+-As Radiant as the Sun-+

"I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun."
―Suzanne Collins

.:-K-:.

Ch. 3

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Having her mother home and not away on business was odd – Botan loved her, but there was just something…different in their relationship. Sasaki Kaori was an indomitable woman, but at times (who was she kidding; her mother was always a child) it seemed like she had the heart and spirit of a child. A somewhat spoiled child, at that. Botan figured she was lucky to not have ended up a spoiled brat herself, what with the things that her mother brought home with her (foreign sweets, cute little trinkets, and more often than not clothes from Ringo Sora – her mother's clothing store).

"Isn't it cute, Bo-chan?" Long, inky hair fluttered about as Sasaki Kaori gave a spin, the dress she was holding up twisting and turning with her. "I bet you would look so pretty in it. You do look so gorgeous when wearing purples and reds."

Botan took the proffered dress, the fabric oh-so-soft under the pads of her fingers. "It is pretty."

'But it's too formal for me to wear.' Was left unsaid.

It really was pretty though – with a high, box neck and knee length flowy and layered skirt, it balanced out quite nicely. The top layer was thin, violet, and translucent enough to see the colorful magenta, orange, and indigo patterned fabric underneath and Botan could see herself in it, the skirts swishing around her knees in a rather flirty way.

Except it wasn't a dress that one wore as a casual sort of thing – it was on the dressier side (though she supposed it was also a matter of taste and opinions when it came to what 'casual' meant).

"Oh! And here! We have this new design here –" Kaori smoothed the fabric of a rather bright body-con dress – patterned in wavy lines of varying orange. "Nao-chan would look great in this, don't you think?"

"Na-chan will really love it, Kaa-chan." And she would; Naomi was rather fond of most of the clothes from Ringo Sora.

"Oh, oooh. Bo-chan, why don't we go out and take Nao-chan and Yuu-kun out for a nice dinner?" Kaori bustled about, re-applying an eye-popping red coating of lipstick, smacking her lips to spread it nicely with a wide, excited eyed look to her.

There was a part of her that wanted to say no to this, as Botan rather wanted some more time alone with her mother (the woman was liable to be gone in the morning – she was rather flighty like that, sometimes). But going out with the Kobayashis was never a bad thing – they were practically family, really.

"Sure, Kaa-chan. But Kobayashi-nii might not be able to, what with his job."

"Ara, he's such a busy, busy man now-a-days." Kaori cradled her face in one of her hands, "He's such a responsible young man. I'm glad he watches out for Bo-chan when kaa-chan isn't here."

Botan was glad, too. Yuushi was very caring, despite the fact that she wasn't really his little sister, and it felt nice to have a sort-of-big-brother. It didn't mean she wasn't worried though – he was part of a group that tracked down strains. So what would he do once (if) he found out about her? Would duty or familial-love win out on that sort of situation? Though, Botan would admit that neither she nor Naomi knew what exactly happened if and when Scepter 4 found a strain.

"Bo-chan?"

"Hai, kaa-chan." Botan pulled her charm-less phone to her chest. "They said they'd come."

.:-K-:.

Downtown Shizume was by far more relaxed than the central part of the city. It was full of little vintage and quirky pop-culture-y shops, hole-in-the-wall pubs and restaurants – along with a smattering of apartment buildings along the way. And it just so happened that Sasaki Kaori's favorite little restaurants were located there (she rather liked the ambiance in the little, quirky and out of the way places). Botan herself also enjoyed the downtown area – Marui's was located there for one, and it was far less bustling than the central part of the city.

Plus, there was the Moonfly Café. Which was what Botan and Naomi liked to call their "home away from home", even if it was often said in a joking manner. The fact of the matter was that if not at their respective homes or at Ashinaka, it was highly likely they were squirreled away in a softly lit corner of Moonfly. But that was aside the point, as her mother would probably never step foot in that place, no, instead –

"Oh, maybe we should try that place? It looks unique, the name too – HOMRA." The elder Sasaki pursed her lips, manicured nails tapping her cheek as she pouted, "But it is a bar and Bo-chan and Na-chan are still under aged."

"Please refrain from going there at any time, Sasaki-oba-san." Yuushi's tone had a herd edge to it, and his words a firmness that had both Botan and Naomi momentarily startled. "HOMRA is run by a group of punks. They're no good, so it's be best to stay away."

"Oh, really? Are you sure…"

Something started to move, mental gears started to shift closer and closer to a working place in Botan's head, causing her mother's voice to fade back to background noise. Because she had heard of HOMRA before – it was hard to not have if you lived full time in Shizume City (downtown or otherwise). They were regarded as dangerous by a lot of people – though Botan had heard a couple of arguments between students once upon a time, upon the fact that HOMRA typically only actually fought people who could be considered 'bad.' That wasn't really all that important though, what was important was something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

And then, the gears clicked into place.

Botan's now large eyes swiveled to look at Naomi, who in turn cocked her head in confusion. Her mouth dry and voice too weak (both due to her revelation and the elder Kobayashi's presence) left her no choice but to mouth one word –

'Ya-ta-ga-ra-su.'

