Cover High/Pekora

Chapter 2: Don't Underestimate Me, You Goddamn Rabbit!

By the time you feel the impact against the top of your head, it's already too late. You hear something burst, and a cold, wet sensation washes over your head. Water spills down your hair and splatters onto your shirt. In an instant, everything from your shoulders up is completely soaked.

"MotherFUCKER!" A cry of rage surges forth from your mouth as humiliation fills your very being. Not because you're dripping wet; oh no. You're cursing your own carelessness. How could you be so foolish? So witless? So absolutely goddamn stupid? You let your guard down for two seconds, and look what happens. You've failed once again. And now all you can do is steel yourself for what you know is coming next.

"Ah↓ha↑ha↑ha↑ha↑!"

And there it is. Turning towards the ridiculous laughter, you lay eyes on your eternal rival.

Pekora beams at you with the usual self-satisfied grin, her hands on her hips. "Well, well, well!" she says proudly. "If it isn't the transfer student, brought low once again by the brilliant and charming Usada Pekora!" She punctuates the declaration with a haughty flourish of the hand as she turns up her nose. "Pe↗ko↘pe↗ko↘pe↗ko↘!"

Your eyes roll in their sockets at her flamboyant gloating. "You really like the sound of your own voice, don't you?"

"Hey, nobody likes a sore loser!" The rabbit girl trots over to you, her long pigtails bouncing at her sides. "I gotta say, today was a good effort! You managed to slip by almost all of my morning traps! You were so close to making it through lunch period, peko!" Her expression turns sly as she peers up at you. "But too bad for you, I had one last trick up my sleeve!"

"Tch." You click your tongue in frustration. Over a week has passed since you made your declaration to Pekora that you would evade her next prank. It...didn't work out. And it hasn't been working out since then. No matter how many precautions you take, she's always finding new ways to hit you in your blind spots. You thought today would be different. You had managed to disarm no less than three traps over the course of the morning. When you made it to lunch period without slipping up, you began to entertain the idea that you would actually be able to reach the ceasefire time unmolested. But it was not to be. You stopped by the hall sink to wash your hands after eating, just like you always do. And the moment you turned the handle, a water balloon hidden in a ceiling compartment brought your hopes to an abrupt end. Today, you remain consigned to your position as Transfer Student.

"Fine," you mutter in resignation. "You win. Again."

"Aww, don't sulk," Pekora teases as she slips something out of her pocket. "Here. Use this." She holds out her hand, and you glance down to see a fuzzy white hand-towel with a light-blue carrot design in the corner.

Your grumpy expression softens a bit at the gesture. Things between you and Pekora have...changed somewhat since that day. The two of you are still basically sworn enemies, but your interactions have become markedly less antagonistic. You don't get nearly as angry at her as you used to, and you're finding it harder and harder to stay angry at her. Especially when she does things like this. "Thanks," you mumble as you accept the hand-towel and begin to dry off your face.

"No problem, peko!" As for Pekora...well, she's just as much of a mischievous little brat as ever. But you've noticed a subtle change in her, too. The way she talks to you is starting to seem a lot less condescending, and a lot more...playful, you guess? She still has a habit of talking down to you when she's in gloating mode, but now it feels less like she's mocking you, and more like she's cheekily goading you into 'getting on her level'. It's almost encouraging, in her own grating sort of way. And she's always ready to help you recover after you've fallen for one of her pranks. Whether that means giving you a towel to dry your head, or a hand to help you up after you've been knocked on your ass.