--
'Another day, another headache,' Natsuki thought as she attempted to relax at one of her old favourite class skipping hideouts.
A considerable amount of time had passed by since the blue haired girl had found out about a certain student council president's feelings for her in the most explosively dramatic days of her life. Literally.
'But now that the dust has settled, what the hell is there left to do?'
Questions that were seemingly without answers drove themselves deep into Natsuki's psyche, forcing the girl to shut her eyes tightly and shake her head in an attempt to rid herself of them.
Hearing footsteps closeby and the telltale sounds of someone plopping themselves down in close proximity of her, Natsuki opened her eyes and thouroughly thought about whether or not this would turn out to be a welcome distraction.
Turning her head to take a look at who the particular interrupter was, Natsuki sighed and brushed her hair over her shoulder. It was a fifty fifty situation.
"Yo," a red head said with a nod at the other girl.
"Yo," Natsuki replied with a curt nod.
Nao let a few moments linger between them, staring silently ahead just as Natsuki was before again breaking into the silence.
"You here for a reason or just posing for fun?"
"I'm thinking," Natsuki replied casually and without much thought.
Although Nao kept her eyes forward, Natsuki could see through her peripheral vision that the other girl had raised an eyebrow at her reply.
"Wow are you serious?"
"Yeah..."
Nao scoffed as she laid back and made herself more comfortable on the grass they were half laying on.
"No not about the thinking," she explained. "I meant with the giving me a straight answer and not following up with a death threat."
Natsuki nodded, letting a small smile linger on her lips.
"I think I'm a little too tired for that right now."
"Oh," Nao replied before a thoughtful look graced her features. "You wanna talk about it?"
At that point, the two girls turned to look at each other and it was Natsuki's turn to raise an eyebrow at the prompt.
"Are you being serious this time?," she asked.
Nao scoffed again.
"Well... I guess it comes with the new gig. Listening to people's problems and all that, I mean we don't have a confessional in the vicinity but the view here is great. Why the hell not right?"
Natsuki nodded and sensing the girl's sincerity she decided to respond with some of her own.
"It's Shizuru," she said simply.
Nao smiled and looked up at the sky idly watching the clouds go by. "Isn't it always?"
Natsuki looked confused as the other girl continued.
"Love I mean. Shizuru equals love right? People... have all sorts of problems. But I have to say most of them are kinda created by that sort of thing. It's why it's a four letter word," Nao finished with a wink.
Natsuki gave a sigh and gently massaged her temples before opening her mouth and letting her thoughts spill out.
"I have to tell her that I don't feel the same. I have to say that we're not meant to be and we should spend some time apart because that's best for us both."
Nao nodded and Natsuki turned to her.
"That's what I should do right?"
Pairs of green eyes mirrored each other before Natsuki broke the contact and Nao gave a shrug.
"You know what Kuga, before I answer that question I'm gonna need you to answer mine ok?"
"Alright," Natsuki replied while nodding slowly.
"How's it feel to not believe anything that comes out of that mouth of yours?"
"What?"
"Well... you're lying to yourself. I can tell you know. I used to lie for a living... and also for fun but that's besides the point."
The furrow on Natsuki's brow dug deeper.
"I'm not lying."
"Yes, yes you are. And you're doing it badly. Would you like lessons or something because this... this is just not working for you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Nao heaved a loud sigh.
"Wow so the lying gets worse as time goes by. Ok I'm gonna make this simple for you. We're girls. We're damn good looking, impossible to mess with, smart, really good looking girls. And we look good. If we don't care about other people, they don't register on our radar that's just how it works. Take Takeda for example."
Natsuki blinked a few times, trying to match a face to the name. Failing, she looked again at Nao and shot the other girl a questioning look.
"Who?"
"The guy who's been in love with you since the beginning of time," Nao replied.
"No seriously... who?"
"The kendo guy."
"Tate?"
"Kuga are you just trying to prove my point or what?"
"What point?"
"That Fujino means alot more to you than you're willing to admit even to yourself."
"Of course she means alot to me Nao. She's my closest friend."
Nao, getting a little frustrated at this point, fought the urge to shake the girl next to her.
"Mai is your closest friend," she said. "You don't wanna sleep with Mai. Unless you do in which case keep it to yourself because I'm no longer allowed to make fun of members of the general public until they cry. Anyway, learn the difference; Fujino is way past friend material. As weird as it is she's kind of past girlfriend material too. You're like married."
Beside her, Natsuki's eyes had widened a sufficient amount and Nao could tell the girl was preparing a barrage of negatives to throw in her direction.
"We're not married! You don't marry your friends."
"Yeah yeah I got that. And as far as I know you aren't married to Mai. Keep up."
"Shizuru is also my friend!"
