A familiar, bubbly voice cut through the zoo's ambient noise.
"Masao-kouhai! What are you doing here?"
Masao turned to see Fujiwara Chika, her face lit up with a brilliant smile. She practically bounced as she skipped over to him. If this were an anime, she'd be surrounded by a shower of sparkling flowers.
"Just out having fun," Masao replied with a casual shrug.
"No, I mean," she tilted her head, pink drills swaying, "aren't you based in Chiba?"
"Ah, that." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the panda exhibit. "No pandas in Chiba. We made a special trip just to see them."
"For the pandas! Of course!" Fujiwara clapped her hands together. "They are just the cutest, aren't they?"
Masao's attention shifted to the small group trailing behind Fujiwara.
He recognized them instantly: Fujiwara Moeha, her younger sister, a carbon copy with slightly shorter hair; Shirogane Kei, with her distinctive silver hair and serious expression; and, of course, Kaguya Shinomiya.
The heiress stood with an aura of pristine elegance, her black hair and piercing red eyes marking her as unmistakably as a royal seal.
His gaze lingered on Kaguya for only a moment before flicking away. It was impossible not to draw comparisons.
Both Kaguya Shinomiya and Yukinoshita Yukino possessed a rare, sculpted beauty, with similar reserved auras and, well, similarly understated figures.
Yet, the differences were stark to a discerning eye. Yukinoshita was taller, her limbs more willowy, lending her a slightly more mature silhouette. More importantly, their coldness came from different places.
Yukinoshita's aloofness was that of a lone snow hare—a gentle creature that kept to itself out of habit.
Kaguya's, however, was the genuine, impenetrable frost of a glacier. When her peculiar romantic mindset wasn't in play, her demeanor wasn't just a facade; it was a reflection of a complex, often ruthless, interior world. Next to her, Yukinoshita seemed almost naively pure.
Masao cleared his throat, gently interrupting Fujiwara Chika before she could launch into another topic.
The whole group was here now, and it was awkward for them to be silent spectators.
"Fujiwara-senpai, let me introduce my friends," he said, smoothly steering the conversation.
"This is Yukinoshita Yukino, and this is Jahy." He then turned to his companions. "This is Fujiwara Chika. We met a while back."
Fujiwara beamed, her energy undimmed.
"Yukinoshita-san! And little Jahy! It's so wonderful to meet you! I've seen your picture—you're even cuter in person, just a little bean!"
From the side, Kaguya watched her friend with a familiar sense of weary resignation.
'Fujiwara-san... your social obliviousness is truly a force of nature.'
She offered a perfectly calibrated cough and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Fujiwara-san," Kaguya interjected, her voice melodious and polite, "perhaps you should introduce the rest of us as well?"
"Ah! Right! Sorry!" Fujiwara chirped, smacking her own forehead lightly.
"This is my very best friend, Kaguya Shinomiya! This is my adorable little sister, Moeha! And this is Shirogane Kei-chan, who is also super cute! And this," she said, sweeping a dramatic hand toward Masao, "is Tanaka Masao, my kouhai! He's a really cute underclassman, don't you think?"
A chorus of polite "Pleased to meet you"s rippled through the group, a study in contrast to Fujiwara's unrestrained enthusiasm. A polite distance was maintained.
Moeha and Kei exchanged a fleeting, puzzled glance, their eyes darting toward Masao.
'Cute?' Their minds raced in unison, trying and failing to map the descriptor onto the slightly stocky, plain-looking boy before them. 'Does Fujiwara-senpai/Nee-san have... a type?'
Kaguya's assessment of Masao was brief and dismissive. Her focus, sharp and analytical, settled on Yukinoshita Yukino.
Her looks... her presence... She's a rival. A rare, competitive spark ignited within her.
'I'll have Hayasaka look into them the moment I return.'
Yukinoshita, for her part, was also quietly sizing up Kaguya. The name 'Shinomiya' carried immense weight, and she knew it well.
'How in the world did Masao-kun end up entangled with people like them?' A faint throb began at her temples.
Fujiwara's brand of effusive friendliness was her personal kryptonite, and Kaguya's polished, porcelain-doll smile was a mask she recognized all too well—it was the same one her sister wore. She despised it.
With the formalities over, Fujiwara clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with a new idea.
"Since we're all here at the zoo anyway, why don't we all explore together?"
Ahem. Kaguya coughed again, a little more pointedly this time.
"Fujiwara-san," she said, her smile tight, "wouldn't that be an imposition on Masao-kun and Yukinoshita-san?"
Her internal monologue, however, was far less polite: 'You absolute social disaster. They are clearly on a date. Are you trying to insert yourself as a third wheel? Or... perhaps that is your intention?'
The thought sent a jolt of suspicion through her. Fujiwara had a documented history of meddling in her and Shirogane's affairs, after all.
Fujiwara blinked. Once. Twice.
She finally took a moment to really look at the pair—Yukinoshita, with her long, dark hair and serene, classic beauty that seemed pulled from a fairy tale, and Masao, her earnest kouhai.
A realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened with dramatic glee. She pointed a finger, her voice rising with excitement.
"Masao-kouhai!" she exclaimed, as if unveiling a grand mystery. "Are you two... on a date?!"
_____
_______
Show your support with Power Stones guys!
[email protected]/Raven_scroll