It was the start of a new day and, unlike the one that directly preceded, Megumi was filled to the brim with unrivaled joy and she was more than ecstatic to meet up with all her friends and discuss their first official business as a club. The sun was shining and, as Megumi waved an earnest goodbye to her caring parents and loving sister, she exited her house with an expression of pure bliss splashed across her face. Despite her desire to change the school for the better, Megumi wasn't averse to the possibility of just hanging out and talking about random stuff with Mai and the rest of the group. Just the thought of having pleasant conversations will all her friends was enough to give Megumi a shining glimmer in her dark magenta eyes.

      As she joyfully walked to school with a bubbly spring in her step, onlookers and students on their daily commute were astonished by Megumi's hypnotic breasts as they bounced rhythmically with each step. However, the lecherous and confused stares did nothing to make her feel uncomfortable. She was used to being stared at… for a variety of different reasons. 

      “Morning, Megumi!!~” After feeling a light tap on her shoulder, Megumi quickly turned around only to see the bubbly and energetic face of Bunny with her two friends Alice and Nana following closely behind.

      “Good Morning!! Hehe~ I didn’t expect to see you all so early! It’s a beautifully bright and happy day today isn’t it?” She smiled brightly with an aura resonating with the unbridled happiness and joy of a kid in a candy store and it was noticeable. Even from a glance, it was easy to tell just how happy this wholesome silver-haired girl was and, for most people, that same happy aura was enough to spread joy and positivity to anyone who just so happened to look at her smiling face. Even for Bunny, who was pretty much happy and bubbly ALL THE TIME.

      “Woah! Aren’t you happy today? Did something good happen? Oh! Wait, don’t tell me… I bet it’s because of what happened yesterday.” She smiled happily, like someone who just correctly guessed the million-dollar question on a quiz show. It was true that the Micro-Rep Support Squad’s victory helped add to Megumi’s joyful attitude, but the real question was… how she was able to find out about it in the first place.

      “Because of what happened yesterday? H-How did you find out about that?” She shuddered in surprise. For all she knew, only Mai, Furyu, Rentaro, Tomoya, and the three bullies knew of what went down yesterday. This was especially alarming to Megumi, as she wanted everything to stay between the seven of them so she could hopefully turn the three bullies away from their lives of senseless micro misdeeds. But, if people knew about what happened, there was no way she'd be able to get close to any of them. 

      "You don't know? It was posted all over the school forums last night." Interjecting, Bunny's friend, Nana said, showing off her phone to Megumi. Plastered across were comments and information about the 'Micro-Rep Support Squad's first victory against an infamous trio of bullies.' Following shortly after those posts and comments about their victory was a staggering article that revealed a lot of private information about the one and only Makoto Masumi. 'Self-proclaimed queen of the school’s private life as a murderous loser otaku!!', 'Bitch-Koto Masumi suffers embarrassing loss after kidnapping INFO-Knight Utsumi' and so on. 

      What Megumi saw was horrible. Even if Makoto was being mean to her there was no way she deserved to have hate articles written about her. In a single day, Makoto had lost every single unit of popularity that she had accumulated over her two years of high school. She feared the worst hoping that she'd still be able to reconcile with her. 

      "Honestly though, it's so amazing that you were able to do something like that on your second day of school. Here's hoping that you guys can take down some other bullies…" Subtly glancing over to Alice, Nana placed her phone in her pocket and continued to converse with Megumi about a bunch of stuff regarding how much of an achievement 'overthrowing' Makoto and her posse of bullies were, however, she couldn't help but feel bad about, essentially, ruining Makoto's school life.

      "In any case, I guess that means you're getting used to our school, haha!~" Bunny said, smiling excitedly at her. 

      "You're a lot more interesting than I thought you'd be…" Alice mumbled, glaring playfully at Megumi. She had a slight giggle in her voice and it seemed as if she was very interested in seeing what else Megumi could do. Of course, she was worried about eventually being exposed by her, but Alice was sure that she'd never be caught. She only thought of Megumi and the puny micro-representative as a minor inconvenience to her and her small group of murderous psychos. 

      As Megumi, Bunny and the others walked to school together they had finally reached the school's entrance. Trying to make idle and positive chit-chat with the three of them she eventually caught sight of something incredibly worrying.

