Eastern Britannia

1400 Hours

Yoshika stepped outside, the crisp, cool autumn air blowing the leaves below around. She smiled, taking in the chilly November afternoon at the base. She and the rest of the Witches had just taken a late lunch after an intense training exercise, and Yoshika was feeling refreshed already.

At that moment, Lynette came out of the door right next to her, taking notice of the Fuso girl and giving her a warm smile. She walked up next to her and leaned against the railing that overlooked the large runway at the front of the base.

"Mmm, it's getting chilly out!" She grinned at the swift breeze blowing past both of them. Yoshika simply smiled at her best friend, whom she secretly harbored very intense feelings for.

Yoshika had tried subtle tactics, little hints here and there, trying to draw Lynne's attention. Alas, all of her attempts had failed, or at least it seemed that way. She longed to do something decisive, to confess to Lynne, to tell her how she felt, but she had always stalled and stuttered before she could say something.

Coming out of her thoughts, she noticed that she was still standing there, staring out at the sea. She glanced over to Lynette, seeing her gaze of confusion directed towards Yoshika. "O-o-oh, I'm sorry! I must have just... Drifted off." She smiled sheepishly, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Lynette smiled back at her.

"That's alright. I do that sometimes, too." Yoshika looked back over to her. "Um, were you saying something?" she asked. "Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to go over there and see what they were doing," Lynne replied, gesturing to a table occupied by several of their squadmates. "Oh, um... Sure, let's go."

They reached the small table off to the side of the runway. Currently, it was occupied by Charlotte, Erica, Francesca, and Eila, who seemed to be playing a game.

As the pair of Yoshika and Lynette approached them, charlotte grinned wide and beckoned for them to sit down. As they did so, Yoshika asked, "So, what are you guys doing?" Charlotte smiled. "We're playing Truth or Dare, of course. You two want to join in?"

Yoshika and Lynne both nodded, scooting into adjacent seats. "So, how do you play?" Lynne asked, looking towards Charlotte curiously. "Well, the previous player asks someone around the table if they want to tell a truth, or perform a dare. If you choose truth, you have to answer them, truthfully, whatever question they ask you. If you pick dare, you have to do one thing that they ask you."

The first turn was Erica's. "Hmm... Alright, Eila! Truth or dare?" Eila grinned, and responded confidently, "Dare!" Ericka smirked. "I dare you to... Go up to the window and pour water on whoever's in the office." She grinned, pointing over to the open window to the office that Sakamoto and Commander Minna used to file paperwork, also handing Eila the glass of water she had.

Eila gulped, taking the glass and timidly making her way over to the window. Standing on a bucket she brought from nearby and looking inside, she quickly splashed the water in, and onto Minna, who at the time was laying her head on the desk and snoring. As she hopped away and sprinted back towards the table, muffled shouts could be heard from inside. She sighed in relief as she returned, sitting back down quickly.

Now it was Eila's turn to ask. "So, Miyafuji, truth or dare?" Yoshika, after seeing what kind of dares were given out, was not eager to pick one, and so replied timidly, "Um, truth." Eila smirked at her. "So, why do you always get so flustered around Lynette?"

Yoshika went bright red, shrinking down slightly. She stuttered a bit, but never returned an answer. Eila grinned, poking her teasingly. "So, why is it? You've got to answer." Yoshika blushed even more.

"U-um, well... I-I kind of... Um, l-like her." Yoshika hung her head, and Lynette blushed, staring over at Yoshika in amazement. Yoshika timidly got up from the table. "I-I don't want to play anymore..." She quickly went back to the main building, entering and making her way up to her room. Lynette yelled, "Hey, Yoshika, wait!", watching her go, concerned, and quickly got up to follow her, effectively dissolving the game.

Yoshika sat on her bed, staring at the wall and going over what had just happened again and again in her mind. What would everyone think? What would Lynette think?

Just then, there came a knock on her door. Yoshika slowly got up, and moved over to the door. "Y-yes?" Lynette spoke softly through the door. "Yoshika, it's me. Can I come in?" Yoshika blushed lightly. "U-um, alright..."

She opened up the door, stepping aside to let Lynette in. She delibrately avoided eye contact with Lynne, trying to conceal her blush. "Yoshika, you don't have to worry about what happened. It's alright, really!"

Yoshika looked up at her. "R-really?" Lynette smiled warmly at her, nodding. She stepped closer to Yoshika, holding out her hands and putting them on Yoshika's shoulders. "Yeah, it's OK. I'm not mad at you."

Yoshika smiled at her now, nodding. She couldn't think of what to say. This is a perfect opputunity, she thought, and I'm still too scared to do anything...

Lynette blushed lightly. "U-um, Yoshika... About what you said..." Yoshika looked at her curiously. "Mhm?"

"What exactly did you mean, you like me?" Yoshika blushed deep red. "I-I meant, um..." She stuttered, looking down.

Lynette looked to her with a concerned look. "Really, Yoshika, you can tell me."

Yoshika looked back up at her. "I-I'm in love with you, Lynne! A-and I wanted to tell you, but..." She looked away, still blushing brightly.

Lynette smiled wide. She pulled Yoshika close into a hug. "Yoshika, that's great... B-because, I've always felt that way, too, about you..."

Yoshika smiled at her in relief. "I wanted to tell you, but I just... I couldn't." She looked up at Lynne. She blushed at how close together their faces were right now, and suddenly she felt paralyzed.

Timidly, she moved forward to kiss Lynette. Their lips met, Lynne making a small sound of surprise before sinking into the kiss with Yoshika.

It wasn't until after a long while that they pulled away from each other. They both stared into each other's eyes. "Yoshika, I love you." Lynne said quietly.

Yoshika just smiled and hugged her. "I love you too." She was nearly crying with relief, sinking into the moment. She held Lynne close, and felt like she could stay in the girl's arms forever.

When they finally separated, Lynne looked at Yoshika, blushing slightly. "Um, Yoshika? If you don't mind, can I spend the night over here?"

Yoshika grinned and gave her another short kiss. "Of course you can."