My mom poured me a cup of tea from the kettle she held, still steaming from the spout.
"They'll be someone waiting for you at the entrance of your school, by the way." She sat the cup on the table, letting it 'clink' softly.
"Who?" I asked, blowing in the center of the steaming liquid.
"Someone very special." My grandma said, rocking back and forth in the living room behind us, the creaking of the old chair was a constant sound through my life, even now.
"Who? Come on." I whined a little, gulping down the fresh tea.
"You'll see!" Mom chimed, turning the stove top off.
I half-frowned, nervous about going to such a new place in a country I knew nothing about.
Throughout my life, I've moved from place to place and I still don't know why. I was born in England, then moved to Russia when I was 3, which was where my grandmother lived. Since I was so young at the time, moving wasn't considered an issue for me as a small child. My mother has always said I was born in Russia, which might as well be true. My grandmother lives with us now because of her own choice, since she rarely got family visitors from the long distance. I live in Japan now, because of a job offer my father had that led us move here. It's supposed to be the best decision financially for us as a family, but it's probably affected me emotionally in some ways, having to leave a place I waa comfortable with being in.
"Well I think I should be leaving soon." I fidgeted with the small cup.
"Do you remember where to go?"
"Mmhmm." I replied, going to stand up.
"The person you'll be looking for will be holding a red bag, by the way." Mom said, turning to hug me.
"That's so plain, that could be anybody. How will I know who's the right person?"
"You could ask every person you see at the gate with a red bag." My mother hugged me again tightly, and I chose to not reciprocate it from my anxiety boiling up. "Have a good day, sweetheart." She said, standing on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the forehead.
"Yeah, I'll try." I sighed.
"Have a good day!" My grandma calles from the other room, knitting slowly to herself.
"Bye, grandma. I guess I'll be back this afternoon sometime."
I closed the door behind me, clutching the small bag I had, which didn't seem like enough at all. All it has was 4 notebooks, a pencil case, and extra lead. I was told this was all I needed, but it seemed so sparse.
I walked down the sidewalks of the quiet town, trying to vaguely remember how to get to high school. I walked around curve after curve, doing my best to read the signs that were in Japanese, and feeling like I was about to throw up from this nervousness.
I noticed a small girl in a uniform that looked a lot like mine walking down the sidewalk across an intersection from me. I would feel bad about following her, but it's not like doing it wouldn't help me a little.
She had black hair, tied into a set of twintails with small pink ribbons. She walked awfully fast for being so small, probably coming to my chest if she really tried.
Turning around corners, I made sure to stay an entire block behind her, doing my best to stay out of view if she looked around. Hiding behind signs, dumpsters, and anything else that would work when she would look around. Sure it looked silly, but I don't wanna be in trouble if she noticed. Hopefully nobody in the nearby houses did either.
Eventually the large school I remember seeing a few days ago was in view. The front yard was a line of cherry blossom trees, which already bloomed. A large brick wall served as the gate to the school, and several cars came by before I got to it, dropping people off.
I took a deep breath, knowing my next objective was to find someone with a red bag.
I crossed the street in front of the school and surveyed the mass of students walking into the school. I knew time was important, and my anxiety only got worse.
The small girl with twintails met up with another girl, who had short cut orange-red hair. They both conversed before meeting up with a larger group of girls. They didn't look like a regular group to me, but seemed like really good friends. They all stood by the side of the gate, looking like they're waiting for someone. Some of the girls laughed louder than the others, and some didn't talk as much. A blonde girl, who was notably tall, yelled "Sorry!", and ran towards the group.
And in her hand was a bright red bag.
Which was wonderful. I had to brave a group of tightly knit girls to meet someone who was supposed to help me today.
I watched from afar a little bit longer, and the tall blonde girl spoke fast and seemed rushed, her cheeks were flushed and she looked sweaty as if she ran all the way here. The other girls listened to her intently and nodded their heads. The blonde girl held up the red bag a little higher than one normally would, waving it in the air and the 8 other girls looked outwards from the group in all directions.
A girl with purple hair, also in twintails, and green eyes looked at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. The eye contact was easily distinguishable and strong. She tapped her lip and shook the shoulder of the blonde girl, the others looked where she was looking.
The 9 girls all looked at me in tandem, and my heart sank a little and my eyes hazed up at the unexpected attention I was about to get.
