CHAPTER FORTY-NINE – SURPRISES (SayoHiro)

Noise from both people and objects alike prevailed in a vacant storage room on the third floor of Koizumi Academy. Given that one section of the school was still undergoing some final repairs after the fire that had occurred months ago, and once other classes started popping up with their own props and materials for the school festival, it was indeed a chance effort for a class to secure a spare room to store what they needed. After all, large cardboard cutouts, collapsible booths and banners took up quite a bit of space, especially when it involved a video game-themed scavenger race. In a matter of days, a devoted group of gamers from 3-B had managed to decorate the spare room with a colorful amalgamation of the various regions and denizens of Wildemount, the fantastical region where Dungeon Delvers took place. A finished façade of the city of Ironmere stood close by the windows, its paint drying in the sun. A cardboard caricature of an ogre from the marshes of Easthallow was propped against a nearby shelf, its green skin being colored in with poster paint by two of Akihiro's classmates. To the left of the room's entrance was the panoramic cutout of the sand-swept city of Thardossi, with a team of three stenciling in some finer details with markers. Across them on the floor, a forest sprite of Springwyn was starting to take shape as a student cut out its drawing from an illustration board.

Akihiro worked alongside his classmates with gusto, painting and detailing some cutouts of weapons from the game that the race's participants will be using. It was not exactly the kind of work that he would like to do every day, but it was fun nonetheless. After all, there were very few moments when he was made to put his knowledge as a gamer to use, and evidently his fellow gamers in 3-B thought so as well. Apart from bringing sections of Wildemount to life, they had also worked on scripts and whatnot for the best immersion possible. Some of their classmates joined in if only to have something else to do to distract from more mundane tasks, while the rest worked on the other booths and attractions they had planned.

Looking back at the past few days, Akihiro felt glad that things were starting to look up for everyone. The somber mood brought by Kenta's suspension had been lifted somewhat when their fiery-haired friend returned to school yesterday, though Kenta was still rather hesitant to rejoin the quartet fully. He still chose to eat alone and wander off on his own during breaks. Akihiro could not blame him; he could only imagine what kind of whispers and stares Kenta must be dealing with from all those who had known or heard about his fight. Still, Kenta's mood had lightened up enough for him to start replying more openly to any of the quartet's texts, proven when he texted them about Monika's surprise visit to his house during his suspension; Naoki had been credited with giving Kenta's address to Monika after she had expressed her desire to visit him. Akihiro smiled to himself at that. With their combined efforts, he knew they would be able to get Kenta back in the groove just in time for the festival and hopefully their next get-together.

Things brightened even more as Akihiro remembered the most recent date he had with Sayori, though the joy came with a bit of longing as well. During that evening—and long after it—he had wanted nothing more than to stay with her, to go home with her, to keep her company while she slept, to brighten her day as soon as she woke up. He wanted to make sure that she was alright, to assure her that everything was fine on his end as long as she was doing well. As such, he treasured and savored every moment they had spent together that evening, not wanting to let it get swept under the rug as time passed.

The most vivid memory of that evening that kept coming back to Akihiro, however, was their short moment on the sidewalk. He did not even know if he had chosen to draw in closer to her on his own volition then—he only remembered it happening as if it was all in slow motion. He remembered the warmth of her skin brushing against his fingertips, the soft caress of her breath against his own face, the gleam in her cerulean eyes. And just like that, just when their faces were mere inches apart, they stopped.

Why? That was the question that Akihiro kept asking himself since then. He wondered if that tender instant had indeed only been stopped through only his own hesitation, or whether Sayori had been unsure about it as well. Then again, Sayori initiated everything when she couldn't help touching his face, prompting him to respond with touches of his own. Perhaps she knew what would have happened afterwards and decided that it was too forward? The gestures were nothing new—Akihiro remembered the other times that he had touched Sayori's face in such a manner, mostly to comfort her—but this time felt so . . . different.

"Hey, Akihiro? You there?"

Akihiro plopped back to earth in an instant, roused from his contemplative stupor by the voice of his classmate. He looked down and saw that in his pensiveness, he had started to paint carelessly on the cardboard battle axe he was working on, tracing grey paint over its drawn details instead of around them.

