Annoying Coincidences "Wait!" Sei called out to stop the other blonde from chasing their common raven haired friend. "She's getting away!" Hikari wasn't quite sure why exactly she was chasing Yaya nor why she felt a little panicked and maybe a little carried in by the moment... but she most likely did so instinctively and for some reason. 'The predator and prey paradox perhaps?...' was the most amusing way she could think to have word it. The taller blonde placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder effectively stopping her from the pursuit. "Let her be. She might not look like it, but she's pretty fast on her feet." Hikari looked at the taller woman before taking another look at the corner where Yaya had made her escape. "She wasn't that into Physical Education back in high school." She muttered out absently to no one. "Oh?!" Sei looked at the shorter blonde in surprise. She had actually thought that Yaya was a sprinter or swimmer back in her high school days, especially when she learned that Spica was a school that supported many sports related activities. "She has the legs and lungs for it though." To her surprise Hikari giggled at her statement and not too long she found herself laughing too. "I'm sorry about what happened inside... actually I'm not quite sure what made me act the way I did a just now." Hikari said as she sheepishly scratched her cheek with one finger as she tried not to look at the taller woman's eyes. Sei found her hand suddenly launching itself up and landing on the back of her neck. "I'm sorry too... I was acting quite immature." Sei said with an awkward and guilty grin, not that acting immature was anything new for her. Meanwhile... Yaya was already out of the university gates, rushing out with a brisk walk without bothering to look back to check if she was still being followed by her two... more or less friends. She wasn't quite sure how to categorize them at the moment. Sei... was and has always been her Senpai, nothing more... than a reliable colleague that liked being a flower or on a lot of occasions a torn on her side and Hikari... Hikari was her best friend... past tense. She believes that barely knows the blonde young lady that she met just moments ago. She recalled the feelings that she had earlier... Her fainting wasn't love, at least she liked to believe so. 'Maybe it was just surprise.' she thought. After all when they were hugging and were in an intimate distance and position... she felt nothing, other than that tiny tingle of happiness you get when you see a good friend. And oddly... that thought pleased her. 'I not in love with Hikari.' She said to herself believing that she was finally over her first love. But then a short added thought made her stop and think... 'not yet?' She shrugged those thoughts off her mind as she realized that she had coincidentally stopped by a convenience store and remembered that she had made a list yesterday of the items her pantry needed. Some staple food like peanut butter, jam, sardines and a few other ready to eat canned products. She had given up cooking years ago... and submitted to herself to a life of toast, jams, ready to eat meals and the occasional just fry foods or die of food poisoning. She picked up some instant coffee and fruits as well as some eggs... and bacon... apparently two of the very few things she that could cook. She also added variety of snack foods and instant noodles to her basket before heading back to her apartment. Back at Lillian University, Hikari and Sei had sat themselves at a table in the cafeteria with steaming cups of tea. They found it quite odd how they just simply 'kissed and made up' (no they didn't really kiss) after Yaya had literally ran away from them. The two found themselves talking about the raven haired. Hikari would tell Sei about Yaya she knew back in Spica and Sei would tell her the Yaya that she knew now. Hikari had described Yaya as the most protective, caring and playfully sweet girl one can ever hope to befriend. They were roommates until she had won the Etoile Elections and was given the Etoile Suite to share with her partner. Yaya had the tendency to tease Hikari by playfully making odd claims about them being together and even being overly clingy at first... but Yaya had grew out of that after almost a year. She was supportive of all her endeavors which included school, choir and love. She even told Sei how Yaya had help bring a certain girl's memory of her back. Sei however had described Yaya as one of the most reserved, distanced, strong and yet fragile person she's ever met. The girl had quite a temper... though she rarely willing to express it as she feels it, Sei knows it's there. The young lady was intelligent and is very good at English. Popular among her batch mates and to a lot of people Sei knows. She is also very secretive, which is probably a trait that entices people to seek her out and hope to make her open up. "We're