Asami comes out from the home and crouches next to them. Shiori looks at her surprised.

“What do you mean?..”

Asami hesitates with a contemplating look soon but answers.

“You and your family have truly made life around here better in every way. Things have been… lonely since Hikigaya’s father left us. But when you, your family came into our lives, everything just became so bright. Like a fog was cleared from my soul. I don’t want to lose that. Especially knowing that I can do something about it.”

She says with a soft smile to her. Hikigaya looks at his mother, confused.

“Mom, what do you mean?”

“Sweetie, what do you think I do for a living?”

“You write books, don’t you?”

“Yes, but that is more of a hobby. The truth is, when your father left, he was very distraught about leaving. He truly didn’t want to go but we both knew he had to. He was… a strange man, but he had his responsibilities straight.”

As she speaks, Hikigaya is in awe at this new information about his father. Asami gives an awkward, kind of embarrassed smile.

“He left us with a lot of money to say the least. Enough to last us all three lifetimes over, comfortably. I didn’t want to tell you this because I didn’t want our wealth to go to your head so I kept it a secret.”

“I kinda figured it out years ago.”

Another voice says. Ace steps out and leans against the sliding door frame with a soft smirk on her face. Hikigaya looks at her then back at his mother with wide eyes.

“So we’re like… filthy rich?”

Asami gives an awkward side smile.

“Yeahh, I suppose we are. But this changes nothing. Our lifestyle will stay the same, understand?” She points her finger at him as a mother does.

“Of course! I’m happy the way we are, it’s just… a lot to hear… I didn’t know my father at all so…”

Hikigaya looks down, unsure of how to react. Asami places her hand on his cheek and gives him a reassuring look.

“Your father was a great man. He took care of us and gave me you. If he had a choice, I know he would’ve stayed.”

Hikigaya nods slightly. Shiori stares, still kind of confused by what she means. Asami stands and looks at her.

“Shiori, if you would have me, I would like for you and your family to come live with us. I will find us a new place where we could all stay together, right here in this same town, in this same life. Would you be okay with that?”

Shiori looks up at her as her eye shines. Tears begin to form again as she starts to cry. She nods, trying to wipe away her tears.

“Yes… I would like that…”

She cries, hiding behind her hands. Asami takes her hand and lifts her up into a warm embrace as Shiori sobs in relief and joy on that balcony under the moonlight.

“WHAAAAT!?”

Asami closes her eyes and smiles with a sweat due to the scream of Shiori’s parents. She told them of her proposition.

“Are you serious?!” Hamasaki asks.

“You’d really do that for us?!” Takanou asks as well.

“Yes, yes to all of it. It really isn’t a big thing. I’m honestly getting the better end of the deal here.”

She says with a smile as they both grab her hands and cry in cartoony fashion.

“Oh, thank you, thank you!”

The parents says with hearts full of gratitude and love. Asami smiles widely.

“Well, first thing’s first. We need to figure out where we’re going.”

The parents get together and head out on the hunt for a new place to live while the kids are away at school. They head to an agency to help them locate their next home.

“So, you three are looking for a new home, eh?”

The realtor asks. They nod.

“And it says here you have… four kids amongst the three of you?”

They nod again, sweating a bit now.

“Well, that certainly is the number of rooms needed. I assume six rooms?” He asks, scratching his head.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Takanou asks.

“Well, if your goal is to stay as close to here as possible, it may be…”

He says while rubbing his chin, looking at the available properties in front of him. They look down for a moment as Takanou rubs the back of his head. Hamasaki looks at them for a moment before looking up at the Realtor.

“No, five rooms will do.”

She says confidently. The others look at her, surprised.

“Hamasaki, are you sure?” Asami asks.

“You’re helping us out so much. The least we can do is make it easier.”

She smiles at her. Asami smiles back with a slight blush on her cheeks. The realtor sits up with a pleased look.

“Well, if it’s five rooms you want, I can definitely do that. There’s a few properties around here. Let me give you guys a tour.”

He smiles as he gets up. They head to the first place.

“How about this one?”

