"Okay, I guess that's it for today. Good work, everyone!" spoke Mizorogi-sensei in his usual cheerful tone, but as he looked up at his students, he was reminded that half of his class was asleep or just not paying attention.

As the young teacher began to gather his belongings, the students slowly began to wake up and started talking to each other.

Mizorogi-sensei was about to grab his bag and leave when he remembered the message he was supposed to deliver to them.

"Oh, before I leave, I have something to tell you," he said, not really catching anyone's attention. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "Everyone, would you please quiet down!"

The Black Class did as told, their subdued conversations dying out.

"I assume you've all heard about the upcoming dance."

They began to mutter between themselves.

"Not really."

"I haven't heard anything about a dance…"

"You never said anything about that," exclaimed Nio

"I didn't? My bad," he laughed apologetically, "I guess it slipped my mind."

To his relief, it didn't seem like any of them were upset about it, so he proceeded to give them the news.

"And our class have been put in charge of arrangements," he informed.

"Isn't that a lot of work?" Suzu wondered out loud.

"That's kinda unfair," whined Shiena, "Shouldn't a class with more people be put in charge?"

"Now, now, everyone," Mizorogi-sensei said, trying to quiet them down, "Let's make the best out of it."

Luckily, some of the students decided to take initiative.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be fun!" chirped Nio happily, doing yet another one of her weird poses.

"And we get to make memories with everyone," Hitsugi added with a bright smile.

The little girl was so adorable that this simply melted the hearts of some of the softer members of the class.

"Let's make sure the dance will be awesome!" cheered Otoya, enthusiastic as she could be. "Right, Sheina-chan?" she smirked, hugging the girl from behind.

Shiena attempted to fight her off, but her struggles were to no avail.

"So what do you say?" Mizorogi-sensei asked, directing his question at the part of the class that were still being pessimistic.

Some of them took a moment to think, but in the end, everyone agreed to helping out, some more enthusiastic than others.

"Ugh, why do we have to arrange the entire dance," whined Isuke grumpily, "What a pain."

"Come on, Isuke-sama, it'll be fun," promised Haruki, who was really looking forward to it. She wasn't quite sure if she could keep this promise, though, as she had never been at a dance before.

"I agree with Haruki," Nio butted in, "And you're being negative."

"Excuse me for thinking it's an utter waste of time," she snapped back.

"You had fun at the festival, didn't you?"

The pink haired girl was about to instantly deny this, but she then stopped to think. Saying she hadn't had a good time would be a lie, and since Nio knew that, there was no point in lying.

"I guess…" she muttered, bitter about having lost an argument, even if it was only a small one.

"Then why don't you think the dance will be fun?" Nio continued, well aware that she was pissing Isuke off. However, she was determined to get her point across.

Truth be told, she didn't know how to answer that. Sure, she wasn't very into the idea of hanging out with her classmates. Teambuilding wasn't exactly her thing, anyway. Yet, that in itself wasn't a good reason to dread the dance.

It might have something to do with the fact that, in the past, she didn't have anyone to go with. She only had the choice of going by herself, or with one of the girls her parents wanted her to date, so she'd gone alone every time.

And now she had Haruki to go with, so that wasn't a relevant reason anymore.

Not knowing what to say, she decided to remain silent. If she did, Nio was bound to give up on questioning her soon.

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?" Nio sighed after a minute or so, "Guess I can't force you to say anything."

With that, she wandered off, leaving Isuke and Haruki alone.

"That was easy," Isuke stated simply.

"Well, she's not the most patient person," laughed Haruki, "But why don't you wanna go?"

Isuke rolled her eyes. She should have anticipated that Haruki would pester her about it, as well.

"I just don't want to," she bluntly stated, crossing her arms.

"I was really looking forward to it," exclaimed the redhead.

"Why? It's pretty stupid."

"Maybe it's stupid to you," spoke Haruki, "But I never got to do stuff like that."

"It doesn't seem like your thing, you know. Fancy dresses, last year's top list music, and all that stuff."

"Guess not, but that's a part of what makes it exciting," shrugged Haruki.

Isuke sighed heavily.

"This really is important to you, isn't it?" she said, but instead of waiting for an answer, she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and began pulling her along.

"Where are we going?" she asked in confusion.

"I know of this awesome place," Isuke replied.

"What place?"

"You'll see when we get there," smirked Isuke secretively.

"Wow…" was all Haruki could say as she took in the appearance of the building. It had three floors and the areal of it was quite large. If only judging by the size, Haruki would have thought it to be a small shopping mall, but it was only one store. And all this store sold was dresses and accessories.

Through the windows, she could see a couple of dresses, and she could tell at first glance that she could never even dream to afford something like that.