I waved slightly, hoping I found the person, or people, I was supposed to meet, and shuddered as my eyes met hers. She ran as fast as she possibly could towards me.
"Eli!" I yelled happily and ran towards her, dropping my bag in the process.
She did her best to clear a path for herself for a small crowd of people entering the school.
"Edward!" She screamed back, tears flinging from her face as rapidly as her hair whipped back and forth.
She collided into me, her outstretched arms tightly wrapped my waist, and I picked her up and spun her in a circle twice before setting her down and squeezed her waist into me.
Eli sniffed and breathed deeply, stifling tears. In the overjoyed event, I too felt a little misty after seeing her.
Looking at the outside world, the 8 other girls looked in shock and confusion.
"Eli, your friends are watching." I whispered to her, releasing my embrace of her, feeling warm in the face.
"Ah. R-Right." She said, taking a step back and trying to compose herself.
"Eli?" A girl with orange hair stepped forward from the group, she too had blue eyes like Eli. She seemed as confused as the others.
"This is a childhood friend of mine from Russia. His name is Edward." She said, opening her hand towards me.
The 8 girls walked closer now, forming a small group in front of me. Eli was multiple times happier than everyone else as she turned to face me with a giddy smile.
"He's so tall-nya!" The red-orange hair girl said, standing on her tiptoes now.
"And he's another foreigner, too." A dirty blonde haired girl said in response, much quieter than the catgirl.
"So... You live here now?" I asked Eli, who would be wagging her tail if she wasn't human.
"Uh huh. I think our families did this on purpose." She took a step closer to me, her happiness unwavering. "You haven't changed much from when we were younger, huh?" She said with a bright smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?." I said, taking a moment to glance at something other than her face, and indeed seeing that she's changed in several ways since I saw her several years ago. This was a stupid move, as her friends were right there, probably intently watching my every move.
Eli giggled cutely, picking my small bag up. "I wish they would've told up this was gonna happen so we could've talked before this." She said, brushing her hair out of her face.
She's certainly a lot "... more cute." I dumbly muttered under my breathe.
Her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks.
"Ah! Sorry!" I quickly apologized and took a step back, waving the statement off.
She blushed violently. "W-Well um." She stuttered and handed me my bag. "We can talk about that later, OK?"
"What's going on here, now?" A girl with deep red hair said, twirling a curl of it on her finger, looking annoyed at what I said.
"This is a long explanation, I can guess." The purple haired girl said, folding her arms in front of her, with a gentle smile.
"Come on, Edward, we have to go to class now." She said, turning to the other. "Please be nice to him, OK?" She clasped her hands together.
I followed suit after her, the 8 girls following behind me after separating to allow us through.
I watched Eli from behind as she led the way, watching her ponytail sway back and forth, then going down to her shoulders, her waist, and ending in her hips, which also seemed to sway with more movement and attitude than when I saw her idling with her group.
"Is that Eli's boyfriend?" I heard one of the girls whisper impressively soft.
"If he's from Russia, too, then maybe." Another said.
"He's unbelievably tall." Another muttered.
"That's the second time you've said that, Rin."
"Well he's even taller than Eli." Rin replied, embarrassed.
"So this is Otonazaki High." Eli started, taking a step to stand beside me.
"I've been told I only have one classroom to stay in all day. 3-C, if I'm not mistaken."
"Oh, that's the same as mine!" Eli said with a wonder in her eyes.
"Then maybe we can catch up on lost time during school today." I said in response, looking down at her over my shoulder, which made her break eye contact.
She began walking before I said anything else and motioned for me to follow.
Walking through the halls got some stares after the rest of the girls broke up upon entering the building. The purple haired girl, and the black haired girl with twintails followed us still.
"Who's that?"
"Another foreigner here? Is he new?"
"Why's he with the Council President?"
I internally stressed a little, but if Eli and her friends weren't too nervous about it, I don't see why I should either.
"And this is Edward, our new classmate. He's from Russia, like Eli." The teacher said, making Eli look a little nervous with embarrassment. "I'm also told that you two know each other?" The teacher asked, looking between us two.
I shot her a nervous glance, with her shaking her head. Nozomi gave me a thumbs up, and a small smile. Their smaller friend looked in expectation.