They look at it with looks of slight disgust. The house is built in a way that looks totally off and uncomfortable. The front door is on the side and the whole house is somehow spun the wrong way.

“It’s definitely… unique…” Asami says, trying to see the vision.

“You wouldn’t happen to have one more… normal?” Takanou asks.

“I do.” - “How about this one?”

He says with a smile. At the next house. It looks much nicer. They smile at it.

“It looks great!” Hamasaki says excitedly.

“Can we take a look inside?” Takanou asks with a pleased smile.

“Of course!”

The realtor smiles at them and they take a step forward before stopping. The neighbor comes out carrying a large black bag over his shoulder. He tosses it down on his lawn and grabs a shovel that was leaning against his fence. He begins digging. They sweat as they stare at the scene before them. The neighbor stops and looks at them for a moment.

“Mornin’.” He continues digging.

“Is he..?” Asami points slightly.

“We should go…” Takanou grabs her and Hamasaki’s hands gently.

“Yeah I agree..” The realtor agrees.

They turn and quickly head back to the van as the Realtor calls someone. They move onto the next place.

“How about this one?..”

The realtor offers with a slightly tired look. They look at it from the outside and are pleased.

“It looks great.” Takanou says with a nod.

“And the neighbors seem.. Normal.” Hamasaki says with an awkward smile.

“Yeah. Is there anything wrong with the place?” Asami asks.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Let me check.”

The realtor pulls out his tablet and checks the details of the property.

“It says here that it’s got five bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, comes with washer and dryer, etc… Everything looks good so far, the previous owners left this place in great condition! Oh. They did leave a note here at the bottom, it says, ‘Great home for large families, all devices included but no matter what, don’t go into the basement, even with the noises…’” He sweats and trails off reading the last note.

“I didn’t know this place had a basement.” Takanou says.

“It doesn’t…”

They make a scared face and step away slowly. Eventually comes the last listing. They sluggishly approach the final house he has available.

“Welp, this is it. If this one doesn’t work out, then I’ve got nothing left.”

He says with a droop. They look at it for a moment. It is a fairly normal house. Two floors with each bedroom having a window out. Takanou and Hamasaki like it but Asami gets a concerned look.

“What’s the catch this time?”

“It doesn’t say anything out of the ordinary here. Although, apparently the smaller house next to it is going to have new tenants very soon too.”

“Cool, new to the neighborhood buddies.”

Asami says playfully sarcastic. They step inside and explore for a bit. Hamasaki likes the kitchen while Asami is excited about the extra large living room. They head to the rooms and see that the master bedroom is quite large. They point out that one of the bedrooms has a small patio attached to it over one of the rooms below. After the tour, they meet out front.

“So, what do you think?” The realtor asks, a little nervous.

“Well, the only thing is that the backyard area is kind of small..” Hamasaki says softly, looking back a bit.

“Yeah but we come from an apartment anyway. Any yard is a good one.”

Asami playfully elbows her in the arm. She smiles back.

“True.”

“I think this is the one for us.”

Takanou says with a satisfied smile. The realtor sighs in relief and smiles. With a nod, he then clicks a check next to the house on his tablet, labeling it as ‘Sold’ as the sun begins to set behind them.

Once the weekend rolls around, everyone is home helping pack and getting ready for the move.

“Thanks for coming over you guys. The help is greatly appreciated.”

He says with a playfully polite attitude as he walks them all up to the apartment. The group is all there.

“Don’t worry about it! Moving is so exciting!” Chizuru says excitedly.

“Yeah, and I wanna see the new place. I bet it’s huge!” Haru adds, just as excited.

“If all of them are gonna be there, it better be.”

Lucy says as they laugh, getting to work. Chizuru, Lucy and Ryuji help Shiori in her apartment while Sugawara and Haru help Hikigaya in his. As Sugawara packs the books and other things from a shelf in the living room, he stumbles across a photo album. He gets curious and opens it up. He blushes a bit as he smiles wide.

“Oh my goodness! Look at them!”

He looks at an old picture of Hikigaya and Haru at his birthday party when they were only 9 years old.

“They’re so small and cute!”