"Isuke-sama, what are we doing here?" she asked in bewilderment.

"If we're going to the stupid dance, we might as well look good," she stated, as though shopping at a place like this was an everyday thing for her.

"But I can't-"

"I know," Isuke cut her off, "I'm buying you something."

The way Isuke said it, it was clear that she had already made up her mind, but Haruki couldn't accept something like that. She couldn't accept money from anyone.

"I can't accept that, Isuke-sama. I don't want to owe you anything," she informed. She didn't want to be some charity case.

"Why can't you let anyone do anything nice for you?" argued Isuke, "Besides, it's not like it only benefits you. I really want to see you in some of these dresses."

At that, Haruki had to laugh.

Isuke could really be stubborn. Sometimes even more than she was.

"Fine, but I will find some way to pay you back," she tried to compromise. She was well aware that Isuke didn't want anything, but it would make her feel better if she could do something for her in return. Not for buying the dress, but for caring enough to buy it and come with her to the dance.

"You're hopeless."

Well over an hour later, Isuke had managed to choose a dress for the dance. She'd long since lost track of how many she'd tried.

Choosing one had been difficult, considering there were so many she liked and Haruki had thought she looked great in each and every one.

However, she finally came to a decision, and now it was Haruki who had to find a dress.

"Come on, Haruki!" she complained, growing tired of waiting for her to finish changing, "Isuke tried like a hundred dresses. Are you embarrassed or something?"

"Truth be told; kinda," the girl in the dressing room replied, making Isuke giggle.

"Just get out here."

Hesitantly, Haruki shoved away the curtain and exited.

"Wow," breathed Isuke, just as, if not more, amazed than Haruki had been when she saw the store.

It wasn't really that the dress was that pretty. Sure, it was a nice dress, but what amazed her was how good Haruki looked in it. How nicely it hugged her curves, how it showed off just the right amount of skin, how well the colour complimented her eyes.

"What do you think? Too unlike me?" she asked, sounding unsure, which was rather uncharacteristic.

"No, it looks… it looks great on you," she stuttered, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks.

"It is pretty pricey, though…"

"Haruki, don't worry about that for once," she demanded, before changing the topic, "Are you going to try on more dresses?"

Haruki considered it for a while.

"Well, I like this one, but it's not every day I get to shop at a place like this."

Isuke smiled at her. To most people, this wouldn't be a big deal, but it was to Haruki. That's why she was happy to be able to do this for her. Haruki needed some normality in her life.

"That's great!" she chirped, "Isuke has already found some more dresses for you."

She pointed towards the dresses she'd picked out and placed close by.

"Some!? How many are there?" yelled Haruki.

"Just around twenty," she shrugged casually.

"Holy shit," laughed Haruki heartedly.

"What do we do now?" asked Isuke. They had just finished shopping and were now walking aimlessly around town.

"I'm heading over to the café," replied Haruki with a shrug.

"You're working today?" She attempted to hide her dismay, but failed miserably. She knew it was normal for people their age to take up part-time jobs, but she couldn't help but worry about Haruki.

"Yeah, Tuesdays are always really busy for some reason, especially in the evening. And I didn't want Banba to have to deal with all those customers on her own."

She should have guessed it. Haruki would always go out of her way for other people, wouldn't she?

"Alright, guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," she smiled softly. She didn't want to trouble her by selfishly complaining.

"Yeah, see ya!"

"Haruki," she called in a sweet voice, asking the girl turn around, "Weren't you going to pay me back?"

The redhead chuckled, but gave her a kiss nonetheless.

Upon entering the café, Haruki headed straight to the back to change into the tasteless waitress outfit.

There were quite a lot of customers there. One of the other waitresses, whom Haruki didn't know all that well, was still at work. She assumed her shift was over soon.

She passed by the storage room on the way, but stopped as she heard a voice from inside.

The person was humming a song. She didn't recognize the melody, but her voice was beautiful.

For a while, she simply stood there, listening to the girl's voice. It wasn't before the girl in the storage room exited that she was brought back into reality, because before her stood Mahiru.

"Uh… h-hello," she stammered in her usual manner, looking down at the floor to avoid looking at Haruki's dumbstruck face.

"I didn't know you liked to sing," she stated stupidly. If she had been able to think clearly, she would have smacked herself for sounding so ridiculous.

"W-well, I guess I kind of like singing," replied the silver haired girl. Her words were vague, but it was obvious, judging by the smile on her face, that she really liked singing.

"You have a beautiful voice," Haruki complimented, feeling it was necessary to praise someone with such a great voice.

"Thank you… but I'm not that good."

Haruki was fairly certain Mahiru knew she was a good singer, and that she was just being modest.

