I had a horrible dream.
and that dream made me want to do this.
i hope you enjoy
The two met in the most cliché manner.
One bumped into the other causing them both to fall down.
No apologies were exchanged, only mild irritation that lingered until their eyes focused on something else.
And a small notebook that fell out of a pocket.
Nishikino Maki never believed in fate or destiny. It was absurd. No real scientific evidence to prove the claim. So why is it that when she picked up the notebook, her world turned upside down?
"Maki-chan nya!" Rin jumped on her, rubbing their cheeks together. "Good morning!"
"Rin. How many times do I have to tell you greeting is fine? There's no need to jump on me every morning." She deadpanned. She was getting heavier and heavier and she was no weightlifter.
"That's your greeting and this is mine nya!" The orange-haired girl suddenly stopped and glomped the unsuspecting Hanayo. "Kayo-chin, I think there's something wrong with Maki-chan nya." She whispered. It was loud. "Usually, she screams before telling me to let go but she hasn't done that today. Did she hit her head or something?" Maki could hear her from a mile away. She refused to make a comment.
"Maki-chan is busy with a lot of things so maybe she's just tired." Hanayo's voice made her purr. "Let's get to our seats. The teacher will come in any second." Rin quickly ran to her desk and the redhead finally let out a sigh. What a way to start her morning.
"Thanks, Hanayo."
"No problem. Rin's just worried because you might be overworking yourself."
"It's nothing." She eyed the notebook inside her bag. "Just a little accident."
Maki was busy reading her novel when she carelessly crashed into someone in the hallway. Both of them fell down and with a grunt, their eyes glared at each other the second their rear landed on the tiled floor.
Maki was annoyed, but it was partially at fault for not paying attention while the other girl was pissed. Her eyes were bright and it was infuriating to look at.
She had never seen her before. She was rather small, looked more like she was in grade school than in highschool. She had raven hair that was tied in pigtails help up with red ribbons. Her deep red eyes were flashing maliciously, Maki had to stand her ground. The tiny girl had her chin raised, staring at her dead in the eye. Maki stared right back.
The two had scowls painted on their faces and anyone who walked by were smart enough to go the other way.
The redhead was first to break eye contact after hearing the school bell. She wasn't going to ruin her perfect attendance by challenging a kid to a never-ending staring contest. She picked up her novel, dusted her skirt and fixed her ribbon.
"Watch where you're going." Maki warned. Much to her surprise, the other girl did not react nor said anything in return. She just stared at her face, then her frown deepened and gestured something with her hands before walking away.
"Weirdo."
Turning around, Maki's shoe kicked something and it skittered on the floor. She saw a notebook that wasn't hers. Maybe it belonged to the midget. She looked around but the girl was nowhere in sight.
With a sigh, she picked it up anyways.
The notebook itself wasn't anything special. It was small, simple and boring. Like the owner. Maki knew it was invasion of privacy but her hands began to flip the pages unconsciously before her brain could tell her otherwise.
There were scribbles and undecipherable words written by what looked like it was made by a child. Other pages used a bright pink pencil while the rest were drawn by the normal, standard pencil. There were doodles of hearts and stars. Basic shapes of geometry and formulas. Then what seemed like a list for grocery shopping. The further she got to the end, the more the words became distinguishable.
Have you eaten?
What did she say?
The kids wanted me to give you this.
I'll be going first.
Don't tell me you forgot?
I brought what you wanted so leave me be.
At a closer look, Maki suspected that it wasn't just one person who had written on the notebook. Judging from the different handwritings, it seemed maybe several wrote there, excluding the owner whose writing was most prominent.
"This is ridiculous." She sighed. She closed the notebook and placed it inside her bag, ready to return it the next morning.
Maki was in her seat, gazing from the courtyard below. After staying up late that night to study and helping out at the hospital, she was exhausted. It was windy today like she had predicted and the window offered the best spot to rest. She was currently having lunch with Rin and Hanayo when something caught her eye.
It was the girl.
And she was looking for something.
Her hand itched for the notebook in bag and the guilt building up inside her. She'd want to get this over with as fast as possible. She excused herself and went out of the classroom, hoping to run into her.
"Maki-chan! Aren't you going to eat your cherry tomatoes nya?"
"Don't you dare touch them, Rin!"
She walked past several other students on her way while keeping an eye on the girl so she won't lose track of her. She didn't like to run in the hallway. She followed the rules. She wasn't a delinquent.
