Planning an event that everyone would agree on would be easy… right? Or at least that was what Monika thought when she was put to the task as the class rep.

In the beginning, everything went great. Monika had everything down to a T. She even had an anonymous survey for those who weren't as vocal. She had this in the bag. It should've been easy with her organizational skills and her friends helping her.

Emphasis on should've been.

Instead, by Friday afternoon, the classroom felt more like a battlefield instead of a space to learn. Flurries of arguments could be heard throughout the entire room, even being heard out in the hallway.

"There is no way we're doing a talent show! We don't even have any talents!" A student groaned.

"We should do basketball!" A guy shouted across the room.

Monika raised her hand for silence like their teacher did. "Okay, everyone, let's all take a deep breath. We can't decide on anything if we all keep shouting over one another. Remember, we have to decide on one by Monday, so please, let's focus."

But, sadly, the debate only worsened. Sayori, with her usual optimism, tried to pipe up, "Guys, what if we just mixed everything up? We could just do everything all at once!" Though trying to unify them, her words only added fuel to the fire.

Yuri leaned forward in her chair, her words almost lost in the shouting. "P-Perhaps we could do something artistic to bring out our c-creative side?"

Natsuki scoffed. "Remember what Ms. Hiratsuka said? If we tried to do that, we're definitely going to be out of time," she said, impatience evident in her voice.

A male's voice, coming from Masamune, sliced through the chaos. "We need something big! Something that'll grab everyone's attention, like Ms. Hiratsuka said. Not something as lazy as playing basketball or a talent show!"

Hikigaya, the most cynical one in their class, muttered from the back, "No matter what we do, someone's always gonna complain. Let's just make it simple and get it over with fast."

Tiffany clapped her hands together, trying to keep it positive. "What if instead of combining everyone's ideas, we split them up into segments so everyone is happy?"

Nikki, however, had her head propped up on her hands and groaned before adding, "Monika, I'm sorry, but some of us aren't up to doing something big or something that takes too much time. Let's just go with the easiest plan."

Kyu, who was unnervingly silent, had a mischievous smile, loving the chaos. "Come on, Nikki, where's the fun in that? I say let's do something that'll blow everyone away! Like an obstacle course!"

As only two days had passed since they started planning, Tatsumi sat awkwardly in his seat, his eyes darting between the others as they argued. He didn't know which side he was on, but from how things were going, he believed nothing would get decided- at least, not today.

Monika sighed, her eyes darting around the room, desperately hoping for a spark of an idea. "Alright, we still haven't agreed on anything," she admitted, her voice sounding agitated. "We've gotta have something to give Ms. Hiratsuka on Monday, but we've got nothing ."

The debate raged on into the late afternoon, somehow making its way to the class group chat. Monika's head was throbbing, her organized notes becoming a mess of scribbles. With everyone having their own opinions, ranging from Sayori's vague plans, Hikigaya's cynicism, Masamune's desire for something big, and even Nikki's laziness, nothing could be decided.

During the weekend, students met to discuss a solution that everyone agreed on.

But instead, their meetings were met with no progress whatsoever. When one of them had an idea, someone else would quickly shut it down, saying it would either take too long, it wasn't interesting enough, or that it would just be too much work.

Then Monday came, and everybody could sense the tension in the room.

Before classes officially started, the classroom was buzzing with anxious chatter. Monika stood near the teacher's desk, finalizing their plan. I guess this will have to do, she thought.

Monika sighed as she glanced around the room, trying to gauge how everyone was feeling. The overall mood she noticed was one of pure anxiety, which she mirrored.

Across the room, she spotted Sayori staring out the window, her chin in her hand. Her usual brightness dimmed while staring blankly outside.

"Hey, Sayori, something on your mind?" Monika asked as she came up beside Sayori, her voice jolting Sayori from her thoughts.

"Nope! I'm all good, prez!" Sayori quickly responded, flashing an innocent smile.

Overhearing this, Nikki turned around in her chair and gave Sayori a skeptical look. "Really? You seem sort of out of it, Sayori, more so than usual."

Monika nodded along slowly while looking at Sayori suspiciously.

Sayori giggled uneasily as they stared at her. "D-Don't worry! I've got a plan that I hope will work."

"Plan? What kind of plan? And why didn't you mention it earlier?" Monika asked apprehensively.

"Well, I can't really say because it's not ready yet," Sayori vaguely replied. "Monika, just trust me, okay? I'm the Literature Club's Vice President after all!"

Before Monika could answer, the bell rang, which signalled the start of classes. Sayori immediately turned to the front, glad that they couldn't ask any more questions.

After shooting Sayori a suspicious glance, Monika went to her seat next to Tiffany, who was busy talking with Kyu. Monika sat there, her expression filled with anxiety as she held a green notebook- the cobbled "plan" inside of it.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door slid open and Ms. Hiratsuka walked in, her lab coat fluttering as she surveyed everyone.

