The four-story library of Yamaku High School was modernist in design, with a glass exterior, stone ponds trickling outside and heavy on wood paneling, which gave it a rather airy college look compared to the more formal brick-and-mortar buildings around it. It sat across the koi pond plaza from the cafeteria wing, the tallest building in the campus and was actually the newest, a replacement of the outdated library several years prior. The first three floors were for the general library, with an endless maze of bookshelves, long study tables and a wide spiral staircase in the center of the hall reaching to the top floor. The fourth floor was a combination of a high-tech computer lab and archives center, with dusty scratched file cabinets chock full of memories and yearbooks from alma mater's past and even some local records of family trees and other archives in the Edogawa area. A double row of desktop computers ran against the wall, with some study tables scattered around.

Across the fourth floor sat a simple lounge area, with plush couches, some vending machines and smaller round tables scattered near the floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a gorgeous view of the whole campus. From here the Tokyo skyline was distant but recognizable, the monolith Skytree looming from miles and miles out on the horizon. Beyond the Yamaku campus was Edogawa proper, a sea of puffy green trees with the bare tops of homes and apartments visible as the district spread out, looping around the Edo River. The midday sun shined down through the windows, great beams of light reflecting against the tables and carpet in long shards.

Monika Sehlke and Sayori Asoka were sitting in one of the backtables, closest to the corner windows so they could stare out into the foyer. Their book bags hung over their chairs, with their journals and laptops set out in front of them. Monika was working her way through a chicken salad; Sayori had opted to buy an entire hoagie from the cafeteria and had to her credit almost polished it off. The presidential duo were in their study hall hour, and had opted to leave the classroom and sneak up to the library for privacy and the view. Nobody gave them any trouble; it was Friday, after all, and Monika Sehlke was on good terms with the library staff and never gave her a second glance.

Monika leaned back in her chair, sipping her water. "That is such a load of bull." She said, almost rolling her eyes.

"No…you're a load of bull." Sayori jeered, pointing at her with a large potato chip before eating it.

Monika leaned forward, putting her hands on the table. "You're telling me if you took an absolutely pissed off gorilla, a fucking silverback, and put it in a cage with an equally upset hippo, the gorilla would win?"

Sayori dabbed her lips with a napkin, typing away at her laptop. "That is correct."

"No!"

Sayori was laughing. "The gorilla would choke it out, just like–" she made a gesture with her hands, still looking at her screen. "Choke the shit out of it with its giant gorilla arms."

"A hippo is a literal death machine!" Monika said, exasperated, throwing her hands up. "They're blind raging hormonal…tanks of flesh with skin this thick!" She made a space between her fingers. "They literally kill their own babies in fits of anger! Their only emotion is kill! They kill for the sake of killing! Hell, hippos kill more people in a year than lions, like, two to one!"

Sayori folded her arms. "Two gorillas, one hippo."

Monika sputtered, but she was laughing. "You ca-you can't change the rules of the fight!"

She grinned. "Or, one gorilla with a machete. Would they win then?"

Monika thought about it for a minute. "No."

"Oh come onnnn."

"Give the gorilla a machine gun." Monika swirled some of her salad into the ranch and took a bite, looking down. "It might have a chance then."

"Suuure, suuure."

The conversation dropped. Outside, a car was honking angrily at a truck that nearly clipped it as it was exiting the parking lot, turning to merge with the traffic. People were starting to head home from work, and there was just one more class for the day. Monika yawned, and felt herself stretch for a moment in her chair. She couldn't wait to sleep in this weekend; earlier she and Sayori had begun drafting up what a possible summer festival booth for the Literature Club might look like, and later on a summer trip as a club. They had started talking about destinations in the group chat, but it was more of a matter of how to collect money for it (the last of the club's earnings from the previous festival had mostly run out).

Sayori shifted in her chair, tucking her skirt under her legs, and took a sip of her tea. "So, any plans for the weekend?"

"Uhh, not really. I really just wanna sleep in and recharge. This week has been miserable. What about you?"

She shrugged. "Well, Kazuma and I are gonna see a movie tonight. And then Yoshi wanted to go to this anime convention downtown over Friday and Saturday, so I guess I got a full schedule."

"Oooh, Miss Pop-ular~", Monika cooed. "Got all the boys under her thumb."

