︶꒦꒷ Second Chance ꒦꒷ ⌇ rainiiqx

𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙫𝙞.

act vi.   rivalry

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"Nozomi..?", I muttered, slowly losing my grip on the boy.

She gazed for a moment, "Lekami.", she reminded, "Let him go."

The brunette man got up and took the kunai from my hands.

"You know him, Nozomi?", he asked, walking over to her and dusting his clothes, as I got up.

She glared at him, "Don't call me that,", she started, "Just because you're Mana's brother doesn't mean you get to call me by my first name."

He smirked, "Come on now, don't get all snappy.", the brunette remarked.

"Don'T gEt ALl snAPpy—", Nozomi mocked, "Listen, Takahashi, you are nothing but my assistant. Don't even try to poke fun at me when you can't even act professionally. You're well-trained, aren't you? You should be ashamed you weren't able to defend yourself from him.", she ranted.

Sheesh, now this is a side of her I never knew about.

He only snarled, seeming used to this kind of treatment from her. "Jeez... How uncouth of you, Lekami."

I blinked in confusion, trying to process what was happening. Detective? Assistant? Mana? Takahashi?

"Wait, what's happening?", I asked. The two stared at me, then at each other, as if communicating telepathically. "Ah... Join us for a midnight snack, won't you? We'll meet you in the kitchen after we finish business.", Nozomi excused. I only nodded, watching them talk about something as I went back inside the house.

A few minutes passed, before I eventually heard the door creak open. Both of them entered the kitchen, taking a seat, letting the dawn sun enter the kitchen.

"So,", I started, "Care to explain?"

The brunette cleared his throat, "Why don't we start with introductions, hm?", he said. "My name is Shou Takahashi, it's a pleasure to meet you.", he introduces, hand held out for a shake, a smile on his face.

I shook his hand, a stern expression on my face. "Zanshi Tamura.", I said, both of us letting go.

"My my, it seems both of you have quite cold expressions.", Shou stated, his carefree attitude still staying.

"Well, Lekami isn't usually like this.", I muttered. He raised a brow, "Ehh? Really? She's so serious in the office though. I don't think I've ever seen her crack a smile.", he claimed.

Nozomi sighed, "Enough chit-chat, back to the topic.", she said, "Are there any questions you need to ask?"

I pondered for a moment, "First of all, who's Mana?", I inquired.

"My boss, Mana Takahashi.", Nozomi answered. "Oh, don't forget she's my big sis! And she's your bestie.", Shou added.

"Heh, and I thought Rose was your best friend.", I mentioned. "It isn't like that... Mana is a close friend of mine, Rose is more of my sister.", the monochrome-haired girl said.

As I fixed my posture, "Next, what do you mean by detective and assistant? Something work-related going on here?", I continued.

"Uh...", Nozomi started, "I guess, but I'm not dragging you nor the others into this, so it's best you stay out of it.", she explained, as if trying to change the topic.