Sayaka always gets to school an hour early.
It’s a part of her routine, her schedule. She must arrive earlier than all others, in order to open the gate and greet the President. It is important to her that she keeps this routine every day, that she is there with the President every step of the day, from the first moment she leaves her limousine to the moment their collective council duties are finished for the day. Dawn to dusk, Sayaka is always there with the President. The President herself is aware of this ritual and how sacred it seems to be to Sayaka, and as such, has always abided by it.
It is a slight shock, then, when one morning Sayaka is not patiently waiting by the gate for her arrival as she usually is. It makes Kirari’s lip curl just the slightest bit in annoyance, the fact that Sayaka has now shrugged off their carefully crafted schedule so easily. It throws Kirari off-track, makes her feel unbalanced and unmoored.
She has become too reliant on Sayaka’s presence, it seems. It feels rather strange to walk through the Academy without the familiar footsteps trailing behind her as they always have.
But Kirari tries not to let this get to her. After all, Sayaka is her dutiful secretary who has never once missed a day’s work before and there is no doubt in Kirari’s mind that sooner or later, Sayaka will run through the doors apologizing furiously for her absence. Kirari simply cannot wait to taste the tears that will flow down her secretary’s face or witness the heat of the blush that will arise afterwards. So Kirari forgives her already, aware that this unusual absence that has her feeling so weird will soon just be another way to amuse herself.
The first two periods pass by rather uneventfully, unfortunately for Kirari. She skips her classes, of course, seeing no need for them and instead decides to sit patiently in the Student Council room, awaiting the arrival of her secretary. But the arrival never comes. The doors remain closed the entire time and no steps can be heard from outside the room, meaning Kirari is wholly and fully alone in the Council room, by herself, waiting for someone who seems intent on not arriving.
She finds that she does not enjoy the waiting game very much at all. Instead of feeling the slight amusement lingering from her thinking about teasing her secretary, she finds herself feeling rather...irritated at her current situation and predicament. Her secretary has up and disappeared on her, after all. The mere thought of it makes displeasure grace her features.
She does not like it, the idea that Sayaka could leave Kirari, but now the thought is in her mind and it seems unlikely to leave her. She can’t stand the feeling that grips her heart the more she thinks of Sayaka gone. It leaves a sour and bitter taste in her mouth, like she truly has had something so utterly foul.
Kirari sighs. She is acting unlike herself today, and it is all because her secretary’s whereabouts are unknown. She supposes she must take action now, lest she spiral even further. It would not do for the Student Council President and Head of the Momobami Clan to be so out of sorts.
So with great reluctance, she pulls out her phone and opens the Student Council group chat in her messenger.
Kirari: Has anyone seen Sayaka?
Yumemi ✭: afraid not, president! i've been backstage all day, though.
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): hmmmm. nope.
midari: what, she isn’t loyally trailing after you like always?
Kirari: Sayaka has not been present this morning, no.
midari: huh, who knew she had the guts to skip. good for her.
Yumemi ✭: sayaka would never just skip school, midari!
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): hwehehehe i'll help you out, pres!
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛) added mary.s, yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛) and Ryota to the StuCo chat.
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): our dear student council president wants to know if you’ve seen sayaka today!
mary.s: what. no
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh, my! I haven’t seen Sayaka at all lately. Sorry, Kirari! ( ͡♥ ₃ ͡♥)
mary.s: that’s because you and ryota haven’t stopped gambling this week.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Hehe ♥
Kirari: So, none of you have seen her then.
Ryota: Sorry, President.
Kirari sighs, impatience and irritation getting the better of her. How useless they all are, she thinks.
And then another text pops up on her phone.
Yuriko!!: I’m sure Sayaka is just busy with the graffiti, President. Nothing to worry about.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh, I saw that this morning! Isn’t it just lovely!
Ryota: It is rather...striking.
mary.s: hmph, that’s one word for it.
Kirari: …
Kirari: What graffiti?
Yumemi ✭: oh, president! you haven’t heard?
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): hehehehehehe
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Here, Kirari! I took a photo since it was just so beautiful.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛) uploaded ‘kirarimural.png.’ to the chat!
The mural is simply... exhilarating. From a glance Kirari can tell straight away that it lays on a wall on the opposite side of the academy, close to one of the lesser used gambling dens that she knows Yumeko, Mary and Ryota frequent. It spans the entire wall from top to bottom, side to side, in spray paint of various different shades and colors.
