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It’s a typical tuesday.“Hurry up Mii-kun!” “Yeah, yeah, Misaki!” “Patience is a virtue… I’m sure whatever result; my little kitten would look gorgeous…”Well, as typical as it can get for Misaki, anyway.“Right, right, I’m nearly done, just wait a moment guys.” Misaki calls from inside the change room. “I don’t usually wear this sort of thing…” She mumbles.Misaki was honestly surprised when Kaoru observed her from a distance, a hand on her chin- before abruptly taking her away to a change room and demanding her to wear an article of clothing.No, actually, what she’s more surprised about is the choice of clothing she picked out for her. Kaoru believed Misaki would look “splendid” in these clothes and her “judgement is never wrong.”She finally finished putting on the rather frilly collared shirt alongside the trousers. The blazer laid near her. “Do I have to wear the blazer too? It’s too hot for it.” Misaki complained and opened the curtain. Misaki heard a series of 4 gasps that then erupted into loud cheers from Hagumi and Kokoro. Misaki tugged a her collar, feeling uncomfortable because the frilly parts are lightly scraping her skin.“I don’t understand how you enjoy wearing these kinds of clothes, Kaoru-san… The frilly parts are making me itchy.” Misaki says, a flustered expression from the attention. “It is not the level of comfort that matters… But the appearance must be fleeting…”"Oh god, fleeting is an adjective for everything for you.” Misaki deadpans, and turns to Kanon, the only other person with common sense in this group.“I’m only taking honest opinions from Kanon-san here, because she’s the most dependable.” Misaki says, walking over to Kanon and ignoring Hagumi and Kokoro’s playful pouts.Misaki tugged at her collar again, “I swear… It’s so hot and you’re making me wear long sleeves…” She says under her breath. Kanon squeaks when she realises Misaki is looking for her opinion. Hearing Kanon’s voice and seeing her face puts Misaki at ease. A giddy smile raises to her lips, taking in Kanon’s flustered appearance.
Maybe wearing this outfit is somewhat… worth it. If i get to see her expression like that.
“Ka~ non~- san~” Misaki sings, moving closer, bumping their shoulders together, a sure smile on her face- really, only visible because of Kanon. Kanon looks up, her pupils widening at Misaki’s appearance.“How do I look?” Misaki inquires.“M-Misaki-chan!” Kanon squeaks, and smiles back at Misaki. “You look really… great .” Kanon squeals, unconsciously grabbing onto Misaki’s arm.“Really?” Misaki says, looking down at her clothes. “I mean, the clothes look good, but I don’t think I suit it at all.” She mumbles, her eyebrows furrowing and her eyes narrowing at the collared shirt.“Yeah…!” Kanon exclaims, albeit quietly. “You look handsome. Very handsome. S-Splendid, like Kaoru described.” Kanon’s face began to heat up and she looked to her feet, letting go of Misaki.Misaki’s face also heated up. She avoided Kanon’s eyes. “R-Really?” She repeats. Kanon nods her head furiously, a shy smile on her face. “Yeah Mii-kun! Don’t doubt yourself! We should take a photo and spread it! You look so good!”Hagumi’s voice immediately cut through that awkward silence. “That’s right, Hagumi! Tell her!” Kokoro’s energetic shouts also cut through it.Hagumi and Kokoro both run at Misaki and jump at her. Misaki panics and pushes Kanon away to avoid any collateral damage.Kanon marvels at how Misaki was able to hold her ground even after two girls her age- and probably same weight- fling themselves at her.“You two…” Misaki hisses, her eye twitching out of pure annoyance. “Don’t randomly jump at a person like that! If it weren’t me, you could’ve gotten them or yourselves hurt!” Kokoro’s mouth spread to a cat-like smile alongside Hagumi, “Ehhhh? But you caught us in the end!” Kokoro complains. “Yeah! Only because I can! There’s plenty of people out there who can’t handle your weight let alone two people on either hands!” Misaki grumbles.Hagumi’s mouth spreads into an ‘o’, and she exclaims, “Wow! Mii-kun, you can do that!?”Immediately, Misaki regrets her words.Misaki was too distracted and preoccupied with Hagumi and Kokoro to notice someone taking pictures of her.\ o~y~o “You two… are seriously amazing…”Misaki did not mean that genuinely.“Hehe, thanks Misaki!” Kokoro says, rubbing her hand along her nape. Hagumi showed to have the same reaction.They stood at the gates. Kanon rubbed Misaki’s back to comfort her. The sun is setting. It’s getting late.“I swear, those two are basically one and the same except one is a super energetic blonde who can flip around everywhere it’s basically hacks and the other is a super energetic orange haired girl who can also flip around everywhere but prefers to hug- hey they do sound the same.” Misaki mumbles all in one go.Kanon giggles at Misaki’s suffering. “Kanon-sa~n… Don’t laugh at me… this is a serious matter. They’re seriously all idiots.” Misaki whined, slightly shaking Kanon’s shoulders. This only served to make Kanon laugh more.Her arms hurt because of the amount of times the two overly energetic pair flung themselves at her, willing her to carry both on one arm each. In fact , they actually got Kaoru to try to be lifted by Misaki’s poor, poor… sexy arm.They failed in convincing Kanon, though. She would immediately die of embarrassment yet be so happy to have touched Misaki’s glorious biceps at all.Misaki bumps her shoulder against Kanon’s in her daze, “Hey.” Misaki says, staring into Kanon’s eyes. “They all left us y’know. Something about a race.” She informs Kanon.Kanon giggles, “That’s okay.” She rolls her sleeves up, “I can guide myself home! ...I think."Misaki lets herself laugh there. “You sure about that? I’d love to walk you home, I mean. And I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t know that you’re home safe.”“I need you in my life.” Misaki blurts quietly. Kanon stops walking. “You… need me?” She hesitantly asks. Misaki nods, her face slightly pink.“If you’re not in it, I’d go insane in Hello Happy World.”“Oh.” Kanon looks at her automatically walking feet.Misaki laughs, “That isn’t to say that you aren’t important to me though.” Kanon looks up at Misaki.“I consider you my best friend, by now. You’re irreplaceable." Best friend… Kanon thinks, somewhat dejectedly. Irreplaceable… Her mindset improves. How could this girl hurt her so much as well as make her feel so special?“Thanks, Misaki-chan! I think of you the same way!” Kanon could only reply as such.Misaki hums, the statement she said was true but also had its lies too.She holds onto Kanons hand, both girls feeling butterflies and electric shocks from the touch. It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling. It was… exciting… exhilarating… and filled them with ecstasy…They both don’t make a move to let go.“C’mon, Kanon-san. Let’s go home.” o~y~o “Kokoro! What did you do this time!?”Misaki is observant. Probably.She’s a high class loner, after all- basically her only friend being Rimi until Hello Happy World came along. She had nothing else to do other than to watch or eavesdrop. It would make sense if she was the most observant person in the world! ...Probably.But yes, she’s observant. When she enters the class- no school, she immediately registers to the fact that people are looking at her, staring at her.It was the same for the days before. Little amounts people stared at her- talked to their friends whilst looking at her.And she still has no idea why.This week is a strange week.Today is worse.Earlier, when she walked into the school, she heard some of her classmates mentioning her name- calling her handsome .It was even more shocking when; some upperclassmen, approached her, complementing her body and running their hands alongside her arm and squeezing her bicep.Misaki was too flustered to let anything else out other than “T-Thanks?”They winked, called her “cute” and walked away, giggling amongst themselves.She suspects it has everything to do with Hello Happy World (read: san baka). The only time she’s been called handsome was by Kanon who said it because Misaki was wearing that extremely frilly tux.Yep, It has everything to do with Kaoru who made her wear it a week ago.“Hm? What do you mean Misaki?” Kokoro asks curiously, tilting her head. Misaki sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You know what I’m talking about.” It wasn’t even a question. But Kokoro looked more confused than anything.“Y’know with the suit and stuff. That uncomfortable thing Kaoru-san forced me to wear? The one you and Hagumi- Oh right- Hagumi!” She suddenly recalls a time where Hagumi insisted in taking a photo. Misaki isn’t sure if Hagumi took a photo and actually spread it.“Mii-kun! Kokoron! Help!”Hagumi enters the classroom in a rush, shutting the door behind her. Speak of the devil.“Hagumi?” Misaki calls out, temporarily forgetting about her own problem. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She asks, moving forward to meet Hagumi from across the classroom.“Is there something out there-”“Wait Mii-kun!” Misaki was confused when she was cut off by Hagumi.Hagumi stopped panting and stood up straight. “It’s better if you don’t go out there.” She says with an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.“Hah?” Misaki narrows her eyes, and tilted her head in confusion. “Is there something you’re not telling me?Misaki raises her hand to the door, she’s too curious. She ignores Hagumi’s plead and opens the door. It was… just a group of girls- Misaki recognised them as Hagumi’s classmates as well as girls from the drama club. They all turned to Misaki, eyes sparkling.Misaki hears them mumbling amongst themselves, before the one in front of them raise their head and declares, “Ok, now you’re going to join the drama club. We need a prince for our play and you’re the best fit for it." “Hah?” Misaki lets out, surprised at the new development. “I’m sorry Mii-kun… I tried to tell them that you’re already busy with the tennis club and Hello Happy World but they wouldn’t listen.” She could vaguely hear Hagumi from behind them.That's not the point you dimwit. Misaki internally panicks. “Uh…” She mutters in shock, and promptly slams the door in front of them, facing Hagumi.“Ok, so what’s going on, Hagumi?” Misaki demands, resting her hands on her hips. Hagumi immediately takes out her phone and pulls out a picture of Misaki in her suit. “Someone took a picture of you and they sent it to someone and it spilt like wildfire! I got it from Kaa-kun” Hagumi exclaims energetically. “They took a good picture too, look!”Misaki cringes at herself in the photo. “Pretty sure the statement is ‘spread like wildfire’ not ‘spilt like wildfire’...” She comments. “Oh, you’re so smart Mii-kun!”“Yeah, yeah whatever.”Kokoro looks over Misaki’s shoulder. “Ooh~! Misaki looks so handsome in this photo! If Kaoru was here, she would describe it as fleeting ! And so do I, right now!” Kokoro says passionately, making eccentric hand movements to describe her feeling.Misaki’s cheeks heat up at the complement- she’s still not used to getting complimented as Misaki.“Oh gee, I’m not handsome or anything. I’m as plain as a person can get in a tuxedo . I don’t even know why Kaoru-san would even make me wear that.” Misaki says, a frown now present.“Chin up, Misaki!” Kokoro exclaims, “You’re as great as anyone and everyone can be!”That was the most genuine and nice thing Misaki heard Kokoro say about her.“Kokoro… I… thank yo-”“Ah! Kanon-chan-senpai!” Hagumi shouts suddenly, her face filled with dread.Misaki’s head snapped up. “What? What happened to Kanon-san?” Her heart stopped beating.“Nothing! I’m just worried in case people like that asked her like that.” Hagumi says, worried about Kanon.Misaki breathed out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes. “Don’t scare me like that…” Her eyes snapped open, “Actually, wait, that’s a reasonable point.”Misaki looks at her phone to check the time. There was more than enough time to visit Kanon’s classroom.“Hagumi, send me the picture now.” Misaki demands in a serious tone and Hagumi stands straight, in a comical way, “Y-yes ma’am!” and immediately pulls her phone out to send the picture.“Where are you going, Misaki?” Kokoro asks, watching curiously as Misaki walks fast to the door. Misaki looks back to answer Kokoro’s question.“...I’ll go check if Kanon-san is okay. o~y~o “Fuee…” Kanon lets out her signature sound, flopping on to her desk, defeated.Chisato takes a seat next to her, laughing nervously. “You certainly had a rough morning.” She comments, patting the saddened girl on her head.Kanon whines, “And it’s not even started yet~...” She shakes the table, “How did something like that escalate so much? Where did it even start from again…?” Kanon complains. “What happened?” Chisato asks, stroking the girls hair. Kanon turns over to face Chisato, “Remember that picture of Misaki-chan I sent?” “Misaki-chan…?” Chisato inquires, confusedly, “Oh the bear costume crush of yours.” She teases.“Chisato-chan~...” Kanon whines, this time shaking Chisato by the shoulders. Chisato yelps, “Ok ok, I’m sorry!” She says, giggling at Kanon's demise.“Yes, I remember Okusawa-san. She was rather dashing in that outfit. Kaoru has good taste.” Chisato says, sitting up straight, a tight lipped smile on her face.“Yeah, well, about that…” Kanon starts but was interrupted.“Kanon-san~!”“Speak of the devil and she shall come.” Chisato mumbles amusedly, staring at Kanon who immediately raised her head up upon hearing Misaki’s voice.“Misaki-chan?” Kanon calls out and sees Misaki in front of her. “What are you d-doing here?” Kanon asks, tilting her head cutely.Urk. How is it possible for an upperclassman to be so adorable?! Misaki thought, her face heating up. Misaki turns around, almost comically and tries to regain her breath.She spins around again and furrows her eyebrows, “Has anything… anyone said anything to you lately… about me?”Kanon stands up, “Yeah, yeah!” She shouts, attracting unwanted attention. She looked around and her face heated up. “Fuee…” She sinks into her chair, wanting to dig a hole and hide.Misaki grabs a chair to sit with Chisato and Kanon. “Oh, Good morning Shirasagi-senpai.” Misaki bows at her upperclassman.“Chisato is fine, Okusawa-san.” Chisato says, a warm smile on her face, unlike her expressions when dealing with Kanon.“Then you can call me Misaki too, Chisato… san.”Chisato gives Misaki a surprised look, and then another look that says ‘good enough.’ “Okay then, Misaki-chan.” Chisato finally answers.Misaki nods her head at Chisato, a small smile on her face, “So, Kanon-san, someone’s said something about me?” Misaki inquires, her attention now at her fellow member. “Oh! I’m sorry, I sound kinda conceited.” Misaki immediately apologises, bowing flusteredly. “The thing is… This morning, something crazy happened- actually the days since last week when I wore that tuxedo?”Chisato nods her head, “We were talking about that before you came in.”Kanon sits up straight, “There was a picture, right?” Kanon asks, pulling out her phone and showing Misaki the picture.Misaki pulls out her own phone and squints at the two screens, comparing them. “Yes… How do you have that picture… Kanon-san…?”Kanon’s face reddens, “I- uh- well-”“I sent that photo to her.” Chisato interrupts, winking at Kanon.Kanon absolutely did not want to reveal to Misaki that she’s been taking pictures of her yet. Kanon breathes out a sigh of relief, and calms herself.“As for how I got it…” Chisato adds, a sly smile on her face. “It’s not my place to say who but a particularly close friend of mine sent to to me. They have a rather big crush on you. Even since before the picture.”Clatter !“Whoa! Kanon, are you okay?” Misaki shouts- her face slightly red from the revelation- standing and leaning over the table when Kanon fell out of her chair.“I- I’m okay Misaki-chan, Chisato-chan!” Kanon calls out, trying to hide her red face and pulls a thumbs up. "Fuee..."Misaki pauses to look at her actions and bursts out into laughter. She walks over to her ditzy senpai and lifts her easily, seating her on the chair.Misaki kneels to meet eye level with Kanon, her left hand on Kanon’s chair and the other laying on top of Kanon’s own hands.Kanon looks down at their somewhat intertwined hands and turns a darker shade of red. “I… um…”“Kanon-san…” Misaki whispers, an unconscious cheeky smile on her face. “Look at me, Kanon-san.”Kanon looks up and meets Misaki’s eyes. The mood had changed around them, Kanon could feel it. She could feel everyone’s eyes on them- knowing that if she let this go long enough, everyone will suspect she’s dating Misaki.But Misaki’s hand is so warm . So comforting. So addictive. Kanon doesn’t want to pull away.Kanon locks her violet eyes on Misaki’s captivating blue eyes firmer. She almost dies when Misaki flashes an adorable smile her way, and tucks a hair behind Kanon’s ear- somewhat Kaoru-styled.Kanon feels as if her heart is about to beat out of her chest. Misaki stands up, seemingly suddenly aware of the mood and tension they created.“I should be going, Kanon-san, Chisato-san.” Misaki states as a matter of fact, avoiding Kanon’s eyes. She spins around and almost robotically, walks into the door. “Ow!” She exclaims before dashing out of the room.Kanon winces at this, even more so when she hears Sayo’s threatening voice shouting at Misaki to not run in the hallways and Misaki’s flustered and repetitive apologies.It was… kinda fulfilling though… When she saw that Misaki’s ears were red, in embarrassment.The room was quiet, when Kanon noticed, all eyes on her.Chisato had a smug smile on her face and continued to stare at Kanon. “So,” Chisato was the first to break the silence. “Misaki-chan’s been learning from Kaoru?”Her classmates immediately clamour about what just happened to Kanon.“Fuee…” o~y~o “Ugh, I’m exhausted.”It’s been a month. When Misaki confided in Rimi about this- who had actually heard about the incident the moment the pictures were posted.“Almost as handsome as Kaoru.” Rimi had complimented Misaki and then daring to ask her to wear more clothes like that.She does it anyway, because Rimi is so nice and pure and who wouldn’t want to help Rimi?Of course the situation gets even more out of hand because more people took pictures of her wearing- “Kaoru type clothings” as she would put it- other than a hoodie, shorts and a cap At first it was the ripped jeans… then the rolled up sleeves collar shirt… then a flannel shirt wrapped around her waist (Misaki doesn’t know what the big deal about that is. Why don’t just wear the shirt? So you’re nice and comfy).And then Rimi thankfully made her wear something more comfortable- oversized sweaters. Of course, that had an effect on her schoolmates that was unwanted.Rimi noticed that Misaki was distressed over this whole ordeal- and immediately apologised, thinking her actions and demands were the reason behind it.They met up again to try to strategise how to stop Misaki’s newfound admirers.Rimi suggested that they wait it out. Make sure Misaki doesn’t do or wear anything flashy. Bring the attention to someone or something else.This happened in a span of 2 weeks.Misaki followed Rimi’s advice, avoiding things that would attract attention, wearing her hoodie, shorts and hat attire and keeping to herself.Until later, Kokoro announces in front of the entire school that Misaki is a member of Hello Happy World. And that they practice in CiRCLE.It hindered practises when fans would enter CiRCLE and rudely enter the studio just to look for their respective biases.Misaki knew that Kokoro didn’t mean any harm… But sometimes- well, most of the time, she wishes Kokoro would just shut it .At first, Misaki’s fan members (What the hell- they created a fan club just for her? What? And there’s an official blog about it? And a group?) hadn’t recognised Michelle as Misaki.But even a bunch of girls who are especially observant about her would figure out Michelle is Misaki faster than the idiot trio in her group.Her only comfort these days was Kanon. During breaks, Kanon would make an excuse about Michelle needing to drink water, or Michelle needing to go catch and eat fish just to throw off Misaki’s fans and keep Kokoro and the others off their tails.Kanon would take them to a separate room and open all the windows. She’d give Misaki a bottle of water. She did this all without complaint- in fact she enjoyed taking care of Misaki.“Misaki-chan.” She had said, giggling over Misaki’s relaxed expression.“I’m glad I could help you in some form. I feel like I’m fulfilling my role as senpai.” Kanon said.And Misaki remembers rather vividly, the feeling of Kanon’s lips on her cheek that day.But of course, no matter how tingly it made her feel. No matter how fast her heart had beaten and no matter how much her body heated- it was definitely a platonic sign of affection. Misaki might seem like she’s in denial, but she’s sure about this thing.1), Kanon is too pure and innocent and shy to initiate any form of romantic interaction2), Kissing on the cheeks between friends is completely normal- Misaki has seen it a lot during her lifetime.It really had been a long month.Rimi was getting flustered and guilty over this. “What can I do to help?” Rimi asks, wringing her hands together nervously.Misaki reaches out to hold stop Rimi’s hands from moving. “Hey, Rimi. Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. I guess maybe it’s Kaoru-san’s because she made me wear that tuxedo.”Misaki tries to send Rimi a reassuring smile but it probably looked more like a grimace to Rimi.“Do you have any ideas, on how to at least, control this crowd? Like anything in one of your smutty stories or something?” Misaki accuses Rimi teasingly.“ Excuse me!” Rimi puffed out her cheeks, blushing bright red at the accusation. “Just because you caught me one time reading something smutty doesn’t mean I always read smutty stories!” She whisper-shouts.“Sure you do.” Misaki coos, sipping her coffee with raised eyebrows.Rimi pouts, crossing her arms and huffs.And then a light of inspiration. “Hey I think I do have an idea.” Rimi says, a light smile of being proud of herself on her face.Misaki’s face brightens at the prospect of an idea. “I know your ideas didn’t work about a lot of times- but I’ll be willing to try literally anything …”Rimi shows signs of an uncharacteristic smirk. “Let’s see if you say the same thing after I tell you this. Oh, by the way I got this from my” She pulls two fingers up as a ‘quotation mark’ sign, “smutty fics.”Misaki laughs and then shrugs, “I said I’d do anything. So, fire away.” Rimi motions for Misaki to move closer. Rimi whispers in Misaki’s ears- a plan. “Oh my god.” Misaki says in response to Rimi’s plan. “I know, right?” Rimi raves, “You like it or not?” She asks excitedly, an expectant smile wide on her face..Misaki blushes bright red. “Oh. Uh well. It’s really embarrassing. Who would I even ask in the first place?” She frets.“Isn’t it obvious who you’ll ask, Misaki?” Rimi asks, another sly smile on her face.Misaki tilts her head in confusion. She motions her hands toward Rimi for her to elaborate.Rimi opens her mouth, “Well… You could either ask me… Because I’m the one who asked for it. I wouldn’t mind however…”“However?”“I kinda want Kaoru-san to…”Misaki nods her head. “I get it. Anyways, we’re missing the point. If you’re not the obvious pick, who is it?”Rimi deadpans, an exasperated expression because of how dense Misaki can be, “Who in your group do you trust the most? Who in your group do you have a crush on? There can be progress in your love life if you decide on the right person, Misaki-chan.”“Oh.”“Yes, Misaki-chan, her .”“ Oh. Kanon-san.”Misaki pauses for a moment. “...What if she says no?” Rimi shook her head, “There’s no way she’d say no, she trusts you as much as she trusts Shirasagi-senpai. Maybe even more.”“But, like, what if ?”She sighed, and sent a gentle smile to Misaki, “Then you’ll always have me.”Misaki stares into Rimi’s sincere orbs, and lets her mouth form into a smile, “Thanks, Rimi. You’re the best.”“Anytime, Misaki-chan.” o~y~o “Misaki-senpai!”It’s the fifth one this week. This is the most attention she’s received in her entire life.“Please accept my confession! Misaki-sama!” Her underclassman asks, bowing down- her face burning red. This underclassman is cute , Misaki notes. She’s shy, and somehow, likes someone like her. Misaki’s amazed at the amount of bravery this girl shows just from a simple confession.Misaki puts her hand on the underclassman’s head, patting it. The girl gave out a squeak, her face bright red, not only from the confession, but the attention she receives from her crush.“You’re a brave person, you know?” Misaki compliments, letting a half-hearted smile show and a nervous laugh out to try to calm her underclassman down.“Much like someone I know…” She mumbles, just loud enough for the girl to hear.“K-Kanon-senpai?” The girl whispers, somewhat heart broken.“Huh?” Misaki asks, stepping back at hearing her band members' name. “What about Kanon-san?” Misaki asks nervously.
No, no, I’m not ready to act out the plan!
