Author: (Looks around) Okay so I lied, but I blame these gremlins (gestures to the M&M's ie Mikey Meiko) for basically filling my head with. Okay but you still gotta try and build up the romance, even if it's a bit early... And also I wanted to give Mikey more happy times before shit starts. THE BOY SUFFERS ENOUGH AS IS WITH CURRENT EVENTS IN THE MANGA!
July 17, 2005 Meiko
"That you were special."
Those words left Meiko's mind spiraling in shock, her stomach in knots, and her cheeks aflame. Especially with the smile he sent her, Meiko counted her blessings when Baji and Chifuyu temporarily passed them, as Mikey's attention was stolen away. Thus she was left alone, and their conversation dropped. Though Meiko's mind didn't really drop the subject even as the group continued to race towards the beach.
'Special... What the hell does he mean by special?' Meiko quietly wondered, 'He's probably the first guy to have ever called me special... He's definitely the first guy to call me cute so frequently without ulterior motive.' She thought, tightening her grip on Mikey's waist as she hid her face in his back. '...Why am I feeling like this?' She thought confused, unaccustomed to this form of attention, let alone the way it made her feel at times. Though she was playful and perhaps even aloof at times when it came to the opposite gender, Meiko was not unfamiliar with having boys' attention on her, nor was she blind to what that usually meant.
"Please go out with me." She stared as a slightly older boy by the name of Kondo– or something like that– tried asking her out, her stomach twisting with disgust though as she recalled the way she'd overheard him talking to his friends.
"I'm telling you she's pretty developed." The brown-haired male laughed with his friends a few feet away from the gym. "Like the girls in my class got nothing on that Hanagaki chick."
"You know she is sorta pretty for a four eyes."
"Yeah, but once she loses the glasses she definitely goes up in the looks department. Like– damn!"
"Um... but guys... isn't she like twelve?"
"Thirteen, I heard she had a birthday recently. I think I saw sensei giving her some gloves or something when it happened. " The guy defensively cut in before arrogantly saying, "And besides that just means she's an easy pick, girls like her, their itching to get on the dating scene." The guy laughed, "It'll be easy to win her."
"No thanks." Meiko bluntly replied after recalling the boy's words, shocking the teen. "I'm not interested in dating or anything like that." She boredly yet honestly replied, her gaze not even focused on the boy as she turned to continue doing her sets.
"Wha– Oh, come on." The guy began to nervously say, "Can't you give me a chance, I really do like you." He laughed, making Meiko frown.
"Like me...?" She quietly asked, before turning to bore into the teen with a cold stare. "Have we ever even talked before this?"
"Uh–" Boy almost seemed to begin to sweat.
"What is it that you even like about me per se?" She sarcastically asked as the guy became tongue-tied.
"Oh! Uh... Um... I like..." She watched his eyes look everywhere but her eyes, from the ring to his friends, to her chest, her legs, the rest of her body, to even above her head at the poster behind her. Everywhere but her face and eyes. He brightened up suddenly as an idea came to him and tried to suavely say with a 'sexy' smirk, "You're wonderful personality, yeah. That's it, I've seen the way you talk with some of the girls around here. You're pretty mature for your age."
Her eye twitched at this, and her gaze traveled over to her teacher and owner of the gym who was coming to see what was going on. And an idea came to her then, as she smiled up at the slightly older teen. "Really! You think so." She 'innocently' said, making the boy smirk in victory. "Oh, but... I don't know I really was serious about the whole not dating thing."
"Then it doesn't have to be a date." The guy said, "We could just... have some fun with one another."
Meiko's hands clenched into a fist at this, bringing them up to her face to cover her mouth she 'innocently' said. "Fun...? Okay."
The boy began to grin, as Meiko then pointed at him smiling. "Let's have fun! Sensei, Kondo-kun here wants to have a quick match with me." She venomously smiled, a predatory glint in her eyes as the boy gaped at her in shock and confusion. "Do you mind if we take the ring?"
"Wait... What–"
"Ha!" She roundhouse kicked the boy flying into the ropes, breathing heavily she watched the boy drop groaning. As his friends and some of the other gym members watched.
"Woah!"
"Scary!"
"Who'd have thought a chick like her could kick butt."
"Damn she was fierce." One of the older gym-goers muttered. "Who pissed off the little lioness?"
One of the women in the crowd chuckled, "Now, that's what I call a woman's scorn."