But that’s not what makes so breathtaking. No, what makes it so breathtaking is the fact that it’s a gigantic mural of her. It’s her face, the one she makes after she wins gamble after gamble or after she takes a huge risk and it pays off. The look of utter thrill, excitement and amusement. Her look, expressed perfectly and left for everyone to see it for all eternity. This image captures Kirari in her true essence.
And it simply cannot be mistaken for anyone else but Kirari. Although she and Ririka are identical twins, indistinguishable from one another, she knows with absolute certainty and clarity that this painting is of her, and that whoever painted this could tell Kirari and Ririka apart with an ease few others have ever achieved.
Looking at it makes her feel so...high.
How amazing, she thinks.
Yuriko!!: Beautiful? Hmph. Graffiti is a tasteless artform.
Yuriko!!: Although, even I have to admit it is no amateur's work.
mary.s: are you kidding me. as much as i hate to admit it even i can see its incredible
Yumemi ✭: oh! i wish someone would make me a mural too *sigh*
Kirari: Who made this?
Yuriko!!: I’m sure Sayaka is investigating precisely that, President. That must be why she’s been absent.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): But Kirari, you didn’t know about it? If Sayaka in investigating like Yuriko says, then surely she would have informed you.
midari: true. sayaka's too ‘rEsPoNsIblE’ and ‘dEvOTeD’ to rush off without telling the president.
Yumemi ✭: ugh you guys! don’t you wanna know who made the mural instead?
Kirari: It would be interesting, I suppose. Runa, you wouldn’t happen to have heard anything, would you?
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): hehehe i happen to know two things, president!
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): one: it was painted this morning.
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): and two: midari was seen was a bag full of spray paint cans a few hours ago.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Huh?! Midari...painted it? Such beauty came...from someone as vulgar as her?
Yuriko!!: Although the use of graffiti suits someone like Midari, I am highly doubtful that she could have produced such a talented piece of work.
mary.s: thought you didn’t like it, yuriko.
Yuriko!!: I do not. But even I cannot deny that whoever painted it has an aptitude for the arts.
Yumemi ✭: there’s simply no way that midari could’ve done it! it's just...impossible!
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): I agree! I refuse to believe it.
midari: oh yumeko i love it when you’re mean to me, gets me all excited just thinkin’ about it...
mary.s: dont be gross midari for fucks sake.
midari: but yumeko IS right. i ain’t the one who painted it.
Ryota: Then who did paint it?
midari: no clue
Yuriko!!: Better question. Why, pray tell, did you have the spray paint cans in the first place?
midari: someone asked me to get some for them, i did, delivered it, then went on my way. no biggie
Kirari: Who asked you to get the spray paint, Midari.
midari: sorry, pres! no can do, that’s a secret ; )
Kirari: That wasn’t a request, Midari.
midari: nuh uh, pres. i ain’t gonna snitch.
Kirari: I won’t fulfill my promise to you if you do not tell me what I wish to know.
midari:
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): ohoho!
Ryota: Midari... can’t refuse that, can she?
midari:
Yuriko!!: No, she cannot.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh! President, how cunning you are. Using Midari’s goals against her, simply brilliant.
mary.s: yumeko i stg shut up
midari is typing...
midari: ririka asked for them yesterday after school. i didn’t ask why, she didn’t tell.
midari: that’s all I got for ya
And, oh. This has become even more interesting as it goes on. Ririka Momobami? Kirari’s sweet, shy older sister. Making illict, secretive deals with someone like Midari after hours? And not even bothering to mention it to Kirari herself. How...intriguing.
Kirari knows her sister as well as she knows the palms of her own hands. They are twins, after all. They are as intertwined as anything can be, two halves of one whole. There is not a thing Kirari does not know about Ririka, and the reverse is also true. Which is why it is so surprising that Ririka has endeavored to hide something from her, and why it makes the whole mural business even more fascinating.
Kirari knows, for a fact, that Ririka cannot paint. Her dear sister has no artistic talent whatsoever. Neither of them do.
So, whoever painted this mural could not have been Ririka.
What a twist.
Kirari: Thank you, Midari. I shall keep my promise to you.
midari: youd better.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh, so Ririka painted it! How incredible : )
mary.s: incredibly strange, you mean? its a painting of her sister after all.
Ryota: Perhaps it’s not a painting of her sister but of herself! They are twins after all. It would make sense.
mary.s: no it wouldnt and either way thats still......weird.
Yuriko!!: I had no idea Ririka held such artistic talent. How amazing she is. I wouldn’t expect anything less.
