Hi, Lord Muffintops here. Sorry for slow updates. College be like... Bam. Much to do. There also may be no updates during November, as I'm planning to participate in National Novel Writing Month. So, not a lot of time for fanfiction. Rest assured, more chapters will come. Still, enjoy the story.

~ Michi ~

Things kept happening quickly. The night before Kent and I had gone to the owner of the apartment building I lived in and had signed away on my lease. I started moving in below him tomorrow. But for now I had to shift my focus, because today was the day I went out with Toma.

"You've been busy lately, with Kent and Toma," Musca noted.

"Well, yeah. I'm trying to complete the pathways as soon as possible. Then I'll have a bit more time to worry about myself. Get that second job instead of devoting my days off to them. I mean, not that I don't like spending time with everyone… But still. I'll like being able to think about myself more once it's over. I don't even care if that sounds conceited."

"It doesn't to me. You've been made to devote a lot of time to others so far. But at the end of this month, we should be done."

"Yeah. By the way, you wouldn't tell me what's stopping Kent from going after Sawa."

"Like I said, you should figure it out for yourself."

"You're the one who said you wanted to help me…"

"But not with something so obvious! Geez. Anyways… You have a lot of work to do with Toma. Be on your game today."

"Right." I needed to get to the bottom of the mystery that was my past relationship with him. But still, he would probably just clam up again if I tried to approach the subject. "Hmmm…" I looked up and caught sight of him. We had agreed to just meet for lunch at the café before going shopping. "Oh, hey! Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I just got here." He smiled at me, but it faded as his cheeks turned red and he abruptly looked away. "Let's, uh, let's go inside."

Two seconds in and he was already acting weird… "Okay?" I followed him and we sat in a corner table next to the window. "I wonder who's going to end up serving us… It might be funny," I laughed.

"Yeah, maybe… Hey, are you cold?"

"Hm?" I realized that I'd been rubbing my arms. "Yeah, I guess. The wind's stronger than I thought it'd be today."

He looked relieved, for some reason. "Here." He passed me his jacket.

"Oh, thanks." I put my arms through the sleeves and rolled them up since they were a bit too long on me. "Cozy."

"What do you think you'll order?"

"Huh… I have no idea. Pick for me?" I couldn't figure out what to say, how to steer the conversation where it needed to go.

Toma paused. "You look frustrated. Are you really here, Michi?"

"Huh?" I blinked. "Uh, well… I guess there's something on my mind…"

"Do you want to tell me? I'm always willing to listen." Genuine concern creased his eyes.

"Well, it's about you, actually. Er, you and me… Us."

A bit of red touched his cheeks, but he also looked more guarded. "Us?" He echoed quietly. "What about it?"

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just…" I trailed off when our table was approached.

"Oh, hey, you two," Shin greeted us without enthusiasm. "Why would you want to come here on your day off?"

"Just because I missed your smiling face," I teased. "You could greet us like you would other customers, though."

Shin smiled back at me. "I don't really feel the need to put on that lame act with you two. So what do you want to order?"

I looked to Toma and realized that he was frowning. "Actually, Michi, do you mind if we leave?"

"Huh?" I frowned too, confused. "Okay, I guess?"

"Come on then." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out, with a hit of the same harsh insistency he had used once before. Had he always acted like this, or…?

"Toma." I pulled away. "Relax, will you? You're being weird."

He took a breath before turning back to me with an easy smile. "Sorry. I just realized that the thought of eating the food we prepare every day wasn't appetizing at all. Don't you think so?"

"Meh. I'll eat anything. Within reason, of course."

Toma shook his head, amused. "You're easy to please. Do you want to eat somewhere else?"

"No, let's just go shopping and then eat." I was feeling too concerned to be hungry now. Finally it was starting to make sense, the warning I had received from everyone. I could feel it now, that beneath the face of an easygoing, helpful guy lurked an entirely different Toma. The small flashes of borderline violent gestures I had seen gave me enough evidence to have in inkling of wariness. But no matter what I just had to get him to open up to me. Somehow…

The store we went to had a frustratingly wide selection. "Okay, we need to narrow this shit down," I grumbled. "Toma! This is where you come in."

"With what?"

"I need you to tell me what to do. I can't decide like this."

"A question first. You make your own clothes, right? I mean, your dress is cool."

"Huh? Oh, thanks." The dress I was wearing was made out of patches of old clothes that had gotten torn or otherwise ruined or I had just grown out of.

"So why didn't you just make your own swimsuit?"

"I don't wanna. I just… That would feel weird, you know? Purposefully making something so revealing…"

"Ah." His face was red yet again. "I have another question…"

"Okay? It's not like you have to ask my permission." I lamely browsed as he seemed to think his words over. Sequins. Sequins everywhere… Just, no.

"You don't… Do you always, um…"

"Spit it out, Toma." I frowned up at him.

"A bra!" He exclaimed, and then crouched down and put his hands over his mouth when he got a judgmental look from a few female employees.

"Say what?" I crouched down to his level.

"You don't wear one, do you…?" He mumbled.

"I mean, I sew pads into some of my clothes since it's cheaper than buying an actual bra, but not all of them. I mean, the material of this dress isn't right for that, and since I'm going to be trying on bathing suits I figured I wouldn't wear one today anyways. Why?"

"Nothing. It's entirely nothing."

