"There was this one time when we thought she didn't chase us. We were relieved but turns out she was just right behind us and kicked Kazuto on the back."
---
Kiko, Fujio, and Kazuto found themselves at the foot of the shrine. Kiko sat down on one of the steps of stairs as she tried to catch her breath. The two males did the same as they sat down on both of her sides.
"She's still scary!" Kazuto exclaimed as he breathed out. He looked to his left and right and sighed in relief as he didn't find the younger Odajima twin.
"She didn't even chase us," Fujio pointed out as he thought it was a waste of energy to run like that.
"There was this one time when we thought she didn't chase us. We were relieved but turns out she was just right behind us and kicked Kazuto on the back," Kiko said with a laugh and pointed to Kazu. "He cried!"
"For your information, her kick sent me flying a few inches away. I think she even broke a rib of mine!" Kazuto defended but Kiko just laughed at him while Fujio looked at the girl as if she was insane.
"The twins are the real spawn of the devil, I'm telling you," Kazuto told Fujio in all seriousness.
The Oya High student looked at him in amusement as he realized how much he put up with the twins ever since he knew them. He must have been through a lot of trouble.
"Anyway, I'm going home. I'll just take a shortcut," Kazuto announced as Kiko stopped laughing.
"Be careful on your way," Kiko reminded.
"Nice meeting you, Hanaoka-kun," Kazuto nodded in his direction.
"Likewise, Sawada," Fujio said with a grin. As soon as Kazuto left, the duo was met in comfortable silence.
"I still can't believe Nozomi and Tsukasa are dating," Fujio muttered as he broke the silence that surrounds them.
"Me, too. I thought they will take longer to realize each other's feelings. Guess they're smarter than I thought they would be," Kiko sighed as she looked up at the sky. It's already dark and stars are filling up the sky.
"Oh!" Fujio clapped his hands making Kiko flinch in surprise.
"What?"
"I just remembered there's this ramen place nearby and a lot of people come by there because they said it was good. Want to check it out?" Fujio asked.
"I'm in when it comes to food!" Kiko exclaimed with an excited smile.
"Alright, let's go!"
"You bastard," Kiko glared at Fujio as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I promise I'll pay you back tomorrow!" Fujio said with a sheepish smile.
"You invited me to eat there and you were the one who have no money?!" Kiko took a step forward making Fujio back away a bit.
When they arrived at the store, they were excited to order food. It was true, the ramen was heavenly good and they took their time to savor it. However, when it comes to paying the bill, Fujio paled as he forgot he doesn't have any money on him. Luckily for both of them, Kiko has the money to pay for the two of them.
"What will happen if I don't have money on me, too?!"
"We run?" Fujio said as if it was an obvious answer.
"So, eat and run?" Kiko raised a brow.
"Yep," the male shrugged making the girl roll her eyes.
"You're unbelievable!"
Kiko was about to say something but someone bumped into her.
"Sorry!" the girl who Kiko got bumped into exclaimed. The older twin turned around and didn't expect to see the girl looking at her.
The most unexpected thing is she smirked at her.
"What's wrong?" Fujio questioned and that brought back Kiko into reality. The mysterious girl was already gone. She didn't know how long she was standing there.
"Nothing, I thought I saw someone I know," Kiko answered.
The girl can't shake off the nervous feeling she had when the strange girl smirked at her. It was a bad feeling.
Her mind suddenly thought of Nozomi and she became worried. But Tsukasa is with her, so she shook the uneasy feeling she had.
---
"Zomi, I forgot I have a project with Sakamoto. Head home first, okay?" Kiko told her twin and smiled apologetically.
"Alright, I'll see you at home," Nozomi nodded. The older twin told her goodbyes as she ran in the opposite direction from where Nozomi was heading.
It was already dark out when they left school. They were on cleaning duty today causing them to go home later than usual.
Nozomi walked through the streets quietly but froze all of a sudden when she felt someone was watching her from behind. The girl slowly turned around but no one was there. She was the only one walking down the streets.
Nozomi took a shortcut as she turned towards a smaller street where a few people are walking by. Right now, she was the only one outside, but the girl couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her, so she walked a bit faster than before.
"Why are you in a hurry?" Nozomi jumped in surprise as she turned around and saw a girl wearing a uniform from another school. The younger twin felt a familiarity with the mysterious girl.
"What?" Nozomi questioned with a frown on her face.
"Odajima Nozomi," the girl chuckled as she slowly took a step forward. "You don't remember me?"
The younger twin looked at the strange girl in front of her with a confused look. She couldn't put it but she was sure she met her before.
"I'll give you time to remember me," the strange girl told her.
Nozomi's heart beat faster than before. She got a bad feeling from the girl and felt that she needs to stay away from her as far as possible.
"Hasegawa Mari," the girl muttered.
Nozomi's eyes widen in shock while her mouth fell agape.
"You're...!"
---
"What are you guys doing?" Kiko suddenly said from behind Fujio, Tsukasa, and Jamuo who jumped out in surprise.
"Don't scare us like that!" Jamuo exclaimed as he placed his hand on his chest. Kiko gave him an innocent grin.
"Where's Nozomi?" Tsukasa immediately asked as soon as he noticed that the younger twin is not with her.
"You miss her already?" Kiko asked and wiggled her eyebrows while still wearing a grin on her face. "I told her to go home first because I did a group project with someone."
Tsukasa nodded in understanding.
"You're going home now?" Fujio queried.
"Yep, why?" Kiko then smacked his back making him yelp in surprise. "I totally forgot! You owe me money, you jerk!"
"Damn, I thought you wouldn't remember," Fujio mumbled as he rubbed his back where Kiko had hit him.
"I wouldn't forget money," Kiko confidently stated. Jamuo and Tsukasa looked at the two in confusion and amusement.
"Why do you owe her money?" Jamuo questioned.
"The other day he suggested we go to eat in a ramen restaurant," Kiko began. "But this bastard doesn't even have money with him!"
Fujio chuckled sheepishly as he looked at the trio. "My bad."
"I don't need your sorry, I need my money back," Kiko said as she glared at him.
"Relax, I'll pay you back," Fujio told her. The girl was about to say something when she heard her phone ring.
"That's unusual," Kiko muttered as she fished out the phone from her blazer's pocket.
She frowned when she saw the caller ID. It was from Nozomi.
"Hello?"
[Hello. Is this Odajima Kiko?] The girl frowned when it was another woman's voice on the other line.
"Yes, why do you have my sister's phone?" That peeked the attention of the three males who are with him.
[Odajima Nozomi-san is currently in the hospital, she's--]
"Which one?" Kiko cut her off as she felt her breathing quicken and her blood rushed down from her face. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
The girl then hangs up.
"What is it?" Fujio asked as the trio looked at her in worry.
"Shit, I can't breathe!" Kiko wheezed. Fujio put his hands on her shoulders and tried to calm her down.
"Hey, hey! Calm down and follow my breathing." Kiko met his soft gaze as she tried to breathe normally.
When the girl calmed down Tsukasa spoke, "What happened?"
"Nozomi's in the hospital."
"What? Why? What happened?!" Tsukasa stammered as he felt his heart beat wildly from fear of what might happen to the girl.
"I don't know! We need to go!"