"Ah, nuts," he mumbled, setting down the paint brush. "Didn't realize I was spacing out already. Sorry about that."

"That's a first," said his classmate, who was painting an elvish blade across him. "You looked pretty out of it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something," Akihiro replied.

"Something, or someone?" asked another with a sly grin.

"You always say that when someone says they're thinking about something."

"Maybe someone's thinking about him instead."

"That happens when you sneeze, not when you space out, you idiot."

"Alright, alright, there's no need to fight," said Akihiro, cutting through their banter as he laughed. He stood up and stretched his arms before walking over to the door. "I'll just take a breather outside—maybe get a little snack from the vending machines as well."

"Hey, isn't anyone gonna ask if we need a break? My hands are killing me!"

"There's no teacher around to stop anyone from having a break. Go for it, man."

"Just get back in time, alright? There are still three more cutouts to take care of!"

As Akihiro closed the door behind him, the sounds of his friends' voices receded into silence. He stared around the corridor, as if to see if there was anyone else walking around at this time of day. Like him and his friends earlier, some students passed him by at some points, carrying some things like a painted banner or some drawing materials as they made their way to their respective rooms. Outside, the sky teased an onset of rain later in the day with greying clouds, with the wind caressing trees and buildings alike. Idly, Akihiro took his phone out of his pocket and sent Sayori a quick text as he walked.

"gonna smell like paint all day :p how's the work going over there, wat r u guys making"

To his surprise, Sayori replied in a flash, proving that she might not be as busy as he first thought. Akihiro surmised that maybe she and her classmates had more time to laze around in between their work.

"we're making banners :D don't 4get 2 take a bath l8r ok? how r u guys doing?"

"pretty ok, tnx 4 asking. just going downstairs 2 get a snack b4 getting back 2 work"

"jealous :("

Akihiro stared at Sayori's reply as he reached the ground floor. Sayori often snuck out of classes under the pretense of going to the comfort rooms in order to nab a quick snack from the vending machines near the cafeteria—at times, she would even meet him outside their room after a quick text in order to borrow some coins.

From there, it was like clockwork, and Akihiro knew exactly what to do as he reached the vending machines.

Try as she might to walk more carefully, Sayori could not help but quicken her pace as she carried over the rest of the small paint cans her classmates needed at the other end of the classroom. Earlier, it had been the chairs and tables that she helped move along with a few of her classmates, and before that, the bales of cloth that would serve as their banners for the festival. They were taped to the walls now, ready to be colored in after their initial designs and outlines were traced in with markers. It was a busy day indeed, one of the relative few that punctuated classes as the festival drew nearer, and Sayori made it a point to help and contribute in any way she can. The surge of determination and inspiration within her was as refreshing as the joy she felt whenever she managed to participate in the preparations to the best of her abilities.

Unable to sit back and watch everyone else work, Monika also worked alongside her, even going so far as to sit on the floor with her and the rest of them, cutting out shapes from illustration boards and helping with the initial banner designs. Most of their classmates had wanted to do most of the work themselves, seemingly unwilling to let Monika dirty her hands with menial effort, but Monika had insisted that everything was fine with her, that coloring banners or drawing the designs would be more fun than simply thinking up what the others would be designing. Sayori admired her resolve to work in the same manner as everyone else, as used as she was to seeing Monika taking on more academic and formal tasks at school. Plus, it gave her a chance to talk to her in between their work about a number of things. In particular, Sayori listened in awe as Monika recounted her sudden visit to Kenta's house, and her mother's equally unexpected arrival there to pick her up.

"Your mom wasn't mad or anything, right?" she asked Monika as they mixed colors for the banners on the floor.

"Not really, just . . . I wouldn't even call it 'disappointed,' more like—I think she just didn't expect me to show up at Kenta's house, and it was the first time she saw him for herself," said Monika. "She didn't ask me a lot about him after that. I mean, we almost argued, so there's also that, but I guess she was focused on other things instead, so it got swept under the rug."

"I see. I just hope that no bad stuff happens this time around," said Sayori. "I mean, with Kenta being suspended and you almost quarreling with your mom . . . Not to mention the competition you've been training for."

