Yazawa Nico had to bring it up when the group was gathered together at their next club meeting. It had been lingering like a frustrating itch on her brain for some time now, but she couldn't let it last like this any longer. She just needed to say it when she could, and there was no better time than now, when she was surrounded by her most trustworthy, only friends.
"Does anyone really know why Otonokizaka has a pair of alpaca for school pets...?"
The other girls immediately stopped chatting among each other and stared at the tiny idol with bugged-out eyes and puzzled expressions of varying levels.
"Um...I don't get what you mean, Nico." Umi spoke first.
"Don't you think it's a little weird? I looked it up last night and as far as I can tell, we're the only school with alpaca in the whole prefecture...except for this one farming school out in the fringe, but it says that it had shut down two years ago."
"Are you serious, nya?" Rin cried.
Eri folded her arms, looking thoughtful. "Hmm, that does seem odd. Now that I think about it, when our school was on the verge of being shut down, we still had the means for caring for two alpaca as school pets in spite of that. Considering we don't use them for anything, I would have thought that the principal would have disposed of them first as a means to save on the school's dwindling budget."
"What? My mom would never get rid of those cuties! They're so fluffy! How could you possibly want to get rid of them!" Kotori cried in defense of the alpaca.
"I...I like having them around too..." Hanayo, who had been their caretaker since she became a first year at the academy, was on the same side as Kotori.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't have alpaca or anything like that! It was Eri who brought that bit up!" Nico shook her head. "All I'm saying is that it's really weird that we have them in the first place! Don't you want to know the reason?"
"Why do you even care so much?" Maki asked.
"C-Curiosity is the spice of life, Maki-Maki!"
"I told you not to call me 'Maki-Maki' anymore, okay, Nico-Nico?"
Nozomi waved at Kotori. "Kotori, your mother has been the principal here for a few years, right? Surely she knows why we have alpaca."
"That's right! She started working here before we left middle school, right, Kotori?" Honoka spoke up.
"I don't know anything. I asked her once about the alpaca, but all she ever did was blush and look away, changing the subject soon after. She doesn't seem to want to talk about it." Kotori shrugged.
"Well, now that is suspicious as anything, nya!"
"I wonder what her reason for not answering is?"
"Maybe even Kotori's mother doesn't know the reason! She's just been blindly caring for the alpaca with the school funds and never questioning it! This could be something far darker and more twisted than we ever imagined!"
"I think you've been watching too many daytime dramas."
"Please, this has gone on long enough! S-Stop picking on the alpaca, you guys! They're cute, that's all you need to know...!"
Nico frowned. She really did want to know the reason that they had alpaca at their school. It didn't seem like anything grandiose or mysterious, but to her, it really was. She cared nothing for the alpaca as animals, she was not fond of such hairy, donkey-like creatures, but she couldn't help but allow her imagination to run wild with her assumptions on their origins. Surely it was something pretty fascinating to know, if the principal would refuse to share those sacred details with her own offspring.
Several years ago...
The new principal of Otonokizaka Academy for Girls could not keep herself from grinning ear to ear as she stood inside her empty office.
'My office...MY office...my very own office! For once in my life!'
She couldn't have been more excited, like her heart was about ready to pounce out of her chest. It had taken so long, with so much blood and tears poured into every paper she filed and every form she completed, but she had finally made it. She was finally the principal of her alma mater, a school that her own daughter would be able to attend without much trouble. Close to home, it made travel easy for both her and her child. It was a job that would help give her a somewhat financially-secure life for the rest of her days, as long as she could hold onto it after today. She'd been gunning for working here ever since she'd graduated, and after hearing the previous principal resigned, she'd jumped for the chance to be their heir, so to speak.
The principal shut her eyes, breathed in and let the dust and the musk fill her nostrils; due to the special circumstances, it was actually rather invigorating for once, instead of a cause of a coughing fit.
Her desk and her other furnishings had yet to be moved in, but she already knew that this place was going to be her home away from home, even though that was more a case of whether she liked it or not. She had a single window on the opposite wall that overlooked the entrance path to the school, where cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The principal wandered over to the window and looked out. How wonderful it was going to be to watch the students pour into the building every morning from this vantage point.
The principal glanced at one particular cherry blossom, the third tree on the left. Her cheeks started to turn red as memories of sensuous, youthful days returned to her, like cracking open an old chest left in the attic. The principal trembled. Somehow, despite every tree there looking exactly the same, she could still recall exactly which of them it was that a certain redhead pushed her up against and began kissing her nose and lips while her twitchy hands sneakily explored the underside of the future principal's skirt. It had been a most shocking and revealing exploration of her sexuality, even though she'd chosen to ignore it for many, many years afterward out of fear and confusion.
That was when the principal realized that the girl from her memories was standing there, a full-grown adult just like she was, and waving straight at her, as if she could actually see her from that position. It was like her past had suddenly come back to life.
Then again, it was wrong to say it had all been left in the past; after all, even now that they were both adults and with children, they still held onto their affair, although it was kept a safely-guarded secret. The principal was simply getting too caught up in her nostalgia for the carefree days of her teenage years. Now she couldn't help but feel confused and frustrated, even a little embarrassed.
