"To Lola, From Bugs" || Momiji

Chapter 7

An alarm blared in a primarily dark room, set aside from the sun's rays peeking through the cracks in the curtains. A hand reached out from under the bed and tapped around the bedside table before landing on the snooze button of the alarm clock. There was a soft sigh followed by the flipping over of a blanket as a mess of red hair was revealed.

Despite how tired she felt, Anzu was excited; today was her first day at a normal school. With the help of Kureno and Hatori, Akito finally allowed her to go to school with some mystery provisions. None of that mattered though, because she finally felt like she was moving forward. After getting ready for school, she stood in the bathroom mirror for a while, twirling around and admiring herself in her new sailor-themed school uniform; it felt so surreal to have something she normally saw in movies on her body. Not wanting to be late on her first day, she fixed her hair one last time and pried herself from her reflection to grab her bag and leave the house.

Suddenly, as she was locking her front door, something brushed against her arm and the female jumped and dropped her house key. Clutching the handle of her bag with both hands, she closed her eyes and swung it around with a shrill scream.

"Ow, Zu-chan..."

Hearing her familiar nickname, she immediately stopped and opened her eyes. Instead of looking at someone who was almost eye level with her, she now had to tilt her head up to see the familiar tuft of blond hair.

"...Momiji?"

"Bingo! I look different, don't I?" The male grinned playfully before his mood quickly changed as he picked up her key. "I wish I could've called you or told you I was leaving somehow, but everything had happened so quickly I..."

As Momiji went on explaining himself, the female's thoughts had already drowned out anything she was hearing. He really grew so much in such a short time. His voice was a little deeper too, however his presence still felt the same.
Being as this was all so sudden, the crimsonette was speechless.

"Is the change too surprising?"

"N-No, I just..." Anzu blinked as she was brought out of her thoughts. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she quickly took her key out of his outstretched hand, smiling bashfully. "Welcome back."

The male smiled back warmly. "Thanks. I've gotten a lot more handsome, haven't I?"

"Just a bit." She laughed softly as they started walking together. "You're even wearing a different uniform so we can't match. Meanwhile, I haven't grown at all..."

"Sure you have!" The blond exclaimed. She may not have gotten taller, however there was something different about her. A new ambiance? Maybe it was because he hadn't seen her in a while, but he always appreciated seeing her smile. "How about a new nickname, like Lola?"

As soon as Anzu was about to answer, a black sedan pulled up next to the two and the back door opened, revealing Akito. Momiji immediately shifted closer to the girl protectively, the air growing tense despite the seemingly lighthearted smile on the raven's face.

"Are you ready to go to school, Anzu?"

"We're going to walk to school together." Momiji replied.

"That's not necessary. She already knows that."

Anzu frowned, seeing what she needed to do. Stepping out from behind Momiji, she walked towards Akito and got into the car. "I'll see you at school, Momiji." With that, the car sped off out of the estate, leaving the blond by himself.

"You won't be seeing much of him." Akito broke the silence in the car, looking directly at the red head.

"What do you mean?"