Well, this was a lot longer than 'less than a month', wasn't it? Sorry guys. To be fair, I actually have a good reason: I've developed osteoarthritis in addition to tendinitis, so I can't write as much as I'd like to anymore. I'm better at managing it now than I was at first though, so hopefully I'll be able to get back into things. Can't give any guarantees about update timing though, sorry.
Anyway, this chapter: Karin decides to go in for a kiss, but will she get Itsuki away from her ridiculously paranoid sister long enough to manage it? Only one way to find out.
Fuu glanced at her phone with a frown. 2045…Itsuki was late coming back from Karin's house again. This was the third time in as many weeks, and Fuu's suspicions were intensifying. Itsuki never came back late from her other friends house's and even more than that, she'd only started visiting Karin regularly after she'd received that love letter. There was only one explanation, Fuu thought to herself grimly. Itsuki had been lying to her. Itsuki wasn't going out to see Karin, she was going out to meet…'That Boy'. The blonde ground her teeth. The nerve of that creature, coming anywhere near her precious, angelic little sister after standing her up like he had. When she got her hands on him…
Her murderous train of thought was derailed by the sound of the door handle. Forcing her face into a neutral expression, she went to welcome her little sister home and subtly probe her for the truth.
"I'm home Onee-chan," Itsuki called out, kicking her shoes off in the doorway.
"Welcome back," Fuu said, "But what have I told you about being late? You've been late a lot just lately, are you doing something that's making you lose track of time?"
"Hm? Not really…sorry, I'll be more careful."
"So what do you do when you're at Karin's then? Just out of curiosity," Fuu said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall casually. "Is it just you two there? Any other 'friends' come over? You go out anywhere?"
"Huh…? It's just us, and we go the beach or udon shop sometimes but that's it…why?"
"Just wondering."
"O…kay…" Itsuki looked at her sister strangely.
"So what do you actually do there? You go over often enough that you must be having fun."
"Oh, um…"
'Hesitancy! She must be trying to make up something plausible!'
"Well, we usually watch at least one cute animal show…they're just so cute I could watch them all day…um, sometimes we help each other with our homework…and like I said, we go here and there sometimes…"
"Wait, do you wear a sweater and coat and scarf when you go out!? If you don't cover yourself up properly you could catch pneumonia and die!"
"Don't worry, I cover myself up properly," Itsuki replied placatingly.
"That's something at least…you're not going to the beach to train are you!? I strictly forbid it! You could hurt yourself!"
"No Onee-chan, I'm not training, I'm just watching Karin train. She likes to show off."
Well that was plausible at least, Fuu supposed. Karin was a jock at heart after all.
"Hmph…I guess that's okay then. But don't stand too close to her, she could misstep and hit you by accident!"
"Sure Onee-chan."
"So is that all you do there?" Fuu asked, remembering what she was supposed to be doing. "Just that? By yourselves?"
"Er…yes, that's pretty much it," Itsuki said nervously, slowly edging towards her room.
"I see. Well that's good for you two then, right!? It's really great that you're having so much fun!" Fuu gave her sister a wide smile, unnerving the poor girl even further. The smaller girl mumbled something and finally retreated to her room.
'That went well,' Fuu thought to herself. There was only one thing for it, she was convinced of that now. She'd have to go out with Itsuki when she was said she was going to Karin's, without saying so beforehand. It was the only way to be sure after all. She nodded to herself in satisfaction and went to read up on crime rates in the area. She didn't want Itsuki to be mugged after all.
"I'm telling you, she was acting really weird, much weirder than usual. I was going to tell her about us this week seen as it's been a month and all, but I think she might have it in for you…"
"Great…just when I thought I could win her over. What should we do?" Karin asked, fiddling with one of her dried sardines agitatedly.
"I'm not sure…Let's just act like we're still just friends for now so she doesn't do anything, um, rash, and I'll break the news to her gently when she's in a calmer mood."