“D-Do you like, Kanon-senpai?” She asks, staring Misaki straight into the eyes. The amount of determination in this girl reminded her of Kanon so much that she misses her even though Misaki will see Kanon during break, now.Misaki’s features softens. She raises her fingers to her lips, and whispers, “Shh…” It insinuated that Yes , she likes Kanon because Yes! She does !The girl nods, her face bright red when their interaction ends. “I promise to not tell anyone, and good luck with you and her!” Misaki turns red at the girls’ words.Well, that could’ve been worse.Now, on to Kanon’s classroom.She opens the door to the seniors classrooms, and hears a faint “Fueee…” from a familiar senpai of hers.Misaki catches the sight of blue hair and a red face. Kanon is talking to the upperclassmen that Misaki had spoken to before. They were the ones that held her bicep and called her cute to her face.The upperclassmen catch sight of her and wink at her, walking away from Kanon so sit at their own tables and stare daringly at her.“Uh. Kanon-san?” Misaki calls out, walking toward her flushed crush. Chisato was sitting on the table where Kanon kept her head down in embarrassment.Chisato looked shocked and Kanon looked plain embarrassed.“Misaki-chaa~n!” Kanon cried out, lunging to hug the younger girl. Misaki felt her breath get knocked out of her lungs, her legs temporarily weakened from that- Misaki immediately holds onto a table near them. The table was digging into her back. Misaki winces and sits on the table to be more comfortable. Meanwhile, Kanon was still hugging her with a vice-like grip.“Uh… Kanon-san? What’s up?”Kanon looks up at Misaki, her eyes slightly teary. Misaki’s features soften, she’s worried. Misaki wipes away Kanon’s tears as she sniffles. “Are you okay?” She whispers, gently.Kanon nods, pouting. “T-The thing is…” She sniffs. “Fuee…” She whines, her face turning red at the memory.Misaki pats her head. Thankfully, most of Kanon’s classmates already left the room, the only people left were the upperclassmen who were eyeing Misaki up and down in anticipation and Chisato, who was currently on her phone and definitely trying to look away from the two.“The girls over there….” Kanon begins, “T-They wanted me to ask you something- v-very embarrassing….” She says, fanning her face with her hands.“What did they say?” Misaki asks.“They told me to tell you… T-That… If you wanted some fun, or something… That they would be happy to help you…” Kanon reveals, and immediately hides her face in her hands. “Oh.” Is all Misaki could really say. And it really was oh indeed. Misaki fans her own face and glances over at the girls. “Chisato-san. Kanon-san.” Misaki says. It’s now or never .Kanon and Chisato look up at her.“If there was a way to say something flashy to not only everyone in here right now, but to a lot of people in the school- where would someone say it and how? Like, right now?” Misaki asks, her face in a strangely serious way. Chisato puts her phone in her pocket and crosses her arms, thinking. “Well… In this moment?” Misaki nods her head, “A way to get something across to a lot of people would be to open the window and shout- Huh? Misaki-chan?”Misaki stands up, slowly, so that Kanon could stop leaning on her. “I’ll be right back.” She whispers to Kanon. Kanon nods her head, a confused expression visible.Misaki feels her heart beating fast in her chest. She’s aware of everyone’s eyes on her back, as she opens the window.The black haired girl takes a deep breath in. In, and out. In and out. In and out. She musters all of her courage and takes one last deep breath, cupping her mouth with her fingers. “I’M IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE!” She shouts, out the window, in the loudest voice she heard herself speak in before. Misaki feels weight lift off her shoulders, admitting that. She feels everyone’s shocked eyes on her.Misaki looks down at the field- her clubmates, the soccer team, Poppin-Party members, Kanon and Hagumi.She takes another deep breath.“ AND THEY LOVE ME BACK!” Misaki shouts, a fulfilling feeling fluttering in her heart. It felt nice to admit she loves someone. Though the second one was a lie.Misaki spots Rimi looking up at her. She gives the Kaoru-fan a thumbs-up and the girl in turn does the same to her.Rimi’s plan was crazy . Though, shouting it flashily wasn’t really what Rimi wanted Misaki to do, just telling one person she knew was gossipy would immediately make the entire school know.Rimi’s “brilliant” plan was basically to; fake date someone until all of her admirers accepted it and let go. It’s crazy but really… believable. Maybe only believable because of the stories Rimi sent to “mentally prepare herself” or “give her some ideas.” They were actually interesting… Or whatever. Not that she'd ever admit that to Rimi. Misaki spins around, and laughs nervously. “So uh, guys.” She says- she’s always been terrible at acting, so her voice was bland and her face was red.“I’m dating someone.” She announces. It’s so obvious that it’s a lie, yet Misaki only sees Chisato’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.“W-Wow, congratulations, Misaki-chan…!” Kanon exclaims, kind of lifelessly. Misaki frowns at Kanon’s tone.“That’s great, Misaki-chan. I’m glad to see you’ve found someone.” Chisato says, her eyes still following Misaki’s figure in a suspicion.The girls that asked Kanon for that favour have already left the room.“Right. Yeah. It’s great.” o~y~o “Misaki! Why didn’t you tell us about this!”“Yeah, yeah, Mii-kun- this is so unfair!”The two similarly energetic girls pout dramatically, pushing themselves toward Misaki who’s flustered from the questions.“Ah… My little kitten… She’s grown up… Fleeting…” Kaoru says, trying to hide her concern in her voice but it’s obvious that she’s somewhat thrown off from the sudden information. “I don’t remember you being so brave to shout it out the windows of the 3rd year rooms !” Hagumi exclaims, her voice getting more excited by the second.“You should’ve asked me to help you! I would have made a song about it!” Kokoro shouts, getting excited about the idea of making a song to help Misaki reveal she’s dating someone.“You don’t even make the music, Kokoro.” Misaki sighs, exasperated, face palming. “Sure, you make the tunes, but I’m the one who has to put it all together into a song and make the lyrics too!”“Oh. Right!” Kokoro lowers her voice, finally , sheepishly pulling her arms behind her back.Kanon didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to say anything. She was tired . Dejected, heartbroken. Sad - is the most simple adjective to describe her.The bluenette sighs and rests her hands on the table, and then lays her head on her crossed arms. She sighs again, a hollow feeling in her heart.Was this what it was like to be rejected before even asking to be accepted, Kanon wonders sadly.“O~~i~ , Kanon-sa~n~” Misaki calls out, seating herself to be next to Kanon. Kanon snaps out of her daze and smiles weakly at the younger girl.“Oh, hi, Misaki-chan.” Kanon says. “What’s up?”Misaki looks up, looking around the studio. She notices that the idiot trio are together talking with each other. It’s perfect .“Can I talk to you in private?” Kanon lets Misaki hold her hand- despite knowing that Misaki is dating someone. She lets her. Kanon lets Misaki intertwine their hands together.Misaki takes Kanon out to the cafeteria area, where there are a lot of people but too buzzing for any of the public to take notice of their conversation.Misaki pulls out the chair for Kanon to sit on. Kanon smiles politely, muttering a small, “Thank you.”, her face slightly red because of Misaki’s uncharacteristic gesture.The black haired girl sits adjacent to Kanon.“So.” She starts off, her fingers nervously fidgeting with each other. “I have a favour of you to ask.”Misaki gulps and continues, “You can either say, yes, or no. I wouldn’t mind.” Don't mind, if she says no. Just ask and hope she says yes. She thinks repeatedly, like a mantra.Kanon tilts her head confusedly, “Yes?”“Please be my fake girlfriend.” "... I um, ...what?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Please be my fake girlfriend.”It takes a minute of awkward silence, Misaki fidgeting and Kanon’s slow comprehensive skill when it comes to Misaki to fully register what Misaki had just said.“I um… What?” Kanon mutters, both shocked and extremely confused. “You mean- you don’t have a lover?”Misaki nods nervously, “It really shouldn’t be that surprising, Kanon-san.” She says, laughing sheepishly and scratching her cheek, avoiding Kanon’s eyes, cheeks turning bright red. “I’m not really… good, romantic wise.”“Most of the stuff I shouted out the window and announced was a lie. Someone recommended I did it to help me so the fans wouldn’t be as clingy as now.” Misaki sighs, her forefinger and thumb now pinching the bridge of her nose.“Oh.” Is all Kanon could say. A flash of anger because she actually got sad because of a lie , but then immediately replaced with relief because thank God , it’s not true. “Why me, though?” Kanon asks.“Hm? What do you mean why you?”“I mean… There’s the other members of Hello Happy World… There’s Rimi-chan… Arisa-chan… Hina-chan…” Kanon trails off, unable to name every girl Misaki has ever interacted with.Misaki hums, “I don’t really talk to Hina-san… That was only one time when she invited herself when Hagumi mentioned she wanted to ski..”“As for Arisa and Rimi… Arisa makes me feel at ease~” Misaki says, her expression relaxing at even mentioning the girl. “She’s the only one with common sense…~”Kanon feels a stab of jealousy until: “Oh but I’m pretty sure Arisa is in love with… Tae? Or was it Kasumi? Oh wait I think it was Saaya and Tae... and Kasumi and Arisa... Anyway, I don’t think she’d agree with it. It’ll stress her out.”One of the reasons why Kanon completely loves Misaki is because though unknowingly, she cares for everyone in any way she could. She had put Arisa’s feelings first and acted accordingly.“And with Rimi? Uh… To be honest? I was going to ask her… She was the one who suggested I have a fake relationship with someone.” Misaki admits. “She’s also kinda the reason why everything blew up…” She says, a lifeless laugh coming out of her mouth.Kanon tilts her head, as if to ask ‘elaborate?’ “A week after the picture of me wearing whatever Kaoru-san wanted me to wear… She asked me to wear a bunch of clothes that I’m pretty sure Kaoru-san wears outside of school."“And then Kokoro happened.” Kanon adds to the story, giggling.“Ah~ I thought I was gonna die~” Misaki whines, face palming. “She told the entire school, which led to the entire fanbase- where we practice! We were raided everyday by different fans!” Her face pales, “I feel so sorry for Marina-san…”“Ahahaha…”“Well, anyway… What was it again…?” Misaki mumbles to herself. Her eyes brightens when she remembers. “So... I don’t want to ask Kokoro or Hagumi ‘cause they probably would either not understand the concept of dating, would take things too far or fast or would out it within a minute.” Misaki explains, looking strangely nervous about asking for Kanon’s favour.“What about Kaoru-chan?” Kanon asks.Misaki immediately shakes her head, shuddering, “Himari or Rimi or any of her fans, really,would probably go out of their way to murder me. Also, she’s kinda obnoxious about something like this.” Misaki says, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Listen Kanon-san. If you don’t want to do this, you can decline. I won’t mind, I promise. Besides, I could always ask Rimi to- ““I’ll do it.” After hearing Rimi’s name, Kanon felt a flash of jealousy, pushing her to make such a decision.Misaki looks somewhat surprised, but not really at all. She laughs, an angelic sound to Kanon, “Good.” She responds, “I’d rather have you, than anyone else.”Kanon felt her heart beating so hard in her chest it felt like it was going to burst.“I’d have bragging rights, I guess. I mean, having a super cute girlfriend is what every boy or girl wants, right?” Misaki says, unconsciously flirting.Kanon’s face was heating up- it almost felt like an oven having freshly baked something.“Plus, it’s kinda believable with you. I feel most at ease- you’re the only one who makes rational decisions in Hello Happy so…” Misaki further explains.Kanon lays a hand on Misaki hands, effectively stopping the younger girl from ranting. Misaki looks down at their hands, a blush on her face. “Misaki-chan. It’s okay. I’ll fake-date you, if you want.”“Ah… Thank you, Kanon-san…” Misaki wails dramatically, moves her chair closer to Kanon and leaning her head on the girl out of exhaustion. “Is it alright if we stay like this for a moment?” Misaki asks.“A-Ah, It’s no problem M-Misaki-chan!” Kanon says, her face burning a flame at the affection but rests her head on Misaki’s anyway. Kanon squeezes her eyes shut tightly, raising a hand to her chest, willing it to be quiet- especially since Misaki is so close to her.Misaki sighs. She’s finally able to relax with Kanon around- and in a place where not many of Hello Happy World fans are able to see them. A sweet, relaxing scent washes over her, one akin to a cafe. It smells like cake and tea. Perhaps it was their earlier visit to Hazawa coffee that made Kanon smell so nice. She relished in the comfort that Kanon provided for her. Before long, Kanon begins to hear Misaki’s breath even out.The bluenette spares a glance toward the younger girl- she’s asleep. She’s- adorable . Kanon can’t help but internally swoon over the underclassman.Misaki barely has time to relax- between her part time job, the tennis club, Hello Happy World and even taking care of her little siblings. Her exhaustion must have come to her especially since the cafeteria area is actually somewhat loud. And it’s these rare moments where Misaki is finally able to relax that Kanon can’t help but want to spoil the youngest member.Kanon raises her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Misaki’s ears.Kanon cherishes these moments that they have together. o~y~o It’s 10 minutes before their meeting time. Misaki is walking toward the path to downtown. As she’s walking, Misaki whips out her phone to text Kanon.[Private chat with Misaki and Kanon]Misaki: kanon san?Kanon: ah! misaki chan! Kanon: i’m here! Ｏ(≧▽≦)ＯMisaki: mkay, ill be there in a sec-Hazawa coffee is in view and Misaki breathes out a sigh of relief.She opens the door and the bell rings- noticing that Afterglow’s Tsugumi Hazawa was talking to Roselia’s Sayo. Wow, Misaki has never seen Sayo smile- considering she’s serious most of the time- until now. Tsugumi is amazing . That’s an odd pair, nonetheless . Misaki thinks.She’s suddenly aware of Pastel Palette’s Eve approaching her. “Welcome!” She says in her usual energetic tone. “Only one person?” Eve asks, her customer service voice being used.Misaki shakes her head. “I’m with Kanon-san…” She answers.Eve bops her head up and down with a cute smile, “Oh okay! You can sit here while waiting for Kanon-senpai!” Misaki nods unconsciously, not fully registering Eve’s comment.Wait a moment.“Wait, Wakamiya-san.” Misaki stops Eve from walking away. She very much hopes she’s wrong about this. “Is Kanon-san here?”Eve looks back at Misaki in confusion. “No… I don’t remember her walking in here.” She shakes her head.“Oh, ok. Thanks.”The bell rings and Eve rushes to the door, needing to welcome another person into their seats. Misaki pulls out her phone from her pocket.[Private chat with Misaki and Kanon]Misaki: change of plans, imma go pick u upKanon: what? why? ( ・◇・)？Misaki: kanon san. Misaki: look at the title of the place you’re in.Kanon: ah… Kanon: fuee… ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡-Misaki stifles a laugh because- how did she not remember that Kanon has a terrible sense of direction?? She should’ve just walked her from her house to prevent her from getting lost.
Ding! Di-Din-Ding!
Misaki glances at her phone to see a barrage of messages from Kanon[Private chat with Misaki and Kanon]Kanon: wait a moment misaki chan! Kanon : i think i see Hazawa Coffee!! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ Kanon: look out the window! Kanon: hiii misaki chan!! ヽ(´ω｀○)ﾉ.+ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+-Misaki looks up from her phone and sees Kanon waving shyly out the window. She rests her hands on her hips, and lets out an exasperated yet amused sigh.You wouldn’t think this person who talks so cutely and confidently with an adorably excessive use of emoji in text is the same person waving in a shy manner outside Hazawa Coffee.Misaki: im proud of you Misaki: now hurry and come in Misaki: we need to talk about…Misaki bites her lip nervously.Misaki: uh, our situationMisaki sees Kanon’s face turns a light shade of pink. And then she hurries into the cafe.“Welcome- ah! Kanon-senpai! Misaki-san is waiting for you over here! She’s very bushido about it!”There it is- Eve’s trademark: bushido. Misaki couldn’t help but laugh at her grademate’s weird antics.“Thank you, Eve-chan!” Kanon exclaims happily, bowing and flashing a really adorable smile that does things to Misaki’s heart.Kanon sits in the seat aside from her. “Hi Misaki-chan!” She says, nervously, unlike how she was talking to Eve. Misaki notices that Kanon is nervous about this meeting by the way her hands are fiddling with each other on the table.Misaki casually places a hand on Kanon’s to stop them from moving. Kanon squeaks.“Hey, hey, Kanon-san.” Misaki says, trying to sound calm so Kanon could calm down herself. “It’s okay. We’re meeting up so you don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”Even though that was supposed to calm her down- it seemed to do everything except that.Kanon’s hand became more clammy and sweaty, the girl’s face seemed to heat up even more- almost like she was going to combust. Most of all, Kanon’s eyes weren’t even looking at hers. They were looking at their hands.“Ah.”Misaki pulled her hand away in a flash, her own face turning pink- her heart beating so fast it almost felt like it was going to break her ribs. “S-sorry.” Misaki mumbles sheepishly, rubbing at her nape. Stupid, stupid, stupid , Misaki! Misaki mentally scolds herself, So insensitive- of course Kanon would be uncomfortable with that now, especially because of our situation now-!! “It’s okay, Misaki-chan.” Kanon reassures her timidly. Misaki finally looks up at meets Kanon’s eyes. Kanon is determined to play her role as senpai. It’s adorable as heck and Misaki has to look away to prevent her face from revealing any of her thoughts.Misaki sighs and relaxes into her chair, a lazy smile on her face. “Say, Kanon-san…”“Yes?” Kanon inquires, eyes wide and eyebrows raised in curiosity.“Where were you, even? Were you in a cafe or…?” Misaki asks, drumming her fingers on the desk- not wanting to seem awkward or anything.“Ah…” Sweat rolled down Kanon’s forehead, as she nervously scratched at her cheek. “I-I was uh… I was at Saaya-chan’s bakery just a-across from here…” She confesses, laying her head down in shame.Misaki’s eyes opened wide, almost comically, after hearing what Kanon said. “Uh- you- what?” She stutters- and instantaneously begins to laugh- her worries and awkwardness going away.“D-Don’t laugh!~ I misjudged where Tsugumi-chan’s cafe was and- and accidentally went to Saaya-chan’s bakery!” Kanon whined, lightly hitting Misaki’s shoulder from across the table.“Al-right- al-right~!” Misaki sings, laced with mirth. “How’d you even find it? I mean- I know Hazawa Coffee is across of Yamabuki bakery but someone with a terrible sense of direction like you wouldn’t even know that.” She teases.“D-Don’t tease me!” Kanon exclaims, her face pink in embarrassment and huffs, crossing her arms. “I smelt something good and I followed it.” Another burst of laughter right after the statement. By now, Kanon’s face was probably as red as their usual onstage uniform. That’s Misaki’s fault.“Mou! If you continue to tease me like this- I won’t help you!”Misaki’s heart drops and she quickly dips her head down- not low enough to hit the table but enough so that Kanon can see her sincerity. “I’m sorry Kanon-san! I won’t do it again!” She says in a mock serious voice.The two laugh together for a moment. “Jokes aside…” Misaki breaks their moment of gleeful laughter. She looks over at Sayo and Tsugumi, still talking together. It wasn’t long until Tsugumi had to (regretfully) leave Sayo’s side to take another person’s orders.Kanon is also looking at them, her eyes crinkled in adoration, “aw~” leaving her mouth because of the adorable pair. “They’re cute, right, Misaki-chan?” Kanon coos, a wide smile on her face.Misaki hums, “Yeah, they’re cute together. Are they dating?”Kanon winks at her, sudden confident surging through her, “It’s a secret.” Thu-thump! Misaki’s heart beats noisily at the sight of Kanon winking at her. Be still, my gay heart! She internally scolds herself. “Sounds like you’re hinting that they’re actually dating.” Misaki grins in turn- trying to keep her composure.Kanon blushes, laughing nervously, “Am I really that obvious…? Fuee…”Misaki smiles and proceeds to take out her phone. “We’re getting off track… oops.” She mumbles sheepishly, scratching her nape. Misaki’s expression quickly becomes serious- though Kanon finds it so cute that there’s a blush on her face. “So…” Misaki begins, fiddling on her phone. “We’re now, dating…? Or at least, fake dating.”Ah- so that’s why Misaki was blushing, Kanon thought, her own cheeks starting to heat up. “Ye-yes… We are.” Kanon stutters.“What does it even mean to date?” Misaki mumbles, searching up the definition of ‘dating’. “It says here; to go out with someone in whom is romantically or sexually interested.” Misaki’s cheeks flares and when she looks up, she notices that Kanon’s face is also red- to the tip of her ears.She puts her phone away, sighing shakily. “That didn’t help at all.” Misaki states the obvious and Kanon furiously nods in agreement. Misaki taps on the table and hums a tune in thought.Misaki thinks back to dating- she had absolutely no experience whatsoever. Kanon will be her first ‘girlfriend’ and she isn’t even her real girlfriend. Misaki realises how terrible this is- and how guilty she is toward her upperclassman.She glances at Kanon who was lost in thought. Though… Kanon did accept it, even though Misaki said she didn’t have to. She can’t help what she feels though.Misaki comes to a decision to make sure to treat Kanon like a complete and utter queen. Gentle and chivalrous. Like Kaoru- well not exactly like Kaoru- she can be intolerable a lot of the time unless Chisato is with her.And Kanon doesn’t deserve a half-assed ‘relationship’, after all. She deserves the best experience Misaki can give her.Starting with: “How about we make rules?”Kanon tilts her head in confusion. Misaki smiles gently, “I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable and cross any boundaries you wouldn’t want me crossing. We can make rules so we don’t do what the other doesn’t want to do.”“I, myself, don’t really mind at all- whatever we do as long as you’re fine with it.” Misaki explains. “It’s the same way in Hello Happy World. If you’re happy with it- then I’m fine with it.”“Misaki-chan…”“Hi Kanon-san! Misaki-san!” A voice cuts through their conversation. The two look up, recoiling, their faces bright red as if they’ve just done something scandalous. “T-Tsugumi-chan!” Kanon exclaims, her hands over her heart once again- honestly wishing it would calm down.Hazawa Tsugumi. When had she approached them? Misaki didn’t know- she was too engrossed in trying to make Kanon not feel uncomfortable. So much for claiming to be observant. The brunette’s presence brightened the place- the light in a somewhat empty cafe. She flashed a smile and pales, “Oh no… W-Was I interrupting something?” She asks, dread, and inevitably, guilt, filling her voice.Misaki shakes her head, “No it’s okay- you weren’t interrupting much Hazawa-san.”The girl sighs in relief. “Thank god… I’ve been told I can’t read the mood a lot of the times.” Tsugumi explains, a pleased smile growing on her face. “I heard that you have a girlfriend, Misaki-san?” She says, making light conversation.Misaki blushes and glances over at Kanon. “Uhh, who did you hear that from?”“My entire school knows that the ‘hot DJ of Hello Happy World is taken’ now- and I’m pretty sure it came from… Kaoru san… I think?” Tsugumi says, excitement in the tone of her voice- trailing off toward the end of her sentence. “But I heard it from Sayo-san.” Suddenly, Tsugumi’s tone became more tender, more fond , talking about the Roselia guitarist.She giggles, “Apparently you were in her classroom when you shouted it outside a window where most of the school could hear you- It’s really no wonder why most of my school knows it.”Misaki’s face flushes a deep red, embarrassed because of the way Tsugumi must see her as now. The girl who announces she’s dating someone to the whole school- how embarrassing… “Yeah… you got me there…” Misaki mumbles, a small smile on her face because Tsugumi’s energy is contagious. She looks up and meets Kanon’s eyes. Kanon’s form looks kinda… stiff. Her eyes immediately cast downward almost lifelessly after being caught staring- and her shoulders were slumped.Misaki lightly taps Kanon’s foot with her own. The older girl looks up and meets Misaki’s eyes again meekly. Misaki mouths ‘ are you okay?’ . Kanon’s mouth twitches upward and she gives Misaki a determined nod. Misaki taps Kanon’s feet again and this time only flashes a big smile. Kanon reciprocates it.“You two make such a cute couple!”If there was water in her mouth, Misaki would have surely spat it out comically. Instead, she chokes on her own spit, coughing and hitting the table lightly with her fist to keep her composure.“Huh…? Am I wrong? You two give out that lovers vibe though?” Tsugumi asks, a small frown on her face, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.Blood rushed to Misaki’s head almost instantly in those seconds, making her momentarily light-headed. She spares a glance to Kanon and sees that she, too, is blushing so brightly and hotly that it seemed like steam would escape her head any moment.Misaki opens her mouth to answer Tsugumi but she got beaten to the punch. “N-No, it’s okay Tsugumi-chan!” She hears Kanon stuttering nervously, “You’re correct- we’re dating…! B-But we haven’t said anything to anyone yet. Y-You’re the first one that knows we’re dating!” She boldly says.Misaki is proud of her.She hears Tsugumi squeal excitedly, “I knew you two would end up getting together!” She exclaims excitedly and turns to Kanon. “Whenever you and Chisato-san would come, I never heard a moment where you wouldn’t talk about Misaki-san!”Misaki blushes at the revelation whilst Kanon flusteredly stumbles over her words. “T-Tsugumi-chan!” Was the only thing she could let out that was at least partly coherent.“Oh that’s right, you’re a regular here, right, Kanon-san?” Misaki asks, a grin on her face. Kanon nods, looking down to avoid her eyes. Misaki reaches out to hold her hand on the table, “M-Maybe I’ll come with you next time, so you don’t get l-lost when walking home.” It’s not as suave as intended, considering that Misaki’s face is bright red and she’s stumbling all over her words. Nevertheless,Tsugumi makes an “ aww~ ” sound, clasping her hands together because of Misaki’s promise.In front of people, when she really gets into it, Kanon realises that Misaki being like a girlfriend to her- treating her like she’s everything and so special, makes her feel butterflies in her stomach, her heart stuttering that is concerning. Any more of this and Kanon won’t be able to take it.“Oh yeah, Is it alright if I tell Sayo-san and the rest of Afterglow?” The pianist requests. Misaki and Kanon look at each other, nodding, and then looking back at Tsugumi.“Yep, it’s fine if you tell them.” Misaki says. She had no qualms about revealing it now- especially since the most important part of making this fake relationship plan to work is for other people to start knowing.Misaki can already see it playing out. Sayo telling Hina and Roselia- Hina being a blabbermouth and probably going to tell their whole school and band- Aya would probably tell Kasumi who’d tell Hagumi which would result in Hello Happy World knowing and with the suits connections the whole world will know and-Ah. Chisato is most definitely going to kill her.By now, Tsugumi has already hopped over to Sayo- and is currently immersed in a conversation.Misaki can faintly hear Sayo’s amused voice saying, “...Aren’t you on your shift right now?” and Tsugumi’s panicked voice saying, “Ah! I forgot to ask them if they wanted anything!” She sees Sayo patting Tsugumi on the back, reassuring her that Misaki and Kanon will forgive them.And now, Tsugumi is walking back to her. “S-Sorry for forgetting to ask you guys what you’d like. I got carried away by our conversation.” Tsugumi says, a bit frazzled and embarrassed from her mistake. She stands upright, a determined expression fixed on her face. “What would you guys like, today?”“You don’t need to apologise, Hazawa-san. Our talk was kinda fun anyway.” Misaki reassures and looks down at the menu.“So… Black coffee for me and Thai iced tea for Kanon-san.” Misaki orders without hesitation. “Also one slice of strawberry cheesecake.” Tsugumi begins to write down and looks up again, “Anything else?” She asks.“That’s all, thanks Hazawa-san.” Misaki confirms. Tsugumi nods her head, flashes another of her great adorable smiles before walking away.When she walks away, Kanon turns to Misaki in awe, “How’d you know I wanted Thai iced tea?” She asks.Misaki looks like a deer caught in headlights, “Ah… You usually crave something sweet around this time. I figured since Thai iced tea is really sweet and you like tea… that you’d want it… I guess I was correct so…” Misaki trails off, her face turning red. Kanon feels butterflies in her stomach because Misaki knows what I wanted!! She’s such a good girlfriend~ “You’re a good girlfriend~” Kanon hums in appreciation. “Whoever will have you is very lucky~” Kanon sings, a growing envious feeling bubbling in her body.Misaki rests her elbow on the table, and leans her head on her hand. She grins cheekily- a face she’s barely ever shown anyone before, “Well then, you’re a very lucky person, then.”Kanon’s face heats up, looking away from Misaki’s roguish grin, “Y-You know what I mean..!” She complains, squeezing her eyes shut for a few moments. She opens them again, and meets Misaki’s unwavering smile.“A-Anyway- Back to topic before Tsugumi interrupted us.” Kanon flusteredly squeaks, hiding her head behind her hands out of embarrassment. Misaki lets out a happy hum, her smile reaching from ear to ear.“R-Rules…?” Kanon asks, tilting her head. Misaki nods her head, “Yeah, rules.” She affirms, “Things like, we only do our girlfriend act when we’re in public but don’t have to act it out alone.”It was simple. Easy. But Kanon can’t help but laugh at the prospect of Misaki acting. “Acting?” She voices her thoughts, “But you’re not very good when it comes to acting… W-Well I mean, based on what Kaoru-chan said. I think your confession of love was endearing!”Misaki’s face heated up- her cheeks rosy in embarrassment. She looks away, her expression comically lifeless. “M-Mou… I thought I asked you to erase that from your memory…! Honestly… just forget about it please…” She mumbles, suddenly interested in the scuffs on her shoes“Awwhh~ But it was so cute~” Kanon gushes, further deeping Misaki’s blush.“K-Kanon-san! We’re going off topic!” Misaki attempts to save herself. And Kanon pouts- the cutest thing that Misaki has ever seen before that she has to look away to hide her widening smile.“Ok, then what does a couple usually do?” Kanon asks, fiddling with her fingers, nervously. Misaki hums and tilts her head. “I’m not actually too sure?” Misaki answers- very unhelpful and now she’s frowning in thought because what does a couple do??? “Well… Chisato-chan once said… a couple goes on dates… they hold hands and stuff.. And uh...” Kanon’s voice slowly quietens to a whimper- her face now beet red out of embarrassment. Misaki can feel her own face heat up too at the prospect of going on dates.Misaki reaches out and holds on to Kanon’s clammy hands. “You mean something like this?” Misaki asks in a low voice, positioning their hands so that they are intertwining. Holding a crush’s hands- making it something more , made Misaki’s beat faster than Kokoro’s spontaneous ideas, making butterflies fly around in Misaki’s stomach.Kanon shyly nods her head, locking her hands on Misaki’s own too- tightening her grip on the younger girls hand. “Y-Yeah…” She whispers, her voice cracking because her throat was drying up.