It took a second for Naomi's mind to register the complete meaning for said word (or name, rather), and took another long second for her look of confusion to morph into one of startled surprise.

Naomi blinked once, twice, a third time. Slowly she pointed at Botan, then over her shoulder, and then made the most absurd kissy-face the pink-eyed girl had ever seen. Despite the absurdness (and the raging embarrassment at the reminder), Botan nodded, her face pale. Because that boy she'd run into? They – his friends – had called him Yata; she remembered that clearly enough.

Yatagarasu of HOMRA.

Her luck was on par this year.

For sure.

(Or maybe it was all just a big 'ole coincidence. Maybe he was just some guy who happened to be named Yata.)

Those hopeful thoughts had to be put on hold, though, and Naomi flapped her arms about in a spastic way that signaled 'oh shit, I think I got something.' Which, really, was the last thing the frazzled, pink-eyed girl could use at this point.

"Oi, why do you two have such stupid looks on your face right now?" Yuushi scowled, the door to a restaurant held open in his hand as Botan's mother giggled in the doorway. "And why are you flailing about like an idiot, Naomi?"

"Oh, let then live out their youth, Yuu-kun." Sasaki Kaori gave the young man a pat on the arm, her face cheerful. "Come on then, I'm starving!"

.:-K-:.

More often than not, Naomi came up with some really ridiculous ideas. Usually they came along because Naomi was working towards winning something and she got over excited about her possible victory – which in turn sometimes ended up with her screwing herself over (or holding herself back from actually doing/saying something and winning; it was a fifty-fifty sort of thing). Though much to Botan's chagrin, Naomi's current idea of choice had a lot of traction to it. Most of that chagrin came from the fact that the taller girl would not let it go, though – she was rather stubborn about some things, that Naomi.

"Can we not." Botan ran her finger around the rim of the stylish yet simple teacup on the table in front of her. "It's done and over with – one moment –"

"Two." Naomi shoved the last piece of her pastry into her mouth, puffing on of her cheeks out as she chewed (and, regrettably, talked), "Two for you, one for me. But, still, two moments."

Botan scowled good-naturedly, "Two moments in my life that give us no reason to build up or worry about things. They were coincidences."

"Or," Naomi splayed out across the armchair she was occupying in a rather odd manner, "Perhaps it was fate."

An amused scoff broke what little of a staring contest there was between the two girls, leading pink and brown eyes to meet a set of green ones. The young man held out the two pieces of paper – their receipts for the day – and let a smirk upturn the corner of his mouth.

"You two are such nerds. It's cute, really."

Naomi snatched their receipts from his willing hands, her voice full of false pomp as she turned away, "We know we're cute; can't say the same for you though, Daichi."

Daichi ran a hand through his dyed blond hair, his hand staying up and splayed out, "Cute is too girly of a word for me, you're right. I'm handsome."

"I think conceited or perhaps rude would more aptly describe you." Botan smiled, her voice falsely contemplative.

"Whatever lets you girls sleep at night." The blond laughed and waved over his shoulder. "See you girls later."

Naomi stretched until her spine gave a quiet pop and sighed, "Well, I guess we're done for. Too bad you have work on our last night of freedom."

Botan laughed before starting for the door, "You make it sound like we're going to prison."

"It might as well be with her holding the reins!"

.:-K-:.

Manning the register wasn't Botan's favorite task (though it was better than trying to pick up Shoji's sometime-slack), as dealing with people watching her count money was kind of nerve-wracking. Especially since some of the people that came in here tried to bully her into believing she hadn't given them enough change (but she knew better than that).

The bell dinged at the front of the shop and Botan blinked some of the sleep from her eyes –

"How may I –"

"T-These are yours, right?!"

Botan froze – it was him, the boy she'd run into. He was red-faced and obviously embarrassed; she could tell that much with the way he has looking off to the side with his eyes only occasionally darting her way. He didn't seem bad at all, not like some people liked to say, especially considering –

"M-my charms! I thought they were gone for good!" Botan held them close to her chest, a beaming smile breaking out on her face of its own accord. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

They boy reddened a bit more before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I-it was no p-problem. I just – Ah, I'll get going now."

His pace was hurried as he headed for the door and Botan felt almost at a loss –

"W-wait!"

He froze, hand partially out and almost on the door's handle.

"I – I'm Botan! Sasaki Botan."

He turned and gave a half smile, "…Yata. Yata Misaki."

And with that, he was gone.

It was also in that short-lived moment that Botan thought that HOMRA couldn't be that bad. He seemed nice, and those guys she and Naomi had run into the other day before Naomi had tried to open her big mouth hadn't seemed like bad guys either. Perhaps she'd get a real chance to actually form her own opinion of the supposedly delinquent group.

(And why, all of a sudden, did she begin to hopeful about getting that chance?)

.:-K-:.

Previous chapters have gone through a bit of a tweeking~

Am fond of this chapter.

Also have a serious need to finish season 2.