Chapter 9

She couldn't sleep.

Haruko did not get a wink of sleep last night. Was it because of what happened with Ishikawa or was it because of her make out session with Yukiko right before bed...? It seemed like an obvious answer if you compared the two.

When she saw the light peeking through her curtains, she knew right away that it was morning time. 'Fuck me...' Haruko thought as she sat up to glance at her phone first before looking at her sleeping buddy.

Yukiko was still asleep and she looked cozy tucked into the blanket. Sleeping peacefully if she might add.

'At least one of us is getting our beauty sleep in...' Haruko sighs, reaching out to move the stray strands of hair out of her face. 'She was trying to help, I can't hate her for that...'

She slips out of the bed quietly, making sure to turn her alarm off before she does anything else and heads out of the room to get Yukiko's clothes ready for the day.

*

Takashi was waiting outside of Haruko's home, he had come over under the intention of walking with them to school. Unfortunately for him, Reika and Erina decided to come as well. "Uh, did you two have to come...?" he whines, glancing at his two eldest sisters.

"Of course. Your twin is missing, who else will protect such a weak and frail boy?" Reika snickers as Takashi glares in her direction.

"Don't listen to her, Takashi. She just wants to see Haruko." Erina chuckles, causing Reika to pout at her for being outed so openly like that. "Am I wrong? Shall we head to school then?"

"Silence, Erina…" Reika huffed, she crossed her arms stubbornly.

Takashi rolled his eyes at her childish behavior and pressed on the doorbell. They waited for about a minute before the door opened, Haruko greeting them, "Ah, good morning." she said with a slight smile.

"Morning, Haruko." Takashi grins widely. "Is Yuki awake yet?"

"She is actually." Haruko nods, she opens the door wider for them to enter the home, "Good morning, Reika. Erina." She greeted the two women politely.

"Thank you for watching over our sister." Erina bows her head thankfully, "And feeding her as well." she said in awe. When they had walked into the kitchen after being let in, they noticed Yukiko eating at the table.

"She is my guest after all, it's the least I can do."

Yukiko looks up from her plate. She was still dressed in the clothes she had borrowed from Haruko, "Ah..." she frowns when she notices Takashi and Reika but smiles at Erina. "Good morning, Erina."

"Good morning, Yuki.. Did you sleep well?" Erina asks, going up to brush her hair with her hand softly.

"I'm going to lay your clothes out on my bed, you can go change whenever." Haruko informs Yukiko before heading to her own room to change as well.

"I slept well, Haruko was very accommodating." Yukiko hums, nuzzling into Erina's hand. Her siblings joined her at the kitchen table, sitting around to wait for her to finish eating.

"Was everything alright...?" Takashi asks her quietly, making sure to sit beside Yukiko. "You know, after... that thing...?"

"She's okay. I think someone being here with her really helped to calm her down." Yukiko admitted with a slight nod, unfortunately for her though... Haruko did still have some struggle with sleeping in the end. And it wasn't because of what happened with Ishikawa.

"What are you two going on about?" Reika questions, she crosses her arms and glares at them.

"Uh... n-nothing..." Takashi shook his head, groaning when Reika wrapped an arm around his neck. She held him tightly, practically choking him. "U-Ugh! S-Sttopp..."

"If mother and father are not present, you know who's in charge." Reika deadpanned seriously, trying to crush his throat. "I don't think you have room to be keeping secrets from us..."

"Reika, enough. Stop." Erina demands, she grabs Reika's arm trying to pull her off of him.

"Stop it." Yukiko said in frustration, trying to help as well. Reika shoves her back easily.

"I would speak up right now, Yukiko. Or I will hurt him." Reika threatened, "We all know I am not kidding." she said dully, reminding them of who she was.

'What in the world are they doing...' Haruko sighed, she had come back at some point but didn't know when to enter. She was just listening from behind the wall quietly. 'This is a bit awkward...'

"F...Fine! Just let go of him...!" Yukiko huffs, holding her head low in defeat. Reika releases her grip on Takashi, allowing him to gasp for air. He coughs hoarsely, grasping at his throat in pain. "S...Some guys at the school are spreading rumors about Haruko, meeting up with them... saying that girls from the states are 'wild.'" she admitted, trying to offer him water.

