Chapter Text
“Opposites always attract.”
The smell of autumn fills the air, leaves crunching under their shoes as they go to school, and the faint smell of apples makes students eager to have pie. It is her second-favorite time of year, falling behind only winter. While most summer sports have wrapped up for the year, the ravenette is always around others and doing various things upon request.
“Can you help me practice for the tournament?”
“Can you help me understand the layout of the school?”
“Can you help me bring in the plants before the storm comes?”
It was always ‘yes,’ ‘yeah,’ or more enthusiastically— ‘hell yeah!’ If she could split herself into many clones, Mifuyu would be even happier to help others beyond just students, maybe even staff. But she could only do so much. No matter how many offers of rest, she would always say she wasn’t tired- and Mifuyu truly wasn’t. Always powering through to the next thing with not a hint of hesitation to halt her spirit.
But when she was told she was elected to be the vice president of her class, unanimously by the class, even by the class president proper himself, she was bewildered. To have a title like that felt overwhelming. Would she be able to help out like she usually has? What kind of responsibility would she have to do? And the worst of it all…
Reiji Sakamaki is the class president. Mr.Perfectionist himself.
“Satomi-san, are you listening?” His voice interrupts Mifuyu’s wandering thoughts, but she’s quick to react with a smile.
“Yep! Totally, Sakamaki-san.”
He sighs. “Then what did I say just before?”
“You were talkin’ about which students haven’t cleaned the hallway yet this week, and also how we gotta prepare for the cultural festival at some point,” Mifuyu says matter-of-factly.
“You missed one thing-“ Reiji says, she scoffs. “We need to discuss our financial funds with our treasury in fifteen minutes.”
Mifuyu rests her cheek on the palm of her hand as she continues to read her mystery novel. Both sat across from each other in one of the bigger meeting rooms, just the two of them. The rest of their team was cleaning up the school for the day. “You need to pay more attention. As you are underneath me, I don’t accept slacking off.” He pushes up his glasses as he looks down at the paperwork. Mifuyu blinks at him, doing a quiet yawn.
“I know, I know. I think two of our three conversations are pretty good. A solid A~” She grins.
“A B minus, more like.” Reiji lets a chuckle slip out, making Mifuyu smile.
“Is the book so important to you that you have to slack off?” Reiji asks, not looking up from his paperwork.
“Heyy,” Mifuyu grunts, leaning back toward the table. “It’s a really good one! You know-“
“Sherlock Holmes? But of course I do.” Reiji finishes Mifuyu’s sentence, still writing in his papers with precise yet elegant handwriting. “The World’s Greatest Detective, or something of that effect.”
“He’s super cool!” Mifuyu continues to gush. “My old man really liked reading these as a kid and got me into them. Now I’m trying to read them all.”
“While I understand that it can be exciting, please focus on the task at hand,” Reiji says, his voice teetering between patience and not. The ravenette closes the book. “Fine, fine.” She tuts.
Even recalling this memory was better than the bleakest winters of death. That was one of those times where the two students not only tolerated each other but occasionally teased each other. Mifuyu would rather remember a bittersweet memory than a graveyard, his father's face, everything. However, as much as she wished, every time she would close her eyes, even for a moment within that dream, she would be transported elsewhere. The moon was high in the sky, the only light provided to her and the stranger at the end of the pier.
Her hand would reach out- only to awaken.
Maybe that person was her father, maybe it was Reiji, or maybe…it was Haruka.
Mifuyu’s second year after this incident would not have any inciting events happen. Everything seems to return to a normal that everyone else was used to. Haruka Tojo faded from conversations, the Sakamaki brothers became a bit more reclusive since her disappearance, and everyone else focused on their everyday lives. But Haruka never left Mifuyu’s mind.
Hiroshi would tell Mifuyu that the disappearance of Haruka Tojo had been ‘solved,’ but he had no other further details to provide once pressed further. “I can’t tell you everything because I’m under oath,” Her uncle mumbles. “I can promise you that she is safe and wants to be left alone.” He says with a loose smile.
Left alone. Mifuyu looks in the mirror as she steps out of the shower, running her hands through her wet onyx hair. Haruka was found, but didn’t want anyone else to know that she was okay. No matter how she tried to bring it up with other classmates, they would move on from the conversation, a couple claiming it is a curse to speak of her. It angered her that this girl was nothing but a mere folk tale to tell others. Mifuyu desperately tried to find the letter given to her, but to no avail; it was nowhere to be found. She wanted answers. She wanted…closure.
Snip, snip…
Knock, knock.
“Mifuyu?” The door starts to creak open. “Do you know what happened to my- what are you doing…?!” Hina exclaims, finding her daughter holding a pair of scissors to her own hair.
“…Cutting my hair?” Mifuyu looks at her with a nervous smile. Hina sighs, shaking her head with a smile.