"Yeah, her and I are childhood friends."
Some of the class made an 'Ooo' after what I said.
The teacher smiled gently. "Well Eli is also the Student Council President. She's the main component of school budgets and organization of festivals and other events." The teacher began. "And as you already know, she has a very tight group of friends wh-"
"T-That's enough!" Eli whined in the far back, standing up.
The teacher glanced at her and continued with a stifled laugh "-who will more than likely show you around the area." She shot a wink at Eli, who hid her face in embarrassment.
The class giggled and I fidgeted nervously.
"You may take your seat in the back next to her and Nozomi." The teacher bowed slightly.
I did in return and made my way to the back.
I walked past their small friend, who sat in front of Eli and Nozomi.
"Watch yourself." She lightly threatened, giving me a stern look.
"That's Nico, she doesn't actually mean that." Nozomi said, leaning over from her table to whisper that to me.
I sat in my seat. Eli to my left, Nozomi to my right, and the small girl in front of me. On all directions I was effectively being watched by Eli.
I took a deep breath and snuggled into the chair, which seemed too small for me.
"Oh, ah, you're Nozomi, right?" I whispered to her.
She nodded with a cute smile. "The girl in front of you is Nico, too."
Nico gave a small wave with the back of her hand.
"She's nervous around new people." Nozomi cupped her hand to whisper to me.
"I am not!" Nico turned around, glanced at me, then Nozomi, and then faced forward.
A small ruffling noise on my desk made me face front. Eli delicately placed a sheet of paper on my desk before quickly retreating back to her own, hiding her face behind her ponytail.
'I'm sorry-' The paper read '- but I'm really embarrassed after hugging you and all in front of my friends. It was hard to con-' she scribbled out that line, but the beginning was legible behind the pencil lead. 'I was just so excited to see you. It's been a really long time. If my friends said anything weird while we were walking around, please don't think anything of it. They're all really nice once you get to know them.'
As I was reading, I could see Nozomi eyeing the paper out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't anything too personal, so I scooted the paper over to the right side of the desk to let her read it better.
"Nozomi!" Eli whined quietly from her desk.
Nozomi returned to her chair, looking up as if she didn't see anything.
Eli fidgeted with her feet after saying that.
I flipped the paper over and started writing something as well.
'How have you been since you left a few years ago?'
I passed the paper back to her. She started scribbling a response down soon after.
'Fine. It was hard finding friends here, but I have a really nice group now. Do you know anyone else here? Who came with you here?'
'I can see that. Are you going to introduce me to them soon? And me, my parents, and my grandma.'
'I will at lunch.'
I held the paper for a while, not knowing what to say.
Unbeknownst to me, Nico and Nozomi were also writing a paper back and forth, too. I only caught it until just now as Nico slid it to the other.
'Nico and Nozomi are writing stuff, too.'
'I know. Please don't get mad if they tease you.'
'It'll be fine. They both seem nice so far. I wanna meet everyone else if you don't mind.'
This time Eli held the paper for a while. Instead, Nico handed me a small slip.
'Are you Eli's boyfriend?'
"Nico, what did you write down?" Eli quietly hissed at Nico.
"We all have a right to know!" Nico hissed back, just as inaudible.
Eli made a worried whine and took a deep breath.
'No, I'm not. I'm a childhood friend of hers from Russia.'
'Then why did she hug you like that?'
'I tired to stiffle some tears, too, if it means anything.'
'So sappy.' With a small doodle of a placid expression.
Nozomi lightly placed her own strip of paper on my desk now.
'Are you her boyfriend?'
'No, I'm not.'
'Then why was she crying?'
'I was about to cry too, if it means anything.'
'Do you like her?'
'Why is everyone asking that?'
'After that reunion, it seems natural.'
'We're just friends. I've known her a long time, so it's natural to grow attached to something like that. I imagine Eli will explain more to you as time goes by.'
Seemingly satisfied with this, she never passed the paper back.
The loud lunch bell interrupted the teachet mid-sentence. Amongst the commotion, Eli snatched the paper and read it, her back to me.
"You can't go an ask personal questions like that!" Eli stamped her foot. Her face cutely pink.
"Yeah yeah. Let's go to the rooftop." Nico said, in a haughty tone.
"That's where we eat lunch, by the way." Nozomi said after Nico, giving me a tap on the shoulder.