"Good morning, everyone," she said, her voice unnaturally serious as she went to her desk. "I hope that you all contributed to thinking of something for the Festival."

The classroom went quiet as Ms. Hiratsuka looked at them all. She placed her bag on her desk with a soft thud, her eyes landing on Monika's.

After feeling her teacher's eyes, Monika straightened herself, trying to act more confident than she felt. "Of course, Ms. Hiratsuka," she said, her hand tensed while holding the notebook.

Ms. Hiratsuka raised an eyebrow; her face was stony, but her purple eyes had a twinge of amusement. "Really? Well, then show it to the class."

Monika glanced at her mess of notes, regretting her decision to be the class rep. "Well, as a class, we've been deciding with each other-"

"More like fighting," Hikigaya mumbled, quiet enough not to be heard.

"-and we have a few options. Like the… um…" Monika scanned through her notes, her expression shaky. "We have a talent show, a sports event, an art showcase-"

"That none of us agreed to by the way," Natsuki muttered.

Monika shot her a glare before continuing. "Anyways, we're almost done. We just need a little bit more time."

Ms. Hiratsuka had a strange look on her face, almost like she had eaten something sour. "C-Can I see that for a sec?" She asked Monika, her hand gesturing at the notebook.

"Oh, s-sure?" Monika said, a bit confused.

After hesitating for half a second, Monika walked to the desk and handed it over. Ms. Hiratsuka opened it, her eyes carefully scanning through the pages. There was a brief silence as she read through the class's ideas. The more she read, the more absurd they became.

What the-? Sleeping on futons? That's probably just Nikki again. Wait, an obstacle course?! Filled with spikes?! EXPLOSIONS?!

Ms. Hiratsuka accidentally made a small chuckle, but immediately covered it up with a cough, trying to hide her amusement. She leaned back in her chair and said, "That's, um… certainly something… I guess."

Monika shifted awkwardly, unsure if her teacher was criticizing them or not. "W-We were brainstorming over the weekend, and we have a lot of ideas, but we-"

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm not saying that it's bad ." Ms. Hiratsuka interrupted, trying her best to keep her face neutral. "But I was wondering… whose idea was it to be blindfolded in a room while being chased by a chicken?"

Monika flushed slightly, looking away. "T-That was more of a joke… hopefully…"

"Right, right," Ms. Hiratsuka teased, a grin tugging at her lips. "Hey Monika… what about this one?" Her teacher asked, her eyes locked on a sentence.

"Huh?" Monika asked, peering over Ms. Hiratsuka's shoulder, confused.

"It says, a 20-minute 'performance' done by the class rep? Wouldn't that be you, Monika?" Ms. Hiratsuka asked, trying desperately not to laugh.

Monika blinked, her cheeks reddening even more. "T-That, U-Uh, I don't kn-"

"That was me, Teach!" Kyu piped up, grinning widely.

"Kyu! Wh-" Monika spluttered, turning towards Kyu incredulously. "I thought you-"

Ms. Hiratsuka let out a sigh, an amused smile on her face as she shook her head. "Alright, calm down. So, from what I gathered, you guys don't have an event planned?"

The classroom went silent once again. All of the students were trying to avoid eye contact with her, some of them even pretending to read their textbooks.

She sighed again, her hand twitching as if trying to grab something, but then immediately stopped once she realized. "I figured. You do know that you were supposed to give one today, right?"

Everyone silently acknowledged the mess they had landed themselves in, the tension thick in the air. Instead of trying to find common ground with each other, they had only argued and bickered pointlessly.

Ms. Hiratsuka exhaled slowly, noting the gloomy atmosphere in the classroom. "I know I should be scolding you like every other teacher would for wasting time… but, " she paused, trying not to smile. "As you all know very well, I'm not like every other teacher."

The entire class held their breath, even the ones who weren't that interested in the Cultural Festival.

"W-What does that mean?" Yuri asked, her hand raised.

"I was just getting to that," Ms. Hiratsuka said, raising the suspense. "Technically, I said you had to turn in an idea on Monday. Don't think I never said when on Monday."

Tiffany straightened in her seat. "W-Wait… so does that mean-"

"Yep, I'm giving you time until the gates close for the day." Ms. Hiratsuka confirmed, leaning against her desk. "If you give me a real plan by then, I won't say you guys completely failed," she said with a wink.

Sayori's eyes lit up, before quickly looking down, her mind racing. Yes! Now I know this'll work!

The classroom collectively sighed with relief, but then was quickly replaced by anxiety once they realized what that meant. On one hand, Ms. Hiratsuka graciously gave them more time to fix this disaster. On the other hand, they spent all last week and got nowhere. What would a few more hours change?