"Hanagaki, Kondo. Out of the ring." The tired-looking, or perhaps more accurately bored ponytailed man with blonde and purple streak haired, and owner of the gym, ordered as he stared at the obviously down teen. "Take five Kondo, Hanagaki head home."
"Huh?!" Meiko exclaimed, running to the edge of the ring to hang off the rope. "What do you mean head home Imaushi-sensei! I still haven't gotten to train with ya today."
The lilac-eyed man sighed from around the stick in his mouth, "Maybe... but it's getting late." He held his hand out making Meiko pout as she was helped out of the ring. "I don't care how good you think you are, Meiko, but you're still only thirteen and a girl." He side-eyed some of the young men in the age closest to Meiko's who eyed the tang topped teen. "It's far from safe for you to be walking home on your own in the dark, especially around these parts."
"But Wakasa–"
"Home." He bluntly ordered, before sticking a lollipop in her face. "And don't argue with me, besides, don't you have a little brother to get home to. You sure you want to leave him home alone at night?"
She frowned but took the sweet reluctantly knowing this was his way, his sort of peace offering for sending her home sooner than she had intended. "No... I get it."
"Good. Get cleaned up and head out then, we can continue tomorrow."
She sighed pouting as she shoved the sweet into her mouth, "Yeah, yeah... You say that every night." Meiko grumbled as the man just amusedly smiled at the pouting girl.
"Just looking out for ya." Wakasa decided to gently admit, as he ruffled the top of the short-haired girl's head. "Now get out, or I promise next time I won't share my lollipops with ya."
Meiko jumped at this, "Wha–! No fair! That's extortion!" Meiko shouted.
"I think you mean blackmail."
"Same difference!" Meiko huffed, cheeks puffed out as the man just stared at her with an expression that blended boredom and amusement perfectly.
"Hey, we're almost at the beach!" Mikey excitedly shouted, looking back at Meiko. "And we're definitely in the lead!" He grinned, before frowning as he noted Meiko's sudden silence. "Hey... You okay."
Meiko's grip tightened, before smiling up at the boy. "Yeah! Just thinking about how mad my brother's gonna be for saying no to the beach!" She lied, and Mikey knew it. He said nothing though, as he looked ahead a bit perplexed and even a bit... disappointed.
"You know you're pretty hot for a girl with glasses, wanna go out?" It was at school that time, and Yayoi, who'd been standing near her, winced at the boy's blanted and monotone way of asking her out in the middle of lunch.
Meiko twitched annoyedly, "No thanks."
"Hanagaki-chan–" Behind school.
"Hanagaki-senpai–" Outside her class.
"Meiko-chan–" On a school trip.
"You're so–" Over.
"Pretty–" And over...
"Beautiful–" And over...
"Hot–"
"Great personality–"
She twitched at every 'confession,' forced a smile for every rejection, felt sympathy for only a select few she could tell that were honest.
But for Hanagaki Meiko... The idea of romance was nice... even beautiful, it was something she could long and dream for but when given the chance for it.
She stared at herself in the mirror confused, "... Why... Don't... I like anyone...?"
She had crushes, many fictional in nature, but she knew she'd had real ones too. There was a boy in her childhood that her brother and her befriended, she was pretty sure she'd started crushing on her Waka-nii before she decided he was too old for her, and even Yayoi her best friend had made her stomach twist into knots for a short while before she came to solidly view her nothing more than a friend. 'Is... there something wrong with me?'
"Yes!" Mikey shouted, pulling up to the beach. "What'd I say!" He turned to taunt the others coming in behind him and Meiko. "My bike's the best."
"Oh fuck you!" Baji shouted in second, "You had a head start."
"Says the guy who challenged him," Draken smirked, in third as Emma cheered from behind him.
"We were so close to second too! Draken you were awesome." She praised and the blonde-haired teen blushed slightly as the younger Sano sibling clung to him tighter.
"Yeah... Well, next time I'll make sure we win." He confidently said as Emma cheered in agreement.
"Yes! Not last!" Mitsuya cheered, as he rolled in soon after. Pulling his bike to a stop, he turned to try and check on Yayoi. "So hey, you o–gah!"
Yayoi flung herself from the bike, face green, and sheened with sweat. She almost dragged Mitsuya and his bike down, with the way she flung herself off. She moaned and groaned landing on her face, legs like jello as the world spun all around and she shivered in place. "Na...tto..."
"Yai!" Meiko exclaimed in shock, getting Mikey's help to get off his bike as she quickly rushed over.
"Shit!" Mitsuya quickly secured his bike in place before getting off to kneel beside the sickly-looking Yayoi. "Hey what's wrong?"
