Soon after Akira went up to his room, Sakuya goes to the refrigerator and takes out all sorts of snacks and drinks. She then puts them all on top of a futon.

   ‘Come on, don’t be shy. There’s plenty of them, so eat all you want~.’ Sakuya says generously.

   ‘Thank you for you offer, but I want to refrain myself from eating too much at night.’ Sara declines politely. ‘It would be bad if I gain weight.’

   ‘Aww~, that’s too bad. Are you sure you don’t want any, at all?’ Sakuya purposely takes out a chocolate stick and waves it in front of Sara.

   Sara stares at the stick while rapidly swallowing her saliva. She reaches for it instinctively, but retracts her hand at the very last moment.

   ‘Yes, I’m sure.’ Sara says firmly.

   Wordlessly, Sakuya swings the stick like a pendulum. Sara’s eyes keep on looking at the thin snack.

   ‘Just one stick is fine, you know? Just. One. Stick~’ Sakuya whispers.

   Sara swallows her saliva once more.

   ‘No, I’m fine. Thank you for the offer.’

   Sara says that, but Sakuya could tell that she’s wavering. She finds this extremely fun. No wonder Akira finds pleasure in bullying her. She could almost forgive him for all the mean things he did and said.

   Almost.

   ‘President, please stop teasing her.’ Ichika intervenes.

   Sakuya pouts at her. ‘Boo~, you always ruin the fun, Ichika-chan.’

   ‘I am not. She is fasting. You should respect her decision to do so.’

   ‘I guess you’re right. I’m sorry for teasing you, Sara-chan.’ Sakuya apologizes.

   Sara shakes her head. ‘No, it’s fine, Morifuji-san. I’m sorry for declining your offer too.’

   ‘Aww, you’re back to being formal again~. Didn’t I tell you to call me Sakuya onee-chan?’

   ‘Oh, that’s right! I’m sorry, I’m still not used to calling others onee-chan.’

   ‘It’s fine, it’s fine. You can just take your time.’

   Ichika sighs. There’s no talking to Sakuya when it comes to this kind of things. She straight up gives up.

   ‘Chips?’ Mashiro asks her while handing over a packet of seaweed flavored potato crisps.

   Ichika takes some. ‘Thank you.’

   Meanwhile, Sakuya is giving Sara advice on controlling her weight.

   ‘You know what they say, holding it back is bad for you. It’s true that you should control the amount and timing of eating something, but having an empty stomach before you sleep is bad as well. If you’re that worried about gaining weight, you could always exercise.’

   ‘I guess it’s true.’

   Ichika relaxes a bit. She has totally forgotten that Sakuya can give proper advice every once in a whil-

   ‘Then again, you could always get some side dish to pass the night-’

   ‘PRESIDENT!’

   On the other hand, Yui is successfully intimating her relationship with Madoka. It seems that after Akira had a talk with her, she’s much more willing to open up.

   ‘So, what do you usually do on your free time, Kojima-san?’ Yui asks Madoka.

   Yui is surprised to see that Madoka is being embarrassed.

   ‘Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!’ Yui says quickly.

   ‘No, it’s fine. It’s just that…my hobby is, weird, to say the least.’

   That makes Yui even more curious.

   ‘Whatever it is, I promise that I won’t laugh.’ Yui assures her.

   ‘...It’s weight training.’ Madoka says in an extremely tiny voice.

   ‘I beg you pardon?’

   ‘I like to lift weight whenever I have the time…’ Again, the same tiny voice.

   Yui figures that this is the highest volume that Madoka could speak in, so she leans closer. Madoka takes in a deep breath and repeats what she just said.

   ‘My hobby is weight-lifting.’

   Yui blinks a few times. Indeed, that’s quite a…unique pastime for a girl.

   ‘...It’s weird, isn’t it?’ Madoka asks dejectedly.

   ‘It’s unusual, yes. But, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, I like to take care of bonsai. That’s mostly a pastime for the elderly.’

   Madoka shakes her head. ‘Taking care a plant requires patience. It’s a hobby suitable for all ages, not just for the old.’

   ‘Well, so is body-building! It’s good for your health-’

   ‘And it’ll gives off the impression that I’m a rough person...’

   ‘No it doesn’t. You’re just using a different approach to train yourself.’ Yui comforts.

   Madoka sighs. ‘I wonder if that’s how he would think if he ever finds out.’

   A split second after she said that, she quickly covers her mouth with both her hands while making a ‘Why on earth did I said that?’ look.

   Now, Yui was always slow when it comes to love. She never noticed that Miyahara was having a crush on Shizuku, and vice-versa. She herself was oblivious to the fact that shes in love with Akira until Sakuya pointed it out. However, it’s different this time. It’s that obvious.

