"Love Your Imperfections, Every Angle"

. . .

Standing outside the shop window, she breathed through the respirators in her mask, silently staring at the beautiful banquet of flowers on display - yet knew there were more important things to worry about than a bunch of flowers.

Still, to say she wasn't at all bummed out by the fact was far from the truth. Turning her head as Misaki called out to her, with Hiyori waiting, she apologized. Fixing her mask till it settled more comfortably on her face, she stared at the banquet for another minute, cherishing the sight before joining the rest of her squad.

With Saori gone, leaving no leader for the once-trained mercenaries, the remaining members of the Aarius squad lived on the streets, knowing no school would take terrorists like them, especially not the GSC President - even if she had helped them at one point. They couldn't trouble her with their problems.

When reaching their home base, she stepped aside as a crowd of people ran past. Her head tilted as she looked back at Misaki, communicating through silence what she was thinking - then her attention turned to Hiyori, who pointed at a billboard screen. She shifted toward where Hiyori was pointing and saw the live image of a young man.

She could feel her teammates' shock and surprise. A male existing in this day and age? After what had happened, it shouldn't be possible yet the evidence was right there. The headlines read: "A Man Found At Gehenna University, A Miracle? Or Something Else Entirely." It truly was a male, the opposite sex. And he could most likely be the only one in a city filled with women... which explained the crowd.

She murmured his name, letting it hang on the tip of her tongue. Vaguely recalling that name being mentioned before, she suddenly remembered - Saori had a student she would meet to train around two months ago. Who would've thought that same student would be him? She found herself smiling just a little bit from behind her mask.

. . .

She repeated his name slowly, over and over, picking at the petals of a flower she'd picked from the cracks in the stone pavement. Feeling the piece of rubble beneath her, she couldn't understand why she couldn't take her mind off him.

"I'm going for a walk, I'll be back," she informed the other members, who were busy with their own things. Leaving the abandoned building they'd taken refuge in for the last couple of weeks, she wandered the lonely empty streets underneath starry skies. Her gaze turned to the black sky above, remembering beautiful nights much like this one. The simplicity of her childhood felt so far out of reach it no longer felt real - only her purpose and training felt tangible.

From behind her mask, her eyes widened at the sight of him standing right across from her on the footpath. After allowing herself to relax and assess him more closely, she spoke to break the silence hanging between them.

"Hello... You must be the one everyone's talking about, aren't you? Don't worry, I'm not what you think I am." She offered a reassuring smile that came off as more awkward than reassuring, but ignored that and continued. "If you don't mind... I'd love to learn more about you. If you'll let me, of course."