Toaru Kagaku no Railgun: Garden of Maidens

by p1ka chuu

School Garden is Academy City's secluded, all-girls district where five elite schools for rich, young ladies are located. The story follows a group of girls who attend one of the most prestigious schools in the world, Tokiwadai Middle School. The first volume contains their day-to-day hardships and solving the mysteries of School Garden.

4. Chapter 4 - Two Worlds

Chapter 4

Part 1

The two girls wearing Tokiwadai Middle School's uniforms were walking down their school's hallway. It was a hot summer noon and the sun was breaking through the tall, clear windows, lighting up the corridor. None of them were open, though, and there were also no signs of air conditioning in the European-looking school building, so the two ladies could barely breathe as drops of sweat were dripping down their foreheads.

The blonde one carrying an orange handbag was looking at a paper with many brackets and codes and whatnot.

She was also holding a small card in her left hand.

The other lady, who had dark brown, wavy hair and a black headband on her head, spoke in a monotone voice.

"This Invitation Card can be used three times. That's all I could get from Mrs. Unabara without being suspicious."

Ogura Iori shook her head.

"No, that's perfect. You've done more than enough already." She said with a calm smile on her face. "Now just don't think about it and let me repay you."

Minami tilted her head and looked at her classmate.

"What do you mean? You don't have to do anything crazy."

"Of course not. Do I look like I even know what 'crazy' means?"

It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but Minami Himeka could debate on that.

She sighed quietly.

"Anyways, as I said, the only thing I care about is you having fun with your friend. That was the reason why I helped you in the first place. I don't need anything in exchange."

Ogura looked at the wavy-haired girl confused.

"But... Minami-san."

"Hm? What?"

"You're going with us, too, right?"

The headband-wearing girl jumped slightly as an unexpected shiver went through her body after what she had heard. She nervously stepped back and stared at Ogura Iori for a moment.

"W-Why do I have to go, too? This was supposed to be you two's outing."

The blonde-haired girl smiled timidly and scratched the back of her head.

"Well... If she's coming to School Garden, I thought it would be nice to introduce her to all of my friends from Tokiwadai. Me, you, Mizushima-san and Ayako could show her around and go to nice places... I would be a terrible guide, plus the more people, the more fun. And I know she will be excited to meet other students of Tokiwadai."

Minami was hesitant.

She pursed her lips while she was thinking intensively and looking at the ceiling.

"Hmm. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but..." She stopped for a second, but continued after lowering her head again and looking at her classmate. "Wouldn't our presence disturb you two?"

"Of course not. She's been always saying how much she wants to meet my classmates and visit the Garden one day."

The wavy-haired girl faintly nodded her head and continued walking.

"W-well, then I think there's a chance I'll be able to accompany you."

Ogura smiled and followed her classmate.

"Wonderful. I'll talk to Mizushima-san and Ayako about it, too." She said in a calm, but cheerful tone. "We'll have a great outing. All five of us!"

Part 2

The day was slowly coming to an end as the sun was hidden behind the horizon.

The sky was dark blue, with many little, sparking dots scattered around it like an ocean of spilled glitter. There were barely any clouds, and the great moon was lighting up the European-looking town in the middle of a futuristic city, the School Garden.

It was long past curfew. The stores were closed. The streets were empty. The town was sleeping.

But not all of its residents.

Inside one of the Tokiwadai Middle School's dormitory rooms, a blonde-haired girl was sitting on her bed, with a big smartphone in her hands which was the only source of light in the small space.

The room was very antique, with a chic and classic design. The Tokiwadai students had mostly simple, old, wooden furniture in their dormitories, without any flashy or expensive-looking decorations or accents. Even though the ladies were very wealthy and privileged, the school made sure to develop as much modesty in them as possible. The uniforms looked like they belonged to an elite school, but they weren't pretentious. The dormitory rooms were nice, tidy and chic but they couldn't be called "beautiful" or "decorative". They had to serve their purpose. Students were supposed to sleep, do homework, use the bathroom and change clothes in them. And there is nothing magnificent or breathtaking in satisfying your basic, human needs.

Ogura Iori's and Hisakawa Ayako's room was one of the bigger ones in the School Garden dormitory, but it barely had enough storage to contain all of the blonde girl's expensive, brandname bags and accessories. The tiny closet with wooden panel doors was so full that if you were to open it, the squeezed, desperate to escape items inside would explode at you and scatter around the entire room.

Some of them were stored in the other closet, which belonged to Ogura's roommate, but even that was not enough.

There were two wooden desks vis-a-vis to the door, with two windows onlooking at the sleepy, lit up School Garden.

Hisakawa Ayako's and Ogura Iori's beds were facing each other so that the two of them could have a bit of space and privacy. The former was already sleeping, covered by a thin, white sheet. The latter looked rather busy, typing quickly on her phone with her slim, tiny fingers.

She was using some sort of messaging app.

She finally typed the last word and sent a message:

"Kirarin: YES! She really did! I can't believe she would actually do that. Can't thank her enough."

After barely 20 seconds, she received a response.

"Lala-lun: Is the date set or…?"

"Kirarin: No, no. You can come visit any day you're available."

"Lala-lun: Oh that's cool. I thought Tokiwadai was more strict ww."

Ogura typed another message.

"Kirarin: So when are you free? You were saying something about an outdoor training coming soon?"

"Lala-lun: Oh, yeah, I have that tomorrow and I think it lasts until the evening. Then our team has a three-day competition in the training fields... Oh but I'm pretty sure I'm free on the 26th at around 4 PM. I end my volleyball training early."

"Kirarin: Yay! We're gonna have quite some time then!"

"Lala-lun: Oh, I can't wait to see School Garden! Can we go to your school?"

"Kirarin: Calm down ww"

"Lala-lun: No but, like, I really wanna go see it."

"Kirarin: We're gonna go to maaaany places. Don't even worry. Tokiwadai is so boring-looking."

"Lala-lun: You say that about everything."

"Kirarin: Maybe? But I'll take you to the best places I know. Seriously, the last thing you want to visit in the Garden is our school. Well, the Rose Garden area is cute, but you won't be let inside. But, really, anything else? Old. Dusty. Gross. 19th century."

"Lala-lun: Haha, okay, ma'am. Either way, can't wait!"

"Kirarin: Me too! I'm so excited."

"Lala-lun: Ok I have to go to bed now. I have to be well-rested for tomorrow's training. Ugh."

"Kirarin: Ok, byeee! Sleep well and... good luck on... tossing the ball? Or whatever you are doing."

"Lala-lun: I'm playing volleyball! After almost seven years of knowing me, you still don't know the name of the sport?"

"Kirarin: And do I look like I know what volleyball is?! Don't you, like, toss a ball around?"

"Lala-lun: No. Maybe I'll explain it to you when we meet up, okay? I'm going to bed. Byee."

"Kirarin: Bye-bye."

Ogura Iori turned off her phone and a complete darkness filled the antique room.

She placed the device on a nightstand beside her bed and lay down, pressing her head against a white pillow.

The town of School Garden was the most quiet and peaceful place in the world. Unlike the Academy City, which was never sleeping, the nights in the Garden had as much sound as a vacuum.

The silence that followed after the blonde girl had fallen asleep, lasted until morning.

Part 3

Another day had come. The sun was out, once again and a shiny, warm light rested upon the Garden, summoning the familiar sounds of summer mornings. As if they were asleep without its presence.

The chirping of doves and flutter of their wings, as they were cruising around the European-looking town, could be heard everywhere.

It was 9 AM in the morning. Most of the ladies studying in School Garden had already woken up, starting their day productive or at least out in the town, eating breakfast and having early club activities. Ogura Iori, however, had a tendency of leaving her dorm room at this hour.

After waking up, there was an entire routine to perform, after all. Having a morning shower, brushing her hair, applying conditioner to make it look shiny and healthy, just like in the commercials, applying as much but at the same time as little as possible makeup, which was banned for Tokiwadai students, was a long process which required skill. A complicated skin care routine, hair routine along with picking the right makeup products (to make the Dorm Mistress not suspect a thing) were the main reasons why the bathroom was mostly occupied by her.

