𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 || 𝕂𝕪𝕠 𝕊𝕠𝕙𝕞𝕒

We Get That A Lot

"Hey, Tohru, Hiyori," When Uo stopped them by grabbing the tops of their heads, Hiyori paused midstep. "Check it out."

Uo turned their heads to make them look down the hall. Hiyori blinked cluelessly. "What? What are we checking out?"

"Hanajima's chatting with Kinoshita and her pal."

And when Hiyori saw what she was looking, she too was quite shocked. Kinoshita and the first year with her were two of Yuki's -- kindly put -- craziest fan club members. Hana didn't like any member of the Prince Yuki fan club, but she especially disliked the most dedicated ones. For that reason, Hiyori never would have expected to see Hana in conversation with them.

"Woah, you're right...Maybe Hana-Chan's made friends with them." Tohru suggested.

Uo frowned. "Yeah, no way. She'd never cozy up to their type."

Hiyori tilted her head slightly. "It does seem unusual..."

Kinoshita and her friend bid Hana cheerful goodbyes before leaving. Approaching her, Hiyori took the chance to call over. "Hana-chan!"

"Hey, you okay?"

Hana turned. "Oh, so you saw?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Uo asked. "Was there some kind of problem?"

Hiyori hugged her books to her chest. "They weren't bothering you, were they?"

Hana touched her chin in thought. "No, not especially. But they were expressing an interest in visiting my house. They're apparently writing an article on my waves for the paper, so..."

"Huh? Why the heck would they wanna write about that?"

"Who knows?" She shut her eyes. "But whatever their reasons, there was definitely something unpleasant about their waves."

Tohru and Hiyori shared a glance. "Unpleasant..?"

Uo set her hands on her hips. "So, did you tell them that they could come over?"

"Sure, why would I refuse? I never back down from a wave fight."

Tohru sweatdropped. Hiyori giggled nervously. Grinning, Uo clenched a fist. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Well, whatever's going down, I want in. Alright if I stop by later?" 

"Yes, feel free." She nodded. "And would you both like to come, too?" 

"Oh!" Tohru smiled apologetically. "Sorry, um, we have to work today."

Hiyori hugged her books again. "And after that, we have Miyumi and Kisa coming over. Otherwise we totally would." She bowed her head. "Sorry, Hana-chan..."

"...Sure." Hana smiled. "Of course. It's fine." When the bell chimed, she turned to lead them to their classroom. "Come. The bell is tolling for us."

"Man, I can't wait for this afternoon!" Uo cheered.

Sharing another glance with Tohru, Hiyori hesitated.

'Unpleasant waves...'

~🦋~

Three years ago

The classroom was full when Hiyori Kato walked in for lunch. Everyone was spread out with their respective friend groups, chatting and eating without paying attention to anyone else. Such was the behavior of middle schoolers.

She spotted her friends at a desk by the wall. Uo's blonde hair stood out as much as it always did. But right as she began heading towards them, someone appeared in front of her. A classmate she recognized vaguely.