Umi blinked her eyes open, her foggy vision gradually focusing to reveal the ceiling of the nurse’s office. She wasn’t entirely sure how she got there, though. She didn’t remember coming here at all, so presumably she must have passed out or something. She didn’t hurt anywhere, though. She did vaguely remember dreaming that Nekoyama Michiru had cornered her in the hallway and confronted her about the ring and its meaning, but… “Oh, you’re finally awake! Thank goodness. I was terribly worried when you passed out in the hallway earlier.” Umi felt as thought her neck was almost creaking as she slowly, reluctantly turned to face the source of the voice. Her heart leapt in her chest as she saw Michiru sitting on a chair next to the bed. “Oh… It wasn’t a dream…” Michiru looked somewhat confused. “What wasn’t a dream?” “You… You know… about the ring.” “Of course not. When I received such a lovely gift, I simply had to try to find out as much as I could about it.” “You’re not… upset?” “Certainly not! Why would I ever be upset to receive something so wonderful? If anything, I’m amazed you were able to find such a perfectly suited gift.” Umi blushed and shook her head. “It… ummm, I actually had to have it custom made…” “My goodness! I figured you had simply found the piece in a store and asked for a custom engraving. I never would have imagined you would have gone as far as to commission a unique piece of jewellery for me. That must have been terribly expensive!” Umi wanted to deny it, make it seem like it wasn’t such a big deal… But the truth was that commissioning the ring had pretty much cleaned out her entire savings, and she couldn’t bring herself to lie to Nekoyama Michiru of all people. So she simply remained silent, her flush growing deeper still. Michiru gave her a thoughtful look. “Well, perhaps you might allow me to invite you to my summer home as a way to thank you for this wonderful gift? It’s a rather lovely place, and the nearby beach is beautiful.” Umi’s eyes shot wide open. “Your summer home? The two of us? Together?” “Well, the staff will also be there of course, but yes. Father often uses the summer home to host parties or to hold conferences and workshops, but it should be free for a few days near the end of summer vacation. If you’re interested, of course.” Umi desperately wanted to go. Of course she wanted to go. She wanted to go more than anything! But at the same time, going on what amounted to a two person vacation with Nekoyama Michiru was just… too much! As Umi’s anxiety silently warred against her desires, she finally settled on a compromise. “Is it all right if I invite a friend to come along with us?” “Of course! I very much look forward to making their acquaintance.” Keith Clifford looked out the doors with a dour expression on his face, simply watching the torrential downpour. True, he hadn’t actually checked the weather forecast this morning, but come on! It was the last day before summer vacation started, so he had understandably been a little distracted, and the weather had been fine the entire week. So obviously, he hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella. To make matters worse, the film club’s last meeting for the term had run late, since they were planning for the movie they’d be filming over summer break. And then Keith had stayed later still together with Matsumoto, who had actually been present for once, to tidy up the clubroom. So by the time they were finally ready to leave, the school was practically empty, and the usually quite generous stock of loaner umbrellas was utterly depleted. Even Matsumoto had left. He hadn’t brought an umbrella either, but that Kyoya fellow had been waiting for him, and the two of them left sharing his umbrella between them. Matsumoto had apologized for leaving him behind, but there wasn’t exactly a lot to be done at that point. It wasn’t as though the three of them could fit under one umbrella. He sighed deeply as he surveyed the sodden courtyard before him. Even the morning glories in the planters lining the main path looked depressed, their flowers drooping under the sheer weight of the rainfall. Even if he made a dash for it, he’d be fully drenched before he got as far as the nearest bus stop. Maybe he could go check the teachers’ lounge to see if… “Mr. Clifford. Good day to you.” Turning around, Keith spotted the Nekoyama Heiress walking towards him, her schoolbag held in one hand and a folded umbrella in the other. “Ah, lady Nekoyama, good afternoon.” “You look rather despondent, Mr. Clifford. Did something happen?” “Not exactly. I just forgot to bring my umbrella this morning, that’s all.” “Well, that is certainly a problem. I take it there are no spare umbrellas that you could use?” “None left, it seems. I guess I’m not the only one who forgot to bring one today.” “Well, in that case, why don’t we share mine? It should keep us dry enough until we can get to my car, and then my chauffeur can