O S A N A I S U Z U K A
O S A N A I S U Z U K A
It was really him.
How? Why? What?
Suzuka's mind raced to grasp what should have been a simple fact. Sure, Ei-kun might have always lived in Minamikawa, but it wasn't like his grades had been terrible growing up or anything. He must have studied hard to get into a school like this, but it wasn't as if it was impossible or anything. Even an idiot like her had managed to do that much, so of course Ei-kun could have been able to do it, too.
But it was really him. Here. Right now, in front of her eyes. In the same class. Her seatmate.
"And you're Suzu-chan, aren't you? Boy, long time no see! Did you get a bit girly during your time away~?"And he
remembered her. Even after six years, he still --
And wait, what was that supposed to mean anyway? Girly? Her? He was looking at the same person she saw in the mirror that morning, right? No, wait, she'd been dozing off on the train ride over, so what if she was even more of a mess than usual? But how would that even make sense? Girly? Really? Could that adjective even be
used like that?
No, wait, now that she thought about it, Ei-kun had always liked those kind of jokes. Right, he must have been poking fun at her for how awkward she must have looked during her introduction. After all, the cutesy sweater and short skirt she was wearing clearly weren't made for someone like her, and both of them knew it. But while the beleaguered staff of the small junior high school she had gone to up in Hakodate had been too small and lax to particularly care about her requests to wear a boy's uniform instead and spare herself both the frigid air of Hokkaido and the embarrassment of allowing it to pass freely beneath her, Kumoriyama Private High seemed to have prided itself on its traditional aesthetics and rigid adherence to discipline, and she had been too shy to even ask. Wouldn't she be seen as a bumpkin or a hooligan, insisting on something like that? What if they kicked her out?
Ah, but that gakuran uniform looked really nice. Not just on Ei-kun, that is, but in general. Although, he definitely seemed to have put a great deal more effort into his appearance than most of the other boys in the class. Were those earrings? The dress code hadn't said anything about piercings, she supposed, but something grown-up like that didn't seem to quite mesh with the Ei-kun in her mind, who was now undergoing six years of metamorphosis all at once to catch up with the reality before her eyes.
Piercings... really? Maybe the dress code was more lax than she had thought... Should she have asked for pants after all? She really should have asked for pants. But no matter how sorely she missed their absence, pants were the last issue to be concerned with here. More importantly, she really shouldn't be staring like this!
He'd greeted her back, right? So, unsure of how to take his... compliment? Teasing? Either way, she gave a noncommittal shrug and a slight shake of her head, and did her best to hide the amount of thoughts currently spiraling through her head at an unbelievable pace. This was their first meeting in years, and even Ei-kun was clearly noticing how uneasy she was. She had to get her act together, had to do this properly!
"...Nope. Not at all. I just got taller."Trying her best to match what she perceived as sarcasm, she gave an unspeakably blunt answer fit for a manzai routine with a face as blank as her thoughts, then, in her thorough inspection of the boy sitting in front of her, realized something was out of place. Bending down, she scooped up a fallen pencil off the floor and methodically placed it on his desk.
"Here. You dropped this, right?"Right. She was calm now. Her thoughts were in order. The cool air still felt almost uncomfortably warm, as if the sun beyond the window had suddenly increased its intensity threefold, but she did her best not to think about that, nor the lingering feeling that her heart had just skipped a beat. This miracle was beginning to settle into Suzuka's reality, and nothing would be able to surprise her anymo--
"Suzucchiko? You're really back? For good?""Haah?" Suzuka spun around, eyebrows raised. There was only one person who would call anyone -- let alone her -- by such a weirdly flowery nickname!
Blonde hair. Twintails. A familiar sunshine smile.
"Mika-chan, you're here too?" In her moment of surprise, she didn't even fully process the question she'd been asked, and instead of answering it, asked one of her own in return. Not just one of her dear friends, but two -- and the two who were dearest of all, no less. She had hoped a little, of course, then hesitated to hope at all, but now having this sprung on her so suddenly she could scarcely fathom how to react. She had really woken up this morning, right? She wasn't still sleeping in her bed or on the train?
But her shock could only last a few seconds before she realized another important fact. Namely, that she was supposed to have sat down several seconds ago, and standing dumbfounded as she was -- as well as her little surprise reunion -- was starting to turn more than a few heads. Class was still in session, and she needed to sit down and stop making such a distraction of herself. It was still her very first day -- it wouldn't do at all to cause a disruption. So, hastily swinging her bag down from her shoulder, she hung its strap across the hook on her desk, gave a second bow from the back of the class that was even more awkward somehow than the one she had given moments prior from its front, and then quickly sank into her seat.
Ei-kun was here. Mika-chan was here. And now, she was here again, too.
Not a Sayan,
amugnat,
mickilennial,
WardenCelestine,
Lemons,
Shadow Dragon