He says, gushing over the cuteness. Hikigaya comes out of the room holding a box and sees Sugawara sitting on the floor with the book in his lap.

“Hey, what do you got there?”

Sugawara quickly closes the book in shock.

“Nothing! Nothing at all!”

He responds nervously. Hikigaya lifts an eyebrow but continues out the door. Sugawara waits for him to leave before opening the book again and giggling to himself. He snaps a couple pics on his phone.

“Oh, you are coming with me.”

He giggles mischievously as Haru sweats and watches from the kitchen the whole time.

Over in Shiori’s apartment, Chizuru is in Shiori’s room, helping her while Lucy and Ryuji help in the kitchen. Shiori works on her closet while Chizuru puts away her desk. While doing so, she sees a few journals. She tries to hold back her curiosity but can’t resist.

‘She wouldn’t mind if I read some of her stories, right?’

She picks up the journal on top and opens it more towards the middle.

‘Huh. It’s dated. February 20th. She must’ve written this idea then.’

She continues to read in her head.

‘“I still can’t believe I did that. Making chocolates for him. I mean what was I thinking? It’s not like someone like him would ever like someone like me. He’s so cute, so smart, and so popular. And I’m just… me.”’

‘Ooh a Valentine’s romance!’ She thinks as a cute smile.

‘“I should just quit liking him. It’s never gonna work. But I like him so much, I want to keep trying! But I couldn’t even give them to him! It just felt so awkward and I didn’t want to mess up their tradition.”’

Chizuru starts to get a more confused look on her face the more she reads.

‘This all seems… familiar?’ She thinks before continuing.

‘“Whatever. There’s no point in dwelling on it now. I’ll keep trying and hopefully one day he’ll like me too. Oh Ryuji, could someone like you ever like me? Shiori’s… Diary Log 92…”’

Her thoughts read slower and slower as she begins to understand what she’s reading. She gets a look of surprise as her eyes grow wide. Then, loudly, Shiori tapes off the box she just filled with clothes. She stands up with a huff, box in hand, and turns. She suddenly stops when she sees Chizuru’s face in her diary. She quickly recognizes it and freaks out, dropping the box.

“Chizuru! What are you doing?!”

She asks, far more embarrassed than anything else. Chizuru lowers the book from her face and looks at her with excited eyes.

“You like Ryuji?!”

Shiori blushes and quickly dashes to her, snatching the diary out of her hands.

“Why were you reading my diary?!”

“I didn’t know! I thought it was one of your story journals! You really should label them..”

“That’s beside the point! Ugh!”

She slowly deflates onto the floor face first, butt up, defeated that Chizuru knows her secret. She giggles and crouches in front of her.

“It’s okay Shiori! What are you so ashamed of?”

“I’m not ashamed. I’m embarrassed… The last thing I want is for you guys to know I like Ryuji…” She says, muffled by the ground.

“Well, it’s not totally uncommon. I mean, most new school years, there’s always a few people who confess to him.”

“What??” She shoots her head up.

“Yeah, I mean he is the most attractive person in our group. He always turns them down though. I don’t know why.”

She puts a finger on her chin, thinking about it. Shiori deflates in defeat once again, this time looking to the side with a sad look.

“Oh man… I definitely don’t stand a chance then…” She grumbles.

“Hey cheer up! We don’t know how he feels about you yet! Maybe Ryuji likes you too!”

She says loudly while patting her back heavy handedly. Shiori quickly shoots up and grabs her wrist.

“Shh! Stop hitting me and keep your voice down! I don’t want Lucy finding out too! And you’ve gotta promise to keep this a secret. It’s bad enough that Hikigaya knows too.”

“Hiki knows?”

Shiori nods her head reluctantly. Chizuru smiles.

“That’s great! We could work together!”

Shiori looks at Chizuru who is smiling a big smile. She kind of smiles back but sweats a bit not having high hopes.

They finish packing up all their things and let the movers handle the rest. They all hop into Asami’s van while the others get into Takanou’s car and drive over to the new house. Riku stands in the middle of the large, empty living room with a look of awe on his face. Chizuru stands behind him doing the same.

“Wooooah! This place is huge!”

