Chapter 25 - Nodoka-chan and Saki-san
Nodoka woke up early the next day. It was 7:03 am when she opened her eyes according to her phone. She looked at the sleeping girl and smiled. Saki did not usually wake up before 10:00 am, usually even later so this represented a chance for her. I'm going to earn back the right to call you my girlfriend today, Saki-san. Even after all this time, the realisation that the girl's head was on her chest caused her to blush and feel extremely embarrassed, so she quickly rolled the girl from the customary position onto her back, and managed to wash, be changed and ready to go out before half-past, but before she exited she quickly took out the notepad she always kept in her bag.
She wrote down 'Saki-san' in big Kanji, hoping it would attract the girl's notice it should she wake up before she got back. She then wrote 'If you wake up before I'm back, don't worry- just call me. I'll see you soon' just underneath the girl's name. She hesitated, worried that someone else would see the letter first, but then shrugged. That doesn't matter, her feelings are more important than my own insecurity. She drew a heart and then a smiley face. There. Now that I'm suitably embarrassed, it's time to go. She took one last look at the sleeping girl before making her way out, leaving the note on the table under a cup coaster.
Fortunately Tokyo was vastly superior to Nagano in terms of transport, and the trains and subway were already running meaning she had absolutely no problem getting into the town centre. It was odd to see the place so deserted, and it was even odder to be alone without Saki or anyone from the Kiyosumi club but she would endure the loneliness this time. She didn't have a clue what she was going to buy for her friend, but it was going to be the best thing she could find, regardless of price. She still had a lot of her money left over. Nodoka's family was fairly well-off and she had spent nearly none of her birthday or Christmas money that year specifically so she could use it at the nationals.
Unfortunately most of the shops in the area didn't open until between 8:00 and 9:00 am, so she would have to make do mostly with window shopping for a while. It only took five minutes of searching before she thought she might have found something. She did not see a particular product that interested her but there was a mahjong store, the kind that sold pro-trading cards and limited edition mahjong tile sets and the like. The shop opened at 8:30 am, so Nodoka wrote down the rough location of the store in her notepad before moving on.
By the time stores were starting to open Nodoka had jotted down the locations down of several jewellery shops, gift shops, bookstores in addition to the mahjong shop. She had just come upon a soft-toys store that she thought might be promising. She intended to take a brief look there for anything that even resembled the bear on the girl's pyjamas or the blue toy that was currently attached to her phone.
Unfortunately, Nodoka did not have nearly as good a handle on the kinds of things Saki would be interested in as she would have liked, and she found herself struggling to think of things that she could buy. Books were an obvious candidate, but she didn't have a clue what the girl's library was like, meaning if she bought a book she would risk items she wasn't interested in or items she already had. Book accessories were another possibility, and whilst that would have eliminated the problem of duplicate items, an item she thought Saki would like and use would be hard to find.
There was also a big shopping centre that opened its doors at 9am that Nodoka intended to explore, although exploring such a place thoroughly would be impossible without risking being back later than 10 am, which was her target return time. Fortunately, the lady who was busy setting up the soft-toys store noticed her standing outside and offered to open up early for her. She was kindly, Nodoka would have estimated her in her fifties and she had greying hair.
"Thank you ever so much," she told the lady, before bowing and entering the store, but after only a few minutes looking she realised she didn't have a clue what she was doing. She approached the lady who had so kindly let her in, "Hello, please forgive my rudeness but… I was hoping you could help me find something."
"Yes of course, dear. What can I do for you?"
"There's a bear I would like a cuddly toy of. I don't know much about it but it uses the English initials 'D.B'"
"Absolutely no problem there, dear. That's Daddy Bear. I think we have some of those around, mind waiting here for me for a minute?"
"Not at all, that would be extremely helpful. Thank you ever so much," Nodoka told her, relieved. Daddy bear then. She smiled to herself at how adorable and childish Saki could be sometimes. This might be easier than I dared hope.
The lady, who had dark grey short hair and must have been in her fifties, arrived back with an enormous bear over her shoulders, and another smaller one under her arm.
