Once upon a time, snobby rich ass Nishikino Maki finds herself using public transit in the middle of a throbbing winter.

She's had enough with life; her parents announcing her as the sacrificial lamb for the company to wed with another big company's unlucky child (what was the filthy rich ass guy's name again…? Hoshizawa? Kawazora? Heck, she haven't even met him!) in a shady business handshake she'd rather not delve deeper, her conveniently sick driver… and that's how she's here instead of in the comfort of her black Porsche.

And then there's the bus itself. A mingling mix of everyone's odors into something that smells like everything altogether, noisy chattering of school gossips from two middle-schoolers behind her, the stomach-upsetting motions. Last but not least – the girl beside her. Maki gives the girl (she's a girl, right? Boyish-look with the short haircut and wide-legged stance, but a girl… right?) a scan, head-to-toe. Messy hair topped with a snapback backwards, plaid shirt left unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, jeans a little bit too tight – showing off those well-shaped chicken legs. A bright-orange backpack losing its bright color from the dusts it has kissed. A hand holding a worn-out sketchbook, a pencil slipped between her fingers, sharpened to half of its meager age. Aged knock-off sneakers with its shoelaces tied half-heartedly.

Maki wants to write an in-depth review of this… this unsightly stranger beside her. Until she's caught staring, that is.

"Never seen you before. New here?" She asks with a million-watt smile. Maki regrets not taking her million-yen shades with her.

So, Maki decides to humor her with a short, conversation-cutting, "I'm not a bus person."

A soft hum from the stranger is heard, over the ear-grating squabbling from the elders adjacent from her and the even louder humming of the bus' machineries. "No wonder I've never seen you. I mean, I take this route every day."

"Mm-hmm."

The stranger crosses a leg over another, seemingly restless. Or maybe she's just… hyper. "Like, you know, it's hard to miss someone as pretty as you. Heck, if you ask me, bus doesn't suit you at all!"

Maki looks at her from the corner of her eyes. "Uh. Thanks."

Finally, a silence. It lasts for about five seconds. "Aww, there's a road block a head so I guess we'll be stuck here for a while."

"I see."

"A shame… dang, I wish I have Kayo-chin with me right now. She's so cuddly. I need the body warmth!"

Maki replies with a curt now without looking, trying to make herself look busy with her iPhone out. No new mails or LINE whatsoever. But it'll do the trick – the stranger will probably stop trying to get her into a conversation this way.

"Can I draw you?"

Maki mentally slaps herself. "Uh…?" Taken a back, Maki finally faces the girl with the most comforting "stop bothering the fuck outta me" look she could muster.

And they look at each other for the longest for the first time ever. The other girl asks just for an affirmation, "Um, I mean, you're really pretty and… look, we both have lotso time to kill."

True. The loud honking noises from outside and the fact that their bus has stopped moving since five minutes ago urge her to say, "Sure, I guess. Do you charge?"

"Huh? No!" The girl laughs, alligator-like. Too loud. "Don't worry, I'm not doin' this for a living! You probably think I live in the bus, eh? My getup and all."

"What, no—"

She cuts her off, pencil ready in hand and notebook opened to a blank sheet. "I mean, yea, these babies are years old and they're cheap as heck." She wiggles her legs a bit just for emphasis. "Theyre knockoffs, too. You probably own the real stuffs back home. And my bag. I think I've had it since the summer of my second year in high school."

Maki isn't sure, so she keeps her mouth shut before she says something stupid that will make her feel like an asshole later.

The girl starts on her sketch, glancing at Maki from time to time for reference. Now that she's pretty up close, she's quite good looking herself. Cute. "Hell, I look like a hobo right now and I get it a lot… but they're part of a set. My runaway set. With them on, I feel like I'm a free spirit, free to roam this world, freed from whatever kind of expectations people hold on me. I can run around in the park, jump onto puddles, map out muddy alleys, trot across fresh'n'warm asphalt. I can do all of them without having to worry about ruining expensive shoes."

Maki definitely feels like an asshole now. She's about to say something, maybe a question, maybe an… apology, but the girl cuts her off with a, "W, wait, stay still," and Maki complies. Ah, she's drawing my face.

Twenty minutes later, they run out of things to talk about. Silence creeps in. In a world formed in a bumpy bus ride, there's only her and this stranger with knitted brows and pencil sketching her floral-patterned nail art. Ten minutes after, the stranger gets up. "This is my stop."

"I see." Maki says, trying to sound indifferent.

The other girl quickly closes her notebook in a dull thump. "It's not done yet, so… guess I'll see you tomorrow? Same time?"

Maki nods at her expectant face. "Okay."

"Good, nya!" She fist-pumps with her free hand, and Maki swallows back a smile. "I'm Rin, by the way! Hoshizora! Rin!" And she's gone for real.

Maki couldn't believe the genuine chuckle escaping her lips, or the smile she's stuck with for the next five minutes.

The name Hoshizora sounds too familiar, but unfortunately, she's too out of it to notice.

Notes: [1] Arrrr. Back to Love Live! fandom at last. My passion for this fandom has died down... hopefully the upcoming movie will bring the muse (ha!) back v_v
[2] On the other hand, I've been writing for an entirely different fandom these days. Oh oh oh oh oppareul saranghae. Ack.