Akako and Natsume walk up the sidewalk, coincidentally stumbling upon Hikari whose hair was currently being pulled by bear. Akako moves forward and tries to pull the stuffed bear off only to end up pulling Hikari's hair even more.
"You're being attacked like that, why aren't you angry?" Natsume raises an eyebrow at the dark haired girl. Akako keeps trying to pull bear off of the younger girl, "Sorry about him! This doesn't happen too often but I can get him off! I do this for my Nee-Chan all of the time! Give me a second!" The blonde apologizes on behalf of the bear.
"Seriously, it's like you've taken a liking to being beaten up." Natsume rolls his eyes as Bear begins holding Hikari in a choke hold.
"Hikari is not an M!" Hikari's friend, Sato, marches forward. She proceeds to inform their upperclassmen of Hikari's training. It was clear to everyone else that it was as though Sato was boasting about herself rather than her friend through the way she was speaking.
Meanwhile Akako squats on the ground while trying to keep ahold of bear in her arms to prevent him from attacking Hikari again. The girl having absolutely no idea why her stuffed friend was suddenly acting out against someone he'd barely met. She turns towards Natsume and pulls on his pant leg to gain his attention, "What's an M?" Akako asks to which Natsume responds by kicking the girl in the back. She toppled on to the ground with a thud, "Don't ask about things you shouldn't be asking about. I used to question if you were an M in the past, you stubborn idiot."
Sato hops on to her friends back, as though she were attempting to prove that Hikari wouldn't mind such simple things, "Her feelings won't be disturbed by such trivial things! That's a result of all of her training!" Sato tells Akako and Natsume.
"But..." Akako stands up, twiddling her hands together. The girl felt as though it wasn't her place to speak but did so anyways, "When you don't react to those things... when you don't show how you really feel about them, aren't you just hurting yourself in the end?" Akako peeks up at Hikari and Sato through her lashes, unsure if Hikari's feelings and actions were similar to her own from her past, "I used to do something similar. It just eats you up inside... doesn't it? It's always better to speak up rather than let it simmer..."
Hikari stares at the girl for a bit, coming to the realization. Perhaps that was what she was doing this entire time. Perhaps, in order to not bother her aunt and uncle who took her in, Hikari chose to take everything on her own in an attempt to not bother them. In turn, it resulted in Hikari shutting her feelings down deep within as she trained.
Something was bothering Hikari. So with a deep breath, Hikari chose to try and follow Akako's words. She didn't want this thought to swell within her and destroy her from the inside out. Hikari turns to look at Natsume, "Excuse me." And took the leap. "Why did brother say that I have to leave this music school?"
Akako's eyes dart to Natsume who stares at Hikari since the blonde had no idea what her Senpai had said, "Did he say that he didn't want to see me? Or was it something else... Before, you had mentioned 'Thoma'-!"
"Hikari-Chan."
All eyes dart to the side where Emma stands, watching the interaction between the group. The blonde beauty stands there, watching the whole interaction with cautious eyes. The girl's demeanor doesn't go unnoticed by Akako who paid extra attention to the situation. Her blue eyes stay on the other blonde, looking for any type of reaction to the situation that Akako could pick out as unusual but the girl remains stoic for the time being. Akako doesn't even glance at Natsume when he begins speaking once more, determined to try and figure out what she was missing.
"You don't know anything about Gakuen Alice, this music academy, and about Thoma... yet you still stay by his side? Thoma is not the gentle person that you have in mind, ya know?" Natsume glances over at Emma who stares right back at him, "With his upbringing that he had to survive... like- hell- he's dressed up in drag. The guy that I know isn't one to show any of his enemies 'mercy'."
A smirk comes to Emma's face, causing Akako to stiffen a bit. She looks around as she readies herself for anything that might attack them until Emma-Chan speaks.
"Hyuuga-Kun." Emma's soft voice resonates throughout the air, "Home." A sly grin reveals itself on Emma's face when she looks up.
Natsume stands rigid as a board while the word bounces around in his head. Akako looks at Natsume curiously but understands when Natsume turns around and walks away without a fight. She knew her boyfriend too well, knowing that he wouldn't just obey someone for the heck of it. Emma has the voice pheromone! Although Natsume's body obeyed the command, his mind was free and furious as hell. Fire begins to erupt around them, causing the older blonde to panic and try to diffuse it.
"Natsume, put it out! You'll get in trouble!" Akako and Bear begin attempting to extinguish Natsume's fire.
While the older children are distracted and leaving, Emma grabs Hikari by the arm and begins pulling her away. "Hikari-Chan! They're going home, let's go too~!" Emma pulls the young girl away.
The two keep walking together, having left everyone else behind. After a few moments of silence, Emma breaks it, "I'm so sorry... for keeping quiet about my real name." Emma reveals. "Actually, 'Emma' is the name for my female identity, my original name is 'Thoma'."
Bear walks behind the two as he listens carefully, no doubt also keeping a watchful eye on the two to make sure everyone was safe.
You more or less heard my story, right?" Emma asks Hikari. The girl nods in response, "Mmm. A little."
Hikari sighs in annoyance, "Many things have happened between me and that guy, he's always like that so don't take it to heart." Emma says. It's obvious to anyone who watches their encounters that there was a tension between the two... some semblance of knowledge that only those two shared.
While Emma speaks, Hikari's mind begins wandering. She recalls what she's heard of Emma.
His life being targeted by his brother...
Emma peeks over at Hikari, noticing the girls distant eyes. The blonde leans forward keeping her face mere inches away from Hikari's in an attempt to grab the blue haired girl's attention. "You've been acting weird since yesterday." Emma notes, smiling as Hikari screams from their close proximity. "Those worries of yours... do you want to talk about them with your 'older sister'?"
Hikari pauses for a moment, studying Emma's kind smile. After a bit of deliberation Hikari speaks, "Actually... about my brother telling me to leave the academy? I've been thinking there's another meaning to it..."
PEEKABOO!!!
Sorry for it being a short chapter but I'm thinking of finishing the special short story with Hikari. I'm going to start focusing pretty well on her story!
I'm not confident enough to give you all a date when I'll be able to upload the next chapter because I'm quite busy but I WILL finish this! I promise!
You guys know how stubborn I am, I can't just quit writing!!
Oh, how I loved seeing Akako again, my heart always feels light seeing my Akako!
Thank you for reading!