"M-Maki?"
"Yes?", the redhead answered.
"What... What are you doing? W-We gotta keep going...", asked Hanayo, trapped between the girl and a wall in the corridor of the school.
Maki sighed, apparently annoyed by Hanayo's unawareness.
"We're not going anywhere until you answer my question", she said, giving Hanayo an intense gaze.
"B-But...", the blonde girl mumbled, feeling clearly pressured. She couldn't help looking down, trying to avoid Maki's purple eyes.
"μ's can wait", Maki insisted, "Tch, why can't you be honest with your own feelings?", she frowned, unable to keep calm. She had waited enough time already.
"S-Sorry...", Hanayo dared to slightly look back at Maki for a second. "I..."
Maki was slowly losing her patience. Frowning, she took her friend's chin and held it up, forcing the girl to look at her. "Do you even feel something for him?", she asked, and her voice showed reproach more than anything else. Yet Maki was very good at hiding her actual intentions.
"I-I...", Hanayo didn't know which way to turn. "I don't really...", she finally said, in a tiny voice.
Th red-haired girl sighed. "Then, why did you accept his feelings?", she asked again, raising one eyebrow.
But Hanayo suddenly looked really flustered and red. "Um... Maki... can you not...?". In that moment, Maki noticed she had got really close to her face without realizing it. And not only their faces, but both of their bodies were practically in contact with each other. Facing Maki's sudden silence, Hanayo continued mumbling as her eyes looked for somewhere to escape. "I-I mean... i-it's not that I... dislike it or anything, b-but..."
Maki finally reacted and backed up a bit, although not enough to let her run away. She felt kind of embarrassed about the whole situation, but she wouldn't back out now that she was that close to getting her answer. "Answer me", she tried to sound tough and to hide her nervousness.
"W-Well...", Hanayo, feeling more eased, answered. "He looked happy about it. I couldn't just say no...". She brought a little smile to try to convince Maki, but when she looked at her, she didn't need an answer.She felt her gaze of disapproval all over her. "I...know that's not okay. I'm sorry"
Maki's expression relaxed when she heard Hanayo's apologies. She didn't want her to feel she owed her any kind of apology. But at least she had got a sincere answer. "Promise me you'll tell him the truth", she said with a friendlier voice.
"I will", Hanayo smiled at her. And Maki finally freed her as a sign of acceptance. She watched her blonde friend as she walked away towards the club room.
"Who's actually the one who can't be honest with her feelings, I wonder", Nozomi appeared behind Maki, with a mischievous grin.