"Rash, huh? You mean like break my arms and legs?"
"Ha…haha…" Itsuki kind of looked like she thought that was a plausible outcome, to Karin's dismay.
"Haah…if only I hadn't been such a wimp back then, this would all be over by now," Karin groused. She'd been chewing herself out over hurting Itsuki's feelings back then since the day it'd happened, Fuu being angry about it just made things ten times worse.
"You should really stop worrying about that, I told you I forgive you, right?" Itsuki said. "At any rate, I told her it was nothing more than a misunderstanding and she seemed to calm down after that. I don't know what set her off again, and I don't know why she'd be suspicious of you…"
"Who knows…like you said, she's pretty weird sometimes."
"Ah, no. Only I'm allowed to call her weird, okay? Sister privileges. I don't let anyone else get away with it."
"Huh? Oh, uh, okay," Karin said, slightly nonplussed. Then again, she doubted she'd let anyone else get away with complaining about her brother now that she thought about it. Fair enough then. "You still up for coming over this week?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure, I'll just have to make sure I come back on time. I don't want to make her worse."
"Okay, usual time then?"
"Mmhm."
"Hi you two!" Yuna said, pulling the door open. "We're not interrupting anything are we?" she said, with an excited grin.
"What? N-No! Shut up…!" Karin spluttered, flushing red and looking away.
Yuna, Togo and Sonoko trailed in and shut the door behind them. Sonoko had been filled in on the situation after she'd joined the hero club last week, apparently she found it rather exciting and kept talking about 'inspiration', whatever that meant.
"Actually we were just talking about Onee-chan," Itsuki said. "She's starting to act paranoid again. It sounds like she's not happy about me going to Karin's for some reason. I don't think she knows we're dating for sure though, or else I think she would have done something drastic…"
"Oh no, I hope she doesn't start getting upset or anything," Yuna said, a small frown creasing her brow.
"It's been around a month since you started dating, right?" Togo asked. "If she's started to figure it out herself she might just be upset that you didn't tell her sooner."
"Maybe…" Itsuki said, chewing on her lip. She'd thought about asking her tarot cards, but she'd decided as soon as she got the love letter that she'd rather not know the future when it came to love.
Sonoko's romance novel honed instincts flared up. "Hmm…I wonder if this could turn into a Romeo and-"
Togo stuck her hand over Sonoko's mouth. "Don't scare them."
Sonoko blinked. "My bad~. Don't worry you two, I'm sure that things won't end up like that~"
Karin stared at her flatly. "Thanks, you're a real help."
Itsuki shifted nervously. "Onee-chan's over the top sometimes, but she's not that bad. I'm sure that even if she doesn't take it well at first she'll be fine after a week or two."
'Maybe,' she added internally.
Yuna clapped her hands together suddenly. "I know what you should do Karin-chan! You should do something to get on Fuu-senpai's good side!"
Karin raised her eyebrows. "…I'm pretty sure that if fighting until I was blind, deaf and half-paralysed wasn't enough to win her over nothing else is going to do it," she said dubiously.
"You're thinking about it in the wrong way," Togo said. "Fuu-senpai already knows what a qualified Hero you are, that wouldn't be the problem. The problem is one, what happened with the love letter and two, how you handle yourself domestically. Her reaction to that fiasco speaks for itself, and she knows how…domestically challenged you are. If she knows that you sent the letter and stood Itsuki up-" Karin shuffled uncomfortably here "-then it's only natural that she'd be upset. If you want to get back on her good side, you first have to prove that you won't hurt Itsuki's feeling carelessly again, then reassure her that you'll make a good house husband."
Karin started, then flushed. "Oi, don't throw heavy words around like that!" she snapped, studiously not looking in Itsuki's direction.
"Oh you know what I mean," Togo said with an innocent smile. "Just make sure to treat Itsuki particularly well in front of Fuu-senpai for a while and make an effort with your domestic skills and I'm sure she'll come around to the idea of you two dating in no time at all."
