"Angel, let's get going," Fia called from where she was leaning against the front door.
"Just let me finish changing!" Haven called from the girls' bedroom.
"Where are you two going?" Nagisa asked.
"We're having a girls' day out with Felicia," Fia smiled as she smoothed out her short-sleeved, green ruffle blouse over her white, high-waisted jeans. She grabbed the key she always wore around her neck and twirled it around her fingers. "I don't know if I should be feeling more excited or nervous about seeing sorella…" she laughed anxiously.
Karma approached Fia and placed his hand on the door behind her. Smirking, he leaned his face in close to hers and tugged on one of her shirt ruffles with a free hand. "Hey, Tsu-chan~," he crooned.
The Italian blushed profusely. "H-Hi, Karma. W-Why are y-you so close to me?!"
"To see that face~." Karma pulled away and shoved his hands quickly into his pockets with a smug grin. "Where's Haven?"
Haven walked out in a very girly outfit and tossed Nagisa two shirts. "I think these are yours." He began inspecting the shirts.
"You two still haven't sorted out the laundry?" Karma asked, snickering.
"This one's definitely mine," Nagisa looked at the other shirt carefully, "but this one is yours, Haven."
"Really?" Haven shifted uncomfortably, "It doesn't exactly fit me, so I thought it was yours for sure."
Nagisa looked up at the slightly blushing girl as he handed her shirt back. He deadpanned when he saw what she was wearing. "Where did you get that outfit, Haven?" he asked, mortified.
She was wearing knee high black stockings with black boots, a short red plaid skirt trimmed with white lace and two pink ribbons down the front, and a black shirt that went off the shoulders that was held up by pink ribbon straps. On the left side of the shirt, another pink ribbon laced into a good sized floppy bow. Around each wrist, she wore thick red leather straps that were fastened with large silver buckles. A red choker was fastened around her neck with another silver buckle
"My closet. I think Fia's mother brought it… It fits me surprisingly well," Haven took the shirt back to her room.
Fia tilted her head slightly. "Mami, brought me a couple of skirts, but she didn't say she was going to leave anything for you. Are you sure she brought it?"
"No, I just found that to be the most logical assumption," Haven walked back into the living room.
Karma couldn't keep his laughter in. He bursted out in a roaring fit. "At least you look more like a girl now," he smirked, "Even more than Nagisa did in that outfit."
"Why did you save that?!" Nagisa blushed.
"For comic relief!" Karma laughed.
Fia threw her arms around her older sister as soon as she spotted the tall brunette standing outside the mall entrance. "Sorella~!" she cried happily.
"Sorellina, you're late," Felicia smirked as she pinched Fia's pink cheeks.
"T'at hu'ts!" the younger sister said with a pout.
Releasing Fia with a light laugh, Felicia turned towards the approaching white-haired girl. "Hey, Haven. Good to see you again. I like the outfit~."
"Thank you. It's Nagisa's," Haven smiled softly.
Felicia raised an eyebrow but shook her head with a smile. "Alright, kiddos. Let's go." She turned on her strappy sandals and led the girls into the mall. "Where to?"'
"Didn't you say something about VS, Tsu-chan?" Haven asked, a slight pink settled on her cheeks.
The auburn-haired girl blushed and rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish grin. "Y-Yeah. You don't mind, Angel?"
Felicia threw her arm around Fia's shoulders with a laugh. "Did you up a cup again?"
"N-No! A-Actually, I think I've finally settled into my size…" Fia said slowly. "Are you still changing?"
"Nah, I'm a solid triple D," Felicia laughed. She reached around Fia from behind and squeezed the younger girl's chest in your hands. "Aww, you're so cute with your doubles!"
Olive skin turned dark red. "FEE'CIA!" Fia wrestled her older sister off of her and began storming her way towards the nearest Victoria's Secret.
Felicia flipped her hair with a light laugh as she turned to Haven. "Ready to go?"
"I guess…" Haven began following Fia.
