Freeze Frame

Juniper deftly dips a bite of tuna roll in soy sauce with her chopsticks, then pops it into her mouth. I watch her daintily chew and remember a time when she wouldn't eat anything sour and hated fish. I'm not that much older than her, but I can't help but have these nostalgic memories from growing up together with my precious sister. Now she's got all these grown-up, sophisticated tastes, but at the same time she can still be such a little kid.

"Not hungry?" she asks me.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, lost in thought," I say, turning to my own sushi. I'm not really a fan of sushi, I can take it or leave it. I ordered inari because the tofu is more palatable to me. I smile as I pick through my food with my own chopsticks. "I was just remembering a time when you threw a fit because Mom packed a tuna salad sandwich in your lunch, and now look at you."

Juniper pulls a face. "What the—I was eight!" she splutters. "You're so weird sometimes! Jeez..."

"I just think it's funny, that's all," I say as I take a bite of inari.

"Gimme a bite of that," Juniper says, snatching up a bite from my tray with her chopsticks.

"Careful!" I warn. "I asked for—"

Juniper's eyes bug out as she chews the inari. She starts coughing, her eyes watering as she drops her chopsticks.

"—wasabi in mine," I finish lamely. Juniper pounds the table with her fist for a minute, then grabs her water bottle, fumbles with the cap for a second, and gulps down half the bottle in one long chug.

"How can you stand that stuff?!" she wheezes as she caps her water and fans her mouth.

I shrug as I take another bite of inari. "You know I've always liked spicy things," I say.

She stares at me. "You just...no reaction," she says dully, eyes wide.

"So how's school going?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Eh, it's boring," Juniper says, going back to her own meal. "I kinda wish I was going to CHS instead of Crystal Prep because my new friends all go there, but it's not that long until graduation, it'd be really dumb to transfer now." She paused, then added, "Besides, there's a few girls at my school who are friends with the same girls. I guess I could...maybe try to make friends with them?"

I smile. "I'm glad you're making friends," I say. "It always worried me that you were alone all the time."

A dark cloud passes over her sapphire eyes and she averts her gaze. "Yeah," she said hoarsely.

Oh no...I upset her... "So you're reading Fantômas now?" I ask, hoping the change in topic will brighten her mood.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," she says. "I was interested because he's the inspiration for the bad guy on a show that's really popular right now."

I know the one she means. A lot of my classmates at Canterlot U are obsessed with it. Especially the girls on campus. "You mean Hawk Moth from Miraculous Ladybug, right?"

"Yeah, that's—you watch that?" Juniper asks, blinking in surprise.

"I've seen an episode or two," I say offhandedly. "It's popular on campus, it's hard not to have at least heard of it." With a sudden impish smirk, I add, "Actually, come to think of it, you'd make a pretty cute Ladybug for Halloween."

Juniper blushes. "Hey!" she says. She pauses, then fingers her own hair. "W-well...I mean, I do wear my hair a little like hers..." She frowns. "I'm not so sure how good I'd look in red, though. It's a bit...I dunno...not my color?"

"I don't know about that," I muse. "I know you prefer black, but..." I smirk. "Maybe Cat Noir then? You could put on cute little kitty ears."

"Gah! No way!" Juniper says, sticking her tongue out.

"Why not? Besides, you've already got a black bodysuit."

She stares at me, her glasses slipping. "Have you—have you been snooping around in my closet?!"

"I was putting some stuff away for Mom," I lie blithely. "I saw that crazy supervillain costume you have in there. What's the story with that?"

Juniper averts her gaze. "That's...from when I got kicked off Uncle Canter's movie set," she says quietly.

"Oh." Ouch. I killed the mood again. I cough, take a bite of inari, then try again. "Well, whatever bad things you did, I'm sure you looked really cute doing them."

Juniper wrinkles her nose at me. "Don't tease me," she says sourly.

"I'm not!" I insist. "Actually, I've kind of been wanting to see you wearing that. I can't help it, it's just such a random thing to find in your closet I can't help but be curious."

Juniper purses her lips, toying with her chopsticks. "Maybe one of these days," she says. She finishes eating, then wipes her mouth, stands, and cleans up her side of the table. "I'm going to take a bath," she announces.

I watch her leave the room, admiring the sway of her hips, the swish of her skirt, the flounce of her long bottle-green pigtails.

God, she's so adorable...

I don't have anything else to do except more homework and I'm sick of that, so I clean up the rest of the kitchen and settle in for some idle gaming in the living room.