Akiomi stood behind the lectern with his class register open in front of him, his pale violet irises scanning the classroom in one sweep from left to right before stopping at a particular desk by the window.

As he had expected, the seat was vacant yet again—just as its owner had notified him yesterday morning via the four-page reflection essay she had left on his table that he had never even asked her to write. It was a peculiar thing, her essay. Throughout his eight years of teaching, this was the first time Akiomi had encountered something so vulnerable and personal that was simultaneously one of the most clinical and sobering pieces of writing he had ever read. It was as if two different authors, polar opposites of each other, had penned the essay instead of a teenage schoolgirl.

To summarize the contents of her essay, she first expressed her heartfelt apology for how she acted the other day, in which she humbly admitted to facing inner struggles and acknowledged her failure to control her negative emotions. After that, she dissected her mental and emotional state, treating them as if they were alien specimens in a twisted scientific study. She then proceeded to list the flaws she had overlooked in her arguments. Every shortcoming was then rationalized and explained as to why she had thought as such at the time, followed by their corresponding amendments, which were much more sensible and grounded.

It's an ideal essay, Akiomi thought once his eyes reached the final streak of ink at the bottom left of the page where her signature resided. If he ignored the entirety of the last paragraph, where she asked him to disregard everything she had written in those four pages, clarifying that the essay was composed purely for her own sake and neither for his or the school's, it would be an ideal reflection essay—one worthy enough to be framed and turned into a sample.

And if the inexplicable uneasiness weighing on his conscience hadn't been so impossible to ignore, Akiomi wouldn't have strode over to the infirmary to seek Jin's opinion before homeroom began.

With his hip reclined against the table, Akiomi observed the way Jin's lips pursed as his eyes trailed over the paper from end to end, occasionally lingering on certain sections of the perfect handwriting to give himself a bit of time to think.

"Her intense self-awareness threw you off, didn't it?" Jin said, finally breaking the still early-morning silence.

"Weren't you?" Akiomi asked in return, his voice nearly coming out in a whisper.

"I sort of knew she was like this." Jin handed the papers back to Akiomi, letting his other arm dangle off the backrest of his chair. "To have a profound understanding of your inner self is one thing, but to be able to word the findings of your own psychoanalysis so objectively and articulately... That's more of a talent than anything else."

"Is it even possible to psychoanalyze yourself?" Akiomi folded his arms above his chest, skeptical.

"Not a chance." Jin shook his head, shutting down the idea entirely. "But she certainly makes it sound like it's possible."

The two teachers' conversation paused as a group of students passed by the infirmary, their loud chatters briefly disturbing the faux tranquility like a pebble rippling the surface of stagnant water. "Doesn't it bother you?" Akiomi asked once the rowdiness died down with distance.

"What, exactly?"

"The essay itself."

"'Suppose it's a bit different from the essays you'd normally get from the students, but it's a good essay nonetheless. If pouring out her feelings on paper helps her figure things out, then why not? I personally don't see anything wrong with it."

Seeing how quiet his brunet colleague had become, a slight smile tugged at the corners of Jin's lips. "If you're that worried, why don't you go talk to her? Maybe you can apologize for what you almost said to her the other day while you're at it."

Akiomi held back a sigh as he ripped his gaze away from her desk and shook yesterday's events off his mind. Even if he wanted to talk with her, he had to wait until she showed up back to school to do it—and who knew? By the time it happened, perhaps she would have had her feelings sorted, and there would be no point bringing his concerns up at all.

That would be preferable; if possible, Akiomi wanted to avoid inquiring into her private affairs as much as he could. From what he managed to gather from her essay and the heated exchange they had the other day, it was clear that her troubles stemmed from a difference of opinion between her and her family. As her homeroom teacher, it was indeed part of his duty to look after her welfare—but when that duty concerned the influential Shirakiin family, even those half as bright as him would know better than to interfere.

Akiomi cleared his throat and his mind all together, squinting his eyes at the first name in his list before promptly commencing attendance-taking.

<><><><><><><>

The rest of the day went on peacefully for 3-A—too peaceful that one would even argue it to be a little more humdrum than average with the lack of stimulation within their classroom.

A part of Izumi thought the same, except for the persistent annoyance prickling all over his skin thanks to none other than Knights' impish little squire. The news of Knights' declaration of a duel against Trickstar came to his knowledge just yesterday, and what made it worse was that the information did not even come from Tsukasa, the one responsible for that declaration. Instead, it came from Arashi out of all people when she and Ritsu came to visit Izumi at his classroom during lunch break. If it weren't for Madara passing the message to them, both Ritsu and Arashi would've been as clueless as Izumi was.

