Subaru-kun in Wonderland
By Kristin Huntsman
The alarm got the day off to a sudden start. Subaru stretched and got out of bed. He moved to his dresser, then glanced suspiciously at his sheets. Today, however, they remained still. Subaru breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out his school clothes. At least Hokuto-chan and Seishirou-san weren't trying to play games with him this morning.
Which was just as well, as Subaru suddenly noticed that his clock had woken him up nearly an hour late.
"WAAAHH!!"
Subaru rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he grabbed a piece of toast, put butter and jam on it, and ate it in a record three seconds.
"SUBARU!!!" Hokuto's voice cried out as she ran down the stairs. "We're late!!"
"I know! You grab something to eat and find the keys! I'll get our books!" So saying, Subaru started a frantic search for the satchels he clearly remembered placing by the front door the previous night. He found them underneath the coffee table.
"I'll get the door!" Hokuto cried as Subaru ran out the door, handing his sister's satchel to her on the way out.
Why were both of our clocks set so late? Subaru wondered as he ran slowly enough for Hokuto to catch up.
Footsteps sounded lightly behind him. "Hurry up, Subaru!" Hokuto urged as she passed him.
Subaru stared. "Ho- Hokuto-chan?!" he gasped, losing his step and stumbling slightly. She had been dressed in her school uniform... hadn't she?
"You're supposed to be in your uniform!" he cried, speeding up to try to catch his twin.
Hokuto's rainbow-colored skirts fluttered around her black bodysuit, silk scarves caught by the breeze. She looked over her shoulder as she ran. "Hurry up, Subaru-kun!" she urged again. Her high-heeled granny boots picked up their pace just as Subaru began to close the distance between them.
"Hokuto-chan!!" Subaru cried once more, flushing with embarrassment.
Hokuto's white rabbit tail and ears winked at Subaru in the sun as they ran on. Subaru sighed.
Fifty feet from the school, and fifteen minutes late, Hokuto disappeared from Subaru's sight as she rounded the last corner. Subaru raced around the corner, hoping to finally catch up--
-- and fell into an open manhole.
Or, at least, Subaru thought it was a manhole.
After thirty seconds of falling, though, he became somewhat less sure of that.
Subaru-kun in Wonderland
As Subaru fell, terrified, for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably closer to ten minutes, he found himself wishing only one thing: that he hadn't gotten out of bed that morning.
Had Hokuto also fallen through the hole? Subaru didn't know, and just wanted to stop falling downwards.
With a soft bump, he did.
Subaru cautiously opened his eyes after a few seconds, and found himself sitting in a sunny green meadow, near a large oak tree. He breathed a sigh of relief that he was alive, and looked around him in wonder. He stood, somewhat shakily, and walked over to the tree, where he slumped to the ground again.
"Good morning," a low voice greeted him, purring into his ear. Subaru would have jumped, except for the claws that threaded through the fabric of his uniform and lightly touched his skin. He settled for nervously turning his head to face his attacker.
The beautiful golden eyes of a tawny cat-woman greeted him. She affectionately swiped her rough tongue over the bridge of Subaru's nose. "What's your name?" she purred into his ear as Subaru stared at her.
"Su- Sumeragi Subaru," Subaru managed to nervously stutter.
"So cute..." she purred, one lightly furred hand running through Subaru's hair as her tongue caressed his ear.
Subaru broke away with a start and scrambled to his feet, backing away.
"Myau?" the cat-woman asked questioningly, looking disappointed.
Panicked as he was, Subaru couldn't help noticing her clothes and blushing furiously. "Wh- what's your name?" he managed to ask nontheless.
"I'm Cheshire," she replied, lying down on her branch of the tree. Her red-gold curls drifted down to play with the breeze. "Why do you ask?" She shifted so that Subaru had a nice view of her breasts underneath the near-translucent material of her tiger-striped catsuit. Her tail moved lazily back and forth.
"Where am I, Cheshire-san?" Subaru asked, trying to force his blushing to die down by ignoring Cheshire's more... revealing... points.
"The meadow," Cheshire replied, idly scratching claws along the bark on the underside of her branch.
"Ummm... where is the meadow?" Subaru asked, hoping for more information.
"Here."
Subaru was considering whether or not Cheshire indeed knew where she was when she beckoned him closer with a nicely kept hand (paw? Subaru wasn't sure.) Having nothing better to do, Subaru moved back towards the tree. "You're not asking the right questions," Cheshire confided softly, her claws catching the coat of Subaru's uniform and pulling him closer. Her breath caressed his ear as she whispered, "But I'll give you your answers anyway. This place is Wonderland."