"Yes, it's getting rough," said Monika with a sigh, mixing paint idly. "I mean, the practices haven't picked up their paces yet, but getting the newer members in debating shape for their own competitions next month, that's starting to grow heavy. I'm doing my best, but I haven't been able to focus for the past couple of days. I guess that little bit with my mom really affected me more than I expected."

"Can't you take a break for a while?"

"I would if I could. I mean, I want to see Kenta again and go out with him one of these days, but he still seems shy about getting back on track with me. As much as I'd want the two of us to be back to normal, I wouldn't want to force him if he's not ready. . ."

"But I think he is!" Sayori sat up straighter. "I definitely think he wants to be with you again, and he's just waiting for you to show that you want the same thing too. He's just having second thoughts because he doesn't want to bother you, or he thinks that you don't want to talk to him yet after he messed up. I mean, that's what makes me stop talking to Akihiro a lot of times before. . ."

She looked away for a moment, remembering those experiences only too well. But she also remembered the happier times when she would reconnect with Akihiro after distancing herself from him for a while. In particular, there was also the most recent date they had, and that moment on the sidewalk when the two of them seemed to almost . . . almost . . .

Monika opened her mouth to say something, but a classmate of theirs interrupted her attempt. "Hey, Sayori, you've got a visitor!" she called out in an amused tone.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sayori looked around. "Visitor? Who'd—?"

Like Monika, however, her words were forestalled when she saw Akihiro's head peeking through the classroom door. He grinned as soon as he saw where she was. Feeling incredibly elated and surprised all of a sudden, Sayori scrambled up and ran towards him as her classmates grinned knowingly.

"W-What're you doing here?" she asked as she reached the door, skidding to a halt in front of Akihiro.

"Thought you could use a snack or two," said Akihiro lightly, holding out a wrapped cookie and a small bottle of chocolate milk, both familiar fares from the school's vending machines. Behind her, Sayori heard her friends whoop and cheer and giggle. She laughed alongside them, her face flushing.

"You know you d-didn't have to, dummy," she muttered, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest.

"Just take them already, Sayori!" exclaimed someone behind her, eliciting renewed cheers from the others.

Shaking her head in embarrassment, Sayori said, "Let's talk out there."

She pushed Akihiro further out in the corridor as she stepped outside the room and closed the door behind her. When the coast was clear, she pouted at him.

"Again with the surprises? And in front of my classmates too!" she said, pinching his arm.

"Hey, I could tell that you wanted snacks, alright?" said Akihiro, handing the snacks over to her. Sayori was grateful that he didn't notice her hands trembling a little from excitement. "I wanted to invite you downstairs to eat with me by the cafeteria, but you might be busy."

"More like you wanted a grand entrance," Sayori said jokingly. "My friends are gonna have lots of fun teasing me after this."

"Seems like they know me pretty well, huh?" said Akihiro, laughing. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

"Hey, it's not my fault that I think about you when they talk about their b-boyfriends and stuff!" Sayori cried out. "And when they ask me to share, it'd be rude if I said no."

"I understand. But sometimes I just wonder what kind of things you share to them about me," said Akihiro, chuckling as he ruffled her hair. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later, okay? I need to get back soon before I'm missed."

"But you're already missed," said Sayori with a sad air.

"What d'you mean?"

". . . Missed by me."

Akihiro stared at her for a moment. A faint blush crept into his cheeks. "Jeez, Sayori . . ."

"I just wanted to make a pick-up line, okay?" Sayori muttered, pouting. "But no jokes this time, I really am gonna miss you as soon as you leave."

"You always make it sound like I'm going off to another country whenever I leave," said Akihiro. "We'll talk later, okay? We can go out too, if you want."

"W-We'll see," Sayori pointed out, feeling both excited and bashful at the thought of another date as she remembered their moment on the sidewalk. "Take care, okay? And don't forget about taking a bath when you get home! You were right about smelling like paint."

"With the work you guys are doing in there, you'll start smelling like paint soon enough," Akihiro jested. "Just try not to get some paint on your uniform too. The toothpaste stains you get daily are enough."

