Two years ago - Four weeks before graduation

The energy within the senior classrooms was hectic and fast-phased. No teacher was within the vicinity, which allowed the freedom of movement for everyone.

Students went in and out of their classroom to collect resources, or ask for assistance from their advisors. Papers were scattered on tables and the floor. No power socket was spared; all of it occupied by a charger for someone's laptop. Multiple people furiously typed on their keyboards like their life depended on it.

Some were by themselves, or in groups outside to unwind in the few open spaces and not interrupt the neighbouring classrooms of the younger students.

Not one procrastinator was on sight. Because they would not rock up at school instead. The pressure continued to linger among the seniors.

Inside, the collective hard press of keys from multiple laptops, the haste friction between pen or pencil and paper, altogether with papers flipped over were the sounds that dominated the room.

Most of the activity and conversations involved mutual anxieties on the standard of their research papers, their final assessment for the year, before the last round of exams.

"Oh fuck am I doing this right?"

"Shoot, I still need a few more respondents on my survey! Can I just fake some of them?"

"If your data turns out to be skewed, good luck justifying that."

"Okay I think my methodology is all good. I better move."

A pair of best friends announced the labour of their effort. "The printer's now working, finally!"

The said device was swarmed with those who needed its services. The owner, Galaco, had her hands on her waist and commanded the gathered masses.

"I'll only print f orthose who'll pay! Ink isn't cheap these days, you scammers!"

And so a queue was impulsively formed for Galaco's printer. Wallets and purses were brought out, together with laptops or flash drives.

There were groans and cries of frustration in the other areas of the classroom. Since the pressure was on the senior students, it all relied on the resilience levels of each of them.

"Fuck! I can't find any citations for this part!"

"I only slept for an hour last night and I still need to work on my pie charts. Please deliver me to the light."

"God, why are we supposed to have a minimum word count on every part of this damn paper? What if I just want to say in my hypothesis: 'Because it is what it is'? Like literally, some things are just best left unexplained."

"Haha, try telling that to the panellists and hope they won't throw your paper at you."

"Who the fuck thought of making different styles of citations? Now I have to change the format of my twenty citations. They can fuck off, honestly."

Conversations unrelated to the assessment were rarely heard these days, as the majority of the class focused on the big hurdle in front of them to cross the finish line that was graduation.

It was a yearly tradition set by one of their senior teachers who worked in the school since they were in nappies. Yet the tradition never failed to strike fear upon every senior student who chose to spend their final year at YMH.

The school was notorious for trying hard to be extravagant and be ahead of its competition, to the annoyment of its students. Though some of its efforts paid off with the excellent performance of their students, and the developed work ethic that proved to be effective when they joined the wider world.

The yearly tradition to write a research paper and defend it in front of panellists from the school's administrative department was not only a harbinger of misfortune for the senior students.

It allowed the discovery of hidden talents (complex statistics, oral reporting, graphic design, and organising data) and bonds to be further strengthened as they assisted each other. Even the most unexpected groups of people in their class began to help one another in these adversities.

In the case of one group of friends: Lily, Gumi, Nana, Miki, Rin, and Kaito, they still sought after each other's company despite being occupied with their own research papers.

While most of them worked individually, only Nana and Miki worked as a pair. They currently had the open space by themselves, which provided both relief and privacy for them.

Around a big table, the friends were seated with each of their laptops. They either typed or wrote what was on their screen. Everyone only minded their own business. The gentle breeze, the sun's rays and other elements of nature were their only companion.

In the distance, two distinct female voices echoed from the singular hallway to the open space.

Their voices became louder and more coherent as they got closer, and finally entered. Neru and Yukari held each of their laptops and approached the only table occupied in the open space.

"Hey, you guys! Do you know what to do if the author of my related literature cited another author?" Neru started off. The pair stood in between Lily and Gumi.

"What? An author that cited another author? Does that even exist?" Gumi asked another question instead.

"That's called citation-ception, I believe." Kaito chuckled as he attempted to make a joke out of Gumi's reply.

"Sorry Neru and Yukari, I haven't heard of that." Nana's golden-yellow orbs gazed at the pair, and actually answered their question.