talking about the same Yaya-chan right?" Hikari asked awkwardly after they finished describing the Yaya that they have known for only so long. The taller blonde decided to take a sip of her tea before answering. "To be honest... I'm not quite sure. But maybe something happened to her that made her change from the girl that you knew to the young lady that I know." "Hmmm..." Hikari hummed to herself as she took a sip from her own. "But what could that be?" "Maybe it was something or someone... in America." Sei replied. "America?!!" Hikari suddenly yelled the one word question out in surprise. Sei was surprised... but quickly gestured her to get down and calm down, which Hikari did but not without blushing. "Yaya-chan went to America?" Hikari rephrased her question. She leaned closer towards Sei so that she would not miss a single word of what the taller blonde had to say. "You didn't know?" Sei asked as her face contorted to sad curious expression. Hikari could only shake her head. "Well she didn't tell us about it... but one of my sneakier, not to mention crafty, friends had decided to hack the school's database and learn more about some people, which of course included our Yaya-chan. Anyway it said that she transferred to an American high school, the name of which I don't really remember, before she entered her fourth year in Spica." Sei paused to take another sip of tea before adding; "I've also somehow tricked her into confirming that she had lived there... but she quickly caught on, I never did get her to tell me where she lived there or anything else." "Oh..." was all that Hikari could say before looking a little down cast. "So you really didn't know?" Sei found herself asking again. Hikari shook her head again. "No... she just left one spring morning." "She didn't give you any clue as that she was leaving?" the taller blonde found herself curious. Once again Hikari shook her head... "Only that, the night before she left... she wouldn't let me into her room. We instead took a short walk and reminisced about things we've been through as we watched the stars... I never would have guessed that she would be gone the..." Sei felt her heart squeeze as she watched the younger girl stopped her story to cover her face as she held back what Sei suspected would have been tears. But the girl gave in and tried to stifle a cry. She quickly reached into her pocket for her clean handkerchief and offered it to the crying girl. Hikari accepts the small fabric and wipes her tears. "She must have meant a lot to you." Sei commented, quite touched that this girl was shedding tears for the same girl she had known and maybe liked in the year that she had known her. Though she herself wouldn't cry if Yaya left... or would she? Hikari didn't say anything at first. She tried to control her tears first, sobbing quietly so that they wouldn't attract too much attention. After a few minutes, she slowly regained her composure. "I didn't know..." she said trying her best not to burst into tears again. "You didn't know what?" Sei asked, this time she leaned forward so that not a word would get too muffled up by her shaky and tearful voice. She was really curious about this... this could be a lead to unraveling the mystery that is Nanto Yaya. "I didn't know how important she was until... until she left." Hikari was somehow able to voice out that sentence, with some difficulty, stutter and sniffing. It made Sei's heart break seeing her new kouhai cry. She wondered just how important Yaya was to Hikari. She had this feeling that there was something between the two... a bond or feeling that she rather not guess right now. But she thought it's an issue best reserved for another time and place. "Do you have any classes for this afternoon Hikari-chan?" Sei asked. The smaller blonde took one last muffled sniff before looking up to her new senpai. "No... I'm free now. Why?" Sei smiled and said in reply; "Let's drop by Yaya-chan's place." Hikari looked at her and replayed the question... no! suggestion over again in her mind, it took her a few moments before the small idea sunk into her. She smiled and gave the other blonde a happy nod. Without wasting time Sei stood from her seat, grabbed her new friend's hand and lead the way to her car. At that moment, a certain Sakura haired girl had just said goodbye to a few new friends, the very same ones that she hopes to meet again if she's accepted at Lillian University or Tokyo University, when her eyes caught sight of a very familiar face of a young raven haired woman on the other side of the street. She studied her features from head to toe and for a moment she was a lost at what to do. 