Kirari: Ririka is awful at painting. She did not paint the mural.
Yuriko!!: ...
Yuriko!!: Are you...sure, President? I mean Midari said it herself, the spray cans were for Ririka.
Kirari: Yes I’m sure. Care to explain yourself, Ririka?
Ririka: No.
Kirari: Ah, so you were here all along.
Ririka: Of course.
Kirari: Hmmm. Do you know who painted the mural?
Ririka: No comment.
Kirari: Ririka.
Ririka: Kirari.
Kirari: I wish to know what you know about this mural.
Ririka: A shame. I will not tell you a thing.
Kirari: It seems we are at an impasse, then.
If Ririka will not willingly give this information, then Kirari will make her. Oh, how to force Ririka to spill what Kirari wants her to spill. A gamble could prove interesting. The Momobami twins, of equal skill, fighting for the knowledge one so desperately wants. It could even prove more than a mere challenge.
Of course, there are other ways to break Ririka’s silence on the matter. After all, Kirari knows for a fact that Mary and her sister have being growing rather close as of late, and that Ririka often seems to go red in the presence of the blonde. Kirari could always try and use that to her advantage, although she’s doubtful she would actually embarrass her sister like that if it came down to it.
If all else fails, Kirari supposes she could simply pull the typical sibling move and bother Ririka until she eventually succumbs to the annoyance and tells Kirari the truth.
It’s worked in the past.
She wonders what will make her sister break her silence.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh my! A battle of wits between the Momobamis! How exciting.
mary.s: for fucks sake yumeko can you not for even two seconds
Kirari: Shall we gamble for the information?
Ririka: No.
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): What a pity.
Kirari: Fine then. I will simply tell everyone in the chat who you have been secretly crushing on.
mary.s: wHAT??
mary.s: ririka???? what is this???
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): Oh my.
Ryota: Uhhhhhhhh.
Ririka: Kirari.
Kirari: What? Do you suddenly have information you wish to offer me?
Ririka: You wouldn’t dare.
Kirari: Wouldn’t I? You know me best, dear sister.
Ririka: …
Ririka: You are simply insufferable.
Kirari: You should know better to hide things from me.
Ririka: …
Ririka: You were looking for Sayaka earlier, correct?
Ririka: The reason she has been absent all morning...
Ririka: Is because she is the one who painted the mural.
To put it simply, Kirari’s brain short circuits at Ririka’s message. She sits there, blinking strangely, ignoring the multitude of messages that suddenly appear within the chat, struggling to comprehend what she just read.
Sayaka? Sayaka is the one who painted the mural?
Her Sayaka. Painted a mural. For Kirari????
Sayaka Igarashi painted Kirari a mural, painted it for Kirari, with Kirari in mind, knowing Kirari would see it.
Kirari hadn’t even known Sayaka could paint.
The feeling of being off-track, unbalanced and unmoored hits Kirari again as it did this morning when Sayaka was not there with her.
Only Sayaka makes her feel this way. It is a dizzying thought.
Kirari has to see Sayaka, right now. She feels as if she goes through another second without Sayaka by her side she will combust. She wants Sayaka there with her so badly it is no longer a mere want but a burning need.
Kirari: Where is Sayaka?
Ririka: On her way to you, of course.
So Kirari waits, and waits, and waits. It seems to be the running theme of the day, waiting. Kirari dislikes it greatly, having no patience whatsoever, but minds it a lot less considering that Sayaka lies at the end of all this waiting.
Kirari’s whole body thrums with energy at the thought of seeing Sayaka. Of witnessing her blush and watching her stammer her way through an explanation. Of looking at her face and observing the thousands of expressions that she would work her way through. Of simply beholding Sayaka in full, in all her glory.
But mostly, she aches to have Sayaka close to her. The conversation about the mural was engaging to Kirari, kept her attention and distracted her well enough, but Kirari stills feels so weird without her dear secretary beside her. And with the revelation of just why her secretary was not with her this morning, the ache and need for Sayaka to be by Kirari’s side has only increased.
When Sayaka finally, after what feels like an eternity, walks into the council room, Kirari’s heart soars at the look that rests on her secretary’s face. It is not the meek and timid, bashful and shy, fearful and excitable face that Kirari was still somehow expecting. Instead, it is one of fierce determination, of the courage shown so fleetingly by her secretary.
Kirari is entranced by it, utterly enthralled by it. It captures her attention fully.
(Only Sayaka makes her feel this way, her mind echoes.)
