It was like any other day for Ibuki. The sun shone brightly from the cloudless sky, a warm breeze brushed against her skin, and…she was waiting to start a date.

Being the talented musician that she was, it wouldn't have been a shock for anyone to find out that she'd been in a few relationships in the past. Heck, she even already had her first kiss with one of her ex-band members by this point.

But that was all child's play. Ibuki was over the days of simply being content with holding hands and exchanging sweet nothings. She had come a long way since then.

Ibuki wanted…to connect with someone.

Really connect with someone.

On an emotional level.

Physical attraction wasn't the be all and end all for her anymore. Sure, she wouldn't exactly object if this hypothetical soulmate of hers happened to be cute as well, but that wasn't her top priority. Ibuki wouldn't pass up any opportunity to find them just because of their appearance.

When Ibuki first found out she was set to attend Hope's Peak Academy, she gave herself two goals to achieve before graduation:

Reach never before seen heights as a musician, and find her soulmate.

Admittedly, these goals were never set in stone. She wouldn't literally explode or something if she didn't reach either of those…although it would be kinda cool if she could figure out a way to do that somehow.

No, she knew well enough by this point that not everything can be done on the first try. But she was willing to give it a shot at least.

So when it turned out that her very first day at Hope's Peak Academy would be a tropical school trip, she was excited. Mostly confused and a little scared at first since no one knew what was happening, but once everyone knew for certain that there wasn't going to be any danger, then she was truly excited.

Ibuki was particularly interested in those 'Hope Fragment' things. Because, according to the magical bunny creature that was their teacher, everyone gained Hope Fragments by spending time with their fellow classmates.

Since their teacher wanted everyone to obtain Hope Fragments anyways, Ibuki decided to see if she could find out something. What would happen if you got the maximum amount of Hope Fragments you can get with someone? Was this the thing she needed in order to find that special someone?

Fortunately, it very well might have been. However, there was one factor she didn't see coming:

There was not one, but two people that she thought may have been soulmate worthy.

Ibuki was still surprised with how things turned out. All she had to do was be her usual self, have fun with her classmates, and BOOM! Two wonderful people she'd developed a deep mutual bond with.

And that's what she was here for today: to go on a date with both of them.

Ibuki had waited by the front of the fourth island for her dates to arrive. The anticipation was driving her nuts. Yes, she may have gotten up a little too early that morning and yes, she may have gotten there 15 minutes earlier than she was supposed to, but she was just that gosh dang excited! She didn't have much to do while she waited, and she didn't have a watch to keep track of the time either, so she had simply counted to herself.

Once she reached about 600, she saw a pair of people start to cross the bridge that connected the fourth island to the central one.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" Ibuki loudly called out as she waved both of her hands in the air. They both waved back at her whilst they crossed. Ibuki ran over to the other end of the bridge.

"Gooood nom-nom-nomming, you two!" she chirped once the pair had reached her.

"Good morning to you too." Hajime replied.

"Nom-nom-nomming, Ibuki." Chiaki responded.

"Wait, you say that too?" Hajime asked.

"Not really. But I did want to try it at least once." Chiaki clarified.

"That was adorable, Chi!" Ibuki asserted. "It's one thing when Ibuki says it, but when you say it, it's as if a tiny kitten mewed it!"

Chiaki's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink as she softly smiled.

"Still flirting even now, Ibuki?" Hajime commented.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling left out or something?" Ibuki teased.

"That's not what I meant…" Hajime insisted as his face turned red.

"You're more than welcome to say it yourself. If Chiaki says it like a small kitten, maybe you might say it like a puppy!" Ibuki joked.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!"

"I'd like to see that." Chiaki chimed in.

"See? Even the Queen of Cuteness herself thinks you should give it a go!" Ibuki said.

Hajime looked away as his face turned even more red. "Seriously…we haven't even done anything yet..." he grumbled.

"That is a good point though…I think." Chiaki commented. "Do we want to head to the fourth island now?"

