Four cheerful girls sat out on the cafeteria terrace enjoying lunch. Oh yeah. And then there was me. The not-so-cheerful one. The whole gang was back together for lunch for the first time in ages.
“O. M. G!” Kaho-chan squealed. “Mai-Mai, what is that?”
“I’m afraid my servants were busy today,” Oduka Mai said with a dazzling grin. “So I booked a delivery from a catering service instead. I’m afraid I can’t eat all of it—my work, you know—so I would dearly appreciate it if you helped me finish this lovely meal.”
This literal model and beauty queen was none other than the unshakable pillar of the Quintet. She had astounding grades, superb athletic ability, a drop of French blood, and a mother who was company president of apparel brand Queen Rose. I could list all of her achievements, but that’d fill an entire essay. It’s enough to say she was too darn dazzling for her own good. Here at Ashigaya High, we called her the super darling—like, the English words “super darling”—or “supadari” for short. Guys and girls alike idolized her, and if she ever started dating anyone, we all knew it’d be on the front page of Yahoo News. Yeah, and speaking of dating… Ha ha…
“Renako? Is something the matter?” Mai said. She looked at me. This girl, too gorgeous to be real, looked at me. I involuntarily stiffened when I felt those big blue eyes boring into my soul. It might have been a good six-plus months since we’d first met, but I still hadn’t gotten over how gorgeous she was. Heck, I’d probably go to my grave without ever getting over it.
“Y-yeah?” I said.
“You don’t need to look so frightened. I was only wondering if you’re quite all right.”
Mai worrying about me made me stiffen for a whole other reason.
I knew why she asked. It wasn’t rocket science. Something was the matter, but I was torn about opening up. Family emergencies weren’t a topic for casual conversation.
Just then, the girl with long black hair sitting next to me spoke up. “I’m sorry, could you remind me? Who died and appointed you the responsibility of helping every upset person on the planet Earth?”
Mai shrugged. “No one, I should hope. Wouldn’t such a role be a challenge? There’s only one of me, compared to the whole planet. I merely speak up when the one facing such mental turmoil is someone I care about dearly. Say, Renako or you, Satsuki.”
Satsuki needed a moment before she could respond. “Yes, I do seem to recall a time when I was horrified over the ending of an otherwise good book. What was it you offered again? Oh, I remember. Buy us both plane tickets and drag me to the Library of Alexandria?”
“Now that you mention it, I recall this incident as well. You love libraries, so I presumed it would be just the thing for you.”
“Yes. And ever since, I’ve had to keep my guard up. I can never show any sign of unhappiness when I’m around you. Oduka Mai, would you care to provide a comment on that statement?”
“Why, I’m glad you’re always so happy.” Mai beamed at her.
Satsuki-san’s book whistled past her head.
Here I interjected, “Please stop, Satsuki-san. Please stop brandishing your book at her. You’re scaring me.”
The person currently trying to beat Mai to death with a book was Koto Satsuki-san. Her long, straight black hair sailed behind her as she swung. If Mai was a beauty in motion, then Satsuki-san was a beauty in stillness. Mai was grand and welcoming with her smiles and her words, which made her seem friendly.
But Satsuki-san was different. Satsuki-san was one hundred percent pure grace. Everything—her rigid expressions, the fierce light in her almond-shaped eyes, and her impeccably guarded demeanor—came together to make the picture of elegance. If she’d existed thousands of years ago, her beauty could have been the downfall of the Shang dynasty. But for all her frigid perfection, she had a heart of gold. She doted on her mother like nobody’s business. Not to mention she declared me her one and only bestie for life. We may have had one or two teensy-weensy slipups, but we were definitely kindred spirits whose mutual platonic affection would last an eternity. Really, Satsuki-san liked me so much I didn’t know what to do with her. That silly girl!
“Amaori, what on earth is going through your mind right now?” the silly girl asked me.
“Can’t a person think about whatever she wants? What’s that called again? Free will?”
If looks could kill, hers would’ve done me in. I withered under that sniper-fire glare. Satsuki-san was so perceptive I swore she could read minds. If someone gave her an ESP test, she’d get a perfect score.
Anyway, yeah, that’s Mai and Satsuki-san. They, Kaho-chan, Ajisai-san, and a random NPC extra made up the friend group that was Ashigaya High’s Class 1-A’s pride and joy: the Quintet.
Ajisai-san shot me a worried look. “Rena-chan, is something wrong?”
“Uh. Well. About that.”
