A/N

Briefly, a few things need to be said. I've added this foreword while updating each chapter with a slightly more polished version, leading ultimately to a finished product. The word count should have you prepared for the extent of it. The M rating is for detailed sexual content and should be strongly advised, or enjoyed. Whatever the case, it's a relatively minor part of the story.

A wide range of emotional themes will be explored. My dense, comprehensive stylistic approach in writing this has only expanded during its two years of (very on and off) production. This work is unique and diverse and for that I'm quite happy, though I'll save that discussion for the afterword. Hopefully you make it there~

A note regarding my textual formatting:

"This is dialogue, being spoken aloud."

"This is a thought. If the entire line of dialogue is italicized, it is not physically audible."

~"Note the tilde marks outside the quotations; these indicate that this line is being mentally read, imagined, or remembered by a character (such as in a flashback, for example)."~

Explanations aside, I welcome you to the story! Emotions are a mixed bag throughout, but I hope you find some joy in reading it!

...

...

Typical days for the Amusement Club amidst the midsummer heat meant cold tea and silent suffering within this well-disguised sauna they called a club room. Three of the most social girls in school were reduced to wordless individual reading and relaxing as they sat around their table, almost panting, beads of sweat forming at every one's brow. It was hot; the hottest it had been all year for sure, and maybe even for the last few years. Contrary to the peaceful tone inside, the noisy cicadas surrounding the pond clearly indicated their contentness with the weather. They were the only ones.

Though around here, it can only remain silent for so long.

"I want ice cream!"

Before anyone even had time to process the statement, Kyouko was standing on what had been, momentarily, her naptime location. After a brief matter of seconds with no heads being raised, she turned to Yui.

Yui could sense the pouting eyes glaring into her own. Finally being torn from her book, she gave her mind a moment to reactivate and, marking her page, gently relaxed the murder mystery novel onto the table, to be resumed later. Or maybe not, she realized, seeing as it was nearly boring her to sleep just now.

"Go buy some yourself," came the typical flat comment. She didn't lift her gaze to respond, and instead attempted to pull her arms over her head and stretch. Kyouko, noting the disinterest, then turned to face her other childhood friend.

"Akari-chan, come with me!"

"Okay!" The redhead had been occupied with... Well, we aren't sure exactly. It's almost as if she was... out of frame —

So to speak.

"If you're going somewhere, you should bring back some cold drinks. We're out of barley tea." Chinatsu spoke while arising from her laid back position against the closet door, the very closet she had hidden in for hours once before... That was the most recent time she could recall being this hot and uncomfortable. She shuddered at the memory, and then again at the current reality.

"Here, take some money for the drinks," Chinatsu prodded into her bag.

"I'll cover the rest," Yui added, reaching for her own coins.

Funds in hand, the two errand runners gleefully re-equipped their shoes (and socks, in Kyouko's case) and began their journey. This, of course, left Chinatsu alone with her prince.

A neutral observer might have guessed Yui to be apprehensive about a situation such as this. Considering the yandere tendencies and unyielding affliction, it is expected that the pink-haired one would smother the target of her desire at every opportunity. Yet Funami Yui remained cool and collected, per the usual, almost as if she truly didn't realize what was about to happen.

When those two obstructions had hardly made it 4 steps past the door, she made her move. A smiling Chinatsu suddenly sat inches from the face of Yui, the latter caught wildly off guard.

"Chi-... Chinatsu-chan, you're really close..." A light blush appeared, which to Yui felt like a blazing fire. She smacked herself internally.

"Whaddya reading, Yui-senpai?" Her glowing smile pervaded Yui's vision, and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Anybody's lips would spill out "cute!" to the sight, no matter how stoical a person they were.

"J- Just a book from the library. Nothing special."

The attacker, not easily deterred, let a natural urge perform her next course of action.

"That doesn't sound very interesting. I should keep you more entertained..." came the unprepared, yet smoothly spoken words. Then, briefly recovering a small bit of her senses, she acknowledged that her hand had come to rest on her crush's thigh. But she would not panic, nor pull away just yet. "Where is this confidence coming from?" Chinatsu thought. "Today must be my day!"

