"What happened to Sakura?" Nozaki's eyebrows raised slightly at the disheveled state his friend was in. His usually sleek scarlet mane was in disarray, his face red, mouth panting, and chest heaving. It was quite a sight, he noted amusedly.
"She, er, confessed to me. And she's pretty upset. She said she needed space for a while." His companion let out a knowing sigh. He understood the situation all too well, as Sakura had confided in him her concerns and fears. Perhaps it was better to have let her feelings loose than keeping them pent up.
"Naturally, she's upset. She had very strong feelings about you." Nozaki was surprised, something rarely seen. Mikorin had known Sakura liked him this whole time?
"If you had known that Sakura liked me, why didn't you mention it?" Mikoshiba shrugged.
"It wasn't my place to say. Anyway, getting back to Sakura, how do you want to move from here?" Nozaki's brow furrowed. He actually hadn't thought that far. Mikoshiba saw, and exhaled forcefully in exasperation. As brilliant as his friend was in his shoujo manga, he was ironically inexperenced in the ways of love. He valued both of his best friends' happiness, and Sakura obviously was not going to make another attempt at Nozaki's heart.
"I plan to give her some space, and reflect on what I did wrong, and how I can make Sakura cheerful again without implicating her. I want to be her friend again, so I want to give her time to heal. But ultimately, it's up to her if she wants to be friends. I don't want to force her into something she doesn't want."
"That's good. What are you going to do, though, if she doesn't want to be around you?"
"I...really have no idea. I know I said that I don't want to force her, but I also don't want her out of my life." Nozaki saw that he had said the right answer by the red-head's beaming grin.
"Don't give her up! How do you feel about Sakura?"
"I'm still not sure, but I don't want her to leave me. Life would be really lonely without her." Mikoshiba nodded.
"Wait for her to approach you. Then make your move."
"What if she doesn't come back?"
"She will. She cares about you."
"I'll wait then."