"You think so?" Karin said, furrowing her brow in thought. What Togo was saying did actually make sense, Fuu was always going on about budgets and cleaning and stuff according to Itsuki. "Maybe I should cook something for he-"
"NO!" Togo and Yuna shouted in concert, making her jump.
"I mean…Fuu-senpai's very picky about her cooking so…" Togo said, trying to spare Karin's feelings. Yuna nodded in agreement vigorously. The mere thought of Karin (or Itsuki for that matter) cooking again was too horrifying to go unchecked though.
"Er, if you say so," Karin said, worrying for their sanity a little. "Any other ideas then?"
"Why don't you write her a poem about your feelings for Itsuki?" Sonoko said dreamily.
"Denied. She'd kill me and I don't do poems. Anyway, that's got nothing to do with domestic stuff."
"Haah…" Sonoko shook her head. It was so much harder to get people in the real world to write poems than it was in her novels.
"Maybe I could build a bookcase for her or something…" Karin said to herself.
"Or we could just wait a few days until she's in a better mood and talk to her about it normally," Itsuki said, throwing out a wild idea.
"You really think that'd work?"
"…It might. You never know."
"Don't worry you two, it's bound to turn out okay in the end. We're all friends after all!" Yuna said.
"Sure we are. Until she flies into an overprotective rage and throws me out of the club."
"Oh Karin-chan, she wouldn't do that! She's overprotective, not completely unreasonable!"
"If you say so."
Speaking of the devil, Fuu walked through the door at that very moment. "Hey guys, what're you talking about?"
"Uh, noth-"
"Romance!" Sonoko cheered.
'Thanks,' thought Karin.
Fuu's face twitched, almost imperceptibly. "Oh really? What about it? Did one of you go on a date or something?"
The rest of them tried to keep their faces neutral, to varying degrees of success.
"Haha, I'm afraid not Fuu-senpai," Togo said, trying to head off any unpleasantries, "It's all hypothetical for the moment."
"Yeah, all hypothetical," Yuna said, nodding vigorously.
Karin and Itsuki stayed quiet.
"Hmmmm…alright then. I think that we're pretty much finished here, unless anyone else has anything to say?"
"I think we're all done for today Fuu-senpai," Togo said.
"Alright then. See you guys tomorrow."
The group headed back to their respective homes, Yuna, Togo and Sonoko going one way, Karin going another and Fuu and Itsuki going in almost the opposite direction. Fuu scarcely said anything on the way back, to Itsuki's concern. It was hard to stop Fuu from talking most of the time, so something must have been bothering her. As they entered their apartment, Itsuki decided to test the waters.
"Um, Onee-chan, I thought I'd go around to Karin's on Sunday again and watch a movie with her. Is that okay with you?"
Fuu paused in the act of hanging up her coat. Silence hung in the air between them.
"…Um, Onee-chan?" Itsuki cautiously ventured. "Did you-"
"Sure, that sounds like a great idea!" Fuu said, an incredibly cheerful tone in her voice. "She must get lonely in that apartment by herself sometimes, right? I think it's great that you're keeping her company!"
"Really…? Oh, um, okay then…I'll text her and tell her."
"You do that. Tell her I said hi as well okay?"
"Okay…"
Looking nervously over her shoulder Itsuki went to her room and texted Karin.
"Onee-chan says it's fine if I come around, but she was acting weird again. I think I should go home earlier tomorrow so she doesn't do anything strange."
"Roger."
She turned her phone off with a sigh. Hopefully this would be sorted out soon.
That Sunday afternoon, Itsuki was in her room just getting ready to leave when Fuu accosted her. "I'm ready! Hurry up so we can get there early, the more time the better right?"
Itsuki turned and stared at her with wide eyes. "What…? Onee-chan?"