"Actually, I've heard of that!" Miki quickly interjected. "Rin showed me how to do that. She can show it to you just like how she did for me!"

The newly-joined pair smiled, as Rin removed her focus from the screen at the mention of her name.

"Hey Neru, Yukari. Do you need me?" Rin casually asked with a small smile.

"Yes, Rin!" Yukari replied. "If it's not bothering you? We see you're doing stuff on your own paper."

"Oh, this one? I can hold it off for now. So, how can I help you two?" Rin smiled as she put down her pen and rested one of her elbows on the table.

"Okay so let me show you this." Neru quickly went to Rin's side as she flipped open her laptop and unlocked it. Yukari went beside her partner.

"So we have this author, Smith. We're planning to use his paper. But in this exact sentence we were meant to cite him for," Neru highlighted the text with the cursor. "The dude cited another person, Fernandez. So how are we supposed to do that?"

Rin was silent for a few seconds, as she processed what Neru just said. Her eyes widened with a smile.

"Ah! I had to do this exact same thing. Our teacher showed it to us when I approached him. Can I have your laptop, Neru?" Rin gestured her hands towards the laptop.

"Of course." Rin set aside her own laptop to give space for Neru's. Then she typed on her friend's laptop as she spoke.

"So you have to mention Smith's name first. You found his paper first so he's the one you will primarily cite from. Like 'Smith (2018)'. If it's on a paragraph, you have to type 'as cited in' next. Then add in the name of your second source, 'Fernandez (2015)'. So it will look like ' Smith (2018) as cited in Fernandez (2015)'".

Rin's voice resonated with the clicks of the keyboard as she simultaneously typed what she taught.

"If Smith cited more than one author, you have to put a colon at the end of each author. If that's finished, that's simply done and you can continue on. In the Bibliography, you just have to use Smith's name. Then do the usual stuff with the citation style we're using, which is APA. You can use the citation generator anyway. Did all of that make sense?" Rin finished off.

"Oh my god, Rin. God bless you, I swear!" Neru laughed in joy and she and Yukari stared at what Rin did.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much you saved me and Yuka. We were supposed to approach our teacher but he's in a meeting! And our advisor had no idea how to do it. So we were close to despair!" Neru elaborated with her signature boisterous voice.

"I know right!? I tried asking people inside the classroom but they were clueless too. So you guys here at the open space were our last hope." Yukari explained more calmly than her partner. "Thank you again, Rin! We appreciate the help."

"Woah! I didn't know you should be doing that!" Both Gumi and Kaito also observed Neru's laptop where Rin's new text was shown.

Rin shrugged the praises with a gesture of her hand. "I'm glad I could help! Even if I'm frustrated on my end with this certain part I've been skipping. I think I was slowly going insane had you not arrived." Rin now frowned and went back to type on her own laptop.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get through it, Rin! I do hope you will very soon." Yukari assured her.

"Thank you. We'll see later if I manage to succeed." Rin smiled.

"Also, do you guys mind if Yuka and I join your table? We feel like we might need all of your help again sometime soon." Neru asked for permission. Yukari nodded in support.

"We tried to work inside the classroom but it was a different kind of chaos happening there. Some of them can be distracting, especially Mizki and Yuma." Yukari elaborated to convince the group.

"Oh sure, go for it!" Lily agreed as Kaito and Gumi set aside space for the other two to squeeze in.

Kaito commented. "Mizki and Yuma? I'm surprised you two came to us just now. I wouldn't bear with them longer than you two did."

Yukari replied on her friend's behalf. "For the first few hours, they were tolerable. They were working just as everyone was. But it got a bit of a headache whenever Yuma would scream after not finding the missing RLs he badly needed."

At the mention of the name, the group sighed comically. Yuma was notoriously chaotic and it was no surprise with today's events.

Yukari continued. "It was specifically pointed out by our teacher, so he has more pressure than the rest of us there. Then there was Mizki laughing at her brother so loud. It was ringing in my ears even when I was in a corner from them."

"Listen, those siblings are cool to get along with. But sometimes they can be a bit intense, like right now downstairs." Neru added after she got comfortable and arranged her stuff.

