"Yo Shioriko, I gotta run over and handle a few things." A tall, black-haired high schooler with a red highlight in her hair ruffled the head of her little sister. "Please stay put, or mom will seriously kill me."
The smaller girl on the park bench lightly groaned in annoyance though, seeing too occupied reading her book to care about drinks or running off.
"Uh huh. Have fun with your friends at Starbucks or wherever you're going, onee-chan."
Kaoruko didn't like how moody her sister was being lately, but with how busy she was with high school, and how little time they spent together nowadays, she couldn't really blame her.
"I'm sorry about this..." The high schooler patted her little sister's head a final time before running down the parkway path. "I'll be back before you know it!"
The jade-haired girl only glanced for a second at her sister before returning back to her book, letting out a judgmental sigh. Just what was so important to her that she needed to leave poor Shioriko alone again? The more she thought about it, the more it irritated her, and the more it irritated her, the more she kept losing her place in the story.
"Ugh." The elementary schooler slammed the book shut before setting it on the bench, losing the motivation and concentration to continue reading further. "Stupid onee-chan."
Looking at the park around her, there were a lot of places she could explore. To her left was a beautiful botanical garden that had just begun blooming with spring flowers, while on her right was a majestic teahouse that, based on a simple glance, Shioriko could identify as existing since the Edo Period.
While both things piqued the girl's interest, the location of the park that she seemed most intrigued by was the massive lake directly in front of where she sat. Having lived in the city her whole life, getting to see nature up and personal was always a treat for her.
She decided where she wanted to go, the young Mifune plopping her tiny legs from off the bench and walking towards the lake with a curious confidence as she left her book behind.
Shioriko didn't need to look long to be amazed by the park's ecosphere, catching glimpses of koi fish in the water feeding on algae, two peaceful turtles resting by the lakeside, and even a frog she found oddly cute resting on a lily pad. She would love to take it as a pet, but Kaoruko would probably lose it if she brought an amphibian home again.
In the corner of her eye though, she spotted several feathered beauties she had never seen in her life before. A pair of majestic swans were lit a light color of pink with the spring day. They were on the other side of the lake, but she just had to get a better look.
The girl sprinted with all her might, each breath she took becoming more exhausted than the last. In only a minute though, she had finally made it where she could see the swans clearly. That had to be some kind of record for the young Mifune.
Judging by their unique beak and face, she instantly recognized them as whooper swans, and they were more breathtaking in person than in a silly picture book. With the weather warming up, it wouldn't be long until the pair make their journey up north.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
Shioriko's attention diverted from the birds to a cute girl her age, looking confident in a red coat and a set of platinum pink hair reminiscent of the anatidae's feathers. As their eyes met, the pair of swans flapped their wings behind the mysterious girl as they descended into the sky above, all while she had a smile on her face.
The young Mifune couldn't help but have Tchaicovsky's Swan Lake Op. 20 blast in her head with how picturesque it all looked.
"Y-yeah…" She finally managed to reply, her slight anxiety talking to strangers getting the better of her. "And you are…?"
The platinum pink-haired girl shoved her hands in her coat, looked up towards the sky, and once again returned her attention back to the anxious Shioriko.
"You can call me Lanzhu. Nice to meet you."
