ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ʙᴇʟʟ ᴘᴇᴘᴘᴇʀꜱ [𝓐𝓺𝓾𝓪 𝔁 𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓪] {𝒪𝓈𝒽𝒾 𝓃𝑜 𝒦𝑜}

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟛 ~ 𝔽𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

Annie POV:

It might have been horrible and selfish and evil of me, but words couldn't describe the intense satisfication at Arima's furious face.

Her cheeks were red and her hair was tousled- her face looking wet and oily, presuming from water and treatment. Her fingers were curled into tight fists, her knuckles white as she advanced towards my seat. 

I didn't feel a spark of fear, not even when she stuck a hand in my pasta. 

"What are you doing?" I groaned. "That's disguisting. Have you gone completely physco-" 

And then she threw the squelchy handful of pasta in my face. 

I felt it squish and latch onto me, the sauce dripping down my face, slowly sliding off, as I stared at Arima's grim face in shock. I hadn't expected that. 

But that didn't stop me from picking up my tray and swinging it, the rest of my pasta flying into Arima's face.

There. Now we match. 

Fury boiled through me, my face just like Arima's a second ago. 

Kana POV:

The familair squelch of food on my face wasn't all that unexpected- I knew that disguisting brat of a girl would fight back as soon as I ignited the battle. 

There was silence for a few eerie moments, as the whole school stopped and stared.

And then the boys a few tables away began cheering, and Mark, the silliest troublemaker in the grade, threw a handful of rice at a girl, and the food fight began

Suddenly, rice and pork and pasta and sandwhiches and juice were flying in the air, almost impossible to dodge. The girls screamed and the boys howled with laughter, while some smarter girls slipped out of the cafeteria before things got too hetic.

I tried to sprint to the exit, but couldn't help getting pelted by someone's ham, rice, and milk. My hurt face screamed with pain again. 

And then I felt someone's hand grabbing mine and leading me to the exit. 

I looked up, my free hand trying to block the rain of food, and realised it was Ruby, with a determined and aggravated look on her face. 

Aqua POV:

I had spent the first half of lunchtime in the library with Frill, and had just gotten my lunch and was about to step into the cafeteria when I saw the whole school screaming and throwing food. 

I immediantly stepped back. 

Straight into someone else. 

"Oh, sorry-" I turned around to apologise when I realised it was a familair face. 

Kana's. 

She had a slice of ham in her hair, sandwhich sliding off her face and rice on her strangely old and tight dress. She stared up at me with burning red, wide eyes. Ruby held her hand and was about to tug her forwards when she stopped as she saw me. 

"Oh, hey, Aqua." Ruby smiled at me. "The cafeteria really is a mess, isn't it? It's Kana's fault, really."

So Ruby didn't call Kana 'senpai' anymore. 

"Food fights happen," I shrugged. "What do you mean it's Kana's fault?"

Kana flinched when I said her name, and didn't say a thing. After a moment of silence, Ruby spoke up. 

"So Annie, this rival model, hates Kana, and she purposelly tripped Kana. So she fell on her tray and got food everywhere and got slapped by her own tray. So she had to go the nurse's office." Ruby explained. "Then she came back, furious and all, and threw pasta in Annie's face. So Annie threw pasta back. And then everyone started throwing food."

I stopped myself from narrowing my eyes. Who was Annie? How was she a rival model? 

Kana then tugged Ruby's hand back. "Let's go."

Ruby glanced at Kana. "Are you still mad at Aqua?"

Kana flinched again. "Let's go already."

Ruby pulled her hand free of Kana's. "What's wrong?"

Kana frowned at Ruby's free hand. "There's no point telling anything to you. You already believe Aqua!"

I couldn't help narrowing my eyes.

Something shifted in Ruby's eyes. "Is this what it's about? I thought we were over that."

I slowly backed away, not wanting to be part of their fight. I didn't want to say something wrong that could throw Ruby off, either. 

"Actually, you know what, I'm done." Ruby completely dropped her hand to her side and frowned. "You've been bossy and rude and stubborn ever since we became B Komachi. You purposelly act depressed about your career so you receive sympathy and attention. Let's not do B Komachi anymore for a little bit. I need a break from you." She stalked off, leaving Kana in complete shock. And honestly, me too.

I hadn't expected that from Ruby. Like, at all. 

She had left me alone with Kana, who looked completely murderous. 

"Hey-"

"Don't." Kana held up a hand and looked away, gritting her teeth. "I don't want to deal with you right now. I don't need to deal with a Hoshino while rethinking my life choices."

A Hoshino. She had clearly already gotten an idea of my familiy name.

"Don't mind Ruby. She's just having a tantrum." I tried to sound cool and nonchalant. I'd been planning to apologise to Kana for a while now, although technically I didn't need to. It was actually in my favour that neither me or Ruby was talking to Kana- her truth wouldn't be believed, instead my lies would be- but I couldn't help it. I didn't know what propelled me to spill the quiet words 'sorry' out of my mouth.

"What?" Kana's head jerked up as soon as I muttered the word. I felt my cheeks tinge with embarrasment. 

"I'm not gonna repeat it." It was my turn to turn away as Kana stared at me in disbelief. "I know how fustrated you are with me. But as soon as you told Ruby, I saw the disappointment in her face, and I just couldn't."

Kana frowned and crossed her arms. "You're the bad guy in this story, Aqua. You're the guy cheating on his perfectly nice girlfriend, you're the guy who lied to me, who lied to his own sister and family. The guy who's practically using Akane, but for what reason I can't figure out. you're the guy who I hate but nobody else does because of your stupid, petty lies." I kept my face blank. Don't show her I'm affected.

"But..." Kana's accusing expression melted and she sighed. "Neverless, you still apologised, and a bad guy wouldn't do that." She did a quick side-step to meet my gaze and looked up at me with her doe eyes. "I don't understand you at all. Who are you, Aqua Hoshino?"

Her question hit home. I didn't know either. 

I'd always been living under Ai's shadow, her presence physically or mentally always clouding my vision. All my desicions were influenced by her. Yet somehow Kana made me want to shake my head out of the clouds. To see reality. To see her. 

I tried to clear my head again, not of the clouds Ai planted in me but of Kana's curious, intense face.

"I'm exactly who you think I am." I took a step back, about to turn and leave, but somehow I blurted out what I had been thinking but not intending to say. "I'm exactly who you want me to be."

My cheeks properly pinked. "I mean, I'm not who you need me to be-"

Kana's pretty face smiled for the first time since our argument. Not an idol smile, not a bright or peppy or fake smile. 

A real smile. Soft and shy, her eyes on the floor.

"I'd like to be who you need me to be too." Her gaze drifted up to meet mine. 

"But I don't think I'll ever be."

A/N: There. Your Aqua/Kana scene. Happy? I didn't want to make this mushy but IT WAS SO MUSHY 😭 (Okay now mushy doesn't sound like a word anymore.)