One hour later.

"Fuaaaaahmmm~"

Rimu yawned in the dining room, staring at her uneaten rice.

"What's wrong, Rimu? Are you not getting enough sleep?" Mikoto looked at her curiously.

"Umm, yeah... I suddenly remembered I still had unfinished homework yesterday, so I stayed up all night to complete it."

Rimu gives an excuse nonchalantly. Mikoto replied with "I see." and stopped inquiring further.

Riku was staring at her with meaningful glaze.

'What unfinished homework? You copy mine all the time...
Although we are in different classes, we share the same teachers, and obviously the same homework!'

Riku wanted to retort her words but he decided not to. If he did, there would be another long lecture from their mother which is not a pleasant experience.

His glance met Rimu’s and he saw her smirk at him.

‘This girl...!!’

♦♦♦

 

[Kusanagi City - District C Road]

After breakfast, they went to their school together, to Kusanagi Elementary School.

Elementary school students didn't have any uniform restrictions. Only after they became Junior High School students did they have to wear one. As such, they set off in casual clothes.

Rimu walked behind Riku, observing her surroundings with nostalgia.

'Fifteen years and everything became so different... That Nakata household will have moved away 3 years later because of a fire. That shopping district will go bankrupt because of newly constructed convenience store 5 years later...'

She noted the changes in her mind. Riku, who keep silent until now, asked Rimu curiously, causing her to snap out from her thoughts.

"Hey, Rimu? Can you tell me what you were doing secretly?"

"Hmm? What do you mean, Riku? Ah... about earlier, huh?"

She pondered but quickly understood what he meant. Riku nodded.

As twins, they somehow understood each other quickly. This is why Riku could sense something was off about her quite accurately, although he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Yeah... is it something you can't tell?"

"Hmm, is not like that... Well, it's quite troublesome to explain. Let's just say, it's a surprise."

Rimu says as she started to think.

'I could explain my plan, however I haven't prepared the words to explain it. If I speak carelessly, there is a high chance that Riku could salvage some of my classified secret!

There is no way I can explain time travel to him. Even if I did explain, it would end up revealing all my dark secrets as well, including my inferiority complex towards him. That won't do. Riku is the last person I want to know about my weaknesses!'

Hearing Rimu's answer, Riku stopped asking and kept walking.

"Hee~? Then I'll refrain from asking." 

'Everyone has secrets they don’t want anyone to know. I shouldn't force her... Is this the so called puberty?'

With these thoughts in the twins’ minds, they silently walked towards a road intersection. Suddenly a voice called out to them. They looked towards the source of the voice, another boy with the same age greeted them with a smile.

"Yo!! Riku, Rimu-chan! Chiwaa~su...!"

Riku: "Good morning, Kouta."

Rimu: "Chiwaa~su...!"

Riku, "..." 'What the ? is that greeting!? ...I feel my IQ is dropping everytime I hear it.’

Riku become speechless after hearing that greeting. He could only sighed helplessly.

"Could you please stop using such a weird greeting, Kouta?"

The boy was their childhood friend, Kousaka Kouta. He was the same age as the twins and hung out with them from first grade.

Rimu: "Eeeh~ Isn't it fine? It's kinda cute. Ne~"

Kouta: "Yeah, Rimu-chan is right. Riku's taste is just too weird. Ne~"

Riku: "..." Huh, am I the one who is weird? ....Whatever, I don't care anymore!

The three of them walked together to school. From the side, it looked like a harem, one boy accompanied by two cute girls, one with short hair and another with long hair. Though, one of the girls was actually male.

The trio amassed lots of glances on their way, especially Riku. A petite, adorable short haired 'girl', wearing boyish looking short jeans. The contrast was noticeable even among the crowd of children passing by. Since Riku was used to this sort of glance, he just casually ignored them and kept on walking.

"So, what do you think about the movie I recommended you last week? It is a cool movie, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah... It is cool, though I can't agree with the conclusion. Why did the villain turned out to be Red's imouto."

Riku and Kouta were engrossed in discussing the tokusatsu movie.

Rimu, who didn't watch tokusatsu could only feel left out.

"I have no idea at all what you two are having a discussion about..."

"Ah, sorry Rimu-chan. We didn't mean to leave you behind... You see, we are talking about Prism Ranger. After the Red..."

Kouta tried to explain, but Rimu interjected.

"Stop! No spoiler, okay! I'll watch it later." Rimu pouted.

"Oh, okay..." Kouta seemed disappointed but he quickly started to talk to Riku again.

Rimu increased the distance from the two and observed them quietly.

'Kouta... He said he had a crush on me, but in the end he left me behind when my appearance became ugly in senior high.'

She sighed heavily. Her gaze turned to indifference. Even those so-called friends can betray the moment when you let your guard down.

'The crush is a fat-lie. His words should never be trusted.'

Rimu clenched her fist while thinking about that. In this life, she won't fall for the same tricks again!

A few moments later, they arrived to the school.

Riku was placed in a different classroom so they have to part ways. He walked to classroom 5-1, while Rimu and Kouta went to theirs, classroom 5-5.

"Ok then, I am going to my class. See you later, Rimu... Kouta."

"Um, See you, Riku."  "Later~"

From 1st grade to 4th grade, Riku and Rimu always went to the same class. However, in 5th grade, their classes separated. After this, they started to drift apart, and eventually their relationship turned sour.

"Heh, now we're alone, right Rimu-chan?" Kouta laughed.

"Shut up, let's go to class." Rimu spat out coldly.

Only with Kouta did Rimu reveal her real personality, arrogant and scheming. Though, in front of other people, she maintained her good girl facade even in front of her parents.

However, only in front of Kouta, she could act like this.

A wolf in a loli's clothing!

Though, in her past life, Rimu had screwed up badly, revealing this bad side of her, resulting loss of allies and friends.

The two of them entered class 5-5 and sat down at their desks.

"Good morning, Rimu-chan."

A girl with fuwafuwa atmosphere entered the classroom. She walked directly in Rimu's direction and greeted her with a smile. Rimu snapped from her reminiscence and looked at the source of the sound. She instantly recognized the girl, Nakamura Nia. She was one of Rimu's besties since 2nd grade.

"Mmm, Chiwaa~su!"

Nia: "...Um, chiwaa~su!" She said in a low whisper.

Nia's smile stiffened and she awkwardly responded with the same greeting. She took her seat in front of Rimu and put her backpack down. In her mind, she cursed whoever invented that greeting. It felt silly no matter how she heard it. And just now, she heard it from Rimu's mouth.

'Who the hell taught that stupid greeting to my cute Rimu-chan?! I want to beat him to death...'

Kouta: '...Why did I feel a chill just now?'