Chapter Text
“I feel like in this world, you’re either pretty or smart.” March said, popping her legs onto the table. “Like some people are born smart and some are born pretty!”
“And you are?” Dan Heng asked the pink haired girl. “I am definitely pretty!” March beamed at him.
“I could have told you that you are not smart at least.” The dark haired boy murmured.
“Excuse me what was that?”
“Caelus is neither!” Stelle intervened and pointed at her twin brother who was innocently eating his sandwich. The other hurried to finish the bite he just took. “I also feel like some are mean and some are nice. And you are definitely mean, Stelle!”
“We could give everyone a ranking from 1 to 10 on how pretty, smart and nice they are and see if it balances out!” March yelled.
“Caelus gets a zero in everything.”
“Zero isn’t quite a number on a scale from 1 to 10, Stelle.”
“Shut up, Danny.”
Dan Heng picked up the physics book next to him and threw it at the gray haired girl.
Don’t get her wrong, Himeko loved her friends. But sometimes, they were a little bit to much. They all were a year younger than her even though Dan Heng was in all of her classes due to his good grades and intelligence. He had also been the one who had introduced Himeko to the others in the group.
“Dan Heng gets a 10 in smart, a 5 in pretty and a 1 in nice.” March said.
Dan Heng just looked at her unimpressed through his turquoise eyes as if he exactly knew that he was more than just a 5 when it came to looks.
“Well Firefly is a 10 in everything.” Caelus had that dreamy smile on his lips that was immediacy wiped away by a sarcastic comment from Stelle on how Caelus even managed to pull his girlfriend.
Himeko just sighed and flipped another side of her maths book.
“Do you need help?” Dan Heng asked. Himeko smiled at him. “I think I am managing it.”
Dan Heng just nodded. “And how is chemistry going?”
Himekos heart dropped. While she was pretty good in both maths and phyisics and just fine in biology, chemistry had always been a big struggle of hers. All those elements and reactions just confused her. But she looked into Dan Hengs eyes that concealed all emotion and suddenly felt pride dwell up in her chest. She wasn’t gonna tell him that. She wanted Dan Heng to continue considering her as his equal when it came to studies, even though she was by far not.
“Pretty good too.” She smiled.
“That’s great because I actually wanted to talk to you about something. You remember how our chemistry teacher mentioned a science project we should take up in pairs?”
“Of course.” Himeko remembered vividly how relived she had felt when Dan Heng hat proposed her that they could work together. It seemed like a perfect way to save her chemistry grade.
“Well, I was planning on working with you but-”
Oh no.
“Blade is failing the class. So I told him he can work with me as long as its fine for you so he doesn’t have to repeat it.”
Blade was Dan Hengs boyfriend and while he wasn’t particularly stupid, he also was not exactly the most motivated student when it came to school.
“What would that mean for me?” Himeko asked hesitantly.
“Since most people have already found their team, you’d have to work with Blades former partner.”
Kafka.
“Kafka.”
Himeko wasn’t close to Kafka, yet she new the girl. Everyone knew her. She was the most popular and also the hottest girl there. It was not just her looks and her style but also her vibe and the confidence she carried when coming into the room. She knew that nearly every boy and some girls were drooling over her. Even Himeko couldn’t ignore occasional butterflies when seeing the woman. She definitely didn’t have a crush but she couldn’t deny that Kafka was attractive either.
She knew Dan Heng was pretty close with the woman mainly through his boyfriend of four years who was also Kafkas best friend. The girl had always seemed so flashy and confusing, like every moment for her was just fleeing and her life a game. It had irritated Himeko but also piqued her interest. Though she had never acted on it since she was just some random girl, nice and liked but not hyped up and pretty introverted. She also didn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend to increase her popularity status like Dan Heng. Kafka on the other hand was the most popular of them all. She decided who was cool and who was not. She has had beef with at least three teachers before and all of them had left the school for good.
When Kafka wanted something, she got it.
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When Kafka wanted something, she got it.
And right now, she wanted Himeko.
“Maaaan I wanna talk to her.” She looked at the girl who was sitting a few tables away from them, elegant body neatly placed on the chair. Her red locks fell over her shoulders and Kafka wanted to-
“Okay, okay. We got it.” Jingliu sighed next to her. “Now stop simping you’re ruining my appetite.”
“You know this greek story of the god Poseidon who had a harem of 49 out of the 50 water nymphs and ended up courting the one that did not want him? Thats basically Kafka with Himeko.” Of course this weird shit came from her other friend, Black Swan.
“Why is Kafka Poseidon all of a sudden?” Jingliu asked irritated.
“Oh my god Jingliu, it’s a figure of speech. Use your imagination.”
“Nah, I’m fine. I barely survived last english class.”
Himeko now turned to her pink haired friend - Kafka didn’t even remember her name (was it May?) - and said something, something Kafka wished she could hear. May started giggling and Himeko smiled at her, widely.
“Do you think there’s something going on between them?” Kafka suddenly asked, feeling a pang of jealousy in her chest.
“Between Himeko and March 7th?” Black Swan laughed. “March is like the straightest girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Plus I’m pretty sure they are more like sisters. That’s what Caelus told me.” Acheron agreed with her girlfriend.
“Good.” Kafka still hadn’t teared her gaze away from Himeko, who was now chatting with Dan Heng and March something while the gray haired twins beat each other up in the background. “Do we even know she likes girls?”
“Oh my gooooood Kafka stop it. You’re down bad its actually worrying.” Jingliu rolled her eyes. “It’s gonna be fine I promise.” She patted her friend on the back.
“I can ask Aventurine, he has like the best gaydar I’ve ever seen.” Black Swan proposed while she got up to go to her next class.
“Don’t tell Aventurine that I like Himeko though.” Kafka pleaded. “Or else the whole school’s gonna know.”
“Oh Kafka.” Black Swan shot her a smile. “The whole school already knows.”
“Except Himeko.”
“Except Himeko.”
Kafka looked at Himeko, who now got up from her seat. She had never liked white dresses but god, they looked stunning on Himeko.
She send a quiet prayer to the heavens that Dan Heng’s Plan would work out.
“Okay Kafka that’s enough.” Jingliu grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the lunch room.
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“Dan Heng.” The boy sat in a corner of the library with headphones covering his ears, looking through one of his schoolbooks.
“Dan Heeeeeng.” She walked over to him and tapped his shoulder. “Hello?”
Dan Heng slid his headphones of his head. “What?” He gave Kafka a glance of annoyance.
“We need to talk.”
Dan Heng sighed. “Did Blade mess something up again?”
Kafka shook her hand slightly. “This is not about Blade. It’s about Himeko.”
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