Well, if Momomi was to characterise my reviews with one of her english idioms, it'd be "it never rains but it pours". Thanks for all the support! And don't worry, I'm determined to see this fic through to the end.
“Did you have to make a scene?”
“I didn’t make a scene!” Kaname snapped. “You should have let me pay for my half, then there wouldn’t have been any need to make a scene!”
Momomi sighed. “Why can’t you just let me be generous? It’s not like I don’t have money to burn right now…”
“I told you. Even if you call me an idiot, I have my pride. That won’t change, not even for you.”
“Isn’t it more sensible to mooch off other people?” Momomi snorted. “Hell, you told me yourself, you wouldn’t hesitate to spend my father’s money, in my position. Well, now you have a chance to spend my father’s money in yours.”
“This is different. It’s yours, and you are my equal. I don’t intend to owe you anything.”
“I told you, I’m the one who owes you, as your doing me a favour!” Momomi folded her arms, annoyed. “It’s not like the money matters to me anyway. We’re equals regardless of that.”
“Well, I’m not as well-placed as you to say that money doesn’t matter, now am I? It’s a damn annoying attitude…”
“Gah! The only one who’s making this affect our relationship is you, you know! Even though it’s important, you’re the one who values their pride even more.”
“It’s not something you’d understand.”
“Give it up, already! That’s something my father would say to casually dismiss my words, so I won’t let you say anything like that.”
Kaname sighed. “Persistent, aren’t you? Can’t you just give up for my sake?”
“I’m persisting for your sake.”
“Well, no one asked you to!”
Momomi sighed. “Now who’s being persistent? I’ll tell you what… I swear blind, for every yen you spend today I’ll burn three. You won’t accept it and I don’t want it, I don’t want anything touched by that bastard.”
“I said before, you’re the only one who can afford to make those gestures!”
“You’re the one with freedom. Once I’ve passed the scholarship exam, I’m going to be just like you. And that’s what I want.”
“More fool you.”
“Well, your father was no saint either. Would you accept money from him?”
“What other choice would I have?”
“You could do what you’re doing right now!”
“I didn’t choose to live this way, and I don’t recommend it.”
“Well, I’m choosing that path, and I don’t care what you recommend.”
“Now who’s the prideful one?”
“No, you’re the one who doesn’t understand!” Momomi pouted furiously. “I’ve spent my whole life being controlled by that bastard! Even now, I’m here because of his whim! Past, present, and even my future, he wants to own them all. At least your parents let you be independent.”
Kaname rolled her eyes. “Want to swap places? Freedom is overrated, I can assure you.”
“Fine by me! I’m not going to spent the rest of my life as a business asset to be developed, managed and sold off at his leisure!”
“And I don’t intend to spend my life in grinding poverty, either!”
“You can say that yourself, but if I said that, you’d be furious!”
Kaname’s eyes flashed. “Well, of course! You don’t have any right to say that!”
“No right? You never ask for permission, Kaname, and neither do I.” Momomi stopped and put her hands on her hips. “So I’ll say it! You’re poor and I’m rich! Get the hell over it, it’s not like I give a damn!”
Kaname snarled and turned to slap her, but something in her fierce but trembling expression checked her slightly. Somehow Momomi grabbed her hand, protecting her face. “Take that back!”
“Why would I? You’re being stupid!” Momomi looked like she was close to tears, but she pressed on. “If I have to say it, I will. That’s just the way it is!”
“It’s very bloody easy for you to say that, now isn’t it?” Kaname resisted the impulse to strike the girl again. “It’s not so easy for me!”
“Well, I’m sick of you pretending to the victim! You’re nobody’s victim, so it’s just too stupid to watch. You’re strong enough to lap me, smart enough to border on genius level and determined enough to attend our school!” Momomi glared at her. “Something like money’s nothing, because you’re going to come out of life a winner anyway.”
