No matter how beautiful, smart, athletic, and personable Yoshino Shizuka is, compared to Semi Madoka, she is only ever second best. Shizuka's only solace is her first placed ranking in an mmorpg she plays, until one day someone overthrows her on the...
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After giving Shizuka a quick once over, Fuyuki placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and said, "You're ready."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Shizuka questioned while stretching out her legs nervously.
Mika nodded resolutely. "I'm positive it'll work! I mean we did spend a lot of time researching shoujo manga and otome games."
"Not to mention we spent about a week collecting detailed data on the target himself," mentioned Fuyuki.
"Do I even want to know how you guys got all that info without getting caught by said target or his ridiculous amount of fans?"
"We have our ways," Mika replied mysteriously as she glanced at her wrist-watch. "It's 7:48 now. In about 3 minutes Semi-san should be passing the train tracks up ahead on his usual route to school."
Fuyuki poked her head out of the street corner where they had been staking our since 7:00. "I see him! He's headed this way!"
"Good luck, Shii-chan!" Mika cheered as Fuyuki pushed Shizuka out onto the empty main road.
In the distance, Shizuka could see Madoka approaching their location. Shizuka noticed that he had headphones on his ears and seemed to be absorbed with something on his phone.
Because he was looking downwards, a few strands of his dark hair—the colour of the night sky in winter—had partially fallen over his eyes.
Behind him, red, orange, and yellow leaves fell gently from the rows upon rows of trees lining the street signaling the eminent arrival of autumn.
As a variation on their standard uniform, he wore a thinly knit navy cardigan over a crisp white button up along with a black tie, fitted black pant, and a pair of navy sneakers.
It occurred to Shizuka in that moment that she was wearing the same combination of items as Madoka, except instead of black pants, she was wearing a black skirt.
A few years before they had been admitted, their school had welcomed an enthusiastic new principal who revised the school's uniform to attract more students. Before, students could only choose between a navy blazer or a navy cardigan, white shirt or light blue shirt and black pants, for males, and pleated black skirt, for females; however, after the new revisions were made the uniform pieces expanded to include many more pieces. Although the uniform pieces still incorporated blazers, shirts, pants, and skirts, each article now came in four different colours: black, white, navy and navy, and black mixed plaid. Thus, there were dozens of outfits that students could coordinate and it was rare for students to arrive in the exact same combination of items.
It also occurred to Shizuka that she had never really looked at what Madoka wore before.
At the side, Fuyuki mutely wolf-whistled. "Damn that boy looks good. He's literally just walking down the street casually but it still looks like a goddamn photoshoot. Those proportions! That lean but not necessarily scrawny frame! Those legs! Where do they end and do they begin?"
