A/N: Heyo heyo I am back with a new chapter! I deeply apologize to those who have been waiting for a new update. The story was on hiatus since I've been busy with college those last two months. I had final exams this second semester and I finally finished wooohooo~

This chapter will specifically show how S.E.E.S will spend their days while having summer school.

What's this?~ Miki and Mitsuru in a maid outfit?

Exactly 👀

As always, thank you for being patient and enjoy the chapter!~

(The drawing of Mitsuru and Miki is drawn by me)

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___The Next Day, 11th August____

It was the second day of summer school, and the gang was preparing to go to school this morning as usual. Yukari, Fuuka and Mitsuru were sitting in the lounge as they were waiting for the others to go to school together. Meanwhile, Aigis was just standing close to where they were sitting.

Fuuka was preparing her bento box for lunch while Yukari was on her phone looking at something. Mitsuru was also reading something on the newspaper she was holding while her legs were crossed.

"So, you are all going to this thing called school." Aigis spoke.

"Yes, this is the second day of summer school. You will be guarding this place while we are gone right, Aigis?" Fuuka smiled.

"Of course," Aigis replied.

A sigh escaped from the brunette's lips, "another murder and more Apathy Syndrome cases...It seems like they are increasing rather than decreasing from our work in Tartarus." She said after reading an article online, then looked at the two girls.

Mitsuru sighed too and pulled the newspaper down to look at her teammates. She read the same article in the newspaper, "I know...but Mr. Chairman said the Dark Hour will end once we defeat all the Shadows. We have about four more to go."

Fuuka looked down worriedly, "I just hope things get better then..."

"I am sure things will be fine," Aigis nodded.

"Yeah...That reminds me, Yamagishi-san, how are you and Moriyama-san doing?" Yukari asked.

"We are doing well. We have become really close friends. I treasure her." Fuuka replied with a smile.

Mitsuru smiled with her eyes closed as she looked happy with that answer.

"Really? That's good. I was worried when you said you still get bullied and called a ghost girl." Yukari showed her concern.

"Oh, yeah...But Moriyama-san always defends me, and she tells me to just ignore them, so I do. The members of S.E.E.S and Moriyama-san...you are all important to me...more than my parents. I just hope that we can always be together..." Fuuka smiled, even though her smile showed a bit of sadness.

Yukari looked down, "same...I do too."

Mitsuru looked at the clock that was hung on the wall to check the time, "where are the others?"

"They should be here now," Yukari said and shrugged. "The boys always get late. But Miki, hmm..this is unusual for her to be the one who hasn't gotten ready yet."

"Yeah, she usually wakes up before all of us. Maybe she overslept." Fuuka wondered.

"Should I go and wake her up?" Aigis asked.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps as they all turned their heads to see Miki walking downstairs hurriedly.

"Sorry sorry! I am here!" Said Miki as her hair was still messy, and her shirt and tie weren't properly worn.

"Are you okay?" Mitsuru asked then raised her eyebrows after noticing her chest was exposed because her shirt wasn't fully buttoned.

"...."

"Hehe, sorry. I overslept," Miki laughed in embarrassment while scratching the back of her head. She noticed how the girls were staring at her weirdly.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Yukari then got up while huffing as she walked up to her to fix her shirt and tie. "Are you seriously going to school looking like this??" She frowned while buttoning her shirt and then fixing her tie.

"Huh?"

"You must not show your body or you cannot get married." Yukari said after helping her cover up.

Miki blinked as she didn't really know much about marriage, "marriage?" She said then smiled widely after remembering the dream she had.

"Oooh! Is it when a girl wears a long white dress, and a guy wears a black suit and they throw a party??"

"Uh, yeah. A wedding party." Yukari raised an eyebrow.

"This is what I saw in my dream! I was having a good dream that's why I overslept." She giggled. "I got sad when I woke up and realized it was a dream. It felt so real, I didn't want to wake up." She closed her eyes and smiled lightly.

"You dreamed that you were marrying someone?" Fuuka asked.

Miki averted her gaze as she blushed and nodded.

"Who was it?" Yukari asked curiously.

Miki blushed more as she kept averting her gaze while smiling widely. She paused for a moment before answering, "....I don't know!"

"....?"

The girls all looked at her in confusion while Aigis just had a blank face the whole time.

"I can't remember the face," She giggled while still blushing.

"Seriously...?" Yukari groaned lightly. She was really curious to know who was the one that appeared in her dream.

"Regardless, thinking about marriage is too early for you, Miki." Mitsuru said.

"Too early? When can I get married?" Miki asked as she looked kinda disappointed.

"When you are fully grown. When you become an adult. Is that too hard to understand?" Yukari sighed.

"Adult?" Miki started to count, using her hands. "So like, I have to wait ten years??"

"You are looking waaay ahead to your future." Yukari huffed.

Miki chuckled then noticed something moving between Fuuka, Yukari and Mitsuru's legs.

"Uh, girls," she blinked as Yukari sighed, not noticing. She was busy fanning herself, "is it just me or the weather is too hot today?" Yukari said.

"Well, it is summer," Fuuka answered.

"Ugh, two things I hate about summer; the hot weather and insects," Yukari continued.

Mitsuru was afraid of insects as well, but she was too embarrassed to admit that fact. Fuuka was too.

"Uh, that's right. Anyway, we need to get going-"

"Guys, I saw something move on the ground, but it disappeared." Miki said.

"Something....moved?" Yukari raised her eyebrows.

Fuuka gasped, "oh my God, was that a cockroach?"

"Wh-where!? Ah!" Yukari yelped and got back. Without noticing herself, she grabbed Mitsuru's arm to be close to her from how scared she was. Even someone like Mitsuru flinched a bit.

Mitsuru immediately stepped back as well as she tried to be calm, but on the inside, she was not. "Wh-where? Where did you see it, Miki?"

"It was moving between your legs, but it suddenly disappeared. I couldn't know where it went, it was too fast." Miki responded, acting normal. "Why are you scared?" She looked at the three and blinked in confusion.

"It is disgusting! It needs to be killed now!" Mitsuru said loudly while her eyebrows were furrowed.

"Oh! Okay, I can do it." Miki smiled, then tilted her head, "but how? Should I summon my Persona to kill it?" She grinned.

"Stop joking around and do something!" Yukari yelled in fear, which made Miki flinch out of nervousness.

Suddenly, they saw Aigis getting in position. "I am certain, I did see it moving as well. It is a cockroach, and I will kill it as commanded." She aimed at the cockroach under the sofa to shoot it.

Everyone started to panic after seeing Aigis was about to shoot. It will become a disaster if she does.

"W-wait, no!" Fuuka suddenly said, stopping Aigis and Miki. "You can't kill it. It's alive, and it doesn't deserve to die.. Let's just release it outside, so it can be free." Even if Fuuka was scared of the bug, she felt bad about killing it.

Miki widened her eyes after hearing Fuuka as if her words snapped something inside of her. She then frowned seriously and nodded, "Fuuka-senpai is right. It's a living creature just like us, and it doesn't deserve to die." She said and looked at Aigis, "let's put it outside together."