He shouts with childish wonder on full display. Chizuru agrees with him.

“He’s right!”

They both run into the living room laughing and playing while the others step in and look around, admiring the nice home. Chizuru swings Riku around joyfully while the parents walk in.

“Go ahead and take your stuff inside guys. Your rooms are all laid out. Ace, you get the office turned bedroom. Riku will get the room on our side of the house upstairs. You two get the last two rooms.”

Takanou says while looking at Shiori and Hikigaya. They look at each other for a moment before heading upstairs to droop at the sight of their rooms being right next to each other, sharing a wall.

The upstairs rooms are mostly sectioned off by the way the hallway is designed. Shiori and Hikigaya’s rooms are to the left from the top of the stairs while the other two bedrooms are to the right with a bathroom and closets in between. Ace’s room is on the first floor.

“You sure we don’t get a say in our room locations..?” Shiori asks with a mopey look.

“Be grateful sweetie.”

Hamasaki gives her a look and Shiori rolls her eye and heads into her room. As she steps in, she notices there are no windows, only a sliding door. She opens it and looks onto the small patio connected to her room.

“Huh. Cool.”

She says softly but genuinely impressed. She then turns and looks around her empty room.

“It’s bigger than my old room.” She smiles a bit.

By the time night rolls around, the movers and the others have all gotten everything into the house. Shiori’s desk, shelves, bed and such have all been put into her room. Now there’s just a pile of boxes left to be sorted through. She sighs then gets to work.

She sorts out her clothes into her slightly bigger closet. She puts her things back on the shelf, gets her bedding all in order, and the last thing she does is organize her desk with her journals, papers, writing tools and laptop. As she finishes putting her desk together, she notices one last smaller box by her desk. She looks at it confused as everything she owns is already put out. She opens the box only to be met with some more sketch books, journals, folders and the like.

“I don’t remember using any of these…”

She pulls one of the sketchbooks out and opens it, seeing different characters drawn up in fancy outfits. Some of them look out of an anime or game while others are more normal, everyday wear. She is surprised and impressed with the skill level of the art. It isn’t anything superb but not bad art either. She looks at another one to see more characters. That’s all these sketches seem to be, mostly people in outfits more than full scenes or comics. As she is admiring the works, Hikigaya comes in through her open door.

“Hey Shiori, I’m missing a box. Have you seen one like- Hey!”

He catches her peeking at his missing box. She looks up and puts it down back into the box quickly. He walks over to her and picks up the box with a huff.

“You know it’s not polite to go through other people’s things.”

“I thought it was my box. I mean, I didn’t know you even did stuff like that.” She defends.

“Yeah well… I do, okay? Go ahead and laugh if you want.” He says, turning his back to her defensively.

“Why would I laugh? Your art is actually really good, at least for someone like you.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He asks from over his shoulder.

“You just don’t seem like an artistic person.”

Hikigaya blushes a bit and looks away from soft embarrassment.

“Well I’m not all that artistic. I just sketch up designs I want to see is all… Nothing crazy…”

He turns away more. Shiori steps closer a bit.

“Hikigaya, you don’t need to be embarrassed. It’s like you said… It makes perfect sense, right?”

She says, referencing his own words. He lifts his head a bit and slightly looks back at her.

“Yeah I guess so…”

She places a hand on his back gently. He gets a surprised look.

“I know I’m not the best at being open or supportive but… we’re gonna be living together from now on so maybe we should… be more open about ourselves?”

She asks with a soft look in her eye. He looks at her and she gives him a slightly embarrassed but honest look. He smiles a bit.

“Yeah, I guess we should.”

She puts her hand down and he nods before carrying the box back to his room. Shiori stares for a moment then looks at her hand, kind of stunned at what she just did.

“What was that?.. This feeling…”

She brings it to her chest and holds her hand close before smiling ever so slightly. Hikigaya closes his door before leaning his back against it. He lets out a sigh of relief almost like he was holding his breath moments before. He blushes intensely as he slides down the door.

‘I’m going to be living with her!..’

He thinks with a big smile on his face. He holds his face in his hands as the blush almost seems to pass through his hands.