Cheshire pushed herself off the branch and landed above Subaru as he fell to the ground with her. "Myau!" she said happily, proceeding to roughly run her tongue over Subaru's face like an anxious kitten. Subaru relaxed. Then she started moving her body against his, rubbing her chest against his, as well as her lower torso.
Subaru promptly freaked.
"What are you doing?!" he demanded, struggling against Cheshire, which just made her myau again in pleasure.
She kissed him.
Subaru went still in shock, which enabled him to hear the footsteps running across the meadow.
"Hi, Subaru-kun!" Hokuto cried as she lept over him and Cheshire.
"Hokuto-chan!" Subaru cried, breaking away from Cheshire and scrambling out of his coat, as she didn't seem to be inclined to let go of it. He ran after Hokuto as she disappeared into the woods.
(Never) End Part 1
Okay, the first part of what is supposed to be a four-parter. Based partly on the Miyuki-chan manga, but mostly on the Miyuki-chan anime.
Subaru stumbled through the trees, gasping for breath. He finally stumbled over an exposed root and fell to the ground. "HOKUTO-CHAN!!" he cried out.
There was no answer save for the distant singing of birds from somewhere in the high tree-tops.
Subaru-kun in Wonderland
Subaru slowly walked through the dense trees, studying the ground to see if he could follow his twin's footsteps. So intent was he upon his task that he didn't notice the two figures moving from tree to tree, following him.
So cute, thought one to the other.
Indeed, my darling, the other thought back. Can we play with him?
Yes. He's so bishounen that it will be more than worth our while to stop him.
Subaru paused as something tugged at his senses. Something wasn't quite right... but what? Subaru frowned, then suddenly gasped and dropped to the ground.
Somethings swooped down from overhead, moving past him at lightning speed.
Subaru reached inside his left shirt arm as he looked up, feeling the stiff pieces of parchment with his fingertips. He never went anywhere without them, not even school; it was part of his training.
He saw two young men, probably of his own age, standing before him. They faced each other, though they looked at him, their arms raised at the elbows, their hands held palms together. The two of them seemed identical in face and body; black hair, violet eyes, and a beautiful slenderness. But--and here Subaru swallowed--from the back of the one to his right sprung a pair of white downy wings. His counterpart on Subaru's left had a pair of black sinewy bat wings. Together, they smiled at Subaru.
"I am White Kamui," said the one with the angel's wings.
"And I am Black Kamui," said the one with bat's wings.
"What is your name?" they asked together.
"Su- Sumeragi Subaru," Subaru replied, getting to his knees. He let his hand fall away from his cuff; they didn't seem like they were going to hurt him. But he remained on his guard.
"You're cute, Subaru," White Kamui replied, breaking away from his twin to walk towards Subaru.
"Excuse me, but have you seen my sister?" Subaru asked as the boy with the angel's wings knelt before him.
White Kamui tilted his head to the side for a second, appearing to both think and examine Subaru at the same time. "No," he replied.
Subaru sighed in resignation. Was he ever going to catch up to Hokuto?
Subaru started as White Kamui's hand gently caressed his face. "You're so cute," White Kamui breathed into his ear.
"So very cute," Black Kamui agreed, kneeling behind Subaru. His hands lightly began to run up and down Subaru's body.
"Wh- what are you doing?!" Subaru demanded.
"Oh, nothing..." Black Kamui whispered into Subaru's left ear as White Kamui began to kiss Subaru's neck. His arms moved around Subaru from behind and he began to run light, sensitive fingertips up and down Subaru's chest. "Just enjoy it," he breathed.
"Let me go!!" Subaru demanded, struggling to get away from the two Kamuis.
White Kamui broke his kiss to Subaru's neck. "He likes it rough..." he said to his double. "Shall we oblige him?"
"Whatever you like, my darling," replied Black Kamui softly. Suddenly they vanished.
Subaru looked around warily. He knew the two hadn't gone, and didn't trust what their final words had been. 'Likes it rough'?! As Subaru tried to calm his breathing, his rattling brains, and his wild heartbeat, the meaning of that started to soak through him, and he turned bright red.