"Who would do such a thing...??" Erina frowned, tugging Reika away from the two. "And you-- don't you ever do that to our siblings again." she scolded her, flinching when Reika pulled her arm back angrily.

"Know your place, Erina. Do you think you can control me either? I'm the oldest." Reika deadpanned, resting a hand on her hip. "What class are they in..."

"I don't need to answer that..." Yukiko shook her head.

"It wasn't a question, nor a suggestion. You will tell me whether you like it or not."

Haruko took the chance to walk in, coming out from around the corner. "All of you need to calm down." she looks around, analyzing their expressions. "I'm not sure if it's the appropriate time to be fighting with your siblings..."

"You think I would listen to you too?" Reika huffs, turning her attention towards Haruko. She shows interest in the woman every now and then but even Reika has lines that shouldn't be crossed.

"Yes, I do think you will." Haruko says calmly, "I respect you as the oldest, but If you think you can come into my home and hurt your siblings like that, I'm going to have to stop you." She walks past her to get to Takashi, checking on his neck wearily. "Are you alright...?"

"Y-Yea..." Takashi coughed out.

"I have a cream for this. Hold on, okay?" Haruko pats his shoulder. She was about to turn back to get the cream from the bathroom. Baffled when Reika came at her.

"Reika!" Erina yelled.

Yukiko and Takashi grew rigid, standing up quickly and about to tackle their older sister. Both wincing when Haruko moves out of the way, she grabs the older girl's arm and jerks it behind her back before shoving her up against the fridge.

"Woah..." Haruko grumbled, "Let's calm down." she tried, saying it calmly.

"You--" Reika started, about to elbow her in the face with her free arm. Haruko pinned it to the fridge, keeping her whole body pressed against Reika's back. She was baffled when she couldn't pull her arms out of her grasp.

After a minute or so of struggling, Reika stopped and leaned her head against the fridge, she sighs. "Fine… You win, Haruko." she admitted defeat, chuckling lightly. "Let go of me."

Haruko nods, she moves back hesitantly and allows the older girl to turn around. "Goodness, do you guys usually do this in other people's homes??"

"N-No..." Yukiko shook her head.

"Sit down, all of you. I'll be back with the cream." Haruko motions to the table before leaving the room again. She came back with a sort of soothing cream and helped Takashi apply it around his neck before going to Reika. She sat beside the older girl and proceeded to put some around her wrists as well.

"How kind... even though I tried to attack you." Reika mumbled.

"You were clearly frustrated, I can't blame you for your emotions." Haruko shrugs, "I can only worry if I hurt you in the process." She puts the cream down and looks around the table. She was already tired from the lack of sleep, the siblings fighting in her home was stressing her out even more. "I can't believe I'm doing this right now... but can someone explain what happened?" she crosses her arms, glancing around at the four.

"These two were whispering something to each other and I wanted to know what they were conspiring about because it had something to do with you..." Reika huffed, she motions to Takashi and Yukiko, "They thought they could hide that from me, but should know their places."

"Who would spread rumors about you, Haruko?" Erina frowns.

"I see..." Haruko sighs, she kind of had the gist of the conversation just from listening. "I'm thankful for your concerns, truly.. but there are better ways of handling this. It doesn't always have to lead to violence, you could've sat down and had a calm conversation about it." She rubs at the back of her neck awkwardly, "As for the rumors... it's okay if they spread, we all know they're not true so what's the point in doing something about it...?" she shrugs.

It wasn't something new to her, she's experienced baseless rumors before. Honestly, she didn't understand why they were so concerned about it in the first place. Sure it was surprising at first because it was definitely not something she would do, but in the end they all knew that she wouldn't do that. So if that was clear to everyone, why should they be concerned about what randoms think about her?

"What if those idiots try something on you...?" Reika leans back in her chair, pouting. "I...I was just worried something bad would happen..."

'She was... worried?' Haruko thought, awed by the statement. "Listen, I can handle myself. You know that, you just experienced it." she pointed out, "It's really not my place to tell you how to act, but as the oldest of your siblings, you need to know that you shouldn't be hurting them like that." It was as if she was scolding children, which shouldn't be the case. They were all around their 20s for God's sake, Reika was the eldest.