Be still, you useless lesbian-for-kanon san heart!
“What else does a couple do?” Misaki asks, looking down at her lap and absolutely avoiding eye-contact with Kanon. She couldn’t help but glance upward to see that Kanon was doing the same.“A- A couple… She said they also h-hug a-a-and kiss…” Kanon mumbles, her voice becoming increasingly incoherent, voice cracking when mentioning kissing.Kissing. It was a topic that hadn’t been brought up til.Misaki looks up, “We don’t have to do things you’re not comfortable with.” She repeats herself, squeezing Kanon’s hand. “We don’t have to kiss or anything if you don’t want to.”“O-Okay.” Kanon says, her head hanging lowly. Misaki nods her head, glad that Kanon understands. “But at s-some point…” Kanon starts, raising her head a little, “The others are going to be asking if we’ve kiss or even asking for us to kiss for them…”Misaki thinks back to their members, an unamused laugh leaving her throat. It was true . Hagumi might ask if they had kissed before but she’d never ask for them to kiss in front of her. Kaoru and Kokoro on the other hand… would definitely ask them to kiss. Rimi probably would too…“Well…” Misaki begins. “We could fake it… like hide our faces with maybe a magazine and pretend to kiss. Or…”“Or…?”Misaki rubs at the nape of her neck with her other hand sheepishly. “We could kiss on the cheek- if you’re fine with it, of course!”Kanon looks up at Misaki with an unreadable expression that was that somewhat determined face she would make when Kokoro proposed crazy ideas for the hell of it- but there was also something different yet familiar about it.“Y-Yes! We could do that!” Kanon says, her eyebrows tilting downward firmly and -ah.Kanon is… hot . No. Stop it Misaki. Misaki quickly snaps out of her completely inappropriate train of thought- her face flaring red again and heart palpitating way too fast and definitely in an unhealthy way.“Y-You’re fine with it?” Misaki finally asks after a short moment of silence. Kanon nods furiously, her expression, still in place.Kanon sits down when they see Tsugumi coming their way with their food. They end up forgetting about their subject. Food really does that, a lot .After finishing their food and drinks, and talking for a hefty amount of time about whatever subject comes up, they leave Hazawa Coffee, thanking Tsugumi for the food.They’re only a few steps after leaving Hazawa Coffee when Kanon giggles. Misaki looks at her curiously and Kanon looks back into Misaki’s eyes, a mirthful expression showing.“I was just thinking… Sayo-san was still there.” Kanon shares her thoughts. Misaki opens her mouth as if to say ah , because yes, Sayo was still there in the shop. Tsugumi would often stay and sit beside Sayo and the two looked like they were in another world when talking to each other.Misaki nods, “Yeah… That’s true.” Her eyes were looking down at their hands, slightly brushing.Brush, ignore. Brush, ignore. The cycle continues until Misaki realises that they’re in a street she’s seen before but is absolutely sure that goes to neither of their houses.“Uh. Kanon-san?” Misaki calls out. Kanon looks back at her in confusion. “Yes, Misaki-chan?”“We’re going the wrong way…”“Eh!?” Kanon squeaks and looks up at signs to see that they were indeed, going the wrong way. “Fueee…!!!” She whines, her face bright red in embarrassment. “I-I’m so sorry Misaki- I led you the wrong way- I’m such an unreliable senp-”Kanon squeaks when she feels a warm hand on her own hand. She looks up at Misaki, who holds a warm gaze toward her, and then down to see their hands just naturally interlocked.“I… uhm… fuee…” Kanon’s face becomes increasingly hotter, her face turning several shades of a deep red. Misaki laughs and squeezes her hand in an attempt to calm the bluenette down.“C’mon, Kanon-san. Let’s go home together. I’ll bring you to your house first.”As they walk toward Kanon’s home, Misaki never let go of Kanon’s hand- other than to switch hands to walk on the side of the road. Kanon is in awe with how chivalrous the girl is despite not knowing herself and being younger than her.Misaki knows that they were close to Kanon’s home. But she didn’t want this moment to end. So she walks slower, grips onto Kanon’s hands tighter.But of course, time cannot be stopped, so thus, they were now standing in front of Kanon’s house, both reluctant to let go of each others hands.“It’s your house.” Misaki gently reminds, but doesn’t make any move to let go of Kanon’s hands.“I know.”Misaki feels her hand being squeezed before seeing Kanon begin to lean in. The feeling of Kanon’s lips on her cheek lifted as soon as it started. Misaki gasps, her mouth slack in shock and eyes widened.Kanon steps back, and hesitantly lets go of Misaki’s hand. Her face is beet red- Misaki imagines her face is the same.“See you, Misaki-chan!” She says quickly, giggling bashfully and running into her house. Misaki waits until she’s safely into her home until she leaves. Unconsciously, Misaki’s mouth spreads to a small, love-sick smile and she whispers “ Yes..!!” to herself.Misaki walks home, feeling accomplished- and really really happy. o~y~o “So? What happened?”Misaki’s mouth spreads to the same smile she made after Kanon went into her house, a noise of elation bubbling in her throat. “She kissed me!” Misaki whisper-shouts, as if in disbelief.“wHAT!? On the lips?” Rimi asks, awfully interested in Misaki’s love life. Misaki shakes her head furiously, “Nonono- not on the lips- on the- the cheek.” She denies, and looks away, her face heating up.“I wouldn’t mind if it were though…”Rimi giggles, bringing her hands to her lips. “I mean- you like her, I’m not surprised.” She says. Misaki resumes her felting, concentrating on finishing off the choco cornet plush Rimi asked her for.“Here you go.” Misaki says, handing the plush over to Rimi. Rimi, who was sitting on the other side of the classroom table, leans over to hold onto the plushie.“Wahh~ So cute~” Rimi sings happily, looking at the plushie all around. “It makes me kinda hungry…” As if on cue, Rimi’s stomach growls- her face heating up because of the sound.This makes Misaki laugh, “It’s break time- are you going to hang out with Popipa now?” She says, standing up to pack her things, and looking out the window to see Rimi’s other band members already at their eating spot.Rimi nods her head, “Yeah!” She answers. Misaki faintly hears Kokoro calling out for Kasumi as always, jumping down the window and Hagumi calling out for her and jumping down in pursuit of the energetic blonde.“Tch, if I had that energy, I bet it’d make life so much easier.” Misaki mumbles faintly. Rimi giggles in response.“If you had that energy, then maybe you would have kissed lip to lip with Kanon-senpai by now~” Rimi teases back Misaki for the other times Misaki had teased Rimi.Misaki blushes deeply and looks down at her table. “S-Shush.” She replies meekly.When Rimi walks out the door, she winks at Misaki, “I’m glad Kanon-senpai accepted my crazy idea~ Introduce me properly when you can~”Misaki scratches her head, face blushing bright red. o~y~o Kokoro, Hagumi and Kaoru look at Misaki expectantly. “C’mon, Mii-kun!! You promised you’d tell us today- who are you dating?” Hagumi asks first, unsurprisingly.“No matter whom you’re entangled with... We’ll support you, Misaki-kun…” Kaoru says, nodding her head with calm smile.“You make it sound kinda dirty…” Misaki mumbles, Kanon could only laugh nervously at this spectacle. She keeps rubbing her sweaty palms on her dress.“Well? Who is it?” Kokoro was the last one to pester, her smile widened in anticipation and excitement.Misaki’s mouth spreads to a small smile when she looks over at Kanon, who was obviously nervous about being introduced as Misaki’s girlfriend.Misaki reaches out to Kanon, gripping her hand and pulling her closer. Misaki positions herself so she is wrapping her arm around Kanon’s waist. She wanted to scream because of their proximity- but thankfully, was able to survive.“Kanon-san.” Misaki states. Immediately, Kanon acts her part out, holding onto Misaki’s hand which was rested on her hip and moving closer to the younger girl. “K-Kanon-san is my girlfriend.”A beat of silence.And then Hagumi and Kokoro are screaming in excitement (“AHhh!! I kNEW ThEY WERE dATING!!” Misaki could hear Hagumi shout before she prepared to try to hold the two off), running toward the pair and lunging at them, engulfing the two in a rough, tight hug to the point where they fall over.“Ah- mou! Don’t do that!” Misaki complains, her voice cracking and body aching. “Fuee…” Kanon whines, under the weight of two extremely eccentric girls.“C’mon, Kaoru- join us!” Kokoro invites, turning back to the violet haired girl who was posing in another ridiculous manner. Kaoru lets out a deep laugh, a run jump for a swan dive into the mess that is ‘Hello Happy World!’Misaki let’s out an ‘oof!’ and swears she sees her life flashing. “You guys…!” Misaki says in her usual annoyed and exasperated voice.“Y’know- y’know, Mii-kun!” Hagumi beats her. “Kaa-kun and I were well, betting! Kaa-kun bet that you would get with Kokoron and I bet you’d with Kano-chan-senpai! Guess who’s getting free Yamabuki buns!” She exclaims.“What?” Misaki drawls, slightly appalled because of the newly found information. “Kasumi thought I was going to date Kokoro? Impossible, impossible. She forgets me all the time- we’d break up within a day.” She states facts.Kokoro shakes her head in indignation, “What?! I’d never forget you, Misaki!” She shouts- loudly , bursting Misaki’s ear drums.“Alright- alright, just- just get of Kanon and me, please .” Misaki groans, not anywhere near her limit (neither was Kanon) but it’s a terrible inconvenience to have 3 girls lying on her.Slowly, the girls peel each other off the pseudo couple. Thus the questions start.Questions that ranged from, “When did you guys get together?” “How did you guys get together???” to “Why didn’t you tell us earlier??”The questions were hard to answer, and Misaki doesn’t really remember what she says other than, “We got together around 2 months ago- a week before Kaoru-san told me to wear the chaos inducing clothing.” “I confessed to her and she admitted she liked me back. Simple.” and “We weren’t ready to reveal our relationship.”And the awaited question comes: “Have you guys kissed yet!?”Misaki allows herself to a silent yet somewhat lifeless chuckle because she saw this coming. One glance to Kanon to observe her expression told her that Kanon expected this question to come up.That thought doesn’t appease to the fact that she was nevertheless shocked at the question.“Uh.. No?” Misaki finally answers and the three groan. Her face grows bright red at the scrutinizing gazes she sees on them, “Hey! Let us work at our own pace, okay?” She defends herself.“She’s right.” Kaoru suddenly says, her hand on her chest dramatically. “If they work at their own pace… they’ll be together in a way that they can only be with each other… How fleeting…”Kaoru, as usual, says something that sorta makes sense but at the same time, not really.“What does that even mean?” Kanon asks, confused, her head tilted. Misaki shakes her head, a lazy smile rested on her face. “Kanon please, we all know what she’s going to answer with-” she tries to tell Kanon but Kaoru beats her before she’s able to finish her sentence.“It is… What it is …”Misaki face palms because- she saw this coming. Kanon giggles in response and Hagumi and Kokoro burst into loud laughter.Despite all this, Misaki feels a rush of elation fill in her. These girls’ antics are bearable.. On a level… But at least she gets to see and hear Kanon’s really adorable laugh.“Misaki! We support you no matter what!”“Mii kun and Kanon-chan-senpai make the best couple!”“Misaki-kun, Kanon-chan… May you two stay together- dare I say- forever.”Misaki pauses in her movements when she hears the san-baka say that. It was so sincere and nice that it made Misaki feel at least a little bit guilty about lying about dating Kanon.“Thanks guys.” She answers- nevertheless happy about their response to the announcement. She glances over at Kanon. Kanon has a blindingly, beautiful smile.Well, if Kanon is happy, then she is too.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You’re dating Misaki-chan?”This is it. Misaki’s death. Though she may tower over the short blonde by only 5cm, it is most certainly and definitely proven in this moment that shorter people are allowed to be intimidating .Chisato’s face darkens at the news that Kanon suddenly decided to tell her. The shorter girl turns over to Misaki, a frightening “What are your intentions with Kanon?” Chisato questions, her sweet smile seeming more malicious than it probably should have.Misaki feels cold sweat running down her forehead, her body trembling at the older woman. She feels a chill go down her spine and immediately attempts to calm herself down with internal (fake) promises to herself that Chisato will (probably) not physically hurt her.“I-I uh…” Misaki couldn’t help but stutter because, how on earth is she supposed to answer that!? And what’s more, Chisato’s glare isn’t helping at all!! “C-Chisato-chan… You don’t have to…” Well, hearing Kanon’s voice trying to stop Chisato was kinda soothing.Misaki clears her throat, coughing into her fist to gain their attention. Chisato looks back at Misaki, expectantly waiting for an answer. On the other hand, Kanon looked plain worried . “Ka...Kanon-san is everything to me. I... want to do right by her- a-and it’s really selfish of me to say this… but- I want to be with her forever.” Misaki answers, standing straight and looking forward into Chisato’s eyes. God , it feels like she’s talking to Kanon’s dad with this answer.(Hm? In some viewpoints, Chisato can be seen as Kanon’s dad. Chisato the dad and Kaoru the mum… yeah that seems about right).Misaki feels her blood cells rush to her face when Chisato basically glowers at her. Kanon’s face, in turn, was just as bright red as Misaki’s, her body trembling at her answer and her hands toward her heart.Kanon is happy . The answer that Misaki gave to Chisato was something she knew would please the blonde girl. Chisato was just playing the protective best friend role in this moment.Misaki, on the other hand, was shaken to her core, petrified on the spot, Chisato was looking at her like she was analysing through her intentions- her past mistakes (and oh god if she finds out Kanon kissed her on the cheek-) and what might happen through her “relationship”.Kanon knows firsthand how scary Chisato can act, so the way Misaki feels is normal. Even Kaoru, Chisato’s child child hood friend would be scared of the currently horrifying figure.(Though, Kaoru is a big scaredy cat already, does it even count?)Misaki endures Chisato’s held glare for a moment, before the blonde’s expression softens and smiles. “I’m happy for you two.” She says, her mouth turned into a happy smile, a giant contrast to her glare a while ago that it didn’t seem like she was ever scowling at Misaki.The black haired girl breathes out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “Please don’t scare me like that, Chisato-san.”“Oh?” Chisato calmly smiles, looking up at Misaki. “But if you do anything to hurt her, I will personally come over to you and may or may not do worse than just kill you. Got it?”Misaki feels a shiver go down her spine, the coldness of her words seeping into her skin. That smile absolutely does not suit her words. She furiously nods in response, and bowing slightly. It’s scary how much power Chisato has.“Good.” Misaki hears Chisato say and she raises her head to attempt to read Chisato’s expression. Her smile seems genuine this time and now , Misaki can breathe a sigh of relief.“Chisato-chan…” She hears Kanon exclaim quietly. The black haired girl looks over at the senior. Kanon looks back at her, and waves. “Hi.” She mouths, and giggles- cute as hell . Misaki feels her pulse quicken, her face beginning to get hot, but it doesn’t stop her from waving back.Chisato groans out loud, facepalming and then moves her arms to cross them. “If you’re going to flirt, please do it when I’m not here.” Misaki hears Kanon spluttering out incoherent excuses that range from, “Thats- We’re not- I- fuee…” and quickly end on her signature filled with anguish sound.Misaki ends up laughing, the ends of her mouth twitching upwards at Kanon’s demise. Swiftly (and hopefully, suavely), she wraps an arm around Kanon’s shoulders, and pulls her toward her chest. “Sorry, Chisato-san. We’re just happy that you accept us.” She tells the older girl.Chisato rolls her eyes amusedly, “Yes, and I’m happy that Kanon and you finally got together… I’d been getting tired of hearing your name every time we meet up.” Misaki stumbles flusteredly at the newfound information.“C-Chisato-chan!” Kanon complains, her face currently covered by her hands. They don’t hide the fact that her ears are beet red.“You know what she really likes to talk about the most when talking about you?” Chisato nevertheless continues, grinning cunningly. Misaki looks embarrassed, herself, by motions for Chisato to continue, prompting a “Misaki-chan!” from Kanon.The blonde girl leans back a little, to relax. “She says ‘Misaki this, Misaki that’ and mostly likes to talk about your buff- Kanon!?” Kanon, knowing what Chisato was going to say, leaps from her spot to lunge at her best friend, in the process knocking down tables and chairs and thus hurting her legs.“Ow… Fuee…” Kanon whines. “Kanon-san!” Misaki shouts, running toward Kanon but carefully so she doesn’t hurt herself in the mess of the fallen tables. The black-haired girl kneels to get closer to Kanon.She notices there’s a small area bleeding on her leg. Immediately, Misaki sneaks an arm under Kanon’s legs, and holds onto her back. “Hup!” Misaki mumbles, as she carries Kanon up and Kanon yelps, instinctively wrapping her arm around Misaki’s neck.“I’ll go bring Kanon-san to the infirmary.” Misaki states, facing Chisato. “Oh and- Chisato-san?” She says, noticing that Chisato looks guilty because she’s worried about Kanon. “Don’t worry, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s a small scratch, she’ll be okay.”Chisato relaxes and smiles back at Misaki. “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Misaki-chan.” Misaki nods her head, and turns around. Kanon looks over Misaki’s shoulder to face Chisato, her face now red once again because of her current position.Chisato winks at Kanon. “Don’t have too much fun~” She mouthes and Kanon’s face turns a deeper shade of scarlet.Once Misaki left the room, Kanon in her arms, Chisato looks at the mess they made and frowns. She hopes she’s able to fix the mess before- ah nevermind.As if on cue, Sayo enters the room, looking quizzical, “Why is Okusawa-san carrying Mastubara-san-” She pauses, eyes narrowing at the mess of tables. “What is the meaning of this?”Chisato sweats, before putting her most genuine smile, “ Ara, Hikawa-san. Good evening. Kanon hurt herself.” She says, hoping that Sayo could connect the dots.Sayo nods her head, understanding. “I see… And so Okusawa-san is carrying Matsubara-san because? I’m sure Matsubara-san can hold herself upward with just a small scab.”Chisato carries one of the tables back into place, a small smirk on her face. “If Tsugumi-chan were hurt, even just a little bit that she was bleeding, I’m sure you would do the same as Misaki-chan.” She explains, tucking the chair in.Sayo blushes, and looks away, so that Chisato can’t see her face. “I don’t see your point.” She insists stubbornly, carrying a table upward and placing it down in place. “Hina-chan.” Chisato says and looks over at Sayo. She sees Sayo’s eye twitch at the mention of her twin sister.“...I see. Thank you for telling me that.” Sayo says, and as she finishes off the last table she mumbles, “I’ll be going now.” Chisato catches Sayo’s expression- darkened, annoying, and utterly embarrassed. Chisato expects there would be a ‘surprise’ for Hina later.