see you to your home before taking me back to mine.” Keith’s eyes widened slightly at the suggestion. “Are you sure that’s all right? I wouldn’t want to impose…” “It’s no imposition at all. I am simply happy to help a schoolmate in their time of need.” Keith flushed slightly as he got in under the umbrella. It was a fairly sizeable one, but he nevertheless ended up having to walk very close to the heiress to stay dry. With the rain pouring down all around them, it was almost as though the space beneath the umbrella was a private little world just for the two of them. They didn’t share an umbrella for very long. Just as far as the school parking lot. As they both got into the car that was waiting to pick the heiress up, Keith found himself wishing that the walk had been just a bit longer… “It’s finally done!” Ayako threw her arms up triumphantly before collapsing backwards onto the floor, her back aching from all the time she’d spent hunched over the table. The pillow she’d been sitting on had felt comfortable enough to start with, but after hours and hours of work across multiple afternoons, she rather suspected that the thing had a pair of depressions in it in the exact shape of her ass cheeks. “Good work, you two. With this, I’ll just be able to meet the deadline for the standard printing schedule. I was not looking forward to paying the extra fee for express printing.” “It was a very interesting experience, Miss Susu. I have very much enjoyed working with you on this project.” “Speak for yourself, Mimi! The hell did you have to give the main character such a complicated mask for, Susu? It was an absolute pain in the ass to cut out the screentone!” “When I crafted the character design, I was working digitally. It’s not my fault that my tablet malfunctioned halfway through the shading work. I’m just happy we were able to find tone sheets that sufficiently matched the digital shading I’d been using to prevent any visible mismatch.” Ayako made a frustrated little grumbling noise, but didn’t say anything further. Michiru carefully gathered the individual pages, making sure they were in proper order and free of any dust or debris before handing them over to Sumomo. “Everything appears to be in order, and I haven’t spotted any errors, but you should probably look it over one last time before sending it to the printer.” Sumomo nodded and took the manuscript, poring over the pages carefully to spot any potential misspellings or other errors. Ayako, meanwhile, threw herself onto the bed and started idly kicking her feet. “Well, I’m glad we’re done. It was kinda cool to make something like this, I guess, but I wanna do summer stuff! Like go to the pool, or the sea, or have a barbecue! Oh, and I guess we’re all going to that comi-whatever event to sell this thing. Do you have any plans for the rest of summer vacation, Mimi? Other than the event, I mean.” “Well, I have quite a few family obligations, and I’ll be staying at my grandmother’s house for a week just after the event, so I suppose my schedule is mostly booked. Oh, and I will be staying at my summer home with a pair of friends for three days and two nights near the end of summer vacation.” “Wow, a summer home? That sounds awesome! Still, the end of summer vacation, huh? You know, I think there’s a festival at the shrine near my place on the second to last day of summer vacation. With fireworks and everything. How about we go there together, all three of us?” “Oh, that sounds delightful! I should be back from my summer home on that day, and I’ve always wanted to attend a summer festival with my friends. I will have to convince my father, of course, but I’m sure I can manage it.” “That’s great! I’m looking forward to it already! You, me and Susu all dressed up in yukata. We’ll totally be super cute!” Sumomo looked up from the pages she’d been scanning. “What was that?” “Miss Yaya suggested that we all dress up in yukata and attend a summer festival near her home on the second to last night of summer vacation. Doesn’t that sound simply delightful?” Sumomo forcibly stopped herself from speaking, then took a deep breath. When she did speak, her tone was just a shade too light to sound quite natural. “Of course. I would love to. Say, I’m rather hungry. Perhaps it’s time to bring out those lovely cakes and the black tea you brought today, Mimi?” Michiru clapped her hands together. “Of course! I completely forgot! I will go to prepare it at once.” As Michiru left the room and closed the door behind her, Ayako sat up in the bed and looked over at Sumomo curiously. “What’s up? Usually you’d always insist on helping whenever Mimi prepares snacks for us, since it’s your house and all. So I gotta assume you just wanted to get her out of the…” But she didn’t get any further, because Sumomo literally pounced her, slamming her down onto the bed with a muted thud. Sumomo’s hands were gripping her shoulders so hard it hurt, and the girl’s narrowed