The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 88~♫

 Freya gave her a bit of a knowing smile. 'The names, huh?' She turned her head around. 'I have no idea.' Her smile froze, twitching. She took one kitten into her hands, examining its black fur.

It sparkled under the dim light. Freya stood up, pointing at the cat.

"It has no name. I know."

The younger girl shook her head and repeated her gesture. However, Ueno wasn't able to follow her. With her hands full, Freya managed to syllable her idea. Slowly, her senpai got the message.

"Kuro?"

Freya nodded. Ueno puckered her lips a bit, moving them sideways. Naming it after a color? It was that easy and simple, so why she didn't figure it out? It was almost embarrassing.

"Okay, so is that a boy or a girl?"

Freya blinked, realizing she didn't think about it. Together they tried to check, but Kuro wriggled its paws they gave up on it.

"They need a vet. Check health, gender, and stuff," Freya wrote on her mobile once they put Kuro down.

"I'll get them there, but I think they are still too young for that."

Picking the second kitten, they examined its reddish fur with strips on its lower-half fur or features. There was no doubt a stray tomcat gave Taiga these kittens since the rest of the cubs were similar to their mother. Perhaps it was a reason Taiga was abandoned by her previous owner.

Ueno racked her brain, trying to come up with a name. "Shoga?" She tried after a few minutes.

Freya gave her a big smile, lifting the girl's mood a bit. The kitten who was very similar to her mother got the name Shima and the last one Haiiro. The last two looked like inverted twins as Haiiro had dark gray fur with light strips, and Shima had tiger-like fur.

After the naming, Freya returned to the library, resuming her job.

"Are you worried?" Kagetsu whispered to Rigaku as they watched Freya beaming with smiles.

"W-Why should I?" He pushed up his glasses.

"Because you are frowning?" Aiyoku suggested with a smirk and wiggled with his eyebrows.

Their oldest sibling snorted. "I was only thinking if somebody isn't using her kindness for under-handed actions."

The atmosphere around the table turned dense.

"Do you think she would be that happy?" Kagetsu asked, shuffling with his textbooks. His brain demanded a break for twenty minutes now.

"You know you can't gain her trust so easily," Aiyoku pointed out.

The valid point didn't soothe Rigaku's wrinkles. 'Could it be true?' He bit his lip, turning around to face his study plan. 'Perhaps I should stop worrying too much. Freya is almost an adult. She is one of the most responsible people I know of my age. She wouldn't be so reckless to trust a shady person.'

With these thoughts, he resumed his lecture to Kagetsu's bad luck.

\\_(''>_<'')_//

With the sunny season, the school opened the pool. Every PE lesson happened there until the end of the semester. However, one regular hour was too little for swimming lessons, and so the schedule changed.

The PE moved from the morning to the afternoon, and two classrooms had joined for a double period. The pool was big enough for more people, but for safety reasons, it wasn't allowed under normal circumstances.

Rigaku watched the people around them as they whispered and pointed at him. It was no wonder. Instead of swimming briefs, he wore an almost full bodysuit. The subtle muscles lined under it, giving girls a new reason to drool over him. Pushing his glasses back up, he realized this strategy had the opposite effect.

On the other hand, Aiyoku was only in trunks. While earning a fair share of admirers, Rigaku felt more eyes on him.

'Him hiding his body gives girls more space for fantasies,' Freya thought, standing between the boys. She found blushing Rigaku really adorable. In times like this, she could glimpse what was under his poker-face. Thankfully, a normal high school boy and not a cold-blooded monster.

She looked around.

"If you are looking for Ka, he won't attend." Rigaku deciphered her curious eyes first.

"He is scared of water. And by scared, I mean he is on the brink of a panic attack," Aiyoku added.

Freya's mouth hung open.

"He was like this since he was a kid." The oldest sibling sighed. "No matter what I tried, he didn't come closer to our pool than three meters."

'You have a pool?' Freya mentally slapped herself. 'Figures. They are rich. I kinda forget that sometimes... despite living in a luxurious flat with them.' Her chest billowed as she released a deep breath.

"How about you?" Aiyoku asked since Freya was wearing her uniform.

She shook her head, tapping her burned skin.

"So, you can't swim after all those years?" Rigaku gave her a curious but honest look. "Is the chloroform in the water troubling you."

She nodded, gesturing with her fingers a bit.

"That's kinda..." Aiyoku didn't finish his sentence. "Can't some ointment help?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head. 'I never looked for one. Even if it would help me, it could be expansive. I remember a doctor talking about an operation or skin transplant with mom.'

Her eyes turned hazy. 'But before we could even consider it, a lot of happened... the moving, her exhausting herself to death, obtaining a scholarship, and me becoming a part of Uncle's family.' She leaned her head, the sun rays blocking her vision. 'I wonder if I could give it a try... not looking like wrinkled paper.'