   However, Yui doesn’t know how the method to approach this. Unlike Sakuya, she doesn’t have a way with words. If she’s not careful, Madoka might become agitated. Yui would like to avoid that, especially right after she has finally shown signs of wanting to open up.

   Yui decides to take things step by step. First, she’ll pretend that she doesn’t know who Madoka is talking about and just gives her advice.

   ‘Whoever he is, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.’

   Madoka slowly retracts her hands.

   ‘Really?’

   ‘I’m sure of it. Is that person so mean as to get repulsed just because you have a unique hobby?’

   Madoka thinks it over.

   ‘...I guess not. From what I know, he’s definitely not that kind of person.’

   ‘You see?’

   Just when things are going great, Sakuya appears out of nowhere.

   ‘Are you girls talking about Akira-kun?’ she asks them.

   Yui does a facepalm.

   As she has half-expected, Madoka becomes all flustered.

   ‘W-W-W-Whatever are you talking about? Why is he brought up all of a sudden?’ Madoka asks while looking away and stuttering.

   Sakuya is smiling ears-to-ears, clearly enjoying Madoka’s reaction.

   ‘Come on, there’s no need to be shy~! You’re not the first one, and you’re probably not the last.’

   Madoka still refuses to look at her. ‘I’ll say this again, president. I have no idea who or what are you talking about.’

   ‘Still trying to act innocent, are we? Well, no matter. Let’s just keep talking as if we don’t know who you’re referring to.’

   Yui lets out a sigh of relief when she finds out that Sakuya can read the atmosphere when it’s crucial.

   Mashiro looks over. ‘Are we having another girl’s talk?’

   ‘Yes we are~.’

   ‘No, we aren’t.’

   Sakuya and Madoka say at the same time.

   Mashiro looks to and fro between them.

   ‘Which one is it?’ she asks them.

   Sakuya looks at Madoka with puppy eyes. It didn’t take long for Madoka to relent. She lets out a tired sigh.

   ‘...Fine, we’re having one.’

   ‘Yay~!’ Sakuya says excitedly.

   Sara raises up her hand.

   ‘Um, I don’t have anything to talk about when it comes to love, so I guess I’ll go to sleep first.’

   ‘No no, there no need for that.’ Sakuya quickly stops her. ‘You can just listen.’

   Ichika thinks that’s a really bad idea, since the rest of them are going to talk about the same person.

   ‘Sara, can you keep a secret?’ she asks her.

   Sara is a bit surprised at her question, but she nods anyway.

   ‘Yes, I can. So, what’s this secret?’

   ‘The thing is, all of us here is in love with Akira. Excluding you, of course.’

   The eyes of the sister-in-training widen when she heard that.

   ‘It also excludes me.’ Madoka adds quickly.

   The rest of the girls look at her.

   ‘...What?’ she demands.

   ‘Nothing.’

   ‘So, are all of you currently competing to be his girlfriend?’ Sara asks.

   ‘Ah, now here is the part where we want you to keep as a secret.’

   Ichika proceeds to tell Sara of their plan to be in a relationship with Akira at the same time should he wishes for it. Honestly, she doesn’t know how Sara, who’s a Christian sister-in-training, would react to a polygamy relationship.

   Surprisingly, all she did was saying a simple ‘Is that so?’

   ‘You do not find this, well, repulsive?’

   ‘If you’re asking me that while thinking that I’m a closed-minded Christian, I don’t find it repulsive, and I’m not someone who insist on monogamy. Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t condemn polygamy at all.’

   Madoka agrees with the last part of Sara’s statement.

   ‘It’s true. Kenya’s law approves of polygamy marriage, and a vast majority of them are Christians.’

   That gave the others lots of hope.

   ‘That’s very nice to hear.’ Sakuya says. ‘Now, if only someone will be more honest to her feelings.’

   She says the last part while looking at Madoka.

   At first, Madoka looked like she has a lot to say, but she just sighs in the end.

   ‘I’m sorry. It’s just that, this is the first time I felt that way, so I don’t know how to react to it.’

   Sakuya is taken aback by that statement. She immediately turns apologetic.

   ‘I’m sorry, Madoka-chan. It would seem that I’ve gone too far.’

   Madoka shakes her head.

   ‘There’s no need to apologize, president.’

   Madoka takes a deep breath before she continues to talk.

   ‘Honestly, I’m still not sure what kind of feeling do I have for Kagenashi. When I talked about my past with him outside the cave, I felt relieved, since I’ve never talked about it to anyone else. There was also the fact that he wasn’t repulsed by my insane laughter whenever I start to fight.’

   Sara has a lot of questions regarding those two things. However, she feels that now’s a bad time to interrupt, so she just kept quiet.