"Well, you'd like it here. We're basically just doing our own thing." Gumi assured as she scrolled through her paper, evident with the word program open. Her screen was filled with blocks of text and their school's logo on the top right corner as required.

And so the group, together with the newcomers Neru and Yukari, worked on their own papers. The soft-spoken voices mostly came from those who worked in pairs, and the few occasional questions asked for help from each other.

A loud groan suddenly interrupted the peaceful ambiance within the table. It was Rin who gazed at the sky with her head stretched upwards and clutched her hands on the edge of the table.

"I'm gonna lose my shit. I can't fix this part on my RL." Rin was visibly distressed. She flipped down her laptop and rested her cheek on top of it. Her shoulder-length blonde hair only covered half of her face. But her headdress occupied as far as the back surface of Gumi's laptop from across.

"Aw, Rin. Do you want me to cheer you up with me singing the beloved orange song?" Kaito teased, in hopes it improved Rin's frustrated mood.

He referred to an inside joke he and Rin had with a badly rendered and cringe-material song on the internet. It involved an orange, her favourite fruit. Despite how annoyed Rin was with the song ("They ruined those precious oranges!" she would cry out while she clutched her heart), she laughed at the end of the day all because of how Kaito mocked the tune.

"No, please don't. I'm not in the mood for it. I'm actually serious." Rin's muffled answer was a result of face-planting herself on the surface of her laptop. She clutched her head with both hands and scratched her hair in frustration.

"Maybe you need to take a breath and relax for a few minutes to clear your mind? It usually works on me whenever I'm stuck." Yukari suggested.

Before Rin could answer, a new voice echoed through the singular hallway that connected the open space and the only staircase. Heavy footsteps rapidly stomped as if the person ran.

All eyes (except Rin who still sulked on the table) were at the entrance of the open space, where Len, hand on the bottom of his laptop, heaved and went his way to the table.

"Hey Rin! Guess what song just came on my music shuffle!" Len smiled in the middle of his breaths to get back some oxygen as he hit the spacebar from his laptop.

The loud speakers played the irritating tune that would have usually made Rin clenched her teeth and squint in a joking manner, but made the ache in her head ring louder.

She raised her head from the top of the laptop and glared straight at Len. Despite the disarranged way her headdress slanted at the other side and her hair all over the place, the pissed-off energy from Rin was nothing to joke about.

"Am I supposed to laugh now!? Do you think it's funny? Don't fuck around with me, Len!" Rin's voice went deeper but still had the same volume appropriate for a casual conversation.

Len's whole body language shifted from being friendly to being afraid. His smile turned upside down with a frown as soon as he understood Rin's words.

"I'm struggling with my paper here, Len! And here you are running to show me a stupid video you've found after aimlessly scrolling through the internet!? Are you fucking kidding me!?" Rin did not wait for an answer as she was face-flat once again on her laptop. She did it at a speed that more likely injured her nose or damaged the laptop.

Len closed his laptop and stuttered. "S-sorry, Rin. I didn't realise you're not in the mood for jokes. I-I won't do it again."

"Yikes, someone just missed the memo." Yukari whispered near Neru's ear. But with the deafening silence around them, it was heard by everyone.

"Idiot can't read the room for once." Rin mumbled from her laptop. It was audible for everyone else present at the table. Len, who stood nearby, heard it coherently.

"Len, I think it's best for you to leave. Rin isn't in the best headspace right now with all the stress on the paper. You understand it too, right?" Lily's apologetic tone resonated on the table.

"Y-Yeah, y-you're right. I'm sorry, Rin!"

Len clutched his closed laptop and hastily left the open space. He was followed by the glares of Yukari and Neru on his way out. Even though Gumi had not glared to a similar extent, her scrunched eyebrows and frown implied her opinion to their estranged classmate.

"Please, what was his deal?" Yukari started, a huff out of irritation.

"Maybe he's in a 'I need attention' mood again," And Neru laughed.

"Eh, I don't think that's a nice thing to say, you guys. Maybe the guy just wanted to actually show something to Rin?" Miki gently chided.

"Hmmm… Even then, it's hella suspicious of him. Why now? Did he not remember what he did to Rin? I think he's just bored again and using her for entertainment." Nana argued in favour of Yukari and Neru.

