I sighed deeply and turned to Saya-san and Takade-san.
"This is my little sister's best friend, Hino Sora-chan. Sora-chan, this is Saitou Saya-san and Takade Saki-san. They both go to my school."
I introduced. It felt like introduction day as the train began taking us closer to our schools.
"Oh, so you're friends with Madoka-san's stepsister, Hino-san? She's super cute and loves to talk about curses and spells with me."
Saya-san teased. I swung my head back at the demon.
"Y-You did what to my Hana-chan?!"
I cried in frustration. If Hana-chan turned out to be a demon lord, it was all Saya-san's fault.
"Back at the onsen, she and I did a few spells. She was quite impressed with them."
Saya-san said matter of factly.
I was mortified that she attempted to taint my flower. Gently, I put my hand over Saya-san's shoulders and warned her.
"Don't you ever do that again to my Hana-chan, okay Saya-san?"
I pleaded with her but Saya-san waved me off with that devilish smile.
"Hehe… But Koda-san had a lot of fun, and that's all that matters."
Saya-san nodded. She was right but in my eyes, Hana-chan was still impressionable and I... didn't want ger becoming like this demon girl.
Sora-chan laughed. It seemed to be the only thing she could do. She turned back to Takade-san, who eagerly watched me and Saya-san's interactions.
"So, you're that girl with the super big dog, right?"
Sora-chan asked.
It seemed that Sora-chan recognized her. Takade-san's eyes lit up.
"Yus! He's such a good boy! Do you have pets too?"
Takade-san jumped.
"I want a dog, but I have to fight my mom for it. She's been slowly relinquishing in the struggle, though. Your dog seems well trained."
The middle schooler said.
I thought about that big thing that barked and pulled on its leash. That poor dog wasn't well trained but I wasn't going to break Sora-chan's imagination.
"We feed him constantly but he just keeps on pulling. But I'll break that habit soon enough."
Proudly, Takade-san said as she rubbed her nose.
And Takade-san just added to my opinion that the dog was not well trained. The two of them got into a conversation about animals. I was happy to see how fast these two clicked. Sora-chan seemed to be the kind of person that could be friends with anyone though.
Saya-san just sat there silently. Awkwardly, she turned to me and poked me on the side with her pointer finger. She wedged it deep into my side causing me to leap in the air.
"Eeehh!"
I jumped, and everyone turned to me. I was… causing trouble for the other passengers.
"Now that I have your attention, Madoka-san, where do you guys plan to do this Christmas party."
I felt like she wanted me to scream on purpose. Mildly annoyed, I turned back to her and pondered.
"I still don't know."
"Why not at my place like I mentioned before? It's big enough for a large party with all your friends. Onee-chan won't be cooking anything, and we can have her pick up the fried chicken after work."
Sora-san lit up as she turned to Saya-san.
"Oh?! Are you both coming to the party too? Do you have enough space for it, Saitou-san? Hana-chan and So-chan have been fighting about the venue all morning."
"They have?"
I checked the group chat to verify Sora-chan's claims. There were fifty new messages, all from those two.
["A karaoke room, are you stupid?"]
So-chan messaged.
["It's not as dumb as an arcade."]
Responded Hana-chan.
They were constantly at each other's throats. It made me want to put them into a locked room together and watch them go from fated enemies to Starcross lovers. There had to be a reason why they always hit each other's buttons. I believe they had so much in common, but they didn't want to accept that.
["Stop it, you two."]
I warned them in the chat.
["Sorry, Onee-chan."]
["Yeah, sorry, Madoka-chan."]
I'm glad to see that So-chan settled down. She used to come back with a combative tone, but I'm sure she's noticed her own immaturity in the matter.
"I love watching them bicker. It's super fun, Onee-chan."
Sora-chan said as she read the messages. She was smiling, getting a kick out of their conversation. That reminded me…
"Hey Saya-san, Takade-san, should I add you both to the Christmas group chat?"
Take-san literally jumped out of her seat in excitement. She rushed up to me like a puppy waiting to be fed a treat.
"Do it! Do it!"
Everyone on the train turned to us again. I supposed this would be a regular thing when it came to hanging around Takade-san and Saya-san. So, I did just that. They entered the conversation. Saya-chan smirked, and Takade-san's fingers were on fire.
[Hello, brave new world!"]
Takade-san burst into the converstion. She put up a bunch of love emojis. Hearts, puppies with hearts, and more. It was… really adorable and made me jealous because I didn't have all these emojis that Takade-san had.
["Saki-chan!"]
Yuko emoted with a cute white cat. I was dying by how adorable it was. My friends… had better emojis than I did.
["Hey there, Saki-chan."]
Mae-chan replied next.
["I have so many ideas! We need mistletoes everywhere! EVERYWHERE!"]
