Evening, right after the Yoseikan Budo lessons
The girls just changed and are ready to leave.
Mirai was about to join her friends when she suddenly felt a hand on her left shoulder.
"Uh?"
She says by looking back, which makes her see three members of the club, two girls and one boy, cheerfully smiling at her.
"Ya're great as usual!"
"Shit yeah, we should spar one day."
"Like completely, and have a snack too!"
Mirai isn't surprised since it's not the first time she got praises after lessons.
But she's still not used to her new popularity, even if she does enjoy it.
"Why not…"
She shily answers.
Following that, the three students, who aren't shinobi, leave by telling her goodbye.
Mirai does the same, smiling too.
"My my, seems our Mirai is a popular girl now…"
Haruka seductively says, scaring Mirai a little.
"I… Well…"
Mirai doesn't know how to answer, and above all, she can't hide she likes being praised.
"Mirai."
Homura says in an authoritarian tone of voice, immediately catching Mirai's attention.
"You shouldn't spend time with normal students, we don't belong to the same world."
She says, still in the same tone of voice.
"I… Yes, you're right…"
Mirai answers, unable to hide her disappointment.
"By the way, we only have one week left before our definitive choice, everyone in my room, we'll have a talk…"
Homura says, her four friends nod.
A few minutes later, Homura's room
The five girls have taken place, ready to talk.
"Allow me to start this time."
Homura tells her friends, who are waiting for her opinion.
"I Really love this school!"
She screams with an excited smile.
"Well well, our dear Homura really loves this school… How funny, I feel the same way."
Haruka tells.
"This is a pretty fine place, I am okay to stay too."
Yomi adds.
"Fine for me."
Hikage says.
"I love this academy, I don't want to go…"
Mirai concludes, confirming the unanimous point of view in the group.
"I guess the decision is clear enough… We'll just have to tell one of the elite students about it."
Homura explains.
"Yes, preferably Fumiyo…"
Yomi says in a low voice.
No one reacts to her remark, because they actually agree, except Haruka who thinks Arisa can be trusted too.
"I'm going to sleep, please leave me."
Homira asks, only a few seconds later, all her friends have already left the room, telling her goodbye before, of course.
A few moments later, in the park next to the school
Yomi and Hikage are having a walk together, of course, Hikage wanted to be alone, but she wasn't able to resist Yomi's insistence.
And obviously, what she was fearing is happening.
"Bean sprouts are incredibly expensive in this town, I dislike that very much!"
Yomi says, expecting Hikage to listen to her complaints.
Hikage sighs, her evening is wasted, she's hoping something will come to make Yomi close her mouth.
"Um?"
And right after thinking about it, she feels something coming.
Usually, Hikage would already have her knife ready to stab, but she feels no aggression and above all, she's sure it's not human.
Quikly, the thing appears, a four-legged one.
"It's… A dog?"
Hikage says by looking at the dog, a labrador retriever, running to her.
"A dog? Where does it come from?"
Yomi says, astonished by the scene.
As Hikage felt, the dog isn't aggressive at all, it even looks very happy to see the two girls.
Especially Hikage, the pet is walking around her, as if it was claiming pet.
"..."
Without saying a single word, Hikage reflexively starts to pet the animal.
"Who's a good dog?!"
Yomi says, petting the dog by cheerfully smiling.
They continue for several seconds, but they suddenly stop when they feel another presence, way less friendly.
Yomi and Hikage are focusing their looks on the incoming presence, which isn't unknown.
A human form is coming from the shadows like the dog did, this is a young woman, Yû.
"Oh…"
She says when she discovers the scene, her face looks surprised for a single second before turning into its normal expression, a scornful one.
"Chuuko, come here."
She coldly orders her labrador, who immediately joins her, even more happy.
And in a few seconds, three other labradors join them, they all are joyful.
Her pack now complete, Yû was about to leave without saying a single word.
Yomi and Hikage stay quiet in front of that, they know Yû isn't really friendly toward people.
At least, Yomi stayed until she remembered something…
"Wait!"
She yells to stop Yû, who actually stops, which is surprising.
She turns her head toward Yomi, she looks pissed but still says nothing.
"What do you think about bean sprouts?"
Yomi asks, excited.
Hikage, even if she was expecting that, can't help but sigh.
Yû, on her side, doesn't react yet, she doesn't even look surprised by Yomi's question.
"Useless…"
She answers with comptent.
"Eh?"
Yomi reacts.
"I love food I can share with my dogs, so, I don't care."
She explains.
Of course, Yomi doesn't like that response at all.
"HOW DARE YOU?! Bean sprouts are tasty, cheap, and can be used for many receipts! The perfect food for poor people!"
Yomi argues.
Hikage, on her side, stays neutral. Actually, she even feels bad for Yû, who has to deal with Yomi's usual speech.
"And? I don't give a fuck about poor, abandonned animals are way more important than those gargbages."
She says.
Yomi, by hearing those words, is becoming red because of the anger. Yû nevertheless doesn't seem to care, and even adds fuel to the fire.
"Animals are always innocent, unlike your poor guys, pitiful humans…"
She says, her voice is even more contemptuous.
Yomi snaps.
"THE POOR PEOPLE ARE BRAVE ONES! PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE GARBAGES!"
Yomi screams, she's never been that angry before.
Yû looks tired of Yomi, her dogs are even grunting at her.
Hikage understands it can go very wrong, so she finally decides to put an end to this.
"Yomi, calm down…"
She says in a monotone voice, but it's not enough to calm her friend.
"CALM DOWN?! After what she just said?!"
Yomi yells, still angry.
Hikage doesn't really know what to respond, so she decides to do something she usually never does.
"YOMI!"
She screams, scarring Yomi, but again Yû doesn't react.
The silence reigns for long seconds before Hikage speaks again.
"You have your war, helping the poor, Yû has her own one, helping abandoned pets, your goals aren't conflicting so, I think you can live together."
Hikage explains, her words surprise Yomi, who immediately calms down.
"We all have our own purpose in our lives, don't pay attention if someone says your is pointless for them."
Hikage adds.
Her speech has made Yomi confused, but even more surprising, Yû also seems to have an interest in Hikage's words.
After other seconds of silence, Yomi finally speaks.
"You are right…"
Yomi tells Hikage before turning around to face Yû.
"Yû, I apologize for my rude words."
She says, trying to look honest, but her apologies actually aren't.
"..."
Yû says nothing in return, even if her face looks a little bit more appeased than usual.
The young woman finally decides to leave, as always, without saying a word to her two "comrades".
Only ten seconds later, Yomi and Hikage are alone again.
"She is poor…"
Yomi claims.
"Uh?"
Hikage reacts, intrigued.
"She comes from a disadvantaged background, like me, but she still despises the poor… She's even worse than little princesses…"
Yomi says, biting her lips once her words are told.
"At least, she seems to deeply love her animals…"
Hikage responds, without really knowing what to say.
Yomi remains silent for a brief moment before looking at Hikage with lovely eyes, which confuses Hikage a bit.
"What?"
Hikage coldly asks.
"Nothing, I just think you're surprisingly sensitive to that kind of emotion…"
Yomi says by cheerfully smiling.
Hikage first doesn't react, she only realizes now how strangely talkative she was that night.
And of course, she doesn't really know why.
"Maybe… Whatever, I'll sleep…"
She says, walking in the direction of the school.
"I am coming with you! I feel tired too…"
Yomi says, following her friend