Those of you here for the KeiYuu: next chapter, guys, and it could maybe read as an au version of Tastewithouttalent's Homesick if you really wanted, I guess. Taste-chan (or is it kun?) I didn't mean to be offensive, honest! I just meant to give you a nice Kei/college!Yuu where they screw around at a university based out of a modernized castle. Which is, like I said, in the next chapter, promise.
NanaShizuma: there are probably very few of you because it wasn't there in the game, but the anime is what I'm basing it off anyway, so if you're on the ship, welcome and wait for chapter three.
Honami and Chihiro: They are, in fact, the pair that end up being at Rakuzan in Akashi's third year. I will at sometime post a timeline, but all you need to know is: Nana/Honami/Chihiro, Haru/Rin/Makoto/Onoda/Imaizumi, Akashi/Miracles/Bokuto/Shimizu, Hinata/Kageyama for general birth order.
Eyebrow raised, Nana considered what Dan-sensei had just told them. A year end Stride camp to take place at Teppodama University so the department scouts could take a look at the talent on offer? That stunk of her aunt, Shibachi Suzune.
Which is why she was delighted to receive a call from her cousin, Miyamoto Honami.
"Na-chan!" The dancer's cheerful intonation of her nickname mellowed Nana's cantankerous mood.
"Hon-chan. Are you attending camp too?" Her cousin hummed and replied
"Sort of. Mama bribed us to stay during Stride week by having Chihiro stay and letting Aza and Mina choose the lesson types." Nana cleared her throat and asked
"Chihiro?" Honami took the opening to gush delightedly
"Didn't you ever meet my best friend and the holder of my Covenant? Mayuzumi Chihiro who I go to school with." Exhaling, Nana murmured
"Of course. Do you know if he has any cousins?" Honami made a noise in her throat before answering
"Not direct cousins, but he complained about overactive second or third cousins at a reunion awhile back. Why?" Blowing out a breath, Nana whispered
"I think I met them. Shizuma and Asuma." Clicking her tongue, her cousin admitted
"I think he did mention those names. Striders, then?" Answering in the affirmative, Nana then asked
"So you, Azami and Minami are staying in Nagano for Stride week?" Honami chuckled and corrected
"Us, the Hisakawa twins, their baby cousin Akari and Shibachi Kana." Nana froze, dropping her voice to whisper
"As in Hisakawa Shikari and Shiori, the ones who were dating my sempais?" Honami sighed and said gently
"Truthfully, Nana-hime, as far as I know, Shikari-sempai is still screwing Kuga-san and Shiori-sempai is pining after Hasekura-san." Shuddering, Nana asked cautiously
"Are you still trying to convince Mayuzumi-san-" Thankfully, her cousin picked up her meaning and chirped exaggeratedly
"Nope!" Sliding a hand over her face and not hearing her team mates walk in with the Saisei guys (they were heading to the airport together shortly or something), Nana asked tiredly
"I know you're aware of the difference between dating and screwing, Honami-chan, but are you sure Mayuzumi-san-" She paused, heard a male voice tell Honami to tell her to use Chihiro if she knew other Mayuzumis, and corrected
"Chihiro-san knows what he's getting into? I'll never be the Princess my people see, and you're no Empress yourself, Nami-chan." Honami scoffed
"Bah! Chihiro's held my Covenant since we were children, he knows better than most who I am, and what's this about you not being a Princess?" Sighing, Nana replied
"It's partially my fault, I've dressed in light pinks and blues, if I'd followed tradition, I'd have worn clan colours or given my Covenant to someone by now." A pause that indicated a shrug from her cousin and then she said wisely
"I gave my Covenant to Chihiro because that was the right thing to do. You can revamp your wardrobe while you're here." Sighing, Nana replied
"You're right, I'll see you at Teppodama, cousin. Don't let your sisters bug you overmuch, be safe, I love you." Honami chuckled and returned
"Yes, fine, you too, Nana-hime." Clicking off the phone, Nana sighed again and tucked it away, whirling around, noting the males who were gaping at her and sighing for a third time before she walked over to Dan-sensei, plucking a clipboard out of his hands and reviewing it before handing it back and striding briskly out of the club room, humming as she pulled out her cell and fired off several texts.
To Miyamoto Honami: got any tips for catching a Mayuzumi?
To Hisakawa Shikari: You do know that Kyousuke-sempai will be at camp, right?
To Hisakawa Shiori: Heath-sempai will be at camp. Do something or stay out of the way, please.
To Shibachi Kana: Riku said he made up with Tomoe-san. Do with that what you will.
From Miyamoto Honami: not really
To Miyamoto Honami: Screw you too, cousin
From Hisakawa Shikari: No. Thanks Na-chan
From Hisakawa Shiori: Shit. Got it.
From Miyamoto Honami: I would, but that's Chihiro's job. And seriously, just ask him for coffee or something while at Teppodama
From Shibachi Kana: Sweet. Thanks for the intel.