Here, in Academy City, she had to learn the basics of doing everything beauty-related herself, as she was no longer privileged to have her hair, makeup and nails done by a trained expert. It was only one of the many challenges she had to take on coming to this city.

The next step was opening her closet, with a prayer of not being crushed by the content of it this time, and picking the right accessories. Because an actual clothing other than her school uniform was not an option, the least she could do to stand out from the rest was wearing a dazzling bag and a gorgeous silk ribbon, that she would tie into her long, blonde hair.

Socks were optional. They could be white, black, blue, short, long, knee-high, thigh-high. But as a lady from an incredibly wealthy family, Ogura Iori knew that a girl her age should cover her skin if she has an option to. The mini skirts of Tokiwadai's uniforms were very short, barely reaching half of her thighs, so wearing black, long socks, perfectly covering that area, was an obvious pick for her.

With a quick spray of deep, rich perfumes, with a silk ribbon in her hair and a glamorous, shimmering handbag hanging on the crook of her elbow, she was ready to finally leave her dorm room.

9 AM.

The blonde-haired lady closed the old, squeaky, wooden door behind her and looked around the long, carpeted hallway. It had bare, white walls and tall windows onlooking at the Garden's streets and monumental buildings. She stood there for a while and pressed her body against a wall.

A sweet, melodic voice of a young lady could be heard.

"Ogura-san, good morning!" she noticed a petite girl wearing the same uniform, walking towards her. "Did you have to wait?"

The Tokiwadai student was short, with skinny, socked legs. She had very long, honey-colored hair and the left side of her bangs was clipped by two white pins. Her eyes were almost like turquoise gems. They were big, shiny and subtle, almost giving an impression of a doll's eyes. She had pouty lips and pale skin.

Her beauty was very youthful, almost child-like. She was a gorgeous-looking girl, but she couldn't ever be a model. Even child models have some sort of adult-like features that make them "stunning" or "magical" according to their fans. Her beauty was that of a victorian doll. She had very gentle facial features, with a sophisticated tone. Like a tiny rosebud, which charms people with its youth and purity, but lacks the glamor and romance of a rose in its full bloom.

It was Mizushima Sayuri. Ogura's classmate and the only person she knew that could understand her fashion obsession.

She smiled at her.

"No, not at all. I have just left my room."

"Oh, I'm glad." Mizushima smiled back. "By the way, where is Hisakawa-san?"

The blonde-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and smiled bitterly.

"You know, the usual."

"Ah, clique meetings?"

"Haha, she was so grumpy this morning. I've told her so many times that if she decides to join the second biggest clique in this school, then she has to deal with the consequences of it." Ogura giggled quietly, but then a certain thought came to her mind. She just couldn't understand one thing. Something was off. She put a finger near her chin, remembering the times three or four months ago. "Hmm, but..."

Mizushima Sayuri squealed suddenly, interrupting Ogura Iori and forcing her to look behind her.

She pointed her finger forward and the blonde-haired girl turned around.

Ogura raised her eyebrows with shock.

(S-Speaking of the devil...!)

The atmosphere changed.

It was no longer a lazy, quiet morning in the dormitory's hallway.

It was a stage for the most glorious and magnificent performance from now on.

A group of 3rd-years was walking towards the two blonde girls and their grace dominated the hallway.

Like in a fashion show or on a red carpet, when someone has so much glory and beauty in everything they do, even their walk is a work of art in and of itself. A performance worth watching and admiring.

But they weren't just some 3rd-years. Of course, they were Tokiwadai Middle School's students, but there was a whole lot more to them than just that. They belonged to an elite.

A clique.

A girl leading the group that followed her, had voluminous, slightly curly, cranberry-colored hair tied into two pigtails. Her bangs was swept to the side.

Her beauty and her elegance were shocking and the entire impression that she was giving off could make someone mistaken, thinking that this girl was actually a high schooler. Her posture and her figure were very mature, very adult-like. Her steps were so perfect and so elegant that someone would have thought that she had been training her walking style her whole life, until she had reached perfection. Could you find anybody with that much magnificence and sublimity living outside of School Garden? No. This was the only place where students were performing all the time. Their whole lives and their daily activities had been trained from the ground up, to achieve an expert level of performance ability.

Ogura Iori could call herself a rich, well-mannered lady, but compared to the upperclassman now walking towards her, she was quite no one. In a school full of beauty, it was very hard to distinguish who was more beautiful than the other, but in this case, it was obvious. No one in this long, quiet corridor could even compare to her. The gorgeousness and the fairness of this maiden was so rare that even diamonds and most expensive handbags looked common in comparison.

Yes. This was Akiyama Izumi.

Her reputation was cold as ice. But no one could withstand her incredible, overwhelming charm.

She was a big mystery to Ogura Iori. She, quite frankly, knew only the basic informations about her, which were not enough to form any sort of opinion. And she probably wasn't the only one in Tokiwadai Middle School who felt that way. Did she even have any sort of personality? Or was she just a ruler of this outstandingly perfect and beautifully organized clique?

Everybody knew she had the power. But was she a person behind that image? She wasn't much different from the Queen of Tokiwadai, who was an even bigger mystery. Both of them were known for their exclusivity and superiority. With their massive, powerful cliques consisting of dozens of people, incredible esper abilities, good connections with outside facilities, they were the Elite and there was no debate on that. That was why other students felt the need to join them. They dreamed of being a part of this world. Everybody wants to feel superior, after all. Everybody wants to join the better group. To feel better about themselves.

Hisakawa Ayako was in that group. Ogura noticed her after a while of constant staring, as anyone would.

She felt hypnotized, but something quickly woke her up. It was a smell of deep, strong perfumes. Those weren't her own, though. She preferred more girly, although with a rich palette of scents, flower fragrances. The ones she was smelling right now reminded her of something her mother would wear, but only on some very important occasions like business meetings or VIP parties.

Ogura was a seasoned connoisseur of luxury in general, so she could more or less tell the price range of said perfumes as well as their quality. To say that she was impressed and delighted would be an understatement.

That was exactly how she imagined someone like Akiyama Izumi to smell like. Luxury. Royalty, even. After being given a sample of this incredible fragrance, someone from "outside" would be only able to visualize millions of yen. Nothing else besides that. It was the best money could buy you.

The blonde-haired girl didn't even realize when the group had passed her. They were already out of her sight. The perfumes' smell started to fade away. That was when she shook off the feeling of unconsciousness.

She now processed the fact that Akiyama Izumi had said "Good morning" to her.

But how long ago was it? 3 seconds ago?

She had completely spaced out.

Mizushima Sayuri bowed to the 3rd-year lady in response.

"Good morning." She said gracefully.

Akiyama smiled towards her and soon, she was gone. She turned right and disappeared around the corner. The group that was following her as well.

Mizushima and Ogura were standing in place, absolutely stunned.

This was the second time Ogura Iori had witnessed this clique's beauty in its full glory.

The silence started to feel a bit awkward, as the seconds were passing by and none of the two girls had said anything.

Mizushima finally spoke.

"I'm guessing that's what Hisakawa-san is doing..."

"Y-Yeah, they are probably going to the Rose Garden. I'm surprised that Akiyama-sama is around this time, though..."

"Eh?"

"Ah, nothing. L-Let's get going. I'm starving."

Part 3

"Eh?! Ogura-san's friend is coming to School Garden?!"

A high-pitched voice resounded inside a gorgeous restaurant.

The girl whose hair was the color of deep, sweet honey, barely took a bite of her meal, before the shocking news had reached her.

Ogura Iori was sitting right in front of her, leaning on her hand and smiling nonstop. Her good mood this morning radiated like some sort of energy. You could almost touch the happiness that she was releasing through this immature, child-like grin on her face.

The two blonde ladies wearing Tokiwadai uniforms were dining at a big, three stories tall, very popular restaurant in School Garden. Its interior design was, just like L'ambroisie's, overflowing with gold and marble, but it was lacking the evident baroque style. Instead, it incorporated very simple, clean and modern lines with neoclassical designs. A grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling, this time, had light bulbs, the music was playing from the speakers, instead of a small classical music band performing on violins and cellos in the corner of the room. The atmosphere inside felt fully modern, but still with a very traditional concept of showing off luxury.