"...Fine..."

"Now apologize to Takashi."

"W-What?? As if--"

"Reika, apologize to him."

Reika was baffled with how Haruko was treating her, yet somewhat intrigued. She glances at Takashi, the boy was drinking some water at first before meeting her gaze. "...I'm....s...sorry..." she mumbled, struggling to even get the words out to him.

'I guess she doesn't usually say sorry to him...' Haruko rolled her eyes, at this point she was used to people like this. The one's who rarely apologize or take responsibility.  "For?" she asks, trying to get her to continue.

"...for...choking you..." Reika finished quietly, she kept her gaze low, staring at the ground now with a pouty face.

"Hmm..." Haruko reaches over and pats her head softly, getting out of her seat to do that. "Good Girl, Reika." she tells her, Reika's cheeks become slightly red from hearing that. She huffs and avoids eye contact with everyone. "Yukiko, you should change now. You three go sit in the living room and cool down."

"Yes." "Yes ma'am." "Okay..." A chorus of responses.

*

Haruko felt like the day was dragging on, classes felt longer for some reason. It was annoying. She does wish that she could skip these parts of the day and go straight into the important scenes. That would make things easier on her, but of course, life wants to treat her badly.

It was especially draining because of her studio class, she was busy drawing out some plans for her next project. But if she was going to be honest, she was pretty much just letting the body move on its own, not a thought in her head. 

She wishes she could just leave the classroom and go home instead, but they were required to stay the whole time that was scheduled. If not they would dock points and drop a grade.

"Kisaragi." A classmate calls out to her. Haruko looks up curiously at them, noticing them motioning outside. "Your girlfriend is here." he pointed out, too loud for her liking.

She glances outside the glass walls to see Shizuka standing there patiently, the woman waiting outside for her. It seemed like she was alone today. "Um... I'll be back." Haruko tells one of the teaching assistants before heading outside to check on her. "Shizu? Is everything alright?"

"I'm the first one free of my classes, so I came over to wait for you." Shizuka hums, "Please, don't mind me, I'll just do some homework out here."

"You--" Haruko rubs the back of her neck, pondering. She glances at Shizuka then back at the studio. "Do you want to sit inside with me instead?"

"Am I allowed to do that??" Shizuka looks at her in confusion, "Isn't studio time important for your project work?"

"I mean, yea, when it's presentation day. But we're mostly just working on our projects on our own in class, we're just required to be here in person. People bring their friends all the time." Haruko admitted, "The Professor isn't here either, so..."

"Ah... I see, if that's the case. May I please?"

"Come in."

Haruko nods, and she opens the door for Shizuka, letting her in first. She leads her to her table and brings over an extra seat, Shizuka taking it with a thankful gaze. She sat down and looked at the work on the table in awe. "It's always so interesting to see architectural designs from scratch."

"I'm glad this impresses you."

"Don't be fooled, you've impressed me outside of your major as well." Shizuka chuckles, she pulls her laptop out to do some of her own work. "Please don't mind me, I will work here quietly to stay out of your way."

Haruko could only nod slightly, she didn't think Shizuka would be in her way at all but she didn't want to argue her decision.

She continues thinking up a design that pertains to different shapes while at the same time allowing humans to utilize the piece as a whole if it were an actual building. Glancing slightly at Shizuka, she noticed the girl was shivering a bit. "Cold?" she asks.

"Yes. Is it always cold in here?" Shizuka questioned out of curiosity.

"Cold air often keep people awake, I suppose it helps when students want to pull all-nighters to meet project deadlines." Haruko begins to peel her own jacket off, "And I assume because the studio is quite large and open space, it's probably a bit harder to control the heat efficiently." she gives Shizuka her jacket while in the midst of her explanation.

"Oh?" Shizuka looks up in awe, she pulls the jacket on to keep warm. "Thank you, Haruko. But won't you get cold as well?" she asks wearily.

"I'm at least a bit used to it by now, I should be fine. You stay warm."

"Hmm..." Shizuka moves a bit closer, their shoulders touching. "If I sit this close, perhaps we can both try and stay warm.." she smiles. "Are you okay with this...?"