"Did you bring anything to eat?" Eli tugged on my shirt as the other two left.
"Oh..." I lulled. "No, I guess I didn't." I frowned and fished my wallet out of my pocket.
"I-I'll!" She blurted, holding my hand. "I'll buy it for you today." She said with a red face.
Eli, I, and Nozomi got to the rooftop. Nico and the other 7 were already up there. The girl with orange hair, and Rin, I guessed, were doing cartwheels as the others sat in a small circle eating on a blanket.
"You have to buy lunch today, Eli-nya!" Rin said mid-cartwheel.
"No, you're joking." She said, looking horrified.
"Is that a problem?" I turned to her, still holding the door open for her to walk through.
"What a gentleman." The blue haired girl said.
I bit my lip a little to stiffle a small grin after the compliment.
"And you should let Edward stay up here with us." Nozomi said, lightly tugging my shirt over to the group of girls. The two who were doing cartwheels stopped after the offer and joined the others.
"Hey wait, that's not fair!" Eli stamped her foot, making a cute expression.
"I'll be fine, Eli. I wouldn't imagine you would be too long." I said with a small smile.
"See? It's fine." The red haired girl said. Nozomi nodded in agreement.
Eli rushed down the stairs with a panicked sigh.
Nico rushed up, locked the roof door, and stood in front of it.
"We have 6 minutes before she gets back." The blue haired girl said, standing up as well.
"Are you Eli's boyfriend!" Nozomi said in a stern voice, but still girly.
"I assumed that would be the first question."
They all looked skeptical of me, but I internally panicked.
"Ah. No, I'm not. I'm a childhood friend of hers from Russia. Both of our families were really good friends, so I've known her for a very long time."
"So is she like a sister to you?" A girl with pale brown hair said.
"No, I wouldn't put it like that." I sat down. Everyone else sat down too, and Nico unlocked the door. I assumed everyone was satisfied with my answer.
"So why was that her response to seeing you?" The dirty blonde said.
"Eli has always been emotional about that kinda stuff. If it means anything, I kinda got a little teary-eyed, too. I never thought I would see her again." I looked down at the concrete floor, unsure of what else to say.
"How long have you known her?" The dirty blonde made a followup, taking a bite out of a wad of rice she held.
"Eli and I have known each other since we were babies, practically. Both of our families are friends, so naturally we saw each other a lot." I adjusted my legs a little so they wouldn't fall asleep. All of them watched intently, taking mental notes seemingly. "And her and I kinda grew up together. When we both were 12, she moved here. It's been around 5 or 6 years since I've heard from her."
"You didn't try to keep in touch over the long distance?" Nozomi said.
"No, it would've been too much work. I didn't think I would see her again because her whole family moved here, so I thought this was permanent." I sighed.
"So you thought that it was clinging on to nothing?" Nico said.
I nodded. "Sounds about right to me, Nico."
She blinked after I referred to her by name.
"Well, you're here with her now, right?" The orange haired girl said.
"Yeah, I hope that's the case. Eli was my only friend for the longest time. We spent nights at each other's houses when we were younger, went to amusement parks, zoos, festivals. Ya know." I trailed off, getting a little warm in the face after I felt all of their gazes on me now, with positive expressions.
Before the purple haired girl could open her mouth, the door exploded open. "Don't tell them anything!" Eli cried out, holding a large bag in her arms and panting heavily.
"Hello to you too, Eli." The purple haired girl said instead of what she was going to say before Eli came in.
"OK. Let me explain." Eli said, dropping the bag between me and the 8 other girls. She took a seat next to me and took a ragged breath.
"Edward and I have known each other since we were bab-"
"We know that already." The red haired girl interrupted.
Eli made a surprised noise. "And our families were go-"
"That too." The pale-brown haired girl said.
"He ended on you two not talking after you left when you were 12." The blue haired girl said.
"I told you not to say anything." Eli pouted, making me wanna cradle her, but went against that urge. "Well. That's about it." Eli looked down.
"You guys really are good friends, aren't you? Why didn't you try to contact each other?" The orange haired girl said.
Eli was quiet for a few moments and looked from side to side to find an answer.
"Well, you already know what I thought." I looked at the other girls.
Eli made a noise. "W-What did you think?" She muttered weakly.
