Chapter 1
Shirushi was tired, and glad to be going back home on the last day of her job at the Vault of Midnight comic store-she had enough of the fat boss screaming at her to do this, do that. . . and she was wanting to go to college by now-she had already thought about packing.
"Like I can, jeez, with taking all that shit from the boss, I'm surprised I've made it this far without running over anybody," she mumbled. Suddenly she noticed a boy about to crash into her at a stoplight with his car.
"DAMN!!!" She screeched to a halt by slamming onto the brakes.
He didn't notice the obscene gesture she had given him as she drove away. Driving the rest of the way home was less stressful. That was good, because her license was practically new. Finally pulling into the garage, she stepped out of her car, walking to the front yard to check the mail. After doing so, she sauntered into the two-story house where her family lived, her Adidas sandals slapping on the pavement.
"Day is never finished, master's got me workin'. . ." she sang absentmindedly as her key went into the lock and she went inside.
* * * * * * *
"I'm home!" Shirushi called in the house. But there was not a sound. Dead silent. No sound from the television set. No voice from Mom cooing to that doll of hers, the one she thought was Shinya. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Immediately Shirushi's mind raced. Had she locked the windows and doors when she left? If she hadn't, then her mother was probably wandering the neighborhood streets still crying out for her son despite the comfort of the doll. Ever since Shinya had died her mother had gone through a slow breakdown.
She deeply inhaled, and then noticed a strange smell. It was not the nice smell of the house, of air conditioning, soap, cleaner and potpourri. It was heavy, metallic and extremely ominous, for a reason she did not know.
Did her mother have an accident while she was gone? In a blind panic, Shirushi ran upstairs to her parents' bedroom, not caring that she banged her shin on a nearby table. But there was only the bed and the twin night tables on each side, both with the lamps, their shades a dirty grey from dust. She decided to try the living room, running down the stairs, past the hall with all the photos on her way. But then she stopped in horror at reaching the kitchen.
"Oh no. . .!"
Now she realized where the smell had come from. Her parents had been in a pool of blood the whole time. The wooden floor was stained all over with blood. It smelled like a slaughterhouse.
First she tried to tell herself otherwise. That couldn't be her parents in a puddle of sticky fluid. Her dad wasn't even supposed to be home yet-eleven at night was the earliest he had ever gotten home, and her mom never left the armchair in front of the TV by herself. It was also beginning to become dark, and since she was wearing sunglasses she could be tricking herself.
a voice in her head sang. it continued in it's false cheer.
Raising a hand as if being controlled by a puppet string, Shirushi's fingers found the light switch and brought it up. Light flooded the area. She wasn't being tricked.
In fact, her parents were sprawled on the floor like broken toys, her father facedown, her mother faceup, eyes glassy, the lips pulled back from the teeth in a ghastly smile, as if she had died in a moment of pure joy. Her terry bathrobe was open to reveal the nightgown underneath, white terry and pale blue satin on a red background. One hand held a knife, the other held that damn doll that she only seemed to really care about. The doll smiled up at her with it's button eyes, seemingly unaware that there was a long incision down it's middle with stuffing leaking out. On both wrists were gaping slits, painting the skin red.
"So that's how," Shirushi whispered. "That's how you decided to go."
Sandals slapping the oak wood, she knelt down beside her mother's body, uncaring for the sticky, salty red fluid staining her socks and jeans. Carefully she slid one hand underneath the head, noticing it's stiffness. The brown eyes looked blankly up at her, the smile almost stupefying.
If not for the fact that it was her mother, Shirushi would have been laughing hysterically.
Instead, her other hand took up the arm that held the knife, her slender fingers closing around the icy, blood-slippery wrist.
"Okaasan. . .mom. . .mommy. . .why?" She knelt like that, gazing into her mother's eyes, the eyes that she had would have done anything to have now staring up at her like a porcelain doll's. Shirushi fought the urge to run into the bathroom and vomit from the smell of the blood.
It would be nighttime before she finally got up.
* * * * * * *
That had happened about ten days ago. Now she was on the plane to Tokyo with some of her classmates. So many things occuring at once.
