65Disclaimer: May have been half a year, but I still don't own anything:P
Chapter 3 – Scars
"Ne, Koto-kun-?"
"I said no, Ryo-chan. Please stop asking."
"Eh!? But why not!?"
"Do I really need to explain it to you…?"
"Yes! Do as your queen demands of you, peasant."
Makoto stopped walking and sighed.
He was currently on his way to the main building for class when Junko decided to show up. She, quite literally, appeared out of nowhere. It wouldn't surprise him if she had been waiting in front of his door for a while. Her determination bordered on tenacious.
"Ne, Ikusaba-san." He ignored the fashionista much to her dismay and smiled at her sister. "How'd you sleep last night?"
A tinge of pink showed on her cheeks.
"Fine."
"I see. That's good!"
"Yeah."
…
…
…
Good talk.
"Ne, Koto-kunnnn," Junko draped herself over his shoulders. "don't try to ignore me by focussing on my less desirable sister. She makes a terrible conversationalist."
Makoto shrugged her off.
"Ryo-chan please stop being so rude to her."
Junko stared at him before pointing at her 'worthless' relative.
"She doesn't care. See?"
Mukuro nodded in agreement. Makoto's eye twitched.
Understanding these two would take even more effort than he expected.
"Anywayyyyyyyy," Junko blocked his path. "Don't ignore my earnest request Koto-kun!"
He felt his eyebrow raise.
"Earnest request…? Don't you mean 'I want to meet your family and give them a heart attack'?"
She jumped back, as if affronted.
"Moiiii? Perish the thought." Her eyes widened as she began acting as cutesy as possible. "You're my dearest friend, Koto-kun. I'd never want to cause you anyyyy trouble~!"
He giggled at her act causing her smile to widen. It was such a cute sound.
"Fine, fine." He waved. "Just please act appropriately around them, alright? That's all I ask."
Junko cocked her head to the side in mock consideration.
"Hmmmm… maybe."
His smile never wavered at her answer. He knew she had some sort of plan at his expense. Still.
"Alright. I'll trust you to not take things too far." He walked past her. "Let's go get some breakfast. I'm starving."
The despair sisters stared at his retreating back, one in deep thought and the other in jealousy.
"I don't like him, Junko-chan."
The Fashionista stared at her blankly. Mukuro took a step backwards.
"I-uh I mean I'm just not sure I trust him but-"
"Muku-nee?"
Her smile widened. Plastic. Fake. Her lips were stretched unnaturally as she gave the image of someone who was far too happy. With Makoto not present, however, she most certainly wasn't.
And Mukuro knew it.
She gulped.
"Wha-what is it sis…?"
Junko leaned forward so they were eye-to-eye.
"Never, and I mean ever question who I put my trust in. Least of all Makoto." She rubbed her cheek tenderly; mockingly. "He's the most important person in the world to me."
"What…?"
Mukuro's voice was hoarse and her skin was pale.
"What about Matsuda or, or…"
"You?"
Junko chortled. Her voice, condescending. She poked her sister on the forehead with her nail. A small cut was left as she stepped back.
"Matsuda is special to me, of course, and so are you." Her eyes shone bright. A crude mixture of white mixed with an incredible amount of darkness. "I love you both so very much. But not the way I love him."
Mukuro's mouth felt like sandpaper.
"What are you talking about…?"
Junko grinned.
"Nothing you need to consider your ugly little head about. Just keep doing what I tell you and we'll be good. Otherwise…"
The Soldier felt her breath hitch.
Otherwise…? What did she mean-?
"Ryo-chan! Ikusaba-san! What are you guys doing? Aren't you gonna join me for breakfast?"
"Wait no-!"
"Coming, Koto-kun!"
Damn him.
Mukuro flushed as she looked at the ground. The cute boy-no wait. She shook her head rapidly. The cute loser boy was taking her sister from her. From Matsuda too…? The soldier thought she was had a thing for him. Or perhaps she was mistaken. Maybe he just liked her, and she used him-?