The earth around him began to rumble, them burst apart, large chunks of dirt and rock flying upwards. Subaru yelped in surprise, dodging out of the way. White bolts of lightning lashed after him as the twin Kamuis hovered in the air above him, expressions of ecstatic glee crossing their faces as the trees around Subaru exploded and the air set itself on fire. "Stop it!" he cried, pulling the slips of paper out of his sleeve and sending them flying towards the two with a practiced motion. A simple three-word command activated the spells scribed on the paper, and they changed into attacking white birds.
White Kamui smiled and moved his hand in a simple sweeping motion before him.
The birds exploded into a burst of white feathers that drifted for an instant, then were caught up in the explosion of fire that came after Subaru, burning into crisps. Subaru yelped and held up his hands before him, in an instinctive defense of himself.
As the flames crashed down around him, the first things to get burned away were his gloves.
The flames paused and were flung back tenfold at their casters from the pure wave of force that emanated from the twin stars on the backs of Subaru's hands.
The two Kamuis dodged nimbly out of the way and stared at the glowing stars of blood and fire.
"Sakurazukamori..." said Black Kamui, his eyes wide.
"We can't play with him, then," White Kamui replied, sounding disappointed. "Damn! It was just starting to get interesting!"
"Agreed," said Black Kamui, with a sigh. "I suppose we'll just have to find someone else if Sakurazukamori has prior claims to this bishounen."
Subaru looked up warily as he realized that the twins had departed, and he was alone once more. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the smoking earth around him. That had been close.
"My gloves..." Subaru said softly as he held his bare hands up before him. He never went without gloves. He even slept in them. He felt too... vulnerable without them. But in this strange place, where was he going to find another pair? Subaru sighed and stood up, walking hesitantly forward.
"Hokuto-chan!" he suddenly remembered and ran forward, pursuing a direction that seemed as likely as any other to lead him to his twin.
(Never) End Part 2
Okay, a scene between two (or three ^^ !) bishounen. Even though the Kamuis were VERY un-Kamui-ish, this is Miyuki-chan parody, remember. It wouldn't be as much FUN if they behaved like the real Kamui! Now, on to do the dishes! And then - more fanfix!
Hmmm... having decided on the format of this story (namely, exactly who the hell is getting put into the final two parts,) I must go forward! Only characters from CLAMP animes appear herein (not counting CLAMP in Wonderland, because it consists of 1001 cameos.) Now, to jack up the volume on "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and type...
Subaru paused for a second, leaning against a tree to try to get his breath back. As the day had gone on in Wonderland, it had become almost unbearably hot, and running around in a school uniform wasn't helping Subaru cool off any.
"At least I lost my coat..." Subaru murmured to himself, then winced as he remembered that he'd have to buy a new one.
Well, none of this was helping him find his sister.
Subaru sighed and closed his eyes, promising himself that he'd look for Hokuto some more once he'd cooled off a little.
A soft fluttering of wings was the only hint Subaru had that he wasn't alone as a soft breeze gently blew against his face. He opened his eyes.
A pretty little pink-and-blue thing smiled at him as she hovered on her wings in front of Subaru. Subaru held his breath. A fairy?!
Carefully, Subaru moved his hand to underneath her. The fairy smiled at him and gently landed on his open palm. She weighed no more than a feather. "What's your name?" Subaru breathed, not wanting to scare her off.
"I'm Prymaera," the fairy said brightly. "Who are you?"
"Sumeragi Subaru," Subaru replied. "Thank you for the breeze."
"You're welcome," Prymaera responded. "You're cute."
Subaru gently moved her closer to him, wanting to get a closer look at the first fairy he'd seen. Prymaera giggled and flew closer, kissing Subaru on the nose. "If only you weren't so big..." she lamented. Then her expression brightened. "Come on!" she said, flying away from Subaru.
"Wait, Prymaera-san!" Subaru cried, and scrambled to his feet, running after the rapidly vanishing figure of the tiny fairy.
Subaru-kun in Wonderland
Subaru stumbled to a halt in the middle of a field of flowers, having lost sight of Prymaera completely.
"Ow!" A tiny voice made its way to Subaru's ears. "Get off of me!"
Subaru looked down and hastily stepped back when he saw that his foot had accidently trapped a tiny woman into a slight hollow of the ground.
"Umi-chan! Are you all right?!" Another tiny woman emerged from the surrounding flowers and ran to help the first.
"Umi-san!" A third tiny person appeared and rushed towards the first two.
"I'm fine," Umi replied. "No thanks to him!" She glared accusingly at Subaru.