Every table in the restaurant was round, with more than three layers of embellished tablecloths and every chair had the same flower design along with the same golden frame. The restaurant had very tall, arched windows which were onlooking at one of the most beautiful cobbled streets of School Garden. The view was very romantic, with the building vis a vis being very close, making the pathway quite narrow. There were many wooden benches outside, with palm trees planted beside them and all kinds of fancy shops and stores behind, accommodated in Parisian-styled apartment buildings.

This gorgeous scenery was basking in the hot summer sunlight, along with flocks of white doves flying all around the magnificent and luxurious School Garden, rejoicing in their freedom and cheerfulness.

The street that this restaurant was located in, had a very visible inspiration drawn from the Southern France. There were many palm trees inside, decorating the interior, along with paintings displaying the lavender meadows of Marseille, magnificent cliffs and the coast of Provence and stunning old buildings of Nice.

This very luxurious design combined with the accents of a hot and summery south, looked like it belonged to a 5-star resort hotel at the French Riviera. During summer vacations, this part of School Garden was very popular, as the high class ladies wanted to feel a bit of that freedom and leisure themselves, but they couldn't leave Academy City to visit a real beach, or walk down a real French street.

School Garden was a small town created from copies of real-life places in Europe. The purpose of it was to both please the sophisticated and wealthy tastes of the students, as well as to remind them of their own favorite places from childhood. They were locked in a cage, away from the gorgeous streets of Paris or Milan and from the rest of the world itself, but at least in a cage that was resembling the places from that world they deeply loved. At least they were given a facade, a small portion of what those places looked and felt like, trying to cover up as much as possible the fact that they were trapped inside those 2 squared kilometers of pure artificial beauty.

...

Ogura Iori took a bite of her exquisite breakfast meal consisting of small pieces of salmon with tiny, toasted slices of bread and a boiled egg in a beautiful, golden egg stand.

She gently wiped her mouth with a white napkin laying beside her plate and responded with confidence.

"Yes. Minami-san helped me get the invitation card for her and she can now visit us."

Mizushima Sayuri squinted her shiny turquoise eyes and tilted her head.

" 'Us'?"

The blonde-haired girl giggled and took another bite.

Before responding, she sipped her light brown coffee, which was still steaming.

"Yes." said Ogura and placed the cup on a white, porcelain saucer while swallowing the drink. "I would like the four of us to surprise her when she walks through the gates, and then give her a magical tour of School Garden. This is going to be her first ever visit, so as her friend and someone who spends every day in here, I wanted this tour to be as detailed and as memorable as possible. And I don't really want it to be just the two of us. Since she's coming to visit 'my place' I also want her to get to know the people I met in here."

"That is so interesting." Mizushima gasped delighted.

"Hm? What is?"

"Ah, you know." She said with a slight melancholy, while looking down, staring at her cup full of dark tea. "To think that Ogura-san even has friends from outside... It's a kind of bravery I wouldn't understand, I feel."

Ogura smiled nervously.

"No, not at all. She's my only friend from elementary school." She then looked down, as well, as she remembered something nostalgic. "I was very shy and awkward, as well, trying to fit in but not really knowing how to."

Both of them had a kind of foggy and gloomy hint in their voices. As the two high-class ladies were remembering their hardships and childhood memories, Mizushima finally spoke.

"Do you feel sometimes, Ogura-san, that School Garden... is your only safe spot in this city?"

"Eh?"

"With so many things happening recently, don't you feel like we should all have a hiding spot we can come back to? Not only us, who live in School Garden. But everyone. I ask myself those things everyday. Am I safe, even in the place that I am right now? Then, what about others? About those who live outside?"

"Ah, you mean those recent explosions? I've heard about them. What were they called? Graviton?"

The girl with honey-colored hair looked troubled as she started to nervously fidget in her seat. She looked at Ogura with a slight frown of concern on her face.

"And not only those. The things that happen in this city... honestly..." her voice started to crack a bit, she then lowered it to the point of almost whispering. "...scare me to death. So many different people, both good and bad, having those scary, powerful abilities... which enable them to just end someone's life with a single look... it's like possessing a deadly weapon and walking around with it, when crowds of innocent people surround you."

The ribbon-wearing girl felt a slight shiver going down her spine.

This random thought of being in a constant danger invaded her thoughts, but she couldn't impact her logical thinking. She knew that whatever Mizushima Sayuri was talking about, couldn't be true. Or that at least she was over-exaggerating.

She forced a comforting smile, while looking at her classmate.

"Don't worry about it. After all, that's what Anti Skill is for. To keep peace in Academy City and fight even high-level espers. Besides, you don't have to think about your safety." She then proceeded while looking up, pointing with her eyes at a small security camera attached to the ceiling. "We, School Garden residents, have the best security system in the world. Not only nobody can enter it without a notice, but also the people living here are carefully selected and taught not to abuse their power. We, out of all people, have the least to worry about."

"But..." Mizushima said in a shaky voice. "Your friend... She might not be safe. This isn't just about things like robbery or theft. Some espers can be treated as beings on the same power level as military forces. People are careless these days. They attack others because of some trivial stuff, such as holding grudge or jealousy. And with the power that they have... they can create damage more serious than they can imagine."

Ogura Iori looked down once again, but did not respond at all.

She has been ignoring things that could make her feel uncomfortable or uneasy this whole time, but the worry that she was feeling in that moment was fully justified.

She also didn't like the fact that someone she loved wasn't with her, in this closed district known as School Garden, but there was nothing she could do to change that. The two of them were separated and the worries that one had, couldn't ever be the same as the other's. They belonged to two completely different schools, to completely different districts, having completely different lifestyles. It made her feel like she's a complete opposite of her own friend.

But she wanted them to share things. Share the same gossips, share the same interests, share the same worries. But they couldn't. For one, a worry would have been missing a dream bag from the newest collection of some designer, but for the other, it might have been waking up to a sudden explosion, threatening one's life.

Academy City was like a not yet tested, new, diverse, chaotic ride at a questionable amusement park. It was a dangerous realm of unknown, with so many different social classes mixed together, somehow having to coexist, which led to many conflicts and fights.

It was the furthest from "stable".

Mizushima Sayuri's sudden nervous laugh upon seeing Ogura's melancholic expression broke the silence.

"Ahaha, I guess I'm just a bit paranoid..."

The blonde girl looked at her and smiled hesitantly.

"Hmph. Aren't we all?" she smirked faintly.

The girl with honey-colored hair finished her meal with last two bites.

She wiped her tiny, pouty lips with a napkin and sighed with satisfaction because of the delicious food.

Mizushima looked at Ogura Iori with a cheerful smile on her face and leaned on her hand.

"Anyways, I will gladly join you girls with showing your friend around. Ah, but do you have a specified date or anything?"

"Oh, she said she's free on the 26th. Apparently she finishes her practice early and should be done with it at around 4 PM."

"Fantastic. I'll definitely make some changes in my schedule to be free on that day."

"That would be so nice." Ogura smiled politely. "Oh, but you guys' presence is a surprise. She doesn't know that anyone else besides me is going to show up. Maybe we could all prepare some party poppers when she arrives? Then the shock would be doubled!"

Mizushima clapped her two palms together in a sign of excitement.

Her turquoise eyes sparkled a bit.

"That's an adorable idea! Maybe I could get some of those!"

"Great. I'll leave it to you, then, Mizushima-san."

"Ah, I'm getting excited for it." She said with clenched fists twitching near her chest and a small blush around her cheeks. "Does Minami-san or Hisakawa-san know, too, though?"

"I've already talked about it with Ayako like an hour ago before she left. Minami-san knows about it, too. I just have to let her know the specific date. I really hope she can make it, though."

Mizushima smiled bitterly.

"Oh, yes. Minami-san does have a strict schedule all the time."

The ribbon-wearing girl sighed in response.

"Yeah... And because of that big international concert that she has to perform in, she has to take the longest, most strict practices out of all the students."

"I guess that's the price you have to pay when the teachers notice your talent and skills." Mizushima said as she lay back in her chair.

