A/N: The reason for Nozomi's actions will become clear in chapter 2

Eri stretched her arms, relieving some of the soreness that had built up from leaning over the desk for three hours. She could hear the bell in the distance, signaling the end of the school day. It was time for all the clubs to pack up and go home, and she thought that maybe just this once, it would be a good idea for her to go with them. Nodding her head a little in an internal agreement with herself, she promptly started to pack her things, setting aside the unfinished stack of student council papers to be worked on tomorrow.

After making certain that she had everything and one last glance around the otherwise empty student council room, Eri closed the door behind her and briskly made her way to the school shoe lockers. By this time, most of the club students had either left, were chatting at their lockers, were still in the showers, or were cleaning their club rooms.

"Come on Nico-chan, you can do it! You already asked her to meet you, now you just have to go and wow her with your charm!" Hoshizora Rin, a hyper-active first year and member of the idol research club was encouraging her senior, Yazawa Nico, near the row of lockers Eri approached on her way to retrieve her outdoor shoes. Standing next to the two of them was Koizumi Hanayo, another first year who was a very quiet and shy girl. Eri gave Hanayo a small smile as she passed, knowing that the poor girl was probably feeling nervous about whatever her two friends were 'arguing' about now.

"No way! I can't do it! I…I feel sick. I'm gonna go to the nurse's office and lie down for a bit." With that, Nico immediately ran off, leaving her things on the bench near the lockers. Rin ran after her with a shouted "Wait!" leaving Hanayo with two extra bags and a worried expression.

Eri, having already changed shoes while this was going on, paused on her way out the door. She was a little torn between offering to assist her junior or just staying out of it and going home. In the end, her sense of duty as the student council president won out and she turned back to see what she could do to help.

"Is there anything I can do?" Hanayo jumped a little in surprise when Eri spoke up. She wasn't expecting her senior to come back to check on her. She glanced shyly at Eri and then at the bags on the bench as she thought about what needed to be done. Finally she came to a decision and nervously made her request.

"It would be a great help if you could go meet the girl that is waiting for Nico-sempai. Please tell her that she can't make it today and that she is really sorry for all the trouble. She is waiting for her right now, under the large tree near the alpaca stalls. Thank you very much!" Eri was expecting to help with carrying bags or locating Nico and Rin, so this request was somewhat surprising, but she had no reason to turn Hanayo down, especially with how the girl was looking at her so hopefully.

"Right. I'll just go do that now and then head home, okay? Who is she meeting anyway?" Hanayo had already vanished by the time she got done asking that last question, so Eri had no choice but to head out to the designated meeting spot and wait until someone approached her. She hoped that it wouldn't take too long for the other person to show up. She was looking forward to going home and spending a nice relaxing evening with her family. Maybe she would cook something extra nice for dinner tonight.

There wasn't anyone there when Eri arrived at the tree. She wondered if the person was running late or if they had already come and left. Maybe they didn't even plan to come at all, and she'd be left waiting here for a long time. She couldn't just leave herself, because she had to at least try to do this. It was what was expected of her. The more she thought about the possibility of waiting here alone, the more she worried. It would be dark soon, too. There is nothing scarier to Ayase Eri than having to walk home alone at night. She was already regretting her decision to help Hanayo out.

Eri was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the purple-haired girl approach until she was standing right next to her. She just about jumped out of her skin when she felt the girl take her hand and entwine their fingers together. Her face was heating up and her heart was pounding, and this girl that she had never talked to before was holding her hand and smiling at her with an affectionate look that she had never seen on anyone before, and Eri was too dumbfounded to speak coherently.

"What's your name?" She had a pretty voice, and pretty eyes, and a pretty everything, really, but that didn't explain anything. Like how this person can come up to a total stranger and start holding their hand without even knowing their name first. Not that they were total strangers. Eri was certain that they were in the same grade and maybe had had a class or two together at one point, but they weren't friends, so what was happening now didn't make any sense to her at all.

"umm…I'm Ayase Eri…" What Eri really wanted to do was ask why she was standing too close, or why she was giving her that assessing look, or even why she had such a bright smile on her face, but something about this girl being so close made it hard for Eri to speak. She didn't know how to handle this situation and it was making her more nervous than she had been just waiting for this girl to show up.

"Ayase Eri…Eri…Erichi! I'll call you that from now on. It's cute right? Just like you." That smile again, like she had just come up with the greatest idea ever known and was so proud of herself for thinking of it. Eri would have protested the assertion that she was cute if she wasn't attempting to fight down the blush that was attempting to make a comeback.

"E-Erichi…?" That wasn't the comeback that she had hoped for, but at least it wasn't as humiliating a response as it could have been, given the situation. It was obvious to Eri that this whole situation wasn't going well for her, and she was still holding the hand of a girl she didn't even know the name of.

"Yep! And I don't mind if you start calling me Nozomi right away. I don't want our relationship to start off too formally. In fact, I hope we can get more intimate really quickly." That last part was said in what could only be described as a playful tone of voice, and Eri was super aware that Nozomi was teasing her, but she couldn't think of any way to reply to that. She swallowed nervously and desperately tried to think of a way to extricate herself from this situation without hurting the other girl's feelings. She idly wondered if this was the reason why Nico hadn't wanted to hang out with Nozomi today. Having an oddly affectionate friend like her must be very awkward sometimes, she thought.

"hmm…its getting a bit late, so we can't really go out today after all…let's exchange contact information and then I will walk you home, okay Erichi?" Nozomi looked up at the setting sun as she said this and bit her lip, looking a bit disappointed. Eri assumed that maybe Nozomi had been looking forward to hanging out with a friend today. Feeling overcome with a little compassion for her after seeing Nozomi's dejected look, Eri decided that it would be fine to let Nozomi be her friend and walk her home today.

"Alright, let's go Nozomi…" Eri spoke her new friend's name a little shyly, feeling awkward about speaking so informally to someone she had just met. Nozomi smiled brightly at her when she heard it and swung their arms together, since they were still holding hands. Eri smiled nervously back and together they set off towards their homes.

Eri shivered in anxiety as the shadows deepened with the setting sun. It would be full dark soon and they weren't even halfway to her house. She glanced at Nozomi's cheerful face as she walked along humming a playful tune to herself. Eri thought about starting a conversation with her, but just as she opened her mouth to say something, a sudden loud noise came from a dark alleyway across the street.

Eri held tightly to Nozomi's arm and buried her face in the girl's neck, her face pale with fear. This was the reason why she didn't want to stay too late at school. Everything became infinitely scarier after dark. They stayed like that for at least a minute, Eri refusing to move away from the security that Nozomi represented, and Nozomi gently running her hand over Eri's back. Eri was vaguely aware that Nozomi hadn't stopped humming her cheerful song the whole time.

When they finally started moving again, Eri continued to hold onto Nozomi's arm, and Eri was grateful that Nozomi hadn't said anything about it. She was certain that her face was completely red from embarrassment as it was, she wouldn't survive if Nozomi had chosen to tease her about what just happened. They stayed like that the rest of the walk to Eri's house.

"Good night Erichi! I'll text you later about going out." Nozomi had walked Eri all the way to her doorstep and then kissed her on the cheek before leaving. Eri just stood there holding her hand to her cheek as she watched Nozomi turn around and wave before disappearing into the dark night.

"Alright…" Eri whispered to empty air. She found today to be completely strange, but she didn't think that Nozomi was a bad person. In fact, maybe it would be sort of refreshing to have a friend like her around. She would have to thank Nico later for being the reason why they had met. It was only then that Eri realized that she had never told Nozomi that Nico wouldn't be meeting her to hang out.