"I'm sorry- that is, I didn't see you. I didn't mean to step on you," Subaru replied awkwardly, kneeling down carefully to avoid hurting any of the three. "I'm Sumeragi Subaru. Who are you, please?" he asked.
"I'm Ryuuzaki Umi," the tiny blue-haired one that Subaru had almost squashed replied, busily brushing off her blue skirts. She reminded Subaru of some kind of flower, the way she was dressed. A violet, perhaps? But definitely not a shy violet....
"I'm Shidou Hikaru!" the red-haired one replied brightly. Her costume was easier to place. She was definitely dressed like a poppy.
"And I'm Hououji Fuu," the third said quietly. She was wearing the soft yellow petals of a buttercup.
"Excuse me, but have you seen my sister?" Subaru asked.
"HI-I-KA-A-R-U!" a voice cut over his as a fourth tiny person flew into view. She landed on top of the tiny red poppy-girl and they tumbled to the ground together, the new one ending up on top. She enthusiastically and happily hugged and kissed Hikaru, despite the muffled protests of the latter, who was busily squirming, trying to get away.
"No, I don't think we've seen anyone else of your size recently..." Fuu said, quietly ignoring Hikaru and the newcomer.
"She's Nova," Umi said, pointing to the girl dressed in a bright pink poppy costume identical to Hikaru's, and answering Subaru's unspoken question. "She likes Hikaru."
"I see..." Subaru replied, watching as Nova somehow managed to keep removing piece after piece of Hikaru's clothing despite Hikaru's struggles.
"Nova! Don't- stop that! Give me my skirt back!" Hikaru wailed.
Nova giggled and pressed her hand between Hikaru's bare legs. Subaru flushed as Hikaru gasped in pleasure, then started struggling again.
"They're so noisy..." Fuu observed. Subaru turned his head back to her and Umi, and discovered that while he'd been watching Nova and Hikaru, Umi and Fuu had removed each other's tops and were massaging each other's....
Subaru swallowed and turned bright red. "Excuse me, I have to go!" he blurted, stumbling to his feet and running away.
A half mile away, still in the middle of the flower field, and having no sight of the forest that bordered it, Subaru found a table. On the table was a teapot and a cup.
A little red heart with wings fluttered down out of the sky and into Subaru's hands. He held it up and read it.
"Drink me?" he wondered, watching as the heart fluttered away again.
As if in response to his words, the teapot and teacup moved. The teapot began to pour hot tea into the waiting cup, which then moved to hover above Subaru's hands. Not knowing what else to do, Subaru opened his hands and let the cup settle into them, then raised it to his lips and took a sip. Subaru set the cup back down on the table.
And suddenly the world got a lot bigger.
"WAAAAHHH!!!" Subaru yelled as the flowers that hadn't reached to his knees suddenly grew to stretch yards above him.
"Hello, Subaru-san!" a voice called that seemed familiar to Subaru. Subaru looked up, and on a leaf of a flower, he saw a glass teapot, inside of which were three women, one of whom he recognized.
"Pry- Prymaera-san?!"
(Never) End Part 3
To be continued.... And I had to get "Anemone" in there somewhere. According to Webster's... an anemone can be "any of a large genus (Anemone) of the buttercup family..." (heeheehee) So next (probably tomorrow,) to a mailing list near you, comes the conclusion of this story... the tea party, the White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts, give or take on all terms....
Ahhh... having just gotten off from a stimulating 9 1/2 hours of menial labor at slave wages, I now sit down before a blank screen, and prepare to type in the final installment in what started as my apology to the mailing list, and which has somehow ended up as a Christmas present to everyone instead. If anyone listens to Pat Benetar's music, perhaps you will recognize the following line. For some reason, it has always made me think of Seishirou, particulary when I have the volume turned up really loud so that the line is just screamed out.... "You're the right kind of sinner to release my inner fantasy." Anyone agree with me on that line fitting Seishirou?
With a wave of her hand, one of the women sitting in the transparent teapot conjured Subaru inside. "Good afternoon, Subaru-san," she said. "Prymaera has been telling us about you." She had long golden hair and wore loose robes that looked far too loose for Subaru's comfort. A red hat perched rakishly on her head, with a "10/6" sign stuck into the brim.
"We're so glad you could join us!" said the other that Subaru didn't recognize. She was dark-skinned, and wore only a swimsuit. A particularly revealing bikini, at that. Subaru forced down his blushing by looking anywhere instead of her body. Her short pink hair was broken through by a pair of mouse ears.