“I’ll schedule a hair appointment.”
The third semester would arrive with Mifuyu stepping out of her escort with her long hair tied back in a ponytail. The most she has ever done with it for a while, at least in these couple of months. It bounces up and down as she climbs up the steps of Ryoutei, spotting students mingling with others. A certain crowd wouldn’t be hard to spot further in the building; the center of that would be the boy she had just had a dream about.
(Can’t hurt to see what’s going on this time.)
Mifuyu quietly walks over to the crowd, standing away a safe distance to hear but not to be associated.
“Is it true? Your cousin is staying with you guys?” One girl asked.
“Your family is so big already, Sakamaki-senpai! You must enjoy having so many siblings!” Another girl said.
Reiji looks at the girls and shakes his head. “Enjoy is a strong word, but I am grateful for how family can be so expansive.” He says with a charming smile. “I must ask you all to help her around and make her feel welcome. Is that something you can all do?”
“Yes, Sakamaki-san!” All the girls say in unison.
(Cousin?) Mifuyu ponders. It’s not out of the ordinary for families to be large. She herself had a father, and currently has an uncle and two aunts. Having six brothers and an additional cousin living with them makes her wonder, however. Did that mean they were no longer housing foster siblings since Haruka’s disappearance?
The group of girls bids farewell to the third semester class president, and Mifuyu steps behind one of the pillars to hide from Reiji spotting her. Something in her wanted to speak to him, but she shooed the thought away. The past is the past for a reason. But more importantly, she wanted to see this mysterious cousin. Instead of waiting around to hopefully catch a glimpse of her, she decided to ask a few questions to the passing students once their lunch time finally came around late in the evening.
“Have you heard about the Sakamaki brothers’ cousin? She just transferred in tonight!” One of the shorter girls said, sitting down with her friends, opening up their bentos.
“I haven’t heard too much about her,” Mifuyu says, pulling out a chair from the desk, turning it to face them. The girls look surprised at her participating in the conversation, but they smile at her. They must think she is alright enough to finally interact with others again, which is part of the truth. Mifuyu recalled that Ruruka Nanaka was big into student issues, so she was the right person to listen to.
“It’s nice to see you sitting with us again, Senpai!” Ruruka, a girl with longer brown hair, says with a nasally kind of voice. Mifuyu tosses a smile.
“I didn’t know you were much for gossip,” She continues, plopping some food into her mouth.
“Ah, well, people did always come to me about their problems when I was vice president, and I liked listening. So,” Mifuyu leans forward. “What’s the scoop?”
“Sure, whatever~” Ruruka rolls her eyes with a grin, leaning in also to stare at the girl with the supposed information. Mifuyu did not know her well enough, but she remembered her name at least. Nanami Ozaki.
“They seem to be a bit protective of her, a bit, from what I hear from underclassmen. But she is a second-year student, so in the same class as the triplets!” Nanami whispers to the two of them. Both Mifuyu and Ruruka nod along. “She is pretty, from what I also hear. Blonde hair, short, and kind of looks European.”
“Blonde hair automatically makes you European?” Ruruka asks in a teasing voice, chewing at one of her carrot sticks.
“N-No,” Nanami swallows. “I just- I mean- we don’t have blonde hair..” Ruruka clicks her tongue. “I want blonde hair. Natural! I can’t dye it either. I assume she doesn’t have dyed hair?”
“I don’t know that much about her-” Nanami says hastily. “I only know her looks, year, and name.”
“So, what’s her name?” Mifuyu raises a brow.
“Komori Yui,” Nanami replies.
Yui Komori, a second-year student coming into the middle of the school year, is related to the Sakamaki brothers. A cousin they have never heard of before. Should they have known? It sounded like most of the fan-girls interested in them seem to know most things about them, but this was the one piece of trivia that completely blindsided them. Not to mention the fact that their cousin is a girl.
“How come they’ve never really talked about that before?” Mifuyu asks, drumming her fingers across her own cheek.
“We’ve known their likes and hobbies, all of that fun stuff first,” Ruruka says, looking at Mifuyu. “I don’t think we can get much out of them personally. Depends on the brother. One brother would probably be vague and the other will…” She looks away with a grimace.
“What?” Mifuyu asks.
“Are you talking about the rumor that Sakamaki Subaru destroyed one of the school lockers in the locker room?” Nanami asks quietly. Mifuyu blinks a few times. “Destroyed??”
“Yeahh…I heard that the youngest brother, Subaru, is really a troublemaker. I heard he got so mad that he wrecked the locker room and socked another kid in the jaw.” Ruruka says. Nanami shakes her head. “No, I heard he was framed- and some delinquents really did it instead.”
“Aw, c’mon, Hana-chan, you really believe that? I know you like that guy, but he might be a bit of a bad boy~” Ruruka teases. Nanami blushes in response.