Though, can it really be called confidence when you aren't actually deciding to make a move; when you only let your impulses carry you forward? Whatever the case, it was working. Yui had let the last few minutes pass in silence. Chinatsu, realizing this, began to worry. Was Yui-senpai nervous, like her? Maybe she was just in deep thought. Or she had been offended by these actions, and was holding back anger. Anxiety began to set in. Meanwhile, after much hesitation, Yui spoke in a somber tone.

"Chinatsu-chan, do you like me? I mean, really like me?" Emphasis was placed on the correct syllables to get the intended meaning across. Her face emanated seriousness. They both knew what she was asking, and it was about more than liking. Chinatsu wanted to contemplate why her senpai would question that now, but she had no choice but to answer immediately. It seemed like the right thing to do.

"Of course I do, Yui-senpai!"

To the younger girl's surprise and dismay, the response didn't alter her expression one bit. But Yui-senpai has a great poker face, she reassured herself. You can never tell what she's actually feeling.

Meanwhile, Yui was coming to a revelation. All this time, she saw her underclassmen's affection as innocent, harmless admiration. Platonic infatuation or, at the very most, a crush. But something about this moment, this moment that is likely an identical reiteration of many previous moments, seemed genuine. Maybe now she was really paying attention to the words and how they were spoken, or the head so lovingly nuzzled into her shoulder, or simply how truly happy Chinatsu was when they were together. Or perhaps, something inside her own mind was cause for change.

This thought snapped Yui back to awareness. What her eyes found were the pale turquoise pupils belonging to the subject of her thoughts, mere inches away. A tear formed in the corner of one of those round, glistening orbs.

"Yui-senpai, please don't hate me!" she cried, that same tear finding its way down a soft cheek.

Yui was lost. Why was Chinatsu crying? All she knew for sure was that it needed to stop. Verbally, she only stuttered. That was no use. But it seemed for every tear that gravity pulled down from Chinatsu's face, a deeper ache embedded itself into Yui's stomach. She couldn't bear it. Chinatsu had latched herself onto her senpai's arm, sobbing into her shoulder.

Yui considered hugging her. "That isn't right," she flattened her expression at her own thoughts. "That would make her feel better, but it won't solve the problem." But what would? The dark-haired girl pondered deeply.

"I don't hate you. You can be scary sometimes, but I definitely don't hate you..."

With unforeseeable intensity, Yui's heart fluttered. Something inside her yearned to make this right. She had waited in agony for what felt to be hours, and it was time to act, she decided. With a frighteningly quick sweep of the arm, she had reoriented her pink-haired friend to be face-to-face with her once again.

"Chinatsu-chan." She straightly proclaimed, with a very earnest inclination. Muffled cicada sound soaked their prolonged eye contact. You know those moments when you think you know exactly what you're doing, but then when you actually get to doing it, you freeze? This would be one of those.

So it was time to act on impulse.

Yui leaned, only very slightly, albeit noticeably, forward. Chinatsu reciprocated, as if drawn by some unseen force. And before either had had a second to think about what the other was doing, their lips touched.

It would seem that impulses were the correct thing to follow that day.

Four eyes closed, and two tongues were introduced deep within the embrace of black and pink. Yui's uncertain yet confidently renewed hands met with the low of the other girl's back, and the other girl's hands interlaced behind her neck. Slowly, gently, they kissed eachother for many minutes, not roughly but passionately enough for breaths to become strained gasps and saliva to become a shared commodity. Each time they separated, their eyes would open and lock on eachother, and they would be forced together again. Tiny sweat droplets dotted every inch of exposed skin; both girls drifted into the embrace, forgetting their concerns and entering a world of carefree bliss.

Some time passed. Was it minutes, hours... days? Yui wasn't sure. But her glossy half-lidded eyes could recognize that the sun had shifted to a slightly lower spot in the sky. It was late afternoon; concern grew within her that Kyouko and Akari would return soon. Kyouko...

She couldn't think about that now. All she could notice as of late was the Chinatsu who had crawled her way into her lap, and was nuzzling the top of her head against the underside of Yui's chin. A content shade of pink, to match her head, spread across her cheeks.