"Okie dokie!" Ibuki approved. She then proceeded to run toward the colourful island, only to stop in her tracks and turn back around after a few seconds when she realised Chiaki and Hajime weren't running after her.

"Come on, slowpokes! We don't have all day!" Before either of them realised, Ibuki had grabbed onto one of their hands using both of hers, and then ran towards the island whilst gripping the two of them tightly.

"H-Hey!" Hajime shouted.

Chiaki didn't say anything, although a somewhat surprised expression was on her face.

—

"Welp, that was kinda lame..."

Ibuki leaped out of the rollercoaster seat. "Ibuki was expecting that to have a bit more 'oomph', so she's a bit underwhelmed. What did you guys think?"

"I would say I liked it." Chiaki replied as she calmly got off the ride. "Not too intense, but not too fast."

"I think…I'm going to be sick…" Hajime groaned whilst he staggered out of it.

"Are you okay, Hajime?" Chiaki asked with a concerned tone.

"Y-Yeah." Hajime reassured. "I just…need a minute."

"There's a bench over there if you need to sit down." Chiaki suggested as she pointed to a nearby wooden stall.

"Thank you…that would probably be for the best."

Hajime unsteadily made his way over to the bench whilst both Chiaki and Ibuki watched over him in case he needed help. Fortunately, he managed to sit down without any difficulties. The other two also sat down, with Chiaki seated next to Hajime and Ibuki seated next to her.

"Aw man…" Ibuki whimpered. "Now Ibuki feels bad for pressuring Hajime on the ride in the first place…"

Hajime coughed a bit before he shook his head. "Trust me, if I thought I couldn't handle it, I would have been honest about it. So it's entirely my fault for pushing myself too much."

"You should really be more aware of your limits." Chiaki reprimanded.

"I usually am, but I guess I was having that much fun that I sorta forgot…"

Ibuki's ears perked up. "Wait really?"

He nodded. "I mean, I would be lying if I said I have a lot of…experience with this sort of thing, but I can't deny that I've been enjoying myself."

"Hey now, if you just wanted to tell us you were having a good time, you didn't need to go this far." Ibuki teased with a playful smirk.

"Why would I almost make myself sick just to say that?" Hajime deadpanned. "It would be really unnecessary to go through all that effort."

Ibuki stammered, unsure of what to say in response. She ultimately decided to seek comfort from Chiaki. "Chiii, Hajime's using facts and logic against me again…" Ibuki whined as she embraced Chiaki in an overdramatic fashion.

Playing along, Chiaki pet Ibuki on the head in a soothing manner. "There there."

Hajime sighed at the melodramatics that took place next to him, but couldn't help but smile at it all the same. From the corner of his eye, Hajime noticed that the sun had begun to set in the distance. "It's starting to get late." he pointed out before he got up from his seat. "We should probably head back now, yeah?"

Chiaki, whilst still being grappled by Ibuki, turned to look at the setting sun and then at Hajime. "That's true." she agreed. "As much as I would like to keep this going, we should rejoin everyone. There's nothing stopping us from doing this again another day though…I think."

Ibuki suddenly shot up from the bench. "Oh wait! That just reminded Ibuki of something!" she said while she fished through her skirt pocket and pulled out two small objects.

Chiaki rose from her seat as both her and Hajime watched over the musician.

After taking a moment to make sure she had what she needed, Ibuki cleared her throat and looked directly at her two classmates. For the first time that day, Ibuki was the one to have a flustered expression. "Ibuki…had a really great time with the two of you today." she began. "And from what she can tell…you both feel the same. So, with the hope that this date went well, Ibuki wanted to offer something."

Ibuki outstretched both of her hands toward the pair, holding one object per person in each respective hand. With only one glance, it became quickly obvious to Hajime and Chiaki what both objects were:

Miniature boxes, decorated in multiple colours combined together in a chaotic fashion.

The only indicator to tell the two boxes apart was the respective symbols on the top of them. The one that faced Hajime had a symbol of a drum kit, while the one that faced Chiaki had a symbol of a triangle instrument.

