Title: Cross-Dressing

Characters: Ritsu, Mio, Mugi, Yui, Azusa, Sawako

Pairings: Mio/Ritsu mainly but there's a bit of Asuza/Yui

"Sawa-chan, why are you asking us to do this?"

"I…I think it sounds wonderful!" exclaimed Mugi. Her eyes shone and a dreamy look came over her face.

"But what exactly do you mean? Why do you want us to go to some party with you?" Mio continued. As soon as Sawa-chan mentioned it, she'd been against the whole idea.

"What, are you too scared of dressing up or something?" Ritsu teased. She poked Mio's cheek and Mio shoved her away, scowling.

"Let's do this!" Mugi and Yui shouted enthusiastically. Ritsu wasn't sure why Yui was agreeing to go to this party in the first place. Maybe she was bored? On the other hand, both Azusa and Mio were flushing red and shaking their dark-haired heads in unison.

"Watcha think, club president?" Yui asked, leaning over to stare at Ritsu with big brown eyes.

Ritsu shot a side glance at Mio. "Sure, why not? I don't have anything to do tomorrow night anyway. Besides, Mio, you're gonna have to come now. It's a majority vote."

"Noooo!" wailed Mio. Ritsu put her face up close to Mio's and grinned.

"Why do you need us to come along, exactly?" Azusa asked. She still seemed wary of the idea, though not as freaked out as Mio was.

"Er, I…" Sawako shifted in her seat. Then she burst out, "I NEED A DATE!"

"Huh?" all the girls asked.

Sawako didn't look so antsy anymore. "Tomorrow night, before the party, we're holding a competition. The girl who looks the best as a boy will win and get to be my date for the party!"

"Just come out already!"

"No way!'

"Then I'm coming in!"

It was the next evening. Everyone was at Sawako's apartment for the cross-dressing competition. In the living room, Mugi was modeling a grey suit, her hair pulled up. Yui, Azusa, and especially Sawako were exclaiming over how she looked in it. As for Mio, she had locked herself in the bathroom, refusing to come out. Ritsu was the only one who hadn't changed yet, but she was trying to distract everyone from that by making Mio change first.

The bathroom door slowly opened. But instead of wearing the black tuxedo that had been laid out for her, Mio was wearing a beautiful blue dress that was long and flowy and showed off her legs. Ritsu's mouth fell open. Mio…Mio…she couldn't begin to describe how beautiful her friend looked.

Suddenly, everyone was looking over at Mio, who blushed.

"Mio-senpai, that dress is amazing on you!"

"Mio! You look yummier than a piece of candy!"

"Mio-chan…" Mugi was at a loss for words, but her eyes shone with moisture. She really was getting worked up about this.

"Aha!" Sawako shouted. "Mio is the winner!"

"Wait," Azusa interrupted. "Isn't the winner supposed to be your date and dress up as a guy?"

Sawako's face fell. "I suppose you're right, Azusa." She pouted. "But Mio looks so-"

"Sawa-chan, I can be your date!" Mugi said. "I don't mind."

"Ricchan!" exclaimed Yui. "You have to put something on too!"

Sawako, Mugi, and Yui practically shoved Ritsu into the bathroom. As they did, Ritsu heard Mio explaining to Azusa that the dress had been in the bathroom too, underneath the suit. Had Sawa-chan planted it there?

In the bathroom, Ritsu stared at the closed door. What should she wear? She couldn't out-beautify Mio. She was just too…

Ritsu blushed, and she was glad that nobody could see her. How could she tell Mio how beautiful she was? Her eyes fell on the black suit, still lying on the counter. An idea hit her.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened. Four girls and one woman rushed over to see who would step out.

Ritsu was wearing the black suit that had originally been for Mio to wear. It was a bit baggy on her, but she looked great, almost like a real guy. Not that that's a bad look for her, Sawa-chan thought.

Ritsu's eyes sought out Mio's. Mio felt her heart thudding in her chest, more rapidly than before. Ritsu was…Ritsu was in a suit, and she was in a dress…

Ritsu came over to Mio. She took both of Mio's hands in hers and looked into her wide, nervous-looking eyes. "Mio," Ritsu said affectionately. "Do you want to be my date for the party? Us being dressed like this isn't exactly a coincidence, and I really want to dance with you. You're stunning, Mio, and I want you all to myself." She bent down and kissed Mio tenderly on her hand. Ritsu straightened up and they both looked into one another's eyes for what seemed like an age. Mio looked into the glimmering golden eyes of Ritsu and felt like her heart was going to explode.

"Yes," she breathed, and found that her voice was steady. "I want to dance with you too."

Ritsu's eyes widened. Mio had said yes? She felt like she was going to faint. But she was the club president, after all. She had to pull herself together. She grinned at Mio, her very best friend. Maybe she was more than a friend now? Ritsu decided not to think about that just yet…after all, who knew if Mio felt the same?

Mugi and Sawako and Yui were shrieking delightedly at such a sweet exchange. Even Azusa looked entranced.

"Azunyan!" Yui squealed. "I wanna be your date too!" She squished her cheeks against the younger girl's, wrapping her arms around poor Azusa, who was being smothered.

"Okay, okay, Yui-senpai. Just let me put on a dress first…"

In the end, three couples walked out of Sawa-chan's apartment that night. The first one was Sawako and Mugi. Mugi and Sawako were a couple for the night because of respect for one another-well, and because Sawako wanted to show off any "date" she could find.

The second couple was Azusa and Yui. Yui loved Azusa maybe a little bit more than a senpai should. But her affection was one of the things Azusa enjoyed about the older girl. Although Yui-senpai annoyed her a lot, Yui had grown on her, and Azusa wouldn't be the same without her.

The last couple was Ritsu and Mio. They were holding hands, and Mio's head rested on Ritsu's shoulder. She was tired from being so flustered earlier. But Ritsu didn't mind it at all. She felt something stirring in her heart that was more than what friendship felt like. Being Mio's date was making her feel ecstatic. Was this…could this be…the beginnings of love?