I'll be posting a bonus chapter for "Secret Romance" soon, but I'll try to edit that on my own since it was done alone back then. Hopefully, i didn't make too much typos and grammatical error there.
Then as for this one, I'll try my best to finish up before halloween but I suppose it won't do much with the current pacing.
Anyway, thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows!
A week later, Otonokizaka highschool;
It's not the first time or the last time, it's just a usual day for Nozomi and Eli to walk to school together. They walked side by side while their sight checked the girls who also walked alongside them.
"Ericchi…Ericchi…" Nozomi called playfully,
"Hmm?" Eli replied, her voice somewhat a lot more gentle than what Nozomi expected to hear. The 'what' that she always heard every morning had been cold and intimidating. Either way, perhaps it's a good sign for her to launch her ridiculous joke,
"Don't you think it's nice that Otonokizaka makes us wear short skirts?"
"Because you can check what's under it?" Eli replied with a faint smile,
"Exactly my point, Ericchi! Did you know that what you wear under your skirt matters?"
"I've heard about it. It's said that when women has on their favorite color of underwear, it also determine of what kind of person she is…. I don't actually believe it, but maybe it has something to do with psychology…"
"Mmm… so what colors do you like, Ericchi?" Nozomi asked playfully.
"Black or White… but mostly, I wear white…" Eli replied without a single hint of embarrassment,
"White! Innocent and open minded…." Nozomi said.
"Let me guess yours, it's either cream or black…"
"Nope! You're wrong, Ericchi… I love Black or White as well. But instead of white, I mostly wear black…"
"The Strong and Sultry type, huh? You surely got that charm… but then again, it's probably just a stereotype… I don't actually believe it…" Eli replied.
"I get a feeling that you'll be the strong one in bed…" Nozomi said teasingly,
"Really? I thought you'll be the aggressive one instead…" Eli said.
"Hmm? Are we talking about whether we'll be in bed together?" Nozomi asked—which makes the blonde realizes her error. Eli can't help but to blushes madly,
"I–I mean! If we're going to compare each other….!" She said with her eyes averted somewhere else,
Nozomi giggled,
"Now-now, Ericchi…. we're getting a little closer to the school, let's try and not be too goofy in front of them….we need to look like we're the perfect couple. Make them create the fandom and all…"
"C-can you not say that we're meant to be a couple or anything?! We just met two months ago! Plus, this is our first day of officially being part of the student council… so you keep your heads up and don't let people see you as a mess!"
"Oooh! You're right, president… we should keep our images…" Nozomi said as she quickly tidied herself.
But after a few meters of walk, Nozomi grabs Eli's arm and clings onto her,
"But that doesn't make me not allowed to do this, right?" she said cheerfully.
Eli couldn't respond,
"Just imagine what people will say about us… walking to school together, having lunch together, studying together, and going back from school together…. We surely look like—…"
"…an Idiot couple…" Eli cuts in.
"There! Ericchi! I didn't say that!"
"I think you just make me look stupid, that's all…" Eli said.
"Oh you will enjoy it, Ericchi. Being stupid is not that bad at all, people are make it look bad because they're jealous…"
"Jealous? Because they can't be stupid?" Eli asked Nozomi as they stopped in front of their own lockers.
"Let me tell you something, Ericchi, if you over-think too much, the world will put more and more burden upon your shoulders…"
"…and if you are too loose, you will lose your way and you won't be able to get past of your problems…" Eli said as she placed her shoe inside the locker,
"We complete each other, don't you think?" Nozomi asked teasingly,
"How does that even bring you to that conclusion…?! It means that we don't even have the same way of life!"
"We don't, but that's what makes us perfect, Ericchi. You can remind me when I'm being too loose and I can help you loosen up when you're holding on too much…." Nozomi said.
Eli sighs heavily,
"I don't believe I have ever said that I need you to remind me, I just want you to stay around and that's about it…"
"Being friends is not simply just to stay around, Ericchi, we also have to care about others… I don't want you to be burdening yourself too much…or if you want to put it in another way, I want you to have fun with me while I will also be under your care as you make me work on stuff…"
"If you put it that way, then I can't say anything against it…." Eli said as she moved to the classroom along-side with Nozomi who grabs her arm and once again stuck close to her.
