"That's a little too scary…"

Shujinkou would scratch his right cheek if he could but was unable to at the moment. The bags he was holding made sure of that.

"Is that so? Considering the media you've digested, I'm surprised you feel that way," Yuri replied in a teasing manner.

"It's just… cultish/scientific experimenting with signs of multiple personality disorder just to see what the brain is capable of… I don't know, the way you explained it just sounds really dark and paranoia inducing," Shujinkou admitted.

"Still, that seems funny coming from you considering you didn't seem to have the same reaction to a game where an artificial program essentially gaslit multiple people into following a script. That seems a lot scarier considering it really makes you question your perception of reality."

"I guess… Though Guns of the Patriots probably dampened that aspect of Sons of Liberty a bit…"

"Plus, doesn't something else you enjoy employ cramming your essence into another's body, making the owner a prisoner before eventually being split into two beings?"

"Well…"

Shujinkou couldn't argue against her points. Perhaps the presentation blinded him to the more horrifying aspects, though he already found it horrifying.

"Where'd you read that story again?" he asked.

"Ah…" Yuri glanced around flustered. "To be quite honest, I don't really remember. It must have been something from long ago and I could only recall parts that were vivid to me."

"I can see why that'd be memorable…"

As they continued their trek, Yuri came to realize that she had been glancing at the bags Shujinkou was carrying for her more and more.

"Shujinkou, are you sure you don't want me to take those back? Your awakening was still fairly recent…"

"It's fine. Besides, I told you guys that I feel pretty good all things considered."

"Still…"

Despite his assurance to the contrary, Yuri was still worried about his physical state.

"What about you?"

Yuri was taken aback by Shujinkou's question. "Me? Why do you ask?"

"Well, you weren't exactly… I mean, we all got pretty banged up hard before I ended up in a coma so…"

Though it seemed obvious Shujinkou was referring to their physical wounds, it was clear to Yuri that he was referring to possible mental and emotional scars also. She could tell he had some lingering worries concerning the club's temporary disbandment among other subjects.

"You don't need to worry about that. I think we all came out stronger from night, even if it did take a bit of time," Yuri assured him.

"Oh. That's good. But what about your knife wound and head injury?"

"Well…"

Yuri's eyes briefly shifted away from him.

"My wounds… They-"

Yuri's cheeks were a faint red as she turned to Shujinkou.

"My head's fine and the knife wound… Ah… Maybe…"

Yuri's fingers crumbled the hem of her sweater.

"Maybe it'd be better if you see for yourself."

"Mysel- Wait!" Shujinkou instinctively took a step back, recognizing what was about to happen. "You don't have to show me if you don't want to!"

"It's okay. Besides you've already seen this part of my body during summer, right?"

Shujinkou had no choice but to agree with Yuri's point, even if it didn't make him any less flustered.

Yuri slightly pulled the hem up, exposing the area where she was stabbed.

"Considering how deep the knife it was and how it was plunged, I was surprised that it made a complete recovery," she admitted.

"…Complete…?"

Shujinkou dropped the bags as he came for a closer look.

"Shujinkou?"

Without sparing a single response, Shujinkou planted his right hand where the knife once was. Yuri flinched, instantly feeling his heat transmitted to her body.

"Ah…"

His hand slowly, gently brushed across her bare skin. It was a sudden and shocking action from someone who normally shirks away from contact such as this.

But it also felt nice.

However, the moment didn't last. Shujinkou's hand was shaking as his face grew pale and his eyes became nothing but gateways into a forsaken chasm.

If not for his trembling, she wouldn't even be sure if he could be classified as alive.

"Huh?"

With two blinks, light had finally returned to Shujinkou's eyes and his hand was no longer trembling. He looked up at Yuri as if confused before looking down at where his hand was placed.

"I-I'm sorry! I don't know what I was-!"

Shujinkou immediately tried to retract his hand back to his side, but Yuri quickly latched on to it.

"Uh…!"

Shujinkou's red face grew even redder. Coherent speech was lost to him as Yuri kneeled down before him, holding his hand between them.

"Are you sure you're okay, Shujinkou?" she asked.

"Right now…?"

Her genuine worry and his recent actions made it hard for him keep eye contact.

"I-I'm pretty sure."

