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1 Cardcaptor Nadeshiko
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2 by
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3 Amazoness Duo
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4 and
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5 G.P.
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6 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
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7 pearsong1954@yahoo.com
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8
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9
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10 ‘My name is Amamiya Sonomi. I’m ten years old. I have brunette hair and dark blue eyes that I get
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11 from my mother. I like cute things a lot. I also like sports, especially track. I think it’s fun.
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12 But most of all, I like my cousin, Nadeshiko-chan. She’s my best friend and the most important
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13 person in my life.’
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14
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15 “Look, Sonomi-chan! A bouquet! This one’s for you.” Nadeshiko smilingly handed a large bouquet
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16 of lillies to Sonomi, barging in on her still wet cousin. She hardly noticed Sonomi scramble for
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17 a towel, simply holding the flowers out to the brunette.
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18
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19 “They’re beautiful, Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi said breathlessly, cinching up the large towel before
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20 taking the lovely flowers. Bringing them up to her nose, she sniffed the sweet perfume that
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21 drifted from the bouquet. Brushing back some wet hair from her shoulder, the stormy blue eyed
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22 girl smiled at her cousin. “Thank you.”
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23
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24 “I made them with Flower-sama. She’s good at making all sorts of flowers. My room’s covered in
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25 Sakura blossoms right now. It’s so pretty! You should see it when you’re done with your bath,
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26 Sonomi-chan! I’m going to give these roses to mother real quick.” Waving cheerfully, the silver
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27 haired girl made her way downstairs, just remembering to close the bathroom door before she did.
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28
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29 Sighing to herself, Sonomi let her towel drop to the floor before slipping back into the bathtub.
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30 Her heart fluttering, she held onto her precious gift from Nadeshiko. ‘Oh, I forgot to mention
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31 that Nadeshiko-chan’s a magical girl now. She’s also accident-prone and not the most observant
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32 person I know. How this is supposed to turn out, I hardly know. But I’ll protect her from the
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33 whole world if I have to. And that stupid teddy bear.’ Closing her eyes, the brunette slipped
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34 under the water, the warmth surrounding her, waking her up for school. As usual, her mind was
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35 once again drawn back to a silver haired angel.
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36
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37 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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38
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39 “That is so cute!” Sonomi exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Her eyes shimmered as she
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40 hurried to Nadeshiko’s side. Enthusiastic fingers brushed through long, gray locks of hair done
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41 up in a beautiful ponytail, long strands falling in front of Nadeshiko as well. “It’s so pretty.
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42 I love your hair, Nadeshiko-chan! It’s prettier than any dolls.” Still delighting in her cousin’s
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43 current hairstyle, Sonomi didn’t notice her aunt’s approach.
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44
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45 “You like it, Sonomi-chan? Nadeshiko-chan does have very pretty hair. It can be a lot of fun to
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46 try out different styles on her. Now if only she would stay still when I did her hair, it
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47 wouldn’t always be such a mess.” Nadeshiko’s mother let out a sigh, but she couldn’t help but
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48 smile at the two girls despite it.
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49
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50 “Hai, it’s wonderful,” Sonomi replied, finally pulling her hands away from Nadeshiko’s beautiful
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51 silver hair. She turned and bowed politely to her aunt, her own slightly shorter hair falling
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52 past her shoulders as she did, done up with small yellow ribbons throughout it. “Thank you for
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53 letting me spend the night.”
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54
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55 The older woman laughed softly, shaking her head. “I should be thanking you, Sonomi-chan. You’re
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56 the only one can keep Nadeshiko-chan in bed. Otherwise she’s likely to end up just about
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57 anywhere. That’s probably why she falls asleep in such odd places all the time.”
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58
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59 “That’s because there are too many things to do instead of going to sleep. It’s much better to
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60 fall asleep when you find yourself sleepy instead of making yourself go to sleep at a certain
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61 time,” Nadeshiko reasoned, putting a finger on her pale chin. It was true that she often didn’t
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62 sleep at night, instead walking about or just lying in bed in fascination of the sounds of the
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63 night. But it all made sense to her. She fell asleep when she fell asleep. What did it matter if
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64 it was in bed or in a flower garden, at home or in the park? She was always so busy with things
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65 that sleep was simply something that happened. And most of the time Sonomi would find her and
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66 take her back to bed anyway.