“Oh, well, there are some doors that not even my abilities can open,” Kaname retorted. “But they’re wide open for you. Don’t be too naïve!”
“I intend to cut off those ties as well! I’m not a rich lady you can stereotype freely. I’ll stand on my own feet, even if you call me stupid. Because my pride is important as well!”
“Your pride is goddamn stupid! If you’re born with a silver spoon use it to eat the cake!”
“You’re just the same! If someone born with a silver spoon is offering you some cake, it’s even more stupid not to eat it.”
“Why should I do that?” Kaname folded her arms and brought herself up to her full height. “I can find my own cake!”
Momomi stared at her for a few moments, then fought to keep a straight face. “This is what happens when you take a metaphor so far…”
“What are you laughing at?” Kaname demanded, thrown a little off-balance.
“You said that way too dramatically. Shall we go and look for a cake shop, Kaname?”
“Stop teasing me, damnit!”
Momomi stopped giggling. “Alright, alright… though it’s funny. But seriously, what do I have to do before you’ll accept a gift?”
“That’s some gift you’re offering…”
“Please? I want to enjoy today with you, without worries. Can’t you let me be feckless for once?”
Kaname felt the rest of her anger fade at the sight of her friend’s relatively contrite face. “You make that sound reasonable, but I told you. I have-”
“My pride,” Momomi completed, making a face. “Normally, I find that cute. But can’t you let yourself go just once? It makes me feel like you don’t trust me.”
“It’s precisely because your opinion is important that I’m being so persistent, you know,” Kaname retorted.
“Well, I’m flattered. Now accept my generosity!” Momomi gave her a cunning look. “You know, with an attitude you’d annoy a load of guys. Why can’t you let someone feel like they’re treating you?”
“I don’t let people patronise me.”
Momomi sighed. “Perish the thought… just this once?”
“No.”
“I’ll stop whining then.”
“I said no.”
“Well, would it make you feel better if I gave you a job to do in return?”
“Like what?” Kaname asked warily.
Momomi smirked. “I’ll hire you, and you’ll have to do everything I tell you to do all day. How about that?”
“Drop dead.”
“Oh, come on. Isn’t that fun?”
Kaname decided she had to take this threat seriously. Let her have her way and I could be royally screwed. “No way. You’ll make me suffer terribly, and then pretend that you paying for it is somehow compensation.”
“Oh, come on. I’ll pay extra!”
“I could care less about money. I have my pride, still, you know. It hasn’t gone away.”
Momomi gave her another evil look. “Hmm… if that’s the case I’ll just have to use it against you, now won’t I? How about a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Right, a bet.” Momomi grinned enthusiastically. “How about these terms? If I win, I’ll get to pay for everything and you take my orders all day. If you win, you get to boss me around and you also get all my money. How about that?”
“I told you, I don’t need your-”
“And perhaps the loser has to refer to the winner as sama, or something. Onisama?” She giggled at the thought. “That would be hilarious…”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”
“Kaname’s a spoilsport, just like usual.” Momomi tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Now I just need to decide on a good bet. How about on what Olesa’s doing right now? We can confirm it by phone, if we press them enough. I vote Starcraft.”
“Do you think I’m going to bet against that, after what you told me about her?” Kaname snorted. “I’m not going against a certainty.”
“On Shion, perhaps?”
“Watching a cop drama. You told me that too.”
“Hmm, I’m inclined to say stalking someone, actually. Probably going tap-tap-tap with her keyboard and researching the details of some poor sod’s innermost life.”
Kaname frowned. “So we can have a bet on that?”
“Are you asking?”
Kaname cocked her head, weighing it up in her head. “Let’s see… well, there’s a rule of gambling. That’s to say, never take a bet where the loss is infinite. That’s just silly. And to all intents and purposes, being your bit… servant for a day is an infinite loss. It’s not a bet any sensible person would take.”
Momomi pouted. “No? You’re no fun after all.”