She turned in her seat and tried to get another few precious minutes of sleep. It was hard, especially with Satoru and Yoshi deeply involved in a discussion.
"You had to like that time," Yoshi said. "Come on, I'm sure that Amy wasn't entirely that bad."
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!" hissed Satoru. "She waited until today to tell me that she was seeing a woman behind my back! I mean, this is Amy we're talking about here! Sweet Amy. Beautiful Amy!"
"Lesbian Amy now," Shirushi couldn't help muttering.
"Don't mind her," Yoshi said. "She's just upset because she's not going to one of those Ivy League schools. Come on, Shirushi. CLAMP University is a high-ranking school in Japan. You can't be that disappointed. The reason you're going is because you're smarter than everyone else at Sheldon High."
Shirushi thought. "Well, I didn't know I was going to CLAMP, first of all. I was accepted to University of Michigan and Harvard when it turned out that Dad wanted me to go to CLAMP. I'm not stupid-I know it's a great school and all, but really, I don't think he should be that paranoid over the American colleges. I guess he thought that CLAMP would be good 'cause he went there for most of his schooling."
"I know," Rei said. "Major culture shock. People are going to be looking at us, like checking to see if our Japanese is good, if we have their manners. . ."
"Okay! Okay!" Satoru interjected. "I don't care about that stuff! We were talking about Amy being a lesbian! I have a problem with that!"
"Maybe you'll be bitching about that very same thing when a beautiful girl runs in wearing a soaked wedding dress like in 'Friends'," Yoshi muttered.
"Oh, Yoshi, don't be so hard on the poor guy," Rei said, nuzzling up to him. "Amy was a nice girl, especially after that slut he went out with. Eckk!"
"Well of course Yoshi-sama has had Rei for four years, so he's not worried that she'll become lesbian too and then be left alone," Satoru mumbled, dodging Rei's pillow. "And what's up with you, Shirushi? You've barely talked during the whole plane ride."
"Amy's sexual preference is not my concern," Shirushi responded. "And for god's sake stop whining about it on the plane. The flight crew might throw us off with your bitching about lesbians. You're lucky that the ones on here, if any, haven't come and beaten you. You're not being cool."
"I can't help it!!" Satoru cried. "Why didn't she tell me earlier!?"
Michiru, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up. "You know, Satoru, I think it was because she just didn't have enough courage-look, she's had self-esteem problems and thinking she couldn't get any guys."
"Which you don't have trouble getting," Yoshi mumbled. Michiru, with her long, curly blonde hair and limpid green eyes, was Venus incarnate, with Diana's personality towards men.
"I thought the guys at Sheldon were creeps," she responded. "In fact, I kinda think a lot of guys I know are creeps, pigs, whatever. I have no need for men.
"How about someone to talk to besides your plants that you love so much?" Satoru again said.
"They're much better than you, Satoru. Look at how you talk to women!"
"That's not a reason why my Amy is gay!"
"Well, for one thing, Amy isn't your property," Michiru countered.
"Quit nitpicking the way I talk! I meant _my _ Amy as someone that I cherish!"
"Goddamn, would you two shut up?" Shirushi snapped. "We're somewhere over the Pacific right now, and all you can argue about is Amy being lesbian. There's nothing we can do about it, so think about something else. Think about the graduation parties or something. Think about food, shaving cream. Just don't talk about lesbians!!"
"Geez, kid, you're PMS-ing today. . ."
Shirushi silently responded with a well-placed kick to Satoru's legs.
"Oyasumi. . ." she muttered as he let out a pain-filled squeal.
******
Memories.
Twelve again. Home from a stupid pep rally at the high school.
Shinya-niichan. On the bed.
Bleeding. Dying.
Motomi, standing over him, smiling, whispering triumphantly.
Nii-chan, don't leave me! Don't die, don't go to sleep-you won't wake up!
Motomi. . .
You killed him.
I HATE YOU!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!
Nii-chan, nii-chan can you hear me?
I'll kill him for you.
I won't cry.
I'll be strong for you-it's a promise.
Motomi. . .what are you doing?
No, don't lock me in the closet. . . not there, I hate that place!
No, don't-NOOOOOOO!!!!! NII-CHAAAANNN!!!!!
