She had never seen anyone like Ayase Eli before. It wasn't just how she towered physically over the rest of their year, or that her shimmering blonde hair was a rare sight to behold in the country. No, it was her unwavering confidence, her icy personality, the way she never let anyone push her around. It was impossible not to admire her.

When Eli spoke, she commanded attention. She was driven and goal-oriented, something that Nozomi admired and aspired towards. On the other hand, she wasn't all that driven herself. Instead, she tended to stick to her own little bubble, reading her novels and trying her best to remain unnoticed. Whenever someone did recognize her presence, it never tended to end well, so she learned to hide from the spotlight.

Her lone friend was Yazawa Nico, the complete opposite of Eli physically but similar in how they held themselves up with so much self-assurance. She liked to call Nico her reality check, as she seemed to always be perceptive enough to notice the changes in Nozomi's moods and let her know what was on her mind. It was often blunt, but she was thankful for it regardless.

"You're staring again," Nico murmured without looking up from her lunch, and Nozomi again wondered how Nico could so easily tell when her eyes were lingering on the blonde beauty. It was hard to look away, but she forced herself to instead cast her gaze on her friend, trying her best to play off the accusation.

"How do you know? You're not even looking."

"You've been constantly staring for days now." Nico looked up and rolled her eyes, resting her elbow on the table as she leaned in. "Don't bother, Nozomi. I've heard she's a real ice queen. I doubt she'd even give you the time of day."

"You don't know that." Those words felt hollow, though. The way those eyes seemed to pierce through anyone they set themselves upon, Nozomi found it hard to disprove Nico's words. There was something about her that kept Nozomi fixated on her though. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to Eli or be Eli: maybe both. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to move out of her comfort zone and speak to someone. She wanted to befriend Eli.

It was tough to gather up the courage to speak to her. Even someone with a stout constitution might shy away from those frigid blue eyes, and Nozomi never professed to being very outgoing. At that moment, Eli stood up and started to walk out of the cafeteria, right where Nozomi and Nico were sitting. Her heart immediately started to race as her breath caught in her throat.

"Try not to suffocate," Nico muttered rather unhelpfully as Nozomi ran through the various amounts of conversation starters she could try. How was her day going? What did she think of their most recent math lesson? Even a simple 'hi' was thrown into consideration. As the quiet but somehow extraordinarily noticeable footsteps drew closer, she found herself in complete panic mode. What was she supposed to say?

"Y-You're really intimidating!" Wait, no, that was terrible. She might as well have swore at her. Face turning red in utter mortification, she looked up, only to see a critical lack of blonde. Whipping around, she saw one of Eli's shoes disappear as she left, having already been beyond earshot by the time Nozomi ended up sputtering nonsense. Nico looked like she was going to have an aneurysm from trying not to laugh, but gave in and fell off her chair in a fit of hysterics after Nozomi pouted at her. "N-Nicocchi!"

"Oh my god, Nozomi, what the hell was that?"

"I-I don't know!" She really didn't. At least Eli hadn't heard that, but now her chance to actually say something was gone. With a sigh, she hid her head in her arms and stared at the darkness.

"Why do you want to talk to her so bad anyway? With friends like her, who'd need enemies?"

"I just... think she's amazing."

People didn't really talk to Eli. This was something Nozomi was beginning to notice, though admittedly she didn't spend every waking moment around her. Whenever she would sneak a glance of the blonde in the hall, she always seemed to go full Moses and part any group of students in the vicinity. Considering how talented, smart, and beautiful she was, Nozomi was confused as to why no one was ever hanging around Eli.

Maybe everybody was just as intimated as she was. It would take someone with a lot of self-confidence to make the first move, something that Nozomi severely lacked. Usually she would go to Nico for help, but she was pretty insistent that talking to Eli was a worthless venture, so Nozomi stopped bringing it up.

Still, the idea of friendship would continue to pop up in her mind throughout the day, and as they neared a month into the semester, she finally decided that it was time to pluck up her courage and talk to Eli. It was easier said than done.

Her first chance was during class, but it wasn't right. With a bunch of other students there as well, Nozomi couldn't do it in front of all of them. The fear that Eli would deny her the attention and everybody would laugh at her was too terrifying to even try. Then there was lunch, but that ended up futile as well, for she knew that even wandering near Eli's table would end up with everyone's eyes on them, and then she'd be back to the original fear that was weighing her down.

