"Sunday!" Keiko threw open the door of the dorm building, and let the Spring sunshine hit her face.

"Feels great, doesn't it?" Otaru followed behind her with a hand in his pants pocket.

Keiko stretched out her arms. "You can say that again!" She couldn't tell what it was that made her feel so good right now...the good exchange of words between her and Kakeru the day before, the fine weather, or the company of one of her favorite people that morning.

"Are we hitting the library first?" Otaru asked.

"Yeah!" Keiko chirped back.

"Then this way." Otaru took Keiko by the arm, and began to walk.

"Ow!" Keiko pulled away. "Not so tight."

Otaru stopped, and gave Keiko an odd look. "...sorry..."

Keiko relaxed the arm she tugged away. "...."

Otaru continued walking. "What'd you do yesterday?"

"Sleep."

"All day?" Otaru inquired.

"No, not all day..." Keiko replied. "What about you? How was the game?"

"I dunno, I was talking to Toseki Mai during most of it." Otaru turned towards the back door, and saw a group of students head to the back music hall door in a rush with Headmaster Obari. "Did we miss something?"

"Hmm?" Keiko turned around, and saw a crowd begin to build around the corner of the dorm building. "It's at the music hall..."

"An accident?" Otaru asked.

Keiko walked ahead of him. "I doubt that. Let's go see."

Otaru and Keiko shoved through the small crowd of students as politely as they could. They managed to get through the door, and Keiko gasped at the scene made in the middle of the room.

Kakeru was sitting up on the floor, a trail of blood was running down the side of his head.

The awards shelf was busted on the floor, trophies lying everywhere.

Kakeru opened his eyes, and looked over to Keiko. Keiko looked back at him, and stepped closer to Otaru almost defensively. Kakeru lightly smiled at this, and closed his eyes again so the nurse could treat his wound.

Obari walked up to Kakeru, and knelt down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Shuu-san..." Kakeru kept his eyes closed, and smiled. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"What happened?" Jiro was also on the scene, naturally near the Headmaster.

"I don't understand, no one else was here." the nurse began to clean Kakeru's face. "Nothing explains what caused the trophy case to fall over."

Keiko watched the three men question Kakeru.

"The music hall incidents start up again..." Otaru said to Keiko.

"But no one's ever been actually hurt in one before!" Keiko held her chin in thought.

Hiiragi Gohei knelt next to the trophy case, and took a picture of the broken panels of glass.

Keiko furrowed her brow, and walked over to Gohei.

"Ah! Sempai!" Otaru called.

Keiko rose her hand. "Just a moment." She squatted next to the reporter, and picked up a shard of glass. "Busted in the front?"

"Looks like it." Gohei lowered his camera. "Which means that it was pushed from behind."

Keiko set the piece of glass down, and stood. She walked over to Kakeru,and knelt on his side opposite of the nurse. Kakeru sensed her arrival, and just slightly smiled. He turned his head a bit to face her, and opened his eyes. "Hey." His gravely voice was hushed, but familiar rather than cold.

Keiko was a bit surprised, but actually relieved by his acknowledgement. She smiled back. "Hey."

The nurse took Kakeru by the jawbone, and he turned his face away from Keiko. "Face forward, please."

"When did this happen?" Keiko asked Kakeru.

Kakeru closed his eyes. "I don't know. It could've been an hour ago, it could've been five minutes ago."

Obari looked to the nurse. "Don't hesitate to send him to the hospital if he needs stitches."

"The wound is big, but it's not deep." the nurse pulled out a roll of gauze. "I don't think stitches are necessary."

"Thank you, I'm fine." Kakeru moved his legs to get up, but Obari and Keiko both jumped to his aid.

"Stay down!" Keiko ordered.

"The nurse isn't through treating you yet!" Obari held Kakeru's shoulders.

Gohei knelt next to Otaru, and fit the Headmaster, Keiko, and Kakeru all into one shot. "Is your friend hot on the culprit's trail?"

Otaru smiled. "I dunno what you're talking about."

"Mm-hmm."

Keiko saw a few Phoenix school students from the entrance inside the drom. She frowned, and narrowed her eyes a bit to try to get a better look at them. I wonder what they're up to...