"I-I-- y-yea? I guess so..." Haruko mumbles, she stares down at her papers to try and focus. Having a hard time when she catches a whiff of Shizuka's perfume. A sweet floral scene; Jasmine.

She unconsciously leans in close, taking in the scent with her eyes shut. It was making her head all fuzzy. ‘Wow…’

"Haruko...?"

' She smells... nice...'

"H...Haruko..." Shizuka calls out again.

'So intoxicating… it's almost addicting…'

"H-Haruko."

"Huh??" Haruko gasps, she feels Shizuka's hand caress her cheek. She realized just how close she had gotten to the other woman, pressing her nose into her neck. Haruko was quick to sit up straight, "I-I'm so sorry... Y-You smell so nice, I-I--"

"It's okay, really." Shizuka shook her head, her cheeks tinged with pink. "Y-You just surprised me, that's all..."

"Kisaragi, you're free to bring whoever you want in here during self work time but please refrain from flirting with your girlfriend here." One of the TA's called out, they had been walking around to make sure everyone was working at least. Stumbling upon the situation by chance. "PDA is prohibited in the studio for obvious reasons, if you're going to kiss, go outside."

"N-N-No-- I-I-- s-she's not my--"

"We're just--"

They spoke out at the same time, Shizuka and Haruko glancing at one another briefly before looking away in embarrassment. "Y...Yes ma'am..." Haruko grumbles. They move on from the whole thing- or at least tried to... the two women working on their own things quietly.

Once studio time is done, Haruko cleans up. She puts her things away tiredly and picks up her bag. “Shall we?” She looks to Shizuka, carrying her things for her once she had put her things away too.

“Let's.” Shizuka hums, she follows Haruko outside. The taller of the two held the door for her to exit. “Carrying my things and holding the door for me, you treat me so well.” Shizuka smiles sweetly.

“Or are you just lazy.” Called out a voice from ahead. The two looked in the direction to see Takashi and Yukiko standing there. Yukiko had spoken out, glaring at the other woman. “Why were you in there…”

“Haruko let me sit with her in her class while I waited for her to be done.” Shizuka shrugs, feeling a bit of pride well up in her when she realizes jealousy emitted from Yukiko. “It was very sweet of you to not leave me out here alone.” She caresses her cheek.

“I-I wasn't going to let you sit out here alone…” Haruko shrugs. “It could be dangerous.. or boring… But I suppose it was pretty boring in there too...”

“Boring? I enjoyed every minute.” Shizuka giggles, “You look so attractive when you're focused.”

“T-Thank you…?” Haruko nodded, she tried to consider compliments from Shizuka as just women supporting women. She avoided taking them to heart, not wanting to misinterpret her kindness for anything more.

Even if she wanted to… Shizuka was her favorite love interest after all.

“Should we go eat something?” Takashi suggests, noticing Yukiko and Shizuka were starting to glare at one another again. He cuts in before any arguments could boil up. “I'll message Minami to meet us at the cafeteria.”

Haruko follows them to the cafeteria, practically dragging her feet. She catches sight of Minami sitting at one of the tables with Chisako and Noriko beside her. They get their meals and head over, sitting around the table.

“Hey, Haruko.” Chisako greeted her with a kind smile. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yea. Thanks for asking.” Haruko hums, “I'm just a little tired from class.”

“Understandable.” Noriko chuckles. "Architecture seems tiring."

Haruko glances around, noticing who was missing. She was hesitant to ask but figured she would have to anyway. “No Kou today?”

“I… sent Kou to check on our robotics team.” Noriko says. “Don't worry about his whereabouts, he's busy.”

“Ahhh… I see.”

Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt

The sound had surprised them, the group glancing at the device vibrating loudly. Noriko glances at her phone, “Oh! Speaking of.” She hums to pick the call up. “Please excuse me for a moment.” She got up from the table to take the call outside in the corridor, the usual group sharing suspicious glances and taking note of everything.

Chisako spoke up to change the subject, and she knew that. “Ah, Haruko. Did you bring back my brother's clothes?”

Haruko gasps, that's what she had forgotten. “Oh shoot… I'm so sorry, Chisako. I forgot that at my place.”

