"Hey, wake up." A male voice said, poking his cheek. "Five more minutes Riri." Ishihara said half awake. He starts to doze off again, but gets slapped with a notebook. "Agh! What was that for?" Ishihara questioned, getting up immediately. "Good morning sleepyhead." The male voice said. He rubs and sees Ren with a notebook in his hand. "About time you wake up." Ren said. "How long has it been?" Ishihara asked, getting up from the bed. He starts to stretch his body. "It's the end of the day, and don't worry, I already explained everything to Ms. Saito." Ren said. "Right, nggh! My head." Ishihara said in pain. "It was just a notebook, don't be a baby about it." Ren said with a teasing tone. "Enough you two, get out of here now." A female voice said. "Ms. Saito?" Ishihara said in confusion. "Glad you're okay, when something like this happens again tell me immediately, okay?" Ms. Saito advised. She puts her hand on his shoulder, Ren watching just sighs. "You know she's correct. You have had these panic attacks since childhood, me and you know that you're everything but fine." Ren said with a worried expression. "You need to rely on me when you're not feeling fine, okay?" Ms. Saito. "I understand, whenever I'm not feeling fine… I'll rely on you two to help me." Ishihara answered. Ms. Saito and Ren look at each other with a smile.
"You better!" Ren said. He puts his hand over his shoulder and Ms. Saito watches the two with a smile. While that was happening, Reina was overhearing everything outside. Her hands crossed and with an empty expression. Ishihara and Ren leave the school and see Reina waiting at the gate. "Hey isn't that Reina?" Ren asked, slapping him on the back. "Stop it, and yeah… why is she here." Ishihara said, clearly annoyed by Ren. "Go to her, she seems to be waiting for you." Ren said, pushing him to her. "Fine. Fine. I'm going." Ishihara said, walking over to Reina. Reina was looking at the sky and she saw Ishihara walking over to her. She smiles and runs over to him. "Are you okay? You aren't hurt right?" Reina questioned, her smile soon became a frown. Ishihara looks at her and his mind drifts off to that negative thought. "She must be lying, she doesn't care, she doesn't!" Ishihara thought in his head. He gets shaken back to reality, and sees Reina's face next to his, uncomfortably close. "Aaah!" Ishihara shouted, falling back to shock. "Jumpy as ever, huh?" Ren said, walking over to both of them.
He helps Ishihara up and Reina watches them with curiosity. "Are both of you childhood friends?" Reina asked. "Why the sudden question?" Ren asked back. "Just curious… that's all." Reina answered. "Right, yes we are. He and I go back all the way to kindergarten." Ren answered proudly. "Ishihara looks at both of them exhausted. "I need to go buy something, you two wanna come with me?" Ishihara questioned, doing a simple stretch. "Huh, sure then. You owe me for what happened this morning." Ren said, putting his hands behind his head. "Why me though?" Reina questioned. "You were involved too, so I wanna buy you something as an apology." Ishihara answered. He remembers Reina with her perfume bottle next to him and saying something to him. "Fine, but you're buying me something from the small shop we met at." Reina said, winking at him. "By "Small shop" does she mean?" Ren asked, almost knowing what Reina meant. "Yes. Miss Kiyomi's shop." Ishihara answered.
"What are you two doing? Come on!" Reina shouted, waiting for them to move. "We're coming!" Ren shouted back. "Haah… come on." Ishihara said, pushing Ren forward. "Took you two long enough." Reina said. They all walk over to Iwai's shop.