"But, Ericchi… we really do make a perfect couple… why can't you just agree to date me yet?"
"This not a time to discuss something like that, Nozomi… there's still so many fishes in the pond…"
"You won't find any that smells as fishy as me, Ericchi. trust me…." Nozomi said playfully.
Eli couldn't help but to burst into laughter,
"What did you just say, Nozomi? Smell as fishy as you?"
"Something wrong with being fishy? Fishes are pretty popular among the Japanese, you know!"
"What's the context of this 'fishy' you're talking about…. You're so silly!" Eli said.
"Part of my way to make you like me, Ericchi…you can call it as a 'flirtatious joke'…."
"Flirtatious joke? I don't think that's the right word for it, it sounded more like a self-depicting joke… either way though…" Eli paused for a moment,
"It's awkwardly not funny…" she continued as her expression changed into a plain one,
"Not funny? Hmmm…you surely have a high expectation for jokes, huh? Then don't worry, I still have a few bullets in my pants…" Nozomi said,
"In your pants? Seriously?" Eli complained,
"Of course, Ericchi! you can even go inside to check it out!"
"W-what?" Eli raised her eyebrow as she enters the classroom along with Nozomi.
"Anyway Ericchi! Have you heard that the pre-mid-semester exam result will be posted on the board soon?"
"You're changing the topic again!"
"I really want to check it out!" Nozomi said cheerfully as she placed her bag on her table, ignoring the protest that the blonde made.
"I don't have the need to do that, I know where I'll be…." Eli said as she sat on her seat after she placed her own bag on the table.
"My! How arrogant! But that's my Ericchi… now let's go check it out!" Nozomi said before she drags the blonde out of the classroom with her.
"H-Huh?!W-wait! N-Nozomiiii!"
The Otonokizaka High-School's hallway;
The exam board was attached strongly against the wall as students crowded the area. They seemed to be worked up on each other's detail.
"Look, you're on rank 100, Kanami-chan!" said a girl
"Yeah, looks great. I guess I'm ready enough to face the actual test!" said another.
"Don't get too cocky. It's only a pre-test for the mid-semester, the real battle is at the end of the semester!"
"I'll make sure to get my ass working twice as hard!" the students walked away from the exam result board while Eli and Nozomi just arrived to the area. Just as Nozomi scanned the first rank, she didn't even need to look through any other names. Eli was in the first rank and with perfect score too.
"Woaaah…Ericchi… you're so good…. I can't believe you're actually that brilliant..."
"A genius, if you don't mind…but like I said, I don't even need to look for this…" Eli replied.
"Your arrogant attitude surely doesn't come for nothing…" Nozomi said.
"What about you?" Eli said as she started to look for Nozomi's name.
"Eh, well… I should be somewhere around 70 or 90…. I'm not that good at studying…" Nozomi replied,
"Here it is, Rank 69…."
"Mmm…. Sounds good. That really fits me, don't you think? If you know what I mean…." Nozomi said with a cheeky voice.
"We're not going that way, Nozomi… not now… anyway, you need to work on your science and math…."
"Math and Sciences are boring…"
"Just because you can't find the fun in it…" Eli said.
"Sheesh… what's the fun in it anyway… we're always talking about some sense and logic, how boring…." Nozomi said.
Just as the time when Eli was about to respond, they overheard a few students talking….
"Aahhh—No way! I'm almost became the lowest rank!" said one of them.
"Oh no! Does that mean… Hanako-chan will be after you?!" said the others.
"H-Huh?! What?! No way! That only happens if you knock the door three times and call her name!" said the other again.
"I heard she will also come if you have poor grades!"
"Shush, you two…she is only an urban legend…" said the other girl before they left.
Nozomi looked fascinated by the story, and then quickly faced Eli, about to suggest checking it out.
"Ericchi! Let's—…."
"No, never, not a chance... My grade is far too high for that…." Eli replied quickly.
"Eeh!? But we can try knocking three times!"
"You don't even know where to do that!" Eli said.
"The bathroom of course! That's where every urban legend takes place!"