“Ahhh that’s alright, I was just curious.” Chisako reassures her that it was fine. But Haruko had other ideas, since Kou wasn't around to put in his input. Or Noriko wasn't around to relay the message to him.

“How about you come over today and pick it up from my place? It's washed and everything, I just forgot it on my bed.” Haruko said with a sheepish grin.

“O-Oh…i-if that's okay with you…?” Chisako nods, she blushes from the suggestion. “I…I wouldn't mind…”

“Great! I suppose it'll just be you considering you're just picking clothes up and coming back to the university dorms?”

“That would be preferable, yes. Also, I'd rather not have Kou around you after his antics yesterday.”

Haruko wondered if she knew that he had forced a kiss on her but shook that out of her thoughts quickly. She was going to say something but noticed the older girls walking up to them, Akira putting an arm around Chisako's shoulders.

“Chisako~” Akira greeted her excitedly.

“What is it, Captain?” Chisako sighed, already used to Akira's playfulness.

“Were you making plans just now? Don't forget about practice today.” Akira giggles, kissing at her cheek cutely. Chisako shooing her away with the same amount of playfulness that Haruko hasn't seen yet from the girl. 

“Oh! R-Right… Sorry Haruko, perhaps you should just bring them tomorrow then?” Chisako sighs, poking at her lunch a tad disappointed from the outcome.

“Orrr, we can wait for you to finish practice.” Minami says suddenly, everyone glancing at her curiously. Mostly the main group, and especially Haruko were wondering what she was suggesting.

“Eh? But you would have to wait a few hours.” Chisako frowned.

“Haruko has been wanting to check out the basketball team, so there's that.” Minami smiles proudly. 

‘... Minami, no… please…’ Haruko stares at her in disbelief. She knew the woman meant well, and she has been saying that excuse a bunch. She just didn't think it would actually manifest. ‘Minami means well… she means well…’ Haruko chants in her head over and over. “Oh right, I suppose now would be the perfect time to try that out, huh?” She smiles nervously. “Since you'll be at practice…”

“Ahh… I see.” Chisako was in awe of the revelation. “Then I suppose I will see you afterwards.” She smiles sweetly, somewhat excited for the outcome of Haruko's attempts to join the basketball team. “Ah! I have to get going now actually, it seems Noriko needs my assistance. And she wants me to bring her things.” She says, glancing at her cellphone. "Good luck, Haruko."

“I-I see… T-Thank you, Chisako. We'll see you later then.” Haruko waves, the group watching her head out, lugging around a few things. She glances at the others with a knowing look, worried if they were on the move to hunt down the rumor starters.

“Cool! I can't wait to hear about that.” Akira says as well, “Are you girls going to watch?” She asks her friends, which consist of The Hasegawa sisters, Akemi and Saeko.

“Of course we are.” Reika hums. “I must see Haruko's prowess on the court, considering she likes to play every so often.”

Haruko could slap herself, of course her words were coming back to bite her in the ass. She just had to say she works out and plays basketball. She didn't have an actual clue of how to play the game, she's just hoping that Haruko's body would move instinctively. 

“And of course we'll be there as well.” Minami smiles proudly.

“Ah, sorry. Not me.” Takashi spoke up suddenly. “When the girls practice, the boys team practices too sometimes.”

That's right, Takashi is going to be practicing as well. “... Maybe you girls could go watch that instead? Wouldn't you wanna see a pro at work?” Haruko suggests as she mainly glanced at Shizuka and Akemi to read their expressions. Wondering if they would be interested. They would be watching him play at some point. 

She was hoping that he would impress them with it.

“Oh please, he juggles around a ball and does his little tricks to try and impress girls.” Reika rolled her eyes. “He already does that to his stupid friends on a normal day.” She snickers, gaining a glare from the boy.

“I'm sure you'll do great, Haruko.” Erina smiles encouragingly. “We should come and support you, it's a try out. I believe that's more important than his practice right now.”

“I agree, 100%. We'll watch him play when it's an actual game, even though I don't actually care to see...” Shizuka spoke up suddenly, putting her drink down as she glanced at Takashi. “Ah, Hasegawa. I just remembered something actually, I believe Shin was calling for you earlier.” she said as an excuse.