"No--!!" Shirushi woke up with a start. She looked around on the plane. People were now mostly asleep, save for Michiru listening to her Discman. Wiping her hands on the blanket, she found out that she had been in a cold sweat, the skin clammy, head pounding, and a nasty, bitter, cottony taste in her mouth. In fact, she felt somewhat nauseous. . .
"Michiru. You mind movin'? I don't feel good," Shirushi said, the words coming out thickly and broken. Silently, Michiru obliged and Shirushi was able to sucessfully make her way to the tiny, cramped bathroom before slumping over the toilet, vomiting for what seemed like hours. After the chills and amplified head pounding episode, she shakily got up, wiped her mouth on a napkin, and rinsed. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, and glared.
"You," she told her reflection, "look like hell. . ." Her mirror image, a girl with hair up in a messy ponytail, huge sunglasses taking up her face, and a body in near emaciation sneered back at her. Taking off the sunglasses, she turned on the little faucet again, splashing her face in cold, cold water. She then dried her face, being careful not to look at her reflection before replacing the dark glasses. Ray-Ban. The commercial with the vampires.
These were so damn stupid, but she needed them anyway. She looked at the mirror, and then took off her sunglasses to get a good look at herself, letting the nasty memories wash over her.
<"She can't let other people see her like this, Kenji. Shirushi went to school today without her glasses, and the other children called her names!">
"No, I don't want to hear that. . ." Shirushi muttered. "No, no, no. . ."
< "You're ugly! You're so ugly! I can't stand to look at you sometimes! Shinya's dead, and now there's only _you_ left. I wish you were never born! You're not my child, Shirushi! I'll never give my ownership to a freak like you!" >
"Yeah, right," Shirushi muttered, angrily putting the glasses back on. After an obscene gesture to the mirror, she staggered out of the bathroom to her seat.
******
"I'm sure this is the right gate number here. . ."
Nokoru Imonoyama checked the piece of paper where he had written down the flight number and gate. He was here to pick up the exchange student from the States. He looked at the paper again, noting the kanji used to write her name.
"Kamimura Shirushi. . .what a strange name. I wonder what Kenji-san was thinking. He did have a taste for unusual names after all, so being her father. . ." He looked up to see if any passengers had gone out. He looked at the photograph of the girl.
"Hmm, she does resemble Miya-san. Her father's side must have gone to her inner persona," Nokoru chuckled at his slight joke. Kenji Kamimura, or Kenji Shinguji as he was known back then, was CLAMP Gakuen alumni, attending from kindergarten to university, then studying abroad in America, eventually settling there with Kamimura Miya, who he had married and had two children with. He had been noted on campus for also being at the top of his classes, skipping a grade at age eight. He had also been involved in technology, as he had been a genius with computers as soon as they had come out. Nokoru had known him from one of the college student mentoring program that had been tried out, and they had still kept in touch. His reverie ended at seeing the same girl in the photo waiting near the entrance of the plane.
"Ah! Kamimura-san!" He walked quickly over to her. "Don't go anywhere just yet. . ." he muttered, as he noticed her looking over at two other girls hurrying over to the bathroom. She turned, noticing him, and bowed.
"Ohayo gozaimasu. . .Imonoyama-san desu ka?" she asked. Nokoru smiled.
"So you're Kenji-san's daughter," he said in English, giving the girl a start.
"Oh! You speak English? Wait, that's right. . .my dad mentioned learning English here. But I. . ."
"Didn't think it would be this good?" He chuckled. "I didn't think your Japanese would be that good either."
"Thanks. But," she said, "it took twelve years of Japanese school to get it to this level."
Nokoru smiled again. It was true that her Japanese was good. Almost no trace of an accent. Then he noticed that she looked quite pale and was rubbing her temple in a pained manner. "Are you all right? You look sick."
"No, no," Shirushi said, "I'm fine. Say, why don't we get to wherever we should be going. . ."
"Yes, yes. That would be a good place to start. Let's go get your luggage first." Still chatting with his new ward, he made his way to the baggage claim along with her.
******
Yuzuriha looked out the window expectantly. The new girl was supposed to come here with Nokoru any minute now. Inuki barked, sensing her anticipation.