      At the corner of her eye, was none other than Makoto Masumi herself. She was standing in front of her shoe locker with a total look of shame and despair. At first, the reason was unclear, but, as Makoto pulled her school shoes from the locker, they were decorated, or rather, vandalized with an array of awful messages and graffiti. It was very similar to the kind of stuff that was written in her notebook when she was being bullied by Makoto. It was true that this may have been well-deserved but, she couldn't stand seeing anyone get bullied, whether they were a bad person or not. She reached out her hand hoping that she'd be able to reassure her but, the moment Makoto caught sight of her she shot a dejected glare her way and took off leaving her vandalized school shoes behind.

      In the span of a few minutes, Megumi's day was slightly dampened and her mood went from extremely happy to concerned. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her from being optimistic. All she had to do was talk to her face to face during lunch and she'd have a 100% chance of setting things straight, that was the plan at least. For now, the only thing she could do was stay positive until then. 

      "It was nice talking with you guys!" Megumi said with a slightly forced smile on her face. As they all waved goodbye to each other Megumi felt as if one of the three girls had slipped something into her pocket. It was a suspiciously cryptic looking note that read, 'If you need any more information about you know who just call me.' Followed by a phone number. Judging off of her earlier conversations there was no doubt that the 'mysterious sender' was Nana. It was clear that she clearly had something against Alice, Bunny's other friend, and from everything that Mai told her on the day that they met, she didn't particularly trust Alice either. It was an intriguing offer, but Megumi had no intention of asking for further information about Alice. She was going to do things the truthful way and there wasn't anything that could change her mind. 

      "Yaaawwn, good morning Megumi. I heard you and the micro student-representative did something about that disgrace of a female yesterday. If you want some more people to expose, I have a long list of disgusting males that you should take a look at." Tsuyume said (Look back at chapter 4-6 if you don't remember who she is) stretching her arms. She seemed pretty tired and had small bags under her eyes, she must have pulled an all-nighter or something. Megumi wanted to snap at her for suggesting that she ruin the reputations of other people, but there was no way she'd be able to be mean or critical to anyone. This interaction only deepened Megumi's desire to clear up all the confusion. 

      "Oh hello, Tsuyume! You seem awfully tired this morning. Did you stay up all night or something." Megumi teased trying to change the subject immediately. 

      "Eh? You don't know- Oh right! You're new here so you probably wouldn't know." She yawned, once more before continuing her explanation. "Midterms are coming up so I spent all night studying. I'd suggest that you study too, but you're from Okisana, so I doubt you even need to study." She stretched her arms pulling her school shoes from her locker. 

      "Well despite what you may think of me, I'm not exactly the best when it comes to getting good grades." She laughed nervously, admitting one of her major faults.

      Pulling out her school shoes from her locker, she found herself acting upon one of her overly cautious habits. Nonchalantly, she flipped her shoes upside down and emptied seemingly nothing onto the palm of her hand. Confused, Tsuyume pointed it out to alleviate her confusion. 

      "Oh? Well, it's a bit of a long story. At my old school, I guess I was sort of popular, which meant every so often some of my 'micro fans' would sneak into my shoe locker and mistakenly fall into one of my shoes, so to make sure that I don't end up hurting anyone, I always make sure to check. You can never be too safe haha~" After carefully checking that no one had 'mistakenly' gotten into her shoes, she crouched down to slip them on. 

      "Mistakenly? Yeah, right!! I bet most of those 'fans' were just a bunch of sexual deviant foot perv males trying to take advantage of your kindness! Geez, I can't believe a school like Okisana could have such perverted males. I swear if I see a single guy try to put the moves on you I don't think I'd hesitate to stomp them into the ground…" She said without a second thought, unintentionally making Megumi feel uncomfortable. And if things weren’t bad enough, a certain micro person decided to come in at the exact wrong time.

