Imu Rifuta

…lesbian?

I figure I'm gonna like who I'm s'posed to like, and that's it!

"Okay! ♪" she said, eyes agleam. She raced inside before her host could get another word in, for this "playdate" (as she might have called it) was a matter of utmost secrecy. The "girl talk" to end all girl talks. They were talking about girls, after all!

Minori took off her shoes in the entryway like any well-behaved student would. Yet Imu wore a smile that was clearly forced — a far cry from the manufactured cuteness she usually showed the world.

I had planned this moment carefully. I had invited Minori over under the guise of a casual hangout, but really, i needed to get something off my chest—something huge.

The PK Academy school day dragged on like any other: another mind-numbingly boring five hours of lectures, with one merciful break — gym class — to have fun with exercises an elite shinobi could've done in her sleep. Minori looked forward to phys ed like kids half her age looked forward to recess. But all the laps and mock tennis matches and three-legged races were secondary to her ultimate goal. She'd transferred to this school for one reason and one reason only: to solve the mystery behind the incredible surges in psychic energy that occurred here on a near-daily basis.

If she'd been just a year older, Minori might've had the chance to infiltrate Class 2-3, the source of every rumored psychic spike. Alas! She was but a freshman. Worse, her short height and boundless energy made some wonder if she belonged in high school at all.

There was a small solace: Imu. Not the twentysomething Imu with the electrified staff — this was Imu Rifuta, a duplicitous girl who once dreamt of wrapping the entire school around her adorable little finger. Minori knew little of this; she considered her classmate strange, but never manipulative. They were on decent terms, actually. They found each other on the internet and struck up an odd quasi-friendship over Teruhashi, a second-year whose inhuman beauty radiated all through the halls of the academy.

Today, circumstances had conspired for Minori and Imu to meet after school...

DING-DONG!

There was the doorbell.

DING-DONG!

There it was again.

DING-D—DI—DING-DO—D—DIN—DING—DIN—DI—