"Understood," Aigis pulled her arm down then went to the sofa and easily moved it so Miki could trap the cockroach using a glass and a piece of paper. She slid the paper underneath it after trapping it with the glass.

Yukari watched them with a disgusted look on her face, "how can you do that? I can't.. even look at it." She looked away.

"Whatever. Just...throw it away," Mitsuru looked away too.

"Wow, this thing looks so ugly! Now I understand why Yukari-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai are shaking in fear because of how ugly it is." Miki said after having a closer look at the cockroach. "Hello~ You want to join S.E.E.S too?" She waved while smiling.

"J-just take it away! Please!" Yukari begged, closing her eyes to not see it.

Miki went to the window to free the bug, "bye-bye, Mr. Cockroach. You will be missed." She said and let it go.

Mitsuru sighed deeply as she sat down. Her heart was beating fast.

"I guess we have to do summer cleaning..." Fuuka said.

"It probably came from Junpei's unclean room," Yukari frowned.

The boys walked downstairs hurriedly after hearing the noises.

"What the hell is going on!?" Junpei asked.

"Listen Iori, clean your room if you don't want to sleep in the attic tonight." Mitsuru frowned.

"Ehh, wh-what did I do?" Junpei gulped and started to sweat after seeing Mitsuru's glare.

Junpei kept receiving deadly glares from Yukari and Mitsuru while they made their way to school.

_Time Skip, After School, Class 2-D, 12th Grade_

Akihiko got up from his seat after class was over then looked behind him to where Katsu was sitting. He noticed he looked tired as his face was kinda pale.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked his classmate.

"Huh?" Katsu lifted his head as his eyes met Akihiko's. He got up too, "yeah, I am fine.." He smiled.

"Are you sure..? You don't really look okay."

"I just..I didn't get enough sleep last night, that's all. I will be fine." He smiled again. "Um, I will be skipping practice today..is that okay with you?" He asked his captain.

"Oh, if you are feeling too tired then that's okay. Go home and rest, Saito." Akihiko shook his head, assuring him that it was fine to skip practice.

Katsu smiled, but his face still showed tiredness, "thank you, Sanada-san. I will...see you soon then." He carried his bag over his shoulder and walked away to leave.

However, before he could leave the classroom, Akihiko interrupted him by speaking.

"Saito, if something is bothering you, don't be afraid to tell me. We are friends after all, right?" Akihiko said with a serious expression on his face.

"Friends..." Katsu mumbled before smiling at him. "Of course, I will keep that in mind. Take care, Sanada-san." He waved then left.

Akihiko watched him leave as he narrowed his eyebrows. He felt worried about Katsu since he didn't look quite okay from yesterday. He hoped he would be better tomorrow.

___Time Skip, Iwatodai Dormitory__

After school, the gang gathered together to discuss the next Shadow they are going to face soon.

"The next full moon is soon. We must prepare, it's gonna be a tough battle." Akihiko said as he was drinking protein shake to make himself stronger. "Protein shakes for everyone." He raised the glass he was drinking from.

Everyone started to sweat after hearing him.

"Uhm, no thanks, Senpai. I am good..." Yukari said nervously.

Junpei swallowed nervously too, "it isn't even a shake, it's just protein..." He mumbled.

Mitsuru sighed and shook her head. She was getting tired of Akihiko mentioning protein shake every time.

Shinjiro just mumbled while his arms were crossed, "idiot."

As for Miki, she wasn't concentrating. She was nervous the whole time. That's because she kept thinking about the previous battle. She didn't want her friends to get badly hurt like last time, so she was worried.

"I am... nervous a bit."

"Your nervousness is to be expected, but we are here with you and as long as we work together, the Shadow will be nothing." Akihiko said, assuring her that things were going to be okay.

"Yeah, and I will keep updating you guys on any change to the Shadow." Fuuka said next.

Makoto was looking down as he was thinking to himself before saying, "Tonight we go to Tartarus and train, but let us know if you need a break, Miki."

Miki nodded at Makoto, "I will...I am just..After what happened in the previous battle, I got scared. I don't want to lose you all...I am just.. afraid of dying in general. Is... is that a normal thing?" She asked as looked at her teammates.

Yukari raised her eyebrows, "dying? We aren't going to die, we are going to fight together! Together, we can do it, so cheer up, okay?"

"Yeah! Where is the cheerful and determined Miki that we know?" Junpei grinned.

"Cheerful..." Miki mumbled then got up from her seat and smiled while frowning. "That's right. That's what I am. I won't give up no matter what! Thanks guys!" She smiled cheerfully and placed her hand in the middle, waiting for her teammates to join in and place their hands on top of hers while they were all in a circle.

"Let's do it! Together!"

"Hell yeah!" Junpei and Akihiko immediately and without hesitation joined their hands.

Ken smiled and added his hand, so did Fuuka, Yukari and Mitsuru.

Makoto had an emotionless face at first. But as he joined his teammates, a small smile appeared on his face.

Aigis had never done this before. She just looked at her hand then placed it too in the middle as she copied them.

Koromaru barked and jumped happily while his tail was wagging.

"Aragaki-san?" Ken looked at Shinjiro who was still standing in his place with a grumpy look on his face. He then scratched the back of his head, "I don't have a choice, do I..?" He clicked his tongue and added his hand at the end.

Ken smiled happily after seeing him joining their adventure.

"Hehe, I am getting hyped!" Miki cheered and jumped too.

Mitsuru chuckled, "alright everyone, let's go to Tartarus." For the first time, she was excited too thanks to the positive atmosphere.

The group nodded and took some time to prepare. Once the Dark Hour started, they made their way to Tartarus.

As usual, Fuuka summoned her Persona right away when they were at the entrance.

"I am sensing a couple people lost in Tartarus split and on the floors." Fuuka informed her teammates.

"So, it's true people get stuck in here when the Dark Hour begins." Yukari said worriedly.

"That sounds..scary. We need to help them get out of here!" Miki said.

"We need to split as well and look around Tartarus to find them." Mitsuru frowned, then looked at Makoto, "what do you think, leader?"

"Yes, I am going to take Aigis, Aragaki-san and Sanada-senpai with me." Makoto said then looked at Miki, "Miki, I won't give you hard work to not make you fatigued, so you go with Amada and Koromaru to one of the floors and guard it up while we are looking around." He explained.

"Yukari, Kirijo-senpai and Junpei in a group." He added.

"Roger. Yamagishi, can you tell which floors they are on?" Mitsuru asked.

"They are on the 30th and 45th floor." Fuuka answered.

"We will guard the 29th floor to make sure no enemies get past." Ken said to Miki while holding his weapon.

Miki smiled at him and nodded, "mhm, let's do it together." She then climbed up the stairs to enter Tartarus with Ken and Koromaru.

"We will take the 45th floor. You take the 30th floor." Makoto told Mitsuru as they all nodded and got moving to begin their mission.

"Don't worry Ken and Maru-maru. In case something happens, I will protect you two." Miki told them as they were running in one of Tartarus's hallways.

"I should be saying that. You are still recovering and can't exhaust yourself. Just leave it to me, I will protect you." Ken frowned as he insisted on protecting his teammate.

Koromaru barked, agreeing with what Ken said.

