It's the middle of another warm summer day at Sakuragaoka High School. A fair breeze blowing over the ground tried its hardest to stave off the sweltering, muggy air, to little avail. It was that time of day again - students were heading home to spend time with their families and finish schoolwork. Kotobuki Tsumugi and Tainaka Ritsu were among the last to leave that day. Collectively, the girls were a bit downtrodden; Mugi's plan didn't work out quite as planned, and Ritsu felt responsible.

"It didn't go well after all that... sorry," Ritsu sighed.

Thinking to herself, Mugi wasn't sure how to react. *If I keep bugging her I'll make her uncomfortable.* She glanced up at Ritsu with a puzzled look on her face.

"No, I'm sorry for asking you such a strange thing," Mugi stammered.

Ritsu stroked her chin thoughtfully and replied, "There should be another way to get hit."

Admittedly, it was hard for Mugi's deceptively filthy mind to not think about all the ways Ritsu could hit her. *Shut up Mugi, stop having thoughts like that! I've got to get out of this somehow.*

"For example..." Ritsu began to say, but Mugi cut her short.

"Thanks, but I don't need that anymore!" *Yes, let's change the subject. Maybe I can get Ricchan to agree to drop it...*

Ritsu paused to think before turning a bit towards Mugi.

"Is that so?" she asked?

*Damn it!*

Mugi gave it a cursory thought about how she could go about getting closer to Ritsu in a more reasonable manner. Inspiration struck!

"Your forehead is all red," Mugi pointed out to Ritsu.

Hastily reaching into her pocket and fumbling a bit, Mugi pulled out a bandaid and peeled the paper off of the adhesive. Smiling, she gingerly placed the rubber strip on Ritsu's head. Ritsu flinched slightly as Mugi pushed down on her forehead.

"You're a great escort, Ricchan." Mugi commented. *Is that really the best you can say about Ricchan?*

"Huh?" The compliment took Ritsu by surprise.

Hardly skipping a beat, Mugi continued.

"You're kind, and do your best for other people."

She hesitated for a moment, then added.

"If you were a boy, you'd surely be popular."

*Eek! I shouldn't have said that!*

It wasn't hard to notice that Ritsu was visibly taken aback by this. A frothy mix of emotions was stirring in her head. *What the hell is she doing?* She snapped.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO THAT?!"

A parallel thought process was taking place all the while in Mugi's head. *What can I do to fix Ricchan? I can't let her stay upset!*

*Would Ricchan like it if I- no Mugi, that's a terrible idea! she'd be so mad! But...I've always wondered what it felt like.*

*Maybe just a short one...*

Entirely oblivious to the profound blush across her face, Mugi hesitantly placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. Her heart and mind raced furiously, as they were seemingly trying to outrun each other. This act achieved the desired result - it got Ritsu's attention. What followed was even more attention-grabbing, leaving her no time to process what was happening.

Mugi placed her free hand on Ritsu's cheek.