"Hana-chan! How much longer?" Mika whined as she dragged her suitcase up the stairs of the houses in Iwatobi Town. [name] sighed as she grabbed hold of Mika's suitcase, and carried it all the way up to the platform, allowing her to rest in the meantime.
"Etto… It's around here…" Hana mumbled as she looked at the map that was held in her hands.
"Mou, you should have let [name]-chan lead us!" Nana cried out as she leaned against [name].
"Let Hana have a go at it instead." [name] spoke monotonously as she held Nana by her arm.
"Ah, found it!" Hana called out, and the girls gathered at the front gate of their new home.
"Ne, [name]-chan. You should give mother a call to let her know that we're here safe and sound!" Nana spoke as she followed the older duo into the house, with Mika just beside her.
"I'll do that once we've officially settled down." [name] managed to speak out after gritting her teeth together. How badly she wanted to avoid being the one responsible for the other three dorks who were going to live with her then.
"You must remember! Ensure all the electrical appliances and water is running!"
"Yes, mother."
"And also, breakfast must be standardised at a certain timing; dinner as well!"
"Yes, mother…"
"And also, clean up the house and everything. All the workload must be divided equally, no pampering of the younger girls!"
"yes…"
"And also, remember to call me wh-."
"I KNOW, MOTHER!"
"Mika, Nana; it's time to wake up. [name]'s about to go on a rampage if we're going to be late on the very first day of school." Hana spoke in her gentle voice as she shook Mika and Nana by the shoulders.
"Five more minutes… Hana-chan…" both of them mumbled out, and Hana could only smile softly.
Mika and Nana were sharing a room; since the both of them were typically the youngest, and there was only three bedrooms. Hana and [name] have their own individual bedrooms.
"[name]'s going to get mad…" Hana whispered out gently, and as if on cue…
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.
.
"ISHIDA MIKA, KAGAWA NANA! YOU BETTER GET UP RIGHT NOW, OR-." [name] yelled, and the two younger sleepy duo immediately shot up from bed with their eyes wide opened.
"H-HAI!"
And Hana could only giggle at how cute the two girls were.
"Class, we have two new students with us; I'll let them introduce themselves alright? Please state your name, and your hobby as well." The teacher spoke as she smiled at both Hana and [name].
"My name is Hisamatsu Hana! A pleasure to be in the same class as all of you! I love to swim." Hana spoke with much gentleness in her voice, and [name] swore that she saw most of the boys in class getting struck by her charm.
"And the other student?" the teacher spoke with a soft smile on her face, encouraging [name].
"[L/N] [name]." [name] spoke out flatly, and Hana could only chuckle at her dull self.
"Sorry about [name], some stuffs just happened. Oh, and she loves swimming too!" Hana called out cheerfully, and [name] could only sigh and look forward; that's when her dark ocean blue eyes met a pair of droopy green eyes.
"Let's see, ah! Tachibana Makoto and Nanase Haruka, why don't you two show our new students around school?" the teacher called out with a smile; that clearly meant 'if you don't, I'll close down your club'.
"Hai, sensei."
"[name]-chan! Hana-chan!" Nana called out from her classroom during break as [name] and Hana were walking together with Makoto and Haruka, exploring the campus ground.
"N-N-Nanase H-Haruka!" Mika whisper-yelled, and Nana then noticed the muscular young man with short, straight black hair and blue eyes.
"Makoto-senpai! Haruka-senpai!" and the two boys in front of both [name] and Hana then looked up to spot a petite girl with long burgundy hair, tied back in a ponytail running towards them.
"Gou-chan." Makoto spoke out with a soft smile; just like Hana's, and [name] could only gag while Hana lightly elbowed [name] in the ribs and pouting as well; for she clearly knew what [name] was thinking.
"AREN'T THE BOTH OF YOU [L/N] [NAME] AND HISAMATSU HANA?!" Gou yelled, and [name] quickly covered her ears as she looked out of the window in the corridor; leaving Hana to entertain her.
"A-And you are?" Hana gently asked.
"[name]-chan! Hana-chan! It's our break time already, let's go eat!" and Mika latched onto [name]'s arm whereas Nana latched onto Hana's.