"… You were staring, weren't you? Toma, you sneaky bastard."

"I-I wasn't!"

"I'm just teasing you." I laughed. I legitimately didn't give a shit if he wanted to stare. It wasn't my concern if he was made uncomfortable by it in any way. "Now, you answer my question. One piece or two piece?"

"I don't even care… Why did I come here?"

"Because Ikki coming with me was the alternative. Snap out of it. Come on, what should I do? I need to narrow down my options."

He finally raised his gaze to look at me, looking like an embarrassed, petulant golden retriever. "I think you'd look good in anything, so just pick please so we can leave…"

"You're not helpful at all."

"But perhaps I can be! Ohohoho!"

"Wah!" I fell on my butt from shock, then looked up to see someone smiling brightly down at us from the other side of a rack. "Rika? What the hell are you doing here?"

"To set men's hearts aflutter is the noblest goal a woman in the utmost spring of her youth may have."

I raised my eyebrows. "If you say so? Priorities, I guess."

"Would you like a bit of assistance? I'd be happy to help you. It's the very least I may do as repentance."

"I told you not to talk about repentance or whatever. I'm over it. Moved on." I sighed as I stood and brushed myself off, Toma doing the same. "But if you can just answer a question for me, that'd be great."

"Ask me anything! No matter the difficulty, no matter the cost –"

"One piece or two piece?" I interrupted, still unable to get used to the way her personality was when she wasn't under the influence of Ikki's eyes.

"Hmm…" She came around the rack to stand in front of me. Close. Very, very close.

"Woah there… Ahah!" I laughed when she started poking at my stomach. "C-cut that out!"

"Ah, you're ticklish. Apologies, I wasn't aware."

"It's fine-eeeehhhh!" I squealed when she suddenly grabbed my breast and started nodding to herself. "Dude, what the actual hell?!"

"We don't have the time for another romantic interest in this story!" Musca yelled. "Stop it, Michi!"

"Eh… Ehhh!" I leaped back and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I have it now! A two piece. Most definitely. You're the correct kind of voluptuous for the part."

"Thanks for your help?" I turned around and found Toma sitting on the ground again. "You okay?"

"No. Dead. I'm dead now."

"Wait, what?"

He sighed and stood up before taking my wrist again. "Come on, let's look over there."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, I guess, Rika. Bye."

"Farewell, and best of luck in your ventures!"

"I don't understand people like her…" I shivered.

"She's right, though."

"About what?"

"Uh, you know…" It seemed like he was blushing more often than not. "You. What you should… wear." He coughed.

"… Perv, I may as well have invited Ikki at this rate…"

"Hey, I'm nowhere near as bad as he is!"

"I know, I'm just teasing you. Come on, let's just find the cheapest one and get this over with." I found a simple green two piece with pink polka dots on the discount rack and was quite satisfied especially since we could get the hell out of there. "Okay… Now, I hunger! What's for food?"

"Huh…" Toma sighed again. He looked disappointed, somehow…

"You okay?" I asked softly.

"It seems like every time I see you someone else interrupts. I don't know… Strange."

"Then…" I frowned. "You want to hang out somewhere more private?" Was that a good idea? I had to be wary of him at this point. But if I avoided him, I'd never complete his pathway…

He lit up at the suggestion. "Hey, why don't I make you dinner at my apartment tonight?"

"Huh? I mean, you want to?"

"Yeah. Come on, say yes." He was finally grinning like he usually did, looking like his normal self. I couldn't resist.

"Okay, sure. Let's go."

His apartment was a lot bigger than mine. I bent over to peer at a shelf of books and video games. "You're dangerously close to being an otaku, aren't you?"

"I guess I won't deny it," he laughed. "Are you still obsessed with rice dishes?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Want to make salmon onigiri together then?"

"With cream cheese? There is simply no other way, Toma."

"Whatever you want." He smiled warmly and I blinked, taken aback by his sudden uplift in mood. Just being alone was what he had wanted?

"It's all sticky…" The rice clung to my hands as I tried to shape it.

Toma laughed. "You have to wet your hands first. Here." He wrapped his hands around mine, wiping the grains off my fingers one my one and clumping it in his own palms. I looked at him as he did so. When he looked happy, he was an admittedly breathtaking sort of sight. Almost too shining to look at.

"I'm just going to wash my hands. Maybe be a casual observer during this operation."

"Are you not used to cooking for yourself?"

"I just don't like dealing with sticky or messy ingredients. So I've never made onigiri."

"Why don't you come over for dinner more often then? That way it won't be lonely for either of us."

Pathway duties aside, it was appealing. There was a bit of kinship there with Toma that I didn't have with the others, since both of us had parents who had divorced. "Okay… Yeah, that sounds good." I went to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands, humming softly. He seemed a bit more comfortable now, at least, and it made me feel a bit better in turn.

I idled in his room for a minute, unable to resist the temptation to peek at how he lived. His pajamas were strewn over the bed, which I plopped on just to see if it was more comfortable than mine. It was, the bastard.

"You're a bit voyeuristic, aren't you?" Musca floated above me.

"You're one to talk." I twitched as pins suddenly started stabbing at my head again. A memory. "Ah… It's coming."

"Michi?" Musca, feeling my pain, took my hand. "I'm here."

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, ready to accept whatever the past had to tell me.