Sayaka takes a long deep breath. Kirari watches her as her shoulders square up and her back straightens. Sayaka prepares herself silently, a long-winded speech undoubtedly already thoroughly thought out and ready to pour from her lips, her eyes connecting with Kirari’s as she opens her mouth to speak.
But Kirari can’t take it anymore. She can’t stand to spend even one more second waiting.
She won’t.
Sayaka doesn’t hear the sounds of Kirari’s chair sliding backwards or the click of Kirari’s shoes on the polished floors as she strides towards her, too engrossed in what she has been planning to say the President. But her attention is quickly pulled away toward the object of her thoughts and affection as Kirari’s lips grace her own in a kiss far more gentle that anything Sayaka had imagined in her wildest dreams.
Sayaka’s knees buckle almost violently as she realizes what’s happening, but as always, Kirari not only holds her steady, but lifts her up. And as always, Sayaka rises to meet Kirari’s challenge, kissing her back quickly and with as much fervor as she can manage.
It is more than she ever thought she would get, and somehow nothing like she ever expected. Kirari is one the one that softly and slowly caresses Sayaka’s cheek, that holds her like she is the most beautiful piece of artwork, her lips gentle and her pace stable and relaxed. Kirari is tender, her kiss and hold on Sayaka feels as if it is almost adoring, worship-like in its reverence and fondness. But in contrast, it is Sayaka who is all teeth and tongue and exploration, her fingertips digging into Kirari’s soft skin, leaving crescent shapes all along Kirari’s arms, and her touch is deliberate and forceful, like she is branding Kirari with the mere press of her lips.
Kirari, ever so gently, pulls away from Sayaka slowly, watching as her secretary slowly opens her eyes and matches Kirari’s gaze, her pupils blown wide. It is so exciting, so utterly thrilling, that Kirari has trouble thinking straight for a moment. It takes her a minute, but Kirari pulls herself together in the face of Sayaka’s unwavering gaze, and with absolutely no hesitation whatsoeve, she says:
“I am in love with you, Sayaka Igarashi.”
The beam of the smile that blooms on Sayaka’s face at Kirari’s words is blinding. But Kirari could not, would not, pull away even if it robbed her of her sight. In this moment, in the light of Kirari’s love, Sayaka is simply and utterly breath-taking, magnificent and beautiful in a way that even the most impressive poets would struggle to articulate.
“I love you, too, Kirari.” Sayaka says, and even thought Kirari already knew how Sayaka felt, the words feel like the most glorious of punches to the stomach, rocking Kirari to the core in the way that only Sayaka has ever managed. Kirari wants nothing more than to just kiss Sayaka again, but she simply has to ask:
“What was with the mural?”
Sayaka chuckles, looking down in embarrassment for a moment before rising to meet Kirari’s eyes once more.
“Ririka challenged me to a gamble, heads or tails. She said if she won, she would be allowed ask me to do one thing, and if I won, I could ask anything of her. I accepted and she won, of course I was no match for the Vice President, and so she asked me to prove that I truly loved you. So, she went to Midari to get me what I needed, and I painted the mural.” Sayaka explained.
“It was for you, a way to express how much I love you and a way to prove to Ririka that my love is true.”
And well, if Kirari wanted to kiss Sayaka before, now after that speech she downright aches like she has never ached before to feel Sayaka’s lips on her own. But first, there is one more pressing matter Kirari simply must attend to before anything else.
“I love you.” Kirari repeats, eyes drinking in the sight of Sayaka’s blush at the words.
“You are the only person who makes me feel this way. So of course, I was going to fall in love with you. In my eyes, you and I, we were always inevitable. I-”
Sayaka rushes forward, surprising Kirari and cutting off her words with a hasty kiss that steals the air straight out of Kirari’s lungs. Kirari smiles into the kiss as Sayaka presses into her none too gently.
“Don’t ever be late again, though, Sayaka~” Kirari murmurs into the kiss.
-
mary.s: so what do you think is going on in there now?
midari: oh for sure theyre having sex on the stuco table
Yumemi ✭: midari! you can’t just say that!
yumeko ( ͡❛ ₃ ͡❛): How crude.
Yuriko!!: ...
Yuriko!!: Perhaps, instead, they’re finally confessing their feelings to each other?
Ririka: That was the goal, so hopefully.
midari: nah i bet theyre definitely fucking
Ryota: Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this in the group chat...?
runa ( ͡❛ ㅅ ͡❛): hehehehehehehehehehe