"Thank you very much for your patience and cooperation," comes the voice of a stewardess over the speakers. "You may now turn back on your electronic devices and access our onboard satellite Wi-Fi."

As soon as the Wi-Fi connects on my phone, I unbuckle my seatbelt and move down a few rows to join Takatoshi, passing by many other students doing the same for their own friends. Takatoshi nods up at me in question as I approach. I gesture to assure to him that all is well while giving a quick scan of the airplane cabin to confirm whether any sophomores from the Disciplinary Committee would be within our line of sight once I get there. This quick scan of mine also just so happens to confirm that the sole Takatoshi crackhead on this flight, Suzu Hagimura, isn't paying any attention to us, either. This is because she's left her seat and is too busy trying to scold an exceptionally happy-looking Nene Todoroki right now. Not sure what's going on over there, but considering it's Nene we're talking about, I'm going to assume that it's got something to do with a vibrator. Anyways, with no killjoys to be found, I plop down on the outer armrest of Takatoshi's aisle seat.

My lips inadvertently curl into a self-satisfied smile at him. Why? Well, after that epic fail on those bleachers the other week, I find myself in a position where I am finally looking down at him. All his height is in his legs, evidently. Registering the reason for my sudden smile, he shoots me with an unimpressed expression in jest. Afterwards, I blow a quick bubble at him with my chewing gum and ask, "Your ears pop yet?"

"Yeah." He blows his own bubble. "Not my first rodeo, Pendragon, but I'm guessing that's not what you came over here to ask me."

"It's not."

"Uh-huh. Whatever it is, does it have something to do with the fact that your phone is out?"

"You got me." I wrap my phone arm around Takatoshi's shoulders to bring the screen to his face, leaning in myself so that we're both in frame. "Kotomi asked me to video-call her during the flight as soon as we get the chance."

Lightheartedly, he grumbles, "Fine. Let's get this over with."

"Aww, come on. Don't you want to talk to your baby sister? This is the first time you're going to be so far away from her, isn't it?"

"It will be the first time. Let's hope it's not the last, though."

I push against him, scowling. "I bet you a hundred-yen coin she misses you already."

"I'd take that bet, but I think I know Kotomi well enough that she's going to prove you right, anyways."

"So, what's the deal here? You don't have to act like a big, strong tough guy around me, Takatoshi. I'm not going to hassle you for low-key missing your baby sister. I'd do quite the opposite, actually."

"It's not about that. It's only because . . . you know what? Just call her. It'll be better if you see what's going to happen for yourself."

"Oh. Color me intrigued, if nothing else." With that, I divide my earphones between us and then press the call button.

Kotomi's bewildered face appears on the screen. She's having lunch in the courtyard, by the looks of it, as, in addition to her bulged eyes, she's got something like ten strings of noodles dangling from her mouth. She quickly slurps them all in, chews very loudly, and then swallows with an audible gulp before finally crying out, "Yay! You remembered to call me! Toki, look. Say hi to Taka and Artoria!"

Kaoru Toki glances nonchalantly at the camera before she returns to the sandwich in her hand. "Sup," is all she says.

"Check it out. Toki's always so cool!" Kotomi giggles like a madman, bouncing the camera in excitement before requesting the same of her other friends, who are all freshmen from her classroom. Once we finish trading several jovial and humorous waves, Kotomi brings her own face back into frame. "Anyways, I miss you both so much. You have no idea!"

"It hasn't even been four hours since we left Ousai," Takatoshi says. "Besides, didn't you run out to say bye to us when we were getting on the buses?"

"Well . . ."

"Even though," I say. "We miss you, too, Kotomi. And very much so. Right, Takatoshi?"

He shrugs. "What she said."

"That is so uncool, Taka!" Kotomi looks like she's completely dejected. I cannot, for the life of me, deny that it's one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.

"Takatoshi! You see what you've just done? Look at that face right now and tell me it doesn't tug on your heartstrings. Look at it, I say!"

He moves the phone away from his eyeball with one finger. "It would probably tug on my heartstrings more if it wasn't for the fact that that's the same, exact face she always used to make whenever she begged me to help her hide her report card from Mom and Dad while we were growing up."

Kotomi flinches. "Is it? Darn. Sounds like I have to change up my tactics."