While the non-tenuous argument went on about Len's true intentions, Gumi and Kaito had their own conversation.

"Don't you think it was also suspicious? Why would he suddenly approach Rin like that as if they got over being awkward with each other?" Gumi whispered as she scrolled again through potential articles she could cite.

"I also thought it was weird. But I honestly have no idea why he did that." Kaito answered while he typed on his keyboard.

"He better not stir up some stupid shit again. We're leaving within a month." Gumi grumbled and focused on the screen. "Right now, we don't have the time and energy for that when we're finishing our papers."

Gumi still had her eyebrows scrunched. Her eyes shifted to the other direction as she skimmed every text she could whilst scrolling.

"We used to share that joke with Rin back then. Maybe he just did it for old time's sake." Kaito speculated out loud.

"Can we change the topic? Rin is grumbling right beside me." Lily laughed awkwardly and pointed at Rin; head still on top of her laptop.

The group returned to their previous business. After all, it was another day to finish whatever they could on the paper.

They were to follow the safety-net on the schedule set by the teacher with the final submission of the paper. The panellists had limited availability on their personal schedules (as was often usual every year).

It only added more pressure for the seniors to either set aside all the anxiety and throw themselves in the pit to defend in the first half, or be at risk of being at the shorter-end of the panellists suddenly unable to show up at the uncertain latter half.

There was the idea now lingered on the minds of the seniors enabled by their teacher: the earlier one can finish, the wider they can breathe. The later they finished, the longer they would be short of breath.

One of them began to daze away from their paper and thought of something else. Kaito was still curious about the recent development of things with Len in particular.

He and Len began to talk again almost as if it was the old days, though not as frequent nor personal as before. Admittedly, they have not talked much nowadays.

But it was a huge improvement compared to ninth grade. They talked about video games again (even played a few of them together as a team). Together, they went to the local arcade a few times. The two old friends also worked together on a few school assessments as pairs.

But never once the name of Rin was mentioned.

Yet Kaito felt something, a gut feeling, that he could not name. It made him uncomfortable. But it was not worse that warranted a visit to the infirmary.

He decided to shrug it off and focus on better things; like his paper far from being finished.

He would figure it out after this.

Two years ago - 3 weeks before graduation

Rising tensions reached their peak for the senior students. A large number of students missed the submission deadline for their final drafts, which made a domino effect on the schedule.

The first day to start the defences was adjusted forward the next day. It gave most of the seniors one day more to finalise their papers. But incentives were given for those who followed the original timeline and felt brave enough to defend a day ahead of schedule.

Four fools grabbed the opportunity.

A pair of researchers, Kokone and Aoki, and two individuals: Rin and Galaco, volunteered to start their defence.

Their classmates regarded them as brave soldiers.

"Woah! They're crazy enough to volunteer!"

"I would have peed in my pants before I had to be the very first one."

It was mainly Kokone, with the permission of her partner Aoki, that volunteered to be the very first one to defend with enthusiasm (and impulsivity).

Having realised someone was brave enough than her to take the first spot, and also wanted to get this done sooner than later, Rin called to be the second one after the pair.

Inspired by her classmates who initiated early on, Galaco decided she would do her defence right after Rin.

And so the four researchers would be guaranteed incentives of peace of mind for the upcoming weeks and additional marks. More points would be awarded if they successfully defended the paper in one take.

The sound of furious typing, frustrated groans, and frantic cries of help still remained in the vicinity of the classrooms with the seniors.

Papers filled with text were highlighted to point out mistakes, or parts that required edits or redistribution. It was a familiar sight when someone held a paper in one hand and typed on their laptop with the other; altogether with frantic looks in between.

Stacks of paper were managed and worked on by students who still tabulated their data. Some still desperately sought more respondents to their surveys. It was business as usual, now with anticipation, and fear; as four of their classmates would inevitably set the standard in their defence soon.

Kokone and Aoki already wrapped up their defence, and bore bad news. They had to re-defend their paper after one of the panellists, who was their previous Maths teacher, exposed a flaw in one of their equations involved in the acquisition of their data.

