Hourglass [Quintessential Quintuplets]

To You, The Hell Bearing the Name of Oneself឵឵឵

When Madoka looked up, the first thing she saw was the tall silhouette staring back at her. Yet, what attracted more attention than the figure herself was the person's extraordinary hair. The nickname Madoka had heard before was absolutely spot on.

Dishevelled, fluffy and absurtly long hair cascading from her head to her ankles must surely have looked like a piece of chocolate cake from behind. It was such a dense mass of hair that it could even be used as natural fur. While this might sound unappealing to some, for the right person, it's— Pure Elegance.

Those lips covered in bright red cherry lipstick, slowly curled into a smile with no words;

''. . .''

| 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗮𝘄𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮 |

She wore a plain white sweater with a turtle neck, a simple long black skirt, and carried a modest shoulder bag used solely for its intended carriage function. There was nothing flashy about her attire, yet it effortlessly revealed the glamour in simplicity. Around the edge of the bag she was carrying, the pages of a book —or perhaps more than just one—peeked out slightly.

Once Madoka saw the madam in front of her, it took only seconds for her to realise who she was. By that she returned the greeting given. ''K-konnichiwa...'' But the girl's hair still attracted a lot of Madoka's attention. ''...''

The lady's smile grew warmer in response to the greeting. With a gentle touch this time, she lifted Madoka's left arm into the air, her voice a soft murmur, barely more than a breath. ''𝑽𝒆𝒔𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑.''

Kazuma, who was sitting next to them, left unimpressed and just raised his palm in greeting for response. ''Yo, nee-sama.'' he said with a casual yawn, his tone laced with a trace of weariness. "Geez. Don't you think your creepy enthusiasm is oozing a little too much? Don't worry, I'll make sure our club costume supervisor hears all about it— Oh, yeah, that's right, you two haven't met. Madoka, this is Sis, Sis, this is Madoka. The girl with daddy issues I told you about on the way here."

Once the surprise of the first glance had worn off, Madoka regained her composure, her eyes locked on the brown ones before her. The very woman whose name she had heard repeatedly over, over and over again was now standing in front of her.

 
''Hosoki Madoka, ma'am. I've heard your name a lot today, it's an honour to meet you in person.''