*Koichi*

The jade moon was big and full tonight, lighting up the usually dark forest around this dorm. If only the interior of the dorm would go back to being its usual rowdy, festive self. Burai was still not speaking with Koharu.

"Sightseeing, Koi?" a voice asked.

I looked at my feet. My face reddened.

Hisui was smiling at me. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

I turned my face back outside. Her smile was cuter than usual.

"Not really," I said, scoffing.

She sat down in front of me. "It's sure pretty, isn't it? Watching the full moon like this sure brings me back to when I was a kid."

Hisui. I closed my eyes. She must've meant when her mom was still around.

"Dad once told me that Mom named me 'Hisui' as I was born under the full jade moon," she said in almost a whisper. She was smiling slightly, but her eyes were not.

"Your birth sounds auspicious," I said, resting my right elbow against my right knee. The jade moon was a symbol of wealth.

"My family thinks so too, but I wonder if I'll be able to fulfill those expectations."

I furrowed my brow at her. "How so? You're are a class representative for the second year in a row and an honor student. If you ask me, you're doing well for yourself."

She pressed her fingertips together and lowered her head to the wooden floor of the balcony. "True, but it's a lot."

My eyes widened. She was trying to tell me she was exhausted, wasn't she?

I shrugged. "If it is, then drop something."

"Eh?"

I gave her a faint grin. "I mean, look at Burai. He doesn't even show up to class everyday, yet he's still an honors student." I leaned back against the wooden rail. "Although, I guess you could make the argument that it's because of his grandfather. But if you ask me, I don't think you can give Mr. Obi all the credit. The teachers can see that Burai is a diamond in the rough."

"I'm not Burai, though. I can't skip class nor representative activities without regretting it later. Not just consciously, but workload."

"True, but remember what I told you the other day. You can count on me," I said, leaning forward slightly.

Her porcelain cheeks turned as pink as cherry blossoms. "Right! Thank you, Koichi!"

I raised a hand to my lips and averted my gaze. "I-it's nothing. Uh, can I ask you to help me with something?"

She gasped. "Oh?"

I lowered my hand and scowled. "Hey, what's with that face?"

Hisui beamed. "I think this is the first time you ask me for a favor!"

I bit my thumb. Maybe I should've asked Shiroma. But he was still working on that silk robe of his.

"Forget it," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Hey! I didn't say no! What is it? You've helped me a lot, let me help you too," she said, leaning forward and taking a hold of my right hand.

I pulled my hand away from her grip. "It's Burai and Koharu. I want to make them reconcile."

She hummed. "I saw Burai trying talk her earlier today, but she acted as if she didn't hear a thing and walked away as fast as she could."

So, Burai must've moved on. Koharu on the other hand hadn't. The guilt must've been eating away at her.

I pushed myself off the floor. "Thanks for the info. I'll go talk to Koharu. That seems like the easiest way to have them make up."

Hisui snickered as she got up too. "Usually she is the one helping patch things up around here."

I furrowed my brow. Yeah, and I was usually the one at odds with Burai. Although, he and I usually let bygones be bygones after a few days of squabbling. Although, that sometimes included making a smoldering wreckage with our fights.

Hisui followed me out of the recreation room.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Figured you might need some assistance. No offense, but you can be rather blunt which is why your squabbles with Burai often turn into brawls."

I sighed. She had a point there, but I doubted that Koharu would fight me just because I hurt her feelings.

Hisui took the lead and knocked on Kohau's room which was on the other side of the house-sized dorm.

"Who is it?" Koharu asked.

"It's me, Hisui. I wanted to talk to you about today's Zionian class. There was some stuff that I did not quite understand."

Why was she lying? Did she think that Koharu wasn't going to open up if she said it was to discuss Burai? If she wouldn't listen to her, then did I have much hope that she would listen to me?

Silence.

"You okay, Haru?" Hisui asked, furrowing her brow. "You went quiet."

"If it's about Zionian, why is Koichi with you?"

Did she use sonar to detect me? Or a hearing spell? It must've been sensitive as I was barely moving my arms and had reduced my breathing.

Hisui glanced at me and chuckled. "Oh, you know how he is! He likes following me around like a lost puppy. Even Burai says as much."

My face reddened. "I don't!"

She patted my shoulder and pressed a finger against her lips.

Koharu let out a loud sigh. "You may enter."

"Thanks, Haru!" Hisui opened the door and ran in. Koharu was sitting on a windowsill reading nook with her phone.

Wait, the door was open all of this time?

Hisui sat down on the windowsill couch and opened up her notebook. "This is the part that I have difficulty with."