The sullen face of Aoki welcomed her classmates when she returned to the classroom after a gruelling three hour defence. They were deep fried like chips by the panellists all because of that equation when everything else was right. Kokone, on the other hand, was not frustrated but just mildly ashamed of not being able to defend in one take.

"Oh well, this is why we wanted to do it today. Just so we have more time to correct it. If we had done this later, we would have been more screwed." Aoki could only nod in agreement. After the semi-ambush by their classmates and the pseudo-interrogation they received that probed every single detail, the pair went out to change from their business attire required at the defence.

With the short break after Aoki and Kokone left, Rin breathed and shook off every nervous energy from her body.

While the pair were subjected to the exposure of their big mistake with that equation, Rin's heartbeat beated fast. Every vibration slowly became the only thing she heard.

Her first three hours inside the cool and bright makeshift conference room was spent in the corner of the room behind Kokone and Aoki, who stood in front of the panellists.

She knew she needed to take her mind off from focusing too much on the presentation. So Rin volunteered to operate the pair's slideshow from Kokone's laptop connected to the projector.

Rin was so enraptured with how the pair presented themselves and the paper. She made notes on her mind, then typed it slowly (to minimise the noise) on her laptop that she was allowed to place on the table. She only needed to hear for the cue from either two presenters and she would press the right arrow for the next slide.

Rin took the opportunity to read her own notes from the document on her laptop and on her index cards. She knew she prepared herself with the basics and 'must-do's to present a research paper and defend it. Last night was spent binge-watching videos of tips in thesis defences, and researchers that defended their thesis in various settings: privately with selected panellists and public conferences.

Rin took notes profusely. She only hoped for the best that she would be able to execute all of it smoothly and efficiently.

When Kokone and Aoki were being scrutinised by the panellist who was their former Math teacher, Rin felt awkward. She knew she had to pay attention in case she could get an idea on how to dodge a similar situation in her own defence.

But if she were Aoki and Kokone, would she want anyone else to watch her breaking apart? So Rin focused on her notes. But her awareness of the presentation was still active if they needed the next slide, and for new developments in the discussion.

Three hours later, Rin was now the one in the middle of the floor and her laptop connected to the projector. The title slide of her own PowerPoint was now above her head from where she stood.

You got this. Even if you fail, you know you did everything you could. And it's not too late to correct it. Rin convinced herself for the final time.

When she got the silent cue from her teacher on the side of the panellists' table, she took a deep breath and released it gently.

It was showtime.

Being so wrapped up in the middle of her defence, Rin could not feel nor remember how long she was into the presentation. Despite how much she knew the chronological order of her PowerPoint presentation like the back of her hand.

Rin was still aware of what happened within her vicinity.

Galaco was behind with her own notes, and in the similar position Rin herself was four hours ago.

The panellists listened to her, pen in hand and took the occasional sip of their beverages.

Her own teacher scribbled notes on his clipboard. She hoped that his frequent writing did not mean it was bad for her.

But she could not entertain that thought now. She had a paper to defend.

Rin could not help but take a quick glance or two on the door where her teacher sat nearby.

On the poorly concealed glass window, she recognised the eyes of Yuma who took a peek. And there was the occasional Kaito, who looked straight at Rin in the middle. He must have stood on a chair if he had to tilt his head upward and overcome the edge of the paper that concealed the glass.

"Woah. Rin's now in Results and Discussion." Yuma whispered to avoid his voice from being heard inside the room, where their teacher sat close to the panellists.

After he shared the news, the rest of his classmates around him started hushed conversations amongst themselves.

Kiyoteru was impressed. "Rin's a beast, I swear she might actually finish the whole thing."

"But look what happened with Kokone and Aoki. They did get stuck during their methodology. But they went on to proceed until conclusion and then asked to return to methodology. Before we knew it, that's where it all went down." Kaito explained beside Kiyoteru.

Them and a few others hogged over Yuma who stood on a chair to overcome the barrier and took a peek on the uncovered area of the glass. It was sufficient enough to see the whole view of the defence in session.

"So far, we haven't seen Rin's slides move backwards. It's been forwarding and they haven't stayed far longer than the last slide." Yuma then gently crouched on the chair.

