"You can do it Riko chan!" Chika encouraged the sulking and groaning red head. "I don't think I can after that." Riko groaned as she hid her head in her hands. "But she doesn't know about it, so don't worry!" Chika said. "But let's say it happens tomorrow during the photoshoot... I'm doomed." Riko groaned again. Chika chuckled nervously. She wanted to help her neighbor who now was sitting in her room for some help. Riko needed some help to confess her feelings for Chika's childhood friend, You. The problem was that Riko was highly susceptible to have a massive nose bleed, just like what she had a few minutes ago when You sent a pic of her wearing the costume they were going to wear the next day on the group chat.
"I've got a plan!" Chika exclaimed. Riko's face lightened up on hearing the words. Though the plan that Chika would say might be dumb she was ready for any suggestion.
"Call You to meet you after the photo shoot. Your nose bleed would most likely end by then." Chika said, in a slightly teasing manner. Riko threw the closest stuffed toy at Chika's face. "I will not have a nose bleed tomorrow." Riko said annoyed. "Are you sure?" Chika asked, smugly removing the toy from her face. "Because you had a nose bleed when You came in wearing that bunny costume for that Alice in Wonderland play we preformed." Chika teased.
"I will not!" Riko retorted. "Hai hai, Riko chan whatever you say."
"Wouldn't it be better if I give it to her earlier?" Riko said after sulking for some time. Chika shrugged as she read the latest edition of a magazine full of idol content. "Oh, she's good looking!" Chika's eyes widened as she checked out the idol in the magazine. "Were you even paying attention?" Chika only gave Riko an uneasy smile. Riko sighed she would have to think of something by tonight.
Later that night, once Riko went back to her house and wrote a note on a piece of paper asking You to meet her on rooftop. She was planning to use the idea of giving it to her after the photoshoot as the last option. Right now her focus was to give it to her as soon as possible. Hopefully You would accept how she felt. Riko had no clue when these feelings for You but she did know it was when Chika rejected her love confession. It was then she realized with a bit of Chika's help that these feelings wasn't for her, it was for You.
Chika might act dumb and innocent but she was quite clever. She knew how to read one's feelings before one would even notice. It was a quality of her's that Riko admired yet hated cause Chika was able to guess Riko had a crush on You without Riko telling it to anyone.
Riko laid on her bed nervous about tomorrow. It would be the day of truth. The day when she would confess her love for the diver. When Riko was only able to think about You. Her flawless hair, her strong build, her abs (Riko accidently saw when they were changing in the dressing room), her happy and energetic personality, her kindness, everything about You seemed to make her feelings more stronger than before. She wanted to know all those sides of You she hadn't shown anyone yet. She wanted to do all the stuff couples did with her. The problem? Riko was sure that You loved Chika. You was very possessive of her. She couldn't help but remember the time they fought over Chika a few months ago, and before that phone call she made to talk to You about how Chika feels when she had gone to Tokyo.
Would You accept her feelings? She was just a normal girl with a normal personality, with nothing special about her expect that she is form Tokyo. All she could do was play the piano and read some doujinshi in secret. Would she accept her for who she was? Riko never really had self-confidence problems that often but this made her question herself. She would have to face her love tomorrow, ready for any outcome(though she knew how the putcome was going to be). She sighed as she rolled to her side trying to sleep.
The next day came in a flash. 'It's already Valentine's day.' Riko thought as she looked at her phone seeing the date. "Riko chan!" Riko could hear Chika who was screaming her name from her house while waving her arms. Riko shuffled her way to her balcony. "Chika chan stop yelling my name." she chided. "Hehe, I just wanted to say good luck!" Chika gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks..." Riko said barely audible.
"You're up early." Riko said noticing it was quite early when compared to when Chika usually wakes up and yells "good morning" to her. "Ah, I was talking to Sarah chan today. She called me early this morning." Chika grinned at the puzzled Riko. 'When did they get so close?'
"Riko chan I called You to come here so that we can go together." Chika said. "WHAT!" Riko made a shocked expression her mouth diamond in shape. 'Already, I'm not ready for this!' her mind screamed. "Yup." Chika smiled innocently while Riko felt like going there and pinching her cheeks till she regretted it.
She would have deal with the dilemma in her hand also known as her heart. What was she going to do? She went back in and paced in her room. She had to control herself form bursting when You arrived. Hopefully she wouldn't greet her with a wink. Riko would only melt into a puddle because of how 'hot' You looked. Maybe she could give her chocolate before Chika came down. Maybe corner her at school, or maybe give her a kabedon and confess, like in those scenes in her doujins that she hoped to do to someone one day.
