She was tricked into taking a spa day!

The people around Kirumi weren't blind to the fact that she was suffering. Or at least... some of them weren't. The biggest trouble-makers mostly were, while some of her other classmates became keenly aware of her increasingly sluggish movements. The first one to notice was actually Ryoma Hoshi, a small-of-stature but manly former tennis player with a keen eye for other people's body language. In his mind, Kirumi's business was her own. He wasn't the type who was going to mettle in others affairs. Still, he couldn't help but think that for everyone's sake, it would be best if she got to enjoy some "me" time... In fact, he felt a shiver run down his practically non-existent neck, as he thought of what the woman might do if she suffered some mental break. The others might not realize it, but he had a way of spotting killing intent... and every day, hers grew a little bit stronger.

As such, he was **** to seek out a small group of his class-mates that he felt to be responsible among the group... Ones that wouldn't make a lot of extra trouble for her instead of cleaning up the mess. Ryoma gathered Shuichi and Kaede to the lunch table, then sat down opposite of them, crossing his arms on the table and watching them with cartoonish, round, but somehow intimidating, eyes. "Good grief... That woman is one bad day away from getting us all in the news. Post-mortem," he explained to the two of them, while working something back and forth in his lower lip. Judging by the white straw extending out, it was either a cigarette or a candy cane... it was hard to tell.

"Kirumi Tojo... Now that you mention it, I've noticed she's acting differently lately," Shuichi agreed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His get-up always made him look like some detective... Ryoma privately wondered why he wasn't the one who'd noticed first.

"We want to do whatever we can to help! The three of us together ought to be able to do something!" Kaede insisted, raising both fists onto the table. Ryoma appreciated her fever, even if another voice inside told him they couldn't afford to be so optimistic about their chances.

"What she needs is a spa day," Ryoma explained, looking between the two of them as they nodded approval. "There's a spa on campus, so we can easily arrange that, but we're going to have to trick her into it. She won't go if she thinks we're telling her to just relax..."

"Leave it to me!" Kaede explained, pressing one hand to her chest and smiling proudly. "Ha ha ha... We're pretty lucky we attend a school that has a spa on campus, huh? And so many other things..."

"Good grief... If you really thought about it, you'd realize that attending this crazy school is the root of all of her troubles," the stocky meeting organizer grumbled, pulling his cap down to half-shade his eyes. As Suichi imitated the gesture, he couldn't help but think the same thing. For all of their fun times... there always seemed to be despair looming just around the corner...

Kirumi Tojo really was at the end of the rope. When Kaede approached her, asking her to help clean the school's spa, her calm, composed face briefly darkened, and the words, "Screw that," lumped up in the back of her throat, threatening to come tumbling out. Of all the people to demand more of her, she'd never imagined Kaede would be the one... and Kaede must have known that Kirumi was the last person in the school who would ever use the spa! This was as annoying as that time that Teruteru had told her to let him watch while she cleaned the boy's bathroom.

Instead of "screw that," she cleared her throat and accepted. "Yes, Kaede. It would be my pleasure to do it. You should relax... today is a day with no classes, perfect for taking your mind off the rigors of school life," Kirumi spoke elegantly, trying not to think about how much her body wanted her to enter a vegetative state and hibernate under the covers for the next 20 hours. "Leave it all to me."

"Of course not! I'm going to help too," Kaede insisted.

"It will be faster without you," Kirumi remarked, coldly. That part was... probably true, Kaede was **** to admit. "Please, as always, leave it all to me."

Kaede pouted, crossing her arms at the impressively filled chest of her pink, woolen sweater-vest. "No! Let somebody help for once..." she persuaded her friend. That was a genuine plea, but also, she knew that without her presence, this really would turn in to Kurumi simply cleaning the whole spa by herself. To encourage her friend, she rolled up one sleeve and placed her hand on her inconsiderable bicep, flexing it and winking. "I'm no slouch when it comes to chores! Don't you worry!"

"If you order it," Kirumi agreed, sighing and feeling too weary to argue. She packed her cleaning tools and headed out quickly. "I'll start immediately," she finished, before disappearing down the dormitory's hallway.

Excitedly, Kaede turned and began to dig through the girl's drawers, looking for a decent casual swimsuit, in case Kirumi ended up needing it. She found... maid uniforms. Piles and piles of neatly washed maid uniforms, stockings, and that sort of thing. Lines upon lines of nearly identical underwear. Kaede clenched her teeth, digging harder and harder, looking for a swimsuit anywhere. The girl... didn't own one! "Sheesh...!" Kaede moaned, thinking that they'd have to see what they could rent. She'd lost too much time... she'd have to run!

Kirumi arrived at the spa and tilted her head curiously. Her expectation was that if she'd been asked to clean the spa, that meant it would be temporarily closed for the service. Instead, there were still many students enjoying the spa, from the looks of things... one spa appeared to be in service (the women's), while the other (the men's) was closed for cleaning. Her eyes were so bleary from a lack of sleep that she couldn't actually read which was which... Furthermore, she never attended the spa for leisure purposes, so she had no way of knowing how it was arranged! "Hmmm..." she thought to herself, looking between the two. There was no reason to wait on Kaede... She might as well accomplish what she could for now.