It was agreed by him and Kaito to take turns, and to peek in a few minutes with long intervals to avoid being caught by their teacher or by one of the panellists. It would have also risked the performance of whoever defended their paper. All of them agreed they did not want it to happen.

Most of the spectators left the foyer to talk with a louder volume, or to announce the updates for the people inside the room. They all waited for the agreed three minutes until re-grouping.

Kaito sat at the chair they used to stand into (not without wiping it from any dirt) and Yuma stood beside him. They made small talk about their paper and how they felt about their upcoming defences.

Kaito was scheduled for his defence a few days earlier than Yuma. But they could be on the same day if Kaito messed up his defence. He hoped to every deity out there who listened that it would not be the case.

Three minutes passed like a blur and Kaito prepared himself. Some people from last time returned and a few new faces joined. He stood up and checked the projector with Rin's slides first thing.

He had to hold his gasp from being too loud. Kaito looked away from the glass and whispered. "Rin's on Conclusion now."

The people around him buzzed with hushed reactions and conversations below. Words of awe and amazement for Rin were the main topics, mixed with anxious remarks and worry that it could be another repeat from last time.

Kaito observed the body language, gestures, and the current slide in the projector. Galaco was now focused to watch Rin from her place in the corner of the room, where the projector's wires and the power plugs were.

Rin was nervous but she was not on the brink of a breakdown, nor about to fall apart with tension. In fact, she was relaxed and maintained a smile.

The panellist in the middle, their vice-principal, seemed to be the one talking primarily with how some of her words were spoken so loudly, even Kaito's classmates could hear it. One more thing that gave it away were her frequent hand gestures while she held a pen.

It seemed to be the only active thing that happened in the room after Rin stopped her movements. As if she limited herself not too far from the middle and her feet already knew there was a border to not to cross over.

Their vice principal slash panellist returned to speaking in a softer volume, which made Kaito struggle to interpret the situation.

It was then he saw Rin's eyes pop open from what seemed to be a pleasant surprise, put her palms together and in front of her mouth as if in prayer, and brought her torso close to the floor in a bow to the panellists. She began multiple loud 'Thank You's' at them.

Kaito scrambled for answers. What could Rin be thankful for? Could it be…?

"Congratulations, Miss Shimoda. You have successfully defended your research paper." The same voice of their vice principal boomed as she stood up from her seat and offered her hand to Rin in a handshake.

Everyone else– the other panellists, their teacher and Galaco, smiled and clapped for Rin.

It took a few seconds before Kaito finally realised it.

Rin was finished. She was being congratulated by the panellists. She made it. She did it.

"SHE DID IT!" Kaito screamed. His gaze was still on the glass.

Even without any context, everyone around him knew exactly what he meant.

The senior students around Kaito cheered. Arms outstretched, hands up in the air, and shouts of 'hurray!' to applaud Rin.

Those inside the classroom went out after they heard the commotion. When Kaito's news was repeated, they also joined in the celebration and made the commotion louder.

Kaito absorbed the cheers below him. Until he saw an unexpected face on the doorway of their classroom. His striking front locks, blond hair tied in a low pony-tail and azure eyes stared ahead at the lively crowd.

Before Kaito could entertain the thought, he was interrupted.

The celebration did not last long when their teacher suddenly opened the door. He took out half of his torso to fully bring out his head and took in the scene at the foyer.

The abrupt opening of the door made Kaito lose his balance from the surprise. He had to spread both of his arms around him to control the wobbling of his body.

"Mr Kaito Fuuga! Lower your voice! Miss Shimoda may have successfully defended her paper, but she could be at risk of repeating from the very start by the panellists after your disruption. Be mindful of your voice next time. And this also applies to everyone." The frowning teacher made eye contact with each person who was with Kaito at the moment.

"And why are you all congregating in the foyer? Please get back to your classroom. Miss Shimoda will be back shortly."

The teacher closed the door far more gently than when he opened it.

"I terribly apologise for the interruption. It seemed they were anticipating Miss Shimoda's results through the uncovered bit of glass…" The teacher's words came out muffled from inside until he lowered his voice and no more of his words were understood.

