Disclaimer: Great album, go buy it. If you understand that joke you have great taste in music, if not – better luck next time ;) Seriously, I still don't own it, probably never will. Hopefully the length of this chapter will tame the angry beasts within you dear readers, but if not I can always offer internal organs as penance. Special shout out to HipsInc, who has the honour of being my first anonymous reviewer! Thank you for taking the time to comment; it was greatly appreciated. And as always Tim Tams and coffee for the reviewers who consistently leave comments after each post. You guys are incredible. If you like it, or think something could do with a bit of work, drop me a review. Feedback is my ambrosia.

EPIPHANY – Chapter IV

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So hold on,
Don't you dare to be scared,
A dream is just a truth or dare.

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Rokujou Miyuki paused for the briefest of seconds before knocking on the solid dormitory door.

Beyond it lay the only person she knew who could consistently throw her off balance, test her formidable patience and exasperate her like no other. Her one-time roommate and the only person she could call a true friend: Hanazono Shizuma. The silver-haired girl had been a pillar of support for her in their first-year at the dorms when she had been riddled with homesickness. She'd even come to find her when she left their dorm room to cry somewhere quiet, and had let her share her bed, that one last time, to help her calm down.

When rumours of her nightly escapades finally started spreading through the Strawberry Dorms, Shizuma had protected her secret, casually providing her with an alibi before suspicion could be rounded on her. It was that small action, and Shizuma's continuing support, that had allowed Miyuki to finally overcome her crippling homesickness.

A soft reply sounded from the other side of the door, and Miyuki slid her hand down to the doorknob, turning it and entering the modest room.

Shizuma was sitting at her desk staring out of the window, her textbooks scattered messily around her. Knowing Shizuma, those books had probably been sitting there since the exam period.

"What do you want, Miyuki?" Shizuma's soft voice enquired, her head still turned to look out the window.

She noted the thinly veiled hint of annoyance in the other girl's voice and tried to ignore how much it still hurt. Her emotionless disregard still cut deeply – whether Shizuma intended it or not.

"Well that's nice," she said nonchalantly as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door. "Why do you naturally assume that I want something from you?"

She watched as Shizuma's head turned slightly before shifting back to stare out of the window.

"Because you always do."

Miyuki sighed and pushed away from the door, walking slowly towards her silver-haired friend. When she reached the girl's unmade bed, she sat herself down on the edge in an effort to get Shizuma to at least acknowledge her presence. It seemed to work, as she turned in her chair and stared back at Miyuki, her face an impassive mask.

Miyuki really hated that expression.

She crossed her arms across her chest, returning Shizuma's emotionless stare unflinchingly. "Actually I came to give you some news, about exam results."

Shizuma raised an eyebrow. "I've already checked them, Miyuki. I passed." She said, pausing briefly. "Don't tell me you failed," she added with the slightest uplift of her mouth.

Miyuki snorted lightly in a mixture of amusement and surprise and dropped her defensive posture – putting her hands on the bed behind her and leaning back as she supported her weight on her arms.

"Not likely. Can you imagine what Sister Hamasaka would do if Miator's Student Council President failed her exams?"

This time Shizuma smiled genuinely – obviously amused at the images that particular scenario evoked. There was no love lost between Miator's head sister and the current Etoile. Shizuma had spent far too much time in the sister's office for either party's liking for her to ever have a particularly warm relationship with the aging head of the school. Not that Sister Hamasaka ever 'warmed up' to anyone, really. The only person she was even remotely civil to was Miyuki herself.

From beneath lidded eyes, Miyuki noticed Shizuma relax her posture as she lowered her head lazily into her open palm, and felt herself relax more as a result. Today looked like it was going to be a good day – Shizuma was actually in the mood to socialise.

"I'm sure she'd pat you on the back and say: 'Better luck next time'," the Shizuma commented lightly, and Miyuki allowed herself a small chuckle.

"I wouldn't bet on that," she replied wryly.

They shared a moment in comfortable silence before the silver-haired girl finally broke the peaceful atmosphere.

"So what was it that you wanted to tell me?" she asked a little more warmly.

Miyuki shifted on the bed, adjusting her bodyweight so that it was supported mostly on one arm. With her now free hand she swiped away the errant strand of hair that was hanging in her eye.

"It's about the fourth years' exam results…" she started cautiously, watching Shizuma for a reaction.

It was subtle, but her eyes widened a fraction and flicked up to meet Miyuki's calculating gaze curiously. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the interest was gone, replaced by that damnable apathetic expression.

Miyuki suppressed a sigh of irritation.

"…I wasn't sure if she'd been by to tell you herself yet, but by the looks of things, she hasn't."

Miyuki knew she was being unnecessarily vague, but she was almost sure Shizuma would follow the line of conversation. Then again, it would be like Shizuma to play dumb.

"Would you like me to tell you how she went?" she pressed.

Shizuma closed her eyes, as though considering the request.

"If she wants me to know, she'll tell me herself."

Miyuki studied the silver-haired girl's profile with concern. Shizuma showing an interest in other girls was not an uncommon thing. Indeed, she had more than exploited her position both as Etoile and as one of the school's most attractive girls to flirt and toy with some of the other students. But, while problematic in itself, Miyuki knew that Shizuma's behaviour was relatively harmless, and that her interest would wane in each of her 'victims' before anything really serious could happen.

The simple fact that she had remained interested in one girl for an extended period of time, and had gone out of her way to help her prepare for exams was troubling. It didn't fit with Shizuma's normal pattern of behaviour. And while they didn't seem to be more than friends at this stage, Shizuma's reluctance to even acknowledge the girl as such was ringing alarm bells in Miyuki's head.

She only wished she knew Shizuma's intentions; the last thing she wanted was to see the poor girl hurt because of her friend's inherent ignorance and penchant for selfishness.

Miyuki sighed as she rose to her feet, the sound of rustling fabric causing Shizuma's eyes to open and track her lazily.

"In any case, I don't think you'll have to wait too long to find out. I'm sure Nagisa-san will want to thank you—irrespective of her results."

There, her name was finally out there, but this time there was no reaction from her closest friend. She supposed it was to be expected, this was how many of their interactions had progressed recently. She would ask questions, Shizuma would provide an evasive answer, and she would end up with very little idea of what was going on behind those golden eyes.

Then again, Shizuma always was full of surprises.

"You're leaving?" Shizuma queried, lifting her head from its resting place on her bent arm.

"I have some council duties to attend to," she said as she walked to the door. As her hand closed around the doorknob, she turned back to face her former roommate, stifling a grin. "Oh, and I believe the Sister requires your presence."

