Harumi Taniguchi and her most important friend.

1: Costume Plans & Singer-boys

I sat in the lunch room at our usual table, I'm not usually the first to arrive and certainly not by myself. The typical lunch time scene would play out this way; Nene would be sat at the table with her head buried in her notebook and getting carried away by her delusions she doodles – that – or she is sat at attention awaiting mine and Yuzu's arrival, like a loyal lapdog. Matsuri would also be perched on a seat with some scheme or gossip waiting to burst out of her when Yuzu and I get there. Yuzu and I... Being here, sat by myself meant that not only were Nene and Matsuri absent but, I wasn't with Yuzu.

Yuzucchi, my closest friend. She and I had been inseparable since she first transferred to the Aihara academy. Initially she stuck out like a sore thumb, a real nasty one at that, but that's just how it was. Yuzu attending the Aihara academy was like a new species being introduced to its delicate ecosystem. No one would dare go near her! Her free spirit and unruly sense of fashion were out of this world when you looked at the rest of the students at this very traditional academy school. I'm sure the other girls, all sheltered and frigid, had never seen such a person up-close. I'll bet they thought they might get infected with something if they got too close. Ha! What a riot. Yuzu made quite the impression on the student council that's for sure, especially the President. Needless to say, her first impression did a number on me too, but in a good way.

To me, Yuzu was everything I had wanted to be. So open, carefree and without limits or fear. Honestly, from my perspective she was practically heaven-sent. Having been a student of this academy and the its institution my whole life, I was also a sheltered girl – to say nothing of my older sister – this school was also holding cell for me. During school hours I would wear my uniform properly, study well and follow the rules without question. When school would end however, as soon as I could, I would change into my own clothes with my own style and enjoy just being myself, by myself. Stealth gyaru, that was me. Yuzu on the other hand, was gyaru any day any time, 100 percent!

Meeting her was so liberating for me, having someone who I could share in my passions with and do all the usual things that girls get to do with their friends. I made up for so much lost time with her like it was nothing, like we were always friends our whole lives. When I lose myself in thought like this, about Yuzu and about how lucky I am to have a friend like now, I cannot help but face how important she is to me and how much I wish I am to her. Not that there is any doubt actually, I know we are on great terms as usual, it's just we don't always get to spend time together so easily these days. Maybe that's just how I see it. Perhaps if she hadn't made quite such an impression on the student council President things would be just as easy as they used to.

"Taniguchi-senpai!" a voice finally broke through the clamour of students in the dining hall and found its way to my silent thoughts. It was Matsuri, one of my underclassmen, she came bouncing her way across the dining hall with sly look on her face. I knew for sure she was priming herself to say something about my being here alone, without Yuzu.

"..." I opened my mouth to say something before she could, but she beat me to it after all.

"Poor Taniguchi-senpai. Were you lonely on your own like this, no Yuzu-chan-senpai?" Her voice played its way to my ears in way that was purposed to piss me off!

"Don't" I was sat facing the huge glass windowed walls with my head held up by my hand splayed out across one of my cheeks, I barely moved address Matsuri and re-assumed my position with just as much effort. Matsuri sat across from me to be in my line of sight, blocking my view of the school's courtyard as she did.

"Another day like this huh?" She probed for a response but continued on knowing she wasn't going to get any. "What ever will you do without your dear Yuzu? Now she is gone, slipped forever from your grasp" She punctuated her sentence with a dramatic pretend faint.