"Oh, my goodness, Kotomi. Were those just crocodile tears all along?"

"Don't take it personally, Artoria! I really do miss you both already. That much is totally true. I mean, it's going to be super lonely without you two at home with me."

Takatoshi chuckles sadly to some degree. He really does care deep down, but it's like he's learned to be slick about showing it. Then he asks, "So, will Uomi still be stopping by the next few nights to make you dinner while Mom and Dad are out on their business trip?"

"Yup! In fact, she just texted me that she'll be coming to the house to stay over the whole weekend to keep me company. She's even going to make me lunch for school this Monday! Until then, though, there's nobody to stop me from stuffing myself with bowl after bowl of these yummy instant noodles!" She happily slurps up another mouthful. Considering how much she actually can't eat, though, she's likely just going to make herself nauseous at this rate.

"Easy on the noodles there, Kotomi. And wipe the soup off your chin. Good. Now, I know that Uomi can keep you out of trouble, but once your mom and dad come home, don't give them a hard time while we're gone, okay?"

"I won't, Artoria."

"Seriously Kotomi," adds Takatoshi.

"Oh, believe me! I won't! I can't, actually, because neither of you would be here to put them back in a good mood if I make them mad."

Her abruptly timid honesty makes me laugh as always. "You are a devilish, little ball of chaotic energy, Kotomi Tsuda, and I absolutely love it. That being said, however, I think I'm starting to see why your brother here doesn't fall for your little tricks anymore."

"You'll grow wise to it faster than you expect," he says.

"Really? Faster than even Shino, Aria, and Suzu? They've had months more experience with Kotomi than I did."

"That may be so, but you have a Goku-level times-twenty multiplier, seeing as how you're part of our family."

I'm touched. So touched, in fact, that my hand moves over my heart only somewhat mockingly. I then look back at Kotomi and say, "Did you hear that? That is quite possibly the single, most sweetest thing that your endlessly sarcastic big brother has ever said to me!"

"He's our brother, Artoria! Taka pretends not to care most times, but he's always going to be super-sweet to the both of us and Uomi." Abruptly, however, she leans in close with an intensely serious face and whispers, "But you know what? As your fellow sibling, Artoria, let me give you a warning to be careful whenever Taka says something mushy to you."

"Oh? Well, I'm all ears."

"Here we go," grumbles Takatoshi. "She's going to say something all weird and conspiracy-like that only a kindergartner would think is cool."

"Dude, shut up. I want to hear this. Continue, Kotomi."

She nods. "Sometimes, Taka is like one of those praying mantis thingies disguised as pretty flowers. You know the ones I'm talking about?"

"I do. Orchid mantises. They utilize ambush tactics to snatch any prey that gets in close enough. By the way, why are we whispering? Takatoshi and me are sharing earphones, so he can hear everything we say."

"It doesn't matter. Listen, Taka might say something really, really sweet to you, but then it turns out that he's only using that as a trap to lure you in, and just when you least expect it, he strikes!" To illustrate her point, she snarls and makes a snapping motion at the camera with her free hand.

"When have I ever done that, Kotomi?"

"You weren't supposed to hear that, Taka. Also, you're supposed to be whispering, too."

"Kotomi . . ."

"Fine! I'll give you a perfectly perfect example, then. It's like when you used to pretend to be asleep on the couch when we were kids, and then as soon as I got in close, you screamed right into my face and scared the crap out of me!"

He snorts at the memory. "That's only because I knew that you were trying to sneak up to scare me. You know that, right?"

"Well . . . yeah. But still!"

"You two are so cute together. I swear."

"Wait for it," he whispers to me, covering the mic.

"Hey, Taka! Before I forget." Once again, Kotomi leans in close to the camera and very quickly says, "Just in case Artoria and Suzu get super-horny in the Land of Endless Summer, I snuck a few Magnum condoms into your carry-on's top zipper so —"

"Talk to you later, Kotomi," Takatoshi says flatly.

I sigh. "Tomorrow, maybe. Definitely when there's less people around."

"Oh. Okay, bye! Love you guys!"

"Love," we reply before Takatoshi moves to press the button to end the call.

"Oh, and if you run out of condoms, shove it up Artoria's butt, and then —"

"Bye Kotomi," we say.

