Hey all,

I wanted to spend some time with Opposites before continuing with Strawberry Weddings. It felt good to write a nice old-fashioned comedy of errors. Hope you like it.

Opposites

Chapter 10 - Bento Banalities

Chikaru paced back and forth in front of the dorm. The section of the dorm she was in was usually reserved for meetings, gatherings and official receptions, and was even sometimes used to host parties. Most of the time, however, this was the place were the student councils of all three schools would meet, as this was neutral territory. Emotions often ran as high due to the rivalry between schools and holding the meetings on neutral grounds would deny any one school council any sense of superiority based on location.

However, Chikaru was getting a bit bored, as the meeting had been due to end an half hour ago. Still, she couldn't fault anyone for it. Today was Shion's first time as a student councilor and thus a very big day for her. Shion had been excited about it all week and was almost jittery when the meeting was about to begin.

After all this was her girlfriend's big day, so she had no right to complain. Fortunately, it was Friday and all her classes has already ended. The weekend was on her doorstep, so she decided not to complain about some extra waiting.

Suddenly, just as Chikaru was about to start another round of pacing, the doors to the meeting room flew open. Out stormed Miyuki, tense and red-faced. The stately Miator student didn't acknowledge Chikaru's presence, simply brushed past her to the door and sped out of the building.

Chikaru scratched her head, wondering what was going on. It was obvious that Miyuki was not happy with the way the meeting had gone, so she figured it hadn't gone in Miator's favor. The next person to exit the meeting room was Makoto, the sixth year student-council president for Lulim. Makoto was one of the nicest persons Chikaru had ever met, was very popular among Lulim student as she knew most of them by name and was always ready to help one of her little Lulim sisters. Unfortunately, as good as Makoto was with students, she was not a very good representative for Lulim. At least, not according to Miyuki, who had described her as 'weak-willed', 'too meek' and 'a wallflower during meetings'.

Be that as it may, Chikaru was only too happy to see her.

"Ah, Chikaru-chan," said Makoto. "Waiting for your girlfriend?"

"Hello Makoto-sempai," Chikaru nodded in respect. "Yes. Is Shion-chan still inside?"

"Yes, she's probably going over the minutes with Nao-chan," Makoto said, referring to the current Spica council president. "I gotta say, Shion-san is... intense. Once she got started, there was no stopping her. She verbally wiped the floor Rokujou-san, I've never seen anything like it!"

Chikaru blinked. "Shion-chan... did that?"

"Hell yes," Makoto chuckled. "It was fantastic! She defended Spica like a lion. And, just between you and me, it was priceless to see Toumori-san wipe the smirk of that arrogant girl-child's face for a change. I just hope that I'll never be on the receiving end of such a tonguelashing. It was incredible."

"Wow," Chikaru said. "She was so nervous at the start of the meeting I practically had to push her into the room."

"Well, she came to life," said Makoto. "Mind you, girls with a passion like that are usually complete tigers in the sack. You're a very lucky girl, Chikaru-chan."

Immediately, all blood in Chikaru's body shot towards her cheeks. "I, uh, we, uh, haven't done anything like that."

"Not yet..." Makoto winked, put her hands on her shoulders and kissed her on top of the head. "She should be out soon, have fun..."

Chikaru gulped slightly after Makoto had left. She was nice, easy-going, but also quite perverted. And the rumors of secret trysts between her and Spica student council president Ozawa Nao were quite persistent. But there was no time to dwell on that, especially after Shion emerged from the meeting room.

"Chikaru-chan," she smiled. The two girlfriends embraced. "It was great! You were right, I was worried about nothing."

"I saw Miyuki-chan rush past," Chikaru said. "Makoto-sempai said you did quite a number on her."

Shion nodded. "It was necessary."

"Whatever happened to the spirit of inter-school cooperation you and Miyuki-chan wanted to promote?" Chikaru said with an edge of humor on her voice.