"Don't forget me, Subaru-san!" a giggly voice said as the third person perched herself on Subaru's lap, curling her arms and body around him. "You're JUST the right size, now!" Prymaera declared, snuggling her soft body to Subaru's.
Subaru's instinct was to bolt, but instead he just wiggled uncomfortably. "Ummm... Prymaera-san..." he started.
"Oh, where are my manners?!" Prymaera declared, sitting bolt upright all of a sudden. "I haven't introduced you yet. This is Puresea," she said, pointing at the hatted girl. "And this is Caldena." She pointed at the mouse-girl who was adjusting her top. "And you already know me...." She melted back into Subaru's body, her fingertips drawing designs on his chest.
Subaru looked at her soft brown rabbit ears and matching tail, and sighed. This world was getting weirder by the minute. "Please, have you seen my sister?" Subaru asked, the question prompted by the sight of Prymaera in rabbit ears and tail, just like Hokuto.
Caldena and Puresea looked at each other for a second, then turned back to Subaru, shaking their heads. "No," Puresea said. Prymaera just breathed happily and tried to become even closer to him, running her nails over his thighs.
Subaru-kun in Wonderland
"Subaru-kun!" Subaru heard a giant, but familiar, voice calling his name, and looked up to the sky in time to see her run by.
"Hokuto-chan!" Subaru gasped, standing up and staring in the direction his twin had taken. Prymaera mewled in disapproval of being so suddenly dumped on her rear, but lost all thoughts of revenge when she realized that Subaru was distracted and she could easily take advantage of that....
From out of wherever Tinkerbell and her ilk tend to keep such things, Prymaera whipped out a pair of scissors and began to apply them to the seams of Subaru's trousers.
Puresea sighed, watching the scene, and poured a cup of hot tea for Subaru. "Here," she said, handing it to him. "Drink."
"Why?" Subaru asked.
"It will make you large again," Puresea patiently explained, and watched as Subaru swallowed the entire cup in one gulp. She instantly transported him out of the teapot, and he exploded back into his normal size, and took off running after his sister.
"We didn't get to play with him at all!" Caldena complained to Puresea. Prymaera ignored both of them, and rubbed Subaru's pants between her legs, her eyes closed as she moaned in happiness.
"Maybe next time..." Puresea soothed. "And until then, you always have me...." She reached a hand to cup Caldena's breast, and smiled a promise at her.
Subaru followed his sister, and this time didn't lose her. "Where are we going?!" he cried out to her as they entered the forest again.
"We're late!" Hokuto cried out. "We'll miss getting into the castle!"
"Castle?" Subaru wondered, as they entered a series of neatly-trimmed hedges that were set up like a maze. Hokuto navigated them unerringly, and the two found themself at the shut gate of a castle.
"Darn it..." Hokuto mumbled, and pulled a pink cord that hung near the door. "I knew we'd miss the gate!"
"Excuse me," a soft voice said, "but do you have an appointment?"
Subaru looked up to see a pretty golden-haired girl, dressed in a maid's outfit, apparently part of the door, leaning out of it towards them.
"I'm Sumeragi Hokuto," Hokuto announced, "and this is my brother Subaru. We're invited to the ball."
"Ba- ball?!" Subaru asked, startled. It was the first he'd heard of any such thing.
"May I see your invitations, please?" the door-girl asked.
"Subaru has our invitation," Hokuto said, latching onto her brother's arm and pulling him towards the door.
"May I see your hands, please?" the girl asked Subaru. Subaru nervously extended them towards her. She studied the backs of his hands for a second, then brightened. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't realize you were the special guest, sir!"
"Special guest?" Subaru wondered out loud. The door-girl set her arms around him and pulled him close to her, hugging him into her cleavage. "WAAAHH!!"
Suddenly Subaru found himself on the other side of the door.
Hokuto arrived a second later. "What a nice girl!" she exclaimed, then paused and looked at Subaru. "Aren't you a little under-dressed for the ball?" she asked.
Subaru looked down at himself. "WAAAHH!!"
"Oh well. At least you still have your boxers and shirt..." Hokuto said with a sigh. She grabbed Subaru's hand and started running again. "And we're still late!!"
Hokuto ran through the halls of the castle as easily as she had found her way through the hedges outside, leading them directly to the center. Subaru stumbled along behind her, still blushing furiously from his state of semi-undress. Finally, they reached the last door, and Hokuto stopped.