They arrive at her shop and enter. Iwai is sitting at the register reading a book. "Hey Iwai." Ishihara greeted me. "Hi Miss Kiyomi." Ren greeted as well. "Hi Miss, I'm sorry what my friends did here last time." Reina apologized, bowing to show she's apologetic. "Hey kids, and don't worry. I don't need… actually you owe me a favor now." Iwai said, a small smile appearing on her face. ""A favor?" Reina said in confusion. "Yeah Iwai, what do you mean by a favor?" Ishihara asked in confusion. "Just a small favor really, she helps me when I need her." Iwai answered with a smile. "All right." Reina answered. While that happens, Ren looks at the situation with confusion. "What has happened here since last time?" Ren asked. "I'll tell you about it at the table." Reina said, pointing at a vacant table. The three then sit at the table, but before explaining what happened, Iwai came over to take their orders. "What would you three like?" Iwai asked with a smile. "On the poster in front, is it true?" Ishihara questioned. Before the three came in, he saw a poster for two puddings for the price of one. "Yes it's true, you can get two puddings for the price of one. Is that what you want?" Iwai answered. "Pudding." Reina said, her mouth watering a bit.
Ishihara looks at the menu and sees the list. It listed butterscotch, pistachio, strawberry, tapioca, chocolate, and lemon. He knew what he wanted immediately. "I would like the lemon and butterscotch pudding." Ishihara ordered. "All right then, what about you two?" Iwai asked, writing down Ishihara's order. "I would like the strawberry and tapioca pudding." Ren ordered. And I would like the pistachio and chocolate pudding." Reina ordered. "All right. Your orders will come out shortly." Iwai said, going to the kitchen. "About what happened?" Ren questioned again. "Right. Right." Reina said before explaining what events transpired. After she explained everything, Ren couldn't do anything, but sigh. "Aaah, Ishihara. Why did you run?" Ren asked with exhaustion. "I was getting overwhelmed by the situation." Ishihara answered, directing his gaze on a nearby plant. "Yeah his ears were cherry red." Reina commented. "OH, really." Ren said in a teasing tone. "Don't. You. Dare." Ishihara said in a serious tone. "Guess my little cherry got a little too ripe." Ren teased. Reina chuckled at the joke and Ishihara looked annoyed. "I hate you." Ishihara said with anger. "Don't be like that. You know you love it." Ren said with a wink.
"Pay for your own food." Ishihara said. "What?" Ren said in confusion. "Pay. For. Your. Own. Food." Ishihara repeated, but more slowly. Ren gets up from his chair and goes to Ishihara to plead for forgiveness. "Please I'm sorry, don't do that please." Ren pleaded. "Too late." Ishihara said, seeing Iwai come out of the kitchen. She sees Ren pleading on the floor and inquires about what happened. "I have your puddings and what happened?" Iwai inquired. "I threatened to not pay for his desserts." Ishihara answered. "Then he started to plead with him not to." Reina added. "Well sit down, I have your puddings here." Iwai said, showing them a tray filled with plates of pudding. "Right, sorry." Ren said, getting up. He sits in his chair and Iwai gives the three their puddings that they order. "Time to dig in!" Reina said, before eating a spoonful of the pistachio pudding. Ren does the same except with the strawberry. "Ishihara, do you want lemonade?" Iwai asked. "No, not today." Ishihara answered. Ishihara takes his spoon and takes a bite of the butterscotch pudding. The group is astonished by the flavor of their puddings and soon start to eat them faster. "This is delicious, it's so nutty and smooth." Reina said with delight. "Same. Mine is fruity and sweet, but has a bit of a tangy taste." Ren said, eating another bite of his pudding. "Ishihara, what about yours?" Reina asked. "Mines basically taste like a really good butterscotch pie." Ishihara answered. The three soon finished their pudding and went to eat the next one.
"Time for the chocolate." Reina said, her mouth watering. "Time for the tapioca. A weird choice, yes, but it is an ingredient of my favorite drink." Ren said. "You don't need to explain." Ishihara said. All of them take a spoonful of their puddings and eat it. "It is so good, chewy yet smooth and has a huge vanilla taste. I love it." Ren said, clearly enjoying it. "Mine is a mix between a bitter dark chocolate and a sweet milk chocolate, I love mine also." Reina exclaimed. While those two were verbally showing their love for their puddings, Ishihara was enjoying his pudding silently. After a bit, they finished their puddings and Iwai came over to take their dishes. "So how was the pudding?" Iwai asked, taking their empty dishes. "Delicious! I love them." Reina praised. "I think so too." Ren added. Ishihara didn't say anything except pass her money for the sweets. "Here's the money for the sweets. Do you also have some leftover mochi?" Ishihara asked. "Of course we do." Iwai answered. She takes the money and puts it in the cash register. She then goes to the kitchen and the three start talking again. "Why mochi all of a sudden?" Reina questioned. "Didn't I tell you two I needed to buy something?" Ishihara questioned back. "OH, right sorry." Reina answered. "This for your sister or something?" Ren asked. "Yeah, Mari wanted some yesterday and I promised her that I would buy some." Ishihara answered.