"Meanie!" Sayori squealed, swatting with the bottle of chocolate milk and coming up a few inches short as Akihiro dodged, laughing.

Back inside the classroom, the teasing calls and jokes of her classmates rang anew as Sayori passed by them, renewing her mortification. Even Monika had a knowing smile on her beautiful face. "Care packages in the middle of a school day, hmm?" she told her. "Akihiro's definitely got you covered."

"I didn't put him up to this, okay?" said Sayori, her face turning pink again as she unwrapped the cookie.

Monika laughed. "Your secret's safe with me," she joked. "It's very sweet of Akihiro to do all this and more. Sometimes I wonder if Kenta would like to do something like that for me. I can't help but guess what he might do or think sometimes, and it just gives me butterflies in my stomach when I do," she added with a giggle.

"Maybe in the future, he can try it out," said Sayori, laughing with her. "I think it's safe to say that boys love surprising their girlfriends, so watch out for Kenta!"

"I will," said Monika lightly, but her mirth faded somewhat as she paused for a moment. "He's just sort of hesitant, I think. Hesitant because he feels that he might end up embarrassing me again in some way if he pulls off something. I mean, he's always like that, you know? Always concerned with how I'll feel."

"But isn't that a good thing, Moni?" Sayori inquired.

"Oh, it is, don't get me wrong," Monika clarified. "It's just . . . I don't want him to always think about how I'll react when he does something. He didn't do that a lot before—not to the level where he starts forgetting himself, I mean—but after the incident he had, I'm starting to think that it really affected his behavior in that regard. Maybe he's just scared of disappointing me all over again." Monika let out a sigh as she set down the paintbrush she was using. "I think part of the blame falls on me. Maybe I shouldn't have reacted too rashly when I got wind of the fight. I always think that I made him feel even worse than he was already feeling then."

"I see. . ." Sayori swallowed her last mouthful of cookie and patted Monika's arm. "It's okay, Moni. It's only natural that you wouldn't want to see Kenta getting himself in trouble. That's how it was with me and Akihiro, back when he used to put video games first before homework. And remember that incident with the tree? W-When you spotted the two of us together?"

"I remember," said Monika.

"Well, I scolded Akihiro for pulling off that climbing stunt and getting hurt in the first place," Sayori went on. "I didn't want to talk to him for a while, because I wanted him to know how much it scared me when he fell just because he wanted to show off. I think when you told Kenta off for getting into a fight, you felt the same way. You were scared that he was gonna get into more trouble for what he did, and you wanted him to know it."

"Yes, you're right," said Monika, smiling at her. She sighed, momentarily dispelling the genial air on her features. "I just wish I can let him know that everything's fine now, that he's gotten through what happened and is now ready to make up for it. It's what I wanted to talk to him about when I visited him, but it sort of got sidetracked when Mom showed up."

"Oh, I see. . ." Sayori pursed her lips, thinking as she crumpled up the cookie's wrapper idly in her hands. The way Monika spoke made Sayori feel for her quite a bit; after all, she had always been there to check on her whenever she was down in the dumps, and Sayori wanted to pay her back in any way she can.

Hmm . . . What would Akihiro do?

It took only a few more moments for Sayori to know the answer to that. Boys love surprising their girlfriends, she had told Monika. Perhaps this time around, the roles needed to be reversed.

More patrons had started flocking into The Cocoa Connection as of late, eager to escape the cold autumn weather with hot beverages and the bistro's warm interior. Sayori glanced around as she walked, quickly scanning the place for a four-person booth. Thankfully, luck was on her side as one such booth was vacated, its occupants finished with their afternoon coffee. She jogged posthaste towards it and sat down, securing it successfully for her other companions who were still on their way.

As always, Akihiro was ready to help her in any way he can, and he had agreed to her plan when she had told him about it through text earlier. He had also been the one to invite Kenta to the bistro under the pretense of asking him to join the two of them; ever ready to help out a buddy in need, Kenta had agreed, not knowing the small surprise Sayori and Akihiro had in store.

Sure enough, Akihiro arrived with Kenta around ten minutes after Sayori did. Kenta looked relatively easygoing as he approached the booth. "Hello there, Sayori," he said with a grin.

