"Shiko! Shiko!" No matter how much Sayori yelled his name and shook him, she could not garner a response from Shujinkou. "Did he fall into another coma!?"
"Actually, Sayori, I think he just temporarily retreated into his head," Kiyoko calmly pointed out. "The shock was probably too much for him."
"But why? Didn't he already hear about this throughout the day?"
"To be fair, the whole hero thing was getting to him."
"To be fair, I'm pretty sure any of us would react the same way if we were in his shoes," Natsuki added.
"Uuoo… Still, we can't just leave him like this," Sayori lightly shook Shujinkou's body again. Like before, she received no response.
"Oh, Shin'yū-san, that's no way to wake up Senpai," Mali joyfully pointed out.
"Do you have an idea, Mali?" Monika questioned.
"Of course, Senpai's Kōhai knows just how to snap him out his trance."
Mali casually approached Shujinkou's body and sat next to him. Her hands clamped down on his shoulders and she pulled herself closer, bringing her parted lips to his right ear.
"Senpai…"
She took a deep breath and blew a steady stream of air into Shujinkou's ear. Shujinkou immediately sat up, his face as red as a beet.
"What happened?" he breathlessly asked.
"You were sent into a state of shock when you realized your perilous situation, Senpai," Mali reminded him.
"Oh, right…" Hearing that made Shujinkou want to retreat back into his head. "I can't believe I woke up just before the exams… This can't be happening…!"
"Yep. A pretty mean-spirted surprise for our local hero."
Fuyu cleared her throat. "The thing is Shujinkou… You're not exactly taking the exams next week,"
"Really?" Shujinkou's eyes lit up with surprise.
"Due to your circumstances, all your teachers agreed that it would best to take your exams during the retake period."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. The extra time given to him would surely increase his chances of passing his exams.
However, he knew taking them would also result in him missing what came after – something he had been looking forward to doing now that he had friends this year.
"…Fuyu, is there a way I can take the exams with everyone else?" he requested.
His question was met with surprised stares from everyone.
"…Are you sure that's really something you want to do, Shujinkou?" Fuyu questioned.
Shujinkou nodded his head. "I have to."
"…The thing is Shujinkou, that's not exactly your call to make. All your teachers agreed that you should take the exam at a later time, and I doubt you'll convince them all otherwise. The only way for you to take the exams with the rest of us would be to ask our Kōchō-sensei."
"Principal Taiki?" Shujinkou cringed.
"What's wrong, Shujinkou? You seem like you have some grievances with our principal," Yuri noted.
Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek, "I don't have anything against him, it's just… I kinda met him last year and well… I don't think I was that respectful to him."
"Shujinkou, you're the most respectful guy I know," Natsuki pointed out. "You mentally double check to make sure you didn't say anything hurtful sometimes. What could you have done that would have been bad?"
"Waste his time and blatantly ignore him, plus daydreaming on him too…" Shujinkou sheepishly admitted. "Last year, I was a little worse than I was earlier this year and sometimes I got into a state of not really caring about anything. I'm pretty sure I made a really bad impression."
"I doubt it," Kiyoko spoke up. "If you were the same last year as you were at the start of this year then I'm pretty sure you'll be fine."
"You really think so?"
"Hmm… I remember the times I met with Taiki-kun," Mali thought aloud.
"You… You call our principal, 'Taiki-kun'…?" Natsuki asked, baffled.
"Mm-hmm."
"Have you ever called him that to his face?"
"Of course."
"Of course…"
Mali giggled and turned her attention back to Shujinkou. "Anyway, I remember that the times I went to see him this year."
"How many times was that?" Sayori questioned.
"22," Mali said, not bothering to hide her delight.
"That's-!" Yuri clapped her hands over her mouth, stifling her outburst. "…Am I to presume that was just the amount from last semester?"
"No, that was just the first 2 weeks," Mali replied. "Apparently, I was very anti-social and disturbed my classmates."