“On the other hand, having you take my orders is way too funny, and I’m not a sensible person.” Kaname shrugged. “At least this way we’ll resolve the issue, one way or the other.”
“I suppose so,” Momomi admitted. She pulled out her phone. “Now all that’s left is to confirm the data.”
“Give me that!” Kaname snatched the mobile. “I don’t trust you, so I’ll do it.”
“What if I don’t trust you? Shouldn’t we find a neutral third party?”
“That would just be stupid.”
“This whole thing is stupid, isn’t it? Come on.”
“I told you, I don’t ask for help from strangers. Least of all for this, it would take an awful lot of explaining, don’t you think?”
The argument won, Kaname rang Shion’s number. She didn’t pick up for quite some time, to her annoyance. She was about ready to give up when the stalker senpai finally answered. “Hello. I can’t speak, right now. I’m on the phone.”
Kaname rolled her eyes. “Of course, you’re on the phone, you’re speaking to me. What kind of sense does that make?”
“Oh, Kenjou-kun?”
“Do you have to call me that?”
“Kaname-chi, then,” Shion quipped, managing to smirk with sound alone. “But I really can’t talk right now.”
“Busy with the Literature Club?” Kaname enquired sarcastically.
“Oh, dear. It looks like my cover’s blown. No, not exactly. I’m in the middle of a long-distance phone call to Isae-chan.”
“You’re what?”
“Don’t sound too surprised,” Shion said reproachfully. “I said I would do it.”
“But you’re not doing anything while you’re doing it, are you? Like watching something or-”
“Isae requires my full attention. Which is why I’m about to hang up. I’ve no idea why you called anyway.”
“Wait-”
Shion hung up.
“Well?” Momomi demanded expectantly. “You sounded a little surprised, you know. Do I win?”
“Hardly. She said she was on the phone to Isae.”
“She’s what?”
“That’s what I just said!” Kaname tossed the phone back. “Surprising, I know, but it looks like we both got unlucky.”
Momomi nodded. “I really should be glad for her, but it’s hard not to feel disappointed. Another bet?”
“I choose this time. The Etoiles?”
“Honeymooning.”
“Post Araldo, you mean?” Kaname winced. “Yeah, I guess there isn’t much of a bet to be had there, either.”
“If I was of a suspicious frame of mind, I’d also wonder whether Serané intended to get her two favourite problem children out from under her feet for a day.”
Kaname considered this. “She may act innocent but she’s just cunning enough that I could believe that.”
“Shall we bet on that, instead?”
“She wouldn’t admit it to our faces, forget over the phone,” Kaname pointed out. “Besides, I’d hate to interrupt anything.”
“Hmm… you’re as dirty-minded as ever, Kaname.”
“What’s dirty-minded about that?” Kaname demanded, flustered. “I mean a romantic day in, or whatever they do. It’s eleven in the morning!”
“Shall we bet on what they’re doing in that sense?”
“Like I want to know!”
“Well, they probably wouldn’t pick up anyway.” Momomi sighed. “We appear to be at an impasse.”
Kaname sighed. Ironically, for two stubborn, haughty and proud people, this really is the best way to resolve the situation. “Amane?”
“She’d be in lessons. Besides, we don’t know her number.”
“Araldo?”
“Being chewed out by dad.”
“Luigia?”
“Defending Araldo.”
“Yukaho?”
“Wringing her hands.”
“My mother?”
“Shouting at… hey, wait, how the hell should I know?”
“Helping someone knee-deep in legally ambiguous activity with the paper-work,” Kaname said. “But never mind. We appear to know very predictable people.”
“Well, it doesn’t help that most of them are in class, does it? Those are the ones who are where they’re supposed to be. And our parents.”
“Amiki?”
“What kind of question is that? Playing Starcraft with Olesa.”
“Ah, but co-op or verses?”
Momomi cocked her head. “Can you imagine her going against Olesa in anything? She’d probably let herself lose every time.”