"Oh, I wonder what she'll be like. Do you think she'll look different from us, Inuki?" she asked. "But we should make her feel welcome. It must be lonely going to another country for a long time without your family. Especially when she's involved with the End of The World."
On the surface, it looked like the girl was just one of the exchange students who were going to CLAMP for their college education. She was Japanese, but born and raised in America. However, that same girl had been the cause of Hinoto's "shift" in her Vision concerning the matter.
"A Seraph...she's supposed to be Kamui's guardian angel," she muttered to herself. < "Three of them-one for each side, another for replacement, and she is the one who gets first pick. All to settle the balance. All three Seraphim hold vast powers.">
That was what Hinoto had said at the Diet Building.
The princess had continued, "This was unexpected-it was foretold that they would lead normal lives. But now these three Seraphim have been inadvertantly summoned by some kind of power. And now, now the future has shifted."
Yuzuriha murmured again. "The future. . .changed. Because of the appearance of this one girl. What will she do?"
"Is she here yet?"
"Eh? Sora-chan?" The Kansai monk grinned at her.
"Ano, she's not here yet, but she will be soon. I can't wait to see her," she said excitedly.
"I want to test out my English on her," Sorata said. "You think she'll be able to understand us, Yuzuriha?"
"Tadaima!" Nokoru called cheerfully as he came in. He was followed by a girl about their age carrying a few suitcases. Yuzuriha noticed that she didn't look all that different. Black hair up in a ponytail. Skinny, and of average height. In fact, she looked like she could stand eye-to-eye with Yuzuriha at first glance.
"Ah, Imonoyama-san," the girl asked in a quiet voice. "Where should I put the luggage?" she said, looking up.
It was then that Yuzuriha noticed her face. Heart-shaped, framed by wisps of black hair, there were mirrored sunglasses covering the eyes entirely. Two earrings in her left ear were connected by a chain. The only facial features left were the small nose and mouth, now in a deadpan expression.
Yuzuriha thought to herself.
"Oh," Nokoru said, "just over there for right now. You also don't have to call me Imonoyama-san, Nokoru will be fine." He turned towards them. "Oh, there's going to have to be some introductions. Yuzuriha, Sorata-I want you to meet your new housemate," he continued, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "This is Kamimura Shirushi. Shirushi-Arisugawa Sorata and Nekoi Yuzuriha."
Shirushi bowed deeply. "Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu," she said.
"Hello!" Sorata exclaimed in English. "It is nice to meet you!" He stuck out a hand to her, grinning madly. She just stared.
"Hey, don't Americans shake hands?" Sorata asked again, reverting to Japanese.
"Ah! Hai," Shirushi extended a hand, and they shook. Yuzuriha decided to also shake hands. But when she grasped Shirushi's hand, she gasped.
"Doshita no?" Sorata asked.
"You're cold," Yuzuriha responded. "Are you all right?" Freezing was more like it. It was as if she had shaken hands with an ice doll, a corpse.
"Iie, daijoubu desu." Then she noticed Inuki. She pointed to him. "Inugami desu ka?" she asked.
"Oh, so you can see him too! Yes, he's called Inuki." Inuki barked at the mention of his name.
"Nice dog," the girl said, with something of a half-smile appearing on her lips.
"Uuaa, Yuzu-chan, shouldn't we let Shirushi rest for a while?" Sorata asked.
"Oh! Yeah, Shirushi-san, you must be tired from the airplane trip. Here, come on, I'll take you to your room!" Yuzuriha said cheerily, going up the stairs.
* * * * * *
Shirushi looked around her room. It was a lot like hers; light green walls, carpet, with a desk away from the door, next to a window, with the blankets aqua and blue. It _was_ her room, only with a bigger bed, a bathroom, a windowseat, a closet and a dresser.
Not to mention the nice big balcony with a splendid view of Tokyo.
Sighing, she unpacked a new set of clothing, setting it aside for her shower. Then she picked up the wooden tea box inside the suitcase, opening it. Inside were two mortuary tablets; one for her parents, and one for Shinya, along with an incense holder and incense.