   ‘Just now, he encouraged me to make friends with all of you. I won’t have the courage to take the step if it wasn’t for him.’

   Suddenly, she looks much more determined.

   ‘That decides it. This feeling I have towards him is gratitude. Nothing more. It’s definitely not love.’

   Even though she said that, the others aren’t fooled at all, not even Sara. Just before Madoka showed her determined look, she had a maiden-in-love expression. It was just a split second, but it was enough to tell them the truth.

   ‘Well, leaving Kojima-san aside, how did the rest of you fall in love with Kagenashi-san?’ Sara asks curiously.

   So they told her the same thing they told each other on their first slumber party. When they’re done, Sara heart was quite flustered.

   Sara used to live as a homeless orphan in a slum that she doesn’t even know the name of. She was always busy on surviving. Love, much less friendship was not even on her priority list, as it’s everyone for themselves in the rough street. Trusting someone could be your worst and last mistake.

   After she got locked up by Lost Children, her situation was slightly changed for the better. Mind, it’s only slightly. Sure, she was given better clothing and food was provided three times a day, but she was used as a leverage against her father whom she has never met before.

   Even though Sara has barely enjoyed her life, she’s still a girl. And there’s very little things more moving to a girl than love stories.

   ‘…Those are some amazing stories.’ she says to them after she remembered on how to breath.

   ‘Thank you. That said, it’s still pretty embarrassing to say it out loud.’ Sakuya says.

   Mashiro looks at the student council president with an expression that cries disbelief.

   ‘President, you actually know how to feel shame?’

   ‘Mashiro-chan, just because Akira-kun isn’t here it doesn’t mean that there’s a need for you to take over his job of bullying me, you know?’

   ‘Is falling in love fun?’ Sara asks the rest.

   ‘I guess it depends on the individual. For me, it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s like every time you’re near the person you love, all your worries would be blown away and makes you feel like you can do anything.’ Yui answers.

   ‘Needless to say, this kind of love is very different from family love. It’s true that family is eternal, and lovers might be temporary. But still, there are literally billions of people in this planet. Won’t it be very exciting if you ever found the one person that you don’t mind spending the rest of your life with? That’s what makes love so special.’ Sakuya says dreamily.

   ‘Mashiro barely understands anything that Sakuya said. For her, she loves Akira, that’s why she wants to be with him all the time. Well, until and unless he says no to her directly.’ Mashiro chips in her own opinion.

   ‘That said, love is not always fun and games.’ Ichika points out. ‘It could change a person for the worse and cause he or she to act irrationally.’

   Sakuya puffs up her cheeks. ‘Jeez, Ichika-chan. There’s no need to be pessimistic, is there?’

   Ichika shrugs. ‘I am merely being realistic. It is absolutely irresponsible to only tell her the good side of falling in love.’

   ‘...Well, I guess it’s true. People do make silly and terrible mistakes when they fall in love.’ Sakuya admits grudgingly. ‘I know Akira-kun would never tell us to do terrible things, but the sadly the same can’t be said for all the boys out there.’

   ‘Indeed.’

   ‘Then again, I highly doubt that Sara-chan will ever have a chance to fall in love.’

   ‘I suppose that’s true. I’m a nun-in-training, after all. Technically, the only one I’m allowed to love is His Lordship the Christ.’

   ‘Actually, I’m talking about your father.’

   ‘Oh, that reminds me. When he brought me shopping for clothes the other day, two boys who looked like they’re in high school approached me and wanted to invite me for tea.’

   ‘Oh my. I hope he didn’t hurt them.’

   ‘No. But he was so upset that I was hit on his face turned purple from rage. The two boys were so frightened they ran like their lives depended on it.’

   ‘Yup. I thought something like that would happen. I mean, your father totally looked like someone who would dote on his daughter.’

   Sara sighs. ‘I couldn’t agree more. I mean, he even threatened the mailman with painful death if he so much as say more than ten words to me.’

   ‘...We need to have a talk with him one of these days.’

   After that, all of them just talked about pretty much anything that comes to their mind. Mashiro and Madoka mostly just listened and didn’t chime in much. Even so, it was still a fun slumber party for Sara, who experienced this kind of thing for the first time.

   ‘Is something wrong, Sara-san?’ Yui asks Sara when she notices her spacing out.

   ‘Please, call me Sara.’ Sara tells her eastern counterpart. ‘I’m younger than you, after all.’

   ‘Well, if you say so…Sara.’ Yui says tentatively.

   ‘Thank you. I was just thinking this is what it feels like to have friends.’

   Yui tears up the moment she heard that, which in turn make Sara panics.

   ‘Um, are you all right, Yui-san? Are you hurt?’

