Collaboration
Ria laughed out loud but not to the point that everyone heard her laughter, Allison and Christine were the first one to notice it with each of their individual expression; Allison seem to find it unusual for the Lady to laugh while Christine just have a smile in her face. âThatâs preposterous.â The atmosphereâs tension changed quickly from cutting tension all the way back to a serious one. âLet the adults handle it and besides weâre still kids, youâre like 12 and Iâm like 17 well people often judge me by looks and make me look younger than I supposed to be. Appearances are deceiving donât you think so.â As much as she hate to disclose it, she chooses not to disclose what she truly felt what Rouka just said. She had shown quite a ton of expression in the past 3 minutes, shifting from happy, sad, pissed and cranky.
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Meanwhile, at Navy Hill. Hazel is with the swimming club girls team. âGuys! Pick it up! Faster! Faster! Get in the groove!â Sheâs back floating casually while the rest of the members are rigorously swimming. Coach Ko is just watching with a grin on her face, âThatâs right Lim, get it in their heads!â Their Coach is just as passionate as Hazel and her teammates combined like as if this is a spartan drill.
âBahhh! Thereâs only 3 of us! Nice going Captain. How long is Tsurara going to keep us stalling?â complained one of the club members right after the drill, Amber Pride. At this point it had already been decided who will be the candidates for the supposed swimming event; Hazel Lim, Amber Pride, Liyana Bin Amir and Tsurara Maria. However, even when the date of the competition coming close, Tsurara Maria continues her late tendency. No other girl dared to warn her about it or even challenge her in swimming. But at this rate, her position as starting member might be in danger.
Hazel kept quiet for a while, faith being shaken that Ria may ditch or not. âCoach Ko, Ria is the only one who can do the butterfly stroke at its best, besides the four of us synced well with the medley relay!â She said to pursue her.
âAmber has a point, Hazel. If Tsurara does not show up, we may have to turn her down and pick another teammate. As a leader, you need to be unbiased and make straight decisions. If she does not show up in half an hour then you know what to do.â replied the coach with stern tone.
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âSo yeah you get the point.â Ria just finished their topic. âAnyways.. to Navy Hills, Rouka. â She quickly took out her bag and showed schoolgirl uniform and an orange long hair wig and some make up tools plus a handycam. âBoys are not allowed to watch girls mainly because guys these days are perverts. I need you to take pictures of me after all mainly because I donât want Coach Ko to be nagging at me.â A while ago Ria said want but now she said need which totally threw the whole context. Sheâs literally serious about whatâs gonna happen.
F*ck, I shouldâve know this would happen! Shouted Rouka inside his heart as he regret his decision. Riaâs school is the Navy Hills, an all-girls school so of course a guy like him canât get inside normally. So the only way for him to get in is none other than...
âA-Aah, ahaha, youâre kidding me right? I donât even know how to put on makeupâ answer Rouka nervously. But unbeknownst to him, that is the very word Ria was waiting for.
âOh my, no need to worry.â
Rouka look up to Ria. She is⊠smiling. No, grinning. An expression Rouka have seen before but canât get used to. With a sound of a snap, Allison the cat-eared maid of Katz cafe pops out once again.
âAllison, can you give Rouka a bit⊠help over here?â
âUnderstood, Milady!â
Like a beast hunting for its prey, Allisonâs eyes glows and immediately grab hold of Rouka by the arm. No matter how much power he poured to pull himself, he couldnât move an inch.
Dammit, just how strong is she! He cursed this whole situation. Although retired, Allison is a fully trained COIN agent. One does not simply fight back against a person like her.
âAgh, nooooo!â
âFruitless struggle is unsightly, Rouka. What was it again the way you people call itâŠ. Ah, I remember!â
Cheerfully, Ria pointed her index finger on her chin and say,
â...Rouka-chan~â
âNUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!â
Swiftly, Allison dragged Roukaâs powerless body to the upstair and into the dressing room. A cry for help echos throughout the cafe, but it gradually fades down, and the cafe once again return to its peaceful state.
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A solid 15 minutes passed after the whole incident. As Ria peacefully waiting on her seat, a sound of footsteps was heard coming from the upstair. Showing up first was Allison who took Rouka with her earlier and comes after her walks a long haired girl, dressed in none other than the Navy Hill girl school uniform Ria prepared earlier for Rouka.
Allison and the girl quietly approach Ria seat. The mysterious girl was gloomy, looking at the ground all the time. Allison bows at Ria and return back to behind the counter, leaving the mysterious girl with Ria. After brief silent, the girl⊠no, Rouka raised his head shouted.
âAGH, this what you want right? There! F*ck. Youâre satisfied now? Letâs go!â
Rouka urged as he exit the cafe. Outside, Ria catch up to Rouka and grabbed his hand and shoulder. âBe sure to get the act right, and donât lust over girls.â she remind him. It was then, a boy passed by. âTsurara, I didnât expect to see you here. Where you goinâ? â That boy is one of her acquaintance, friend of a friendâs or classmate, whatever you wanna call it. They refer to each other last name basis. Now, the boy is too foreign for an asian country, he too have striking blue eyes but not as abnormal as Riaâs, he is a Dutch to be exact. He threw a lollipop to Ria and she catched it with one hand.
âSchool, Gospel-kun. â For now, he is referred by last name. The guy notices the orange haired âgirlâ or so it seems, he started flirting with her, and caresses her face. âYouâre cute.â
Instantly, Rouka feel a chill down his spine upon hearing the comment. Not even an hour into this look, someone already call him cute, not to mention by a guy. This whole thing makes him question his life decision.
âWell, thanks. Iâm sorry, but weâre in a hurry. Letâs go.â
But he canât afford getting depressed all the time, so he strongly refuse and start walking.
But, Gospel⊠huh. I think Iâve heard that name before. I wonder from whereâŠ. His name caught Roukaâs mind for a second, but he quickly brush it off because he donât want to be seen longer with his current look. Ria follows along, and on the way she noticed Roukaâs walking pace was faster than usual.
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It didnât take long for them to arrive to the school, as it is only 5 minutes away by walk. Luckily no guard questioning Rouka on the way in thanks to the school uniform. Without much problem, the two safely arrived to the outdoor pool area.
Seeing, Riaâs arrival, other student shows instantly direct their eyes at them. The first one to move was one a familiar looking girl. A short wavy hazel colored hair and eyes, Hazel Lim.
Hazel is relieved that Ria made it in time and hugs her. âMaria! Thank goodness youâre here, weâre about to call it a day but youâre the only one who can do the butterfly stroke! Oh, who is that beautiful lady?â she asked about Rouka as she hugs Ria so tightly that she couldnât breathe.
â~~~~~~â
âOh sorry!â
Noticing Ria is in pain, Hazel quickly let go of her and take a step back. After catching back her breath, Ria return to h
er usual haughty pose.
âThis girl is my girlfriend.â she replied sarcastically.
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Shortly after, Ria go to the dressing room and change into her school swimsuit. Provocated by Coach Ko, Ria set herself to beat Amberâs record which end up being one on one race against the two.
âHAHAHA! Tsurara is never gonna beat me.â boasted Amber.
After the two is set ready on the starting platform, Coach Ko start a countdown then blows the whistle, starting the test. Ria and Amber are against each otherâs throat, as they compete which of them can go faster with butterfly stroke.The race looked tense at first, but Ria then accelerates and overcome Amber by a landslide.
âTsurara wins!â shouted Coach Ko proclaiming Ria as the winner. Amber then raise from the pool while panting looking exhausted. As she face down on the floor, her 2 friends go to her side and try to cheer her up.