𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 [𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

Chapter IX

"𝐀𝐇! Ri-chan!" A familiar girl with [h/c] hair ran towards the fair-skinned young boy who she has given the nickname of Ri-chan.

"[y-y/n]! I-I am so sorry!" the boy with peach-colored hair immediately bowed at the female.

"Huh? why are you apologizing?" She tilted her head in confusion which Ritsu couldn't help but find cute.

"B-because I um... made you run all the way here... and I'm not even that i-important! A-and I am n-not worthy of your t-time!" he kept bowing which made the young phoenix sweat drop.

"H-hey, you should really stop that. I ran here because I wanted to talk with you!" she smiled and grabbed both of his hands making him stop bowing and mumbling.

"Oh! and! since I call you Ri-chan you can call me [n/n]-chan!" he could practically see the flowery background surrounding the [e/c] eyed girl.

"O-okay... [n-n/n]-chan..." he couldn't help but blush.

When he first met the girl, he already knew who she was due to everyone talking about her. How much she is favored by Akito, how smart she is, even the male zodiacs who live inside the Sohma estate talked about her a lot.

He always admired her, her confidence, and even her courage to talk back to Akito. He wanted to approach her for a long time but always chickened out because of his shyness.

He wasn't that confident, and believed the girl would make fun of him the second he showed his face to her, but she didn't.

In fact, it was her who approached the boy. She was so amazed by his beauty, she kept complimenting him to the point he thought he was going to die from embarrassment and how hot his face felt.

She then gave him the nickname "Ri-chan" which just added to his embarrassment.

And now whenever she spotted him, she would immediately drop everything she was doing and run towards him to hangout with him. Which made a few boys and girls jealous.

He could practically feel their glares as if they were daggers stabbing him, but for some reason he didn't mind it because he got to spend time with [y/n].

It would mostly be her doing the talking and he would be stuttering, blushing and apologizing. He noticed how she never made him feel bad about himself. She didn't pressure him or expected anything great from him, just someone she could hangout with.

And he was happy, it came to the point that he would wait for her after lessons which made the girl happy that he was finally opening up.

"So Ri-chan, why did you want to check my closet?" she asked.

"O-oh! um... well... I uh... wanted to maybe wear some of your clothes?" he asked as if he was unsure of his own words.

"..." there was silence.

"WAIT I'M SO SORRY [N/N]-CHAN! HOW COULD I POSSIBLY ASK FOR YOUR CLOTHES?! I'M NOT WORTHY! I'M SO SORRY—"

she hugged him hoping it would make him stop. It did, but now he was just yelling in his mind.

"Hey, you should really stop apologizing." she whispered to him. She then pulled away but with her hands still holding onto his shoulders.

"You wanted to see my wardrobe yeah? Sure, let's go." her hand grabbed his, intertwining them making the boy blush even more.

Her closet was more of a walk-in closet. She opened the two doors and Ritsu couldn't help but be marveled by the sight.

Her wardrobe consisted more of kimonos and dresses because that's what Akito bought for her. There were shoes, slippers and heels displayed, with a few boots and sneakers hidden at the bottom which she bought with her own money because Akito would definitely not approve.

Akito was very strict with what she wore, so it would be the maids who would dress her up, which was torture for the girl since they were not gentle at all.

She showed Ritsu one of the cabinets that had her skirts while the other was filled with accessories like headbands, ribbons, and hair clips.

The girl could practically see the stars in his eyes as he looked around her dressing room.

"Do you want to wear them?" she asked the boy making his face immediately turn to face her's with a shocked face.

"N-NO! I-I MEAN YES? I-I MEAN I'M SORRY!" he kept bowing and apologizing which made the girl sigh.

"It's okay Ri-chan! I honestly think you'll look very pretty in this!" she then pulled out one of the kimonos from the hanger and he instantly fell in love. Well in love with the kimono, and her.

He already knew his feelings towards her, but never really thought much of it. She was important, and he was not.

She has friends who are better than him in so many ways, so why did she want to play with him? and spend time with him? The useless monkey...

And as she hung out with the boy, he realized she was just as amazing as he imagined her to be, maybe even more.

She was always by his side whenever he cried, which was a lot. And she always found a way to make him smile and laugh.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror, the green kimono with pink touches and flowery patterns really suited him. He looked up to see the girl standing on one of the stools to reach his head so that she can put some ribbons on his hair.

He was in fact taller than the girl which made her laugh a bit since she was older than him mentally.

"Have you ever heard of the story between the monkey and the phoenix?" she asked still styling his hair.

"N-no... not yet [n/n]-chan..." he said in the quiet voice.

She smiled "Well it is said that after the great banquet, the phoenix was really close to the monkey, they played a lot in the forest."

He was shocked, "R-really?" he stuttered.

"Yeah, and~ done!" she said while gesturing for him to look back at his reflection.

He did, "W-wow..." he was amazed, impressed, and guilty.

"Y-you didn't have to go through all this trouble for me [n-n/n]-chan! I'm-!" she placed her finger on his lips to make him stop, let's just say the boy looked like a tomato right now.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. Look, we're friends Ri-chan! You don't have to apologize for every single thing. It's ok to be selfish once in a while." she laughed at the last part.

She smiled at the boy, "I want you to be comfortable with me, just continue being your lovable self Ri-chan! I'll accept you no matter what."

"The phoenix's job is to protect the zodiacs, which means you too. All of you give me a purpose, you give me a purpose." her words made the boy's eyes go wide.

"You could say, you were born for my sake." she giggled after saying that.

It was silent, but it wasn't an uncomfortable kind of silence.

"Oh! Wait I have this really nice ribbon that would look great with your kimono! How do you feel about yellow?" the boy nodded saying he didn't have any problems with the color.

She smiled and left the room to look for the supposed ribbon.

"I-I... I was born for your sake..." he said in a quiet voice, with pink dusted over his cheeks and a sincere smile gracing his face.

"Thank you... [n/n]-chan."