The sun was slowly setting over the horizon. Meanwhile, Akiko was sitting in school for her last class. Her eyes were rolling with fatigue, she wanted to sleep, and after asking the teacher for permission to leave, she went out into the long empty corridor. From the windows she could see the crimson sunset coloring the streets in warm hues, and the light breeze sweeping over the trees, making their green leaves rustle. As she wandered about thinking about Yumiko's ailing condition, she didn't notice that at one point she wondered why she wasn't jealous of the brown-eyed girl for Ryou, if she was dying of jealousy before, ready to chew on the girl.

She walked into the literary club's office, where she hadn't entered in a week, and wondered if she had dared go in there without the goal of being close to Ryou. As soon as she crossed the threshold, her expression abruptly changed to one of obvious surprise – Glenn, whom the girl hadn't seen in about two weeks, was in the club office, perched loosely on a chair and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"W-what are you doing here?" Akiko asked, drawing the dark-eyed man's attention to herself. "I haven't seen you in two weeks, where did you disappear to?"

"Hello, Akiko-chan," he barely squeezed out a smile, illuminating Akiko with bewilderment. The girl instantly noticed the difference between his smile and his usual one, and sensed that the young man was going through a rough time in his personal life. "May I not answer your questions?"

"You look like a rotten fish."

"Thanks for the remark, you Akiko-chan, as always at your own pace."

"I don't understand why you stopped responding to chat messages and coming to school? Do you even know what everyone else is going through right now?"

Glenn looked regretful, and his eyes, shrouded in a darkness in which not the slightest glimmer of light could be seen, trembled hopelessly, unable to think of a cheerful answer. The girl knew by the look on his face that there was a reason Glenn had stopped making eye contact with them.

"Glenn-kun, what's happened to you lately? Answer me something...! Tell me you're okay, or give me a wink so I don't have to worry! Glenn-kun..."

"I have a request," he replied, and rising from his chair, walked silently over to his beautiful friend. Noticing how Akiko lifted her chin heavily to see his face, Glenn stopped and added: "Tell the others that I'm all right, and that they don't need to worry about me. I need to finish one thing I've been doing for a long time. Please."

The tall guy's shadow completely obscured the girl, and, worried, she couldn't look away from his grim eyes, ready to traverse the thorny path.

"But for what?" Akiko spoke slowly in a soft voice.

"For the sake of friends."

"Glenn-kun, are you sure you won't ask for help from us...?"

"I hope it won't affect you, for I treasure you like the apple of my eye. I must finish my own work. It's my selfish decision, which I can't refuse."

Considering the girl's pitying face, Glenn soothingly stroked her cheek and promised Akiko that he would surely come back alive. The girl thought his words were meant to cheer her up, and gave in to the reassurance, agreeing with the guy.

"Tell me honestly: will you come back?"

"I will," he hastened with a sincere smile. And soon he was gone, returning his inner peace.

Settling into Glenn's chair, Akiko reflected on all the memorable events that had happened to her over the past month. Deep in her mind, remembering how she had spent her leisure time with the club members and endured hardships together with them, she remembered that Ryou might be planning to leave Tokyo soon. Realizing her reluctance to part with him, Akiko realized that she was addicted to the school routine of literature club classes and walks in the park. She had a burning desire to return to these daily activities because they gave her freedom. The kind of freedom she hadn't felt since high school, entangled in the guise of a school idol.

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Her phone rang. When she picked it up, she didn't get a good look at the caller, so she put the receiver to her ear and said hello. She was immediately answered by a woman's gentle voice, which she found difficult to remember, so Akiko asked who was calling her.

"Akiko-san, is that you?" The gentle voice said again. "I am Ryou-kun's friend from Kyoto. Being excited, I would like to talk to you about yesterday."

"Ah-ah!" Akiko came to her senses, and immediately exclaimed: "Yes, of course! And your name is..."

"Oh, how embarrassing... My name is Aiko Yoshida."

"Nice to meet you, Aiko-chan! So... what exactly is bothering you?"

"Well, I'd like to tell you how Ryou-kun has been acting since yesterday. He's been getting kind of... restless. Unable to suppress my genuine concern for my friend, I dared to let you know. It is unlikely that I and the others can cheer him up, for we have nothing to do with his worries, and so... It is hardly possible to clarify things for you intelligently through a call, so, Akiko-san, would you agree to a meeting?"

"Of course, I agree."

"Thank you! I can't believe you said yes... We can set up a meeting tonight, if you'll let us."

"In that case, I'd like to make an appointment for half past seven."

"Fine!"

In the end, Akiko went to the meeting as soon as the school day ended. Aiko was standing in the children's square near the sandpit, with an abundance of sand due to the playfulness of the children lying on the ground. Hearing their joyful cries, Aiko kept talking on the phone.

"And next, as we were walking through the central square, he told me he wanted to go home. He said he wanted to be alone. Explain to me, Akiko-san, was Ryou-kun always like this with you?"

"He often disappeared from school," Akiko rode the bus.

"I'm sure it has to do with your close relationship. We don't think we're in a position to talk him down."

"I'll be at the meeting place soon. Aiko-chan, shall we continue this conversation in person?"

"I agree."

Aiko's words poured out intermittently, and one could guess that the conversation between the girls would drag on for a long time. However, Akiko didn't mind talking to Ryou's close friend from Kyoto, as she wondered who the young man had been in contact with before. Akiko was driven by a desire to recapture their old days at the literary club and beyond, and not realizing what denying Tomoyuki's goals might be worth, she stepped out of her stop and gathered her will into a fist. As she crossed the road, she wondered if the members of the literary club were real friends to her, for she had no friends she could call close or real before that. She was friends with only pacifiers, who could not really moo, talking only about fashion and mediocre charms. This urban environment was for her a means of drawing attention to herself, to prove her importance in the society of young people, however faceless. The ruthless desire to appear as a social leader and a pretty idol overshadowed her real self, which she was afraid to join after "judgement day," which brought with it a change of personality and image. But all of this has been hard work for her. Now that she had finally accepted her new friends, it occurred to her to drop the false guise of the exceptional girl that she was not. While she spent her daily routine with Yumiko and the others, her life values crumbled at an incredible rate, leaving Akiko in a state of uncertainty. All the while her feelings were nothing but wild lies, which only made her more miserable. She wanted to find happiness, but accompanied by close friends who gifted her with sincerity.

Walking on her way to the rendezvous point, she recalled a fragment of the past when she first met Tomoyuki at the entrance to the karaoke. The sad guy of short stature stood aimlessly behind the shoulders of three tall hooligans who had clearly turned him into their prey. At the time, Akiko could only accept the fact of his existence as unremarkable, knowing the three thugs by sight. Wondering to herself what Tomoyuki's true feelings were, and whether he still hated the members of the circle, she noticed how she ended up at the playground, the place where Aiko was scheduled to meet. Saying hello to each other, she wondered what Yumiko might think if she found out that she was helping her keep their mutual affection. She was sure she was partly doing this for Yumiko's sake.

"I'm glad to see you, Akiko-san," the girl with the light brown color of her long hair said politely. "Well, since we bothered to meet... I must tell you the truth about everything that's wrong with Ryou-kun."

Akiko stood in anticipation, trustfully squaring her thin shoulders, ready to accept the words of Ryou's friend, who knew more about the teenager than anyone else who had ever encountered the young man.