Kaname drifted gradually into consciousness. She rolled over in bed, looking up to find Momomi in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. The girl was toying with it, moving the brush too and fro, and watching herself hawkishly. “What are you doing?” she asked.
Momomi glanced round irritably. “I’m brushing my hair, of course.”
“How long have you been doing that?”
I’m not sure. Unlike you, I take pride in my appearance.”
Kaname snorted, sitting up and throwing off the covers. “I can’t say there’s much to take pride in.”
“Is that so?”
“But it’s silly,” Kaname said. “You’re just a girl of thirteen. Why bother now? Why bother anyway?”
“I was taught good habits, albeit by stupid people,” Momomi said. “Appearance counts for a lot in this school, it seems. I mean, it’s an unwritten law that the Etoiles have to be beautiful people.”
“Running for Etoile, now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Momomi said. “If I can’t afford to make friends, for my reasons, then I certainly can’t afford to commit to that. Besides, I’d need a partner, which I lack, and patience with an awful lot of work.”
“Then why bother? I wouldn’t understand even in a mixed school, but that’d make more sense.”
“Why not bother?” Momomi asked. “You’re not ugly, but you’re always so beaten up that you look it. And you’ve got lovely hair, but you keep it too short. It’s like someone attacked it with a pair of shears. You should look after yourself more.”
“Believe me, I’ve never bothered with that,” Kaname said. “I learned bad habits from stupid people, and I’m not inclined to change now.”
“That’s a waste,” Momomi said. “But really, you should just get into less fights.”
Kaname stood and walked across the room, pulling out her school uniform and dressing. “You say that. But it’s like me telling you not to deceive people at the drop of a hat.”
“No matter how badly my plans go wrong, I rarely get physically harmed,” Momomi said. “You should try living like that.”
“I don’t mind a little pain.”
“You should,” Momomi said. “If someone breaks your nose properly, then it’d stay twisted. You have a passable nose right now, so quit while you’re ahead.”
Kaname shrugged her jacket on. “Around here? None of these girls can fight. It’s almost funny, and almost depressing, when one girl with a rudimentary knowledge of street fighting and martial arts can dominate like this.”
“You can always get unlucky.”
“Even then, I don’t care about my appearance.”
“You should,” Momomi sighed. “These things are important. It pains me to see you waste yourself like that.”
“What makes you so centric on appearances, though?” Kaname asked. “I’ve noticed that before in you. You’re pretty, granted. But don’t get too big headed. Your hair makes you look like a kid, for a start.”
“My family takes pride in appearances,” Momomi said. “On so many levels, our lives are nothing but appearances.”
“Which is why you’re such a bald liar, I suppose,” Kaname said. “You see, my parents didn’t lie. They just broke things.”
“Lies are almost as bad,” Momomi said. “Sometimes worse. But your parents made you strong, and mine made me cunning. Of course, neither of them made friends with us.”
Kaname adjusted her necktie without paying much attention, then walked to the dress, picking up her brush and running it roughly through her hair. “But really, if you hate your parents so much, why do you bother with the whole appearances thing? I’d say a better way to rebel would be to not do what they tell you.”
“Well, you still fight,” Momomi said. “It only makes sense to use the talents you’ve been handed, regardless of who gave you them. Besides, this was half as much taught by my sister.”
“Sister? You’ve never talked much about her…”
“Oh, you’re so coarse about it,” Momomi said, as Kaname put her brush down and made to walk away. “Come here! I’ll do it!”
Kaname sighed and sat, facing the mirror steadily while the brown-haired girl began to fuss with her hair. “Your sister taught you,” she prompted.
“She taught me a lot about how to look beautiful,” Momomi said. “She’s sixteen now, I guess. I haven’t seen her in… what, eight months? She’s a very, very beautiful girl, and much admired. She can’t stand our parents, of course, but she seems to like the ballroom lifestyle.”
“A sibling,” Kaname said. “You’re lucky.”
“I guess I am,” Momomi admitted. “But if you have something, you can lose it. Like I said, I haven’t seen her in eight months. She’s the only person from my family that I miss.”
“I can’t imagine I’d like her very much,” Kaname said. “An aristocratic little twit, only older than you.”
“Oh, you’d probably hate her,” Momomi said, running a hand through Kaname’s hair and twisting out a knot. “That’s one of the reasons why I like her. But she was good to me. She’d fix my hair for me, just like I’m doing now… those were some of the few times when I could feel happy at home.”
“That’s nice,” Kaname said. “Very cute. Is she a deceitful girl like you?”