Huh? Did she actually need help after all?

Koharu sat up and smiled. "So, you weren't entirely lying after all."

Hisui giggled. "Well, I was originally going to try figuring it out on my own, but Koichi told me to not push myself too much."

Koharu's smile faded as she stared at me. She crossed her long legs and gave me a stern look. Her silver eyes seemed mystical against the green-lit night behind her. "So, lost puppy, did you wish to talk to me about something?"

I formed a fist. Curses, Hisui! Why did you have to call me that?

"I might be a lost puppy, but at least I'm not a cowardly kitten," I said, chuckling.

Koharu lowered her eyes. "Like I thought."

Hisui took a deep breath and lowered her notebook. "You want to make up with Burai too, don't you?"

She nodded. "Of course, I do."

"It looks to me like he forgave you already. He did approach you earlier today like his usual bubbly self, but you ran. Why not accept it?"

Haru clenched her left kneecap. "Have I deserved it? I haven't made things right."

"And you won't if you keep avoiding him," I said, scoffing.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "You're right. But like you said, I'm a coward."

Hisui hugged her. "Haru, I don't think you were waiting for Burai to forgive you, but to forgive yourself. Plus, it's not like you did anything wrong. You were only trying to stop him from fighting in the hallway."

Haru kept her eyes low. "It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been afraid to go by myself."

"You were heading somewhere alone?"

She turned away and remained silent for a while. Her story seemed different than the one Burai told me. His grandfather had originally asked him to talk to Lei and he would take him to McDaisy's as a reward. Not sure if Burai realized it or not, but it seemed Mr. Obi wanted him to make Lei late to his match.

"I wanted to size up the second-year exchange students, but since I was a stranger to them, I didn't feel comfortable doing it myself. So I asked Burai to help me."

Something seemed off. Had Burai's grandfather originally asked her to distract Lei? If so, I could see why she felt she couldn't do it on her own. Haru wasn't much of a talker. Burai on the other hand could chat one's ears off for days if he so wanted to. Or did Mr. Obi originally intend to stop Lei via violent means to begin with? And if that's how he wanted Haru to stop him, then did he know that things would escalate with Burai? Or did he really just want his grandson to talk his head off?

"You and Mr. Obi set Burai up, didn't you?" I asked.

She furrowed her brow. "W-what do you mean?"

I got closer and glared at her. "Don't play dumb with me, Koharu. You're following in the footsteps of your sister aren't you? We know well that Mr. Obi hates Lei. Burai on the other hand doesn't seem to comprehend the full extent of it. You used him for your own nefarious plot."

Hisui gasped. "Wait, are you saying that Mr. Obi was the one Big Sis and Kohaku were working for?"

I nodded. "Yes. And I suspect the higher ups at the school suspect him too but don't do anything because they don't want to lose him." Or maybe it was blood that connected them. Shin'en was that man's great-grandson after all. Although, they didn't strike me as close.

"I know Father suspects him," Hisui said, looking forward.

"Hmm, talking about me?"

My eyes widened as I spun around and saw Mr. Obi staring at us with a dull look. I gritted my teeth and lurched forward, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"You knew that Burai would get violent, didn't you? You purposely set him up to fight your petty battles!" I snapped.

He gave me a fiery look. "Unhand me, Koichi."

"Answer me and I will!"

"Koichi! Let him go," Hisui said, grabbing my arm. "You're making things worse."

"He didn't plan for that to happen. At least not the way it did. Burai was expected to ask for a friendly spar if there was to be battle at all. And I went with Burai to ensure that things would go smoothy, but that plan went out of the window. Burai wouldn't listen to me once Yen pushed him," Koharu said. She looked at the white carpeted floor. "T-that's why I had to resort to stopping him the way I did. It was the only way to stop him from destroying the school."

"So that's what happened," a voice called out.

I let go of Mr. Obi and saw Burai striding over in a silk robe. Shiroma followed close behind.

"Burai, I'm sorry. I should've tried to figure out another way," Koharu said, crying.

Burai walked over to her and brought her in for a hug. "It's okay! I forgive you." He let go of her. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not listening."

I sighed. "You rarely do to begin with."

Hisui yanked my right arm. "Koi, you're ruining the moment," she whispered.

Shiroma chuckled. "Let's leave those two alone."

"Yeah."

Hisui and Shiroma led me toward the door.

Mr. Obi fixed his shirt and turned around. He seemed to have a slight smile on his face as he walked out the room. That guy was hard to figure out. Did he really care for Burai or was he just another pawn to him like Hisui and Koharu's sisters were?

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts on the honor students thus far?**