"I wonder what's with ghosts and bathrooms at this rate...it's like almost every ghost lives in the bathroom!"
"Trust me, Ericchi, we will be fine…" Nozomi said proudly.
"I'm not doing that— and you're not either! Let's just go back to the classroom…" Eli said as she began to drag Nozomi back.
"Aaa—Ericchiiiii—Aaaaaaaa—I want….!"
The Classroom;
As they arrived back to the classroom, with Nozomi still clinging close to Eli and begging to try what the urban legend said…
"…but-but you will never know, rightttt? Maybe there will be Aka Manto-san too!"
"What on earth is Aka Manto-san?!" Eli responded in her annoyance,
"The guy that will ask you about red cloak or blue cloak— some said he may also ask red paper or blue paper….in the toilet!"
"Toilet again?!"
"What's wrong with toilet, Ericchi? you don't like it?"
"Thing is, Nozomi, we've been going in and out of the toilet many times! There's nothing like that!"
"But-but what if they actually appear?! Don't you want to hear what to do?"
"What? Say Purple?"
"Nope! It's by answering 'no cloak!' or 'no paper!'…"
Eli sighed heavily,
"Then what about Hanako-chan? What to tell her?"
"Eh…well, Hanako-chan is said to be always summoned, like, you knock the toilet door three times, then ask 'Hanako-chan, are you there?' and if she answer, 'yes, I'm here!' then you can either run for your life or dare and go in to meet her in one of the stalls!"
"What will happen if we get in to the stall and meet her?"
"Well, she is said to be bloody and if you're out of luck, she will drag you to the netherworld with giant hands! Big enough to grab your whole body!"
Eli smirked,
"Haha-yeah, sure… the only dragging I could imagine, is to the toilet by a purple haired girl…" she said sarcastically,
"My! Ericchi! You're kinky! We can do that kind of trial in the toilet!"
"W-What?! Kinky?! Trial?! What do you even mean by that? I was talking about you being persistent and wanting to try that nonsense…" Eli protested as the two sat down on their seats.
"Next time we get there, we should start listing ghosts that appear in the bathroom and see if we can do anything about it!"
"They are urban legends, Nozomi… they don't actually exist…"
"Just imagine how many people we can save if we can do something about the urban legends!"
"I said, they don't exist! Sheesh!"
"I heard that perfect beauty is also a legend, why do you exist, Ericchi?"
"H-huh? What?" Eli swears that something started to burn in her cheeks, immediately after Nozomi's quick remark.
"For someone like you to exist…. Hmmm…. Surely all the same kind of girls will be all over you… I am all over you…." Nozomi said playfully.
"W-Whatever, but really, if you want to check that urban legend, you better find someone who has bad grades… I refuse to lower my grades just to help you with that…" Eli said.
Just then, Nozomi and Eli turn their sight towards two girls walking past them—heading to a small girl with black hair and ruby eyes. They both were carrying a pair of letters warped neatly.
"Niko-chan…" They called.
The small black haired girl looked at them flustered,
"What? I don't think it's time for practice yet…" she said.
"No...it's not that Niko-chan…but… you ranked the lowest in the pre-test, right?" the other girl said.
Niko—the black haired girl seemed to be agitated,
"W-Wh-Well yeah…. But that doesn't change anything….we will still perform in the auditorium this weekend…"
The two girls seemed to be worried, then they smiled gently to each other…
"Actually, Niko-chan… it does matter..." one of them said,
"That's why…we are here to hand you this…." the other said as she handed the letters that she held in her hand.
Nozomi and Eli flustered for a moment, but as they caught the word written on the brown envelope— it says,
Letter of resignation
"We don't want to hurt you, knowing that your grade might hurt you more than this… but please understand…." One of them said,
"….we can still be friends if you like…." the other added before the two left without looking back.
Ouch….
Said Nozomi in her thoughts,
Somehow….
She continued,
It doesn't make it sound any better… for her at least…. Who was her name again?… Niko?
She thought as she kept staring at the small girl—who is now trying to conceal her sadness, though she failed miserably as tears began to roll down her eyes.