By the time the final bell rung, Nozomi felt utterly defeated. Every attempt failed before it could even begin, leaving her to trudge to the stairs with her head hung low. As she neared the stairs, she was shocked to see a familiar head of blonde hair in her sight. Eli was heading for the stairs as well, though she had a bit of lead, and there was no one else around.

This was it: her chance to try and start a conversation with the girl that had fascinated her for nearly a month without anyone around to belittle her attempt. What did she have to lose, besides any remnants of self-worth should Eli decide to ignore her? She broke into a run, nearly flying down the stairs as she grabbed the railing for balance. "W-Wait, Ayase-san!"

Eli stopped at the sound of her voice, turning around and fixing her with a cold stare. Nozomi froze in an instant, her mouth going dry as she tried to force more words out. Instead, she remained silent, and the silence surrounded them until Eli became the one to break it. "Do you need something, Toujou?"

"A-Ah, well..." This was probably the right time to do anything but stammer like an idiot. She had already gotten Eli's attention, so there really wasn't any chance of turning back now. "I... Why does no one talk to you?" Uh oh. Nozomi gasped and covered her mouth, but the damage had been done. Eli narrowed her eyes, causing Nozomi to flinch as she desperately tried to make amends. "I-I'm sorry, th-that wasn't what I meant-"

"Then what did you mean?"

"Ah..." She really had not meant to ask that. What a stupid question.

"I choose who I talk to, Toujou." Eli's voice was as icy as her eyes, cutting right through Nozomi. "If I don't want to talk to them, then I don't."

"But you're talking to me."

"Eh?" That made Eli falter somewhat, but Nozomi wasn't much better, as she had no idea why she'd said that either. There were signals getting mixed up in her brain, causing her to speak things that she definitely would have been better off leaving as thoughts.

"You're talking to me right now, aren't you? Does that mean you want to talk to me?"

"You... You stopped me on my way home. I didn't have much choice." Eli folded her arms and stared at Nozomi, but didn't make any move to end the conversation and continue on her way home. Nozomi had no idea why, but she needed to keep it alive if she wanted any chance of being friends with the blonde.

"You could've just ignored me." Okay, no need to point out what she should've done.

"That would be rude."

"So you didn't want to be rude?"

"That's right."

"Then you can walk me home, right?"

"E-Eh?!" Now Nozomi really had no idea what she was doing. This was not how she talked at all. Then again, there weren't many people she talked to besides Nico, so maybe she just needed the opportunity, and now it was presenting itself. Somehow it seemed to be working, as she had caught the cool and clever Eli off-guard.

"It would be really nice, wouldn't it? I don't have anyone else to walk me home." At least for today, that was true. Nico hadn't been at school that day, which meant she would end up walking home alone. It was a lonely walk without her best friend, and now she was standing on the stairwell, asking someone she in all honesty hardly knew to walk her home. She was even smiling without meaning to.

"I... guess it couldn't hurt." Eli seemed a bit unsure, but she actually accepted, much to Nozomi's surprise. Her legs moved independent of her stuck mind, walking down the stairs without her somehow tripping over her own feet and crashing to the ground. They walked out of the school together silently, her mind still trying to process what had just happened, what was currently happening.

"So, you're..." She had spoken without thinking again. What was she supposed to add to that? Eli was what? "... very pretty." Nope, that wasn't right. Well, it was right, but not for this scenario. In her mind, a slow but powerful scream was building up, but on the outside she was still in a sort of disbelieving shock, no mortified expression appearing on her face. A blush was definitely forming on Eli's cheeks, however.

"E-Eh? A-Ah, thanks, I... I think," she muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Nozomi barely heard the response over the screaming that was now in full force inside her mind, but on the outside she smiled and played it off, trying hard to change the subject.

"You're on the student council, right?"

"Yes." Eli seemed relieved to have the subject switched, though Nozomi now worried that she was going to scare Eli off with her treacherous mind. They talked about student council duties until they had reached Nozomi's house, with her still low-key worrying about having screwed up one too many times.

"Well, here's my house." That sounded a lot awkward than it should have. She didn't make any attempt to open the door and go inside, her eyes slowly moving between Eli and anywhere but Eli. "Thank you for walking me home." She wondered if Eli was feeling as awkward as she was. Hopefully not, or that would just make things worse.