Shion thought for a moment. "Well, yes. Cooperation is one thing, but I won't stand by and let Miator walk all over us. Cooperation does not mean subjugation."

Chikaru released Shion and held up a pick-nick basket. "Tell me all about it over a sandwich?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Shion said. "I had no idea we'd run late."

"No worries," said Chikaru. "We have plenty of time."

Shizuma looked up from her book when Miyuki stormed into their room. The stately silver-haired beauty, dressed in a casual pair of jeans and t-shirt lay on her back on her bed and watched as Miyuki locked the door and let out a brief silent scream of extreme frustration.

Miyuki threw herself on her bed and punched her pillow a couple of times before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Okay, I'll bite," said Shizuma, putting down her book. "Who shoved that cactus up your backside?"

"Toumori Shion," Miyuki practically snarled.

"Shion-chan?" Shizuma frowned. "What did she do?"

"She completely and utterly unreasonably blew up at me during the council meeting today and started a full blown attack on my proposal for the setup of this year's inter-school play. It was a perfect plan - Miator would provide the actors, Lulim would provide the costumes and sets, while Spica would have the job of making sure the production runs smoothly by facilitating the play with backstage necessities. It's a far better role division than our usual scattering about of students from all three schools *and* a more efficient plan. Why couldn't she have seen that?"

Shizuma thought for a moment. "Translation of all that drivel: Miator gets all the glory, Lulim gets a few crumbs and Spica gets to do the crappy jobs nobody else wants to do."

Miyuki narrowed her eyes. "That's not what I meant... The tasks to be done backstage are vital to the entire production. Spica should be honored to have that role."

"Well," Shizuma said. "In that case, if it's such an honorable role, you wouldn't mind if Spica would supply the actors and Miator would do all the backstage stuff, right?"

"What? NO!" Miyuki retorted. "That would be preposterous!"

Shizuma chuckled and shook her head. "Sounds like Shion-chan was right to tell you off, then."

Miyuki sighed and lay on her back to stare at the ceiling. "Oh, you just don't understand, Shizuma. The pride of Miator is at stake..."

"I don't want to understand," Shizuma interrupted. "School politics suck. And you suck for letting yourself get swept up in it."

Miyuki grumbled at the lack of Shizuma's school spirit, but frowned when she looked at Shizuma. "Why's your hair damp? Strange time to take a shower."

"Well," Shizuma rolled to her side to look at Miyuki. "I didn't have any classes this afternoon, so... I paid a visit to Nori-chan at the pool."

"Hamakaza Nori?" Miyuki said. "The captain of the Spica swim team?"

"Correct," Shizuma winked. "We had the whole pool to ourselves, so she was kind enough to give me a private swimming lesson. A *very* private swimming lesson."

"Oh, dear lord," Miyuki groaned.

"We started off with a gentle yet intimate breaststroke and continued on to an impossibly soft backstroke. After that, we finished it off with a fast, passionate butterfly stroke. It was very intense."

Miyuki stared at Shizuma for a moment. "You're perverted," Miyuki concluded.

Shizuma laughed for a moment. "Hey, prude, get a girlfriend already. Get stupendously laid on a regular basis. You'll be less high strung. Remember how relaxed and easygoing you were after Gudrun? You need more sex. Lots more sex."

"Speaking of girlfriends," said Miyuki, ignoring the jab about Gudrun. "You've not been boring me with tales of your erotic exploits as of late. And some of your girlfriends have been complaining that you've been giving them far too little attention."

"Well, quality over quantity," Shizuma grinned. "Besides, Kaori has been taking up a fair chunk of my time. The garden club is hard work, but I'm learning a lot."

"Yes," Miyuki said. "You seem to be spending a lot of time with Kaori-chan lately."

"She's a great girl worthy of my attention," Shizuma proclaimed. "I like spending time with her. The only reason I'm not with her right now is because she still has classes for two more hours. She's the most... alive girl I've ever met. Yes, that's the word. Alive. Does that make sense?"

