Shipping the SDRA2 Cast With Each Other

Yomitsume/Nikei Yomiuri x Kokoro Mitsume

After a long day of interviewing, training with Hajime, and writing, Nikei enjoyed going the library to relax before Mikado called everyone down for whatever feast he had concocted this time. Nikei's opinion on Mikado was mixed, but he could at least say that his food was something that even Gordon Ramsey would approve of.

As Nikei entered the library, trying to think of cool novels that he hadn't read yet, he spotted Kokoro sitting on a couch and reading a huge book on psychology. She normally didn't stay long with the group in the dining hall, stating that she didn't like crowds or noise at all. Emma usually made her stay by clinging to her like an barnacle and refusing to release her.

Nikei looked at the nearby clock, recently cleaned from the looks of it. There was about thirty minutes left until Mikado put their food on the table, so that was enough time for him to try and make conversation with Kokoro. To maintain a polite distance to not make her too uncomfortable, he sat down at a nearby chair instead of right next to her.

"Hey, Kokoro! How are you doing today?" The journalist asked enthusiastically. "If you've made progress towards something groundbreaking, that would definitely make for an amazing article!"

To his surprise, Kokoro remained silent and continued reading. It was as if she'd never heard him in the first place. Nikei thought it was odd, but maybe he just had to change up his tactic to make her able to hear him.

"You're in here a lot, right? I'm surprised that you haven't read all of these books in here." Nikei began. "If you can help, I'm looking for a biography book. Does the name Pavlov ring any bells?"

Nikei internally berated himself, having to resort to Emma's way of getting attention by making puns. Even he thought they were terrible! Yet still, the psychologist hadn't even taken a single glance in his general direction. Instead, she just turned her page.

Nikei hated to do this, but this was his last resort to get her attention. "H-Has anyone ever told you how neat your glasses look? I like them..." He asked, his face heating up just from the question. He still didn't get a response. "Can you be romantic for once?" He muttered to himself, giving up as he berated himself. It wasn't like his lame attempts to flirt ever worked anyway.

"I can hear you just fine. I was ignoring you so I could focus on my book." Kokoro suddenly spoke, startling the journalist and getting a yelp out of him. "But I suppose that you really aren't going to leave anytime soon, so I might as well speak with you. I don't think you came here for me. You came here for a book, not one on Pavlov, you wanted something that interests you."

The journalist was impressed, she could practically see right through him. She could probably see through any acting lessons he got from Emma too. But she seemed to be a little intrigued in the conversation as she put a bookmark in her textbook, but she never moved it from her lap.

"Well, I was, but I saw you and really just wanted to talk about how we're doing. You know, like normal classmates." Nikei admitted. "Isn't it natural for people to want to talk with their friends?"

"Yes, you you normally 'talk' to them in order to gain interviews for your newspaper." The psychologist sighed. "If you need to know, I've been reading all day, Emma's been doing a photoshoot with Yoruko, the twins and Setsuka have been playing at the third island, Hajime, Yuki, and Shinji have been running a training regiment, Yuri is trying to research more at the Tower of Babel, Sora and Syobai won a bet and now have Iroha and Teruya pampering them, and Mikado has been experimenting with recipes all day. Tonight's food will be fried soft-shell crab sandwiches with a butter-garlic sauce, and there will be earl grey tea and macaroni salad as well. Does that suffice?"

"That does, thanks! I'll have to ask everyone more about that after supper!" Nikei chirped with wide, excited eyes, writing everything down in his notebook. "Say, why don't you join us this time? Soft-shell crab is delicious!"

"Earl grey tea has caffeine in it, so I suppose I will join this time." Kokoro replied. "But maybe you should abstain from coming, or else some people will think that you're on the menu."

Nikei went silent, then his face turned bright red. "K-Kokoro?!" He squeaked. "W-Wait, are you, like...attracted to me or something?"

"Based on my observations of all my classmates, it seems that everyone here has a degree of attraction towards each other." She answered with a smile. "Even you, Nikei."

The flustered journalist immediately turned around and ran for the door. "Why are you better at flirting than me?!" He whimpered as he fled the room.

All alone, Kokoro looked up at the clock and saw that it was twenty-five minutes until supper. Without anyone to bother her, she opened her textbook to the bookmarked page and continued reading.