A warm smile formed around Ogura's eyes. She took the last sip of her coffee.

Both of the ladies had finished their breakfast.

It was time to start the day.

Part 4

The summer days in School Garden were passing in its organically fast way.

While still focusing on their daily club activities and trying to finish their summer vacation homework, the rich young ladies were living quite a leisurely life.

Streets were being occupied by herds of high-class girls laughing, gossiping, eating, enjoying their time.

Stores and expensive boutiques were still bustling, as the number of clients was increasing with each day. Some could say that spending money was a good way of killing boredom for the Garden's residents. Even though the concept of money has completely lost its meaning for most of them, as a single touch of a credit card provided them extremely expensive items sold in those stores, the thrill of obtaining something completely new and highly valuable was a fascinating game on its own.

During summer vacations, more of those girls started paying attention to fashion, as more trivial things became crucial. School was not a thing to worry or think about for the time being, so keeping up with trends and indulging in buying clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry and perfumes became a priority.

The concept of School Garden during summer was to just purely "entertain" its very wealthy and, unfortunately, easily bored residents. Various schools organized cultural events, more concerts were being performed at the local opera house, boutiques were pumping out new products, restaurants were advertising their new exclusive secret menus, all that to keep the high-class ladies entertained.

Yes, without school, days were very blissful and enjoyable. There were many possibilities to choose from, as the entire town itself was flooded with activities that rich girls loved. It was a perfect time to relax, loosen up a bit and shamelessly distract yourself by throwing money at anything you'd want along with a group of your friends.

A perfect time to invite someone who had never seen the splendor and extravagance of School Garden in their life, and show them how this gorgeous, European-looking, all-girls district looked like in its full glory, when school was not an issue and all you had to do was... to have fun. At least that was what Ogura Iori had been thinking.

With her intricate, delicately prepared plan of inviting her childhood friend over to this town full of luxury, she was only waiting for that day. A very special day, where the two worlds, of her nostalgic past and high-class present, would collide and meet each other for the first time.

Leaving the Garden to see her childhood friend was no longer necessary. She could now unite and reconcile the place she was living in, with the past she was visiting every now and then. A day when she could introduce it to her new home and let it enter the gates of the Garden, and let the barrier between them finally disappear.

Her friend from the past, her friends from the present, and the place they could all share sometime. They were all going to be combined in this one awaited day, where she would no longer feel the longing to be freed from the stone shackles of School Garden, in order to live beside the people she cared for.

Maybe...

Maybe she believed her friend could someday be protected like she was. Trapped in this golden cage with her, safely. They could share the same problems and worries again and her "past memories" would vanish, because there would be no past any longer. She wanted the past to become the present. Or at least to join the present that she already knew. To join her, in School Garden.

For the time being, those wishes might have been too much to ask for.

So at least she wanted that day to be perfect. The day of merely introducing her past and her present together.

A day when things she loved, which were coming from different worlds, could finally reconnect and become one.

That day has finally come.

Part 5

She was feeling a paralyzing thrill in her entire body since the morning.

Ogura Iori didn't know if she should enjoy it or at least take advantage of it in order to make the surprise for her guest better. Some people thought that stress had a positive impact on accomplishing things that required focus. Because her mind was centered around only that thing, there were no other distractions that could interrupt her focus.

But it wasn't like that at all.

The stress was the one that directly started to prevent her from focusing.

Or, it was creating many other distractions, making her thought path branch out and lose its direction completely.

(What if she's not going to get along with Minami-san and the others?)

(What if School Garden is going to be a disappointment for her? I mean, she isn't quite used to places like this.)

But those worries had absolutely no foundation whatsoever.

A rich girl like Ogura Iori, who had been growing up and living in a space where everything had to be perfect, could be dissatisfied with anything in the world, even the most beautifully decorated mansion. She had never in her life seen an object that didn't look like an exquisite piece of art. She had never worn a dress that wouldn't be considered a testament to the world of high fashion. Because her standards were already so unfairly high, she would worry about every single detail that could look even slightly out of place.

But with this much grandeur and beauty that School Garden had, not a single bad thing about it could be noticed. Even if some people claimed to despise wealth and the rich, they would be stunned when entering the Garden, too. Why do millions of people from around the world visit enormous royal palaces whose excessive interiors drip with gold and have nothing in common with humbleness?

Because it doesn't matter if you agree with the ideology of spending immense amounts of money on objects. A beautiful object is a beautiful object. People want to see it either way.

Gold is so valuable because it's beautiful. It's a natural sign of wealth. The color, the shine, the deepness. Those traits are considered beautiful for people. For those who love luxury and for those who despise it.

Beauty, almost every time, has some kind of connection with wealth, no matter what kind. You may not be wealthy materially, but if you possess a different kind of beauty, such as the ability to create gorgeous music, or having a gorgeous body, or possessing a gorgeous voice, this beauty becomes your wealth.

School Garden was overflowing with it.

No, overflowing could be an understatement.

It was more like the very embodiment of wealth.

Its only residents were young, pure maidens. All coming from wealthy families. The architecture was inspired by the most beautiful cities in Europe. It had magnificent, Parisian apartment buildings, baroque-inspired fountains, grand cathedrals, imposing bell towers. Along with wonderful gardens and parks, with many species of roses proudly honoring the viewers with their breathtaking looks. The stores and restaurants here were all highly exclusive, famous and expensive locals.

Nothing in School Garden could be called "average" or even "slightly bland".

It could only cause a gasp of delight and rapture, while shocking the visitor with how many more levels of wealth and beauty exist in the world. It was the same feeling as if you were walking through rooms of the most gorgeous, splendid royal palace in the world, thinking that the next room cannot be more breathtaking than the one you are already in, but then, after entering that next room somehow your expectations are completely exceeded. After this cycle repeating a couple of times, you just can't trust your own predictions or opinions any longer, because the beauty of the place completely defeats your own brain's intelligence.

People only knew what to expect from School Garden. But nobody knew how it really felt to step your foot inside of this magnificent, imposing town.

And commoners who had been there, couldn't find words in their vocabulary to describe that feeling.

Not many had the chance to even dream about visiting it, but Ogura Iori's friend had been given this incredible, rare chance. A miracle had happened in the form of Minami Himeka agreeing on begging the principal for the invitation card.

There was absolutely no way the blonde girl could let such an opportunity go to waste. That day had to be perfect.

Her head was busy thinking about trivial inconveniences that could interfere with her plans. Not that they would matter anyway. Even the thought of being inside the Garden was exciting and fascinating on its own. She was worried because her standards were too high. She had no idea how other people, who did not belong to the same high-class world as her, reacted to luxuries she was consuming on a daily basis.

For example, to commoners, a bag worth half a million yen was something exclusive. But Ogura Iori wouldn't even look in the direction of such item. She would probably frown and gag if she was forced to stare at it.

A privileged, unfairly wealthy person like her would never acknowledge that someone could be satisfied just by looking around and doing nothing inside of this town. Even though it had many purposes. It could be a piece of art to somebody. Just sitting down, appreciating the beauty surrounding you, breathing in the luxurious air, doing nothing. That could be an enjoyment.

But her standards were too high to understand that. This "beauty" and this "glamor" of School Garden was like a foundation. It was a necessity. A base. Rich young ladies living there weren't talking about how beautiful the Garden was. Ever. Just like you don't appreciate the carpenter's work on the desk in your room. It's just a desk. Yes, it required effort to make it, but you don't pay attention to it as long as it serves its purpose. Your standards are set on a specific level. "I need a nicely-looking desk for my computer" is all you ask for.

But the meaning of "nicely-looking" for the high-class ladies was something from a completely different realm.

Their standards were situated on a totally different level.

For an average person, a simple wooden desk was enough. It was nicely-looking from their perspective. But for a person who perceives the meaning of this word completely differently, it may look absolutely hideous.

Yes.

It was hard for those wealthy girls living in School Garden to understand how commoners perceived their lifestyles and what were they thinking about it. From their perspective and by their standards, the Garden was a "nicely-looking" town. What word the lower classes were using to describe it, was a mystery. All those ladies knew was that they were superior to every single person living outside. They weren't really thinking about commoners besides that.

