Ayano's power was terrifying and absolute. That was the only way Shintaro could explain it, the scene of the three of them seated on the floor of his bedroom, two beaming smiles and one dark glare focused on him. He gave a ragged sigh.

When Ayano had mentioned tutoring and he'd brushed her off, he'd thought that would be the end of it. And it had been, until her father spoke to their homeroom teacher, and the teacher called his mother, and somehow his mother had arranged all this without him finding out. Just because she thought he needed 'socialization'. He'd show her.

Besides, it was ridiculous to begin with. While he didn't doubt that Ayano needed all the help she could get, Haruka and Takane were older than him, and Haruka grades weren't even that bad. But still they sat there, waiting on him to speak.

Instead, he gave another ragged sigh, and Ayano's smile deepened, that frustratingly angelic patience radiating outward from her in waves. Takane looked as though she'd start throwing things any minute now. Before Shintaro could truly gauge and put name to Haruka's reaction, however, there was a rustle in the corner of the room, and they all turned to look.

Ayano gasped, clapping her hands together, and bounced to her feet. "A bunny!"

To tell the truth, Shintaro had entirely forgotten about Tono. That is, he'd remembered to feed her and change the hay in her litterbox that morning, but he hadn't put any thought into how his schoolmates would react to the creature. If he had, he'd have moved her to Momo's room, at least for the day.

"Oh god, really," Takane snarled, bolting up from the low table and recoiling away.

Shintaro scowled at her. It made sense that a hateful girl like her would hate something as cute and defenseless as a bunny. The other two, however...

"Can we hold him?" Haruka was asking, looking from Shintaro to the rabbit and back again. He looked delighted, a dazzling smile on his face that was usually reserved for lunchtime. Shintaro hesitated.

"Please, Shintaro?"

Oh god, not two of them. He couldn't say no to the two pleading smiles that were directed at him, Ayano with her hands clasped and leaning forward and Haruka still sneaking glances at the rabbit resting peacefully in her cage.

Rather than answer, Shintaro crossed the room to open the cage, bundling her carefully into her arms.

"Tono's a girl," he said gravely, managing to keep a straight face even when Takane snickered. She was keeping her distance, practically pressed against the wall, and the skin around her eyes was tinged red.

Before he could think about it too much he was swarmed by Haruka and Ayano, both holding out their arms with almost reverent expressions. They looked stupid as hell, and he thought about pointing it out, but it seemed easier to just hand Tono off to Ayano.

"Ten minute break, and then we'll start studying," he cautioned. They nodded, obviously already enraptured with the rabbit, and Shintaro rolled his eyes and left them to it.

Over in the corner Takane was sniffling, and he wondered if she was crying. That wasn't in character for her at all, right? He glanced over towards her, and she flicked him off in the process of pressing a wad off tissue against her noise. "I'm allergic," she grumbled resentfully. "You could've warned us."

Great. This day just kept getting better and better.