“Oh, very,” Momomi said. “But she didn’t lie to me. Much. And I didn’t lie to her much, either. We often had to cover each other about our parents.”
“You’re all the same, you rich girls,” Kaname said. “Hopeless. But we’re really opposites, aren’t we?”
“I envy you, in a way,” Momomi said. “I think I’d far prefer it if I had nothing to go back to.”
“Oh, I have something,” Kaname said. “It’s just a horrible place, and a worse mother. But believe me. Don’t wish poverty on yourself, it’s not fun”
“That’s the thing, though,” Momomi said. “I can’t really stand my life. I should be grateful. But it’s quite a lot of work, keeping up appearances, that deception. Socialising with people you can’t stand. Keeping the right manner all the time. And balls. I hate balls.”
“That explains why you look after your appearance in a girl’s school,” Kaname said, deadpan.
Momomi poked her on the nose. “Girls our age aren’t even supposed to know about that.”
“At this school? It’s hard not to,” Kaname said. “You have to look around, nothing more. Kissing, dating, and god knows what else. I sometimes they suspect they’ve got some way of picking us out, or something.”
“I meant… never mind… and why us?”
“Now that’s an over-suspicious mind you’ve got that,” Kaname said. “Like you said, we’re too young.”
“The way you talk, I doubt that,” Momomi said. “And… where was I, anyway? Balls! I mean, dancing. Eating canapés. Making polite conversation. Dressing up in frocks.”
“How… rich.”
“Well, I hate it with a passion,” Momomi said. “My sister, she likes that stuff. Me, I can’t stand it. Really. Dancing with these young idiots, and having to talk politely to everyone. And the food. It’s so… pressurising. I have to be someone I’m not for hours on end.” She returned the comb to the dresser, then leaned over Kaname’s shoulder and started fiddling with her necktie. “Really, you should be more careful.”
“I’m not a careful person,” Kaname said. “But regardless. I’m surprised that you, of all people, would have difficulty maintaining a deception.”
“Of course not. But the problem is that the deception I must maintain is really tiresome. Polite and pretty and dumb and useless. Really, I’m generally only something just a little different from the real me, when I lie. I’m not that great at deception, otherwise I’d be a really popular, good girl who everyone loved. But that’s too tiring for me. I can’t tell that kind of lie for long enough.”
“I suspect that you’re lying as well as that,” Kaname said. “Momomi is excellent at hiding Momomi. Even I can’t see her.”
“That’s good. She’s a very ugly girl.”
“I know that,” Kaname said. “In that she’s already an ugly girl to society, and society determines beauty and ugliness. But I find society itself a very ugly thing. People are stupid, narrow-minded, weak and naturally vicious. So what’s beauty there?”
“Hmm. Well, I understand the relativism of beauty,” Momomi said. “I’ve experienced it myself.”
Kaname sighed. “It’s very frustrating, you know, that my reserves of eloquence are entirely expended on you.”
“Well, normally you can only communicate with fists, nothing else,” Momomi said. “I guess my presence drags up your game.”
“Hitting you would be a waste of energy,” Kaname said. “I suspect you’re quite proud of that fact. But you, too, have a knack for wasting those words that could generate sympathy from someone on me.”
“I think that’s because you’re the only person truly ready to listen,” Momomi said, “Whether you think so yourself or not. You’ll listen. There, done. You look much better.”
“That’s not especially difficult,” Kaname noted. “Even I’ll admit I don’t usually look like much.”
“You’d be beautiful if only you looked after yourself,” Momomi said. “It’s very frustrating, you know.”
Kaname gave her an odd glance. “Well, my beauty or lack thereof is appropriate. It matches my personality, in the eyes of that society that really doesn’t understand very much.”
“We never wanted to, or let them, understand,” Momomi said.
“If they understood, they’d treat me even more badly,” Kaname said. “And in your case, too… you’re never going to be friends with the hopeless, nice ones. The ones who make victims- an aristocrat is something like their dream. They’d extort you.”
“I’d give them nothing,” Momomi said. “But even so. I do sometimes wonder whether we’re doing the right thing.”
“Speak for you, and what you’re doing.”
“You’re fine like this?”
Kaname nodded, standing and brushing herself off. “Of course.”
“Then I’ll carry on like this,” Momomi said. “That’ll be fine.”
Kaname touched her blue hair, walking behind Momomi and giving her a curious look. “This is the thing, though, isn’t it?” she said. “Even if you do my hair up nicely, I’ve still got nowhere to go on a Saturday. So it’s wasted while I mope in my room.”
