That one fateful night, exhausting yet thrilling.

Right when I got home to my apartment that night, insomnia got the best of me—well the insomnia that's not caused by any means clinically.

It's an emotional cause.

What in the world was that? I mumbled on my futon.

Converting my asocial deeds is an unexpected turn, but someone confessing their love to me? That's an unexpected planetary collision!

"That seems too good to be true."

Let's review Akko, otherwise known as Akkochii, or more recently, Akko-tan.

My height is average at around 150... 155-ish centimeters? My weight is average at around 49 kilograms. My social and people skills are way below average (I used Ala-chan as a benchmark). My wardrobe is far from fashionable since I prefer living life as simple as possible. Almost everyone that I know never saw me in the light of day. I have no significant likes or dislikes in any field imaginable from various people to TV series—oh wait, I hate society.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking about an ideal man in society?

Imagine people empowering public ideals where men should have or be like this, the same goes for women. I think that's messed up—that's like hosting a MasterChef episode where it's a bakery for one day, yet the judges compared the cake by its frosting instead of the rest of the cake; they didn't dare make more effort into judging, increasing the chances of missing out on a hidden gem.

. . . .

Today's March fourteenth, an entire month after that.

White Day.

A sister celebration to Valentine's Day where you reciprocate the one who gave to you last Valentine's Day.

I waited at the train station in the Shopping Complex early in the morning—just minutes before six o'clock hit.

Never having seen this part of Ruruteru early in the morning, the people who usually unload at this hour are mostly young adults—be it a student or a domestic worker, or a worker coming from other wards.

"Akkochii~!"

Waiting in front of the turnstiles, I hear a familiar rhythm of footsteps.

A figure sporting fluffy gray hair with fluffy twintails tied with lilac clips, wearing a dark gray blazer with a white inner paired with a scarlet skirt.

"Yo, Tomo," I waved.

She rushed towards this direction and without a doubt, grasped onto my hand as we walked our way towards uni.

If you can recall the Tomo happy-unhappy ratio that's been 99% and 1% respectively, it has grown to 99.9% happy and 0.01% unhappy. Questioning why I didn't just squish the remaining unhappy ratio is because everything of this is too good to be true.

There has to be a twist right?

"Hold on Tomo, how are we going to get to uni without encountering Ala together?"

"Oooh.. simple, we take the other route around!"

I'd normally take the route where it always has been for the past month passing by Autumn St., which facing the opposite of the City Square would take a turn to the left. This time, Tomo and I took a turn to the right.

At first, I was hell worried if there's a chance we'll get lost around Ruruteru despite having maps navigation on our phones (another way of me saying I haven't really used it yet, so I have no clue if it works reliably or not). However, the grip Tomo has on my hand persisted as her confidence never fell even a beat.

So why was I reminiscing about my thoughts that I had after we had our elementary batch reunion a month ago? Well...

"Tomo... I have something to ask of you."

"Hm, what is?" She looked up to me with a side tilt.

"Y'know, I'm just curious what have you seen in me that garnered your interest."

Ehe, chuckled her signature laugh. "Silly, I see you as a gentleman."

A what now? I did absolutely nothing to gain such a noble title.

"Eh?"

"Like, you're kind and a rational type of person—I can see that in you... Why, did Alachii dare you or something?"

"Oh no no no..." I shook both palms of rejection. "It's just my whacky head overthinking about how to be ideal for someone like you."

You being you right now is ideal for me, she exclaimed.

"..."

I didn't say anything after that, so I remained silent.

It's not the silent scenario that'd both of us usually end up where she'll sulk and all. I can still see her grin accompanied by her skippy walk and her never-ending grasp of my hand.

Maybe it's a signal from her saying "you're enough, don't fret," hence my notion to just not build up more of the negative energy.

Anyway, we passed by a couple of curves around the completely unknown route that Tomo knows of to university. I'd say this is another unique trait of Ruruteru: odd roads. I mean that's evident when Ala-chan tailed me to my apartment without me even knowing. To recall, my route from my apartment to uni has three railway crossings, we just passed by two (the one before the City Square must've been the first).

"Hold on, why are we avoiding Ala in the first place?" I asked.

"It's nothing..."