"Wow! It's amazing!" Nodoka told her, impressed when the lady placed the big one in front of her. It must have reached four foot high, and that was with it in a sitting position. It had massive black eyes and a cute, shiny black jacket with D.B. written on a pocket.
"He is, isn't he?" responded the lady, "He is my pride and joy, this big fella. I guess you probably won't want him, you seem a bit slender if you don't mind my saying and this big fella is pretty heavy, but I get a kick out of showing him to people." The lady smiled at her and presented the smaller one under her arm. It was a cute brown thing with a bandage over his right eye and the initials D.B stitched onto his chest, where his heart might have been. "How about this one?" she asked.
"It's really nice, I think that's just perfect," Nodoka told her happily, "I would definitely like to purchase that one."
"Absolutely no problem, dear. Would you like it gift wrapped? 400 extra yen and but it's worth every penny in my opinion. I know that sounds like I'm tooting my own horn a bit but, if it's a gift then it's real good service."
"That would be most welcome. Thank you ever so much, this takes a lot off my mind." Nodoka told her, taking out her purse. "How much do I owe you?"
"2399 yen, 2799 with the gift-wrap." The lady told her as she searched under the counter for the gift wrap. "Your boyfriend is one lucky fella, you coming out so early like this for him."
"Oh… yes…" said Nodoka hesitantly. She was feeling slightly awkward as she took out the note she intended to pay with. I wonder how she would react if I told her who it was really for…
The lady took out a large white box, placing the cute toy inside it before turning back to Nodoka, revealing three different wrapping papers. "Which one would you like?" she asked.
Nodoka didn't hesitate, picking the red one to match the girl's eyes. She smiled to herself at the thought of it. Once the woman finished wrapping up the box she placed a cute blue ribbon on top. "The blue really goes well with the red so I hope you don't mind my deciding on that myself.
"No absolutely no problem, it's cute. Thank you again," Nodoka told the lady as she left, "You really are a lifesaver. Have a nice day."
"Yes, you too dear. Tell your friends about us!"
On impulse Nodoka turned back to the lady, "It's… I-It's…"
"Yes, little missy?"
"It's for my girlfriend! Her name is Saki-san!" Nodoka told her rudely, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't going to deny Saki to anyone if she could help it, not after what she'd done.
"Oh my!" the old lady exclaimed and then remarkably smiled, "Well little missy, I hope miss Saksan likes that little fella all the same."
"Yes… sorry… thank you," Nodoka told her and bowed, absolutely red faced and not in a million years was she going to be able to correct the woman on her mispronunciation of Saki's name. Why did I do that? So much for being careful in case of reporters… I'm such an idiot.
Nodoka felt so embarrassed as she left that she went in completely the opposite direction to where she was supposed to be headed next, and she even felt embarrassed when she had to turn around in middle of the street randomly to correct herself after realising the mistake, even though there was nobody around to witness the error. With the ridiculous and unnecessary embarrassment (or is that embarrassments?) out of the way, Nodoka made her way to the next store on her list whilst doing her best to calm down.
She soon arrived at her destination; the mahjong store. She thought briefly about buying a mahjong magazine on a stand at the front of the store, but there seemed to be a 5-page special on Shiraitodai, and Nodoka didn't think Saki would want to read about herself like that. She couldn't help but take a peak however, and ended up deciding to buy it when she realised it included a surprisingly large picture of Saki posing with her sister. Fortunately it wasn't Nishida's magazine so it wasn't likely that there would be much if anything on her own self.
She didn't make it two steps into the store before the man behind the counter gasped, "Haramura Nodoka!" he said in an excited voice.
"Oh... yes?" she said, confused.
"Wow it's really you! I loved you the other day in that match against erm… Eisui, that's it!"
"Oh yes, thank you for watching," she told the man with a bow. "I wonder if you could help me. Do you have something you can recommend as a gift?"
