It was a Saturday evening and was a nice temperature outside, despite being late autumn. Sakurako was preparing for today, as she had plans. Yes, the big day had come to set into motion the final step of conquering Himawari: the kiss. Sakurako had been anticipating this day for a while now and had it all planned out.
Sakurako had invited Himawari to a restaurant for dinner to thank her for helping her with homework and studying. Then they would take a walk in the park and once it started to get dark Sakurako would bring them to the pond where she would eventually build up to a kiss. It was perfect! Sakurako had been checking moon phase calendars and it was supposed to be a full moon tonight.
Amidst her eagerness, Sakurako had started making a ruckus in her closet looking for something to wear to dinner.
Noticing the noise, and the big pile of clothes on the ground, Nadeshiko entered the room and asked "Watcha doin'?"
Sakurako spun around and asked, "Does this look good?" holding up a shirt that caught her eyes.
Nadeshiko blinked, then chuckled and told her younger sister "Come on, I'll find you something Hima-ko would like."
"That's not-" Sakurako started, but then blushed and mumbled "thanks"
Once the girls had picked out the right clothes, Sakurako took a shower and grabbed the money she had saved for the occasion.
"I'm heading out! See-ya!" she yelled, slamming the door behind her. Sakurako crossed the street to Himawari's and entered without knocking, as usual. "Hello? Are you ready to go Himawari?"
"Just a second" called Himawari, sticking her head in the hallway momentarily.
"Oh, hello Sakurako onee-chan" said Kaede, walking past.
"Hello Kaede-chan and how are you?"
"I'm fine, but it seems Onee-chan's boobs have grown again. She's trying to find a shirt that fits. I'm sure if she gave some of her boobs to you it wou-"
"C'mon! I'm ready! Let's go!" yelled a blushing Himawari, dashing out and dragging Sakurako with her.
The two girls had started walking to the restaurant and the sun was low, showing there would only be a few hours of sunlight.
"So where are we going? I hope it's not a ramen booth" complained Himawari.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll like where we'll be going"
When the two girls got there Himawari was shocked. It was a new restaurant which had just opened up this month and was quite expensive.
"You're paying for this?" asked Himawari, eyeing Sakurako suspiciously.
"Of course, don't be afraid to order anything you want. I've got it covered" replied Sakurako, trying to be as kind as possible.
Once the two girls were seated Sakurako found herself staring at Himawari. She kept trying to avert her gaze, but somehow always ended up in the same place. Despite her wardrobe problems, Himawari had managed to put on some nice clothes.
Noticing Sakurako's stare, Himawari self-consciously asked "What?"
Realizing again what she was doing, Sakurako blushed and said "I just hope you have a good time tonight."
"Thanks..." Himawari answered, still seemingly wary.
Following Sakurako's advice, Himawari ordered food to her heart's content, but Sakurako had come knowing that tonight of all night's, she couldn't be cheap.
The two girls had an excellent meal and Sakurako made sure to take the after-mints. Noticing the setting sun, Himawari got up and excused herself, saying "It looks like it's going to get dark out soon. I better get home."
"Wait!" yelled Sakurako in desperation. "Let's go to the park! There's, umm... Something I want to talk about."
Confused, Himawari followed and the two girls made their way to the park. Sakurako had them all day, but now she could really feel butterflies in her stomach. What if her techniques hadn't been working? What if Himawari liked boys? This thought had never occurred to Sakurako until now. It's not really something you just openly discuss with somebody and Himawari had never given any indication to being attracted to the same sex. Entering the park though, she was distracted by some familiar faces.
There, hugging in the middle of the park was Toshinou senpai and Kaichou-san. That little devil! Kyouko had taken Sakurako's idea and was using it on Sugiura senpai. And by the looks of it, she was progressing much faster too. Now Sakurako could not fail!
Himawari also seemed to notice the couple and looked away awkwardly. The two girls walked silently for a while, with Sakurako secretly leading them to the pond.
Finally, with a slight look of annoyance on her face, Himawari asked "So what did you want to talk about?"
Noticing the hidden vexation Sakurako asked "You've seemed frustrated lately; what's the matter?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it"
Deciding it would be best just to go along with the plan, Sakurako kept quiet and walked over to the pond. The sun had now almost set and the pond was surrounded by coloured trees, with one side open to a meadow, giving a good view of the horizon.
They were here, now she just had to set the mood. Luckily, she had been studying her manga. Sakurako started reviewing lines in her head. I'm a perverted space alien? No. You may be small, but that's what makes you special? No. Sakurako realized that none of the manga she had read could be of any help here.
The sun had set and the moon and first stars had become visible. Himawari, noticing this, was showing clear agitation on her face now and growled "Well, are you going to tell me what you wanted to say, or are we just going to stand here?"
Sakurako, taking a leap of faith, decided to just go for it. She turned to face Himawari and closed her eyes. She started to lean in, her heart pounding incredibly fast for reasons she couldn't understand. Then she waited only to hear Himawari ask "What are you doing?"
Sakurako opened her eyes and almost lost it, but remembered she had to be courteous towards Himawari. "I'm trying to kiss you, silly"
"I know"
Slowly, feelings of dread and rejection started to pour over Sakurako.
"You wanted to know why I seem so frustrated?" asked Himawari. "It's because lately you've been acting so weird. You are doing nice things for me and never arguing with anything I say and the boob jokes have just stopped completely! What are you doing?"
"But, you've always complained about how I acted. I thought you wanted this."
"I don't!" shouted Himawari. "I want my best friend back!"
Himawari started to leave, but Sakurako grabbed her sleeve and yelled "Wait!"
Himawari turned around to face Sakurako and asked "What's the real reason you've been doing this? The Sakurako I know wouldn't start being nice to others just because they complained about her attitude."
Out of desperation Sakurako blurted out "I was trying to make you fall in love with me so people would stop complaining about me being lazy"
"First of all, that plan makes no sense, and secondly, I can't believe you would do something like that. Even for you, that's way too selfish." Himawari said, yanking her arm out of Sakurako's grasp and turning to leave.
Sakurako stood there motionless. She was so confused. Why did Himawari's words sting so much? Then she noticed a peculiar feeling on her cheek. She lifted her finger to it to find a tear had rolled down. What was happening? Why did it feel like Himawari walking away meant losing everything?
Unaware of her own actions at first, Sakurako ran towards Himawari and yelled once again "Wait!"
Himawari turned around exasperated and huffed "What now?"
"It was an excuse!" Sakurako blurted, not sure what she meant. As she stood there though, words came to her mouth and she simply spoke them. "The whole thing was an excuse. I may have told you it was my plan to make you fall in love with me just to get people off my back. That's even what I told myself, but it was all just an excuse so that I didn't have to admit that I'm in love with you! So please don't go! I need you." Sakurako whimpered the last part.
Himawari stood there stunned for a moment, then whispered "How do I know that isn't just another trick of yours?"
"I... I don't know, but I swear it isn't. This wasn't easy to say, but I sincerely meant it."
"I know. As I thought, you couldn't possibly be that selfish."
"So you're not mad anymore" asked Sakurako sheepishly.
"Only if you promise never to lie to me again" said Himawari, smiling warmly.
"I might screw up sometimes, but I swear I'll try my best" said Sakurako laughing, the tears now freely flowing down her cheeks and hitting the ground.
"Then I guess I owe you something" said Himawari bending down slightly, and kissed Sakurako, cupping her face.
Sakurako happily obliged giving Himawari a hug in one of the happiest moments of their lives.