The younger Italian girl stared blankly at the short girl who had just entered the store behind her. "A-Angel… I never thought I'd live to see the day that you came in HERE." She stifled a giggle. "Just wanted to look around or -?"
Felicia strolled into the store, past the girls, and headed directly for the bathing suits, navigating around the racks as if she lived in the store.
"I… I thought I was done growing…" Haven fidgeted nervously. "I guess I was wrong…" she trailed off, blushing.
Fia gave Haven a sympathetic look. "I understand the feeling… Trust me." She scanned the store quickly before turning back to her friend. "Do you need some help?" She smiled reassuringly.
"I've never bought one before… much less been in here before…" the white-haired girl mumbled.
Nodding, Fia went over to take Haven by the arm and pulled her towards the fitting rooms. She waved over a store attendant wearing a measuring tape draped around her neck.
"Excuse me, Miss. My friend needs a fitting," Fia said cheerfully as she bounced and swayed to the upbeat music. Haven stared at the confident Italian with surprise. Fia laughed with rosy cheeks. "This is almost a second home to me."
The woman turned around, and it was Felicia who was smiling at them. "Oh? Is that so? My associate will be right with you~."
Fia shot her sister a look. "Why do you have THAT?"
Felicia stretched the measuring tape between her hands with a sadistic grin. "Oh, you know~. Reasons~."
"Why are you handling it like a choke wire?" Haven shrunk behind Fia.
The older woman laughed. "Because, if I didn't, I'd have to worry that Fia would run away." She stuck her tongue out with a grin.
"I'm never coming here with you guys again…" Haven whispered, mortified.
Shaking her head, Fia smiled wryly at her roommate. "Trust me, it's not usually like this. Here -" She led Haven to a fitting room with a mirror-clad door that read 'Angel.' "See! This one has your name on it. Anna works here, so just wait inside for a little bit." With that, Fia disappeared into the fitting room labeled 'Sweetheart.'
"Why does it have my nickname on it?" Haven grimaced, "Are they stalkers?"
Laughing, Felicia gestured to all of the doors. "No, Haven. All of the doors are labeled with words that are supposed to give women confidence." She winked and slipped into the fitting room labeled 'Bombshell,' toting several lacy bras in hand.
"So, a case of positive reinforcement," Haven mumbled to herself, "I don't see the point, but whatever floats your boat, I guess…"
An elegant-looking, middle aged woman approached Haven with a smile. "Hello, dear. Did you need a fitting?"
Haven squeaked before nodding her head stiffly.
Karma returned to the apartment while swinging a familiar key around his finger and pulling a cart of tediously-labeled boxes behind him. He wheeled his bounty into the living room and flopped down on the couch. Sliding the key into his pocket with one hand, he reached over to grab a notebook lying on the top of the boxes.
"Let's see…" Karma said to the empty room as he opened the notebook. He skimmed the pages. "What the hell, Fia? Why are there so many experiments in here? … At least she's pretty detailed."
He skimmed a few more pages and his eyes widened. Some of the chemical formulas were for trivial things like making elastic bubbles that were difficult to pop and creating color-changing concoctions. Others seemed much more deadly in nature, but weren't solely dated recently like he might have expected for their missions.
Karma laughed as he found a page labeled "bioluminescence." Attached to the page with a green paperclip, there was a photograph of Fia and Haven, one smiling and the other completely unamused, glowing together in the dark. On the left note-taking side, he found a doodle of a superhero that looked like Fia who was using flashlight powers to shoo away a villainous shadow. He couldn't help but think that the power suited his housemate.
The woman named Anna smiled kindly as she walked with Haven out of the changing room area. "You're a 32A, dear. I'm going to bring some for you to try on, so please wait here." She hurried off.
"Tsu-chan, if I'm an A, do I still have to wear a bra?" Haven whisper-shouted.
Fia laughed from inside her changing room. "Not necessarily," she began. "There are supports built into tank tops that you can wear, or… Some girls forgo wearing a bra, but I recommend the support."
A petty whine could be heard from the same fitting room. "I brought these for you to try on, not for you to just stare at them," Felicia sighed exasperatedly.