A chill ran through Natsuki and Yuri. The more they learned, the more they felt uncomfortable around Mali.
"Anyway, you can at least infer from that that he doesn't like nonsense."
"Uh-huh…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek, unsure of how to take Mali's account. Was she giving him advice or using the opportunity to generate unease.
Perhaps it was both.
Time passed on and the time to go home arrived.
"C'mon, Shiko, it's time to go home," Sayori cheerfully waved at him.
She was clearly excited to walk home together after so long, a fact that made what Shujinkou had to say next even harder.
"Actually, Sayori… There's somewhere I need to go."
"Eh? Where?"
"Let's just say there's a promise that's over a month due and I need to make things right."
…
"I'm sorry! Really and truly sorry! I'm just-!"
Shujinkou's rapid-fire apologies were brought to an immediate halt once Nakité clasped her hands over his mouth.
"Shujinkou! I get it! You're super sorry!"
Perhaps he did go overboard by continuously apologizing, but Shujinkou was still surprised Nakité didn't seem agitated when he showed up out of the blue.
Once he calmed down, Nakité's hands dropped back to her side as she explained, "It's okay, Shujinkou. I can't be mad at you for being in a coma for a month."
"Wait, how'd you know I was in a coma?" Shujinkou asked.
"Your friend Kiyoko told me."
"Kiyoko did?"
"Mm-hmm. She told me that you risked your life to save your friends."
"Eh…" Shujinkou timidly scratched his right cheek. "I wouldn't say that."
"Really?" Nakité cocked her head. Her eyes held the same level of curiosity as a child. "You mean you didn't go after your friends?"
"I did do that…"
"And then got them out of harms way while taking down the guys who kidnapped them?"
"Well, kind of… But… It's hard to explain. Best I can say is that I'll never be able to do what I did again, and I really rather not talk about it if that's okay with you."
"Hmm… If you say so."
There was a brief silence until a smile erupted across Nakité's face.
"Moving on, I'll have you know that I haven't been sitting on my hands the entire time you've been gone."
"Really?"
"Yep. I took your advice about paying attention to things and tried to apply them to my stick figures."
Nakité pulled out her design book and showed her latest sketches to Shujinkou.
"You've tried different perspective views."
"Yep. What do you think?"
Shujinkou eyed the paper from top to bottom.
The body's proportions are off and the heads are too big, but he could tell that she didn't let anything hold her back from drawing what she wanted.
"Shujinkou?"
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking that it's amazing how you're just diving into all the concepts at once. I can tell that you're going to have a lot covered all at once soon."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Nakité's face beamed with joy.
"Wait…"
She puffed her cheeks in defiance to his words.
"Shujinkou, I need you to be brutal."
"You want me brutal?"
"Mm-hmm. I know I can get better with each try so I want to know what to focus on. Don't go easy on me, Sensei."
"Sensei? That sounds too weird," Shujinkou backed away slightly. "Plus, I thought we were partners."
"Partners/Teacher and Student, remember?" Nakité reminded him.
Shujinkou nodded his head. No matter how he felt about being considered a teacher, he still had a responsibility to act like one. "Ok. Well, I think for what you want to do, since you're trying to make people for your dresses, we'll probably need to work on body proportions first."
"You mean, besides the oversized head?"
"The torso is kind of stretched too long."
Nakité took a long, hard look at her drawings. She snuck peeks at Shujinkou as she examined each sketch before squinting her eyes at the page.
The book flew up and down in the air before joining its owner in a short spin.
"Aha!" she finally said. "I knew purple would be the right color."
"Huh?"
"Oh, sorry, I just had an epiphany on my designs, but I see what you mean Shujinkou. You think can help me with it anytime soon?" she requested.
"About that…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "The thing is I kind of need more time. You see I-"
"Okay."
"O-Okay?! You're not mad?"
"No?"
"But don't you want to know why?"
"If you want me to know. I just know that you probably have to catch up on everything in your life since you were asleep for a month."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He hadn't expected Nakité to be so understanding to someone who should still be considered an acquaintance at best.