“I guess so,” Momomi said. “I’m surprised you haven’t joined the marital arts club, or something.”
“I did,” Kaname said. “Got thrown out after two months for excessive violence. All the other clubs of interest to me banned me aforethought.”
“In first year? You must have been a terror, even then,” Momomi said.
“I’ve never been happy here,” Kaname said. “Ironic when I chose to be here. But that’s how it is.”
“That’s who we’ll always be,” Momomi said.
“How about you, then?” Kaname said. “You’re a good liar. So join that damn ridiculous literature club or whatever.”
“I’ve no time for that,” Momomi said. “I’m not going to rely on other people, or let them rely on me. Nor am I going to waste time with people I hate.”
“You’re very melodramatic,” Kaname said.
“So are you.”
“I’ve explained my reasons.”
“You were very melodramatic then, as well,” Momomi said.
“So were you, as I recall,” Kaname said. “It’s not very important, though. But if your story is as comprehensive as mine, then I’d be surprised.”
“So that was your story,” Momomi mocked. “I thought it was just a story. But, truth my story isn’t much. That’s important. No one forced me into this. I was sent here, but I chose to stay here. And from here, I’m walking my own path, wherever it takes me. The fact that I have something to go back to… that’s the truth of my story. Far more than you, I could go back. But I don’t want to, not yet. Despite the pain of it. I don’t care. I need to do this.”
“You’re being way too serious again,” Kaname said. “It creeps me out.”
“You don’t like it when people talk seriously, do you?” Momomi said. “It makes you uncomfortable. Laughing is easier.”
“Something like that,” Kaname conceded. “The less you have to laugh about, the more you need to laugh.”
“That makes sense,” Momomi said, fighting slightly. “But… listen. Do you want to go somewhere?”
“Eh?”
“Well, normally we either both loaf around here doing nothing much, or we argue sufficiently for one or the other to leave,” Momomi said. “It’s pretty pointless. But neither of us actually have anything to do. So why don’t we just at least get some fresh air?”
“Together?” Kaname probed.
Momomi looked away. “Well, perhaps coincidentally alongside each other. Or not. Or whatever. I don’t care really, but it seems pretty pathetic to be so narrow as to do stay cooped up indoors. It makes us… me… look like I’m afraid of something.”
“Hmm. We can’t have that, now can we?”
“Eh?”
Kaname adjusted her jacket. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Eh… yeah,” Momomi looked unsettled. “Let’s go.”
Kaname sighed. “That conversation had too many ehs in it.”
“Well, it’s not good for enemies to do this without thinking about it,” Momomi said with affected hauteur, closing her eyes. “But once should be fine. We won’t make a habit of it or anything.”
“You’re cute when you’re in denial,” Kaname said.
“What are you talking about? Besides, you’re the same all the damn time!” she said, shaking her head furiously.
“Yes, yes,” Kaname said, walking past her and patting her on the head.
“Damnit,” Momomi said. “Right. Let’s go. Really. Even if I have to drag you. I can’t stand this room right now.” She grabbed Kaname by the wrist, pulling the girl roughly out the door.
“Ow,” Kaname said, retrieving her hand and rubbing it. “That hurt. Don’t make me break your neck.”
“You wouldn’t bother to do that,” Momomi said. “Supposedly, I’m below you.”
“So, where are we going to go anyway?” Kaname asked.
“Ah… eh…” Momomi blushed, staring at the opposite wall. “That is…”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t even thought of that?”
“Well, we could go watch Amane from the verges of the forest, like tragic heroines,” Momomi said sharply. “You do that all the time. I’m sure I could try one of your interests for-”
Kaname grabbed her by the neck, pushing her against the wall. “So you noticed that… you’re description of it is so wrong it isn’t even funny. But if you breathe a word-”
Momomi gritted her teeth, trying to push the other girl away. “I don’t get you. If you hate her so, why do you…”
“Kaname! What are you doing to Momomi?”
The two girls turned and glared, then detached themselves. “Nothing to worry about,” Kaname said. “Least of all you. Who are you, anyway?”
The blonde haired girl glared at them. “Toumori Shion! That’s Shion-senpai to you, too.”
“What’s a senpai doing wasting her time where she’s not wanted?” Momomi asked, ostensibly to Kaname.
Shion scowled. “You two… you’re hopeless. Everyone’s heard of you two. I don’t know what you were doing, and I don’t want to. Just keep out of my sight.”
