"Dear me, the world looks so wonderfully happy this morning," remarked Arina, twirling around under the sunshine, bathing the street before her.

It has been over a week since the Hisashi gang event. Today Seo had an emergency student council meeting at school so he left rather early, leaving Arina to walk to school alone.

It was mid-summer, which explained why Arina felt like she loved the world even more than usual. However, sometimes the heat would rise beyond Arina's limit, like how she began to experience it now.

Wiping a sweat on her forehead, Arina thought she might stop by a nearby convenience store to fetch some ice creams. Here's Arina's relationship with convenience stores -- she LOVED it with all her heart. Before she first discovered it, Arina couldn't believe such brilliant things would've existed.

She entered the store in a delightful mode as the cashier immediately sprang to her feet, "Oh my god, hi Arina! How are you?"

"Oh, Yamada-san! Good morning! It's such a happy morning today, isn't it? Even though I say it every day that it is. It's your shift today? And well, I think I might've passed out in the street if you and this brilliant kind of store never existed in the first place. So I'm awfully grateful for everything here, and also for your effort of being here today," responded Arina at length, smiling bubbly.

The cashier giggled as she went over to show the foreign girl new brands of ice cream the store just imported (even though she didn't have to do that), as Arina squealed in delight and offered something irrelevant: a hang out with her sometimes. And the cashier forgot to work as she chatted with Arina for the next few minutes until a new customer arrived, to which she frantically returned to her work.

Arina was about to wave at the customer when she recognized him immediately. Mostly it was his red hair that stood out the most.

"My oh my!" beamed Arina cheerfully, as she waved her arm comprehensively to catch his attention. "Akabane-kun! It looks like fate had brought us together for this meeting!"

Karma was in his casual outfit today since he had been expelled from school and was shoving his hands in his pocket like usual, and shifted his gaze to the voice, "Hm? Oh~ look who is this? 'An unfortunate victim who turned into a psychopath and at the end of the day, a hero'~!"

"Akabane-kun, don't you think a 'savior' would sound rather much more romantic than a 'hero' does?"-- she sighed, placing a hand in her heart -- "Oh, how I'd love to be called a savior. But it does sound grander, isn't it? Every time a person mentions this news to me I always ask them the same thing. But most of the time they told me I'm rather too idealistic, don't you also think the same thing?" asked Arina in hopelessness.

"Hmm, how should I say this?" Karma delivered a playful smile, approaching her with his hands still in his pockets. "I'm actually into superheroes a lot~ And most of the time they are at the same level of 'grandness' that you mention. So it depends on how you see the term 'hero' since it varies."

"Oh, Akabane-kun, but the sound!" gasped Arina, "The sound, Akabane-kun! 'Savior' sounds much more romantic and distinguish than 'hero' ever does!"

Karma chuckled, whilst realizing the conversation was not going anywhere on track in their circumstance. But around that time Arina suddenly snapped out of it since she had tons of questions for him.

"Oh, Akabane-kun, are you still in touch with Shiota-kun? or-or perhaps, Matsuda-kun?"

Upon hearing about Matsuda, Karma let out a sigh as he placed a hand on the back of his neck.

"Here's something, Arina, I don't understand why you have to try so hard to turn enemies into friends that much. Enemies gotta be enemies, you know?"

Arina quickly intertwined her hands, "Oh, Akabane-kun, here's something I learned from my experiences. When we are in a supposedly unlovely world, we ought to make allies as much as possible. At least that's one of the things Asano-kun told me that I personally find very accurate. Even though I often disagree with him."

Unlike both Arina and Asano, Karma was rather preferred to be individuals than to stick in groups as he couldn't help but somewhat let his rebellious energy slip.

"Sorry, everyone has their own way to survive in this world, including me," he told her and set off to the milk section in a relaxed manner, as Arina had both her eyes widened.

She immediately imagined every way possible to turn Karma and Matsuda into beloved friends, completely neglecting Karma's own desire, as long as it was for her belief that people ought to form allies in case things go wrong.