"You always had to think of everything, didn't you Dad?" He had gotten the tablet before committing suicide; it was resting on the counter on the kitchen when Shirushi had finally gotten up. She remembered the whole thing. Cleaning the bodies and sewing together the wrists, closing her mother's eyes.
Dressing her father in his favorite suit, her mother in one of her rarely worn kimonos, and finally wrapping them in the finest sheets they had in the house. Digging the grave in the backyard with the sky tinted red with the arriving sunrise, burying them together, with a prayer and an internal hope that Ms. Gabilano from next door hadn't seen anything, for fear that she would be arrested by mistake for commiting double murder.
Not to mention the whole smell of the air-the scent of sunshine and wind.
Yes, she had played mortician, priest and undertaker at her parents' deaths.
Looking up again, she placed the tablets on an inconspicuous place on the dresser, and went into the bathroom to take her shower.
******
"So, she's here?" Arashi asked Yuzuriha.
"Yeah, she came here a little while ago. She seemed all right...but her hands, they were cold."
"Cold?"
"Freezing! Like she was made from porcelain. But you know what they say about people with cold hands, they always have a warm heart. She looked a little tired when she came, but she should be downstairs soon."
"Mmm." Hinoto had told them all about the girl, that she was from another country, and about her powers as well.
"She is descended from two gods, Fuujin-sama, the god of the wind, and Benten--sama, the goddess of the sea and of luck, romance and the arts," Hinoto had said. "With such a descent line, she is of invaluable use to us along with her position as Seraph. Therefore, it is important that she is on our side."
However, Arashi had further learned, there was yet another catch.
"There are three in all-one is false, and the others are true. So far, the other two Seraphim are unknown, and this girl is only one who has been confirmed as one of the Seraphim. We don't know whether she is true or false."
"What if she's false?" Arashi had queried.
"If she is false," Hinoto said in her telepathic voice, "she must be prevented from entering the battle at any cost, because the false Seraph is known by another name, Astaroth."
"Astaroth?"
"One of the former Seraphim, now a demon. That power is not to be taken lightly. Falseness doesn't have anything to do with their destructive capacity to this world. That's why if they fall into either side, then both the Dragons of Heaven and Earth are doomed...for they will want to destroy humanity and the world."
Arashi thought to herself. She then spoke aloud. "Do you know whether she's true or false?"
"I don't know," Yuzuriha said. "Hard to tell right now...but Inuki seems to like her, if that says much."
"She should be true," Sorata said happily, walking in. "After all, she's a descendant of Benten-sama, a goddess of luck and romantic happiness, as the princess said..." he grinned at Arashi and winked.
"I don't think you should rely on her for your love life," Arashi said coolly, "because she's a Seraph, not a matchmaker."
"Miss, you wound me!" Sorata said melodramatically. "But just you wait! With her, you'll be drawn into my romantic clutches soon enough!! She'll find the red string tied between our fingers!"
"Who will?" an unfamiliar feminine voice queried.
"Ah! Here she is!" Sorata asked. "Miss, this is Kamimura Shirushi. Shirushi-san, this is the ever so lovely Kishuu Arashi."
Arashi bowed, saying "Doozo yoroshiku," and scrutinizing her. She was thin, wearing clothes that were decidedly American, with dark hair and silver mirrored glasses, and she was polite also, having bowed and replying "Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu."
Arashi thought.
"Will you be attending the high school at CLAMP?" Arashi asked. "Classes have started already..."
"No," Shirushi answered. "I'm going to be a college freshman here though."
"College!? But you can't be older than any of us!" Sorata said, shocked.
"I skipped two grades, and I got accepted, so here I am."
"Wow, Shirushi, you must be really smart!" Yuzuriha chimed.
"Oh no, I'm not really..."
"Shirushi?" Nokoru called. "Your friend Rei called...they want you to meet them at the center of the Campus to take a look around. If you want, I'll drive you there."
"Oh, okay then," Shirushi said. "Ja, mata ne, minna-san," she said as she left the room.
"See, Miss, she's nice."
"She seems..." Arashi trailed, not knowing what to say about her.
"Ordinary?" Yuzuriha supplied. "Yeah, she's not affliated with a shrine, like Karen-san or Aoki-san isn't, but I think she's okay."