Fuu grinned obnoxiously. "It's like I said, she must get lonely in that apartment right? The more the merrier! Besides, I haven't been spending as much time with her just recently as I used to. It's kind of unbelievable even to me, but I actually miss us winding each other up. I mean…unless you don't want me to come for some reason?" she said, cocking her head.
"Ah…no, no, I don't mind. I was just surprised," Itsuki stammered out unconvincingly.
"Hmm. Alright then, let's go!"
"Wha- oh, okay…" She hadn't even had chance to change…
Karin inspected her teeth in the mirror intently, pulling her lips back and to the sides. 'Looks like they're clean. I guess I'm about ready then…oh boy.' She exhaled heavily. Given that their dates were likely to descend into drama for a while soon, courtesy of Itsuki's overprotective sister, she'd mulled things over for a while and come to a conclusion. Undoubtedly, the best time to have their first kiss was…today. Right now, maybe in less than an hour.
Her vision swam momentarily before she shook her head and took a few deep breaths. She had to keep a hold of her nerves, there was nothing less romantic than a sweaty wreck fainting on top of her date after all. Except maybe the deodorant incident… and that awful movie… 'No no, stop that me! You'll make yourself chicken out at this rate!' Maybe distraction was the best strategy. She couldn't lift her weights or go on the running machine, she'd get too sweaty, so maybe-
*knock knock*
"Argh!" She almost jumped clean out of her skin. 'Why is she here early!? No, it's no problem. It just gives me more time to pick the right moment. Yeah, it's fine, it's fine. You just need to relax…'
She sprayed a copious amount of breath freshener into her mouth-but not too much she was sure, she'd learnt her lesson with the deodorant-then took some more deep breaths and headed to the door, forcing her face into a normal expression, then opened it. "Hey Itsuki, did you…h-huh? What're you doing here!?" she choked out.
"It's nice to see you too," Fuu replied, raising an eyebrow. Itsuki put her hands together and mouthed her apologies from behind her.
"Uh, I didn't mean it like that, I'm just surprised is all," Karin said, grasping for a save. "I mean, I thought it was just going to be Itsuki."
'Me and Itsuki alone together… guess I'm not going to get a kiss in today,' she thought, disappointment tightening her chest.
"Well you know, I realised that we haven't hung out so much this last month, ever since Itsuki got that awful love letter, so I figured I might as well join you. I mean, I won't be in the way of anything, right?"
"N-No…" she said, gulping slightly. The fact that Fuu had brought up the love letter definitely wasn't a good sign. There was no way this was going to end well. She cursed to herself. 'Why did it end up like this?'
"I guess you should come in then," she said.
The sisters came in and headed into the living room. Karin checked her phone before she followed them, belatedly seeing the warning messages Itsuki had sent her. She snapped the phone shut with a sigh. This was going to be a long two hours…
Fuu hurried ahead of Itsuki and knocked on Karin's door, wanting to see the girl's reaction when she opened it. Itsuki might be able to signal her to play along if she was the one that knocked after all.
After a full minute had ticked by with no response, Fuu was starting to think that Karin wasn't even in, confirming her suspicions.
However, as she was about to say something the door finally opened, revealing Karin with a weird, faintly nauseous look on her face.
"Hey Itsuki, did you…h-huh? What are you doing here!?" Her expression grew even stranger, as if she'd just drank another bottle of olive oil.
"It's nice to see you too," she said, incredibly relieved that Karin had been expecting Itsuki after all but wondering what her problem was…unless Itsuki and that boy had been using her apartment to meet!? That did make sense, it'd be safer than going to his place after all, and if Fuu came around looking for Itsuki then he could just hide in the bathroom so she didn't spot him. It was all coming together. 'Damn you Karin, betraying me like this…! I'll never forgive you!'
"Uh, I didn't mean it like that, I'm just surprised is all. I mean, I thought it was just going to be Itsuki." She looked guilty, Fuu thought.