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67
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68 Sonomi sweatdropped at her cousin’s odd logic, but nodded all the same. She had long ago learned
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69 that sometimes it was just easier to humor Nadeshiko than to argue with her. The pale girl
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70 wouldn’t listen anyway. She would smile sweetly and let you argue yourself hoarse and then she
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71 would go off and do what she had wanted to do all along. Shaking her head, Sonomi took
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72 Nadeshiko’s hand. “We have to get going or we’ll be late to school. Thank you again!” She waved
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73 politely to her aunt as she hurried to the door, her navy blue pleated skirt shifting about her.
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74 Her white blouse and blue bow rustled against her as they walked out into the always dangerous
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75 world. Sonomi immediately began to feel the worry that she usually did whenever they would go
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76 out, that paranoid feeling that something bad was going to happen. But with her flighty cousin
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77 tagging along, that usually wasn’t far off.
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78
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79 “I like your hair, too, Sonomi-chan. It’s so vibrant and fiery. I hope my daughter has hair like
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80 yours,” Nadeshiko mentioned thoughtfully, playing with some stray strands of auburn hair behind
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81 her cousin. The hair was still a bit damp, drying from her bath earlier. The green eyed girl
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82 watched it sway, pawing at it almost like a curious kitten.
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83
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84 Blushing faintly, Sonomi didn’t attempt to stop her cousin. She really didn’t mind as it was.
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85 Just being with her blissful cousin always made things feel special. Even school felt more like
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86 an adventure than a chore when she was alongside Nadeshiko. Her younger cousin was a shimmering
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87 angel that lit even the darkest recesses of Sonomi’s life. The brunette couldn’t quite
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88 understand the depths of her feelings for Nadeshiko, simply that the other girl was always on
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89 her mind, always dwelling in her heart. And Sonomi wanted to protect the younger girl. It was
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90 frightening to see such a free spirit in such a scary world. She was always afraid that
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91 something might happen to her beloved Nadeshiko. So all she could do was try her best to protect
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92 her. “Arigato, Nadeshiko-chan. I can only hope my daughter would have beautiful hair like yours.
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93 I love your hair. It’s...” Sonomi trailed off, trying to force away a persistent blush from her
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94 cheeks. She couldn’t think of words to describe it. She bit her lip in frustration, trying to
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95 understand the myriad of feelings strangling her fluttering heart. Answers eluded her. Sighing,
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96 the brunette changed the subject. “I need to get a haircut soon, though. Short hair is a lot
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97 easier to manage. And it’s been windy lately so it’s been getting in my way at track.”
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98
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99 “I could cut it for you,” Nadeshiko offered, still playing with the auburn hair before her.
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100 “Then you wouldn’t have to wait to get your mom to take you.”
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101
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102 “You would? Thank you, Nadeshiko-chan. I’d like that. Could we do that after school?” Sonomi
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103 asked excitedly. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest, sending a thrill throughout her. She
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104 couldn’t exactly explain it, but it sounded like a much more enjoyable situation if Nadeshiko
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105 would be doing it. Before it had sounded simply like something she needed to do, a chore that
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106 needed to be dealt with. But now she was actually looking forward to it. She could already see
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107 herself sitting before her smiling cousin. Even the thought of Nadeshiko with scissors failed to
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108 alert Sonomi to the potential dangers of such a situation. But she was far too enraptured by the
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109 idea of her cousin’s fingers through her hair, cutting it all into a much shorter, neater style.
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110
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111 “Un! It would be fun. Now we have something to do this afternoon, too.” Nadeshiko grinned
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112 happily, walking alongside her auburn haired friend. Life was never boring for the gray haired
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113 girl. There was always something fascinating going on, some little aspect of life that immersed
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114 her attention. Every little thing was a work of wonder for Nadeshiko. She could only puzzle why
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115 other people couldn’t see that. There was always something new to fathom. But the one constant
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116 throughout it all, the single thing that was always a part of this wonder, was her big cousin
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117 Sonomi. The older girl had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, had always
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118 been there even as she would move from one thing to the next. So it always delighted her when
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119 she could draw Sonomi into the fantastic world that she saw. An afternoon of cutting hair
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120 sounded like an excellent time to Nadeshiko. She had never cut any hair before, but she was
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121 eager to try. Even if it did mean getting rid of Sonomi’s pretty long hair. Oh well. She’d just
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122 keep it in a box or something.
