[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NHixdpw.png[/img]

[color=firebrick][b]"Is this the part where we tear down the utopia so something interesting can happen?"[/b][/color][/center]

Kiyo looked up from her brooding to meet Michi's eyes. It wasn't difficult to discern that she was in a foul mood, too, though it seemed to be for different reasons. [color=firebrick][b]"We have no choice but to trust each other. There's nobody else to rely on. Light girls hate us, and even if humans are mostly harmless, it's not as if they can relate."[/b][/color]

Per usual, she didn't offer any resistance to Hotaru's embrace, but perhaps her eyes had widened slightly in surprise at the suddenness of the gesture, given their recent disagreement. It wasn't easy to tell if her reaction had been to Hotaru or Ember, though. [color=firebrick][b]"Oh for fuck's sake, there are two of you now?!"[/b][/color] she hissed. [color=firebrick][b]"Does no one else think there are limits to convenience? First a miraculous healing and breakthrough for me, then Suki gets a secret admirer and her favorite teachers, and what now—you've split in two so nobody has to be jealous who you're spending time with? At what point do we start to ask if we're under a spell?!"[/b][/color] she ranted in a hushed voice, eyes wide. Then, after a pause, she kicked her chair back a little to make space to stand up. [color=firebrick][b]"You know what, I need to look at a mirror,"[/b][/color] she declared, as if something had clicked—or snapped.