Kosaka nibbled quietly on her doughnut and drank her soda pop, her eyes purposely downcast the entire time so she could avoid making contact with Minami and Nishikino's overbearing stares. She took a bite from her doughnut, chewed on it for two seconds, swallowed it down with pop, and then repeated the action again. It was a plain doughnut coated in sugared powder; it was nothing compared to the wonderful manju made at her family business, but it was adequate enough for a sweets junkie like herself.

Kosaka had offered to treat the two other girls when they'd arrived at the bakery, but in the end, she was the only one who ordered anything, which made her little apologetic gesture seem unintentionally hollow. The bakery was one of Kosaka's favorite after-school spots, and it also served as a cafe, providing a table for the three girls to sit at. From the perspective of a stranger, they looked like three friends, but in the teenager's own opinion, she felt like some kind of hostage.

Kosaka started to sweat. Never before had she been caught in a situation so mind-numbing, gut-wrenching awkward as this, and she'd been seen naked in the shower room by the whole volleyball team before. The two other girls even appeared like they were always on the verge of saying something, but they didn't speak, instead restraining themselves to pound down on poor Kosaka with their death glares.

She had to speak up and say something. Anything at all to kill the silence.

"So...umm..."

Kosaka coughed, running a napkin along her bottom lip to wipe away some of the sugared powder. She finally locked eyes with the two other girls.

"Are you two really dating?"

Nishikino and Minami looked at each other.

"Umm..."

"Well..."

"Err..."

"Should we say?"

"She did see us kissing, right?"

"Hmm."

"So, uh, yes?"

"Yes, we are very good friends."

"Nishikino?"

"No, we are together...in THAT sort of way."

Minami glanced at the young man serving at the counter, but he was thankfully more invested in helping a customer to have potentially overheard two teenage girls admitting their homosexual relations out loud.

Kosaka swallowed the last piece of her doughnut. "Wow."

"What?" Minami started to grow flushed from behind her thick spectacles.

"So what I did when I found you two, it was like the same as if I'd walked in on a man and woman kissing?" Kosaka asked.

Nishikino nodded. "I guess you could say that."

"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I did something like that!" Kosaka slapped her hands to her cheeks, even though her fingers were still covered in sugar powder.

"It's okay," Minami immediately assured her.

"Actually," Nishikino pointed out, "It's NOT okay."

"Oh, that's right, it's not okay!" Minami agreed.

"Eh? Am I really in that much trouble? But I...I didn't even know girls could be together like that! I didn't know it was possible! I'm very sorry that I interrupted you two, I swear!"

"It's not about interrupting us."

"It's not?"

Minami sighed, "It's about letting other people know about us. We don't want to be found out."

"Oh...oh...oh, really?" Kosaka tilt her head, and she started to sweat a little.

"Yeah, our kind of relationship is not exactly something that's well-received by most people, including our parents and all, so you can imagine what could happen if someone we didn't want to know actually found out about us." Nishikino explained it as gently as she could without actually going into further detail about what their relationship entailed. It seemed to her that this Kosaka girl was a little daft, a little innocent about the world around her. Nishikino didn't want to ruin Kosaka's purity further. At least, not her mental purity anyway. She was rather attractive, although not on the same level as her Minami, the redhead had to take notice.

"I'm really quite sorry for having inconvenienced the both of you like this." Kosaka bowed her head so far her temple nearly hit the table.

"Well, what do you plan to do?"

Kosaka raised her head. "What?"

"Are you going to report us to the principal about our..." Minami glanced at Nishikino, "...Special relations?"

"Huh? I thought I was the one who was going to be in trouble?"

"Ugh," Nishikino rolled her eyes.

"I won't tell anyone, I swear, but...if it's okay...c-could I ask how you two got together? It must have been something interesting," Kosaka had been itching to throw out this question for a while now, it was clear from the look on her exasperated face. "Sorry, I was just so very curious to hear about it. I'm a little fascinated!"

Minami and Nishikino sighed collectively; this girl was really troublesome, and Minami had never even known a student like her at the academy before, even though she was president of the student council. However, she seemed to have a good heart, which was more than could be said for some of the aforementioned students, so it probably wouldn't have hurt to indulge her this one more time before they sent her away.

"I fell in love with her at first sight, after she showed me up in track," Nishikino flashed a toothy grin. Minami hit her on the shoulder.

"Really?!" Kosaka gushed.

"No, not really. It's actually a lot more simple than that. In fact, it's almost mundane how we got together. We actually became friends because I accidentally sat in the wrong seat, her seat, on the first day of classes, and eventually we started working together on projects and hanging out after school. We tutored each other for a while, so we could improve on subjects that we struggled with, and we got along well, and then she suddenly came onto me with her sexual advances-"

"What? I was pretty sure you felt something for me even when you first suggested that dual-tutoring idea! You wanted it to happen!" Nishikino laughed.