Yuri's attention was then drawn to his hand, her eyes fixated specifically on his index finger. Her breath caressed it, sending tingles up Shujinkou's spine.

"So…"

Yuri opened her mouth to respond— Or that's what Shujinkou thought would happen when her lips parted ways.

Uh…!

She brought his index finger to them, pressing hard as if to kiss it.

"Yuri, what are you…?"

Before he could finish his sentence, his finger slid past her lips into her mouth. Her tongue swirled around it as if savoring the taste.

"Y-Yuri…!?"

He then felt something else close around his finger. No longer just licking, Yuri was now gently nibbling.

Shujinkou's mind went blank from the sudden heart-pounding actions.

"Ehm!?"

Snapped out of his trance, Shujinkou found Yuri staring at him with a stunned expression.

"Did I-?"

She swiftly backed away and violently shook her head.

"I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me!" Yuri apologized frantically.

Normally, Shujinkou would immediately try to comfort a friend during an awkward moment like this, but his mind was too fixated on the leftover trail of spit on his finger.

He was well aware of the metaphorical nature of what had just transpired. What's more, he did not expect Yuri to do that again. It was just as unexpected as the first time.

Wait, "again"? Why… did I say that like this happened before?

The reaction came to him instinctively, but one look at Yuri reminded him that he had no time to consider it.

She was trembling while in a nearly fetal position.

"It-It's fine, Yuri…! I can guess we can just say we both lost our head for a moment, right?"

Yuri didn't respond. She didn't even look his way as Shujinkou tried to console her.

"Yuri?"

"…Okay."

Saying no more, Yuri stood up, retrieved her bags from the ground, and continued forward to their destination.

The rest of their walk was painfully awkward. Despite being so close, they might have as well been worlds apart.

Shujinkou tried to lessen the divide, but Yuri shot down all of his attempts at conversation with one worded responses.

I screwed up royally, didn't I?

He was fortunate to soon be greeted by someone he saw as the ultimate defuser of moments he was well acquainted with.

"Hey guys." Kiyoko wasted no time welcoming them into her home estate.

"Thank you for having us in your home." Yuri bowed.

"No need for formalities. Plus, you've already been here before."

"True… But I guess you hosting us overnight combined with the nature of your home… I couldn't help it."

Kiyoko shrugged. "No big deal."

"Still, it was really nice that you let us stay here for the weekend, Kiyoko," Shujinkou thanked. "I know you didn't really have to."

"You'd do the same. Besides, I figured your mom could use some alone time after having guests every day for about a month."

Shujinkou nodded his head. With his grandmother returning home, he was sure that was a guaranteed outcome.

"I'd definitely say she'd deserve it. She treated us so well in that month," Yuri praised.

"Sounds like Mom," Shujinkou replied proudly.

"Yeah, she's really cool. She really treated us like we actually lived there," Kiyoko added.

Shujinkou nodded his head in agreement.

"Moving on, let me show you guys where you'll be staying."

Kiyoko escorted the two to the second floor of her home and gave them the freedom to choose their own room before returning downstairs.

"Guess this actually happening – my sleepover in a long time," Shujinkou thought aloud.

"Is that so? Does our trips to your grandmother's establishments not count?" Yuri queried.

"Eh… I guess, but her place is a public business. I meant something more group of friends like. Admittedly, I'm surprised that I'm in this situation in the first place. If this wasn't a group study session I probably wouldn't be able to be here since I'm the only guy and that kind of thing is usually frowned upon."

Shujinkou paused, letting his eyes wander the hallway.

"I guess the sleeping arrangements help too."

"I'm not so sure, Shujinkou. If I recall, the reason why it's usually frowned upon is the expectation of intimacy, which would be harder to do in a large group. Plus, as you called attention to, our current environment makes it harder too given we're all close to each other and thus nothing would be private," Yuri explained.

"That makes sense."

Shujinkou breathed a sigh of relief. With reasons like those, he can feasibly argue against anyone that questions his intentions.

"Besides… I don't anyone has anything to worry about from the boy who was wary of joining our club because he would be the only male member," Yuri said with a slight giggle.

"That's… a point."

Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek, his brief daze earlier serving as a reminder that she may be wrong.

"Hey, Yuri, about earlier…"

Yuri gently shook her head. "You really don't have to apologize, Shujinkou. Really, I should be the one to."