"I suppose it does."

Miyuki was slowly starting to calm down and tried not to think back to the tirade that Shion had directed towards her. "So," asked Miyuki. "What do you want to eat today?"

"Simple meal, I think," Shizuma shrugged. "I'll have a curry again."

"Oh, no you won't!" Miyuki narrowed her eyes. "The one you had last evening has a half-life of 75 years! And it led to quite a bit of unladylike behavior in your sleep last night."

"Argh, I can't stand you when you get like this!" Shizuma rose from her bed and made a grab for her book. "I'm going to take my book and I am going to put as much distance between you and me as possible for the rest of the day."

"Shizuma!" Miyuki called after her. "You can't go out like that! You have to be in school uniform until the school day officially ends at 17.00 hours!"

"I know. Bye."

Much to Miyuki's dismay, Shizuma flipped her off while walking out the door.

Kaori took her breath from her inhaler and was relieved to feel her airways clear immediately. She was short of breath and tired, but she still had to find Chikaru.

By asking around Lulim, she had learned that Chikaru had gone out with Shion for the rest of the day. Kaori had already covered the usual places were couples gathered, but hadn't had much luck so far.

Finally, she did have a stroke of luck. After disturbing one couple at the stables, she walked backwards while profusely apologizing. When she turned around, she saw that there, behind the stables, were Chikaru and Shion. To be precise, Chikaru and Shion lay on a pick nick rug. Having shoved aside the remainder of the food, the two girlfriends were embraced and liplocked. Their kissing continued unabated, Kaori not having been noticed at all.

Kaori, in the meantime, was unsure what to do. While she needed Chikaru's help, she didn't want to disturb her and Shion. The choice was made for her when Shion opened her eyes during their kiss and locked gaze with Kaori.

A gasp followed as the two lovers pushed each other way. "W-w-we weren't doing anything! We were... we were..."

"Kissing?" Chikaru giggled.

"Uh, yes, that," Shion sighed.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing you," Kaori started. "I just wanted you help and... oh, this seems to silly now. I'm sorry I even brought it up. I should go."

"Wait," said Chikaru as she and Shion slowly got to their feet. "Now, there's obviously a reason why you come looking for me."

"Here, sit down," Shion said and motioned to the pick nick rug. "You look exhausted."

Kaori smiled gently and did so, being careful to avoid Shion. Though the blonde Spican was kind, there was an air of frustration around her at having her intimacy disturbed. "I... You know that Shizuma-nee and I have spent a lot of time together, right?"

"That much is obvious," Chikaru put a hand on Kaori's shoulder.

"I really want to thank her. I was thinking of making a bento for her," said Kaori. "I just have no idea what Shizuma-nee actually likes and I was hoping you can tell me."

Shion bit her lip. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea what Shizuma-san tastes are like when it comes to food."

Chikaru and Shion shared a brief smile. "Kaori-chan," Chikaru said. "Just make whatever you want to. I'm sure Shizuma-chan will ll love it because it'll be made my you."

"No, no, no," said Kaori. "I want it to be perfect. Just... spending time with her is a gift to me and I want to show my appreciation. And I wanted to do it today. I actually lied to Shizuma-nee and told her I still had classes so I had time to prepare it. But I already spent half of the time on finding out what she likes."

"Chin up, Kaori-chan," Chikaru said to the crestfallen girl. "I might have an idea."

"Okay, there she is," Chikaru whispered to Shion and Kaori as they hid in the bushes. About twenty meters away, Shizuma sat reading a book on a small bench next to a path leading into the forest. It had been easy to find her - this one of the spots were few girls ever came and Shizuma had confided in Chikaru that she often came there to read to seek some quiet time. In fact, Shizuma never even brought dates to this place. It was her very own secret spot.

"What are you going to do?" Shion asked.