"Well you know, I realised that we haven't hung out so much this last month, ever since Itsuki got that awful love letter, so I figured I might as well join you. I mean, I won't be in the way of anything, right?" Fuu said, watching Karin's reaction closely.
"N-No…" Karin replied, starting to say something else before being cut off by an involuntary gulp. Something was going on, clearly.
"I guess you should come in then," Karin finally managed, and Fuu walked in followed by Itsuki.
They headed into the living room and sat down on the sofa, Fuu scanning the area for signs of a third party as she went. 'Nothing here…no shoes by the door either, but still, he could have hid them in case I came around. Maybe Itsuki texted him a warning, I never thought of that! Dammit. I'll have to do a room by room sweep,' she thought determinedly.
"You want drinks or something?" Karin asked from the door.
"Sure, anything's good," Fuu called back.
"Just tea please," Itsuki said.
Karin brought the drinks in, then sat down in a chair, after eyeing the sofa uncertainly for a second.
'What's her problem?' Fuu thought, 'There's plenty of room.'
"So what'd you two usually get up to here then?" she asked Karin.
"Oh, you know, animal shows and stuff," she said vaguely, looking away.
'More and more strange behaviour…maybe this is a pre-agreed cover story!'
Mind swirling with paranoia, she settled into her brooding mode, watching the muted TV as she thought. A little time passed before she noticed the lack of conversation between the two other girls.
'Even stranger…what does it mean!?' she seethed. After a while she decided that enough time had passed and decided to check for signs of "That Boy".
"Hey Karin, can I use your bathroom?" she asked.
"Sure," Karin said.
Fuu stood up and walked into the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind her. Her eyes drifted to the cupboard. 'I bet someone could fit in there.' She flung the door open and glared in furiously, only to see…nothing.
"Huh."
'Maybe he's hiding somewhere else,' she thought. Her eyes did notice something 'interesting' though. 'Wow, those socks look like they've been in there for months…how disgusting.' She grimaced. Maybe she should come around and teach Karin how to clean properly sometime. Yes, definitely.
Exiting the bathroom, she quietly snuck into Karin's room, eyes still scanning for suspicious signs. Seeing nothing at first glance, she checked under the bed (then wished she hadn't), behind the curtains, then approached the wardrobe. Flinging it open she glared in again, only to see nothing, again. She kicked the piles of clothes in it just to be sure, then shrugged to herself and shut the door.
'Could I have been imagining things this whole time?' she wondered, doubt beginning to creep into her mind.
She went through the motions in the other rooms, then headed to the kitchen, the final location he could be hiding. Frowning, she looked for hiding spots, failing to see any. Then a thought occurred to her and she opened the fridge and oven, peering in. Unsurprisingly, there was no one hiding in either the fridge or the oven either. Fuu felt her paranoid blood lust slowly start to fade.
'…What the hell am I doing?' she thought in bewilderment. 'I must be going crazy. What was I even going to do if I found someone anyway, beat him up?' Not that he wouldn't deserve it, but still, that wouldn't be very heroic of her. "Haaa…"
Shaking her head in self depreciation, she headed back into the living room, failing to notice the way the other two were whispering to each other nervously before they saw her. Flopping down onto the couch, she saw that they still looked kind of nervous and came to the logical conclusion: that they were on edge because of her. 'I guess I did gatecrash their play date, and they could probably tell that I was worked up about something…whoops. Guess I should lighten the atmosphere a bit.'
"So anyway, you two must be pretty nervous about the tests huh? Not long to go now. You've been studying, right Karin?"
Karin looked perplexed by Fuu's sudden change in attitude, but decided to roll with it. "Yeah, I've been studying. I'm pretty sure I've got everything I need now, so I just need to keep reviewing it. Uh, what about you? It's your last year, you must be pretty overrun, right?"
"Ah…I don't even want to think about it. The life of a third year is tough," she sighed. "You'll understand soon."
