Fluffy white clouds lazily made their way across the bright blue sky, occasionally covering up the orange ball of warmth in the middle of it and momentarily providing shade for the students of Kaion Academy during their lunch break. There were more than plenty of tables inside the three-story cafeteria building, which was open to everyone, but most of them opted to eat outside while the spring weather was still gracious to them: either at the outdoor tables or sitting on the grassy patches of the school grounds.
On such days, Miku, Rin and Len sneaked up to the roof; the teachers couldn't notice them as long as they remained near the center.
"So, how're your new classes?" Miku posed the question as they settled down with their lunches.
"Well, so-so," Len began to reply in a discontent tone. "Most of them are new faces who transferred in for high school."
"Yeah, there are only a handful of people I know," Rin confirmed his statement, also including her own experience. "And there's this one girl with strawberry pink hair, Nekomura-chan, who looks more like a first year in middle school than in high school, but her voice sounds almost like an adult!"
"Seriously?" the tealette asked back, her jaw slightly dropping in surprise.
"Mhmh. She actually seems nice, though. She sits right behind me," Rin added. "But that's nothing compared to this other guy, Piko."
"Just 'Piko'? You're already on such friendly terms with him?" Len suddenly interjected, almost apprehensively. He eyed his sister carefully as he took a sip from his soda.
"Noooo not at all really...yeah kinda sorta maybe a bit, eheheh," she revealed to them in a roundabout way, uttering the string of words in a single breath, adding a nervous giggle to the end.
Upon hearing her answer, Len began to violently cough as he almost choked on his drink. "Huuuuhhhh?" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"Well, he was the one who said in his introduction to simply call him Piko. But yeah, he sits behind me, so we chatted for a bit," she more or less explained the situation. "Anyway! That's not the point," Rin skilfully steered the conversation back to its original track. "As I was saying, he's more of a shocker than Nekomura-chan. How should I put it...? At first sight, you totally can't tell if he's a girlish boy or a boyish girl. And when you hear his voice, you just get even more confused."
"For real?" Miku wondered. "So, did someone ask him if he was a boy or girl?"
"Naaahh, though that sure would've been hilarious. He was wearing the boy uniform, of course," she clarified. "And he's like the perfect gentleman, saying sweet things to the girls all the time. With such an adorable smile, too! It makes him kinda cute~."
"Tch, what a player..." Len muttered his opinion on the matter, but the girls paid no attention to him.
"Oohhh, so Rin-chan's already falling for him?" the tealette asked her friend in a teasing tone.
"Oh please, no way. He might be cute and sweet, but so not worth battling a legion of fangirls," she brushed aside the improbable assumption. However, a faint blush that coloured her cheeks betrayed her words.
"So, yeah, there's a bunch of interesting people in my class this year," Rin concluded. "It's not as awful as I thought it'd be without Len-nii there."
"Wow, thanks Rin, good to know I'm so unnecessary," her brother sourly noted.
"Aw, c'mon, you know that's not how I meant it," she expressed her remorse. "Surely you've made new friends in your own class?"
"Unlike a certain someone, no, I couldn't really be bothered," he retorted. "Why would I need new friends if I have you two?"
Thank gosh I didn't let Luka-chan tag along with me for lunch today. And that I didn't bail out on Rin-chan and Len-kun, either. She's fine in her new class, having suddenly turned into a social butterfly, but he isn't... Miku observed. So much for 'nothing else will change'...
"Because socialising is what high school's all about?" Rin suggested. "The social skills you acquire now will be helpful later. Right, Miku-chan?"
"Eh? Uh, yeah, right," she replied automatically. Since her thoughts were suddenly disturbed, it took a moment for the question to actually sink in. "I mean, not entirely. There's more to high school than making a ton of new friends you won't even remember the names of ten years later."
"Exactly my point," he agreed, smirking victoriously. "I have better things to do with my time than put up a front for these people."
"But," Miku added, "You might want to consider making a friend or two, Len-kun. Trust me; it's better to be on good terms with your classmates if you want to have a fun year."
"Alright, whatever," he disregarded her advice, rolling his eyes.
At that moment, a brilliant idea popped into Miku's mind. Obviously, the concept of things remaining unchanged is screwed. So I might as well make the change itself easier for them. Or at least, attempt to do so.
"Listen up, you two. It's been just the three of us since day one, practically. I didn't think that being in different classes would be such an impact, although it looks like it actually is, so it really might be better to loosen things up a bit. No more lunches together at school," the tealette declared. An identical stunned expression appeared on the twins' faces.
"Relax, it's just for lunch. We'll still hang out together outside of school. And it's not permanent; let's try this out for a month and see where that gets us," she explained her idea in further detail. "I suppose it should apply to walking home, too. Though I guess that can go either way. And most important of all, the rooftop's reserved for the three of us only."
"I'm totally okay with it," Rin gave her consent without hesitation. The girls looked at Len, awaiting his answer.