"Just watch," Chikaru smiled and walked out into the open, holding a clipboard she had taken from Lulim on the way here. As Chikaru emerged on the path, Shizuma looked up from her book and instinctively hid it behind her back. When she saw it was Chikaru, she visibly relaxed and took out her book again.

"Chikaru!" Shizuma said. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Hello Shizuma-chan," Chikaru greeted. "I was looking for you."

"Many girls look for me," Shizuma grinned. "Few girls find me. What can I do for you?"

"Is that..."

"IT," said Shizuma, the title of the book she was reading. "Re-reading IT. Good book. Miyuki hates it. Another reason for me to like it."

"Do you have time for a survey?" Chikaru asked. "It would really help me out."

Shizuma frowned. "Now, you know what I think of surveys..."

"It'll only take a moment," Chikaru said. "We're interviewing people for the Lulim schoolpaper. All answers are anonymous and confidential and you'd really help me out. Once we have all the interviews, we'll throw all the answers together, try to overanalyze it as much as possible and come to wild nonsensical conclusions."

Shizuma bit her lip. "Alright," she said. "But only because it's you. If anyone else had asked..."

"Great!" Chikaru said and took out the clipboard. "Okay, here come the questions."

"Shoot."

"Lip-gloss or eyeshadow?"

"Eyeshadow," Shizuma replied.

"Your stance on Japan's whaling policy."

"International embarrassment. We should stop making fools of ourselves by grinding whales into catfood."

"Best movie you've seen in the last decade."

"Do really old movies count but which I only saw for the first time recently?"

"They do."

"Promise this is anonymous?"

"Absolutely."

"Dawn of the Dead."

Chikaru nodded. "I quite agree."

"Strawberries or blueberries?"

"Strawberries," Shizuma nodded.

"Tokyo or Kyoto?"

"Hm..." Shizuma thought for a moment. "Kyoto."

"Favorite non Japanese city?"

"London and Vienna. Can't decide."

"How do you best like your bento?" Chikaru asked. Back from behind the bushes, Kaori and Shion held their breath.

"Hm, that's a tough one," Shizuma thought. "Well, I think I prefer a simple bento. None of that horrible food-art stuff. Just something basic and tasty. Rice, tuna, shrimp, some salted salmon. The simplest bentos are the tastiest."

"Righto," Chikaru smiled. "Favorite writer?"

"H.P. Lovecraft."

"Best way to celebrate the end of the week on a Friday evening?" Chikaru asked.

A smirk crossed Shizuma's gentle features. "I'd tell you, but... I doubt your school paper is X-rated."

Once they had gotten the information, the three girls rushed over to the Lulim school building where a myriad of girls were enjoying their school's after-class club life. As the cooking club was not in session, Chikaru found the school's large kitchen to be completely empty. It was specially designed kitchen for cooking classes, meaning there was a plethora of stoves, the most modern of cutlery and a fully stocked larder in the back which was almost as big as the kitchen itself.

"Alright," Chikaru said after checking the larder. "It looks like we have plenty of ingredients to work with. We can make a simple yet tasty bento. I'll get you set up so you can do most of the work."

"We can't help?" Shion frowned.

"I want to make it myself," Kaori smiled. "For Shizuma-nee."

Shion nodded. "Ah, I see."

"We'll help with the logistical part," Chikaru said. "Here's some cutlery and I'll make ready some salt for you to dip the tuna and salmon slices in."

Kaori suddenly seemed crestfallen as she looked at the clock. "Oh, no, it's too late," Kaori said with sadness in her voice. "It's quarter to six. Shizuma-nee always goes to eat at that time as regular as clockwork."

Chikaru thought for a moment. "We'll just have to pick up the pace," said Chikaru as she started gathering the ingredients in record time. "We've always got some rice ready to be used right away. Kaori-chan, please get the salmon and tuna from the fridge so we can cut them."

