Chapter 2: In Full Detail
Chikaru perked up, pumped and determined to do her best at her first game of Truth or Dare.
"Dare!" Chikaru said. And, why would she choose anything else?
Everyone leaned in to hear Miyuki's challenge. Miyuki wasn't very adventurous or daring. She found such behavior to be illogical and otherwise disruptive to her purpose in life: to keep everything orderly. From across the room, Amane's face suggested that she also did not agree with dares. But, Chikaru was waiting with bated breath. Miyuki thoughtfully put a finger to her chin and looked around the room. Hmm, she thought, What's something that's not too ridiculous or dangerous? And then-
"Okay," Miyuki began, "Chikaru, pose like you would if you were an Etoile."
Chikaru chuckled, "Are you sure? Didn't we want to keep this PG13?"
With that, Yaya threw her head back and started laughing. Tsubomi was also amused. "This is going to be great!"
Now Miyuki was regretting her decision.
Chikaru stood up and promptly walked over to Shizuma's laptop. She scrolled through a list of music-to-stream and chose the cheesiest song she could find, then began performing what appeared to be a strip tease. She twirled her hips and began to untie the ribbon at the top of her cream-colored blouse.
"Okay, that's fine! You've completed the task!" Miyuki called out, waving her hands.
Chikaru ended the frivolous dance, but by now Yaya and Tsubomi were lying on their backs howling with laughter. Shizuma, who managed to keep her laughter hushed, was still giggling so hard behind her hand that her eyes were watering. Amane was looking away, embarrassed. Nagisa, Tamao, and Hikari all looked befuddled.
"Right!" Chikaru returned to her seated position on the floor and grabbed the empty Ramune bottle to give it a spin. The marble clattered around inside, keeping the girls in suspense, then it stopped, pointing closest to Nagisa.
Chikaru's eyes narrowed in sudden concentration. She rubbed her hands together. It was as if she was playing detective again for her Cosplay Club. If Nagisa chose Dare, she wanted to choose the best possible task for Nagisa to perform. And, if she chose Truth, she wanted to be sure to ask a question that would yield all the information she wanted. Nagisa blinked, not knowing what to expect.
"Nagisa, it has come to this!" Chikaru said dramatically, "Truth or Dare?"
Nagisa swallowed and looked around the room at her friends. The room was dark, and the only light visible came from the faint glow of the tiny lamp sitting on the low tea-table.
Nagisa cleared her throat. "Truth."
Chikaru was on the brink of squealing.
"Yes!" Chikaru's eyes darkened. "So, tell me, in full detail-on the night that you and Tamao-san accepted the invitation to run for Etoile, what did you do together to celebrate?"
The friends' eyes widened. Nagisa played with the hem of her dress.
Tsubomi interrupted "Oh! What a pervert you are, Chikaru-san!" Yet, she too was curious. Chikaru folded her arms in response, "And how is it perverted? How do you know they didn't just have a tea party? What are you imagining, Tsubomi?"
At this, Tsubomi shrunk back, picked up a small teapot and began to nervously swirl the loose tea leaves around.
Nagisa took a deep breath. "The answer-would be..."
Chikaru bit her finger in anticipation.
"...In full detail, huh?" Nagisa asked.
Chikaru nodded.
Nagisa spluttered, "Well-I mean-we did come back to our room, and we had tea and those little checkerboard cookies, and it was delicious. Then we got ready for bed by putting on our pajamas."
Shizuma looked relieved-so, that's all they did! Whew.
Chikaru tapped a finger on her cheek, deep in thought. She was trying to imagine some nice cosplay outfits for reenacting this scene.
Nagisa continued, trying to steady her voice. "Then-" she looked at Tamao-chan for help, but Tamao was looking down in an attempt to hide how red her face was. "-Then Tamao-chan put her arms around me from behind, and she kissed my ear-and, um, next she sat on my bed, then I sat in her lap and..." Nagisa began to talk faster, "...she fondled my...breasts, and we French-kissed for a long time. We went to sleep holding hands-"
From across the room, Nagisa could see Shizuma as fuming.
"-And nothing else!" Nagisa added quickly, catching her breath.
In that moment, Shizuma suddenly shot up from her sitting position on the bed and pointed angrily- "Suzumi Tamao! What is the meaning of this?!"
Tamao stood up just as quickly, and to everyone's surprise she shot back, "You told Nagisa-chan to forget about you, Shizuma-sama. You didn't want her anymore. Well, I did, and I still do!" Tamao took a couple brave steps toward Shizuma, "Nagisa needed someone who knew how to touch her—and not hurt her!"
With that, Shizuma started toward the dark-haired girl, but Miyuki grabbed her by the wrist. Likewise, Nagisa was tugging on Tamao's sleeve, urging her to sit back down. Chikaru was feeling a little guilty and looked sheepish. On the other hand, Tsubomi looked excited and ready to cheer on a fight. Yaya promptly smacked her on the back of the head- "Baka!"
Miyuki spoke up over the commotion, "I think that's enough Truth or Dare for one night!"
Taking Miyuki's cue, the girls began to gather their belongings and quietly filter out of the room.