"Kyahh, Ishida Mika and Kagawa Nana are here too!" Gou cried out with adoration clearly shown in her eyes.
"G-Gou-chan?" Makoto spoke as he paled slightly at Gou's fangirling antics.
"Makoto-senpai, Haruka-senpai; did you guys know? These girls won the nationals during their Junior High!"
"It's getting too noisy… Let's go…" [name] mumbled out, and left; with Mika still latched onto her arm and Hana bowing slightly in an apologetic manner to her classmates as well as junior, also with Nana latched onto her arm still as well.
"Etto… Did I do something wrong?" Gou spoke with guilt in her voice.
"I doubt so, Gou-chan." Makoto spoke as he watched the group of girls walking further away from them, and that's when he noticed Haruka was going after them.
"Haru!"
"Nene, there's this really cute guy in our class!" Mika spoke as she opened the bento which [name] had made for all of them for lunch that day.
"Yeah! He has wavy honey-blond hair and also magenta eyes like you; Hana-chan!" Nana spoke as she too opened her bento.
"That sounds like Hazuki Nagisa, the breaststroke swimmer." Hana spoke as she poked [name]'s sides to get her attention.
"You're right! He even told us that we could call him Nagisa!" Mika giggled as she started to eat her bento.
"Ne, so are there any guys that caught your attention in your class?" Nana asked.
"Etto… Nanase Haruka did catch my attention somehow… His eyes… Just looks like [name]'s." Hana spoke as she turned to look at [name] who had on a disinterested look on her face.
"What about [name]-chan?" Mika asked as she bit into her tamago.
"I don't think [name] is really interested in this topic eh?" Hana spoke as she gave a look towards the younger duo; telling them secretly not to push [name]'s button.
"Y-You're right, Hana-chan!" Nana spoke as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"[name]-chan wouldn't be interested at all." Mika spoke with a pout…
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.
.
"Tachibana Makoto." [name] mumbled out, and the three girls stopped to stare in shock at [name].
"There you are! [name]-chan, Hana-chan!" the girls heard a voice behind them, and they turned to look at who had called; Tachibana Makoto.
"Mika-chan! Nana-chan!" Nagisa called out as he hopped towards them, and settled himself in between them.
"Hisamatsu-san." Haruka called out as he settled himself beside Hana
"Hana will do." Hana spoke as she smiled softly; that's when Haruka blushed slightly.
"[L/N]-san?" Makoto called out and patted [name] on the shoulder. She then looked up and realised there wasn't much of a space beside her, and she shifted slightly to provide just enough space for Makoto to take a seat.
"Thank you, [L/N]-san." Makoto spoke with a smile.
"[name] will do." [name] mumbled out as she started to eat her food; not realising Makoto was actually smiling at her sudden so called opening up form.
"Alright, [name]-chan!" Makoto called out, and [name] gripped her chopsticks tightly; and kind of stabbed her tamago with it; causing Hana to giggle slightly as [name] honestly really hated it when people added a -chan behind her name.
"Huh…" [name] mumbled out as she listened to what Hana had said. Apparently Haruka had asked her to join the swimming club; but she told him that she will only join if [name] was there, which then Haruka decided to go on a mission with the other swimming club members; mission101, get [name] to join the swimming club, so that Hana, Mika and Nana will also join them.
"They can try, but I won't…" [name] muttered as she gathered her books, and was about to leave when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"[name]-chan, if you're not there; the girls and I won't bother joining." Hana spoke with a smile, and [name] definitely had an irk mark on her forehead. She sighed and breathed in and out deeply; before mumbling out;
"I don't get how you can always smile."
"Eh?" and [name] walked away leaving Hana to pout slightly.
"[name]-chan! Hana-chan!" and [name] immediately made a dash for the exit; along with Hana who was running behind her, escaping from the people whom [name] clearly didn't want to get caught by.
"Eh? [name]-chan, Hana-chan! Let's go Haru!"
Yeap, Tachibana Makoto; as well as Nanase Haruka.
[name] made a sharp turn towards the staircase, causing Hana to nearly slam into the wall. She then quickly turned and followed [name]'s step; descending down the stairs towards the second floor. She then turned to follow [name] who was running down the hallway…
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.