"Hai!" Kaori saluted and rushed to the fridge.

"What can I do?" Shion asked.

"Shion-chan," Chikaru putting her hands on Shion's shoulders. "You will have the single most important task of all. You need to rush over to the cafeteria and make sure Shizuma-chan doesn't eat!"

"Uh," Shion stammered. "How am supposed to do that?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Chikaru said and kissed Shion on the lips. "I know you can do it."

Invigorated by the kiss, Shion nodded steadily. "I will not fail!"

That said, Shion rushed out the door while Chikaru and Kaori continued to work at record pace. "It won't last," Kaori said. "I'm sure Shion-san will do her best, but Shizuma-nee... she's not someone who's easily stalled."

"I know. But trust me, Shion-chan is equally stubborn," Chikaru gave her an encouraging smile. "But the good thing about simple bento's is that they are easy and quick to make."

Kaori quickly sliced the cucumber and laid out a sheet of seaweed to roll the bento's maki, while Chikaru gathered up the bits of tune Kaori had salted and put it in one of the school's wooden bento boxes. Other things, like the soy sauce and wasabi, were easily gathered and put into the bento as well.

They were working very efficiently and it looked that they would be able to finish the bento in time, when Kaori suddenly wheezed slightly and had to stop what she was doing for a moment. She held the kitchen counter to steady herself and tried to take a few calm breaths to keep from hyperventilating.

"Kaori-chan!" Chikaru said with some concern. "Are you alright?"

Kaori nodded and tried to smile. It was a brave face, as Chikaru could easily see the grimace of pain Kaori was trying to mask. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"No, you're not fine," Chikaru said gently. "And I am worried."

"Please don't be," Kaori said. "I... I don't want to be pitied. People always pity me. Saying 'oh, that poor little sick girl' and things like that. I already know I'm not going to live very long, in fact many doctors think it's a miracle I'm still alive. But this disease, this condition, that's not who I am. I'm Kaori. That's who I am."

Chikaru smiled and embraced the girl briefly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to let you know that you can be honest to me." She could see now - the pain Kaori was in was constant, always present and though Kaori had learned to live with it, she had never gotten used to people treating her like a precious porcelain doll because of it.

"It's okay," Kaori said.

"Is that why you came to Astraea Hill?" Chikaru asked. "To get away from that?"

"Partly," Kaori said. "I miss my mother terribly, but there are so many things I still want to experience. Simple things like going to school, making friends, maybe even falling in love. But I'm not holding my hopes up for that last one."

"Don't be too sure," Chikaru muttered under her breath.

"Hm?" Kaori asked. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I was just wondering. Is that why you like Shizuma-chan so much?"

Kaori smiled briefly. "Shizuma-nee is honest. She doesn't pity me, makes time for me and treats me like a person. I've... never met anyone like her before. Shizuma-nee doesn't realize what a special person she is."

"Ah, well, if you're feeling better, maybe we should get back to work on that bento before Shion-chan gets back here with Shizuma-chan, hm?"

"Oh, right!"

Shizuma had just stepped into the cafeteria and, after having exchanged greeting with girls ranging from classmates to adoring fans, stepped over to the food court. As usual, there was a wide selection of meals to choose from, both western and traditional Japanese. Astraea Hill was a school for the wealthy, and thus employed 5-star chefs at its cafeteria That meant all meals were always delicious - unfortunately, because all meals were always delicious, it was only that much harder to choose.

The curry was looking nice and, if Miyuki was right and it did cause her to perform 'unladylike behavior' in her sleep, it was an alluring prospect to gas Miyuki was a second night in a row. Then again, her eyes were drawn to the spaghetti bolognese prepared with traditional imported Italian spices. Fitting with the Mediterranean theme which was apparently going, there was lovely Spanish Paella and tomato bruschetta.