Miki raised her eyebrows then smiled again, "I knew you were brave, Ken."

Ken blushed lightly as he felt kinda embarrassed since no one had said to him that before, "o-of course. I wouldn't have joined S.E.E.S if I wasn't."

He then smiled, "let's do this, Miki-senpai, Koromaru!" He cheered.

"Yup, let's do this!" Miki cheered too as they went to the floor together to guard it up.

Meanwhile, Akihiko took a shadow down after they went to the floor. He looked at his friend, Shinji, seeing him fighting shadows. He mostly used physical attacks instead of using his Persona to fight. Akihiko thought maybe he preferred to use his weapons.

"Shinji, look around closely to see if someone is stuck in here. I will take care of those Shadows, they are weak, so I can take them down by myself."

"Humph, you don't need to tell me that." Shinjiro huffed, then looked around, trying to find the people that were lost there while Akihiko, Makoto and Aigis were fighting every enemy that came in their way.

While looking, he noticed someone from far away being trapped in a corner by Shadows.

"Over there!" He shouted then ran to the Shadows, beating them with his axe to save the person.

After hearing him, Makoto and the others joined to help him.

The person was a young girl as she was kneeling down while hiding her head in fear.

"Are you okay!?" Akihiko asked with a frown after they got rid of the Shadows.

The girl was shivering as she lifted her head to see who it was. She looked at them puzzled, "wh-who are you? What is this place..?"

"A Gekkoukan High student. Come with me, we will take you to the entrance." Akihiko offered his hand to help the innocent girl stand up.

The student looked at them in fear, hesitating to take Akihiko's hand.

"Don't worry. We are not here to hurt you, we are here to save you." Aigis said as the girl slowly nodded and took Akihiko's hand.

..........

Miki, Ken and Koromaru were taking out many shadows, they were getting tired. Miki looked at Ken and Koromaru while taking deep breaths, "are you okay?" She asked to make sure they weren't hurt.

Ken was catching his breath too, "y-yeah, I am alright. What about you, Koromaru?"

Koromaru barked while wagging his tail, assuring the two that he was fine.

Ken smiled and patted the dog, "good boy, Koromaru. Everyone should be back soon, so let's keep going till we hear the okay from Yamagishi-senpai."

Miki looked at Ken worriedly as she saw him panting. She noticed a Shadow coming to attack the two from behind as she hurriedly pulled the trigger against her head, "Persona!" She summoned Ceres to attack the monster in time. She then ran to it and hit it hard with her spear, making the Shadow vanish.

"That was close..." She sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Miki-senpai." Ken said.

"You fought too much. It's fine, you can take a break." Miki told him with a smile.

"No way! I don't need a break. Besides, the next Shadow is going to be just stronger than these weak Shadows...I don't want what happened in the previous battle to happen again." He said seriously as he gripped his spear and then fought another Shadow that had appeared in their way.

Miki raised her eyebrows then looked at him worriedly again, "o-oh, I am sorry if I offended you or anything. I just don't want you to overwork yourself, that's all. Because I am worried about you, you are important to me, Ken." She smiled lightly.

Ken blushed lightly because no one had said that to him before either. He began to stutter, "y-you are to me too, Mikii-senpai. Aragaki-san and the others, you are all important to me."

Miki chuckled, then Fuuka speaking interrupted their conversation.

"That's all, Miki-chan, Amada-kun and Koro-chan. All the lost citizens had been found. Return to the entrance, the others are waiting for you. Hurry, I sense death!"

"Death...?" Miki widened her eyes in fear as she started to sweat and her legs began to shake.

"Yeah, the Reaper is close to where you are. Please be careful on your way back! Don't let it catch you." Fuuka warned them.

"Come on, Senpai, Koromaru!" Ken said as he was going to run off, but he saw Miki standing in her place like a statue. He saw her uncontrollably shaking while sweating.

"S-Senpai!?"

"I-I don't want that thing to catch us. I don't want to die!" She screamed as she began to run like crazy from how scared she was.

".....???"

Ken and Koromaru followed her right away.

The three of them successfully escaped as they headed back to the entrance and met up with the whole team.

"Phew, I definitely heard the chains. I am glad we got away in time." Ken said while catching his breath.

Miki took deep breaths too from running, "I..heard chains too. I almost passed out back there.." She placed her hand on her chest as her legs were still trembling.

"Good work, everyone. We found the lost citizens and a new floor is unblocked." Mitsuru said then looked at the citizens. "Don't worry, we will bring you back home."

The citizens looked at each other in confusion and fear.

"Good thing they won't remember anything from the Dark Hour the next day." Junpei mumbled after seeing the citizens' expressions.

"Akihiko and Aigis, can we leave you returning them to the police station before the Dark Hour ends?" Mitsuru asked while looking at the two.

"No problem." Akihiko responded.

"Understood." Aigis answered too.

The two took the citizens with them to the police station while the others got back to the dorms before the Dark Hour ended.

"Wooo~" Miki threw herself on the couch and stretched. "Hopefully, those lost citizens won't be in danger anymore. It feels good when you save someone." She smiled then yawned as she felt super sleepy. It was a long day for her after all.

"I hope no more people waltz into Tartarus like that. We were lucky that they hadn't been attacked." Fuuka said.

Yukari yawned too, "I want to take a bath and then sleep. Goodnight." She said then went upstairs, heading to her room.

"I am going too. Night." Shinjiro said before leaving too. He usually stays in his room to avoid interacting with S.E.E.S members for some reason.

"You all go and rest, I will be waiting for Akihiko and Aigis." Mitsuru said.

"Are you sure?" Makoto asked.

"I will be fine." Mitsuru smiled lightly then looked at Miki after hearing no word from her.

"....She had already fallen asleep." She shook her head and sighed after seeing her completely dozed off on the couch.

"I will tell Aigis to take her to her bedroom once she gets back-"

"Mitsuru-senpai, that sleeping position is not good for her back and neck, so why don't Makoto take her instead?" Junpei bluntly said while grinning.

"Huh?" Makoto raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuru blinked then sighed before looking at Makoto, "... fine, but make sure to not wake her up." She trusted Makoto that he wouldn't do anything strange unlike Junpei. That was why she picked him instead.

Makoto was confused too as he looked at Junpei and saw him giving him a thumbs up. Why was he acting strange all of the sudden?

"Whatever." Makoto said as he went to Miki and carefully carried her bridal style without waking her up. He went upstairs and headed to her bedroom.

He carefully placed her on her bed and put the blanket on her.

"....."

Without noticing himself, he looked at her sleeping expression for a moment as he felt kind of strange in his chest. She looked so peaceful while sleeping.

He then faced the ground and turned around to leave. He didn't know what he was doing or what he was feeling at that moment.

Little did he know, his cheeks were a bit red after looking at the pink-haired girl's sleeping face.

_Time Skip, 12th August, 3rd Day of Summer School_

It was the third day of summer school. And this time, Miki was the first one to be ready for school since she didn't oversleep. She cheerfully walked downstairs and headed to the lounge, expecting to see her friends already awake.

"Goood morning, everyone!" She smiled, but then blinked as she saw no one. "Ehh? Hmm." Since no one was there yet, she decided to cook breakfast for her friends.