"No, that's not what I meant," Arashi said quietly.
"Does she really know about her place in here?" she said aloud. "About being a Seraph?"
"I don't know," Sorata said. "We should take her to the princess to make sure."
Arashi merely nodded in agreement.
******
A group of college students went by, chattering noisily. Subaru glanced at them as they passed.
They were Japanese-Americans, judging by the way they dressed and acted. One was tall and muscular, the supposed "leader" of the whole pack, with spiky hair, with a tall, slender girlfriend with a chin-length haircut and a button-down shirt on his arm, followed by a smaller boy, and a beautiful girl in a long skirt and peasant blouse. Subaru wondered to himself if that girl was a dancer. But the last one struck him for some reason.
She was the smallest out of all the students, with black hair going slightly past her shoulders, and wearing baggy jeans rolled up to fit, and her eyes were covered with sunglasses.
But the feeling he got as she walked by...he knew for sure she wasn't ordinary, however like that she may look. That feeling was of an immense amount of power, radiating from her strongly enough to bend light, and then he remembered about Hinoto's divination.
Was it her...?
He sighed again, putting his book down on his lap. Nokoru had said that she would come today.
He'd know soon enough. But just in case, he got up and trailed the group.
******
"Wow, it's such a nice park!" Rei said happily. "It'll be such a great place to hang out!"
"And it's in the center, so we can go to anywhere from here easily," Michiru said.
Shirushi thought. She had to agree, it was a nice park, but the way Rei and Michiru were talking it was like they were talking about the view from the Eiffel Tower.
she thought, <'cause usually Rei and Michiru aren't so irritating.>
Suddenly she was aware of a certain presence. It wasn't of an ordinary person, she could tell, but one of the people she was involved with in this fight for the end of the world.
Dragon of Heaven or Dragon of Earth, she couldn't tell. Her mother had only told her so much about her supposed fate, in a frenzy after Shinya had died, and afterwards she had gone crazy in some strange way.
All she knew was that she was a Seraph, and she was supposed to protect, fight, along with something her mother had babbled about onmyoujutsu and shrines. It made quite an unpleasant jumble in her head.
Even after death, her father had only left three things: the instructions on what to do with their bodies, the ticket to Tokyo, and one of those "tube" boxes that you could put a message in that wouldn't open for some reason.
The last one was something that she wanted to see and not see at the same time. In fact, it still remained in her suitcase.
Sighing, she turned around to see if there was anyone following her, and found herself looking at a young man in his twenties, wearing a trenchcoat. Trying to keep her composure, she took a deep breath and turned around again.
"Just ignore him. That's all." Shirushi said to herself. In fact, she hadn't moved, and neither had he. And it felt like he had something to say to her.
she thought.
"Don't think about that," she mumbled. "March!" The group had gone ahead of her.
"Wait." A masculine voice, quiet and calm, sounded as soon as she took a step.
She whirled around. "Who are you? Why are you following me?" she asked, in a tone that was polite but hinted at fear and hostility.
"You're Kamimura Shirushi, aren't you?" The man asked again in that voice, the sound as still and subtle as air. He stared at her with one dark green eye and one eye milky white with blindness.
Shirushi's eyes widened underneath her glasses. "How do you know my name?"
"Imonoyama-san told us that you were coming today."
******
Shirushi, or at least what the girl had answered to, suddenly became very quiet and still, as if there was an imaginary key on her back that had stopped winding. The look on her small, slight, light golden face was one of distrust, a hint of fear, and complete amazement.
Subaru felt a little uncomfortable as she stayed still, not even seeming to breathe. Then he realized what Shirushi was doing.
She was looking him over, inspecting him.
It was as if the girl had left her body, and now her spirit was walking around him, looking up and down, turning over the trenchcoat, emptying his pockets, and taking him apart, laying him bare for all to see, turning every wheel and gear over and over in those spirit-bony hands.
A sigh came from the girl, and she came out of her trance.
"Imonoyama-san, am I right?" she asked, now in a softer tone, lacking the steel walls that her previous voice had.
"Yes," Subaru responded.
"So you are a Dragon of...Heaven, correct?"