eyes were boring into her own. Ayako tried her best to pretend that this sudden forcefulness didn’t affect her at all, but she could feel a slight warmth rising in her cheeks as Sumomo spoke. “What the hell were you thinking!? Why on Earth would you go and volunteer me for a yukata date with Nekoyama Michiru?” Ayako laughed nervously, her heart thudding in her chest. “What’s the problem? It should be fun, right?” “Tell me, do you genuinely believe that I have so much as worn a Yukata since grade school?” “Um, maybe not…?” “Of course not! Now you listen here, you little imp! You are going to the mall with me next week, and you are helping me pick out a yukata. And then you are going to help me practice moving around wearing a yukata and geta sandals until I can pull it off without looking like an idiot in front of Nekoyama. Are we clear?” Ayako swallowed, really hoping that she just looked scared. Because she knew for a fact that if Sumomo realized exactly what this forceful treatment was doing to Ayako, she’d just get even angrier. And that would be awes… bad. That would be very bad. “Yes ma’am!” “Please! You have to come with me to Michiru’s summer home!” Miki looked over at Umi with a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t been sure why exactly Umi had invited her to go to the mall together, and the first words out of the girls mouth after they met up sure as hell didn’t clear anything up. “Hello to you too, Umi. Now, what’s this about a summer home?” “Michiru figured out about the ring! And then she invited me to go to her summer home during the last week of summer vacation!” “Way to go! Good for you, Umi!” “Yes! It’s amazing! I’ve been so happy I could barely function for like two weeks!” “So that’s why you haven’t been in touch lately…” “But I’m way too nervous to go with her on my own! So I asked if I could bring a friend along, and she said yes! Please, Miki, I need you to be my moral support!” “So I get to go on a mini-vacation at the summer home of one of the wealthiest families in the country, and all I have to do is help you not sabotage yourself in front of the heiress?” “Yes! Exactly that!” “Sounds great to me. Don’t you worry. I’ve got your back. Now… Why are we having this conversation in front of the mall?” “I need you to help me pick out a swimsuit!” “Are you seriously telling me you don’t have a swimsuit? You’re in the swim club!” “Of course I have a swimsuit, but it’s a competition swimsuit! I need you to help me pick out a good-looking swimsuit!” “Oh! Yeah, that makes sense. Can you really afford a new swimsuit, though? I thought that ring pretty much cleaned you out…” “…I need you to help me pick out a cheap good-looking swimsuit…” Miki sighed deeply. “Tell you what, I’ll lend you the money for the swimsuit. Just pay me back whenever.” Umi gasped and put her hands together like she was praying. “Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you so much for bestowing such divine benevolence upon my lowly self, lady Miki!” “All right, tone it down a notch. Save the worship for the target of your worryingly obsessive affections. Now, let’s go find you something tasteful but sexy so you can show yourself off properly.” “Good job today, Miss Atsuko. Here, I brought you that sports drink you enjoy so much.” “Thank you, Michiru! The stuff the school brought to the event tastes kind of funky.” “I was very impressed with your efforts today. I don’t know if I could have run in two separate events in this heat. It was truly riveting to watch.” Atsuko grimaced as she wiped the sweat from her face. “Still couldn’t get first.” “Second and third place is a very respectable result. Especially since most of your opponents are two years your senior.” “Well, I’m glad you came to watch me run. I heard you cheering. It really let me give it my all.” “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Atsuko sat down on a bench in the shade of an overhang, gulping down more than half the bottle of sports drink in a single sweep. “I hope I’m not pulling you away from anything important.” “Well, I did have to reschedule a planned meeting to be here, but thankfully I didn’t have anything planned on the final day of summer vacation, and I was able to move the meeting to that day.” “Sounds like you have a packed schedule.” “I will admit that I have very few days open at this point. My father originally suggested I could reschedule the meeting to the evening of the second to last day of summer vacation, but I promised to attend a festival with some friends that evening.” “Oh really?” Atsuko asked, trying very hard to sound casual. “So, where is that festival being held?” Sumomo stumbled through the crowded halls in a bit of a daze. When she arrived here, she had fully expected that she would only sell a handful of copies. She’d never sold her work at an event like this before, after all, so she had no name recognition beyond her paltry number of online followers. In