She walked to the kitchen while humming, but then noticed a paper was hung on the door. She walked close to the door to read what was written on the paper.

"Takahashi and Yamagishi are not allowed to cook in the kitchen." She read then gasped. "Ehh?! Who wrote this??"

Akihiko was next to be fully ready as he headed to the kitchen to make some protein shake, but he saw Miki there acting strange.

"Hey, good morning, Miki. What are you doing?"

Miki sniffed then turned around to face Akihiko, "Senpai!" She whined, then ran to him while sobbing. "Wh-who wrote this?" She pointed at the paper that was hung on the kitchen door.

"Hm?" He looked at the paper. He agreed with it. "Well, Shinji uses the kitchen the most, so probably him."

"Is it because I almost burned the kitchen last time?" Miki looked at him sadly then lowered her head and let out a sigh. "Is...my cooking really that bad? Should I just... give up?" She asked.

Akihiko started to sweat. He tried to be nice as he said, "uh, I don't think you should give up. Just keep up the good work in the cooking club." He patted her shoulder to try and cheer her up. "Let's make some protein shakes to get us ready for today."

Miki went from sad to happy real quick once she heard Akihiko's suggestion as her eyes shined, "oh, yes! I will be happy to help. And thank you Senpai, your support means a lot to me." She smiled then took his hand. dragging him with her to the kitchen to make protein shake together.

"I wanna learn how to make it, so I can make it for you every morning~" She smiled.

"Sure, watch how I do it." He said, then brought the blender and took out his extra large protein box. He then began scooping into the blender over and over.

Miki watched closely with a focused look on her face. "Oooh~" She nodded quickly as she was learning. "And then what?"

"And then more protein, of course." He said, still adding protein powder into the blender.

"Uh-huh." Miki nodded again, waiting for the next step to add something other than protein. "And??"

"More protein." He said, adding powder even more. "You want to add lots more to the top so you really feel it."

"O-okay?" Miki widened her eyes and blinked after seeing him adding a lot of protein in the blender.

"Can't you add something else to it? Like mayonnaise for example? Shinji-senpai told me it's protein too." She said.

"It is, but it has many unnecessary ingredients added to it. This is heavenly." He responded as he placed the half empty box away after he was done with it. "There, it's ready now to mix it." He said and began to blend.

"Ooh, I see. So, it's just like that and it's done?" Miki blinked. "It's too easy and simple. I can make 100 of these." She grinned. She had expected the steps to be hard.

"Mhm, very easy." He nodded.

After the strange shake was done, Akihiko poured both of them a drink.

He took his glass and said with a smile, "cheers."

Miki took her cup too as she giggled, "cheers!" She said then took a sip.

Strangely, Miki liked it...

"Mhm, it's good! Thank you, Senpai. Because of you, I am learning a lot of new things~" She suddenly took his arm with her free hand and began rubbing her cheek against it like a puppy.

Akihiko blushed lightly from her sudden hug as he tried to balance himself to not spill his drink, "c-careful-" He sighed smilingly, "...I am glad you like it, really get the gears rolling." He said. Akihiko seemed to not mind Miki acting silly with him anymore.

"Hm?" He noticed Makoto standing at the kitchen door looking nervous.

Poor Makoto, all he wanted was to get a glass of water. But instead, he came across Akihiko and Miki drinking literally protein.

"Hey Yuki, you want to try some too? There's much left for all of you." Akihiko said.

Miki smiled and lifted her glass, "yeah Senpai! Come and join us, it's very tasty and healthy!"

"Uh...bye." Makoto simply turned around and left the kitchen with an emotionless face as he was trying to hide his nervousness.

"Eh, why does it look like Makoto-senpai is escaping?" Miki blinked in confusion.

Akihiko shrugged, "maybe he's just going to jog to school. Let's start heading there ourselves, Miki." He drank his shake then grabbed his lunch to hurry up so they wouldn't be late for school.

Miki nodded then placed the glass down after she finished it all. Then, she got her school bag to get going.

_Time Skip, Gekkoukan High School_

As every school day, the students took their classes then had their lunch. After that, they were going back to their classrooms to continue taking classes.

As Akihiko got back to his class, he expected to see Katsu there, but he surprisingly didn't see him.

"Huh?" He looked at Katsu's empty seat.

He was here this morning. Did he leave early?

He thought to himself as he wondered.

It was strange because usually Katsu doesn't skip classes and he seemed fine this morning. Akihiko sat down then sighed while shaking his head.

Why am I worrying too much..? He's going to be fine like he said.

Akihiko was kind and protective of his friends, and he didn't like to see them going through a hard time, that's why he couldn't help but worry about his friend. He thought about asking Makoto about it since they usually hang out together.

__Time Skip, Iwatodai Dormitory__

S.E.E.S were back from school after they were done with their activities. As soon as Akihiko saw Makoto was back, he asked him about Katsu.

"Hey Yuki, did you see Saito today?"

"Saito-san? No, why?"

"Ah, nothing. It's just he doesn't seem to be fine lately, so I asked if you know something."

Makoto shook his head, "no, I don't know anything about that. He hadn't said anything when I last saw him."

"It's fine." Akihiko replied.

Makoto looked down as he started to think to himself. After hearing what Akihiko said, he thought about seeing Katsu tomorrow at school to check up on him.

"Saito-san? Maybe something happened to him?" Junpei blinked in confusion after he heard Makoto and Akihiko's conversation.

"I don't know. I just hope that he will be fine." Akihiko responded.

"Hmm right, are you all looking forward to the summer festival this year?" Yukari asked.

"Of course I am!" Miki smiled widely.

"Me too. It would be fun if we all go." Fuuka smiled too.

"The summer festival..." Ken looked down and mumbled. He wondered if Shinjiro was interested.

"I would like to see the activities people do during this festival. However, is it okay for me to join you?" Aigis asked.

Yukari chuckled, "of course you can go with us. You will just have to wear a yukata so people won't suspect you are a robot."

Just then, Shinjiro entered the dorm with some grocery bags.

"Welcome back, Aragaki-san." Ken smiled after seeing him.

"Oh yeah, hey..." Shinjiro said as he was about to go to the kitchen, but Miki speaking to him interrupted him.

"Will you be joining us for the summer festival, Shinji-senpai?"

"Um, no. Festivals aren't my scene..." He looked down as he refused.

Hearing that made Ken sad as he looked down. He was hoping Shinjiro would agree as he was looking forward to going with him and having fun together.

"Oh come ooon, Senpai! Please~" Miki started to beg. "We would like you to go with us. It will be fun!"

"Are you sure? We all will be going. It's an opportunity for us to gather together, relax and have fun." Mitsuru spoke next.

"Still, it's not my scene... Besides, I have business here." Shinjiro kept looking away as he looked kinda nervous.

"What business is that, Shinji? All you do is walk around Port Island all day." Akihiko huffed.

"No, I don't. Tch." Shinji frowned in annoyance then continued his way to the kitchen.

S.E.E.S looked at each other looking confused and sad. They wanted Shinjiro to join the fun, but at the same time they didn't want to force him if he wasn't looking forward to it.