"Ladies first, Eli." The redhead said with a smug look.
I turned my attention to Eli, who was mentally panicking again. Her face grew red and she had a hard time starting her sentence. "I thought that you would've found other friends by the time I wanted to talk to you." She didn't make eye contact with me after she finished, choosing to hide her steaming face.
I blushed a little, too, happy to know that her and I were on the same page.
"Well that sounds about the same to me." The blue haired girl said.
Eli snapped her head to look at me. "Really?"
I nodded.
Eli fidgeted a little, unsure of what to say, glancing at me quickly a few times.
"Well, should we introduce ourselves?" The orange haired girl said.
The other 8 acknowledged her request.
"OK, I'm Honoka!" She said with a wide grin.
"I'm Umi." She rose her hand.
"I'm Kotori." She said, mid-swallow.
"I'm Rin-nya!" She said with explosive energy.
"I'm Hanayo." She said meekly, partially hiding her face behind a bowl of rice.
"I'm Maki, nice to meet you." She folded her arms and looked sideways a little.
"You already know me and Nico." Nozomi said, prodding Nico's cheek.
"I'm Edward, nice to meet you all." I said with a smile.
A beat of silence went between us all and I put my attention back to Eli, who was still red in the face.
"What?" She whimpered, showing a pitiful face to me. "I'm sorry this is awkward." She apologized.
"It's fine, we all weren't friends when we first met each other." Maki said.
"Well I don't exactly know what else to say, either. Is there anything else you wanna know?" I said, ringing my neck with my hand and taking a breath.
The girls looked between each other and made contemplative faces.
"What hobbies do you have?" Kotori said.
"Martial arts." I said, Eli quietly said it under her breath as well.
"Whoa!" Honoka said, getting up. "Show me!" She said, taking a ready position.
"Ah, Honoka, now is not the time for that." Umi said, tugging on Honoka's pant leg.
"I just wanna see him do something cool." She muttered.
"Can you kick well?" Umi said, standing up, brushing her legs off.
"I think so, but I wouldn't bet much money on it."
Nico stood, terrified, with a can on her head. "T-This isn't funny!" She said angrily, but was mostly scared.
"I promise I won't hit you, Nico." I took a deep breath and crouched down.
"You better not!" She cried, closing her eyes.
"Not like you'll be around long enough after that." Maki scoffed.
I steadied my breathing, and lowered my stance.
"Everyone might wanna back up." Umi said, clapping her hands a single time.
The others gathered close, but gave generous space.
I rushed forward, briefly seeing tears roll down Nico's face as I used my right leg to swipe the can off Nico's head rather cleanly, only lightly brushing one of her pigtails.
A tandem of clapping that followed was a little louder than Nico's soft whimpering.
"Good job, Nico!" Kotori said.
"I didn't know you still could do this kinda stuff." Eli said, approaching me.
"Did I get it?" I asked, looking around for the can.
"Yes, and it was very impressive." Nozomi said, with a gentle smile, holding the empty, dented, aluminum.
"What stuff do you take?" Rin said, looking excited.
"Taekwondo and Judo are about it" I said, brushing my hands off.
"Is there any reason why you stuck with them for so long?" Kotori said.
"Physical exercise and self defense, mostly. It's good exercise for a lot of muscles in one's body. Judo is for upper body, while Taekwondo is for the lower body."
"Sounds about right to me." Umi said, bowing.
After Nico calmed her nerves, everyone sat down and continued to eat lunch.
"I just bought you a sandwich because I didn't know what to choose." Eli whispered to me, placing it on my lap. "I hope it's enough." She said with intent.
"It'll be fine. Thanks." I said, with a smile.
"I'm sorry for how everyone acted today." Eli said softly. It was easy to hear her from the silence of the streets at night on our way home.
"It's fine. You have a nice group of friends there, Eli." I tried to match her volume and briefly stole a glimpse of her. She was steadily look down at the pavement.
"Mmhmm." She nodded. "They all mean well." She put her hands in her pockets.
"So..." I trailed off, edging a bit closer to her.
She looked at me, an expecting face, not noticing I scooted towards her.
"Am I spending the night at your house now? You said you wanted to let me see your house but it's already so late." My face grew a little red and I gritted my teeth to not make a giddy smile.
"Well yeah I guess it is rather late." She broke eye contact and fidgeted her hands in her coat pockets.
