Summary: Alice gets her first crush. It goes poorly.
Long after Alice has started to show her true self to the other students, she gets her first crush.
“His name is Sachihiro, and he’s in the year behind us,” she says, a huge smile on her face that Ikki’s never seen her wear genuinely before. “He’s so sweet, and gentle, and he’s a hundred times better than I am.”
Self-esteem is still a problem for her, one Ikki doesn’t know how to deal with. “I’m sure he’s not that far out of your league… Just ask him out.”
She shakes her head. “I could never say anything. I’d be too embarrassed, and how could he like someone like me? …A traitor, I mean. I don’t even know if he’s single.”
“Isn’t there some way to find out?” he asks. “Girls ask people out all the time, so there must be.”
“They get their friends to find out for them, usually.” A glint comes to Alice’s eye. “If you’re being so kind…”
And that’s how Ikki ends up finding Sachihiro after class and clearing his throat. “Excuse me,” he says. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure, senpai,” Sachihiro says. “What do you need?”
Ikki isn’t sure how to do this. If it was a battle with his underclassman, it’d probably be way easier, but talking to someone he’s never spoken to about this sort of thing…
It’s for Alice, he reminds himself, and goes for it before he can work himself up.
“A friend of mine wanted to know if you were single.”
Sachihiro blinks at him a few times. “Are you messing with me?” he asks, sounding slightly hurt.
“No-” This isn’t going well. “She really wants to know, I promise. She’s just feeling shy about it.”
“I am single, but… Who is it?” Sachihiro asks.
Ikki doesn’t think Alice told him if he could tell or not. He decides on honesty. “Alice.”
And that - gets Sachihiro to laugh. “Oh, so you are messing with me. I’m not into guys. Do I look like I am?”
“...I see. Okay.” That’s all Ikki needed to know, and he leaves.
On the way back, he bumps into Stella, and after greetings are exchanged he relays the story to her. Stella listens closely until the last part, where Sachihiro refers to Alice as a man, and then sparks flare up around her. “Uh, Stella-”
“I’m going to set him on fire,” she says, voice low and dangerous. “How dare he call her that? How dare he laugh at her feelings?!”
“We had trouble remembering when we first met her,” Ikki says. He’s not proud of it, but he knows he wasn’t perfect, and Shizuku had to remind him a few times.
Some of the heat dissipates. “Well - okay, but we didn’t say it out loud, and not after an indirect love confession! We were never that bad!”
He doesn’t exactly have a counter to that argument. “Please don’t set him on fire?” he asks instead. “I don’t think Alice would want that.”
“Want what?” Alice asks, approaching the two of them.
Stella’s sparks disappear all at once. “Uh… well, you see…”
“He’s not interested,” Ikki says, as gently as he can manage. “I’m sorry.”
Alice sighs. “You mean he’s not interested in girls like me,” she says.
Ikki nods.
“I thought that might happen,” she says. “Thank you, Ikki.”
“...Do you want to go out for ice cream?” Stella asks. “My treat.”
Alice gives a smile, that while it isn’t as big as the one Ikki saw earlier today, it seems just as genuine. “That sounds amazing right now.”
When a knock comes at her door, Shizuku looks up at Alice. “Could you get it?” she asks, trying to hide that she’s still too busy sulking to answer a simple knock herself.
Alice doesn’t call her on it. She merely opens the door to reveal the person Shizuku least wants to see right now. “Stella? I see you’re ready for the party already.”
Stella shakes her head. It’s certainly true that she’s wearing a fancy dress the likes of which Alice has never worn in her life, but… “I need your help, Alice,” she says, with only a bit of reluctance. “I’ve never done anything with my hair more complicated than pigtails.” Her hair is messy enough to suggest she’ been trying on her own for some time now.
Shizuku looks glum; meanwhile, Alice claps her hands together. “I’d be honored!” Alice says, already rushing to fetch her hair supplies. “Please, sit down and let me take care of everything. What were you aiming for?”
“French braid,” Stella says, settling down in front of the mirror. “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.”
“That’s easy enough. ...I used to braid my little sisters’ hair all the time.” The slight pause while she starts on Stella’s hair suggests Alice still isn’t used to actually talking about herself and her history, and the way she changes the subject immediately confirms it: “How are you feeling about the party?”
