Shioriko hasn't been coming lately, has she? I wonder if something happened to her.

Oh, about that. She asked me to give you a message. She says that her student council duties are quite busy, so she won't be able to come to club practice for a while.

What? Really? That's a shame. She dances really gracefully, so I wanted to get some tips from her.

I'm worried she might be stretching herself too thin.

Hmm. Should we all go and check up on her together?

[Fade in/out. Fade out.]

Shioko! Working real hard?!

[Fade in.]

K-Kasumi! You can't just barge into the student council room until someone gives you permission to enter! Wait, huh?

Shh. It looks like Shioriko's asleep.

There's a whole pile of documents…

I could've totally helped her out if all I needed to do was stamp some stuff.

Huh? What's this?

Wow, this is incredible. They're petitions from the clubs and societies at school. She must've been checking through them to compile and submit them to the chairwoman.

I heard from a classmate of mine that Shioriko's mellowed out a lot recently.

Apparently, if someone wants to do something, she'll help them think of ways to get it done, even if they don't have a knack for it.

I also heard about Shioriko from the theater club. She might be more mellow, but she's still as strict as ever, so there are differing opinions in the club.

For crying out loud! They can only say things like that because they don't know how hard Shioko works! Would someone who's just being mean go to such lengths?!

I agree. Shioriko might be tough, but she really does have the best interests of others in mind. In fact, she might be more serious about it than the person she's helping!

Did you hear that, Shioriko?

Huh?

Sorry.

Whaaa?! You were awake this whole time?!

Um, I woke up while you were all talking, but it felt kind of awkward to make it obvious…

I-It's not like I was singing your praises or anything, okay?!

Ah, right.

There, there, Kasumi. It's okay to be honest, you know?

Grr…

*Giggle* You know what, Shioriko? Kasumi doesn't want others to say bad things about you.

That's not true!

Ah, right.

Ugh! No, it's not…NOT true. Gahhh!

You must have all come here out of concern for me, right? But you found me nodding off. I'm so sorry.

Please don't apologize! While we were also worried about you, we actually came to see if we could help you with anything.

That's right. We want you to let us give you a hand if there's anything we can do to help. That way you'll be able to come to practice, right?

Yup, yup! There's stuff I want you to teach me, Shioriko!

Me too!

I-I also wanna show off how adorable I am to you! So hurry up and come to practice, okay?

Y-You guys!

Ah, Shioriko? Don't cry.

I don't plan on crying.