English class had begun, and Riko had a lot of complex words and phrases to learn. Right now, however, the only English phrases on her mind were ‘I love Aimi-chan!’ and ‘What local restaurants do you recommend?’ Roppongi was a new district for her, and she’d have to pick the best restaurant she could, out of those in walking distance of the school, from which they could finish a meal within the lunch period. Realistically, that probably meant takeout from the closest bakery.

There was also the issue of getting Aimi to actually agree to go with Riko. She couldn’t exactly tie Aimi up and make her go with her. Though she imagined that would be kind of fun, provided she could get around the whole ‘powerful esper’ thing.

“Miss Nomura?” an adult voice asked, breaking her out of her daydream of Aimi, bound up in rope and blushing bright.

She sighed. “Mm?”

“Please introduce yourself to the class,” the teacher asked her.

“Hazimemashite, watash-”

“In English, Miss Nomura.”

“Ah, um, greetings everyone, my name is Riko Nomura. My ultimate dream is to marry Aimi Aoki, the world’s most powerful esper!”

This earned her a round of laughter from the classroom, and a slight chuckle from the instructor as well. Finally, he replied. “I recommend you tone down the middle school talk a bit next time, Miss Nomura, but very well spoken.” Riko breathed a sigh of relief as the teacher moved on to someone else.

Finally, she had finished English class with no more awkwardness, aside from being corrected on saying ‘doggu’ instead of ‘dog’, and she was out the door. Success! She was one period closer to the lunch date of destiny!

Out in the hallway, Riko drew her phone, ready to poke around at random reviews on the web, when she spotted Kyo Amano, who should know the area very well, provided she has ever looked at a map of it. Riko decided she’d try talking to her first.

“Hey Amano-san!” Riko greeted her enthusiastically, waving her arm above her head. She beamed a smile up at her as she approached.

“Kyo suffices, if you prefer, Nomura-san.” She had a book from the parapsychology club’s new collection, which she had rapidly been flipping through. Her locker was full of them. She probably didn’t need to bring her actual class textbooks with her anywhere, Riko realized.

“Then you can call me Riko-chan, Kyo!”

Kyo smiled gently. She had a warmth to her, even if she did occasionally glance down to the book Riko was distracting her from. “What did you need… Riko-chan?”

“Oh, um, what bakeries near the school are good for lunch?”

“Well, given a comfortable walking speed of three to four kilometers per hour, there are four bakeries which, for a student at this school, could be visited, patronized, and returned from with a feasible amount of time remaining  for the consumption of purchased goods. First, Maison LeMahieu, which, due to the rush from nearby office workers, carries a risk factor…”

Riko put her finger to her chin before interrupting, “Um, Kyo, where do you like to go with Chiyo-chan?”

“Excuse me?” Kyo tilted her head, caught off guard for the first time since Riko had known her.

“Well… you, Chiyo-chan, and Ishihara-sama knew each from last year and seemed very close as a group. But Ishihara-sama seems kind of distant, so I figured you and Chiyo-chan were closer and…” Riko let herself trail off, wondering if Kyo would catch her meaning.

“We were allies before the parapsychology club was officially formed, yes. Is that what you were attempting to inquire about, Riko-chan?” She adjusted her glasses as she analyzed Riko’s facial features.

“No, not allies. Close. Like, um,” Riko put her index fingers together, wondering if Kyo was playing a game with her, or actually not getting it. “Like, you’re Chiyo-chan’s big sister right? Chiyo-chan is small and shy, and I can picture people bullying her if they didn’t know you and Ishihara-sama would punish them for it. Don’t you ever take her anywhere fun to eat?” Riko placed her hands upon her hips. The intensity of her voice was growing.

“Well, we usually just give Ishihara-sama some money and she buys us both a bento from the cart outside. Chiyoko doesn’t typically care what she eats, she’s focused on refining her drawing ability, and studying.” Kyo glanced to the side, her words spoken with uncharacteristic doubt.

Riko, eyebrows pointing downwards towards her nose, moved closer into Kyo’s face. “Did you actually ask her? Did you talk to her? Everyone just assumes she’s happy, as far as I can tell.” Plus, they were making Leader get the food, that was no good!

Kyo shook her head, with palpable uncertainty. “Well, she’s not very talkative. She only speaks up when the teachers make her do so in class, and even then she’s quiet about it. If she was having a problem with something I’m sure she’d find a way to let myself or Ishihara-sama know.”

Riko straightened her back, pulling herself out of Kyo’s face, her expression suddenly turning victorious and smug. “It’s decided. You and Chiyo-chan are coming with me and Aimi-chan to get lunch out today!’

