Anemone Heart
Chapter 3: Anemone Heart
Crystalline blue irises stared around the empty room, a soft sigh passing cherry glossed lips as she took her seat behind her desk. Blonde brows knit as she placed her head on her hand, a melancholic expression on her pale face. Otonokizaka was closing, and there was nothing she could do about it. The life she built in this small, underfunded, old school, the legacy she wanted to leave for future student council presidents and her darling younger sister, Alisa, would be destroyed in the matter of a few months. If there was any way she could save the school, Eli would gladly jump on it but…school idols? They had no chance. They wouldn't have any money, no following, and Eli couldn't risk being put in second place again—even if she wasn't the one performing.
"Ugh!" The Russo-Japanese girl slammed her fist on the table, frustration flowing through her veins. Shaking her head, Eli refused to show weakness as she grabbed the handle of a desk drawer and pulled it open. Inside the drawer, there was a tube of cherry lip gloss, a small matryoshka phone charm, and a pink envelope with Ayase Eli written on the back. Sighing, she picked it up, taking out the stack of papers stuffed inside.
Dear Eli,
Today a second year named Honoka Kousaka will ask for you to let there be a school idol club. I initially turn her down, claiming how she didn't have enough members to form a club, and I informed her about Nico's.
Eli, as stated before, Nico will not be with us 10 years from now. Please, do not let Nico slip away. I regret not letting this pass; please let them create a school idol club and even join it, anything to let Nico stay.
Eli
The blonde haired girl tossed the papers off to the side, letting them scatter all over the floor. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair and puffed her cheeks. None of this made any sense. Eli liked having control, and liked being in control. She liked order, maybe that's why she had such a successful time being elected as student council president. But these letters from her future self, presuming a fellow classmate as dead, and telling her to support something as ridiculous as school idols…it just made no sense. Standing up, Eli humbly gathered the papers, putting them in a neat pile and stuffing them back in the envelope. She didn't know what to do or what to think, but all she knew was—she had a bad feeling.
"Why are you doing this, Nozomi?"
Standing up, she placed the letter back in the drawer, closing it and dusting herself off. Her blue orbs glanced to the door, seeing a violet haired girl standing in the doorway.
"If something bad happens to Nico-cchi, then we need to stop it."
"When did you ever care about Nico? You never joined her club when she first ran it two years ago." Eli spat, arms crossed.
"I was too busy chasing after you."
"Chasing after me? You had no friends and I let you under my wing. You decided on your own to follow me around like a puppy."
"Eli, I don't understand this meanness. I have done all I can for you. You are a great friend, an amazing person, and a true leader. Why would you stick up your nose at a chance to save Nico-cchi? Or even Otonokizaka?"
"You think prancing around like a horny anime girl is going to solve anything?! I'm sorry Nico wants that in life, but she already burnt her bridges with her original idol group. They failed, Nozomi. She failed. But her mistakes in life do not prompt me to change what clubs I do or do not approve." Eli spoke coldly, narrowing her blue orbs at her best friend. Turning away, the student council president waved her hand, gesturing for the violet haired girl to leave. Nozomi, with tears in her eyes, nodded and took her exit.
On the other side of the wall was Maki, leaning against the chipped white paint, arms crossed as she listed to each word the two third years said. The points this 'Eli-senpai' made was once something Maki did agree with…but hearing how awful it sounded prompted her to put all she could into forming this idol whatever it was. Maki was going to make Nico listen. She would gather as many members as she could to stick it to this blonde bitch. Something had come over Maki, maybe it was the fact that she felt guilty for feeling the same things Eli said, but since she said them…now Maki had to fight and change it. Maki ran into the student council office and slammed open the door.
"You can be a bitch all you want, but all of us are going to make it as idols! And…and make Nico stay!" The red haired girl barked, rushing off to the idol research club room. Eli's eyes were as wide as saucers, mouth gaping open by the claims coming from this first year. This girl could not know Nico; she could not know about Nico's idol wishes…and how Nico would 'not be with us anymore'. Clamping her mouth shut, the quarter Russian girl turned away from the door and stared at her drawer that contained the secrets of the future.
[~]
The sound of white shoes patting onto the cold concrete flooring echoed throughout the hallway, angry breathing filling the air with each step. Maki was so angry, she needed to see Nico and make her join them. Nico was going to quit bitching and just join, join so the rest of them could be relieved of this burden. Before she could take another angry step, a small hand had grabbed her and yanked the red-head back into a classroom.
"—?!" Her violet irises widened, blinking and staring at what had pulled her back. It was the vice president of the student council, Nozomi.
"You need to be careful." She spoke coolly, keeping her tight grip on Maki's arm.
"What?! What are y—"
"Nico-cchi is very difficult to deal with, we have to approach this lightly…we can't just make her join us and bombarding her with news that she will die within the next ten years." Nozomi usually was all fun and games, but for this she was very serious and direct, a fact that sent a chill down Maki's spine.
"What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Was all the first year could manage as she tried to avert the violet-haired girls' gaze.
"Maki," Nozomi released her arm and straightened her posture, still remaining eye contact with the other. "…We can't mess this up. We need to find some others to help us convince Nico-cchi…she is very stubborn."
"How do you know my name?! And…and how do you know about Nico?!" Maki, a little late on what was going on, shouted loudly. The turquoise eyed girl sighed, releasing the other and taking a pink envelope out of her blazer pocket.
"I know you have one…we all have them, Maki-cchi." Maki's violet hues fixated on the pink envelope with "Nozomi" written on the back, resembling the one Maki had stored way in her school bag.
"H-H…How…"
"I don't know, Maki-cchi, but we need to help Nico-cchi in any way possible."
"She won't let us!"
"Not if we have more of us." Nozomi pressed, taking a hold of the first-years shoulder and spinning her around, showing her two fellow first years who both were holding pink envelopes. The back of each had "Rin" and "Hanayo" written in black ink, which of course matched the ones Maki and Nozomi (along with Eli) both had.
"How many more have th—?!"
"Shh!" Nozomi whisper-yelled, clasping a hand over her mouth. "We need to let them come to us naturally…I have an idea."