This conversation went from casual to overproductive in a matter of seconds. She was listing to all of the games we were going to play and the foods we should eat. That ranged from truth or dare to poker strip tease with Saya-chan as the only one stripping.
I scratched my head as I turned to Saya-san. She didn't have her phone out… but when she did bring it out, I wasn't sure how'd she react to this.
"Eh?!"
She looked shocked as she seemed to have remembered something vital.
"Oh… Senpai, are you in the chat too?"
"Yes, I am Saki-chan."
She said as she brought out her phone nonchalantly.
"No, Senpai! Don't look! Please don't look!"
Sora-chan and I looked at one another and giggled. Everything was becoming livelier, and I wasn't complaining about it.
The train's doors opened wide, and we exited, making our way to school. Sora and I were in the front, and Saya-san and Takade-san were bumbling in the back, reading over all of the messages from the group chat.
"I'm going to tease Yuko-chan."
The devil said as she began typing away. Sora-chan and I looked at the message that popped up on our phone.
[Yuko-chan, I'm going to buy you a special mistletoe! It's going to be for your one true love."]
Suddenly, the message "Yuko has left the chat" appeared. The ghost literally ghosted the chat.
"Oh no, you went too far, Saya-senpai!
Takade-san screamed. She rushed to the front of us and turned around.
"I'll go catch her and force her back into the chat before class starts! I'll see everyone later!"
I stood there at the school gates, watching that pink-haired madness rush off to the second year's side of the school. Sora-chan sniggered and turned back to me.
"Hey, I'll say hi to Hana-chan for you, Madoka-chan."
"Thanks, Sora-chan. Will you be willing to come if we decide to look for supplies later?"
"Heck yeah!"
Sora-chan sparked up like a firecracker. She gave us a broad wave and made her way to school. Saya-san and I looked at one another, nodded, and crossed the street to get inside the Jinda High School. As I expected, So-chan was there with her hands on her hips.
"Sorry for yelling at Hana-san…."
She said guiltily. Her face was bright red, and she turned away slightly.
"Don't worry about it. I think Hana-chan actually enjoys fighting with you, So-chan…."
I admitted. Saya-chan giggled and waved at the shark.
"Good morning Conway-san. I heard you guys were planning to do something fun for Christmas. It wouldn't be a bother if I joined into the festivities?"
"Of course not, Saitou-san. If you have any suitable plans, my ears are open. Mae-chan messaged me earlier about games. Since you both share a club it would be easy too."
Saya-san put her finger on her lip and pondered.
"Well, I suggested to Madoka-san that we could go to the shopping district today and pick out some fun things. My sister could take it home for us too."
With an odd clap, she turned back to the two of us.
"We can make it an afternoon trip! Oh, that sounds so much fun!"
So-chan shrugged.
"I'm fine with that. I can tell Eleanor that I won't need a ride today. As for who is paying for it."
The cheap shark looked at Saya-san.
"We can split the cost. I mean, you're a Conway, aren't you?"
Saya-san called out to Sophia. She shrieked a little as she turned to the side.
"By name. I didn't get much money, and I spent a lot on the last outing for our clothing. Mommy lowered my allowance after that stunt we pulled."
She huffed.
"She gave me 200,000 yen and told me I won't get more until next month."
I was horrified and wasn't sure if she was making a joke out of this and screwing with us or not. Saya-san sighed and shook her head.
"Well, I have a good chunk of change on me. Risa Onee-chan gave me a heavy allowance for the holidays."
These two well-off girls spoke about money like it's not an object. So-chan seemed to love to keep her money, and Saya-chan didn't mind splurging. I had money saved up, too, and wasn't going to just allow them to pay for the entire trip.
"Well, that settles it. After school, we'll get the supplies for our Christmas party."
I said.
I was excited about this. For the first time in a long time, we could do something that matched us being high school girls. It was then that I turned to see Okabe-san walk past us. We caught eyes and my mouth opened slightly.
"Ah…"
Surprised, she backed up slightly and turned away. I broke off from Sophia-chan and Saya-san. When I got closer to Okabe-san, she brought her head down and closed her eyes.
"What happened?"
She had a bunch of makeup to try and cover up her face, but it was poorly done and likely in a rush. Sophia-chan and Saya-san seemed to become curious and walked over.
The purple scar on her cheek was there, and it looked as though someone… hit her.
"Let go of me..."
Okabe-san slapped my hand away from her and backed up. In the heat of the moment, tears began rolling down her cheek.
"I… I knew I shouldn't have come."
In tears, she mumbled before rushing out of the school gates.
"W-wait, Okabe-san!"
I called out to her, but she wasn't stopping. She was already away down the sidewalk, and I watched her back get smaller. The bell was about to ring, the school was going to start, and the day was about to begin.
But Okabe-san was hurt and before I knew it, I had every intention to catch up to her.