All I Need Is My Sister

II : Street Meeting

Right foot backwards, left foot left, left foot forward, right foot right, spin to the left...

Nene tried her hardest not to close her eyes, chanting the motions in her head as she held on to the shoulder of her partner.

No one had bothered to pay attention, but this was the first time Nene had managed to get through most of a song without stepping on her partner's shoe. She smiled to herself pridefully before smoothing her expression in embarrassment—she didn't realize she had started looking down.

She looked up at her partner, Akane, bashfully before her face fell; he wasn't looking at her. Instead, his melancholic gaze was directed towards the center of the ballroom, to the girl in the flowing ocean-coloured ballgown. Right... of course he was looking at her. Everyone else was, too, from the other dancers to the wallflowers sipping their drinks.

Nene was just a part of the sea of the background characters, acting as foils to make Aoi shine brighter. It didn't matter that she'd spent weeks upon weeks perfecting her movements so that she wouldn't trip and fall over her dance partner—it was just a relief she hadn't done so, or it would've drawn attention away from society's favourite lady.

~~~

Nene jumped at Aoi's raised voice, calling the name of the person she had wanted to meet in person the least—well, second to the one that had issued the death penalty against her.

"Akane!" Nene could hear the radiant smile in Aoi's voice even when she wasn't looking at her, and she could vividly imagine the flushed cheeks of the elated greeting's receiver.

"It's wonderful that I get to meet you by chance in such lovely weather," Akane said, striding over to Aoi and planting a kiss on her hand. "You, and..." When Akane turned to look at Nene, his expression morphed into one that she couldn't quite decipher.

"Hello, Akane," Nene nervously greeted him, putting her hands behind her back to signal that he didn't need to kiss her hand as well. There were various thoughts rushing through her head, starting from, What is he doing here!??

Even in the previous timeline, Nene and Akane hadn't had much conversation despite their engagement. After all, Akane was infatuated with Aoi while Nene was smitten by her fiancé; they had nothing to do with each other besides, perhaps, the shared emotion of unrequited love. They weren't pitted against each other by any means, but they certainly weren't friends around this time—in fact, Akane was aware of Nene's silent hostility towards Aoi and so he held the same feeling towards her.

Akane, in alignment with his I-want-nothing-to-do-with-those-who-hate-my-beloved personality, practically ignored Nene besides a slight nod, beaming at Aoi as he bowed down to make closer eye contact with her. "What might you be doing out here on this day?"

"As you can see, I'm browsing the boutiques with my sister here," Aoi grinned as she clutched onto Nene's arm, Akane's eyes widening at the sight.

"I-I see," Akane replied, observing the hand on Nene's sleeve as if he was expecting her to sharply pull away from Aoi, but Nene simply smiled at him kindly, causing his shoulders to rise before he looked away.

Aoi exchanged looks between the two before she put a finger to the bottom of her lips in contemplation. "Since you're already here, would you like to come along with us?"

"Come along?" Both the redhead and the cream-haired girl exclaimed before they glanced at each other.

Akane's face was, again, unreadable, but Nene thought to herself with a reluctant expression...

It's not a terrible idea for me to prove my sincerity for Aoi to Akane... Maybe we won't become friends, but his family is revered among the social groups... If we become allies, he could help me find a proper suitor so that we could break off our engagement to each other!