Pripara, Chapter 4: Conflicted Emotions, Special Time Together?
Leona giggles nevously, while I stutter, red-faced "uh... I.. Um, Leona, blimey, I DO care about you, and you're amazing, but I'm... My emotions are out of whack at the moment. I'm sorry.. Gah, I'm no good at this..". He looks kindly at me, "It's ok, the fact you said you care too, is enough for me", and his eyes sparkle as he smiles and pulls me into a gentle hug, and our noses almost touch. Our hands link and he gives me one of the softest kisses you could ever imagine! I freeze in shocked surprise, and Leona opens his eyes, red-faced, as he pulls back. He hugs me again, and I return it, not knowing what the heck to do, my emotions are going crazy!
5 minutes later, we get up and head to the training studios, looking through the windows until we spot our friends, and we knock on the door, getting their attention. I head in first, Leona after me, and everyone stares at us, well, our red faces. Seeing us, Sophie and Shion smile knowingly, and Dorothy aquires a confused expression: "Leona, what's going on?". Shion steps forward, to say something, but Sophie covers her mouth before she can speak, and Leona smiles at her, "D..Dorothy, i.. I h..have feelings for Katty, i have for the last week.. Heh" Dorothy's face twitches to wide eyes and her mouth drops open "Whhaaaaaaa? What?". I blush, looking down, as Lala gasps loudly "Wowie! No way! That's sooo cute! Kashikoma!": she winks with two fingers over her eye. Dorothy questions "Leona, why didn't you say anything to me?". He curls his fingers on his chin, glancing to the side, "I didn't know how you would react, I didn't mean to keep it a secret from you, Dorothy, I just wasn't sure what to do, so I went to talk to Shion, I thought she could help me". Shion smiles at him, nodding, and I glance at Dorothy nervously, she catches my look and sighs, "Honestly,", and she comes over between us and puts each arm around me and Leona, "Leona, you can be hard work sometimes, heh. Never thought you would grow to like someone, but, if it's her," she nods at me, "I dont mind". Leona giggles and gives her a hug, and she looks at me with a smile "But watch it, 'k? You hurt or annoy him, you deal with me". I nod vigorously, "O..ok, yeah, hehe". Everyone scoffs at Dorothy and throws all their towels at her. I ask Leona, "You really talked to Shion-san about your feelings? Sophie-san some how noticed I was acting different than usual, which even I didn't notice.", he nods, while Sophie giggles. After practice, we spend time with Falulu for a bit, then me and Abi head back to our dorm. "Wow, I can't believe you basically have a relationship!". I whine and hug my face in a pillow "Jessica, dont even!". "What?" she replies, "You're with Leona now, right?". "Look, I dont know! I don't even know what I feel at the moment, my emotions are outta whack, ok?". Jessica nods in recognition, "Heha, sorry, yeah I getcha." I sigh "I mean, Leona says he's ok with it, but, I don't wanna hurt him, ya know?". She nods, we change and get our butts into our beds.
The following day, Wednesday, Leona asks, via Pripass, if I wanna meet him in town, and I respond wth a Yes. I put on a plain white top, jeggings and my sparkly white wedge boots, then brush my hair into a ponytail. And I head out to, where he asked to meet, outside Lala's restaurant, I see him leaning against a fence, hands clasped together in front of him. Leona's wearing a light pink top and jacket, white leggings, and pink trainers. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, and call over "L..leona, h..hi". He turns, a sign he heard me, he turns red at the same time as smiling cutely. I speed walk over, and he says "Hi, Katie, are you alright?". I nod, my cheeks pink too, and we scoot off to our first stop, and I almost scream because it's ICE CREAM! Anyway, we basically hit a few different cool spots around town, including Leona showing me his and Dorothy's small cafe, and it takes us just about 4 hours. As we start heading along Parajuku Park, Leona stops suddenly, staring straight ahead. I curiously look too, and see a girl about the same height as me and Leona, with short light blond hair, some tied into a plait that is wrapped around her head, she has cute pink eyes, a little shade darker than Leona's. "Fuwari-san!" calls Leona, causing the girl to stop a few feet away, and smile, "Leona-sama! What brings you here? And who's this?". Leona replies to 'Fuwari' "Ahehe, this is one of my new friends, she's Katie", I awkwardly look away, red, and wave "H..hi, n..nice to meet you, F..Fuwari, was it?". She nods, "it's a pleasure to meet you too, Katie. I'm taking a guess, from your accent, that you're one of the English Exchange Students, right?". I reply, smiling "Mm hmm, the other is my BFF: Jessica.". We resume walking, Fuwari tags along, "Lala and Shion told me about some cool girls they met, I guess that's you two, and they also said that you have a pretty Prism Voice!". "H..how does Lala-chan k..know?" I blink, staring in surprise, Leona says, blushing "Your manager: Agito, SoLaMi Smile's manager: Kuma and our manager: Usagi, told all of us that you have a Prism Voice when they heard you sing". "Oh, jeez, sneaky Agito, heehee". As we talk, this time Fuwari stops, looking ahead, me and Leona look to see what she's looking at: about 28 feet away, a person is stood there, who's about half a foot taller than me, got short, boy-cut silver hair, thick eyelashes exaggerating their vivid light green eyes. They're outfit is dark blue with gold buttons, curved up collar, and white leggings, with black boots. "Hibiki-sama!" calls Fuwari with a smile. Tilting my head in confusion, I watch as 'Hibiki' stops and places a hand on their hip in a really feminine stance, so I'm guessing Hibiki is a girl. Hibiki gives a nod to Fuwari "Hello, Fuwari", who replies "Long time no see". Leona slinks back a teeny bit, but only I seem to notice, maybe Hibiki has an imposing impression on him, then 'she' looks at me "Who are you?". Suddenly put on the spot, I stutter "Oh, u.. Uh, I'm K..Katie Papworth, one o..of the exchange students to Paprika Academy.". "I see, the exchange students, I've seen the file, the other one is Jessica Allen, yes?". I nod, and before Hibiki, or anyone, can say anything else, musical notes fill my ears. She answers her yellow Pripass, and nods, making a 'mh hmm' sound, then placing it away and puts a hand on her chest, bowing slightly. "I apologize, I must go. I hope I run into you again.". She walks off, almost mysteriously. "Who. Was. That?". I ask, sighing deeply, and Fuwari replies "That's Hibiki Shikyoin, 'Acting Head' of Paprika Academy, or Sub-Head, also kinda Pripara Prince". Walking again; I nod once "Huh, I thought she looked pretty regal". They stare at me, Leona says "'she'? How did you know Hibiki was a girl?". "What do you mean, Leona?". Fuwari answers me "Most people assume Hibiki-san is male, even us at one point. How DID you know?". I shrug "I noticed her eyelashes, stance and walk were pretty feminine, so I just assumed she was female". Soon, me and Fuwari head back to Praprika Academy after saying Bye to Leona, in my dorm, Jessica is already asleep, "Jeez, it's only 8pm, lazy girl". Thursday, I have Science with Jessica, Mireille and Shion. My nosy best friend asks "Soooo? How'd ya date with Leona go?". I shoot her a shocked look, "Huh? How'd ya know? A..and it wasn't a d..date...". She giggles, nodding at Mireille and Shion, "Mireille told Shion, and said to keep it a secret, but Shion isn't very secretive, and told me." I blush, glaring at them, with their apoligetic looks showing back, since I'm near the sink, I flick water at them.
After school, Lala brings a brunette girl: called Nao, with her to Pripara, where she squeals in happiness, seeing who we are, and we snap Friend Tickets with her.