"Akabane-kun! You like strawberry milk?" Arina instantly asked as soon as she saw him pick them out from the section.

"Why, yes~" he responded.

"Oh! Oh! Then how about strawberry cake?" asked Arina in excitement.

"Hmm...I would like to try it then~"

"Oh," Arina drew a breath in, as she clasped her hands together, 'Oh! Perfect! Then I'll have a party at my house at the weekend and I'll bake plenty for you! Seo, Ren, Asano-kun, and the others would also be there too! And if you like, we can invite Shiota-kun. Oh! And how could I forget about lovely Yamada-san over there?"

She waved at the lady to which she waved back, though Karma didn't look too happy this time.

"What's all of this for then?"

"For fun!" replied Arina straightaway, though she was secretly sweating at the thought of Karma might've figured out her intention to also invite Matsuda Hakaku.

'Then sorry, I'm not interested in partying," said Karma whilst muffling a laugh.

Arina clasped her forehead in unfathomableness.

"B-But! Why?"

"Because like I said -- everyone is different," smiled Karma playfully, as he headed to the cashier.

But before he leaves, Arina abruptly stopped him.

"Oh, Akabane-kun," she was looking hopeless this time, "Then how about a nice little tea party in my house this weekend? There'll be strawberry cakes I swear! I'll make it oh-so-heavenly that you'll have to ascend to heaven the moment you take your first bite. You can count on me!"

Eventually, Karma had no way but to accept the invitation to Arina's relief and happiness.

At school, she contacted Matsuda Hakaku to meet her and begged him to follow her request.

"So you gonna say 'I'm so extremely sorry, Akabane-kun! I know it's my fault and I'm awfully wicked. I beg you to please have mercy on me as I'll try anything -- anything! to please you. Arina told me that she will invite you to tea and I couldn't sit still but seize it as a golden opportunity to mend our bond. Look! and I've helped Arina with baking this heavenly strawberry cake! it's all for you, dear,' and Akabane-kun's going to reply with 'Oh, Matsuda-senpai...I'm sorry but could I take a moment off for now? I feel like I'm going to tear up from being overwhelmed by this emotion. And yes! Of course I'm going to forgive you, Matsuda-senpai! Since you've baked me a strawberry cake!'."

Matsuda declined at first, but as soon as Arina showed him her puppy eyes -- being such a simp he was -- he agreed, to Arina's increased happiness.

By that following day, Arina also invited Shiota Nagisa since she reckoned Karma would love having him around.

Friday night and Saturday great preparations went on at Arina's house. Having Karma and Matsuda to tea was a serious and important undertaking, and the Big Five also happened to be there on account of having a study group to prepare for the upcoming exam.

Arina was wild with excitement and delight and talked it all over during study time as Asano had to slam the desk to keep her out of it, which had always worked. He had to help her pass the exam no matter what.

And when they were done studying, some of them opted to stay and helped Arina out with the preparation.

"Everything is ready, except for only the cake!" Arina clasped her hand together in delight. "I'll be using my best tea set and oh! Should I fix the table with ferns and wild roses?"

"I think that's all nonsense," commented Asano. "In my opinion it's the eatables that matter and not flummery decorations."

"But you always have YOUR tables decorated during social events!" said Arina, disapproving how he dare to take this bond-mending tea party so lightly.

"Well, do as you like," Asano cleared his throat. "But keep in mind you do need to leave enough room for the dishes and food."

Arina kept Asano's advice in mind and laid herself out to decorate and not went overboard with it. Having an abundance of roses and ferns and a very artistic taste of her own, she made that tea table such a thing of beauty that when the guys sit down to it they will have to exclaim in chorus over its loveliness.

It wasn't until Saturday late at night that Arina got out of bed to bake the strawberry cake due to procrastination. Although she was sleepy, she had to stay awake to bake the heavenly cake as how she promised.