Thanks Hina-chan, you’re paying me back for those times you humiliated me.
o~y~o “Kanon-san, are you okay?” Misaki asks, pulling the older girl closer to her chest as she walks toward the infirmary. Kanon remains looking away at anything except Misaki. “Your face is red.” Misaki justifies. Kanon squeaks, “I-I’m okay! I-I can walk!” Misaki shakes her head, “No, you’re injured. Your leg might still hurt if you walk. Just let me carry you this one time.”Kanon notices that there are a lot of people in the hallway staring at them. “M-Misaki-chan!” She whispers, wanting to hide in a hole until they find something else to look at. “Everyone is looking…” She mumbles. Misaki pauses for a moment, and then continues walking, fastening her pace. I didn’t realise… Misaki thought. I was too focused on bringing Kanon-san to the infirmary …“I-It’s okay.” Misaki tells Kanon, tightening her grip on the girl, but not enough to hurt her in any way. “We’re ‘dating’, anyway.” The underlying we need more people to know for the plan to work made Misaki slightly uncomfortable.Kanon nods her head, and rests her head on Misaki’s chest until they reach the infirmary.Even though they reach the infirmary, Misaki doesn’t make a move to put down Kanon. Instead she says, “Kanon-san, can you open the door for me, please?” Kanon nods her head, and turns her body slightly, reaching out her arm and sliding the door open enough so that Misaki’s foot can fully open it.“The nurse isn’t here… Oh right, she’s usually at the cafeteria at this time…” Misaki mumbles, and walks in. She puts Kanon down to sit on one of the beds. “There’s no one here.” Kanon notes, looking around as Misaki goes through a cupboard.She brings a disinfectant, towel and a bandaid. This is all we should need. Misaki thinks, inspecting the items. The bandaid isn’t folded or opened, neither was the box meaning that the bandaid shouldn’t have dirt on it. The towel seems to be clean too. Expiry date on the disinfectant… if any… there’s none. “Okay, this should be good to use.” Misaki mumbles and walks over to Kanon.Misaki brings out her water bottle and pours water on the towel. “Kanon-san, your leg please.” She says. Kanon brings up her bleeding leg and Misaki winces. She carefully wipes away the blood with the towel, dabbing at the wound gently.“You seem to know a lot about this…” Kanon says as she finishes cleaning the blood from her leg. Misaki looks up, humming curiously. She opens the disinfectant and carefully applies it to the wound. “You also know where to get everything… do you come to the infirmary a lot, Misaki-chan?” Kanon asks curiously, wincing slightly from the sting of her injury.Misaki smiles, “Well, I’ve been in this situation before.” She says, putting the disinfectant away. Misaki holds onto the bandaid and puts it on Kanon’s wound. “Rimi is clumsy. Leading to cuts. We used to be each others only friends so I’d bring her to the infirmary and often the nurse wasn’t there so I’d have to find everything myself.”She stands and sits next to Kanon, touching shoulders. “My little sister also hurts herself a lot. Having simple medical knowledge helps me help them.” Kanon hums. She turns to Misaki, a pout on her face. “Have you ever carried Rimi bridal style before?” She asks.Misaki stares at her with widened eyes, obviously surprised at the sudden question. She chuckles and shakes her head. “Ahaha, no.” She bumps their shoulders, “I’ve only ever carried my little sister, Kokoro, Hagumi and… you, I guess.”Kanon breathes out a sigh of relief. Misaki tilts her head in confusion, but she stands up to throw her mess into the bin and return the disinfectant to the cupboard. She extends a hand to Kanon, “Shall we go now?” She asks.Kanon looks up at Misaki, into her eyes. Misaki is so gallant… So cute… Kanon holds onto Misaki’s hand, but instead of standing, she pulls the younger girl down into her arms. “You’re so cute~” Kanon sings happily, engulfing Misaki into a big hug.Misaki’s face flares. “Huh- ah- Kanon-san - huh!?” She stumbles over her words in shock. “What are you- What is- eh??” She continues, but Kanon tightens her grip on Misaki.“Just a little while please .” Kanon begs, refusing to let Misaki go. Kanon knows Misaki could probably leave her grip, considering that Kanon wasn’t even holding her tight enough to strangle her or anything. But to her surprise, Misaki goes complacent, and even hugs Kanon back.Kanon makes a pleased sound as Misaki relaxes in her arms, and she pulls the younger girl down with her on the bed. The bed makes a thump as they both land on it, Kanon giggling happily and Misaki staring at her lovingly.Kanon moves her hand down Misaki’s arm to hold onto her hand, intertwining their fingers together and bringing them up to look at them. “Wow~ Misaki-chan~, your hand is big!” She exclaims, spreading out their hands to compare sizes. Misaki shrugs, “Yeah, it is kinda big…” She agrees, watching in wonder as Kanon continues to play with their hands.Butterflies gather at the base of her stomach the more Kanon connects their hands together. Kanon giggles again. She’s been laughing a lot lately. That’s a good thing . “You’re also taller than me~” She says, a big smile present on her face.Kanon moves closer to Misaki and places her forehead on Misaki’s their faces really close now. Misaki’s mind is going into overdrive, her eyes shifting from her eyes to her lips in milliseconds. “U-Uh…” She mumbles absently. The scent of Kanon was distinctly… well… everywhere and it makes it so much harder to think.Misaki hears Kanon giggle again before she moves back, and sits upward. The bluenette moves off the bed. “We’ve been in here a while. We should probably go…” She says. Misaki nods in agreement, but she really wants to hug her again.As Misaki sits up, sitting at the edge of the bed, Kanon moves to stand near Misaki. “You know, Misaki-chan.” She says, glowing with joy. “I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here with me. You’re so dependable. Even though you’re younger- and the youngest in Hello Happy… We rely on you a lot.” Kanon starts off.“So, thank you, Misaki-chan! I’m so grateful because of you.” Kanon finishes off, beaming. Misaki finds herself smiling back at Kanon. “It’s really nothing, Kanon-san. Even though the three idiots are dense and all, I have fun every day now. I’m glad I stayed. If you were never invited, I would have left long ago.”Kanon’s eyes widen, and then her cheeks tint pink. Before Misaki knows, Kanon is leaning in again, and kisses her cheeks. Misaki slaps her cheek in shock, all the blood cells in her body rushing to her face. Kanon laughs cutely again and hops backward, “Your face is red.” She states and jumps back again.“Misaki-chan, you’re so cute!” Kanon compliments, a statement full of genuinity and adoration that it makes Misaki turn a deeper shade tenfold.“T-Thanks… But honestly… You’re the cutest, Kanon-san.” Misaki says back, with as much of her small roguish charm as she can muster, hoping to get Kanon flustered in some way. Kanon turns red, to her delight.Misaki walks over to her and Kanon wraps her arm around Misaki’s arms. Kanon places another kiss to her cheek and hops back, keeping arms behind her back. She flashes a blinding smile. “Is it okay if I go to your house after school?”Misaki nods, holding her fingers to her cheek. Kanon giggles and walks away. Misaki can only watch, captivated by Kanon’s figure.Oh god, that just happened. A switch flipped in Kanon and she kissed Misaki’s cheek. Twice. In between mere minutes. Oh my God . Misaki thinks, her heart beating faster than it’s ever done, her face flaring so hot she felt dizzy any seems like she’d faint any moment now.
Ringggg
“Ah- sh- the bell-”Focusing seemed to be the hardest thing to do after that. o~y~o “Misaki!” Kasumi waves her hand in front of Misaki’s face. Misaki snaps out of whatever day-dream she was having to look at Kasumi and Arisa. They both look concerned, Misaki notes, and chalks it up to her unusual spacing out.“Okusawa-san, you were really out of it today…” Arisa starts, “You sure Hello Happy isn’t doing anything making you tired? We could knock a few words into them.” She asks worriedly. Misaki shakes her head, “No-no- it’s okay. Thanks, you two.” She tries to smile reassuringly.Arisa straightens her posture, “I hope you aren’t lying… Anyway school’s over so better go now.” She says and Kasumi grins, looking over at the door. “Misaki~ You have a visitor~” The brunette coos, pointing over to light blue hair by the door.Misaki raises her head, and sees Kanon by the door, looking down bashfully. She stands up, “Oh- yeah- right, she’s coming over to my- yeah- I’ll- I’ll go now.” She stutters flusteredly, stumbling over her actions when packing her things.Kasumi and Arisa can only grin at the sight of the usually cool-headed Misaki is getting flustered over a person.“K-Kanon-san!” Misaki calls out, as she reaches Kanon. Kanon smiles, “Misaki-chan.” She says back. “Let’s go?” She asks and Misaki nods her head, the two starting to walk toward the exit.Misaki feels Kanon’s hand slip into hers, and Misaki grips tighter as she interlocks their fingers together. They were in public. People were looking. Tae was screaming, “Get it!” in the background with Rimi trying to calm her fellow band member down.Misaki spares a glance to Rimi, which the chocolate coronet lover responds with a thumbs up and a wink. The black haired girl blushes and looks down, at their hands.The walk to Misaki’s home isn’t that far, and it was only a matter of time before they reach her home.Kanon lets go of Misaki’s hand so that Misaki can get out the keys and unlock the door. “Tadaima!” Misaki says, as she opens the door.“Onee-chan~” then followed by two gasps from same voices, “Kanon-onee chan~!” Two elementary aged kids come down the hall, energetically running.Kanon never got bored of the sight of Misaki’s younger siblings. “Haruto-kun, Mina-chan~” She says, sitting down and hugging the two. She lets go of them to pat their head and smiles, “How are you guys?”The two nod their heads, starry eyed in adoration. Misaki laughs as she takes off her shoes and enters the home. “As always, Haruto and Mina like you.” She states and enters her house.“Make yourself at home.” Misaki says, and Kanon sits on the couch, Haruto and Mina following after her and sitting next to her. Instead of sitting next to Kanon, like her brother and sister, Misaki hurries to the kitchen.“Haruto, Mina~” She calls from the kitchen. “Yes~ Onee-chan?” They shout back.“Did mum pick you guys up?” She asks.“Yes~ She’s at work now.” They reply“Figures.” Misaki mumbles, taking out ingredients from fridge to make food. “Kanon-san~ Please entertain them for a while, I’ll just make pasta for tonight.”“Okay~!” Kanon replies. o~y~o “Itadakimas~u~” They all say, the table set.As they eat, Kanon smiles apologetically to Misaki. “Sorry for intruding.” She says. Misaki shakes her head, watching Mina eating messily, sauce around her mouth. She takes a tissue and wipes her younger sisters mouth. “No, you’re not really intruding at all.”“Haruto and Mina really like you, it’s a blessing that you’re here.” She says, patting Mina’s head. Mina goes back to eating her food.“Yes, I agree!” Haruto says vehemently, passionately raising his hand. “Kanon onee chan- I think you’re dating the wrong Okusawa!” He says, attempting to be cool.Kanon bursts into a series of giggles and Misaki chuckles at her brother. “Yeah, right, and he has a bit of a crush on you.” Misaki says. “She’s mine, Haruto.” She brags, puffing her chest out, smirking at her younger brother who pouts.When they finish eating dinner, Misaki tells Haruto and Mina to shower. As the two kids bicker on who gets to shower first, Misaki brings Kanon to sit at the couch with her. She sighs, and says, “I’m glad we didn’t have practise today…. It’d hurt if you had to play drums with your injury..”She tells Kanon, looking down at the bandaged leg. Kanon shakes her head, “No,” She says, “it doesn’t hurt at all. I promise.” Misaki stares, skeptical, and then relaxes Kanon presses her head on Misaki’s shoulder. “I-I hope you aren’t lying.” She says, as the other girl unconsciously snuggles into her arm.“I’m not~” Kanon sings, dragging her hand down to Misaki’s hands to grasp it, and interlock once again. Misaki holds her breath, unable to think in this moment. Dearest, God , I hope Kanon-san can’t hear my goddamned heartbeat- Misaki thinks, squeezing her eyes shut and willing her gay little heart to slow down !!Kanon looks up at the black haired beauty and giggles, watching as Misaki’s face gradually gets redder the longer that they’re in this lover-like position. Granted, she doesn’t know where Misaki’s feelings lay… whether it be romantic or platonic. Kanon wants to take advantage of this relationship- whether fake or not- to get closer with her crush. Am I doing it right? Kanon questions to her inner Chisato. Yes, you’re doing a wonderful job Kanon, keep it up. Her inner Chisato voice says, The more you do this, the closer you are to getting lai- And that’s enough. Kanon’s face is bright red, wondering when her inner Chisato voice became so like a minx? Chisato really, only ever acted like that around Kaoru!Nevertheless… Kanon really likes the reaction she’s getting out of Misaki.Meanwhile, Misaki is still stuck, trying to calm down. “Is this alright?” Kanon asks, looking up at Misaki, their faces- oh so close. Misaki gulps, and nods shakily. Kanon visibly relaxes at Misaki’s affirmation, and they stay like that for moments.They were interrupted by a gasp. “No fair, Onee-chan!” Haruto shouts, jumping onto the couch and tugging Kanon’s arms to his chest. “You can’t hog Kanon onee-chan by yourself!” Mina comes shortly afterward, and seats herself on Misaki’s lap, lying back on her chest.Misaki pats Mina’s head, and pulls out the felt doll she had been working on before. A penguin doll that Mina had been asking for recently. The younger girl gasps, happily, and holds the penguin close to her heart, a wide grin now on her face as she cradles the doll.Kanon watches the whole exchange with a cute smile on her face. She snuggles closer to Misaki and brings her lips to the shell of Misaki’s ear. Misaki visibly stiffens, and heats up as she hears Kanon whisper in her ear.“You’re a good sister.” She says, giggling. The sound of her laugh by her ear makes Misaki shiver. She turns to face Kanon and ah- their faces are close again- perhaps even closer now.Misaki really wants to kiss Kanon…But instead, the younger girl turns head away, hand raising to hide her face and create distance. Not good, Misaki!! She screams internally, scolding herself. But on another side Arghhhh you should have kissed her!! Whilst Misaki is in conflict with herself, Kanon is mildly hurt by Misaki’s action, but she turns away anyway.Kanon looks at the time on her phone. “Ah- it’s getting late!” She exclaims, and Haruto hesitantly peels himself off her. Kanon pets his head, “Thank you, Haruto-kun~” Kanon says and Haruto blushes, looking away nervously.Misaki gently sets Mina onto the couch. “I’ll walk you home.” She says. Kanon shakes her head, trying to refuse her offer. Misaki holds onto her hand, and drags Kanon out with her. “You’ll get lost if I’m not there. Don’t worry, I know the way to your house.” Kanon gives in.Before they leave the house, Misaki calls out, “Guys, make sure you don’t open the door for anyone! And lock the door please!”Haruto nods his head, saluting in such an adorable way that it makes Kanon giggle and Misaki closes the door. They hear the lock click and Misaki turns the knob in an attempt to open the door. The door doesn’t open.“Good job!” She says, and hears Haruto say, “Come home quick, Onee-chan!”And then they leave the house. It was getting pretty dark, and it was kinda cold. Misaki left the house in her usual attire, but Kanon was still in her summer uniform. She shivers as a particularly cold breeze passed by.Misaki notices this. “Kanon-san.” She calls out, and takes off her hoodie, revealing a T-Shirt underneath. “Wear this.” She commands her. Kanon shakes her head, and tries to push the hoodie away from her.“No, it’s cold. You wear it.” She insists. Misaki frowns, and moves closer to Kanon, holding onto her hand and putting the hoodie in her hands. “I can warm up after I drop you off by running… Plus I don’t get cold easily.”Kanon looks down, and notices they’d stopped walking. “Thank you.” She says finally, a big grin visible on her face. Misaki feels a smile spread on her own face as Kanon makes a move to wear the hoodie. “It’s warm…” Kanon mumbles.There’s something nice about seeing the person you love wearing something you own. Misaki feels warmness accumulate in her stomach. She feels strangely giddy.“Now, let’s go. We don’t want to be scolded by your parents, do we?” Misaki asks, and begins to lead the way. Kanon walks faster to catch up with her, and Misaki slows down to match Kanon’s pace.As they continue, Kanon is looking down at their hands. She grabs onto it, and interlocks their fingers again. Misaki’s breath hitches, and she hears Kanon whisper, “So you aren’t cold.” Misaki doesn’t object, and instead, tightens her hold on Kanon’s hand.When they reach Kanon’s home, they pause at the front again. “Thanks, Misaki-chan.” Kanon says, grinning widely, and definitely blushing as she leans in to kiss Misaki’s cheek again.Kanon lets go of Misaki’s hand, and runs into her home, waving. Misaki raises her hand to wave back and Kanon’s smile widens even further. And then she shuts the door.Misaki takes a moment of silence just to calm down her really fast beating heart. She sucks in a breath, the runs back home. o~y~o Misaki groans, her head stuck in her arms. “Ahaha…” She hears Rimi laugh, as she takes a seat beside her. “What happened this time, Misaki-chan?” She asks, waiting for a response.Misaki peeks, meeting Rimi’s curious eyes. “I’m gay.” She says, and flops back onto her table, groaning again. Rimi giggles at her response, “And water is wet. What else do you have to say?” She answers back.The black haired sophomore leans back in her chair, and Rimi notes that her face is very, very red. “What do you do if you really want to kiss someone?” She asks, leaning forward in anticipation.Rimi pushes her face away and giggles, “Is this about Kanon-san again? Don’t answer that, the answer is obvious.” She says. “If you want to kiss her, then just go for it.”“It’s not that easy y’know?” Misaki sighs, burying her head in her hands. “You have to think about Kanon-san’s feelings first- whether she likes it or not- she might hate me if I just kiss her all of a sudden.”“If only I knew how she felt about me- it would make this so much easier…” She mumbles.“Why don’t you ask her?” Rimi suggests, “You’re very dear to her, what is the worst thing that could happen?” Misaki raises her head again and look over at Rimi, and deadpans. “She could hear me.”Rimi laughs nervously, “And I thought you said I was the bad one?” Misaki shakes her head, “I change my mind. I’m so jittery and nervous that I started quoting trashy vines. Ugh, I’m the worst.”Rimi pats Misaki’s shoulder. “Maybe you should just ask her. It might take you guys a while to actually kiss on the lips, but cheek kisses are cute as well, if you actually get to that stage-”“That’s the reason why I’m asking.”Rimi tilts her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”Misaki wishes she had her cap on her head, her hands instinctively raising to where her hat would be so she could hide her face with the peak of the hat. “Well, I mean- Kanon-san and I…”She sighs and embarrassedly meets Rimi’s eyes. “Recently, Kanon-san has been kissing me on the cheek- like a lot. And I’m such a gay disaster that I can’t handle it. It takes every inch of my will just to try to not grab her face and kiss her full on the lips.”The newfound information has Rimi taken aback. Immediately, Rimi lunges forward to grab Misaki’s shoulders. Misaki instinctively leans back quickly as she does that. Rimi’s weight on the table tilts it and digs into Misaki’s stomach. Misaki is unable to focus on the pain when Rimi abruptly begins to shake her forward and backward at an impressive speed.“Why haven’t you told me this before?!” Rimi says, practically screeching by how loud the usually quiet girl is. Misaki lets out a distressed sound as a headache comes through.“Argh! I didn’t know how to bring it up!” Misaki shouts (quietly) back, as soon as Rimi stops to give her little breathing sound. It wasn’t long until Rimi leans further in and shakes her shoulder even more intensely.“That’s no excuse!” She shouts, “I’m your best friend, how couldn’t you not tell me about your romantic advances! I’ve been invested in ‘MisaKanon’ since you first told me about her!”Misaki makes a string of incoherent noises, as soon as Rimi backs away, suddenly aware of Misaki’s pain. Misaki clutches at her stomach and her head. “Oi, Rimi~” She whines, and Rimi moves forward and rubs at her head in an attempt to make her dizziness go away. “It hurts, you dug the table into my stomach!”“I-I’m sorry, Misaki-chan!” Rimi apologises, bowing over and over again. God, they were really a big mess.“I-It’s okay.” Misaki says, adopting her gentle tone again. “Just please don’t do that again. I went into the cold and gave my hoodie away so I got a headache after pulling that stunt. You definitely didn’t help with healing it.”Rimi frantically bows again, and Misaki laughs, patting her head. “But really, it’s okay.” Rimi looks at her, trying to figure out if she’s okay. When she feels that Misaki is okay, Rimi goes to sit where she sat before.“I changed my mind.” Rimi states. Misaki hums, “About what?”“You could pin Kanon-san down to a couch and shove your tongue in her mouth and she’d be completely fine with it, no doubt about that. She might even be eager for that.”If Misaki had a drink in her mouth, she surely would have done a spit take. Instead, she twists her neck to face Rimi at such a fast pace, Rimi thought she might have heard a snap from that. “Uhm, you what?!” Misaki asks, face completely red.Rimi leans back, a grin on her face. “I’m telling the truth, Misaki-chan!” She says. And Misaki folds her arms, an attempt to compose herself. “Ya see- ah- I mean, You see-” Rimi says, flustered that she accidentally slipped into her native accent for a second there.She clears her throat. “Kanon-san sees you as someone special. She kisses you on the cheek frequently recently. Were they in public?” Misaki shakes her head, no they weren’t in public, She realises. “Uh, but that’s because we’re fake dating- she’s probably practising for when we have to do things like it in public-” Misaki tries to reason. Rimi hushes her.“Kanon-san wouldn’t need to do that. If she didn’t like you, she’d be completely uncomfortable with you when kissing your cheek- I’m correct when I assume she’s the initiator? You’re too much of a gay disaster to initiate anything.” She teases and Misaki mutters a ‘shut up’.Rimi leans her head on her hand, “And it’s not even in public. She wanted these things to be between the two of you . Special . Trust me when I say it. She likes you .”Misaki frowns. “I’m not taking back my words.” Rimi says, a grin on her face at Misaki’s conflicted expression. “But if you want to be completely sure, and you absolutely cannot handle any sort of tension between the two of you, you could always ask her if it’s alright to kiss.”The black haired girl turns red at her use of ‘tension’. “W-What do you mean by tension ?!” She almost screams. Rimi giggles and winks, “Don’t think I don’t see you and Kanon-san always staring at each other whether it be across the room or right next to each other.”“S-Shush.” o~y~o Oh god. How did it come to this?Kanon came over again. And again and again and again. And then it became a thing for them to walk to Misaki’s home together and for Misaki to walk Kanon home.Misaki still hasn’t gotten her hoodie back. And it’s okay, she could always wear the WEGO hoodie she bought that was recommended from her hoodie buddy. (aka moca)On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, Haruto and Mina aren’t home until later because they’re dropped off at her aunt’s place.Today is Friday. They’re home. Alone. No parents, no siblings. Nothing that can disturb them. And they’re in Misaki’s room. On her bed , doing homework. It’s no wonder, considering that Misaki only has one chair and one table which can’t fit the both of them, Misaki refuses to let Kanon sit on the floor and Kanon refuses to be the only one at the table which is how such came to be.Misaki wants to hide under her bed and cry in distress until Kanon has to go home, which she can’t because she needs to cater to Kanon’s needs. She likes you!! She hears Rimi’s stubborn voice ring in head as she watches Kanon fidget on her bed, face pink and fingers fiddling nervously. Misaki sits down next to her, bringing her textbook with her and a pen.“Let’s get started then.” Misaki breaks the awkward silence. “Maybe we should have studied in the library. It would have been easier.”