If it's nothing, then it's nothing, she said one day—at her worst mood. That's why I wouldn't even bother trying to push the reason out of her because it'll just spiral down the rabbit hole.

After a dozen minutes of walking with turns that I can't familiarize myself with, we finally arrived at uni. I thought that we'd arrive past six-thirty, but we arrived ten minutes earlier than that. Perhaps it's like the illusion of race tracks; some shortcuts look longer but give you a headstart compared to other racers. Of course, some shortcuts appear shorter but get you trapped in a longer track. Fortunately, the route that Tomo and I took is a good shortcut.

As much as I didn't know the campus has an area for mini gazebos, so does the rear entrance of the campus. I know the entrance that I've been taking for a year or two is always packed with people going in and out of the campus, but the rear entrance has barely any usage at all. I was wary at first if the entrance was even open at all.

Anyways, we then settled on the gazebo that the three of us have occupied ever since—the corner gazebo as I'd like to call it.

"Oh I still want to sleep some more..." I sighed tiredly, laying my head down on the table.

"There there Akkochii..." Tomo patted my head gently. "Want some cheese sticks? I'll look out for Alachii in the cafeteria while I go get some."

I nodded.

"Okie!" she happily dashed off the gazebo, on her way to the cafeteria.

It's some half an hour before classes start. Granted, I never saw this part of the campus very early in the morning; a warm breezy ambiance slowly flowed through the grass on the ground, with some people just walking about in the middle of campus, or hanging out on one of the gazebos.

No idea if I mentioned this or not, but boy I didn't know it was cooler around here than in the cafeteria. My pupils are going to adjust since back in the cafeteria, the ceiling is so vast yet the lights are busted and clunky. Out here, the sunlight's beaming the hell onto my retina—literally and figuratively.

Unfortunately, it was so good that I probably dozed off the entire time.

⁂

"Uehhhh? You bad kiddos! You didn't tell me you guys were early and all alone in this gazebo!"

"Uhm, I thought you were living a new life by sleeping and waking up early. Also, didn't you settle about making this our new hangout-doze place?"

"Wahhh!"

It was Ala-chan and I having our signature argument with her signature cry at this signature gazebo.

I forgot to mention that this is around 2 hours later.

Tomo lied earlier, well—half-lied since we actually treated ourselves to a cheese stick galore. It's half a lie because as you can see, she can't find Ala-chan anywhere in the cafeteria. When we spent the remaining time on ourselves before classes started, we just talked about HeroTom then went on our own worlds preparing for our classes before parting ways.

But what's even mindboggling is that Tomo is also vacant around this time, so it actually suggests that my schedule is quite popular? Who the hell in the registrar's been leaking my schedule to the entire student body?

From all of that commotion, yes we are once again the three idiots on this mini gazebo.

"Don't worry Alachii... We have a full and a half-hour to ourselves. Giddy up!" says Tomo while patting—nursing her shoulder.

"Wait Tomo, if you're vacant this time around, where are you usually?" I asked.

"Well Akkochii, it's either I stay at the corner of the cafeteria close outdoors, or I stay in the classroom after it's dismissed."

Suddenly, I heard the table being banged with two hands.

"Hold on a second, Tomo is calling Akko "Akkochii"?! Boy isn't that character development for the two lovebirds we have here!" Ala-chan exclaimed. "Oh by the way, happy monthsary to the both of you."

"O-oh uhm... yeah thanks... Alachii..." Tomo replied ever so shyly.

"Hey hey, tell me more about what's it like to be each other's significant!"

"Kinda normal, feels like we're still friends with the fact that we have to look out for each other." I replied.

"Ehhh... What a cheesy response from Cheesy Akko!"

Honestly, this trend has been well over a month now. I lost count of Ala-chan's '____ Akko' collection though.

"Well, that's that!" from standing up, Ala-chan sat back down with a sigh, only a moment later when her adrenaline rushed once more, her face looked like she remembered something critical.

"Hold on, spring break is around the corner right? I totally forgot about Miko's birthday! Aghhh!" Ala-chan added, scratching her head from frustration.

"When's her birthday then?" I asked.

"The twenty-sixth! March twenty-sixth!"