"Cow —"

Takatoshi sighs as we linger on the disconnection screen together. He then turns to me accusingly before saying, "You see now why I had some reservations about this particular video-call?"

"I do. But hey. Kotomi's a gem either way."

"She certainly is. And to her credit, this is a new personal record for her. She amazingly kept the Perv stuff under wraps until at least after we had a fairly normal conversation with her first. I'm oddly proud of her for that achievement."

I return my phone into one of my skirt pockets, chuckling. "There's hope for her yet."

"Oh, and do me a favor and remind me to throw those, uh . . ." He then looks over at the student sitting next to him. Even though she's busy having a lively conversation with her friends about the latest season of freakin' Marauder Maiden, of all things which I thought we were over and done with by now, Takatoshi opts for playing it safe. "Please just remind me to throw those balloons away in the trash before we land. Probably in one of the restrooms."

"I'll remind you. Only thing we have to worry about is getting them from your carry-on up there without anybody noticing. Where did Kotomi say she put them again?"

"Top zipper. I deliberately waited for Kotomi to keep talking just long enough to let us know where she put them."

"Ah. I was wondering why you stopped me from interrupting her sooner."

"Anyways, that's a later problem. Save it for later us. You sticking around, or heading back?"

"Sticking around. I don't even know the kids sitting next to me."

"Dude, none of us do. Except for Mitsuba and Nakazato, I guess."

"True, and that's only because the teachers assigned Chiri to watch over Mutsumi the whole flight."

"Yeah. Hell, I haven't even seen Kenji since the airport. All I know is that he's sitting in the Y seats somewhere, but where are the Y seats?"

"Just text him to hop on BR with us if he's got an account. Let's level up our characters while every other teenager in Japan is still in school."

"Oh! Yeah, let's do it."

We spend the next hour or so leading our online teams towards more victories than losses, joking around with each other, and over the mics of our earphones with Kenji Yanagimoto, and a series of random players. Luckily, I don't have to sit on the armrest the whole time. The seat next to Takatoshi is graciously offered up to me early on when its occupant decides to join her friends for a meetup further down the aisle.

Eventually, the overhead signs of the airplane cabin light up. The speaker system beeps on, too. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We are about to experience some routine turbulence. Nothing to worry about, of course, but please buckle up for safety."

I give Takatoshi a pat goodbye before returning to my seat along with every other student who'd been out and about. The stewardesses make a round to confirm that everybody is where they're supposed to be before they go to strap themselves in at one of the hallways. All is dull and chatty for a few minutes before the turbulence begins. The vibration is mild yet mostly constant, though the larger shakes are enough to elicit some playful gasps among the students. This goes on for about ten uneventful minutes before, out of nowhere, the air grows heavy. Ominous, even. Many baffled, frightful stares shoot around to determine the source of this disturbance. Soon enough, the confirmation of one of our worst in-flight fears is realized. To emphasize the gravity of this impending state of affairs, the warning itself comes out almost as clear as day to all of our ears.

"Uh, guys?" Chiri Nakazato is calling out to the entire passenger cabin. "Hey, guys? It's happening! Mutsumi Mitsuba's feeling airsick over here!"

"What's going on?" asks a stewardess from the hallway. "And why does it feel like we're about to have a huge boss fight?"

"Everything will be fine, madam! Ousai Private Academy has this under control." Mister Daimon is quickly taking charge. With a calm but firm tone in his voice, he calls out all around him. "Okay, everybody! This is it. Just like we practiced. One barf bag from every row of seats, on the double. And stay buckled up!" With soldierly precision, we do as ordered, passing up the bags like a series of assembly lines toward what's about to be ground zero. Mister Daimon keeps the rhythm, counting out loudly.

"Oh Mitsuba," says the boy sitting next to me. "We told her she was going overboard with that 'don't fly on an empty stomach if you have motion sickness' thing."

"I know, right?" replies the girl at our window seat. "One or two meals would've been fine, but no. She just had to join that ten-course braised pork eating contest at seven o'clock in the morning."

"Ten-course?" I ask them. At their solemn nod, I turn back to watch the drama unfolding in the passenger cabin. "Oh, man. This is going to be bad."

The retching is violent, though thankfully not too constant. There's many seconds of lull between each and every one of Mutsumi's barfs. However, from what we can discern, the way-too-tiny barf bags are quickly being used up. We need to get Mutsumi into a restroom, and quick, but we have to wait for the seatbelt signs to switch off first.