Chiaki was the first to react, with a gasp of total surprise.

Hajime soon followed, his face coated in a swarm of microexpressions that made it difficult to judge how he felt. "Th-This- This can't…" he spluttered. "This can't be-"

Ibuki clicked her tongue a few times, which cut off Hajime. "You should know by now about how I feel about that kind of thing." she remarked, her previous flusteredness having vanished in an instant (at least outwardly). "I don't really like labels, so whatever you might be thinking of, this isn't what this is about. Although…I can certainly see why you'd be confused. That was kiiinda intentional on my part."

In response, Chiaki and Hajime's faces quickly became flushed.

Ibuki couldn't help but giggle at the sight, although she was quick to get back on topic before the moment got sidetracked. "What's in these two boxes represents a…promise of sorts. If you choose to accept Ibuki's offer, that means that all of us agree to continue what we started today. Ibuki already knows what she wants, but it can only be officially decided by all three of us. So…whaddya say?"

Hajime and Chiaki turned to look at each other. This wasn't just about Ibuki's relationship with the two of them, it was also about the relationship they had with themselves just as much. Ibuki understood that, and she wanted to be sure they were confident in their decision, whatever it may be.

After a few moments of silent contemplation from both individuals, they both turned to their respective boxes and stepped forward.

"I've…decided what I want. The both of you have been wonderful to be around ever since we came to this island, and I don't see that changing any time soon." Hajime proclaimed.

"I agree." Chiaki declared. "I can't begin to guess what the future holds, but as long as the three of us are together, I'm sure we can handle anything."

Ibuki felt a big smile form on her face. She had the strong urge to jump for joy and bear hug the both of them like there was no tomorrow, but she didn't want the boxes to go everywhere, so she restrained herself. Barely.

Without saying a word, the pair took their boxes from Ibuki and opened them up. They both inspected its contents within, only to realise…

"...It's a Ring Pop?" Hajime asked as he took out a plastic ring with a large 'jewel' made of hard candy attached to the top.

"YEEEP!" Ibuki shouted with delight. "When we make a promise to each other, and eat the candy associated with said promise, it's kinda like our words become one with our bodies! ISN'T THAT SUPER METAL?!"

Hajime chuckled slightly. "I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't something like this."

"It's pretty Ibuki-ish…I think." Chiaki commented as she slipped her ring onto her right middle finger.

"Yeah." Hajime concurred. "You're right. It kinda is now that I think about it."

Ibuki hummed to herself. "Now that that's been settled, I think it's time for Ibuki to get her own ring out!" she stated as she began to search her skirt pocket again. However, after a few moments, she realised that her own candy wasn't on her at that time.

Hajime noticed Ibuki's somewhat frantic movement as she searched. "What's wrong, Ibuki?" he asked as he put his own ring on his left index finger.

Chiaki had already begun to nibble away at the candy jewel on her ring.

"Shoot!" Ibuki cursed. "Ibuki must have forgotten her own ring back in her dorm. She needs to find it ASAP!"

"You really don't have to." Hajime protested. "We can look for it after we finish eating dinner with everyone if you like."

Ibuki shook her head. "The promise is null and void unless all three of us have sugary goodness in our bloodstreams! Don't worry, I'll let you both know as soon as I've found it!"

Before either of them could possibly protest, Ibuki made a mad dash toward her new destination.

As she ran however, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She deduced that her e-Handbook was the source of it.

Without stopping her pursuit, she pulled out the device and navigated through it until she discovered the cause of the vibration, which turned out to be a notification on Chiaki and Hajime's profiles.

That was odd, since she already had gotten the maximum amount of Hope Fragments with both of them. So there shouldn't be any reason for it to go off.

The only thing she could really notice was the bright glow that radiated from the accumulated fragments.

Was that something new, or had that always been there?

…

Who knows.

(A/N: Opps, I was supposed to upload this a few days ago. I posted it on AO3, but then forgot to send it here too, lol)