"Hey Aki!" a voice whispered. Akihisa spun in his tracks, scanning the hallway. He didn't see anybody, but that didn't mean anything.

"Psst! Up here!" Aki looked up to see Kouta hanging from the ceiling. Aki never understood how Kouta could move so quietly, but he never thought much about it. Why question Kouta? He always sold Aki good shots of Hideyoshi, and that was as far as Aki cared.

Kouta motioned Aki over and handed him a cookie. "Eat this," Kouta said. "You look hungry."

Aki ate the cookie and immediately passed out.

Aki awoke to the sight of Hideyoshi's face. He was lying on the floor of an unfamiliar room. Aki hoped it was still in the school building. Surely they wouldn't have taken him that far?

"Hey guys, he's awake," Hideyoshi called to the other guys. Yuji and Kouta were sitting at a table in the center of the room, playing cards. When Yuji saw Aki, he put the cards away and stood up.

"Sorry about Himeji's cookie, Aki, but we had to do it," Yuji started. "We didn't think even you could be that much of an idiot, but since you are, we had something to tell you." Yuji pulled out a chair. "You might want to take a seat."

Aki was confused, but he was used to that. What kind of insane plan would Yuji come up with this time? Maybe they'd actually beat class A, and get free coffee and comfy chairs.

It turns out that Yuji had a different thought. "Both Minami and Himeji like you, and we thought you should know before you mess things up with them any further."

Aki laughed. "Of course they like me. We're all friends, right? I like you guys too." He looked around the table as the other guys stared at him.

Kouta broke the awkward silence. "Guys, he's hopeless. We should give up now."

While Hideyoshi nodded in agreement, Yuji tried to make Aki understand. "Like, like like you, Aki. In a romantic way."

Kouta snapped pictures as Aki's face went from comprehension to shock. "What? No they don't!" He looked around, as if to find support. "I mean, Shouko loves you, Yuji, and she follows you around all day trying to hurt you. Neither of them…" Aki trailed off as he remembered Minami's similar violence.

Aki tried again. "I mean, Himeji definitely doesn't hurt me." He revised his statement as Kouta pulled out another one of Himeji's cookies. "I mean, not on purpose. She just wants to feed me a lot."

Hideyoshi gave Aki a sideways look, and Aki tried again. "Ok, you guys are crazy. They definitely don't like like me."

Yuji pulled a diagram out of his pocket and put it on the table. It was like one of his battle plans, except instead of attack routes, it listed people. Aki stared at it for a few seconds before giving up his argument.

"Ok, you guys are right. But what do I do now? The FFF is gonna kill me!" Aki said. "They're probably waiting outside."

Kouta motioned around the unfamiliar room. "You're safe here. And what happens in this room stays in this room, capishe?" The other three nodded.

As it turns out, Aki spent the rest of the school day in that tiny room, slowly planning out what he would say to each of them. And later, much drama was prevented because Aki wasn't as oblivious.

As the four prepared to leave the safe room, a thought occurred to Hideyoshi. "Say, Aki. You know that Kubo's in love with you too, right?"