"Th-That's nothing more than strings!" Fia protested. "I wanted a bathing suit, not a rubberband ball!"
Haven groaned. "Tsu-chan, how will this affect my swim wear?"
Fia poked her head out from behind her door. "The one you have should still fit; although, it might be a little tighter on top. You might want to buy a new one if that doesn't suit you." She laughed. "Will you tell my sister that she isn't going to get me into a bikini?"
"JUST WATCH ME!" Felicia laughed. "I know you love the sun just as much as I do."
"What's a bikini?" Haven sighed.
Felicia's head appeared over Fia's. She looked at Haven incredulously. "Are you serious…?"
"From what Fia says, I assume it lacks surface area…" Haven confessed.
Pushing open the door, Fia stepped out of her fitting room and held out floral, green two-piece bathing suit that tied around the neck. "A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit for women. It doesn't have to be showy like that -" Fia gestured towards her sister, who was wearing a strapless black bikini laced up the sides with red ribbon. Fia smiled.
Haven's face went red. "Those articles of clothing have less surface area than I imagined…"
Fia put the bathing suit down and laughed lightly. "We can both look for one-pieces together in a different store," she said as she stuck her tongue out at Felicia. "Did you find everything you needed?"
Just as Fia said it, Anna returned with a few simple white and black bras in hand. "Here you are. Please push the help button if you need anything," she requested with a gentle tone as she handed the bras to Haven.
"Right… how to do this… It seems intuitive enough," Haven mused as she disappeared into the changing room.
The Italians slipped back into their shared fitting room.
"I said don't touch me!" Fia giggled.
"Oh, get off of your high horse! The baby doll dress would look adorable on you!" Felicia's grin echoed in her voice.
"Not everyone can pull off a bustier like you! I'm not wearing that, cazzo, that looks like something -"
"Mom would try to give you?" Felicia laughed.
"Ha-ha. Get out!" the other girl shouted.
There was a thud, followed by two giggling fits. Soon enough, there was a light knock on Haven's door.
"Angel?" Fia called. "How are you doing? My sister is in a different section of the store, so you won't have to worry about her," she tried to sound as reassuring as possible.
"These are the opposite of intuitive. How am I supposed to latch the hooks if they're in the back and slightly out of reach?" Haven grumbled through the door.
Smiling, Fia shook her head. "Mia had trouble with the same thing. You can latch it in the front first and turn it around if that's easier for you. There are front clasping bras too, but they often stretch out since they're not adjustable."
"Mia wears a bra?" Haven sounded slightly shocked.
"She is fourteen, you know. She used to," Fia admitted. "Before she started binding and swapping clothes with Mio."
"Binding? Is that a viable alternative for me?" Haven asked.
The Italian sweat-dropped. "I hear it's pretty uncomfortable for most… Why don't you just try those on, and I'll meet you by the check-out line?"
Haven sighed in response, "Will I have to also change my wardrobe now?"
Felicia laughed as she watched her sister stare, pouting, at herself in the mirror. "Your friend didn't leave us to our family time and we didn't go to ten billion different stores just for you to scowl at yourself in the mirror. You should definitely get that one, sorellina."
Grabbing the hem of the dress and spinning around so that the dress opened up and flowed around her, Fia curtsied at the mirror. She giggled a little. "You think so?"
"Che carino," Felicia chimed. "I'm definitely buying you a few of these. Especially since the spring dance is coming up. What's with the sudden change of heart?"
Fia tilted her head at her older sister. "What do you mean?"
Felicia sauntered over to her shopping companion and put her hands over Fia's shoulders from behind. "Look at yourself in the mirror, Fia." Waiting until her sister did as she asked, Felicia placed her chin on Fia's shoulders next to her hands. "You stopped letting me dress you up like this in middle school."
Blushing but smiling wryly, Fia sighed softly. "I-I love things like this, I just… I'm sh-shy…"
She smiled gently. "I know. So why do you seem more sure of yourself now?"
"H-Huh?" the younger Timo exclaimed. "I don't know what you mean." Cheeks flushed and olive eyes dodged emerald ones.
