"Chika-chan! Why are we at your house?" You asked. Chika asked her and Riko to come over after school.

"I…umm…I need your help with something." Chika was fiddling her fingers and sounded nervous.

"Chika-chan, you don't have to worry. We'll help you." Riko said in a calming voice.

"Thanks. I…was going to ask Kanan something. But I don't feel very confident."

You tilted her head. "What were you going to ask her?"

"Eheh…I was going to ask her on a date. Is that weird?!" Chika put her hands to her head, covering her eyes.

You stood up and went over to Chika. She patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her best friend. "Hey, it's not weird! It's nice that you like her." Chika looked up to see You smiling at her.

"You-chan is right." Riko said, which got Chika's attention. "You should tell her."

"I'm too scared!" Chika said. "What if I mess it up?! Would she like me still? I don't even know if she likes me!"

"Silly Chika." You chopped Chika's head lightly. "Kanan-san already likes you as a friend. You can try out a date, and maybe she'll like it and want to start dating. Who knows, maybe she already likes you!"

"I think you're thinking too positively, You-chan." Chika said, deflated.

"Hey, don't ignore it. You-chan might be right. It's best to ask her." Riko said to her best friend.

"Alright." Chika said. She knew that she wasn't going to win against these two. "Maybe I could tell her today. Could you come with me?"

Both of the girls looked at each other, confused. "Why do you need us there?"

"To…give me confidence! I'm still a bit nervous, so having you two there will help."

They didn't find anything wrong with that request.

"Alright, let's go!" You said energetically.

…

The three girls went on the boat to where Kanan lives. For the entire ride, Riko and You were calming Chika down. The orange-haired girl was 'preparing' her speech to Kanan, but she was extremely panicked. As they approached the island, Chika was becoming even more terrified.

"This isn't a good idea…She's not going to say yes. She'll probably reject me. She has Mari-san, right?!" Chika said, very worried about going to Kanan's place.

"Chika-chan." Riko said. Chika turned to see Riko's face have a serious expression. "You are being silly. You're always so positive, but you're getting too worried about this. You aren't even giving yourself a chance."

You slapped Chika on the back, startling the girl. "Right! Have some confidence and be the leader that we know!"

Chika, after hearing her friends' words, perked up. "R-right! It's just asking her on a date! There's nothing to be afraid of!"

The two girls smiled at their cheerful friend.

…

"Chika-chan? Are you already out of fish?" Kanan joked with the orange-haired girl. "Just kidding. Why are you three here?"

"Umm…" Chika started to tense up after getting to Kanan's place and seeing her. "I-I…" She felt hands on her back. She was so happy to have such great friends. They're always so supportive, which seemed to encourage Chika. "Kanan-san. Would you like to go on a date with me?" She flinched after saying her question, waiting for the rejection.

Kanan was surprised. Not at Chika; she had a small crush on her childhood friend which only grew more when Aqours started. During practices, she would always take a quick glace at Chika who looked cute. Sometimes, she would even see Chika stealing a peek at her, which caused her to blush.

No, she was more surprised at the two friends beside her. You was putting her thumbs up, while Riko had a warm smile.

"Sure, Chika. It's Friday today, so how about tomorrow?" Kanan said. She giggled at Chika's eagerness when her head popped up.

"Y-yes! That sounds good!" Chika beamed a smile. She was very happy that Kanan actually was going on a date with her.

"Chika, you can rest here." Kanan motioned towards the table. "I just need to talk with Riko and You for a bit. Is that okay?"

Chika looked at her two friends, who were confused. However, they nodded and looked at Chika. "Okay, Kanan-san. I'll just wait here!" Chika put a hand on her friends' backs and pushed them over to Kanan.

"Chika-chan!" You giggled. "We can walk, you know."

"Oops. Heh." Chika rubbed the back of her head and went to the table to sit down.

The two girls followed Kanan into the shop.

"Kanan-san? Why do you need to talk with us?" Riko asked her senior.

"Are you okay with this?" Kanan asked. Her voice held some worry in it.

"With what? You and Chika-chan?" You asked. "Yeah! Riko-chan and I convinced her to ask you." Riko was nodding at You's response.