"Great," Nikki muttered, slumping in her seat. "We've got to do even more planning."

"Yeah," Natsuki agreed, crossing her arms. "We're gonna fail, it's just gonna take longer."

Masamune chuckled. "What are you guys talking about?" He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms behind his head. "We've got this in the bag! Panicking means we've already lost!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow, looking at Masamune as she asked him, "Well, Masamune, do you have a specific plan in mind?"

"Huh?" Masamune blinked, his smile faltering for a second. "O-Of course I do! W-We just need to do something big!"

Hikigaya groaned. "So… you don't have a plan."

"Yeah? Well, you don't have one either, Fishigaya," Masamune shot back.

"Touché."

Tatsumi, who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke up. "Um, guys… I have an idea."

The room became silent as they all turned to him as he stood up. "I think… maybe there are too many people deciding right now," he said, fidgeting slightly.

Monika tilted her head. "Go on…"

"Well, everyone has different opinions on the event, right? And because of that, we've been fighting one another and getting nothing done."

The others nodded, being the only thing that all of them could agree on.

Tatsumi continued, "So to stop that, what if a group of like, six or seven of us, decide on the event, instead of trying to make the entire class agree on one thing."

The others murmured, considering Tatsumi's idea.

"I mean… it makes sense," Monika admitted. "I think you're right on this, Tatsumi."

"Yeah, this seems like it can work," Tiffany said, sounding on board with the plan.

"At least I don't have to keep hearing everyone yelling at each other," Nikki added.

Tatsumi was relieved, glad they didn't dismiss his idea. "But," he continued. "To make it fair and so everyone has a say, we should have people who don't always agree with each other."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Monika said.

Before they could continue, a snap echoed through the classroom.

Ms. Hiratsuka was leaning against her desk while giving all of them a pointed look. "I'm glad that you guys found a solution," she said, amusement evident in her tone. "But I think you guys forgot something. It's still class time."

The room became silent.

"You can figure out all of this when you're free, " she continued, pushing off the desk. "Understood?"

The class nodded sheepishly.

"Good." She smirked, turning back to the board. "Now let's get on with the lesson, or else I'll have to give out pop quizzes."

They all groaned, but none of them argued.

As the lesson finally began, the class went back to its usual routine- the sounds of chalk scratching the board and the occasional scribbling of notes filled the room.

Though everyone had something to say about the Cultural Festival when Ms. Hiratuksa came in, one person in particular barely uttered a sound.

Sayori, normally the most talkative one, had been eerily silent the entire time.

It was weird.

Sayori, who was the most vocal in class, would have spoken up during the arguments, saying what she wanted, or at the very least, making a couple of jokes to lighten the mood. But nope. Nothing.

A few people noticed before, but with the discussion happening, all of them conveniently forgot, chalking it up as just a bad day for her. Even Monika, one of Sayori's closest friends, didn't think much of it, thinking it was just another of Sayori's antics.

When Ms. Hiratsuka told them to take notes, she took up her pencil but didn't write anything down.

Instead, she looked at her pencil blankly, deep in thought. A thought came out of nowhere, striking her like a lightning bolt.

She facepalmed suddenly, annoyed at herself for forgetting.

"Psst, hey, Natsuki," she whispered to Natsuki, who was on her left, trying to be sneaky.

"What?" Natsuki whispered back, her eyes barely leaving her notes.

"I've got a favour to ask."

"Okay, what is it?"

Sayori gave her a sheepish smile. "During lunch or whenever you're free, can you make some cupcakes?"

"Where the hell is her school!?"

Kiro was sprinting down the sidewalk, breathing steadily even after running for so long. He had already been to two different schools, asking random students if they knew who Sayori was, but he only got questionable looks or vague answers.

One girl even said he looked familiar, but then he quickly ran away, not even wanting to see if she knew Sayori or not.

I swear I'm going to strangle that girl, he thought, knowing he didn't mean it. How have we never talked about where she went to school?!

He stopped in front of the open gates of another school, not seeing any students heading out. He glanced up at the sign on the gates, which read:

IMABARI HIGH SCHOOL

A helping hand is always appreciated.

I could use one right about now, he thought, hoping that something would happen.

…Yeah, no. His grandfather told him once that, out of all the things that exist in the world, miracles are the one thing that doesn't.

"Alright… third time's the charm, right?" He muttered to himself.

He took a breath and walked through. The school seemed pretty normal, though it was the biggest one with five storeys. There was also a fancy-looking fountain in the middle of the courtyard bubbling peacefully.

His eyes lingered on the fountain, but then quickly snapped back. Stop, you can look at it later. You need to find Sayori.

He sighed, finding no one in the courtyard.

"Damn it, this is gonna be awkward," he groaned regretfully, heading for the school doors.