"But I still did something first!" he insisted. "I mean-"

"Regardless, I'm fairly certain my thing is worse."

"But it's just like before at the mall when I, you know, tried to hide us."

"You still had good intentions for that though and… It's not like I found it unpleasant."

"Uhm…" Shujinkou was unable to scratch his red right cheek. He was too flustered to do so. "So…"

"Ah… It really might be best if we really do as said before - we just lost our heads for a moment and move on from it."

"O-Okay. As long as you're okay with it."

"I am. Besides, we shouldn't have any baggage before our upcoming task, right?"

"True."

It was a point that could not be argued. For Shujinkou especially, he could not afford anything clouding his mind for the upcoming trial.

"I guess there's only one thing to do now." His eyes now shut, he confidently stepped forward to reach for any doorknob he could grab. "Ow!"

Shujinkou gingerly rubbed his bruised forehead, staring at the wall he ran into.

I really didn't think that through.

His face red from embarrassment, Shujinkou chose the closest room, silently walked in and dropped his backpack on his bed.

"Well, it now begins — my journey to do the impossible."

Mimicking his favorite shonen heroes, Shujinkou sternly cracked his fists.

…This may be overkill confidence wise.

He laughed to himself before everything went black.

"Guess who," a bright voice challenged him.

However, it was not the voice he expected to say that.

"Monika?"

With his eyes no longer covered, Shujinkou found Monika giggling behind him.

"Sorry, did I steal Sayori's thing?"

"I guess? Why-?"

"I just wanted to see if it was as fun as Sayori makes it seem. You two always seem to have fun when she does it to you."

"We do."

"Maybe we should have something like that." Monika suggested.

"I thought it was you teasing me a little," Shujinkou shot Monika a skeptical look. "…Are you doing it now?"

"Maybe." Monika smiled coyly.

"Yeah, you're doing it."

The two shared a brief laugh together.

"So, you feeling confident, Shujinkou?" she asked.

"I guess. I think it's more like I'm just going to try my best."

"That's good. We should both try our best, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Shujinkou nervously scratched his right cheek.

"Hm? Is something wrong, Shujinkou?" Monika eyed him curiously.

"Not really. Just…"

Shujinkou didn't know what to say. He was fine at first, but Monika's encouragement reminded him that this was the first time he had been alone with her since the night he fell under.

"Monika…"

"Yeah?"

"I… I wanted to thank you for what you did on the hospital roof."

"The roof?" Monika was silent for a moment, eyeing him with more curiosity than before. "…What did I do again?"

"You know, you… You were just there for me when I really needed a friend. I don't really remember most of what happened that night, but I still remember feeling really bad, but you being there…" Unsure he could properly explain his feelings any better, Shujinkou gave her a simple and sincere. "Thank you."

Monika said nothing. Her face was full of surprise and disbelief for a reason Shujinkou couldn't fathom. Nor could he fathom her lowering her head.

"I guess that would be best…" Monika whispered to herself.

"Huh?"

Monika gently took Shujinkou's hands, intertwining her fingers with his.

"'When a friend needs me to be there, I'll be there', right? So…"

Like that night, Monika pulled Shujinkou closer and pressed her forehead against his.

"Let's keep being there for each other, okay?" A playful, but encouraging smile spread across Monika's face, leading Shujinkou to grin in response.

"Sure," Shujinkou happily agreed.

Soon Monika pulled away. "I'll let you get back to settling in."

With those departing words, Monika took off for her room. He couldn't exactly understand why, but he felt really happy for her.

After sitting down on his bed for a few minutes, a curious thought crossed his mind.

I wonder if the others showed up yet.

Letting that curiosity guide him, Shujinkou wandered outside and was bumped into by someone.

"Whoa, Shujinkou?" Fuyu hastily adjusted her glasses. "Sorry."

"It's fine. What were you doing?"

"Getting the lay of the land. I heard about Kiyoko's place, but words don't do it justice."

Shujinkou could understand her awe. "Yeah, I think Natsuki's reaction spoke for all of us when we first saw it. Kiyoko really did the opposite of hyping it up."

"I bet she did. She's certainly never one to brag."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek.

"Hey, Fuyu?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to sound out of nowhere but… Have our conversations been strictly business lately?"