“We’ll do what we want where we like,” Kaname said. “We don’t take orders from you.”
“No doubt,” Shion said. “I’m wasting my time on two sad losers like you.” She walked away.
“Sad losers, hmm?” Kaname mused, placing a hand against the wall and watching her go.
“It has a nice ring to it,” Momomi said. “On her lips, it’s a compliment.”
“You know,” Shion said, pausing for a moment. “That’s the thing about you two that makes no sense.”
“What?” Kaname asked.
“You two are infamous for infighting,” Shion said. “But the moment anyone outside steps in, you’ll talk and act as if you’re family or more than that. It’s quite pathetic, really. You two are unreal. Living in your own little world.”
“And how about you?” Momomi asked. “Always alone?”
“That’s better than you two,” Shion said, turning back, eyes flashing. “You say that, too. You’re so bloody proud of it. But, really, you’re alone together, which means nothing. You’re so insular.”
“If you’re always alone, why did you intervene then?” Kaname asked. “You weren’t wanted, and it’s hardly the actions of a truly asocial person.”
“I’m still not going to take your kind of idiocy, alone or with others,” Shion said. “No way. It’s too stupid.”
“You pay a lot of attention to two sad losers, a year below you,” Momomi said. “That’s quite interesting.”
“Oh, really?” Shion said. “Well, I have my reasons. You two have enormous potential. You waste it all.”
“And what’s that to you?” Kaname asked.
“You, and others like you, propagate the most pointless infighting,” Shion said. “Miator. That’s whom we should be fighting. But they win because people like you, intelligent if hopeless, waste your time. You should be doing club activities, at least! You should compete, contribute, be something more than useless burdens and embarrassments.”
“Who made you part of our student council?” Momomi asked. “I don’t think a third year can tell us what Spica should be doing. It’s not like the council cares.”
“That’s because the council’s incompetent,” Shion said. “But if you’re too feckless enough to care, that’s no concern of mine.” She turned away.
The second years glanced at each other then watched her for a second. “Hey,” Kaname said.
“What?” Shion asked without looking round.
“Listen, we’re busy right now,” Momomi said. “But your rhetoric’s kinda cute.”
“Talk to us at some point,” Kaname said. “Your bluntness about the council is worth something, at least.”
Shion turned for a moment, staring at them. “This is to disprove my point about you being insular, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s because someone as cynical and vicious as that is really quite like us,” Momomi said.
“But you have some manner of idealism as well,” Kaname said. “That’s your weak point.”
“That’s the other thing I hate about you,” Shion said. “You both seem really stupid and silent until you suddenly do that cross-talk act.”
“Well, that was the most we’ve seen you talk ever, either,” Momomi said.
“We’ll see you around,” Kaname completed.
“Ha. Whatever.” The third-year stalked away.
“Odd girl,” Momomi said. “But I think I like her. You too, I guess, which is why we did that. We’re probably making a mistake, of course.”
“I suspect so,” Kaname said. “Do you know what I think it was, though?”
“Hmm?”
“She said we could contribute,” Kaname said. “She doesn’t even know us. It’s ridiculous. And we say we don’t want to contribute. But it’s nice to be told that. I guess she knows our weaknesses.”
“You’re right,” Momomi said. “But I don’t think that’s her exploiting a weakness, she lacks that kind of guile. No, she’s too… nice, for it. It’s pretty stupid.”
“Whatever,” Kaname said. “It won’t come to anything. She’s no one anyway. I think she’s the one wasting potential.”
“Anyway,” Momomi said. “Let’s just forget earlier, shall we?”
Kaname bowed her head. “But don’t get me wrong. Amane’s my enemy. I watch her because of that.”
“I know,” Momomi said. “I hate her too. But, she’s very inactive. Really, she doesn’t ever do anything much. I think you could just ignore her quite happily.”
“That’s what irritates me, though. That she wastes herself like that.”
“Well, let’s be honest,” Momomi said. “As that Shion says, we’re not much different in that respect.”
“We’re different,” Kaname said. “So unbelievably different… she’s annoyingly perfect. Unlike me, cut deep, she has no flaw.”
“I don’t believe that,” Momomi said. “She holds herself aloof as we do. There’s something there. A weakness. I’m not going to be taken in by the act I myself use.”
“I wish I could believe that about her,” Kaname said. “But I’d only want to find out what that weakness.”
“Don’t take her so seriously,” Momomi said. “She’s only a girl. She’s not perfect.”