"Is this it?" Subaru asked.
"Uh-huh!" Hokuto nodded vigorously. Then she opened the door and pushed Subaru in before her.
The room was open and airy, and had no roof. It was a garden room, at least a mile long and equally wide. "This is where the ball is?" Subaru wondered.
"Yep!" Hokuto said proudly. "Come on, let's go greet our host!" She grabbed Subaru's arm again and pulled him down one of the paths, not letting him pause at the bridge to look at the koi resting beneath it, as she usually did when they were at a garden. "He should be in the cherry tree grove."
Subaru gasped as they came into the clearing that the flowering cherry trees surrounded. "Sei- Seishirou-san?!"
"Well, who else do we know who would invite us to a ball?" Hokuto asked, then flew to Seishirou with her arms wide open, catching him in an enthusiastic hug. "Sei-chan!"
"Hello, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said, setting her back down on the ground. "I'm so glad you could make it."
"It's been so much fun getting here," Hokuto responded, then fell into an appealingly cute pout. "Even if Subaru DID keep getting lost!"
"Ah, Subaru-kun, welcome," greeted Seishirou, extending his hand to Subaru. "You had trouble getting here? I'll have to provide you with a map next time, then. Or perhaps a better guide," he added, gently tweaking Hokuto's nose as he smiled at her. Hokuto giggled.
"Um, no, there was no trouble at all," Subaru said nervously. "Just a few things that threw me off-track...."
"Well, you're here now," Seishirou decided. "I hope you are enjoying the ball?"
"I'm going to go look at the goldfish!" Hokuto announced, and merrily skipped down the path leading towards the goldfish pond.
"Hokuto-chan--!" Subaru cried, wanting to warn her to be careful.
"It's all right, Subaru-kun," Seishirou said, moving to stand next to Subaru as they both looked after Hokuto. "It's perfectly safe here. There's no one here but us."
"A ball with no people?" Subaru wondered, looking up at Seishirou.
Seishirou took off his glasses. "No one but us," he breathed, before touching his lips to Subaru's. His arms tightened around Subaru and held him tight as Subaru tried to jerk away. When he did break away, it was only to guide Subaru down to the ground.
"Sei- Seishirou-san!" Subaru protested.
Seishirou blocked his protest with a fiercer kiss, his body trapping Subaru to the ground as his hands unbuttoned Subaru's shirt and then pushed it off his shoulders. He ended the kiss only to take Subaru's hands in his and guide them to his mouth, gently tasting the back of each.
Subaru nearly yelped, but bit his tongue instead, he was so startled. What was Seishirou-san doing?!
"Subaru..." Seishirou breathed, returning to kissing him on his lips. Seishirou's hands reached inside of Subaru's boxers....
The alarm got the day off to a sudden start. Subaru stretched and got out of bed. He had had the weirdest dreams last night, dreams of running and falling and going to a ball, and meeting all these strange people.... Subaru shook his head. What a weird dream.
Subaru looked at his clock and noticed that it had woken him up nearly an hour late.
"WAAAHH!!"
Subaru rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he grabbed a piece of toast, put butter and jam on it, and ate it in a record three seconds.
"SUBARU!!!" Hokuto's voice cried out as she ran down the stairs. "We're late!!"
"I know! You grab something to eat and find the keys! I'll get our books!" So saying, Subaru started a frantic search for the satchels he clearly remembered placing by the front door the previous night. He found them underneath the coffee table.
"I'll get the door!" Hokuto cried as Subaru ran out the door, handing his sister's satchel to her on the way out.
Why were our clocks set so late? Subaru wondered as he ran slowly enough for Hokuto to catch up.
Footsteps sounded lightly behind him. "We're late, Subaru!" Hokuto cried as she passed him.
Subaru stared. "Ho- Hokuto-chan?!" he gasped, losing his step and stumbling slightly. She had been dressed in her school uniform... hadn't she?
"You're supposed to be in your uniform!" he cried, speeding up to try to catch his twin.
Hokuto's rainbow-colored skirts fluttered around her black bodysuit, silk scarves caught by the breeze. She looked over her shoulder as she ran. "Hurry up, Subaru-kun!" she urged. Her high-heeled granny boots picked up their pace just as Subaru began to close the distance between them.
"Hokuto-chan!!" Subaru cried once more, flushing with embarrassment.
End(less)