"Fujishige-kun." Obari put a firm hand on Keiko's shoulder to get her attention.

Keiko's face turned as red as a hot iron. She turned to the handsome headmaster. "Y-yes?"

Kakeru gave Keiko a dark glare over the nurse's shoulder. You are distracted way too easily...

"Would you please clear out some of this crowd? It may be too much stress for Kakeru." Obari's face had a look of deep concern.

Keiko simply nodded, her face still red. She stood up, and slowly walked over to the swarm of students at the door to the outside. She breathed steadily, to rid herself of the horrible blush she had.

Otaru and Gohei watched from the sidelines.

Keiko opened her mouth to shout out an order to clear the area, but a voice came from behind her to cut her off.

"Good gracious! What happened?!" Toseki Mai and Nimai Rina were brought to the dorm entrance doorway, accompanied by the girls that left earlier.

Kakeru closed his eyes, and sighed. Now Mai-chan's getting herself involved...

Keiko turned around, and saw the two girls walk in. She approached Rina, who casually acknowledged her.

"What happened to your friend?" Rina kept her voice low.

Keiko pointed to the broken trophy case. "That."

Rina's eyes widened, and Mai gasped.

"Kakeru-chan!" Mai rushed to Kakeru's side. "You poor dear! Are you hurt?!"

Kakeru opened his eyes, and looked to Mai. The nurse was bandaging his head, setting the bloody cotton pads beside him. "What do you think, Mai?"

Mai frowned, and stood. "Excuse me for being concerned!"

"Where's Staci-chan?" Keiko turned away from Mai and Kakeru, her eyebrow twitching.

"She asked Mai to cover this one." Rina looked at the trophy case with folded arms. "She said she had a class assignment for history to finish up."

Mai came back to Rina's side, and knelt by the trophy case. "It's started again. And now people are getting hurt!" She picked up a piece of glass, and turned to Rina. "If this keeps up, someone might wind up in the hospital, or worse."

Keiko and Rina blinked.

"What are you saying, Toseki-san?" Rina asked.

Mai walked between Keiko and Rina, and looked at Kakeru. "I'm saying that this music hall is becoming too dangerous a place to trust to it the fate of students who spend time in it."

"You're not meaning to imply that we close down the music hall...?" Keiko lowered her voice an octave.

Mai sighed, and folded her arms. "I see no other choice, to you?"

One of the girls who fetched Rina and Mai put a hand to her chin. "I have a brother who is in the orchestra here..."

"Wouldn't that mean we would have to cancel the co-ed weekend?" Rina looked across the room, and saw Jiro near the door of Ken's office.

"I dno't see any other alternatives." Mai replied.

"We can't do that!" Rina opposed Mai. "Why should we let one accident ruin all of the work we put into this?"

"Where does your concern lie, Rina-san?" Mai smiled subtly, and rose her eyebrows. "Your little project, or the safety of the student body?"

Rina took a step back. "You know I care about my classmates."

"But what of the boy's school? They're more at risk, as you can clearly see." Mai extended a hand in Kakeru's direction. She folded her arms and smiled wider. "One can't help but question the possibility of you having a role in this entire fiasco."

Rina's face went blank at the accusation, and Jiro quickly cut in.

"We don't have nearly enough information to start pointing fingers here." Jiro walked between the two to separate them.

Mai quickly dismissed the matter, and began to leave the room. "I would take my advice, Kanzaki-kun, before something else happens."

Kakeru sighed, holding a bloody cloth against his temple. "It's getting hot in here."

This is stressing Kakeru out. Keiko turned to Kakeru, and pulled her lips tight. She knelt next to him again, and put one of his arms over her shoulder. "Can he walk at all? We should take him to the clinic." She said to the nurse.

"Take it slow, he had a pretty hard fall." the nurse helped Keiko lift Kakeru.

Kakeru leaned against Keiko, and rested a cheek on her neck.

"Hey!" Keiko hissed at him. "Snap out of it!" She blushed as his weak breath tickled the gape of her neck.

"Sempai?" Otaru came to Keiko's side.

"I'm sorry, Otaru--but I've gotta take him to the clinic." Keiko's heart sank as she remembered that she had an obligation to Otaru.