All eyes turned on me. I had a lot of history with these four girls, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Plus, they also cared about me. Kinda. I think. But that didn’t make all the attention any easier to handle!
Still, I had made progress. I could immediately think up a way out of this awkward sitch: make a snappy one-liner so they’d forget all about the problem! A great plan, except…I didn’t have any one-liners in me, snappy or otherwise! Which left me with only one other option: zip my lip to keep things from getting even more awkward.
So I did. I sat there in silence. And…so did everyone else. What the heck? Why were things getting more awkward? Why didn’t anyone start talking again? This wasn’t how things normally went! I sucked at playing social situations by ear, so I always followed a script and chose the quote-unquote right answer. Less draining on my MP that way, you know? But there was no script now, and I had no idea what to do.
Satsuki-san saw me fighting for my life and remarked offhand, “No doubt we all have our secrets. We shouldn’t force her to speak if she doesn’t want to.”
Oh, Satsuki-san! Thank you so much! I sobbed mentally. It hit different when it came from someone who was nothing but secrets! (I meant that as a compliment.)
“Yeah, I getcha,” Kaho-chan said. She joined Satsuki-san and finally moved the conversation along, dispelling that weird tension. “So y’know, the other day—”
I breathed a blatant sigh of relief. Bullet dodged. Or…well. Partially dodged.
Because I failed to notice the last two members of my friend group were deadly silent and wore matching conflicted frowns.
That afternoon, Mai hit me with a rare, “Do you want to go home together, Renako?”
“Hm? Sure, sounds good to me,” I said.
“Lovely. I’ll arrange for the car.”
Oduka Mai never made the invitations. It was unheard of.
At any other time, I would have thanked her for her most gracious offer but regretfully declined, but after the interclass competition, I was known as the one and only girl who called Oduka-san “Mai” to her face. I didn’t know how that sat with other people. Like, did they think I had the right to do that? Did I still have that right? I wasn’t sure, and not knowing kinda freaked me out. I didn’t want to get carried away and have mean girls drag me out behind the school building for a bullying.
In all but a whisper, I said, “Th-thanks, Oduka-san.”
Mai frowned. “Why are you acting so distant?”
“Urgh. Um… Th-thanks, Mai.”
“You’re very welcome.” Mai beamed at me.
The limo pulled up near the school in its usual spot, and Mai and I climbed in. Sure enough, Mai’s personal helper and manager, Hanatori, occupied the driver’s seat. She was a diehard Mai × Satsu shipper and revered Mai like a goddess. Totally gorgeous too. Not to mention a mean masseuse.
Hanatori-san and I already knew each other (and I don’t mean in the Biblical way), so I gave her a friendly hello and a “Thanks for picking me up today.”
“You’re welcome.” Hanatori-san bobbed her head in acknowledgment.
Wow, it felt like we were actually open and cordial with one another! I knew she just wanted Mai to be happy. That’s why she wasn’t a fan of our relationship. But…she must have realized I wasn’t stringing Mai along, and this was her way of acknowledging that. One of these days, she might even say, “But of course! It’s my pleasure, Amaori-san.”
But until then, I’d have to keep my secret well hidden. You know, the secret that starts with an A and ends with a jisai-san. If she found out, Hanatori-san would go to jail under Penal Code Article 199. Oh, but that was just a joke, right? Ah ha. Ha. Ha…
Just then, I realized there was someone already in the limo. Wait. What?
“Heya!” said the limo’s previous occupant, offering me a wave and a cute grin. It was none other than the resident angel, Sena Ajisai. What was she doing here?
Mai said, “Let’s be off, Hanatori-san.”
“As you wish, mistress.”
Wait a minute! Now all three of us kids were sitting side by side in the backseat. What was going on?
“I apologize for the confusion,” Mai said to me in a low voice. “We’re simply worried about you.”
“Uh-huh,” Ajisai-san chimed in, just as quiet. “You looked really upset at lunch, Rena-chan.”
They were both so kind I felt like I could cry from happiness. But see, the problem was… Eep. I felt a cold stare on me.
“We realized during the interclass competition that you’re the sort to bottle things up,” Mai said.
“That’s right. So Mai-chan and I got together, and we decided we should ask you one more time. Remember, Rena-chan, we care about you. We’re both your g—”
A garbled scream burst from my throat, making both Mai and Ajisai-chan stare at me in shock. Hanatori-san shot me a look through the rearview mirror. All I could see was a small quirk of an unamused eyebrow, but beyond that, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Either way, this was not the place for me to let my guard down.