“Y-Yeah, maybe…!” Kanon squeaks, still looking down. Misaki looks at her. Kanon is taking deep breaths and her fist is shaking, a strong grip on her pen. Maybe all that grip strength is the reason to why her drumsticks break so easily. Kanon doesn’t look it, but she’s really strong.Misaki wonders if she’s so strong that she could pin her down, hands over her head and maybe ravish her-Stop. Misaki. No, just no. Rimi is getting to you. She sighs out loud, tapping pen to paper. “A-Ask me for help, if you need any!” Kanon says suddenly, making Misaki turn her attention away from her homework. “I’m your senpai… It’s the least I could do since you’re so nice to make me dinner and yeah..”Misaki nudges her shoulder against Kanon. Kanon looks up into Misaki’s eyes. “Okay.” Misaki says. “I’ll take you up for that offer if I’m having trouble.” Kanon begins to beam and giggles. Is this what Rimi means by tension ? Misaki asks herself, losing herself to Kanon’s enchanting violet eyes. Kanon looks so, so happy, so, so beautiful and it makes Misaki’s heart stutter with longingness . (apparently that’s an actual word.)Kanon moves, closer, if that was any possible considering that Kanon was basically sitting on her lap. So close, that their faces were only mere centimeters away. “Misaki-chan…” She whispers, Misaki feelings her breath on her lips.Misaki doesn’t dare breathe, she just watches Kanon’s every movement, and pushes every temptation just to kiss her right then and there away. She likes you! She hears Rimi again. You could pin Kanon-san down to a couch and shove your tongue in her mouth and she’d be completely fine with it, no doubt about that. She might even be eager for that. Kanon connects their foreheads together, and Misaki lets go of her pen and paper, making a clatter when they fall off her lap. Misaki instinctively raises her hands to hold onto Kanon’s hips to steady her. Kanon giggles again at Misaki’s reaction.They’re so close . “Ne, Misaki-chan…” She whispers, a sultry tone to it. Misaki’s grip on her hips tighten, her eyes focused on Kanon’s lips moving. “Can we…?” Kanon asks.Misaki sighs, but keeps her gaze on Kanon. Her heart beats fast in anticipation. “Can we what?” She asks, hoping that Kanon wants what she wants to do too. She absolutely wants to kiss Kanon.Kanon whines, and rests her head on Misaki’s chest. “Wait a moment.” Kanon says. “My heart… I need it to calm down first.” Misaki hears Kanon’s ragged breathing, and registers the fact that Kanon’s heart is beating really fast. She didn’t notice it before because she was willing her own heart to calm down.So naturally when Kanon raises her head, with a (oddly hot ) determined facial expression, Misaki beats her to the punch. “I want to kiss you, Kanon-san.”Kanon’s eyes open wide when she says that, tongue-tied, and completely red again. “Wai- Ah- You- R-Really?!” She asks. Misaki nods her head, and raises her hands to cup Kanon’s face. “ Really .” She says.Kanon closes her eyes when she notices Misaki moving forward. It makes Misaki nervous, and it feels just right when their lips finally press together. A sigh leaves Misaki’s lips because of how much she wanted this.Kanon pulls away, pressing a small peck on Misaki’s lips. Misaki still had her eyes closed for a moment, before they open, to see Kanon smiling giddily again. Kanon tosses her leg to go over Misaki’s legs, straddling Misaki’s legs, studying be damned.“I… Really liked that.” Kanon says. Misaki nods her head, and lowers her hands to grip Kanon’s hips again. “Yeah. Me too. It was nice…” Misaki eventually replies.Kanon gnaws at her lips, and Misaki suppresses a groan, looking anywhere except Kanon. Her fingers dig in Kanon’s hip, only enough to mark her rather than hurt her. “Can we…”“Yeah.”They spend the next hour kissing. Not anything too intimate, just light presses against each others lips, Kanon’s arms wrapped around Misaki’s neck and Misaki’s hands pressing on Kanon’s hips.When they hear the door opening, with her little siblings and her mother coming back home, the two separate from each other. Their faces, flushed, and hair dishevelled. They scatter from each other, picking up fallen books and don’t look at each other.Though when Misaki walks her back home, instead of kissing her on the cheek, Kanon presses her body against Misaki with their lips pressed together. “Good night.” Kanon says, giggling at Misaki’s shocked, red face. She blows a kiss and waves before she closes the door.Misaki is left alone in embarrassment. And ah- she still hasn’t gotten her hoodie back. When she runs back home, she flops onto her bed, half-tempted to scream in her pillow. Misaki can’t ever forget Kanon’s soft lips pressed against her… Kanon’s body pressed upon her… Kanon’s weight on her lap…Ah. She’s turning out to be a pervert. She barely gets any sleep when she realises that Kanon’s scent was still on her bed.Needless to say, the next day, when they had a Hello Happy World meeting, Misaki wasn’t nearly half prepared to see Kanon wearing her hoodie to the meeting. She almost collapsed there and then. On Rimi. Because they met up earlier.Misaki texted Rimi last night to meet up into the morning before the meeting with HaroHappy took place.“We kissed. For an hour straight. And then she kissed me when I dropped her off at her home.” Misaki tells Rimi. Rimi brightens up, “Yay! Congratulations, Misaki-chan. I knew you could do it!” She congratulates Misaki.Misaki stays frozen in place, face tinted pink. “So?” Rimi asks, anticipated another kind of news from her. “Are you guys dating?” Misaki sighs and shakes her head.“WHAT?!” Rimi shouts, standing up, slamming her palms on the table. She crosses her arms, “You better be joking or I’ll really hit you in the head.” Rimi threatens, pouting.Misaki laughs nervously, scratching her nape. “I’m telling the truth. I don’t even know where her feelings lie with me… This could be experimental for all I know.” She admits. Rimi sits back down, trying to calm herself down, her fist is shaking in frustration. “Misaki-chan you shoulda asked ‘er out! You- you- you aho! ”Rimi finally notices her Kansai accent slipped out, and covers her mouth hastily. Embarrassed, she runs toward Hazawa Coffee. Misaki panics because that’s where HaroHappy were going to meet up so she runs to Rimi, reaching an arm out.Before Rimi could open the door, Misaki catches the back of her dress, and pulls her back. Rimi stops in place when she feels the back being tugged. She turns around to face Misaki. Misaki pats her head, “Look, I know you’re probably embarrassed because of your Kansai accent, but hey, PoPiPa calls it cute. Embrace it. Just don’t call me an aho anymore.” She says, grimacing.Rimi bows over and over to apologise and Misaki laughs, pushing her away from Hazawa Coffee.“Misaki-chan…?”Rimi and Misaki pause in their movements, to look over at Kanon. And ah- Kanon is wearing her hoodie-Misaki trips over in shock, her face completely red, falling backward onto Rimi who was as equally shocked. Luckily, Rimi kept her grip and she pushes Misaki back up. “K-K-Kanon-san!” Misaki shouts, trying to regain her footing, her voice an octave higher than usual.“I-It’s kinda early for the meeting, w-why are you here?” Misaki asks, straightening her body. Urgh, Kanon looks so good in her hoodie.Rimi pulls on the back of Misaki’s WEGO hoodie, shaking the girl backward and forward. “Ohmygodshe’swearingyourhoodieareyousureyou’renotlyingwhenyousaidyouguysarentdating omigosh so cute~” She coos, speaking at such a fast pace that only Misaki could understand what she just said.“Oh! And Rimi-chan! Chisato-chan picked me up earlier, and we went to walk here because apparently she’s meeting up with Aya-chan.” Kanon explains. “You should stay with us, Rimi-chan! It’s good to see a fresh face!”Rimi shakes her head vehemently, “N-No I couldn’t do that to your date-” Misaki and Kanon both blush intensely. “S-So you two have fun on your own!”“We’re not on a date! Hey- Wait, Rimi!” Misaki calls out, trying to reach out for Rimi, but she’s already run too far. Misaki frowns, and rubs at her head. She turns around to find a fidgeting Kanon.“We have around 15 minutes left until the other get here, should we just go in and save a seat for them?” Kanon asks. Misaki nods her head, “Well, yeah sure. We should probably do that.”They’re greeted at the sight of Tsugumi greeting them and- is that Sayo at the back taking orders from customers? “Welcome you guys! Is it another HaroHappy meeting today?” Tsugumi says. She’s especially happy today. Misaki wonders why.“Or is it a date today?” Tsugumi asks, teasing the pair. They both turn red. “I-It’s a Hello, Happy World! Meeting!” Misaki stutters out. Tsugumi giggles before leading the two to a table for 5 people.When they sit down, Tsugumi asks them if they wanted to order anything. “Ah, can we get water?” Misaki says, and Tsugumi nods her head, and moves to go get the water for them.“Wait, Tsugumi-chan!” Kanon says, and Tsugumi stops walking. She comes back and tilts her head in confusion. Kanon smiles in that (really hot) way where she’s about to tease her or anyone-“Is Sayo-san a new worker here? She looks really nice under the Hazawa name.”Misaki and Tsugumi gasp. Tsugumi was bright red, and Misaki looked plain out surprised at her teasing method. “Don’t you agree, Misaki-chan? Hazawa Sayo sounds very nice, right?” Kanon says, grinning widely.“M-Mou, Kanon-san, don’t tease me! Misaki-san, please tell her!”“You’re wrong, Kanon-san.” Misaki says, and Tsugumi breathes a sigh of relief… until Misaki continues her sentence. “It’s clearly Hikawa Tsugumi. Sayo-san is the one who wears the pants in that relationship.”Tsugumi turns red and even redder when Kanon responds with, “And she’d be the top too, right?” Misaki also turns pink, hearing Kanon speak of terms like that so easily. “That’s why they call it SayoTsugu instead of TsuguSayo.”“M-Mou, please don’t tease me like that! Sayo-san and I are just friends-”“I’m just what?”Tsugumi turns around to see Sayo frowning curiously. “You’ve been here for a while, Tsugumi-san. Is there something- ah, Okusawa-san and Matsubara-san. Congratulations on your relationship, by the way.” Sayo tells Misaki and Kanon.“I noticed my name came up? I’m only working here for the moment because Wakamiya-san has a Pastel Palettes rehearsal.” Sayo informs them. Misaki and Kanon nod their head in understanding.“Conversation is good for relaxation and all, Tsugumi-san, but don’t overdo it.” Sayo says, smiling slightly. “I want you to pay closer attention to me, after all.”Kanon squeals at that, and Misaki glances at her. Does Kanon-san like those kinds of words being said to her? Misaki made a mental note to search up different types of ladykiller lines just to use them on Kanon.Tsugumi squeaks, her face bright red. Sayo’s lips turn to a pout and- what? Sayo could make expressions like that??? How??? What?? When??? The power of Hazawa Tsugumi is just too strong.Tsugumi leans closer to whisper in Sayo’s ear and Sayo’s expression morphs into understanding. When Tsugumi backs away, with an expression that says got it? , Sayo leans closer and presses a kiss on Tsugumi’s forehead. “Yes, I got it.” Sayo says.Sayo walks away, humming like she didn’t just kiss Tsugumi on the forehead and completely shoot down Tsugumi’s claims of their relationship being ‘just friends’. “Ah- Wait- Sayo-san!” Tsugumi whines, and chases after Sayo, walking into the kitchen together.Misaki and Kanon look at each other, and start laughing. “Ara, Misaki and Kanon are here already!” Kokoro jumps into the seats opposite to them. Kaoru and Hagumi following straight afterward.Sayo and Tsugumi leave the kitchen, Tsugumi looking red and Sayo with a smug expression. Misaki shakes her head, trying to ignore the hickey that’s very much visible on Tsugumi’s neck. Sayo walks up to them, placing down their water, the smile never leaving her face. “What would you like to order?” She asks curtly.Kokoro jumps up to answer but Misaki sits her down. “I’m just going to have black coffee. I barely got sleep last night.” She says, but freezes and turns red at the implications of what she said. Misaki hears Kanon giggle beside her.“Why didn’t you get any sleep last night?” Kokoro asks, tilting her head. Misaki shakes her head, “No, it’s nothing.” Her face is slightly pink again.“I’ll have iced tea!” Hagumi says, “Peach flavoured!” Kokoro raises her hand to agree, “Yes, I’ll have iced tea too- lemon flavour!” Kaoru leans back, “I’ll have grape juice.” She says, crossing her arms.Sayo hums in response, writing down the orders. “Oh- and black tea for Kanon-san please.” Misaki adds in. “We won’t be here for long, so we won’t buy any food.” She tells Kokoro who was vibrating in her seat. Kokoro pouts.“We’ll be here with your orders soon.” Sayo says and leaves.“Well, Kokoro?” Kaoru prompts the blonde girl, leaning forward in anticipation. “What is this meeting about?”Kokoro hums happily, and exchanges looks with Hagumi. “You see, Kokoron and I…” Hagumi starts off, “Having been planning on doing something exciting!” Kokoro finishes off Hagumi’s sentence. The two look at each other again and high five. “Yay!” They cheer.“So what is this ‘exciting’ thing?” Misaki asks, leaning back, unconsciously laying her hand on Kanons hand. Kanon jumps, startled by Misaki’s hand on hers. Kanon’s face is now red. She looks down.“Well… Laser tag!” Kokoro announces, spreading her arms outwards. Hagumi ducks to avoid the hand and Kaoru moves out of the way so she doesn’t get hit by the hand.“Hah? Why on earth would we do that?”“No need to sweat any details, we’re going tomorrow!” Kokoro says.“W-Wait Kokoro! What if we have something on that day?” Misaki sure as hell didn’t have anything going on tomorrow, and she isn’t about to fill a free day with laser tag with HaroHappy.“It’ll be A-Okay!” Hagumi says, grinning widely. Misaki sighs, and freezes when Kanon interlocks their hands together. She’s suddenly conscious of the fact that they’re holding hands. It never fails to threaten her heart to jump out of her throat.“By the way, Kanon.” Kaoru begins to speak. The attention is all on her now. Kaoru poses eccentrically and states, “You are wearing Misaki’s hoodie.”Hagumi and Kokoro look at Kanon’s clothes and- yes, that’s Misaki’s hoodie. Kanon and Misaki turn red, embarrassed. “Kanon is wearing Misaki’s hoodie! How cute!!” Hagumi exclaims.“Ah, youthful romance… how fleeting.” Kaoru responds and Misaki facepalms. Kokoro stands up, “I know! We can use the laser tag to celebrate Misaki and Kanon’s new relationship!”Kanon laughs nervously, “I don’t know if it’s still considered new if it’s already been 2 months.” Kokoro tilts her head, “Then when is your third monthiversary?”Misaki thinks back to the date it was when she asked Kanon to fake-date her. “Ah-” She says. “It’s next week on Sunday.” Technically it’s only their first monthiversary in ‘dating’, but nevertheless, Sunday is their month anniversary.“Then it’s settled! We’re celebrating your third monthiversary at laser tag next week instead!”Oh god, what did she just do. Kanon giggles and tightens her grip on Misaki’s hand, Misaki squeezes her hand in response and just listens to the san-baka talk.When they leave, Misaki is obliged to drop Kanon back at her house again. She kisses Misaki in front of her home again, giggling at Misaki’s expression. “Do you want to come inside?” Kanon asks, when she pulls away.“I uh.” Misaki says, voice cracking. “Um. Yeah sure.” She meekly nods her head, as Kanon leads her into the house. She allows Kanon to pull her along into her room.When Kanon shuts the door, she looks oddly excited. “My parents and siblings aren’t home today. They’re out right now. We’re alone.” Oh. That’s why.Kanon reaches her arms out to circle Misaki’s neck, she pecks Misaki’s lips and giggles as Misaki stiffens. “I’ve… really wanted to do this for a while now.” She admits, and presses their lips together again.Misaki holds onto Kanon’s hips. It’s like a dream come true, for Misaki. A wave of euphoria surges through her when she breaks the kiss off and sees Kanon just so dishevelled. And when she remembers that she made Kanon in this state, it makes her proud. Smug.“Me too,” Misaki whispers back, her voice hoarse because this situation is so.. different. “For some time, I have been wanting this.” Kanon sighs, cheeks pink and smile as wide as ever. Misaki leans forward to make lips meet each other.Misaki doesn’t exactly know what they are right now, where Kanon’s feelings lie about her, yet. But it’s fine not to think about this kinda thing when she’s making out with her crush. It’s the greatest opportunity, and thus Misaki refuses to let it go. So she accepts it, and continues it. Just have to make the best of the moment right?And when the time comes where Kanon admits her feelings… whether they reciprocate her feelings or not, Misaki will have to accept it as well.Just making the best of the moment, y’know?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Misaki wraps her arms around Kanon’s, guiding shaky hands in order to beat the mixture of egg in the bowl. “You see, you want to do it fast, but in a circle-ish movement without spilling anything.” Misaki says next to Kanon’s ear which is turning red by the second.Misaki lays her head on Kanon’s shoulder, hoping to pay her back for every time the girl had ever teased her in any way. Kanon shudders and continues mixing the egg, even as Misaki has let go of her hands and just embraces the girl from behind.“Yeah that should be fine.”Minutes later of cooking the egg, creating omelette rice, Kanon sat on the couch, shivering from Misaki’s attention. Misaki laughs, and finishes off prepping the food, with tomato sauce and a simple squiggle pattern on both.Misaki sets the table and places the food down. She walks over to Kanon and grins cheekily. Kanon moves over, to make room for Misaki and she sits down next to Kanon.It’s almost instinctive for Kanon to cuddle with Misaki, pressing her lips lightly on her shoulder and going upward as Misaki starts talking. “We need to eat, you know?” Misaki says, stifling her laughter when Kanon’s lips brush by a particularly ticklish spot on her neck.Haruto and Mina were sleeping over at their aunt’s place that day. So they were alone for that night, considering that her parents are barely home. Misaki asked Kanon if she wanted to stay over for the night, and Kanon eagerly accepted.“We have to eat before the food gets cold… And I’m pretty excited to taste your food.” Misaki says, and Kanon sighs, mostly out of content, rather than exasperation, before she cups Misaki’s head to turn to face her.“Let me do this first.” Kanon says, and begins to lean in. It never fails to bring butterflies to Misaki’s stomach when they press lips. “Mmh…” Kanon moans softly, making Misaki press the heels of her hand on her hip harder.They break apart and rest their foreheads on each others. They stay like that for a moment before Kanon giggles and presses a short kiss on her lips. Misaki dazedly and hesitantly lets go of Kanon’s hips. It’s like we’re actually dating . Was a vague thought, as she was brought to the sight of Kanon in casual clothes, sitting at her table, eating food that they made. More like, a newly wedded couple . Misaki adds on, blushing when she remembers how they’d kissed just then.When they finish eating, they lounge on the couch, with Kanon resting on her shoulder, dozing off slightly, the flicker and sounds of the TV making Kanon drowsier by the second. Misaki surfs on the internet using her phone.She plugs in her earphones and gets to listening to the composition she had so far. Halfway through the composition, where she thought something sounded off or needed another thing to be added, Kanon looks up, groggy, and adorable .Misaki looks down, and presses a kiss to her head. “Heya. Did I wake you? We should sleep soon.” She says gently. Kanon shakes her head and looks curiously at the earphones.“Can I…?” She asks. Kanon had never seen the way Misaki made the music. Only knew she recorded Kokoro’s tunes and then with some sort of software, had turned those simple tunes into the most complex orchestral compositions.Misaki looks slightly reluctant, but then removes the earphone and gives it to Kanon. She turns somewhat red but then mumbles, “Tell me what you think.”Kanon giggles and places it into her ear, leaning comfortably against Misaki’s shoulder. Misaki presses play and she’s met with a catchy tune, using more instruments than the ones that they manually play, meaning they’d all be from Misaki’s DJ-ing.Unlike many of their other songs, the riff is softer, and easier to listen to. It makes Kanon sleepier, and even more so, when Misaki’s gentle voice begins to sing the lyrics.Kanon really likes Misaki’s singing voice, even if she doesn’t usually sing for HaroHappy.Misaki feels Kanon go slack against her and she sighs. She should have known this would happen, as Kanon was already sleepy, and the song she’d played for her had less distortion and less spunk than their others songs had.Misaki runs her fingers through Kanon’s hair, she herself, was starting to get tired. Misaki stands up to pick Kanon up, bridal-styled, taking out the earphones. Misaki carries Kanon to her room, and places her on the bed.Misaki leaves the room for a moment to clean the dishes. And when everything is done, she’s so tired, she doesn’t really remember what she does other than pass out on the best- next to Kanon.That next morning, the bed was warmer when she wakes up, unlike ever before. Misaki opens her eyes and is greeted at the sight of Kanon sleeping gently next to her. It stirs up feelings that Misaki wishes weren’t there sometimes. But at the same time, if every morning were like this… She wouldn’t really mind at all.Misaki sighs and pulls Kanon closer, and resting her head in the crook of Kanon’s neck. Her smell is distinctly Kanon and it calms her even more… and makes her a little bit sleepy.“Mmhm…?” Kanon mumbles tiredly, and Misaki looks up to see Kanon’s first moments of consciousness. Her heart swells, seeing Kanon slowly transitioning to confused, to understanding, and then relaxing and tugging Misaki closer.“Good morning.” Misaki says, and kisses her cheek. It’s like we’re actually dating . She had that thought again, and it makes her heart rate speed up. Kanon smiles and snuggles closer to Misaki, “Did I end up sleeping when I listened to your song?” She asks groggily.Misaki laughs faintly and rubs her back gently, “Yeah you did. But it’s okay, I know you were tired.” Kanon hums, a warm breath on Misaki’s collarbone. Kanon then mumbles, “You should let yourself sing more… You have a really nice singing voice.”Misaki shakes her head, “I’m fine just dancing in the back like always. Besides, I should be saying that to you.” Kanon whines a little and grumbles that both her and Kaoru have a duet song with Kokoro and that it should be fair that Misaki and Hagumi should have one too.Misaki pats her head and kisses her forehead. “Go to sleep.” She dismisses Kanon’s worries. Kanon stays quiet, turned red because of the kiss. “We have a little bit of time left before we have to get ready for school.”Kanon nods her head dazedly and Misaki decides she wants more mornings just like this. o~y~o “Did you just walk to school with Kanon-senpai?” Rimi asks, grabbing a chair to sit across of her. She looks excited to hear about this new development.“Well, uh, yeah we walked to school together today.” Misaki admits, turning a light shade of red. “We, uh, kinda had a… sleepover last night.” She says.Rimi’s eyes suddenly go starry-eyed as Misaki says that and she holds her hands together like she’s praying. “That sounds nice… I wish something like that would happen to me… Walking to school together, waking up with them… Ah… Your life is so nice.”Misaki rolls her eyes, and laughs, “I don’t think you’d like this life. To be fair, we aren’t even truthfully dating yet.”“What!? Even though you already had a spicy night!” Rimi complains, “You need to step up your game, Misaki-chan, or else this ‘relationship’ will only be experience for her future relationships.”Misaki turns a darker shade of red, “Wait- wha- D-Did you think- NO!” She denies. “We- We’ve barely even graduated, what makes you think we… did the do!?” Misaki exclaims quietly, suddenly self-conscious of the public.Rimi shakes her head in disbelief. “But you had such a good opportunity though!?” She exclaims back, just as quietly. “Why wouldn’t you take the chance?”“I’m not the one who reads smutty fanfics, excuse you.” Misaki shoots back. Rimi’s face turns scarlet. “That’s unfair, you only saw it once. Once . And it wasn’t that bad! It was more of making love than anything-”Misaki shakes her head and pats her shoulder. “No. It’s okay. I’ll support you, no matter what you read.”Misaki bursts into loud laughter as Rimi’s begins to pout, “Mou, Misaki-chaaaan!!” o~y~o Uh. Why did she agree to this, again?Kokoro just rented the entire bowling slash laser tag centre, just for today, for a monthiversary for a relationship that isn’t even real. Misaki sweats as the staff lead an overexcited Kokoro, Hagumi and Kaoru into the bowling room, with Kanon and Misaki following slowly.She can hear mainstream pop music echoing through the empty space and she’s pretty sure that’s Kaoru’s playlist playing (as much as she hates to admit it to keep up her prince-ly image) considering Kaoru’s the only one she’s seen hearing trashy justin bieber songs and whatnot.(“They’re romantic,” Kaoru replies, face turning bright red at being caught, but she quickly acts to pull a facade, “truly, a representation of Romeo and Juliet through song form…!” Misaki sighs and lets Kaoru do whatever she does.)Currently they’re playing bowling whilst waiting for the staff to finish setting up the laser tag. Misaki narrows her eyes, focusing on the pins. She holds the ‘13’ bowling ball in her hands, gets in stance and throws it onto the lane.
Strike!