“Oh right! I totally forgot about the homework he asked for.” Takashi said, playing along. “I'll be right back. Gotta help him out before practice.” He admitted, gathering his trash. "If anything, I'll see you guys later." 

“I'll come with actually, I have something to say to that guy.” Minami huffs, getting up when Shizuka motions for her to go as well.

If anyone would go, it would have to be Takashi – for obvious reasons, and Minami because she's Haruko's best friend. She would go to scold him in her steed. In actuality the two were scoping things out. 

“Sure, sure. Let's go, Minami.” Takashi chuckles, he enjoyed pairing off with her. She was the most reasonable of the bunch, aside from Haruko.

They watched them leave as well before continuing on with a different conversation. Haruko takes the moment to herself when the women around her chat with one another. She ate silently in peace.

It was nice. 

Yukiko was quietly glancing her way, playing with her hair timidly. She spoke up when spoken to but other than that, stayed quiet as well to preserve some inner peace.

“...How was the sleepover?” Reika asks with interest suddenly, noticing the longing looks Yukiko was giving an unsuspecting Haruko.

“It was fine… why?” Yukiko pouted. “I already explained that earlier...”

“Right, but earlier your hair was down and in the way.” Reika hums. “You just did that thing where you play with your hair and showed off a little something.” She points out with an almost sadistic grin, motioning to Yukiko's neck and shoulder. Reika found an easy prey to tease in that moment, and she was taking her chance.

“Huh?” Yukiko glared at her, tilting her head in confusion.

Haruko looks up as well, curious what Reika meant. She had noticed it when Yukiko tilted her head.

The hickeys.

Haruko's breath caught in her throat from the sight alone. She tenses and tries to act clueless, poking at her food innocently. She avoided the gaze Shizuka sent her way.

“Ah.” Erina was also surprised to have just seen them. She brushes Yukiko's hair out of the way a bit and flushes in embarrassment for her. “G-Goodness, Yukiko.”

“W-What??”

Reika did her a favor by bringing out her compact mirror, showing the younger woman her reflection.

Yukiko noticed it right away, her whole face becoming red in a matter of seconds. Her eyes darted to Haruko instantly, “I-I–” she was at a loss for words.

“Couldn't help it, huh?” Reika spoke, shutting the compact mirror. “Alone at night and you couldn't keep your hands off one another...? However, it seems that Haru likes to leave marks, huh? ” She giggles.

“S-S-Sorry…” Haruko croaked out nervously to Yukiko's older sisters.

“What for?”

“S-She's your younger sister… I-I didn't–”

“Yukiko's an adult, what she does on her own time when it comes to that stuff is none of our business.” Reika mused, “Although, if you're going to leave marks on me… try to make them discrete, okay? Haru?~”

“I-I will–...” Haruko paused, realizing what she had said. A warmness covers her face. She hides her face into her hands in embarrassment.

“You would hide them? I would show those bad boys off if they're from Haruko.” Akira laughed. They were eating up the situation, having fun with all the teasing. "I like it when they're being possessive."

"Same~ I didn't know you were so aggressive, Haruko." Akemi mused. 

"I would have to oppose to that, I wouldn't want my father to hurt her if he saw that." Saeko hums, "Other than that, whatever you can hide under my clothes is a free for all." she chuckles. 

With that, Haruko was going down, she laid her head down on the table to hide. But they could tell she was going through it, her ears and the back of her neck were very red.

"L-Leave her alone..." Yukiko whines, she scolds the older girls for all the teasing, "S-She-- I-I s-started it..." she admitted to them, ignoring the glare from Shizuka. 

Haruko's brain was malfunctioning, she couldn't process what was happening and honestly tuned out what they were trying to say afterwards, 'These women... t-they're going to be the death of me...' she whimpers. She regretted not going with Takashi and Minami on their stake out.

'Mina... come back...' 

*

Takashi and Minami made their way to a classroom Shin was known to frequent on his breaks. They stand around outside of the classroom. “Would those guys even be around here?” Minami asks curiously, “We're just basing things off where Shin is, shouldn't we be looking for the dummies spreading the rumors?”