"Yes, yes it has."

"So fast and to the point!" Shujinkou sputtered.

"I can't exactly deny it," Fuyu said matter-of-factly. "I've been so consumed with school stuff that I haven't really had a leisurely talk with anyone lately, job fair notwithstanding. The price to pay for running the council alone."

"But don't we have class reps?"

"They don't get involved with that stuff."

"Really?"

"No."

"Oh."

He was sure class representatives would have been more involved with the school. Though he did recall the change in classes at the beginning of the semester temporarily removed that position.

"Frankly exam times for me are a relief," Fuyu admitted. "Everyone's so busy cramming they don't have a need for me."

"You really outta take a break, Fuyu." Shujinkou suggested.

"I know, everyone keeps saying that… Monika literally had to drag me to the fair. It's just that things have been chaotic this year between the class structures and the pranks and the intrusions and the kidnappings and other schools inquiries and budgeting—"

Fuyu tirelessly shook her head.

"I'm getting tired just thinking about it… As you can see, it's so bad that studying is considered a break."

No one should have such a terrifying work-life balance, at least that was what Shujinkou believed.

"…You know what, I think I know what you need." he said.

"You do?"

"A video game session."

"Huh? But I play games all the time."

"No, I mean like at least one day where you just set everything else aside and play your favorite game," Shujinkou explained. "Completely immerse yourself with no distractions. I was able to do it this summer and it felt really nice."

"Now that you mention it… It feels like it's been forever since I've done something like that." Fuyu furrowed her brow, annoyed by that fact.

"So that's what you should do."

"But I don't know when I could do something like that."

"Our winter vacation's coming up. I'm pretty sure there won't be any more super big things so… That would be a good time."

"Hmm…"

"Trust me. At the very least, it should help with feeling like you are allowed breaks from life."

"I do have a bucket list I need to get through…" You think you could join me if I ask then?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'll give it a try for real this time," Fuyu conceded. "Sounds like something to look forward to."

Shujinkou nodded his head in approval.

"Shiko! Fuyu!" Sayori waved at the two as she approached them, with Natsuki following close behind. "Morning guys! Is everyone here yet?"

"Monika and Yuri's here and…"

"Rei's inside last time I checked," Fuyu added.

"Not sure about Mali though," Shujinkou continued.

"Knowing her, she'll probably show up out of nowhere…" Natsuki groaned, recalling all the times Mali nearly gave her a heart attack.

The four looked around but none were able to spot any signs of Mali.

"I bet this is even this falls under her millions of plans…"

"You know, it really is impressive how Mali always seems to have plans within plans," Shujinkou admitted with admiration.

"Don't be amazed by that, Dummy," Natsuki chastised. "Especially how she uses those plans."

"But she did use her ability for good lately, right?" Sayori pointed out. "Maybe she's really trying to be nicer."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "…You can never tell with her."

Sayori glanced at Shujinkou. "She's definitely been nicer to you the last few days, Shiko. Especially compared to before."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He remembered how shocked he was when Mali hugged him the other day.

"Anyway, we going to put our stuff away and then we can figure out where Mali is." Sayori took Natsuki by the hand and guided her into the inn.

Soon after, Shujinkou clenched his rumbling stomach.

Ugh… Skipping out on breakfast's really getting to me now.

"We should probably find Kiyoko and see if she has anything here for you to eat," Fuyu suggested.

As if on cue, a bag of chips floated between the two. Rei shook them in front of Shujinkou, urging him to take it.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded her head.

"Ok. Thanks, Rei."

Shujinkou reached for the gift only for it to be snatched away by his junior. He felt a strong urge to cry as Mali kept the bag out of his reach.

"No time for this, Senpai. You got to get your study session started right away," Mali playfully chastised.

"But I'm hungry…"

"Is that so? Don't worry, Senpai, your kōhai has the perfect solution for everyone," Mali drew attention to the apron she was wearing, stirring Shujinkou's curiosity.

…

"Bon Appétit" Contrary to energetic atmosphere produced by Mali's beaming face, her compatriots were deathly silent. What was presented in front of them were several glasses each filled with a different colored liquid.

"That's not breakfast," Natsuki pointed out.

"Are these supposed to go with what you whipped up?" Monika asked.