Kaname looked out the window, eyes looking into some distance full of Amane. “She’s close. Whatever I can do, she can do better. Except fight, maybe, but against her that’s totally worthless. But she’s smarter than I am, and prettier, and more controlled, and more talented- whatever I do, I can’t beat her. If I know an unbeatable foe, I want to think they’re perfect. If they’re not, that just reflects worse on me.”
“Really, she’s not important,” Momomi said. “So she scores better on some tests. Listen, her achievements mean nothing. She’s an Otori. Even my parents have heard of them, and they’re unbelievably elitist.”
“What do they do?”
“They’re big in the medical world,” Momomi said vaguely. “I mean big. Huge. They’re aristocrats of the new school.”
“Is that so?” Kaname said, interested. “I never bothered to look about that.”
“But that’s the point. Kaname Otori is an aristocrat, like me, born to privilege and the best of everything. For her, having academic success means nothing. Anyone, with the resources we posses, should do as well.” Momomi looked at her. “Your achievements mean something. You’ve come from nowhere, with no expectations, and got this far. That’s a real achievement. A couple of marks… don’t be pathetic! You’re here! You’re competing with Amane Otori! That’s incredible in itself.”
“Really?” Kaname said, unconvinced.
“Really,” Momomi said. “Amane’s achievements mean nothing, never have done, never will do. She doesn’t need them. She just has to be an Otori. You’ve nothing but your talents. I’m almost jealous, I guess, that you do something real with your talents. I feel like I’ve done nothing at all with mine. Nothing that means anything, except as the path I was told to walk.”
“Don’t be jealous of poverty,” Kaname said. “It’s irritating.”
“Sorry.”
“But what I’ve done means something?” Kaname mused.
“Believe me,” Momomi said. “If I look at you, and I look at Amane, I know who I think has done more that really matters. I mean… her horse riding, even. What does that mean? Fighting is inelegant, but it has meaning.”
“That’s the thing about me, though,” Kaname said eventually.
“What?”
“I don’t accept your world,” Kaname said. “I’m not going to just take the privilege of aristocrats, the way you see me as rising to your level, and the concept that I should be proud just to catch up. I’m not here to play. I’m playing to win. Whoever I’m up against, and however rich they are, I’ll take them on and I’ll win. It’s always been that way, until I got here. This place has me at my limit, but I can hold on. Except Amane. She just wins, and I can’t accept that.”
“I see… well, I can understand that,” Momomi said. “If you do take things so seriously. But are you sure it’s just that?”
“How do you mean?” Kaname asked.
“You pay an inordinate amount of attention to Amane,” Momomi said. “Even with respect to your given reasons.”
“Jealous?”
“Not especially. Just worried about you. You could get burned, flying to close to your sun,” Momomi said.
“That’s a pretty phrase. I’ll remember it.” Kaname shrugged. “But you’re wasting your time worrying about me. I can handle myself.”
“That’s all very well to say,” Momomi grumbled. “But other people exist too, and it’s pretty painful to watch.”
“Aren’t you paying an inordinate amount of attention to me, then?”
“You need someone to watch your back,” Momomi said. “You’ll never do it yourself.”
“Do what?”
“Beat Amane.”
Why did say that? Just because it sounded cool? No, because I want that, suddenly. I don’t understand, exactly, why I want to see her lose, when I didn’t care before. To me, at least, Amane’s just some smart, pretty girl in her own world, without anyone to challenge her. Kaname, at least, has me, and I have her. All that means is that we have rivals and enemies, of course… but it’s fun. To have that kind of rival. We understand each other to a degree, we can talk to a degree, and we’ll protect each other to a degree. It’s quite a specialised degree, but that Shion understood one thing we’d barely noticed in ourselves. Instinctively, now, there is the outside world, and there is Kaname and I. Somehow, she’s part of my world, and when the outside attacks her, I defend her as if she was I. No, perhaps more zealously than that. I don’t really care what normal people say about me, but somehow, together, we have enough pride to care, and fight back. But even so, all that stuff’s no reason to take on Amane. She doesn’t bother us. No, that’s not true. She doesn’t bother us directly, but that existence still bothers Kaname and now that’s worrying me. I’m worried, I think, that I said that, and it sounded so right. I’m not that competitive. Why do I suddenly care? But it’s because… Kaname speaks about her that way. My Kaname? I respect her, a little, even though she’s so arrogant and brutish and common and stupid, more than I respect Amane. So I want to beat all those things she said. I want to shoot Amane down, if that will make Kaname stand tall. And I want to do it with her. These reflections- it’s scary.