Shizuma glanced at her quizzically, suspicion slowly spreading on her face.

"Sister Hamasaka? Why?"

"A few families are touring through the campus today and since I have Student Council duties, I told the Sister that you'd take my place."

To Shizuma's credit, and perhaps a testament to her acting abilities, her expression remained unchanged, except for maybe a slight narrowing at the eyes.

To bleed away a little of Shizuma's annoyance, Miyuki added: "If you do this, I'll forget about all the times I've had to cover for you over the past year. Providing you fulfil your duties as Etoile properly in the future."

"I knew you wanted something from me," Shizuma said in exasperated amusement.

Miyuki gave her a soft smile. "I just didn't want to disrupt the status quo," she said evenly. "Who would control your life if not for me?"

They shared a smile for a few timeless seconds before Miyuki turned her back and opened the door, pausing as she passed under the frame.

"I might drop by later this afternoon to see how it all went," she said, purposely leaving the meaning of her sentence ambiguous. Shizuma was obviously reticent to talk about Nagisa, and Miyuki just couldn't bring herself to question her any further on the subject. It would only make her uncomfortable, and Shizuma less inclined to open up of her own accord.

Besides, Shizuma always had always been the master of one-on-one confrontations, and she didn't particularly feel like losing a fight today. She also didn't feel like setting fire to Shizuma's rather short fuse.

Not many people knew that Shizuma had a temper, which was probably a good thing. Miyuki herself had only been subject to it once: when she had confronted Shizuma about the nature of the relationship between her and their frail room temp. In hindsight she had gone about it completely the wrong way, going so far as to accuse the silver-haired girl of preying on the younger girl's weakness.

Unsurprisingly, Shizuma had reacted badly and let fly. They didn't speak to one another for three weeks after that: Miyuki even moving herself out of their shared room until they'd reconciled.

That was the problem with having a best friend: they knew too much about you. So if the relationship turned sour, they knew just where to hit to cause maximum damage. Shizuma had proven herself rather adept at that particular skill, which was part of what made her a formidable sparring partner – she could pick up on the tiniest nuance and exploit it before her victim knew what was happening.

Besides, the last thing she wanted was to stir Shizuma up regarding her relationship with the fourth year. Knowing her friend, Shizuma would pursue Nagisa much more aggressively if she were warned against it. Miyuki feared for Nagisa's emotional well-being when Shizuma finally moved on to the next girl – as she always did.

After not hearing a response from Shizuma for a while, Miyuki turned her head to glance at the girl. Maybe she'd been too nosy after all…

But her fears were set to rest when she saw Shizuma smile and nod, causing warmth to blossom in her chest. Maybe there's still some of my friend left in there, she thought, as she shut the door gently and rested back against its cool surface. It was true that she had been seeing more and more of her friend of old lately. Somehow she got the feeling she knew why.

An image of Shizuma walking hand-in-hand with Nagisa flashed through her mind and she felt her good mood disappear.

"Nagisa-san, huh?" she mused, pushing off the door and making her way towards the council room.

As distasteful as it was, her only course of action at present was to wait and let things play out naturally; she just hoped no-one would get hurt in the process.

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"Come on, Nagisa-chan. Let's go have a look at our exam results," Tamao said, her voice slightly muffled as she called through the thick bathroom door.

Nagisa's hands clenched around the cool ceramic of the sink as her stomach tried to tie itself in knots. The day she had been dreading was finally here: exam results were released, and she would find out whether she would have to take catch-up classes over the summer break to avoid repeating the year.

She took a deep breath, and tried to calm her mind, which only served to make the churning in her stomach more pronounced.

She knew her worrying was senseless – her marks had been decided on the day of the exams – yet here she was making herself sick to the stomach just to go and see a few numbers on a piece of paper. I'm being so stupid, she thought, turning on the cold tap and splashing some water on her face. It didn't help much, but it was cold and shocking enough to distract her as she covered the distance between sink and bathroom door.

When she opened the door, she was met with Tamao's concerned expression, which only seemed to worsen when she gave her friend a shaky smile.

"Nagisa-chan—" her friend started hesitantly. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

Nagisa swallowed heavily as her stomach gave another uncomfortable twist, but pushed it to the back of her mind.

"I'm fine Tamao-chan, just a little nervous," she said as she held a hand protectively over her stomach. "I don't know what I'll do if I've failed." She paused as a thought came to mind. "Actually scratch that— I don't know what my parents will do if I've failed. Considering how much they're paying for me to be here I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled me out and sent me to one of the public high schools."

Tamao's eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief.

"Surely they wouldn't!"

Nagisa shrugged and collected her keys from the shelf above her bed, looping the lanyard over her neck and stuffing the cool metal down her shirt. She cringed a little as the cold brass of the key struck the skin on her stomach.

"I really don't know what they'd do. Either way I don't think it would mean anything good for me," she remarked casually, as she adjusted the lanyard's strap around her neck.

This seemed to disturb her roommate, who shook her head vehemently.

"No! We can't let them. I wont let them take you away from me," she said, latching onto Nagisa's arm. "If it comes to that, I'll fight tooth and nail to keep you here!"

Nagisa started a little at Tamao's outburst, but soon her surprise was replaced with a warm smile on hearing the intensity in her friend's words. She could always count on the blue-haired girl to fight for her, whether she wanted her to or not.

"Why don't we worry about that after we go and see the results? There's no point in working ourselves up until we find out," she said, more to herself than to her roommate.

Tamao nodded hesitantly, obviously still worried over Nagisa's earlier admission.

Nagisa caught sight of her concerned expression and mentally berated herself for projecting her fears on her empathetic roommate.

"Right! Let's go!" she said, sliding her arm out of Tamao's grip to catch her hand in her own. When her fingers closed around the other girl's she could almost swear she felt Tamao flinch. My hands must be still cold from the water, she mused as she dragged the slightly taller girl out of their room. Certainly, Tamao's hands were much warmer than her own. Soft too.

Tamao seemed a little shell-shocked, and didn't speak until they were already halfway down the corridor.

"Nagisa-chan, I know that you're all energised now," she started a bit hesitantly. "But don't you think we should at least lock our door before we go?"

Nagisa stopped and slowly turned to face her best friend, an embarrassed smile slowly spreading on her face.

"Sorry, I think I got a little caught up in the heat of the moment."

Tamao chuckled softly as she tugged Nagisa back towards their room. "Never mind about that, it's just good to see you a little more optimistic about this. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, anyway."