"Erm let's see. We have some special tile key rings!" he gestured at the counter he was sitting behind, but she wasn't really interested in those things; they seemed rather silly to Nodoka and she didn't think Saki would like them particularly either.
"I would like something a bit more…" She wanted to say special, but that was a bit vague and Nodoka found herself struggling to continue.
"Oh I know, how about this?" The man said, revealing an old-fashioned style clock that, rather than normal numbers had the mahjong wind tiles in place of 3, 6, 9, 12. Nodoka sighed. Besides from the magazine, which would be for her own selfish enjoyment, entering the store was going to be a waste of time, she was almost sure of that now. The man seemed to sense her frustration, and redoubled his efforts. By the time she'd paid for the magazine she had seen t-shirts with dead-pan slogans, mugs, bags and other silly things. Nodoka thought the idea that a mug was related to mahjong simply because it had a Pei tile on it was rather desperate. The only thing that remotely tempted Nodoka was a cuddly toy with a jacket with mahjong written on the back in a pretty looking font of English, but Nodoka did not want to overdo it with cuddly toys. The man behind the counter actually attempted to get her to sign a large picture of herself she recognised from Nishida's magazine, but she couldn't bring herself to even look at that, never mind comply with the request, even when he offered to give her the magazine with Saki in it for free should she do so.
It soon became clear that Nodoka's luck had run dry after her initial success. All of the jewellery stores were a disappointment, offering expensive items that Nodoka wouldn't have minded paying for, but nothing really stood out as something that Saki would really like, and other stores offered similarly disappointing items. It was coming up to 9:00 am, so she was on her way to the big shopping centre. An idea crossed her mind. I could call her sister for ideas… but wouldn't that just be awkward? She didn't hesitate for long, taking out her phone. I've already decided once that her feelings are what matter the most, especially when it's just something petty like that. She called the sister's number, hoping the girl was awake but deciding it was worthwhile even if she wasn't if she could offer her a good idea.
"Nodoka," answered Miyanaga Teru.
"Hello Miyanaga-san, pardon me for the intrusion. I hope I didn't wake you," she said politely into the phone. Nodoka decided it was quite strange calling someone else 'Miyanaga-san', "I need your help," she finished.
"Oh? What with? Did you think about what I said yesterday?" Teru asked, sounding as emotionless as always.
"Yes, and you were right. That's what I need help with actually, I'm in town right now and I… I want to buy Saki-san a present, in apology. I was hoping you could help me with ideas if you don't mind," Nodoka tried, awkwardly. Oh so awkwardly.
"Oh? I'm glad you are doing this, Nodoka. Let me see… She likes that bear, you should have noticed it on her pyjamas. I don't know what it's called but it has the initials D.B. She thinks it's cute I believe."
"I've actually already bought her a Daddy Bear toy… if you have any other ideas I would be grateful."
"'Daddy Bear'? I don't think Saki even knows what those letters stand for. Maybe I was wrong to approach you yesterday, Nodoka." Nodoka found herself floundering at the comment, but Teru carried on as if she had said nothing of substance at all, "About ideas for a present, she likes fantasy books, the ones with magic and that kind of thing. She prefers female protagonists but reads either. I don't know what you intend to buy her, but she also likes the colour blue. So if you buy her flowers or clothes go for blue. Light blue."
I should have chosen the blue gift wrap… but at least the ribbon is blue I guess. I really owe that lady. "Thank you. If you don't mind telling me erm, maybe what kind of chocolates she likes?"
"Truffles."
"Truffles," she repeated, writing it down. "Thank you ever so much Miyanaga Teru-san. I'm sorry for having disturbed you like this, but this should be enough."
"Not a problem, take care Nodoka."
She hung up then, giving Nodoka no chance to return the goodbye but Nodoka was unperturbed; that's just how Miyanaga Teru was. She placed the phone in her pocket and made her way to the shopping centre. It didn't take her long to find a suitable (and expensive) chocolate store. She felt slightly stupid simply walking up to the counter and asking for truffles, but the man serving her seemed to understand. She placed the small box she had picked out into her bag once it was bought and made her way deeper into the centre.