"Oi, Riko chan are coming down!" she heard a voice call for her. She peeked from her balcony. 'How is it time already!?' You was standing down with Chika waving at her. So much for trying to confess to her before Chika came. Riko was all ready to go to school, even before she talked to Chika from her balcony. All she had to do was pick up her bag, tell her mom bye and walk outside. On reaching outside, she was met by her two waiting friends. "Ohayosoro!" You gave Riko a salute and a wink. Riko's melted into a puddle as she barely managed to say good morning to her two friends. Thankfully her cheeks were already red thanks to the cold.
Riko still kept her hopes high maybe she could confess at school, after all how popular can a person be. That's when Riko Sakurauchi realized she's never been so wrong in her life. From the stash of chocolate in You's locker which poured down like rain to girls coming in and asking her to come outside and giving her chocolate and confession. There seemed like there was no end. Riko's self-confidence only dropped as low as Yoshiko's luck.
Even during lunch when You, Riko and Chika were sitting together to eat lunch they were disturbed by a few girls who were trying to ask You out or asking her to eat lunch with them. Riko laid her head on the table, pondering. She didn't know when to approach the ashen haired girl. "Chika chan help me…" Riko groaned. You still hadn't come back for some time. "Like I said yesterday tell her after the photoshoot." Chika said with her mouth full of food. Riko sighed dejected.
She felt a bit jealous. No not a bit, a lot. She just wanted to talk to You, alone. She didn't like that You's focus was on other girls. She was dying to talk to You alone all day but she was too busy with all of the stuff Valentine's day brought. All she could do was stare at the girl during class and watch her as she elegantly used her pen and wrote some notes related to lesson, or watch as she secretly pops a chocolate in her mouth during class, munches it silently and enjoys it. The bright smile on her face afterward would make Riko swoon, though Riko felt jealous that it was some other person's chocolate and not her's.
Soon the end of the day arrived. The time they were going to hold the photo shoot. Half of the members were supposed to do it that day and the rest the next day. Everyone, well almost everyone, had already changed into their costumes and were ready for taking pictures, whenever Kanan showed up. She was taking an awful long amount of time to get into her costume, even though Mari went to help her. This did not bother Riko one bit. She was in her own world. Her mind was swirling around how she was going to confess to You and fantasies of all sorts. For the confession Riko had a small plan. "I'll bring the music sheets form the music room so I can work on them." Riko declared. It wasn't really a lie. She really did need to bring from there and on the way she had planned to stuff the note in You's locker. You just happened to wear glasses for their previous class and she would head back to her locker to place her glasses in the box. "Oh, Riko chan I'll come with you." You said cheerfully. As much as Riko wanted to deny her she couldn't help but give in to her cute expression she was making. "Alright." Riko said defeated. "Make sure you come quickly, unlike those two." Dia said, squinting. "Hai."
The walk was quiet. What should Riko be expecting? "So Riko chan have you given your chocolate to anyone yet?" You said breaking the silence. You had noticed the bar of chocolate in Riko's pocket. Riko felt like banging her head on the wall. It was supposed to be a secret. What was she going to do!? "As of now, it's a no."
"Are you planning to give it to anyone?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, who is it?" You asked like an excited puppy. "It's a secret." Riko kept a finger to her lips. "Aww." You said dejected. "Tell who it is when you give it." You said. 'It's you baka!'
"I'll wait by my locker for you." You said after they reached You's locker. Riko plan was officially foiled. Now she had to think of something else. The problem was that she had to act natural as possible. Riko hummed and went on her way to the music room. That's when an idea struck her. She could give You a kabedon and confess, but would it work? She shouldn't end up creeping You. On reaching the music room, she didn't have to struggle to find the sheets. It was on the piano. She had worked on them the day before and no really used the music room much making it slightly safe to leave it there, though Riko didn't do so that often.
She headed back to see You waiting for her, her back against her locker while fiddling with a box full of pockys, her eyebrows scrunched as she concentrated. "Ah Riko chan you're back." You smiled looking up from trying to open the box. Riko nodded. "Can you help me open this?" You extended hand holding the box. 'So cute…' Riko thought as she took the box and opened it. "Thanks." You murmured. This was her chance to give You a kabedon. She looked at You and took a deep breath. "You chan…" Riko breathed, looking You in the eye. If she remembered correctly this is what her favorite character did in her doujin. Riko quickly put a hand on the locker, giving You a kabedon. "R-Riko chan!" You was surprised by the sudden action. Riko lifted You's chin and opened her mouth to say something. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the sound yelling. Bewildered, Riko moved back, blushing, and the two rushed to the source- the club room.
