering how little they actually interacted, but she liked to think they could become friends someday.

"Me too," she said in a low voice, "Especially now… now that it isn't so lonely."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that."

For the first time during their conversation, Mahiru turned to look directly at Haruki.

"A-about what?" she asked, rather confused at her sudden statement.

"You and Hanabusa," she clarified, "I don't know the whole story or anything, but she seems to really like you."

"It's, umm…" she tried, but the words were stuck in her throat.

How could she explain it to Haruki? She hadn't even been able to give Sumireko an explanation when she had rejected her.

She didn't know what to say. She never knew what to say.

"If you didn't feel that way about her, it would make sense that you rejected her," she continued, "Yet that isn't the case, is it?"

Mahiru froze in her tracks. Of course Haruki would figure it out. Even Isuke had known, back when she tried to pair them up, that her reason for rejecting her wasn't unrequited feelings.

"It's not… That's not the case, no," she managed to explain, however it didn't seem to clear up much of anything.

"Then why?" the redhead asked bluntly, but then realized she may be pushing it, "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't be asking."

"N-no, it's alright," Mahiru assured her quickly.

She took a break to think things through. Should she tell Haruki why she couldn't be with Sumireko?

It wasn't as though she could help her with anything, but it would be a load off her chest. Having someone to talk to about everything did sound nice, not that she would know.

She hadn't known Haruki for a long time, and neither did she know her very well, but she could feel that she was a reliable person.

"I… I do like her," she finally said, and she had been right when she thought it would feel like a load had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Then why don't you tell her?" Haruki urged her on curiously.

"Because… because I-"

"Sagae!" a voice could be hear from the kitchen. It was unmistakably the harsh voice of their boss. "Go clean the kitchen!"

Haruki sighed, annoyed by the interruption.

"That dude needs to chill out," she exclaimed, "And does he even remember that he hired us as waitresses and not to clean?"

Nonetheless, she got up and headed towards the kitchen to do as she had been told. Slacking off on her first day back wouldn't exactly leave a great impression.

"Oh, what were you saying?" she asked, suddenly remembering that Mahiru had been cut off in the middle of her explanation.

"Uh… never mind," she murmured, her sudden surge of courage now having faded away again.

Haruki decided not to push her any further, and with a slight shrug she walked away.

"How was work?" asked Isuke, who was holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she painted her nails.

"Boring," Haruki replied, "I had to clean the entire kitchen."

Isuke groaned at the thought. She'd never had to do much cleaning, but just the thought of it was repulsing enough.

"Sounds awful," she stated.

"It sort of is, but apart from that the job isn't half bad."

"Nee-chan, who are you talking to?" interrupted a feminine voice. Isuke figured it had to be one of her youngest sisters.

"Is it your girlfriend?" asked another voice teasingly, making Haruki chuckle. And she had to hold back a laugh, too.

"Maybe, maybe not," she laughed secretively at them.

"Can I talk to her?" asked the first one hopefully.

"Some other time, ok?" Haruki promised. After a short while, she spoke again, this time to Isuke. "They all adore you."

Isuke smiled a little at her words. Even though those brats could be beyond annoying sometimes, she was very happy that they liked her, for some reason.

"Of course they do," she joked smugly, "Everyone adores Isuke."

"You certainly don't need a confidence boost," replied Haruki, amused by her joking.

"Confidence isn't a bad thing," she stated simply.

Haruki smiled to herself.

It was odd. Just hearing Isuke's voice made her feel so happy. She had missed her while they were apart, but she hadn't realized just how much.

She loved her family a lot, and she was good friends with Nio, but she'd never known someone like Isuke before. Someone that could make her happy just by being there.

"Haruki, are you still there?" her voice spoke through the phone.

"Yeah," she answered hurriedly, "I kinda spaced out for a sec."

"Are you feeling alright?" Isuke asked, her voice filled with concern. Haruki had just gotten out of the hospital, after all.

"Chill out, dude," she laughed it off.

"I thought I told you not to call me 'dude'," Isuke huffed, annoyed by the nickname.

"Sorry, Isuke-sama," she snickered, "Anyway, I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked, her tone softening as Haruki's did.

"It's pretty stupid, so don't laugh at me, ok?" she smiled.

"No promises."

Haruki chuckled. While it sounded serious, she didn't think Isuke would be the type to laugh at her. In fact, it was more likely for her to laugh at Isuke if she said something all sappy.

"I was thinking about how much I missed you when we weren't together," she said sincerely.

"Well… you don't have to miss me anymore," Isuke promised. "But I'm getting sleepy."

"Let me guess; you need your beauty sleep?"

She overheard Haruki's teasing comment.

"Goodnight, Haruki. See you tomorrow," she said.

"See ya, dude," she replied jokingly, unable to refrain from teasing her a little more.

"Haruki! I-" Isuke started to yell, but she hung up on her, just to annoy her even further. She fell back on her bed, still laughing at her girlfriend's outburst.

Even though she knew that couldn't be the case, in that moment, everything felt perfect.

Hey, everyone! Finally managed to finish this chapter, which took a little while since I just started school, but oh well.

And yeah, I just had to cut Mahiru off in the middle of her explanation, simply because it was so tempting to drag that plot out a little longer.

See you next update, dudes :P