"Onee-chan's been stuck in her room studying a lot just lately," Itsuki confirmed, thinking sadly about all the instant meals she'd had to eat as a result. Life as a domestic failure was rough.
"That so? Good luck, I guess," Karin said. "I can let you have some of my study aid supplements if you want," she offered.
"Eh…no thanks. And don't give any to Itsuki either, they sound kind of fishy. Probably not as fishy as your breath usually is though."
"Oi…"
"Since we're all gathered together maybe we should have a study group," Itsuki suggested. "I know we're not on the same level as a third year, especially me, but I'm sure we could help at least a little with the subjects you're not so good with!"
"Sure, might as well make the most of my time I guess," Fuu said. She had all the material she needed to revise with on her terminal, so it wasn't like she needed to go get anything.
The three of them spent the next hour helping each other revise, or rather Fuu and Karin spent most of the hour staring in confusion at Itsuki's horribly organised notes, trying to help the girl get things in order. Fuu noticed how well the pair were getting along and smiled to herself. 'Heh…even a useless tsundere like Karin can't resist Itsuki's overwhelming cuteness! The power of her imouto appeal can't be overestimated!' she thought to herself smugly.
It was nice that they'd become such good friends, Yuna, Togo and Sonoko were friends with her sure, but Yuna and Togo increasingly had eyes for each other and Sonoko was Togo's old friend, so it was only natural that she'd talk to her the most. She'd been a little worried that Itsuki would feel lonely when she graduated, but as long as Karin was looking out for her there wasn't much to worry about. Not that she'd ever say that out loud. 'Maybe I should clear off and let them have fun together. I did barge in uninvited after all.'
"This was fun, but I should head back now. Dinner won't cook itself after all."
"Eh? Are you sure Onee-chan? I was planning on staying a while longer."
"You stay and have fun then, or at least try to. Nothing fun about geometry really," Fuu said, ruffling her younger siblings hair.
"Onee-chan…" Itsuki whined, flattening her hair back down.
"Hah, I bet you just can't keep up with me and decided to bow out before it became too obvious," Karin smirked.
"Sure sure, if you say so," Fuu replied airily, waving her off. They walked to the door together and after saying their goodbyes Fuu headed home, feeling better about things than she had in weeks. 'At least I know I don't have to worry about some boy now. What a relief.'
When she was half way home however, she was struck with another thing to worry about. 'Wait, where's my phone!?' she thought, starting to panic. 'I must have left it back there…it's a while to walk back, maybe I should just text Itsuki and tell her to- wait. Damn it.' It was no good, she'd have to go and get it herself. Sighing, she started the walk back.
Karin shut the door after Fuu, then felt her body tense as she realised her situation. 'We're alone…' She swallowed heavily. 'Okay, no problem. That was the plan all along. Just gotta take it easy. Take it easy.' She turned and faced her…her girlfriend. 'Oh boy.' Her girlfriend looked even cuter than she usually did today…or maybe her mind was just building things up with the anticipation.
Itsuki looked at her with an uncertain smile on her face. "…Are you okay Karin-san?"
"N-No, I'm fine. …Anyway, that was weird huh? I thought she was getting ready to kick off when she arrived, but she just started acting normally all of a sudden. What was that about?"
"I have no idea. Maybe she's just stressed about her exams," Itsuki said. "Still, it wasn't so bad in the end. I kind of thought she'd decided to come so she could tell us she knew that we were dating. What a relief that she doesn't. I'll tell her in a few days, there's no point in putting it off anymore, besides, it'd be even worse if she found out for herself now."
"I guess. So…now that we're alone, do you want to, uh, do something?" Karin said, trying to sound like one of the cool people she saw on TV sometimes.
Itsuki gave an endeared smile at her girlfriends 'cool' act. "Sure, why don't you show me your new resistance bands? You sounded excited about them at school."
"Hah, I'm converting you to the fitness lifestyle huh? I knew you couldn't resist," Karin grinned, momentarily distracted from her stress.