But why Mikejima? Izumi couldn't help but wonder again and again. What did he have to do with Duel to even know about it in the first place?

After awhile of struggling to grab the remaining half of his hard-boiled egg using his chopsticks, Izumi eventually found a way to secure a grip on it and carefully took a bite. He took his time to chew his food, making sure they were fine enough before allowing himself to swallow to help maximize the efficiency of his digestion and avoid bloating. Izumi's overall relationship with food was... complex—but on better days, eating was a rather therapeutic activity that made him feel in control of his life.

Once he had finished his lunch, Izumi returned his chopsticks to their case and stored them back inside his bag together with his now-empty bento box. He then tapped on the screen of his phone, checking the time to start his 30-minute countdown before he could start drinking water again.

While he waited, Izumi spent the remaining time he had scrolling through his socials; every now and then double-tapping pictures of his modeling seniors who were relentlessly climbing the ladder of success with prestigious brands overseas, traveling from country to country, and meeting chic, like-minded people. Back then, the starry-eyed Izumi used to dream of following his seniors' footsteps, rising to their level if not beyond—but lately, that vision seemed to have grown more and more clouded as the days passed.

A knock from the door commanded Izumi's attention away from his phone, but only for a split second before he darted his eyes back to his device to check the time. Most of his classmates paid no heed to the knock, already anticipating the arrival of their regular visitor, albeit the timing being slightly later than usual. That, however, didn't stop one of them from taking the liberty of making the disappointing announcement.

"Shirakiin-san's not here. Come back another— oh."

Upon picking up the surprised tone, the rest of the class glanced over to the door. Instead of the artificial blonde curls they were expecting, today's visitor had jet-black hair, blood-red eyes, and an overall sleepy countenance.

With his hands tucked deep inside his pockets, Ritsu strolled further into the classroom and halted his steps beside Haruki's desk. Retrieving his hand from his pocket, he then dragged his finger in a circle on the lightly dusted surface, gauging the length of time the desk was left neglected, before rubbing his fingers together and settling himself in her chair. Ritsu could understand why she refused to sit anywhere else when everybody else moved; the gentle breeze was simply hard to let go.

"Kuma-kun."

Ritsu kept his gaze on the view outside the window for a couple of seconds longer, eventually turning his head to his other side.

"Morning, Secchan."

"It's not even morning anymore."

"Well, I just woke up."

Izumi made an unimpressed grunt before taking a seat on Kaoru's chair—Kaoru was absent as well, possibly out on a date with some girl who had risen to the bait.

"What brings you all the way here on your own?" Izumi began. "If it's about Kasa-kun pulling some crap again, just wait until our meeting later. I don't wanna be angry any sooner than I have to. It's bad for my skin."

"Are you genuinely still mad about it, or do you just have no idea how else to react to Su~chan?"

Izumi fell silent; that was how Ritsu knew he had hit the nail right on the head.

"I hate to think you're here just to egg me on for reacting in a justifiable manner. That cheeky brat screwed our entire schedule up going around making major decisions all by himself without even thinking of consulting us."

Ritsu leaned back into the chair, his pointer finger tapping thrice against the desk surface. "Holding a live means a lot of work. While that side of things doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, you have to admit that a duel against Trickstar is, by far, the best way to reintroduce Knights under the spotlight. Provided you don't pull any tricks to sabotage the match, of course."

Izumi averted his gaze away. He knew better than anyone else that everything that had unfolded at the DDD was his fault. Izumi had spent many of his days repenting his actions like he had been admonished to—genuinely. But hearing people blame him over and over again for what he did, at the same time disregarding any progress he had made in trying to become a better person—it was disheartening, to say the least.

"Our foul play in DDD implies that Knights lacks the confidence in its ability to secure a win when that wasn't the case at all. Winning this Duel on a level playing field can eliminate most of the doubts surrounding Knights' reputation as a powerhouse unit. Duel being a B1 rank Dream Fest, where the result of the match doesn't influence our grades and no rewards are promised, helps emphasize our sincerity. Having Anzu elected as the administrator of this live is a key factor in upholding the Dream Fest's overall impartiality," Ritsu further explained.

Placing his chin in the palm of his propped-up hand, Ritsu flickered his gaze back outside the window, observing a calico crouching into a predatory position in the shadow of a large tree root. The cat fixed its dilated eyes on its target, stalked a few steps forward, and did a little wiggle before pouncing on a flock of sparrows. Wings flapped in desperation, leaving the lone feline on the ground by itself as it gave its paw a consolatory lick. Not long after, the calico left the hunting ground.

