With no answers to hidden memories locked away, Saki and Daiki gave up. He would continue his day while she stuck close, not letting him out of sight. In the passing hours, he often shot her tiresome stares as she floated around playing, regretting his decision to aid her at all. On the bright side, if she couldn’t offer anything for his assistance within a few days he would be able to walk away a free man. After classes, they headed to the campus library where Daiki instructed Saki to do some work. He laid out books on mountains with a fan flipping through the pages as she watched. Her job was to determine whether or not she recognized any of them while he studied for the midterms. Worse of all, to play it safe, he had her look at other famous peaks worldwide just in case.
“Daiki! This is so boring! Plus the pages aren’t turning fast enough!” Saki complained. “Can’t you change the speed or something?”
“I can’t,” he lied. “The library has a rule not to set it too high as the noise could be too distracting.”
Saki booed. “You’re the one in school. I don’t get why I’m being assigned homework. It’s not fair.”
“If you’re bored, you could also consider what you can give me in exchange for my help. Like I said, this is only for a few days unless you think of something worth my time.”
Remembering his words triggered her to become disappointed but she understood that he was serious. She pulled close and sat down in the chair beside him in thought. Saki stared as the pen he held swiftly glided through the papyrus notebook and it dawned on her that she could only give what was in her power. As she focused closely on him, her eyes widened. Daiki’s hands were skinny and long. His eyelashes were actually quite long and his lips were small and cute. His complexion was so smooth and delicate that it drew her in until suddenly,  “Um, what are you doing?” his voice whispered. Saki retracted backward and her face became a shade of a bright Peony. Before she realized it, she had poked him and his reaction made her retaliate with a lie.
“Oh sorry! For some reason, I thought you were gonna have a different reaction,” she laughed nervously. “Guess I’ll just get back to work. Sorry for the intrusion.”
“Whatever, just keep your head in the game. I need this time to study so right now, you’re the only one who can keep looking for clues. Don’t get distracted.”
“Yeah, Got it,” she responded as her conscience criticized her. “What was that all about!? His mere looks were so intrusive my body reacted before I could even think!” She suddenly slapped her cheeks. “Time to focus!” Saki returned to the books but it was too late. The fan’s breeze had flipped through all the pages. Shamefully, she apologized and asked for his help to reset it. Seemingly, a silhouette appeared and uttered, “Hey, Daiki! What are you up to?” Saki and Daiki both looked up finding a young woman who poised herself firmly. Her smile was petite but genuine. In a single glance alone, Saki knew that it was like that.

“Oh hey, Aoi. I’m just getting some studying done is all. What’s up?” Daiki softly responded.
“I just came by to check out a book. I’m supposed to write an in-depth report for one of my midterms.”
“Did you find it already? I could help you out if you need.”
“It’s okay, that won’t be necessary. I appreciate it though,” Aoi said flushing a smile. “But if I may ask, what is going on with the fan? Are you trying to invent an automatic page-turner?”

“Ah, that. It’s an experiment to see how long I can stand the sound of flipping pages.”
Aoi laughed. “Well, that’s quite interesting.” She knew that whenever he said something strange, he was making up an excuse for a ghost. Yes, Aoi was one of the limited people who knew his secret and she took it seriously. With that, she left leaving Daiki and Saki alone once again. Saki gleamed over with a smirk on her face as he pulled away. 

“Umehara-san!” She teased, “Who was that girl? She’s cute don’t you think?”

He sighed fully expecting that this would be her reaction. “Yes, Aoi is beautiful.” Saki shook. She wasn’t expecting that he would actually admit it. In fact, she was hoping to poke some fun at him but now she was curious. 

“Well? Is she your type?” 

“No. Besides, she’s my childhood friend. We grew up together so I just can’t look at her that way.”

“What? Why not? She’s cute, mature, and seems like the smart type. I don’t get you. If I was a guy Miss Aoi would be mine.”
“Then feel free to ask her out, though you might be rejected.” He grinned. “Sorry to be blunt but she’s out of your league.” Saki frowned. 

On their way home she sulked in the disappointment of not being able to get a clue on the mountain she barely remembered. For the past three hours, she got absolutely nothing from any of the books Daiki had laid out for her. Then again she mostly procrastinated on her assignment. 

When it came time for him to go to work, Saki protested resulting in an argument for five minutes until he made his point clear.
“You don’t need to follow me! I’m not going to abandon my home so just go back!”
“Men are full of lies! I’m not falling for it! Plus I’m pretty much haunting you at this point! You won’t be able to get rid of me that easily!”
“Exactly! I don’t know how you’re doing it but if you really wanted to find me, all you have to do is pop up right?”
She paused realizing that he was right. Even when he left her in the storage unit the previous day, she was able to easily find him later that night at the train station. Something told her that it didn’t have to do with her claims of haunting him. Eventually, she gave up and returned to the apartment while Daiki attended work. 

Saki lay alone on the living room floor when she arrived back at the apartment. After recalling that he didn’t actually mention what time he’d be home, she reclined in boredom until curiosity emerged. Her eyes began scaling the belongings and the interior design around her. Daiki’s apartment was simple, neat, and clean. The kitchen and bathroom were both well-organized, convincing her that he was quite mature but it seemed too good to be true. She thought that everyone would have some secrets whether they were naughty or downright strange and it was her mission to find what his was. Stealthily, Saki snuck upstairs and passed through the door to Daiki’s room. Creeping in, she peeked outside to make sure that he wasn’t just arriving home and after confirming, she began snooping around. On a wall shelf stood limited editions of action figures from an old children’s show poised in a display case. She could tell that they were loved and taken care of but this wasn’t what she was looking for. Everybody has nostalgic treasures. As a matter of fact, she remembered having some of those action figures stored away herself. When snapped back, Saki resumed her sleuthing checking under the bed, inside the closet, spaces that gave her just enough sight, and etcetera but there was nothing. Either he was normal and held no secret obsessions or he hid them all too well. When 22:53 pm struck, Daiki returned home and saw a depressed Saki spread over the floor.

“What are you lazing around for,” he asked.
“You’re an enigma,” she responded. “All beautiful people have secrets they hide. Nobody is an exception!”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at but sure.”
“Also, I like your Chichi Masters action figures. You’ve got five out of seven.”
“My figures? Wait… did you go into my room?”
Saki froze. “Uhhh…”
“Didn’t anyone tell you it was rude to snoop around? Maybe I should just pull out my help right now.”
“No! I’m sorry! Please don’t! If you want I could give you my figures! I have the remaining two you need at home!”
Daiki jolted quickly facing her. “You have the last two figures? How can I trust you?”
“Yeah. My family likes to hold onto old treasures so I stored them away in a box with all my old toys. Wait! Would you actually help me for those things?!”

He gave it some thought before responding. “Suppose that this goes well, how am I supposed to even receive them? It’s not like I can just stroll into your place and take them.”

“I’ll give my family a sign! I swear! If you save me I won’t stop pestering them until they do! What do you say?” she begged.
Daiki was conflicted. There was no guarantee that she actually still had them in her possession but he thought about it. One of the reasons he was working so hard was to save thirty percent of his earnings to purchase the figures in the future. Completing the limited edition figure set would mean that he kept the promise he made to his brother all those years ago. If helping her out could potentially save thousands for him and get the figures for free then it was a no-brainer.
“You have yourself a deal,” he agreed.