(Belated) Happy birthday to superalicat. Hope you all enjoy!

Group Work

Yuuko's fingers glided across her laptop's keyboard, eyes glued to the screen with laser focus… well, as close to laser focus as she could get with her apparent partner.

Third years Yuuko Yoshikawa and Natsuki Nakagawa were doing a shared assignment for their social studies class. It was… not the most fortunate of pairings but Yuuko could make do. Natsuki would make do as well if she knew what was good for her. Yuuko was not about to let herself to get any grade lower than a ninety—especially not because she was being weighed down.

Speaking of being weighed down…

"Will you get off me?" Yuuko snapped, rolling her shoulders to shake off Natsuki who had taken to resting her chin on them. "If you really want to help, stop hovering over me and make a list of observations or something."

"Your formula's wrong," Natsuki noted dryly, stepping back and sitting on Yuuko's bed behind them. "In the one you're doing now, you used the numbers on the second column instead of the first."

Yuuko stared at Natsuki sharply, scanning her smug face for any sign of trickery…

She got nothing.

Narrowing her eyes, Yuuko looked back to her spreadsheet program and grit her teeth. God help her, Natsuki was right.

Yuuko fumed silently while Natsuki chuckled. She didn't need to turn around to know her partner's lips were curved and parted into an infuriating grin. Oh, she'd definitely give Natsuki something to smile about some day.

She quickly made the edits before Natsuki could rub in her correctness more.

Treat

Yuuko eyed her meat-filled spheres with mild disappointment. "When you said you were treating me to a snack, I was expecting a fancy pastry or a crépe something. Not street food."

Natsuki swallowed the mouthful of takoyaki she was eating and stared at her dryly. "If you don't want it, then give it to me."

Yuuko scowled, reflexively pulling her own serving of takoyaki closer to her chest. "No, I'll eat it."

"I'll buy you something else if you really don't want it."

"I said I'll eat it, jeeze," Yuuko snapped, taking a mouthful of one. Begrudgingly, she acknowledged that it tasted good.

A few days later, Yuuko decided to return the favor—but it was a crépe instead of some lousy, if admittedly tasty, takoyaki. Natsuki, the never of her, decided to order the biggest most expensive crépe on the menu.

"We went way over my budget," Yuuko grumbled, handing Natsuki her oversized pastry. "You better eat all of that."

"Of course I will," Natsuki replied lazily, taking bites out of her crépe. "Oh such sweetness," she cooed dramatically.

Much to Yuuko's annoyance, she didn't have any money on hand left for a crépe of her own after buying Natsuki's so she simply sat there watching the red-head savor every mouthful. Natsuki noticed this and tilted her head curiously.

"Want a bite?" she asked, offering her partially-eaten crépe.

Yuuko felt her face heat up and turned up her nose. "I'm not eating a crépe you've already taken a bite out of."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "What, afraid you'll get cooties or something? You sound like some boys I knew from elementary."

"Shut up! Cooties aren't a thing!"

"Then why so shy? You look like you really wanted some."

Yuuko kept her gaze away. "It'd be… an indirect kiss," she mumbled to herself.

If Natsuki heard her then she gave no indication of it. "What?"

"I said fine. Lemme' have a taste."

Natsuki offered the crépe and Yuuko took a bite out of it. It was sweet in all the right ways. "It's good," she said, averting her eyes.

Natsuki grinned. "I know, right? We can share if you want." She then took her own bite out of the crépe at exactly the same place Yuuko had taken a bite.

Yuuko grit her teeth as her face heated up even more. If she didn't know any better, Natsuki was doing it on purpose.

Distance

Yuuko felt like her toes were giving out as she reached up towards one of the higher shelves. She nearly had the book she wanted. Just a few more centimeters and she'd be able to nudge it close enough to grab onto the spine and pull it free. Come on. Nearly there…

She let out a sigh of relief when someone taller than her pulled the book from the shelf. "Oh, thank goodness. I might never have—You!" Her tone snapped from gratitude to mistrust upon turning around and realizing that Natsuki was the one who pulled out the book.

"Me," Natsuki agreed that usual smug smile of hers. "Looked like you were having trouble there, shorty" she said condescendingly.

Yuuko glared venomously. "You're barely a centimeter taller than me."

"Which just so happens to be enough for me reach this book while you can't."

Yuuko rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, rub it in," she snapped. "Now, hand it over."

Natsuki grinned, pulling the book closer to her chest. "Actually, I might just keep it on me for a while."

Yuuko's scowl grew deeper by the minute. "I need it for an assignment. Give it." She punctuated those last words with a quick grab.

Natsuki was quicker, raising the book out of Yuuko's reach. "Take it. I dare you."

"Stop being childish."

Yuuko made for another grab and Natsuki raised it completely over her head. The blonde lolled her head tiredly.

"Are we seriously going to do this in the library of all places?"

The redhead thought for a bit before averting her eyes. "Fine, you got a point," she muttered lowering the book. Yuuko snatched it from her hands the moment it was in arm's reach.

"I swear, it's like you're trying to piss me off," Yuuko grumbled as she began leafing through the table of contents.

Natsuki shrugged and started walking away. Yuuko only just barely caught her next words. "Not my fault your buttons are so fun to push," she said.

Yuuko felt heat rise to her checks, the urge to argue nearly overcoming her. She managed to reign it in and returned to browsing the book she was holding.