      “Good morning Megumi! Or should I say ‘Megami Shiro’ haha! Honestly though, ever since we took down that stupid bitch I’ve been feeling great! And that feeling felt even better after I posted those expose files on the school forums! Haha, sorry for not telling you about what I was planning, but, I had to teach that braindead b*tch what happens when you mess with The Dark Flame of Annihilation!!” Tomoya said casually strolling up to Megumi. Upon hearing what Tsuyume had just said, Megumi’s heart essentially stopped. She couldn’t tell if Tsuyume was joking earlier, and she had no idea whether she’d act on her earlier remark. This uncertainty poked at Megumi’s worries so much that she genuinely felt afraid of Tsuyume. She wanted to quickly jump to action and save Tomoya from the potential danger, but she felt paralyzed in fear as her greatest weakness caught up to her once again. The intense pressure compacted on her, pushing her into a mental corner.

      “Tch, I never would've imagined that you’d become friends with absolute scum like him

…" She said and then looked at how afraid Megumi seemed and realized that what she said earlier must have caught her off guard. "Don’t worry about what I said earlier, death would probably be too good for a garbage male like him." Heavily disgusted by Tomoya's presence, Tsuyume quickly took action to get away from him.

      "Seeya in class, Megumi. Try not to let that scum rub off on you too much." She scoffed, glaring at him for a solid ten seconds straight before going to walking away. 

      After solemnly watching her walk away, Megumi took one big sigh of relief before confronting Tomoya about everything he just said. Regaining her composure, she looked at Tomoya with a smile that hid an immeasurable amount of seething rage that Tomoya felt a little scared from just being near her. 

      "We'll have a little talk about this later… For now, it's time for class so we better get going." Picking up Tomoya she headed to class only to be stopped almost immediately after.

      "Wait a second, there's probably something you should know about me…" Switching to his edgy 'dark flame' personal he stared earnestly at Megumi's confused face. "My dark flames can go loose at any moment and thus, it's unwise for me to be in such a compact location. So, out of concern for you and every mortal at this school, I advise that you return me to the location in which you initially found me." He said grasping his arm in pain as if he was pretending to feel an intense amount of pain Megumi wanted to play along with his act but despite the ridiculous reasoning Megumi felt compelled to respect his wishes… on one condition.

      “If you want me to take you to the computer room, but since you're a member of our club, you have to promise that you’ll study with us next weekend.” Megumi smiled at him, hoping to subtly manipulate him into agreeing to her terms and eventually, Tomoya, who was initially reluctant, finally agreed to her offer. And after quickly taking him to his ‘sanctuary’ she hurried her way to class, arriving just in time to avoid being marked late.

      As she collapsed onto her desk she sighed, still thinking about how she’d deal with this whole Makoto incident. After hearing that Tomoya was responsible for all the private information that had been released about her, she felt extremely conflicted. After everything that he went through, Megumi couldn’t blame him for wanting to get back at her. For Megumi, all of this was way too much to process and she found herself stressfully grasping at her head trying to find the best possible course of action. However, during her temporary moment of mental turmoil, she was abruptly snapped out of it as Rentaro called out to her.

      “Um, Megumi? Would you mind lifting your boobs off of me?” He said, and as Megumi looked down towards her bosom, she saw that she had mistakenly pinned Rentaro under her boobs when she collapsed onto the desk earlier. Miraculously, her boobs only managed to trap Rentaro’s bottom half leaving him relatively unscathed. Feeling relieved at the fact that she didn’t accidentally crush him, Megumi wasted no time when it came to gently pulling him out from under the avalanche that was her sublime breasts. 

      “I’m sorry for not noticing you earlier. I’m kind of dealing with a stressful situation at the moment.” She laughed nervously, still thinking about what to do about Makoto. Megumi originally thought she was alone in feeling sympathy for Makoto, but as she looked at Rentaro as he humbly tried to shift the blame onto himself, she realized that Rentaro was also in the same boat as her. The type of person who tried their hardest to see the good in everyone around them. Choosing to confide in Rentaro, she earnestly spilled the beans on why she was so stressed out. 

      "I see, well that's quite the predicament. With Makoto's standing on the social hierarchy in ruins, she probably hates you even more than she already did. Sorry to say this, but if you want a solution that'll instantly patch things up between the two of you, you're gonna have to ask someone else." He honestly apologized to her hoping that she wouldn't be too disappointed. As for Megumi, she kind of just stood there at odds with her thoughts. Was there nothing she could do to make amends? But, just as she had begun to lose hope Rentaro continued his earlier thought from a new perspective. 