"I guess so," Itsuki replied. She honestly wasn't that into it, but Karin was so serious about it that she was trying her best to get to grips with the basics.
"Alright then, I'll give you a crash course!"
They headed into the living room and Karin pulled out her new toys and set them up.
"You see, the best thing about these usually is their portability, but when my arm was weak it was pretty rough lifting free weights, you know? …I mean, with the risk of dropping them and all. With these I didn't have to worry about dropping them and hurting myself, but they ended up growing on me so I bought another pair for when I'm out somewhere and I get the urge to work out. These are a new model, they've got pretty good reviews. Here, look," she said, pulling them down, "It's true that you can only go so far with them, but for rehab and beginners they're the best!"
"Oh, I see. They do sound useful," Itsuki said, quite sincerely.
Still not really her thing, but more approachable than big machines and intimidating dumbbells at least.
"And now I can just take them down like this," the other girl said, "And fasten them low down, so then…I can pull upwards instead! I'm working my muscles out in a different way now, pretty cool huh!?" She pulled up with considerable force, hitching her shirt up slightly and giving Itsuki a peek at her stomach. The blonde blushed slightly and looked up, but found herself admiring Karin's toned, slightly sweaty arms instead.
'Maybe watching her work out all afternoon wouldn't be such a bad thing after all,' she thought.
Sadly, Karin abruptly halted her workout session. "Sorry, got carried away there," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess you got the point anyways. You want to go finish up studying?"
Itsuki blinked. 'That was sudden. Maybe her arms still weak but she doesn't want to let on…'
It probably wasn't the best idea to draw attention to it if that was the case. The other girl looked flustered, again. Really, it was an almost perpetual state with her.
"Alright, I suppose we might as well finish what we started, especially now that our exams are so close. Let's do our best," she said with a smile.
Internally, however, she wasn't particularly happy about the idea. While it probably had been a good idea at first to keep their 'dates' casual, it was starting to feel like they were just stuck as friends, never advancing in their relationship. She wondered if she should suggest going out on another, proper, date…
'No, not today. Maybe next time, if things don't advance in the next week. And if Onee-chan doesn't get too upset about things.'
Definitely next time. She hoped that she wouldn't have to though.
Karin cursed to herself. 'I can't believe I just started working out like that after I decided I shouldn't get myself sweaty. There's no way she'd want to kiss me now. Damn it…! And why did I say we should finish studying!? This isn't romantic at all! I've completely blown it…again. I really suck at this…'
"Karin-san? Are you having trouble with something?"
"Huh? No, just thinking. This has been a pretty shoddy excuse for a date, huh? Do you want to try going on a proper date sometime this week? I hear there's actually some good movies coming out."
Itsuki winced slightly, but then a smile lit up her face. "I'm not sure that movies mix with us at all, so let's not risk it. But you're right, it would be nice to go out on a proper date. …You said that there was a new western style restaurant nearby right? We could go there and see if it's any good."
"Oh, that place? Sure, if you want. I'll book us a table in advance, tell me what day soon okay?" Karin forced herself to act casual about the idea, but on the inside she was crying. When she'd suggested it on their first date she'd only heard of it and had had no real idea what the place was like, or, more importantly, how much the food there cost. Really, she'd only suggested it in a botched attempt to make her date think she could be classy. After the first date she'd checked the website to see what kind of prices the food went for and she'd almost had a heart attack. There was absolutely no way she could have afforded to take Itsuki there, she would have ended up having to leave without buying anything, the ultimate humiliation of the entire night. Sure spewing udon into Itsuki's face had been awful, but at least it was better than that.
'Guess I'm going to have to dip into my savings,' she grimaced.
"…Are you really okay? You've looked a little…off today."
"What? No, I'm fine. Fine."
"If you're sure…"
After some uneventful studying, they headed outside and started saying their goodbyes.