Miki pouted then suddenly stood up and followed Shinjiro to the kitchen to see if he was going to make something, "Senpai, I am still upset about the paper you hung on the kitchen door." She puffed her cheeks. "I can be a good cook too! Challenge meee!"

"Yeah, you kept burning stuff, cooking those atrocities and it was a pain in the ass to clean up. Not to mention, a waste of ingredients. No way! I just bought these for dinner!"

Mitsuru sighed smilingly as she could hear Miki and Shinjiro talking from the kitchen, "we will try to convince him. But if he is really busy, we can't force him."

Akihiko kept looking away, not saying anything.

Ken too as he was looking down quietly.

After a moment of silence, Fuuka spoke.

"Wait, what paper is Miki-chan talking about?" She blinked in confusion as everyone looked at her while sweating.

Meanwhile, Miki faced the ground sadly while fiddling with her fingers after hearing Shinjiro, "I...I am sorry, Shinji-senpai. It was just an accident, I am still learning." She felt scared after seeing him angry.

"Th-then I want to watch you cook, can I? Please?" She suggested as she gave him the puppy eyes. "I promise I won't touch anything. I will just sit and watch. I want to be good at cooking like you one day." She smiled lightly.

He looked at her face. Her puppy eyes were irresistible. He tried to refuse but he couldn't as he blushed lightly and frowned. "Fine, whatever. I don't care..." He sighed and began taking out the groceries from the bags. "You need to watch closely."

"Yes, sir." Miki said with a serious face. Then she couldn't help but giggle as she stood beside him to watch closely what he was going to prepare.

"What are you going to make?" She asked.

"Fish and miso soup." He answered as he got all the ingredients out, including the shopping block.

"Miso soup?" Miki tilted her head as she wasn't familiar with that dish. "I don't really know it, but I am excited to try it." She smiled brightly.

"Actually, I didn't expect you to be so passionate about cooking, Senpai. Why did you try to hide this from us at first?"

"Cause you all don't need to be in my business. I only cook because all you eat is junk food except Mitsuru. And you and Fuuka can't cook for shit. Ken and Koromaru need proper meals." He bluntly said.

Miki felt insulted as she looked at him sadly, "c-can't cook for what? Is that an insult?? Fuuka-senpai and I are doing our best!" She pouted.

Shinjiro turned his head a bit to look at her as he was frowning, "look, if you want to become good at cooking, then you should focus and watch every step I do."

Miki widened her eyes after seeing his scary glare, "y-yes, sir." She sat down and didn't say a word anymore to not make him more mad. She kept quiet and watched him as that seemed to calm Shinjiro a little.

..........

"Dinner is ready..." Shinjiro said after the food was on the table.

"Woah!"

They all looked at the food that was made by Shinjiro. The view made their eyes sparkle and the delicious aroma made them almost drool.

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow after seeing their expressions, "why are y'all looking at the food like that? Just sit down and eat, geez..." He huffed as he sat down.

"Dude, the food looks so delicious!" Junpei said as they all took their seats as well to eat dinner together.

"Yeah yeah, the food will get cold if you don't start eating..." Shinjiro rolled his eyes in annoyance. The thing is, he was feeling embarrassed.

"This is making me more hungry!" Miki took the fork and began eating. She preferred to use the fork and spoon over the chopsticks because they were easier to use for eating.

"Thank you for the food!" Ken smiled and started eating as well. "Mm! It's so good! Thank you so much, Aragaki-san." He looked at him and smiled.

Shinjiro looked away and blushed lightly, "no need to thank me...Ugh, this is embarrassing..." He mumbled.

Koromaru was eating his dinner too and he seemed to like the food as he barked.

"Koromaru says: the food is delicious." Aigis translated for them.

"It's all thanks to Aragaki-san." Fuuka looked at Shinjiro and smiled, his face was red from all that compliment about his food.

"By the way Shinji, did you know that S.E.E.S would be terminated once all the Shadows are defeated?" Akihiko asked.

"Terminated? No, I haven't known about this before." Shinjiro said. "Well, I understand why it would be, everything has an end." He simply said.

Everything has an end...?

Miki thought then looked down sadly. What Shinjiro said made her feel even worse.

"Hey, even if the Dark Hour ended, we would still be friends." Yukari said.

Makoto looked down too and stayed quiet. Deep inside him, he really hoped they could still spend time together as friends even when the Dark Hour disappears.

"Yes, I hope that too. Even with all of our Senpais graduate, and it's just us in our dorms." Fuuka said.

"I hope they keep this dorm open, it has our precious memories." Yukari said while looking around the dorm.

"Don't worry, I will try to keep this dorm open, even if we graduate and no longer need to live in it. Though this dorm is too old, I am not sure anyone will live here." Mitsuru said.

Junpei lowered his head as he was busy with his thoughts, "our lives will come back to normal, huh.."

"Yeah...no more fighting together in Tartarus." Yukari lowered her head too as she sounded kind of sad.

"No more summoning our Personas..." Makoto added while still keeping his eyes down at the table with an emotionless face.

"We will have to give up our evokers..." Fuuka added too, then looked at Miki. "Miki-chan, you are the only freshman here. Eventually, you will be in the dorms all on your own. I hope you will make friends and invite them to stay to keep the dorm open."

"Huh...?" Miki looked at Fuuka with a sad expression. Then she frowned, "no, I will live here alone?? But I don't want this. I want to be with you all, forever! Like right now!"

"Ehh, forever?" Yukari raised her eyebrows.

"Like Shinjiro said, there's always an end to anything. Unfortunately, we can't live here together forever." Mitsuru told Miki. "But you won't be alone, Miki. Amada will be with you, remember he's an elementary school student, so even if we graduate, he will be here too. You can keep Koromaru with you as well, of course."

Koromaru barked and wagged his tail.

"Koromaru says: yes, I will stay with Amada-san and Takahashi-san." Aigis translated again.

"She can understand dogs...?" Shinjiro mumbled and just kept eating quietly.

"Yes, so please cheer up, Miki-senpai. You won't be alone." Ken looked at Miki and smiled.

"B-but that means when I graduate, Ken will still be here when he's in highschool, right? I don't want to leave him and Maru-maru alone here." Miki covered her face. She doesn't know where to go once she graduates. "This is so harddd."

"There are still many months before we graduate, so let's continue to make many memories together." Akihiko smiled.

Mitsuru nodded, "Akihiko is right. Let's not think about the future too much. Though, I am interested to know what you all want to do when you graduate." She smiled.

"Sanada-senpai, what will you do when you graduate?" Fuuka asked.

"I will probably go train in the mountains. Maximize my strength." Akihiko answered with a smirk as Shinjiro rolled his eyes while mumbling "of course" after hearing his answer.

"I want to go to the mountains with Aki-senpai." Miki said as she thought she probably can't see Akihiko everyday like now when he graduates.

"What about you, Yamagishi-san? What do you want to do when you graduate?" Yukari asked.

Fuuka hummed in thought, "I am not sure. Maybe become a computer engineer or a famous chef."

"F-famous chef?" Junpei felt bad for all the people she would cook for. "I dunno. I think computer engineering suits you better."

