"Good morning everyone!"

Karin slid open the door to the clubroom with Yuuna standing beside her, the cheerful girl greeting the room as she always did.

"Morning, morning~!" From the back of the room, sitting in the sunlight under the window, Sonoko responded.

"... Huh? Where's everyone else?" Karin glanced around the room. The props around the room for their upcoming play lay half-finished, still strewn about where they'd left them last night. Karin and Yuuna were running a little late, yet no one else besides Sonoko was here working. It'd be a bit difficult to get anything done with only the three of them.

"Ah, the baseball club came by to ask for our help. I stayed behind to greet you two~."

"What's that you're reading, Sono-chan?" Yuuna asked. Indeed, Sonoko was holding a thin book in her hands, Karin only just then noticed. A manga, perhaps?

Sonoko's eyes lit up. "Research." She stood up from her seat and quickly made her way over to the pair at the entrance, book still in hand. "I've discovered new material for my writing~!"

"Really? What is it?" Yuuna kept her eyes on the book, but Sonoko's hands were obscuring the cover.

"Did you know there's a rumor that some of the boys here like each other~?" Sonoko answered with her own question, and Karin immediately felt worry creep inside. When Sonoko got to writing about relationships, things rarely went well for her targets.

"Well… that's fine for them, right?" Karin started. "I hope you're not going to go around searching for them. They might not be comfortable with the attention."

"Oh, no, but I heard it from one of the art club members. I asked her about what it's like and she said I could learn all about how boys like each other from this manga!" Sonoko presented the book, finally, the cover clearly visible.

Karin blushed immediately.

"Wow, they're… not wearing a lot, are they?" Yuuna was, of course, referring to the two scantily-clothed boys drawn on the cover, depicted holding each other close. *Very* close. Too close. And hands implied to be in less than modest places.

"Whoa, Nibosshii~, you're so red." Sonoko held her face close to Karin's.

"O-Of course I am! Why are you reading such an indecent thing?"

"Indecent?" A thoughtful look crossed Sonoko's expression. "Oh! You mean this right in here?" She started to open the manga and turn it to show the pair, but Karin grabbed her hand and stopped her in a panic.

"Stop! Y-Yuuna doesn't need to see such things!"

Sonoko giggled. "You're so interesting, Nibosshii~." She pulled the manga back to her chest, concealing it once again, to Karin's relief. "I want to learn about other ways people like each other! More feelings! More ways to write my romances!"

"Amazing, Sono-chan! You're so good already and you want to become even better? Amazing!" Now Yuuna was getting excited, and she moved in closer to Sonoko.

"I guess that's true. But what exactly do you want to learn about, anyway?"

Sonoko put a finger to her chin and tilted her head. "Well, you see~, have you ever noticed how boys don't seem as soft as girls?"

"Soft?" Yuuna put on a quizzical look.

"Yeah, like they have all those muscles making them not so soft-feeling. So how does it feel when two of them hug? Muscles on muscles, how does that feel?" She sighed. "This manga doesn't really answer that…"

"You sure have some strange ideas, Sonoko." Karin sighed and crossed her arms. "Those boys don't really have much muscle, you know? I bet I could beat any of them with all the training I do!" She puffed out her chest a little, feeling a little pride in her strict training regimen.

A moment of silence. Sonoko stood there, almost as if she was stunned in amazement. Karin wanted to think she was, anyway.

Sonoko's eyes flashed to life, the sparkles so obviously present in their depths, and Karin knew she'd somehow made a mistake.

"You're right, Nibosshii! You have very strong muscles, right? And Yuuna, you train at your dojo, too!"

"Ah, um… yeah!" Yuuna answered, not yet following Sonoko's train of thought.

Karin couldn't get a word out before Sonoko stepped in even closer. She grabbed Yuuna by the shoulders and turned her around to face Karin.

"Wha–!" Karin immediately tensed up as the realization dawned on her.

"Sono-chan, what—"

Sonoko gently pushed Yuuna forward, into Karin. The two looked at each other, one knowing exactly what Sonoko intended, the other still a step behind.

"I think you two have the strongest muscles in the club. Could you tell me how it feels to hold each other and touch them? Please~? It will really help out my writing~."

Yuuna's eyes widened, Sonoko's absurd request sinking in. "Karin-chan." She paused for a moment. She laughed softly, nervously. "... What should we do…?"