When they reached the door, Nagisa dropped Tamao's hand, stuck it down the front of her shirt and grabbed the straps of her lanyard, wincing as the still-cold key once again made contact with her skin. When she had successfully retrieved her key, she turned back to face Tamao again, noticing the other girl averting her gaze with a faint tinge of pink dusting her cheeks. Uh, she thought as she evaluated her actions objectively. I guess sticking your hand down your top isn't really the most polite thing to do in public…

"Sorry, Tamao-chan, I'll just be a second," she said as she inserted the key into the lock and turned it. A soft 'snick' signalled the mechanism had engaged, and she tugged gently on the door to ensure that it had locked properly. Finally satisfied that their room was no longer at risk of being burgled, Nagisa turned back to her roommate. Luckily Tamao's embarrassment at her actions seemed to have died down, and now the blue-haired girl was simply smiling back at her.

Nagisa carefully replaced the key back around her neck, and let out a weary sigh as she turned to face the open corridor. Somewhere along the way she had lost the mysterious burst of energy that had filled her before, and now that she had nothing to occupy her mind, the sickening wave of apprehension resumed its attack on her insides.

Tamao seemed to notice her distress, and laid her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders from behind.

"Ready, Nagisa-chan?" she queried softly.

Nagisa shot a shaky smile over her shoulder. "Not really, no."

Tamao grinned and gave the diminutive redhead a gentle push in the back, forcing her to take a few steps forward to keep her balance.

"All right, all right. I'm going, I'm going," she said as she made her way down the corridor. "You know, you're really pushy sometimes, Tamao-chan."

Tamao chuckled and threaded her arm through Nagisa's own, tugging her gently forward. "I know. Now, let's get going. So we can finally put an end to your misery once and for all."

Nagisa groaned. "That's not really filling me with confidence, Tamao-chan!"

Tamao squeezed her arm tighter and laughed softly as she dragged Nagisa out of the Strawberry Dorms and towards the imposing stone building containing Miator's classrooms.

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Nagisa sighed as she looked at the crowds of girls gathered around the noticeboards. They had finally reached St Miator's school grounds only to be swamped by frantic girls chattering excitedly about their results. Well, not all of them. Nagisa did see a few who were being consoled by their friends, not quite crying, but not far from it if her eyes were to be believed.

Her insides gave another uncomfortable lurch, and she fought the urge to turn tail and run from the noticeboard. The 'fight or flight' response, her brain supplied. At least now I can put a name to it, she mused, reflecting on the subject material covered in the biology stream of their science class. Well, I should have done alright in that subject at least… but if I'm going to fail one, it's going to be stupid French

She felt a gentle squeeze on her arm, and looked up into Tamao's concerned face. Her best friend had been looking at her like that a lot recently, which made Nagisa feel slightly ashamed of herself; she really shouldn't make Tamao-chan worry like that. Her best friend was sometimes really just too caring for her own good.

Nagisa swallowed, took a deep breath and slid her hand into the blue-haired girl's for emotional support.

"Okay. Let's do this," she said, in a slightly shaky voice.

Tamao remained strangely quiet as she was lead through the mass of bodies blocking their way to the board, all the while ensuring that she didn't lose her grip on Nagisa hand. Navigating through the crowd wasn't particularly easy given Nagisa's lack of height, and while she wasn't tiny, she was a bit shorter than a lot of girls her age, which meant she couldn't force openings amongst the crowd if she wanted to.

One of her taller classmates turned suddenly, and Nagisa held back a pained grunt as an elbow was driven into the side of her breast. There's also that, she thought ruefully as she used the upper part of her arm to brace her injured body part. Being short also put her at elbow level to her other companions – a fact she had experienced far more often than she would have liked.

Men often complained about the exquisite pain of being kicked in the groin, but people often underestimated how much a well-placed elbow to the breast could sting – especially if delivered with enough speed.

From behind her, she heard Tamao let out a muffled giggle and turned her head to shoot daggers at her best friend. At least she had the good grace to look apologetic. Talk about kicking a girl when she's down, she thought miserably, as the intense burning faded into a dull ache. That was the problem with being elbowed when in a crowded place: it was impossible to just massage the pain away. Well, it was possible… but it would probably draw some very strange looks.

When she was finally able to concentrate on something other than the pain radiating from her chest wall, she tugged on Tamao's hand and made her way a little more forcefully through the crowd. Hopefully if she made enough noise, people would be more mindful when they decided to turn suddenly.

When they finally reached the front of the crowd, Nagisa got hit with another dose of adrenaline – causing her heart to race and her stomach to do gymnastics. She felt Tamao's arm brush her own as she drew up alongside her and she silently thanked Tamao for her show of support.

Her eyes scanned the list, searching for her name amongst her classmates. After a few fruitless seconds of searching, Tamao gently bumped her arm.

"There, Nagisa-chan!" she said, pointing to a small series of symbols at the top the list.

Nagisa followed the line of her finger, heart hammering in her chest as her eyes settled on the familiar kanji of her family name. She read down the list of subjects:

蒼井渚砂

(Aoi Nagisa)

Japanese: 90

English: 82

Mathematics: 71

Social Studies: 85

Science: 80

French: 64

Nagisa blinked as she took in the results. According to those percentages she had gotten an A, B, C, B, B and a C. All of them were passing grades, even in her much-loathed French. She could vaguely hear Tamao-chan's excited murmurings beside her, but it was all just background noise as she processed everything: She wouldn't have to take catch-up classes over summer; her parents wouldn't have to wonder why they were paying an arm and a leg to send her to a prestigious school; she'd get to go to summer school with everyone else; Tamao-chan wouldn't be riddled with guilt over Nagisa's failing and she wouldn't have let Shizuma-sama fall into disgrace because of her.

She felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards, and let out a surprised laugh as she all but tackled Tamao-chan in front of the noticeboards.

"I passed, Tamao-chan," she cried triumphantly, throwing her arms around her blue-haired roommate's back. Only too late did she remember about the bruising jab she'd received, and cringed as her injured chest ended up crushed up against her friend's. Tamao didn't seem to notice her discomfort, and tightened her hold as she laughed with relief. Once again, Nagisa put her contortion tricks to the test as she attempted to pull back without offending her jubilant roommate.

When they finally separated, Tamao led Nagisa out of the crush of students, towards a small clearing near the far wall.

"Ah, Tamao-chan, how did you go?"

"Sorry?"

Nagisa looked at her roommate strangely. "Your results, how did you go?"

Tamao's eyebrows shot up, and she glanced toward the noticeboards. "Hmm, I wonder," she mused.

"Eh!? You didn't check?" Nagisa cried, staring at her roommate incredulously.

