A/N: The story plays off of the Torako/Suzume kissing scene in episode 13 of the anime, but it proceeds differently instead.

Torako sighed. She looked over at Suzume from the corner of her eye. It had been a rough, rough night. Sitting together on the bench, watching the cars pass, there really wasn't anything proper for the girls to talk about. Torako stared at her quiet, small friend for a while longer. She had never given it much thought before, but Suzume really stuck by her through thick and thin, even during these rare moments of personal weakness. Suzume may not be the greatest partner for a conversation, but she was undoubtedly a great friend. These truths only piled upon the guilt weighing on Torako's shoulders already.

"I'm sorry for always dragging you into this kind of stuff..." Torako said.

"Don't worry." Suzume quickly replied, continuing to stare straight ahead. "It doesn't bother me."

Torako yawned. She was feeling a little tired all of the sudden. She twisted herself so her back was to Suzume, and then she fell back, laying her head on the other girl's tiny lap. This wasn't the first time she used her friend as a pillow, but like with everything else, Suzume never complained. Torako closed her eyes.

"You know...I wouldn't mind giving you my first kiss, or even my virginity." the blonde joked.

Suddenly, Torako felt a pair of wet lips land upon her mouth, enclosing around them. They were soft, sweet, but strangely salty too. They were locked so tight that she could barely breath.

"Mmph!"

Torako's eyes snapped open. Suzume was kissing her. And this wasn't just some sort of awkward, friendly kiss between female friends. She could have sworn she caught a little bit of tongue slipping in. With a startled cry, Torako sat back up, pushing Suzume off of her. It didn't occur until a moment later that she had just touched Suzume's chest in her act of moving her. However, there were more pressing issues to deal with.

"S-Suzume! You kissed me...!"

"You said you wouldn't mind." Suzume replied. She licked her lips, smacking them. Her expression did not give away even the slightest hint of what thoughts might have been buzzing around inside her.

Torako shook her head. "I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

"I'm sorry."

"Geez...Suzume..." Torako wasn't the kind of girl who usually let herself get caught unawares, not someone who would end up blushing easily. The heat was already beginning to rise in her cheeks, though, and she really hated that. It made her look like such a girly-girl. The taste of Suzume's lips was also lingering in her taste-buds, but it wasn't that sort of awful taste you'd down a bottle of mouth-wash to get rid of. It actually wasn't a bad taste at all.

Torako had never kissed anyone before, and she'd never thought of kissing Suzume before either. Now her mind felt like it'd gotten tied up in a jungle gym. Hopefully she could calm down and think straight soon. Her heart was pounding.

"Can I ask you something about that kiss?"

"What is it, Suzume?" Torako didn't want to talk more about it, but the words drifted from her mouth before she could catch them.

"Did you like it or not?"

Torako gulped. "It...it wasn't bad..."

"Can we do it again, then?"

"W-What? Suzume, c'mon, I'm sure you're just tired or hungry or something-" Torako started to say, but Suzume swiftly cut her off.

"Torako, I don't ask much from you. I want to kiss you again. Please."

Torako groaned. Something strange had really come over her friend tonight. First she'd kissed her, taking a silly joke far too seriously, and now she was saying she wanted to try it again. Torako scratched at her forehead. She didn't know how to feel from that first kiss, it was like an enigma in her mind. She wondered if things would begin sorting themselves out with successive kisses. The answer might come to her from exploring Suzume's tempting lips. She decided to take that chance.

"C'mere, you crazy girl. I'll give you your reward."

Torako grabbed Suzume by the arms and pulled her in, embracing her with a kiss. Suzume snapped her arms around Torako's back, gripping her tight, diving her tongue deep into the taller girl's throat. Torako had thought they were just going to do some simple lip-pecking, not this french kiss stuff. However, she had always been someone who hated being dominated; she caught up to speed, fighting back with her own tongue. Suzume dug her little fingers into Torako's back, moaning. Torako's mind was operating too fast for her to even follow. She could feel like some sort of mental connection, a neural link, had formed between them as their kisses grew ever more passionate. She could understand, from the way Suzume got so uncharacteristically excited over their make-out, just how much this girl actually loved her. Torako was starting to understand her feelings for Suzume too.

Suzume removed her mouth from Torako's, and rang her tongue along her moist lips. "Was it true...that you would give me your virginity too?"

Torako blushed, and looked down. Suzume was fiddling with the zipper on Torako's jacket.

"I...I think we're going too fast..." Torako stuttered.

"Since when have you ever been someone who likes to take it slow, Torako?"

Torako needed to make a decision, but by this point, she'd already known what to do next.

A week passed since then. Torako and Suzume walked to school together every day, but there was never any talk about that fateful, intimate moment they shared. It would have to be discussed eventually, but neither girl really had the courage to be the first to ask "so what happens next?". For now, it was best to pretend everything was still the same, just normal. In a relationship as tumultuous as theirs, one had to proceed with great caution. Suzume didn't argue against taking the longer road, and Torako certainly had no qualms either.

When they entered the classroom one morning, however, the two girls were suddenly accosted by the hoots and hollers of their fellow students.

"Way to go, you two!"

"You know, you girls really do make a cute couple!"

"Can you kiss for us? Please?"

"Hey, how long have you two been together?"

All of the color slipped away from Torako's face. "W-What the hell are you all talking about?!"

Koma and Nene stepped forward, the former's expression awash with shame. "I...I'm so sorry, Torako..." Koma bowed her head, "I...I saw it, last night, before the first day of high school...I took a photo. Nene, she paid me for the photo! I couldn't help it! She was offering a whole roll of cash!"

"Heh heh...it went right onto my special wall!" Nene boasted. "After I showed it to everyone in class, that is!"

"Show us a kiss! A kiss!" cheered one of the perverts in the back-row.

Torako was just about ready to set an apocalypse into motion but she suddenly felt Suzume grab her hand. The small girl stood up on her tip-toes and gave Torako a light, chaste kiss on the cheek. As she pulled away, stone-faced Suzume started to blush, like the cute schoolgirl she really was.

The entire classroom was squealing and shrieking. Nene had already lost consciousness from blood loss, via the nasal cavity. Torako felt like she was going to faint along with her.