𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦

bunnies at the culture festival

"Cultural festival! What do you think, Sohma-chan?" They surround me like vultures because I'm the one who looks the most foreign.

I get ticked off, and kick the door open. "Washroom!" I announce, and disappear.

"So, you will be dressing up as a maid this year," Nanami remarks, having somehow made it into the house as if she was now a vulture preying on our family, entering whenever she liked as she did when I lived with Kyoko.

"What?! No way!" I snap.

"Do I hear complaining? I'm your vice representative, it won't do to have my authority undermined. We will attract more to our homeroom with your cute allure, feeding more into the notion that you are somehow a innocent little fluffball as the newspaper club says."

"Yes, I'm complaining!" I pull on my hair annoyedly. "I didn't consent to this! The baseball team will ridicule me!"

Yuki comes by to smack my head with a book. "Oh, hush. This racket is too much right now."

"We're actually making rice balls, and if you don't help, I'll make sure you are wearing the costume," Nanami evilly smiles at me. "Don't skip out on activities again, got it!"

"Don't enter this house whenever you feel like it! It's so early in the morning!" I cry back. I then go to delve into my breakfast. "And you, Yuki! Just avoid me at school, your creepy little fan club is going to come after me if you don't."

"That pretty little boy scares you?" Kyo mocks.

"No, but girls do."

"Ah.. maybe it's on the backside." I stop speaking as I hear Tohru behind us. I look up in confusion, and now that she has our attention, she continues to speak, "For example, a good person's traits is like a sour plum on the back of a riceball. In this world, everyone's backsides have various different colors and tastes of sour plums. But that's on another backside... so no one can see his or her own sour plum. They'll think they have no value, that their just a plain white riceball." Her gaze turns to Kyo. "You envy... Yuki... when you envy others... it's only because you can see their sour plum, that's all! I can see a distinguished sour plum on your back."

She smiles, leaning in near Kyo. "Sohma-san's is distinguished, but so is yours!"

Kyo's face turns red. "Aah... your thinking is all weird! Why did you use a sour plum analogy, couldn't you use something else?"

"That was a little mean!" I hit his shoulder then I down my breakfast in a matter of seconds, with most of it left on my face, speaking to Tohru, "You're like a real nice mirror in a sea of riceballs, where you can see your back from, sweetheart."

"I disagree!" Kyo says, pointing in my face. "She's a riceball, with a real tiny plum. I can see it on her back!"

"The ones that taste the best, you mean?"

"No... Well, yeah! Obviously." He folds his arms, turning away. "Wipe that rice off your face, that's no way to present yourself."

"Pfft, Kyo's got a crush---" I begin to sing, and in response, he'd really like to try and pin me down but hesitates at the thought of transformation and I kick him back over the way he came.

"You guys talking analogies, huh?" Nanami ruffles my hair with her fist, quite violently. "Chin up, now you all know you're something special, so go have a good day! And mind your behaviour in our homeroom, I don't want to sully or reputation as our high school's heavenly harem."

Both Kyo and I stare her down. "What...?"

At school, we set up the classroom with a curtain so we can put water and rice balls behind and some out to sell.