"She makes you food. You think about her as much as you think about your bike and your mayo combined. Her voice and her scent comforts you. You practically live together, you'd die for this girl and oh have I mentioned the fact that you wanna sleep with her?"
Natsuki pursed her lips as her eyes wandered all directions, keen to land on anything but Nao.
"I never said that, did I say that? when did I say that? Was it at that karaoke thing? They sat me next to midori and she is a crazy pourer. She's pouring and pouring, people don't even want to drink anymore and still the pouring continues!"
"You know what Kuga I want to hit you right now. But the chances of you not hitting me back are slim to none and I don't want you to injure my face. So here's what I'm gonna do. First I'm gonna stand over here," Nao said as she stood.
"Now, I'm gonna take a few steps away from you," Nao continued as she did so. "And then I'm gonna do the biggest favour anyone has ever done for you. I'm gonna give you the exact amount of time in which you can find Shizuru to tell her what you really feel about her because if I find her first I'm gonna sleep with her, videotape the event and post it up on the internet," she finished with a familiar smirk.
Natsuki's eyes narrowed as she found herself also getting to her feet.
'Sorry Kuga,' Nao thought. 'You're kinda dumb so I figure this is the easiest way to solve this whole deal.'
"You wouldn't," Natsuki said.
"Oh, wouldn't I?," Nao challenged.
"You're not like that. You're a nun now. And nice... they neutered you and then you became nice."
Nao smirked.
"I could regress you know. Years of being a fun loving and generally jerky type of person... can you really take that out of a girl so easily? You really wanna take that chance?"
"It's not a chance. I know I'm right," Natsuki replied as she pointed at the redhead before her. "Neutered and nice."
At that point in time, Nao was pleased to note that although Natsuki kept her voice firm, and her finger pointing at her the girl was edging closer and closer to her bike.
Giving a small laugh, Nao broke into a sprint away from the girl and in the direction of the student council room.
Hearing the roar of a motorbike engine behind her, the girl smirked again.
"Go get her tiger," Nao said before cringing at herself. "Wow I really need to get some better closing lines."
Due to having certain advantages such as having transportation and the ability to travel to the student council room practically with her eyes shut, Natsuki reached her destination first and swung the door open immediately.
"Shizuru!," she yelled into the room only to be answered by more yelling.
Certain familiar faces were gathered in the room although at that point in time, all except Yukino had graduated out of their school uniforms.
"Kuga!," Haruka shot out with a roar. "We're planning important things here! Now I've only just managed to regain the bubuzuke's attention so..."
"Natsuki..." Shizuru said.
The defeated Haruka heaved a sigh.
"Ah dammit. I wonder why I only hate you people sometimes," the blonde said mostly to herself.
"Why don't we take a break," Reito offered. "I'm sure we've made sufficient progress in all aspects you needed help with, correct Kikukawa-san?"
At the younger girl's nod, Reito made to leave the room as he was followed by the other two girls.
"Whatever I don't care," Haruka huffed. "Come Yukino, let the couple have their little moment."
"It's not going to be a moment Haruka!"
"Sure Kuga. By the way a delinquent like you needs to learn to take better control of the colour of their face," the blonde replied before giving a hearty laugh at her wit.
"Yukino, please write that down. A re-nicknaming is in order for the del... Ku.. Na... the bubuzukes girlfriend."
"Yes Haruka."
"I'm standing right here you know," Natsuki said in her annoyed fashion.
"I know, you're pink and hard to miss."
"Get out," Natsuki replied with her finger pointing out the door.
"I was leaving geez."
"Be out."
Moments later when Natsuki was comfortable with the fact that she and Shizuru were the only ones left in the room, she sat on her usual perch on the girl's desk and thought about what she actually had to say.
After all she had raced to be by Shizuru's side just at another one of Nao's juvenile prompts, after the girl had sufficiently shaken her understanding of even her own feelings.
Natsuki stayed silent for a while hoping Shizuru would do the same.
The older girl on her part attempted to preserve the silence before curiosity finally got the best of her.
"So what can I do for Natsuki?," Shizuru asked as she noticed the girl pull out her phone just then and shoot daggers at the object.
Receiving a text from Nao reading 'All. Night. Long.' Natsuki was anything but amused.
Turning to the girl sitting behind the desk, Natsuki found herself face to face with a smiling girl who just seemed happy that she was sharing the room with her.
"Shizuru. I have something to tell you. Will you listen?," Natsuki asked.
"Of course I will listen," Shizuru replied with a small nod. "Natsuki rents loud action films for the weekends and I am pleased to listen to the yelling and crashing along with Natsuki, there is nothing I'd like more than to listen to Natsuki herself."
"Shizuru."
"Yes Natsuki?"
"This is boring, haven't they established that they already know each other's names?," Another voice said from outside the room.