Shizuma sighed. She just couldn't decide. Everything looked so good and she was too hungry to pick something right off the bat. All she knew is that she wanted to spend some time with Kaori later this evening so anything with union in it would be out of the question.

She was about to close her eyes and let her finger wag randomly to let fate decide what she was going to eat, when she felt something bump into her. Thinking it was one of her adoring fans glomping her, she was about to give an angry tonguelashing when she noticed it was, in fact, Shion.

The Spican student, snappily dressed in her uniform as always, panted heavily. "I... I... I... found you."

"Shion, is something wrong?" Shizuma asked.

"I just... ran... from Lulim... to the Dorms..." Shion panted.

"But why?"

"I... I... I... can't tell you," Shion wheezed.

Shizuma shook her head. "Well, alright then. Have seat, pick a meal and join me for dinner. You can tell me all about how you upstaged Miyuki. Or better yet, pick a meal for both of us, I just can't decide."

"NO! NO! NO!" Shion still panted. "You can't eat! You can't! DON'T EAT!"

Shizuma blinked. "Uh, what?"

"It is absolutely vital that you come with me right away!" Shion wailed. "Right now!"

"Look, I don't know what wrong with you, but can't it wait?" Shizuma asked. "I mean, I skipped lunch today and I'm really getting a mite peckish."

"Skipped lunch?" Shion asked.

"Well," Shizuma chuckled. "You could say I had the captain of your swim team for lunch this afternoon. It was invigorating, but not very nutritious."

"Please, come with me right away!" Shion tried again.

"No!" Shizuma crossed her arms. "I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me exactly what the hell is going on."

"It's because K..." Shion caught her tongue before she could spill the beans. Still, it was frustrating - Shizuma would come with her immediately if she told her the truth, but that would ruin the surprise. And looking at the expression on Shizuma's face, she simply wouldn't budge for any other reason. In desperation, she came up with a hideously stupid plan which she was sure wouldn't work.

"It's because... I love you!"

Shizuma blinked. "What?"

"It's true, I'm completely and utterly madly in love with you and I need to discuss this with you at the Lulim cooking club very quickly!" Shion said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"No you don't," Shizuma scoffed. "You love Chikaru."

"I... I..."

Shizuma sighed and lay a hand on Shion's shoulder. "Just... calm down, take a seat and have dinner with me. You obviously have something urgent on your mind. We'll talk all about it."

Shion just couldn't take it anymore. The Spican grabbed Shizuma's wrist, took it in a vicelike grip and yanked Shizuma along. The older girl yelped as she tray fell to the ground and she was pulled out of the cafeteria and the Dorms. Naturally, Shizuma resisted and kept trying to break free as she was pulled along into the forest towards the Lulim building.

Shion was quick and nimble, as a track & field specialist should be, but Shizuma was stronger and larger so finally managed to break free from Shion's grip. The two girls tumbled onto the dirtpath and lay there panting for a moment.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Shizuma narrowed her eyes.

Shion panted heavily as her energy was completely drained, from her first run to the cafeteria and the second run where she had to fight to keep a resisting Shizuma from escaping. She really saw no other option than to just tell the truth now.

"I... Get... you... Kaori..."

"Kaori?" Shizuma said. "What... what about Kaori? Did something happen to her?"

Panic was evident in Shizuma's voice. Shion tried to explain that nothing bad had happened to Kaori, but her lack of breath didn't make the words come out right. "Kaori... she... waits... Lulim... Cooking... Club... She..."

"What are you doing on the ground?" Shizuma shouted and grabbed Shion by the wrist. "Come on, let's get moving!"

She yelped as Shizuma took off running as fast as she could towards the Lulim school building, dragging the horribly exhausted Shion along with her.

"KAORI! KAORI!"

Shizuma rushed into the Lulim kitchen, dragging a panting Shion behind her. As Shizuma skidded to a halt, Shion tumbled to the floor next to her completely and utterly exhausted.

