"Kira-chan!" Aria cried out, her eyes focused on the little harajuku-clothed girl. Aria put down the box she was carrying and ran over to Kira. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to visit you, of course! And everyone else!" Kira smiled and giggled. She looked towards me, and whispered to Aria. Aria blushed and started panicking.
"What? HIM? Oh, no no no no no no..." I wonder what question it was? "Come on, Kira, you remember Rider, don't you? He was with us in London?"
"Ah! Ehehe...I remember now. I didn't recognize you for a minute there..." Kira smiled at me now.
I returned the gesture, and as Kira looked away, I saw something change in her eyes. I'm not exactly sure what...maybe it was a trick of the light, but I thought...no, wait, she's way too energetic to look like THAT. So unlike her father...
"Well, Kira, I'm very sorry to ask this of you, but do you mind helping us out here? This classroom is being renovated, so we need to move all the stuff out."
"I don't mind at all~!" She laughed. I told her what to pick up and where to put it. Oh, she picked it up, alright...ALL of it. Aria and I could only watch in awe as the little 12-year-old girl picked up 5 times the weight WE were carrying.
"What? Is something wrong?" She blinked.
"Th-the kid's strong..." I said.
"No kidding..." Aria added on. Kira only shrugged and followed the directions I had given her to where she was to put the things.
James, Emily, and Zenna reappeared from their journey. They were on duty as well, and just as astonished as we were about Kira lifting all those boxes.
"How..."
"Did she..."
"No way..."
"Unexplainable. Help us out?" Aria asked bluntly as usual. We got to work immediately. When Kira returned, we were almost finished. Aria sent her off, telling her to wait at the World Center Fountain. Kira obeyed, and ran off towards it.
After a few minutes, we had finished. We headed towards the World Center to meet the little diva.
"There you guys are~! Ah, and you brought more people, too!" She squealed in delight.
We introduced her to people we had met around H.A., Brian of the American sector, and Olivia from the French region. We reunited her with Kasumi and charged her memory of us by reintroducing ourselves.
"Ah, yeah, I remember you all now~!" She giggled.
"Wait a minute..." Zenna trailed off. She pointed a finger at every one of us, including herself. "There are 10 of us here..."
"What? No way, there are-" Aria started and did the same. She looked surprised when she reached herself. "...10."
"Lemme see... Emily, Aria, James, Zenna, Kira, Kasumi, Brian, Olivia, me...no, I only count 9."
"Over here." A quiet voice said. We all whirled around to face a teenager I didn't even notice was there. "Hello." At once, we all started whispering.
"Uh...okay, there's the 10th one."
"When did she get here?"
"Aria-san, do you know her?"
"No clue. Got anything, Emily?"
"Afraid not."
"Ohoho~ she's kinda cute."
"Hm. Kinda short, she wouldn't do well in sports."
"Eh? Another person?"
"Uh...who are you, exactly?"
She smiled at us. "Glad you finally noticed me. I had a feeling you forgot me, I mean, it's been forever..." she cleared her throat. "Hello, I'm Erica Williams, a 2nd year."
Williams...Williams...why does that ring a bell?
"From the Canadian zone?" She answered as if reading my mind.
"Oh, you're the daughter of that Matthew Williams guy, right?" Zenna asked her.
"Yes, that's my dad."
"Ah...now it makes sense as to why we didn't notice you..."
"Oh, I was afraid you'd say that..." she stared down at her feet. I noticed she was clutching a small plush rabbit. Agh. There was my strange observation skill again. It's been such a long time since that's popped up.
Erica continued on. "Aria, Zenna, James...we used to play together when we were kids. Our fathers always used to get together...ringing a bell?"
"Oh yeah, you were that quiet girl! I'm sorry I forgot..."
"Huh. Ringing a bell, yeah."
"Ah, that's right~!"
"I'm so happy you remember." She seemed to shine with light, but then checked her watch.
"Oh, no, I'm going to be late for chemistry...oh, I have to go, I'm sorry..." She rushed off.
"Strange girl..." Emily watched her go off.
"Hai. I agree." Kasumi said.
"So, what was the real reason you came to see us, Kira?" Aria asked the little girl.
"Eh? Oh, that's right~! I saw a nice little house up on the hill, near Hetalia Academy. I was wondering if you could come there with me over the break, so we could check it out."
"And where exactly is this place?" I asked her. She pointed up towards the high outlook, where I could see a small manor. Wait...why was it so familiar looking? Oh, never mind.
"Oh, how cute! Sure, I can come!" Zenna squealed.
"Seems cool. Alright, guess I could go." Aria shrugged.
"If they're going, I might as well." Emily agreed.
"Gotta protect my favorite girls." James smirked.
"Oh, no, you are NOT going to try anything on my little sister. I'm in." I joined in.
"Oui, I can come, too!" Olivia clapped.
"Ah, this will be fun~!" Kasumi smiled.
"How about you, Brian? Coming?"
"Nah, I got sports to do. Tell me all about it, though, got that?"
"Will do."
"Yay, everyone's coming~!" Kira beamed. AH! There it was again! Her eyes! They...they seemed a little...malicious. No, wait. It must be my imagination. It absolutely HAS to be.
"Will you invite more people? I mean, the more the merrier, right?" she asked us.
"Hm...I guess G7 could come, if they're not busy." Emily replied.
"I could gather up the Axle Nations. Don't think they have plans." Aria answered.
"Perfect! Okay, I better go back home. Dad's gonna be waiting, you know? Okay, bye, Aria, Zenna, Rider, Emily, James! Bye, Brian, Olivia!"
I looked at Aria. Had she noticed...? The slightly surprised look on her face told me that she had figured out what I had also heard.
"Rider...you think Kira's alright?"
"I'm not sure. She seemed fine to me."
"But...she never forgets..."
"Oh, come on, it's just this one time." I put my arm around her instinctively to assure her. I've been more aggressive in romance lately since I became good friends with James.
"Right. Rider?"
"What is it?"
CRACK.
"No. Physical. CONTACT."