BITTERSWEET ▹ M. KASHINO

one.

"Fae!" Someone called her.

Naomi turned and came across a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and big green eyes who smiled at her kindly.

"Mari!" The girls hugged briefly. "How are you? It's been so long since we saw each other."

"A year since your last visit," Mari supplied.

"I'm sorry for having you do this so early in the morning. I know how busy you must be."

"Don't be silly. It's a pleasure to welcome you, Fae. I should be the one apologizing for not picking you up at the airport."

"Honey-chan!" Blueberry dashed towards Mari's Sweet Spirit, Honey, who had very similar features to her partner and wore a brown and yellow striped dress. "I missed you! It's horrible not having another female Sweet Spirit to talk to."

"I missed you too, Blue-sama," she chuckled. "Hello, Frosting-san, Pistachio-kun. It's nice to see you again." Frosting and Pistachio bowed at Honey in response. "Hello, Fae-san, welcome back," Honey bowed respectfully.

"It's nice to see you again, Honey-chan."

"By the way, Fae," Mari continued. "I heard that another transferred girl is also arriving today. Have you heard anything about an Amano Ichigo by any means? Apparently, she got recruited by Henri-sensei."

Naomi noticed the underlying bitter tone when she mentioned the girl but decided not to comment. When it came to Mari's and Henri's relationship, it was always a stressful matter in which she didn't meddle.

"He may have mentioned something about it. I think Amano's grandmother was a student here, but I don't know much about the girl."

"Well, you'll have many opportunities to find out since you're both in the same class," Mari smirked in amusement.

The purple-eyed groaned.

"I can't believe I have to be in a class with students two years younger than me."

Mari chuckled.

"It tends to happen when you spend a year with your studies on hold. The additional year is for you to catch up on Japanese, Japanese Literature, and Japanese History. But look on the bright side, the other subjects won't be a problem, and you'll have plenty of time to practice. Now, come, let me help you with your luggage."

Mari grabbed one of the purple trolley bags as Naomi took the other.

🍰

Naomi's room was on the third floor, just like the rest. Due to her particular circumstances, however, she didn't have a roommate. The initial idea was for her to share Mari's room, but the blonde was the Student Council President and had to have a place for herself, so Naomi was designated to a private chamber.

The room wasn't big - there was no need for too much space. A queen-sized bed lay in the center of the room, with big windows and a desk. There was a reasonable-sized wardrobe, a small area for an armchair, and a small center table. A handmade miniature castle delivered from France was on a corner, close to the bed, designed for her three Sweet Spirits to rest.

"You can unpack later. I better show you around before classes start. We still have an hour. Here is your schedule." The blonde handed the dark-haired a piece of paper. "By the way, does anyone know that you're here?"

"I enrolled as Takanashi Naomi."

Mari shook her head.

"I was talking about the Sweet Fairy," she corrected.

"Oh, about that," Naomi blinked uninterestedly on the matter. "As far as I know, everyone thinks I'm just another transferred student. Which I am."

"Well, everyone's already talking about the girl invited by Henri-sensei."

"I imagine that there are high expectations from her."

"Henri-sensei doesn't recruit anyone," there was a self-praised tone in her voice for being one of those students.

"My brother has great intuition and is an amazing judge of character. He seems sweet, but he's very cunning. According to him, I'll be able to broaden my repertoire of experiences here."

"Like what?"

"Like love," Naomi frowned.

Mari blinked.

"Is that so?" She asked skeptically.

"He thinks the French men are too uptight for someone so humble like me. His words, not mine," she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he was being overprotective and didn't like how intimate they acted, preferring the Japanese culture of keeping up the formalities and straying from displays of affection."

"Are you sure he's not preventing you from having a romantic relationship?" Mari smirked.

"If it were up to him, I'd never have a boyfriend," Naomi and Mari laughed. "But he hopes I form more friendships during my stay."

The blonde sobered up.

"It was that tough back there?"

Naomi shrugged, unbothered.

"Sometimes. The students wouldn't dare bully me because of Henri, but they pretended a lot in front of me and talked badly behind my back."

"They envied you," Mari observed.

"Not everyone deserves Fae-san's greatness!" Sweet Spirit Blueberry huffed.

Honey and Mari chuckled.

"She's not wrong, Fae-san," the blonde Sweet Spirit supported.

"Thank you, Honey-chan," Naomi smiled.

Before they went their separate ways, Mari got to show Naomi her classroom, the cafeteria, the cooking room, the gym, and the Salon De Marie - a sweet shop run by the High School Council. Generally, everything was basically the same as in the French branch, just some minor details adapted to adequate the Japanese culture accordingly.

Now, Naomi just had to go through the rest of the year.

Easy peasy.