"Is she okay?!" Emma and Draken concernedly ran up, as Pah and Peh finally caught up raging.
"God damn it!" Pah shouted loudly, as he and Peh angrily sulked beside his bike. "How'd they beat us?! Damn you Mitsuya!"
Bystanders on the beachside stopped to either stare at the biker group, or hurry by even faster as the two boys raged, Mikey curiously stared at the group that formed around Yayoi as they helped her up, and Baji and Chifuyu came up behind curiously.
"They definitely cheated!" Peh yelled, he and Pah not noticing yet what had occurred with one of the girls.
"Or you just got too damn cocky!" Baji yelled, pointing at the pair, "That's what you get for gloating dumbasses! Also, read the room! Can't you see we got a man down!"
"I wonder what's wrong." Chifuyu wondered as he watched Mitsuya move away from the small group, jogging towards a snack bar. "Did one of the girls get sick or something?"
"Don't know..." Mikey muttered, looking towards Draken, who looked back at him to give him a reassuring nod. It wasn't anything too serious it seems.
"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean?" Pah yelled.
"Yeah! You trying to pick a fight!" Peh shouted as the group ignored the two.
Shaking from her place besides Mitsuyu's bike, Yayoi whimpered as Meiko and Emma now both stood beside her cooing and trying to soothe the green-faced teen. "Oh my god, we weren't last- hurgh!" She covered her mouth as the urge to gag came to her. "My stomach still in knots!!"
"There there." Meiko sympathetically cooed, rubbing her friend's back guilty. "I'm so sorry Yai, I totally forgot about your motion sickness."
"Seriously?" Draken concernedly asks, standing crossed arm by the three girls. "But she seemed fine before we left the city."
Swallowing loudly, Yayoi groaned as she leaned into Meiko's gentle touch. "That's because we started out slow for a while before picking up speed. I was able to get used to that before my stomach really got too upset or my head dizzy." She explained before moaning into Meiko's shoulder. "Ugh! Talk about embarrassing!"
"If it's any consolation, you did better than I did the first time I rode a motorcycle." Emma tried to console, "I let Mikey distract me and fell off our brother's bike when he tried taking off with me on it."
"I did not!" Mikey shouted, "Baji was the one who did it."
"Huh?!" The long dark-haired male shouted, "Don't lie, I wasn't the one teasing Emma about being nervous about her first time! That was all you!"
"Was not!"
"Was so!"
"Was not!"
"Was so!"
"Both of you shut up!" Draken snapped, noting the way Yayoi whimpered at the added loud noise. "Can't you see we're dealing with something now, thanks to you dumbasses."
It was then that Mitsuya came back from a nearby snack bar by the parked bikes to hand Yayoi a water bottle. "Here we go, drink this. This should help calm your nerves a bit."
"Thank you!" Yayoi almost cried while taking the drink in hand. "I'm sorry again for jumping off the way I did." She apologized, embarrassed. "I promise I'll be better on the way back." She mumbled around the bottle before sighing in a bit of relief, before blushing embarrassedly. "That is if you're still fine with me as your passenger after what just happened." She quietly muttered near the end.
"Only if you promise to actually use that safe word of yours like you said you would." Mitsuya sighed, as Draken and some of the more cultured individuals of their small group all whipped their heads towards Mitsuya and Yayoi wide-eyed, while Mikey and Baji just stared at the pair confused.
"I know!!" Yayoi almost sobbed, "But we were so close to catching up and getting out of last place, I croaked under pressure."
"I'm sorry... Mitsuya, was it?" Meiko asked as the silver-haired teen nodded in confirmation. "Alright, got it. As I was saying sorry about this. I'm partially to blame for Yai being in this state, I should have probably warned you guys about her motion sickness."
At this Yayoi could only shake her head, "No... It's my fault for not speaking up sooner." She quietly muttered leaning back on the bike a bit, "I just really hoped I'd be able to handle it."
"Hey, it's fine." Draken reassured, "Would it have been nice to have this info ahead of time, sure. But you girls technically didn't even know about the change of transportation plans till we got ya." He sent Mikey a glare at this as the blonde stuck his tongue out in retaliation. "And hey, if you were handling it up until the race, I'd say you were doing pretty okay for a chick who gets motion sick."
Emma nodded at this, brushing a bit of Yayoi's hair out of the redhead's eyes. "He's right. Just don't force yourself next time."