Nozomi gave her a concerned look, and then turned her eyes away to Eli who seemed to be already losing her interest long before her.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Eli asked as she noticed that Nozomi is looking at her.
"My, Ericchi, how did you know I'm looking at you…?"
"Doesn't matter, but…if you are thinking what I'm thinking then you better drop off the thing you wanted to do. It will not go well…" Eli said.
"Hmm? How do you know if it will go well or not?" Nozomi hummed.
"Sure, we know something, but do we know everything behind it? Can we stay by her side if the truth is against what we're thinking? I rather not try than to fail miserably—it will hurt her more than she already is…." Eli said.
Nozomi remained quiet,
"Plus, this is our first day in the student council, we should focus on that instead of minor problems like this…" Eli continued.
"It's not minor for her, you know…." Nozomi replied,
"I know, maybe it's the whole world for her, but what can we do? We can't solve every single problem for every student… we can only do whats related to this school's future…" Eli replied again,
Nozomi seemed to be saddened,
"You're right… we can't…." she whispered sadly,
"Don't give me that…. we're strangers for her… we can't just get into her personal life the way we want…." Eli said again.
Nozomi nodded. Then the two remained quiet as both of their eyes kept stealing glances at the petite girl, who still tried hard to pretend that everything is alright.
Afterschool, The student council room;
The room is set and everything was renewed after the incident that occurred the night before, where Nozomi decided to exorcise Mitane Kimiko. Eli started reading manuals about how she should start her duties, while Nozomi walked around the room to check on the objects around her,
"Mmm… these new albums are surely well made. Thanks to the former student council…" she said,
"...Was it not?" Eli asked,
"Well, it wasn't that good… lots of ink and broken glass the last time I entered this room. You should've been there…but you ran away…"
"I wouldn't go away if you didn't annoy me that much back then…."
"I know, I know…." Nozomi giggled,
"Let's not bring that up again. Anyhow, when are you going to tell me more about her? Didn't you get the whole story from those souls who approached you, Ericchi?"
"Not much detail to tell, they just said that she is pretty much a bossy soul. No one likes her, but for the sake of her purpose to haunt, many lost souls were with her…"
"So basically, in a way, she was protecting and leading them?" Nozomi asked.
"Yes… then they said, that they are no longer followed her because I'm taking the president place. There are plenty of things to work on, but it's none of your business. You're just a vice president…so just do everything I'm asking you to do…."
"Mmm…you can do me too if you like… we can do each other…" Nozomi said teasingly,
"Not again, Nozomi… no perverted stuff in this room…" Eli replied.
"Oh, by the way, Ericchi… did you hear? You can choose two vice presidents to help you…. isn't it amazing?" Nozomi asked.
"I just want you to be the only one by my side, so don't ever think of dragging anyone else into this…"
"Oooohh! My! Ericchi! You're surely up for only one wife… that's amazing…"
"I'm not even going to play along with that, come here and get these documents arranged…" Eli said as she beckoned to Nozomi.
"What is it? What is it?" Nozomi approached her with cute jumping steps,
"Listen, we need to update this school's activity list. One of their representative's should be coming in three hours to hand in the absence list, but it will be a lot more effective if you write down all of the names first and the total amount of members from previous datas… it will help us to know which clubs haven't turned in their data…and which club gets more members or less members…" Eli explained,
"Ok, Ericchi! As you wish!" Nozomi quickly picked up the pen and started looking at the paper that Eli handed—the stack of paper suddenly makes her squirm inside her stomach. She thought that it's a little bit too much for her to look through.
"Uh…Ericchi, why is there a lot of paper here?"
Eli giggled,
"Don't worry, you just need to fill in one paper, the rest are your data. It's bundled neatly and arranged according to months… you will have to make it like that too…" she said.
The thing that Nozomi seems to pay more attention to is not about how easy it actually is, but the way Eli's giggle made her heartbeat rise in an instant. She knows well that the blonde is extremely attractive, but she has never thought that it actually moved her heart.
From all the teasing she did, she has never felt anything go wrong. She began to wonder what her heart actually tried to tell her when they started to race uncontrollably at the times she listened to the blonde's soft giggles.