Nodoka was desperate for something blue. She had the chocolates; she had the daddy bear now she just needed something preferably pretty and blue. 9:18 am… I'm running out of time… But then she knew what she was going to buy after all.
Nodoka soon had her phone back to her ear. This is going to be so terrible. Miyanaga Teru is going to think I'm a pervert.
"Nodoka. You need more help?"
"Hello again, M-Miyanaga Teru-san."
"Just Teru is fine," the girl said, somehow sensing her awkwardness. Miyanagas in general seemed good at that kind of thing.
"Yes, sorry Teru-san, I have picked out something I think is really nice, and it's light blue in colour and well…"
"Yes?"
"It's clothing… I need… I hope… If you don't mind telling me could you tell me her three sizes…?" The cat's out of the bag now at least.
"Nodoka…" said the voice after a moment, but she couldn't even be sure it was the same girl who was talking to her the voice was so strange. Nodoka might have struggled not to laugh under other circumstances. She had never heard Miyanaga Teru so flustered. "I'm not sure… I… I don't think I should tell you that," she continued rather shakily. It was almost comforting, knowing that Miyanaga Teru could stutter in a similar fashion to Saki.
"I can see why you wouldn't," Nodoka agreed, "but… oh actually I think I might be able to get the fitter on the phone instead. Would that be acceptable? Could you talk to her for me?"
She sounded much like her normal self when she responded, "Yes, okay. That is a better idea."
"Wait just two seconds then please, Teru-san," she told her happily, making her way back to the shop employee she had first discussed the purchase with.
Nodoka was fiddling with the blue toy phone strap Saki had given her as the lady talked on the phone, somehow uncomfortable with the idea of letting someone else use her phone with the strap still attached. She smiled as she watched the lady talk with her phone. I guess there's no chance this lady will think this purchase is for a boyfriend.
Nodoka's hands were full as she made her way back up to the Kiyosumi room, and she got some odd looks considering what she was carrying, but she endured it easily enough. Once she reached the Kiyosumi room she carefully entered. She let out a sigh of relief; fortunately the girl was still sleeping. Nodoka took a glance at her phone. 10:14 am. She was later than she'd intended originally, but her plan succeeded anyway. Better than that, Yuuki, Maho and everyone else seemed to be absent. She quickly opened her own allotted wardrobe and carefully deposited a certain item, before making her way to the sweet girl she was going to make her girlfriend once and for all if she could help it.
She carefully knelt down next to the girl and played with her hair for a few moments before brushing it out of her face. "Saki-san," she whispered, kissing her very carefully on the forehead. The way the girl's arms were sprayed loosely about her was somehow exciting, and it didn't help that she was as adorable as she always was when she was asleep either.
She kissed the girl again, as lightly as before, but this time on her cheek. She was dangerously close to those lips now. She supported herself with one hand next to Saki's head whilst the other was close to the girl's waist on her other side, with Nodoka almost directly over the girl. Saki was still unbelievably sleeping sound, her arms still loosely about herself. Nodoka smiled to herself. She's such a deep sleeper. Feeling bold, she moved her hand to Saki's waist before kissing her fully on the lips, enjoying the moment when she felt Saki stir in particular. Her lips taste so nice. and her face burned even further just at the realisation of exactly what she was thinking.
"Nodoka… chan…" the girl whispered when it was over, still groggy with sleep but awake enough to look into her eyes.
"Saki-san," Nodoka agreed, drawing an adorable sigh out of the girl with her next kiss, who accepted it with surprise in her eyes. "Saki-san..." Nodoka told her stupidly again, kissing her again, and again. Nodoka felt Saki place her arm around her own neck and touch her own waist with her other hand, somehow in her grogginess managing to be surprisingly gentle with it, and Nodoka found herself far more aware of the two hands than she would have thought possible given the way they were kissing.
"Nodoka-chan…" the girl whispered as Nodoka moved slightly backwards, and Nodoka went in again easily to the sound of the cute voice. Saki's hand moved from her waist to gently touching her face as they kissed.