"Not yet. I was so worried about how you'd gone that I didn't really think to check my own," she said idly.

Nagisa didn't know whether to roll her eyes in exasperation or hug her roommate for her selflessness. Tamao-chan was always putting her well being before her own, and while extremely touching, it concerned her greatly. It seemed as though a lot of Tamao-chan's happiness hinged on her state of being rather than Tamao-chan's own desires.

They quickly made their way back into the throng, Nagisa crossing her arms over her chest to protect it from any more flying appendages, and stopped at the fourth years' noticeboard.

Her eyes scanned the list of names, finding Tamao's further down the list. As she read over them, she felt jealousy burn in the pit of her stomach. It really wasn't fair.

涼水玉青

(Suzumi Tamao)

Japanese: 96

English: 90

Mathematics: 84

Social Studies: 91

Science: 91

French: 87

"A, A, B, A, A, B" intoned Nagisa as she interpreted her best friend's grades. She turned to the taller girl, a playful expression on her face. "You're just too smart, you know that."

Tamao smiled shyly.

"She's right you know," came a familiar voice.

Making their way through the mass of students were Mizushima Noriko and Takemura Chihaya – the two girls next door to them in the Dorms. "You'll go making people jealous if you keep that up," said Mizushima, the taller and more athletic of the pair.

Tamao and Nagisa chuckled as the pair drew up alongside them.

"Were you both happy with your results?" asked the ever polite Tamao-chan.

Nagisa knew that some people were a bit defensive when it came to their results, so phrasing the question that way allowed them to reveal as much or as little as they'd like to. She sighed internally; she would never hope to be as refined as Tamao-chan when it came to matters like these.

Mizushima shrugged, a bored expression on her face.

"I did enough to pass. I'm happy enough with that," she said easily.

Her shorter roommate seemed to be annoyed by that answer, and a light frown caused her eyebrows to dip.

"Well, if you only spent less time sleeping, and more time studying, you'd do a little better on your exams," she commented.

Mizushima frowned when she heard her roommate's remark and whirled on her angrily.

"I don't care about exams, Chihaya. Neither do my parents. So I don't see why I should bust a gut when I don't have to."

Nagisa sighed, and decided to cut the argument off before it could progress to anything more sinister. Even now, they were starting to get some strange looks from the girls around them as well as a few frustrated ones from those still trying to see their own names on the list.

"Um, why don't we go back to our room and have some tea to celebrate?" she suggested.

Tamao seemed to pick up on her train of thought, and eagerly jumped in. "Good idea. My family just sent me a hamper with some red and white tea; why don't we go back and try some?"

Their tactic seemed to have worked, as the other girls had stopped mid-sentence and smiles slowly spread across both their faces.

"Sounds great," said Chihaya. "I have some pastries that are dying to be eaten back in my room. I'll bring them over so we can celebrate properly."

Nagisa let out a relieved sigh, and saw Tamao-chan do the same thing in her peripheral vision. Once those two got going it was often difficult to stop them; they were just lucky they had been able to stem the flow when it was at a trickle, rather than the gushing torrent it could become if given enough time and the 'right' words.

Nagisa stuck close behind Mizushima as they made their way out of the sea of students, using her height to shield her from any further flailing limbs. As they made their way into a clear patch of corridor, she scanned the crowd at the far end of the corridor, where the sixth year homerooms were, hoping to catch a glimpse of silver in the sea of students. She let out a small sigh of disappointment when she failed to locate Shizuma-sama among the other students. Not surprising, I guess, she thought as she wandered out of the school building with her classmates. She'd probably be swamped if she came here now.

Even though she'd rationalised it all out, she couldn't help but feel as though her elation at having passed all her exams was diminished somewhat by not being able to share it with her tutor.

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Nagisa sighed in irritation as she walked along the path back from the greenhouse.

It was starting to get dark, and her search had so far failed to locate Shizuma-sama at any of her usual haunts. She had tried her bedroom, the greenhouse, the lake foreshore and even the clearing in the forest, but she had yet to catch a glimpse of the silver-haired girl. If there was one thing Shizuma-sama was good at, it was preventing herself from being found. Even Rokujou-san's search parties failed to locate the elusive Etoile when she decided she didn't want to attend a meeting.

Someone should really put a tracking device on her, Nagisa mused as she hugged Shizuma's present to her chest.

Their celebratory party with the girls next door had continued well into the afternoon, with Chiyo and the girls from Spica dropping by to congratulate them all on their results. One cup of tea very quickly turned into two, then three, and before they all knew it the sun was starting to set. When Nagisa had finally excused herself, citing errands to be run, Yaya had glanced at her slyly before giving her a thumbs up. Nagisa, of course, had blushed brilliantly before slipping out with her hidden package.

She wasn't so much hiding things from her friends as she was… selectively informing them of certain matters. The last thing she wanted was having more people jump to the wrong conclusion – like Yaya-chan had. She didn't think Shizuma-sama would really appreciate the extra attention either.

As she rounded a corner on the sandy path she was momentarily blinded by the setting sun shining through the gaps in the trees. Cursing her lack of foresight in bringing a pair of sunglasses, Nagisa flung an arm over her eyes to protect them from the sunlight. Thankfully, the gates of the Strawberry Dorms appeared just in her line of vision, which would mean her eyes would soon get a reprieve. The ancient three-story building should cast a large shadow over the grounds, effectively blocking the setting sun from Nagisa's line of sight. She picked up her pace and hurried along the path, squinting as she passed through the gates.

She had really hoped that she would have already found Shizuma-sama by now, so she could return to her room and give Tamao-chan her present, but it seemed that luck was just not on her side today. It wasn't a big deal anyway, she could just wait to give it to Shizuma-sama tomorrow. Which might actually be a good idea, she thought as she finally passed beneath the buildings shadow. I'm not sure I can act normally around her after… she cut off that train of thought before she ended up distracting herself. In any case, maybe it would be better to take some time and reflect on things before I encounter her again.

Nagisa waved to a group of girls sitting out on the grass, watching as they got up and shifted as the shadows invaded their sunbaking space. There were still a few residents wandering the dorms, but Nagisa had expected a few more out unwinding as the stressful exam period finally came to a close. Maybe they're having early nights to make up for pulling all-nighters during exams. She opened the big double doors leading to the Dorm's main hallway, holding it open as a group of young Lulim students approached. Sounds nice actually, she thought, picturing her comfy bed and pillow.

Because she had been so anxious about results she had tossed and turned most of the night – her insomniac roommate even beating her to sleep. She had purposely not looked at the clock then, to avoid a further sink into misery.