“How come I’ve never heard any of that?” Mifuyu asks, ignoring the interaction.
“I think you were, like, gone? On a vacation? I think. I don’t really remember…” Ruruka rubs the back of her head. “Did the Super Hot Class President not tell you?” Mifuyu slants her eyes at her.
“No, Sakamaki Reiji didn’t tell me what happened,” Mifuyu huffs, looking to the side. Why did he not tell her that when that situation happened? Was he embarrassed? Or did he just want to take care of it himself?
“Damn, you didn’t have to government name-drop him like that. Did you ever ask him out?”
Mifuyu chokes on the soda she was drinking, coughing harshly. The students who stood around the classroom looked over the shoulders to see Mifuyu trying to catch her breath, her face ablaze in red. She sits back up and leans closely in Ruruka’s face.
“No,” Mifuyu grits her teeth. “We aren’t like that. Besides, he… sucks!” Ruruka rolls her eyes again with a grin.
“I’m surprised you ask that question, Ruru-chan, because you haven’t asked Ayato yet, have–” Nanami is interrupted when Ruruka slams a free hand on her friend’s face, hushing her with a barking laughter. “You’re so funny, Hana-chan! Ahahahaha! Isn’t she, Fuyu-chan?!”
Mifuyu remembers why she doesn’t talk to other girls about her personal life.
As the night went along, school finished with students stretching into the air and yawning, talking about their after-school activities and clubs. For Mifuyu, however, she was determined to try to find the mysterious cousin. She has a name, looks, and basic information in her mind. Blonde being the most important detail. Mifuyu descends the staircase from the third year to the second year as soon as she is allowed out of her classroom. What should she ask when she sees her? How’s she doing? Does she need help with anything? Is she staying permanently with the brothers, or is it more of a temporary thing? But, it could not have been that, Mifuyu thinks, because why would she go to school so late in the year, and if that, temporary? All of these questions come to a screeching halt when she feels one of her feet being caught, and subconsciously forces her left foot forward to stop her from falling.
“What the–” Mifuyu whirls around to see none other than Shu Sakamaki, sleeping on the side of the hallway closest to the stairs. She slaps a hand on her forehead. “Sa–Ka-Ma-Ki. . . . .”
Shu smirks, eyes still closed. “Where did that professionalism go?”
“Shut up. Get out of the hallway,” Mifuyu grumbles, finally stepping over him and walking towards the direction of a huddle of students surrounding something next to the far end window at the end of the hall. The more she came to see the group in view, it was a whole bunch of girls, all in the same year as Yui is in. That’s when she could see from her taller-than-average height that they were not surrounding something so ordinary, for they were surrounding the very girl she was looking for.
“Um…I- what was the question?” Yui asks, holding up her hands.
“Is it true that Ayato-san washes his socks?!” One girl asks.
“Huh?” Both Yui and Mifuyu say, unknowingly, together.
“I can’t stand his smell in physical education! It bums me out! I wish his big brother would tell him he needs better hygiene! She shouts, more of the girls overtaking the conversation with their various questions, Mifuyu had already thought of beforehand. As they were too focused on her, Mifuyu would see that Yui was starting to panic, backing up against the window. Mifuyu takes a deep breath and shouts:
“OI, EVERYONE! GIVE THE GIRL SOME SPACE!” In the thick, brazen attitude she was known to have. All of the girls look up to see the ravenette with her arms crossed, eyebrow quizzically observing them all. “Jeez, you all act like seagulls shouting ‘mine, mine, mine!’ from that one movie,” Mifuyu says in a huff, holding out her hand for Yui to grab. “Need some help?”
Yui hesitates but accepts it, letting the girl take her away from the crowd. “I-I’m sorry, everyone, but I’ll answer your questions some other time.” The girls pout quietly as Mifuyu walked away with Yui hand-in-hand.
“What a crazy group, right? I don’t think that many girls in my year acted like that.” Mifuyu says with a laugh. Her eyes looked ahead to see that the annoying eldest brother who tripped her was now gone. He must have thought it was too noisy to be around. “I won’t ask you any more questions about them,” Mifuyu looks back at her. “Just about you.”
The younger girl blinks up at Mifuyu, still blushing in embarrassment. The rumors that Nanami spoke about are true: this girl was pretty. Not just pretty- but rather ethereal looking. A model she would see on the cover of a magazine, or maybe from a play. She is beautiful in a way that even Mifuyu is almost caught off guard. Her eyes soften, and a grin stretches over her freckled face.
“I’m Satomi Mifuyu, 3rd year. What’s yours?”
“I-I’m Komori Yui, 2nd year.”