“I’ve been to balls like this all my life,” Stella says with a sigh. “I’ve wined and dined with nobles across the country, and danced with more politicians than I can remember. There shouldn’t be any reason for me to be nervous about this one!”
“This is the first one you’re going to with Ikki,” Alice says, gently. “You have someone you want to impress this time, so it’s natural to feel nervous.”
“A woman of the Kurogane family should be an excellent dancer,” Shizuku says, less gently.
Stella tries to turn to glare at Shizuku, but winces at the hold Alice has on her hair and thinks better of it. “I’m a fantastic dancer! You’re the one who’s refusing to go at all, I bet you have two left feet!”
“I’m as graceful off the battlefield as on it,” Shizuku replies primly.
“She just doesn’t want to see you dance with her brother,” Alice murmurs. “It’s her decision.”
Stella huffs, but doesn’t pursue the topic any further, merely shutting her eyes and letting Alice work on her hair.
“...All done.”
Stella opens her eyes and examines the braid in the mirror. “It’s perfect!”
Alice chuckles. “You’d look stunning in any hairstyle, no need to thank me.”
Stella pulls a bit of a face as Shizuku frowns: there’s Alice’s self-deprecation again. “It’s way better than I could do. So thank you, Alice,” Stella replies. “I owe you.”
“Any time. Tell me all about how it went later,” Alice says.
Eyebrows raised as she stands, Stella asks, “You aren’t going?”
Alice shakes her head. “I’m staying with Shizuku to support her. We plan to turn on the radio and cut a rug together in here. The food may not be as good, but we won’t have to dance with anyone else, so I think we’ll have plenty of fun.”
“...You’re a really good big sister,” Stella says. “I’ll bring something back from the dessert table for you.”
“You’re too sweet.” Alice grins. “Ikki’s going to swoon.”
Summary: Alice doesn’t return home over winter break.
Hagun Academy, like all civilized schools, has a short break for the winter. Most of the students take that chance to visit their families, but there are still some faculty around for those cases where the students choose to remain on campus for that time
Stella’s excuse for not returning home, when she’s asked, is typical of transfer students: it’s too long a trip to be worth going back to the Vermillion Kingdom just for a week and some. She’ll see her father in the summer.
Ikki and Shizuku aren’t asked by anyone why they aren’t returning home for the holidays. Everyone who might possibly care already knows the state of their relationship with their birth family.
Alice, on the other hand, gets a few questions from her admirers about what her plans are for the holidays. She always gives a sheepish smile and the same reply: “Nothing exciting, I’m afraid! I’m staying here.” Then she changes the subject, before someone thinks to ask about her home.
“Everyone’s so nosy,” Shizuku says, after witnessing Alice excuse herself from a conversation of this type. The two are now walking along back to their room, with few other students in sight.
Alice shrugs. “It’s natural they’d be curious. Most people would rather go home than stay at school if they had the choice, and unlike you, my situation isn’t public knowledge.” She sounds perfectly calm.
Shizuku hasn’t asked about Alice’s family. She knows the kind of circumstances that lead to someone joining Akatsuki aren’t happy ones. If she asked, she thinks Alice might share some of the details with her, but…
“That’s alright. I already know about your family situation, so you don’t have to worry about that from me,” Shizuku says.
Alice’s eyes widen. “...You do?”
“I do,” Shizuku says, decisively. “Because your little sister, and her brother, and her brother’s fiancee are all staying at school over the break, so why would you want to leave your family for the holidays?”
Alice stares at her in silence for a moment, then begins to laugh. It’s not a mean-spirited laugh, but a genuine one like Alice rarely gives, and once she stops there’s a huge smile on her face. “You’re absolutely right! Ah… It’s been so long since I spent the holidays with my family, I don’t think I remember what to do.”
“We’ll help you,” Shizuku says. “I know my holidays wouldn’t feel right without you, and big brother and Stella are the same. We’ll get each other presents for Christmas like they do in Vermillion, and eat rice cakes for New Year’s like they do here, and we can do whatever they do where you’re from, too.”
“You’re too good to me,” Alice says.
“No, I’m not. It’s only fair,” Shizuku replies.
“Well, if you insist…” Alice starts to laugh again, more gently this time.
Shizuku tilts her head a little. “...You look happier than I’ve ever seen you.”
Alice’s answer is simple. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