"Nozomi…?" Eli called her,
For some reason, Nozomi once again felt something jump out from inside her as she heard the follow up call.
"Y-Yes, Ericchi?!" she replied nervously.
"Is there something on my face?" Eli asked curiously.
"N….Not really….!" Nozomi replied as she tried her best not to look nervous.
"Oh—Come on! This is your very first job, it's simple and clear, right?" Eli said.
Nozomi nodded, she knows well that her face might be redder than the pen the blonde held in her hand. She also knows that she could've denied it, but for some reason, she couldn't speak out a single word to someone that she could call as a friend now...
After a while, Eli sighed heavily before she pulled back all the stack of papers.
"A-ah! E-Ericchi!" Nozomi tried to hold it yet the blonde was quicker at pulling it back.
"I changed my mind, I'll do this myself…" Eli said somewhat coldly.
No…Not again….
Nozomi thought as she remained silent in place.
Why is she so easy to make distance with… even the slightest mistake could make her get all upset….
She continued.
But…come to think of it….
She tilted her head slightly as she watches Eli begin her paperwork,
Shouldn't I remind her to put some of the responsibility on me? She shouldn't hold it all by herself. But how can I approach her? Knowing that in this time of moment, she is probably super sensitive on things….
She continued again in her mind,
Ah…I really should act quickly! Perhaps telling the truth will do it!
"Sheeesh! Ericchi! You don't need to do that all by yourself, I was just astonished when you giggled…."
"What's so astonishing from my giggle, huh?" Eli responded—still somewhat coldly.
"You know, ever since I met you… it's hard to see you smile and it's very rare to hear you giggle. It really surprised me and…. it's like…. my heart couldn't take it when you did that to me…" Nozomi replied.
"Your flirt will not work on me anymore…" Eli replied.
"I'm not trying to flirt with you—I'm just telling the truth…" Nozomi replied again.
Eli stayed quiet as she kept working on the paper instead, but noticing the blush tinge her cheeks and the slight frown on her face, Nozomi realized that Eli wasn't ignoring her completely,
"…..I think I'm in love with you already…" she continued shamelessly.
"Being in love just because you heard me giggle? Ridiculous…."
"But…I was already interested in you from ever since we met… I can't say the details because…I'm…. basically…just extremely interested in you…. then the fact that we're on the same boat…. Hmmmm….. I think you're just too good to be true…. Being with you makes my heart beat so fast, Ericchi…."
Eli persisted on being quiet and started to look away from her.
"Seriously…. We should go on a date…" Nozomi continued again.
"I refuse…." Eli replied immediately.
"You're such a spoilsport, aren't you? You haven't even tried to hit on me…"
"I could hit you if I want…" Eli replied again,
"Not that kind of hitting, Ericchi… the romantic kind of hitting!"
"So that would be hitting in a slow motion, huh?" Eli replied.
For a moment, Nozomi was confused with Eli's comeback, but then as she realizes that 'romantic' in her context is from how 'romanticism art' are described, she couldn't help but to not laugh at it.
"By the Gods! Ericchi! How could you pull out a joke out of that?!"
Eli didn't answer, her paper seemed to be already halfway finished while Nozomi couldn't stop laughing at how sudden the joke came out—and it also came from someone she didn't expect to have a sense of humor.
When she managed to stop laughing and figure out that Eli insisted on doing the paper by herself, Nozomi stood up from her seat and approached her. She carefully landed her hands upon the blonde's shoulder, brushing them tentatively, and leaning her body close.
"There….Ericchi…. do you have to make me happy so that you can hold all the responsibility on your own?"
Eli froze in place.
"You don't have to do that…" Nozomi whispered softly as she began to snuggle lovingly at her.
For about a few seconds, Eli didn't move, not even her eyes couldn't be seen blinking—though when she snapped herself out of her shock….
"N…Nozomi…." she called out with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Hmm….?" Nozomi replied calmly, without a single hint of guilt.
"Why are you hugging me?"
"It's just a friendship hug, Ericchi….nothing else…"
Just as Eli heard that respond, she grabs Nozomi and throws her to the front.