.
"Let's go!" [name] called out, and both Mika and Nana started to run along with the older duo.
"Mika-chan? Nana-chan?" Nagisa called out, and then all of a sudden…
.
.
.
"Nagisa!"
"Oh, Mako-chan! Haru-chan!"
"Let's go!"
"Eh?!"
"Why… Can't… They… Leave… Us… Alone…" [name] thought to herself as she walked beside Makoto who still had on his soft smile; as always. She then turned to look at Hana, who was giving her an apologetic smile. And then she turned to look at the younger girls; who were pouting slightly as they really wanted to head home on their own to sleep.
"You're probably thinking why aren't we leaving you girls alone." Makoto spoke, and [name] flinched slightly.
"How did he know?!" [name] thought to herself.
"If it's about joining the swimming club; I'm clearly not interested." [name] mumbled out as she gripped onto her bag strap tightly.
"N-No, it's not about the swimming club! We genuinely want to be friends with you girls."
"Flirts." [name] muttered out as she made a turn around the corner of the street.
"Eh? This way is where Haru-chan and Mako-chan lives!" Nagisa called out.
"Oh god…" [name] muttered to herself.
"So this is where you girls stay; you girls are just staying in between Mako-chan's house as well as Haru-chan's house!" Nagisa cried out, and [name] cringe slightly. Sure she had her fair dose of two hyperactive girls who were younger than her; screaming their lungs out whenever something minor happens. She definitely didn't need another being to start her headaches once again.
"[name]-chan! What are we having for dinner?" Mika asked as she latched herself onto [name]'s arm.
"Green curry…" [name] muttered as she was about to make her way through the front gate; when all of a sudden a squeal was heard;
"Mako-chan loves green curry!" Nagisa shouted, and Makoto couldn't help but cover Nagisa's mouth.
"Is there going to be mackerel?" Haru asked all of a sudden and [name] stared at him with a weird look on her face.
"[name] cooks the best mackerel around here." Hana spoke, and [name] immediately glare daggers at her; where Hana just waved it off as if it was nothing; as always.
"There's definitely mackerel, Haruka-senpai!" Mika called out, and Haru started to drool slightly; causing Makoto to quickly smack a tissue at his mouth.
"Why not you boys join us for dinner?" Hana asked with a smile, totally ignoring [name]'s shocked look on her face.
"If it isn't a bother." Makoto spoke, and [name] could only huff as she walked into the house, slamming the door shut.
"Don't worry, [name] actually loves to cook for people." Hana explained.
"Come by at 7pm!" Nana called out and dragged both Hana and Mika into the house, to soothe the anger that has risen in [name].
"Will there be desserts though?" Nagisa asked, and all of a sudden from the window; Mika shouted:
"[name]-chan said it's alright to come over!"
"I DID NOT!"
"AND THERE WILL BE SWEET TREATS TOO!"
"ISHIDA MIKA!"
"[name]-chan, I just realised something… We don't have any ingredients for dinner, right?" Nana asked as she propped her elbows on her knees, and head resting on the palms of her hands. [name], who was busy looking at a magazine just nodded in response.
"So that's why [name] didn't want the boys to come over." Hana spoke with a soft smile as usual, and [name] nodded at the comment.
"Let's go get some food then! I already texted Nagisa that we'll be going grocery shopping; and he said that he will get the boys to accompany us!" Mika spoke, and [name] immediately hurled the magazine she was reading right at Mika's forehead.
"Ouch!"
"I swear…" [name] muttered as she got up to change her clothes.
"Is [name]-chan mad at me?" Mika asked with a pout.
"Hahaha, not one bit. You know how [name] is; she hardly shows what she feels." Hana spoke as she rubbed Mika's forehead lightly with her thumb.
"But [name]-chan is still the best though!" Nana spoke with admiration, and Hana chuckled.
"Always will be."
"Don't get too close to people. Eventually you'll hurt someone." [name] thought to herself as she flipped her hair out from her shirt. Her slightly curled at the tip brown locks reached the middle of her back, and she turned slightly to take a look at the back.
