Exams were certainly rough on students. But she supposed teachers had their own troublesome share of things to deal with.
The thought flitted through Rifuta's mind as she took a moment to readjust her grip on the stack of notebooks in her hands. The pile went roughly up to her chin, and had threatened to topple as she stepped over the staff-room threshold.
Her lovely twin-tails bouncing in step with the light tip-tap of her shoes, Rifuta Imu kept a leisurely pace behind her homeroom teacher, who carried in her hands a similar sized stack, though not nearly as gracefully as her student did.
Homura-sensei was a woman with many good qualities, but timeliness was not one of them, apparently. The woman had finished grading their essays from two weeks ago only this morning, and was in haste to return them before winter break. She'd entreated an additional pair of hands to carry the load, and Rifuta had found an extra charitable act a good note to wrap the semester on.
And so, with a firm grip in her dainty little hands, here she was, watching the third years slowly pour into the hallway as she idly followed after her teacher.
Some of the boys paused when they noticed her (as they should), on occasion even offering a hand, but enough just stopped at a cursory glance in her direction and that was it.
What utterly bland, forgettable reactions. Yet, vexing as that was, the more insidious fact was perhaps that she might actually be getting used to them.
Rifuta Imu was not an unremarkable girl, by any stretch of the imagination. With her bright hazel-green eyes, framed by shimmering tresses of sunlit blonde, and the slightly exaggerated girliness in her demeanor, complimenting her already exquisite natural cuteness, Rifuta Imu, in any other school, in any other part of the world, would stand head and shoulders above the rest of the female student body. (In a contest of looks at least.)
An object of complete universal adoration. No less than a school idol. Leaving behind a trail of longing sighs wherever she went. In any other school.
PK wasn't any other school.
For an otherwise completely unremarkable school, in an unremarkable corner of Japan, it was the abode to the one and only – Teruhashi Kokomi.
Rifuta had known pretty girls prior to coming to PK. Models, Idols, the occasional pretty upperclassmen or classmate. None had measured up to Rifuta herself, but she had acknowledged their looks. At one point, Rifuta wouldn't have put herself past being the prettiest girl in the entire Japanese Archipelago.
And then she'd come to PK.
Rifuta did not know what otherworldly forces were at play, but she could not begin to comprehend how PK's Félicité Angélique had somehow managed to keep under the nose of the general public for all these years.
She made career actresses and glamor models look like wrinkled old ladies. She had a soft, melodic voice that wrapped around your heart like a cozy blanket. Her aura in general washed over you like a winter bonfire, making you feel all warm and comfy. Hang around her long enough, and it just desensitizes you to anything 'ordinary' pretty. .
..Not, not that Rifuta would ever consider herself that. But you get the point.
Speaking of her Angélique Enchanteresse of a senpai, however-
"I swear he left it behind on purpose."
"I bet!"
"Man, I would kill to have Teruhashi-san pick up after me like that..."
Rifuta resisted the urge to shake her head as she walked past the trio by the window. Fawning over another girl while the fantabulous Rifuta Imu stood right in front of their eyes.
She adored her senpai, but... Rifuta always did her best to doll up too, you know?
Loosely minding the pieces of gossip being tossed around, Rifuta spared a second to glance over at her teacher, before getting back to her ruminations.
From her vantage point, she could spot students beginning to pour into the courtyard. It'd been rather chilly outside this morning, but it'd gotten better over the day. Nevertheless, people clutched onto their mufflers for dear life.
Rifuta's eyes lingered for a moment at a specific place...
The exam had just finished, and she had just been putting away her stationery when she'd heard a very familiar voice shout from the courtyard. Naturally, she'd been one of the first to rush to the window. Kokomi-senpai never shouted. And certainly not loud enough to be heard from halfway across the school.
The rest of the class had soon joined her, wondering out loud what might have been going on. They'd been too far for anyone to really hear what they were talking about, but for the most part, everyone chalked it up to Kokomi-senpai being her usual good samaritan and just fetching someone something they'd left behind.
Rifuta knew better.