Sayori just rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, like I haven't seen your DMs. All those girl–"

"Up-pup-pup-pup." Monika interrupted, putting a hand up. "Those are just chats. I'm not marrying them."

"Yet."

Monika stuck her tongue out. She watched as a helicopter, a silver-blue news chopper, drifted by, the sound of the rotors faint through the windows. "How is Yoshi, anyway?"

"Oh he's good." Sayori said, digging for the last of her potato chips. She stuck one in her mouth. "He was telling me about how the vet club went to one of the local shelters and helped clean the cages and stuff."

"That's cool."

"Yeah." Sayori started to collect her trash together. "He came over for dinner last week, my parents liked him…I think."

"You think?"

"I don't know." Sayori got up to toss her trash and sat back down. "I, uh, I guess they always thought I'd end up with Kazuma, ahah."

The president raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"They would always tease me about him, growing up. Y'know, 'Ohhh, he's so haaandsome, do you liiike him Sayoriii?' That kind of thing." She continued, "Me and him were attached at the hip, back then. And then high school happened and we kinda drifted, but now…" she shrugged. "Well, now is now, I guess." She laughed. "He has Natsuki, I have Yoshi. That's, uh…um, it is what it is."

Monika nodded. "It's crazy how life changes like that. You never even notice how quickly the time can go."

"Yeah, but what's really crazy is…" Sayori stopped herself, looking around. "Hah, wow."

"What is it?"

"No, it's…" Sayori tried to wave it off. "It's stupid."

"I know you are," Monika said, smiling. "But so am I."

"Nooo, it's just…" She pushed away her laptop, looking at Monika. "I…well…used to have a crush on him."

"On Kazuma?"

Sayori rolled her eyes again. "No, Shinzo Abe. Yes, on Kazuma!"

Monika started laughing. "Sorry."

"What-everrr."

"So, you had a crush on him…"

Sayori smiled again, putting her palm against her cheek and looking out the window. "Yeah, hehehe. It was so…well…", she started to laugh, "we were just kids, y'know. We lived right next to each other, the same school, the same lunches, it just made sense."

"And he was always so protective of me, back then. When I would fall and scrape my knee, he was there to hug me and carry me back home. He always brought an extra snack in his lunchbox for me, we would read the same books together, we would do…everything together."

She looked down at her hands, where the faintest wounds from her rope were still visible, pink smooth scars against her pale white skin.

"And I guess time got the better of us."

Monika tilted her head, frowning. "You sound regretful."

Sayori gently unclipped her bow and looked at it, turning it over. "Well…I wouldn't call it regretful. Just, I'm thinking about the roads not taken, I guess? I love Yoshi, I really do, but…I don't know." She rubbed the silk with her fingers. "Maybe if I was better, maybe we might've ended up together…"

"It's not about you being right for him or him being right for you." Monika said, looking into her eyes. "Your relationship to him might have changed, but your bond stayed the same. You two love each other, and that's a very hard thing to say and know that it's true these days."

She continued, "Have you ever thought to tell him?"

Sayori blinked. "Tell him what?"

"That you had a crush on him."

The vice president seemed shocked. "What? No! I don't want him getting weird on me."

Monika nodded.

"I mean, I know he never liked me like that anyway."

…

The first streaks of rosy pink sunset were starting to paint the skies over Edogawa, just after seven o'clock. The air was warm, with a cool breeze blowing now and then. The streetlamps were just beginning to flicker on up and down the boulevards, as the salaryman traffic was starting to die down and people were getting home. The weather was so pleasant I had the air conditioning off and rolled the windows down, letting the wind fly through the car.

We had just left the movie, which turned out to be pretty boring. I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, smiling as I felt the cool air blow against my face. Sayori had nodded off in the passenger seat, seatbelt on and leaning her head against the frame of the door. A thin long line of drool was just beginning to dot her lip, her coral hair blowing in all different from the wind.

The radio, hooked up to my phone, droned on. I hummed along to the melody and looked over at Sayori, snug asleep.

And brake checked.

Still strapped in, her body lurched forward and the little specks of spit flipped off her face. Her hair flipped forward and then back, and she was snapped out of her slumber.

Sayori gasped once and glared, flipping me off. "Fuck you."