"[name]? Are you ready?" Hana called out from behind [name]'s door, and she knocked as well. [name] then grabbed hold of her small bag and took big strides towards the door, opening it slightly; and slipping out through the gap that she had created.
"Even in casual clothing; you still look like a model." Hana commented with a soft smile; and [name] could only roll her eyes at Hana's silly compliment.
Sure [name] had been scouted for model agencies as well as swimming teams; her long slim legs and well-proportioned body was what caught the eyes of the model agencies. Her stamina and perseverance to strive for the best was what caught the swimming teams. [name]'s skin was more on the fair side rather than tan; despite all the swimming she had done. Her dark ocean blue eyes complimented her skin; and boys were always attracted to her.
"Enough… Let's go…" [name] mumbled out as she walked down the stairs, with Hana following her.
"[name]… When will you come back to us?" Hana whispered out, without realising that [name] clearly heard what she had just said. She gripped the railings of the stairs tightly as she made her way down.
"Tell me, what did I do wrong? Why do people hate me for standing up for my teammates? Why do people blame me for her injury when clearly she was the one who started it? Why do I have to always hold back and give in every single damn time? What reason do I have to actually continue to smile; continue to laugh; continue to show emotions? In the end everybody will hate me, including you too, Hana." [name] thought to herself as she sat on the floor at the front door, wearing her shoes; with Hana just in front of her, along with the other two younger duos.
"Yay, shopping with Hana-chan and [name]-chan!" Mika cried out as she hopped out of the front gate, holding Nana's hand as well. [name] could only shake her head at the scene before her, with a soft and small smile on her face; while Hana chuckled at the sight.
"Mou, where are they?" Mika asked as she looked around.
"Did anybody bring an umbrella?" Hana asked as she looked up at the sky. Dark rain clouds were gathering at almost an instant, and lightning could be seen; thunder could be heard.
"Mika-chan! Nana-chan!" and the four girls turned to look at the voice that had called out the younger duos. There came running were Hazuki Nagisa, Tachibana Makoto and also Nanase Haruka who was clearly being dragged by the arm by Makoto. That's when the girls realised that Nagisa was also dragging someone; a muscular young man with short, dark blue hair and purple eyes wearing red framed glasses.
"Nagisa-kun! I just came back from London, come on!" the man yelled out.
"Hana-chan! [name]-chan!" Nagisa called out as the four boys came to a halt right in front of the girls who were waiting in front of the supermarket.
"Sorry that we're late, [name]-chan! We went to welcome back Rei when Mika had asked us to join you girls on grocery shopping." Makoto explained frantically, and [name] remained unfazed while she raised an eyebrow.
"B-B-Beautiful…" Rei whispered out, and Hana giggled slightly;
"Looks like your charm struck another boy, [name]." Hana whispered into [name]'s ear, and she elbowed Hana hard in the stomach, causing her to gag a little yet laugh.
"Then you shouldn't have come." [name] mumbled out loud enough for the girls to hear; not realising that Makoto had actually heard it.
"N-No, it's alright! We do want to come and help out, since we'll be coming over for dinner!" Makoto explained in a frantic manner once more, and [name] just nodded her head slightly and headed into the supermarket, leaving Makoto with a sad look on his face.
"Don't mind [name]. She used to be out-going and cheerful." Hana spoke with a soft smile as she too, entered the supermarket along with the other two girls; the boys following them as well.
"And I wonder why." Makoto thought to himself, and soon both Nagisa and Rei were bickering with one another, snapping Makoto out of his thoughts as he looked at the scene before them with a soft smile on his face; as always.
"[name]-chan! Can we get this?" Mika asked as she held out a bag of her favourite potato chips and waved it at [name] who was at the frozen food section looking at the food together with Haruka and Makoto. [name] then turned to look and then she sighed and nodded, causing Mika to squeal in delight as she ran over and dropped the bag of potato chips into the trolley which Makoto was pushing.
"[name]!" and [name] turned to look at the other side where Hana, Nana, Nagisa and Rei were making their way towards where the other four was standing, arms full of vegetables.
"That's a lot…" Haruka commented, and [name] could only shrug her shoulders as the others placed the vegetables into the trolley that was about to be full already.