So, naturally, Ogura Iori was taking into account the image of this town from her perspective when she tried to imagine her friend's impressions of it. The sheer fact that she was taking a disappointment from her as an option, meant that she was mentally living in a different realm, where everything was beautiful by nature and nothing ever came close to mediocrity.

That's who Ogura was. A sheltered, wealthy girl who didn't know the world, or its people.

The thrill wasn't stopping.

The time of her meeting with friends was coming closer with each minute. It was dangerously close.

All that the ribbon-wearing girl needed in that moment was someone telling her "It's going to be fine. Whatever you do, she's going to be delighted. Relax." but that someone was nowhere to be found. She was alone in her dormitory room, not even with Hisakawa Ayako by her side. Maybe it was for the better, maybe for the worse. When Ogura had to really gussy up, she claimed she needed the entire space. The bathroom, the closet, the bed, the desks. She needed all of them to serve as her vanity room.

Her makeup products were scattered around. A shiny lip gloss contained in a golden container was laying on her bed, many colorful powder compacts could be found on the desk. Her collection of handbags and ribbons was messily put on the carpet, as she was trying to match their colors. Extravagant, expensive-looking bottles of perfumes were scattered everywhere in the bathroom.

There were no rules against being messy if her own maid was around. That was what she had been taught at home. But in these hard, challenging conditions, away from her family's mansion and away from the herd of housekeepers willing to do everything for her, she knew that this entire chaos created in her room, had to be cleaned up by her. She was sometimes angry that Tokiwadai, advertising itself as an elite school for the richest, did not provide some sort of cleaning service. Even at 3-star hotels, rooms were cleaned by the hired staff. So why did this daughter of a billionaire and an heiress of international conglomerate company had to make her own bed, do her own hair and makeup and replace towels all by herself?

This was especially infuriating when she had so much to do. Ogura Iori didn't necessarily love the process of gussying up itself, she just wanted to achieve the final effect. She was using the best products on Earth, but didn't have as much skill. Her hair was so straight, shiny and silky smooth because she had been given an advice from her stylist living in her family's mansion. She knew what to use and how, but the hardest part was actually doing it.

Her hair was already dried, brushed and with applied conditioner. If she hired an expert from one of the hair salons in School Garden, it could probably look much better, but she did not trust any other person to touch her hair or give her any advice on it, other than her own personal stylist. She was so scared of anything looking different than it already was, that she would not listen to anybody else. Her long, straight hair could be taken care of by only one person, otherwise her hair routine could be inconsistent. Furthermore, she was more than satisfied with using the same products. She could not imagine her hair looking or smelling differently.

She also could not get rid of another tradition.

She picked up a silk ribbon from her roommate's desk, where a box containing dozens of those was laying opened. She looked in a small, portable mirror while gently tying the ribbon around a thin piece of her hair, at the left side of her head. She had a special technique to make an impression that the bow isn't tied to her hair at all, but rather stuck to her head as if she used hot glue.

With a quiet sound of rubbing cloth, Ogura successfully put on the accessory. Her hair was almost as shiny as the fine silk of her ribbon.

She smiled towards herself in the mirror, and gently stood up.

She was already done with makeup. Her face was slightly too smooth and blushed to assume that she wasn't wearing it at all, but it was still a very soft and modest glam. She didn't use any eyeshadow, but her lips were covered by a bit of pink lip gloss. They were shining and shimmering with a girly spark.

She looked tiredly at the crowd of purses laying on the floor. It hurt her feelings to see her expensive, valuable objects so violently degraded, but it was all Tokiwadai's fault and the school was something she could not fight. She couldn't even get a simple invitation card so asking for additional storage would be like begging for an expulsion. She was already at the teachers' last nerves.

Ogura picked up a bag that matched the bow in her hair.

It was the finest piece of Hermèise's atelier. The Bourquin.

Ogura Iori had a couple of those bags, but they were annoyingly hard to get, even for someone like her. 50% of the reason why they were so valuable and desirable was, indeed, their skyrocketing price, but another 50% was their inaccessibility. Investing in Hermèise's Bourquins was supposedly more profitable than investing in gold. As the queen of handbags, the Bourquin was an accessory that could turn any look into a glamorous, expensive and luxurious one. Nobody walking on the street would notice anything else anyway. The eyes were supposed to be focused on the craftsmanship masterpiece that this purse was.

It was perfect for Tokiwadai students who could only wear the school's uniform, being able to change their very modest and formal outfit into a splendid look, just by holding that bag in their hands.

Yes.

Bourquin possessed power that other handbags could not even try to replicate.

The design was not pretentious, but at the same time, it somehow radiated this mysterious, luxurious aura. Maybe it was the classic tote shape? Maybe it was the subtle touch of white gold on the hardware? Maybe it was the beautiful, soft, exotic leather? Probably even the designer himself didn't know exactly what had caused the "big boom" regarding the Bourquin.

But it was the best handbag in the world nonetheless. And that's all Ogura Iori cared about.

The piece hanged on the crook of her arm was, simply put, magnificent. This specific model was the size 30, perfect for a teenage lady, boasting a rare and eye-catching Terre Cuite color dyed into ostrich skin. The amount of care and precision that this purse had been made with was incredible, but for someone like Ogura Iori, who had been purchasing from Hermèise since she was a young child, it was more than expected. From the unique pores created by the ostrich skin to the carefully hand-stitched thread across the top and side of the bag to the flawless palladium hardware, every detail has been carefully planned and executed. The handles were stiffened and would stand up straight at all times, maintaining the bag's unique appearance while the hardware was attached by rivets to complete a smooth transition from palladium to leather.

The accessory tied in her hair and the one on the crook of her arm looked like a part of some sort of set, as they were matching perfectly. It was the more hard to achieve that same Terre Cuite on silk as on exotic leather, as the difference in texture and structure would normally make the dye cause the final color to differ slightly. But those two pieces of accessories were exactly the same shade, they had the same deepness, with the same shine.

She was almost ready to leave. Her looks were already polished and perfected. All she needed to do left was to put on an appropriate fragrance.

Perfumes, just like clothes and handbags, were categorized depending on occasion, age, weather and time of the day. There were people who would just use the same scents every time they would go out, but the rich young ladies of School Garden were obviously nowhere near such low class. They were selecting their perfumes the same way people pick different meals at buffet. Your plate has to be full of various foods or else you're missing the entire concept of buffets.

That's how high-class girls were perceiving fragrances. They had at least two different bottles of those for each occasion.

It was a hot summer afternoon. The best pick for someone like Ogura Iori, who loved sweeter flower scents, was her newest Chânelle Floral Parfum collection.

She grabbed a round bottle, with a gorgeous crystal cap, and with a tender press of her slim finger, a tiny mist squirted from a tiny hole in the perfume's cap. It landed on the blonde lady's neck, also spreading a bit lower, too, wetting her uniform's collar a bit.

A few seconds had to pass in order to fully let the fragrance reach your nostrils. An exquisite smell exploded at the tip of Ogura's nose. It was a constellation of enveloping notes of jasmine and roses, a radiant and feminine scent with an intoxicatingly soft and enveloping trail.

It was like a whirlwind of tenderness and beauty.

Nobody knew how to fully explain it, but some things just smelt, tasted or sounded expensive. It was almost like synesthesia, except the stimulus didn't turn into colors. It was like a natural instinct based on past experiences to determine the value of something, or an instinct which trusted the feeling of pleasure that could be felt after receiving said stimulus. Whatever the case was, the fact that something was expensive, could be deducted without knowing it beforehand, or without seeing it.

What exactly "expensive smell" was? That could not be explained in one word. Or even in one sentence. Expensive smells, just like expensive houses and expensive bags, had a wide variety. They could be completely different styles, but still sharing the same expensive trait.

Those perfumes, that Ogura Iori had sprayed on her neck, were objectively expensive. They were worth a lot of money. But their quality and the pleasure that they were causing to people smelling them, was what the money was spent for. They were completely living up to their expensive title, as anyone, even commoner, could appreciate this exquisite sophisticated scent even without knowing the brand or seeing the price tag.