Rant

Natsuki managed a pained smile as Yuuko ranted at her. The blonde had been at it for five straight minutes now. Granted, Natsuki couldn't really blame her. Dealing with some of the band's first year boys was an exercise in patience that neither of them were inclined to deal with. Natsuki herself would have decked that one percussionist if Yuuko hadn't started yammering at him. Her mouth had been like a machine gun for insults. It was admittedly impressive despite how bad an image it gave them. Why were they the ones elected for President and Vice again?

"Train's here," Natsuki cut in, causing Yuuko to stutter to a stop. "Resume the rant tomorrow. I wanna go home."

Yuuko scowled and looked like she was about to argue before Natsuki took her by the shoulder and pulled her into the train car. With a tired roll her eyes, Yuuko kept her mouth shut and let herself be led along.

Much to Natsuki's chagrin, Yuuko ended up calling her later that night to continue her rant. What a spiteful brat. Then again, Natsuki had every opportunity to simply hang up but she never did. She listened well into the night until the two of them were too tired to stay away. They bade each other good night and went to bed, the last person on one's mind being the other before sleep took them. Interesting how that worked out.

Visit

Natsuki awoke to the knocking of her door. It was her mother telling her about a friend that had come to visit her. When the door opened, Yuuko entered her room.

"G'afternoon," she managed, her throat struggling to make a sound.

"You sound terrible," Yuuko said, pulling sheets of paper out of her bag. "Notes from today's lessons," she said unnecessarily, straightening the papers and laying them down on Natsuki's table.

Natsuki coughed. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Yuuko muttered, turning to her. "I'm serious. Do not speak. You need to conserve your energy."

Natsuki nodded.

"Need some water?"

She nodded again.

Yuuko nodded back. She took the pitcher on the table and filled the accompanying cup. She then handed the cup to Natsuki who drank it gratefully.

Yuuko gave her a soft smile. "Better?"

Natsuki smiled as well, nodding again.

"Good. Get some rest. I'll visit again tomorrow."

Save

Natsuki was stuck stranded at school because she forgot to bring an umbrella. Outside, the rain was absolutely pouring.

"Welp, so much for getting home quickly," she muttered, taking out her phone and scrolling through. She mentally started gauging how likely it was for any of her contacts to come and help her get home. Her mother was out of the question since she had went away to visit family. Her father was at work. All of her friends were had gone ahead of her and were probably already on their trains home. All that was left was—

"I see you're still here."

Speak of the devil, the voice of Yuuko called from behind her. Natsuki turned around and grinned. "You're a life-saver. Could you walk with me home? I forgot my umbrella."

Yuuko stared at her for a moment before sighing. "You forgot your umbrella," she repeated flatly. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "My god, you're hopeless." With a click, her umbrella folded open. "Alright, come on."

Natsuki let out a cheer and quickly ran under the umbrella's shade.

Yuuko rolled her eyes. "How are you our club's vice president again? You're so irresponsible."

Natsuki shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Not like Asuka-senpai was much better, though."

This earned a side-eye from Yuuko. "You seem to be overestimating your abilities if you even hope to compare to her." Her gaze returned to in front of her. "Then again, you're good enough at getting people to quiet down. You do have your uses, I guess…"

Natsuki smiled. "D'aww. That was almost a compliment."

"Oh shut up. You know it wasn't one."

They continued walking in the rain, shoulders touching.

Summer

Natsuki lay on the floor of Yuuko's living room, sweating bullets like she was in a sauna. Rather disappointingly, the electric fan failed to alleviate any of the heat.

Yuuko took a deliberate step on her stomach sat next to her. "I brought refreshments," she said, dropping a plastic bag from the convenience store on the table. "Hurry up before they melt."

Natsuki groaned in pain for a moment before she kicked her legs and sat up, scrambling for whatever Yuuko had scrounged up for them. Popsicles? And she got Natsuki's favorite flavor? Brilliant! That was exactly what she needed. She tore the wrap and put it in her mouth, letting the frozen strawberry treat slowly melt against her lips.

"Summer heatwaves," Yuuko spat in annoyance. "I don't think we're getting anything done today if we stay here," she muttered, slumping forward on the table, her arms leaving a smeared trail of sweat as they dragged across its wooden surface.

Natsuki made a hum of agreement as she continued licking her popsicle. "What do you think the others are doing right now?"

"Not this."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "I know that. I was asking something more specific. Like, I I doubt Nozomi or Mizore would be spending their time doing what we're doing."

Yuuko raised an eyebrow. "You really think so?" she asked dryly, clearly not believing a word Natsuki said.

"Okay, maybe those two were a bad example," Natsuki admitted. "But, like… summer vacation. Some of our friends have to be doing something other than… whatever it is we're doing… right…? Like… traveling… or swimming… or—"

"Look, I'm all for speculation," Yuuko began, "but it's forty degrees and I'm dying. I do not want to think right now."

Natsuki sighed. "Fair." She put her popsicle back in her mouth.

…

I've never written for Hibike! Euphonium before so it was an interesting experience to write these characters. That being said, the similarities that Natsuki and Yuuko have to Sanae Dekomori and Shinka Nibutani from Chuunibyou is kinda hilarious. It made things a little bit easier than I expected it to be. Idk how OOC any of this is but it felt like it fit based on what I know about them in S1 and S2 of the show.