"Yui-senpai, I love you."

Yui smiled and rubbed the back of the girl's head, using her other arm to hold the two closely together. That was a sufficient enough reply for now.

Chinatsu straightened to look deep into the milky brown eyes of her long time crush. "Does this mean I'm your... girlfriend?"

Yui didn't know what to say, really. She certainly couldn't deny how she felt; she was practically glowing. After some time staring into the wall across the room, she chose to rely on her trusty impulses yet again.

"I suppose you can be."

...

...

Several days later...

For any middle school girl with a mindset like that of Toshinou Kyouko, this was the best time of the day. No, of the entire week. Hell, it felt like life itself was opening its arms and inviting you outside to play. It was Friday.

Those familiar school bells rang. She was out the door so quickly she could have been accused of leaving early, had Sugiura Ayano not turned her head to spot the blonde dashing through the doorway a perfect second after the clock had changed.

"Toshinou Kyouko," she mumbled, a bit more quietly than intended. But it was too late. Ayano slumped back into her chair, dejected, while the remainder of the class shuffled toward the exit.

"Ayano-chan, did you need to speak with Toshinou-san?" Even lost in self-pity, Ayano's attention was always captured by that voice. It was her dear friend Chitose standing near, book bag in hand and glasses still worn, thankfully. Realizing the question, a faint reddish hue emanated from Ayano's cheeks, despite having told herself a hundred times to stop doing that.

Recognizing her own blush, and the fact that half their classmates plus the teacher still occupied the room, she wouldn't lift her head to respond.

"Nothing important."

In a much more energetic girl's mind, plans were forming. "To the club room, and later Yui's house!" After that, who knows what the rest of the weekend would have in store for them. Kyouko practically bounded through the crowded halls and down the familiar path, all the way to the door of her beloved tea ceremony club room. She was slightly more excited than usual about her two days of freedom — only slightly.

Upon reaching out to remove the door from her way, she realized it was locked. She was the first one there.

"Boo." All that sweating for nothing. Everyone hoped for the weather to cool when the weekend finally came, but it wasn't looking very promising. On the subject of heat...

Four days had passed since Yui and Chinatsu incidentally attempted to consummate their... well, whatever it was they had. That was Monday, and they'd enjoyed virtually no alone time since it happened. Yui did, however, manage to communicate her fear that things would get unfathomably uncomfortable in the club room if anyone were to know about this. Chinatsu would have to control herself.

"Hey, I can control myself just fine," Chinatsu retorted to no one in particular. The trees overhanging her walkway to the club room shaded the scene in just the right way. It was very mellow, and very beautiful. As such, she could not tear her thoughts from Yui. Even the worst gambler in the world would have put his money on that.

Yes, controlling herself was easy. There was hardly anything she could do or say to Yui that would strike anyone as unusual — well, anyone who witnessed her yandere antics before, at least. No, surprisingly, the one who struggled with control the past few days was the interminably calm and collected Funami Yui. You see, Chinatsu's typical advances to Yui were in spite of Kyouko's advances to her, and in response Yui would placidly comfort her, and scold Kyouko. That still happened, and she still handled it normally, but there was another thing...

Every time those fluffy pink bundles of adorableness hit her chest or that sweet, needy voice cried for salvation, Yui felt a near undeniable urge to hug her, squeezing her closely until she slept in her arms. It was unlike her, she knew, and that part was concerning at first. It should go without saying that someone as straight-laced as Yui would take some time to adjust to having a crush — that being the term she had naturally adopted to refer to these feelings. Thankfully, she was good at hiding her emotions.

All together at the club room, finally, things were unfolding a bit less eventfully than Kyouko had hoped for. Chinatsu had mentioned something about homework with Akari later that evening, but all the other idle conversation yielded no noteworthy experiences. Growing tired of her latest doodle — some sort of muscular jellyfish/man hyrbid standing on a beach at sunset — she decided to ask the question now. It was nearly time to go home, after all.

"Oi, Yui."

"What?" Yui's eyes never strayed from her magazine.

