"You're really lusting," Hoshi snickers. "That's the eighth time I caught you staring at Masaru."
Moriko feels her cheeks darken while she jerks her eyes away from Masaru. Her cheeks turn redder when she peeks to see Masaru looking at her with his teeth biting into his onigiri with puzzlement in his eyes. He grins while he chews on his mouthful of onigiri.
"Hoshi!" The wolf eared girl hisses. "I am not lusting after Masaru!" She takes a hefty bite of the onigiri she holds in her hand, chewing.
"Just kidding, just kidding," Hoshi laughs. "I know your eyes are on his onigiris. It's just funny."
The three friends sit in the corner of the courtyard outside with it being peaceful. Voices of other students float from inside a seat of open doors that lead into the cafeteria. Masaru only wears his shigiti for Hoshi still has his kosode.
"It is not funny," Moriko grumbles. "What if someone hears and believes you?"
"You kinda of bring it on yourself for being so easy to tease," Masaru answers. He bites into his huge onigiri, asking around the mouthful. "Don't your onigiris fill you up?"
Swallowing her food, Moriko sets her onigiri on the red wrapper and scratches behind her left ear. "I wish… But your onigiris has something special about them. Please ignore me."
The blushing girl focuses her eyes on the onigiri she picks up and it rapidly disappears. A sigh escapes Masaru.
"Oye, if you can make an onigiri about the size Sis sends me without the curry, I'll swap you one on Monday," Masaru offers.
Moriko's ears perk up. She looks at Masaru with wide eyes, asking, "You would do that? Even though mine are not as good as your sister's?"
"I've never said they weren't as good as my Sis's," states Masaru, frowning slightly. "The plain ones you've made in class are tasty. Sensei Abe complimented you on them."
"Akihana-sama made me do plain ones until I got the right salt consistency," Moriko explains, flushing a little.
Hoshi grimaces, adding, "Yeah, I tried a few of those. Those were awful."
"At least she didn't use sugar the first time," Masaru reminds Hoshi. "I thought I was going to die of sugar poisoning."
"Well, excuse me, but I've got a sweet tooth," exclaims Hoshi, bristling.
Moriko finishes her onigiri while the pair launch into one of their usual arguments. She puts the wrapper in the satchel before she removes her samisen from her back. The quiet girl bends her head over her samisen and tunes out her friends' voices to check on her instrument's tune for her practice. Satisfied when the notes come correctly from the strings, Moriko strums music to one of the new songs Kin taught her. She plays it five times before Moriko feels satisfied with her performance. Smiling, Moriko leans back to gaze at the sky that is sunny with scattered clouds.
"I'm looking forward to the break," Masaru remarks.
Moriko looks over to see Masaru stretched out on his back. She smiles at the sight of Hoshi stretched out on her stomach.
"It will be nice not having to worry about exams and quizzes for two weeks," agrees Moriko. "The last quiz we had from Sensei Tao was terrible."
Masaru rolls over to his side to face Moriko, scowling. He states, "Sensei Tao is an old goat who should retire. He's nearly blind and can't tell good calligraphy from bad."
"Be nice, Masaru," Moriko remarks. "If he did not have the second class, we would have a double dose of Kato."
Hoshi props herself onto her elbows to look at Moriko. She remarks, "I'm actually surprised there's actually a person you don't like enough to respect. I didn't think that was possible."
Moriko lifts a hand to her temple to rub a little at the headache that develops whenever she thinks of Mia. She lowers her hand with a sigh. "I do not like her for two reasons. One, she treats everyone around her as if she has a right to be a tyrant. Two, it gives me a headache whenever she mentions her nobility."
"You get a headache," Hoshi clarifies. A moment passes before she bursts out laughing.
"What?" asks Moriko, frowning.
"I would get her breath bothering you, but this is seriously funny," Hoshi says.
Masaru frowns slightly, tilting his head. "Hey, didn't you have broken sandals at Haiku?"
"Broken sandals?" asks Hoshi. She looks at Moriko's feet, frowning. "Aren't those just her normal ones?"
Masaru shakes his head, pointing a finger at Moriko's feet and explaining, "Hers had scuffs from tripping over her feet. She snapped one of them this morning. Also, you just don't get colored sandal straps in Rukongai. Cobalt blue is one of the most soughed after colors. They aren't cheap. Where did you get them?" asks Masaru.
Moriko feels her cheeks heat at the memory of the man flashes in her mind. "Someone left me new sandals at my seat in Kido," Moriko admits. "I do not know his name, but I…I met him only once on the day of the entrance exam."
"Him? A guy?" asks Hoshi. The tiger eared girl shifts closer to Moriko, smirking. "Is it a cute guy? Is that why your face is red?"