   ‘Yes, Im fine…It’s just that (sob) you’re being too precious, Sara…’ Yui sobs.

   ‘Huh?’

   It’s not just Yui. Sakuya is also bawling her eyes out. Ichika is busy calming the student council president down, but her expression when she looks at Sara is very sympathetic. The same goes for Mashiro and Madoka.

   Once Sakuya has calmed down, she grabs Sara’s shoulders passionately.

   ‘Sara-chan, you’re free to come over to the Academy and hang out with us whenever you feel lonely, okay?’ Sakuya tells her while still sobbing a bit.

   ‘President, I understand that you feel sympathy for Sara, but it is still against the rules.’ Ichika stops her.

   ‘Come on, Ichika-chan. Can’t you just turn a blind eye to it?’

   ‘I cannot.’

   ‘It’s fine, Sakuya onee-chan. I’ll try my best to make friends when I start school.’ Sara assures Sakuya.

   ‘Alright, if you insist. Just remember that your big sister is always here for you.’

   ‘Yes, Sakuya onee-chan.’

   Sakuya sighs happily. ‘It’s nice to be relied on for once.’

   Ichika looks at the time. It’s almost eleven o’clock.

   ‘It is getting late. We should go to bed.’ she tell the others.

   ‘Just a minute, Ichika-chan.’ Sakuya objects. ‘We still have one more thing to decide.’

   ‘Which is?’

   ‘The right to sleep next to Akira-kun, of course.’

   ‘...I beg your pardon?’

   ‘Come on, you don’t get this kind of opportunity very often, you know?’

   ‘No no no, I do not understand. What are you suggesting all of a sudden?’

   ‘Haven’t you ever fantasized about sleeping with the person you love?’

   Ichika’s face turns beet red in an instant. She looks away.

   ‘No. No I have not.’ she answers in a tiny voice.

   ‘Well then, I guess you’re sitting out on this one out-’

   ‘Please let me join in! And I will win so that you would not do anything indecent!’

   Sakuya couldn’t help but chuckle at Ichika’s dishonesty. And she chuckles even more when she sees that Madoka is joining in as well. She takes out a deck of cards with her teleportation magic.

   ‘The rule is simple. Each of us will take turns to draw one card from this deck. The two person who got the card with the highest values will get to sleep with Akira-kun, since there’s only two sides on his bed.’

   Ichika raises up her hand.

   ‘What of Joker? What value does it has?’

   ‘Let’s just decide that it’s bigger than Ace. Any objections?’

   No one has any.

   To be fair, the deck is shuffled by Sara, who’s not participating in this game. After it’s done, all of them line up and draw a card from the deck.

   ‘All of us will flip over the card we drew on a count of three, okay? One, two, three!’

   Mashiro has a Jack of Hearts. Madoka’s card is the 6 of Spades. Ichika is holding a King of Spades. Both Sakuya and Yui got a Joker.

   ‘Well, looks like we got our winners!’ Sakuya says happily.

   Everyone who lost hang their head in despair and disappointment.

   ‘I’m sorry but, president and I will be having a head start tonight.’ Yui tells them while bowing.

   And so, Sakuya and Yui tiptoe to go upstairs, while the rest of them settle down inside their futons.

   ‘So, do you want to choose a spot, Yui-chan?’ Sakuya asks Yui in a tiny voice.

   ‘I don’t mind either side.’ Yui whispers back.

   ‘All right, then. Your big sister will sleep at his left, and you’ll take the right.’

   ‘Understood.’

   Before they go in, they first made sure that Akira’s already asleep by listening to any noise outside the door. Once the coast is clear, Sakuya opens the door slowly and let themselves inside.

   They once again tiptoe towards the bed Akira is sleeping on. It’s kind of dark inside the room, but the girls’ night visions are good enough for them to see his sleeping face.

   ‘His sleeping face is so cute~! I wish I could take a picture of it.’ Sakuya whispers while drooling a bit.

   ‘Please don’t. In this kind of dark place, you would need to use flash, and that might wakes him up.’

   ‘Don’t worry, of course I know that. Well then, shall we?’

   ‘Yes.’

   Sakuya goes to the left side of Akira and lies on the bed, and Yui goes to his right and do the same. The daring Sakuya hugs Akira and treats him like a hug pillow. Getting encouraged by Sakuya’s bold act, Yui does the same.

   ‘Let’s ask for a morning kiss when he wakes up tomorrow.’ Sakuya suggests.

   That almost make Yui babbles out incoherent sentences.

   ‘I beg your pardon?’

   ‘Come on, it doesn’t have to be on the lips.’

   ‘...I suppose that’s fine.’

   ‘Okay, it’s decided then.’

   And on the hope that they might get a kiss from their crush, the two girls close their eyes and go to sleep.