"There's no denying that we're at a disadvantage in the likability department, but in terms of skill and experience, Knights easily outclasses Trickstar. We have more to gain from this than you think."

"You never miss, do you, Kuma-kun?" A corner of Izumi's lips slowly curled upwards. "Well, that's what one would expect from Knights' strategist."

"It's a brilliant strategy. I wonder if Su~chan was aware of this all along."

"Knowing Kasa-kun, his pea brain probably managed to scheme only half of what you just said. The rest is just conveniently coincidental." Or not. Izumi remembered the first time Tsukasa mentioned Duel in front of him—or rather, in front of him while he was in the form of Haruki. There was the possibility that Tsukasa had brought Duel up again to Haruki after they had reverted to their normal selves. All these arrangements being a part of her scheme was not an entirely remote assumption.

"Secchan."

Izumi absentmindedly tilted his chin upwards, gesturing for Ritsu to continue.

"Have you seen Haruki lately?"

At this point, every bit of Izumi's attention had returned to the present moment. "Nope," he murmured as he traced the edges of his nails with his fingertips, feigning disinterest. "Why do you ask?"

Ritsu shook his head. "One day you guys are inseparable, and the next day you act like you're strangers."

Izumi shot his unitmate a deadpan stare. "What's your point?"

"Did something happen between you two?"

"Nothing has to happen for her to go MIA. Her suddenly disappearing for a couple of days is nothing new."

"You didn't say anything to her, did you?"

Izumi narrowed his eyes, cerulean blue glimmering in slits under the bright sunlight. "Say what, exactly?"

"Y'know how I mentioned everyone talking about you and Haruki before?"

"Huh...? When?"

"Like a week ago? On her first day back after being away for an entire month. We were at practice. I told you how everyone's been talking about Haruki dragging you everywhere all day."

The taste of blood flooded Izumi's mouth as he bit his tongue to hold himself back from outright scolding Ritsu. Thanks to their bizarre out-of-body experience, it wasn't Izumi who Ritsu had said that to. But knowing this now, it made sense why Haruki started treating him coldly out of nowhere—well, not entirely out of nowhere. Izumi definitely noticed the arbitrary onset of her cold-shoulder treatment even before she discovered the truth behind his association with her mother. With this out in the open, it explained everything.

"Oh, that... I guess I wasn't paying attention," Izumi said, still maintaining his cool as he continued to play along. "Well? What's that got to do with anything?"

Ritsu inhaled a deep breath and shifted in his seat, slightly rotating himself in Izumi's direction. "I was in the infirmary the other day, sleeping. It was pretty late when I woke up, but I overheard Haruki talking with Sagami-sensei and Kunugi-sensei. She talked about a lot of stuff, like—"

"Quite rare to see you so wide awake at this time of day, Ritsu-kun."

Ritsu immediately shut his mouth when he saw Eichi entering the classroom with several other students and making his way over to him and Izumi. "Right?" Ritsu flashed a controlled, closed-eye smile in Eichi's direction. His fast and impeccable response almost sent a chill down Izumi's spine.

"Are you feeling alright? The heat isn't sending your immune system into disarray, is it?"

Izumi mentally shook his head when Eichi invited himself to sit on the empty chair in front of Haruki's desk. If Shu ever found out that Eichi had laid a finger on his seat, he would undoubtedly set that chair on fire.

"You and I don't have the best of constitutions, so it'd be nice if we could look out for each other in this weather," Eichi added, appearing aboslutely oblivious to the tension born of his presence.

"I'm fine~" The muscles in Ritsu's cheeks relaxed, settling his lips into a straight line. He seemed to be in deep thought for a while before finally asking, "Have you seen Haruki?"

Eichi blinked once, tilting his head to the side. "Now that you ask, I just realized that."

"You just realized she hasn't been around for days...?"

"Now, I know what you're thinking. Unfortunately, I am not as accustomed to seeing Haru-chan around this academy as much as you are. You already know this—I'm always absent due to my illness. If I were to be honest, it often slips my mind that we attend the same school now."

Ritsu and Izumi exchanged glances, mutually acknowledging the growing awkwardness resulting from Eichi's casually apathetic words. The two of them knew the gist of Eichi and Haruki's vague relationship, including the prolonged hostility between their families, but peering into the flip side of their witty banters over chess and tea was jarring to say the least. Despite all those perceived amiability, at their core, in their blood, they were still enemies.

"Fair enough." Ritsu shrugged, trying to brush off the iffiness lingering in the air. "Any idea where she could be?"

"That is one difficult question to answer, Ritsu-kun. Knowing Haru-chan, she could be anywhere."

