Puppeteer

Chapter 12-Fanboy/girl alert!

The platform was brimming with people, just like school.

 Ugh. I hate crowds.

 Ast shot out and ran through the crowd, as his bus was just leaving. That left me and Nina. Nina and I are neighbours, which makes it convenient for both of us (I get help with homework and Nina has someone to talk to with her abilities).

 We had 10 minutes left till our bus came, so we continued exchanging complaints about art homework (believe it or not, but Ast is the most artistic out of the trio). 

We walked towards the benches behind the bus stop (because 20 minutes of sitting in the bus still didn't satisfy our legs) while chatting away like normal teenagers. 

Then I saw Violet jogging towards the bus stop and collapse on the bench. I presumed she came from the library as she was holding some books. (duh) She freed the manga that had been sandwiched between 2 thick books, and was in the process of opening it up. 

After checking the situation with Nina who nodded, we continued walking towards the bench that was now occupied by Violet. Completely absorbed in her book, Violet was unaware of who (a.k.a us) was around her.

With some silent argument with my oh-so-lovely-friend-girl (you know who) I (the loser) awkwardly started a conversation. "Ummm...Hi?" I could practically hear Nina's inner laughter and eye roll. (note to self. NEVER start a conversation with a stranger)

But it seemed like I wasn't the only one who was feeling awkward. Violet subconsciously hid her comic book and twirled her earphone around. "He..Hey" A choking silence followed. Violet started looking down and kept twirling an earphone bud, with another still in. Nina coughed which sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "So urr..What are you reading?" Nina continued the awkward conversation. "Ahhh...One Piece." Violet hesitated, but forced herself to reply and looked defensive.

With great timing, I jumped in the extra awkward conversation. "Hey! I like One Piece too!" She turned towards me with a look of surprise. Finally, an area where I'm an expert..."Who's your favourite character? Mine is Zoro." "Trafalgar (D. Water) Law. But I love Zoro as well. I normally hate main characters, but I actually like all the strawhats....wished I had friends like that.."

Nina, who had just finished analysing 'One Piece', dived into the conversation. "I think Nico Robin is really cool. I mean, her ability is really cool and useful?" "Yeah. If I could get a devil-fruit ability, I'd have the Hana-Hana-no-mi (Nico Robin's ability-the 'flower-flower-fruit'. She can 'flower' parts of herself anywhere. Very useful to spy. She also can create clones of herself) What about you guys?" Violet passed on the conversation smoothly. 

Thankfully (and luckily) I already had an answer for that question. "The 'Calm-Calm fruit of Corazon. I could scream at people without them knowing, or make people shut up" (thinking of Ast..) "Or have a quiet space at any time." Nina looked thoughful-ish (she knew who I was talking about, when I mentioned screaming and making them shut up) and Violet nodded. We then looked expectantly at Nina. She collected herself. "I'd like Doflamingo's ability. The String-String fruit." She said calmly.

That Ninz. Or shall we start with NaNa? She was pretending that wasn't a message to me. (she must me proud of herself. Was that a smirk I see?) Sighing inwardly, I focused on Violet (who was discussing Doflamingo with Nina) with my non-covered eye. 

A thin string of yellow had formed between the two, which meant they had good impressions of each other. The string connecting Violet and I was white tinted by pink, yellow and green. 

Perhaps Violet actually liked my company. Hmmmm. "Click!" Nina decided to click her fingers in front of my face while I was thinking over our relationship with Violet. (Rude) "What?" I asked with no small amount of irritation. "The bus is here." She coolly replied. 

Violet also stood up."My bus is here too!" Curious, I asked "What bus do you take?" "16" Nina and I looked at each other. A chance! "US TOO!" Alarmed, Violet looked around.

 Some people around us were chuckling, and failed to stop themselves (trying to be polite). Nina and I blushed. (well, I saw Nina blush, and I felt the blood rush to my face. Not a pleasant feeling)

 "Oh oh...What a coincidence!" Violet tried to ignore that disaster of team work. "Let's just go on the bus, shall we?" Nina efficiently conducted herself "Please." So we awkwardly went on the bus together.