"Mmh..." Kakeru moaned, and his eyes fluttered open nearly halfway. He saw Otaru for a moment, but his vision quickly blurred. Getting a headache, he shut his eyes and rested his head against Keiko again.

"...well," Otaru didn't look pleased, but he took Kakeru's free arm, and put it over his shoulder, "...let me help, then..."

Keiko felt the relief of having half of Kakeru's weight transferred to somewhere other than herself. She looked over to Otaru, and smiled to him. "Thanks."

"Are we going to be standing much longer?" Kakeru complained.

Keiko blushed again, and gasped. "Oh! Sorry!" she began to walk, and heard Kakeru spout a pouty "Geez...".

Rina watched the three exit the music hall.

"Do you think we need to call a meeting?" Jiro casually stood by Rina, a hand in one of his pockets.

"I think so. Preferably without any press present." Rina rubbed her bare arms.

"You cold, Nimai-kun?" Jiro turned to her.

"The A.C. is a bit low."

Jiro shifted his weight. "Either way, I think we should hold it soon. Personally, I'd like it to be casual."

Rina looked to Jiro, her eyebrows raised.

"Would you ask Headmistress Nakaijima if she would meet the three of us at a coffee shop or something?" Jiro asked in all seriousness.

"Rather informal, wouldn't you say?" Rina kept her guard up, in spite of Jiro's outward friendliness.

"Oh, come on, Nimai-kun. Surely you're comfortable around Obari-sama and I by now." Jiro smiled. "It's Springtime, let's enjoy the season."

"If it suits you..." Rina shrugged.

"It suits me nicely Rina-san--may I call you that?" Jiro was amused by Rina's shocked expression.

"I-I don't see why not..." Rina sputtered. Why the sudden chumminess?

"Great. Why not call up the Headmistress? There's a phone at the end of the dorm." Jiro pointed at the doorway.

Rina nodded. "I'll be back in a moment, then."

"We'll be waiting." Jiro replied, and walked to Obari's side.

Rina saw the table with the phone at the end of the dorm's hallway, just where Jiro said it would be.

Anji was inside his dorm room, just a few doors down from the hallway. He was occupying himself with some homework at his desk, but was staring down at it vacantly.

"Emergency? ...well, there was an accident at the music hall--yes, there was one. Shiranui Kakeru. Yes, that's him." he vaguely heard Rina's voice in the hallway, and looked up. Silently, he set his pen down, and walked to his doorway. He opened it, and saw Rina's back facing him a few doors down. Her head was lowered, and her voice was low.

"...no one knows yet. It wasn't an accident." Rina paused. "...I'm a little scared, Nakaijima-sama. He was bleeding."

Anji listened to Rina at his doorway, his green eyes squinting a bit. He had to strain his ears to catch everything she said. Rina's voice was a soft squeak by now--

"I'm very scared, Nakaijima-sama. Mai made it look like I was responsible for it, and--" she was cut off.

Anji gripped the doorway subconciously. Responsible for what?

"They're probably waiting. You'll be here soon, right? No, they don't know it. I hide it well. Thank you. I will." Rina hung up, and exhaled.

Anji walked up behind Rina. "Hey."

Rina spun around, letting out a short, startled shriek. Anji backed away, and Rina grabbed her chest.

"Oh! Amuro-kun!" Rina gasped for breath.

"What happened?" Anji asked.

"I can't really go into detail right now...Jiro-kun and I have to have a meeting with Obari and Nakaijima-sama." Rina stumbled past Anji, her face shamefully red from her outburst. "Have your sister fill you in."

"Wait." Anji took Rina by the shoulers. "I have something for you."

Rina's wide gray eyes blinked. "For me?"

"Wait here." Anji held out both hands, as though to suspend her from stepping forward, and stepped back into his dorm.

What on Earth could Amuro-kun have for me? Rina looked down the hallway to the music hall. It's probably something to give to Staci. How tacky. I'm not messenger...

Anji came back out with a folded Phoenix uniform. Rina made a nervous grimace, and took a step back.

Anji grinned, very amused, but Rina could tell by the twitch in his eyebrow that he was unhappy with her.

"I think Keiko needed to return these to you." Anji handed them over gently, and Rina apprehensively took the bundle.

