This story begins in the middle of Volume 6 of the manga, after the love manual date story arc.
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Mizusawa Matsuri approaches the gazebo tucked in a secluded corner of Aihara Academy, watching the comical scene unfold before her. The pink-haired girl nods her head to the trap music blaring in her giant headphones as she watches Yuzu wrestle Harumi to the ground with an aggressive hug, while Nene looks on like she's going to nut herself.
"Nene-san, your nose is bleeding," Matsuri says in a completely neutral tone as she steps into the gazebo while sliding her headphones off and placing them around her neck. Yuzu and Harumi both look up at the same time, first at Matsuri, and then at Nene. "Ehhhh?" both girls exclaim. Yuzu immediately jumps off of Harumi and stares in horror at Nene thinking, girl you are so weird.
Harumi, who is still sitting on the floor rubbing her bottom because Yuzu practically tackled her when she said she would cover for her about her secret part-time job, glances up to see Matsuri watching her intently. When their eyes meet, Matsuri gives her a wink.
What does this devil girl want, Harumi thinks, frowning to herself. She's backed off from trying to get with Yuzu and even made nice with the Prez, getting her to help her with homework and junk – but these past few she keeps making eyes at me. Harumi shakes her head slowly. Kids these days.
Yuzu is now rummaging in her bag for a tissue or anything to plug up Nene's nose. Nene is still smiling like a fool and says, "It's ok Yuzu-senpai, don't worry. I just get so excited when I see you and Harumi-senpai touch each other in such an intimate way. I just find it so erotic that I can't handle it, so I get like…this," Nene gestures to her general nose/face area.
At this ridiculous confession, Matsuri breaks from her normal deadpan expression and starts to giggle uncontrollably. She presses her thumb and forefinger to her temples to stem the laughter but to no avail. Soon, peals of laughter bubble out of her and she is clutching her stomach.
Harumi is also trying not to laugh because she's one half of the direct cause of Nomura Nene's nosebleed, after all. What she is doing is watching Matsuri from the corner of her eye. This is the first time she's seen Matsuri so unguarded. Her carefree laughter transforms her face into something….adorable. Yep, this little pain in the ass can look adorable. Ugh.
Of course, anyone who looks closely enough can see that Matsuri is a very pretty girl. She isn't heartbreakingly gorgeous like Mei with her raven hair and delicate features. She's not a fresh-faced beauty like Yuzu with her brilliant smile. When standing beside the Aihara sisters, it's easy to overlook the brooding girl. But Harumi is actually very observant, and she has noticed that Matsuri is a very beautiful girl indeed.
Harumi slowly stands up from the floor and then thumbs the screen of her phone to see the clock. "Hey Yuzucchi, you need to head to your part-time job, right?"
"Oh crap, yeah I need to go now, it takes like an hour to get to the café," says Yuzu, shoving school papers into her bag. She starts to dash out of the gazebo, then after a few steps stops and turns around. "Sorry about leaving you with our history report Harumi. I'll totally make this up to you!" she says with an apologetic smile. "Oh, and sorry Matsuri, I'll catch you later. Bye guys!"
The three girls watch the blonde take off running towards the back of the nearest school building, taking the long way to the school gates to avoid going through the main entrance area, where the student council was likely to spot her.
Matsuri turns to Nene and says, "Hey, on my way here I heard something about AKB48 having a surprise concert at the mall. Apparently the one girl who's your favorite is going to be there."
Nene jumps up and gasps, "Really? Now? Are you sure? At the mall?" Her eyes are wide with excitement.
Matsuri nods slowly and says, "Yeah, pretty sure. You should head over there now if you don't want to miss it." At that, Nene shoulders her backpack, and says "Ok see you tomorrow Harumi-senpai, bye Matsuri-san!" then runs off towards the main entrance, taking the shortest way.
Harumi turns to face Matsuri and gives her a level stare. "AKB48 aren't really at the mall, are they?"
"Heck no."
"You're terrible, Matsuri."
Matsuri has a mischievous smile as she makes a little shrug and then leans against the low wall of the side of the gazebo. She bends her arms behind her to rest her palms against the top of the railing and gives the older girl a smoldering stare. "I just wanted to be alone with Taniguchi-senpai. Nene-chan is a sweet kid, but I thought we could have a more enjoyable time alone."
"Nene is older than you," says Harumi, shaking her head at the thought of this middle schooler calling Nomura Nene a kid.
Matsuri dismisses the fact with a wave of her hand. "Can we go hang out at your house?"
"What? No. Go home, Matsuri."
The younger girl pouts for a moment and then says, "But I came all this way, and now with Yuzu-chan gone there's no one else to hang out with me." Matsuri looks down with a pitiful look and sighs deeply. Matsuri's practiced reaction tells Harumi that Matsuri had expected her to say no to her suggestion.
Harumin was about to say, Tell it to someone who cares, but she spots Aihara Mei walking across the green over Matsuri's shoulder. The student council president was purposefully striding about 50 yards away, like she was looking for a certain someone, but trying to not look like she was looking for someone.
The black-haired girl in the gazebo says "Shit!" then grabs the collar of Matsuri's hoodie and yanks her towards her. Matsuri's eyes open wide in surprise and she starts to say "Whaa-" when Harumi pushes down on her shoulders, making her land on her butt in front of Harumi's feet.
Matsuri shrieks, "Owww what the hell! You hurt my butt goddamm.."