A beat of comfortable silence passed between the two of us. Again I glimpsed at her blonde hair, softly bouncing on her shoulders.
"We're almost to my house." She softly said, her whispers making a crisp sound from the silence. "If you want to, you can call your parents and see if they can pick you up."
After the family introductions to Eli's mom and grandmother, Eli softly nudged me to go to her room.
"I wanna show you what it looks like." She said, giddy, and pushing my back up the stairs.
I felt a little excited too, to be in a room alone with her, but maybe that wasn't the most appropriate thought.
Her room was, as expected of a girl's room.
"Isn't it nice?" She said, opening her arms to present her room to me. Soft pink walls, a bookshelf, a small table with cushions underneath it, and a computer desk.
"Yeah, it is." I said, inspecting the finer details, several music group posters, small stuffed animals on the headboard of her bed.
She said, sitting down on her bed. "For now I'd like to talk about stuff."
"Like?" I peeled my shoes off, and piling them next to my other belongings.
"Like what you did while we were separated." She muttered, looking up at me.
In truth, it was a good question, but it struck a stern cord in me. "Well I went to school, I assume you did the same as that." I took a seat on the far end of her bed.
"Besides that, though." She leaned on her arm, edging towards me.
"Well I don't know what you're asking." I chuckled a little.
She drew her hand back, her cheeks a tint of pink, and she lightly massaged her hand tenderly. "Well did you get any new hobbies or anything?" She asked with a tender smile.
I shook my head. "Still the same. What about you?" I looked into her eyes for a dangerous amount of time.
"Well I have a bunch of friends now and we all hang out after school, and well-" she giggled shyly "-and during school, too. I think they like you, actually. Umi likes athletic people, so I think she respects you in that way."
"Yeah, it was fun hanging out with your friends on the rooftop. I seemed like they actually warmed up to me." I looked across her room at the bookshelf, not wanting to look at her too much more, to save myself.
She shrunk into herself with a warm smile. "I'm happy about that." She softly muttered.
"So... About what I said earlier, before we got into school." I trailed off, hoping she'd forget.
"Oh, that compliment?" She blushed. "I-I... Um..." she bit her lip.
"That was kinda fast of me, I think." I conceited.
"Well, no, it's fine, we matured and grew up, so it makes sense."
"Well that sounds a little fast of you to say, now." I teased her.
"Well, I didn't really mean it... like, um." She stuttered.
"It's fine, Eli, I know what you mean." I responded quietly to her.
A beat of silence passed between us, having at least me realize we found each other attractive.
A while afterwards, after seeing her baby sister, I made a call to my parents from her home phone and asked to be picked up.
"Is it normal to feel this way?" Eli asked, meekly, to her friends.
"Well didn't you two like each other beforehand or something?" Honoka asked, fishing a handful of chips out of a bag.
"Yeah, you're making it seem like you're backing down from this opportunity." Umi added.
"W-Well, yeah, I dunno. I think we did." Eli muttered.
"Did? What's that supposed to mean?" Maki talked over Eli, a cold tone to her words.
Eli waved her hands wildly. "No! Not did! Um..." she trailed off.
"So yes, you do like him or what? Spit it out!" Nico small figure rattled the chair she sat in.
Eli whined in discomfort.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Nozomi gave Eli a thoughtful gaze and a warm smile. "Eli, you're gonna miss your chance with him, you know?" She said softly.
"I know." She buried her head in her hands. "It just feels like it's moving too fast or something. It hasn't even been a week and I'm already feeling nervous around him.
"Are you worried he won't be the same? You were really nervous even as soon as you saw him." Umi scooted her chair closer to the table, taking interest in the conversation.
Peeking her eyes through her fingers, Eli took a deep breath. "No, he's still how he was. I'm just... He makes me so nervous and I feel stupid for it."
"Butterflies in your stomach?" Rin said.
Eli nodded.
"Maybe you could spend time with him?" Kotori said, taking a break from doing homework in front of her.
"How can I? I could see about him spending the night at my hou-"
"WHAT!" 8 girls exclaimed.
Eli shivered in her chair. "Wha-?" She squeaked, with wide eyes.
"Already?" Umi slammed her hands on the table, standing up.
"Eli-chan~" Rin whined, hugging a seemingly grieving Hanayo.