“Verses is better training. Olesa might insist on it, and insist that Amiki go all out.” Kaname scratched her nose. “If I’ve read her character right, she’d do that if instructed.”
“Well, I suppose,” Momomi conceded. “But then there’s the third option, which is Olesa playing a 1v1 while Amiki watches.”
“If you put it like that, couldn’t it be the other way round as well?”
“I wouldn’t judge it likely. But either way, this isn’t like the bet on Shion, there’s four more and less likely possibilities. I’m voting… co-op. It just seems so very them.”
“How about the Campaign mode? They could be playing that.”
Momomi snorted. “Someone like Olesa, a perfectionist, would definitely have exhausted that a long time ago. Shion was clear that it was online play.”
“She might be trying to complete each mission as fast as possible,” Kaname said defensively. “Really anal people do that stuff, self-set challenges.”
Momomi threw up her hands. “Well, if you want to bet that, bet that. Just go for something!”
Kaname closed her eyes, considering. “Well, knowing them… I’m going with 1vs1, Amiki watching.”
Momomi took out her phone. “Right. Let’s find out, shall we? I’ll phone this time.”
Kaname clicked her fingers. “Wait!”
Momomi looked at her. “What? Don’t tell me you’re using the phone again, because you did that last time. And you didn’t make a very good job of it, then, either.”
“I have an even better idea of how to settle this,” Kaname said seriously.
Momomi quirked her eyebrows. “What’s that, then?”
Kaname drew herself up. “Janken.”
“Janken… you mean rock-paper-scissors?”
“It’ll settle things, right?”
Momomi sighed. “I suppose so, but it lacks a certain je ne sais quois.”
“A certain what?”
“It’s lame! It’s really lame! That’s what I’m trying to say!”
Kaname sniffed. “Well, at least it’s quick, painless, and decisive. The whole thing with Olesa and Amiki is far less likely to produce a decisive winner, and then what will we do. Play rock-paper-scissors anyway? Flip a coin? Isn’t it easier to just do that now?”
Momomi sighed. “You have no sense of drama, do you?”
“Perhaps not, but I have a very acute sense of we’re standing out here in the street and my legs are getting tired and this is stupid. If you know what I mean.”
“Alright. Alright. I take your point. Fine, let’s just get this over with.”
They faced each other, eyes narrowed and hands held ready. Kaname bit her lip. “The same stakes as before?”
“The same stakes as before,” Momomi agreed.
This is one heck of a game of Janken. Kaname dismissed the thought, along with anything else concerning how high the stakes were. That will only distract me now, I have to concentrate, and use every second of thought available to me. If it came down to attributes, Momomi would be scissors for her cutting words, and I’m rock for my apathetic resilience. That’d be to my advantage. But Momomi also has a paper-like quality, because she embraces me and all around her with her emotions, she’s a complex person. Wait, what does this have to do with anything? Somehow, rock feels like the default move to me. Which makes paper the natural counter-move, but she…feels, like a scissors person, somehow. I can imagine that being a move she’d make more often than not if this became a long match. So do I stick to rock? But doesn’t that feel like my standard move in turn? Surely she’s thought of something so simple as that…in which case, I should play scissors, anticipating paper. Or could it be a double bluff? Momomi’s more than smart enough to formulate such a strategy…or could it be a triple bluff, and she just wants me to think that? Someone as capable at manipulation as her could make any move. No, so think about probabilities. If I play scissors I can match what I’m sure is her default move and defeat her if she goes paper. Rock just doesn’t feel like a Momomi move. But what if she exploits my sentimentality and does play rock? There are too many variables to consider, damnit! How about if-
“Shall we play?”
Kaname gritted her teeth. Damn her, she’s forced her hand before I’m ready to make a move. Has she already made her own calculations? Am I about to walk into a trap?
“Don’t look so constipated, Kaname.”
“What? I thought you were supposed to be the polite one…”
“Come on, let’s just get this other with.”