That Amuro girl can't do ANYTHING without finding a way to screw it up! Rina angrily thought.

"I can't help but wonder if you're trying to sabotage TUA." Anji casually said as he turned back into his dorm room.

Rina opened her mouth to give Anji a saucy reply, but she was so upset by his careless comment, that she advised herself against it.

Anji shut the door behind him, and walked back to his desk. Running his fingers through his red hair, he shook his head, and sat down in his desk chair. He never saw the Phoenix School President sound so mousy. Was this the effect that authority had on her? Or was it the instability that was the cause of her fear?

Anji picked up his pen, and hovered over his homework. He wasn't going to involve himself more than he'd have to. And this was more than he'd have to. This was his Senior year of High School. He just wanted to breeze through, and look forward to college next year. Now was not the time to get neck-deep into social affairs not of his concern.

Kakeru sighed as Otaru and Keiko gingerly rested him on the clinic's bed.

"My head's throbbing...." Kakeru moaned quietly, his vacant stare aimed at the ceiling.

"He should have an icepack or something..." Otaru pulled up two chairs to the bedside, and looked to Keiko. "Sempai."

Keiko looked down to Otaru. "...just for a few minutes, Otaru. Until someone's in here."

"I was going to say that I was going to get some icepacks." Otaru gently replied, a bit surprised by Keiko's expression.

Kakeru noticed Keiko sheepishly keep her eyes lowered on the bed.

"Oh. Okay, then. Don't be long."

Kakeru watched Otaru leave the room, and waiting about ten seconds before speaking.

"He's not very bright, you know."

Keiko's head shot up, her furrowed brow showing her offense.

Kakeru still spoke in an exhausted tone, but his words were still as sharp as ever. "It's so blatantly obvious--I can't believe he can't tell." He smirked at this.

Keiko glared at Kakeru. "Excuse me, but if it weren't for that one time, you'd still think I was a guy."

"I would've figured it out sooner or later." Kakeru smiled, and sighed as he shifted on the bed. "Man, my head huuuuuurts."

"I'm sorry that this had to happen to you." Keiko reached over to brush some of Kakeru's hair away from his wound.

"No you're not." Kakeru replied, and Keiko pulled her hand back, her eyes widening.

"Or you shouldn't be." Kakeru continued, "If it happened to someone you didn't know, you could never be sure if you got the full story from them." He slowly turned on his side. "You are trying to get to the bottom of this, aren't you?"

Keiko blinked, letting what Kakeru said sink in. "Actually, I guess I can be glad of your injury...because it proves that you're not the culprit." She paused, and sweatdropped. That felt odd.

"And I thought you were hoping to catch me as the villian!" Kakeru smiled. "I was going to give you such a chase, too!" He laughed a bit.

Keiko nervously smiled, and tried to laugh along. But she couldn't help but notice how weird it felt, this situation--Kakeru was so unpredictable.

"We can still play cat and mouse, right?" Kakeru asked, closing his eyes. "I've never had anyone pursue me genuinely. Even Shuu-san has ulterior motives..." Kakeru's last few words were more of a sigh than a sentence.

"Oh, please. With your violin playing?" Keiko snorted. "I'd switch places with you any day to have your talent. Maybe then my parents would stop ramming sports down my throat." She sighed, and stretched out her arms. "It'd be nice to get some attention from them, but they're so caught up with Anji graduating and all..."

"Believe me, you don't want the attention I get." Kakeru mumbled, his eyes closed.

Keiko reached over, and nudged Kakeru a bit. "Hey, wake up. No sleeping `til we know you're okay."

"...'we'...?" Kakeru's eyes opened to dark, narrow slits.

"Yeah. Me and Obari." Keiko replied.

"Shuu-san's probably gone by now. Probably at a meeting with that Headmistress and girlfriend of yours." Kakeru said that with a bit of bitterness.

"I thought you two were friends." Keiko quietly stated.

"Sempai." Otaru came back in, and handed Keiko some icepacks. "The nurse will be here soon. We can go now."

"Go on." Kakeru said.

Keiko gave Kakeru an odd look. He must be too tired to be bossy right now.

