Ayano wasn't looking where she was going. Her attention was preoccupied by the toast she was slowly eating and her failing attempts to deal with her purse with one hand. Her mother had waved her off - late - to school with a credit card hidden between the usual things and told her not to expect either of them to be home after school - apparently some business had come up but Ayano didn't care about the details.
So she had a viable excuse for not seeing the black haired boy run out from the side. He was actually looking where he was going, he should've been able to notice her. But instead Ayano was on the ground, confused and toast-less.
"I'm sorry," the boy exclaimed, immediately moving to pick up Ayano's purse. "I'm in a rush, though-" He paused momentarily to stare at her uniform, "- I suppose you are too."
"It's fine," she muttered, voice staying indifferent as she took her things back.
"I've - I gotta go." The boy waved awkwardly and continue to run in the direction of the school.
Ayano watched him with a frown as he ran across the street, waving at someone she couldn't see from around the corner, although could definitely hear. A feminine voice yelling at him for making her wait. Ayano continued walking, following the two students on the remaining short walk to school. The girl's presence was obnoxious. Orange hair? Pink stockings? Insults thrown around in a condescending tone? Ayano was only thankful that she hadn't had to deal with the girl before now.
The boy on the other hand. Dreadfully plain in comparison. Plain black hair, plain black uniform. But... that didn't explain the fluttering in her stomach, the soft ache in her chest as she watched them walk so close together in front of her. Her frown turned to the pavement as she walked and tried to figure out what was wrong with her.
It was a stark change from her usual apathetic state and she wasn't sure whether it was a welcome one or not. Throughout the day she became painfully aware of the boy's every move when they passed in the halls, the way his hair never quite stayed in order, the constant smile on his face, even if it began to look more strained at times. She tried to turn her head away, to just simply ignore the boring fool, but something stopped her.
It didn't take long to realise he was her upperclassman - especially when she took extra time to follow him to his classroom. It also didn't take her long to figure out that the obnoxious girl was the same age as Ayano herself, but the reason she felt the need to seek that out was even more confusing to her.
But still the feeling didn't stop. It was suffocating. Her throat tightened until she reached the point she could barely speak; her stomach fluttered violently, reminding her of feeling ill; her body felt hotter, especially around the cheeks; a wild urge to reach out and grab him, make him stop to notice her presence and feel the growing obsession, the need to be near them that plagued her whenever they were apart, that was barely hidden behind jumpy twitches. It wasn't like her. She no longer cared for this feeling, if these were the emotions she was missing out on then she didn't care.
But of course, there were other things to concern herself with excluding that boy, even if she was less than willing.
"What do you think, Yan-chan?" Kokona asked, both hands still dutifully holding one of Saki's as she'd been doing since Saki began her exciting story about some boys she'd met.
"I'm not sure," Ayano said, sticking to a more neutral answer to hide that she really hadn't been bothered to listen to their problems.
"Aw, c'mon! Haven't you ever had a crush before?"
Ayano frowned. A crush? What a dumb concept.
"Kokona-chan, be nice. What if she hasn't?" Saki reminded her softly, gaining a gasp in response.
"Is that true Yan-chan? Oh my-" Kokona's hands switched to holding Ayano's and while she didn't show any restraint she really wanted to move right now. "I'm sorry if I offended you, but having a crush can be super nice: you think about them all the time and you get all flustered when you're near them-"
"Describing it like that makes it sounds sorta awkward," Saki interrupted, looking noticeably pinker when she stared at Kokona.
"Besides, didn't you ask for me for something else?" Ayano asked, and now it was both girl's time to flush pink.
"Whoops, I got distracted," Kokona said slowly with a short laugh. "We must be annoying you-" Yes. "- Let's get started."
Ayano nodded mutely. From what she'd seen the drama club surely should've had enough members to practice the scenes with but seeing as only the two girls were present it could be a side project.
Saki clapped her hands together. "Alright, so what we plan to do is a slight twist on a romance play. I'll be playing the main love interest while Kokona is my girl...friend. You are the jealous rival planning to dispose of Kokona to get me for yourself!"
"Rival?" Ayano repeated. "So how should I feel towards the other characters?"
"Good question," Kokona said, smiling happily. Ayano felt like a little kid getting 2+1 correct. "Character relationships are important to try and show through your acting, even if you're just a fill in for now. The audience should be able to know your character's attitude towards the others without being strictly told the roles of each person. Of course towards Saki you should be feeling something like a crush, but maybe a little more twisted. On the other hand you should hate my character because I'm stealing Saki away from you."
"Oh. Thanks," she said quietly.
A crush?
Sure, she'd just brushed it off earlier but-
Love? This suffocating mess of emotions was love?
And the obnoxious girl was the rival in need of disposing?
Ayano smiled thinly. "I'm ready when you are."
"geez, why did you make kokona switch clubs? try to stay consistent" shhhhhhhhhhh.
"geez, why do you keep making titles related to one line said at the very end?" shHHHHHHHHH.
But heyyy, look at this. It's Femslash February and with my love for pure girlxgirl ships what do I write? Ayano. Meeting Senpai. Woah, such gay. ALTHOUGH IN SAYING THAT, LOOK AT THE NOT SO SUBTLE GAY SAKI, SHE TOTALLY GAY FOR KOKONUT.
Also, this is my first fic using honorifics and I'm super conflicted. I technically didn't have to and just could've had Kokona say Ayano or not say her name at all but I was just like pff, why not? Apparently everyone's gonna call her Yan-chan in the game so I'll put it in my fic. The whole conflicted feeling comes from honorifics being a very Japanese thing and while I know very little about Japan, you know what else is a very Japanese thing? Calling people by their last name. And yeahhh, I could just brush that off with them telling Ayano they could be on a first name basis but I am forever conflicted.
Also (x2), for any confusion to why Ayano was sent off with a credit card, I really liked the idea of her having an allowance so I wanted to incorporate that into a fic.