"It wasn't a problem." They stood there for several moments more, both finding it hard to look each other in the eye, before Eli continued. "I... can walk you home again, if you want."

"R-Really?" Her eyes widened in surprised as she finally rediscovered the courage to look Eli in the eyes.

"Yeah, if.. you know, it's cool, or whatever."

"Y-Yeah! O-Of course you can." Nozomi couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face, and even Eli cracked a slight grin as well. "S-See you later then, Ayase-san."

"See you, Toujou." With a wave, Eli turned and started walking home. Nozomi stood in front of her door staring dumbly until Eli was gone from her vision, then finally turned and unlocked the door, a blush finally managing to reach her face and spread rapidly. That was stupid and incredible and she was actually looking forward to school tomorrow.

Somehow, inexplicably, Nozomi had become friends with Eli. This was a future that she never could have predicted, but it was happening, and it made her heart swell with happiness. Due to being seen in the halls talking with Eli, other students were now coming up to her with astonishment and awe that she was able to talk to the ice queen herself. No really, people were actually talking to her.

The one worry she had was finally introducing Eli to Nico. She knew that Nico still had reservations on Eli due to her cold and standoffish nature, but she wanted the two of them to be friends. Still, she was nervous when she finally got the two of them together to meet.

"So, you're Nozomi's new friend, hm?" Nico crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Eli, motions that were reciprocated by the blonde.

"Looks like it," Eli replied smoothly, not allowing Nico's stiff tone to ruffle her feathers. Nozomi, on the other hand, was quite visibly nervous. Unfortunately, neither of her two friends were actually looking her way.

"Well let's get one thing straight, Ayase. I know your reputation around here..."

"Nicocchi..."

"... And if you ever even think about hurting Nozomi, I swear to God-"

"N-Nicocchi!" Nozomi pleaded with her eyes for Nico to stop it. As thankful as she was for Nico's friendship and protection, she didn't want to lose the only other friend she'd managed to make so quickly. To her surprise, however, Eli merely smirked. Was it a good smirk or a bad smirk? She wasn't sure yet.

Still smirking, Eli walked over towards Nico, the two of them still staring at each other, before finally offering a hand. "I don't plan on it, short stuff." Glowering, Nico grabbed Eli's hand and shook it, trying to squeeze it as hard as she could.

"Amazon." Eli laughed at that, and eventually Nico joined in, allowing Nozomi to breathe a sigh of relief. That could've gone a lot worse. She smiled at the sight of her friends getting along, and the sheer emotion of finally having people to be around began to overwhelm her. Now her classmates were actually talking to her, and school didn't seem like such a daunting prospect anymore.

"Hey, Nozomi, you wanna get- Nozomi?" Nico and Eli's eyes widened when they turned back to her, making Nozomi wonder if there was something wrong. Was there something on her face? She gently touched her cheeks, finding them surprisingly wet. When had she started to cry?

"Wh-Why are you crying?" Eli gave her a worried expression, trying to remember if something had been said to upset Nozomi. There was a smile on her face though, and Nozomi rushed over to wrap both of them in a big hug. "N-Nozomi?"

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling through the tears that dripped down her face. "I'm just... so happy I have friends like you two." She pulled Eli and Nico away from her, smiling down at them. They stared back up at her lifelessly. "So what were you going to say, Nicocchi?"

"I was thinking we could get parfaits after school!" The pitch of Nozomi's voice went higher as she nodded the black-haired doll back and forth in her hand. "Unless Miss Perfect over here hates sweets or something."

"For your information, I happen to love parfaits." Lowering her voice a couple octaves, she smiled as she moved the blonde up to eye level. "Chocolate's my favorite."

"Elicchi has quite the sweet tooth," Nozomi laughed softly, shaking the blonde doll vigorously. Turning her head, she looked towards the open door of her room. The house was silent as usual, so that meant she was free to go with her friends. Setting them down in front of her, she quickly wiped the still-falling tears from her eyes.

She didn't mean to cry: after all, this was one of the happiest days of her life. Going to get parfaits with Nico was always cause for celebration, but now she had a new friend too, one who was cool and smart and very pretty. She was excited for all the adventures they could have together. Running a finger softly over Eli's soft, felt hair, a sob broke from her lips, then another one. Picking her friends up again, she pulled them into another tight hug. Everything was just so... perfect.