"Just don't keep him out too late, he has to serve me breakfast in bed tomorrow." Kakeru gave a tired smile to the two.

"Tomorrow's Monday." Keiko stood next to Otaru.

"Yeah...?" Kakeru looked up to them with doe-eyes.

"Breakfast in bed is your Sunday thing!" Keiko growled.

"Oh! Not so loud! My heeeeaaaaddd!!!" Kakeru whined.

Keiko snarled at Otaru, grabbing his arm in an order to exit.

Kakeru's whining ceased the moment Keiko slammed the door behind her and Otaru. He went silent, and looked to the doorway. He turned on his back to stare up at the ceiling.

"I thought you two were friends."

"So did I." Kakeru muttered.

Otaru watched over Keiko's shoulder as she worked on the computer database in the library.

"Could you stop standing over me?" Keiko kept her eyes on the screen. "Sit down."

Otaru complied, and pulled a chair next to Keiko, and sat in it. He looked at the screen, and then to Keiko. Frowning a bit, he noticed the crease between her two brows, and how she just barely chewed on the corner of her lip. Her face was stiff, and it seems to twitch with every blink.

"Are you all shook up from this morning?" Otaru quietly asked.

Keiko clicked on the mouse to open another article, and quickly stopped chewing on her lip. "...." She closed the window, and opened the next article. "Yeah, a bit." She shifted her eyes to another side of the screen, and continued. "This was so unexpected. I keep coming up with dead ends..."

Otaru leaned over to get a better look at the screen, and his large green eyes grew wide. "Are you trying to uncover who's behind all this?!"

"Yeah." Keiko answered. That's why I'm here. She looked down to see Otaru craning his neck to watch, and scooted away a few inches to distance themselves a bit more. "What do you think it is?"

"At first, I thought it was some of last year's graduating class just cutting up with cruel pranks." Otaru sat up, and put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "But after these past few weeks...I'm not sure anymore."

"Hmm..." Keiko nodded. "Whoever it was--was here last year. So that would disqualify any of the freshman class or transfer students."

"Mmh..." Otaru crossed his legs, and leaned back on his chair to think. "Maybe the hall really is haunted?"

Keiko nearly fell off of her chair at the suggestion. Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she sputtered out her words. "You think it's a ghost?!"

"I'm still doubtful, but..." Otaru began to blush. "I might've seen it."

Keiko frowned, and quirked a brow at his blush. "What's up, your face is all funny."

Otaru's eyes widened, and he turned a deeper red. "Ah! No! I'm sorry!"

Keiko gave him a critical stare, adn put both hands on his knees. She leaned over, and lowered her voice. "Otaru."

Otaru nervously smiled, stiffening up. "Y-yes?"

"What did it look like?" Keiko's voice sounded almost monotonous.

Otaru looked to the ceiling through the corner of his eyes. "I didn't get a very good look--"

"Was it naked?"

"What?!"

"You're blushing!"

"It was a girl! Okay?!" Otaru turned a deeper red.

"Was she naked?"

"NO!" Otaru shouted, his face now a deep beet color. "She was a Phoenix student!"

Keiko's smile quickly dissolved. She leaned back, and took her hands off of Otaru's knees. She turned back the computer, and continued through the articles.

"What's wrong?" Otaru asked.

"Nothing's wrong." Keiko idly replied, clicking away on the computer.

"The sudden silence isn't like you." Otaru persisted.

"I'm thinking, okay?!" Keiko sharply snapped, glaring forward at the screen.

Otaru's eyes widened, and he looked at Keiko a second longer, who returned to her tense disposition. With a sigh, he stood. "Well, I'll be over in the fiction. Come get me when you're done, Sempai."

Keiko kept scanning through the articles for a few minutes after Otaru left. Then, she suddenly let out an exhasperated sigh, and buried her face in her hands.

What is wrong with me? Keiko rubbed her eyes. She set her hands in her lap, and stared at the screen. What reason do I have to be treating Otaru so poorly? We've spent such little time together lately...She looked down at her reflection on the screen. Because I've been with Kakeru so much, I didn't even notice.

Keiko began to shift the focus of her ill feelings towards Kakeru rather than Otaru. But then the image of Kakeru with a bloody bandage bound around his head appeared in her mind's eye, and she begant o get upset with Otaru for pulling her away from Kakeru in his time of need.