"Saki-san…" Nodoka said once more, before relenting, drawing herself backwards, placing her hands about the girl on the futon to support herself. Nodoka found she was short on breath, but Saki also seemed to be struggling with her own breathing rate. Nodoka was still supporting herself above the girl, looking downwards but Saki did not break eye contact. Neither of them broke eye contact.
"Nodoka-chan…" the girl said, and the way she said it was off slightly because of the way she was breathing slightly faster than normal, and it made Nodoka feel flustered. Nodoka was staring down into the girl's eyes, unsure about everything except that she wanted to keep kissing this adorable girl. Nodoka couldn't do it however. Saki was once apologetic for 'not giving Nodoka much choice' but Nodoka really hadn't given Saki any choice this time. She wanted to ask her if it was okay to continue, but it was somehow too hard to say anything but the girl's name, which on the other hand felt like a wonderful thing to say, an easy thing to say. It was a key that unlocked many doors, all of them beautiful. All of them welcoming. Her thoughts were all over the place in those moments, staring down into those eyes that were staring straight back.
Saki seemed to read her mind, and in a small and quick motion she nodded. It was so slight that Nodoka might have missed it were she not paying absolutely all of her attention to the girl, but that was not a possibility, not then. It was a nod, and Nodoka had no doubt what it meant. The trembling was nigh on unbearable in anticipation of kissing the sweet girl again, but the moment their lips touched made everything okay, and the trembling stopped. Saki wrapped her arms around Nodoka's neck, bringing the two of them into an incredibly close and warm hug whilst they kissed. It was when Saki's mouth opened during the kiss that was already quite euphoric that Nodoka realised their kisses thus far had not even scratched the surface of the possibilities that lay ahead. It was definitely impossible to pay attention to anything but the sweet girl in her arms in those moments.
It was rather unfortunate for Nodoka that she was so correct in her deduction. Hisa struggled not to make a sound as she backed back out of the room, gesturing to Mako that she should do the same. Fortunately she understood, and immediately began backing away without making any noise. After several painstaking moments where she carefully did her best to silently shut the door to their room again she turned to Mako and they were soon both smirking together.
"What were they doing?" asked Mako, grinning.
"I'm not sure you want to know. Sheesh. You'd think the princess would be more careful. She was just lucky it was us who walked in, and not Suga-kun or Maho and Yuuki." Hisa decided it was also quite lucky that they were already trying to be quiet in order to not wake Saki up. "Can you imagine if Suga-kun had found them like that?"
Mako smirked. "That would be one way to find out, I suppose," she agreed.
"That it would. What can that girl be thinking? She knows we all have keys, that we could arrive at any minute."
"The princess tends to forget herself when she's with that girl."
"I suppose so, but what a pain, now we have to delay the pre-match preparation. They seemed like they were enjoying themselves a bit too much to finish any time soon. What are we going to do? I really don't feel like sitting out here to guard the room for them, but I don't think letting someone else walk in on them would be a good idea."
Mako grinned at her as she walked over to a nearby room, commandeered a 'do not disturb' sign and put it on the Kiyosumi room's door. "There, problem solved."
Hisa chuckled as they turned for the café.
"Nodoka… cha…" Saki whispered. Nodoka, oblivious to the two girls who had already re-exited the room, couldn't believe the way the kiss was going. In particular, she couldn't understand why neither of them could say anything but the other's name. It felt like they'd had an entire conversation as they kissed, just telling each other over and over their names, as though they needed reminding every now and again, but apart from that, were quite content with silence.
"S-Saki… s-san…" she said when she opened her mouth, unable to contradict her own thoughts even then. That was not even the worst thing. The worst thing was that she felt almost a desperate need to do something, although she wasn't quite sure what, and it was making her feel somehow hot in her stomach and she was sure whatever it was that she wanted to do was not good, and that it was something she shouldn't do, not then, Not ever.The realisation that she was actually aroused was startling, and caused more red to come to her cheeks, and her face was already burning before the absurd realisation. It might as well have been set alight for all she knew, but that feeling was not nearly as uncomfortable as it ought to have been.