"Fine. I suppose I'm outnumbered in this vote anyway," he finally announced after pondering it over for a short while.
Perfect, now I just hope it won't become a disaster... And this way, I can keep my promise to Luka-chan, she commented to herself.
"On that note... which music group are you two in?" Miku inquired. "I'm with Gumi-sensei again."
"Me, too," Rin replied with a huge grin.
"Same here," Len said, his sour mood finally lightened by a smile. "At least that only had a small chance of changing."
At Kaion Academy, the students in the music program were split into several, smaller groups to facilitate their learning. The school's objective was to develop their skills in an optimal environment; as such, the members of each group merely changed according to the number of transfers in and out. Those who were put together at the start rarely got separated later on. However, the supervising teacher did change on a yearly basis. Nevertheless, it was still possible to receive the same teacher in two consecutive years.
They passed the rest of the lunch break light-heartedly chatting up on the roof; if it was to be their last for the next short while, they didn't wish to let it go to waste by further discussing their earlier topic.
The resounding ringing of the bell brought an end to the break. The students unwillingly left the sunlight and swarmed back into the confines of their classrooms for the last class of the first day.
The sound of the locker doors closing created a cacophony in the high school building as the students prepared to leave for the day. Of all the materials in the world, why do lockers have to be made out of metal? You'd think people would realize that it's really annoying and they should be made from something else, but obviously not, Miku complained to herself.
She took haste in switching her shoes, in order to escape the irritating noise as soon as possible. She hurriedly passed by the numerous columns of lockers to reach the main entrance, evading the bystanders to the best of her ability; even though she was completely immersed in her own thoughts, which mainly consisted of various ways to torture the inventors of metal lockers.
Unexpectedly and unforeseeably, a student stepped right into the middle of her path. It was too late for a dodging manoeuvre; as such, she bumped right into the unsuspecting person from behind.
Miku staggered backwards, somehow managing to stay on her feet. She took a good look at the obstacle that had gotten in her way.
"Wooooaaaah, tall person..." she blurted out without thinking.
The 'tall person' in question turned around to face her. He had short blue hair, the sunlight pouring through the windows making it seem like a myriad of different shades. His deep blue eyes looked down at her, surprise reflected in them. He had a charming, youthful face; if it weren't for his orange tie, he could've still passed as a middle school student.
Time seemed to freeze for the girl; she had no idea how to react to the situation all of a sudden. Way to go, Miku, clumsily bumping into possibly the cutest first year, she scolded herself. Her heart pounded against her chest as her mind frantically attempted to think of something, just anything.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed in an unnaturally high and squeaky voice, staring up at him. She wanted to dash away out of embarrassment, but her feet were rooted into the ground. She was clutching her schoolbag so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"No worries, Chibikko-senpai," he said with a smile, arbitrarily bestowing a nickname upon her. "You might wanna slow down next time."
After passing on his advice to her, the boy began to saunter towards the door. Miku remained in the same spot while her brain processed the recent chain of events.
"Heeeyyyy, who's he calling a chibikko?" she retorted, albeit a minute too late. Her lips distorted into a grimace. "I'm not that short... he's freakishly tall!"
Miku raised her voice a bit too high; despite the loudness of the lockers, the people nearby still heard her sudden outburst. The wondering gazes gave the tealette an uncomfortable feeling, so she brusquely made her way out of the building.
The schoolyard was littered with students: some by the benches, some lazily lying on the grass, some in large groups and some in small groups.
"Hey, Miku-chan!" a voice called out to her from nearby. She glanced in its direction and spotted Luka, who was hanging out with a few girls from their class. She quickly strode over to join them.
"We're going to take advantage of our free afternoon and stroll around town a bit. Wanna come with us?" the pinkette invited her along, with a warm smile.
"Uhh... well... uhm..." Miku stumbled over her words, unsure what to reply.
She scanned the school grounds, in search of her friends. It was easy to find Rin: her white bow was merrily bobbing amidst a group of people whom Miku presumed to be her classmates. She probably has her own plans, it seems.
She continued to look for Len, but to no avail; he was nowhere to be seen. I bet he's gone home already, otherwise he'd surely be waiting at the gate or something, Miku deduced.
"Sure, let's go," she agreed to their plans at last, smiling back at Luka.
The girls set off towards the main gate, casually babbling along the way. However, Miku was only half-listening, as she was caught up in her own thoughts.
This was pretty unexpected... The first day is barely over and we're already all split up. Quite easily at that. It was really naive of me to think that nothing will change just because the twins are in separate classes. Look at me: making a new friend and favouring her over my old ones. We did agree to it, but still... What'll happen from now on...? Was it really a good idea to let us go our own ways for an entire month?
Author's Note: Short chapter is short xD The next one may or may not be longer... I'll try to have it up by the end of the month, but I'm lazy and too good at procrastinating, so, no promises.