She knew what her senpai's relationship with the pink-haired boy was. What the pink-haired boy's relationship with that gyaru was. (Or at least Rifuta thought she did.) Even if she didn't have all the pieces, Rifuta knew enough to render her verdict. Kokomi-senpai should not be hanging around that guy.
Rifuta Imu did not like Saiki Kusuo. Not one bit.
Rifuta recalled blondie there telling her, in explicit detail, of all the nasty, lewd things she was always up to with glasses. Up to that point, even if Rifuta had had a previously low opinion of Saiki Kusuo, she'd at least thought him harmless. No more.
Him. That dumb blonde. And that spirit-medium something guy always hanging around them. They were the total pervert trio. The complete degenerate package.
God only knew how much perversion they'd subject her senpai to if she left them to their devices. The pink scumbag's galls to flaunt the lewd blonde in his arms in front of Kokomi-senpai like that…
*Internal Grrr noises*
If Rifuta had any say in the matter, she'd sooner let her senpai handle a cockroach than let her spend a moment in that boy's company… But the unfortunate fact of the matter was – Kokomi-senpai had feelings for Saiki Kusuo...
What did she even see in the guy? So unsociable. So unpleasant. While her lovely senpai was the sort to make every place she went that much brighter and cheery.
It would be like trying to pair a vampire with the sun. A match made in hell, if Rifuta didn't know any better.
(She didn't.)
She could only pray and hope that her senpai would come around in time.
On that cheery note, Rifuta raised a brow as she saw her sensei nearly collide with a bunch of students as she made round the corner. Frantically apologizing, the woman took a second to make sure she hadn't dropped anything before plowing onward. The boys glanced back at her for a moment, before getting back to whatever banal thing they must have been discussing prior-
Despite herself, she felt her eyes instinctively narrow. She recognized these boys.
"-You shouldn't hold it in like that, man. It's not healthy," the second tallest of the trio spoke in his usual rough baritone.
"I get it, I get it." The short one waved him off. "It's embarrassing. Let's just drop it, okay?"
"Heh-Heh!" Geh. Imperceptibly, Rifuta's eyes narrowed even further. "Chibi's only got book smarts! Imagine if you needed to go take a dump in the middle of the exam instead."
Rifuta tried not to let her grimace show.
Saiki Kusuo was not winning any points from her on his choice of company. Flicking her twin-tails over her shoulder in an exaggerated motion, Rifuta gave the three a wide berth.
Reddening, "Where'd that even come from?" the pale-blue haired one half-whispered, half-shouted at the taller boy. This one seemed to have at least some sense. "I just need to go pee, okay? You two, stop making such a big deal out of it! And Nendou, don't talk about gross stuff when we're in public!" he finished, his head looking around nervously, like he was worried someone might have overheard them.
Rifuta obviously pretended that she hadn't. As she had passed them, she had been just a teeny tiny bit miffed that the none of them had even bothered to notice her, but it seemed for the best-
"Ooh, it's that Teruhashi-san wannabe that hangs around Teruhashi-san."
She spoke too soon. And of course, it had to be Nendou.
"Yoo, whaz ya doing? Need any help?" he said, pointing to the stack in her hand.
"I'll be fine," she said just a little more testily than she had intended. Shrugging it off, Nendou continued graciously elaborating to the boys his toilet smarts.
Rifuta shook her head.
As she turned the corner, she took one final glance back at the courtyard, before tearing away her gaze, and picking up her pace.
"I hope you're doing alright, senpai..."
Red rosy lips. An effulgent smile. A dainty nose perched above it. Framed by expressive cheeks, and a beautifully chiseled jawline. The beaming resplendent blues of her eyes. A glassy night reflecting in the drape of her hair.
On the other side of the door, a faucet continued to pour away.
Teruhashi Kokomi looked utterly perfect. Almost.
Her smile faltered a second later, her posture slackening as she sighed. Taking a deep breath, she clamped her eyes shut for a moment, before trying again.
Holding up her pocket mirror, she adjusted the crinkle of her eyes, softening the look, then adding just a touch of playfulness to her smile.
Teruhashi Kokomi was presently in the second stall of the 2nd floor's girl's washroom, making faces to herself. Stowing away her little mirror, she leaned back into her makeshift chair.