He thought she was being too kind to him, but it was still a touching sentiment.
"Thanks, Naki-"
"Nakité!"
The cheerful greeting from behind was from Stella. She jumped up, vaulted over Shujinkou and landed behind the couch with a loud crash.
"Where is she?" Haruko soon followed after, sporting an expression that caused Shujinkou to instinctively imagine steam fuming from her ears.
Suddenly, a ball of yarn flew past him and harmlessly bounced off Haruko's face.
"…I'm going to let her get away with that one," she conceded. "Anyway…"
Haruko's eyes soon drifted Shujinkou's way. Her once vengeful face was now full of surprise.
"Um… Who is he?" she asked Nakité.
"Oh, that's my teacher and partner: Shujinkou," Nakité introduced.
"H-Hi…" Shujinkou timidly waved his hand, trying his best not to anger Haruko.
Haruko didn't say a thing and turned back to Nakité. She stormed up to his student and stated bluntly, "Nakité, when you said that you ran into someone that said they would teach you, you failed to mention that he's super cute!"
Huh?! Shujinkou's face was red. He couldn't believe someone blatantly said that... and in relation to him.
"Huh?" Nakité glanced at Shujinkou then swiftly turned back to Haruko. "I guess I was more focused on the fact that he brought me my sketchbook back."
"How do you miss that? Look at him."
"H-Hold on! Don't you think you guys are exaggerating a bit?" Shujinkou spluttered.
"No, you're pretty cute," Stella said, pulling herself from under the couch. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that before?"
"Well… Someone I know does say that to me all the time, but I'm pretty sure that it was a bit patronizing at first."
"What about now?"
"…I have no idea."
"Uh-huh…" Stella shook her head, clearly amused by his response. "Somiye, what do you think?"
Shujinkou followed Stella's eyes and was stunned to discover that Somiye had been sitting on the couch, quietly reading a book.
"I have no opinion on his appearance," she said.
"Okay, but what about an objective standpoint?" Stella asked.
"I suppose he has the physical qualities people designate as cute. Most likely inherited from his mother."
She's right about that. Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he thought this to himself. I used to think it was weird I looked more like Mom. Guys thought Hiroko was cute and I know guys have to think the same for my mom so… I guess it makes since if I consider all of that. Not to mention Mom and Granny Hisa look like they're sisters more than mother and daughter…
Shujinkou violently clapped his cheeks, leaving them redder than Nakité's hair.
"Well… I gotta go home and study for the exams," Shujinkou breathlessly announced.
"Okay. It was super great seeing you again, Shujinkou," Nakité said with a cheerful wave goodbye.
"Yeah, same."
Once he was out of sight, Shujinkou made a mad dash towards the entrance of the manor. His still recovering heart just couldn't take another awkward moment.
…
Shujinkou breathed a sigh of relief as he entered his home.
That had to be pretty lame of me… Still, I didn't think several girls would just call me "cute" like that. I don't want to fall back into my old habits, but that has just got to be weird overall… right?
Shujinkou sighed.
"Life can be weird sometimes."
Walking further into the house, Shujinkou noticed a distinctive combination of smells. At the same time, he felt his sweet tooth begin to act up.
He crept towards the kitchen and peeked inside. He saw his mother and Natsuki, each with a bowl in their hands, mixing something with their whisks.
"You're kidding." Natsuki shot Hiro a look of skepticism and amazement.
"It's true," Hiro responded. "It was hard and very time-consuming, but I was able to make Shujinkou Charizard when he was younger."
"With rubber bands?"
"That's why it was very time-consuming. But it was worth it when I saw how much he liked it."
"Wow."
Natsuki was sincerely impressed by what she heard, Shujinkou could tell that much from his friend's elated expression. But there was something else he noticed – a feeling that he greatly empathized with.
Mom and Natsuki really seem to be getting along.