"Yeah, an advice from me, the second option is better." Shinjiro said next.

"E-eh?" Fuuka blinked.

"After all, she is free to choose what's the best for her, so we will be supporting you, Yamagishi-san." Yukari smiled.

"Thank you guys." Fuuka smiled softly.

Miki and Makoto both stayed quiet while the others were talking about their future. Miki wasn't sure where to go when she graduated. And as for Makoto, he wasn't really looking forward to the future, he would just let things go on their own and let fate decide how his future would be.

"When you all graduate, I will probably have to find a place to stay. I don't see them keeping the dorm open just for me." Ken said after he thought about it to himself.

"It's too early for you to think about your future now, Amada. Enjoy your childhood life. After all, they say childhood is the best time of your life." Mitsuru told Ken.

"Yeah lucky you kid, we are almost adults now, which means more suffering. I want to be a kid again." Junpei placed his hand against his cheek and sighed.

"Well, I am mature. I don't need to keep thinking like a child." Ken said then looked at Mitsuru. "How was your childhood life, Kirijo-senpai?"

"Um, I gotta admit it was different from all the normal childhoods that children would have. It was tiring, you know, being the daughter of the owner of the Kirijo Group." Mitsuru began explaining. "Besides, I began fighting in Tartarus when I was little."

"Ehh, really?" Miki looked at her surprisingly. "Well, that explains why you are so strong, Mitsuru-senpai, haha." She started to imagine Mitsuru fighting the shadows when she was a little girl. "Little Mitsuru fighting to save the world~ So cuuute!" She squealed.

Mitsuru blushed lightly from embarrassment, "but it was dangerous for a kid to fight, so my father tried to change my mind. However, I truly wanted to fight after all. That's why I wasn't sure about Amada fighting at a very young age at first when he joined us. But seeing his desire to fight, I didn't stop him."

"I heard that you, Aki-senpai and Shinji-senpai were the first members of S.E.E.S. Is that true?" Miki asked.

"Yes, I was the first one to awaken, then Akihiko and Shinjiro did when they were in middle school." Mitsuru answered with a nod.

"That's true...but Shinji just prefers not to fight using his Persona." Akihiko said as he looked at his friend.

Shinjiro continued to eat, gripping the chopsticks a bit tighter as he did so.

"I...still don't understand why Shinji-senpai doesn't like to use his Persona. I mean there's gotta be a reason, right?" Miki tilted her head in confusion.

Mitsuru lowered her head and stayed quiet for a moment. She was as confused as her teammates, "that's just his preference."

"Maybe something happened to him?" Miki kept wondering.

"Uhm, you know he can hear you, right?" Junpei mumbled to Miki.

"Regardless, he's fighting with us now. I respect him for joining us if his past is tough..." Ken said.

"Humph..." Shinjiro closed his eyes and huffed after hearing Ken. His heart started to beat fast for some reason, but he just kept eating quietly.

Akihiko kept silent too as he drank his water.

The atmosphere had become quiet until they finished eating and began cleaning up.

"So um, I was thinking why don't we all study for tomorrow now that we finished our dinner?" Fuuka suggested after they finished cleaning.

"Aw, but I don't want to. Studying is boring." Miki complained.

"I agree. How about we play video games instead?" Junpei suggested with a grin.

"E-eh?" Fuuka was taken aback.

"Yesss!" Miki nodded excitedly.

"If you two kept being careless, you wouldn't be able to get good grades." Mitsuru wasn't pleased with Junpei's idea.

"But I want to have fun~" Miki puffed her cheeks.

"What games do you have, Iori-san?" Ken asked.

"Well, I have everything. Adventure games, action games, role playing games, sport games, dating gam- Uhm, forget about dating games." Junpei shook his hands while blushing.

Miki got more excited, "pleeeease~ I want to play them all!"

"Of course, ya guys can join if you want. They are in my room, so I will be there if you want to come." Junpei said as he went to the staircase to climb up.

"Yes! I want to come." Miki immediately followed.

"I don't think you should go, Miki. Junpei's room is too messy." Yukari huffed.

"I heard that! It's not messy, I cleaned it yesterday!" Junpei yelled.

"Yesterday? You mean last month?" Yukari teased.

He huffed, "I am bein' nice here invitin' y'all, but you still want to be rude. Whatever. Like I said, you are free to join or not." He walked upstairs to head to his room.

"Mitsuru, will you be joining Junpei and Miki to play games?" Akihiko asked as he was actually teasing the redhead.

Mitsuru shook her head, "of course I won't be wasting my time playing video games. Studying is more important." She sighed. "They are acting like they don't have school tomorrow."

"Why don't you join them? I think out of everyone, you have bonded with Miki the least. Give it a try?" Akihiko said.

Mitsuru raised her eyebrows, "you...think so?" She let out a sigh again as she kept thinking about it. What Akihiko said was right, and she had said before she would accompany Miki. "Playing for a bit... won't hurt, right?"

Akihiko shook his head as Makoto finally spoke, "I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Hearing Makoto too, Mitsuru kept quiet for a moment then got up to go, "Okay fine, I will go. Just for Miki." She said then headed upstairs.

"Have fun." Akihiko said. Mitsuru needed to spend some time with friends instead of studying all night, that was what Akihiko thought. He then looked at Makoto seeing him getting up to leave too.

"Yuki, I suggest you go and join them too."

"Why?"

"Uh, it's better than doing nothing in your room, right?"

Makoto stayed quiet after hearing his answer, then went upstairs without saying a word.

"H-huh?" Akihiko watched him leave as he sighed. "It's even harder to convince him than Mitsuru...." He mumbled.

"See? I told you it's not messy! Yuka-tan just likes to tease me, I know!" Junpei said after Miki entered his room as she chuckled and sat down on the ground while Junpei was setting up.

They saw the door was opened and to their surprise, they saw both Mitsuru and Makoto entering the room. Makoto, as usual, had an emotionless face while Mitsuru was blushing from embarrassment.

"Makoto...and Mitsuru-senpai??" Junpei was shocked to see her there. "Sweet! You are joining us! Just in time!" He handed them the controllers.

Miki smiled happily after seeing the two coming in, "Senpais! You really decided to join?"

"Yeah." Makoto said as he sat between Junpei and Miki.

"Glad to have you with us, dude. I promise you that you won't regret this." Junpei said as he wrapped his arm around Makoto's shoulder while grinning.

"Personal space." He responded while trying to get away from him.

Mitsuru Joined in too as she sat beside Miki, "I decided why not give it a try." She took the controller and smiled lightly.

"Yaaay!" Miki cheered and hugged her.

"Wh-why are you hugging me?" Mitsuru was surprised by the sudden hug as she blushed.

"This is a thank you for joining us~"

"Take a look, Senpai. Is my room messy?" Junpei asked.

Mitsuru looked around the room. It was surprisingly not messy like they all thought it would be. "No, it looks tidy and clean. I am quite surprised."

"Haha, good....I didn't want to sleep in the attic." Junpei mumbled. "Anyway, what do you guys want to play?" He showed them the games he had.

"I don't mind, I will play anything." Miki answered with a smile.

"Me too. I don't really know much about video games, so I am fine with anything." Mitsuru answered next.