Kaori looked up with a puzzled expression. She and Shizuma locked eyes, and immediately an intense relief washed over Shizuma.

"I'm... dying..." panted Shion.

Chikaru brushed past Kaori and trotted over to Shion to help prop her up and offer her a glass of water. As Shion let the water slide down her throat, Shizuma crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"You said something was wrong with Kaori!" Shizuma aimed accusingly at Shion

The blonde Spican held up her hands in defense. "I never... said that! That was... your own... conclusion!" she retorted in between breaths.

While Shizuma stared angrily at Shion, it was Chikaru who decided to take action. "Forgive us for the deception," she said. "But we had a good reason for it. Kaori-chan?"

Kaori shyly shuffled forward, holding the wooden bento box in front of her. She blushed as she looked up at a slightly puzzled Shizuma. "Shizuma-nee," Kaori started. "Please don't be angry at Chikaru-chan and Shion-san. They've helped me with making this present for you."

"A present?" Shizuma frowned.

"I wanted to thank you for spending so much time with me, even though you didn't have to," Kaori smiled. "So I wanted to give you this to show my appreciation."

Shizuma took the box and opened it. "Ooh," she smiled broadly when she saw the contents of the bento.

"I made it myself!" Kaori beamed proudly. "Uh, with a little help."

"Why didn't two just say so?" Shizuma directed at Chikaru and Shion. "Instead of going around yelling 'don't eat' or pretending to hold surveys?"

"We wanted it to be a surprise," Chikaru smiled.

"I have the weirdest friends," Shizuma smiled to herself.

"Do you like it?" Kaori asked carefully.

Shizuma gently kissed Kaori's forehead after brushing some hair aside. "This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much."

The four friends gathered themselves and gathered around one of the tables in the room next to the Lulim kitchen, where Shizuma dug into her bento. She gently captured a piece of salted salmon with her chopsticks and brought it too her mouth. "Hmmm, delicious," Shizuma closed her eyes while enjoying the food. "Here," she said, and held out a piece of maki in front of Kaori.

"Oh, no, it's for you," Kaori said.

"It's fine," Shizuma said. "It's only right that you have a taste of your own handiwork."

Kaori nodded and opened her mouth. Shizuma lay the maki on her tongue with her chopsticks. The girl chewed on the maki and agreed that it indeed taste wonderful.

"Oh," Shizuma said. "You two haven't had anything to eat yet. Should we go to the cafeteria?"

"No," Chikaru said. "If Shion-chan doesn't mind, a few girls held a Friday night pizza fry-up today and there's still some in the fridge. We could warm those up in the microwave."

"Sounds fine to me," Shion shrugged. "Oh, thank god it's weekend."

Just then, a visitor arrived. The room they were using was a public place, where volunteers from all three schools could sit down to enjoy the many culinary experiments created by the Lulim students... with varying results, of course. The visitor in question was none other than Miyuki, in full Miator regalia, who crossed her arms and sighed at the spectacle.

"Well," said Miyuki. "First I hear about a ruckus in the cafeteria, then it took me ages to track you down."

"I can't have been hard to find," Shizuma said. "You know as well as I that if I had had a choice in the matter, I would have been a Lulim student."

"That would have been a waste of your talents."

Chikaru scraped her throat. "Excuse me. Lulim student in the room."

"No offense to you personally, Chikaru-chan," Miyuki bowed in apology. "It's just that... Shizuma is better off in a more disciplined school so that she can develop her talents better."

Shizuma stuck out her tongue at Miyuki in response.

"I think Shizuma-chan would have been an excellent student at Lulim," Chikaru said a little forcefully. It wasn't the first time Miyuki had talked down on Lulim, intentionally or not.

"Thank you," Shizuma nodded at Chikaru in an overly exaggerated way, following it up with a smirk aimed at Miyuki.

It was then that Shion and Miyuki locked eyes. There was an awkward silence between them for a moment, which Shion first broke. "I hope you realize that our altercation during the meeting was just politics and not a personal attack."