“Whoa!!” The rest of the band start cheering. “You’re good at this, Misaki!” Kokoro exclaims in awe. Misaki’s face heats up a bit, and she scratches her nape. “No, not really… It’s only because I’ve been here a lot because of my family…”Misaki sits down, whilst they shoot continuous praises to her, her face heating up. Kanon moves closer to her, she notices, and was fidgeting. “Yes, Kanon-san?” She asks curiously, turning her head to face Kanon.Kanon turns pink and whispers in her ear, “You’re really cool, Misaki-chan!” Just as Misaki had composed herself, she turns red again. Just as she was about to respond, they’re suddenly called.“Laser tag is ready.” They say, and everyone jumps to their feet, speaking excitedly.“We’re uneven.” Misaki realises when they get there. “We have 5 people, one team is only gonna get 2 and the other with 3.” She tells Kokoro. Kokoro strokes her chin, akin to an old man stroking his beard.“Okay since Misaki and has the strength of 10 people. And Kaoru with the strength of only 2 people, they can be on a team together!” Kokoro announces, and wraps her arms around Kanon and Hagumi.“Kanon-chan-senpai’s hands has the grip strength of 5 people, so let’s hope the gun doesn’t crumble under her!” Hagumi exclaims, jokingly, patting Kanon’s back lightly. Kanon laughs nervously as they begin to drag her to the other side.Misaki and Kaoru are left on the blue team. They look at each other once, and Misaki shrugs. They begin to wear the gear given, following the instructions told on the TV screen near them. “...now have fun and good luck!” The TV finally tells them and switches off. The staff appear from nowhere again, and lead them into the way into the field.It’s dark, Misaki notes, her eyes squinting in an attempt to get used to the darkness. “It’s kinda like a haunted house…” Misaki mumbles, and raises her gun to her chest. She hears a squeak near her, and looks around. “Did I just hear a mouse…?” Misaki asks. She looks over at Kaoru- and ah. She’s shaking.“M-My, Misaki. It’s not akin to a haunted house. Haunted house has blood… and will have a lot of jump-scares- AH!”For some reason, Kokoro jumps to them out of nowhere, successfully shooting and scaring Kaoru. Misaki, thankfully, has somewhat good reflexes, no matter how much Kaoru was distracting her. She raises her gun and shoots at Kokoro’s chest.Kokoro makes a sound of surprise, and then disappointment. “Bummer…” She mumbles, and Misaki uses Kokoro’s distraction to take Kaoru’s hand and run off.“Stay here for a moment.” Kaoru nods her head. It was starting to get exciting. She sees two red lights, illuminating the dark space around the other side. Hagumi and Kanon-san . Misaki thinks.So she moves slowly, and then around the corner, she raises her gun to shoot at Hagumi. Hagumi shouts in shock, and tries to shoot at Misaki. When she notices Misaki wasn’t dying, she looked down at her chest and cries, “NooOOO!!”Before Hagumi could regain her life again, Misaki runs away, with Kaoru just barely on her tail. But then whilst walking, she notices she doesn’t hear the footsteps behind her anymore. Then a shout of anguish that was most definitely Kaoru.She sighs, and rests her gun on her shoulder. It’s not a moment before Misaki notices a red light behind her, and faint footsteps. Ah-! Misaki flips around, but then soft hands are wrapped on her cheeks. She recognises Kanon, but isn’t ready for what happens next. Kanon kisses her.Misaki drops her gun in surprise, squeaking at the sudden tactic used against her. Kanon smiles coyly, and brings her gun up, shooting at her chest. Ping pong ! And she had died.Kanon winks at her and then runs away, squealing to herself, and leaving away Misaki whose brain had been short circuited. “W-Wha!” She shouts, her face now completely bright red in embarrassment.“She’s over there, Kokoron!” Misaki hears Hagumi shout behind her, and before she could react, and when she just regained her life, Kokoro flips in front of her and shoots at her chest. Running away as fast as possible and screaming like a bunch of five-year olds.Misaki then hears Hagumi say, “Good job, Kano-chin-senpai! Mii-kun is now out of the game!” And squats down, groaning in her hands out of embarrassment.Needless to say, it takes her approximately 5 minutes (and 6 deaths) to regain her composure. She finally gets her head in the game and is able to shoot Kokoro twice, Hagumi once and barely shoot Kanon.Of course, that all gets toppled over and Kanon kisses her again, but like, deeply , pinning her against the wall, and swiping her tongue at her lips, before giggling adorably and so slyly that it’s hot , and running away.Misaki flops onto the bowling couch after the match. And she’s tired. Very, very tired . “Wow, I can’t believe we managed to win!” Kanon exclaims happily, and innocently, like she’s pretending she doesn’t know what she did back in the field.“Mhm! I thought we’d lose because Mii-kun was all whoosh and baaaam in the beginning. But thanks to Kano-chan-senpai, we won! You’re the best!” Hagumi exclaims, and hugs Kanon tightly.And then Kanon is forced to confront the memory of how exactly they had won. Kanon’s face heats up in embarrassment of the memory and she looks away from Misaki’s eyes. Misaki does the same thing. “Mhm… Anytime, Hagumi-chan!” Kanon finally answers Hagumi who responds with sound effects of victory.Kaoru, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to do much different to Misaki. She sits on the couch, at least more eloquently than Misaki had seated herself on it. She looks like she saw a ghost, or worse, her soul has left her.The purple haired senior suffered a barrage of jumpscares from Kokoro, the red light of the vest seeming like a devil in Kaoru’s eyes. Not to mention, Hagumi purposefully trying to distract her with scary stories.Honestly, the duo were like Satan split together.Being in a band with everyone for basically a year gave the group an opportunity to full understand each other. Like, for example, as Kokoro has stated- Kaoru being the most timid. Or Kanon being the bravest, and even proving that Hagumi was indeed, one of the girliest girls in the group.It seems, Hagumi and Kokoro used these facts to their advantage to drop both Misaki and Kaoru’s guard in order to win this really competitive game of laser tag.Kanon sits next to her and giggles at her demise. “Kanon-san… Please don’t laugh at me like that…” Misaki begs, sitting up, only to bring the older girl into a tight hug. “You kept bullying me back in there…” She mumbles bitterly. “That’s so unfair… Using kisses…”Kanon blushes and pats her head. “I know. And I’m sorry!” Kanon apologises, but can’t help but let her cute laugh out. “When Hagumi told me to distract you in some way, it was the only way I had thought of at the time.”“Still, very unfair…” Misaki complains again. And she raises her head, and looks into Kanon’s eyes.“Whoo, Hoo, it’s gettin hot in here!” They suddenly hear and they break apart sheepishly, and stare (in Misaki’s case, glare ) at the source of the sound to see the san-baka cheering for them.“Misaki and Kaaaanon sittin in a tree!” Kokoro then begins, grinning uncontrollably. “K I S S I N G!!” Hagumi and Kaoru (when did she recover??) join in, and all start screaming excitedly at their unexpected union.“Oh my god shut it you three.” Misaki says, sitting up straight with a face that rivals the heat of the sun. The three proceed to laugh at her, telling her that her face is bright red.Kanon laughs, and places her hand on the seat of the couch. She gives a meaningful look at her, as if telling her to hold onto her hand. Misaki turns away abashedly, but places her hand gently on Kanon’s hand.In the corner of her eye, she sees Kanon smile widely at her. Misaki kind of regrets not wiping her hand on her shirt because now it’s all sweaty and clammy and gross , but it doesn’t look like Kanon really minds at all, so she tries to ignore it.Kanon turns her hand over to intertwine their fingers together. The san-baka finally compose themselves after a moment, and all go to sit in the seat in front of them. “We should play one more round of bowling before we end this!” Kokoro announces and Hagumi shouts “yeah!!” in agreement.Kaoru smirks and stands, having suddenly gained her energy again. “We shall!” She shouts in an overly dramatically. At this point, the staff has already walked to their aisle to start the game.Hagumi then lights up, like she’s had the greatest idea ever. “Hey we should invite the other bands here too! It’d be a shame for them to not enjoy like we are!” She suggests excitement, and looks at Kokoro in confirmation.“Hey, but isn’t it a bit last minute… Like, literally…?” Misaki asks but her complaints are easily ignored when Kokoro stands up just as excitedly as Hagumi. “What a good idea!” She shouts.“Hagumi! You call Tomoe and invite her and the rest of Afterglow!” Kokoro orders Hagumi. Hagumi nods her head and fishes her phone out immediately and dialling the drummer of Afterglow.“Kaoru, you should call Maya or Chisato and invite them and the rest of Pastel Palettes! If worst comes to worst, we’ll ask Kanon to ask Chisato or Aya!” Kokoro tells Kaoru and Kaoru fishes her phone out, nodding. “Anything for you, princess…!” She answers before dialling her childhood friends number.“Misaki! You can call Rimi and tell her to invite PoPiPa!” Kokoro tells Misaki but Misaki already had her phone out and on the contacts page of Rimi. “Hai- hai~” She answers and dials Rimi.“Does anyone know any of Roselia?” Kokoro asks confusedly, tilting her head and crossing her arms. Misaki pulls her phone from her ear for a second, “ Ne~ Kokoro.” She calls and Kokoro faces her, with a hopeful gaze.“Hagumi could ask Tomoe to ask Ako.” Misaki reminds her and Kokoro lights up. “You’re a genius Misaki!” She praises her excitedly. “Yeah, yeah…” Misaki says, sighing just a little bit.“ Haha, damage control .” She hears the usually shy voice come. “Ha ha. Hi to you too, Rimi.” Misaki responds when she raises her phone to her ear.“Say… Are you free right now?” Misaki asks, and she could hear rustling and silence. “Oh… Ah… Yeah I’m free right now.” Misaki’s smile turns into a smirk, which she reserved to tease (mostly Rimi). “Did you just nod your head? Typical Rimi.”Then a whine, “Don’t tease me! ” and then, “But why are you asking me out, how about Kanon-senpai? Isn’t it your ‘anniversary’ day?” Misaki turns red, “ Monthiversary . And you hush. And no I’m not asking just you out. I’m technically asking you and the rest of Poppin’Party out because of the occasion. Kokoro and Hagumi wanted all the bands to have fun too.”Misaki explains the situation and the details about the location, time and such. Rimi lets out an “ ah ” in understanding and then replies, “ So in other words… it’s a big, sudden party for you and Kanon-senpai.” Misaki sighs and looks down. “Yes… You’re correct.”“ All the effort for a fake relationship… Doesn’t that kind of make you feel guilty though? I feel guilty. ” Rimi says meekly, and the reminder sends a twinge of sadness to hit her heart.“I thought the same thing at first. But don’t worry about those kinds of details. Just invite your band and have fun, I guess.” Misaki reassures her.“ Okay then. ”Rimi then hangs up and Misaki turns off her phone and puts it in her pocket. “Now what?” Kanon asks, moving closer to her. Misaki looks at her and then bumps their shoulders together. “We’ll just wait for the other bands to come here, I guess.” o~y~o When the bands come, it all becomes a big, big , mess.Popipa arrives first, being the most excited group to come with Kasumi as its leader, thus her hurrying all her bandmates to hurry and go to the centre. Saaya brought bed. It was initially docile with just Hello Happy, with Kokoro and the others pitching in ideas for their next time.When PoPiPa arrive, Hagumi and Kasumi immediately go into a bowling contest, with the two continuously taking everyone else’s turns to compete against each other. This forces the rest of PoPiPa and HaroHappy to take up another aisle.Suddenly, Kokoro has plans in diving headfirst into the bowling pins just because she’s curious to where they go afterward. Tae stands, curious as well, and wanting to do the exact thing for a while now. Arisa being there helped Misaki tenfold.Then Afterglow arrive and Misaki notices that their keyboardist, Tsugumi, wasn’t there. Moca, after her shift from the convenience store, brought packs and packs of snacks for everyone to munch on. Though of course, everyone knew she would eat them by herself and in addition, all the Yamabuki bakery breads that Saaya had brought in.Alongside Moca, was Lisa and of course, Yukina. Misaki wonders if they’re dating, considering that they’re stuck together no matter where they were. “Where’s the rest of Roselia?” She asks Lisa and Lisa answers, “Rinko and Ako were just finishing up on their game~ they should be on their way now~. Sayo~ has a baking lesson right now, with Tsugu~~. They’ll be here in no time, though!!” Misaki’s mouth opens widely as she nods her head in understanding.Moca always brings disasters. And with Lisa by her side, who actually encourages it to some extent, did not help with her worries at all. If only Sayo-san was here , she thinks miserably, watching Lisa dare Moca to stand on the table to Hula dance to the current song (wow fitting, of course ‘What’s up’ is playing- what’s more, the He-Man version!!, damn these meme-obsessed fools).Moca immediately jumps on the (shaky) table, and as the pre-chorus is set, she swings her hips a bit, and when the chorus kicks in… Lisa starts laughing boisterously. One violent swing to the side sent the table toppling sideways, and in extension, Moca’s fall from grace(?).Ran could only face-palm as Moca falls over like a Jenga-tower. But as always, Ran swoops in to save the day. Moca’s dragged out, “Raaaaaaan.” as she’s falling unexpectedly calmly, and Ran steps forward, reaching up, and then sidestepping to let Moca fall on her face.“Wow, so ruuude~” Moca complains when she sits up, and hides her bleeding nose. “Hai-hai…” Ran responds, a small smile on her face when she pulls out a handkerchief to give to Moca to help herself.And as Lisa had said, Ako and Rinko came within a span of approximately 6 minutes after the Moca incident, the two talking about their game. And then Sayo and Tsugumi arrive together a few more minutes later, having brought sweets that they had baked earlier today.“Tsugumi-san is an exceptional teacher. Our gap in skill is evident…” Sayo points to the cookies, one batch was slightly burnt and another just a little bit undercooked- both still completely edible and delicious. Misaki turns her eyes to a perfect looking batch of cookies, which she assumes are Tsugumi’s.Tsugumi blushes at the compliment and Lisa hums knowingly, “First name, huh…? You’ve known us longer and still call us by our last names.” She teases, in hopes of provoking a flustered reaction from Sayo and Tsugumi. It clearly works, with their faces completely flushed red and with Sayo stuttering out excuses she knew wouldn’t work.The final group that arrived was Pastel Palettes. They had rehearsal and just recently finished it, but otherwise, the usually packed schedule was surprisingly free.“What is this! It looks sooooo boppin! ” Hina looks at the centre with starry eyes. “Have you ever been bowling before, Hina-chan?” Aya asks, looking at her curiously. Hina looks at her and shakes her head, “Nope! Not at all!”Aya looks at a bowling ball and picks one up, a ‘8’, Misaki observes. “You see, you have a bowling ball- this thing!” She points to the ball she’s holding though has a bit of trouble holding it.“Misaki-chan! It’s your turn!” Kanon tells her, snapping her out of her daze. Misaki nods her head, and thanks her, squeezing her hand. “I’ll be right back.” She mumbles and stands up, and holds her bowling ball.“BAHAHHA!!!!” She hears a ruckus from the other side and Misaki glances over at them. Everyone else is also looking. Aya’s ball fell into the gutter. “Okay, maaaybe I’m not the best example, but you don’t have to laugh at me like that…” She mumbles, disheartened.Misaki shakes her head and focuses on the pin in front of her. She takes a deep breath, and pulls the ball back, and throw it on the lane. Good! She thinks, watching the ball complete its course through the middle and finally reach to another- Strike! Kanon claps her hands in awe, and Misaki shrinks in embarrassment. “Ah!” She hears Hina shout. “You should be more like Misaki-chan, Aya-chan!!” She feels her ears heating up.Misaki looks over and sees Aya holding out a ball for Hina to try. “Whoa, this is like, really light.” She exclaims. Aya looks in disbelief because she was barely able to hold the ball up. “Are you sure they have enough weight to knock over all those pins??? Excuuuuse mee, how much does each pin weigh???”“She’s a weirdo. She belongs in HaroHappy. I wonder if they’re fine with Hina switching with Kaoru as guitarist. Wait. I probably won’t be able to handle all of that. Nevermind.” Misaki mumbles, looking at Hina confusedly.Kanon laughs nervously and pats Misaki’s back comfortingly. “There are so many crazy people here in one place, how are we supposed to keep them in check…?” She worries, looking over the crowd of people. “How is it possible that none of them had plans today?? The invitation was so sudden though.”“They’re not that bad, Misaki-chan. At least they’re having fun!” Kanon reassures them. Misaki looks up at Kanon and her expression softens. “Well, I’m glad that at least, you’re here, Kanon-san. You end up comforting me so easily.”“But!” Misaki quickly says, surprising Kanon. “Did you not see a moment ago, Moca dancing on the table to He Man. Or-- wait, is that Lisa chugging the coke straight from the tubes!?” Kanon stands up and looks over to them, and indeed, there stands Lisa, with Moca (and Hina) next to her, chanting “cHuG! ChuG! ChuG!”Misaki face palms and looks away. “Did they all have alcohol for lunch or something?” She questions herself and sighs. “This is not my type of environment.” She hears screams from the other side with Tae screaming “Strike!!!” at a really far distance from them.Misaki looks back to see that Kokoro and Tae have actually launched themselves into their respective lanes and on the pins. The words Strike!! Flash on the screen and the video replays the video of Kokoro and Tae knocking over the pins with their body. Misaki sighs again, but deeper .Kanon only watches, a little scared, and a little amused, and more worried about the stress levels of her pseudo girlfriend. So she taps Misaki’s shoulder, who turns to her, and leans closer to whisper in her ear.“Should we go outside, for a little bit?” Kanon asks. Feeling Kanon’s hot breath on Misaki’s ear, Kanon’s lowered, tone- unintentionally being sultry . Misaki feels her ears turn red, in fact, all of her body feels hot.“B-By ourselves?” Misaki couldn’t help but ask. Kanon looks at her confusedly, and Misaki watches her face turn from confuzzlement to understanding. Kanon’s face flushes red and she nods her head.So they walk outside. There was a park that was conveniently across from the bowling centre, so Misaki grabs onto Kanon’s hand, and leads her to the park.“Well this is a lot better.” Misaki says, as she sits on the swings. She rocks forward and backward, and Kanon follows her on the other swing. “Just me and you. It’s a lot more peaceful this way.” Misaki looks at Kanon fondly as she says this.Kanon blushes and looks down. “Being with Kokoro-chan and the others is very fun… But yeah, I think I enjoy my time with you the most…” Misaki turns red and avoids her eyes. Having Kanon admit that… Made Misaki confused.What were they? Were they slowly turning real- was Rimi actually right in saying that Kanon actually likes her ? A girl in a bear costume who does everything in moderation. Her grades are alright, she’s not ambitious or courageous, she prefers taking things easy overall.“Kanon-san…” She mumbles and reaches her hand out to grab onto Kanon’s. Kanon meets her halfway, and they intertwine their fingers together. “Say, Kanon-san…” Kanon looks at her, like she wants her, and it makes Misaki’s innards jump violently.“Ah! Kanon! Is that you!”The two separate their hands, with Misaki jumping up in surprise from her seat on the swing. She turns around to face the offending voice. A boy?Kanon looks behind her to see who was talking, and her face lights up in understanding. “Ah! Yuuto-kun?” She asks, and the boy, ‘Yuuto’, his smile widens. Kanon lets out a squeal and stands up to hug him.It makes Misaki squirm uncomfortably, seeing her crush hug a boy, and seeing him hug her back. “How have you been, I haven’t seen you in years!” Kanon exclaims, pulling away to see his face. “Are you staying here for long? When are you going back to Hakodate?”“Whoa, that’s a lot of questions.” He laughs merrily, and pats her head. “I arrived here yesterday, but I won’t be here for a long time. I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ve been good, how about you?”He was right. Kanon was talking a lot, compared to usual. This just gives her more reason to doubt whether Kanon likes her or not. “I’ve been good! Oh right, Misaki-chan, this is Goryou Yuuto. My ex boyfriend!”Misaki pauses in her movements, and her heart sinks. “Oh.” She answers, disheartened. “Hi, I’m Okusawa Misaki. I’m her… friend.” Misaki answers, deciding to choose friend over girlfriend over the new discovery. Ugh, she’s so bitter over this, she needs more coffee to survive this human interaction.“Ah~ Nice to meet you, Misaki-chan!” Yuuto answers, choosing to start with first names. He stretches his hand out for a handshake. Misaki reluctantly places her hand on his hand, and firmly grips onto it. Bitterly, she grips tighter, and it definitely hurts him, if the flinch and the cradling of his hand was anything to go by. “You too… Goryou-san.”“Your friend is… spunky!” He says, still holding onto his hand for its dear life. It was almost like he was holding a baby, or something.Kanon shakes her head, “She’s not my friend!” Misaki’s heart sinks again. It feels like it might hit the floor and break in half.“She my girlfriend !” She rebukes and Misaki pauses, and flushes red. That was unexpected.“Oh. ohhhhh! ” Yuuto answers, looking excited at the development. “When was this? Why didn’t you tell me?” Kanon smiles bashfully, “It happened kind of recently… And I don’t always have to tell you everything. You would have found out eventually, which is now.”A few minutes later, and he leaves, saying he has to do a band performance in a moment. It makes sense, Misaki thinks, as he has a guitar case on his back. Misaki and Kanon watch him run in a hurry. o~y~o They go back inside, of course. They couldn’t stay outside for the entirety of the party(?).“Huh…? I was so sure you’d be less stressed if we went out… But you look even more stressed than before…!!” Kanon exclaims worriedly, as they walk in the centre. Misaki had an even bigger frown and her arms were crossed.Currently her thoughts were revolved around Yuuto, her ex boyfriend , which makes her even more grouchy. Stupid ex boyfriend who probably held her hands, hugged her and kissed her. Stupid ex boyfriend who broke up with her for whatever reason. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Misaki answers and they sit on the couch. “Ah! Misaki, Kanon, welcome back! It’s your turn Misaki.” Kaoru says, standing up to greet the two. Misaki nods her head at her and grabs a ball.She imagines the bowling balls as Yuuto’s face, and with all her strength (and childish anger), she rolls the ball faster than she’d ever before, hitting the middle and making a loud sound as the pins topple over again. There’s another pin left, and that annoys her.The next ball she throws, she accidentally grabs an eight, throwing off her balance, and the ball falling into the gutter.“What’s wrong, Misaki-chan?” Kanon asks, as she sits down next to her. Misaki folds her arms defensively, and stubbornly replies. “It’s nothing, Kanon-san.”Kanon stares at her for a moment. “Oh.” She says to herself seemingly understanding something, and moves closer to Misaki. Her puzzled frown turns into a small smile, “Were you… maybe, jealous, of Yuuto-kun?”Misaki’s eye twitches at the mention of the boy. “Oh! Oh, you are, aren’t you?” Kanon says, her smile widening at Misaki’s deepening frown. “I’m not!” She denies, but her red face and the fact that she’s not looking at Kanon directly tells otherwise.“Oh, so, all this time, it was because of Yuuto-kun. You’re so cute, Misaki-chan. But still...” Kanon answers, her response trailing off. Misaki shuts her eyes tightly, waiting for that certain response; you can’t be jealous, we’re not dating or anything that will determine the platonicness of their relationship.Instead, Kanon says: “There’s nothing between us though, not before, not now and really, never !” She reassures Misaki, her brows lowering in determination. Misaki relaxes, and opens her eyes, her pupils dilated in shock.That wasn’t what she expected.“B-But you said he was your ex boyfriend.” Misaki says, and tenses at the memory. Kanon shakes her head in response, “He was my ex boyfriend. But we never had feelings for each other. He’s gay. He likes boys. I had pretended to date him so his parents didn’t force him to marry someone else.”“So… do you get it now?” Kanon asks, and grasps onto Misaki’s hands. “Even if he liked girls, I already told him that we’re dating. So you have nothing to worry about now.” She smiles.That just made things more confusing. They’re fake dating. But it’s like they’re actually dating now. But they aren’t. Misaki can’t wrap her head around this entire concept. Is this how dating is even supposed to feel like? How is she supposed to know when she’d never dated anyone before?“Yeah… I see…” o~y~o “I would say ‘you’re still not dating yet!?’ but it’s happened way too many times that I don’t even need to ask.” Rimi says.Misaki sighs, and laughs, “Please don’t remind me that I’m a coward. And I promise, I’ll actually confess the next time I see her.”Rimi laughs teasingly, “Are you sure about that? I can see you seeing her but not being able to confess to her. Say, just confess to me as practise.” She suggests, making Misaki perk up.She hums, “Can I do that? You think you can handle all of this?” Misaki says, pointing to her body with a small smirk. Rimi laughs and pushes her away lightly, “I’m not in love with you, sorry.”Misaki fakes being shot in the heart. “You hurt me… That hit me in the heart so bad…”Rimi rolls her eyes and grabs her wrist to pull her to the park. Rimi climbs parts of the playground and pats the part next to her. “Sit next to me and confess to me like I’m Kanon-senpai.”“Alright then, anything for Rimi.” Misaki answers, and sits next to her. It’s uncomfortably close to her, but maybe the situation would be similar when she’s confessing to Kanon.“Hm… How about: I love you! Please go out with me!” Misaki shouts, and Rimi laughs, “That’s too plaaaain. You have to take a page from Kaoru-san’s book!”Misaki shakes her head, “I’d rather die than do that. What do you want me to do, kneel on the floor, describe what I love about Kanon-san and then profess it in the flashiest way possible?”Ugh. She can’t believe she’s actually doing this.Misaki kneels at the bottom of Rimi’s feet, and looks up, grabbing onto her hands. “My dear… My heart has been enraptured by you. You are the final piece that completes me. Date me, please, my soulmate.”Rimi giggles and pulls her to her feet. “You’re pretty good at this!” Misaki shakes her head and face palms. “It gets easier the more you listen to her…”“You should be all set for when you confess to her!”“Oi- oi… I’m definitely not going to confess to her like that.” o~y~o As they’re walking home, Misaki stops her. “I have something I want to tell you.” She says. Kanon looks at her curiously, but at such a close distance, Misaki notices that her eyes are baggy yet puffy, like she’d lost sleep or cried a bit.“Wait. First. Are you okay, Kanon-san?” She asks, because Kanon’s wellbeing is more important than her useless love confession. “It looks like you cried last night…” She mumbles worriedly.Kanon shakes her head, “I’m okay. Chisato-chan recommended some dramas for me to watch last night, and it was kind of sad.” She answers, a strained smile making Misaki doubt herself.“Okay… That’s good.” Misaki answers, slightly relieved but at the same time kind of worried. Well, if Kanon says she’s okay, then she must be okay. ...Right?“You see… Kanon-san. I have something I want to say to you.”Kanon looks up at her, and Misaki reaches out to grab onto her hand. “For a while now… I’ve been in love with you.” She admits, her face turning red in embarrassment. Arghhhhh I’ve said it. “The relationship, you see, I love you, so that’s why I asked you to help me out.” Misaki says, and Kanon’s eyes widened, and narrow just a little bit. She’s shaking.“Will you be my girlfriend?” Misaki asks, finally, looking Kanon in the eyes. But what’s surprising her, is the fact that Kanon was crying. Kanon whimpers and attempts to wipe her eyes to hide the tears.Kanon looks up into her eyes, tears still rolling down her cheeks, determined to get her answer across. Misaki tries to decipher what kind of emotion Kanon seemed to be portraying. Was it sadness? Happiness? She doesn’t know. Kanon shakes her head.