No, that can't be. It… it just can't.
She felt a drop of blood come from the cut in her forehead.
A tear followed.
Her first scar in years.
Makoto watched his friend eat some toast with a smile on his face. It was a very dainty way of handling food that he hadn't quite expected from the girl. Definitely at odds to his memory.
"What is it, Koto-kun?" Ryoko wiped a crumb off her cheek. "You're staring at me like an alien with three heads and seven eyes." She paused. "No. Wait. Eight eyes. Definitely eight."
He laughed at the rather specific description before acquiescing.
"I just noticed that you aren't eating like an insane person like you did back when we were kids. There's nothing wrong with how you're doing it now, but it's just weird to me to imagine the bad little Ryoko eating with such dignity."
"Oh, really?" She scoffed. "Well, unlike someone I know, some of us had to grow up and change our habits. The Ultimate Fashionista can't just eat like a pig in public, now can she?"
Makoto pondered the idea. While he would never have described her habits as 'pig-like', he couldn't deny the correlation.
"Must have been tough to break, huh?"
Ryoko groaned as she began eating toast with another small nibble.
"You have no idea. It was such despair."
Fighting down a flinch at the word, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Taking a look around the cafeteria he found it rather barren. In fact-
"Wait, where's your sister? I thought she'd be coming too?"
Ryoko paused mid-bite and began formulating an answer. A second later it came to her.
"She said she wasn't feeling up to eating and went back to her room." She shrugged. "Or something, I don't know. I expect that she'll show up for class though."
Makoto narrowed his eyes slightly at that but accepted it. The very concept of her lying to him was alien by this point. So, he dropped it.
"Naegi-kun, ohayo!"
The Luckster looked up at the smiling face of the blue-haired idol.
He returned the gesture. "How are you this morning Maizono-chan?"
The girl threw a quick glare at the model who was sitting a little too close to Makoto for her liking. Junko just grinned.
"Yes, Maizono-chan. How are you doing today?" she leaned her head on Makoto's shoulder much to her chagrin. "I was just catching up with my precious little Koto-kun over breakfast. Of course, we spent a longggg time doing that last night, as well."
Sayaka's eyebrow twitched.
"I… see…" she ground out. "That's so good… I'm happy for the both of you."
Makoto was lost. He looked between the two girls as electricity shot between their eyes. Was he missing something here…?
"Be that as it may Naegi-kun…" Sayaka gracefully dodged the interaction. "We have to go get ready for class! You don't want to be late, do you…?"
The Luckster blushed at the caring tone the idol used as Junko watched the interaction without any discernable features upon her face. Inwardly however, she felt a twitch of aggravation. She knew what it meant but decided to ignore it for the moment.
"That is true, Koto-kun!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "So, let's go get ready for class. Little miss idol-chan can go do the same, righttttttt?"
"Ah, well I thought Naegi-kun and I could-!"
"Great! Let's go Koto-kun!"
"Wait-!"
Sayaka stared blankly at the generated dust cloud. Impressive time. Practicing the talent that brought her fame in the first place, she felt calmness take over as her smile garnered a serene-like quality. The singer left the cafeteria as dainty as she entered it.
Her annoyance remained for hours.
"Hey, hey listen! Hey, hey listen! Hey, hey listen-!"
"Hey, Ryo-chan...?" Makoto started weakly.
"Ah, yeah, Koto-kun…?" Junko smiled cutely. "Do you have a question for me…?"
"What…"
She blinked. "What…?"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Makoto yelled out.
Everyone in class looked at the duo, dumbfounded as they tried to process the scene taking place in front of them. Of course, Makoto was amongst those who were unsure of what to say. Not only had Junko decided, (read: forced), Leon to switch seats with her so she could be next to him, but she came to class dressed up like a certain fairy from a certain game series.