She watched the cake rise in the oven. As it came out of it, it was as light and feathery as golden foam. Arina, flushed with delight, clapped it together with layers of ruby jelly and, in imagination saw Karma eating it and possibly asking for another piece!

The day finally arrived, and Arina happily ran to open the door to see Nagisa being the earliest.

"It's been a while, Shiota-kun!" beamed Arina in a welcoming manner.

Nagisa, upon entering Arina's house for the first time, had his eyes marveling around the place. Her living room alone was four times bigger than his apartment room, everywhere there were plants and blossoms as if she was obsessed with taking care of them. And it was quite apparent that she preferred tender, pastel colors over bright ones. There were plenty of couches and each one was decorated with fur pillows giving a touch of softness to the vibe. And on top of that, Arina's taste seemed to be vintage aesthetic as Nagisa could see her decorated old-fashioned props around the house -- the ones he assumed she got online or from her hometown, which were impossible to find in Japan. She was living in a Victorian house amid the modern Japanese ones.

Of course, Nagisa went ahead to express his amazement and explored the props in her house in curiosity, whilst Arina kept showing him the decorations she poured all her heart into.

The bell rang again, and Arina fled to the door hoping it would be Karma so the scene would turn out like how she imagined. But to her disappointment, it was Matsuda Hakaku.

"Hey, Arina," he chirped while gazing at her beautiful face.

"Oh, Matsuda-senpai, I think we need to rehearse a bit!" the girl gasped.

The bell rang for the third time. Pretty sure it must be Karma this time, Arina excitedly opened the door to reveal Seo.

"Hey, can I have the cake too?" he said, but immediately got the door slammed to his face.

"Why is he taking so long?" complained Arina -- in the context of never encountering someone arriving late for over ten minutes -- strolling around the house whilst imagining all sorts of things.

"Oh, Shiota-kun, do you suppose he got into a car crash or something? Or perhaps kidnap?"

Nagisa chuckled and told her it was often normal for Karma to be late, as Arina couldn't help but slightly go mad, for she had spent so much time and effort into this bond-mending tea party and he dared to take it so lightly.

Eventually, the bell rang for the fourth time and Karma finally show up. Arina immediately nudged Matsuda to get ready and perform what he had been rehearsing for so long.

"I'm so extremely sorry, Akabane-kun...I know it's my fault and um...I'm awfully wicked. I beg you to please have mercy on me as I'll try anything to-to..."

Here's something, it's always so easy when you're practicing for something, but when you get out of practice mode, things become complicated, so was Matsuda's case.

Upon gazing at Karma's hateful face, Matsuda gritted his teeth, trying to fight off his ego. Though the redhead raised his voice:

"I sort of know this would coming," said Karma, as he shrugged, and Arina paled.

However, to Arina's relief, he still entered the house nevertheless.

Sitting at the table of roses and ferns, Arina was rather upset that no one said anything about her decoration. Karma was too busy teasing Matsuda and Nagisa was too busy observing the house, while Matsuda was too busy fighting off the urge to punch Karma in the face.

When stabbing an olive using a fork, Karma "accidentally" slipped, and the olive launched with an unusual force as if got support by a rubber band and hit Matsuda's eyeball.

"Oops! Sorry, my bad! my bad!" laughed Karma devilishly, as Nagisa sweatdropped.

"You two made me imagine the loveliest story," said the dreamy girl out of nowhere. "Akabane-kun was desperately ill with an unknown virus and everybody deserted him, but Matsuda-senpai went boldly to his bedside and nursed him back to life; and then senpai took the virus and died and he was buried under cherry blossom trees in a graveyard and Akabane-kun planted a rosebush by his grave and watered with his tears; and he never, never forgot the friend of his youth who sacrificed his life for him. Oh, it was such a tragic tale, guys. The tears just rained down over my cheeks while I mixed the cake. Oh, speaking of cake, I'll go get it now!"

When Arina brought the strawberry cake out, everyone was marveling at how heavenly it looked, though whether it tasted heavenly was still unknown.