"Thank you... Emma-chan, Mitsuya-kun... Draken-kun." Yayoi blushed embarrassed, as Meiko lightly patted her shoulder.
"Better?"
"Better." Yayoi nodded, smiling at her dark-haired friend as she held out her drink to her. "Want some?"
"I'm good." Meiko shook her head smiling, as Yayoi shrugged, finishing off the drink slowly. "So, we're at the beach, I know your name's Mitsuya." She pointed to said boy as he nodded, "But, what about the rest?" Leaning her body somewhat she looked towards Pah and Peh, then over to Mikey, as he and Baji bantered with Chifuyu close by.
"Right, we haven't really done proper introductions." Emma hummed, before gesturing to the two girls to Mitsuya. "Mitsuya, this is my friend Meiko-chan, and her friend Yayoi-chan, they're the ones who came up with the whole coming to the beach plan today."
"I see."
"Hanagaki Meiko," Meiko quickly established, "Though I usually go by Mei... and apparently Ei now thanks to Mikey I guess." She sighed, as Yayoi gave a nod.
"And I'm Suzumi Yayoi, though I'm fine with Yai... Can I please not be called Yaichi?"
"Sorry, Yai-chan." Emma apologized, "Once Mikey nicknames for ya, it tends to stick."
"Damn it." Yayoi groaned as Meiko laughed at her friend's suffering.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad. If I remember right you used to hate being called Yai by me, and look at you now you don't even blink twice at telling everyone to use it for ya. Maybe Yaichi will grow on you too!"
"Sure... grow on me... like mold." Yayoi dryly muttered, as Meiko only laughed.
"So Ei, and Yai." Mitsuya hummed, seeing the girls nod in approval. "Alright, I got it. Name's Mitsuya Takashi, though everyone just calls me Mitsuya. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ei, Mikey hasn't really shut up about you or your brother since you met."
"Aw~ That sounds so sweet." Meiko cooed before dryly asking, "Did he tell you how he called me and my brother his bitches, and how I flipped him off while him and Draken walked away."
Mitsuya snorted, "No, no he did not."
"At least tell me Draken told you about how my sweet precious future sister-in-law slapped him... and I flicked him a few times."
"Oh yeah," Draken chuckled. "Definitely told them about that."
"I still want to meet the girl who did that!" Emma whines, "I need to hug her for doing what no other girl has tried before–"
"You mean outside you and Ei?" Draken asked, as Emma just huffed.
"Hit Mikey when he's being a total dumbass!"
Yayoi blinked before pointing to Emma as she looked to Draken, "Can we take that as a yes?"
"That is a yes." Mitsuya and Draken bluntly replied at once, as Meiko blinked a few times.
"Seriously... No offense but I'm actually shocked the list is so small."
"Don't be... I think the only reason it's not bigger is cause Mikey tends to be so aloof and not talk to people unless he really has to or they caught his attention. He scares most people off half the time with just his reputation alone."
"Ah, see that!" Meiko nodded pointing to Emma, "That I can believe, he's got that face you know."
Draken blinked surprised, "What face?"
"You know, that 'I'm so bored I could sleep all day' sort of face that cats make. I bet he even sleeps a lot like them." At this Emma, Draken, and Mitsuya all imagine Mikey with cat ears, Taiyaki in his mouth boredly sitting with his usual aloof expression as he ate the sweet.
"Meow~"
Emma's hands flew to her mouth, a snort barely contained as she tried to stop herself from laughing out loud. She failed once Draken and Mitsuya burst out in their own laughs.
"Oh shit!" Draken snickered, "She's right! I've seen strays with that exact same look near my place!"
"He's even needy like a cat if you think of it." Mitsuya snorted, as Emma struggled to breathe.
"He's just like one! Aloof one second, and needy the next! He even sleeps the day away like one if you don't stop him!!"
"Oi!" Mikey shouted noting the trio laughing as Meiko mischievously smiled from beside them. "What are you guys laughing about? I wanna know!" Mikey curiously asked as Yayoi looked at him with a deadpan stare.
"Um... I don't think... You do."
Mikey frowned at this, "Huh, yeah I do! Why wouldn't I? I wanna know what's so funny!" He pouted, lightly glaring at Yayoi as Emma, Draken, and Mitsuya had to face their backs to him, unable to unsee the cat comparison as of yet.
"Um..." Yayoi nervously began to say as Meiko simply walked over to Mikey unbothered.
"You really wanna know?"
"Yeah! Of course, I do!" Mikey pouted, as the other came up behind him.
