Warning: Spoiler alert! This fic contains spoilers for volume 4 chapter 36 (Love) of the Ichigo Mashimaro manga.
While Miu and Chika rode the bus home, Miu said to herself, "I should have put in a picture of some really good looking guy, too..."
"Haah..." said Chika, a bit confused. Then it hit her and she gasped. "Huh!?" she yelled.
Miu looked over at Chika. "Eh? Ehehe..." she said.
"Don't you give me 'ehehe'," said Chika. "You were behind it all!? What's going to happen if she finds out!?"
"Probably not something I could walk away from," said Miu, not really seeming too concerned.
"Hey, it's you we're talking about here!" said Chika.
"But she did say she wouldn't go, after all..."
"What if she gets serious about the whole thing? I'm not getting mixed up in this!"
～苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ～
When everyone got back home, Nobue went to her room and looked at the love letter again.
Dear Itou-san
I will be waiting for you tomorrow at 1pm, the day after tomorrow (Saturday) at the northern entrance to Hamamatsu Station.
Yasuda Junya
Should she actually go?
Nobue took out a cigarette and lit it, lying lazily back in her chair. He would probably be disappointed if she wasn't there... and well, like Chika said, this could be her big chance. She could actually have a boyfriend.
Nobue smiled at the thought. Ha, and Miu said she could never get one.
Nobue walked into Chika's room. "Hey guys, you know, maybe I really should go," she said.
Miu's face paled.
"I mean, I'm not really very interested, but I should at least give him a chance," Nobue continued.
"You're crazy!" Miu shrieked.
Nobue gave her a strange look. "Well you seemed really convinced I should go just hours ago," she said.
"I wasn't thinking about it! I've now realized it's an absolutely terrible idea and I think you totally shouldn't go through with it!" said Miu, clearly panicking. Chika actually looked somewhat sympathetic.
"I'm going," said Nobue. Miu fell dramatically to her knees and started bawling. Nobue gave her an odd look and walked out of the room.
"Miu-chan, why's it a big deal?" said Matsuri. "Don't you want Nobue-onee-chan to have a boyfriend?"
"Of course not!" said Miu.
"Why?" said Matsuri. "Do you want her to be unhappy?"
"No!" said Miu. "But she won't be happy with Yasuda Junya!"
"Why would you be so upset about this?" Ana asked. Chika didn't say a thing. She'd just pretend she had no idea...
"They wouldn't be a good couple," said Miu.
Ana still looked confused. "I don't see why this would matter so much to you, Miu-san," she said. "Unless..." Her eyes widened. "Unless... you have a crush on Onee-chan."
Miu's blushed ten shades of pink and waved her hands frantically back and forth in front of her face. "N-No! She's too old for me! Err..."
Even though Chika knew what was up, she decided to play along. "Aw, you like Onee-chan, Micchan? You should write her a love letter."
"Chi-chan," Miu said out of the corner of her mouth. "No, you don't understand!"
"Oh, we understand perfectly," said Ana, giggling. "You don't have to be so afraid to admit it."
"I don't like her!" said Miu. "Cross my heart and hope to die!"
No one listened to her.
"You should write her a love letter of your own, Miu-chan," said Matsuri.
"Yeah, take a chance!" said Ana.
"What do you have to lose?" said Chika, grinning.
"I don't like her, guys!"
"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" said Ana.
"Well Ana-chan, I say you have a crush on Matsuri-chan," said Miu.
Ana stopped giggling and glared angrily at Miu. "I do not."
"Well maybe you like Onee-chan then," said Miu. "You are sort of clingy with her..."
"I don't like her," said Ana.
"And I wouldn't be surprised if Matsuri-chan liked one of us," said Miu.
Matsuri blushed. "No, I don't have a crush on anyone either."
"Liar!" said Miu.
"Matsuri-chan is too nice to lie," said Chika. "You're not even being reasonable."
"Well Chi-chan, I bet you have a crush on Onee-chan!" said Miu.
"I don't," said Chika. "First off, she's a girl, second off, she's my sister, and third off, she's much older than me."
"That stuff doesn't matter when you're in love!" said Miu. "You wouldn't know because you've never been in love!"
"You're just further proving my point by saying I've never been in love," said Chika. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"So you would know because you have been in love, Miu-san?" said Ana.
"Yeah!" said Miu. "In fact I have!"
"With who? With Onee-chan?"
"No!" said Miu. She shook her head, swinging her pigtails back and forth.
"I still say you're lying," said Chika. Matsuri and Ana just nodded.
Miu groaned, banging her head on the table.
～苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ・苺ましまろ～
On Saturday, Nobue waited in her new dress at Hamamatsu Station. She checked her watch. Ten minutes late. She groaned. She should have known it was a trick. As if she would ever actually receive a love letter...
Nobue had overheard some of the girls' conversation the day they got home from 'practicing'. She wondered if it was actually possible that Miu had a crush on her... It sounded crazy, but Miu could be pretty unpredictable, so maybe... well, maybe...
"Hi."
Nobue looked up and saw Yasuda Junya. He was wearing regular clothes and smiling at Nobue. Nobue was a bit surprised.
"Um... hi..." Nobue said. "I didn't think you would show up..."
"Yeah, sorry about that," said Junya, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "I completely forgot."
"That's okay," said Nobue. "What do you want to do?"
"We could go eat somewhere."
"Okay." Nobue and Junya walked off.
Miu and Chika were watching from a bush.
"I can't believe it," said Chika. "I didn't think you could do it, Micchan."
"He was easy to convince," said Miu. "And well, I promised him a thousand yen... How could he pass up?" She laughed. "And now you've learned a valuable lesson, Chi-chan."
Chika looked curiously at Miu. "And what's that?"
"Never to doubt me, because I'm totally awesome."
Chika narrowed her eyes. "Right."