"Hello, Kenta!" Sayori greeted cheerfully back. "I'm glad you were able to join me and Akihiro."

"Well, I figured that I needed to unwind a bit," Kenta acknowledged. "Rough week, rough week."

"Are you sure you're okay with third-wheeling, though?" Akihiro asked as he sat down next to Sayori.

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Kenta, laughing. "Just act like I'm not here."

"Hey, come on, we invited you here so that we can all talk and have a bit of fun, okay?" Akihiro told him. "We don't want you feeling left out, of course. Besides, it's been a while since we got to talk to you, man."

"Yeah, I know," said Kenta, sighing as he ran a hand through his spiky red hair. "Daisuke and Naoki have been texting me nonstop, asking me when I'm gonna be coming back to eat with you guys again. It's good to know that some people have missed me during my absence," he added, laughing.

"They're not the only ones who missed you, Kenta," said Sayori in earnest. "Moni really wants to catch up with you. She told me about her visit last week."

"Did she?" Kenta blushed slightly. "Yeah, I wish we'd manage to talk a bit more then, to be honest."

"I think you'll get the chance to do that soon enough," said Akihiro lightly. He glanced at Sayori, who couldn't quite keep her grin suppressed.

Ten more minutes later, when the three of them had managed to order their desired beverages from the counter—a strawberries-and-crème frappe for Sayori, a caramel mocha frappe for Akihiro, and a dark chocolate macchiato for Kenta—the conversations went underway. Sayori made it clear not to mention Monika again for a while, intending to make her entrance all the more surprising. Instead, she and Akihiro asked Kenta about school—what plans the three of them had for the festival, what everyone was doing for their classes' booths, and everything else in between. Though Kenta replied and talked easily enough, Sayori could not help but notice that he seemed to be holding back on the humor and side stories that often punctuated his words, preferring instead to let her and Akihiro dictate much of the conversations.

"So Kenta," said Akihiro after a while, "do you think we can all finally make that second get-together happen after the festival? I've been thinking about it sometimes, and I'm sure Sayori here's doing the same."

"That depends on how busy Monika's gonna be, I guess," Kenta replied as he took a sip of macchiato. "I dunno if the debate club's gonna be given a break after the festival, or even during it. But knowing her, I'm sure she'll find the time to make it with us."

"Haven't you talked to Monika about it for the past weeks or so?" asked Sayori.

"Yeah, but given how busy she is, we mostly end up talking about how our day went, or what's new," said Kenta. "And after my, uh . . . short break away from school, we haven't managed to talk much."

"Well, do you want to talk again now?" said a cordial voice behind him.

Startled, Kenta looked around to see Monika standing there. Even Sayori was surprised; with the conversations keeping the three of them engaged, they had failed to see Monika entering the bistro. Kenta quickly scrambled up on his feet, his face reddening.

"M-M-Monika!" he managed to stammer. Watching the scene unfold before them, Akihiro grinned knowingly at Sayori, who couldn't stifle a giggle.

"Mind if I join you three?" Monika asked gaily.

"Of course, Moni!" said Sayori. Kenta shifted his glance towards her and Akihiro, flustered.

"W-Wait, you knew she was coming?" he asked them.

"All part of the plan," said Akihiro lightly.

Monika laughed. "That it was," she said. "Anyway, I'm just gonna order something real quick, and then we all start talking again afterwards, hmm?"

"Wait, I'll h-help you order!" said Kenta, who quickly scrambled up on his feet. Monika beamed at him, and together the two of them made their way to the counter.

When they made it back to the booth with Monika's white chocolate macchiato and a plate of fudge brownies for all of them, Kenta immediately asked, "S-So, lemme get this straight. You two set this meetup for me and Monika?"

"Mostly it was Sayori's idea," said Akihiro. "She just needed help in inviting you over, so that's where I came in."

"We figured that it'd be nice to have you and Monika start getting back together, Kenta," Sayori added. "I told you she missed you a lot."

"That I did," Monika added, taking Kenta by the hand and sitting down on the seat next to his, prompting him to sit back down as well. "Even when I visited you at your house, we didn't get to talk as much as I wanted us to."