'I've found her!' Her mind screamed and told her to rush at her, wrap her arms around her, declare her undying love for her and never let go again. She ran after the young woman, almost forgetting her own safety as she crossed the street. Time seemed to have slowed as she could see and remember each and every detail as the wind kissed her face and made her long raven hair dance like an ocean wave. Then to her surprise the young woman stopped and took out her cell phone out from her bag. The Sakura haired suddenly stopped in panic as a few odd thoughts passed her mind. She wondered if the raven haired had not recognized her and thought she was a stalker... she heard that it wasn't uncommon occurrence here Tokyo, not to mention that the young woman was more than attractive enough to lure more than the desired attention. But her fears were dispelled when young woman answered her phone with a; "Yes?! Nanto..." the young lady said in a almost too sweet and welcoming tone which made the girl feel that her voice was as perfect and beautiful as it was four and a half years ago. "Ah... Sei..." the woman's voice suddenly changed to a somewhat aggressive annoyance, like she was talking to someone against her will. "..." "You're what?!" she said the raven haired rather angrily. Which gave her a little bit of comfort... believing that girl she admired had not changed much over the years. "Fine!-fine... come over. Don't hurry though, I'm not home yet. And don't expect me to feed you!" And just like that she closed her phone, ending the conversation before the person on the other line could make a retort. The Sakura haired found herself watching the young woman place her small the electronic device back into her bag before she then continued walking, still not the least bit aware of her presence. The Sakura haired girl then made her decision. "Yaya-Senpai!" she called out to the raven haired. Yaya stopped dead on her tracks... surprised by the familiar voice. She turned and saw familiar face of Okuwaka Tsubomi. She took the moment to quickly examine the younger girl's features. She noted that her Sakura color hair was tied neatly into a pony tail, it was longer and wavy, like it had been curled or had been occasionally tied into braids, her bright gold eyes still full of spirit and command, the girl had grown quite tall probably taller than she was if she hadn't been wearing shoes that were slightly elevated, and finally... the girl seemed to have grown in places that mattered to a lot of women. She took one last glance at the girl down from her red sneakers, tight denim jeans, tight fitting red shirt and a long sleeved white shirt that she had tied around her waist. Yaya inwardly twitched as she felt a strange sense of déjà-vu upon seeing the way she had chosen her clothing. "Tsubomi... -chan?" she tentatively asked the blooming young girl. It surprised Tsubomi a little that her senpai had just used an honorific after her name. But she decided not to mind it for now... it was either her senpai actually learned some manners or it was because they were no longer close enough, which was the more unlikely reason she thought. She realized that the latter was true and was a problem... how the hell was she suppose to confess to someone who didn't consider her a close friend and she then remembered a few other problems that made the revelation of her feelings impossible once again. But Tsubomi smiled anyway... happy that at least she got to meet the girl of her dreams once again. "Long time no see, Senpai." The shock had soon worn off and Yaya was almost grateful that she had already fainted enough in surprise. She smiled at the Sakura haired girl and said; "Yeah..." They were silent for a moment, neither knew what to say. Their conversations in the past usually had something to do with the choir, Hikari, or something they both found disagreeable. But now that none of those were present... they weren't quite sure where to start. At least until Yaya decided to say; "Um... I was just heading back to my apartment... Err... Do you want to come over?" Tsubomi nodded almost instantly, anything for a new start. Minutes later... the two had just exited in the elevator and on to Yaya's apartment floor. Tsubomi had half of Yaya's groceries in hand. They had been speaking quite openly to each other just now. It started when Yaya had asked her what she was doing in Toyko and the rest was history. Tsubomi had avoided asking her important key questions such as why she suddenly left Astraea Hill or if she had someone she liked now, she thought that if she did... the young lady she was now reconnecting with would fall silent. The two then entered Yaya's apartment. "Ojamashimasu." said the Sakura haired girl after she had taken off her shoes and put on a pair of guest slippers that Yaya had lent her. "Since when have you grown so polite? Tsubomi-chan?" asked the raven haired with a short giggle. "Probably the same time you did." she retorted with an almost knowing smile. "Hmmm..." Yaya smiled softly as she examined her older but still quite cheeky kouhai. "Well come in and make yourself at home." she said as she took the groceries of Tsubomi's hands. Tsubomi struggled just a tiny bit; she