She had just turned to head up the wooden stairwell when a familiar melody drifted past her ears. It was only faint, but she was nearly positive she knew where it would be coming from. As she walked down the corridor housing the fifth and sixth years single dorms, she became more and more convinced about the origin of the music. It was Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata': the same melancholic piece of piano that she had first heard Shizuma-sama play on the day they had really started their fledgling friendship. She was almost certain that if she stopped outside of Shizuma-sama's room she would hear the melody floating out from underneath the door.

Her stomach tightened a little in anticipation as she reached the wooden door she knew to be Shizuma-sama's, the little gold 'Étoile' plaque glinting in the fading sunlight from its position mounted on the door front.

Nagisa took in a steadying breath and raised a hand, rapping lightly on the solid maple door. The music continued to float out from underneath the door, but she could hear no response to her knock. Gathering her resolve, she balled her hand into a fist and knocked a little more forcefully, this time with better results. The music suddenly got softer, and she heard a faint and muffled, 'come in' issue from the other side of the thick door.

Suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous, Nagisa slid her hand to the doorknob and turned it gently, pushing open the heavy door only enough to permit her body through. Only when the heavy door stopped swinging on its hinges did she look up.

The first thing that struck her was the surprising size of the room; it was about the same size as the double rooms on the second floor, but without the extra bed the room seemed positively cavernous. The bed was the next thing she noticed. The double rooms didn't have the room to fit large beds into them, so Nagisa had been forced to readjust to the king singles that came standard in the shared rooms. The fifth and sixth years obviously didn't have that problem as luxurious-looking double beds stretched from wall to window.

Envy coiled in her stomach as she thought rather morosely of her double bed back home – now packed up in storage somewhere.

Her gaze quickly flitted from the bed to the occupant of the room, sitting at her desk with her face turned towards the window. Her head rested lazily in her left palm, while the right drummed out what Nagisa assumed to be the right-hand part of the piano piece against the desk's surface. Fingers stretched out over imaginary keys, and small muscles in Shizuma's forearm relaxed and contracted lithely as the music progressed.

The dying sunlight cast a reddish haze through the windows, giving the objects in the room an almost ethereal glow, as it did with the room's owner. Shizuma's silver hair fell around her in careless waves, reflecting the golden light. Nagisa found it impossible not to draw parallels between the vision of the sparkling lake she had seen earlier and this. She stopped that thought in its tracks as blood began to rush to her cheeks; trying to convince herself that she was simply objectively marvelling at a display of visual beauty, not at the girl herself.

She tore her gaze away from the silver-haired girl and settled it on the present cradled in her hands. Wasn't part of the reason she'd decided to come here today to figure out her feelings for the older girl?

Denial had made it a little easier to interact with Shizuma-sama in the past, but now it was only causing her confusion and grief. Besides, Tamao-chan always said that it is better to understand what you're up against before you act, and now she was going to try to make sure Tamao-chan's wisdom didn't go to waste.

Her grip tightened on the present as she debated on the best way to alert the other girl to her presence. Somehow it didn't feel right watching Shizuma-sama while she was so absorbed in her music, but surely she must have heard her come in? She opened her mouth to offer a greeting, but was beaten by the honeyed voice of her companion.

"You're early, Miyuki."

Shizuma's hand stopped motion on the desk and she swivelled around in her chair.

"I thought you—" she exclaimed, as she caught sight of her visitor for the first time. "Nagisa-chan?"

Nagisa bowed deeply, hiding behind the screen of her hair as she fought to compose herself; so far this meeting wasn't exactly going to plan.

"I'm sorry, I should have announced myself properly… I didn't mean—"

"It's fine," Shizuma interjected, waving off Nagisa's attempts at an apology. "Come in and have a seat," she said, indicating the bed opposite her.

Nagisa nodded uncertainly but closed the door behind her anyway, feeling her heart rate pick up a little when she heard the telltale 'snick' of the lock catching. The finality of that sound made her nervous for reasons beyond her understanding. Maybe she was just a little too on-edge today. Or maybe it was just the company... Yeah, it was definitely the company.

Now that she was fully inside, Nagisa was able to take in all of Shizuma-sama's room. It was everything she had expected it to be: simple but elegant. The neat shelves were dotted with the occasional framed photograph and small plants, giving the room personality. The only thing that looked out of place was the desk Shizuma was currently seated in front of.

Contrasted with the rest of the tidy room, the desk was rather messy, with open textbooks, notepads and pens lining the flat surface. Sitting on one of the shelves in the hutch, a small hi-fi system continued to issue the mellow notes of a new piano sonata. Just to the left of the desk, a small wastepaper basket was overflowing with screwed up paper and broken pens, and Nagisa felt herself smiling — it seemed even the much-admired Etoile-sama had her faults. One of which seemed to be a bit of a lazy streak.

"Your room is very nice Etoile-sama," she said finally, as she made her way across the room.

"Shizuma," the taller girl corrected.

Nagisa paused in her tracks. "Eh?"

"Call me Shizuma. I think we've known one another long enough for you to not address me by title."

Nagisa flushed, partly from pleasure, partly from embarrassment, but nodded her assent anyway. When she finally reached the desk, the taller girl stood, and Nagisa fidgeted with the present in her hands.

"Uh Shizuma-sama…" she started as she came to stand before the girl. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you did to prepare me for the French exam," she said, lifting the package gently towards the silver-haired girl.

Shizuma glanced down at Nagisa's hands, and then back up to smile at the shorter girl. "Is that for me?" she asked softly, causing a heavy weight to settle in Nagisa's stomach.

With those words, her mind was cast back to her dream of a few nights ago. Well, they were in a different location, at a different time and with a different set of results, but her mind didn't seem to care about such insignificant details, and injected another sizable dose of adrenaline into her bloodstream.

"Mmm," she managed to reply, buying some time to get her voice under control. "I don't know if you'll like it, but I couldn't think of what else to get you to show how grateful I am."

Shizuma took the item from Nagisa's hands.

"Thank you, but you really didn't have to," she said, setting the package down on the desk next to her. "Do you mind if I open it now?"

Nagisa looked a bit startled, but nodded, clasping her now empty hands together in front of her to stop them from fidgeting.

She had secretly hoped that the silver-haired girl would wait until she was gone to open the gift, so she wouldn't have to sit through this horrible ordeal. There was nothing worse than watching someone unwrap a present you thought they might dislike. Especially when you had put so much effort into choosing it.

Shizuma turned to the desk and began carefully unwrapping the present, taking care to carefully untie ribbons and undo tape rather than ripping into the glossy white paper.

