"Exactly! That's Hanekawa-senpai to a T. Look how much spare fabric is in this top just to fit it all!"

"Haha," Came her cold, almost forced laugh, "Hm, maybe they are similar. But you know, Fujino-chan? I don't think we're very alike at all..."

"Mhm. If my eyes could do what yours can, that would be a different story... Still, I'm glad you have them, Fujino-chan. Otherwise your ending would have been a lot more grim, wouldn't it?" Her voice had a slight teasing tone to it, her cold eyes continuing to bore into the girl

"Aw... But it would have been such a shame... I mean, they all had it coming, didn't they, Fujino-chan?" Ougi continues to speak as though she has intimate knowledge of the other girl's life, her creepy smile never once leaving her lips.

Almost as though she read her mind, "Me? I don't know anything, Fujino-chan... It's you who knows everything."

"Ohoho~..." She steps back and holds her hands up, oversized sleeves sliding down her arms a little. "Don't think about it too hard~! I just got a little carried away. Well, old habits die hard, as they say..."

"Scary~!" Ougi smirked, then relaxed her face a little. "Sorry if I upset you, it wasn't my intention. I was just having a little fun, you know?"

"Maybe. But what's a little teasing between friends, hm?"

"Aw, Fujino-chan, you'll hurt my feelings if you're not careful. I'm an open book. Everything you need to know is right here."

"Ougi, yes." She nods, the black voids of her eyes gazing back, the darkness seeming to twist and churn inside them... or maybe it was just a trick of the light. "I am just an ordinary high school girl, after all."

"Oh, that. Hmm, if I had to put my finger on it, it would be... Your... Face? Your numbness? I feel a kinship with it, I suppose. Like you said before, your eyes are a lot like mine."

"Do you not think you're a cute girl, Fujino-chan? I think many people would disagree. And it's rare that I can relate to many people either. Despite being an ordinary high school girl, I am also an unnatural oddity."

"Mhm, mhm. Isn't that sort of 'gap moe' though? I think you have that sort of appeal. Kuudere girls are very popular, you know?"

"Mmn, sort of. The gap is just between two extremes, so in your case it would be the space between 'expressionless cute girl' and 'capacity for extreme violence.' It's that juxtaposition that people might find appealing about you."

"Maybe they're just not adventurous enough. I, on the other hand... Well, I'm looking forward to being friends with you, even if you still think it's one-sided. For you, that's a win-win situation."

"Well, on the one hand, if the relationship is indeed one-sided, then you're the one receiving all the benefits. Only I'm losing out. On the other hand, if you decide you are my friend then... We're friends! And wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Ah, ah, Fujino-chan! It's good to see you!" Cold eyes, a warm smile.

"Mn, I'm sorry about that. I'm a wanderer, you know? But how have you been?"

"That's good to hear. It's hard sometimes for even someone like me to tell whether you're feeling good or bad. But being 'well' is good enough, I suppose."

"It's quite vexing, if I'm honest. My whole gimmick is to do with eerie, almost telepathic intuition. If it gets out that simply keeping a straight face is all it takes to break me, my reputation will be ruined," she says in mock despair, "but... it is nice to see you smile~."