Right when he finishes, Iwai comes out with a box filled with mochi. "There's about eight pieces, all different flavors." Iwai said, before giving Ishihara the box. "Thank you Iwai." Ishihara said. "Bye." Iwai said, waving to them.." Bye!" The group said back. "I'm about to go home, so don't worry about sticking with me." Ishihara said. "Can I come to your house again?" Reina asked. This question was out of nowhere. Ren heard this and started to grin a little. "OH, so a girl went to your house, huuuuh." Ren teased, going right next to him. Ishihara turns his gaze away and Reina wants to tease him also. "Yeah I did, it was such a great time also." Reina teased. "Oh, was it really?" Ren asked. "It sure was, me and him alone." Reina answered. Both of them had a sly smile, but before they could continue, Ishihara stopped them. "Both of you stop!" Ishihara shouted, his face cherry red. "Why not?" Ren asked. "Yeah why not?" Reina added. "It's because… we're close to my house, right?" Ishihara answered. Reina looks around and within her view is his house. A light blue house with brown roof tiles. It had two floors, including an attic as well. "Well I'm off!" Ren shouted, already leaving the two.
"Hello?" Mari said, her head peeking out the door. "Hey Mari." Ishihara said. ". Hey there." Reina said, waving. Mari runs out the door and hugs Ishihara."Hey careful; I have your mochi." Ishihara said, making sure the box didn't fall. "OH, sorry." Mari said, twiddling her thumbs. Ishihara passes Reina the box and goes to comfort Mari. "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong." Ishihara said. Mari hugs back and Reina is left watching this wholesome moment. "Dear god, these two are too cute!" Reina shouted in her head. "Hey are you okay?" Mari asked, shaking Reina's arm. "I'm fine. I was just about to leave." Reina answered. She started to walk away before remembering to give back the box. "Here, I'm sorry. Almost forgot, now it's goodbye." Reina said, finally leaving. "Let's go in shall we." Ishihara said. "Yeah." Mari said. They go in and they shut the door. They have dinner and they spend all their time reading. "Aren't you going to eat your mochi?" Ishihara asked, reading a horror fantasy story. "No I'm not, why." Mari asked back, reading a romance story. "Just asking." Ishihara answered. The books the two were reading are their favorite short stories. Ishihara's story is one called "Shadow Walker" and Mari's story is one called "Gold and Silver. "How can you read those types of stories?" Mari questioned.
"I just like these types of stories, it has a character named Belle. She's similar to you." Ishihara answered. "In what way?" Mari asked. "You both really rely on those closest to you, you both are easily scared, and you try to act tough when you aren't." Ishihara answered. Mari becomes annoyed and she jumps on to Ishihara. "What are you-" Ishihara said before getting cut off. Shut it, how about I show one of your weaknesses?" Mari threatened. His hands were held down with Mari sitting on top of him. Whoever would see this would get the wrong idea immediately. "Does the story have illustrations?" Mari asked to check the short story for illustrations. "Yes on page 8." Ishihara answered. She checks the page and sees a girl in a cloak with a white flower in her hair. "She's pretty." Mari said in shock. "Right." Ishihara said. "Why you little." Mari said, before falling on him. "Are you okay?" Ishihara asked. "I'm fine… can we stay like this?" Mari asked, laying on his chest. "Sure we can." Ishihara answered. Ishihara gets her off him and goes to grab a blanket. He puts the blanket on both of them and continues reading. Mari was the first to go to sleep, Ishihara was next to go to sleep. They both drift off peacefully to sleep.