It was only then, that Nagisa noticed that the elegant girl was without her famous grey shawl, leaving her upper arms mostly bare. Nagisa ran her eyes over them, watching as toned, lithe muscles danced under her skin as the older girl wrestled with the tightly bound package. It was no surprise really: Shizuma had no trouble keeping her from running away during their encounters, nor had she appeared particularly stressed when Nagisa had – oh so embarrassingly – collapsed into her arms months earlier.

She sighed mentally as that memory replayed itself in her head. I'm such an idiot, she thought morosely.

Shizuma turned to face her, and Nagisa jumped a little – snatching her eyes back from their resting place on the silver-haired girl's arms. Shizuma smiled indulgently as she addressed Nagisa, occasionally darting her eyes back to the present when she hit some resistance.

"So, are you going to tell me how you went?"

Nagisa blinked. "Huh?"

"Exams," Shizuma said simply.

Nagisa frowned. Hadn't she already mentioned that? After a quick search of her memory told her otherwise, she turned back to Shizuma, a pleased smile working its way onto her face.

"Oh, I passed!" she said jubilantly. "I got a 'C', but at least I won't have to take summer classes now."

Shizuma's hands paused on the present as Nagisa relayed her news, a smile creeping onto her face.

"A 'C'? That's very good. To be honest I didn't think you could do that well considering the situation," she said. "You should be very proud."

Nagisa couldn't stop the flush of pleasure that decorated her cheeks this time.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without your help," she said humbly. "If anything, it's a reflection on how good a teacher you are, Shizuma-sama. If you can get even me to pass..."

Shizuma didn't seem to appreciate that comment, frowning a little as she drew her hands back from the present and rested them on either side of the desk.

"Don't demean yourself," she said firmly, and Nagisa looked up in surprise. The taller girl held her gaze unflinchingly. "I spoke with Suzumi-san about your study habits before the exams. She told me how hard you were working." Her gaze softened. "If I'd known that earlier I would have made you slow down. You could have made yourself sick working like that."

Nagisa smiled and felt some of her apprehension sliding away; Shizuma-sama wasn't nearly as intimidating as she sometimes appeared. Well, she was, but that couldn't be helped really. It was hard not to feel unsettled around such an influential person.

"I was fine—I know my limits," she said simply, shifting her weight onto one hip. "I just hope I didn't disrupt your preparation."

"For exams?" Shizuma asked, turning her attention back to the present.

Nagisa nodded.

"Not at all. I even managed to keep Miyuki from topping all of our classes," Shizuma said with a slight smirk. "She hasn't yet managed to beat me in French, although I do have the unfair advantage," she conceded as she struggled with a particularly stubborn knot.

"How so?" Nagisa asked as she shifted her weight to the opposite hip.

Shizuma raised an eyebrow. "My parents moved us to France when I was little, and my Nanny was French – so I just picked it up from being around her. I'm told I was bilingual when I was younger, but that seems to have diminished a bit over the years—" She tugged a little more on the ribbon. "You really wrapped this tightly, didn't you?"

Nagisa took a moment to let that information sink in as she watched Shizuma search for something on her desk. "I'm sorry Nagisa-chan, but I'm going to have to cut this, otherwise we might be here all night."

Vaguely Nagisa felt herself nodding her approval, but her mind was elsewhere. Shizuma-sama was bilingual? Or had been at some point? She didn't know why, but she somehow got the feeling that the silver-haired girl didn't like sitting still for too long, and had always wondered how the notoriously flighty Etoile had managed to keep top of her class in the difficult subject. So that was it...

She dragged her attention back to the girl in front of her as she cut the final restraining piece of ribbon. That apprehensive feeling in her gut made itself known once more as the final piece of paper was pulled away from the present. Nagisa's gaze flicked up to the older girl's — studying her face for any sign of displeasure, but she found nothing other than pleasant surprise on her flawless features.

"This…" Shizuma started, her eyes darting up to catch Nagisa's own, "...looks delicious. Where did you get it from?" she asked as she rifled through various packages now lying exposed on the desk.

Nagisa breathed a sigh of relief, and felt her shoulders loosen up as the tension bled away from them. At least she doesn't hate my present, she thought happily. She took a step forward so that she could get a better look at the contents of the gift, bringing herself almost alongside her taller companion.

"Have you been to that little delicatessen along the coast?" she asked. "It's about halfway down and is tucked away behind a boutique?" Shizuma shook her head and Nagisa continued to explain. "They specialise in importing gourmet teas from all over the world. I'd never gone in there before, but I'd heard some of my parent's colleagues talking about it. I thought you might enjoy something like this," she finished a little uncertainly.

Shizuma smiled as she read some of the labels on the packets of loose tealeaves.

"These look delicious…" Shizuma paused as her fingers grazed across something hard. "Is that…" she said, lifting up a different coloured bag. "...Belgian chocolate? Did you get this from the same place?"

Nagisa smiled and nodded, ignoring Yaya-chan's voice twittering in the back of her head.

When she had opened up her bag to show the younger girl her purchases a few days ago, Yaya had immediately started laughing. "You got her chocolate?" she had asked incredulously. When Nagisa had indignantly demanded what was wrong with that, the taller girl had shook her head and swiped at her watery eyes. "You may as well have got her lingerie…" When she saw Nagisa's perplexed expression, she added: "You know chocolate's an aphrodisiac, right?"

She felt heat rising to her cheeks despite herself, and wrote a mental note to kill Yaya-chan next time she saw her.

Not long after she discovered that Shizuma was glancing at her strangely.

Probably trying to figure out why you blushed at a perfectly normal question, she thought to herself. She tried to will the blush away, but the more she tried, the more conscious she became of the other girl's eyes on her, and how close she was standing to Shizuma, and the fact that she could pick up the faint smell of lilac drifting from the silver-haired girl when she moved— all of which seemed to fuel her desire to flush.

"Would you stay and help me trial one of these?" Shizuma's voice interrupted, as she held up one of the sachets of tea leaves.

Nagisa smiled and nodded, hiding her pleasure at being asked to spend some more time with the school's idol. Actually that wasn't quite correct; she didn't want to spend more time with the school's idol, she wanted to spend more time with Shizuma-sama. She found herself wanting to know more about the girl that many people had heard rumours about, but who few people actually knew.

"Why don't you pick one out and meet me in the kitchen? I'll go put some water on," she said as she brushed past Nagisa.

Nagisa stood there a little dumbfounded. Kitchen!? She turned and watched as Shizuma opened and disappeared into a door on one side of the room. On the other lay a door almost completely identical to it. At least she knew what that one was for.