"Hana…" [name] mumbled out as she took a look at the vegetables that Hana had gotten with the others.
"Yes?" Hana asked as she dropped the last bit of the vegetables that were cradled in her arms.
"Where's the lime leaves?"
"OH RIGHT!" and Hana took off running towards the vegetables section once more; while [name] shook her head as she motioned Mika and Nana to come closer to her.
"Get another trolley, then get whatever you want." [name] spoke with a soft smile on her face, and the younger duos cheered as they ran to get a trolley.
"[name]-chan is the best!"
"That will be ¥7995.42." the cashier spoke with a sweatdrop as [name]'s eyes widened at the price. She then looked at the amount of things that were in both the trolleys, and she sighed as she got out her wallet and paid the cashier with her hard earned money. She was so sure that 85% of the items that they had bought were definitely not for their daily needs.
"Sorry, [name]. I already spent most of my savings the last time round." Hana spoke as she patted [name] on the shoulder, which [name] then smiled softly as she said;
"It's alright… I'll pay this time round." [name] spoke as she got the receipt from the cashier; a rather long receipt. She then proceeded to gather the bags of items, when all of a sudden before her hand could grab hold of the heavy items; it was snatched almost immediately. She then looked up and then pout slightly as she saw Makoto and the other boys carrying most of the heavy stuffs.
"Let's go?" Makoto spoke, and [name] sighed as she grabbed hold of the smaller bags along with the other girls as well.
"It's drizzling already." Hana spoke as she placed her hand out, palm facing upwards to really check whether were there any water droplets dripping down.
"Let's walk faster then." Haruka spoke, and the whole group of Iwatobi Highschoolers walked faster…
.
.
.
"START RUNNING!"
A heavy downpour came, and [name] quickly ran ahead of the group with Makoto beside her while the others were having some sort of difficult catching up with [name]'s fast pace. That is until…
.
.
.
"[name]! Mika fell down!" and [name] immediately stopped and turned to take a look behind, and there on the wet ground was where Mika was kneeling on, her knees slightly scrapped. [name] quickly pushed the bags that she was carrying into Makoto's arms and shouted;
"Keep running!" as she ran towards where Mika was, and Nagisa was beside her.
"Hazuki-san, catch up with the others first." And Nagisa reluctantly started to jog up to where the others were, under a shelter.
"Mika." [name] called out, and Mika looked up from her bloodied knees. She then spotted [name] squatting down slightly; back facing her, and Mika automatically wrapped her arms around [name]'s neck and [name] stood up; Mika then wrapped her legs around [name]'s waist, where [name]s hands supported her at the thigh.
"Hold on tight." [name] mumbled, and Mika's hold went tighter. [name] then started to run towards the shelter as well.
"Here, [name]-chan said that you all should shower first before catching a cold." Nana spoke as she set down a few sets of dried clothes onto the coffee table.
"Thank you, Nana-chan." Nagisa spoke as he got up and gathered a set of clothes.
"Don't worry, they're boys' clothes. They belong to Sou-nii." Nana explained.
"Sou-nii?" Rei asked, and all of a sudden a yell was heard;
"HISAMATSU HANA!"
"I CAN'T HELP IT, YOU LOOK SEXY!"
"WHAT ARE YOU, LESBIAN?!"
"What happened?" Mika asked as she slowly walked into the kitchen with a towel around her shoulder indication that she had showered finish; and bandages wrapped around her knees.
"[name] here didn't want to shower yet; and here she is, looking sexy as hell. I couldn't help but pull her bra strap though." Hana teased, and [name] whacked her hard on the head.
"Hana-chan, you always do pervertic things to [name]-chan." Mika giggled out, and [name] glared at Hana with her dark ocean blue eyes muttering out the word;
"Pervert…"
"H-Hey!"
"Etto… Sorry to bother… But is it alright if five of our friends come over as well?" Makoto asked as he faced his back towards the girls who were bickering.
"Sure!" Mika exclaimed before [name] could protest.