"So what's all this commotion about?" Chifuyu asked, as Meiko only smiled.
Placing her hands on Mikey's shoulder, the boy blinked, allowing her to turn him around to face the other four as she leaned on his back to peek over his shoulders. "So, honestly speaking. Mikey-kun here, doesn't he just scream bored and aloof kitten~"
The males blinked, once, twice, three times...
Baji exploded with laughter, alongside Pah.
Peh and Chifuyu froze up in shock.
And Mikey...
Mikey's head whipped back to look at Meiko as she mischievously smiled up at his wide-eyed expression "Ehehehe. Whoops, I meant cat."
Baji fell and laughed even harder, "Oh shit! I can see it, I just imagined your cat when he's bored next to Mikey, Chifuyu! It's true! I can't breathe!"
"Wha– It can't be that funny!" Chifuyu shouted, trying to snap his captain out of his hysterical laughter. "Baji-san you need to stop and breathe! Breathe!"
"Pah...?" Peh confusedly asked as Pah continued to laugh leaning forward a bit.
"No! No! I see it! Mikey's definitely a cat, even my pea-sized brain can see it!"
"Woah! Then it must be true!" Peh exclaimed in shock, gapping at Pah as he and Baji continued to laugh.
Glaring at Meiko, Mikey began to huff. "Ei–" Only to stop as she pulled away with a pat on his back.
"Sorry~ It was just an observation!" She 'innocently' apologized, "If it's any consolation, I'm definitely more of a cat purr~son myself." She jokingly purred, making kitty cat paw gesture's with her hands cutely as Mikey pouted at her.
"Yeah... Well..." He paused, having to think while looking the girl over before a comeback finally came to mind. "If I'm a cat! Then you're definitely a cat too! You're just as mischievous and mad as them!" He proudly exclaimed pointing at Meiko, imagining the day they'd first met when Meiko angrily flipped him off, and the image of a hissing cat side by side.
The girl blinked in shock before smiling playfully, hands going behind her back as she tilted herself slightly while looking up at Mikey. "Ehehehe, well that's cool. I love cats." Meiko happily admitted, Mikey's heart skipping a beat as he noticed the pure playful joy as she continued to play around with him. "I guess we can be cats together, nyah~" She playfully meowed, causing Mikey to blush.
"Hold on," Mitsuya muttered gapping at the two teens. "What am I watching?"
"Are they flirting?" Emma almost seemed to be shocked, asked, as she watched her brother and Meiko banter with one another.
"Uh..." Draken scratched the back on his head, "Honestly... No clue."
Blinking at the scene Yayoi only shook her head, "Nah."
"Nah?" The trio asked, turning to the calm short-haired teen.
"That's just Meiko in general with people she's comfortable with." Yayoi explained, "She's the same way with Takemichi-kun's friends. One time, I walked in on a conversation between Meiko and Atsushi-kun–- That's his best friend," Yayoi clarified as the teens all nodded attentively, "Sharing stupid and outrageously corny pickup lines, just to make the boy squirm... It's hilarious." She smirked amusingly as Draken laughed at the mental image of Takemichi squirming in place over his sister jokingly flirting with one of his friends.
"That sounds amazing."
Looking back at the bantering duo though, Yayoi frowned slightly, noting a slight spark in her friend's gaze as her cheeks slightly flushed. 'At least... I don't think they're purposely flirting.'
"Alright! That's it." Baji exclaimed, jumping up from the ground walking over to Meiko he threw his arm around her shoulder grinning causing Mikey to freeze up when he noticed Meiko tense up under Baji's touch. "You and me!" Baji grinned, pointing between Meiko and himself, "We gotta be friends. Name's Baji Keiseki, but everyone just calls me Baji. You're Ei, right?" He slightly tightened his hold on Meiko's shoulders and stared at the smaller girl a bit curiously. 'Hmm... She definitely isn't some dainty girl.' Baji noted, feeling the tense muscle of the girl under his arm. 'She's definitely unique.'
Realizing that the boy was just trying to be friendly, Meiko relaxed slightly. Shrugging his arm off, with a slight twitch of her brow and a quiet mutter of. "Personal space, please..." As she leaned back from the taller teen with her hand confidently propped on her hip as she stared up at the grinning teen. "I guess...That's what Mikey-kun's been telling people, but the name's actually Hanagaki Meiko." She explained, before playfully winking, "I usually go by Mei, but call me Ei if you really want." Looking towards Chifuyu, Pah, and Peh who'd been listening, she added, "That, of course, goes for all of you, too. Let's get along, kay~" She carefreely smiled, as Chifuyu and Peh blushed at the girls' closed mouth smile.