The glass window of the door was now fully concealed after a pair of hands from inside adjusted the cover.

Right after the door was closed, Kaito stepped down from the chair for the final time. Simultaneously, his classmates left and separated from the congregated group. All of them, besides a few who strayed to go somewhere else, walked together back to their room.

As he carried the chair, Kaito opted to listen to the chatter of his classmates nearby him.

"I knew Rin would make it! I was right!" Kiyoteru clenched his fist and pumped it in joy as he commented on the recent development of the news. Yuma agreed that 'Rin was definitely a beast', a reference to what his friend said before.

Kaito was relieved for his friend, and at the same time for himself. There was finally someone who knew the knick and knacks of the whole thing. He could ask for help on how he could make it soon.

He noticed the familiar person lingered beside the doorway and stood outside. This time, he talked to another classmate with frequent, enthusiastic hand gestures.

That was when Kaito realised it was Len who he saw nearby the classroom door when he broke the news of Rin finishing her defence. Len actually smiled, as if relieved and truly happy from what happened.

That's strange. He never smiled like that. Kaito thought as he finally set the chair down and sat on it. Maybe he's also relieved that someone who finally finished the whole thing could give him advice for his own paper.

Kaito was honestly sceptical.

Galaco followed on to the successful path after Rin that day. The two were considered celebrities by their classmates after they got through the once inescapable torture to defend the paper. A huge wave of relief was evident for both ladies.

Everyone else could now easily navigate what and what not to do for their final preparations. The busy and fast-paced environment among the seniors was still prevalent. The majority of the class were still yet to begin their first session of defence.

The seniors still had free reign on where to stay and work on their paper, so they opted to be in the open spaces. This made the classroom a bit wider for the rest who stayed behind.

Others were bold enough to stay in unlikely places: the cafeteria (to be closer to buy food), the stairway in the classroom that went to the upper floor, and the table on the hallway.

The wooden, long table was in the corner of the hallway across the staircase that connected their floor to the lower ground—where the cafeteria and front gate were located.

It was there ever since seventh grade and no one knew the reason why it was there and where the table came from.

It became an unspoken rule that the table was for the older students. So it was a staple for the senior students to use the table, whether to update the corkboard in front of it, do their studying (with mornings spent scrambling to finish forgotten homework from early classes), and for friends to talk about personal topics with the privacy provided by the barren hallway.

The idle ambiance and the short distance from the classroom made it the optimal choice for Kaito to choose as his spot. Under the table was a power socket convenient for his laptop in case it ran low on battery.

Piles of paper with his raw data, and a few sheets of notes and highlights of said data were beside his laptop. It allowed him to take a quick glance at the papers without a turn of his head and continuously type.

Though at the moment, the man sighed through his nose as he kept re-typing, and then erased a sentence he needed to fix.

He approached Rin for help whether his methodology was up to standard and with no loopholes.

She identified at least five loopholes.

Even after he found three more papers to support the structure of his survey and reworded his hypothesis, Kaito was stressed out and intimidated on the damage control. He groaned and rubbed his face with both palms

He was so preoccupied with his typing and planning, Kaito did not notice someone grabbed a chair for themselves and sat beside him.

They did not have any laptop with them nor any items, It seemed they did not need Kaito's help on their own paper.

Kaito made sure to finish the sentence, so he would not forget it after he talked to whoever was beside him. He turned his head to the right and was about to tell the person he could not speak with them right now.

It was none other than Len with the backrest of the chair in front of him. His chin rested above the toprest where his hands were clenched. His legs were on each side of the toprest meant for his back.

He seemed to be in the middle of talking, unaware that Kaito did not listen all this time. Len eventually let his arms relax on top edge of the chair's backrest and continued his rambling. Until he paused when said person turned his head.

"Len, I can't talk to you right now. I have to find three RLs if I don't want to be grilled in my defence." Kaito scolded as he returned to type out edits on his paper.

"Hey Kai," Len's voice was absent from its usual mischievous jester. Nevermind that he ignored Kaito's notice. "What do you think Rin is doing?"

The unexpected, and odd question, threw off Kaito's focus on his laptop and gave all of it to Len. "Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Of course I won't know. You see me right now focusing on my own paper to care what's happening around me. I've been here for two hours."