"Mika…"
*Ding Dong*
"Ah, that must be Rin-chan and the others!" Nagisa called out as he went to get the door. [name] and the girls then peeked out from the kitchen as four boys and Gou entered the house. But what caught the girls' attention was a tall, muscular young man with short, dark brown hair and droopy teal eyes.
"So… Where are the new girls?" a muscular young man with semi-long, maroon colored hair, red eyes and shark-like teeth spoke.
"Those clothes… Look so familiar…" the man with teal eyes spoke; and [name]'s eyes widened. She opened her mouth slightly but no words came out, and the younger duos beat her to it.
"SO-NII!"
"Eh? Mika?! Nana?!" Sosuke exclaimed with surprise, and then he noticed both Hana and [name] as well.
"So-nii!" the younger duos exclaimed as they ran towards Sosuke and engulf him in a tight hug from both side.
"It's been a long time." Sosuke spoke as he patted the girls head.
"I'm Matsuoka Rin, captain of Samezuka Academy's swimming team as well as Gou's older brother." the maroon colored hair man spoke.
"I-I-I'm Nitori Aiichirō." A light blue eyes, and short grey hair with short, straight bangs boy spoke.
"Mikoshiba Momotarō! My hobby is hunting for stag beetles; my favourite food is friend eggs; and my favourite kind of spa-." a red hair boy which was in a messy and straighter fashion and with eyes that are golden yellow and he has a healthy slight tan complexion spoke, but was immediately cut off when Sosuke slapped his hand over his mouth.
"So-nii! Why didn't you visit us anymore after the Nationals?" Nana asked as she handed out cups of hot tea to the guests.
"Things happened, Nana. How has things been going for you girls?" Sosuke asked as he grabbed hold of the cup from Nana's hand, while Mika wrapped her arms around his neck as usual. He then looked at Hana, and Hana could only smile softly.
"How come you know each other?" Makoto asked as he looked up from where he was sitting.
"Sosuke used to live in our area back then, and he would always come and visit us at our orphanage." Hana spoke with a soft smile, and Sosuke nodded.
"He was the one who taught Nana how to swim faster with the butterfly." Hana explained more, and Nana soon latch herself onto Sosuke as well.
"And So-nii was the best nii-chan ever. He always brought us food to eat!" Nana spoke as she giggled when Sosuke tickled her sides. He then stopped and looked at Hana with soft eyes and spoke;
"You've grown up well, Hana."
"I wouldn't say that. [name] grew up well as well…" but there was a hint of sadness in her voice, and Sosuke definitely noticed it.
"Dinner is ready." [name] spoke out, and almost instantly everybody gathered into the dining room.
"Oi, [name]. You're not eating much." Sosuke called out, and [name] stopped chewing her food and looked down at her rice bowl.
"Come on, eat some more." Makoto spoke as he grabbed some mackerel from the plate in front of them and placed it into her rice bowl. [name] just nodded slightly as she continued to take small bites out of her food.
"Has she been eating like this?" Sosuke whispered to Hana, who nodded in response.
"I'm done." [name] mumbled out as she stood up and grabbed hold of her own bowl and chopstick; proceeding back into the kitchen to clear the mess up.
"Eh? [name]-chan! Mou, she didn't even eat ¼ of her rice." Mika spoke with a pout.
"Sosuke." Hana called out as she stood up from her seat and walked out towards the living room; telling Sosuke to follow her as well.
"WHAT?!" Sosuke yelled, and Hana immediately hushed him.
"Not so loud!"
"But, what the hell? Really? And [name] has been like this ever since that day?!"
"Yeah…"
"Dammit! I should have been there!"
"Sosuke…"
"I'm going to go talk to her."
"No don't!"
"Why not?!"
"[name]… Needs to find another reason to continue."
"You know what…"
"[name]-chan, we're heading home already. Thank you for the delicious dinner today, and I'm sorry if we somehow barge in unexpectedly on the very first day we have met! I hope we'll be great friends!" – Tachibana Makoto.
[name] then peeled off the small post-it-note from the fridge and folded it nicely before tucking it away into her pocket. She sighed as she walked up the stairs and headed back to her room; locking the door in the process. She leaned against the door, and soon her body slid down as she pulled her knees to herself and tucked her head into it.
"I hate what I'm feeling…"