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123
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124 Reaching school, the two cousins entered their homeroom, sitting down in the large classroom.
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125 Sonomi took her seat to Nadeshiko’s right, going through her backpack for what she would need
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126 for class. Several cute keychains and buttons adorned Sonomi’s backpack, just a small sampling
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127 of her large collection of toys and things back home. She loved cute things of all shapes and
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128 sizes, finding herself always thrilled to get her hands on something new for her collection. But
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129 the cutest thing she could think of was her smaller cousin. Nadeshiko was like the perfect doll.
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130 She hadn’t a care in the world, was hardly ever sad or even worried. She was beautiful and
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131 delicate, like a doll. She was such a cute little model, modeling for Sonomi’s camera whenever
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132 she would ask. Her mother dressed her in such pretty clothes and always had new hairstyles to
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133 try out on her only daughter. Sonomi was always happy to see what new look Nadeshiko would have.
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134 She was already amassing a nice collection of photos. In fact, she would have to go get some
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135 more film developed soon. Placing her chin in her hands, she glanced over at the silver haired
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136 girl next to her. As she should have expected, Nadeshiko was looking out the window, her head
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137 tilted to the side as she watched the birds fly by, listening to their gentle melody. The
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138 brunette smiled to herself, her heart warming at the sight.
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139
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140 “Class, I would like to introduce you to my new assistant,” the teacher was saying.
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141
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142 Reluctantly pulling her attention away from her delicate cousin, Sonomi cast her eyes forward.
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143 What she saw made her blood boil. At the front of the class, she could see an irritatingly
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144 smiling face, glinting glasses, and chestnut hair. She had just managed to forget about the man
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145 who had injured her dearest Nadeshiko. So what was he doing here? Was he trying to haunt her? It
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146 sure felt like it. She couldn’t help but think he was here for Nadeshiko, for some reason or
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147 another. Of course, that was ridiculous. But Sonomi didn’t always care for logic. What she did
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148 know was that this man had already hurt her cousin once. She didn't intend to let him have a
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149 second chance.
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150
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151 “This is Kinomoto Fujitaka. He will be my assistant while I recover. I may have some more
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152 doctor’s appointments soon, so he will take care of things for me whenever I’m gone,” the
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153 teacher explained.
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154
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155 Smiling his omnipresent smile, the man bowed to the class. “Thank you. It will be a pleasure to
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156 work with all of you.” His eyes caught sight of two familiar girls at the back and his smile
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157 widened. How wonderful! Those were those two delightful girls from that weekend. He was relieved
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158 to see that the gray haired girl seemed to be doing fine.
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159
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160 “Sonomi-chan!” Nadeshiko half-whispered, leaning out of her desk. “That’s the man who gave me
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161 the book and Teddy-chan!” Several students looked her way, but Nadeshiko ignored them, still
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162 leaning towards her cousin. It was a surprise to see the man here, but for Nadeshiko it was just
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163 another of life’s many miracles. That he was there was just another amazing little tidbit. It
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164 was nice to know that the man who gave her such a wonderful gift as Teddy and the Clow Book was
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165 nearby. Maybe she could thank him someday.
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166
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167 “Un, I know,” Sonomi whispered back quietly. She glared at the man when he smiled their way.
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168 Shaking her head, she sighed. He had hurt Nadeshiko on accident. And he had apologized. It was
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169 probably nothing. She really shouldn’t be so angry with him. But still, she didn’t like him
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170 around Nadeshiko. Not at all. But all the same, she dropped her glare. Maybe he’d learned his
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171 lesson. It had just been an accident after all. Though Sonomi still didn’t trust him. She had a
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172 bad temper at times and she wasn’t one to let things drop. ‘I’ll keep an eye on you, mister. And
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173 you better stay away from my Nadeshiko-chan. I’m not going to give you another chance to hurt
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174 her,’ she thought to herself.
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175
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176 “This should be fun to have him in class. I hope he doesn’t feel bad about the baseball,”
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177 Nadeshiko was saying.
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178
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179 “Nadeshiko and Sonomi Amamiya! Was there something the two of you wanted to discuss?” The
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180 teacher raised an eyebrow, staring at the two girls.
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181
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182 “No, we just...” Sonomi began.
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183
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184 “We know your assistant. Hi, Kinomoto-san!” Nadeshiko waved to Fujitaka, eliciting some laughter
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185 from several classmates.