"W-we don't have to do it, you know!"

"Yeah, but it would be fun, wouldn't it? Helping Sono-chan."

Karin glanced up at Sonoko. The radiance in her eyes, the anticipation. Somehow, she already had a notepad in her hands, ready to take notes. The pressure was incredible. Deep within Karin, she felt a guilt from even thinking about saying no. This was too much, too close to Yuuna. For some reason she felt that way. But looking again at Yuuna and her desire to help her friends, Karin's resistance failed her.

"... Fine." She looked away, blushing furiously.

At first there was silence, and for a moment Karin thought Yuuna was reconsidering. But then—

"Ah!"

—she felt a light touch on her side. She let out a little yelp and inhaled sharply. It shouldn't have surprised her, but somehow even that small touch felt so intense.

"Karin-chan…" Yuuna grinned slightly. Her nervousness seemed to have melted away, and she was staring at her intently. She took her other hand and wrapped her fingers around Karin's forearm, gripping with each finger one at a time. "I can feel your muscles move under my fingers. It's kinda weird, but they're strong…" She trailed off, her smile disappearing into a deeper thoughtfulness.

Mustering her courage, despite the renewed heat rushing across her face from Yuuna's surprising forwardness, Karin reached around to Yuuna's back and lay her hand over her shoulder. Their bodies touched lightly, the distance between them closed to almost nothing. Beneath her fingers, she felt the product of Yuuna's martial arts training. "... You've trained hard, haven't you." It wasn't really a question. She could tell. She didn't need to say such a thing, but she felt she had to say something and that's what came to mind.

"Yeah." Yuuna answered, her breath brushing against Karin's cheek. Pressing slightly into Karin's abdomen, she traced her fingers from her side to her chest. It tickled slightly, and Karin gasped again. "You feel so firm here too, Karin-chan." She giggled. "And yet you're also so sensitive."

"W-well of course, everyone's sensitive on their stomach, right?" Karin spat out, trying to hide her embarrassment of yet again making an uncouth noise in front of not only Yuuna, but Sonoko as well! And for Yuuna to tease her on top of it!

Actually, why was she so nervous? All they were doing was feeling each other's muscles, right? She could hear the furious scribbling of a pencil against paper. This was for Sonoko's strange research, that's all. She just needed to fulfill it and then this strange event would be over.

Karin twisted around her other arm around and grasped Yuuna's forearm that held hers. Yuuna was right. It was a weird feeling, the sensation of movement under her fingers. Movement that told of a strength hidden under her normal, everyday appearance.

Flashes of the times when she was alone, when she thought she might lose everything… when she thought she might've hurt Yuuna. These feelings assaulted Karin all at once. She prided herself in her strength. For so long she relied on no one. But deep down, she wanted someone to rely on sometimes. Someone strong enough to stand with her. She cared for and relied on the entire Hero Club now, but this strength beneath her fingers – Yuuna's strength – was something else. A strength she wanted to desperately hold on to. A strength she wanted to hold her as well.

Her hand on Yuuna's shoulder traced a path down to the small of her back. She tensed her arm, drawing Yuuna in closer, and held their bodies tight against each other. This time it was Yuuna's turn to let out a surprised yelp.

"Yuuna…"

Her heart thumped deeper, stronger in her chest. Her breath grew heavy. Why did she suddenly feel this way? What did she want to do? Staring into Yuuna's eyes, wide with the surprise of being pulled close, she searched for an answer. She could feel the tension in Yuuna's body, enough strength to pull away if she wanted to. But she stayed put. She didn't look away.

"You're… strong, Yuuna. Everything about you."

For some reason, Yuuna's face slowly drew closer. Yuuna wasn't moving, so why? Closer. Close enough to feel the heat on her reddening cheeks.

The rattle of the clubroom door opening tore through the air.

"Sonocchi! We're ba—"

From behind her, Karin heard the thud of a bag hitting the ground. A rustle of clothes and two gasps.

"Ah, Wasshi~! Fuumin-senpai, Ittsun! Welcome back~!" Sonoko responded to the cut off greeting.

Karin's body stiffened. Her primal instincts flared up, sensing extreme danger. With an intensity surpassing anything she had ever felt before, fear rushed through her body. An aura of destruction filled the air. She couldn't turn to see behind her, but she could feel a presence come up to her back. A scarily sweet voice filled her ears.

"Oh, Karin-chan~..."