I wonder if that means you knew her at all, Ritsu thought to himself. Prior to his conversation with the blond, Ritsu had considered informing Eichi of the things he had overheard Haruki say in the infirmary the other day—but seeing the offhand attitude Eichi was displaying concerning his purported childhood friend, Ritsu decided it would be wise for him to keep this knowledge to himself and personally look for her instead. The question was, where should he even start?

"Are you looking for Shirakiin?"

Ritsu blinked his deliberation away and rolled his eyes over to Keito, who was standing at a nearby desk while sorting through several documents in his hands.

"She's at the Archery Hall," Keito said, briefly looking up from the papers to catch a glimpse of the inquisitive gazes gathered on him. "Though I wouldn't disturb her if I were you."

"Why not?"

"She seems to be in deep concentration. It's hard to describe with words but fairly easy to grasp if you see for yourself. You wouldn't dare to interrupt." Keito paused for a moment, carefully selecting his words to avoid misunderstanding. "Some practitioners turn to archery when in need of gathering their thoughts."

"Speaking from experience?" Eichi shot Keito a knowing smile. To the former's disappointment, Keito merely responded with a huff before turning his attention back to Ritsu.

"Unless you have an urgent matter to discuss with her, I suggest you leave her alone for now."

"Is there a reason you're looking for her, Ritsu-kun? I don't pin you as someone who would travel all the way here in broad daylight for some petty reason," said Eichi. "Could it be... that Knights is planning something?"

Ritsu pulled another one of his enigmatic smiles, unshaken by Eichi's spot-on suspicion. "Not really~" Seeing the unconvinced stare of his Tea Club president, he let out a chuckle. "I just wanted a nice lap to nap on. Tough luck, I guess."

"I can lend you my lap if you want," Eichi offered, quite sincerely so.

"That's okay~ I think I'll go bother Ma~kun again." Ritsu let out a yawn, marking his intention to leave. "I'm gonna go now. See ya, Ecchan, Secchan. You, too... Kei-chan."

<><><><><><><>

A shallow breath exhaled through Haruki's nostrils as she rolled onto her side, opening her sore, dry eyes and staring straight at the arrows littering her target. After what felt like an eternity of going astray, she finally regained adequate control of her own body and mind—the arrows being her benchmark for success. In Haruki's eyes, unless she could land all her arrows within the seikoku—the innermost circle of the target—she considered herself to have failed. No one else understood her abilities more than she did; that's why she could only be so stringent with herself.

After all, one of the characteristics of Japanese archery is that it demands strict self-control and stability of emotions, and shooting correctly will result inevitably in hitting the desired target.

Trying to achieve an invisible goal had always been an arduous task. This was especially true in aligning one's mental faculties, such as moral principles, beliefs, and rationality, in a certain way. Not only were they abstract concepts, but they were also nearly impossible to monitor through a person's own eyes without physical manifestation. That was why Haruki chose to base herself at the Archery Hall; her arrows were concrete representations of her mind, and the quality of her shots reflected her trajectory towards hitting her target, towards achieving her goal.

Haruki pushed herself off the floor and scooted next to the gray tabby sleeping near the wall. Of the long hours she had spent in the Archery Hall these past couple of days, the cat didn't seem all that bothered by the whipping of her bowstring and other noises she made while she was there. Judging by its size, the cat was of mature age. Perhaps that was one of the factors contributing to its serene demeanor—unlike Kelly, the little hyperactive rascal who would flinch at any mildly loud noise and pounce onto every flitting object.

Soft purrs tickled Haruki's eardrums when she scratched her nails beneath the tabby's neck. Once she was content with the amount of positive energy she had transmitted from the affectionate feline, she recovered a sachet of salmon cat treats from her bag and tore it open. A smile couldn't help but find its way onto Haruki's face at the sight of the tabby's nose twitching as it opened its chartreuse eyes and began looking for the source of that tempting smell.

At three clicks of her tongue, the cat took careful steps onto Haruki's lap and began sniffing the sachet she had waved in front of its face. With an air of caution, it gave the treat a little lick before gradually letting down its guard and enjoying the tasty snack.

"Works every time." Haruki chuckled to herself.

Once the tabby had finished its quick meal, it walked off Haruki's lap, returned to its original spot by the wall, and curled up into a moldy loaf while watching Haruki dust its fur sheddings off her hakama before dozing back into another nap.

It took approximately 15 minutes for Haruki to recover her arrows, store the archery equipment back where they belonged, and change into her school uniform. By the time she stepped out of the Archery Hall, there was a balance of more than ten minutes left before dismissal, and she had to start making her move if she wanted to remain out of sight. Her location of choice was behind the auditorium, where her risk of running into people was minimal solely due to the fact that Knights was busy preparing for Duel. Surely Izumi wouldn't be there for whatever reason.