Saki broke off the kiss out of need for a breath, but Nodoka found she was okay. That or she was enjoying herself too much to care about silly things like breathing, and in hindsight, Nodoka realised she wasn't really thinking in that moment at all. That moment where she smothered the girl with affectionate kisses. First, her wonderful and soft cheeks, then just below her ear, and then her delicate and slender neck, all the while admiring how incredibly soft, smooth and crystal clear the skin was.
Saki sighed in unmistakable pleasure as she did so, "Ah… No… Nodoka… chan… I…"
An unbidden smile was on Nodoka's face as she withdrew to look at the girl in her entirety, "S-Saki-san…" she said to her, as though that would have answered whatever she might have had to say with absolute clarity. Reality came crashing down on Nodoka far too hard, and far too fast. Realising the indecent thing she was doing shattered her calm. Her position was not helping things, and Saki's face was incredibly red and she was no longer looking up into Nodoka's eyes and instead was looking over and to the side. Nodoka had embarrassed her and she clearly wanted it to stop.
"I…" Nodoka tried as she pushed herself up in too fast of a motion for it to even be considered remotely natural. Her face burned, uncomfortably this time, and she made her way as calmly as she could to a position where she couldn't be seen anymore.
"… I… I… I'm sorry…" she managed after a few moments. Her legs felt somehow unsteady, so she leaned on the table she'd once read her book at whilst waiting for the girl to wake up to support herself. She couldn't look back at the girl at all, so instead settled for the table she was leaning on. Saki didn't make a sound from behind her. It took Nodoka what felt like a very long time to continue, "You must… You must think I'm such… a dirty old man… I'm really sorry…" was all she could say.
"Nodoka-chan I…" she heard a voice from the futon say after some hesitation, "I… I would never… think that…"
Nodoka couldn't bring herself to respond to the polite response. What happened to my plan to read my book whilst I wait for her to wake up? How did I let myself get so carried away? I half-assaulted the poor girl! I was supposed to be apologising to her… I am such an-
A sweet voice interrupted her train of thought, "Nodoka-chan! I… You… You are blaming yourself… Why are you blaming yourself?" the sweet voice asked her, the accuracy of the comment surprising.
Nodoka stared down at the table and did her best to apologise for at least the first time that day, "I… I'm sorry Saki-san… I just… I… I don't know what came over me… I.. I don't… I don't… I-I d-didn't mean t-to..." she tried, but she couldn't bring herself to apologise properly at all. I just wanted to kiss her to wake her up… It had been just an innocent idea in the beginning, yet so easily had it turned into something different, something she hadn't expected, something she had enjoyed far too much. Nodoka just stood there, shaking her head and wondering over and over again how she'd let herself get so carried away.
Nodoka was still leaning on the table when a wonderful girl she hadn't heard get up hugged her from behind, drawing a gasp of surprise out of her. "I-I nodded… You know… that I nodded… that I w-wanted... you to… why… why would you blame yourself?" whispered Saki, "It was such a… such a nice way to wake up… please don't scold yourself like this… I really… I really hate it when you scold yourself like this."
Nodoka's eyes widened. It was the way the girl was hugging her so comfortingly from behind with her arms wrapped tenderly around her waist, the way she was doing her utmost to make her feel better again with her words, regardless of how embarrassing they must have been for her to say, and the way she seemed to be able to read Nodoka's mind. Nodoka might have fallen in love with her all over again, but Nodoka was paralyzed when she realised the feeling was back again. That hotness in her stomach, that feeling she couldn't handle. She broke out of Saki's grasp and went straight for the bathroom, locking the door behind her and letting out a long sigh of relief.