The two peek inside the classroom, noticing it was somewhat full of students.

“Well, they must hang out if anything because how else are they getting that information…” Takashi mumbles. “It would have to be guys in my class as well, because I have Shin and the guys in most of them.”

“Cute, you planned your classes with your friends.”

“Not now, Mina.”

They glanced around, noticing that Shin and Takashi's other friends were around but they were mostly keeping to themselves.

“Are they even in here…?” Minami frowns, the rest of the people in the classroom were some women working on the computers and quiet students keeping to themselves. "Who are we even looking for? I don't know what they look like."

“I suppose we could ask some people if they saw Noriko, Kou or Chisako recently. “

The pair look around, figuring out who to ask. Unaware of the figure approaching them from behind.

“BOO!” They screamed, grabbing Takashi's hips from behind.

“KYAAaaaaAaa!!”

Minami jumped, not because of the sudden scare but because of Takashi's girlish scream. He grabs onto her arm in fear, hiding his face into it. “Uhhh…”

“W-Who–!?” Takashi glared at whoever was behind them. “Kadori…!!” He groaned. Kadori was someone from his class, she's well known for being super friendly towards everyone, and maybe slightly perverted. Which contradicted with her mature appearance. 

“Heyyaa, Takashi~” The woman greeted, she threw up an innocent peace sign. “You're not with your sister today?? Oh! Hi Mina~~”

“Kadori, hi!” Minami greeted with excitement, giving the taller girl a hug. “I haven't seen you since we graduated high school.” She giggles.

“I've been busy with this stupid major.” Kadori huffs, motioning to the classroom.

“You two know each other??” Takashi sighs, he was clutching at his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

“We went to middle school and high school together.” Minami chuckles. “Same theater group~”

“Same friend group~” Kadori giggles, she keeps her arms around Minami. “So what's up? Why are you two snooping around out here?”

“Ahhh, Actually, I'm glad you showed up, Kadori.” Minami hums. “Have you seen Noriko or Kou come by recently?”

“Hmm, Ishikawa?” Kadori pondered. Thinking for a bit. “I briefly remember them coming by to ask some guys something. But that was about it, I went to the restroom afterwards.”

“Oh shoot… I see.”

“If you're looking for them, Kou should be coming to our club meeting Friday with his sister.” Kadori explains. “Hmm I do think they brought that up to those guys too… and then talked about clubbing after the meeting on Friday. Some place that's called 'lunar something.'”

“Oh great! What club?” Takashi asks, this was the right direction for them.

“Our Anime and Manga Society~” Kadori hums proudly, “Please come by and check it out~”

‘Greaaaat…’ Takashi sighs. “Uhh–”

“Gladly!” Minami answered for them. “You said they'll be there Friday?”

“Yea. Do you want me to say that you two were looking for them?? So they don't leave right away?” Kadori offered, looking between the two.

“No!” Takashi shook his head, “I mean--n-no… it's alright. Don't even mention us to them.”

“Ehhh?”

“We were just curious, we were eating lunch with them and saw that they were in a hurry for some reason. Just concerned friends, you know how I am.” Minami smiles, Takashi was grateful she was good at coming up with scenarios and acting on them.

Minami does major in theater and script writing, so he wasn't too surprised.

“Ahh that makes sense, you were always the worrying type.” Kadori giggles.

“Yes ma'am. I'm just glad they're okay. If anything though, we might visit your club Friday! My best friend is interested in all things anime, so she might want to check it out.”

“Great! I'll let the club president know about potential members~”

“We'll see you then.”

Minami tugs on Takashi's arm, waving at the other woman gently before they walk away. Once they turned the corner, the two sighed heavily in relief.

“At least we have an idea of what they're going to do.” Minami says, texting the group chat the information they had just gotten. “I am curious if they got all of the guys spreading rumors though…”

“I wouldn't be surprised, Shin squealed to save his ass.” Takashi shook his head, disappointed but not surprised that the other man would do that. "How are the others?"

“I told them we should regroup on the roof.”

“Great. Let's head over then.”

“Sure….” Minami pauses. “Do you want to talk about your scream earlier? Are you still scared? Need my arm?”

“Minami… please…”

“Just asking~”