      "Though, if I was in your position, I think that I'd probably just try to go up to her with an earnest smile and genuinely ask to be friends. I know it might sound a bit lazy but I guess that's just the kind of person I am, haha." He giggled, scratching the back of his head. After thinking that his idea was stupid, he was surprised to see such a joyful expression had formed on Megumi’s face. Thanks to Rentaro's suggestion she finally realized the reason why she couldn't think of anything; she was overthinking the entire scenario. Trying to think of some elaborate solution when in reality, the answer couldn't be more clear. A new objective entered her mind and she was more determined than ever to accomplish it. 

      "Hehe! You're such a kid, Rentaro!" She giggled, smiling sweetly at him. "But, even still… I think that's what I like the most about you! Thanks for helping me get my head straight, I honestly appreciate it!" 

(Note: there are no romantic feelings behind their words)

      "After everything you've done for me, there's no need to thank me. Plus, you're an amazingly cute and kind girl so I'm sure that you would've been able to figure everything out on your own." Looking deep into her eyes the two of them smiled at each other relishing in each other's flattery. 

(Note: there are no romantic feelings behind their words) 

      As the two of them giggled playfully at each other they ended being quite a distraction for all the students who were trying to pay attention to the lesson, and if the menacing glares of all the girls in class fell onto Megumi and the jealous scowls of the all the boys focused on Rentaro, the two eventually got the hint to quiet down when the teacher herself, Ms. Oshino, confronted them personally. Respectfully shutting up the two of them took their seats (Rentaro sat down on a miniature desk that was on top of Megumi’s desk) and decided to finally focus on the lesson. 

      After half an hour of anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, the class was finally over and Megumi walked out of the class with Rentaro in her hands. She was filled with confidence and ready to take on her next challenge. But, she still had something to do. 

      "Do you have any plans for lunch? If you do, I'll be more than happy to take you wherever you need to go." Sure enough, he did have somewhere to go, but Megumi didn't necessarily like what he had in mind.

      "You told me that you asked one of the third-years for help when you were trying to find me, right? If that's true then I'd like you to take me to them so I can give them my thanks!" He smiled, not realizing that he may have been making a huge mistake by requesting such a thing from Megumi. And what he said afterward didn’t help to alleviate her worries. " Oh, and if possible, can you let me handle this on my own?" Being alone with a girl who's almost killed him not once, but twice? What could go wrong?

      Time was ticking and Megumi had no gripe with letting Rentaro do what he wanted so she decided the best course of action was probably to respect his wishes and deliver him to Sekira. However, in fear of Rentaro's safety, she bent the truth and secretly texted Furyu to watch over him, just in case. 

      With that set and done, Megumi hightailed it to the cafeteria in search of the elusive and sullen Makoto Masumi. At first, it was almost impossible for her to even find anyone in such a populated area, but right as she was about to give up she heard something very worrying come from somewhere near her. 

      "Arara??? Is little miss 'queen of the school' eating lunch all alone?? How sad." Two incredibly rude and haughty girls approached Makoto with smug-looking expressions on their faces. It was probably easy to assume that Makoto either bullied or tried to bully them considering how they seemed to have a major grudge against her. 

      "..." Sitting there in silence Makoto tried her best to ignore the two of them as she ate her cheap barley nutritious lunch in total despair. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, the fact that she lost to Megumi was ever-present in her mind. And she didn't just lose, she lost badly and paid the price, ten-fold. It was pretty safe to say that she was completely removed from the social hierarchy. And not only that, thanks to the severity of her loss all the people she bullied in the past now had ammunition to bully her back. You could say she was getting what she deserved, but that's not what Megumi thought… 

      "Hmmm??? Why the silence? Cat's got your tongue? Here! Perhaps a refreshing beverage would get you talking." The second girl said slowly opening a bottle of water. From the looks of things, Megumi knew exactly where this was going and she had to stop it from going any further. So, without even thinking about it, Megumi jumped in right away just in time to save Makoto from being splashed by water. 

      As a gasp of surprise reverberated throughout the cafeteria, Megumi, now soaked in water, turned to face Makoto. 

      "Are you OK?" Megumi said, smiling at her. 

-To Be Continued-