“Oh,” a girl about Emi’s height but much heavier said, running her sleepy gaze over Satomi and Tsubaki before finally settling on Emi. “Hello.”

“Yo!” Emi nodded her head in greeting.

“Let us in, Chie,” Tsubaki demanded. “We’re here to see the boss.”

“Um,” Chie glanced behind her. “Sure.” She stepped aside and, with neither girl seemingly willing to let go of Emi’s arms they had to file through the door sideways to fit into the room properly. One girl sat behind a desk at the end of the room, her long dark hair falling over her shoulder in waves as she spoke with a girl with what Emi decided was a particularly delightful bob cut who was pouring water from an electric kettle into a cup. Both girls looked their way as the three nearly tumbled into the room together.

“Oh, my,” the girl behind the desk said. “What do we have here?”

“I came to introduce the new student,” Satomi spoke up.

“I came for my underwear,” Tsubaki followed up immediately.

“Ah! I got the email about a new student this morning,” the girl behind the desk smiled winsomely, diplomatically choosing to ignore what Tsubaki had said. “Emi Seto, correct?”

“Yup,” Emi nodded.

“My name is Himari Tachibana,” The girl nodded to her. “I’m the President of the Student Council here at Seitosha Sakurai. Please excuse me for not getting up.”

“Pleased to meet you!” Emi lifted one captured hand and waved slightly.

“That is our secretary Riku Watanabe,” she gestured to the girl making tea.

“Gokigenyou,” Riku bowed slightly.

“Sup?” Emi waved the other hand.

“Our Treasurer, Chie Hamasaki,” Himari gestured to the girl who’d let them in who had returned to her lunch.

“Hiyas!” Emi waved both hands back and forth. Chie nodded and smiled sleepily.

“And it seems you’ve already met the Vice President, Tsubaki Fujita,” Himari sighed.

“Yep, yep,” Emi nodded.

“We don’t get too many new students here at Seitosha Sakurai. Most of us have been here since Primary School, so when we do get transfer students, we at the Student Council always want to meet them in person to see if we can help their stay be more enjoyable in any way,” Himari continued with a warm smile.

“Very nice. Delightful,” Emi nodded appreciatively.

“So, tell me, Seto san, I’m curious. What made you want to come to Seitosha Sakurai in the first place?” Himari asked, nodding at Riku in appreciation for the cup of tea she set on the desk in front of her. Satomi shook her head hurriedly, but it was too late.

“Funny story, actually!” Emi grinned like a Cheshire cat. “It turns out my best friend back home is a lesbian, and my mom didn’t want me to be a lesbian, so she shipped me off here.” Satomi sighed and shook her head while the other four merely stared at Emi blankly in silence.

“Isn’t that… interesting,” Himari finally said.

“It’s a story as old as time. Pretty common, really. You know?” Emi shrugged. “Girl meets girl. Girl falls in love with girl. Other girl turns out to be a dirty cheating whore who sleeps with everyone in town. Like, seriously, the birds stopped flying when she got nearby.

“Anyway, “Emi continued,” girl has best friend track cheating gross pig whore girlfriend down to love hotel and walks in on cheater having sex with girl’s own brother. Cue even more angst, as you’ll have, then best friend’s mother finds out girl is gay, has minor aneurysm, and sends her into exile here.”

The silence in the room felt like a physical thing. A wet blanket being thrown over the six of them. The girls glanced at each other surreptitiously, not sure if the new girl was serious or not. Her elfin like, smiling face gave no clear indication one way or the other.

“That sort of thing is common?” Tsubaki muttered. “Am I really that sheltered?”

“I’m confused as to what the funny part is…” Chie asked, her sleepy look now intermixed with something resembling shell shock.

“Exactly that!” Satomi agreed.

“Oh!” Emi giggled. “See, the funny bit is the best friend who was sent here was already a lesbian! She couldn’t catch the gay because she already had it! Irony! Funny! Right?”

“Eh?” Riku managed.

“Talk about the fox in the hen house, eh, ladies?” Emi grinned.