"Oh? Must I spell it out? For one, you've been able to approach most of the store attendants without stuttering too badly. I mean, you're still as blushy as ever -" Felicia pulled on her sister's cheeks, "- but that was really something. And now you're wearing cute clothes?"
"Dio!" Fia laughed as her sister's hands moved from her cheeks to tickling her sides. "I-I don't know!" she gasped between giggles.
Shaking her head, Felicia relented and let her sister go. "I bet it was him."
"Eh?" Fia met Felicia's smiling face with a blank face of her own. "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, nothing at all. Andiamo, sorellina!" Felicia called as she gathered up the clothes she'd picked out.
"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" Fia whined. "Let me change first, though!"
"Karma, I don't think this is the best idea," Nagisa walked over to his roommate and sat next to him. "What are you even trying to do?"
"The shrinking potion, I think it could be useful," Karma smirked as he picked up a test tube filled with a red substance.
The front door slammed open and Karma dropped the container of red liquid into the beaker. The substance exploded in his and Nagisa's faces. Haven bursted into the living room carrying half a dozen bags.
Choking on the smoke, Karma waved off the cloud and threw open a window. "WHAT THE HELL, HAVEN?!" Ignoring the bluenette dizzily standing in the smoke cloud, he angrily turned towards the girl.
"HOW ARE YOU BLAMING THIS ON ME?!" she gritted her teeth. "I'm not the one messing with chemicals! You know, I was planning on dropping this stuff off and going somewhere, but now, I think I'll smack you instead," Haven ran towards Karma and tried to hit him. Of course, he dodged. Haven began chasing the red head around the room.
Nagisa finally caught her around the waist. "Calm down, Haven"
"Let me at him!" Haven flailed in Nagisa's grip.
"Haven, please stop struggling," Nagisa sighed, his blush increasing.
"Reminds me of that time in middle school. Both Isogai and Maehara needed to hold me back, but Sugino held you back in a similar manner," Karma laughed at the scene.
"I'll get you back for this, I swear I will!" Haven continued to flail against Nagisa's arms.
Karma began to laugh when suddenly, his clothes were in a heap on the floor and he was nowhere to be seen. A few moments later, the arms that had been restraining her fell away and Nagisa's clothes fluttered into a pile at her feet. Haven grabbed the piles of clothes off of the floor and put them in a clothes hamper.
"I have no desire to see either of you naked, so wait in there until I get you some clothes," Haven called into the pile. A few moments later, she tossed two sets of doll clothes in. "Tell me when you're done."
"And that's why I'm taking art, dance, music, and performance classes," Fia sighed. "I only need a couple of credits more to complete my major and I think this is a good opportunity to explore and reconnect with our roots."
Felicia nodded. "Leave it to my lil' sis' to have declared her major from the moment she stepped foot at college. I think… It's good that you're looking for yourself; I found myself out there on the streets. Just be careful about Mami, alright? I don't know how thrilled she'll be when she figures out where you're trying to go."
The sisters sipped at their espressos and sat together on one of the mall benches as they watched people pass by.
"There are a lot of couples here today, aren't there?" Fia asked as she glanced around.
Felicia cocked an eyebrow. "I guess you're right. Speaking of couples, isn't that your friend? He was one of the kids you showed me from the photos on your phone," she explained, pointing to a brunette standing in front of the Game Stop with another girl. They were laughing together and looking over a catalog.
Fia followed her sister's line of vision. "BENNY?!"
The boy looked up and around, searching for the source of the voice. Brown eyes found the pair of females sitting on the bench and widened. Rubbing the back of his head, Benny gestured to his companion and made his way over to where Fia was.
"H-Hey, Fia…" Benny greeted awkwardly.
"H-Hi, Benny…" Fia replied quietly. "How've you been?"
Benny smiled slightly. "It's been good. How are you?"
Fia sighed in relief, happy to see that her friend seemed to be in better spirits. "I'm good! Fee'cia and I are having a lot of fun - Oh! You haven't met my sister, have you?" She turned towards her sister with a happy smile.