Kaname raised her hand to match her friend’s. “You know how to play Japanese-style, right?”
“Of course. What difference does it make, though?”
“The gods of probability will definitely favour the native,” Kaname said, rather more confidently than she felt. It’s getting harder not to think about the stakes…
“Whatever.” Momomi began to move her hand. “Starting with the stone!”
Kaname imitated the cry, closed her eyes, and played scissors. She opened her eyes, and found that Momomi had done the same. She smiled slightly. So, my prediction was correct, scissors really is her natural move… if only I’d trusted my instincts and gone rock…
“Isn’t that a tie!”
Kaname winced, closed her eyes, and chose paper at random. I didn’t have time to calculate this far ahead!
“I win.”
Kaname opened her eyes and saw that Momomi had played scissors again. “Impossible… how did you know what to do?”
Momomi looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“How did you know exactly which move to play even without enough thinking time?”
“What? I just picked at random. Isn’t that the point?”
“You’re lying,” Kaname said. “I would never lose that way.”
“Kaname, it’s rock-paper-scissors, not shogi. It’s all about luck.”
“No great general ever relied on luck! Did Napoleon ever rely on luck?”
“He would have to, if he ever played rock-paper-scissors with Wellington.” Momomi grinned. “Besides, he lost anyway. He’s a bad role model in that respect.”
“Even so, when he lost, it wasn’t a matter of luck,” Kaname snapped. “And he’d have strategized if he’d ever played Janken.”
“Plainly it’s a bad idea, as the one who did that lost.” Momomi giggled. “You mean you were really trying to work it all out in your head?”
“Of course. You were really picking at random?”
They stared at each other in mutual incomprehension.
Then Momomi shrugged and grinned. “Well, I won.”
“Best of three! We agreed on best of three, didn’t we?” Kaname gabbled. “I definitely remember that…”
Momomi just shook her head and took Kaname’s hand. “You lose, you lose, you lose. Now lose gratefully and obey my every whim for the rest of the day!”
“Damnit.”
Momomi dragged her away. “Now, first things first! We’re going clothes shopping, okay?”
“I don’t have any right to resist, do I?” Her hand is warm.
“That’s right,” Momomi nodded. “And you’re carrying all the bags, too. And when I pick stuff out, you’ll have to try everything on and show it to me, one at a time. Okay?”
“So I’m your doll, basically?”
“Pretty much. I’m just sad I don’t have any ribbons on me.” Momomi smiled at her. “Oh, come on. Don’t make that face. It’ll be fun! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time! A handsome girl like you should definitely enjoy playing dress-up!”
It’s small and warm and very soft and delicate. I guess I should expect that of her. And it feels completely different from my hands, though I can’t really feel them very well myself. I wonder what she thinks about my hands…they’re probably big and rough and hard. That’s a lot more practical, I was always proud of them before, but now, for some reason-
“Oi, don’t space out on me!” Momomi waved at her. “Come on, Kaname, you’re making me feel cruel. Off to your happy place at the first sign of my fun and games? It’s a little discouraging.”
“No, that’s not it,” Kaname said. “I was just…thinking. About stuff.” I’m not quite sure why I’m defending pastimes I don’t want to go on.
Momomi pouted at her. “Like what? I’m annoyed if it’s more important than what I’m saying to you…”
“No, not at all… I was just thinking-” about how soft your hand is- hell no! “about… Olesa and Amiki. Now that we talked about it so much, I can’t help but wonder,” Kaname managed, smiling in a slightly strangled way. The truth would be misinterpreted, after all.
“God, you mean you’re still worried about that?” Momomi snorted. “You were the one who suggested settling it with Janken.”
A flash of hope occurred to her. “Well, I’ve been thinking about that, and you were right, it wasn’t-”
“We’re not retaking the bet based on the result of the call,” Momomi said sternly. “You lost, now be quiet and accept it already! Jeez…”
“Alright, alright.”