Kyo’s face started to redden beneath her glasses slightly. “Well… should Ishihara-sama be informed about this? If it’s a club outing and all?”

Riko shook her head, a large grin spreading across her face. “It’s not a club outing! It’s for pairs only! Unless Ishihara-sama has someone special to bring with her, she’s not invited.”

A tone sounded in the halls, warning students that the break period had ended and that the next class would be beginning shortly. While Riko wasn’t in any particular hurry to get to class, dashing off as soon as she heard it left Kyo with little opportunity to protest. Now she just had to make sure Chiyoko would play along.

Truth was, she did admire their club leader, and she had risked her life to help Riko and Aimi last night. Riko had an all important mission, however. She’d definitely bring Nana something from the bakery, but for now, this would be an important training exercise for Kyo, Chiyoko, and of course, Aimi-chan.

As fortune would have it, Riko had an art class with Chiyoko before lunch. Riko didn’t think of herself as having potential as an artist, but a course credit that didn’t require her to do any studying was nothing to sneeze at. Even better, there was no set seating order, so Riko could place herself next to Chiyoko whenever she wanted.

“Hiya Chiyo-chan,” Riko said cheerfully as she hopped onto the easel next to the diminutive girl. Looking over to Chiyoko’s easel, she saw she had her sketchbook resting against it, allowing her to draw during lectures, if she wasn’t paying attention. Well, Chiyoko could draw some things while she was paying attention. She was a Medium. Her hands could move without her having to look at them, if she was channeling external forces.

Chiyoko looked up at Riko, and gave her a slight smile, opening her mouth as if to give her a greeting back, but then looked away shyly, staring at her sketchpad. Riko took it as a compliment. They had only met yesterday, after all, and Chiyoko was unusually shy.

Riko placed her hand gently on the top of Chiyoko’s head in response, giving her a comforting little rub. Her body tensed up at first, but after a moment, she calmed down, and was smiling softly. Riko then asked, “What have you been drawing lately? With your nensha?” After encountering an apparition at the train station yesterday, Riko had been curious. What all could Chiyoko see?

Chiyoko timidly reached up and flipped the page of her sketchbook up. She had drawn an empty desk in one of her other classes. Well, it wasn’t empty to Chiyoko’s Second Sight. It had a ghostly figure seated in it. It looked like a girl, much like any of the girls that surrounded them at the school, except this one was translucent and surrounded by a slight aura.

“Is… is she a bad spirit?” asked Riko, to which Chiyoko shook her head and pointed to the ghost's eyes. Riko looked closer. The ghost looked like she was just watching the lecture. Not really doing anything harmful to anyone. Made sense. A nerdy spirit bound to the world wouldn’t really have anything better to do but keep on learning. “Are there a lot of spirits like this around the school?”

Chiyoko shrugged. Riko took that to mean that there weren’t a lot, but more than one.

“Could you do another horoscope drawing for me, Chiyo-chan? Nothing that’ll make AImi mad like yesterday, of course.” Chiyoko looked up to Riko curiously, to which, Riko continued, “Kyo would like to take you out to eat today. Grab something better than the same old usual bento. It’ll be a special time for you both. Draw the place you think it would be best to go with her.”

Chiyoko blushed brightly. ‘Victory!’ Riko thought. For all of Kyo’s obsession with detail, she was missing things right in front of her face. Riko knew something was there between the two of them. Sure enough, Chiyoko grabbed her pencil and flipped to a blank page, enthusiastically fulfilling the request.

Riko kept her hand on Chiyoko’s head as she drew. This was part of Riko’s training, too. If her touch did things to espers, she would have to learn how to control it. Sometimes it wasn’t about forcing your will on others, or letting them use you, but a gentle give and take.

In just under a minute, the sketch was completed. A very nice rendering of the Maison LeMahieu storefront. As coincidence would have it, it was the first place Kyo had brought up as well.

The art teacher paced behind Chiyoko and glanced down curiously. “Ah, Maison LeMahieu. I love that place, but all the employees at Yugle Japan flood in at lunchtime. I only ever get to go there when I stay at the school past dinner time. Very nice work, Shiro-san, but we won’t be doing buildings for a few weeks yet. Focus on portraits for now.” The teacher moved on, pacing around the semicircle of easels.

Riko smiled. “Is that where your spirit photography is saying you and Kyo should go?” she asked, after the teacher was a good distance away.

Chiyoko nodded a reply, looking more confident than she usually did.

“Then that’s where you’ll go. Crowds be damned. Shove your way through if you have to.” Riko then grinned. “And do you mind if me and Aimi follow along?”

After a quick moment of contemplation, Chiyoko shook her head.