The copper-and-bronze-haired woman smirked up at the brunette. "Nice to meet'cha," she said with a curt wave. "So who's your friend?"
He blushed slightly. "Oh… Um, that's a classmate of mine. She's a freshman and international student in my class, so I thought I'd show her around a little bit."
Felicia smiled as she stared intently at the girl waiting by the shop entrance. "She likes you. Why not ask her out?"
Benny's cheeks turned really red. "Y-You really think she d-does?!" he blurted. "I-I mean, if you say so…"
Fia giggled slightly. "Well, we'll let you get back to your tour. See you around, maybe?"
He nodded slowly. "Um, one more thing, Fia? How's Haven been? Is she and that other guy, you know -"
Shaking her head, Fia replied tentatively. "Angel is doing alright. We actually got her out of the house today, if that's any indication. You know how she is," she said playfully and they laughed together in a friendly way. "As far as the other question goes, I don't know where that's going to go."
Benny smiled. "Well, good luck to her. I would ask you to say 'hi' to her, but, you know. See you around, Fia." He turned with a wave.
Felicia and Fia exchanged glances and then laughed together. Felicia checked her watch.
"Hey, sorella, I'm going to have to go soon. Are you going to be fine getting back to the apartment on your own?" Felicia asked, placing her hand over Fia's.
The younger sister nodded. "Thanks, sis, but I'll be fine! I better get going too, before my housemates kill each other." Fia laughed at her own half-hearted joke.
"Karma, you're in for it now! This is for every prank you've ever played," Haven cackled as she held him over the trash can.
"You know, if you drop me in there, I'll live," Karma yawned. Haven shook him a bit before carrying him to the bathroom.
"I could flush you away," Haven dangled him over the toilet.
"I'll run into some radioactive sewer waste and come back to kill you," Karma smirked. Haven sighed as she walked into the kitchen and hung him over the garbage disposal.
"I doubt you'd be able to get out of this one," Haven smirked.
"Think about the mess," Karma sweatdropped.
"I'll just fry you then," Haven placed him in a jar which she sat on the windowsill and placed a magnifying glass above.
The front door swung open with a bang. "I'm home~!" Fia chimed. Everything froze as Fia made eye-contact with Haven first and then her shrunken housemate. "EH?!"
Haven stepped in front of the jar in the windowsill and looked at her roommate guiltily. A stream of high pitched profanities came from behind her.
Fia dropped her bags and ran over to where the guilty girl was standing. "Angel, what happened? Is that Karma?!"
"Someone needed to be punished. He retrieved your chemicals, messed with your stuff, and made me angry," Haven pouted self-righteously.
Shaking her head, Fia circumvented Haven and leaned down to be at eye-level with the jar. She sweat-dropped as she saw Karma flicking Haven off with a huge scowl while trying to avoid catching on fire. "Even so, this is kind of dangerous, Angel." Fia grabbed the jar and safely pulled it away from the magnifying glass.
"If he hadn't sassed me, I would have been satisfied with threatening to throw him in the trash can."
Karma rolled his eyes and turned his back to the white-haired girl. "You're so damn petty."
The other girl sighed and shook her head. "You two…" Olive eyes widened and peered around. "Wait, where's Nagisa, then?"
"He's reading Sonic Ninja on my bed," Haven replied.
Fia stared blankly at her friend. "I'm not even going to ask." She gingerly slid Karma into the palm of her hand and carried the redhead over to the kitchen to assess the damage. Pouting, Fia shot a look at Karma. "Just what were you trying to do?!" she asked accusingly.
He sighed and grumbled an incoherent response, stubbornly refusing to cooperate.
"At least tell me where the key is, Karma?" she pleaded with a hopeful smile.
His eyes narrowed but he pointed towards his room. "Laundry basket."
Sighing, Fia turned to her roommate. "Hey, Angel. I'll put my shopping bags away in a moment, but I have to take these chemicals back to the storage locker. I'm going to take Karma with me so he can tell me exactly what he took, but can you look after Nagisa? We don't know where in the process the chemicals reacted and how that could affect the body, after all, the - Oh, you get what I mean."
