-Ayano and Kami : Somewhere in Warakuma-

"You could've done worse. It wasn't neccessarily bad, but it was passable."

Ayano said, she wasn't a judge anyway and there's also the fact she can't actually differentiate what's good and bad in acting. The girl noticed that he had been acting strangely near her presence, he would fidget around, avoid eye contact with her and would stutter as if he was some shy character in a visual novel. Curious, Ayano asked Kami.

"Is there something bothering you? You're acting all, what's the word...Twitchy. Yeah."

Although the girl was reluctant to admit it, she was concerned by his erratic movements, especially because it seemed like it only happened when he was with her. For a while the girl pondered if it was something on her face that was causing all of this.

"Look, just tell me, alright? As long as it's not something stupid like a confession or anything. That's just silly."

Ayano spoke, her tone was just serious and her delivery was blunt. She stared at Kami with a frown on her mouth, waiting for answers.

Kami was thrown off guard when she inquired him on his rather peculiar attitude. He pondered on what to say to her, as he didn't want to completely lie to her, but yet he didn't want her to know the truth just yet. It was strange how the cogs within the confines spiraled about, trying to work towards a midpoint in the strange equation of being between a truth and lie. The two different aspects completely canceled each other out In such a strange and erratic way. The answer though was exceptionally easy to figure out, and yet it took him longer to deduct than usual.

"Well, it was because you were there, and well... I would be nervous to show my face to you or any other friend if I acted like a peculiar, and yet jovial fool. I mean, I wouldn't know their opinion of me, and if they rather changed their thoughts about me... That sounds rather selfish of me, doesn't it."

The boy gave out a rather nervous chuckle as they walked through the school. He was rather glad that he had managed to recover from that rather surprising question. He wondered what would of happened if she had said something other than the few words she spoke to him earlier about his acting being passable. He was glad that she didn't see that the acting on stage was a fabricated mask for his true feelings. He recalled something that Leiko said earlier, and wondered if Ayano had caught onto what she told him or not. Kami dismissed that possibility for the time being and kept on walking with Ayano.

"Say, you want to hang out at the park? I've go-"

The was a rather loud buzzing coming from the depths of his pocket. He quickly reached in and withdrew the pulsating cell phone to check to see what it was about. It was a text message from Kazuki, wondering where he was, and that he was making the people there wait. He didn't expect this, as he hadn't realized he had procured a text from earlier about the meeting on Friday. He shook his head, saddened by the fact that his little confession had to be put on hold for the time being.

"Scratch that, there's something that I have to do today... Sorry Ayano, but maybe we can meet up at the park tomorrow after school. I'll send you a text alright?"

He didn't want to completely abandon the girl, just as he did in the past, and conjured up a rather plausible idea that could keep them occupied a bit longer.

"Say, maybe I can just walk with you to your place, then head out... That should give us plenty of time to talk about different things, right?"

For a while the girl just stood there, trying to figure out what Kami had just said. While it wasn't quite the answer she wanted, it was sufficient enough for her. Besides, if she was in the same situation she would've probably done the same thing, or worse, end up running out of her fear.

"Fair enough. And don't say that. It's OK to be selfish once in a while, I mean...I tend to be selfish without really knowing it."

As they walked out of the school, Ayano had this feeling that Kami wasn't exactly telling her everything. There was a cloud of doubt that loomed around her and a part of her just wanted the truth. That time would have to wait though as it would make the boy suspect there's something wrong with HER instead. And there's also the fact that the boy's phone had started ringing. After the call ended, Kami suggested that they walk to her house before going to the aforementioned place he was going to. She had considered to agreeing but worry what would happen should her younger brother see her with him...That alone was more than enough for her decline.

"N-No, it's fine. I can go home by myself. You...just go do whatever it is you're going to do. Tomorrow, okay? "

Without another word, Ayano turned tail and began walking to the direction of her house.

Before he could say another word, the girl had declined his offer on heading to their house together, and left in a hurry towards her house. Kami just wanted to insist on her to stop, but he recalled that he had some sort of obligation to the rest of the team. He didn't want that same feeling of abandoning her like last time, however he neither wanted to abandoned his other friends which coveted so.His own selfishness extended on two spectrums, one where he could go with Ayano, but abandon his team and promise temporarily, or go to the team and meet up with the rest, while leaving Ayano. No matter which decision he felt he would make at this point, he would feel like utter crap afterwords.

"(What do I choose to do? Either insist on heading back with her, or just heading straight to the hideout... )"

As he lingered between his decision, he began jumping between his two resolves, wondering which one felt more right. As the passage of time went on, he finally decided to go with Ayano, however, the girl was already gone. She had disappeared just as the mist of a world dissapates itself from the vicinity once the rain goes away. He frowned, and solemnly left without a word. All in all, he still felt like he left someone he cared about behind, as he began walking in the opposite direction.

"(Damnit... Ugh, damnit!... I did it again. I chose to walk away, just as last time... I'm sorry Ayano.)"

As he walked the other way, he brought himself to a halt, and stared back at where the girl had just been. He briefly sighed before continuing on through the streets of Warakuma, passing by many people which looked to be students, a few cultist looking people, and just normal adults in regular attire before reaching the building. He quietly held the gift Ayano had gave him the other day in a sword bag, and squeezed it a bit before reaching his hand towards the door, and quickly opening the door up. He then disappeared into the building, with the door slowly shutting behind him.