"Phase Two, everybody!" Mister Daimon calls out in his same leader-like manner.

The music teacher, Miss Michishita, joins him from her own corner in the cabin. "One more wave of vomit bags from each row of seats, everyone! Please, and thank you!" Once again, we do as ordered with soldierly precision.

"Each row has only one barf bag left in reserve!" announces Yokoshima from somewhere in the aisles. She doesn't sound like she's panicking, either, but she's noticeably more agitated-sounding than the previous two teacher-chaperones.

"How's it going over there, Nakazato?" asks Daimon.

"We're running out of bags here! And we're also running out of room for all the filled-up ones! It's starting to look like a mine field over here, Mister Daimon, if you know what I mean!"

"Tell Mitsuba to hang on for just a little longer, okay? The turbulence has stopped, so the seatbelt signs should be turning off at any moment now."

Another couple of tense minutes go by before the seatbelt signs finally turn off. Countless clicks of seatbelts unbuckling seem to echo across the cabin as dozens of well-meaning students begin rushing over to assist in any way possible.

Chiri shoots up and holds out her hands to stop them all from getting any closer. "Wait! Careful, everybody. Do not step on any of these bags!"

"Clear some room for Miss Mitsuba, ladies and gentlemen," says Michishita, walking up with Yokoshima. "Mister Daimon? I hate to ask, but could you lead the effort in getting rid of these vomit bags while we help Mitsuba to the lavatories?"

"On it," he says, gathering up several bags himself. To the mild chagrin of many unlucky students nearby, Mister Daimon recruits them for bag-clearing duty. They follow the instructions of the stewardesses on how to dispose of the numerous bags, everyone taking the utmost care not to cause any spillage whatsoever.

I've joined Takatoshi at his seat by this point, clinging onto his arm as we observe from afar. We're waiting for the cleanup crews to get out of the way so that we can make a beeline to lend a hand. Suddenly, I figure that, since everybody's attention is so focused on Mutsumi at this point, now's the best time to swipe the condoms without anybody noticing. In a few fluid motions, I climb up, open the luggage compartment above Takatoshi, and then successfully pocket the handful of incriminating packets from the very zipper which Kotomi told us about. I return everything to how it was before anyone catches on. Hopefully.

The second the aisle is clear, I follow after Takatoshi to join Suzu, the two teacher-chaperones, and the three other sophomore Judo Club vets escorting Mutsumi to their nearest lavatory hall. I'd like to help where I can, and it's also a perfect opportunity to dispose of these condoms when I get the chance.

There's a bit of chaos already going on in the lavatory hall once Takatoshi and I make it past the privacy curtain. Another bout of retching has stricken Mutsumi, which causes everybody to half-panic and just open up every door, except for one that's already occupied. Miss Michishita successfully maneuvers Mutsumi to the closest toilet, but the cramped commotion causes Takatoshi to lose his footing. With Miss Yokoshima directly behind him, they stumble back together into an opened restroom. Concerned, I rush over to Takatoshi, but the door shuts and is locked, presumably by Yokoshima. Oh, crap. This is a genuine Thot Patrol red alert.

The door refuses to open by my hand, and I refrain from pounding on it to prevent drawing attention. I then dash over to the group huddled around Mutsumi and lean into Suzu's ear to whisper, "Takatoshi might be in trouble!"

"What?" She follows after me. "What's going on?"

"He's trapped in there with Miss Yokoshima!"

First and foremost, Suzu repeats my act of forcing open the door by the handle to no avail. "Open up, Yokoshima!" Her fists then close in on the door, but I catch them just in time.

"Don't make a scene."

"Then what on Earth are we supposed to do here, Pendragon?"

"I don't know!"

"Wait. Let's call the stewardesses. Maybe they have a key we could —"

The door before us suddenly opens to reveal Takatoshi simply standing there with not a care in the world. Behind him is Miss Yokoshima against the corner of the lavatory, wrapped in an impossible amount of toilet paper from head to toe. She's struggling to break free, but can't.

"Whoa," I say. "How strong is that toilet paper?"

Takatoshi shrugs. "Strong enough to get the job done."

Suzu and I look at each other and laugh. "We thought you were a goner," Suzu says.