"Of course, Tsu-chan~," Haven sang as she headed for her room, happy that she had gotten off rather lightly with Fia.
Karma stared up at Fia from where he was perched on her shoulder. "You're still red."
Fia blushed harder. "Sh-Shut up! I can't believe you tricked me like that!"
"I can't believe you got embarrassed just going through our laundry."
"Dio! Maybe Angel had the right idea when she threatened to drop you," Fia laughed.
Karma growled then sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I gotta say, these are pretty well made for something you put together at home."
Smiling down at the boy on her shoulder, Fia giggled. "I gotta say, I'm liking the open flannel and beanie~."
He scoffed. "Just a pair of thick-rimmed glasses and a camera, and I'll look like a hipster wannabe."
Fia grinned. "I'm still loving the look on you." Embarrassedly, she averted her eyes with a bemused smile. "Y-You're really good looking, you know…"
The redhead's cheeks darkened slightly. "Still not digging the skinny jeans - They're digging into me."
She laughed as she pushed open the door to the storage facility and pulled the cart of chemicals through. "Hey, don't shoot the tailor. I can put in a complaint with the designer."
"Your mom?" Karma asked with a vague curiosity.
"No," Fia smiled, "Gio. Don't tell him I told you though."
Haven sat next to the miniaturized boy. An awkward silence fell between the two.
"How did your day at the mall go? You brought back a lot of bags," Nagisa asked as he ran around the book to turn the page.
"Oh," Haven flushed, "It went well… I guess."
"What did you buy?" the bluenette looked to the pink-cheeked girl.
"Just some clothes…" Haven mumbled and went to the many bags on the floor. She grabbed them, yanked open the closet, threw them into the void, and slammed the door shut behind her. Nagisa stared at her sudden outburst. Haven tried to walk nonchalantly over to the bed, but the door behind her popped open and a tide of tech objects flowed out along with the bags Haven had just thrown in. A certain pink striped bag had fallen sideways, its contents flowing onto the floor. Haven turned scarlet.
Nagisa also blushed and turned his gaze away. He gave Haven time to organize her wardrobe properly and only looked up when Haven had sat back down on the bed again. The girl was as red as a tomato and too flustered to talk.
"I thought you said you didn't wear one…" Nagisa said hesitantly.
"I grew…" Haven mumbled.
"Oh… that explains things…" Nagisa turned pink and silence echoed through the room. The creeping quiet refused to dissipate, even as the digital clock display blinked, minutes passing to hours.
The Italian draped her locker key around her neck and attached her house key to the chain as she closed the front door. "So you promise not to take my key or go through my chemicals again?" she asked Karma.
He smirked. "Alright, Lady Light."
Fia's cheeks reddened. "You saw the doodles in my lab notebook?"
Laughing, Karma nodded. "Sure did."
"That's so e-embarrassing!" she whined. "You going to tease me for not being able to draw?"
He smirked. "Yeah, 'cause I'm totally going to tell Karasuma you need to be dropped from the mission just because you can't draw."
"I can't believe you," Fia sighed, shaking her head with a smile.
"I can't believe you can't draw," Karma admitted. "You seemed like the type."
"I like drawing, but I'm not very good at it. What should be a flower ends up looking more like an exploding trampolene! Felix is the one who draws well. Felicia is our sculptor. If you want to see any of my paintings though, I'd be more than happy to show you." she smiled bashfully.
"And you're all musically inclined?" he asked.
Fia shook her head quickly. "Felix and I are the only ones who truly wanted to pursue music as kids. Fee'cia has a nice voice, but she gets really annoyed about reading music and performances. I don't think she cares for tradition, limitation, structure, or attention. The twins are more or less tone deaf when it comes to singing, but they pick up new instruments quickly. Last time I checked, Lupe was taking flute lessons, but she seems less interested in the music than she is in her male tutors." Fia sweatdropped. "Gio likes to sing but his voice might be, erm, still cracking. He sticks to playing the triangle."