Wait, is there anything to misinterpret? If I’m so conscious of her hand, doesn’t that suggest something? Why is she holding it anyway? Can’t she drag me by the wrist? Hell, can’t she let me walk myself? But I can let go any time I want, we both know that…but I don’t want to. That doesn’t matter, though. I’d probably surprise and upset her if I did that, and I don’t want that, because this is her celebration and she’s currently giving me orders anyway. So it’s right for me to stay like this if that’s what she wants. Definitely. Why startle her? But if I do stay like this, aren’t I suggesting… no, it’s nothing like that. Friends hold hands. I’m just being twitchy. It’s probably my hobophobia speaking… hobophobia? Homophobia! Either way, it makes me overly conscious of these things, and I don’t know the bounds of a relationship anyway, so it’s natural that I’d overreact from time to time! She frowned. Yeah, I don’t know the bounds of a relationship… either way. What do I know about when friendship stops? And when you think about us- she shook her head to clear it of the unpleasant, disconcerting thoughts that she didn’t want to have. It’s nothing like that. Momomi has never said anything like that, right? It’d only upset her if she thought I suspected her like that, and it’s my fault because I’m being ultra-paranoid. So I should just forget all about it. But why does that feel like running away? More importantly, should I really still be holding her hand?
“That’s well over thirty seconds in your happy place,” Momomi teased, prodding her in the chest.
Kaname blinked out of her trance, looking down at her friend. “Sorry. I was just-”
“Thinking,” Momomi completed. “Well, it’s fine.” She gave Kaname a strange look, all the same. “This is the first place I want to go into, anyway. Let’s go.”
Momomi released her hand, to her intense relief, and walked into the store, Kaname following close behind. “I wish you wouldn’t call it that, you know,” she chided. “It makes me sound crazy or stupid or something.”
“I’m only teasing you. Besides, what else am I supposed to call it?”
“I don’t know, but… something not that.”
Momomi turned and smiled warmly at her. “Don’t take me that seriously, okay? I was just teasing you. I know we both like to think things through at times, it’s something we can both do.”
“To hide our inner thoughts?” Kaname mused, considering this. It’s true, I guess. For me and her both.
“And to work out what to say next, to lead you this way or that.” Momomi smiled again. “I’m the manipulative one, aren’t I?”
“Deceptive girl.” But Kaname couldn’t stop herself from smiling back. She looks so…happy, today. Our earlier argument’s completely forgotten, and even though I lost, I’m still glad. It pains me when she’s sad, which isn’t something I’d care to admit to her face.
“Less deceptive than I’d like,” Momomi noted. “More deceptive than other people would like. I guess it’s the same for everyone, no one can quite match their ideals in practise.”
“You know, I was just thinking the same thing myself.”
“Really?” Momomi gave her a sly look. “About what?”
“Oh, nothing much…”
“Tell me, tell me! I order you to tell me!”
Kaname looked at her enthusiastic face, and decided to give into that rather than any bet. “I’m less emotionless than I’d like, but more than other people would like, I think. Just the same.”
“Just the same,” Momomi agreed. She looked around briskly. “Well, no point in brooding on it.”
Momomi quickly found the girls' wear section. She didn’t squeal, but all the same, her enthusiasm made it feel like she had. Kaname followed more slowly, looking around with a jaded eye. Actually, women’s clothing is over-represented here, especially in the teenage-girl age bracket. I guess Astraea above really bends this town out of shape.
Momomi was already rooting through the shelves. “This is a lot better… you can try on this and this and this, and this as well… what are your sizes?”
“You know, I don’t even know,” Kaname admitted, looking distastefully at the clothes Momomi was piling over one arm. They were very… bright. “Not the red. We don’t have to do red, right? I mean, my hair’s blue. If that isn’t some god’s way of telling me I have a certain colour scheme, I don’t know what is.”
“Red would be a nice contrast, I think,” Momomi said. “For a jacket, anyway. It’d go very nicely with your eyes. Not to mention your pale skin.”