'What the hell is she doing here...?' the principal rushed to get outside, even though it would take her a few minutes at least with her being on the third floor of the school.
"Minami! Congratulations on becoming principal!" Nishikino cheered as soon as Minami stepped out of the door.
Minami was quick to ask, "Nishikino, what in the world are you doing here?"
Nishikino laughed heartily, throwing her head back from bellowing with such strength. She might have been drinking before this, the principal realized. Nishikino draped her slender arms over Minami's shoulders and planted a ginger kiss on the side of the other mother's mouth. Minami's heart did a leap and a jump, skipping almost more than a single beat. Her entire face lit up instantly. Nishikino kissed her again, this time suckling on her lover's bottom lip. It seemed she was intentionally avoiding kissing Minami straight on the lips, but it could just as likely be that she was too drunk to aim correctly. Each kiss was tender and soft, riddling goosebumps of excitement all over the principal's skin. However, as much as she wanted it, she knew she couldn't let it go on for very much longer.
"You always talked about wanting to work here once you were an adult, and now look: you're going to be running the whole place!"
"N-N-N-Nishikino! W-What are you doing? Kissing me right here...someone could see us!" Minami cried.
"Don't worry about it. They're all down there putting the stables together right now." Nishikino laughed, patting Minami on the back and stepping away. It seemed that the kissing was done with, regardless of what she'd just said.
Minami blinked. "...Stables?"
Nishikino led Minami around the back of the school and down toward the playing field, where the principal discovered a group of construction workers putting together stables. Piles of wooden planks were being nailed and hammered together to make a roof, while that roof was given a pair of pillars underneath to hold it up. Another man was making a fence to keep inside whatever this stable was supposed to hold.
"What is this?" Minami asked.
"It's all part of my gift to you to celebrate your becoming principal of our alma mater!" explained the other woman. "Aren't I just the sweetest doctor? I could end up giving you a cavity if I'm not careful!"
"Nishikino, this is a little much. What would I ever need stables like this for? This school doesn't have the funds or the room necessary for an equestrian club or anything."
Nishikino smiled even wider. "Don't even worry about that. They're not horses."
"Then...then what...?"
Nishikino walked off and returned soon after with a pair of fuzzy, hoofed creatures wriggling under her arms. The brown one was waving its head around and chirping incessantly, whereas the white one seemed far more placid and barely made a sound.
"Look at them! Aren't they the cutest little things?"
"Those sure aren't horses, alright." Minami remarked.
"They're baby alpaca! I bought them from a farm over in Tochigi Prefecture! If you're going to be running the best all-girls' school ever, you're going to need something that stands out far more than a horse or a pony, right?"
Minami reached out and pet the white alpaca. Its curly fur was exceptionally soft. Minami could feel the constrictions of anxiety in her chest take flight simply from the touch of this creature's fuzzy texture against her palm. From its fur to its wagging tail to its gorgeous eyes, there was nothing that wasn't endearing and beautiful about this animal. She almost wanted to mewl, the creature had captured her heart so quickly. She tried her best to keep a straight face; when the two of them were together like this, at least one of them had to be the serious one. Most of the time, it was Minami, so she was used to this. Nishikino looked quite proud of her idea too.
"I'm not sure if the school board will allow it, for one thing." Minami pointed out.
"I'm sure they will if you explain it's for the sake of the students."
"I know nothing about alpaca and I'm not sure if I would have the time to find out, or how much it might cost to hire someone who can care for them."
"I'll take care of all of that. Let your students help out too, I'm sure they will. Who wouldn't want to care for something this cute?" Nishikino asked, kissing the brown one on the head. She spat out some hair afterward.
"Nishikino, you really didn't have to go this far. I'm just going to be a principal, while you're the head of an entire hospital. My job is nothing compared to yours!"
"Yes, but this is the job you've always wanted, wasn't it? I still remember you telling me all the time back when we were a real couple, when we were attending this school as teenagers ourselves. Now you'll be helping a whole generation of girls grow up and learn how to be adults. You'll be watching over my daughter too once she's old enough to attend, so you better do a good job! Although I trust that you will."
"Nishikino..." Minami couldn't stop blushing. This woman knew how to get under her skin and stay there long and good, but the principal loved it so much that she couldn't even mind it. Even though their relationship was not an acceptable one, them being mothers and one of them even a wife, they couldn't stop loving each other just as much as they had years ago. It was not a relationship that they could ever explain, but it was a bond that kept them tethered together and likely would for the rest of their individual lives.
Checking to make sure that none of the construction workers were looking in their direction, Nishikino leaned over to kiss Minami on the lips. The alpaca were now privy to their greatest secret, but fortunately they could be trusted with such things, unlike humans.
"Congratulations, Minami."
Minami licked her lips; she was right, Nishikino tasted like wine.
Modern day...
Nico sighed. "There probably wasn't any real interesting reason why we have them, was there?"
Maki shook her head. "Nope. Not at all. Now stop worrying about alpaca and let's get ready for practice."
"Okay, okay..."