"Like I told Pendragon earlier, Hagimura — not my first rodeo."

"That's true, Tsuda. With the amount of times you've successfully defended yourself from Yokoshima on your own, I should've been more confident that you'd be okay." Suzu then moves up to the wrapped-up Yokoshima and prods her with a finger. "Miss Yokoshima! You promised at the all-clubs meeting that you'd behave yourself. You even swore that you would to Mister Daimon when he confronted you about your perverted tendencies in front of all of us."

"Yeah," says Takatoshi. "What happened, Miss Yokoshima? You're normally very good with keeping your promises."

"Is she?" I ask.

"She actually is," says Suzu. "As weird as it sounds."

Sighing at this revelation, I march right up to the squirming toilet paper mummy and open up the portion which reveals her face. Sternly, I say, "If that's true, Miss Yokoshima, then what did you try to do just now?"

"Nothing, really! I mean, I wouldn't just pounce on Tsuda without his consent. I have too much respect for him to just sully him like that. I was just, you know, trying to persuade him to whip his **** out while we were in here."

Takatoshi sighs. "To be fair, she never even touched me. She never usually does. Aside from that one time in our sleeping bags at the school dojo when we were helping Hata perform that overnight ghost hunt last year."

That makes me flinch. "I missed a ghost hunt? Wait, no. I mean, what happened at the dojo?"

"I straddled Tsuda while he was sleeping in his bedroll," confesses Yokoshima. There's remorse on her face. Well, at least she's not a lost cause. "But the bedroll was still between our crotches. I swear!"

Suzu scoffs. "You got his bedroll's zipper halfway open by the time the Prez, Shichijou, and I woke up to apprehend you."

"And what did Hata do?" I ask.

"What she always does. She filmed it."

"Of course."

Suzu then shakes her head up at Miss Yokoshima. "Even though Tsuda admitted that you didn't put your hands on him, you're still dancing on a thin line. Remember your promise."

"Hey, I never even came close to breaking any promises in the first place!"

"Is that so?" I ask. "You'll forgive us if we have a hard time believing that claim, considering."

"No-no-no. Look, the promise I made at the all-clubs meeting to the teacher-chaperones, and to the sophomore-year class, was that I would not hit on, or have relations with, any local Okinawa boys. And the promise which Amakusa made me make to the student council the other day was that I wouldn't try anything funny on Tsuda while we were in Okinawa. You see? While we were in Okinawa. And where are we right now? Not Okinawa. That's for sure!"

"It's like a Monkey's Paw scenario," grumbles Takatoshi, to which we agree.

"I always keep my promises, my dear students. Always." Yokoshima's smugness then disappears as she looks off to the side. "Which is why I try not to make promises unless I really, really have to. Anyways, let me out of this thing already!"

Takatoshi and I roll our eyes before moving up to free her, but Suzu stops us. "Wait," she says. "Let's make an addendum to that promise first. Specifically, Miss Yokoshima, if you want us to free you before we land, you have to promise that you won't try anything funny on Tsuda for the whole school trip. Starting now."

Yokoshima shoots Suzu with a stunned expression before pouting defiantly. "An unnecessary addendum for a promise I've already made. Who do you think you are, huh? Now let me out! I am ordering you to do so as your teacher-chaperone!"

An electronic bell dings nearby to indicate that somebody is about to exit from a restroom. We close our door to hide Miss Yokoshima from sight right as one of the pilots emerges from the lavatory parallel to ours. Holding his stomach and hunching low, the old pilot glances at us with an apologetic smile and says, "If you're all waiting in line, you might want to give this one a half-hour or so to air out. Sorry, kids. That airport pho is awesome, but it never comes out clean, if you know what I mean." With that, he returns to the cockpit.

Tentatively, Takatoshi takes a few steps towards that restroom. He sticks his head in partially and gives a small whiff. Suzu and I recoil as he staggers back, clutching his nose. "Ugh, that's rancid!" He then gives us both a sly look. "And perfect."

It only takes Suzu and I a moment to understand where he's going with this. Hastily, we pull out Yokoshima from the Lavatory of Shame, and then shove her into the Restroom of Doom, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, my God!" she screams, thrashing from within. "This is the second-worst stench I've ever smelled in my entire life!"