"That's—I mean, I . . . I wasn't expecting . . . you know," Kenta mumbled, still visibly embarrassed.

"That's alright. At least we can do it all over again here, with Sayori and Akihiro to keep us company," said Monika as she stroked his hand. "So how are you?"

Despite Monika's touches and the presence of both Sayori and Akihiro, Kenta didn't shy away. "I . . . I'm doing fine, I guess," he replied. "Everything's been normal so far except for, um . . . ah, I dunno if I should say it."

"Kenta, it's fine," Monika assured him. "Go right ahead, we're here to listen."

"Are you guys sure?" Kenta asked.

"Of course, Kenta!" said Sayori willingly. Akihiro nodded beside her. "If you're okay with it, you can tell us."

Kenta sighed resignedly. "A-Alright. Well, I don't need to recap to you guys what happened to me, and I think it's safe to say that the incident itself became pretty big news at school. I wasn't really expecting a hundred-percent warm welcome when I came back, and I was right. My friends were pretty happy to see me back, but some others weren't exactly feeling the same."

"Do you mean the seniors you got into trouble with?" Monika asked him.

"Not really," Kenta replied. "Do you remember those guys I told you about? The ones that liked talking behind my back when we started dating? Well, I think they might've gotten a bit braver after that little incident. I've been hearing some of them taunting me in the corridors recently, calling me names and stuff and acting like I'm not the one they're talking about. I guess they were happy that I got taken down a notch."

"That's not very nice," said Sayori, feeling hurt for him.

"Yeah, those punks don't have anything better to do," Akihiro joined in, looking peeved. "You don't have to listen to them, man. They're just big jerks, nothing more."

"I agree. I've told you about this before, Kenta," Monika added. "You shouldn't let them get to you like this. If they want to talk about you like that and be petty just because they're jealous, that's their problem. It won't change the fact that they're just really insecure about you."

"I know, I know," Kenta muttered. "It's not like I'm gonna snap out of nowhere and beat the living daylights out of them, anyway. I'm just f-feeling pretty down, that's all. It still hurts to hear stuff like that, y'know? I mean, I ain't a stranger to being called all sorts of things, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt sometimes. And I'm just scared that it might get too much and I'll pick a fight all over again and end up disappointing you guys."

Monika sighed, squeezing his hand. "You know better now, Kenta. I know that you won't make the same mistake twice, and that you won't let those people win over you. The best thing that you can do from now on would be to start moving forward again. You're better than them, alright? You can do this."

"I agree, Kenta," said Sayori, smiling. "You're a strong and helpful person. Don't let those meanies get to you like that. J-Just don't beat them up!"

"I'm sure he won't, Sayori," said Akihiro with a laugh. "Anyway, you've got this, Kenta. I'm sure Daisuke and Naoki have told you no less."

Kenta let out a short laugh. "I wonder how those two dolts are. It's been a while since we had lunch together. Well, at least they have Natsuki and Yuri to keep them company. I hope they're all doing fine."

"I've been in touch with them for a while now—Daisuke and Naoki, I mean," said Akihiro. "And yeah, they've been asking me about you for a while now. Have you talked to them yet?"

"Not really," Kenta admitted, sighing. "Maybe after this, I can start joining them for lunch again. To be honest, it feels stupid taking some time off away from you all, now that I see how concerned you guys are about me."

"No, it's alright, Kenta," said Monika earnestly. "If you needed some time to reflect on things, there's nothing wrong with that. Just don't forget, we're here for you, okay? You don't have to beat yourself up when something goes wrong. You've taught me a lot about handling these kinds of things, so you shouldn't forget that your wisdom applies also to you when you have problems. If you feel the need to distance yourself for a while, go ahead. We'll always be waiting for you to come back and make our days a bit brighter."

"Aww, that's so sweet, Moni!" Sayori cried out.

"Amen to that," Akihiro added.

Kenta looked at the three of them, smiling apologetically and blushing at Monika. "Thanks, guys. I really, really appreciate it. And not just your words of wisdom—all this, setting things up so that Monika can talk to me, it's really nice of you."

"That's my Sayori," said Akihiro. Sayori blushed as well as he put his arm around her.