Imagine the look of surprise on her face when she turned in the corner to crash into someone yet again. That would be twice in a row.
But unlike before, it was soft.
"Hey, watch where-!"
"Oh, so you're the one who picked up Nicocchi's notebook."
What? Who? The words died in her mouth as she saw the Student Council Vice President extending her hand to her with a saccharine smile. "Nishikino Maki. What a wonderful surprise."
"How did you-?" Unable to formulate any words, she took her hand and let herself be pulled up.
"I'm Toujou Nozomi. The cards told me that we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on." She showed her a tarot card. It was The Fool. Maki had no clue what the itmeant. "Nicocchi told me she bumped into someone who had beautiful red hair."
Maki never suspected the Vice President to know every name of the student body. There were literally hundreds of them and for her to know them by name was quite unnerving. She was suspicious. And weird. She knows almost everything to the point that it was borderline creepy and the cards that she carries around with her are her tools for divination. All the more reason for her to avoid.
And that little brat said her hair was beautiful.
"You said this is hers?" she waved the notebook in her hand, dismissing the thought of the girl. She wanted to hand it over and leave. Immediately. Before Nozomi could touch it, the sound of loud and heavy thudding were headed towards them and Maki didn't know what was coming for her.
Suddenly, the notebook was harshly snatched from her hand that it actually burned. The small girl who she last seen in the courtyard was standing right in front of her, just like the day before. She still had that nasty scowl on her face and her eyes were gleaming with irritation. It was only then that she noticed she wore a green ribbon. The green ribbon signified that she was two years older than her. She wasn't just an ordinary brat. She was a third year.
"Nico!" another voice came. "Stop!"
Catching up to Nico, as they called her, a blonde student rushed forward and stood in between Maki and her. She served as a barrier between them, more cautious to the smaller one. It was the Student Council President, she noted. The Ice Queen of Otonokizaka. Another person to avoid. Another person added to her list.
"Elicchi, what nice timing." Nozomi put her hand on their shoulders, effectively cooling them down. She then motioned Nico to face her.
And that's when the redhead witnessed something.
Something that felt too unreal.
"Nicocchi, Maki-chan here found your notebook and she was just returning it." Nozomi said with gesturing with her hands. "No need to be hostile." The smallest of the three grunted and did something of the same manner with her hands and Maki could only stare at their rapid hand movements. They continued their exchange with the purple-haired girl's voice as soundtrack and the dark-haired girl's silent mouthing of words.
"No, no, she wasn't doing anything wrong."
Another grunt. An accusatory finger pointed at the redhead.
"She didn't. I just helped her."
"Sorry about Nico's behaviour." The blonde turned to her to divert her attention. "She's protective over Nozomi." She extended her hand. Maki shook it. "Ayase Eli. You must be Nishikino Maki, right?"
She nodded. Her eyes flitted over to the two having a silent conversation and were met with Eli's stern blue eyes. "Is there a problem?" her voice turned cold and deadly. True to her name, she was cold to the core. If Maki answered incorrectly, she'd have to give Rin and Hanayo a notice to her funeral.
She flinched but shook her head. The two joined them and Nozomi pulled Eli back. The vice president signed something with her hands, mouthed her words and the blonde sighed. Nico was eyeing them closely with a smirk. Maki hated it when she didn't know something. She hated being ignorant. It made her feel stupid. "Maki-chan," she called in a sing-song voice. "these two have a lot to learn in not scaring the students so please forgive them."
"I-it's alright. No harm done." If anything, the three of them combined felt a lot more threatening.
Nozomi pushed Nico forward and told her to apologize. The senior clicked her tongue and raised a brow at her. Maki twirled her hair.
The raven-haired senior did two signs with her hand accompanied by two syllables formed by her mouth and stuck her tongue out. The president and vice president giggled and Maki was utterly confused. "Excuse me?"
Nico sneered. "Nicocchi, do it properly." Said Nozomi. Her voice wasn't hiding the fact she was amused. The senior sighed and did what she was told. She tapped her left wrist with her right hand, bringing it upwards. The redhead looked closely at her mouth and was able to decipher a simple 'thank you'.
The next thing she knew the tiny, insufferable senior smiled.
It was bright and genuine.
And utterly adorable.
Maki couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat.
It was ridiculous.
"Maki-chan, you're awfully distracted today." Rin noted. She buried her face in her fingers and said it was nothing. Hanayo coaxed her childhood friend in not disturbing her but Rin was too persistent. Too nice for her own good.
