Silver Voice

Confrontation

Hajime was sleeping on the couch the next evening. Essie and I both looked at him, and smiled at each other. 10 seconds later, Essie walked back to me with a pen in her mouth, and I set to work. I had no idea what came over me or what demon possessed me. Kai walked in and looked at me scribbling on Hajime's face.

"Playing a prank?" He sounded amused.

"Yep. I'm amazed he hasn't woken up yet," I said, about to draw another rabbit on his face. His hand grabbed mine, and his eyes shot open.

"What the..." He saw the pen in my head.

"Eek!" I dropped the pen and ran behind Shun, who had just walked into the living room. Hajime sat up and Shun looked at him and burst out laughing. Kai smiled.

Hajime lifted the pen and stood up, a malicious smile on his face. I felt a chill down my spine. "Come here, you."

He chased me around the living room until I stumbled and fell onto the couch. "Wait, wait, I'm sorry!" I said, laughing, while he grabbed my hand and started drawing on my face.

"A work of art indeed," Mina said, walking in. Hajime and I both looked at her, and she snapped a photo of both of us. Hajime was smiling, while Shun and I were still laughing. "But you two had better go wash that off," Mina said, putting her phone down.

Everyone else walked in to see me and Hajime and stopped in their tracks. I smiled sheepishly, and put a hand on the back of my neck.

"Who started this?" Aoi asked, amused.

I raised a hand. "I may have wanted to prank him, which, as you can see, severely backfired." Although I most certainly don't regret it.

Hajime ruffled my hair, handed my pen back to me, and went to wash up. I followed suit.

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I knocked on Shun's room that night.

"Shun?" I called. The door opened by itself and I stepped in.

"Little princess, what brings you here?"

"I had something for you," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulled out some photos. I handed them to him, and Shun looked at them, his eyes widening.

"How?" He asked, staring at a little Hajime. His eyes brightened, so I knew he liked them.

"Got them off Mina. I looked through her album yesterday, and copied these photos." Shun hugged me, while I laughed. "That happy, are you?"

"Christmas came early."

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I heard a knock on my door, a little later that night. Opening it, I saw Shun and Kai standing outside. My eyes widened slightly as I stepped aside, letting them enter.

"How come you're here?"

"We saw the light on in your room and were worried," Kai said, looking around. "Where's Essie?"

I pointed under the bed, and Kai looked down at Essie sleeping peacefully on folded blankets. "What's she doing there?" he asked, as Shun took a seat on the bed. Kai leaned against the wall.

"The light bothers her, so I usually turn it off at night so she can sleep and I work by the moonlight instead–" I said, pointing to the window, "–but Essie said that would damage my eyes and told me she'd sleep under the bed."

"If Hajime knew you were doing that, he'd get mad," Shun said, glancing at the window.

"Then let's keep it a secret. For my sanity, at least," I said. I knew Shun was right. Hajime would most certainly get mad.