A/N: Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep until I wrote this. Enjoy!
Even after months had passed after the Kiyama Incident, Mafuyu still found herself occasionally ducking behind walls to catch a glimpse of Nonoguchi's all-girl class. Just a glance of these wonderful angels led by such a powerful goddess made her heart soar. In fact, at the moment, here she was, a hand clenched to her chest as she peeked around a corner at the girls marching from their classroom.
The phrase 'so CUTE' repeated endlessly in her mind as she daydreamed what it would be like to be friends with them (or even just the act of talking to them). Ahhh, she could just die in peace here.
Then, Nonoguchi turned to address one of her classmates, dividing her attention from her place at the head of the group, and tripped.
"Wha!" There was no time to be frightened of the fall. Before she could stumble the first step, a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders to steady her, and Nonoguchi saw a white shirt and red tie. Her eyes trailed up to examine her rescuer.
"Are you alright?!" Mafuyu pressed urgently.
Maybe it was the way her eyebrows were knit together, or the tone of her voice, but Nonoguchi could swear she saw brown in place of the gray and violet in her vision.
"Nats-" Nonoguchi began, mouth agape and ice blue eyes wide. She was pushed back onto her feet and swarmed by her classmates, all of them asking if she was okay.
She could only watch as Mafuyu stumbled a bit, staring directly at her and then her hands. Smack! Both palms were now directly on her face.
"Ahh! Sorry! I didn't mean to grab you that way!" were Mafuyu's muffled exclamations. "Y-you were falling; and though I know you're a capable lady, I couldn't just let you fall." She removed her hands and looked back at Nonoguchi with a bright red face. "So, um, you're alright, right?"
Nonoguchi could not help herself. She blushed and broke eye contact, "Y-yeah. I'm okay. Thank… you."
That opened the floodgates for the other girls thanking Mafuyu as well. A person's face couldn't get any redder. When Nonoguchi looked up again, she saw Natsuo in the relieved smile Mafuyu gave her.
Before she could speak, Mafuyu was called away by one of her fellow Disciplinary Club members, unaware of Nonoguchi's revelations.
0o0 🐇 0o0
Unaware, that is, until she noticed a presence following her on her way home. Ducking into a nearby store to speed through the aisles and flank her unknown stalker, Mafuyu stood on her tiptoes to peek over a display of books. Two ribbon-tied ponytails instantly caught her attention as they shifted with the movement of their owner, Nonoguchi, searching for her.
Their eyes met, and both their cheeks flooded with shame at being caught. Mafuyu shook off the effect first, running from the encounter, but was soon followed by a determined Nonoguchi.
"W-wait!" Nonoguchi called from behind her. "I just want to talk!"
Mafuyu was not sure if this was a Student Council trap, but she was not going to take any chances.
"Please! Uh…" Nonoguchi viewed her surroundings frantically. "I'll, uh, buy you ice cream!"
She nearly crashed into Mafuyu when she screeched to a halt. As Nonoguchi caught up to her, she noticed their lack of height difference. 'Same height. Natsuo was a little taller…' She frowned.
Her vision was met, for the second time that day, with an exuberant violet and a tousled gray. Mafuyu's face was sparkling with excitement, "Ice cream?!"
0o0 🐇 0o0
Sitting in what was probably the world's frilliest and most extravagant ice cream parlor, Nonoguchi and Mafuyu ate their frozen treats and wildly different paces. As soon as their ice cream had arrived, Mafuyu dug in with a gusto that left Nonoguchi frozen in place, spoon hovering between her bowl and her mouth. Was this supposed to be adorable or disgusting? Adorasgusting? Mafuyu stopped suddenly mid-bite to look up at her.
"Aha… sorry…" She continued eating but at a more leisurely pace. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Oh!" Nonoguchi began to properly think once more. "Are yo- Well, I know you know him, but um…"
Mafuyu took a big bite.
"Are you related to Natsuo?"
The ice cream fell out of her mouth.
"You seem so similar," Nonoguchi added quickly. "I thought that the resemblance meant you must be siblings or something."
"Uh."
Nonoguchi stared at her patiently.
"Um.."
Nonoguchi cocked her head to the side.
"Uhmm, we're… cousins?" Mafuyu 'affirmed' lamely.