Figuring it was best not to bother them, Shujinkou snuck upstairs to study. He had no clue what was relevant to learn, but fortunately, Monika had sent him a list of subjects to check out.
"Time to get cracking."
Shujinkou took point at his desk and dramatically pulled out some paper as if they were classified documents.
Let's see how much I can get done.
He spent some time studying, trying his hardest to absorb as much as he can. The task seemed herculean, but he refused to let that deter him.
Nothing would deter him, not even.
"Cookies?"
His grandmother appeared beside him with a plate of cookies.
"Um… Sure?" For a brief moment, Shujinkou tried but ultimately couldn't resist his sweet tooth.
Recognizing this, Hisa sat down and cheekily held the plate away from him.
"First things first, you okay?" she asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you were spying on Hiro and Natsuki and left without a word."
Shujinkou couldn't hide his surprise and Hisa stated simply, "I was just out of your view."
"Oh."
"So…?"
"I'm fine," Shujinkou insisted. "I just didn't want to interrupt."
"That's all?"
"Yeah. You know, when I think about, I don't think I ever seen Natsuki like that before."
"Really? Never?"
Hisa's eyes narrowed, prompting Shujinkou to scratch his right cheek.
"Maybe it's because I never really seen Natsuki talk to someone that wasn't our age, but I don't think I've seen her so comfortable around someone so fast," he admitted.
"That so?"
"Yeah. It's pretty great. I mean, it's definitely way better than the last time I saw her before I ended up being out of it for a month."
"…Ok. Guess I was worried for nothing." Hisa casually took a bite out of one of the cookies from the plate.
Shujinkou, too distracted by his own thoughts to register what she said last, popped a sudden question, "Hey, Granny Hisa… Do you think I'm cute?"
"You might want to add some more specifics, Shujinkou," she quickly responded.
"I mean, do you think girls would realistically find me cute."
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Shujinkou, you've inherited your looks from me and your mother; cuteness is in your DNA. Along with the fact that you're sometimes shy but also open with your feelings; you are objectively and undeniably a girl's definition of cute."
"I guess."
"What brought this on?"
"Well, a girl I met and some girls I met today took one look at me today and instantly said I'm cute."
Shujinkou heard a small, but audible plunk. The plate of cookies was now on his desk and his grandmother seemed even more interested in the conversation than before.
"Some girls?"
"I-It's not like that," Shujinkou desperately insisted.
"Wait, you're telling me that you have even more female friends that I'm just learning about?"
"Well, one of them is a girl I'm supposed to tutor in art — her name's Nakité. The others were some of her friends. Well one of them didn't say that I was cute outside of an objective observation since I get the feeling that she doesn't care about that stuff."
"So, you're telling me that because of a tutoring job you met more girls?"
"Granny Hisa," Shujinkou softly whined."
"I'm sorry, but your ability to meet girls without trying is staggering." Hisa teasingly played with Shujinkou's hair as she chuckled.
"C'mon, Granny Hisa, I'm not trying to do anything."
"Hence why I said without trying. Guys wish they had your luck. Soon, you'll have another group of friends to add to your repertoire."
"Granny Hisa…"
"Okay, I'll stop." Hisa leaned back in her chair and grinned. "So, tutoring… Look at you mentoring somebody. Aren't you getting ahead in life?"
"It's not much. Just helping someone."
"Oh really. And uhm, I assume you're mentoring her at her house?"
"Yeah, but it's not like we're alone. There's lots of people there."
"Mm-hmm. She's loaded, isn't she?"
"I mean… Yeah, but that doesn't have anything to do with me—"
"Oh, I know. …You just happen to be tutoring a girl you just met that happens to be rich. Totally nothing."
Hisa playfully rolled her eyes.
"…I'm also going to help her with dresses when we get there…" Shujinkou continued.
"You're teaching her that too?"
"No, she already knows how to make dresses. She just wants to learn how to draw to help work out as many kinks as she can before getting started. I'm just helping out with making dresses so it feels like I'm earning my pay."