wanted to help... but easily decided that it was probably best not to be too polite. Her senpai told her then told her to sit back in the living room which was the room opposite of the kitchen. She sat down and waited for Yaya to return. Minutes passed and Yaya returned followed by a not so familiar aroma. "Do you drink coffee?" She asked her guest as she held up a tray with a steaming pot of coffee, two mugs and some cookies. The Sakura haired girl nodded despite finding it unusual that Yaya didn't serve tea. And when the mug had been handed to her she had little choice but to drink the liquid. "Itadakimasu." In the next half hour, Yaya and Tsubomi caught of with each other. Mostly Tsubomi did the talking though... she noticed that her senpai had been quite and didn't answer things related to the past as much as possible. And although it ate at her inside, that her beloved senpai seemed to be hiding more things than ever... she believed that she didn't have any right to make her talk about anything she doesn't want to. Then that the door bell rang. "That must be Sei..." Yaya said as she stood from her seat. "Are you expecting someone important? Should I go?" Tsubomi asked as she too stood from her seat. She remembered the phone call that her senpai had answered a while ago and thought that she would like some privacy with her guest. But to her surprise Yaya smiled and said; "No! Err... I mean... If you have nothing planned today, I'd appreciate it if you stayed." What confused Tsubomi was the hint of pleading in her eyes... and yet at the same time it made her happy. "No... No plans." She said as she happily sat back down. "Great!" Yaya then quickly turned and headed towards her front door. Yaya opened the door and as she expected, Sei was already grinning from ear to ear. But then was suddenly surprised to see one more person with her. "Hi-Hi-Hikari?!" She stuttered and pointed at her. "Hello again!" Hikari said as she waved her hand at Yaya. "But?!" the raven haired tried to argue... she clearly recalled that the two weren't exactly on good terms when she had escaped from them. Realizing what the raven haired was thinking; "We're buddies now!" Sei immediately declared as she place her arm around the other blonde and pulled her closer. "Ne? Hikari." "Yes! We are!" Hikari returned the gesture to Sei except by placing her arm on the taller blonde's waist. Yaya couldn't help but think that some divine being has a grudge against her. She was somehow able to force a smile on her face and told them to come in. "AH!!!" Hikari and Tsubomi pointed at each other as they immediately recognized each other when Hikari entered the living room. "Tsubomi-chan!" "Hikari-senpai!" Hikari immediately rushed towards Tsubomi and gave her a short but happy hug which the Sakura haired girl reluctantly returned, reluctantly because Yaya was watching. "They know each other?" asked Sei. Yaya could only nod and suppress the aching desire to massage her temples. "I'll get some more coffee..." she said as she motioned to leave for the kitchen again. Only to be stopped by Sei's arm. "No need! I brought a lot of food and spirits!" the tall blonde showed her grocery bag full of an assortment of food and alcoholic beverages but mostly beer. She the pulled Yaya closer to herself and said to everyone; "Let's celebrate your reunion!" "Yeah!" The two other girls cheered for Sei's suggestion which didn't come as a surprise to the raven haired girl. 'I have a bad feeling about this...' Yaya said to herself now regretting that she had allowed these people into her home... but there was one thing that Yaya dreaded more than these three girls and it was these three girls with alcohol! to be continued... Author's Notes: So it's clear. Sei is Yaya's senpai by one year, Yaya is a 2nd year college student, Hikari would be the same except that she transferred into Lillian, and Tsubomi is currently at her 6th year in Spica. I recently learned that Yaya's eyes are a deeper and darker amber compared to Tsubomi's... which gave me a lot of trouble writing. And I used Sakura instead of Pink... because I thought it was a more mature color. Yaya's preference of coffee to be explained later... (hopefully I remember XD) And damn... I got to write faster, not enough sexual harassment. XD Itadakimasu – (not sure what it literally means but I'm guessing something in the lines of "I will take this.") but as most anime fans (who love subtitles more than dubbed... and actually try to listen to the conversation) it's a line almost always said before eating or drinking (and sometimes teasingly to one's partner when making love O.o;; ... which I tend to translate as "I'll eat you...rawr!"). Ojamashimasu – Literally (according to a website I found) means "Am I bothering you?", but the phase is also used by someone who enters someone else's home as a polite way of announcing one's presence.
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