In the shabby little home of Sakiko's father... After delivering the food to her father and finishing her own meal and cleaning up.
Glancing at her bastard father who was still fast asleep, Sakiko couldn't help but let out a helpless sigh.
I have to deliver newspapers tomorrow, better get to sleep quickly, or I won't be able to get up.
While her mind kept urging her, her hands and feet didn't hesitate either.
Perhaps these past few days had caused her to long since discard her former sluggishness.
To the current her... time was money, it was the most important thing of all.
If I cancel the lease on the CRYCHIC Band room tomorrow, I can save a sum of money.
Then, the transfer procedures for the next few days should be almost finished.
When that time comes, I can transfer from the noble young ladies' Tsukinomori Girls Academy to Haneoka Girls Academy.
Right... which school was Shouko's again? It seems to be called Minato Academy.
But that place isn't purely a girls' academy; it's co-ed.
Forget it, since the Haneoka side is almost settled, I'll stay at Haneoka.
After all, at Haneoka Girls Academy, as long as your grades are good, you can get a decent scholarship.
Within Haneoka Girls Academy, only Rikki is there.
Rikki cares more about Tomori, and Tomori is at a different school.
So, as long as she is careful not to run into Rikki, there basically shouldn't be any problems.
After considering the situation for tomorrow... Sakiko took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and quickly fall asleep.
After all, she had to get up at four or five tomorrow to deliver newspapers, so she only had a little over three hours of sleep left... Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next day.
Not long after Sakiko grit her teeth and forced herself up to deliver newspapers.
Soyo had slept quite early last night, so she also woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep.
But seeing Shouko sleeping soundly in front of her, she didn't directly wake her up.
Instead, she lay quietly in the warm blankets... lying on her side, silently watching the close-at-hand Shouko.
Because a night had passed, the feeling of being 'educated' yesterday had faded quite a bit.
Consequently, she also noticed that the distance between her and Shouko was really very close.
To be honest, since she was little, she had never slept this close to anyone other than her mother.
And since her mother became busy... she could only be by herself, facing a large, empty room every day.
But now, she was leaning so close to another person, and she wasn't wearing any clothes.
Even though they were both girls, she still felt a very embarrassed sensation.
She couldn't help but shrink back... but because of the cold sensation behind her, she instinctively shrank back in again.
Looking up at the still-sleeping Shouko, she inexplicably felt her heart rate speed up a lot.
But as time slowly passed... she, who couldn't quite accept it at first, gradually became somewhat accustomed to it.
Quietly watching the close-at-hand Shouko, she instead inexplicably felt that it was a rather nice feeling.
The large house for one person had made her grow increasingly disgusted.
But a small room for two people inexplicably made her feel a sense of warmth.
In this small room, the crowded space under the blanket tucked the two of them snugly inside.
In a daze, she seemed to feel that the disbandment of the CRYCHIC Band didn't seem so important anymore.
However... just as this thought appeared, it was immediately suppressed by Soyo.
The CRYCHIC Band was something everyone valued very much; it absolutely couldn't be treated as trivial.
Of course, she didn't dislike the current situation either.
Tomorrow, once Shouko woke up, she would be able to give her the answer.
Soon, very soon.
With an expectant mood, Soyo quietly waited for the Shouko in front of her to wake up.
However, while waiting and waiting... she, who wasn't sleepy at first, couldn't help but feel a bit drowsy again.
Feeling the warm blankets and the presence of the very determined and security-providing Shouko beside her.
It caused the quietly waiting Soyo to unconsciously close her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, it was almost seven o'clock.
After Shouko woke up feeling refreshed... seeing the soundly sleeping Soyo, she also didn't wake her up directly.
Instead, she threw on a jacket and prepared to go down to get breakfast.
To her surprise, her mother had already placed two portions of breakfast in front of the door, along with a note explaining.
"Thank you, Mom..."
Pressing her hands together and bowing slightly, Shouko crouched down to bring the food inside.
She placed one portion next to Soyo's pillow... and the other next to her own, sitting cross-legged as she began to devour it in large mouthfuls.
Because her mother wanted to prevent her from being bullied, and she herself didn't like her hair being too long.
So, she had cut it into a somewhat cute short-long hairstyle.
And it was the kind that didn't need much maintenance, just a simple comb-through would do.
But... Soyo's long hair probably wasn't as easy to manage as hers, was it??
Right, it had been dampened by rain and sweat yesterday because of him; it would be better to wash it.
Seeing that it was already seven o'clock, she finished the egg in her hand in one bite and wiped her hands.
She leaned toward Soyo and gave her a nudge: "Soyo, time to get up. If you don't get up now, you'll be late."
"Mm, ugh..."
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the sky outside had already brightened.
After a moment of daze, Soyo's initially blurry eyes instantly became clear.
"Ah, oh no, I'm going to be late."
"Here's your food. I folded your clothes yesterday and put them next to you."
"...Thank you."
Soyo hurriedly put on her clothes, then reached out to take the food.
But seeing that on the fried egg, a small heart had been drawn with ketchup.
It made her pause, her palm trembling slightly.
"What's wrong? You don't like the tomato flavor??"
"No, I do..."
Soyo shook her head, her eyes slightly moist, as she reached out to take it and ate it very elegantly.
Then, wiping her mouth, tears involuntarily fell from the corners of her eyes as she put on her clothes.
"Your hair definitely needs a wash. Hurry up and finish eating, I'll go out and help you wash it."
"I'll adjust the water temperature for you first, I'll wait for you to come out..."
"Even though it's a bit of a rush, we should still be able to make it. Don't worry too much."
"Don't worry about tidying the blankets, just leave them like this. I'll tidy them when I get back after class today."
After saying that, Shouko directly picked up her backpack and left the room to adjust the water in the bathroom.
Since she had lived there for a while, her home's water heater needed a bit of adjusting before it would get hot.
And for a morning where every second counted, this time was also very precious.
"Thank you..."
Looking at the departing Shouko, Soyo wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
She also quickly finished dressing, grabbed her phone, and rushed out of the room.
"Come, the water is just right, stick your head over..."