Mimoko's lie

That night, Mimoko sighed as she plopped down on the couch after getting out of the shower. 

"You seem troubled. The modeling gig fail?" Daria asked. 

"No, I got accepted." 

"Oh, then why didn't you say sooner?" 

"My mind was elsewhere... Okaa-chan, what can you tell me about Svetlana-chan?"

"Svetlana-chan? I don't really know much about her."

"What about her father, Tsar Grigori?" 

Daria's expression darkened. "Different story. As you probably know, he's the Tsar of Russia as well as an elite 2800-level grandmaster and the Desperado League's unofficial leader. Though he tries to present himself as a pragmatic peacemaker on the world stage, in reality, he's a malevolent monster that will resort to any and all underhanded methods to get what he wants. He's greedy, but he doesn't let it show, in other words." 

"So he's very bad."

""Bad" doesn't even begin to describe it! I haven't interacted with him much, but Ian certainly has, and can tell you horror stories about the things he does." 

"Has he said anything about Svetlana-chan?" 

"Why the interest in Svetlana?"

"... Tanabe-kun mentioned she hates him, and it got me curious about her." 

"Did you try asking him for more details?" 

"You know how Tanabe-kun can be." 

"Hmm... A fair point. Sadly, you probably have better chances of finding what you're looking for by asking him again." 

Mimoko nodded as she scrunched up her legs and buried her face into her knees. She just couldn't tell Daria about her interactions with Svetlana as if she did, she felt it would make things harder for Svetlana to achieve her dream of becoming a model. That said, Daria wasn't so oblivious to things, especially after both the Michiko incident and the 6B one. 

"Why are you hiding things from me?" Daria scowled as she sat down next to Mimoko. 

"Wh- What do you mean?" Mimoko stammered. 

"Did this Svetlana threaten you?" 

"No..." 

"Then what has you in a mood?" 

Seeing no way out now, Mimoko spilled the beans on what had gone down with Svetlana, though left out what Svetlana had told her about her past. However, just as she feared, Daria didn't take things well. 

"I don't know. Mimoko, I know you're a kind girl, but kind souls are easily taken advantage of. The Desperado League does view you as their biggest threat, and considering how Tsar Grigori is, I wouldn't put it past him to dry dressing up Svetlana as someone that could catch your eye. The one little thing I do know about her is that she is the Tsar's DESPER proxy. If he wants to wage a DESPER battle in his name, Svetlana's the one that does the dirty work. Mimoko, you need to get better at reading people." 

"I know... But could the tsar really be into fashion to the point where he could program Svetlana-chan to be into it? That, and I remember from the times I've seen her before, she has always been wearing the same shoes she wears now. That adds some credence to her claims." 

"You underestimate the tsar. He's a man that will immerse himself in all just to get into the headspace of his enemies and crush them, mercilessly. Though perhaps you should heed my earlier advice and talk to Okisato. He's probably the one that could see through her and tell if she's truly authentic or not." 

Mimoko slowly nodded as she curled up even tighter. 

"How about you watch something instead to clear your mind?" 

Mimoko slowly nodded and relaxed her legs as she reached for the TV remote.