To Miyamoto Honami: Fine
To Hisakawa Shikari: You're welcome
To Hisakawa Shiori: You're welcome
To Shibachi Kana: No prob. You're welcome.
To Miyamoto Honami: ): p
Riding the bus to the plane and then disembarking into another bus to the waypoint, Nana spends more time musing over the colours for her new wardrobe than paying attention to the still-gaping teenagers. Sure, she's sweet and quiet and helpful, a true relationer, but in this, she's a Covenant child, wildfire burning in her blood.
And yes, she's aware that Mayuzumi Shizuma is far too cultured for her Covenant ass, but she wants to gorge on him, if only for a night. Still, she trots through the waypoint, happy to be greeted by Kurenai, her strawberry roan pony. Having pulled on shrine maiden's garb for the trip to the castle, she easily vaulted onto Kurenai's back, clicking her tongue and trotting the mare around the perimeter, chuckling when she recognized the other vehicle pulling into the waypoint.
Honami, her sisters, Chihiro, the Hisakawas and Kana got out, waving as they headed to the corral where their horses waited. Kana trotted over to Nana as Shikari beckoned Kyousuke over. The pale-haired Honan third year eased over to the hulking black gelding that whickered as he came near. Coming to a halt beside her younger cousin, Kana waved Tomoe over, leaning down to offer him a ride to the castle.
Giggling, Nana pushed Kurenai into a trot, breezing past her father and coach to pull Kurenai into a rear as she faces the assembled Striders.
"I'll see you all at the castle for dinner, you're in Miyamoto wing!" With that, she urged Kurenai to turn, to trot again before kicking her into a canter, laughing when Honami let her mare, Grace, have her head and race Kurenai.
Blinking as the sound of hoofbeats faded, the remaining Striders' tried to gather their wits even as a Teppodama official guided them to fill the carriages. Taking the high road while the riders took the winding way meant they got to glimpse the riders. And it was a treat, to hear Kyousuke laugh as Shikari's black beast galloped with the wind, hear Tomoe's steady stream of curses as Kana set her horse over jumps.
Nana and Kurenai made a great team, too. The pony mare seemed to know exactly what her mistress wanted, if her flying changes were any indication. In fact, they arrive around the same time the riders trot into the courtyard, Nana's face flushed with joy and Kurenai whickering beneath her.
Shizuma, who had noted Nana's strained comments to her cousin before they left, studies her carefully. She's happy here, dancing with her cousins and riding her horse, growing still more as a relationer by leaps and bounds. Laughing when Shikari drags Kyousuke into a kiss and Shiori pounces on Heath, laughter turning to wheezes when Honami suggests she 'blow' a Mayuzumi. Asuma blushes and most of the Stride athletes and coaches protest, Honami cackling when Joe protests the idea. Mayuzumi Chihiro, younger than Shizuma, and far less visible, is so much more bitter he seems far older, but had restrained Honami with a few pithy words.
If that hadn't been strange enough, Kamoda Yuu had garnered enough attention at the castle for his younger brother to glue himself to his side with a dark scowl. Yuu himself seemed constantly surprised that he was getting attention from both men and women, and the Mihashi runners seemed entertained to see their captain flail. It wasn't that funny, of course, Kei's ill temper came across as jealous and possessive, unwilling to share his brother after so long deriding him. So seeing him shuffle his brother away from all interest was confusing. From some reason, Yuu just calmly goes with it, fighting a little grin when his younger brother growls and wraps an arm around him every time someone approaches him.
Okay, so Kamoda Kei went from ball-of-Stride-and-anger to a complete bro-con. This changes… nothing, really. Sure, Yuu and his brother work together better, but Yuu's in his third year, going to graduate and leave his little brother behind.
(Shibachi Suzune does not discreetly note this and consider the ramifications. Oh no, nope, she doesn't, she definitely doesn't write down a note to offer a preemptive place for Kei)
Nana ignores basically everything that isn't Honan or relationers or family and spends time with Kurenai that she hasn't since attending Honan. Her wardrobe goes through a slight transformation, darker colours, simpler styles and sophisticated jewelry giving her a more maturely feminine appearance. Between that and snarking at her cousins, it's not hard to garner real male attention.
She smiles at them all, of course, but it isn't hard to miss the occasional beam at Shizuma, the way her smile deepens and reaches her eyes when Honami suggests a Mayuzumi-Covenant double date in the gardens.
Perhaps the most breathtaking part of her to witness is the way she stretches and eases into the most basic of ballet moves, pointing her toes and swishing the sleeves of her furisode, bouncing around and delighting in the company of her cousins.
Unsurprisingly, by the time the teams have left the castle, Nana and Shizuma often trade secretive smiles and the Honan third years are whispering with the Hisakawa twins. Tomoe is sandwiched between his younger brother and his once-and-again girlfriend, Shibachi Kana.