Summary:
An excess of fearfulness constitutes the vice of cowardice, and a deficiency constitutes
rashness. Courage is a difficult and admirable virtue, because it involves enduring pain.
Nico had first seen her where she saw a lot of others - at UTX. Looking up at the marquee.
She didn't know why her heart missed a beat, why the sight of a red-haired girl amongst the crowd affected her so strongly. They had both talked to themselves, being loners. The redhead was grumbling about having to go to Otonokizaka instead of UTX. In her heart, Nico agreed completely. But something made her grumble to her self about kids who didn't appreciate Otonokizaka. Probably loud enough that the redhead had heard her, because she blushed and turned away.
But now, she was standing outside the piano room, and that same redhead was playing music like an angel. Nico had to stop watching her and sit next to the door and compose herself. Her heart had jolted again when she recognized the girl from the UTX courtyard.
Nico was normally stoic, so she didn't even notice the tears suddenly welling in the corners of her eyes.
It was only a long time after she first noticed her little audience that Maki paid any attention to her ribbon. Unless she was missing a beat, this childlike creature was a third year. Perhaps, although it was unlikely, she'd skipped several grades and was a genius? Maki could relate a little, if so. She had been able to skip kindergarten and go into first grade at five years of age, because her sixth birthday was so near, and she'd always been considered a prodigy.
She would have talked to her, too, but she recognized her as the pathetic waif constantly trying to hand out school idol fliers to unwilling Otonokizaka students. She was so persistent, it reminded Maki of scenes she'd seen on NHK of girls in a cult, who would be punished if they didn't do enough recruiting every day.
All Maki's nonexistent social life needed to stay nonexistent was to bond with another loner, and a pathetic one at that. She'd never asked for a fan. She played music to soothe herself, not for others' benefit. What was really inconvenient was that her heart somehow jolted when she saw her. Well. That would be another nail in her coffin, if she started obsessing on how cute a girl was.
She resolved never to speak with the girl. And if she had to speak with her, she would certainly never even hint at liking her. Never.
