"Daichi," Asahi whined. He was shushed by the leader of the little trio, and gave up.

"Really, though. This is weird. You know the rumors, right?," Sugawara teased, but sided with Asahi in the end. The three of them were standing just outside the door of a first-year classroom, the other two scanning the room desperately trying to spot the object of their friend's recent fixation. There was a panicked shriek from Asahi, and a barely covered snicker of laughter.

The tallest of the three, now fallen back on his behind, looked up at a certain first-year girl. His heart sank at her poorly hidden laugh. She sighed, and then a grin crept over her face. She raised her finger to Asahi, signaling him to keep quiet, then made a dramatic show of raising her hands in front of her and locking on to their new target.

Asahi thought about stopping her, but was too slow on the uptake. Her hands met the necks of the other two, who let out their own shrieks and spun around. The dark-haired girl let out a huge belly laugh at that, doubling over and wheezing. Her uniform was soaked through, and her hair curled wildly in every direction. Sugawara noticed Asahi on the floor, and thwacked him over the head with a slight pout on his face.

"Sorry, you were blocking the door. Couldn't resist."

The girl barely got her apology out, and the resurging giggling fits did nothing to convey any sincerity. Daichi finally reacted, his face burning red with embarrassment and rage. Sugawara tried to hold him back, but failed miserably.

"Ow!"

Daichi's hands met the girl's cheeks, and pulled hard in opposite directions. The girl karate-chopped Daichi's face, making him release her and try to regain his composure. Sugawara and Asahi could only look on, bewildered.

"Daichi, that's rude as hell," the girl rubbed her cheek. She addressed Daichi in a familiar way, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I was rude? Kistuna, you little-Ahem. Sorry," Daichi just barely stopped himself from flying into another fit, which made the girl grin darkly at him again.

"You can just say hi, instead of weirding everyone out with those glares," she poked his forehead, and he flinched.

"Didn't recognize you for sure," Daichi pouted. Something he usually didn't do, and that Sugawara latched onto.

"Hey, what's this?," Sugawara finally joined the conversation after helping Asahi to stand. Kitsuna glanced at him, then Asahi, who she smiled sweetly at.

"Sorry for scaring you," she didn't even flinch once at the taller one's appearance. Another strange quirk Sugawara picked up on.

"Right. Sorry guys. This is-"

"Satori, what was it? Something like a fox," Sugawara cut off Daichi, earning some intense side eye while he rambled.

"Kitsuna. You his friends?," Kitsuna finished her introduction herself.

"We went to the same middle school," Daichi continued his bit, with another sigh. "These are my friends and teammates, Asahi and Sugawara."

"Oh! Hey, you," she stepped past Daichi and addressed Sugawara with a sudden burst of excitement that made him step back instinctively. "Your first name. Is it Koushi?"

"Eh? Y-yeah, why?," Sugawara was thrown completely off-kilter with that. Daichi was, too, but was thoroughly entertained by seeing Suga struggle like this. Kitsuna stepped back a little, satisfied with her personal assessment.

"I saw it in a notebook Takeda had. Used to have a cat named that, so it stood out," Daichi let out a chuckle. He should have known that's where she was going with that, but somehow he had forgotten about her old orange cat.

"Used to? Something happen to it?," Asahi asked, a little tactlessly. Daichi chopped at his side, earning another whine. Sugawara saw that and took a closer look at the faces of the two reunited school mates. Kitsuna's brow furrowed, and her eyes lost some of their luster for a second, but then she just shrugged.

"Don't remember. He was pretty old, though," she answered nonchalantly, but Daichi as still worried. He vaguely recalled that she had been looking for her cat a couple years ago, before the incident that gave her the scar on her wrist and that she kept covered with her hair.

"Hey, wait a minute. Why're you soaked? You'll get sick!," Daichi started up again. Suga and Asahi were both familiar with this mode, but Kitsuna's reaction exceeded their wildest expectations.

"Ah, the Mama-Daichi thing. It's fine, I'll dry off by third period. Forgot my gym clothes," the girl pouted and glanced away, a hint of red on her cheeks.

"Huh?! Really? Don't you have an umbrella? Wait, you're walkin' to and from school! By yourself?," Daichi snapped. Kitsuna flinched and looked pleadingly at the two behind him. Asahi weakly tried to pull Daichi back, while Sugawara removed his jacket and handed it over. Kitsuna raised a brow at him, but accepted it without much fuss. She started unbuttoning her uniform then and there, making all three exclaim loudly and go red.

"K-Kitsuna! What the hell's wrong with you?," Daichi shouted, earning a few stares. The girl looked at him like he was stupid, before pulling off the blouse and revealing a second shirt underneath it. The three boys let out synchronized groans, and deflated. Just then, the bell went off and Kitsuna jumped. She pulled the jacket on, and rushed into the classroom.

"Sorry, and thanks!"

"That was, intense," Asahi commented on the way to class. It was clear he was drained from that exchange, but Suga smacked his back and taunted him. A deflection, from his own embarrassment, which Daichi called him out on immediately.

Kitsuna laughed, covering her mouth, at the shouts traveling down the hallway. A couple classmates greeted her as they took their seats, and the teacher gave her a deadpan stare before starting class. Kitsuna ended up drifting off to sleep, the warmth from the jacket helping to lull her there.