...What was she even doing?
Resisting the urge to sigh, she reached into her school bag, emerging with a memo-book a few seconds later. She might as well get to work.
Kokomi, focus.
Rough, worn edges made themselves crisp and tactile on her fingertips as she flit through the pages.
Tables. Foot notes. Tallies. Tree diagrams. Scribbles filling up the edges. Revisions.
A Kokomi-esque calligraphy. A Kokomi-esque thoroughness.
'-kun was sick yesterday too. Follow up with sensei?' She read a #To-Do from the other day as she came to a stop. Followed up, she thought as she idly scribbled in a 'Resolved'. She scrolled through a few more of her footnotes from yesterday.
'-chan's throwing a Christmas party at her house this year too. Good reason to turn down?'
Resolved.
'-kun lost his jacket during lunch the other day. Leads?'
Resolved.
'-san and exam blues. Friends concerned. Grades precarious. Possible Intervention?'
Resolved.
'-chan found her missing cat. But cost her studying time. Looked worried her rank may slip. Intervention?'
Resolved.
Slowly making her way through the whole grocery list of concerns, it was a good minute or two before she finally came to a halt. Tucking her pen away into her breast pocket, she resisted another urge to sigh.
Was this ...alright? Flitting away on her little notebook while… While Saiki...
The scene from the courtyard flashed through her mind.
Why was he in such a hurry? What was Aiura-san doing there? Did he not have anything he wanted to say to Kokomi? Did he not want to hear what she thought of it, the manga? Did her calling him out publicly make him feel uncomfortable?
Why...
Why did she have to freeze up?
...She reined in her face. She'd started grimacing without realizing. Taking a second to catch her breath, she softly exhaled her afflicting thoughts away.
She still had business to tend to.
The first-years. Right. The reason she'd sneaked away into the washroom in the first place. She'd done her rounds of the third-year and second-year hallways, which only left the first years. She just needed a quick refresher on her notes before she could get to it. Sliding her current notebook into her bag, she searched for a moment. Meticulously organized that she was, she found it straight away. Taking it out, a single stray piece of paper followed after, falling to the floor. Surprised, she quickly grabbed it before it could land on the floor.
Huh. This. This page looked familiar. It was the scented paper she'd used to write to Saiki. Did she pack spares? She idly turned it over. She couldn't recall packing any-
Eyes grew wide as she scanned over it.
...Her letter. This was the letter to Saiki. Everything, down to the little smudges she'd accidentally made on one of the corners, were exactly the same.
Then, wait… She... She hadn't given it to him?
…How? Did it slip out somehow? When? When she was running in the halls? When she was handing the manga back to Saiki?
Her mind raced.
*Aughhh.*
Teruhashi Kokomi usually wasn't one to panic, but occasionally made exceptions.
*Aughhhhhhhhh!*
She had half a mind to jump out of the stall that very moment, and chase down the boy to wherever he might be, decorum be damned. She squashed the thought as quickly as it came. Of course she wouldn't do that. That was just the panic talking...
Still… She pinched the bridge of her nose.
What terrible luck.
Just when she thought she'd blundered enough already. Things always had a way of not panning out whenever Saiki Kusuo was involved, didn't they? She almost felt as if she should have anticipated this.
This time, she didn't resist the urge to sigh.
Why... Why had she frozen up today?
Her. Of all people.
In front of him.
Of all people.
It wasn't as if the rest of the school would have overheard her... For all their rapt attention, they had been far enough.
Was it because of Aiura?
Was it because of Saiki?
...Why couldn't she just come out and say it?
Her eyes clamped shut...
She wasn't sure what expression she was making at the moment. But, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to stay inside the stall anymore. Her hands made for the latch with an uncharacteristic urgency.
Bathroom latches were cold little things in winter, and it sapped the heat from her fingertips as she pried it off-
"Coward."
A cold jolt ran through her body. Her breath hitched.
For just a fraction of a second, an impossibly ludicrous thought popped into her head.
It vanished just as quickly as it had come, her rational side taking over.