"Haruka!," a flustered Natsuki yelled out.
"What? I left my stuff in the room and Yukino said I wasn't allowed to get it until after you'd had a moment."
"Go away Haruka!"
"Fine!," the blonde shouted back as she walked away mumbling. "Damn ingrates... letting you borrow Yukino's student council room and everything... can't even have a decent non-boring moment..."
On her way from the student council room, a still mumbling Haruka met with a cheeky looking redhead and several others who were at that moment standing with Yukino and Reito.
"Is Kuga in there?," Nao asked motioning to further up the hallway.
Haruka sighed.
"Great another delinquent."
"Hey don't call me that! I've been neutered."
"So what do I call you?"
"Nao maybe?"
"No way, we're only acquaintances slash semi-possible friends."
"Whatever, where's Kuga I wanna watch the love declaration?"
"In the student council room and I wouldn't hold your breath. They're just saying each other's names over and over."
Next to Nao, two girls who looked like they were thoroughly interrupted only a few moments before were disappointed to hear that particular Haruka revalation.
"Ugh what?! We already missed the beginning? Out of the way people! There's no way I'm gonna miss the middle bits!," one of them said before dashing off, followed closely by the other.
"Wait Chie! Put your shirt on properly at least!"
"Mai! Where are we going?," Mikoto asked as she watched Chie and Aoi run off, fighting the urge to chase.
"Nao said Natsuki was gonna confess her love!," Mai replied in the voice of a hopeless romantic.
"Her what? They stole our student council room too canoodle? Yukino! Turn back! If we let the bubuzuke have that kind of moment in there, she's never going to leave and then she'll be Kaichou forever!"
Meanwhile at the student council room, Natsuki and Shizuru had taken to staring at each other while every so often Natsuki would have an unwelcome Nao flashback.
'I'm gonna sleep with her. Gonna sleep with her. Gonna...'
"Just shut up Nao in my head no one gets to sleep with her!," Natsuki shot out.
The ex-Kaichou turned her head to the side and gave Natsuki her thoughtful pose.
"Sleep with?," she asked slowly.
Natsuki nodded.
"Shizuru I have to tell you about some feelings."
"Feelings?"
Again, a nod from Natsuki.
"Feelings that one has. Nao told me to."
Shizuru blinked as she attempted to process the information Natsuki was trying to get across.
"Nao told you to tell me about feelings?"
Yet again, Natsuki nods.
"Nao said I was supposed to tell you about feelings and then she said something about honesty and being more than friends and then she said she was going to sleep with you."
"A-ara..."
Just outside the student council room, many eyes were pointed at the nervous looking redhead.
"Exactly who's confession are we supposed to be being witness to right now?," Haruka asked.
"Wait so how many people are actually in love with Fujino-san?," Chie asked.
Yukino takes out her calculator.
"Like fangirls or real love?," Aoi next to her questions.
"Real love."
Yukino puts her calculator away.
"Just one!," Nao said exasperatedly.
Again everyone stares at her.
"Hey you people enough with the staring! It's not me! It's her!," she continued, attempting to point out Natsuki's exact location in the student council room.
"Natsuki... are you really here because of Nao?," Shizuru asked.
"Yes. I'm here because of Nao and because she gave me a talk about being in love and not wanting to sleep with Mai."
"Hey what's wrong with me?," one redhead asked the other.
"What? Come on Tokiha!," Nao replied as she felt the situation spiralling out of her control.
"You want to sleep with Fujino-san but you don't want to sleep with me?"
"I don't want to sleep with either of you!"
"Now you're lying because you don't want to hurt my feelings!"
"It's ok Mai. I'll sleep with you," Mikoto comforted.
Nao sighs.
"Leave it to Kuga to derail a perfectly sane concept and throw it right into delusional and crazy."
Shizuru, also feeling that the situation wasn't computing the way it should, stood, walked in front of Natsuki and looked into the girl's eyes.
"Natsuki? Why does Yuuki-san want to sleep with me?"
"Because she figured out that I want to sleep with you and she made me come all the way over here and tell you that I love you myself!"
Natsuki's eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth, unsure of how it managed to form all of those words without the aid of her brain.
"Ara. Why of course I will sleep with Natsuki. I love Natsuki very much."
"Shizuru wait... we should talk about this first."
"Is Natsuki sure about that? Natsuki does not want Yuuki-san to get to me first does she?"
"Sh... Shizuru! Your hands! Your hands are..."
"God I love technology," Chie said as she kissed her cellphone.
"Yukino..."
"Yes Haruka?"
"Propose to the headmistress to relocate the student council building."
"Yes Haruka."
"Well that went well," Nao said offhandedly.
Mai glared at her.
A.N: Thanks for reading!~ Hope you enjoyed it.