"That's not true; you're great," she stated stubbornly, and then she suddenly got an idea, "Hey, are you willing to hear me out on something?"

"Um… What is it?" she asked, not liking the thought of agreeing to something she didn't know the nature of.

"Just a random idea I came up with a minute ago."

"Okay, I'll listen," the girl decided.

"Great!" Haruki smiled, clapping her hands together and making Mahiru jump in the process, "I just need to know something. You know that conversation we had the other day…"

If she were to ask Mahiru to help her with her plan, she had to confirm that Mahiru truly wanted to be with Sumireko.

"Oh, that one," she immediately recognized it, "It's difficult to explain it… but I have this, um, what should I call it…"

While she wanted her to get to the point before they were interrupted again, she didn't think rushing her would make things any better.

"It's like a… split personality…"

"A what?" the redhead asked in disbelief. She had heard about people with split personality disorder, but she didn't think she'd ever meet someone.

Besides, if this was true, why had she never met Mahiru's second personality?

"It's… Well, her name is Shinya, and she's only around at night," she continued.

"Huh," mumbled Haruki, "Well I can see how that could make it difficult."

"Yes… I don't know how Hanabusa-san would feel about it, a-and it would be kind of strange."

That was a lot more complicated than Haruki had expected it to be.

"Don't you think you should tell her?" she asked.

"I, uh…"

"I don't know Hanabusa all that well, but I do know she likes you. I think you should at least tell her the truth, and see where things go from there," she advised her.

"Maybe I should," agreed Mahiru, "But I don't know what to say… I already rejected her twice."

"That's where my plan comes in," smiled Haruki cleverly.

"W-what is your plan?"

"It's kind of stupid, and really cheesy," she informed, "But I think it'll work out really well."

"Could you at least try?" snapped Kouko as she passed by to inspect their work.

"No," retorted Isuke, "I'm not cut out for this kind of work."

"Then go carry tables with Sagae-san, Namatame-san and Azuma-san," the class rep suggested.

"No way. I could risk breaking a nail," she declined. It wasn't that she had that much of a problem carrying tables, she just didn't feel like contributing.

"Where's your team spirit, Isuke?" spoke Otoya in an innocent voice.

She was pretty much the main reason for Isuke's bad mood today. She'd been placed in the decorating group with Mahiru, Hitsugi and, of course, Otoya.

"Shut up or Isuke will poke your eyes out with those scissors of yours," she smiled back, her voice just as sickeningly sweet as Otoya's.

"Ouch," the dark haired girl giggled, seemingly unaffected, "Sorry, sorry."

"I don't have time for this. Could you see to it that she does it properly?" Kouko asked Otoya and Hitsugi.

"You can rely on us, rep!" Otoya promised, only receiving a curt nod in return. "Want me to teach you how to make table decorations, Isuke?"

"No, I don't want to learn it," Isuke spoke, "And your voice gives me a headache."

Otoya pouted at her cold attitude.

"I really wish we could be friends, you know," she exclaimed.

"Not interested," she smiled with false cuteness.

"You're acting very cold, Inukai-san," spoke Hitsugi matter-of-factly. Isuke wasn't sure if she'd meant it as a simple statement or if she meant anything by it, but she decided not to let it bother her.

"It keeps despicable people at a distance," she informed.

"Isuke," said Otoya, her voice sounding more sincere now, "I'm trying to fix things here. Can't we please be friends?"

She wondered if that was the truth. Was Otoya actually becoming nicer? She hadn't noticed her bullying anyone in a while. Then again, she hadn't paid much attention to her. And even if she was trying to become a better person, Isuke didn't much like her.

But perhaps she could stop being that mean to her.

"Ugh," she mumbled, "Just shut up and teach me to make those decorations."

Knowing this was by far the kindest reply she could get from Isuke, she smiled and began explaining how to make some simple decorations that not even Isuke could fail at making.

Even then, with Otoya's annoying voice rambling on about something she didn't give a shit about, she kind of felt like the pieces were finally falling into place.

Step by step, she was getting closer to her fairytale ending.

Don't quite know how this chapter turned out. I wrote it while on a ferry early in the morning. Didn't have internet, so if I got some words or facts wrong, I apologize.

Briefly brought Otoya into this chapter 'cause I feel like it's been ages, and because I just re-watched episode 3, so I sort of started missing her.

And next chapter Mahiru will finally (probably) confess to Sumireko. Didn't think I'd ever get to that xD

Oh, and since Haruki and Mahiru are performing a song for Isuke and Sumireko next chapter (because I felt like writing something cheesy and ridiculous) I wanted to ask you what song you think they could choose. Could be something from the anime, or something else entirely. I'd prefer it to be a Japanese song, but it doesn't have to be. Suggestions are much appreciated :)

So, by for now.