In plain hindsight, it doesn't seem that Ruruteru Private University is a heavily Japanese school. If I can recall, spring break usually starts on the last week of March until the first week of April.

It scares me why Ala-chan even mentioned spring break.

"March 26 huh..." I mumbled. "When are we going on break though?"

"Crazy Akko! Aren't you following the school calendar these days?! Last day's going to be on the 25th!"

Oh wow, a neighboring day.

Scrambling and organizing our things on the table, Ala-chan and I have set up our laptops. Tomo didn't have a laptop at hand, so she stationed her phone at her fingertips.

And no we aren't having a collaboration project or a group study session, it's us finalizing and solidifying this one document that they prepared a month ago containing Miko's wishlist from her 18th birthday. Despite having both of them preparing this document a month prior, there was no progress in it whatsoever.

Last edited 1 month ago, read on top of the document.

"Agghhh!" Ala-chan raged under stress, scratching her head with both of her hands. Boy, I wonder if that's where her wavy hairdo came from doing that.

As we parked our cursors in the shared document, I leaned towards Tomo who's beside me asking, "Psshh.. Tomo, what does Miko want or like to have in general?"

"..."

Oddly enough, Tomo didn't respond—just had her eyes fixated on her phone.

"Oh, oh Akko!" Ala-chan had her hands up like in a parade, "Miko likes those anime... manga... you call it? She once confessed to me she's an... er... otaku? Yeah, something along the lines of that!"

"Huh, good idea." It's no surprise that Miko and I would periodically meet ways in the library down the City Square and talk about our interests for a while. Honestly from my first hangout, that was the day I just knew there was a public (or national) library—even unexpected of me to think there's even a section for manga and light novels. So from that day on, I frequently go to the library on my free time—usually on the afternoons on weekdays.

Speaking of Miko and I meeting, I can't help but be suspicious of a menacing and brute gaze that has been going on for the past month, especially when Miko and I converse almost all the time. It's not a solid phenomenon between the two of us, but I can somehow sense it even when I'm alone walking around Ruruteru.

An intimidating glare, or gaze... whatever you want to call it. It trickles my spine every time I sense it.

It's out of the question if it would be a stalker tracking my footsteps. If I had a peaceful treaty with that stalker, I'd say I have nothing significant or expensive that I possess. I'd just tell him "I'm average."

A Witch's Last Tour... Magica Trail... er... Prism Wonderland... I mumbled as I typed it at the bottom of the document.

"Hold on, Prism Wonderland? Hey, the three of us watched that idol anime together!" Ala-chan exclaimed. "I'm curious as to how you got interested in it..."

"Well it's a musical, so it's fine for me as a way to enjoy J-pop. Miko was also shocked to find out that I watched it a while back—even me considering a male watching a female-focused show, so we went the extra mile of rewatching it on demand and sharing each other's thoughts about each character."

"That's cool, you should've told me though! Hmm.. if I can recall, my favorite idol group there was Sprinkly*Happy."

"Sike..." I waved my hand outward as to shoo-shoo her favorite, "My bias there is Banging Rockers."

"Eugh..." Ala-chan was disgusted by my favorite, "Anyways, good idea Akkochii! I'll try to find merch or something of Prism Wonderland... Hmm..." She put her finger on her chin, "Or make it homemade?"

Hadn't I realized, Tomo was dead silent.

As I have my eyes on the silent Tomo, I'm also shifting between her and Ala-chan, which both of us have the same wavelength as we just noticed Tomo's aura.

"H-hey Tomochii, what's your favorite idol group there in PrisLand? Ahehehe..." Ala-chan tried to stir up the atmosphere.

"Eh? I thought it was the same as you three... Sprinkly*Happy..." Tomo replied monotonously.

"Right..."

For whatever reason, Ala-chan hideously waves her hand below the table towards herself whilst looking dead at me. Shrugging like an idiot, I moved closer to her.

"Pssh..." Calling me with a lowly tone, she handed over some paper bills at our backs. "Get us three pairs of strawberry-crème waffles."

"B—hey, the hell are we looking hideous this time?!" I whispered back.

"You know why, now go get us some food!" She slammed my butt.

"!" Dagnabbit, the hell Ala-chan?! is what I wanted to shout out loud.