"W-whaaa?!" Nozomi flew to the front—yet luckily she was swift enough to do a mid-air recovery.
"How many times do I have to tell you that it doesn't work that way, huh!?" Eli yelled.
"Eehh? It's fine! If you fall for me, I will accept you with all of my heart!"
"I—It doesn't work like that!" Eli yelled again before she jumped from her seat—aiming to chop Nozomi with her hand. Nozomi quickly dodged away from her,
"W-wh-whoa! Y-You're good!" Nozomi complimented,
"You are good at this too, huh?!" Eli raised her voice as she set herself in a battle mode,
"I'm used to trying to survive, so of course I am—…" before Nozomi finishes her sentence, Eli grabs both of her breasts.
"A-aaaahh!" Nozomi didn't even try to dodge,
"You didn't dodge it!" Eli yelled as she began to squeeze it hard.
"E-Ericcchiii! T-That hurrrtttsss!"
"You're asking for it!" Eli said
"Aaaaahhhnnnn!" Nozomi moaned erotically.
"S-Stop that you idiot!" Eli's blush began to get redder as she squeezes harder…
By the time Eli and Nozomi were busy with their own business, the door opened and a black haired girl entered the room—to have her jaw dropped as her eyes sighted the weird event…
"Aaahhaahhh! Ericchi! I can't take it anymore!"
"What can't you take, huh?! You just made it sound wrong!"
And the two continued while the black haired girl remained still with a smirk on her face.
"These two idiots are student councils members….? I can't believe it…." she whispered to herself.
The two seemed to still be busy in their own world,
"B-but…I'm here for a reason! I have to do it—…!" the girl with black hair knocked the door loudly,
"Ooiiiiii!" she shouted.
Nozomi and Eli quickly ran to their own seats and started to pretend that they haven't done anything other than work on their paperwork—even though it's already obvious that they did something else before...
"Welcome… do you have any business today?" Eli asked—extremely too formally.
"We will try to help you as much as we can…." Nozomi smiled — obviously a faked smile.
Niko smirked as she thought about how the two could act like nothing ever happened. Though, she decided to just forget about it and walked into the room.
"I'm just going to hand in today's attendance report…" the little girl said as she handed in a piece of paper.
Nozomi raised her eyebrow while Eli took the paper off the girl—expressionless.
She seemed to be shocked for a second, but then as soon as she raised her head to the petite girl, she changed her face back into her usual serious face,
"Thank you, you may leave now…"
The little girl seemed to be surprised by how easy the blonde let her go. Nozomi—who witnessed it smiled gently and added,
"Now-now, do you have anything you wanted to say? A new advertising permission perhaps?"
The black haired girl flustered,
"A school idol club…. I've never known about that. I would like to make an examination to the club room tomorrow before I agree to the vice president's idea…"
When Eli stated it, the little girl gave out a worried expression for a moment, though she shook her head,
"There's nothing there right now… just me…."
"I'm not talking about your activity, I just need to know about what kind of items you have in there…"
"Nothing, we have the room and a few costumes hanging around. We don't actually do anything anyway…" the little girl replied again.
Eli and Nozomi looked at each other, and then they nodded slightly to tell that they probably think the same way with each other.
"Hmm… what was your name again…. Niko-chan?" Nozomi asked,
"Yes… Yazawa Niko…." She replied.
"Well, Alright, Niko-chan,…. we're new student council President/Vice President, we would like to get to know about the school activity and things that they already have…." Nozomi said.
"…plus, it's not like your club will be the only one we examine. We will do the others as well in the right schedule…" Eli said.
"Yep, what she said…" Nozomi added.
"Will you disband it if it somehow doesn't meet the requirement?" Niko asked—somewhat sadly,
"We don't disband things at sight, so of course everything will be collected first then decide about their fate after the incoming council meeting. Meanwhile though, it would be nice if you prepare the place for us…." Eli said.
"Oh—and, remember, Niko-chan…. we will only decide from the result of the examination….so we wouldn't know what exactly happens everyday…." Nozomi said—with a slight hint of smile on her face.
Niko raised her eyebrow, it's like something has sparked in her as she realizes that Nozomi just hinted something at her.
