Although it feels quite rewarding, if we keep going like this, one day I'll be coaxed into a fetal position.

"Watch closely."

Yan Huan cleared his throat, quickly returned to the main topic, and decided to try out the compass.

After all, it's almost the next day, so using it now means it'll refresh soon.

As Yan Huan kept chanting "useless Neko-chan" in his mind, the compass began to tremble intensely, as if sensing something.

"Da da da..."

The compass spun rapidly on the square copper plate, and eventually did a sudden full circle, pointing accurately at the fat cat stretching on the coffee table behind.

It froze slightly in the middle of a yawn, blinking its big eyes at Yan Huan,

"Meow?"

...

...

At the same time, three Sakuragis were walking in a very strange space.

All around them were giant hot air balloons painted with adorable chibi characters. Petite Sakuragi turned her head and saw the balloon with Yuanlina's cute smiling face float by,

"Hee hee~"

"..."

Next to them were Yahashiki and Ashley's balloons; the sharp-eyed Petite Sakuragi even spotted Sakuragi Ryou's.

"Where is this place? It looks like there are so many balloons..."

Clumsy Sakuragi put her hands on her head, curiously observing the world seemingly made of hot air balloons, and asked.

At this moment, even the path beneath their feet was paved with hot air balloons, requiring them to jump to cross them.

"I... don't know either whose Sakuragi's barrier this is, but... the barriers leading out from here are all within Linmen..."

Behind them, Mousey Sakuragi huddled her body and said.

"We got here so quickly?!"

Clearly, Clumsy Sakuragi was a little surprised.

After leaving Low Self-Esteem Sakuragi's barrier, they only passed through a few public barriers and went through a "Snobby Sakuragi's" barrier to get here.

Unexpectedly, Linmen, where the President resides, was just ahead!

"See, I told you having her lead the way would be twice the result with half the effort, right?"

"Heh, don't forget, she was the one who led us to Snobby Sakuragi, and to get her to let us in, I even had to sell my sword to her!!"

"Ah, well..."

Petite Sakuragi showed a guilty expression, quickly flew to Low Self-Esteem Sakuragi's side, but she shrank back a little, so Petite Sakuragi helplessly flew back.

"We just need to find the Sakuragi who owns this barrier and ask her to let us through!"

"Yeah, yeah, but the problem is we've been looking for a long time, and there's nothing here but these balloons..."

Clumsy Sakuragi sighed and continued searching while glancing at the silent Mousey Sakuragi, curiously asking,

"By the way, do you really want to put surveillance cameras in the President's room? Is it really that shady?"

"Sh... shady?"

Mousey Sakuragi's ears twitched, she looked at her puzzled and slowly shook her head,

"No, that's not it..."

"Huh?"

Clumsy Sakuragi was slightly puzzled, and Petite Sakuragi explained,

"Shady Sakuragi has already been killed... But, the main reason Low Self-Esteem Sakuragi wanted to set up cameras wasn't because of that, right?"

"Hmm..."

Mousey Sakuragi nodded and whispered,

"Because... What we see through surveillance is just the President's appearance when she's outside.

"No matter how much I study, I can only act more perfectly in places like the school...

"In life, I know nothing about the President's everything...

"Every time the President leaves the school grounds and comes near my life, I feel helpless...

"Like when the President came to celebrate my birthday, my mind went blank, I messed up a lot... even caused my brother and the President to quarrel...

"So, I have to get the President's daily life surveillance to research and learn from it..."

Listening to Low Self-Esteem Sakuragi's words, Clumsy Sakuragi blinked and murmured,

"You're just too sensitive, aren't you?"

"Well, someone like me who is utterly useless needs to do this... to..."

Mousey Sakuragi's ears twitched, just about to speak when a sunny voice suddenly came over,

"You are not useless, Sakuragi!"

All three of them paused slightly and turned their heads.

They saw the balloon with Yuanlina's smiling face float back, and a voice came from it,

"Hee hee, every time I waste money on blind box movies, only you comfort me, so that's why I always buy two tickets after that...

"Because I know, although you can be harsh, in the end, you will always join me for the movie!"

Other balloons floated over too, next Yahashiki's big face,

"Being sensitive isn't a bad thing either...

"In the whole school, only Vice President Sakuragi is a lady who worries about giving us gifts too expensive and causing us trouble for returning the gesture, right?

"When the Student Council was first formed, you spent a lot of time choosing suitable gifts for us, right?"

Ashley's big face too,

"You helped with the Disciplinary Committee's work too, since I really struggle with paperwork, even the formatting... when we confiscated prohibited items from the Hentai Club, you handed them over to Vice President Sakuragi to handle..."

Sakuragi Ryou tilted his head, muttering while facing away from the other Sakuragis,

"Well, as my cousin, you at least... understand a bit of my likes, you know all my favorite idols... The birthday gifts you give are always things I like..."

Petite Sakuragi happily waved at the balloons in the sky and then turned around with a smile to Mousey Sakuragi,

"Looks like the Sakuragi here really cherishes these memories about friends!"

"..."

Mousey Sakuragi stared blankly at the balloons in the sky, not looking away for a long time.

"So, how do you feel now? Better?"

"Mm..."

Mousey Sakuragi swallowed, a faint smile appeared on her face as she glanced towards the direction where balloons were floating, softly reminding,

"Look, the balloons are flying that way. The Sakuragi here is probably right ahead..."

"Mm!"

So, the three of them bounced over the balloons, chatting as they went.

"By the way, Clumsy Sakuragi, why is the President's photo on your chest black and white?"

"Ah? Because I've never met the President..."

"Huh?!"

The other two Sakuragis looked at Clumsy Sakuragi in shock as she raised the necklace in her hand, replying,

"Has Hitomi ever been brave enough with the President? If not, then I've never seen her."

"Uh, well..."

Petite Sakuragi scratched the back of her head, and before she could say more, Low Self-Esteem Sakuragi quickly realized it might be due to her and apologized,

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault... boo hoo..."

Clumsy Sakuragi pouted, carelessly saying,

"Wasn't blaming you... well, strictly speaking, it's not like I haven't seen the President..."

As she spoke, her eyes unfocused, and she recalled, 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"That day, on Ryou's birthday, I saw the President once...

"I think, on that day, Hitomi might have mustered up the courage to confess to the President, right?"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

Especially Petite Sakuragi, who pursed her lips, about to fly up to comfort, only to see Clumsy Sakuragi turn her carefree head around,

"But the next day I messed it up, when my peeping got exposed, I panicked and rushed in, trying to fix the President with a modifier, but... completely messed up, ahahaha..."

"..."

So it was you, you little troublemaker!!

Petite Sakuragi's face darkened instantly, the comforting words stuck in her throat making her cough.

Petite Sakuragi quickly flew up and called,

"Uh, hey there, wake up!"

"Mmm..."

The Sakuragi girl moaned, then slowly woke up, wearing a white dress as she lay on the big hot air balloon.

"Hi there, wake up!"

"Mm..."

The Sakuragi murmured softly, then slowly opened her eyes,

"Ah, we..."

Petite Sakuragi introduced herself and explained their purpose for being there.