a fit of what she’d been sure was absolute hubris, she had ordered five hundred copies of her comic to be printed, and once the rush had settled down she’d been convinced that she’d be taking almost all of them back home with her after the event was over. She had completely failed to account for the combined power of Ayako’s shameless exuberance and Michiru’s staggering charisma. The combination of the two of them had somehow turned into an unstoppable sales juggernaut, and the five hundred copies, minus the ones she set aside for herself, her friends and the rest of the manga club, were completely sold out by lunchtime. Since Michiru wasn’t allowed to freely wander the event to make sure her shockingly discrete bodyguards wouldn’t lose her in the crowd, she had offered to mind the now empty booth and direct anyone interested to the website where they could purchase a digital copy of the now sold-out comic. This meant that Sumomo and Ayako were free to wander. And then Ayako had almost immediately been distracted by a booth selling moderately risqué girl’s love comics. This left Sumomo to wander all on her own. Normally, she would of course have gone straight for the boy’s love booths. But right now, she was still too dazed by her unexpected success to even think about where she was going. And so, quite without meaning to, she ended up stumbling over to the cosplay area. Honestly, the cosplay area was rather too bright and lively for Sumomo’s tastes. But since she was here already, she figured she might as well take a look at some of the gathered cosplayers. After all, maybe she would stumble upon some fellow rotten girls dressed up to portray a boy’s love pairing or some such. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much hope of finding actual men portraying such pairings, but she’d take what she could get… “Wait… Is that…?” She was pretty sure that the very pretty wolf-eared samurai she spotted in the distance was actually Yamamoto Kyoya, the delinquent character from her class. He’d done a good job with the wig and contacts, but she recognized the fairly distinct shape of his jawbone. She didn’t recognize the beautiful shrine maiden who was posing with him, though. Unless… “No way… No way!” As she got closer, the niggling suspicion turned into certainty. Sure, the face looked completely different, but only in ways that could conceivably be achieved by skilful use of costume makeup. And the height, the build, the bone structure… There was no way she was mistaken! The person playing the part of the shrine maiden was none other than Matsumoto Taro! She couldn’t believe her luck! This was Yama x Matsu, her One True Pairing, her favourite ship, right here in front of her, in real life! At the prompting of a photographer, Matsumoto affected a flustered stance and expression while Yamamoto hugged him from behind, growling at the camera with an air of almost feral possessiveness, and Sumomo couldn’t help but squeal at the perfectly precious vision before her. Michiru let out a soft, happy sigh as she enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea with her breakfast out in the garden. The morning sun sparkled on the grass and flowers around her, still damp with morning dew. The morning glories almost seemed to shine in the light as the sun slowly began its journey across the heavens. And for the first time since the start of summer vacation, Michiru had truly nothing planned all day. Her summer vacation thus far had been, if anything, even more busy than the first term of high school. It was only yesterday that she came back from her grandmother’s house, and in just two days she’d be leaving for a little getaway at the summer home with Miss Umi and her friend. And then there was the summer festival, and then the meeting with the new head of her protection detail. These first two days of the last week of summer vacation were the only two days out of the entire six weeks when she was completely free from any sort of plans or obligations whatsoev… Her train of thought was interrupted as her phone rang. She vaguely recognized the energetic pop chorus as the custom ring tone she had set for Ayako, but it was only the second time she’d actually heard it since. Ayako almost never simply called her on the phone, generally preferring to use various apps for either text chat or video calls. So it was with mild concern that Michiru answered the phone. “Miss Yaya? Is everything all right?” “MIMI! SAVE ME!” “What’s wrong?” “I just realized I haven’t even started on my summer homework! There’s a mountain of stuff to do and I haven’t even touched it! There’s no way I’ll be able to finish this on my own!” As Michiru considered how long it was likely going to take to help Ayako get through her summer homework, she quietly revised her previous train of thought. As it turned out, there truly was not a single day of this entire summer vacation when she didn’t have something to do…