Another month passed and things were fine for the most part. Tiffany was gaining quite the following, much to her displeasure. She continued to ignore the bunch since they weren’t really causing any trouble. It was mainly a few girls saying hi in the hallways or looking at her. Nothing could be done. This was the price she had to pay for becoming Yuri’s friend. Luckily for her, there weren’t any more threatening letters in her locker since that day.

One morning Tiffany was at her locker putting her things away. She was going through her notebooks to see what she needed to bring to class when she felt a warm pair of arms around her waist. Her eyes widened at the contact. She was about to turn her head when she felt a head rest on her shoulder locking her in her current position.

“How’s my favorite mushroom today,” asked the person resting on her shoulder.

“Yuri! You startled me! I didn’t know who you were,” exclaimed Tiffany.

Yuri laughed and answered, “You should know me by now Fany.”

Tiffany huffed and tried to pull away with no success. “Well it’s not like you ever back hugged me before. And why are you still doing it,” she asked.

Yuri turned her head and into Tiffany’s ear she whispered, “It’s because today is a special day to me. It’s the day you were born and I am very thankful that you came into my life.” She nuzzled the shorter girl’s head before releasing her.

Tiffany turned around with a slight blush on her face. “You know Yuri, a simple happy birthday would have sufficed,” she calmly stated trying to regain her composure.

“Not for you. You deserve better,” Yuri said and then began to dig through her backpack. “Here, I got you a little present.”

“You didn’t have to Yuri,” said Tiffany concerned.

“I wanted to,” Yuri said as she smiled and handed over the gift to Tiffany.

Tiffany stared at the wrapped small box for a second then opened it. When she lifted the lid she saw what looked like a silver necklace with a small mushroom charm in the middle.”Yuri…it’s so cute,” she beamed.

Yuri smirked, stood up taller and said, “Like you.”

Tiffany playfully smacked Yuri in the arm. “I see you are still cocky as ever,” she stated.

“You know it. I do have a reputation to maintain after all,” Yuri replied and moved to take the necklace out of the box. “Move your hair out of the way; let me put this on you.”

The two didn’t notice that there were a group of girls watching this take place. They were not pleased at all by the turn of events. Not once since Yuri had started high school had she ever given anyone a gift. Watching Yuri act like a puppy around Tiffany infuriated them.

“Who the hell does she think she is?”

“How dare she take our Yuri away from us!”

“I know! Yuri barely pays attention to the rest of us anymore. She’s always got her eyes on that .”

“The girl needs to pay for this.”

“This school has only room for one goddess and that’s Yuri Kwon.”

“It’s time to make this girl know what hell on earth feels like.”

“She can’t say we didn’t warn her but she didn’t listen.”

“Let’s go gather the rest. I don’t want to have to watch this crap any longer. It makes me want to gag.”

“I told you Yuri I can do it myself,” exclaimed Tiffany.

“Oh don’t be so stubborn, I will do it” insisted Yuri.

After a few minutes of bickering Tiffany finally conceded to Yuri’s request and allowed Yuri to put the necklace on her. The mushroom hovered just below her collarbone and had the smallest of shines when the light hit it right. Yuri wrapped an arm over Tiffany shoulder and the two made their way to class. Tiffany smiled to herself as Yuri escorted her to class. If only they knew that this would be the last moment of happiness they would share. The storm was here and it was coming with a vengeance.