"Whatever result I get from the examination, that will be what I will take to the meeting…so if you don't do your best, it might be bad for you…." Eli said as she tidied up her paper…
"Oh—we also planned to change the club advertising system…." Nozomi said—still with a hint of smile on her face.
Eli glanced at Nozomi, wondering of what she is actually thinking.
"But we will have to discuss about that first…" Eli said with a frown on her face, hinting Nozomi to not speak too freely.
"Ah—she's right… we will have to discuss about it first, but either way, it will be effective and even one person could do it…" Nozomi said.
Eli smirked and rolled her eyes,
"Good for you, Niko-chan?" the purplenette continued as she smiled wider to the black haired girl.
"Y-yes…." She nodded,
"You may leave now…." Eli said.
"Bye-bye…." Nozomi said cheerfully as she waved to the black haired girl who just ends the conversation with a nod and left without any more words.
As the black haired girl left and closed the student council room door….
"Noooozzoooooomiiiiiiii!" Eli shouted loudly.
"Uwaaahh! Ericchi is angrryyyy!" Nozomi yelled back playfully.
"W-What on earth are you saying, huh?! Why are you giving her hope?!"
"What's wrong with giving her hope? She hasn't given up yet…" Nozomi replied.
"We cannot guarantee it! What if you're breaking her more than she already is broken?!"
"At least try… I'm sure she will appreciate it!" Nozomi said.
Eli remained quiet, and then sighed deeply at her and sat down…
"Look, she is all alone in her club now… do you think she can be an idol alone?"
"Hmm…Ericchi, do you think idols have to be in a group?"
"She made a club, don't you just wonder what she wanted from it?"
"Eh….?" Nozomi tilts her head slightly,
"I said—she made the club! She wants someone else to help her out with it! She knows she can't do it alone!"
Nozomi nodded,
"I see... then…it's time to look for the answer…!" she said,
"What?" Eli tried to confirm,
Nozomi remain quiet as she began to look through her bag– taking out a deck of tarot cards and placing it on the table.
She placed two cards on the table,
"Oh…not again…" Eli rolled her eyes.
"This card is the future…" she placed her hand on the right card,
Eli smirked at her,
"…and this one is the present!" Nozomi placed her hand on the left card.
Eli glanced away from her.
"Let's see….. if the present is The Tower, then the future is correct!"
The blonde completely ignored her as she rubs her own neck,
"Ooohh! The tower!" Nozomi opened the first card,
"So…the future says…." She placed down her first card and headed to the second,
"The Stars…"
"My! The future for her is bright, Ericchi! It's full of optimism!" Nozomi said,
"Did you know that the stars also could mean a big fake opportunity?" Eli replied.
Nozomi was surprised to hear it,
"Eh…? How did you know that?"
"I've done readings…Nozomi…and…the stars that you see on the sky might look real, but the truth, they might've died long before your eyes could witness it. In other words, they fell when you look up and died before you know it…" Eli explained,
Nozomi seemed to be very troubled with it,
"Now…now…Ericchi, don't bring me down like that…"
"You were the one who brought it up by telling me about the cards you took out…" the blonde replied.
The purplenette stayed silent…
"….that's why you should be more careful next time… now we have no choice but to actually look for a way to fix things in case your brilliant idea gets us into a bigger problem…" Eli said.
Nozomi sighed weakly before she headed to the nearby window, leaning herself into it and looked down into the school's yard.
"It's all your fault…." She pouts.
"My fault?! How could that be my fault?" Eli complained.
"If only you never told me about the truth, I wouldn't be as worried as now…" Nozomi replied.
"…and you know I'm telling you the truth… do you think I will want to let you go anywhere you like without knowing them…?"
"Nothing wrong with living in lies sometimes, it feels better…" Nozomi said.
"What?" Eli tried to confirm about what she just heard.
"How do I put it, Ericchi…. you only live once… if you stress over about how to survive and how to deal with the future, you will not living as a living being…"
"What does that even mean….?" Eli asked with less enthusiasm.
"You're living because you're alive, Ericchi! You're not living for anything else! Not for money, not for love….you don't need to plan everything!"