But then again...she pulled him away, didn't she?

Why does he always have to blush when he sees a girl?! Keiko darkly thought. Wait. He was talking about me...WAH! I'm jealous of myself!! Not fair!!

Keiko began to close up the windows. But he likes this distorted image of me...if he knew who that girl was...she wilted back into her chair, and let her arms hang off the side. After I just treated him, he'd probably hate my guts.

After a moment, she straightened up, and pulled herself together. Well, that means that I have to fix things before they get any worse.

She felt two firm hands press on her shoulders, and she stiffened. She looked up to see Otaru smiling down at her.

"Let's get out of here. We could use a change of scenery." Otaru's soft voice fell on her ears with gentleness and ease.

Keiko scooted back in her chair, and stood. "That'll work."

"What sounds best--the CD store, the cafe? Or perhaps sneaking back into the Phoenix School?" Otaru joked.

Keiko snickered. "What, so we can find your dream-ghost?"

Otaru frowned. "That's not funny. I already feel stupid for even confessing to seeing such a thing."

"Sorry. It'd just be nice to find something to tease you about." Keiko pushed the chair in, and they made their way to the libaray's exit.

"I'm sure you'll find something soon enough."

"What?! You're kidding me!" Staci stood at the front fo Rina's desk. "Why?!"

"I didn't want to cancel it, but...Staci, the pressure we're getting--Nakaijima-sama has to keep the intrests of the Phoenix School board in mind, and if it looks like we are in any way trying to endanger the lives of our rival boy's school..." Rina tried to calmly explain to Staci the reasoning of the co-ed weekend's cancellation. "Who knows, maybe we'll be able to figure out who's behind it before the co-ed festival, and we can still hold it."

Staci was pacing, and frantic. "I can't believe that the violinist got hurt! Why could he have possibly been targeted?"

"The entire ordeal is a mystery..." Rina put both arms on her desk. "I can only hope that the Amuros aren't wasting any time in getting to the bottom of this."

"Uwah-ha-HAAAAAA--!!" Keiko's laughter rang through the store.

Otaru buried his nose further into the book he was considering to buy. His face was a deep red, and his hands trempbled. "Sempai...we're in a book store..."

Keiko closed her mouth, and hid her face with the open manga tankobon she was reading. "Sorry...!" She was sitting on the bookstore floor, her legs stretched out in front of her. She leaned back to look up to Otaru behind her, and a huge grin spread across her face. "I had no idea that kids had it so good these days! I wish the mnaga I read was as good as this!"

Otaru closed his book, and knelt next to Keiko. He smiled at her nervously, and took one of her arms to pull her up. "It seems that we're getting very little accomplished here."

"Wha-?! B-but I'm not done!" Keiko whined.

"Let's go eat."

"But I'm not hungry yet!"

"You will be when we get there." Otaru set his book down, and urged her out.

Keiko suspiciously eyed Otaru, who had his eyes lowered to the pavement on which they walked.

"What's with you?" she bluntly asked out loud.

Otaru looked up with a jerk. "Huh?"

"You've been acting like you're in some huge rush." Keiko continued. "What's up?"

Otaru blinked, as though the words were still processing...

Keiko quirked a brow, and leaned forward curiously.

Without warning, a telephone pole interrupted Keiko's path.

Otaru snapped out of his trance, and froze in his steps. "Ah--!"

Keiko had unwittedly walked straight into it. She pulled herself off of the pole, her glasses imprinted on her face.

"This is not how I wanted my ice cream." Keiko droned as she tilted her head back.

Otaru leaned over the back of a bench Keiko sat at, and lightly rested a frozen popsicle on Keiko's nose.

"You can eat it after your nose stops swelling." Otaru looked down at her with a sunny smile, and held up a soft-serve ice-cream cone.

Keiko took hold of the popsicle in its wrapper, and rose her eyebrows as Otaru took a huge taste of his ice-cream. She laughed as she winced--scrunching his face cutely.

"Is it cold?" Keiko asked. Otaru simply replied with a quick nod. "Vanilla?" to which Otaru nodded again. "Lemme have some."