"Oh, Shujinkou…" Hisa pulled her grandson in for a hug. "You're such a humble and noble young man, but you really need to stop selling your talents short."
"I mean, it's kind of hard to take money from someone you just met," Shujinkou argued.
"I know."
"And it's even more awkward when they have a lot of it."
"I know that too."
"I just don't want Nakité to think I'll take advantage of her."
"That's why I called you noble. Plus, you may be able to pick up more sewing and design skills from this whole thing. Sounds like a win for everyone."
"Wow… I didn't even think of it like that."
Hisa lightly tapped the top of Shujinkou's head before letting him go.
"You really outta think about how things affect you too sometimes."
Shujinkou shrugged.
"Alright. Don't work your brain too much, Shujinkou."
"Okay."
Once his grandmother was out of sight, Shujinkou returned to studying. As his eyes scrolled through various notes, his hand crept towards the plate of cookies, grabbed one and brought it towards his mouth to munch down on.
So good!
His elation lasted until he heard a knock on his door. Standing in his doorway was Natsuki.
"You busy?" she asked.
"No. No, you need something?"
"Not really. I just happened to be passing by and wanted to see how you're doing."
"Oh, I'm fine."
"You sure? You came without even saying hi."
"Oh that? Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like something was wrong. But I'm totally fine.
"Okay."
Natsuki nodded her head a few times and approached his desk.
"What are you doing now?"
"Just looking over some stuff Monika sent me. I need all the help I can get after all.
"Yeah, about that…" Natsuki took the seat next to Shujinkou. "Are you really sure you want to take the exams next week?"
"Not a 100%, but I still want to try."
"But why?"
"Because… Because I already missed Halloween with you guys, and I don't want to miss anything else, that's all."
"Okay."
Shujinkou stared at Natsuki. Her short responses were something he found worrisome.
"Is something bothering you, Natsuki?" he asked.
"No, I'm… That is… I just also wanted to tell you that I'm also staying here tonight too. I mean, I know that I have to go back home soon, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm here tonight also."
"Ah, okay."
"That's it? That's all you have to say about that?"
"I mean, I don't think so?"
"You're not bothered at all that a girl is staying in the same house as you, while you're aware about it?" Natsuki pointed at herself to emphasize her point.
"Not really. It's really no different from all the times Sayori has stayed over and you get your own room compared to her," Shujinkou pointed out.
"Right. I have no idea how that fact flew over my head…" Natsuki mumbled to herself. "Anyway, so you're really fine with me staying here tonight?"
"Yeah, as long as you're fine with it."
Natsuki frowned.
"Really, you're fine with it?"
"Yeah…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm totally fine with it."
"If you're so fine with it then…" Natsuki speedily thrust the tip of her index fingers towards Shujinkou's face and used them to force Shujinkou's lips into a smile. "You should smile more, right, Dummy?"
She then proceeded to distort his expression, clearly enjoying her chance at payback from before.
"Come on, cut it out, Natsuki!" he laughed.
"No way. You can't do the same and not expect retribution." Natsuki continued to laugh at the goofy expression she forced Shujinkou to make. "You're going to have to endure a lot unless you apologize."
"I was just trying to cheer you up."
"Well, this is cheering me up, so you have no right to complain."
"But…"
"None."
Shujinkou swiftly grabbed Natsuki's hands and pulled them away from his face.
"Natsuki…"
She was taken aback by the dark look on Shujinkou's face.
"Wha-?"
He took advantage of this momentary pause and used Natsuki's hand to smush her cheeks.
"N-No! You can't do this when I'm doing this to you!" she protested.
"You said it yourself, Natsuki, you can't do this without expecting retribution," Shujinkou chuckled.
"Since when are you vindictive?!"
The joyful sounds of laughter continued to fill the room for the rest of night. Though distracted for the rest of the evening, Shujinkou felt his determination to pass the exams with what little time he may had increased exponentially.