After Sakaki hung up the phone, she placed it down on the table next to her and slipped back under the covers. It made her feel a little better knowing that her friend had her back. She thought for a moment about the hug Kagura had given her earlier that day. Even though it was brief, it made her feel a lot better. Sakaki tried to mimic a hug using her own arms in bed, trying all sorts of positions and hand movements. As she continued to shuffle around in her bed, she began to think about her mother. She remembered how her mother used to hug her every day when she came from school as a child, and how she'd hug her whenever she said goodnight. Thinking of her mother made Sakaki teary eyed. The more she thought of her, the more lonely she felt. Sakaki closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, her hands tightly clutching her chest.

Kagura laid up in her bed in the dark, staring at the outline of the moon from through the curtains. She checked her watch. 10:07pm. Sitting up, her hand reached across to the little bookshelf and grabbed her phone. "I wonder if Kaorin's up." She thought to herself. Kagura dialed Kaorin's number and listened to the dial tone. Kaorin was alone in her room, watching an anime show on her TV. Chihiro had gone home for the weekend and her mother had gone to bed early. As she was watching the show, her phone began to ring. She paused the TV and answered her phone.

"Hello, this is Kaorin." Spoke Kaorin into the phone.

"Hey, it's Kagura." Kagura said.

"Oh hey Kagura! How's it going?" The girl cheerfully asked.

"I'm ok, what's up with you?"

"Nothing really, I'm just watching a TV show. How come you called?"

"It's about Sakaki."

Kaorin's heart went a little fuzzy when she heard this.

"Oh-oh really?" She nervously asked.

"Yeah." Kagura answered. "If it's ok with you, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

Kaorin's heart was beginning to beat a little faster, her anxiety slowly beginning to rise.

"Do you remember when you asked her about what was going on?"

"Mhmm."

"Did...did she..." Kagura's voice trailed off a little.

"What's wrong?" Kaorin asked out of concern.

"Did she ever say anything...about, being a burden?" Kagura let out, trying her hardest to stay the words without clamming up. Kaorin was a little confused by the question.

"Being a burden?" She tried to clarify.

"Yeah. It's just..." Kagura began, again trying her best not to clam up. "When I hung out with her today, I gave her a hug, and-"

"You hugged her!?" Kaorin interrupted, her body filled with shock, and slight anger and jealousy.

"Yeah, why?" Kagura asked. "Is it bad?"

"Well..." Kaorin began. "You know..."

Kagura caught on quickly. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, she didn't hug me back." The tomboy said, trying her best to fix things.

"It's ok." Kaorin answered.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is...it's that...I don't feel like she sees me the same way I see her."

Kaorin was confused. "How do you see her?"

"I see her as my best friend. I like spending time with her and talking to her, but I don't know if she feels the same. We don't really talk about our friendship or anything, it's not that kind of friendship. I just...I wish we she'd be more open."

Kagura let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "I'm sure she thinks of you the same, you two do spend a lot of time together after all." Kaorin tried to reassure her friend.

"I guess so. Maybe I'll talk to her more tomorrow, or something."

"What are you two doing tomorrow?" A nosy Kaorin asked.

"We're just seeing a movie. Nothing big. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

"Oh, goodnight."

Kagura hung up the phone and placed it back on the small bookcase. She fell back into her bed and tried her best to fall asleep, fighting through all the negative and anxious thoughts she had. Meanwhile, Kaorin had resumed her TV show and was sat on the bed watching it. Her mind was far from focusing on the show, however. A battle raged within her mind, as she tried to weed out the seeds of jealousy that Kagura had unknowingly planted in her, and that she had knowingly watered. Thoughts of Kagura stealing Sakaki away from her began to flood her mind. As one intrusive thought followed another, she found it impossible to focus on the show, so she decided to turn everything off. She turned the lights off and crawled under the covers, pulling out her stuffed penguin and cuddling it. "Maybe I could text her." Kaorin wondered. The idea was quickly shot down upon realizing it would be suspicious if both she and Kagura showed concern to closely to one another. While her mind went over more and more fictional scenarios that would never come to fruition, she was reminded that she could never have anything with Sakaki. Not really. "I wish I wasn't like this." She thought to herself. Tears began to form in her eyes and streamed down onto the pillow. "Why I am I like this?" She asked. "Why was I made like this?"