"Are you lying?"

The two girls looked at each other, both wearing small blushes.

"What are you talking about?" Riko questioned.

"I know that both of you like Chika." Kanan said bluntly.

The two girls tensed up.

"Y-yeah. Like her a-as a friend!" You said. Kanan wasn't convinced, especially because of the stuttering and nervous tone in You's voice.

"Me too!" Riko said.

Kanan was still not convinced. She wasn't amused that the two girls in front of her weren't telling the truth.

"You are not going to convince me. It was very obvious that you both like Chika." Kanan looked at the two girls. "All of us know."

You and Riko looked at each other, both of them were confused.

"Look, I'm surprised that neither of you asked her anything. I'm even more surprised that you kept your feelings hidden when you encouraged her to ask me out." Kanan put a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm going to have a date with Chika. I like her as well, and I want us to click. But, I want to know. Are you okay with this?" Kanan asked. She didn't care if the two of them denied it. It was the last time she was going to ask, because she was losing her patience.

You looked down, defeated. "No, I'm not."

Riko heard You surrender and saw Kanan's irritated expression. "Me neither."

Kanan hugged the two girls. "I'm sorry that you feel this way. But, I don't want you two to hate me."

"We won't." You said in sad confidence, which surprised Riko and Kanan. "I don't like it, but it's our fault, isn't it? We never told Chika anything, and so she didn't notice out feelings. We helped her out, and you should enjoy yourselves. Have fun, and don't hurt her."

Kanan smiled at the ash-haired girl. "Thanks, You. I promise I won't hurt her."

"Let's go, Riko-chan." You perked up, making sure that she wasn't sad in front of Chika. She didn't want her friend to worry. Riko was still surprised, but she was getting dragged out of the store by her hand. "You have to be happy, we don't want to worry Chika."

"R-right." Riko lightly smiled, hiding her pain.

…

"You-chan! Are you sure you don't need me to walk with you to the bus stop?" Chika asked her friend. The three of them got back from Kanan's place, and were in front of Chika's house.

"It's okay, Chika-chan. You should probably plan your day for tomorrow." You said, faking her happiness.

"You're right! I didn't even think about that! Riko-chan, I leave You-chan's safety to you!" Chika bowed before she waved at her friends. They waved back and Chika closed the door.

Once You knew that Chika wasn't paying attention to them, her shoulders slumped and her face wore a sad expression. "Are you really going to walk with me?"

Riko nodded. "Yes, You-chan. I had some questions to ask."

"I guess I have some as well."

The two of them started to walk to the bus stop beside each other.

"Did you know I liked Chika-chan?" was Riko's first question.

You shook her head. "I knew you liked her as a friend, but not as a lover. I only looked at myself when it came to that."

"Oh." The two became silent again, not knowing what to talk about. They were both occupied with Chika and Kanan's date. "When did you know you liked Chika-chan in that way?"

Riko looked up to the sky. "I think it just grew. We hung out a lot for writing songs, so I had a lot of time to learn about Chika-chan's personality. I grew to like her because she was so endearing. But, I didn't want to ruin anything. So, I never told her."

"Hmm." You said as they kept walking.

"You-chan! You can't let me not know about your feelings!" Riko said.

You laughed. "I guess you're right, Riko-chan. I've know Chika-chan for a long time, so I was always close to her. And I grew to like her as well. I guess we're in the same place, since I was scared of not having Chika-chan as a friend. So, I kept my feelings bottled up and didn't tell her anything."

"Really…" Riko said. The two girls were approaching the bus stop.

"Thanks, Riko-chan. For walking with me…and letting me talk about my feelings." You said.

"It's okay. I was happy that I could say these things as well." Riko told her. "I guess we can only hope that their date goes bad…"

"Heh, that's not nice Riko-chan."

"I know…" Riko said, somewhat disappointed in herself. She was surprised when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. However, she quickly accepted the hug and hugged You back.

They both cried into each other's shoulders. They knew that they were cowards for not saying anything. And they knew it was their fault. They just needs someone to let out their emotions with.