"…and here you think you can manage to do things without preparation?" Eli asked—somewhat mockingly.
"Yep! I never studied and still get good marks… no point for me to be after the highest score…" Nozomi said proudly.
"Science… thirteen…." Eli said.
"Science is the biggest nonsense in the world…" Nozomi said.
"W-What did you just say?!" Eli seemed slightly angry.
"It's a nonsense when humans say that they understand nature, while in fact they're the ones who control the nature…"
"It doesn't go like that, you silly girl! They don't always conduct an 'experiment' you know…. There are more depths in the study itself… and you just don't know…"
"When they find something they can't explain in brief details, they call it a miracle, a wonder, or an anomaly… what if it happened everyday? Should it still be called a miracle?"
"Y-you're not making any sense!" Eli said.
"No one can study one's life… there's only a word that is called as 'stereotyping' one's life…people say ants love sweets— what if they don't? What if they love water instead? Or maybe the queen told them to get some muffin…"
"Muffin is sweet, you silly girl! Really… you're not making any sense to me right now… unless that's only your way to express about how much you don't like biology. Either way, the study isn't always about the stereotypes, they also learn about what's under your skin…you know…"
"Some Love and some Life, then a major essence of—…."
Before Nozomi could finish,
"They're all nonsense!" Eli said quickly.
"Sheesh, Ericchi… you're breaking the fun again…" Nozomi said.
"Muscles, bones, organ, and everything else… that's all inside a human being… all the same…" Eli said plainly.
"Well, I wonder why are you Ericchi and I'm Nozomi if we're the same…" Nozomi said somewhat sarcastically.
Eli was taken back from the statement, having nothing to use as a counter other than the argument, "because we're born that way," which in all cases, won't do anything. For the sake of her own mind, she believes that Nozomi will be able to counter it again such as asking for an explanation why humans live and how humans have an identity if they are all born the same.
Though as lucky as she is, when she was about to speak, a loud ruckus suddenly was heard from the lower floor of the school—it's a good thing for her since that would mean she doesn't have to argue again.
"W-What's that?" Eli said in a made up panic expression.
Nozomi raised her eyebrow,
"Hmm? Did you just panic? That's unlikely of you…" she said.
"It's a ruckus, Nozomi… there must be something happening down there…" Eli replied.
"Really? I just didn't expect you'll make that panic expression…" Nozomi replied again,
Eli smirked slightly, thinking that she should've not made the expression. Now she couldn't take it back.
"If you're just trying to change the topic because you lost the argument, I'm not going to confront you about it… but to tell you about what I feel…." she paused as she began to walk out of the room,
"….I hate a loser like you… like myself as well… but I understand…" she continued,
Eli remain silent in her confusion,
"….so let's just forget about that topic and go check the ruckus, shall we?" Nozomi smiled at her sincerely.
The Otonokizaka School Yard;
The two ran down quickly and approached the center of the crowd—they managed to reach it easily as every student gave them the way, knowing that they're the student council. Then as their eyes met with a girl who got red paint all over her uniform and appear to be traumatized….
"Ah—good timing…." said Principal Minami who appear to be nearby along with a few former member of student council.
"What's happening here?" Eli asked.
"It's in the time of the semester again, our exam announcement always had this happen to low graded students…" said one of the former student council members to Eli.
"They heard someone crying in one of the stalls—and then as they opened it, or when tried to leave the bathroom early, they were pushed to the toilet which they luckily managed to keep themselves away from…though they will always have red or blue paint cover them like this…"
"It can't be done by pranksters, it happened for years and years…" Principal Minami said with a hint of smile on her face.
"Well…. a soul could be a prankster at times…." Nozomi said confidently.
Eli sighed heavily at her sentence...
"This is a call for the greatest couple in Otonokizaka History, Ericchi!" Nozomi continued again.
"Uh-huh…." The blonde nodded.
"Don't worry, Principal Minami! Don't worry, girls! We will solve this mystery together!" Nozomi continued as she held Eli's hand and posed heroically.
"She is dragging me into this again…." Eli whispered to herself before she let out another heavy sigh.
That's all for now, hopefully we can update soon!