"Nope. Senpai needs every second he can get to catch up so I figured we should speed up the process to getting to the actual study part of this study sleepover," Mali explained. "What we have here is something that'll fill you up instead of breakfast."

"So it's like a blended breakfast kinda thing…" Sayori softly whined.

"No just that," Mali turned her attention to Shujinkou. "I was actually inspired by something of Senpai's."

"Huh? Something of mine?" Shujinkou tilted his head curiously.

"While you were sleeping I happened to read some of your manga collection and I witnessed a scene that really got the idea factory going."

"From what exactly?"

"I think it had something to do with tennis."

Shujinkou's body was as stiff as a board after hearing that.

"Ah, I think Senpai gets it," Mali said with a teasing laugh.

"Shujinkou, what exactly is Mali getting at?" Monika asked.

"In the manga she's talking about, there's a character in the Tennis Club that makes drinks that put the fear of god in all that know about it…" Shujinkou shuddered.

"Is it really that bad?" Yuri asked.

"It went from simply being terrible tasting, to outright knocking people out cold and later reviving them in a pseudo-zombie like state," Shujinkou explained.

"And Mali… recreated it…?" Natsuki fretted.

The group leered at the drinks on the table. The increasingly bubbly surface sent chills down most of their spines.

"What are the chances that she was able to accurately recreate a fictional drink…?" Yuri worried.

"You're asking what are the chances that Mali of all people could recreate a drink that at best knocks people out?" Natsuki pointed out.

"Ah, touché."

"Well, who wants to be the first to try my delicious 'Malizitea'?" Mali gently shook on of the glasses in front of the others. The drink sloshing around like it was slime disturbed her compatriots.

"She wants us to drink her 'Malicious Tea'…" Monika weakly chuckled.

"Mali, your presentation leaves a lot to be desired…" Fuyu stated.

"Hm…" Mali glanced at the glass in her hand then at Shujinkou. "You'll try some right, Senpai?"

"M-Me?" Shujinkou stammered.

"Of course. I tried my hardest to create something close to something you like."

"I know, but…"

"Oh, I get it…" Mali lowered her head. "It seems Senpai still has his reservations about me. I guess I can't say that you aren't wisely cautious."

Moments after those words left her mouth, Mali felt a pair of hands drop on top of hers. They slowly, gently reach grasp the drink away from her.

"Senpai?"

Shujinkou's hands shook as he brought the glass to his pursed lips, and he took a sip.

"…It's… Really tasty." Shujinkou marveled.

Stunned by his response, the others reached for their own glass and drunk their portion.

"Wow! This is really tasty, Mali!" Sayori complemented.

"Hm? Was it not supposed to be tasty?" Mali wondered.

"Well, you know, Inui's drinks are generally terrible…" Shujinkou explained..

"Really? I thought they were tasty given that he seems to think so himself," Mali chuckled. "I guess I was just misreading the panels."

"…You just wanted to freak us out, didn't you," Natsuki accused.

"Ehe, just consider it a stimulating wake-up call, Natsuki-chan."

"So, since we're all completely 'stimulated' now, how about we get to studying?" Monika suggested.

"What should we start with?" Sayori questioned.

"Obviously, whatever Senpai struggles with the most," Mali answered. "Don't forget, that he's the main focus of this venture."

"Even taking that into account, I figured that the best way to start would be to test our knowledge on the core subjects we all have to contend with," Monika continued.

Monika reached into her bag, took out several small pamphlets and handed them to everyone.

"Principal Taiki was kind enough to let me see last years rendition of the exam and compose practice tests from them. Even though it's an amalgamation of subjects, I figured they're still a good start."

"What about yours?" Natsuki questioned. "Wouldn't you already know the answers if you made these?"

"Mine's different. Claudette volunteered to make mine to circumvent that," Monika explained.

Opening hers for the first time, Monika was met with a very surprising first question – "What's a good time to ask Shujinkou out on a date?"

You really couldn't resist could you, Claudette…?

She chuckled lightly as she turned to the next page - "Seriously, take the initative already so you can have a romantic Christmas."

"Claudette!" Monika looked around embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

"Something up with Claudette, Monika?" Sayori questioned.

"Nope… Just thinking about her usual supportive ways..." Monika answered as she hastily scribbled over the two questions. "Let's just get to it, okay?"