The smile she received from Nonoguchi could light up all of Japan. Mafuyu felt the weight of her lies grow ever heavier.
"Then, please! I have to know!" Nonoguchi slammed her arms on the table, leaning forward so that their faces were inches apart. "His surname! Class! Food preference! I want to know more about him!"
"We-well you see," Mafuyu fumbled, thrown by the enthusiasm.
Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, a crash sounded from outside. They shifted their attention towards the window. Someone, a girl, screamed, and they were rushing out the doors in seconds.
A bunch of guys, all in their late teens, had knocked over a trash bin and were in the middle of harassing a couple of girls. Filled with rage, Nonoguchi began to march forwards, biting words at the tip of her tongue. Mafuyu grasped her arm.
"Wha- Are you trying to-?"
"Do you have a handkerchief? Something to cover my face with?" She implored, gaze focused not on her but solely and steely on the ruffians.
"Wh-"
"PLEASE, Nonoguchi-san!"
And that was how they approached the delinquents, Nonoguchi glancing wearily over at Mafuyu as she marched slightly ahead, the lower half of her face covered by a flowery, pastel-colored handkerchief.
The leader of the group of thugs glanced over at them and laughed. Nonoguchi sprinted forwards. A resounding kick to the torso knocked the laugh right out of his arrogant mouth. His friends growled and rushed to attack. She put her arms up, ready to defend when Mafuyu vaulted over her and kicked down the two in front. Here, the battle began in earnest.
There was not many of them, so Nonoguchi and Mafuyu worked in tandem to defeat the delinquents in a matter of minutes. Switching between defense and attack, swapping opponents, all melded into a spontaneous dance of violence. As soon as they found the chance and were given the word, the harassed girls fled to safety, allowing the two to finish the fight without inhibitions.
When the last body landed on a pile of other groaning and moaning bodies, Nonoguchi called the cops and was quickly ushered a few blocks away by a distressed Mafuyu. They hid in an alleyway where Mafuyu removed the handkerchief and sheepishly returned it.
"Sorry for getting it all sweaty."
"Is there a reason you can't fight without a disguise?" Nonoguchi ventured as she examined her slightly-damp kerchief.
"Do you think they'll recognize me?" Mafuyu wondered, deliberately ignoring the question.
Glancing back the way they came, Nonoguchi scoffed and pocketed the item, "I think they'll barely remember us with the beating we gave them."
"Hah, yeah…"
"I was wrong earlier. You're not cousins. You ARE Natsuo."
Intensity met nervousness.
"Nooooo?" Mafuyu weakly protested. Nonoguchi reached up to grip her cheeks and pulled. "Okay okay! I am! Sorry!" She swatted the hands away and lowered her voice to a soft hiss. "But seriously don't tell anyone. I'm not supposed to be fighting at all. My parents would disown me if they knew."
Nonoguchi crossed her arms and huffed, "Of course I won't tell anyone. You saved me at Kiyama High. I owe you a favor."
"Ohhhh, thank you so much!" Mafuyu dropped to the ground and bowed so low her forehead hit the pavement.
"G-get up! This isn't that big of a deal!" Nonoguchi nearly screeched.
Mafuyu hopped up and smiled goofily, "Oh, Great Nonoguchi-san! How can I ever repay you?"
She reddened a little, "Could you walk me to my dorm?"
"Verily, milady!"
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They walked in silence until they were on campus and trailing along one of the forest paths.
Nonoguchi stopped and queried quietly, "May I call you Mafuyu?"
"Huh? Um… sure?"
"Mafuyu."
"Y-yes?!" So soon?!
She blushed, "Could you call me Kanon?"
"Uhh, okay…" Mafuyu stuttered, flushing. "K...Kanon-ch..chan!"
Humming happily, Nonoguchi practically skipped ahead and did not stop until they were at the dorm doors, "Mafuyu, could I ask you something else?"
"Yeah, I mean, yes! I-I mean, of course, Kan..on-chan."
"We didn't get to finish our ice cream, so could we go out again? Maybe this weekend if you're free?"
"I'd...I'd love to!"
And this was how Mafuyu and Nonoguchi started dating. The End.
A/N: I ship Mafuyu with a lot of characters, but I'll be incredibly happy if Tsubaki-sensei develops a MafuyuxKanon relationship.