Desire

Episode 18

"Where is Sayaka and Kyoko?" A green-haired girl with bleached bangs that framed her face fretted as she stood behind a girl with blonde drills as low pigtails.

The blonde girl with drills smiled sympathetically. "Oh, don't worry Rei," she assured. "They'll be here. You know how Miki-san oversleeps."

"Yeah, Mami, and how Kyoko announced that it was her job to wake her up when she does so!"

"I mean, Sakura-san is the most aggressive one out of us."

"And where is Homura?! She should be here by now! This is definitely out of place for the four-eyed responsible student!"

Just then, they saw three students running as fast as they could to them. One of them had short blue hair, which was Sayaka Miki and was dragged by the ear practically by a red-head with a ponytail, which was Kyoko Sakura. A girl with long black hair held back with a red ribbon, red glasses, was puffing her way to them, since she had a heart condition for a while, was Homura Akemi. They finally caught up with the students and all three of them bent over their knees and panted.

"I'm glad we all are here," Mami sighed with relief.

"I would've come here faster," Kyoko grinned, slapping Sayaka on the back. "If this brat didn't make me break into her room and tickle her awake!"

"I was in a middle of a good dream!" Sayaka whined.

The two girls chased each other and circled Homura, who stepped back, not knowing what to do. "Come on guys!" Rei whined as she waved her arm in the direction of their school. "Let's not be late to school! It's a new day! A fresh start for all of us!"

Kyoko stopped chasing Sayaka and was holding her in a headlock. "What's gotten into you, Rei?" She grinned at her best friend.

"I don't know," Rei shrugged, skipping and jumping to do a small toe-tap. Homura jogged up to Rei to get away from the two wrestling students. Rei eyed the ribbon in Homura's hair. "Oh! Cute ribbon Homura!" She complimented. "Where did you get that from?"

"Oh! T-This...?" She stuttered, tugging at the red piece of fabric in her hair. "A-A very good friend of mine got it for me..."

"Well," Rei puffed her cheeks. "Tell her she's got a good sense of style!"

The bell tolled at school, signaling a five-minute warning before any students after the starting school bell will be tardy. Everyone gasped. "C'mon! Hurry!" Rei cried as they all dashed into the building. "Let's not be late on our new day!"

But, despite her pleading, she stole a glance back at her friend group and gave a small smile. Whoever blessed me with such a good life and a great group of friends, she thought, thanking whoever gave her this life. I thank you for this. Thank you.

And just as she was running towards the gates to her school, she swore she heard a faint You're welcome back. The voice seemed familiar, but whoever it belonged to, it only existed in the darkest depths of Rei's memories that she unknowingly locked away. Even Rei wouldn't be able to dive down there to remember all of them. But, it didn't matter. She has a good life and was surrounded by a group of friends who she loved and loved her back, and that was enough to make her happy.