However, before she was even halfway through her destination, Haruki had already gotten herself discovered.

"Haruki-chan...?" Kaoru stared at her, eyes wide and startled by their near-collision. He then hastily turned his head to the side, looking anywhere but her face. "What are you doing here? I don't think class is over yet...?"

Haruki clutched her hands over her hips. "I could ask you the same thing. Why aren't you in class?"

Kaoru didn't answer and instead let out an awkward chuckle, his finger instinctively reaching up to scratch his cheek. The longer he left her waiting, the deeper his nails dug into his skin.

"Hey, Haruki-chan... since we're both here, why don't we go on a date?"

It was Haruki's turn to stare at Kaoru's face. From her silence, he already knew she would turn him down again, just as she had countless times before.

"I do owe you a date... Sure, why not?"

"Aw, that su—" Kaoru blinked. "Wait... what did you say? Did you say yes, or did I mishear you? I misheard you, didn't I?"

Haruki's response to his questions was to take his hand and pull him towards the gate. "We should hurry before everyone gets out."

Kaoru was quiet the whole time they walked. Even after they stepped outside the campus grounds, he didn't do so much as react—only that look of bewilderment stayed etched on his face since Haruki first slotted her hand into his. Unable to figure out how else to get him back to normal, Haruki let go of his hand. Surely enough, the loss of her touch propelled him to be responsive again.

"We can postpone the date if you're not feeling it. I don't mind—"

"No!" Kaoru grabbed both of Haruki's hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "No, let's do this now. Uh, okay... Before we start, is— is there anything you want to do... in particular...? Anywhere you want to go? We can go where you, uh... where you wanna go."

Kaoru only grew even more flustered when Haruki emitted a light chuckle. "Calm down, Kaoru-kun. I don't mind just having a stroll around town. Maybe we can have a bite or a nice drink somewhere. Something casual but enjoyable nonetheless. No need to overthink it. There's no pressure." Haruki squeezed his hands in return.

The simple gesture had rendered Kaoru motionless again, and Haruki was starting to grow annoyed. And so, she freed her hands from Kaoru's grasp and gripped both sides of his forearms tight enough to jolt him back to reality. "If you don't get yourself together right now, I will leave," Haruki threatened. She then walked ahead, leaving Kaoru behind. However, thanks to his generous leg length, Kaoru needn't exert much effort to catch up with her.

"Sorry, Haruki-chan. It's just that... I didn't expect you to say yes."

Haruki swiveled her eyes to the side, taking all of Kaoru's body language into her analysis—from his rosy cheeks to his tense shoulders to his balled fists inside his pockets. Though she deemed them unnecessary, it was safe for her to say that his nervousness was sincere.

Haruki released an inward sigh and slowed her pace. "I did promise you a date back then. Do you even remember it?"

"I'm more surprised you remember it."

"I was taught a valuable lesson. A bit unhinged to be a learning experience, but valuable nonetheless."

A trail of silence fell over them as they strolled down the street of the nearby commercial center, viewing all sorts of goods on display behind stainless glasses. From charming cafes and fancy bakeries to department stores and fashion boutiques, from books and art supply stores to arcades and karaoke bars—downtown Yumenosaki offered an array of options its visitors could choose from to kill time.

"What about you?" Haruki asked. "Do you have anything you want to do? Any places you'd like to go?"

Her question appeared to have posed a distraction to Kaoru, but Haruki didn't rush him and simply gave him some time to think while she looked around for things that could amuse her for the next minute.

"I was thinking of bringing you to the beach, but maybe not."

"Why not?"

"It's probably really hot at the beach right now, and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. An air-conditioned place would be better, yeah?"

Haruki pursed her lips, quickly running through solutions in her mind while looking around. Her eyes then fixed themselves in a particular direction.

"In that case, why don't we buy something cold to eat by the beach? I think it's a win-win situation."

Curious by the thing that had caught her attention, Kaoru whirled around and followed her gaze across the street. A crepe shop. When he turned around to look at Haruki, he found her already grinning meaningfully at him.

———————

A/N: Apologies if there are errors in this chapter. My brain is tired...

Anyway, I bring dreadful news. I'll be starting my university classes again soon :'( Not sure if I'll be able to maintain the pace of my updates but I'll try my best!! This is just a head's up in case I don't update for a month or so (which I hope doesn't happen lol) and people start wondering if the story is abandoned. I assure you, it's not.

That aside, MODEL TRIO BABIES. Crying.