"It's joke!" Mari said to Dia who was fuming, covering the ears of an innocent and confused Ruby. Yoshiko and Hanamaru were busy in their own world, talking about something, who knows what. Mari's clothes were all wrinkled and her hair was all over the place. Kanan was somewhat normal, in her costume, except she was blushing mess. "Kanan san, Mari san listen to me closely," Dia cleared her throat. "next time I will not tolerate if you do this again on school grounds. You hear me!"
"Yes ma'am." Kanan said to a scowling Dia. "I got the camera." Chika entered breaking the tension between the third years. "Let's start!" Mari said with an accent.
Kanan was the first one whose photo was taken so that the couple can leave whenever they want to and to stuff outside of school. Next was Yoshiko with a bag of cookies or to say Lealaps/Nocturne cookies. Presently it was Chika's turn, almost everyone's focus was on her. Meanwhile Riko was pondering. She had messed up really bad. "You must think I'm a weirdo." Riko sulked. "Lili you are weird but I don't think You would consider you weird."
"How are you so sure Yocchan?"
"I'm a fallen angel of course I'll know how my little demons feel." Yohane said earning her a 'what the hell' look from Riko. "How about you and Hanamaru chan?" Riko asked. Riko had gone to Yoshiko's house and the made cookies and chocolate for their crushes. "The walls of hell are still closed. Once they open I shall allow the angel enter." Yohane said. "So when are you going to confess?"
"She called me to her house so she can tutor me for our next literature test in two days." Yoshiko answered. "Riko it's your turn." Chika said. Riko sighed as he got up from the chair she was sitting on. It didn't take long for her to finish her part. Finally it was You's turn. "Ah wait a sec." You said as she fished for something in her pocket. It was a rubber band. She tied her short ash hair in a ponytail. According to Riko You already was stunning in that costume but the ponytail made Riko's mind go crazy. 'She is so hot!' Riko's mind had melted into a puddle. She took out her phone and started taking pics of You. "R-Riko chan!" everyone turned to Riko. They didn't give her a weird look(except for Chika who gave Riko a 'I told you so' look) for taking photos, even Mari did that for Kanan. It was because of what was coming from her nose. She touched her nose with the other hand to find a red liquid- blood. Riko Sakurauchi then knew she messed up… big time.
She was crying in the restroom. She knew she lost a chance. She might as well give up She was sure she creeped You out and she was sure You would think of her as a pervert (in one way was true). There was no use in hiding in the restroom anymore. Everyone would be worried sick, thanks to how long she was staying inside the stall of the restroom.
She stepped outside. From the windows she could see the sun set. 'So much for trying' she sighed. Suddenly she felt a push which made her hit the lockers behind her. "Y-You chan." Riko said flustered. You was giving her a kabedon. "I've been searching for you everywhere." You had a concerned look, "You scared me, when you went out of the room crying."
"I-I'm sorry I was just… emotional." Riko managed to say. Her mind was malfunctioning. The whole world seemed to have reduced to You and her. "Say, you have a fetish for this kind of stuff right?" You said with a smirk. "Maybe." Riko looked away embarrassed to which You giggled. "Riko Sakurauchi, I have something to tell you." Riko ears were wide open at the sentence, her eyes gleaming in curiosity. "I like you." You muttered under her breath, loud enough for only Riko to hear. "Like as in like me?" You nodded. "I like you too, in that way" Riko giggled in happiness and You grinned. From her dangling hand she fished out the box of pockies and took one out. "Riko chan say ahh." Riko opened her mouth holding on to the other end of the pocky. You did the same, on the opposite side. Riko brain had stopped functioning all together.
Bit by bit, You was inching her way to Riko face. Their hearts were thumping, their faces red as Riko's hair. You was just a bite away to kiss her when eyes fluttered shut. Riko did the same. It was a sweet tender kiss, tasting a bit like chocolate. The kiss ended quickly though it felt like an eternity. "You chan here, this is for you." Riko gave You the box of chocolates. "I was trying to give it to you since morning." Riko confessed. "I know. You were staring at me and giving angry looks to those girls who were giving me chocolate, even if it was an admiration chocolate." Riko felt like dying at that very moment. You backed up and opened the box to reveal chocolates in the shape of Nocture's head. "These look so cute! I wonder how they'll taste." You said as she plopped one in her mouth. "These taste good. I can taste the love." You said to which Riko blushed even more and turned away. You laughed at her reaction. "You're so cute you know that Riko chan." You grinned. "No… I don't."
And so Riko had accomplished her goal. She had confessed. You took Riko hand. "Wait, where are you taking me?" You was dragging Riko to the nearest staircase. "The rooftop." You answered. On reaching there they were able to see the sun set slowly. "I wanted to see the sunset with you." You said her cheeks a bit red. Riko giggled over how cute You looked when she blushes. They still held hands. And so the day ended with the couple watching the sun set marking the end of a hectic day.