Makoto breathed out.
"Please tell me you didn't dress up like a fairy just for that unfunny punchline." He began begging. "Please."
A crown atop her head was all the answer he needed.
"Well, of course we did it for that reason!"
Though, the confirmation did help.
"I see…"
Truthfully, he didn't see. He had no idea what was going on, or why Sayaka and Mukuro were glaring a hole through his head but needless to say his day wasn't going great.
"Naegi-san, Enoshima-san? Could you please stop flirting for five seconds so I can get back to teaching you all…?"
Junko continued staring at the object of her affection as she haphazardly answered the teacher.
"You couldn't pay me to stop flirting with Koto-kun." Cue blushing. "Plus, you never teach us anything, anyway. You'd probably just start and then pass out five minutes in. Do us all a favor and shut up, okay…?"
Her voice was sweet-sounding towards the end, but no less biting in its delivery. Kizakura sobbed as he promptly began chugging the bottle he kept under his desk. Not even twenty seconds later had he passed out.
Nice.
"That's… is he really our teacher…?"
Surprisingly, Byakuya answered.
"Unfortunately." He pushed his glasses up. "He has somehow managed to shatter my already nonexistent expectations. Not an easy feat, I must say."
Makoto could tell.
So what were they meant to do now?
And wait-
"Ryo-chan… when did you change back to your regular outfit?"
"Hm?" her eyes became wide as her moe-like appearance skyrocketed. "Whatever do you mean, Koto-kun? I was like this the whole time!"
Nevermind. Best to just roll with it.
The class returned to normalcy as the model calmed down, much to Makoto's relief. Staring at the clock he noted that not even an hour had passed. While he had intended to go to class, the fact that it wasn't mandatory was starting to press down on him.
Maybe he could go take a break-?
"Ne, Enoshima-san…?"
The addressee cut his thoughts short.
Junko blinked at the one who spoke. The cross-dressing computer wiz of their class was a bit of an eyesore to the model. Someone with an intellect as high as his should never be so weak. It could be used for so much! His lack of determination sickened her. Well, his whole being sickened her.
Still, appearances were meant to be kept!
"Yes, Fujisaki-chan? What is it?"
"Um… I-I was just wondering…" he looked between the model and the guy she was attached to. "How, do you know Naegi-kun…?"
"Hoh?" Junko pulled a pair of glasses out of thin air and rested them on her nose. "Were you curious about the origin of our beautiful friendship…?"
She idly noticed everyone else present leaned forward. Even Byakuya and Kyoko looked somewhat intrigued. Makoto watched the situation transpire with a sigh. He already knew what was about to happen.
"Well…" she unlatched herself from his shoulder and stood up. Walking up to the board she took a marker and began to write some Kanji on it. Not even a second later had she finished.
'Wouldn't you like to know?'
Everyone face-faulted as Makoto sweat-dropped and fell back in his chair.
'I knew it…'
He watched with a nervous smile as the excitable model re-attached herself to his body and began telling him how happy she was seeing her classmates fall into disappointment.
'Wait...' Makoto blinked, as realization struck. 'She said disappointment...?'
It was surprising to the Luckster, to hear his friend avoid saying her favorite word. A word that certainly could have been used given the situation. She always said it. To most, that would seem to be an entirely minor change. Something the girl had simply forgot to add.
Not Ryoko.
Did that mean progress was being made?
Makoto smiled. He liked to think so.
A/N: And done! For now. Just like I did for all my other stories, I apologize profusely for starting this then never updating for like 6 months xD. But I will say, this one is the one of the hardest to write. I first came up with this as a joke thinking no one would care and so it kinda leads to a struggle when it comes to actually writing seriously. Ironically I have to get into a different mindset with this story: how random can I be, and then the scenes write themselves XD. I do have to think if Junko would realistically do what I come up with but in most cases she would. So now that I know what to do, writing their interactions come a little easier.