"Eli, I had no idea..." Maki folded her arms with a face of bewilderment.
"How is that bad!" Eli pattered her feet as she sat.
"You can't just invite a boy into your house, let alone let him sleep there!" Nico tugged her pigtails.
"But him and I always used to do that when we were younger. I thought it was OK." Eli fidgeted with her hands, looking down.
The clammer in the room stopped, and the 8 girls all looked at each other.
"Well I guess this is an abnormal situation, then." Nozomi lightly said, pulling her Tarot deck out.
"Well him and I have known each other for so long an-"
"Shh." Nozomi placed her index finger on Eli's lips, softly nudging the deck towards her.
"Oh no." Honoka squeezed Kotori's side in fear.
"Nozomi don't you think this is too much?" Umi stuttered.
Rin and Hanayo resumed their collective embrace.
"Just pull any card out, right?" Eli gulped.
"Use your gut feeling." Nico said, nervously.
Eli spread the deck out amongst the table, the set of cards taking up a large space. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting her hand hover around the mess. She exhaled and pick up a card, and brought it to her face, and promptly, she melted.
"Just as I thought." Nozomi bit her lip.
"What is it!" Maki demanded.
"Upward facing..." Nozomi shut her eyes.
The other girls waited in anxious fervor.
"Lovers!"
The sound within the room shook the heavens themselves.
"Eli's got a boyfriend now!" Rin exclaimed, tackling Hanayo who fell out her chair.
"H-How becoming of you." Umi stifled a smile.
"What are we gonna do!" Honoka exclaimed, startling Kotori who sat next to her.
"Everyone calm down!" Nico said, beating the table with her fist like a gavel.
The room went respectfully silent and the other girls turned to her, Eli got back up and slouched in the chair she sat in.
"This means us, as her friends, have to help her." Nico said plainly.
"Wow, I didn't expect you'd feel like helping someone, Nico-chan." Maki said playfully, twirling her hair on her finger.
"Besides the point, Maki!" Nico shot a daring glare at the teasing redhead. "We might as well give you ideas on what to do, Eli." Nico said, a much softer tone.
"Like what? It shouldn't be that hard to get him to like me." Eli muttered. "I-I mean!" She waved her hands in front of her wildly.
"It's OK, Eli, we're your friends. You think he's cute, don't you?" Nico asked, a rather caring tone to her voice.
"He seems really sweet based on how he acted towards you, too." Nozomi said, shifting to sit pointing towards Eli a little more.
Eli blushed harshly. "I just don't know what to do. I-I..." she croaked.
"It's normal to be nervous." Umi placed her hand on Eli's across the table.
"No, it's not that, it's just... What if he doesn't reciprocate my feelings?" Eli said with a sigh.
"Don't worry about that." Honoka said, a seemingly forced smile.
The other girls looked confused.
"Honoka." Kotori whispered in a stern tone, placing a hand on Honoka's back.
"I'd be nervous too, Eli." Hanayo said softly.
"I agree. It'd feel like a waste if it didn't work out." Maki added, just as quiet.
The room fell a dreadful silence, and Eli fidgeted to herself.
"Well." Rin broke the silence, causing everyone to perk up. "How do you know that? You said you liked each other back then, right? Or at least you thought you two did."
"But then isn't now, Rin." Eli said in return.
Rin made a small noise, wanting to say something, and slouched back down.
Umi bit her lip, and sighed. "Do you like him? As he is right now, would you like him to get to know you be-"
"Umi, stop!" Eli whined in embarrassment.
"-get to know you better!" Umi raised her voice to talk over Eli. "Is that what you want?" She quieted down.
Eli slightly nodded. "Him am I already know each other so well, but I guess not on that level of relationship."
"Then Eli, you have to show him, I think." Nozomi practically whispered to Eli. From the silence of the others, it sounded at talking volume.
"B-But I. I wanna be able to know he likes me." Eli muttered. The other girls sighed at her response, getting frustrated. "It's hard for me!" Eli raised her voice. "When we were kids, he was cute to me. Like of course him and I would end up together as long as things kept going that wa-"
"Well you're excited about seeing him and having him spend time with you and now it sounds like you're bowing out before you even give him a chance!" Nico practically scolded Eli's behavior.