"I...I did not!"

"You look like a ripe tomato, ha ha ha!"

"Y-You must have been attracted to me around the same time too, right?"

"...I will admit the truth, I did find you quite cute back then."

"Ha! See? It's not that hard to say you liked me then."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I've always liked you, Minami. I liked you even before I met you, but I just didn't know it yet until I first saw you."

"Ah...!"

"I'll buy you a soda so that you don't faint from heat exhaustion there! Ha ha!"

"N-Nishikino!"

As Nishikino left the table to buy a pair of drinks, Kosaka finally felt like she could breathe; she had been holding onto the girlfriends' every word, listening with such intensity that she actually forgot to fill her lungs with air for a moment. Minami gave her a puzzled look, even with her cheeks still burning brighter than a gasoline fire. The two girls took a moment to calm themselves.

"You two are really cute together!" Kosaka pointed out.

"You really think so?" Minami took a moment to look over at Nishikino's back, as she paid for the drinks at the counter, "I wonder if we'll even stay together after high school..." her voice dipped, and she whispered to herself quietly enough so that only she could hear, "...I wonder if our feelings are even real, or we're just standing in for a boyfriend for each other..."

"I think it's really touching!"

"Even if we have to hide it, we enjoy the time we get to spend together." Minami smiled warmly, pushing her previous dark thoughts back into that vault in her mind; she was too afraid to even confront them fully yet.

"You know, it encourages me a lot too,"

Minami pushed her glasses back up along the length of her nose. "Why? You think if two girls can get together, then you have a chance at love too?"

"No, not like that! Not really!" Kosaka waved her hand, "I mean, it reminds me about my own...umm..."

"Your own crush, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I should try and approach him to talk more, because he is something of a 'delinquent' at his school, even though I really like him. We've exchanged words a few times, but only because we happen to pass each other on the way to school, even though I really want to talk to him more. But when I see you two, it makes me think there could be a chance it'd work!"

"Oh..."

Nishikino dropped back into her seat and handed Minami her soda. "What happened now?"

"Kosaka told me that there is a guy she has a crush on."

"Wait, don't tell her so naturally!" Kosaka shrieked.

"Oh, so you're 'normal', are you?" Nishikino did not try to mask her disappointment, and Minami ribbed her for it.

Kosaka blushed. "I'm worried he might reject me,"

"That's about the worst that could happen, and even then, it's not that bad, right?" Nishikino suggested with a nonchalant shrug. "You can always find someone better, because someone who rejects you is someone who wouldn't be good for you anyway."

Kosaka and Minami looked at each other; the redhead wasn't exactly wrong with that point.

"That's not exactly how we met up." Minami remarked as Nishikino finished spinning her yarn, the two adult women sitting cuddled together on the couch as they impatiently awaited Kotori and Maki's arrival. Minami had held onto her lover's hand for the entire time, and even though her grip was beginning to crush her fingers, Nishikino never raised a single complaint about it the entire time.

"I know, but it was like I told Kosaka, the way we first became a couple was so uninteresting, and I felt like talking about something a bit happier."

"Yes, the way we fell in love, it was very 'normal', wasn't it?" Minami smiled.

Nishikino smiled back at her. "Yes, you could say that."

"Kosaka ended up marrying that boy, so I'm glad we were able to help her." Minami recalled having met him in person; his kindness and soft-spoken personality belied his intimidating appearance. It was impressive the two lovebirds had been able to hold onto their relationship through college and into adulthood, but Minami had been honestly overjoyed for both of them when she'd attended their wedding.

"You went to their wedding, didn't you? I got an invitation too, but I had an emergency surgery to perform." said Nishikino.

"Her daughter and my daughter are childhood friends, so we've been close,"

"Did she ever ask about you and I, how we used to be?"

Minami shook her head. "No, I think she understood it was best not to bring it up, especially after she went to my own wedding and met Kotori."

"Ah, that makes sense."

Minami squeezed Nishikino's hand even tighter, had that been possible, and she kissed her cheek, sweetly, gently. It wasn't enough of what she wanted to do, but with their daughters bound to come flying through that door at any moment, she had to keep herself chaste. Nishikino understood, and she brushed back the hair on Minami's forehead to plant a light smooch to her temple. Minami sighed into her lover, pressing up against her for comfort, their body warmth melding together. Nishikino kissed her again. Minami could have almost forgotten the pounding of her heart and her aching stomach.

"...What do you think our daughters will say?"

"Kotori saw us already, so at least she must be over the initial shock. Maki is a little, uh, innocent, so she may need a chair to sit down."

"Innocent? How so?" Minami did not like the sound of it.

"You won't even believe it,"

"What is it?"

"She still believes in Santa Claus. That's how innocent she is."

"Oh dear..."

"Yep, it's gonna be a little rough," Nishikino sighed.