"Shut it, Pendragon," Takatoshi quickly says. "I know you're always curious, so don't you dare ask." Damn it. He got me there.

"We're only going to let you out if you promise to behave, Miss Yokoshima," says Suzu through the door.

"I promise! Oh, God! I'll do whatever you say at this point! Just let me out!"

"What exactly do you promise?" I demand. "Say what we want to hear, and you'll be a free woman."

"I . . . I promise I won't try anything funny on Tsuda during this whole trip. Starting now!"

"That's not good enough anymore," says Suzu. "Promise that you'll never harass Tsuda ever again."

"Oh, come on! At least try to be realistic here!"

The three of us shrug at each other, conceding that the last condition would indeed be asking for something that just cannot happen.

"Fine," says Takatoshi. "No funny business this whole trip, then. Starting now?"

"Yes, I promise!"

"All right. Let her out. And cover your noses."

Yokoshima stumbles over as soon as the door opens, but I catch her before she hits the floor. Suzu and I work quickly to unwrap and tear the bindings from her as Takatoshi stands in a manner that shields this view from the group tending to Mutsumi, who have all been way too distracted this whole time to even notice our little hallway skirmish.

Now freed, Yokoshima straightens out her blouse and groans. "I suppose I've got a new promise now to keep track of during this trip. That's honestly one too many."

"It's for your own good, as well, Miss Yokoshima," says Suzu. "Regardless of how lax these laws are against women these days, you can still get in serious trouble eventually."

"I suppose you're right. Fine." She then turns to Takatoshi and shrugs. "No hard feelings, Tsuda?"

Takatoshi gives that award-winning smile of his, offering his hand to her. "No hard feelings, Miss Yokoshima."

She sighs and then, to our surprise, shakes it with both sincerity and innocent intent. Smiling sadly, Yokoshima then says, "You're a good man, Takatoshi Tsuda. Too good. Probably one of the best. Even I have to admit that someone like me just wouldn't do you justice."

"No, Miss Yokoshima! That's —"

"But it won't stop me from trying to just do you."

"Miss Yokoshima?" Suzu and I warn.

She holds her hands up in defense. "It was just a friendly, little heads-up for the future! That's all. Don't get your nipples in a twist, ladies." With that, she leaves us be with a lazy salute. Although, right before reentering the passenger cabin, she turns and gives a longing look back at Takatoshi. There's something in her eyes that throws me for a loop. It's like an emotion that's completely out-of-character for the lecherous party girl of Ousai Private Academy. What the hell is it? Courtesy? Hope? Advertising an intention of — dare I say — proper courtship, even? Yokoshima then gives one final smile and is gone.

Holy shit, dude. I thought Kaede entering the race as a late contender was a shocker, but we might possibly have freakin' Miss Yokoshima coming in now, too? Who's next? Ranko Hata, for God's sake? Good thing she isn't a sophomore, so at least we won't be finding that out during this trip.

Our attentions return to the group led by Miss Michishita as she calls out. "Ladies, may I ask you to go grab some more napkins and toilet paper? This is getting a little messy." The Judo girls beside her scurry out towards separate lavatories and begin gathering the requested material. Meanwhile, Suzu bends down to collect the remains of the discarded mummy costume so that it doesn't go to waste. I join her to assist, but then the unthinkable happens, and Suzu sees it all.

One of the Magnum condoms falls out of my skirt pocket to land right there on the floor. It's perfectly aligned for Suzu to easily read the words, 'Ribbed for her pleasure.' And by all that is holy, it's only now I realize that Kotomi has also hand-written the words, Taka-Toria Round 2 ;) on the front of it, complete with the winking smiley face.

It's simply by sheer dumb luck that the only people who are aware of this event are myself, Takatoshi, and Suzu. Quickly, Takatoshi snatches the condom off the floor and then reaches into both of my pockets to fish out the remainder. I grab his hands with my own, guiding him to the correct pocket so that he doesn't accidentally throw away my phone and wallet in a panic. He then tosses the handful of condoms into the trash bin of the Restroom of Doom before shutting that door again. Afterwards, Takatoshi and I stand there as innocuously as possible, although our poker faces feel uneven as hell.

"What exactly were those?" Suzu asks, trembling.

Opting for the honest route since she's a fellow Grumbler, Takatoshi carefully says, "They were exactly what you saw they were, but for a completely explainable series of total coincidences."