“I’m sorry.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I’m sorry.”
Misaki is devastated when Kanon says that. Her eyes widen and her eyes tear up. “Oh… Yeah… Figures.” Misaki mumbles, looking down at the ground, kicking at the dirt like it’s the most interesting thing she’s ever seen before. It helps avoiding eye-contact and maybe making sure that Kanon doesn’t see her teary eyes.
“I’m honestly… really,
really
, sorry Misaki-chan.” The repeated apology makes Misaki feel worse, and it feels like an ugly sob is going to rip from her lungs. Like, Kanon has no bad intentions, and most likely feels really guilty for rejecting her.
“No- no. It’s okay, Kanon-san.” She quickly intervenes as Kanon takes a step forward to place her hand on her shoulder to reassure her. Misaki unconsciously leans away, her foot tilting, getting ready to run away if Kanon touches her.
Oh man, if Kanon touches her, she might actually end up crying like the lame loser she is.
“It’s fine. I get it. You don’t like me.” Misaki says, forcing a breathy laugh to hide the scratchy-ness of her voice. “I mean like, y’know, I probably shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.” She mumbles, still looking down at the ground.
“It’s not-”
“Kanon-san. Please.” Misaki cuts through, and finally, looked up, into her eyes. Kanon can see the rims of her eyes tearing up. It breaks her heart to see Misaki like this. But still…
“Please don’t do that. Don’t reassure me. It’s fine if you didn’t like me that way.” Misaki says, gritting her teeth and clenching her hands. Kanon’s eyes soften, and it looks like she had something to say, with her mouth opening, and the sudden lean ins.
But she didn’t say anything to rebuke it.
“I’m sorry…” She says, starting to cry herself. Kanon sobs and wipes at her eyes furiously, “I’m so sorry, Misaki-chan… But…
You
aren’t…”
Misaki shakes her head. “It’s fine, really. If I’m not the one you like.” She turns around and rubs at her eyes discreetly. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Again, Kanon moves forward, wanting to say something. This time she takes action and touches her shoulder. Misaki looks at her from the corner of her eye. “Misaki-chan… I
am…
” She mumbles, looking conflicted.
“You’re sorry? It’s okay.
Really
. Kanon-san, you don’t need to apologise. We can just tell the others we broke up and all is well, right?” Misaki says, trying to reassure her. Even if she’d just been rejected, Kanon
is
still her crush, and it hurts to see her all sad and guilty.
“It’s not that…” Kanon mumbles, and shakes her head, seemingly coming to some sort of a conclusion. She sighs, looking defeated. “Okay then. I’ll see you later, Misaki-chan…”
When she knows Kanon can’t see her anymore, having walked too far for vision. Misaki sobs, and runs all the way home, wiping away the tears to see properly all the way home. When she comes home, she’s glad her siblings aren’t home yet.
It gives her time to straight away to go to her room, slam the door and make sobbing noises so loud she’s sure there’s going to be a complaint sooner or later.
But still… She cries herself to sleep.
o~y~o
When Misaki wakes up to the sound of her beeping alarm, she groans, as a throbbing pain strikes her head, making her thoughts ultimately incoherent about everything except her heartbreak about
Kanon
.
She sits up, and massages the temples of her head. Then later, coughs, her lungs and throat burning at the intensity of the cough. Then a second after coughing, a sneeze.
And great, she’s caught a cold.
Once she gets changed, she stares at herself in the mirror. Misaki looks
terrible
, with red rimmed, swollen eyes, her nose red from rubbing it too much and her complexion much more pale than she’d seen before.
It looks like her life got sucked out of her. It doesn’t stray far from the truth, when it’s more of her
heart
getting ripped out rather than her life itself. Ah- but the heart
does
contribute to her living state, right? So in a way, her life really
did
get sucked out of her.
Misaki doesn’t think much of her sickened state, only that she should probably go to school today so that Kanon doesn’t get worried. And of course, her thoughts go back to Kanon.
Thinking of Kanon makes her feel drained. Her heart sinks painfully, and her shoulders droop gloomily. It makes her depressed.
It’s a bit early when she leaves the house, her parents aren’t even awake yet and neither were any of her siblings. Misaki opens her door to go to school.
At this time, the only people she might encounter when going to school would be the student council, considering how early they have to wake up in order to go to school. But only some wake up this early, so it should be fine.
And as she’s toward the gates of the school, she spots Sayo, just outside of the gates. Alongside her is Rinko, and that’s it.
They look at her and their eyes widen in recognition, but then soften in concern. “Good morning… Okusawa-san…” Rinko greets her, and Misaki looks up at her in confusion, because usually, they wouldn’t talk to students other than to remind them of student protocol. But she usually follows the rules.
Rinko looks worried when she approaches Misaki. “Are you… okay…?” She asks. Misaki sighs and smiles at her senpai. “I’m okay, why?” She asks.
This time, Sayo speaks, “You don’t look ‘okay’, Okusawa-san. What time did you sleep last night? Was it HaroHappy again?” Misaki shakes her head in response.
“No… Well, kind of, but not really.” Misaki says, unable to lie to Sayo. Sayo narrows her eyes, and crosses her arms, intimidating Misaki just that little bit.
“You should go home today. Or seek a counsellor. I’m sure the student council would be happy to help you too.” Sayo says, and Misaki shakes her head.
“I’m okay. Really.”
Sayo look at her skeptically and shakes her head. “Your words are saying one thing, and your body is saying another. You’re slouching, unlike your usual laid back posture, you look like you’d been crying all night and maybe now too. You look like you haven’t had enough sleep.”
Every word drove the knife deeper in Misaki, making it even more apparent what control Kanon really has over her. Even still, she shakes her head in denial. “I’m
fine
.” She replies, gritting her teeth.
Sayo frowns, and uncrosses her arms. “Okay then. But if you feel like, throughout the day, you aren’t okay, and need someone to talk to who may be able to advise or
help
you in some way, then come to the student council room and talk to me or Shirokane-san.” She gestures to Rinko.
Rinko flushes red when thinking about human interaction and Sayo sighs. “Well, come to me, preferably. Shirokane-san, should I be busy.”
Misaki bows her head gratefully. “Thank you. Sayo-senpai, Rinko-senpai.” They nod their heads and Misaki walks all the way to the inside of the school and into her homeroom, sitting down and sighing.
o~y~o
Class was a mess. She forgot homework, apparently. Couldn’t listen in class, whenever she was called, it took her numerous minutes to respond and focus. Rimi sent worried glances to her during classes whenever she’d be called upon.
And as a result, Rimi raised her hands and asked if she could bring Misaki to the infirmary. The teacher accepted, of course, also worried because Misaki isn’t usually this spaced out and
depressed
.
Whilst walking to the infirmary, Rimi confronts her. “What’s wrong?” and “Are you okay?” Is what she says. Misaki looks away and shakes her head, “I… don’t want to talk about it yet.” She answers.
Rimi stares at her for a few moments, and then nods her head in understanding. “I got it. There’s definitely something wrong. But I’ll wait for you to want to tell me about it.” She reassures her, “I promise I won’t pry.”
With those words, Misaki sighs shakily. Her eyes tear up. It flips a switch in her, so when they reach the infirmary, she breaks into tears. Rimi immediately embraces her, rubbing her back comfortingly. Misaki sobs quietly, in Rimi’s arms.
So they spent a few minutes like that, with Rimi rubbing her back until the door opens, to reveal Sayo again.
“I heard you were feeling unwell, Okusawa-san.” She says, and looks at her crossly. Sayo narrows her eyes at Misaki, “You cannot tell me that you’re feeling unwell this time, when clearly you are not.” And promptly takes a seat next to Misaki.
“W-What are you doing here, Sayo-senpai?” Misaki asks croakily, hastily rubbing at her eyes in an attempt to fix her appearance. Sayo shakes her head.
She crosses her legs and arms and sighs. “As part of the student body council, I can’t afford to let a single student be.. emotionally detached. Formality aside, speaking as your senpai, it makes me feel pathetic, that I can’t help you unless you want me to.”
Rimi looks at Sayo with surprised eyes, and looks back to Misaki in confusion. “And I want you to let me help you.” Sayo finishes her explanation, and sighs again. “Will you let me?”
Misaki looks down at the ground, feeling something heavy weighing on her chest. Maybe… She thinks, almost coming to a conclusion. Maybe if I talk about it, maybe i’ll feel better.
“I… I can’t.” She says, despite her need to tell at least someone. “I can’t do it. I can’t say it. It’s… I… Nothing happened.” Misaki ends her words and looks up at Sayo, knowing that an expression of disappointment will be visible on her face.
And there it is. Sayo’s grip on her arms when crossed tightened, and Sayo narrowed her eyes, facing her head downwards as she does this. Her fingers dig into her arms and she hums in thought and sighs, shaking her head again.
“I’m…” Sayo begins to say, before she cuts herself off with, “Okay then. If that is what you say, I find no reason to doubt you.” She looks angry, with her tense posture, as she stands up, her shoulders straight and her face tilted up again.
“I’ll… see you later, Okusawa-san.”
And closes the door on the way out, the sounds of her footsteps echoing in the hallway. Faintly, Misaki could hear hisses of “damn it…” in the hallway, but she hopes it was just her imagination.
When Misaki turns her head to finally look over at Rimi, she had almost the same expression that Sayo had on. With as much conviction the shy girl could muster, she crosses her arms, similarly to Sayo and her voice wavers.
“I’m disappointed in you!” She voices her own and Sayo’s thoughts. “There’s something… I know I said I’ll wait- but it hurts me- and Sayo-senpai, with what she said- a lot to see you like this, Misaki-chan!”
Misaki could see Rimi’s eyes starting to tear up and she straightens her posture, about to stand up from the bed. Rimi pushes her back down, and rushes to the door.
“W-Wait Rimi!”
Rimi stops right at the door, her hand hovering over the handle. This gives Misaki time to recover just that little bit, and sit upward. “I’m… I’m sorry.” She apologises, unable to look back at the girl.
“I’ll uh, I’ll definitely tell you… Soon, maybe.”
Misaki hears Rimi say, “Yeah.” and the sound of the door opening and then closing again. Footsteps, once again, echoed in the hall and then disappear soon after.
Misaki takes her phone from her pocket and turns it on. It opens to her last messages- Kanon.
Honestly, what made her think that Kanon could ever have the same feelings? Misaki should have just stayed quiet about these feelings.
She just hopes that they can stay at least as friends.
o~y~o
Misaki goes to school again the next day.
Miraculously, she’s done the homework, and avoids punishment from teachers. At recess, she makes felt dolls for her sister. Then classes. Then at lunch, continues to felt the doll until Kokoro- or anyone really, barges into the classroom and brings her into their shenanigans again.
Brought to PoPiPa’s seating place, having a nice, long conversation before Hagumi sees them and joins them. With the team of Kasumi, Kokoro and Hagumi (and Tae, probably) their forces of insane ideas are unmatched, and they do whatever crazy, unimaginable thing they think of at the time.
Then it’s the last two classes and then home. She makes dinner, plays with her siblings, does her homework, packs her bag to prepare for the next day and finally sleeps.
Then she goes to school the next day. Did her homework, avoided punishment, goes to classes and learns whatever, in recess, continues to felt dolls for her sister, goes to classes, then at lunch, instead of hanging out with Kokoro, goes to the tennis club and distracts herself from her frustrations.
She goes to the last classes for the day, and then home, makes dinner, plays with siblings, does her homework and then sleeps.
Then school, classes, felting- and finishing it, classes again, hanging out with Kokoro and damage control, classes once more and then home, making dinner, giving the finished product of her felting to her sister, doing homework and sleeping
Rinse and repeat.
She sees Kanon, on one assumedly boring day. Kanon looks the same. So beautiful. So unreachable. But there are parts that are different about her compared to the last time Misaki had seen her.
For example; Kanon’s eyes were baggy, half-lidded, and the rims were teary. Her hair was messy. But most of all, her reaction when she saw Misaki.
When Kanon locks eyes on Misaki’s eyes, they widen at first, surprised at the appearance of the girl. Her arms twitch, wanting to touch Misaki. But then her eyes look down, and begin to tear.
“Oh… Hi Misaki-chan.” She mumbles, disheartedly. With almost no emotion whatsoever. It hurts her to see Kanon looking so… lifeless. Akin to herself. Would it be selfish to maybe, assume that Kanon’s state is because of her?
“Kanon-san.” Misaki says, before she nods her head, turns around and dashes far away. Kanon doesn’t even make a move to stop her.
Kanon only sighs, and turns around, herself. She walks away.
Where Misaki ends up, is at the student council office. She doesn’t know how, but Sayo’s advice rings in her ears. Her comforting words, assurance, repeating in her mind, and before she realises it, she’s opening the door.
She hears voices inside the room, hushed, and urgent. When Misaki is granted full view of the room, the voices stop, and the people inside the room look up at her. Sayo and Rimi.
“Okusawa-san?” “Misaki-chan?” They say at the same time, standing up. Rimi looks slightly hopeful. Misaki begins to shake, inhaling sharply, worrying the two girls.
“What’s wrong?!” Rimi immediately rushes to her side, engulfing the shaking girl in an embrace. Misaki shakily exhales, gripping tightly onto her sleeves.
Misaki mumbles, incoherent to the two. Rimi pats Misaki’s back softly, “What did you say?” Rimi asks, and looks over her shoulder to see Sayo approaching them slowly. Misaki pauses for a moment, taking in a few deep breaths. She looks up, “I think I am ready to tell you guys what happened.”
Rimi lets out an elated gasp, looking back and forth from Sayo and Misaki. “Really? You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to-”
“I
want
to tell you. And Sayo-senpai. You two are incredibly patient to be able to handle someone like me, who is stubborn and all… I’m thankful.”
Misaki lets go of her sleeves and sighs, relaxing in Rimi’s arms. Then makes a move to escape the hug. Misaki walks over to a chair and sits down.
The two follow her, but stay standing. Sayo crosses her arms, furrowing her brows in thought. Rimi wrings her hands together nervously about what Misaki is about to say.
“I confessed to Kanon-san, not too long ago.”
“But, you two were dating, were you not? The news of your breakup is unfortunate. Ah- I apologise for bringing up the topic.” Sayo interrupts, but gets embarrassed at the attention a second later.
“No, it’s okay, Sayo-senpai. To be completely truthful, Kanon-san and I weren’t actually dating. We were fake girlfriends. An situation we came to when the fangirls of mine were… overwhelming.” Misaki admits, looking down guiltily.
Sayo nods her head in understanding. “Ah… Yes, that makes perfect sense. Shirasagi-san
did
seem oddly suspicious of your relationship, the last time we had spoken.” Misaki laughs, dryly, and nervously. “Oh… yeah… I was never good at acting.”
Rimi then butts in, “What happened then, when you confessed to Kanon-senpai?”
Misaki looks away, her heart aching at the memories. “She rejected me.” Misaki states. “I really thought that she liked me back.” She mumbles, her eyes starting to sting, and fill with tears again.
“If only, I didn’t confess to her. Then maybe…” Misaki hisses, clenching her hands to the point that her knuckles were starting to turn white. Sayo places a hand on her shoulder.
“What was done… Has been done. We cannot change the past, unfortunately.” says Sayo, looking down in a guilty manner. “What we say, or have done, will be there forever. No matter how bad it is for us, or for another person.”
Sayo stops speaking for a moment, her eyes dropping in such a saddened way that makes Misaki theorise that Sayo has said something that she has regret.
“
You
don’t need to be ashamed for something like this. It’s okay, to like a person, even if they don’t reciprocate those feelings.” Sayo says, thoughtfully. Rimi nods her head in agreement.
“Ah… Thank you, Sayo-senpai.” Misaki responds, the hollowness in her chest starting to fill up and be warm because of the two. Sayo nods her head in acknowledgement. “And you too, Rimi.” Rimi beams widely.
“I’m not sure what I really did in my previous life to deserve Rimi’s presence and Sayo-senpai’s counselling.” Misaki jokes, letting out a weak laugh and a small sniffle. She rubs at her eyes, and slaps her cheeks lightly.
She inhales… And then exhales. She feels lighter now. Just a little bit better. Kanon’s rejection made her sad, but she’ll have to try.
“Thank you… Really… Rimi, and Sayo-senpai. I think I feel better now.”
Maybe… Maybe she can try to move on.
o~y~o
It makes Kanon pause in her footsteps, when one day, she’s walking home from her part-time job.
She wasn’t sure if she was just seeing things… But it definitely looked like it. Misaki was kissing Rimi in the playground. A beat later, Misaki pulled away and shouted, “I love you! Please go out with me!”
It looked like Rimi was laughing, and Misaki with her own amused laughter. The both jumped off the platform. Misaki faced Rimi, and kneeled, taking her hands and passionately speaking. Kanon could faintly hear, “My dear… My heart has been enraptured by you. You are the final piece that completes me. Date me, please, my soulmate.”
Kanon felt sick, she feels green, like she’s about to vomit. Forcing herself to watch Rimi giggle and bring Misaki up to her feet. It’s like she accepted the confession. Was it a confession? Did Kanon read all of Misaki’s signs wrong?
It makes Kanon see the reality of her situation. How her fantasy of her love being reciprocated could be shattered so easily when she learns of a certain truth. It made her heart crack, quite a bit.
When she returned home she cried. Lost sleep. Her appetite seemed to be gone, with, at the dinner table with her parents and siblings, she merely played around with her food, but barely actually ate it.
Looking into the mirror the next morning astonished her. She looked terrible. With baggy eyes, slumped shoulders- she even overslept, something rare for someone like her. It forced her to remember what had transpired the night before.
She sighs and goes to school nevertheless. A boring, day. She couldn’t focus during class, when all she could think about, was Misaki and Rimi and the possibility of the two dating each other. A situation where Misaki didn’t like her back… it was terrible. She was living a nightmare.
Misaki’s confession made it even worse. They walked home, same as always. Misaki always had that effect on her, made her feel warm and happy, even when she felt like the world was ending.
“You see… Kanon-san. I have something I want to say to you.”
Kanon looked up, and saw, the clear emotion, on Misaki’s face. Her awkward confession, saying, “For a while now… I’ve been in love with you.” It was frankly, rather quite. Misaki’s squirming in place, her red face… It made Kanon feel somewhat happy again, somewhat ignorant and forgetful of the day before.
But then her heart dropped, when she remembered last night.
Lies
. Her inner Chisato told her.
They’re all lies. She wouldn’t have kissed Rimi-chan otherwise
. That isn’t to say that her inner Chisato is bad, she’s only telling her things that Kanon thinks of herself.
This,
disgusting
envy, taking over her body. It makes her shake with fury, with herself- for even thinking of something like that- and with Misaki. What does Misaki want to
achieve
by lying to her? It makes Kanon feel sick, like she’s about to vomit again.
Kanon begins to cry, when Misaki told her, that, she asked Kanon to help her out because of she liked her. It’s all lies, isn’t it? Her subconscious isn’t bothered to put on an inner Chisato voice anymore, she doesn’t need anyone else to tell her, when she knows this herself.
Her senses are dulled. Now all she can feel, is the painful drop in her heart.
“I’m sorry.” She says, her voice cracking.
Perhaps if Misaki
really
liked her, then maybe, she would feel that sort of ‘sweeping-off-her-feet’ happiness that Aya and Himari like to talk about.
Huh. That’s funny. So if Kanon hadn’t seen Misaki and Rimi like that, then maybe if they’d dated, then maybe Kanon would be the only one putting effort in the relationship. Or maybe Misaki would have been two-timing behind her back. Huh.
“I heard you guys broke up? I knew it wasn’t going to last that long.” When Chisato hears of the news, she was worried about Kanon’s mental health, and opinion about the news. “What wrong, Kanon?” She asks her.
Kanon breaks down and tells her everything. From the start of the fake relationship, to the progression throughout their relationship, having kissed many times. To
seeing
Misaki kissing and hearing her confessing to Rimi. To seeing Misaki confessing to her.
It makes Chisato shake with anger. And so, she goes off to talk to Misaki.
o~y~o
One day, Misaki sees Chisato again. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes were narrowed in a way more dangerous than she’d ever seen before.
“I heard about everything.” Chisato says, clear, and deep. Intending to intimidate Misaki, and it was clearly working, with Misaki shrinking into her seat the more Chisato’s presence towers over her.
Everything? Everything referring to… what exactly? Everything is very vague, but if she had to guess to what Chisato would talk about, it would be about Kanon. And if it were about Kanon, then it’d be…
“Ah… yeah… Kanon-san must’ve told you my tale of my rejected ass. That’s okay… probably.” “I’m working on moving on.” Misaki mumbles, looking down, her heart weighing her down again, at the thought of being rejected by Kanon again.
This answer seemed to make Chisato even less pleased. She stomps her foot lightly, and her foot moves closer, Chisato’s glare with more killing intent than ever before, “Not just that. Even though you confessed to Kanon, you also professed your
undying love
for Rimi-chan, the day before, even going as far as
kissing
her-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did you just say?” Misaki interrupts her before she completes that sentence. Chisato’s frown deepens at being interrupted, and it makes Misaki shrink more into her seat. “Uh… about that sentence..?”
Chisato keeps her glare on Misaki’s eyes for a while, before she huffs and stomps her foot. Her grip on her arms tighten before she begins to speak again, “As much as I hate this quote, there’s not a better time to say it… That it is what it is.”
“Ugh, even
you’re
becoming influenced by Kaoru-san. But yeah, so uh, I heard it but- but- I didn’t kiss Rimi. Or confess to her- oh.”
Misaki vaguely recalls a time where Rimi told her to practise confessing, on her. A time where when she suggested that, their faces were rather, uncomfortably close because of the small space where they had seated. At the right angle, it probably would have looked like they were kissing.
That’s probably what Kanon saw. Oh no.
“Did you finally realise your mistakes?” Chisato chides her, almost looking smug.
“Oh,
no, oh no
. Kanon-san misunderstood. She
misunderstood
. I’ve never kissed Rimi- or thought of her in that way at all.” Misaki begins to panic, her eyes starting to tear up again. She attempts to hide her face, and scratches her neck. “Oh man…”
“Oh don’t give me that pitying grovelling, you better own up before I get Kaoru, if not, Hina to beat your ass.” Chisato says, crossing her arms.
Misaki sighs, rubbing at her eyes, and begins to explain flusteredly, “I’m not grovelling, I’m being serious. The only time I ever ‘confessed’ to Rimi, was when she told me to practise on her-”
“Wait you’re being serious?” Chisato is genuinely surprised and Misaki slams her hand on her lap, to emphasis her next words.
“
Yes
, I am! I was mentally preparing myself to confess to Kanon-san, and she probably saw it and misunderstood-” She pauses as Chisato doesn’t respond. She looks confused.
“...”
“C’mon, Chisato-senpai, you have to believe me. What I’m saying is the
complete truth
.” Misaki begs, clenching at her skirt nervously, sweat building as she awaits Chisato’s response.
Chisato’s prolonged response makes Misaki even more anxious.
“...Because Rimi-chan is a sweet girl, and you two often speak loud when talking about your… love life with Kanon. I believe you.” Chisato concludes, relaxing herself, and exhaling. She shakes her head, and theres a small smile on her face.
Misaki is amazed. Happy, and honoured that Chisato believes her.