The sound of Matsuri's cries catches Aihara Mei's ears and she turns towards the gazebo. She sees Taniguchi Harumin standing behind a wall that comes up to her waist looking straight at her. Ah, there you are. Yuzu, you better have a good reason why you've been disappearing after school every day and coming home super late. Mei had spent the last half hour since the bell rang trying to find the blonde. She was being discreet about it, so she couldn't exactly ask anyone if they've spotted Yuzu or her delinquent gang. Her eyes scan the gazebo and the surrounding area and realizes that Harumi is alone. She sighs and walks towards the gazebo anyway, deciding that she was just going to have to shake down Harumi for the truth.
In the gazebo, Harumi smacks the side of Matsuri's head and hisses through gritted teeth, "Shut up, shut up. Mei is coming over here, and if she finds you here we are all going to be in so much-"
Above her head, Matsuri hears Harumi clear her throat and say, "Hi Prez. How's it going?"
"I'm doing well, thank you. Have you seen Yuzu?" Upon hearing Mei's voice, Matsuri stills between Harumi's legs. She wasn't afraid of Mei, but she knew that Harumi and Yuzu would be extremely pissed if she got caught trespassing by the student council president. Yuzu especially would get bent out of shape if Mei catches her, and Matsuri didn't want to listen to her carrying on about how she needs to stay out trouble when it comes to anything related to her straight-laced stepsister. How boring, Matsuri thinks. She noiselessly settles her down into a comfortable sitting position, ready to wait out this conversation between the two dark-haired girls.
"Ah Yuzucchi, yes. I've seen her."
There's a pause, and Matsuri smirks thinking about the look that Mei must be giving Harumi right now. From the way Harumi twitches, it must be Mei's special don't-fuck-with-me stare. The slight movement draws Matsuri's attention to the fact that she is sitting between Harumi's legs. A feeling of elation comes over her, quickly followed by a hot flash all over her body. She chose the right day to make the long trek from her middle school to Aihara Academy to see her sexy little minx. Not even in her most optimistic schemes did she see herself getting this far with Harumi this soon. Omg, score. This day is awesome. Thank you, Yuzu-chan.
"Well, where is she?"
"Yuzucchi is….she went to get some stuff from the library so that…"
Matsuri gazes lovingly at Harumin's creamy white thigh right in front of her face. Ah, legs for days. They're even more exquisite up close. She raises her left hand that was resting on the floor to gently touch the back of Harumin's ankle.
"…we could have all of the things we need for our big study session…"
The older girl stops in midsentence when she feels Matsuri's fingers on the back of her lower leg. She tries to discreetly nudge the hand off, and she starts to talk again but she feels Matsuri's fingers slowly going up her calves. Dammit Matsuri, I'm going to kill you –
"…at my house cus we have a lot to study for, because as you know Madam President, exams are.."
Matsuri's fingers were now at the back of Harumin's knees, and when she starts to softly caress the sensitive flesh there, Harumin's breath comes out in a hiss, "…co-coming up soon!"
Mei frowns thoughtfully. A study session, huh? Well, Yuzu certainly needs it. If she doesn't do really well in the finals she's going to need to take supplementary classes in the summer for sure. But Harumin is lying to me about something, look at how she's nervously bouncing on her leg…
"So you're saying the two of you are going straight to your house to spend the evening to study?" Mei asks, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Yes...no!" Harumi blurts out in a mix of frustration and panic. Matsuri's fingers were now travelling up the back of her thigh. Her touch was warm against her skin but feather-light. All Harumin could register in her mind was the proximity between Matsuri's fingers, her crotch, and Matsuri's head. Harumi couldn't believe that she actually placed herself in this triangle of dangerous sexual parts. Matsuri's sexual parts, no less.
"No?" Mei asks, impatience in her beautiful features.
"No, I meant yes. We are going to my house to have a study session." Harumi says slowly, concentrating on making complete sentences that will satisfy the student council president. The fingers on her right leg disappear, and then she feels Matsuri's other hand tracing a line up her left calf, but at a slightly faster speed this time. She curses Matsuri in her mind as her breath starts to hitch.
Mei nods curtly and says, "All right. Please tell Yuzu to come home in time for dinner." With that, she turns around and heads back towards the school building.
When the raven-haired girl is safely out of sight, Harumin reaches down to grab Matsuri by the collar and hauls her to her feet and brings them face to face. She resists the urge to shake her by the neck. "Matsuri. You little shit. I saved you from getting found out by the Prez. You know she would have ripped you a new one if she found you here again. Why the hell were you feeling up my leg, you little pervert!"
To Harumi's chagrin, Matsuri was just looking up at her sweetly and not even trying to shake off her hold on her collar. The younger girl looked like she was perfectly content to just stand there and let Harumi lay into her. Harumi made a sound of exasperation and released the girl.
"If you pull something like that again, I'm going to kick your ass, Matsuri."
"I can't wait, Taniguchi-senpai."
Harumi glares at Matsuri for several seconds, turns on her heel, snatches her bag from the floor and walks away.
Standing alone in the gazebo, Matsuri uses her thumb to unlock the screen and tap on the photo app. She stares at the photo she took a couple of minutes ago for a few seconds. She smiles happily to herself before tapping on the Trash icon. With the photo deleted, she pockets her phone and runs after Harumin saying, "Wait up Taniguchi-senpai! Let's go get some crepes!"