"I see. And the reason the words Taka-Toria Round Two were written on one of them?"

"Kotomi," we say tiredly.

"Oh. Well, I admit that's happened before. But why were they all in Pendragon's pocket?"

"To throw them away in the trash, but then I got distracted by the whole Yokoshima thing."

"I see. And you carried those in your pocket through customs? Even though we were with you the entire time and never saw those condoms when you emptied your pockets at the metal detector?"

Takatoshi sighs. "It's because they were originally stuffed into my carry-on."

Suzu squeaks. "What?"

"Kotomi, Hagimura. Remember."

"I, uh . . . I think I'm feeling dizzy . . ."

All right. Enough of this. "Suzu Hagimura!" I shout, making a stance and pointing at her. "Takatoshi told me all about the Squid Incident, and how you nearly ended up disbelieving him even though he was telling you the truth all along."

"Huh?"

"Do you mean to tell me that you are knowingly repeating that same mistake with Takatoshi Tsuda?"

"N-no! Of course not!"

"Then why are you doubting his words right now? You know he's telling the truth!"

She snaps into a low bow. "You're right! Forgive me, Pendragon. And I'm sorry, Tsuda!" Oh, wow. I wasn't even using my Charisma Rank B here. Damn, I'm good. Or just lucky. Yeah, probably just lucky. Usually, I'm on the receiving end of one of these scoldings from none other than Suzu herself.

"Thank goodness!" cries Nanako Umibe in relief. "I think it's finally over."

Chiri laughs. "Looks like it! Mutsumi's finally gotten it all out."

"Is Mitsuba going to be okay?" asks Takatoshi, walking up.

Miss Michishita holds out her hands to stop him. "Wait right there, Tsuda! Stay back for now, please. Mitsuba's underdressed."

"Oh! Jeez, I'm sorry." With that, he quickly leaves the lavatory hall like a true gentleman.

Smiling, Michishita turns back towards Mutsumi and says, "Why don't you rinse off, Mitsuba? We'll hand you back your shirt and vest when you're finished."

Suzu and I are allowed to join their little group to find that Mutsumi is, indeed, underdressed. The only thing covering her top half is her bra as she's thoroughly gargling and washing her face off at the restroom sink using a generous amount of soap to get rid of any evidence. Poor girl. From her reflection in the mirror, I can make out that her eyes are all bloodshot from the carnage that ensued.

After she's dressed herself back up, Mutsumi joins us out in the hallway, her head hanging low. She tosses the now-emptied water bottle she'd been given into a recycling bin next to her. "Thank you all so much for your help. Oh, God. That was so embarrassing."

"It'll be okay, Mutsumi," says Suzu. "One day, you'll look back on this moment and laugh."

Chiri claps her on the back. "Yeah! Don't overthink it, Chief. Now come on. Let's get back to our seats."

"I don't know if I can even face everybody anymore. They're all just going to laugh at me when I get back out there."

"On the contrary, Mitsuba," says Takatoshi supportively, pulling aside the curtain to expose her to the passenger cabin. Once they catch sight of Mutsumi, the teachers and sophomores of Ousai, as well as all of the stewardesses, begin applauding and cheering at Mutsumi in a purely encouraging manner, laying all her fears to rest and putting a grateful smile on her face.

Mister Daimon walks up to give Mutsumi a casual pat on the bicep. "How are you feeling, Mitsuba?"

"Much better now. Thanks to everyone, of course!"

"That's great! Although, you're still looking a bit queasy there."

"Just a little bit, Mister Daimon, but at least there's nothing left to come out. I guess I'll just have to deal with the nausea until we land."

"But then we're also getting on buses for the hotel," grumbles Suzu. Takatoshi shushes her lightly.

"I'll make due, Suzu," says Mutsumi. "At least my stomach's empty now, so —" To our alarm, she suddenly hiccups and hunches over, covering her mouth with one hand, and blindly reaching for something to grab onto with the other. Then just as suddenly, she looks right as rain. With no small amount of confused caution, Mutsumi lowers her hand from her mouth and breathes in deeply with no trouble at all. "I'm okay? Why am I okay?" She then looks to her side to see the reason for this miracle.

Her other hand that was reaching for something, anything, to grab onto? Well, it found Takatoshi's, and their connection is somehow stabilizing her. Hey, if it works, it works.