“Did you have to put it like that?”
“You raised it in those terms. Besides, we’ll need to measure you up at some point. In the meantime, I’ll just guess and you can correct me if I’m too far off, once you’re trying them on.”
“Hey, hey,” Kaname said. “Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?”
“What are you whining about now?”
“I never whine about anything!” Kaname coughed. “But what I meant was, shouldn’t we be getting some clothes for you as well?”
“I’ll do that afterwards,” Momomi replied. “In the meantime, I want to play with my doll while I still can. Besides, if shopping for your own clothes bores shopping for mine will probably be even worse.”
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as even worse,” Kaname quipped. “So I’m going to find something for you as well. This isn’t just you forcing me into things, I can play as well.”
“I thought you hated this kind of thing?”
Kaname shrugged. “I do. But I might as well hate it while knowing something about it.”
Kaname stalked around the shelves, trying to get a handle on this shopping thing. “This feels incredibly luxurious, you know,” she murmured.
“It does?”
“Well, at home I wear what cast-offs and charity-shop clothes my mother can find, and I’d better be grateful, or she’ll knock the stuffing out of me… that kind of environment. So this feels weird.”
“So you had a happy home life too,” Momomi replied quietly.
Kaname moved closer to her friend under the guise of looking at some T-shirts. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“About dad getting… well, you know. It never felt appropriate.”
“I told you about my father,” Kaname said reproachfully. “All of it.” I don’t think T-shirts are Momomi’s thing. She’s an elegant girl, however I look at it, so I should try to find something that matches that.
“Well… your father’s dead. He can stay as a ghost in your past.” Momomi sighed. “I’m not so fortunate.”
Kaname’s fists balled. “From now on, I’ll definitely protect you.”
Momomi giggled softly. “We shouldn’t be thinking about such gloomy things, you know. Why didn’t you ask before, anyway?”
“It never felt appropriate. Not when you’d gone through so much anyway.”
“I guess so.” Momomi held up a blue jumper and frowned. “You know, I think I’ll go and look at men's wear after this. It really does seem to suit you more…”
“Thanks a lot.”
“That was a compliment. I’ve told you a dozen times but you don’t listen, you’re a handsome girl.”
Kaname huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, as someone who’s less in denial about being a girl than you think, I can’t help but wonder whether handsome is a word I should be happy about.”
“Would you prefer it if I called you beautiful?”
Kaname tried to find a reply to that, and failed miserably. I think I’d like that. I don’t think I should.
She stopped worrying about it when she found a long-sleeved white shirt with frills. It was obnoxiously, pretentiously elegant, hardly something any normal girl would ever wear… it was Momomi through. Guess they stock with Astraea in mind, too. She looked sidelong at her friend, picking out one of the smaller sizes, and held it up. “How about this?”
“For you or for me?” Momomi teased.
“For you. I could never carry something like this off.”
“I don’t know,” Momomi frowned. “I think you could. Maybe something with a ruff, you’d make a great elegant ballroom man.”
“Again with the teasing.”
“Teasing? That was a compliment!”
“Some compliment…”
“It’s not my fault you’d make such a good-looking man!” Momomi stuck her tongue out at her.
“Right. You can try this on in a minute.”
Momomi walked over, flicking through the rack with a deft ease despite the dozen assorted clothes already in her arms. “And one for you, too. You know, we should do that, actually. Have one matching outfit. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“More like childish,” Kaname muttered.
“Oh, come on. Why not?”
“Well, we look so different, for a start,” Kaname said. “As you so kindly remind me every two minutes, I’m kinda mannish. And you’re the girl’s girl’s doll type.”
“Ah, but doesn’t that make us a better pair?” Momomi asked, her smile teasing.
Kaname sighed and folded. When she smiles like that, I know to give up right now. I’m only going to cave to it in the end anyway. And still, somehow, I like it.
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