Nonetheless, I immediately walked out of the gazebo towards the direction to the cafeteria or actually, I ran after some few meters away from our gazebo like an idiot.

And what, three pairs of strawberry-crème waffles?! Surely I can't hold three plates back to the gazebo—I'd look like a clown throughout the campus.

"Oh well I have no choice, I have to get them in a plastic—no, paper bags." I mumbled.

⁂

Disappointingly, as much as we were short on time by the time Tomo went back to the gazebo very early in the morning to not only buy cheese sticks but search for Ala-chan, it also happened when I went back with a huge paper bag of strawberry-crème waffles; the moment I arrived back at the gazebo, it was exactly enough time for us to have a snack then went on to our separate ways—or classes.

Speaking of separate classes, there hadn't been a blip in my time here in uni where Ala-chan and I are classmates in one class—like literally, there's a Great Wall between us, preventing us from becoming classmates. Tomo and I are however classmates in one of two fixed Calculus classes running through the week. Nonetheless, that doesn't bother me really.

Or actually, I'm just scared of the odds if Ala-chan and I are going to be classmates for the school years to come.

Imagine the immense dependence towards me.

Going back to topic, the break plus vacant time we had earlier isn't that groundbreaking. In fact, it's more of a downgrade for them but an upgrade for me; peace and quiet in the gazebo. I too had some second-hand embarrassment on why we're unusually quiet for the most part. After I went back with some waffles (which I took long since the lady back there had to make some new strawberry-crème waffles), we suffered most of the time actually getting to eat, brainstorming some more wishlist ideas for Miko's birthday, then call it a day.

"Gee, I wonder what they were doing while I was away." I mumbled.

"Hm? Said something Akkochii?"

"Oh it's nothing."

After dismissal, Ala-chan and I are walking back to our homes. We can't, however, see Tomo anywhere around campus, so we just assumed she probably had some errands to run at home.

Anyway while we're having a walk, Ala-chan sparked a conversation about Tomo's family in general, telling me that despite the warmth that her mother gives, she's strict towards Tomo. It's even surprising for me that Miko and Ala-chan are somewhat scared of Ms. Omoe. When I presented my account as to how Ms. Omoe acted towards the both of us around my first visit, it's as if I talked about someone eerily not Ms. Omoe.

"Ah, Ms. Omoe? Gee, she's somewhat strict when it comes to Tomochii hanging out, or even as simple as going out of her house or school grounds, or checking out on her friends. That hangout we had last month? It was a lucky clover in the haystack because her mother somewhat gave it a 'dry run' sort of approval and for the fact that Miko will be accompanying her. After that? It's a nightmare to convince her mother to hang out with friends once again." said Ala-chan.

Sheesh, it's like someone installed a God's Eye around Tomo or something.

"So it's either we go adjust ourselves and meet her around Merumeru or it's nothing?"

"Yippity-yup. Going to Ruruteru is already going an extra mile for Ms. Omoe—like she'll be super cautious about approving Tomo to go."

"Strange, that isn't the Tomo or her mother that I see day-to-day. Why is her mother like that though? She's old enough to decide for herself, to be independent, and to live with consequences of life."

Ala-chan sighed deeply. "Well, if it involves parents around the pipeline, we can't do much other than having her convince or bring comfort. I don't know about you being a significant other to her—maybe you'll fare better."

Suddenly, Ala-chan's head flinched like an idea exploded inside of her head.

"I forgot Akkochii..." she slowly leaned her head closer to me with a striking eye contact, "Good luck to you soldier, your next step in your relationship is both of your parents."

"Say what now?"

"G'uh... aren't you scared or anything, especially what we just talked about now? Tomo's parents! They're strict like hot potatoes!"

"Oh don't worry, I'm a straightforward realist person. I'm even hyping a bit on meeting her father soon."

"Oooo... a Courageous Akko there I see." she partly covered her mouth, chuckling.

"Ala, there's something occurring for me for the past month or so, what are your thoughts on a possible stalker stalking me on everywhere I go?"

"Eh? Akko getting stalked! No way, you're a boring person!" that's bold of her to exclaim with such confidence and power.

Ahem, as she cleared her throat, but her eyes suddenly averted, looking up before even saying a word, "Oh, we're at your apartment Akkochii."