The students coo teasingly at this sight, sending Mutsumi into a blush to end all blushes. Thankfully, however, Miss Michishita comes to her rescue. "Settle down, everybody! Think what you will, but keep it to yourselves. After all, if you embarrass Mitsuba like this, she just might let go of Tsuda's hand, and then we'll all be right back at square one."

Every student in the cabin hushes up immediately, assuming stiff postures upon their seats with their lips shut tight.

Mister Daimon, Suzu, Chiri and I escort the unofficial couple to their seats, though about halfway there, Mutsumi takes a detour to approach a nearby pair of stewardesses, her hand never loosening its grip on Takatoshi's. Once at the confused stewardesses, she bows very low in apology and then holds out a pretty fat stack of yen for them.

"Please accept my deepest apologies for everything you're going to have to clean up! And also, please accept this money from my dad. He expected this was going to happen, so he gave me some money and told me to give some to the stewardesses after each flight." Some money? There's got to be enough right there alone to treat the entire sophomore class to dinner tonight! What the hell does Mister Mitsuba do for a living?

"Oh, my goodness!" says the older stewardess. "No-no, ma'am. We can't accept this!"

"We could if it's under the table," says the younger one.

"No, we're going to get in huge trouble if we pocket any cash. You know that." She then turns back to Mutsumi and smiles warmly. "I'm sorry, but flight staff cannot accept tips. It's standard policy. You'll have to keep this money, young lady, but please be sure to thank your very generous father for us."

"Oh, okay. Are you sure? I mean, I kind of made a mess."

"Of course, we're sure, sweetie. It's all part of the job, anyways."

The younger one shrugs. "Yeah. Besides, don't feel too bad, ma'am. Believe it or not, but you're probably only, like, the tenth messiest passenger we've ever had to clean up for. Heck, just last month, we flew an international chili con carne society. After their meetup." This leaves us all gobsmacked.

"You women are the unsung champions of commercial airspace," says Mister Daimon. Every Ousai teacher-chaperone and student rises to offer their nearest stewardess a sincere bow of respect.

With the last bits of chaos now a memory, we continue on to accompany Mutsumi and Takatoshi to their seats. Chiri gives Takatoshi a playful wink as she offers to switch seats with him. At that, Takatoshi sits down in the middle of the row with Mutsumi to his left.

"We should be landing not too long from now," I say. "Think you can hold on for another hour or so, Mutsumi?"

She smiles, snuggling into Takatoshi ever so slightly. "I think I'll be just fine from here on out, Artoria. And thanks, everybody. Thank you all so much."

I wave them goodbye along with Suzu and Mister Daimon. Or at least, only at first. Immediately, Suzu hunches over and holds onto her stomach, much to the concern of us and everyone else nearby.

"What's wrong, Hagimura?" asks Mister Daimon.

"Morning sickness?" screams Nene from twenty feet away. We all shush her before we listen to what Suzu has to say.

"You know what? I think I'm starting to feel a little airsick, myself." At this, the students and teachers around her all croon in sympathy. They then urge her to try holding Takatoshi's hand, too, with the girl who'd been sitting on the other end of Takatoshi surrendering her window seat to guide a wobbly Suzu over. Suzu sits down and then shakily reaches for the hand of a very concerned Takatoshi. The connection completes, and there's a moment of silence. Then, as if right on cue, Suzu looks up and smiles in feigned astonishment.

Mutsumi is bouncing with glee. "Look-look-look! Suzu's feeling better already, too!"

"Wow, Tsuda!" cries a nearby student. "You must have, like, super healing powers, or something!" says another. This goes on and on as the entire cabin erupts into another round of genuine applause. So, does nobody else suspect the supremely obvious here?

Or no. Scratch that. Now that I think about it, it might only be so obvious to me because I'm in the circle, myself, and therefore know the background of this whole situation to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The rest of the school either has no clue, or only know a tiny portion of the story from unconfirmed hallway gossip which wouldn't even be considered during a situation like this, anyways. I'd say that's a fair play, then, Suzu Hagimura. A fair play, indeed.

Well, then. We haven't even landed in Okinawa yet, and already we've triggered two — possibly three? — Takatoshi flags. A hell of a start to the sophomore-year school trip so far.