I burst out laughing. "Hey, don't make me charge you for the drool damage."

She looked down at her blazer, which was now growing dark in spots from her saliva. "Oh…ew." She brushed herself off, flipping the car mirror down and started styling her hair back into shape. I shook my head as I pulled the car onto the freeway back to Edogawa proper from Tokyo. From here, only a twenty or so minute ride back home.

We were crossing the same freeway I took on Natsuki's ramen date.

"So listen, there's something I wanted to tell you about. Rather, get your advice on."

"Oh yeah?" Sayori was leaning back all the way in her chair, her hands folded behind her head. Her eyes were fluttering closed.

She continued, "There's something I've been wanting to ask you about, too."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?"

"Yeah…but you go first, though."

The car cruised along the freeway, passing over the bay with its many warehouses, shipyards and wharfs. The warm LED lights were just beginning to activate, illuminating the roadway with a dizzying electric glow.

"Well, it's about Natsuki."

"Ah."

"I haven't spoken to her in about two days, and she hasn't responded to any of my texts. I don't know what to make of it."

"Did y'all fight?"

"No, the last thing I said was I was having dinner with my parents, and then she–"

My phone flashed.

Incoming call from My Girl~!

I felt my heart skip a beat. "Oh…oh!" I cleared my throat and pushed the answer button, the call playing through the car. "Hey, my love. What's up?"

Natsuki's voice croaked, slightly tinny over the speaker. "H-hey, baby…"

"I have Sayori with me, you're on speaker."

Sayori grinned and leaned forward. "Hey guuurl! Where you at! Let's pick you up and go do something!"

Natsuki started to giggle, but her voice was strained. "Haha, maybe."

"What are you up to, hun? Are you okay?"

"No…n-yes. I'm just, I had to call you. I'm sorry. I know I've been gone a minute."

"Yeah, I was starting to get worried."

"I'm sorry, my love. When I was texting you I actually, uh…", there was a loud thudding sound, muffled by the speaker. "Well, y'all are gonna make fun of me, but I was cooking dinner for my Dad and I dropped…my phone."

Sayori and I looked at each other.

"Into the pan. And it um…got fried. Ruined. The ports were, yeah."

"You served it to him with or without the phone?" Sayori teased.

I could almost see Natsuki rolling her eyes. "Yeah, with a side of chips."

I was chuckling. "Okay, so your phone broke. That makes sense."

Nats continued, "Yeah. It's also been, um, well I got sick with something. I don't know what."

Sayori frowned. "Aww, are you feeling better? We can bring you a care package…"

"No, no." She coughed once, twice. "It was yesterday. I think it's just a stomach bug, but I feel like shit like the flu. I don't…I don't know if I'll be there on Monday, just to let you all know."

Is she lying?

"Aw, Nats. Well, if you need anything, let us know, alright? Let me know."

"Of course, hun. Thank you. I'm gonna try to take a nap."

"I love you, baby girl. Be safe for me."

There was a pause.

"I-I love you more, dear. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye." And then the call ended.

Sayori was looking at me, with a warm smile spreading across her face. Her hands were laced together, pressed against her cheek. I looked over at her with a bemused expression.

"What?"

"You…two…are…so cute."

I blushed hard. "Ohhh…oh, shut up!" I huffed, gripping the steering wheel. I glanced out the window, trying to hide my smile. "Isn't your house near here?"

Sayori leaned over the console and booped her finger into my cheek over and over. "Kazuma, the big ol' teddy beeear. He loooves his girlfriend sooo much."

I slapped her finger away. "Shush! You ain't one to talk! I've seen you and Yoshi get all lovey dovey."

I turned the car onto our street. She started laughing, grabbing her purse from in front of her seat. "Ohhh, man."

Her house was coming up the block. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Sayori paused, almost froze for a moment. She looked down into her bag, and then back up at me.

"Oh, um…um, no, just that Yoshi and I were going to a convention this weekend, and I was gonna ask if you had any cosplay ideas."

…

Author's Note: If I were Dadsuki, I'd be looking for a place to hide. As always, THANK YOU to the readers who favorite and follow Love and Literature, and buckle up! The other shoe will drop for Kazuma in the next chapter, and it's all downhill from there. Reviews are always appreciated!