"Makoto?" Junpei looked at the blue-haired boy.

Makoto took the controller and said with a blank face, "let's play a team game, boys vs girls." He then looked at Junpei. "What game would you recommend for that, Junpei?" He asked as he looked through Junpei's games.

Junpei started to look for a good game for a team playing, "hmm, I think a fighting game would be the best." He said as he chose a game and placed the CD inside the PlayStation.

Mitsuru looked at the control as she wasn't sure how to use it, "uhm, can you teach me how to play first?"

"First time playing, Senpai?" Miki asked.

Mitsuru blushed lightly and nodded quietly.

"Sure, you press these buttons and on the screen, it will show you different combos to make your characters." Makoto explained to her.

"You use these buttons to fight. You can select any character you want. It's easy, you will get used to it later." Junpei helped to explain as well. "Miki, you don't have any problem, right?" He looked at the pink-haired girl and asked.

"Nope, I am ready." Miki answered, holding the controller to begin playing. "Senpai, do your best. We have to win." She whispered to Mitsuru.

"O-okay." Mitsuru wasn't sure since it was going to be her first time playing a video game.

"Alright then, let's fight-"

"Waiit! I have an idea! To make this more fun, how about the team that wins will become queens or kings and can give an order to the losers and they have to accept it no matter what the order is?" Miki suggested with a smile. "What do you think?"

Mitsuru huffed while smiling, "okay sure, why not? Let's go with this rule." She agreed to not make Miki upset.

"So, you agree! Junpei-senpai, Makoto-senpai?" Miki looked at the boys, waiting for their response.

"Uh..." Junpei looked at Makoto a bit nervously.

"What?~ Are you two perhaps nervous?~" Miki teased playfully.

"No! I will never refuse a challenge!" Junpei frowned, then looked at Makoto. "Makoto, just say yes." He whispered.

"I don't really care.." Makoto closed his eyes and sighed.

"Okay! Let's begin." Miki looked at the screen, getting focused.

Mitsuru looked at the controller nervously. She had a feeling she was going to mess up, but she was going to do her best for herself and Miki. After all, she hates to lose.

Miki was good at playing games, so she was doing good so far, and that seemed to irritate Junpei.

"Ugh, M-miki, you aren't givin' me the chance to attack back! You are too fast." Junpei complained.

"What are ya talking about? How am I supposed to win then?" She blinked, then gasped after seeing Mitsuru's character's health. "Your health is low, Senpai! Here, let me help you." She said, giving her health points.

Mitsuru was having a hard time, but with Miki's help she was going to be okay, "thank you, Miki. I am.. doing my best."

"Makoto, why don't ya be a nice teammate too and help me??" Junpei almost shouted.

"Okay." Makoto said with a blank face as he used many combos against Miki and Mitsuru.

"Ooh yeah! This is what I am talkin' about!" Junpei grinned as it was getting easy to attack the girls back.

"Ehh! This isn't fair, don't be hard on usss!" Miki whined, then she frowned. "Fine, I guess it's time to use my special attack. Senpai, hang in there." She smirked as she used the special attack, causing the boys to lose a lot of health.

"I am okay, Miki. I am beginning to understand how to play this game." Mitsuru said as she began to not hold back either.

Junpei widened his eyes after seeing his health was getting damaged, "wha-"

......

After the first round was over, Miki raised her hands and cheered, "we won! Woohoo!~ High five!" She high fived Mitsuru.

"We... really did it." Mitsuru was surprised at first, but then she smiled.

"Ughh, Mitsuru-senpai was so close to losing at the end, but Miki defended her..." Junpei groaned, then placed the controller down and lowered his head sadly. "I didn't expect you to be THAT good, Miki. Guess I was thinkin' wrong."

"Hehe, I just press random buttons quickly and repeatedly. That's my trick." Miki giggled.

"I just imagined this battle as the fight in Tartarus, so it was getting easier for me." Mitsuru said while smirking a bit.

Junpei scratched the back of his head, "now I am kind of scared if you think of the game as fighting Shadows, Senpai...But still, we won't lose the next round!" He said, determined to win. "Let's do this, Makoto!"

"Whatever."

Makoto didn't sound so enthusiastic about the game like the others, but he was in fact having fun. He didn't regret playing some video games with friends.

"Wait waiit, we won this round! That means we can order you guys." Miki interrupted.

"Fine, what is your order?" Junpei sighed as he was kind of nervous.

"Do you have anything in mind, Miki?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yes! Junpei-senpai, Makoto-senpai, take us to the amusement park!" Miki smiled brightly.

"Wha- Did you make this rule just so you can let us take you to the amusement park??" Junpei raised an eyebrow. "Besides, we can't go now."

Miki blushed and fiddled with her fingers while smiling nervously, "n-no, I didn't. Tomorrow then, after school! It is an order~"

Makoto raised his eyebrows, "tomorrow? But we have school, will you still have the energy to go?"

"And is Senpai okay with that?" Junpei asked as he looked at Mitsuru.

Mitsuru looked at Miki a bit troubled. What Makoto said was right. "Uhm, Yuki has a point. Why don't we go when we are done with summer school?"

"But on the weekend we are busy shopping. And then next week, we are gonna celebrate the summer festival, so I thought tomorrow is good." Miki looked down sadly as she truly wanted to go to the amusement park with her friends for the first time. "Please? We won't be gone for too long. I want to go out with my friends and have fun."

Mitsuru looked at her quietly for a bit, then spoke, "... It's settled. We are going tomorrow." She agreed because she didn't want to make Miki upset since she looked like she was looking forward to it.

"Wh-wha?!" Junpei was surprised to see Mitsuru agreeing with the idea.

Makoto was actually surprised too. He didn't have the choice to refuse because it was an order, "amusement park it is then..." He looked down. He didn't remember when was the last time he went to the amusement park.

"Yaay!" Miki cheered happily and hugged Mitsuru again, which made her surprised again. "You always agree with me! Thank you!"

"N-no problem." Mitsuru said in embarrassment. She was glad to see Miki happy, so it was fine.

Junpei sighed, "heeeh, fine fine." He then looked at Makoto seriously, "this time, we are gonna win. I don't wanna take orders." He said as he held his controller. "We won't go easy on you this time!" He said to the girls.

"Okayy, we will see about that." Miki said, sticking out her tongue as she kept teasing the boys.

Makoto looked at the screen more focused this time as if he truly wanted to win the final round. The boys didn't hold back at all against the girls during the second round. Eventually, both Miki and Mitsuru lost at the end of the round.

"We did it!" Junpei cheered as he was happy he was the winner this time.

"Ehhh!?" Miki looked at the screen surprisingly as she almost dropped the controller. The boys during that round against them were like beasts.

"Well actually, that's fair to me.' Mitsuru said calmly as she placed the controller down. She accepted the boys' victory since they had won the first round.

"Then, what's your order? And please, no ridiculous orders, Iori." Mitsuru glared at Junpei.

"Hehe." Junpei smirked while rubbing his chin. "But no matter what we order you to do, you must do it. These are the rules, remember?"

"I can't think of one, so I will leave it to you." Makoto told Junpei while shrugging.