"The triangle?"
"Si," Fia laughed. "He tried to learn the harp from Mami and somehow got his foot stuck.
Karma laughed. "How do you get your foot stuck in a harp?"
"How do you accidentally swallow a clarinet reed?" she sweat-dropped. "That was really hard for me to get out of his throat." Smiling bashfully, Fia placed a kiss on her finger and touched that finger to Karma's tiny cheek. "Thank you. It's really rare that I get to talk so freely about things like this." Olive eyes scanned the apartment. "I take it you want to go back to your room?"
"You think putting me and that she-bitch in the same room is a good idea?" he asked flatly, past his burning cheeks.
"No, not really." Humming, Fia carried Karma back to his room and placed him on his pillow. "I'll see you later!" she waved cheerfully and left to go back to her room.
Karma sighed. "Man, this is annoying…" He sprawled out on his pillow, which could have been a giant's waterbed by his current size standards. How was he supposed to reach his phone, read his textbook, or get across the tundra that was his carpeted floor?
"Um…" Karma lifted his head and saw Fia standing in his doorway again. "Can I h-hang out in here for a while?" she asked tentatively. Quirking an eyebrow, he nodded. He watched the girl smile in relief and bound over to his bed.
"Thanks!" Fia tucked her knees in under her chin. "It was just so awkward in there."
"What are they doing?" Karma asked.
Shrugging, Fia's eyes found some interesting spot in the distance to stare at. "Nothing at all. They're not even talking… That's why it's so awkward… So… What are you up to?" She gave Karma a lopsided smile.
He grumbled, "I'm not surprised. Well, I need to read a chapter for my economics class, but this situation doesn't exactly lend itself to that, now does it?" Karma sneered as he draped an arm over his eyes.
Fia watched Karma for a few moments. She had a feeling he was more angry at something else he wasn't saying. Scanning the room, Fia found the economics book on his bedstand and picked it up. She carefully scooped Karma up in her hand.
"H-Hey!" the startled redhead clung to Fia's fingers for support until he felt the palm beneath him tilt away and found himself in Fia's jacket breast pocket.
"That should do," Fia nodded as she propped the open book on her abdomen and up against her knees. "What chapter?"
Karma growled and his sharp canine tooth flashed. "Hey! What the hell?"
The Italian girl smiled wryly. "I thought we could maybe read the chapter together…" she admitted shyly.
He sighed. "I could have just done it in the morning! Oh, whatever, chapter 13."
Flipping to the page, Fia slipped on a pair of fuschia, thick-rimmed glasses. "Okay, that's on trading and stocks, right?"
Karma stared up at Fia. "You wear glasses?"
She blushed profusely and hid her face in the book. "Y-Yeah… I just got them… For r-reading and whatnot…" she mumbled through the pages.
Locking his hands behind his head, Karma smiled softly. "They're cute."
Fia slowly lowered the book away from her face, that was turning the same color as her glasses. She smiled embarrassedly and bit her lip. "G-Grazie, Karma… I appreciate that…" Big olive eyes moved from person to page and scanned words they found there. "Should we start here?" She pointed to a section and began reading aloud.
Nagisa woke up and looked around at the enormous expanse of white around him, only to realize that he was still miniaturized. The next thing he noticed was Haven, her breathing soft and eyelids heavily shut as she slept soundly beside him. Nagisa approached Haven's tilted face and gently placed a hand on her cheek. He couldn't believe how fast and hard he was falling for her. He couldn't believe that his lips were gently pressed against her moonlit cheek either, but there he was. Smiling down at her one last time, he whispered "goodnight" and slid down the sheets and onto the floor.
Nagisa took his time getting back to his room and, by the time he got through his doorway, he changed back to his normal size. Hurriedly and embarrassedly, he slipped into his own pajamas and crawled into bed. Too tired to notice, he didn't hear the pair of light snoring sounds together from the other side of his room.