“That’s a nice dream,” Kaname said.
“Humph,” Momomi said.
“But if anyone could make it happen, it’s us,” Kaname said. “I’ll think on it.”
“Don’t take me too seriously,” Momomi said.
“Too late. In any case, shouldn’t we be going? I thought we were supposed to be getting some fresh air, but we haven’t even left the dorms.”
“Well, as you recall, you interrupted me when I conceded I didn’t know exactly where to go,” Momomi said.
“Well, nowhere where there are any damn clubs. Or people.”
“How about the forest?” Momomi suggested. “It’s so big you’re unlikely to meet anyone there.”
“Okay, fine,” Kaname said. “As long as we don’t go near the paddock. Amane’s always surrounded by fangirls.”
“I know. It’s very irritating.”
“Then let’s go,” Kaname said, turning and walking down the stairs. They passed a few students, ignoring them and being ignored, then crossed the threshold and stepped out into the sunlight.
Momomi sheltered her eyes. “The sun’s low in the sky. I guess we didn’t pick the best day to try this.” When she looked up, Kaname had already walked off, forcing her to jog to catch up. “You walk too fast!”
“Do I?” Kaname said. She slowed slightly, allowing Momomi to keep up. “Well, I’m used to walking fast.”
“Alright for you,” Momomi said. “Some of us aren’t as tall or fit as you.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
They crossed the verge of the forest in silence, leaves crunching under their feet. As they’d predicted, most of the students were indoors, either on club activities or simply to avoid the cold. The peace was comforting.
“This place is so filthy rich,” Kaname said eventually. “I’m reminded of that again and again. You could probably build an entire council estate on the land taken up by this forest, all for the aesthetic whims of the school.”
“Well, it’s pretty,” Momomi said defensively. “And it’s probably an important natural habitat, too. Besides, a council estate wouldn’t be much use on a hill in the middle of nowhere.”
“A prison, then.”
Momomi shook her head. “You think in the wrong way.”
Kaname glanced back. “Practically, yes. That is fairly impractical for this place.”
“You can’t think practically all the time,” Momomi said. “There’s no fun in that.”
“Well, you definitely can’t dream all the time,” Kaname said. “That’ll get you killed. Maybe your kind can get away with it.”
“You can only say that because you’ve no idea what my life’s really life,” Momomi said bitterly. “It’s not a fairy tale. My parents give me orders. I grow up pretty and then get sold out to the first rich man who’ll take me. If I were to dream, it would be because I have nothing else.”
“You’re here,” Kaname said. “I don’t see many dispatches from High Command, Italy.”
“Well, of course,” Momomi said. “They wouldn’t bother to write.”
Kaname closed her eyes, shrugging. “Point taken. My mother doesn’t write either, of course. I think she prefers to pretend I don’t exist.”
“Well, people are people, wherever they’re from,” Momomi said. “So there are always the unlucky ones. That doesn’t change, rich or poor. Besides, I’m only here as a punishment. I can only hope they’re feeling really angry.”
Kaname frowned, looking ahead. “There’s a break in the trees there. That’s the lake, isn’t it?”
Momomi nodded. “Yep. You couldn’t build council houses on that.”
“You could rent it out for water sports.”
“You’re hopeless,” Momomi sighed.
Kaname walked forwards into the clearing and sat on the gentle slope, looking down into the shimmering surface of the lake. “Perhaps. You’d better get used to it.”
Momomi collapsed, hugging her knees. “Oh, I am.” She sighed. “I didn’t pick the best time. It’s really cold.”
“Ha.”
Momomi looked out of the surface of the lake. “I guess that’s us, isn’t it? We go out and mope by a lake, instead of moping in our room… hopeless.”
“Here.” Kaname thrust her jacket at Momomi, not looking at her. “You’re cold, right?”
“Well, yes, but…” Momomi blinked, then tried anger. “You can’t just-”
“A weakling like you is only going to whine,” Kaname said, eyes on the lake. “If a little more cold is the price of shutting you up, that’s fine.”
“Well, I’m not stupid enough to say no,” Momomi said, taking it and throwing it on. “You make me feel so useless and weak, though.”
Kaname hugged herself. “I’m sure you can live with that. It got you my jacket.”
“Just from you, I’ll live with it,” Momomi said. “You wouldn’t let me do anything else. But that’s okay.”
Kaname just nodded. They watched the light, slanting down from the sky, and scattering across the aquamarine mirror of the lake below them.
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