“...Thank you, so much.” Misaki bows down slightly
Chisato shakes her head, and tightens her grip on her arms again, tilting her head upward in her usual commanding way. She smirks and says, “What are you doing here? Go tell Kanon everything!”
Misaki stands up, her heart beating fast. “Yes, thank you, so much for believing me. Thank you so much for talking to me-”
“Hurry up and go!”
“Right!”
Adrenaline took over her, she runs out of the classroom, ignore student council commanding her to walk in the hallways. Ignoring the fact that it’s nearly time for homeroom. It didn’t matter. She had to tell Kanon.
She had to tell Kanon, no matter what. That she loves her, that it was all a misunderstanding. Her first kiss, her first love, was all Kanon, and she’s completely faithful to that. Misaki would
never
cheat, or do anything remotely deceitful as that.
So Misaki slams the door to the third year classrooms. It’s nearly class, so Kanon’s classmates are there. They all jolt, and look over at Misaki, who’s panting, tired from running so much. From thinking too much.
From suffering heartache for too long.
“Excuse you, Okusawa san. Don’t disturb my class like that. Go back to your own classroom. ” Misaki hears the authoritative tone of a teacher behind her, but she ignores it. She walks forward, ignorant to the indignant calls from the teacher.
Misaki steps in front of Kanon, who finally looks up, after avoiding looking at her. “H-Hi, Misaki-chan?” Misaki reaches out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up. Kanon stands up, looking ultimately confused.
Misaki leans down, looping an arm around Kanon’s legs, and waist, and sweeps the girl off her feet. Kanon squeals cutely, her face flaring and her around raising to her shoulders.
Misaki pulls her closer, and sighs, trying not to collapse with how close she’s to the girl. She hasn’t been this close to her since… a really long time. The warmth, how she smells like coffee and tea, Misaki really missed it all.
This skit gets Kanon’s classmates to murmur, a hella lot of squeals from the fact that Misaki is
princess carrying
Kanon. Misaki turns to the teacher and looks at her apologetically. “Sorry sensei, I’ll bring her back later!” Before anyone realises it, Misaki runs out of the classroom, with a pretty girl in her arms.
With Misaki carrying her like this… it brings back unwanted feelings. The rush of adoration she feels around the younger girl. Misaki’s strong, sturdy shoulders making Kanon feel safe, content. But unwanted memories, of Misaki apparently wanting to two-time Rimi and Kanon surface.
“Misaki-chan.” She calls out, and Misaki ignores her, still walking down stairs and hallways.
“Misaki-chan!” Kanon shouts, the moment they walk out of the school. She forces herself to push against Misaki’s shoulder, making Misaki stop.
“Oh.. right, yeah. Sorry.” Misaki mumbles, and gently lets her down. She looks a bit down, and it makes Kanon feel sad. She shouldn’t be feeling bad for Misaki, when she’s the one who wanted to two-time her, right?
“So? What did you want to say to me?” Kanon questions, attempting to be confident in this situation. If doesn’t keep up this front… She’s certain she’ll forgive Misaki no matter the situation.
Misaki sighs, pressing her palms to her forehead. “I love you.” She replies, with as much conviction and love she could put in her voice. “So,
so
much.” She clenches at her dress, at the area where her heart would be. “That it hurts me.”
“I didn’t give you a proper confession last time, and that was wrong of me.” Misaki says, pressing her hands together, and sighing, pressing her palms to them. After a second a silence, and lets them go and rest at her sides
“I understand you had some sort of misunderstanding… about Rimi and I.” Misaki takes a step forward, inhaling sharply to get rid of her anxiety about Kanon’s answer. And she takes Kanon’s hands in her own.
Misaki squeezes her grip on Kanon’s hand, sighing again, nervously. “I really love you Kanon-san. And if now, you make it absolutely clear that you don’t reciprocate these feelings… Then I’ll honest to god, move on from you.”
But this makes Kanon shake, and cry.
“Misunderstanding!? I saw you kissing Rimi-chan and you even confessed to her! What would you achieve by two-timing us! It’s unfair to both me
and
Rimi-chan!” Kanon shouts, her voice thick with emotion.
Misaki’s eyes widen, and she sighs, grabbing onto her dress. She mumbles, “We weren’t dating, we have no right to be jealous of each other.”
“Oh yeah, I make sure you don’t have the wrong idea of Yuuto-kun and I, but if it’s me who’s jealous, it’s not right, is that it!?” Kanon yells again, her voice cracking, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
At this point they’re both just shouting at each other.
Misaki’s vision starts to get blurry, as her chest restricts, and her tears begin to gather around her eyes. “No! Not at all, if anything,
you
shouldn’t have let me be jealous. If you didn’t like me, you shouldn’t have led me on, shouldn’t have cleared out any of my misunderstandings about your relationship with that boy!”
Kanon sobs, bringing her hands up to her face, furiously rubbing at her face to clear out the hot tears rolling down her face. “But I do like you! I love you, Misaki-chan! Why else would I be feeling this!?”
Misaki pauses. Kanon loves her. Misaki loves her back.
It hurts her heart to see Kanon sobbing, there, right in front of her. And Misaki had almost no method of calming her down and perhaps, making her feel, if only, a little bit happier. The only way she could think of might make Kanon even madder.
But it’s her only choice.
Misaki takes a nervous step forward. Then another. Then soon, she was right in front of Kanon. Misaki awkwardly opens her arms, and engulfs the older girl in a tight, (hopefully) comforting hug. Kanon only sobs louder, and rests her face in the crook of Misaki’s neck.
Misaki strokes Kanon’s hair, patting her, and kisses her head. “Hey, hey… Kanon-san. I love you,
so
much.” She whispers, bringing the girl close to her heart, swaying slightly.
“I’m eternally grateful for your presence. You support me in troubling times with Michelle and HaroHappy.“ Misaki says breathily. “You’re the biggest reason why I even bother to stay with them.”
Misaki pulls away slightly, when Kanon’s sniffles begin to lower in volume. Kanon looks almost enamoured by now, seemingly having lost all sense to reject the younger girl. Misaki leans down to press her lips against Kanon's.
It’s salty, since both of them had been crying. Though for some reason, Misaki finds that it is sweeter than any of their kisses yet.
Misaki really loves Kanon. And when she pulls away to peek at Kanon, her post-kiss face, dreamy, happy, content. Misaki knows she’s not making a mistake.
And she leans in again, confident that Kanon wants this too.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kanon sighs, even in this cold weather that she usually dislikes, she feels warm. She grips onto the hands of the arms that are wrapped around her waist. Misaki rests her head on Kanon’s shoulder, and closes her eyes contently.They’re sitting on the couch in the studio, with Kanon between Misaki’s legs, the two cuddling whilst waiting for the rest of their band to come. It’d take a while, considering Kaoru had to stay behind a little bit for her drama club and rehearsal, whilst Hagumi was at her croquette shop.Kokoro was... somewhere. She wasn’t sure where, but it was either gushing over Kaoru, or being taught how to make the croquettes by Hagumi. Either those or in space. With maybe Hina.Kanon leans back against Misaki’s chest, giggling when Misaki opens her eyes slowly, eyes darting to look at Kanon, like a cat whose sleep had just been disturbed.“Hello, Kanon-san.” Misaki mumbles, digging her nose into Kanon’s shoulder. She yawns sleepily into Kanon’s shoulder, and snuggles deeper, tightening her grip around Kanon’s waist. Kanon sighs, and caresses Misaki’s hand, playing with her fingers.Misaki lets go of her hands and lays the back on Kanon’sg lap. Kanon proceeds to intertwine their fingers together, fitting together like a puzzle just completed.Misaki didn’t think herself to think like a cliche, teeth-rotting romance protagonist, with a diabetes-induced plot, but when she’s around Kanon, she just can’t help it.“Are the others here yet?” Misaki asks, almost purring, when the warm sunlight peers through the windows of the studio, laying a warm blanket on top of the two.Kanon shakes her head and hums, “No, not yet. You’re just, really adorable. I’m sorry for waking you up.” She says, almost teasingly, and notes that Misaki has stiffened, and her face, a deep scarlet.Misaki coughs, and her fingers wriggle a little, to hold a tighter grip on Kanon’s hand. “N-No, it’s okay. How much longer until they’ll be here, do you think?” Misaki asks, relaxing slightly.Kanon opens her mouth, “Uh… It’s been about 20 minutes since practise should have started… maybe soon? Around 5 to 10 minutes.” She says, and Misaki sighs.“I really want to kiss you.” She blurts sleepily.Kanon, startled, jumps in her seat, her heart jumping and her ears flaring. “A-A-Are you sure? They’re gonna be here really soon!” She whispers flusteredly.Misaki, who just realises what she said, turns red as well. But, it doesn’t stop her from nodding her head- albeit nervously. “Yeah… I’m sure.”“Oh… okay, just wait a moment…” Kanon starts, shyly. She peels her back from Misaki’s chest, Misaki immediately missing the warmth of her girlfriend. But it’s quickly replaced with embarrassment, as Kanon straddles her legs.“I need to stop indulging you…” Kanon mumbles, pressing her hands to Misaki’s strong shoulders. She refers to Misaki’s recent need for more kisses. “Or else, I’ll create something seriously dangerous…” Kanon giggles, and presses a short, chaste kiss to Misaki’s lips.Misaki’s squeaks as Kanon continues to speak in that sultry, yet threatening tone of hers. It’s… sexy, unlike Kanon’s usually adorably shy personality.Misaki gulps, and wraps her arms around Kanon’s waist, effectively pulling the girl closer. Kanon obliges, letting the hands resting on Misaki’s shoulders to relax, and go limp as Kanon’s body is completely pressed against Misaki’s.Kanon leans down, slowly, and Misaki watchesher descend, her pretty eyelashes fluttering shut as they are only mere centimetres away from each other. Their lips press against each others, softly, tenderly, and it makes Misaki’s chest swell with the adoration she feels for this illegally adorable girl.The softness or this girl… It’s in that moment, that, as Misaki is aware of her pounding heartbeat, the warmth of the girl. In that moment, it felt like, it was only the two of them. Just them alone.Maybe, like being separated from the rest of the world… as cliche as that may be.As Kanon pulls back, like a little bit, her eyes slowly open, a wide, content filled smile spreads on her face. It’s adorable , Misaki thinks, because Kanon just looks so happy, and in turn, it makes Misaki giddy. She loves moments like this.She’s glad that they cleared up the misunderstanding. Misaki imagines both herself and Kanon be depressed if they hadn’t. It’d make the whole group fall apart, the awkward tension filling everywhere as the only two members with common sense couldn’t focus. Then bam, the end of Hello Happy World.Or not quite, perhaps. Maybe, they’d eventually make up, but never be as close again. With Kanon who has the fake perception of Misaki wanting to two-time, it might have changed Kanon’s attitude towards her.Yeah. She’s very glad they cleared out the misunderstanding.Misaki sighs, and rests her head in the crook of Kanon’s neck. “I love you.” She just says, voice muffled by Kanon’s neck. Kanon giggles at the warm breath on her neck and rubs Misaki’s shoulders lightly. “I love you too, Misaki-chan.” She replies.On the couch, Misaki and Kanon proceed to cuddle until Kokoro and the others finally arrive. o~y~o “Uuh…” Rimi groans, her eyes facing downward guiltily. “I’m so sorry, Misaki-chan!” She says, and bows her head down. “I shouldn’t have told you to practise on me!” She shouts, her frown deepening and her shoulders slumping.“I thought I was helping with that… I’m sorry that it had ruined your relationship with Kanon-senpai!” Rimi says, eyes looking away from Misaki.Misaki sighs, and shakes her head. She takes a step forward and places her hand on Rimi’s shoulders. “Look up Rimi.” She tells her, rubbing her shoulders in a hopefully comforting way.She had accidentally mentioned about a misunderstanding with the whole Kanon situation to Rimi, and the girl was curious about that and asked about it. Rimi found out that the reason why Kanon said ‘no’ back then was because she thought that Misaki had confessed to Rimi.And of course, Rimi being Rimi had to be self-deprecating about the whole situation. Pinning the blame to herself.Rimi hesitantly looks upward into Misaki’s eyes, her eyes filling with tears, terrified, of what Misaki might say to her. Misaki, seeing that, feels like she did something terrible, like kicking a puppy, or cheating on her girlfriend.Misaki shakes her head and meets her eyes with what she hopes is genuinity. “I don’t blame you for anything- and it was in the past, anyway.” Rimi is quieter than she usually is, which is somehow possible, considering she’s about as quiet as Kaoru when she’s cornered by Chisato.It takes Rimi a moment to calm down before she’s able to finally answer. She slowly looks up and gives those puppy eyes that melts Misaki’s heart. “Really?” Rimi asks, in a sad tone that makes Misaki just as sad.So Misaki smiles in an attempt to cheer the girl up. “Yes! Really!” Misaki says, patting her shoulder. Rimi nods her head, to regain her confidence. “Ok! I believe you, Misaki-chan!” Rimi says, still nodding her head.Misaki laughs, relieved, and answers, “Good! Now that’s all out of the way, we should go watch that horror movie you’ve been meaning to watch.” She says, and pulls her out of the classroom. Rimi perks up at the mention of the horror movie.“Yay! No one in PoPiPa would watch with me, thanks Misaki-chan!”Of course, when they actually do get around to watch it, the movie was surprisingly interesting. Misaki was actually surprised from the jumpscares and Rimi’s intense reactions to the movie made her feel fulfilled.Of course, the story could be a little better, a little more original, maybe. But whatever. Whatever makes her best friend happy would make her happy too. o~y~o “Thank you Chisato-san. Sayo-san.”The two seniors stare at her, puzzled to what brought the sophomore to their classroom. Chisato then lights up with understanding in the next second. “You’re welcome, but I barely helped at all. I was only a protective best friend.” She answers.The reply gives Sayo enough clue to understand where the flow of conversation was coming from. “Ah. Have you resolved the issue between Matsubara-san and yourself? You don’t need to thank me. I was only doing what I thought was best for Hello Happy World. It would have been a shame for such an… interesting band to come apart because of it.”Misaki pulls out two dolls she had made. Two felt dolls that were actually really difficult to make because of colours and shapes and whatnot. But this was to thank the two, so she put her everything into making them look good enough. And to be honest- in a not really cocky way, she was actually proud of her creation.She hands the first one to Chisato. “Here. A felt doll of Kaoru-san?” Chisato takes it hesitantly. It had purple hair in a ponytail, and an attire like Kaoru. “It kind of felt appropriate. I mean, I think you like her? Kanon-san didn’t really tell me anything, just thought it would be fine to give you this.”Chisato is left with a red face, unlike her composed resting-bitch-face she usually pulls. It was a nice change. “T-Thank you Misaki-chan.” She mumbles, and places it carefully in her backpack.She then turns to Sayo, who looked slightly apprehensive about the gift. Misaki laughs, “Why are you scared I haven’t even given you the thing yet.”Sayo turns red. “No. But I think I know what you’re going to give me.”Misaki pulls the doll out, “Well, if you were thinking about Hazawa-san, then you’re correct.” Sayo stares at the doll in awe.Sayo shakily takes the doll in her hands. “Why.. Why would you give me a doll of Tsugumi-san?” She asks, narrowing her eyes slightly. “And why in this particular costume?”Misaki looks at the doll. It was the costume from album from when Afterglow had covered ‘The Lost One’s Weeping’. “Well, you guys are dating… I think? Kanon-san tried to hide it but I never got actual confirmation.” But the reddening of Sayo’s face confirmed it.“As for the costume… Lisa-san told Aoba-san that you had been turned on when you saw Tsugumi in that costume on a poster in CiRCLE. Which Aoba-san proceeded to tell Yamabuki-san, and Yamabuki-san told PoPiPa, and by extension, Rimi, who told me.” Misaki finishes off. Looking at Sayo’s face, she adds, “Ah, yeah it’s kinda complicated. If you want I can draw it out for you? If that’d make it easier.”Sayo looked outright shocked at the admission. “No- That’s not. Agh, one can never hide anything with Aoba Moca.” She sighs and shakes her head. “Nevertheless, thank you for the gift, Okusawa-san.”Chisato nods her head at her, “Yes. Thank you very much for the gifts. You didn’t need to.”Misaki smiles widely, “it’s no problem, especially since you guys had been kind enough to help me out. I should be thanking you.”“And which you did.” Sayo responds right back.“...This isn’t going to take a while, is it?” Chisato adds in, looking down at her watch.Misaki purses her lips, amused, “Ok, to avoid the awkward excessive talking, I’ll leave now.” o~y~o Ever since they’d started officially going out, Misaki and Kanon have been going strong in their relationship. Misaki was in love with since the beginning to now, and she’s starting to believe that she’s even more in love with Kanon than she was when they had started dating. She’d been falling just a little bit more in love with Kanon each day. It traces from Kanon’s kind, patient nature.When she deals with the rest of the members of Haro Happy, she smiles patiently, sometimes amused at the antics of the group rather than with exasperation like Misaki does (but though she wouldn’t admit it outloud, Misaki loves the group wholeheartedly)Kanon is the one who helps Misaki relax. Bringing water for her to drink after a tough day as Michelle. Also traces to her boldest actions.Misaki vaguely recalls a deep kiss in the darkness of the laser tag venue… and a rather recent event.( Kanon’s giggles echo, and Misaki squeezes her eyes shut, the seniors teasing fingers bringing about a hot trail on her arm. They rub on her shoulders comfortingly, but that wasn’t their job. Not in this moment.
It calms Misaki a little bit, the heat in her abdomen quelling a little bit. That is, until, the hands move from shoulder to waist, gripping tightly. Misaki feels a rush of arousal wash on her body, Kanon’s rough yet still gentle touch forces her to squeak.
It was hardly a first, that Misaki has felt this particular rush of arousal about her girlfriend. Kanon’s relentless teasing overwhelms her, but she never goes too far, always treating her like she’s valuable.
Kanon leans down to press lips together, Misaki opening her mouth in approval, and they kiss passionately, Misaki gripping onto the arm of the couch tightly, slightly frustrated.
When they part, Misaki has made her decision. She raises her hand to Kanon’s cheek, pausing her movements. She looks at Misaki curiously, and raises her hand herself to meet and interlock the hands.
Misaki sighs, her heart pounding fast, and between her thighs, a painfully overwhelming throbbing sensation. “We should… probably take this to my bed.”
It took Kanon a moment to understand what she meant. But she eventually does, and her face heats up. “Are you sure? Do you really want this?” She asks worriedly, but Misaki knows that she’s excited.
Misaki nevertheless grips onto her hand and looks into her eyes. “Do you want this?”
Kanon looks nervous and looks away, “If you want to do it then-” “No. Kanon-sa- Kanon.” The usage of no honorifics. Something that Misaki only ever does when she’s serious about something. Kanon knows this and raises her head to look back into Misaki’s eyes.
“Do you want this?” Misaki asks, so much sincerity and desperation in her eyes that it makes Kanon stop and appreciate how pretty Misaki looks. Her mussed up hair, swollen lips, her wrinkled clothing. Kanon thinks Wow, I did that with so much pride. “...” She doesn’t respond, only stares in surprised awe. Misaki raises a brow as if to ask ‘Well? ’.
Finally, Kanon inhales, and exhales. “Yes.”
The morning after, when Misaki’s mum goes to wake her up, she finds Misaki and Kanon in bed. Naked. Needless to say, Misaki’s mum never let Misaki live that down. )Kanon’s brave nature too.Meeting Kanon’s parents was incredibly nerve-wracking. Kanon’s siblings, like the shy girl herself, were friendly, and helped Misaki calm down just that little bit.Kanon’s father stared her down. His arms crossed, and posture so straight that Misaki can be fooled into thinking his spine was actually a robotic spine of some sort. Of course, it all disappeared when Kanon’s mum came into the room, and hit her father’s shoulder.He abruptly became submissive, meek and embarrassed like Kanon-san , Misaki noted and she wasn’t even sure if he was the same man from the five minutes before. Kanon’s mum gave her a warm smile, reminding her of the blue-haired girl, which is to be expected, of course. This is her mum, Misaki! She welcomed Misaki into their home and told her, “Kanon’s been happier ever since the two of you had started dating! My gosh, she wouldn’t stop talking about you!” in that minx-ish way that Kanon would often display. Kanon’s mum giggled coyly, seeing the two faces turn red. Misaki laughs nervously, yep, definitely Kanon-sans mum .Of course the question, “So, are we expecting kids anytime soon?” pops up in her mum’s mouth. It causes a racket in the room, with siblings chatting excitedly, Kanon’s embarrassed protests of, “ Mou ! We’re underage, Misaki-chan is a highschool sophomore! We're GIRLS-” Misaki felt her ears burning red, maybe almost to the point that it was steaming, the particular sentence forcing her to remember that recent memory."So? You can always adopt, or have one of those sperm procedures!" Kanon groaned embarrassedly.Her dad started choking the moment his wife had even asked the cursed question. He turned red in presumably anger, or maybe the lack of air in his lungs. “Darling, why would you even ask that question?!” He asked, shaking his head and closing his eyes.Though it definitely wasn’t anger, with how he mumbled, “Didn’t need that image in my head.” Kanon’s mum laughed and kissed his cheek, “Wouldn’t it be absolutely endearing to imagine your little grandkids running around our house shouting, ‘Grandpa, grandpa!”He huffed and crossed his arms again. “That would only make me feel old.” He quipped. His wife shook her head and pushed him lightly, “ Oh you. I know you like the idea.” Slowly, his complexion turned red, his figure shaking from being so easily exposed and read.Later, in Kanon’s room, they sit on her bed, embarrassed at the memory of her mum’s question. “I’m sorry Misaki-chan! They don’t know when to stop…” Kanon mumbles sheepishly. Misaki shakes her head, “N-No it’s okay… I was just caught off guard, is all..”Kanon’s smile widens in a sort of nervously, her body fidgeting, “I get it.” She says, “My mum has that kind of effect on people. To leave people speechless.” Misaki laughs monotonously, “yeah, and I can definitely see why you’d see that.”Misaki sighs, shaking her head, “Though, you really are like your mother, Kanon-san.” She closes her eyes, her eyelids acting like a projection when she remembers many times where Kanon had been so bold to the point that it was alarming. And hot too, but she’d never admit that. She’d be too embarrassed to do so.“Really? How so?” Kanon asks, moving closer, unconsciously placing her hand on Misaki’s thigh, and rubbing lightly. Yet again, another example of her mother inherited ability to make people speechless. Misaki rubs her hands together nervously, trying not to let it show. “Well… You know…” She starts but becomes tongue-tied when Kanon’s hand goes dangerously inwards her thigh. Misaki squeaks and pulls Kanon’s hand away from her thigh.“T-This is why!” She exclaims, her face burning bright red. “I try to do something that would, i dunno, knock off your socks! But then you do something like this and it’s, my mouth goes dry and I’m just so speechless!”Kanon looks a mixture of pleasantly surprised and embarrassment at her reaction. Also slightly remorseful. “I’m sorry Misaki-chan…” She apologises, rubbing Misaki’s shoulder. “It’s kind of a habit now?”Misaki turned red again. “Oh, and now you’re reminding me of how we keep going at it. Like rabbits, Rimi would tell me.”(Somewhere out there, in a basement, in a flurry of running rabbits and flailing people, Rimi sneezes, prompting a series of worried exclaims from her friends.)This time, Kanon turns the scarlet colour, and Misaki feels a small triumphant feeling in her gut. “D-Don’t put it like that! And it’s not my fault you’re so attractive…”Misaki scoffs, playfully, and crosses her arms, raising a brow with an amused smile, “So now you’re pinning the blame on me? Well, two can play at that game. I can only stop being so ‘attractive’ if you stop being so adorable, Kanon-san.”Playful arguments like these always somehow ended up in makeout sessions. How that happens, Misaki has no idea.It’s just… everything about her that makes her falling harder. As cliche as it seems, Misaki gumbles bitterly. But she doesn’t exactly regret it, with the image of Kanon smiling so happily. Not that she could change it if she wanted to.So later, as she looks back into the web, she searches ‘definition of dating’ once again. It appears with the same answer; to go out with someone who is romantically or sexually interested.And then she looks up at Kanon. Her question, that had initially been spurred with even more questions, had dwelled to a definite answer. Her experience with Kanon had taught her that, at the very least. Yeah. Misaki thinks, staring dazedly at Kanon’s incoming figure. As her girlfriend arrives next to her, flashing her an adorable smile, she couldn’t help but feel a rush of intense adoration wash over her. I definitely understand it now.