"Okay then. Hehe, winning sure feels nice." Junpei opened his mouth to say the order and that made Mitsuru nervous.

"I take what I said back, I don't feel good about this." Mitsuru mumbled under her breath.

"I order you two to dress up as maids and call us Masters!" Junpei pointed at the two girls and grinned.

"WHAT." Mitsuru yelled.

Makoto immediately facepalmed, ".... Seriously?" He mumbled after hearing Junpei's ridiculous order.

"No no no no, no way I would do such a thing!" Mitsuru continued to refuse as she got up while her face was turning red.

"But it's an order, you must do it." Junpei responded while smiling.

Meanwhile, Miki smiled excitedly as she raised her hand, "Oh oh! I can do it! I want to be a maid."

"Horrible! There's no way I will wear a maid outfit and call you two Masters." Mitsuru frowned sharply as her face was red as a tomato.

"Aww, why not, Senpai? It's going to be fun. So, can we do it now??" Miki asked as she couldn't wait to try on a maid outfit.

"No, we can't. We don't have maid outfits anyway." Mitsuru told Miki.

"Meeeh, I bet Yuka-tan has them. You can borrow them from her." Junpei shrugged.

Makoto just kept staring at the three awkwardly.

"Come ooon, what are ya waitin' for? Go go!" Junpei said as he let them go to dress up. He was getting impatient too.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's just for fun!" Miki smiled and began dragging Mitsuru with her outside Junpei's room to go dress up. She was taking this simply and as a joke unlike Mitsuru who wanted to just leave and be out of this.

"Iori...I swear I will execute him.." Mitsuru mumbled while looking down and blushing deeply red as Miki kept dragging her by the hand. And because Miki was enjoying this too much, she couldn't stop her.

..........

"You want what??" Yukari looked at the two surprisingly after seeing them entering her room and hearing their request.

"Listen, I need this to be over, so we will explain later." Mitsuru kept facing the ground while holding her arm shyly as she couldn't look directly into Yukari's eyes.

"I want the cutest one you have!" Miki beamed.

"Uhm, well...okay- Wait, I have a feeling Junpei is behind this." Yukari looked at the two in suspicion.

"I-I said I will explain the details later. C-can you hurry up, please?" Mitsuru shut her eyes tightly out of embarrassment.

"Fine, whatever..." Yukari sighed then went to her closet as she brought out the two maid outfits she had and gave them to Miki and Mitsuru.

"These look so cuuute!" Miki's eyes sparkled after taking the cute maid dress. Then she looked at Yukari and asked with a smile, "why do you have these, Yukari-senpai?" She gasped, "are you a mai-"

"I bought these for the school festival this year!" Yukari cut her off immediately.

"...."

Miki had a blank face after seeing her yelling while blushing.

.........

Junpei and Makoto both watched Miki trying to convince Mitsuru to enter the room, but she was having a hard time doing so.

"Come on, Senpai! I told you there's nothing to be embarrassed about~"

She finally managed to pull Mitsuru through the door and into the room as they stood together in their maid outfits.

Miki was smiling, but Mitsuru wasn't. She was not pleased at all as her cheeks were red.

"Dude...My dream came true..!" Junpei blushed after seeing the two standing next to each other while wearing cute maid dresses. He thought he was absolutely dreaming.

Meanwhile, Makoto just looked at the two quietly and with a blank face. He didn't know what was happening, and why he got involved in all this.

Miki immediately got into the act, "hello, my name is Maid Miki! I will give you my love, Master~" She winked and blew a kiss. Then she looked at Mitsuru and giggled, gesturing to her to speak.

Makoto widened his eyes then looked away after seeing Miki acting that way. For some reason, his heart started to beat fast.

Mitsuru's lips trembled as tried to speak, but she was having a hard time doing so. She kept standing still, not doing any pose, "m-m......I can't do this!" She yelled then suddenly ran out of the room.

"Ehh, Senpai??" Miki watched her leaving.

"W-wait, we aren't done yet! Don't you want to take pictures??" Junpei asked.

"Ooh, we will be having a photoshoot session? I am ready!" Miki was about to do a pose, but got interrupted by Mitsuru as she was pulled out of the room.

"Waaa!-" Miki let out a yelp while being dragged away by Mitsuru.

Junpei sighed after the two ran away, "oh well, at least we saw them in cute maid outfits." He said, resting his arms behind his head.

Makoto looked at him emotionless, "you are gonna die."

"Huh??"

"Mitsuru-senpai will punish you."

Suddenly, Junpei felt cold shivers all over his body after hearing that, "oh c-come on, it's just a silly order. Senpai wouldn't do that, ha ha.." He laughed nervously.

Makoto stood up to leave, "this is all so ridiculous."

"You are strange, dude. It's maids we are talkin' about here! Who doesn't want to see a cute maid?"

"I don't care."

..........

After Miki and Mitsuru split up to get back to their rooms, Mitsuru was in panic while hurriedly making her way to her bedroom. She just wanted to hide and take that stupid maid outfit off before anyone could see her. However, because she was in a hurry, she accidentally bumped into Akihiko without watching out where she was going.

Akihiko groaned lightly then saw it was Mitsuru in an outfit he had never expected her to wear in her life, "Mitsuru?!"

"A-ah.. don't look at me!" Mitsuru blushed even more after seeing Akihiko. The fact that he saw her wearing that made her so embarrassed she wanted to just disappear. Without giving him a chance to speak, she continued to run.

Akihiko watched her running with a shocked look on his face. After seeing her wearing that maid dress made him uncontrollably blush. He started to rub his eyes, even pinch himself to make sure what he saw was real.

"Is all that protein shake making me see things...??"

.........

Meanwhile, Miki was making her way to her own bedroom. She was sad because she had to take it off, she wanted to show her friends the cute outfit instead, but everyone seemed to be in their rooms studying or sleeping.

However, she was at least lucky to see Makoto again as he was heading to his room, but she stopped him by calling him.

"Senpai!"

Makoto immediately froze in his place after hearing that high pitched voice, then sighed and turned around to face her. He saw her approaching him with a wide smile on her face.

"You didn't tell us how we looked. I saw how you stayed still the whole time like a statue, your face looked so funny!" She laughed.

"....."

Seeing him quiet, she looked at him in confusion, "Makoto-senpai?"

He slowly lifted his hand and placed it on top of Miki's head as he lightly patted her.

"You look...good."

Miki raised her eyebrows then a wide and bright smile formed on her face as her pink eyes sparkled. Even the smallest compliment from Makoto made her happy. "Really?"

Makoto wanted to say more than that, but he struggled to get the words out, so he just nodded.

"Thank you, Master~" Miki said jokingly as she giggled.

He raised his eyebrows and pulled his hand away, "Master?"

She nodded, "mhm, you are my master, leader and senpai!" She raised her arms cheerfully.

Makoto then smiled lightly as he almost let out a laugh, but he just huffed before walking away, "silly..."

She chuckled, "goodnight, Master, Leader, Senpai." She waved then walked away as they both went their separate ways.

As Makoto was about to approach the door to his room, he stopped as he looked down and snorted. He tried to hold back his laugh.

"Haha."