"Is it because I ate some of your cherry tomatoes nya?" she confessed. Maki rolled her eyes. She had already forgiven her about that.
"Don't you mean all of them?"
"Nyaaa! She remembered!" Rin hid behind Hanayo for some sort of protection. "Kayo-chin save me!" Maki snorted.
"Hey Maki-chan, are you sure everything's okay?" the timid girl leaned towards her desk, gently placing her hand on top of hers. "Rin-chan's just worried as I am. If there's anything we can help you with, just ask." She gave in. She didn't know whether it was because Hanayo handled things less disruptively or because Hanayo was… Hanayo. No one can ever deny Hanayo.
"Do you guys know of a small," she made a measurement with her arm. "senior who has dark hair with" An adorable smile. "a pissed off look on her face?"
The orange-haired girl put a hand on her chin, visualizing the person Maki had in mind. "That's very specific nya!" she blushed and twirled her hair. "Did you have a fight with her? Maki-chan is sooo hard-core!"
"No! What are you talking about?! I would never- Look, i-it's just-!"
"Nico-chan!"
The very name that got stuck in her throat was effortlessly called out by none other than Rin. She then dashed to the window, waving frantically below. "Nico-chan! Hey! Kayo-chin, say hi! It's Nico-chan!" she grabbed her best friend and the both shouted from below. It was given that Rin got excited to every little thing but Hanayo reacting to the tiny senior was very uncharacteristic of her.
"Nico-chan!"
"Nico-senpai!"
They were shouting at the top of their lungs but both had forgotten one crucial part.
Nico couldn't hear them.
Maki had to step in, they were making a scene. Everyone was looking at them with troubled expressions. They were whispering. They were judging. It was embarrassing. "Stop it!" she hissed. She pulled the two before they fall down from the window. At that moment, she saw Nozomi sign to Nico and pointed to their room. Eli was following closely behind.
Rin and Hanayo both tugged at Maki's grip, excited to see her. Maki was nowhere near as strong to hold both of them off. "Nico-chan! How are you?!" she waved.
"Nico-senpai, hello." Hanayo squeaked. "R-rin-chan! Remember what she taught us?"
"Mmm! One!" They both did a handsign.
"Two." They placed it near their heads, mimicking animal ears.
"Three!"
"Nico nico nii~!"
Maki observed how Nico's crimson eyes sparkled in broad daylight in just seeing the two doing an idiotic pose. She looked so happy, so content, and so proud and she couldn't explain why her heart felt like it weighed a ton of bricks. She was like in a magic spell. Her eyes couldn't stop staring at her.
The raven-haired senior returned it with her own and made a tiny sign with her index and middle finger to her chest. "See you later, Nico-chan!" Maki briefly made contact with her and the spell was broken. The smile was turned into another scowl and the gremlin showed her true colours once more. She repeated the sign she had done in their previous meeting followed by immaturely sticking her tongue out. Rin and Hanayo glanced at her curiously.
That little-!
Maki fumed. The nerve of that girl.
Eli and Nozomi waved at the trio and proceeded to scold Nico. But by the looks of it, she wasn't taking them seriously. The third years went to inside and the first years went back to their seats with a couple more minutes to spare. Her mood turned sour.
"I never imagined you know Nico-chan nya." Rin mused.
"And I never knew you two know that gremlin." She spat.
Rin looked very hurt. Like someone dissed her favourite ramen. "That's so mean nya!" She pinched her cheeks. "Nico-chan is the most nicest senior ever! How could you say that?!"
"Maki-chan…" Even Hanayo was affected. "Nico-senpai may look mean but she's…"
"Fine, I get it!" she slapped Rin's hands away from her face."I'm sorry. There." Maki's cheeks burned not only from her friend's hands but also from shame. "I take it back, happy?" she began to twirl her hair with her finger.
"Geez, Maki-chan. What's your problem with Nico-chan?"
"What's her problem with me?" she screeched. "Look, the thing is, I accidentally bumped into her, I found her notebook, returned it and she's been giving me those weird looks ever since. I don't even know what she's saying but I'm a hundred percent sure she's insulting me."
"She is." Rin snickered. "She called you an idiot."
"She what?"
Hanayo quickly covered her mouth to prevent another fight with the two. "Rin-chan, don't upset Maki-chan any further!"
I just did this on a whim.
I tried writing in a different style than i'm used to.
if there's anything wrong, please dont hesistate to tell me!
Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you very much for reading!