From there, things started lightening up. Kenta became slightly more open and candid as time passed by, while Monika looked happier and more content compared to how she was earlier. Topics took on a lighter note, and soon they found themselves wishing that Daisuke, Naoki, Natsuki and Yuri were there with them, hearkening back to the dynamic atmosphere that they shared during their first get-together. Even so, things were fine enough, and Sayori felt elated that she had managed to help Monika and Kenta reconnect after the turmoil that had briefly caused some distance to form between them. After Monika's help during her low days with Akihiro and the burden of her thoughts, it was the least she could do to return the favor.

As he walked up the stairs to his apartment unit, Akihiro felt good. The day had gone by both productively and meaningfully, and with Sayori's help things had brightened up even more. Even now, he commended her for getting the idea of drawing Monika and Kenta together, both to make the meetup more enjoyable and to help the two of them feel better after what had happened. Though he wouldn't have complained if he ended up being alone with Sayori, it felt good to have other friends around to make it a double date.

Entering his apartment unit, he quickly threw his school blazer and shirt among his growing pile of dirty clothes, thanking the stars that the smell of paint on it had not been overwhelming enough to be noticed by anyone at the Cocoa Connection earlier. Sayori's plan had come so suddenly that he had no time to go home and take a quick bath like he had wanted, and perhaps even put on a nicer set of clothes. He cringed as he remembered his first official date with her, about how he had shown up in very casual clothes while Sayori had dressed up in her best attire thus far. Then again, it wasn't like he had better clothes to wear just yet, as his best pair of pants and his better-looking shirts had been at the nearby laundromat that day. From then on, Akihiro had made it a point to ensure that he would always have better clothes at hand whenever a future date with Sayori would happen.

Fifteen minutes later, having taken a bath and set aside his things to settle down for the evening, he sent Sayori a text. "done smelling like paint—and abt time too XD wyd?"

"just got done a while ago :) imy already :("

Even though he was alone in his room, Akihiro found himself blushing. "there u go again… 2 be fair, i miss u too. do u want me 2 come over?"

"no, it's ok :( i still have somewhere 2 go, and i dunno wat time i'll be back"

"oh, that's fine. 2morrow then?"

When Sayori did not reply, Akihiro decided to take some time sorting out his school things for tomorrow, wondering what else needed to be done in preparation for the festival. Some of his friends had started messaging one another in their group chat earlier, asking if they would be including a certain setting in their scavenger hunt or if they would need to change some of the scenarios they would be using for the roleplaying. Akihiro let them debate among themselves for a while as he sifted through his things.

A sudden knock on the door made him look up. Akihiro frowned as he stood up to answer, wondering who it could be. His initial guess was that it was either the apartment's landlady looking to ask about rent, or a tenant who had mistaken his door for another one. As he opened the door, however, he found himself startled out of his thoughts momentarily.

Sayori was standing there, wearing her white jacket over a carnation pink shirt and a pair of blue shorts, with her white sneakers as well. A plastic bag dangled from her left hand, and she smiled apologetically as Akihiro stared at her.

"S-Sayori?" Akihiro stammered. "What . . . W-What are you . . . ?"

Sayori let out a shy giggle. "I told you I had somewhere to go."

Akihiro scratched his head, still aghast. "But I thought you were—"

"You're not the only one who's full of surprises, Akihiro," Sayori cut across him, looking both determined and bashful as she spoke. "A-And I thought that if I miss you, then I should do something about it, so here I am! Anyway, I bought some snacks, s-so you won't have to go out for some. We can eat out if you want—I have some money with me too, so that you won't have to treat me o-or anything."

She held up the plastic bag. Akihiro glanced at it for a moment before looking back at her. From the way she spoke, it was obvious that her plan with Monika and Kenta wasn't the only thing she had been working on earlier. That it had gotten past him without any clues was what had thrown Akihiro off guard. Inwardly, he whispered a prayer of thanks that he was at least wearing some decent clothes to match Sayori's this time—a white shirt and a pair of black jogging pants, though the grey socks he was wearing to ward off the night's cold looked rather out of place.

"I g-guess that means we're even?" he asked Sayori sheepishly.

"Not quite yet," she replied, grinning.