Pushing her questions aside for the moment, she carefully went through the hamper, searching for a tea she thought Shizuma-sama might enjoy. When her eyes finally landed on a small package of reddish leaves she smiled and grabbed it, walking to the door Shizuma had disappeared through. When she opened it, she found the silver-haired girl standing by a small bench, electric kettle humming softly as it started to heat up the water within.

The room was rather simple, but it was not the grandeur of the area that left her in awe, it was the simple fact that Shizuma-sama had her very own kitchen in her room. Well, kitchenette really, as there were no gas-powered cooking appliances. But then, that didn't really matter. The kitchenette had a small sink, microwave, bar fridge and a breakfast table that seated two; it was all anyone really needed for staying in the catered dorms.

Realising that she's been gaping, Nagisa shut her mouth and returned her gaze to the other occupant of the room.

"Do all fifth and sixth years have their own kitchens?" she asked in wonder.

Shizuma turned and leaned back on the bench, letting her arms rest on the edges, one on either side of her hips. She shook her head lightly.

"No, unfortunately. This is one of the perks of being Etoile," she said with a sigh. "And it's not my own; I share it with Miyuki," she said, nodding at the door on the opposite end of the room. "That door leads to her room." She paused, as she let Nagisa absorb that information. "Did you pick a tea for us to try?"

Nagisa looked at the small pack enclosed in her hand and nodded, slowly walking over to where Shizuma was resting.

"I think so. This is 'Rooibos Wild Cherry' tea," she said stumbling over the unfamiliar foreign word. The storeowner had pronounced it something like Roy-boss, but it still slid rather awkwardly off her tongue. "It's a tea from South Africa… have you ever tried it?" she asked, offering the small pack to the taller girl.

Shizuma studied the label, and then the leafy mixture inside. "No," she said finally, placing the packet down on the bench. "I'm looking forward to it though, it'll be interesting to see if you have better taste in tea than Miyuki."

Despite the nature of the remark, Nagisa could hear the warmth in the other girl's tone.

"You're really close aren't you?"

Shizuma turned her head and smiled indulgently.

"To Miyuki?"

Nagisa nodded.

"We shared the same room for four years and now we're in neighbouring rooms; I don't know what I would have done without her here," she said candidly.

Nagisa smiled. Shizuma-sama's words about Rokujou-san reminded her very much of her own feelings for Tamao-chan. It was impossible to imagine life at the Strawberry Dorms without her blue-haired roommate with her.

"So, I'm guessing you and Rokujou-san will share a room at Summer School, then?"

A dark expression crossed Shizuma's face, and Nagisa worried that she'd said something wrong.

"Shizuma-sama?"

The silver-haired girl met Nagisa's gaze and smiled back, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "No. Neither of us are going to Summer School. There is a lot of work that needs to be done before summer break that the Etoile must have completed, so Miyuki and I are staying here until it's done."

In the background, Nagisa vaguely heard the kettle make a clicking sound, signalling that the water was boiled, but she pushed that to the back of her mind. She was still getting over the shock of hearing Shizuma-sama say that she was not going to be attending the one event Nagisa has been looking forward to most during summer.

It almost made her feel guilty about going…

"The water's boiled," Shizuma said, and Nagisa couldn't help but feel as though her voice had become a little flat. "Could you come and give me a hand preparing this?"

Nagisa nodded and placed herself next to Shizuma in front of the bench, watching as the older girl stretched to get a small teapot from one of the cupboards above her head. It was remarkable how even something as mundane as getting a teapot out of a cupboard could look so graceful when completed by the older girl.

If she had to describe her movements at that time, she would liken them to a dancer's – lean, long and elegant. If Nagisa herself had attempted the same action, she was sure that she'd either drop both teacups and pot, or overbalance and smash face-first into the cabinets. It'd be a great way to make a good impression.

Soon Shizuma's head emerged from behind the cabinet door and she was passing down a small Japanese-style teapot and two European cups. Nagisa made sure to concentrate hard as she transferred the items from Shizuma's hands to a clear space of bench near the kettle. She heard the soft 'thump' of the cabinet door closing, and felt, more than saw, Shizuma walk around her back to her other side. That familiar scent of lilacs washed over her again as Shizuma walked by, Nagisa's shoulder lightly brushing Shizuma's arm when the older girl finally stopped moving.

The carelessness of the contact surprised her more than anything. Shizuma-sama obviously didn't seem to think anything of it, but it was driving her to distraction. It was as though her shoulder had suddenly sprouted thousands of extra receptors all sensitive to light touch, and all of them were screaming 'She's touching you' along her nerves.

Shizuma continued busying herself setting out the crockery, only pausing briefly to ask Nagisa to open the tea. She somehow managed to stutter out a 'Sure' and fumbled with the tape on the back of the sachet, getting increasingly frustrated with her jumpiness with each passing second. So Yaya-chan said that a girl can feel nervous around another girl that she respects without being attracted to her, right? So, I admire Shizuma-sama, and now I'm nervous; so I might have a bit of a crush on her.

Her fingernail caught the edge of the tape, and she triumphantly flicked it up, winning her battle against the stubborn plastic sachet. She deftly unfurled the excess layers of plastic and opened the top of the pack, revelling in the sweet scent that drifted up from the open packet. She sighed blissfully and closed her eyes as she inhaled the floral aroma from the now-opened top. If this tea tasted as good as it smelt, then they were in for a magnificent treat.

She felt Shizuma turn before she actually saw it, the skin on her shoulder re-awakening at the gentle pressure provided by Shizuma's body. There was a slight rustle of fabric, and Nagisa felt a warm hand gently grasp the wrist holding the sachet. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw Shizuma-sama smiling gently as she guided Nagisa's wrist and the sachet towards her face.

"Surely it can't be that good," the taller girl said jokingly, as she misinterpreted Nagisa's dumbstruck expression.

Nagisa was having trouble trying to deal with all the sensations assaulting her: the warm pressure of the silver-haired girl's hand around her arm; the excruciating closeness of their bodies and that pleasing floral scent drifting by her nose occasionally. Unbidden, she felt her heart-rate speed up again, steadily increasing in pace as her hand drew closer and closer to the girl's face. Her breathing hitched when she first felt the girl's breath on the sensitive skin of her wrist, and was sure that when Shizuma finally removed her hand from around her arm, she would be left with a burnt imprint in the shape of fingers.

Her nervous system had quite simply been set of fire; her body suddenly ultra-conscious of every single point of contact between her and the silver-haired girl before her.

