It was Monday morning again. Miura sat up, raking a hand through her tousled hair. The very first thing she did after waking up was fire off a barrage of calls to wake up Yui Yuigahama.
Zeka also had a habit of sleeping in, but since Junko was her neighbor, it had always been Junko who dragged her to school every morning.
After breakfast, Miura slumped into her father's car, still yawning. Her tired expression made him chuckle.
"Didn't sleep well last night?"
That was putting it mildly. She had tossed and turned the entire night, unable to fall asleep at all.
Over the weekend, Junko and Zeka had gone to a neighboring city to hang out. Miura, not wanting to stay home alone, had made plans with Yui to visit the zoo. Afterward, she even posted some cute photos from their outing on Twitter.
She thought it was a brilliant idea. Yukinoshita was a quiet, reserved person someone who rarely initiated conversation. But if Yukinoshita happened to see the pictures, maybe it would spark her curiosity. Maybe she'd reach out and talk to her.
Creating a topic to attract others to engage that was one of the surefire techniques from this year's best-selling magazine on communication strategies.
On the first day of the weekend, Yukinoshita made no move whatsoever.
Miura began to question her entire existence.
Could it be that Yukinoshita wasn't the least bit curious about her?
On the second day of the weekend, Yui casually mentioned during their chat that Yukinoshita didn't have a Twitter account. Nor did she have an Instagram, for that matter.
Miura: "…"
No way. No way. In this day and age, there were still young people in Japan without Twitter or Instagram?!
But it was true.
For the blonde Yukinoshita, Twitter might've had a wide reach, but it was chaotic and full of creeps, not to mention the risk of being exposed. LINE was way more convenient.
As for the black-haired Yukinoshita, well… emmmmm… She'd never had any friends she was close enough with to bother playing around on Twitter or Instagram in the first place.
Then, last night, Miura finally flipped to the last page of the communication guide she'd been studying the one that taught you how to quickly build rapport with someone. And there, printed in bold, were the words:
"All of the above applies to romantic situations during the ambiguous stage."
WHAT?!?!?!
Miura nearly swallowed the magazine whole in horror.
How could this be?!
Ridiculous. These magazines nowadays were seriously reckless and had no sense of propriety!
There was no way this had anything to do with her and Yukinoshita. At most, maybe Yukinoshita had a one-sided crush on her. As for Miura herself
Definitely not…
Absolutely not…
…Not…
That night, Miura still couldn't fall asleep. She opened her photo album and began flipping through the pictures she had taken with Yukinoshita at the aquarium last weekend.
She reached the final photo. In it, Yukinoshita was brushing a strand of hair behind her ear with one hand, while lightly pressing down on the hem of her skirt with the other. She had turned back and smiled.
It was the first time Yukinoshita had ever smiled in front of her.
Miura's heart had pounded wildly in that moment, and without even thinking, she had hit the shutter.
How strange. It wasn't as if she'd never had friends before.
But there had never been a time like this where just seeing someone's smile felt like watching a sky full of stars light up, like seeing moonlight spill silver across the earth, like standing at the edge of a vast canyon and witnessing a sea of clouds thunder past in magnificent waves.
It was as if, in that one fleeting instant, she had seen every breathtakingly beautiful thing the world had to offer.
Yukinoshita-san…
Why am I acting so strange?
At the Yukinoshita residence, the air went still for a moment.
Haruno suddenly stood up. She leaned over the dining table, both palms flat against the wood, eyes locked straight onto Yukino.
The two maids flinched.
"Ojou-sama!"
Yukino waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. You can go."
She remained composed, lifting her glass of milk and swirling it lightly. Her movements were languid, almost lazy.
Just like always. Yukino had often seen this expression on her sister's face watching with amusement every time Haruno got flustered or embarrassed.
The older she got, the more insufferable she became. Gone was the obedient, adorable little girl from the past.
Damn it.
Damn damn damn—!!
Haruno slammed a hand down on the table, her usual elegance and grace nowhere to be found. She looked absolutely furious.
"The sixth tile in the second row of the garden path?"
It was a completely nonsensical question, but Yukino understood immediately.
She glanced over at her sister.
"That's where I buried the goldfish I accidentally killed in kindergarten."
"The oak tree in the courtyard?"
Yukino rubbed her forehead. "…My baby tooth. From when I was six."
"And the Barbie doll set I gave you when you were ten?"
Yukino finally raised her eyebrows. "What are you trying to get out of me?"
As if she would ever like Barbie dolls. If Haruno had dared to gift her something like that, Yukino would've sent her back a whole box of Death Barbie Pink lipstick in retaliation.
Haruno stared at her in stunned silence, as if unsure whether she was still dreaming. She didn't even dare take a step forward, afraid that one wrong move would wake her up.
She had had this dream so many times before.
Yukino, seeing her sister frozen like that, furrowed her brows and downed the rest of her milk in one gulp. Then she spoke.
"Are you going to school or work today?"
She wiped her lips with a napkin.
"If you're heading to the company, do you want to ride together?"
Before she could finish her sentence, Haruno lunged across the table and pulled her into a tight embrace.
The lingering scent of her sister's body wash and the warmth radiating from her skin wrapped around Yukino like a tidal wave.
"So unfair…"
"Yukino, you're so unfair, so unfair, so unfair!"
The woman who had always been the picture of poise and grace the perfect image of a high-society heiress was now utterly disheveled, clinging to her younger sister with tearful eyes and a voice thick with emotion.
"You dyed your hair back to black, didn't you? That was when you came back, wasn't it? And you didn't say a single word to me! I was miserable for over a month you're so cruel, so cruel!"
Yukino felt a little guilty. Last night, she had assumed Haruno hadn't realized there had been a change. She'd even gotten so flustered that she nearly cried when her cover was blown during that awkward confrontation with Miss Shijou.
"…I thought you'd find me right away," she muttered. "But when I looked around, you were still stuck in your own little spiral. Honestly, you're such an idiot."
She gently patted her sister's trembling back, but her tone didn't let up in the slightest.
"You promised me that no matter where I was, you'd find me. And this time, I was standing right in front of you and you still acted like that. You're the cruel one!"
And, of course, she couldn't resist adding, "Don't forget, you lost this game of hide-and-seek."
Haruno squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears still spilled down her cheeks.
"I hate hide-and-seek the most!"
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