A bit later, and the time was at finally hand. The lunch period had begun, and Riko had gathered up Kyo and Chiyoko. Now they just had to make Aimi join them. Chiyoko was holding her sketchbook guardedly when they approached the telepath—Chiyoko must still be sore over Aimi destroying her drawing, even if she did repair it afterwards. Riko imagined that those drawings must feel like an extension of herself. They weren’t just a manifestation of her skill, or her psychic ability, but her soul speaking through her pencil.

“Alright Aimi-chan, you’re coming with me to the bakery. No arguments. It’s a bakery, I’m sure they’ll have something you’ll eat.” Riko put her hands on her hips, trying to look as bossy as possible.

Aimi stared back at the three of them warily, grumbling, “I refuse. What if it’s crowded? There will be too much mental noise. I don’t eat much. I can have dinner at home.”

Aimi could push Riko away all she wanted with psychokinesis, but it seemed like her words were ineffective. Riko wasn't backing off. “You handle crowds fine. You ride a crowded train every day to and from school, and you were in a crowded cafeteria yesterday. I’m sure a crowded bakery is fine compared to that. And you need to eat more. That big brain of yours takes a lot of energy to power up!”

Aimi was growing desperate now. “But… I don’t go inside those crowds for fun. I do it when I have to. And… psychokinetic energy doesn’t come from the metabolism, the source has, as of yet, not-”

She didn’t see the hand grabbing for her sleeve. Yoink! Riko had her now. And she didn’t even touch her body to do it. With her being this considerate, there was no refusing her now! She gave her a tug, pulling her along, Aimi’s feet dragging.

Before Aimi had a chance to blast Riko away for her arrogance, she had the opportunity to view Kyo and Chiyoko as she passed them. Chiyoko was holding up her drawing of the bakery up towards Kyo, her eyes imploring, standing a very close distance to her. And Kyo was glancing towards Aimi and Riko, making sure they were accompanying them.

If Aimi didn’t go, Riko probably wouldn’t either, and then Kyo would feel awkward, and probably go back to working on some personal project alone, like hacking into Blue’s laptop, or trying to memorize the entire Internet. Chiyoko would have her heart broken. Riko had set the stage so that if Aimi refused, she’d be the evil witch who ruined everything.

“Don’t call me Aimi-chan, at least,” Aimi finally relented, her feet finally moving fast enough to keep up with Riko.

“Okay, big sister!” Riko said cheerfully.

“Don’t call me that either,” Aimi sighed. She looked away indignantly.

“If that’s what you want, Aimi-chan!” Riko could go on all day like this.

Approaching the shiny storefront of the Maison LeMahieu bakery, the four of them actually found the crowd to be sparse. It was just a few other schoolgirls, none of the office crowd that usually stormed it and bought up all the soup and sandwiches.

A girl inside near the entrance remarked to her friend, “Yeah, my dad told me the guys at Yugle were all called down to a web developer conference in Osaka, that’s why I thought we should come down here.” The two of them then bolted off to peruse the variety of delectable delights before them.

This was a development none of the four members of the parapsychology club were aware of. They had merely dared not to defy the drawing of destiny. Second Sight may be unreliable when it comes to lottery numbers, the stock market, or Las Vegas, but it rarely led you astray when it came to matters of the stomach, or the heart. It wasn’t precognition as such, but a momentary glimpse into what the turning of the heavens had in store for you.

Riko thought again of Chiyoko’s drawing of her and Aimi at the beach, holding hands, enjoying a skinship Aimi had vehemently resisted up until this point.. She was starting to realize that she didn’t just want it to be true. She had to make it come true. What she had seen was not the rational path of worldly wisdom, but guidance, from some place beyond the world.

Well, that was the future. Right now, Riko had lunch to worry about. “Okay, so what does everyone want to eat? My treat, of course.”

Chiyoko’s eyes wandered over the walls lined with any and every kind of sandwich she could think of, the many rows of viscous, savory soups, and countless desserts that weren’t a proper lunch, but tempted one towards an improper one. It was like she was lost in a maze, her stomach too small to make all the choices she’d like to.

Kyo muttered, “while the the chicken dumpling soup would provide the optimal balance of carbohydrates for short-term energy, and protein for physical development over the long term, the cacophony of pleasant odors from the other items on offer makes it difficult to commit to a choice based on nutritional benefit alone.” She was looking over the sandwiches, compulsively making sure she had touched each rack once, and only once.

Aimi crossed her arms and huffed, “I don’t know. I eat what my grandmother makes me. There’s too many people thinking about food here. Too many people biting into strongly flavored food. I can’t concentrate. My feet hurt.” She looked at the floor, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

Oh geez, thought Riko. They’re all so indecisive. She had a lot of work to do.