Ogura Iori was a living example that even Tokiwadai students, who were forced to wear the same, modest clothes everyday, could look like millions of dollars. She was pushing the school's dress code to its limits. She was balancing on a thin line. She was walking on a cracking ice. But still, somehow, wasn't breaking the rules.

She would had loved to wear whatever she wanted, but because she couldn't, at least she gave herself the permission to go as close to the border line as possible.

She grabbed her phone and her designer wallet with one hand and put them inside the bag. With a satisfying "click" of the closure's snap, she locked the Bourquin neatly.

She was finally ready to leave.

As she was about to grab the door's handle, she turned around, looking at the mess behind her that she had created.

The process of finding the perfect beauty and fashion products from her vast collection was difficult and long. And also apparently very messy.

But it had to be done. At least she could say that it was worth it.

She objectively looked good.

Even though the same couldn't be said about her dormitory room.

(Uwah... Ayako is going to have a panic attack when she opens the door.)

(Well, not my problem.)

She left the room. The door closed and soon after that, a blissful silence filled the cluttered, chaotic space.

Part 6

(I'm so nervous.)

(I'm so nervous, I'm so nervous.)

(I'm so nervous, oh mother, I'm so nervous.)

Ogura Iori was walking down the wooden stairs of Tokiwadai Middle School's dormitory.

With each step, a creaking sound could be heard.

With each passing second, her stress level was increasing.

She arrived at the dormitory's main lobby. It had grand, wooden doors leading outside, a shiny marble floor and a seating area in the corner. There were also many gorgeous plants and paintings, giving the space an antique soul and character.

Two girls were standing beside the dorm's entrance, wearing the same prestigious school uniform as Ogura.

As soon as the blonde girl had noticed them, she timidly waved and walked towards them.

"Good day, Mizushima-san, Minami-san."

The girl who was wearing a black headband sighed exasperated, as a sarcastic smile appeared on her face.

"You took so long. What were you gussying up so much for?!"

The lady with honey-blonde hair laughed nervously.

"Ogura-san takes beauty very seriously." She then proceeded with a gentle expression on her doll-like face. "But I'm really thrilled to go. I've been so excited for this outing since the past few days."

The ribbon-wearing lady looked at her classmate with a cheerful smile, but as she lowered her eyesight, something caught her attention.

She gasped upon seeing what Mizushima Sayuri was holding in her gentle, soft hand.

But her reaction was more like a happy relief, mixed with a bit of excitement.

"Wah, Mizushima-san! You finally got it!"

Minami Himeka was a bit confused at first, but she then realized something. She had almost forgot about it. She couldn't even exactly tell how long ago was that memory from.

It was more than two weeks ago. That memorable evening after school, at a Cucci boutique. That sudden confrontation with Sakibasu Yuri who had almost bought the last ostrich bag from the newest summer collection.

The headband-wearing girl smirked.

Yes.

What Mizushima Sayuri was holding, was the white Cucci tote bag, made of ostrich leather.

The girl giggled proudly.

"Yes. It was a lucky strike, you could say."

"How did you get it?" Ogura curiously asked, with a noticeable thrill in her high-pitched voice.

Mizushima gently lifted up the purse at the height of her head. She was supporting the bottom of it with her left hand, while her right was grasping the two upright handles.

She was holding the bag as if it was her own child. Her fingers were very delicate and her grip was very light. It resembled the way how people in commercials were showing off products.

"I scored this little girl at an auction. From time to time, I visit different auction houses to check if there are any interesting items for me to purchase. I guess I've got that hobby from my father."

Ogura Iori put her hand near her chin, genuinely amazed, even though she was carrying the legendary Bourquin herself.

She was admiring the item showcased to her, like a tourist watching an exhibition at a museum. The white Cucci handbag was more than worth of serving as a display item. It was a piece of art, carefully handcrafted, adorned with expensive crystals and golden hardware, made from sophisticated exotic leather.

"I didn't know auction houses were selling bags, too. When I hear 'auction house' I usually think of old and boring stuff like antique furniture, paintings, violins and rusty jewelry."

Mizushima Sayuri shook her head, smiling softly.

"No, not at all. There's a wide variety of things you can bid on. And some auction houses promote the items they have in offer on their websites, so you are easily informed about what you can expect to see."

"What auction house did you go to in order to get this handbag, Mizushima-san?"

"It was Chandelier Auction House." the honey-blonde lady answered with no hesitation. "They are very secret and exclusive with their auctions, though. Chandelier doesn't have its own headquarters, so they hold auctions at rented hotel rooms or auditoriums. You need to be a trusted customer in order to get notified where the location of the latest auction is, too. It's not like somebody can just walk in and participate. It's an auction house shrouded in mystery. That's why the items they have in their offer are highly exclusive and very rare. Not many people are present during the auction, too."

Ogura Iori put a hand on her hip and loosened up her shoulders while putting on a bitter smile.

"S-So that's how it is... Now it makes sense." She muttered while tilting her head, but a sudden instinct forced her to change the subject. "Ah, that's right. Mizushima-san, did you get the party poppers?"

The petite girl nodded.

"Of course. I have bought four of them, but..." She stopped for a second and looked around with a nervous smile. "...I guess Hisakawa-san is going to be late?"

The ribbon-wearing lady sighed tired.

"Ayako said she is busy today with the clique. Seriously, that girl can't keep a promise."

Minami, who had been leaning against a wall with her arms crossed this whole time, spoke in a monotone voice.

"Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly."

"Huh?"

This strangely long, enigmatic name caught the two blonde girls' attention.

Minami Himeka answered with her eyes closed.

"I'm sure that's what they call this event. Apparently a lot of cliques from our school are preparing for it, in order to showcase their researches regarding all kinds of scientific fields. Akiyama Izumi definitely wants to perfect her project by pushing her people to their limits. She's rivaling with Nagatenjouki Academy after all."

However, the wavy-haired girl didn't give her two classmates a chance to respond, as she immediately grabbed the door's handle, ready to head out.

A bright and hot sunshine entered the lobby, along with a loud sound of cicadas.

"Let's go. We don't want to ruin the surprise, right?"

Part 7

The three girls wearing Tokiwadai Middle School's uniforms were walking down a street of School Garden. It was a gorgeous, picturesque cobbled road squeezed in between two European-looking, traditional apartment buildings.

The ladies were heading towards a specific place of this 2 kilometers square district.

The entrance gates.

To be more precise, as the Garden residents liked to call it, the Square of Golden Archways. From the outside, the entrance to School Garden looked like Parisian metro gates. It had some stone and brick accents, foreshadowing the traditional architecture waiting on the other side, but it was mostly modern-looking. If you went past the gates, though, you would end up in the middle of a big monumental crossroad, where five main streets leading to each elite school for rich girls were expanding before you.

But if you turned around, you would see what the square's name came from.

The Garden's interior gates had enormous, golden archways at least 10 meters tall. Their design was inspired by neoclassical cathedrals and chapels, with their majestic Doric columns and ornamental decorations such as cartouches, festoons and corbels.

The Square of Golden Archways was perfectly embodying the grandeur and splendor of School Garden. An entrance to a place like that had to be properly dramatic and monumental, to create a perfect and stunning first impression on its newly arrived guests.

The Garden itself was built with the same intention as royal palaces - to embody power, dominance and wealth. To make visitors behold those monumental, stone walls designed splendidly by the best architects in the world. If commoners were let inside this holy ground, they had to at least admire and praise it.

The three girls were obviously presenting themselves flawlessly, walking down the street in a gorgeous, mannered fashion as any high-class lady, but now it was time to start preparing the surprise.

Ogura Iori was a ball of nervousness, looking at her phone all the time and typing messages with her shaking fingers.

They arrived at the entrance square. The magnificent, imposing archways were straight ahead, marking a border between Academy City and School Garden.

"I guess we are ready."

The girl with honey-colored hair said as she opened her white handbag in order to grab the party poppers she had stored inside.