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186
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187 “If you insist on talking in class, then I’ll have to ask you to leave. Please go to the
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188 hallway.”
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189
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190 “Hai, sensei!” Hardly fazed, Nadeshiko smiled to Sonomi before getting out of her desk. Nothing
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191 seemed to get to the girl. But then, she was too busy with her own little world to concern
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192 herself with the trivialities of this one. Or perhaps it was the trivialities that we take for
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193 granted that held her so captivated. Whatever the case, the pale girl hurriedly made her way out
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194 of the classroom.
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195
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196 Sonomi wasn’t quite as quick to leave as her cousin. Sighing inwardly, the auburn haired girl
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197 followed Nadeshiko out of the room. She wasn’t happy about being kicked out of class, but what
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198 could she do? Pushing back a slight urge to cry, she continued forward. This wasn’t a big deal.
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199 It didn’t matter. She had been punished and she would take her punishment. And if her parents
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200 found out, then she would deal with that when the time came. For a moment, her stormy blue eyes
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201 locked with Fujitaka’s. He smiled at her apologetically. Breaking the gaze, Sonomi sped up to
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202 reach her cousin.
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203
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204 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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205
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206 “Isn’t that nice that Kinomoto-san is helping out our teacher now? Sensei must be very happy
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207 about it. And Kinomoto-san seems very smart.” Nadeshiko glanced around for which pair of
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208 scissors she should use. Picking entirely at random, she turned back to Sonomi. The brunette
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209 was sitting on the porch with her back to the gray haired girl, waiting to have her hair cut.
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210 The yellow ribbons that had been in her hair earlier were now lying on the floor next to her.
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211 “Hmm...” Nadeshiko stepped around Sonomi, trying to get some idea of what to do with her
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212 cousin’s hair. She usually let her mother do her own hair, but she did see all of the styles it
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213 was put in. She herself had had shorter hair not too long ago. So she wanted to have some idea
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214 before starting on Sonomi’s hair. Tilting her head to the side, she rethought that. Why have
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215 some initial goal? Why not wait and see what her hair became? Like a flower, she shouldn’t force
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216 it to become something it wasn’t. She should help it grow into whatever hairstyle it wanted to
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217 be. Satisfied with that line of thought, Nadeshiko began snipping away.
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218
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219 Taking a deep breath, Sonomi slowly let it filter out of her lips. Her cheeks were a rosy red,
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220 her stormy blue eyes pointed straight ahead. She could feel Nadeshiko’s pale fingers through her
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221 hair, the sound of scissors close behind. Her heart skipped a beat as Nadeshiko paused for a
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222 moment, sniffing her hair as she would a flower. Like everything the green eyed girl did in
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223 life, Nadeshiko seemed to move slowly from one part to the next, enjoying every little bit as
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224 she did. There was something very... romantic about getting her hair cut by Nadeshiko? No, that
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225 wasn’t the word. Was it? No, that couldn’t be it. But Sonomi couldn’t think up what exactly it
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226 was to have her cousin cutting her hair. Whatever the feeling, it was nice. “Can we not talk
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227 about him?”
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228
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229 “Hm? Why not? You don’t like him?” Nadeshiko asked curiously. Feeling some more of Sonomi’s long
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230 hair between her thumb and forefinger, she cut it away, watching intently as it lay between her
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231 fingers. She set the lock of hair aside. She still needed to find a place to keep Sonomi’s hair.
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232 It would just be a shame to throw it all away. Like she had said before, it was very pretty.
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233
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234 “Of course not. He hurt you.” Sonomi crossed her arms as she shifted her bare legs under
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235 herself. They were still sore from track practice that afternoon. Just as she was still sore
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236 about Nadeshiko getting hit by a baseball. Her frown fading, she tilted her head to the side
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237 when Nadeshiko’s delicate hand pushed on the side of her head.
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238
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239 “Oh.” Nadeshiko considered that for a minute, pulling up Sonomi’s hair as she did to get an idea
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240 of what to do next. Her cousin’s protective nature was something she had grown used to over the
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241 years. After all, the crazy world didn’t always make sense, but Sonomi always did. Everyone else
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242 hid how they felt or said things they didn’t mean. But Sonomi was almost always straightforward
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243 about her feelings. When she was mad, you knew it. When she was happy, you felt it. It was
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244 something that felt very refreshing for Nadeshiko. She was fascinated by the world, but the
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245 people in it didn’t always make sense. At least she knew that Sonomi did. “But I hurt myself all
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246 the time. And you don’t get mad at me,” she pointed out, snipping some more hair away.
