Prompt: breathe
Pairing: Hikari/Manaka
"Hii-kun, stay still!" huffs Manaka, adjusting his tie. Hikari pulls at his collar, gaze sliding away from her, his mouth puckered in a frown.
From farther off, they hear Sayu's disgruntled "What's with you?" and Kaname's airy laugh.
Hikari's fingers wrap around hers, pulling her hand away. "It's fine, Manaka."
"Oh, all right." She sighs and settles back onto the balls of her feet, scooping up her bag from the ground. Kaname and Sayu catch up from behind, Miuna passing them all, her sneakers slapping against the ground.
"What's the hurry?" complains Hikari.
Miuna laughs. "Come on, slowpokes!"
"Miuna-chan, wait!" Manaka starts to follow, but Hikari and Miuna have already raced far ahead.
From her shoulder, Kaname speaks. "You two are still the same, huh."
Manaka blinks, startled, and looks towards him—Sayu is off to the side, pretending not to be listening. "What do you mean?"
"You and Hikari. I mean, you'd think that with everything that's happened…" Kaname closes his eyes and shakes his head, sighing good-naturedly. "But some things never change, do they?"
Manaka tilts her head, considering. It's true that things haven't progressed much between her and Hikari—through no fault of their own, but simply because their feelings for each other have always been an unspoken truth. Loving Hikari is like breathing, so natural she forgets about it, sometimes.
"What should I do?" she suddenly worries, hands coming up to cover her cheeks.
Kaname chuckles. Up ahead, Hikari has bent over, panting, stopping to look over his shoulder at them.
"Nothing," Kaname smiles knowingly. "You don't have to do anything."
o.O.o
Manaka decides not to take his advice. In the hallways before they part to go to their respective classes, she grabs Hikari's hand, sandwiching it between her palms. Hikari goes red immediately, a confused and panicked expression crossing his face.
"M-Manaka?"
"Have a nice day, Hii-kun!" she wishes, bouncing forward on her toes towards him. She plants a quick kiss on his cheek without thinking much of it, because Akari does it all the time.
Hikari makes a small, flustered sound in the back of his throat. It reminds her, for some reason, of a pufferfish right before it inflates. She giggles.
"What's with you today?" he grumbles, rubbing his cheek.
"You held your breath."
"Did not!"
"Did too!" sings Manaka, and goes on her merry way.
A/N: I just imagine these two being adorable dorks and Manaka initiating everything because she's so affectionate and innocent and Hikari is awkward and doesn't know what to do and pretends not to like it but secretly he's rejoicing XD