She cut the cake and Karma was the first one to take a mouthful of his and the most peculiar expression crossed his face; not a word did he say, however, but steadily ate it away, whilst the other two did the same thing, thinking it must be a new flavor.

Arina went to brew some tea, and when she came back to receive feedbacks about the cake, neither the boys looked so healthy. Karma was clutching his throat and Nagisa was hugging his stomach, and so was Matsuda.

"Sorry, I-I must go now," said Karma, then the stomachaches also hit him.

"Oh, you mustn't dream of going home without your tea," cried Arina in distress. "I'll get it right off — I'll go and put the tea down this very minute."

"Arina, I may have to leave too..." said Nagisa.

"I never heard of company going home without tea!" mourned Arina. To her disappointment, Matsuda also asked to leave.

"Oh, Akabane-kun, do you suppose that it's possible you're taking the virus and passing it to Shiota-kun and Matsuda-senpai? If you are I'll go and nurse you three, you can depend on that. I'll never forsake you. But I do wish you all would stay still after tea."

"What did you put into the cake, Arina?" Karma asked, looking painful whilst a hand was on his stomach.

"Just regular ingredients!" she cried.

And out of a sudden, it hit her! Arina's face went scarlet with mortification as she fled to the pantry to check the vanilla extract bottle again.

She took it, uncorked it, smelled it.

"MERCIFUL GOODNESS!" Arina exclaimed. It was ESSENTIAL OIL she had poured into the cake they ate! Why hadn't she smelled it!?

She broke the essential oil bottle last week and poured what was left into an empty vanilla bottle. How did she just remember it now?

Arina instantly dissolved into tears over the thought she might've poisoned the guys.

"I'm sorry — I was too sleepy!" and with this, she fled to her room, where she cast herself on the bed and wept, immediately fetched her phone and called for help.

["WHAT!? Just how reckless are you!?"] shouted Asano on the other line as Arina wept louder.

"Oh, Asano-kun! I deserve to be cast away by society forever for attempting murder! I shall never be able to live this down. It will get out — things always do get out in our school, and eventually this whole country. I began with good intentions to help people out but ended up poisoning them! I shall always be pointed at as the girl who flavored a cake with essential oil. You always tell me how reckless I am and I'm so sorry for always brushing it off! Oh, Asano-kun, if you have a spark of pity please tell me what I should do to gather every bit of my strength to save them. In what way, Asano-kun!?" cried Arina in anguish.

Asano didn't reply for a moment, as Arina thought even he had no solution and she had to accept the fact that she had poisoned the boys. In fact, he was quiet because her stupidity was too unbearable.

["How foolish, with that amount they wouldn't even have shown any symptoms."] answered Asano finally.

Arina's jaw dropped.

"B-but, they—"

"Ha ha ha! You really believe that!?" Karma burst out laughing, appearing behind her, along with Nagisa and Matsuda.

Asano ended the call whilst Arina froze in place and slid down the bed in mortification. She buried her face into her palms and began to sniff.

The boys ceased their laughter.

"Hm? What is the matter?" asked Karma.

Turned out, Arina also burst into a merry laugh.

"Oh, how dearly glad I am seeing you two corporate with each other!"

Back at school, Asano didn't open his mouth to say anything about the incident yet Arina thought he must have and spilled the whole thing out, to her regret.

Seo instantly teased Arina about it and told everyone how he had dodged a bullet whilst the rest also failed to resist the urge to tease her.

Arina found that she had enjoyed the tea party more than could have been expected, considering that terrible incident. Nevertheless, she sighed deeply.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"I'll warrant you'll make plenty in it," said Asano. "I never saw you fail to make mistakes, Arina."

"Yes, and well I know it," admitted Arina mournfully. "But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Asano-kun? I never make the same mistake twice."

"Prove it to me. The exam is coming in a week," smirked Asano. "Plus, I don't know as that's much benefit when you're always making new ones."

"Oh, don't you see, Asano-kun? There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I'll be through with them. That's a very comforting thought."