Okay, so I don't think this comes under the heading of 'girl-crush', Nagisa thought as Shizuma dipped her head to smell the contents of the sachet, causing silver hair to fall around her face. She absently brushed it back with her free hand, but a few tendrils escaped, and danced across the sensitive skin on the inside of Nagisa's arm. Nagisa shivered at the feeling of it, idly wondering what that hair would feel like against her neck – whether her mind had painted an accurate picture of the sensation in her dreamworld.

Either Shizuma didn't notice the small tremor that had coursed through her arm, or chose not to mention it – Nagisa wasn't quite sure which.

Without meaning to, she found herself watching the silver-haired girl in fascination as she inhaled the scent of the tea, closing her eyes in rapture as she did. Nagisa trailed her eyes down Shizuma's face: from those thick dark lashes; over delicate high cheekbones; down the smooth, flawless cheeks to rest on lips that were pulled into a relaxed smile.

She had experienced the touch of those lips only once, despite their multiple encounters. The first day I met her, she mused as she thought back on it. Of course, shortly after she had fainted into the other girl's arms.

She wondered what she would have done if Shizuma-sama had tried to kiss her properly. The incident in the dining hall, the library, in front of Chihaya and the others in the dorm hall… all those incidents had been interrupted by something or another, so she wasn't quite sure how she would actually react. How would she react?

She vaguely noticed that those lips were now moving, changing shape as they formed words, and she reluctantly drew her eyes up to catch Shizuma's own.

"I stand corrected," the older girl said with some amusement as she lifted her head from the packet, but paused when she caught the serious look on Nagisa's face. Her eyebrows rose a little, and her eyes searched Nagisa's face, trying to decipher the inscrutable look the shorter girl was giving her.

Nagisa couldn't force her body to pull away. This wasn't like those times when Shizuma-sama had forced herself on her. Then she had been paralysed by shock, now she was being held there by something completely different. Something that burned deep in her abdomen, sending her into a heady lust-filled daze.

The silver-haired girl was still gazing curiously at her, her hand still gripping Nagisa's wrist gently – doing absolutely nothing to ease the burning sensations coursing underneath Nagisa's skin. Her gaze flicked briefly back down to Shizuma's lips, and she swallowed nervously, seeing comprehension dawn on the older girl's face.

Nagisa took in a shaky breath as Shizuma half-turned her body to face her, making sure to keep her eyes locked on the shorter girl's. Other than that small action, the tall, silver-haired girl remained relatively motionless, observing the girl in front of her carefully.

Almost unable to help herself, Nagisa let her eyes flick a few times between Shizuma's eyes and lips as she closed the distance between them. On instinct her tongue darted out to wet slightly parted lips as she pushed up onto her toes, bringing her free hand up to lightly grip the taller girl by the upper arm. Fortunately for her, Shizuma had been leaning over, so there wasn't too much of a height difference to overcome.

She hesitated briefly when her nose came within centimetres of Shizuma's own, feeling the other girl's warm breath puff against her lips; resuming her motion forward only when felt Shizuma tighten her grip around her wrist and tug gently.

She locked eyes with Shizuma one final time before flicking them back to her lips and tilting her head marginally, watching through half-lidded eyes as Shizuma mirrored her. Time seemed to pass with agonising slowness as they closed the last few centimetres between their lips, Nagisa letting her eyes fall shut as her lips brushed Shizuma's own in the lightest of touches. Her stomach twisted and her nerve endings set alight at the contact. Even though it was only a chaste kiss – nothing more than a gentle brush of the lips – Nagisa could feel her body respond, thrumming with pent-up energy as she drew back from their first kiss.

Surely she wasn't the only one to have felt that?

Nagisa's eyes opened and she was met with Shizuma's golden eyes gazing directly into her own; her breaths coming short and fast against Nagisa's cheek. That searing look ended any doubts she'd had about continuing on, and she quickly moved to deepen the kiss, starting to slide her hand up Shizuma's arm so that she could splay it against the back of the taller girl's neck. Shizuma obviously had similar intentions, as she moved to wrap her free arm around Nagisa's waist in order to close the unbearable distance between bodies and lips.

The sound of a door opening stopped them both in their tracks.

Nagisa had the misfortune of having her back facing the door, so she couldn't see the cause of the interruption, but she did see Shizuma whip her head up towards the noise, and felt her blood freeze in her veins when the silver-haired girl addressed the intruder with a soft, "Miyuki".

As though that word were a catalyst for movement, Nagisa found herself springing away from the taller girl, feeling almost ready to die of mortification. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be the Student Council president? Hadn't she embarrassed herself in front of Rokujou-san enough for one lifetime?

"Rokujou-san!" she exclaimed, bowing deeply to the blue-haired girl. When she straightened up, she took a quick glance at the older girl, noting the look of surprise imprinted on her face.

"Nagisa-san?" she questioned, incredulity lacing her tones.

Nagisa averted her gaze from Miyuki's, suddenly unable to look the older girl in the face. She knew she should really say something, but for the life of her she couldn't think what. What are you supposed to say when you're caught kissing someone's childhood friend in the middle of their kitchen? She was pretty sure that 'It's not what it look like' wouldn't work in this situation. Saying it would only sound patronising, and would probably only make things worse.

Uncomfortable silence stretched for a few agonising seconds and Nagisa fidgeted where she stood, silently wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. One glance at Shizuma showed the girl to be completely unaffected by Miyuki's sudden appearance.

"What did you want, Miyuki?"

Nagisa had to give credit to Rokujou-san; she had managed to compose herself very quickly, wiping her face free of surprise when she turned back to answer Shizuma.

"I told you earlier this morning that I was going to stop by to discuss something with you." She glanced significantly at Nagisa. "But I guess you forgot."

Nagisa said a silent prayer of thanks when she heard what Miyuki had said – as it provided her with the perfect excuse to flee.

"I'm sorry, I was interrupting something. I'll leave you both to it then," she said, bowing deeply once more to Miyuki before rounding on Shizuma. She caught the girl's golden eyes and felt her face burn in embarrassment.

"Thank you for the offer of tea, Shizuma-sama, but I'm afraid I'll have to take a raincheck." She bowed. "If you'll excuse me."

She turned on her heel and ran for the door leading back to Shizuma's room, ignoring the silver-haired girl's cry of "Nagisa!" as she disappeared through it.

She didn't stop running until she reached the dorm courtyard, completely out of breath. She dropped her hands to her knees and leaned over as she sucked in the cool dusk air, mind racing as she fought to catch her breath. When she'd finally stopped gasping for air, she shook her head in disbelief as she reflected on the events of the past half an hour.

What did I just do?