"What game are we gonna play tonight?" She had planned to ask permission for coming over, but at the last second figured she could skip the formality by now.

"Dunno. I've been feeling sick the last couple days. Thought about staying home alone this weekend to recover." Her expression revealed nothing, eyes still fixated to the page in front of her. It was out of character for Yui, and she knew that better than anyone. Chinatsu tried not to be obvious, but she was fidgeting a little. Akari was somewhere.

"Aww, c'mon Yui-nyan~... Cooking for me will make you feel better!"

Yui could feel Chinatsu's glare leering directly into her soul. She wouldn't dare look back at her, lest she reveal their silent communication to the whining Kyouko, but could see it through her periphery. She decided on a compromise.

"Okay, but you're only staying for one night this time."

Chinatsu relaxed in her spot around the table, satisfied. Her secret plans were still in action, for now.

"Yay!" Kyouko's outward appreciation opposed her internal disappointment. "One night?" That was like letting a dog off its leash only to trap it inside a fence. Why couldn't she just do what she wanted?

Shortly after another bunch of nothing happened, the Amusement Club decided to disband the day's congregation a little early. The very instant the three girls rounded the corner toward the back exit path and went out of sight, an obviously exhausted Akari approached the empty club room.

"Sorry I'm late, I was helping the student council, and— eehhh?!

"Chinatsu-chan, we were supposed to walk home together!"

Thinking back during the walk home, Kyouko considered her day thus far a mild success. She had succeeded in continuing past her house and onward toward her friend's apartment, where hopefully she could find the answer she wanted. Was Yui really coming down with something, or did something happen? She knew she shouldn't care; best friends shared everything, even stiffs like Yui. If help was needed, help would be requested. Still, concern surmounted certainty within Kyouko's mind.

If a middle school age otaku is really capable of having a true, deep-rooted fear, uncertainty was hers. To be fair, uncertainty clouded and controlled her mind for the first decade of her life. Even years later, all it took was one person to hinder her confidence; one wrong action or emotion could cause all that doubt and apprehension that she had worked so tirelessly to overcome to well up again. Thankfully, she had Yui: the person who taught her to be brave, and the person who was rarely more than a futon away from giving the reassurance Kyouko occasionally needed. Yui would always be her best friend.

Needless to say, that uncertainty would return tenfold were Yui ever not there. Days like this, when her kuudere seemed down or depressed, Kyouko wanted nothing more than to spend time with her, to comfort her, or give her attention. She knew Yui had off days, too. She was only human.

While passing by a movie theater the two had visited many times before, Kyouko couldn't help but reminisce. That girl who always stood up for her against nasty, pink-haired bullies. That girl who always understood her unusual way of being thankful. That girl who... who...

"Kyouko? What is it?"

That girl she was staring at.

"N- Nothing!" Kyouko flipped her head back in the direction they were walking and tried to disguise her embarrassment. She would have no issue showing Yui how much she appreciated her in the privacy of her home, but they were still blocks away from home on a busy sidewalk. Not that Kyouko is the type of person to care what strangers think, but embarrassment is still an inborn trait.

Yui, straightening herself out as well, thought little of it.

"If you say so."

She had been contemplating her own concerns, and they were only growing. As their silent walk continued, Yui was beginning to doubt herself. She was confident with her decisions at first, but began to question how fair she and her new girlfriend's little plan was to the rest of their friends.

"It's harmless. It's just a date. Just because we're keeping it a secret doesn't make it sinister, things are just more comfortable that way. But Kyouko seemed really disappointed when I turned her down earlier. Plus, I can tell she's suspicious. But if I tell her, Chinatsu-chan will be upset. Then again if I don't tell her, she'll find out eventually and be really upset."

Yui visualized herself facepalming. "This isn't fair to Kyouko. The least I can do is be honest with her. And if Kyouko knows how strongly I feel about it, she will support me. I can always count her for stuff like that."

Yui inhaled a bit more deeply than usual and smiled. Knowing she had that confidence in her friend took the weight of the whole world off her shoulders. She turned her head and opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Luckily Kyouko was still too lost in thought to notice.

"Better wait until we get home."