Eyes fluttered open to light filtering in from the window. A drowsy smile spread across Fia's face. The morning sun made Karma's face glow with a golden warmth. Fia closed her eyes and didn't stir again until a little while later. In her sleep-induced haze, she pulled the blanket closer around her and snuggled into the source of radiating warmth.
"Cozy…" she mumbled quietly. Whatever she was cuddling against, it was soft and echoing with a soft rhythm.
"Hn…?" a groggy rumble echoed through Karma's chest.
Karma's chest… Fia's eyes flew open as she realized just what she had been resting her head on.
Nagisa awoke to high-pitched screaming. He sat up quickly in his bed and looked to Karma's bed, where the commotion was coming from.
"P-Put some c-clothes on! Cazzo!" Fia yelled as she pulled the blanket over her head.
Karma turned red and yanked the blanket back to cover himself. "Why the hell are you covering yourself with the blanket?!"
Fia groaned and covered her red face with her hands. "Dio! W-Why did I f-fall asleep here?!"
"I could be asking you that!" Karma said as he face-palmed.
Scrambling, Fia tried to escape but got her legs tangled in the blanket. She fell off of the bed and hit the floor face-first as the blanket settled around slowly, her like a tent.
"Are you okay, Fia?" Nagisa asked with concern.
Swearing loudly, Karma grabbed his pillow for coverage just as Fia staggered back onto her feet with the blanket still over her head.
"I-I'm fine!" she squeaked unconvincingly as she began to run again towards her room. She hit the doorframe with a concerningly-loud thud. Made dizzy by the impact, Fia spun around a few times, a wavering, red sheet ghost, before managing to squeeze through the doorframe and finally make her escape.
The boys exchanged wary glances and Karma, rubbing the back of his head, forced his furious blush to subside.
"How are you still clothed?" Karma asked as he, holding the pillow still, got up to shut the door and change.
Nagisa laughed dryly. "I snuck out this morning. You didn't think staying awake until you changed back was a good idea, or at least asking Fia to leave?"
Karma shook his head as he belted his pants. "She fell asleep before me. I couldn't wake her up…" He thought about how he'd fallen asleep listening to her heartbeat. "I guess I just fell asleep too," he shrugged at his roommate. Sighing, Karma sat heavily down on his bed and picked up the glasses folded neatly on his bedstand. He smiled wryly and pocketed the pair for later. "To another interesting day?"
Laughing, Nagisa nodded. "As usual," the bluenette added with a smile.
Fia: (still covering her face) Does he have clothes on yet?
Haven: Is that what that screaming was about this morning?
Fia: (meek nodding)
Karma: Hey, Fia -
Fia: EEP! (Hides behind Haven)
Karma: (sweat drops) You forgot these. (Takes glasses and places them carefully on her face, using a finger to push them up her nose.)
Fia: (scrunches up face and blushes) Th-Thanks…
Nagisa: Oh, Fia. How are you feeling?
Fia: (Tilts head) What do you mean?
Nagisa: (sweat-drops) You hit your face quite a few times back there…
Fia: Oh! (Happy laughing) I'm fine~! I've got a hard head, remember? (knocks on her skull)
Haven: I think that's beside the point, Tsu-chan…
Fia: Don't worry, my siblings always told me that no matter how many times I hit my face or head, I won't get any uglier or dumber! (dry laughter)
Haven: …That's not exactly something to be… proud about.
Fia: H-Heh… (Blushes) S-Sorry, Karma. I p-promise I didn't s-see anything!
Karma: (shoves hands in pockets and shrugs, but looks away with red cheeks)
Narrator: Well, now that everyone is full sized and has their clothes on again, time for the next chapter preview! Someone bites off more than he can chew with those pointy fangs of his and yet another experimental mishap?!
Left Brain: Also, I'm having a few personal difficulties, so I might be taking a back seat for a while... I'll try to help out though!
Right Brain: So we'll all be here to support our lovely Left Brain! I'll try my best, guys~! I can't wait to see how tiny and cute - Ah! No spoilers~ Stay tuned! 3
Left Brain: I can't believe how sassy she is…