"Of course I do. Just politics," Miyuki nodded slowly.

For Chikaru, the amiable exchange of apology seemed like a farce. It was easy to see that something had fundamentally changed between Shion and Miyuki's relationship. A shift from friendship to rivalry.

It was obvious that Shion had caused Miyuki some considerable embarrassment, for which Shion would certainly pay the price at a later date.

Politics indeed.

"Did it suddenly get very cold in here?" Shizuma said while looking at Chikaru, which meant that she had seen it as well.

"Well, well, well," said Miyuki as she ignored Shion and sat down next to Shizuma. "It's Saturday evening and A) Shizuma's on school grounds, B) she's not tipsy and C) she doesn't smell like another girl's cheap perfume."

"I love you too, Miyuki," Shizuma grinned and wrapped an arm around Kaori's shoulders. "As a matter of fact, I'm not really in the mood to hit the town tonight. I think I'd rather stay here the rest of the evening. If that's okay with you, Chikaru."

"Of course, all are welcome here," said Chikaru. "We just need something to do. Oh, I know! We could play Lulim Poker!"

"Lulim poker?" Shizuma blinked.

"Surely you know that gambling is forbidden on school grounds," Miyuki stated.

"Oh, *shut* up, Miyuki," Shizuma groaned. "Tell me more about this Lulim Poker."

Chikaru rushed off and came back with a wild variety of objects. A deck of cards, of course, but also a chessboard, several chess pieces, a set of candles and a variety of stuffed animals both red and black.

"What is all this?" asked Shizuma as Chikaru set up a chessboard with only the black and white queen, bishops and rooks. There were eight candles in total and the stuffed animals were put into a container beneath the table.

"This is Lulim Poker," Chikaru said. "The original game very boring, so we made adjustments to make it more fun. We divide up into two teams and play against each other. Now, if you have a winning hand, you get to move any piece on the chessboard that is not the queen. The object is to capture the queen of the opposite team. When you do, you can light a candle and reset the chessboard. The first team who has all four candles lit wins the game."

"Okay," Miyuki frowned. "So why the animals?"

"I was getting to that," Miyuki said. "If your hand is any form of pairs or three of the kind, you get to make one move on the chessboard. If it's a straight or a flush or a full house, you can make three movies on the board. If your hand is a royal flush, four of a kind or a straight flush, you may pick a stuffed animal from the basket under the table. Now, if that stuffed animal is the color of your team, you may move any chesspiece other than the queen to any location on the board you want. If the animal had the color of the opposite team, you may move any piece that is not the queen of the opposite team to any position on the board you like."

"That sounds like fun," said Kaori.

"Wow," Shizuma said. "So when do we take off articles of clothing, then?"

"Uhm, sorry, but Strip Lulim Poker is only played by the upper classes," Chikaru blushed.

"Awww," said both Shizuma and Shion in disappointment.

"I forgot to tell you about the game master," said Chikaru. "That would be me. Every time a team takes a turn, I spin this little wheel. If it hits a red square, I can interfere with the game, such a changing the color of your team or resetting the chessboard to exchanging your hands. If it hits a blue square, I can make you do silly assignments on the cards here ranging from talking in a silly voice, to standing on your head. Stuff like that. If you do it, you may move a piece on the chessboard. But if my pointer hits any other color, nothing will happen."

"Amazing," said Shion. "Did you think of this yourself?"

"It's old school tradition," said Chikaru. "We basically change rules and add things all the time. No one game of Lulim Poker is the same as another. So, our teams today are... Shizuma-chan and Shion-chan. Miyuki-chan and Kaori-chan."

"I will defeat you!" challenged Shion.

"We'll see about that," Miyuki growled in response while both Kaori and Shizuma looked on with amusement.

And so started an evening of merriment.

Next time: there are certain confessions to make.