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247
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248 “But that’s different,” Sonomi protested, tilting her head the opposite way as her younger
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249 cousin’s fingers pushed on her forehead again. She giggled a bit as she felt Nadeshiko rolling
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250 her head around from side to side playfully.
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251
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252 “How?”
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253
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254 Sonomi bit her lip, still staring forward. “I can’t explain it. It just is. It’s different when
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255 you hurt yourself than when someone else hurts you. Besides, I could never be angry with you.”
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256 She felt Nadeshiko’s stomach on her head as the green eyed girl leant over her, her head in
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257 front of Sonomi’s. Sonomi saw Nadeshiko’s upside down head lean into view, her long gray hair
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258 spilling down in front of her. The brunette felt her cheeks burn as she watched her delicate
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259 cousin’s smiling face in front of her. Her heart felt like it would give out at any moment. What
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260 was going on? Why did she always feel like this around Nadeshiko? Sonomi felt her frustration
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261 rising inside of herself, but it disappeared as Nadeshiko moved forward and kissed her nose. Her
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262 cheeks darkened further as she watched pale skin move back ever so slightly.
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263
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264 “You’re so sweet, Sonomi-chan,” Nadeshiko said simply. Smiling cutely, she slowly got back to
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265 her feet, leaving a blushing Sonomi sitting before her. Going back to work, the pale girl hummed
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266 to herself. It took a while for her older cousin to relax again, the blush slowly fading from
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267 her cheeks. She smiled as she watched. She didn’t know what she’d do without her best friend.
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268
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269 Waiting anxiously as Nadeshiko clipped her hair, Sonomi moved her palms across her thighs, hair
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270 dropping down to them every so often. She idly wondered about the finished product, but she was
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271 much more caught up in the moment to worry about what would come afterwards. ‘If only we could
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272 stay like this,’ Sonomi thought blissfully. A sigh escaped her as Nadeshiko finally stepped
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273 away. “Huh? Are you done?” Sonomi turned to find her cousin smiling at her. Her fingers went
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274 quickly to her hair, feeling the freshly cut brunette hair much shorter than it had been.
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275
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276 “Un! And it’s very cute. Let’s go see the mirror. I want you to see it, Sonomi-chan.” Taking the
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277 brunette’s hand, Nadeshiko hurried up the stairs towards her room, a handful of Sonomi’s hair in
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278 her other hand. She smiled prettily as she led Sonomi in, getting behind her and pushing her the
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279 rest of the way towards the mirror. She couldn’t wait to see what her friend thought of the new
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280 hairstyle. It had been much more fun than if Sonomi had simply gone to a barber shop.
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281
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282 Sonomi gazed into the mirror, her fingers following her new hairstyle as she watched. Her
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283 brunette hair was cropped quite a bit shorter than she had ever had it before. The short strands
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284 moved easily between her fingers. But oddly, the hair was cut at a slant. It was shorter on one
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285 side than the other, making for an odd style. She ran her fingers through the longer hair on
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286 the right, tilting her head experimentally. It seemed perfectly Nadeshiko, a strangely uneven
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287 haircut. A smile spread across Sonomi’s lips as she moved her head from one side of the other.
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288 Yes, it was definitely Nadeshiko’s handiwork. And that alone made her love it. “Thank you,
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289 Nadeshiko-chan!” She turned swiftly, taking the pale girl’s hands in her own. “I love it. I
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290 always will.”
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291
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292 “I’m glad, Sonomi-chan. It looks very pretty on you,” Nadeshiko concluded, smiling brightly. She
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293 brought a hand up to the side of Sonomi’s face, brushing back the short hair. Her cousin looked
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294 very happy with the job she did. “Maybe I should become a barber,” she said thoughtfully.
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295
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296 “I think you’d be better at other things, Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi said quickly. “But I’ll always
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297 let you cut my hair when you want to.” Returning Nadeshiko’s smile, Sonomi hugged the smaller
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298 girl. The rest of the trials of the day melted away. She forgot all about the trouble she had
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299 gotten into and the smiling boy who had hurt Nadeshiko. She didn’t even think about what her
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300 mother would say about her strange new haircut. None of it mattered while she was with her
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301 cousin. |