"He's just. You see someone you used to know and..." She started, and pursed her lips.
"But Eli, you still know him." Maki said with furrowed brow, showing a great deal of sympathy for her, as did the rest of the girls.
"He's so mature now." Eli weakly spat out.
"Oh is this what all this is about?" Nico put her hands on hips.
"What's that supposed to mean, Nic-?" Umi retorted to Nico's harsh words.
"Do you think he's too good for you or something?" Nico said, raising her hand to silence Umi momentarily.
Eli whimpered and nodded. "I've always felt that way. I thought he just saw me as his friend, or maybe even his sister or something. It's stupid of me to think he'd send me these feelings back."
"That's a true worry, when it's a childhood friend." Nozomi said, casting her gaze down.
"Well have you ever asked him how he's looked at you?" Honoka said, an optimistic voice was refreshing at this point in the conversation. "Maybe he feels the same way, ya know?" She said with a smile, knowing a breakthrough was made.
"That's a good point." Umi joined in, also sporting a smile.
"How is that a good point? The two of them might both have these feelings and never realized they like each other." Nico huffed.
"Well I wanna try now. Being around him again made me feel so different than how it used to be. I found myself wanting to impress him so he'd think I was girlfriend material." Eli folded her arms in front of herself, curling inward a little.
"Well we can help on that front, to say the least." Nozomi placed her hand on Eli's arm.
"I can teach you how to cook some things if you wanna make food for him." Hanayo said, adjusting her glasses.
"There's plenty of restaurants you can go to." Kotori said.
"Physical exercise, like walking, helps too I'm told." Umi said.
"You two could go to the movies!" Honoka added with much vigor.
Eli took a deep breath. "Thank you all, so much." She took a deep breath. "I just feel so stupid that I'm acting this way about some boy."
"Well he's not just any boy, you know." Rin said, looking down at her feet. The other girls took notice of what she was starting. "He's someone you've known for a very long time. A relationship like that would've bound to turn into something, you know? Like." She tapped her finger.
"Don't stop now, Rin, you're on to something." Umi urged her.
"Like you two would. Um." Rin frowned. "I-I lost it."
"I think what she's trying to say is that you two would've seen the value in each other." Honoka picked up.
"Plus maybe he thinks you're alot more cute now that you're older. Didn't he say that?" Maki added.
"Yeah, I think he did, actually." Nico put her hands on the table. "Try letting your hair down when you go on a date with him next time. If he thinks you're cute that means he's gonna wanna look at you a lot." She seemed deep in thought.
"What good would that do?" Eli seemed nervous, softly prodding her hair tie that was keeping her ponytail up.
"He'd notice, wouldn't he?" Nico pulled her pigtails a little, having a rough time brainstorming. "If he noticed one thing changed, maybe he'd see if you changed anything else?" She bit her lip.
"I guess it would work." Nozomi half-frowned. "Have you noticed how he's changed at all?" She turned to Eli.
"Of course. He's more tall and muscu-"
"Whoa now." Maki rose her hand up.
Eli shrunk a little, blushing.
"You poor hopeless romantic, you." Nico teased. "But that's good, at least. You two aren't completely blind to each other."
"So what should be the first thing they should to together?" Hanayo's voice was hard to hear since everyone was talking at a normal volume.
"A walk." Umi said. "He's new to town, isn't he?"
Nico snapped her finger. "Yes! That works!"
"Where do I go?" Eli stressed.
"Anywhere." Maki added.
"Wha-"
"You could come by my house." Honoka beamed.
"Yes!" Nico hooted. "Stop by Nozomi's shrine, too."
"That would work. I don't think I'll be there during the afternoon, though."
"And what after that?" Eli lightly fidgeted with her hands.
"That's something we'll cross when we get to it. For now, see what day he's free. Maybe this weekend?" Umi said, looking between the other girls for their approval.
"Well I-I don't even have his phone number yet." Eli frowned.
"Tommorow's objective, then?" Nozomi shuffled her Tarot deck and neatly put it in her bag.
"Sounds like a plan, then." Nico said triumphantly.
Everyone took a deep breath.
"Hey I never even started my homework." Rin grumbled.
"Oh wait." Honoka looked blank.
"Isn't that why we were here to begin with?" Hanayo chuckled.
"I-I"m sorry, everyone!" Eli cried.