Moriko covers her cheeks with her hands.
"Details, I want details," Hoshi declares. "Tell me! Tell me!"
The bell rings, making Hoshi pout.
"Ah, just when I was going to have fun," complains Hoshi. "Ah well, this day, I'm going to kick Natsumi's butt! Last one to Hand-to-Hand is a stinky minnow!"
The smaller girl flash steps out of sight. Moriko sighs, relaxing. A reprieve, Moriko thinks. She grimaces, realizing what is coming.
Ten minutes later, Moriko falls onto her back. Her jaw aches, and she suspects the thudding on her skin means a bruise is forming. Masaru looms above her.
"Better," the young man comments. "But you still need to work on your balance. I could have taken you down two moves ago instead of just now."
"When Sensei Fukui suggested I spar with you, I did not think you would be such a hard task master," Moriko remarks.
"But aren't you better for it?" inquires Masaru, a smirk lurking on his lips.
Moriko huffs irritably while a reluctant smile tugs onto her face. "Hai," Moriko agrees unenthusiastically.
Chuckling, Masaru offers Moriko his rubber gloved hand and orders, "On your feet."
The black-haired girl accepts his hand and stands. She studies his hand as it goes back to his side.
"Would it not be better to practice hand-to-hand without those on?" asks Moriko. "You will not always have the time to put them on before a fight."
Masaru lifts his gloved covered hands before his face, considering. He shakes his head and drops them back to his side, saying, "If I can't keep myself in check in Kido after all this time, then it's definitely a bad idea to spar bare handed."
"You have more control over your power than you used to," Moriko protests.
"Says the girl who got shocked today," Masaru remarks with a raised eyebrow. "Don't lie and say it didn't hurt."
Moriko opens her mouth to speak when her ears twitch. She ducks down while Hoshi sails over Moriko's head. Masaru stops Hoshi's flight with both hands to her shoulders. His feet dig into the soil, but the blue-eyed boy pushes Hoshi back. Hoshi twists in the air and lands in a crouch. She glares at the pair.
"You two were talking," the hot-headed girl exclaims, pointing at the pair of them. "I had her right in my sights!"
"Haven't you learned already that Moriko's highly sensitive to her surroundings?" asks Masaru.
"Haven't you got enough power to actually show that you can fight without those prissy, lady gloves on?" demands Hoshi, pointing at his rubber gloved hands. "Or is that kanji the only claim to having power?"
Gritting his teeth, Masaru pulls off his glove to expose the kanji on his right fist. His fist sparks yellow electricity.
"I told you a hundred times. Having power isn't necessarily the best thing. I got the kanji for 'power' to remind myself that I'm responsible for keeping it under control. I won't have what happened repeat," Masaru states with heat and anger. Moriko tilts her head at the slight catch in his voice.
"You have not told us what happened," Moriko says.
The electricity dies down from around Masaru's fist. He looks aside while pulling the rubber glove back on.
"It's not a pretty story," Masaru says.
Hoshi snorts, remarking, "That's only because—"
Natsumi appears in front of Hoshi to deliver a round house kick to the face. The tiger eared girl yowls while sailing across the courtyard and slamming into the training ground wall. Hoshi disappears through the wall and sprawls on the classroom floor. She lies in a dazed heap, her head swaying side to side.
"I did not say you were done, Hoshi-san!" declares Natsumi. The sensei glares at Masaru and Moriko, who both stiffen to attention. "Get back to practicing!"
"Hai, Sensei!" The pair answers at once.
Nodding, Natsumi stalks towards the hole and hops through it. "This is no time for cat naps, Hoshi-san! On your feet!" orders Natsumi.
"We should get back to practicing," Masaru remarks after clearing his throat. "Besides, I got to see how far working with you and Shorty pushes me."
Narrowing her eyes, Moriko says, "You said once friends have no secrets when you asked about Hoshi's and my past. Are you or are you not our friend?"
Masaru hesitates. A moment later, the hesitance fades away to be replaced by seriousness. Masaru states, "Beat me two times in a row when we spar, I'll talk about it."
"Take them off now," Moriko insists impulsively. Masaru looks at Moriko, dumbfounded. Moriko says, "I do not want you afraid of your power when you spar against friends, Masaru. I trust you to not let your power go too far."
Masaru looks conflicted before he lets out a long breath of air. "You realize if I do spar you bare handed, you're going to be a hurting mess."
"I have a promise to keep," Moriko answers simply. She forms her right hand into a fist while her left hand remains straight. The red-eyed girl shifts her feet to give herself more balance. "I will not hesitate to endure pain if it makes me stronger."
The sandy blond man lifts one hand to the glove, pausing.
To Be Continued…