"Goodbye then Karin-san. I'll see when I'm free this week, though I guess a lot of it depends on how Onee-chan takes the news about us. Have fun with your bands."
"Yeah, you too. …I-I mean, bye," Karin said. 'No no no, I'm missing my chance! I have to do something!' she thought as Itsuki started turning to leave.
"Hey Itsuki!" she squeaked.
"Hm?" Itsuki turned back, looking at her curiously.
"Uh, uh, I…I was just…" she mumbled out, failing to make eye contact. She shuffled forward slightly, but not enough to be in kissing distance. 'Come on already!' she scolded herself. 'People kiss each other all the time, stop being such a wimp!'
"Karin-san, are you really okay? You've looked a little sick all afternoon."
'Aha, an opening! I can flatter her and segue into the kiss at the same time! Perfect!'
"I-It's because…the way you look makes me feel sick!"
"…I…what did you say?"
"Yeah, really sick! Because of your clothes and hair and face and stuff!" Karin said enthusiastically, finally feeling confident about things. Itsuki was staring at her, mouth slightly open. 'She must be amazed that I've finally gotten my act together! Okay, I can do this!' She stepped forward and grabbed Itsuki's shoulders, leaning down slightly as she did. Swallowing, she slowly shifted forwards…only to jerk away as Itsuki suddenly burst out laughing. Her face burned red. 'Oh Shinju-sama, she thinks I'm a loser…not that she's wrong, but…'
"S-Sorry Itsuki, I didn't…"
Itsuki stopped laughing abruptly, for the most part, and tried to look guilty. "Sorry Karin-san, sorry. You didn't do anything wrong, it's just….ahem. I'm sorry. Here," she said, guiding Karin's arms back to her shoulders, "You can…carry on, if you want…" The blondes face went almost as red as Karin's as what was happening really hit her. She swallowed, closed her eyes and waited.
Karin looked down at her expectant face nervously. 'She's really pretty…I can't believe she actually agreed to go out with me. I'd better not make her regret it.'
She tightened her grip on Itsuki's shoulders lightly and leaned down until their lips were less than an inch apart. Itsuki's shallow breathes puffed against her face and she vaguely noticed that the blonde had used breath freshener as well. 'I wonder if she's been waiting for this?' Karin thought. Her body involuntarily gave a small shiver, then she closed her eyes, gently pressed their lips together and held still. Itsuki leaned into the kiss, pressing her lips harder against Karin's, and wrapped her arms around Karin's waist. After what felt like a very long time Karin pulled away, eyes still closed and lips still slightly parted. They opened their eyes and looked at each other, blushing heavily.
"…W-Was it," she swallowed involuntarily. "Was it good?" she got out, voice surprisingly hoarse even to her own ears.
Itsuki nodded and glanced away, too embarrassed to meet her eyes.
"Y-Yes, it was good." Her voice was even quieter than usual.
The pair stood there uncertainly.
"So-"
"I should-"
They looked at each other in surprise, then burst into giggles. "What were you going to say?" Itsuki asked, still smiling widely.
"Ahem, just…thanks for giving me so many chances. I'm really glad we're together."
"Me too. You should really stop beating yourself up about that you know? Looking back on it, it was actually kind of funny. I should head back now though, Onee-chan's so busy just lately that I want to help her make dinner more often…although she keeps chasing out of the kitchen when I try to help for some reason," Itsuki said, wondering why her sister would turn down free labour. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye," she said, blushing again despite her best attempts not too.
"Bye Itsuki," Karin said, waving after her. Once she was out of sight, Karin pumped her arm in victory, jumping on the spot slightly before she caught herself. A huge grin spread over her face. 'I did it! I actually did it!' It was almost unbelievable. Even before she'd wrote that letter she hadn't really thought she had a chance, but now…now it looked like things were heading for the long-term. 'I should give her some flowers next time, just to keep up the momentum,' she thought.
Still grinning, she headed back inside and went to work out. She had a lot of excitement to burn off after all.