Otaru reached over, adn carefully angled the cone to let Keiko have a bite. She opened her mouth, and the ice-cream smushed all over her chin. She looked up, and got a noseful of ice-cream.

She snorted as Otaru pulled it away, and she felt a sharp jolt of pain shoot up her nose.

Otaru laughed, and Keiko grabbed her nose.

"Whoops!" Otaru came around, and sat next to her. "That was unintentional." He said in reply to a dark glare Keiko sent him. "Do you think I wanted to waste my ice-cream like that?" He handed it over to her.

Keiko took it, and studied it to find the spot that hit her chin. She ran her tongue across it once she found it, and handed it back to Otaru. "Fixed."

Otaru took it, and stared at it for a moment.

"I'm not contagious." Keiko threw one of her arms over the back of the bench. "It's melting, already."

Keiko found joy in watching Otaru eat the ice-cream. Watching his youthful face look so intent on finishing his ice cream, it lead Keiko to wonder if he frequently enjoyed his parents treating him with ice-cream in his childhood.

Otaru paused when he got eye-contact with Keiko. He pulled his ice-cream away, and smiled at her. "Want some more?" He held it out to her.

Keiko's eyes widened a bit. "Wha-? Oh, no..." She looked to the street, and noticed the sun beginning to set. Boys were never this nice to hear as a girl...

"Ne, Sempai."

Keiko gasped to attention, and turned to Otaru again, blushing a bit. "Yeah?"

Otaru lowered his ice-cream. Keiko set down the popsicle that was on her throbbing nose. He didn't look at her, but rather looked out to the street. "Spring Break is the week after this..."

Keiko nodded. "Yeah?"

Otaru's cheeks began to faintly tint. "This may be a bit extreme, but--would you like to spend Spring Break with me?"

Yes! Keiko's pulse sped up, but her speeding heart quickly sank. "I can't. I already told Anji that I'd go spend Spring Break with his family."

Otaru nodded, smiling oddly. "Oh! You'll be able to see Keiko again!"

Keiko's jaw dropped. "How'd you--"

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm jealous of you, or of her." Otaru's green eyes were bright. "You're able to be just friends with such a cute girl..."

Keiko felt a deep blush creep up her neck.

"But I'm jealous of her at the same time...having to share your attention with her." Otaru laughed lightly. "That sounds stupid." He rubbed his nose.

"I'll go with you next break, okay?" Keiko replied. "I promise."

Otaru rested his free hand on his lap, and nodded. "Okay."

Keiko rested an elbow on his shoulder. "Tell you what, I'll introduce you to Keiko sometime...when the time is right."

Otaru looked at Keiko with question in his eyes. "I don't mean to make this sound odd..."

Keiko smiled, and tilted her head. "I don't find anything odd about it. Cheer up. You're not acting like your usual self."

"My usual self?"

"Yeah! Where's the Otaru would could shut me up with a singular sentence? Mister Happy-All-The-Time?" Keiko stood up fast, and held out an arm for him to grab.

Otaru blinked, and took a firm grip on Keiko's forearm as she pulled him up.

She squeezed Otaru's arm, her shoulders feeling as though they were being lifted by helium-filled balloons. It's such a refreshing change to be around Otaru, rather than my brother or Kakeru. I can be myself, without feeling awkward.

Keiko felt a sharp stab of guilt...

...but this wasn't herself she was being. This was Fujishige Kei.

But it was still her, right? Essentially...

No. No matter how she wished it were that easy...Fujishige Kei and Amuro Keiko must never meld into the same person. For her own safety, if no one else's.

Monday morning came. Sunday had felt like a dream...did Kakeru really get injured? Did Otaru actually admit to being jealous of someone?

Keiko brushed her hair without putting much thought into it. She watched Anji effortlessly get dressed in front of her, and hobble over to the doorway with one shoe on, to get the newspaper. He paused at the doorway, and picked it up to read the headline.

Keiko slipped on her glasses just soon enough to notice the disappointed look on her brother's face.

Hobbling back over, he slapped it down on their bedside table, and began to look around for the other shoe.

Keiko leaned over to read the headline:

"IT'S OVER."

End Episode Eleven

Go on to Episode Twelve

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