Footsteps. She could hear footsteps. Shoes going tip-tap on the tiled floor, and that odd echo that you only ever get inside a washroom.
Four - no five - pairs of feet, she counted on instinct.
"It doesn't have to be today...," a voice, different from the first one, whined.
Kokomi stayed her hand. Slowly, soundlessly, she found herself settling back onto her seat.
"Maybe he's not even going to practice today?" another voice offered.
"No, he's definitely going. Doesn't matter that exams just ended. Baseball freak, that guy."
"Hey!" It was the second voice, the whiny one. "That's mean!"
Out of habit, Kokomi found herself trying to match the voices to names. The ones to use this particular washroom were mostly the second years. So…
"She has a point though," another voice interjected.
"Chizu," she said, and Kokomi got the impression that Chizu was the one who had been whining. While she mentally ran through all the Chizu's that she knew of, the girl continued.
"I know it's not exactly my business.. but I don't want you to keep hesitating and end up regretting it, Chii."
From the light rustling of clothes, Kokomi guessed the girl was giving Chizu either a hug or squeeze on the shoulders. "It's Taniyama-senpai's last year. He's only got one more Christmas left here, you know? You have to make the most of it."
"Exactly," another girl followed up. "Keep dilly-dallying and someone else will confess to him before you know it. Or worse... He even might confess to someone else!"
"That..." Chizu trailed off.
…Shinozaki Chizu liked Taniyama Hiroto from the baseball club. The girl was from 2-1, if she remembered correctly. Her friends seemed to support her, at least.
Kokomi filed the information away for later.
"Even if he doesn't, it's not like you'll be able to see each other much after he graduates..." It was the girl that had called Chizu a coward.
"It might be hard now... but believe me, once he graduates, it'll be just that much harder."
"She's speaking from experie-"
Kokomi heard what sounded like a whack, followed by a muted "Ow!".
"...That-That might be, but…"
Chizu seemed to struggle to find the words, but it was obvious enough that she wasn't keen on confessing.
'It'll work out.'
Would it?
'All you can do is try your best.'
Whatever that means.
'Better to try and fail, than to wonder what could have been.'
Or maybe that was too preachy?
Out of habit, Kokomi found herself imagining what she might say to someone in such a spot...
Kokomi had seen girls in Chizu's position before. Second year students crushing on third years. The clock counting down on their affections.
What could she tell them?
"I don't want to confess..." She paused in her ruminations when the girl spoke up again.
"You don't have to force yourself, Chii."
A brief silence.
"But I don't want to regret not confessing even more..."
A sniff.
What sounded like a shake of the head.
The conversation came to a soft lull. A single pair of footsteps dispersed into the adjacent stall. Then another into the one on her other side. Some towards the faucets. Maybe everyone got the cue to back off a bit. Kokomi imagined the girls were reflecting on their words. They had good intentions, but came off a little strong.
That aside, what was it with exams and confessions? Maybe it was the stress and heightened emotions, or maybe it was the way that free time became scarce. It had a way of getting people to reflect about how they put their time to use.
...Exams were hectic, yeah? Getting you to slave away at your desk was bad enough. It even made people meditate about life and the things they needed to do...
Kokomi found something tugging at her heart, her eyes wandering over to the letter she had meant to give to Saiki.
She wasn't sure what to do about it.
…But she sure wasn't just going to sit and do nothing. No way in hell.
As a certain conviction re-ignited within her.
"I-I… forgot to ask, but how did you guys do the second last question by the way?" someone asked from outside. A decent enough way to smooth over the slightly awkward mood in the air. Kokomi approved.
A faucet closed. And she could hear a new conversation pick up as the girls waited for the last of their numbers to join back. In time, the stall door next to hers opened. And then the one to the other side. More faucets opened and closed.
And in a minute they were leaving.
"-Y-you guys!" A girl burst into the washroom, panting and out of breath. "I thought I'd find you here!" There was an odd excitement in her voice.
"What's up, Rii? You look like you just finished a lap around school." Someone from the group replied.
"I-it's the fi-first-", she gasped for breath, "it's the first-years! A fight broke out!"