The two would make their way to the entrance at the new girl’s request, since the brothers would be there soon to pick her up. Initially, she was supposed to be waiting for Shu to come, but according to Yui, ‘must have forgotten.’ (Did she even see him sleeping on the floor when she was bein’ hounded for answers?) Mifuyu sweats at the idea of Shu falling asleep and letting this girl get mobbed. It sounded like something he would do.
“Thank you for earlier, Satomi-san.” Yui bows a couple of times. “I’m terribly sorry I took time out of your night to do this.”
“It’s fine, Komori-san, nothin’ I can’t do,” Mifuyu said. “I heard a little bit about you in passing, so I was a little curious what all the fuss is about. You looked really pale during all of that, too. Are you feeling okay now?”
Yui swipes a bit of sweat from her forehead. “I’m okay now, thanks to you. It’s only my first day here, and I only expected a regular school day- or, night. I guess. I never anticipated I’d be the center of this much attention…!” Yui sighs, shaking her head.
“Is this your first time at a night school?” Mifuyu asks, and Yui nods slowly. “Not sure if you’re more of a night owl, but I think you’ll like it as you get used to it. It’s a smaller body of students, and everyone knows each other.” Mifuyu tilts her head side to side. “But let me know if it ever gets too much. They can be a bit much sometimes about their…interests.”
Yui looks down and fingers the brown handle of her school bag before taking a few moments to respond to her. “Ah, yes- they’re…interests. They must really like them!” She says, forcing a little bit of cheer.
“Your cousins? Yeah, they’re definitely the talk and highlight of Ryoutei. There’s not a moment when they are not in the circulation of conversation, haha,” Mifuyu chuckles. Yui’s eyes wander a bit again before speaking again. “Cousins, yeah…”
“So, are you excited for the semester?” Before Mifuyu could go any further with that question, a presence pulls the two girls into a body of an embrace, and then hears a cooing voice. “Aww, did Bitch-chan make a friend already?~”
(Bitch-chan??) Mifuyu exclaims to herself and backs off of Laito's hug, with Yui also pulling away.
“I didn’t expect you to get friends already! On your first day, and a very interesting friend that’s for sure, nfu~” Laito smiles, winking at Mifuyu. Her face wrinkles in confusion; that strange feeling she had felt the last time she had spoken with him reappears deep within her heart. Something about him was…
“Y-Yes,” Yui says with a nod. Laito claps, stepping in front of them to walk down the staircase. “That is truly spectacular. Now that I have arrived, you must bid her farewell. The rest of them should be coming-” Laito is then interrupted by the appearance of Subaru behind the two girls, his arm hitting Mifuyu’s shoulder to separate the two students.
“Ah! There you are, Subaru-kun~” Laito grins.
“Fuck off,” Subaru spats, moving past his older brother.
“Aren’t you going to apologize to the lovely Satomi-chan that you just injured?~” Laito calls out, to which Subaru doesn’t respond.
“Please do not be so immature, Laito.” Another voice says from behind them, and both girls jump in surprise to see Reiji, along with the other brothers. “Come along now, Yui, we must be returning home.” As quickly as they came, their escort’s lights shone at the end of the road, quickly approaching the parking circle. Mifuyu looks toward Yui, seeing that her face, which once had little color, was now just as white as a sheet. Yui goes to follow the brothers until Mifuyu opens her mouth.
“Um, hey- if you ever need someone to show you around, let me know, okay?”
(What the hell? Did I just start talking on my own without thinking again?!) Mifuyu chastises herself.
Yui turns to face Mifuyu, looking surprised at her offer. Her hand clenches the crimson red bow that lies on her blouse, wind subtly picking up as the escort limo arrives. Her other hand is then grabbed by Ayato, and she is led into the car without making so much as a sound. All of the boys, one by one, enter the vehicle until she speaks up again.
“If you need my help, let me know, Reiji!”
(WHY THE FUCK DID I SAY THAT?!) Mifuyu screams in her head, mentally kicking herself for speaking again without thinking.
But to her surprise, Reiji does not respond but only looks at her before getting inside the limo and driving off into the darkness of the forest.
It was now her turn to clench her bow so tightly. Why did she say any of those things? She only wanted to see what this new girl was like and for that to be the end of it, something in her, twice, told her to step forward. To leap. She liked taking those leaps when she was younger, not worried about the circumstances, but now, as she got older and the death of her father, Mifuyu did not want to take leaps anymore. She wanted to stay in the box she was comfortable in.
But now she wanted to step out of it and see what was beyond one, two, maybe ten boxes.
There was something familiar about Yui that reminded her of her. Haruka.
The girl that everyone decided to forget.
Haruka Tojo, the girl who didn’t want to be found.
Haruka Tojo, the girl that Mifuyu let down.
“How short did you want your hair to be, Mifuyu-san?” Her hairdresser asks. Her silver eyes would blink back at the mirror. All of what she has experienced within one night, she feels like this is the only question she could confidently answer.
“Short.”