"Pretty."
"So pretty." The boys both muttered aloud, as they seem to notice now up close how attractive the dark-haired girl in the sundress actually was.
Meiko twitched, body a bit stiff, Yayoi who watched from afar shaking her head only able to imagine just what was going on. 'Yeah... That's typically the result of Meiko being playful.'
Baji could only shake his head, as Mikey stared at the three boys. "Oh boy, here we go again..." Baji muttered. Him and Mikey were more than used to the guys having a bit of weakness for what they deemed to be a pretty girl, and if nothing else both boys could admit Meiko was attractive in a physical sense.
Mikey pouted a bit though, noting the attention Meiko received. Unsure what to feel about his friends' reactions to Meiko's smile, but also unsure of how to feel about her obvious discomfort to their sudden attention.
Stepping forward, blushing nervously himself, Pah puffed himself up and aggressively said. "I'm Hayashida Haruki, call me Pah-chin, Ei! I'm not really smart, but if you're a friend of Mikey's, Draken, and Baji then you gotta be a friend of mine!"
She blinked at the boy, Meiko exclaimed. "Ah!" Smacking her fist down in her hand, "I see, you're a proud idiot!"
"I am!" He proudly nodded.
"We are!" Peh-yan shouted, coming up beside Pah blushing. "Ryohei Hayashi, Peh-yan, I'm Pah-chin's right hand! Let's get along, Ei!"
"Okay!" Meiko decided to laugh, as she agreed to the boy's offer to get along. 'Maybe if I treat them like the guys,' The image of her brothers and her male friends came to mind, 'I'll feel less awkward.'
Yayoi watched this from beside Emma, and Mitsuya and couldn't help but feel confused. "Why are those two scary-looking guys proudly announcing they're dumb?"
Humming from beside her Emma could only shrug, "Pah and Peh are a bit weird."
"Don't worry though, they may look and act a bit aggressive but the guys aren't all that bad," Mitsuya reassured as Draken nodded.
"Yeah... They're just... a bit unique."
"I see..."
Throwing his arm over Chifuyu's shoulder, Baji dragged the blonde and black haired teen forward. "Hey, Chifuyu, come on! Don't just hang around back there, come and introduce yourself!"
"Ah! Baji-san, wait!" Chifuyu exclaimed, almost feeling himself trip as his captain and friend pushed him forward. Catching himself, Chifuyu nervously looked up at Meiko and froze when he noticed her smiling at him.
"Hmm..."
"Hmm?" Chifuyu questioned, just as Meiko giggled.
'He's so cute.' Meiko thought, before holding out her hand. "Chifuyu-kun, right?"
"H-hai!" Chifuyu almost stuttered, taking Meiko's hand and blinking as he stared down at their joined hands, 'Huh? They're not that soft.' He thought confused, taking note of the slight muscle on the girl's arms as well. "Chifuyu Matsuno, nice to meet you Ei."
"Ne, ne! Yai come over here and introduce yourself to these guys!" Meiko called out to her red-haired friend as said girl sighed.
"Kay." Brushing some of her hair behind her ear as she began to move to join her friend, Yayoi not realizing she had caught both Draken's and Mitsuya's surprised attention when they noted the cuff chain earring and stud that had been hidden beneath her hair. The supposedly reserved-looking girl, even with her fiery red hair, seemed to have some stylish piercings.
"Woah, nice piercing," Mitsuya muttered before wincing to touch the upper corner of his ear as he noticed the piercing Yayoi had there. "Didn't see that coming."
"Yeah, she was definitely coming off as a straight lace." Draken agreed as they saw Yayoi introduce herself more standoffish with the others.
"Hmm?" Emma asked, "Did you guys just notice her piercing now?" She asked as the two boys turned to her surprise.
"Wait, you knew?"
Emma nodded, "Yeah." Emma hummed, "When I was soothing her with Mei-chan, I noticed a few on one of her ears." she explained, "It surprised me but I didn't think it was my place to ask."
"Oi! Emma! Draken! Mitsuya!" Mikey shouted as the small trio looked over to him and the others.
"Let's go get changed!" Meiko waved, "We don't want to miss out on the fun in the sun!"
"Yeah!" Mikey shouted, "Hurry up you slowpokes!"
"Oi!" Draken growled, "We're not slow!"
"Hurry!" Mikey whined as Emma sighed.
"Calm your horses!"