"My goodness, what is the point of coming the whole way over here if you want to later come back to Tokiwadai with your friend anyway?" Minami Himeka scowled as she looked at the girl with a Terre Cuite ribbon tied in her hair. "Wouldn't it make more sense if you just told her to meet up at the front gate of our school? We could start showing her around right away and we wouldn't have to go all the way back to where we came from..."

Ogura shook her head with crossed arms and frowning face.

"No, of course we can't do that." The tone of her voice sounded as if what she was saying was obvious and clear to everyone, like explaining basic things to a toddler. "Minami-san, just think about it, what surprise would it be if she came in through the gates without anyone to greet her? Entering with nothing but a dead silence and then walking to Tokiwadai all by herself, already having the very first impression of School Garden spoiled, would be such an anticlimactic and sad moment that I can't even imagine it. Today is a celebration of her finally being able to visit me here, and as her friend, I can't disappoint her!"

Mizushima Sayuri along with Minami Himeka froze in place after that.

They stood in place, without showing any signs of life, not moving their bodies at all, as if someone clicked a "Stop" button on a TV remote control.

Their eyes were widened.

They were frozen in place from shock.

Ogura Iori was taking this whole surprise way more seriously than they had imagined.

She did not react to them at all. More because she didn't have time to, but also because her head was busy with something else.

She quickly checked her smartphone again, with a nervous expression. A tiny drop of sweat appeared on her cheek.

A new message had popped up on the messaging app that Ogura had been using to communicate with her friends.

"Lala-lun: I'm currently in the bus. Will be in about 5 minutes. I'm scared of the gatekeepers, though!"

Ogura Iori did not waste any time. She was as serious as a warrior on the battlefield, preparing for a counterattack plan. She now had to prepare the troops that were under her command.

"Mizushima-san, the party poppers!" She shouted towards the honey-blonde lady.

"Y-Yes!"

She quickly took out the triangular paper bags from her purse and handed them to Minami as well as Ogura, as fast as she could.

"Here's the plan." The ribbon-wearing girl spoke in a determined firm voice, although there was still a bit of shakiness to it caused by the stress and pressure she was under. "Minami-san and Mizushima-san, you will have to stand on the two opposite sides of the golden archways, so that when she goes through the gates she can only see me, with a party popper hid behind my back. Before she steps her foot on the square, you two are going to reveal yourselves and on 'three, two, one' we're going to say 'Congratulations! Welcome to School Garden!' while popping the party poppers all at the same time. The fundamental rule is simple. You can't spoil any surprises that we have discussed together over the past few days. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Y-Yes..."

Minami Himeka sighed tiredly. She was too mature to be taking this whole situation seriously, even though she had to play along with it.

But.

She a bit admired Ogura for being so invested in all of it. She was well aware of the surprises that her classmate had been preparing for the past four days as well as the amount of time and money it costed her.

Ogura Iori was capable of doing so much for a simple meeting with friends, but her dedication was not something to laugh at. It was more inspiring that one could imagine.

"Ok..." the blonde girl shut her eyes for a second and spoke in a calmer manner. "She should be here in around three or two minutes, so let's take our positions."

She flipped her long, silky smooth hair powerfully, while making a firm step forward. With a colorful party popper in her right hand and a Terre Cuite Bourquin hanged on the crook of her left, she might have looked silly, but no one could deny her determination and persistence. She was walking with grace and assertiveness towards the golden archways while the other two girls were following behind.

Four days of constant preparations was something that Ogura Iori had been ready to sacrifice. All for that one day's sake. Obviously, with her highly situated position and the money she possessed, booking all kinds of different locals in School Garden was not much of a challenge. She was either a fairly well-liked client at some of them, or just the pure amount of money she was willing to offer had gotten her the reservations.

Either way, the preparations had been made.

She stopped in front of a giant golden column, ten times taller than her. If she had made three more steps further, the electronic gates would stop her. She was facing the exit of School Garden.

She was close enough to see all kinds of different high-class girls going in and out while the area was filled with beeping sounds of the gates, echoed clacking of shoes and a distinct hubbub coming from Academy City. It was a busy and hot afternoon. Students from outside were most definitely spending their summer vacations freely and joyously, with groups of their friends.

Ogura was happy to hear the City was living and enjoying the beautiful summer weather, even though she had no idea what those people could be doing without stores, parks and restaurants that she had access to. A high-class girl like her did not know about the existence of arcades, manga cafes, public pools and other places popular among regular students.

She took out her smartphone once again.

It was 4:40 PM.

From behind her shoulder, she nodded to her two classmates. It was a quick sign that they should take their positions.

The blonde girl was standing in the middle, facing the grand entrance, while Mizushima Sayuri's and Minami Himeka's job was to hide behind two columns to Ogura's left and right.

Each of them had a party popper in their hands.

The honey-blonde lady leaned against a tall, thick column while keeping eye contact with Ogura Iori, who was facing the exit gates.

Minami Himeka lazily flipped her hair as the ribbon-wearing lady gave her an aggressive and nervous look.

"My goodness, why do we have to do all of this anyway? Fine, I'll hide too." The wavy-haired girl said in an irritated tone.

She pressed her back against a column as well.

Now, to Ogura's right, there was a frowning Minami Himeka. To her left, she saw Mizushima Sayuri gently holding a party popper. The two girls were leaning against the columns, while there was a gap between them, the size of a massive window and the blonde girl was standing at the center of it, observing the beeping, constantly opening and closing electronic gates.

She hid her both hands behind her butt, imitating a natural stance that girls often used. The party popper could not be seen by anyone in front of her, as well as her two other classmates leaning against the columns.

It was 40 minutes past 4.

It was a matter of time before she would see her friend appear from around the corner. Ogura was in a position that let her see the entire passageway. There were around ten electronic gates in the middle and two gatekeeper windows on the opposite sides. Someone like her friend, who was not a School Garden resident thus didn't have a pass card, would come to the gatekeeper window. It was a place where guests were supposed to show their invitation cards and, after being checked by a gatekeeper, let inside the Garden.

The passage was busy, loud and crowded, making it hard for the blonde girl to follow every single person with her eyes. It was kind of like watching those videos that had messages or signs hidden inside of an overcrowded street, testing the viewer's perceptivity and observation ability.

The fact that only girls were present in her sight did not help. All of them being very beautiful, with gorgeous hairstyles and prestigious school uniforms, they had created a crowd made of specific, carefully selected lookalikes whose walking styles and gestures were even the same. Even though their hair colors, clothes and height were different, each girl had something in common with another. They all had the same atmosphere to them.

They were the rich young ladies of School Garden. They were raised similarly, they all had similar daily routines, similar interests and similar beliefs.

They weren't necessarily like clones of each other, but anyone could tell that the atmosphere around them made them vastly different from the people living outside in Academy City. They were identical to each other in that sense.

Ogura Iori was a part of that crowd, even though her flashy, expensive accessories had made her more recognizable, she was still, at the very core, a resident of the Garden. She was living a similar life to those girls she was now looking at. She was crossing the same streets as them everyday, perceiving the world the same as them, visiting the same stores and restaurants as them. She was a part of this small, all-girls society.

A society perceiving itself as the highest class possible and exalting itself above anything in Academy City, even if the rich girls living there weren't noticing that themselves. Feeling superior to common people was naturally ingrained in their bodies and minds, and everything around them was encouraging them to keep thinking that way forever.

But.

From that crowd, from that big agglomeration of high-class ladies, a familiar face struck Ogura so suddenly, that she jumped as if stung by a bee.

She took two steps backwards.

It was her.

She saw her friend.

It felt so surreal, but it really was her.

She was finally going to visit School Garden. Tokiwadai. Her home. A concept Ogura Iori had been only dreaming about.

"Huh?"

"Oh?"

The two girls hiding behind the columns to Ogura's right and left noticed her sudden reaction.

It was a clear sign that she saw her.

She saw her childhood friend, whom she remembered not from this beautiful, European-looking town with gorgeous restaurants, luxurious boutiques and grand, cobbled streets, but from her own past, from the modern places in Academy City, with tall buildings covered in glass and filled with hubbub of the urban jungle.

The commander of the group was in a shocked, dazed state. So the troops that were under her command started to feel disoriented and confused.

"Is that her, Ogura-san?"