Subaru mutely nodded.
"You seem powerful," Shirushi continued. She walked straight up to Subaru, and looked him up and down. "Onmyoujutsu? Is that what you do?"
"How did you know that?"
"My mother told me about them. I haven't seen one in person, so at first I wasn't sure. But now I am. Who are you?"
"Sumeragi. Sumeragi Subaru."
The girl bowed her head ever so slightly. "Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Sumeragi-san," she said, brushing back her wispy, cowlicked bangs. To Subaru, they looked slightly like antennae stalks. She was about to speak again when her group came running back, this time with another girl.
"Shirushi! There you are!" the girl in the white button-down shirt called.
******
"I can't believe you'd stop just to make a pass at someone cute," Rei said to Shirushi in exasperation. "Hypocrite, you said you weren't interested in that stuff. I'm really sorry," Rei said, nodding towards Subaru. "I hope she wasn't bothering you."
"No, not at all," Subaru said.
"Rei," Shirushi said through gritted teeth, "I was _not_ hitting on him."
"Great excuse, Shirushi. But we all have to fall in love sometimes," Rei tossed her chin-length hair. "By the way, we wanted to introduce someone to you."
"Oh? Who?" Shirushi looked at Rei curiously.
"Hajimemashite." A girl with long black hair in a ponytail running to her lower back bowed to Shirushi. "Sakurai Asuka desu. Yoroshiku."
Shirushi bowed back politely. "Hajimemashite, Kamimura Shirushi desu. Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu..." she looked up to see Asuka laughing.
"You're really formal!" Asuka smiled. "I'm not older than you or anything, so you can just say 'yoroshiku'."
"Um, correction," Satoru said. "Shirushi isn't eighteen like we are. She's only _sixteen_."
Shirushi blushed slightly. "Ah...gomen nasai ne," she stuttered out.
"Waaaaiii!" Immediately Asuka was pinching Shirushi's cheeks, stretching them out so much that they hurt. "You're so cute! Just adorable! I should've known you were sixteen!"
Shirushi thought. Outside, she smiled, despite the agonizing assault Asuka had done on her face, and said, "I need to introduce someone too." She gestured towards Subaru.
"Kochira wa Sumeragi Subaru desu."
"Ah, doozo yoroshiku!" Rei smiled. The others followed, murmuring greetings and bowing.
"I kind of need to go now," Shirushi said, adjusting her glasses. "It was nice to meet you, Sumeragi-san. I hope we can talk again." She smiled a little at him. "Good-bye!" she said, waving to Subaru and walking away.
"So, Shirushi," Rei grinned at her. "You finally thinking about getting a man, huh?"
"GAAAAH!!! For the last time, Rei, I am not romantically interested in him!" Shirushi growled.
"There's a girl who has some sense," Michiru pointed to Shirushi. "There's more to life than those beings with XY chromosomes. You go, girl."
"Hey, give us men some credit!" Yoshi protested. "We're not all that macho!"
"True," Michiru's blonde curls tumbled over as she lowered her head in thought.
"But you're immature and treat women like dirt."
"Since when!?" Yoshi ejaculated.
"Since those four years of math class where you would always disrupt the lessons and get the teacher all mad. And that's only the beginning. For the women, well, look at Satoru over here. Wonderful demonstration."
"I meant 'my Amy' as a TERM OF ENDEARMENT!!" Satoru's tone was almost a whine. "Goddamn, Michiru, someone needs to take that monkey out of your as-"
Shirushi elbowed him in the ribs. "_Shut up_, Sugihara," she said sotto voce. "If you don't, she'll keep on going like this the whole time we're out."
"Fine, fine," he muttered angrily.
"Well, like I said before," Rei spoke, "you'll fall in love soon enough, Shirushi. Just you wait!"
"You're kidding."
"Never know, my girl, never know. You're still pretty young, after all."
"People back in St. Anatolia started going out when they were eleven. What the hell are you talking about?" Shirushi asked.
"As we get older, we look back and see that they're really too young anyway."
Shirushi groaned.
she thought, looking at Rei and her perfect makeup, the crisp button-down shirt, and the jeans placed over her classic-looking boots.
she thought.
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