"Well, I wanted to make sure if I can approach her right now." Len softly spoke, as if he were a sad child just told to not have any more cookies.

He glanced away from Kaito to the floor. "I didn't want a repeat of what happened last time."

"Yeah, what was your deal there? The rest of the people on that table were shitting on you right after you left."

"I know, when Yukari mentioned I 'just missed the memo'." Len returned his glance back to his friend. "Uhm, don't be weirded out with what I'll say next."

"You're doing the complete opposite to me, Len. Have you heard of reverse psychology?" Kaito answered sarcastically.

"I was procrastinating at the time from my paper—Yes I was really working on my paper but my brain needed a break." Kaito's mouth remained agape when Len interjected him.

"So I went on to watch videos and relax a bit, and time myself to eventually get back to the paper. Then I saw the video in my suggested videos. So I watched it and then thought to myself 'Hey, I should show this to Rin! I'm sure she'll still laugh about it even after crying about the poor oranges'." Len explained.

"I know I could have told the joke to you only. But my mind just thought of Rin first. Before I even knew about it, I went up all the way to the open space. I thought, well fuck it I guess, and didn't turn back. But I didn't notice she was in a bad mood at all. When she replied, that's only when I knew I stepped on a landmine."

Kaito still had a dumbfounded face, and processed what Len just said.

A few seconds later, he answered. "Are you kidding me, Len? I thought you're better than that to think twice about your actions. For someone who's always been conscious of himself towards others, you honestly just waltzed there at the table as if you were visiting an old friend."

It was too late when Kaito realised he most likely hit a sour spot to Len. They were friends now but there were still far too many unresolved issues they needed to discuss sincerely. He tried not to show his last minute realisation on his face.

"That's the thing! I only realised too late I looked like an ass who thought I could just approach Rin like we're friends. Gumi and the others must have thought I was fooling with her."

Len groaned, leaned his weight on the edge of his seat backwards while he clutched the toprest to prevent him from falling. His head was stretched upwards towards the ceiling.

Kaito chose not to say anything, in fear he might give a hint that it did happen. Specifically, it was said by Nana of all people who barely said anything about drama in class to comment about Rin and Len's past.

"Ugh, I'm so stupid! I can't believe I did that. And then there's this weird sensation from a few days ago."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"It happened when I heard Rin finished defending her paper. You, Yuma, and the others were hogging the doorway and peeking from the glass."

It was then Kaito realised it. It was the same moment when he saw Len lingered on the doorway when he shouted what happened.

"I wasn't supposed to be out there, you know. But when Kiyoteru told everyone inside the room that Rin finished her defence, I suddenly felt the urge to go outside. I knew it's not me to just go outside like that. But I still did." Len began to explain.

"I got intimidated when you guys were congregating into this one big group so I stayed at the doorway. Then I could feel myself smiling? For some reason. Then there were the convulsions in my heart."

"What? Convulsions?" Kaito leaned slightly forward. Did Len show signs of some cardiovascular disease?

"No, that's not the word I was thinking of. I meant palpitations. Like my heart was beating so loud. It felt like I was forced to run every time in PE class. But it hurts? Like it's being squeezed from the inside. I know I totally make no sense right now. But that was all I felt that day. And I was smiling despite all of that? I'm happy Rin got to finish her defence, and to be the first one to do that—"

"You forgot Kokone and Aoki literally did theirs before her, right?" Kaito cut with his deadpan face.

"I know. But they got grilled on their Methodology. So that doesn't count. But anyway," Len counter-argued.

"I can't think why I felt it. Nowadays it's frequent. It becomes worse when Rin is even just mentioned. It's similar to this warm feeling when I get to spend all day at home playing games without any homework nor preparing for school the next day."

Len did not expect his friend to reply. He continued to speculate out loud; his gaze at the ceiling as if it would give him the answer he needed.

Then Kaito connected the dots. What were considered to be random occurrences now had a pattern.

He tried his best not to show the growing discomfort. Kaito hoped he was not obvious to the person in front of him.

Len did not need to know that his words made Kaito so bothered and worried.