"Give us a sign when is the right time to pop out!"

The wavy-haired girl and the short, honey-blonde lady were looking at Ogura Iori with focused expressions on their faces, while each was holding a party popper in both hands.

The girl with a ribbon tied into her hair had to quickly analyze the situation, taking into account the distance between her and the girl who was walking towards the passageway.

"She's going up to the gatekeeper's window." Ogura let her two assistants know, as she was carefully observing the area.

Her heart was pounding so fast.

She was so overjoyed, but at the same time so nervous.

(Oh, god. I hope she won't be disappointed.)

(I hope she is going to like it here...)

The blonde lady bit her lip while a nervous frown appeared on her face.

She was observing the guest girl with her sweaty hands twitching behind her butt, squeezing the party popper like a stress relief toy.

Ogura Iori blinked. She jumped once again after that.

"Sh-she's showing her invitation card! She's going to be here any second now!"

Minami and Mizushima nodded to each other, while simultaneously touching the string attached to their party poppers, ready to pull it and pop it whenever Ogura Iori decides to give them a signal.

She could feel a drop of sweat dripping down her cheek, as the tension inside her body started to build up.

She wanted it to be released so bad at that moment, but the thought of each second being so crucial now, made her stomach tingle in a weird but exciting sensation.

With a nod coming from the gatekeeper, who Ogura could barely notice, the girl was finally accepted to go through the electronic gate.

The blonde's heart stopped from the immense amount of adrenaline.

She was still nervous and excited, but she suddenly felt a pleasing feeling running through her body like static energy.

She felt it in her chest. It was a warm, blissful and euphoric sensation.

It forced her lips to form a joyful smile, even though she had not realized it yet.

Her friend had finally joined her. She was finally with her in School Garden.

She had crossed the border separating the two of them.

She was with Ogura, in her home.

This moment wouldn't be as magical and emotional to someone who had not ever felt nostalgia in their entire life. The times from so long ago, that were coming back to her, just by looking at the girl in the distance, were her precious memories of the very first time she had made a friend. Ogura Iori felt nostalgic. The nostalgia that was so very close to her, struck her like a lightning bolt.

She was no longer forced to just dream about inviting her very first, childhood friend over to School Garden. She did not have to head out at around curfew hours anymore.

Her one dream was about to come true.

The dream that her two worlds, of her own past and her own present, could collide and create a new chapter in her life.

The girl was still in the passageway. She was free to go through an arch right in front of her and enter School Garden, but she chose to stand in place.

She was looking around, trying to find that one person she had wanted to meet up with in this place.

She was looking around.

Until she saw her.

She noticed the girl she had planned to meet.

As soon as she saw the long, blonde, shiny hair with a colorful ribbon tied into it and the light brown vest with a short, grey skirt, she bursted with happiness.

Ogura's reaction wasn't much different.

She grinned with the joy that she was overflowing with and was itching to just explode with love like a party popper she was squeezing in her hands, while spreading her arms wide.

"(H-Hey, that was not supposed to happen!)"

"(Ogura-san! The party popper in your hand!)"

Her two classmates whispered nervously from behind the two columns.

There was an invisible barrier around the blonde-haired girl, blocking all sounds that were coming towards her.

Her brain was too distracted by the powerful feeling dominating over her entire body.

She forgot about and ignored anything else, even her own surprise that she had been planning and preparing for the past four days.

She was standing in place, with her arms spread in the air, a party popper squeezed in her fist and a glorious bag hanging from her elbow, ready to welcome the girl she was looking at with joy, in a sincere, affectionate hug.

Her face was so happy and overjoyed, she looked like she was about to shed tears.

Mizushima and Minami heard very fast, echoed footsteps behind them.

(Sh-she's coming!)

(Now!)

Their fingers were holding thin strings of their party poppers.

With an enormous speed, a girl had appeared from the golden archways.

With a sudden pull...

The girl sprinted towards Ogura Iori and finally hugged her, with as much strength as she had.

*POOF*

...the party poppers exploded releasing dozens of tiny paper strings and glitter in the air.

But.

...

Their sound had not reached anybody.

Not a single soul had noticed them.

...

Minami Himeka and Mizushima Sayuri could as well not do anything and the entire scene would not change in the slightest.

The popping sound had been absolutely outmatched by something else.

With a powerful hug, a drowning noise, a sudden and loud scream had come from the guest girl's mouth.

The scream drowned everything, as she held Ogura Iori in her arms.

"IORI-CHAAAAAAAAANN!"

She screamed her childhood friend's name in the least ladylike way, piercing the space around them like a sudden thunder strike, while the paper strings and glitter were silently dancing in the air.

"MIYU-CHAAAAAAAAAN!"

The voice that Minami and Mizushima knew very well, but didn't expect could go that high and become that loud, responded to the girl's joyful cry.

Ogura Iori and her friend were holding each other in their arms, finally celebrating, with that emotional and overjoyed hug, their first meeting in School Garden.

The wavy-haired girl and the honey-blonde Mizushima had not yet experienced a more paralyzing and absolutely shocking static feeling in their entire lives.

They felt like something very precious and very dear had been disrespected and disturbed.

As if someone had broken the law.

They were not only ignored.

They were not only invisible.

They were not only standing in place, with empty party poppers in their hands.

They were not only feeling humiliation and shock.

They felt like something was violated.

As if someone had punched them, the inviolable, pure, unspoiled maidens, right in the center of their stomachs.

The girl hugging Ogura Iori had black hair, tied into a medium length ponytail. She was wearing a white polo shirt with a salmon-colored collar and a salmon-colored, short tennis skirt. Her shoes were white sneakers.

She was a childhood friend of the Tokiwadai Middle School's 2nd-year fashion expert.

Minami Himeka was definitely more than confused at that moment.

The party popper that had been in her hand, fell on the ground as the energy she had a moment ago had completely left her body.

Shaking legs and a startled face was all that she had.

Not being able to believe such manners displayed right in front of her eyes, she mumbled to herself, trying to make sure that what she had heard was truly real.

" 'I-I-Iori...-chan'...? "

" 'M...M...M-M-Miyu...-chan'...? " Mizushima Sayuri whispered in shock, as well.

They were not hallucinating, but what they had witnessed could be classified to that category.

This moment.

The moment of Ogura Iori's past finally meeting her in her own home, was the very first time anyone.

Anybody.

Had screamed in School Garden.

Ever.

...

Yes.

The grounds of peace, whose residents were living according to certain rules and laws of behavior, known as high-class etiquette, were desecrated by a behavior not yet seen in this strict, European-looking, all-girls town.

Even though all the eyes were looking at Ogura Iori and her childhood friend, it didn't seem like they were about to loosen their emotional hug any time soon.

...

Hii yes it's the end.

Ok, first things first:

Loves, I'm so sorry that this month's chapter is kind of ass but...like... y'all voted on it? LMAO

Because I literally had to choose between two options that I had: "end it right when she meets her friend" or "end it when they had already had their fun and the day ends". The second option would make the chapter at least 40k words and y'all said y'all want less but more frequently so... there it is :,))

(even though I would have never expected Iori's friend mini arc to be three chapters long. I had a one shot story planned for it. Ugh everything in my head seems shorter and like less effort.)

Secondly, we had a namedrop. Chandelier Auction House is from Railgun SS3 (because what else is new). It's the same auction house in which Sakibasu bought her violin, Stativarius Ainsel.

Lastly, I'm gonna have to update the AIM Radar ability I've mentioned two chapters before, since the newest Railgun manga chapter revealed the name of the ability and it is called AIM Watcher. But dang I was close tho :d

Next chapter is gonna be (guess what) Slice of Life AGAIN, because what else is new. I can't write anything else, I hope y'all are aware of that. But I have to admit, having only my original characters carry an entire chapter is not something I'm comfortable with yet, that's why this chapter may seem very... meh and it's understandable. Not much happened, there wasn't any real meat, I just kind of needed that "bridge" chapter in between (but there was some foreshadowing? Oop-). But the next one will have A LOT of canon Tokiwadai girls involved in the drama. It's gonna get messy :))

I hope y'all enjoyed it either way!

K, bye. XD