Whilst she was stood there, back against the door she heard a voice that must have been from precisely on the other side of the door. "You don't deserve… you don't deserve the blame, Nodoka-chan…" said the quiet voice, "You didn't do anything wrong… I just… I was just scared. That's all. I wanted… to continue as well… but I… was s-scared… It makes me really happy… that… that you w-wanted to…" she somehow said out loud. "Remember the training camp? You told me one time… you told me you wouldn't let anyone… anyone get away with blaming me, not even me. It was really nice when you said that, and… it's the same for you now. I won't… I won't let you blame yourself, Nodoka-chan."
Nodoka gasped as she stood there listening to the girl who was working so hard to make her feel comfortable. This girl… she knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. Every time I'm upset, she chases my anxieties away no matter how nervous or embarrassed or humiliated she's feeling. She opened the door to find a particularly red faced Saki looking back at her with a worried expression on her face. Saki averted her eyes and looked downwards, but Nodoka smiled at her. "You… You are wonderful, Saki-san… and… right. You are right. Th-Thank you."
"That's… That's okay, Nodoka-chan… but… you are so amazing with maths… and logic… did you forget already?"
"I don't… I don't understand… I'm sorry."
"Oh just…" she said, and Nodoka was worried when the girl couldn't look her in the eyes as she talked, and she was right to be worried, "In… I-In… the bath… the other… day… I… I was far… worse than what… what you did now... no matter which… way you look at it… and… a-and I always… wake up on you… I'm just… a-all over you s-sometimes… but… you always… work hard… to help me… feel better… Why… why d-do you hold yourself to a different standard, N-Nodoka-chan? Just… you should just… relax a bit more."
"I erm… okay…" Nodoka stammered rudely, not strong enough to respond with any kind of substance, and even weak enough to consider just excusing herself to the bathroom mid-conversation for the chance to calm herself down. Wait… what on earth does that have to do with logic or maths? She smiled at the girl and put her thoughts into words, though she might have stuttered slightly as she said it. Just maybe.
Saki didn't look back at her as she responded, instead staring straight down at the floor, and she stuttered herself, although Nodoka really couldn't blame her considering what she was talking about, "Oh… it's just that… logically… you can't blame… yourself, right… Nodoka-chan? Considering… Considering what… I did… and that time… I was… I was so worried… because… of what I did just… just like the way… you are worried now but… you… you made it so I could relax… with… that joke… if you… remember…" Saki shrugged and smiled apologetically at her, all the while sporting the flushed face, "I'm sorry, this is… I'm really babbling, but… I really have fun… I- I always feel… so… I... erm... I feel really nice when I k-kiss… and um… yeah… with you… so you… you don't have to worry."
Nodoka nodded, though she couldn't quite look at the girl either with the ridiculous things she was saying, "Yes… me t-too," she managed.
"Sorry… It's… a l-little embarrassing."
Nodoka could agree with that sentiment with no problem at all, although she wasn't sure if 'little' covered the extent even nearly adequately enough. "Yes, it… it is…" she said in barely more than a whisper.
Nodoka then excused herself to use the bathroom she was still stood in the entrance to, eager to stop feeling embarrassed for perhaps the first time that day. She washed her face with freezing cold water, but all it took was accidentally thinking back to their kissing for a moment for her to completely lose her cool again. She washed her face again, but was soon daydreaming about their kissing once more. It was really quite ridiculous. The worst was past, and she finally felt like she was in control again, yet simply thinking back to those moments was flustering her all over again. Whilst Nodoka was washing her face for about the sixth time about five minutes later Saki appeared in the doorway, the doorway she hadn't ended up locking or closing in the end after all. "Do you want to get some breakfast, Nodoka-chan?" she asked.
Oh my god… I forgot about the apology! "Erm… No… Could you… Do you… want to lie back down…? I wanted… I wanted to surprise you with… some things."
"Nodoka-chan?" she asked with her head tilted in understandable confusion.
This won't do at all. Nodoka gently took one of the girl's hands with both of her own, "Please, come with me," she said with a smile. Saki was still confused but she nodded and let herself be lead back to their futon. Nodoka let go of her hand and knelt next to the futon, using both of her hands to lift up the cover, "Please lie right here," she said with a wink, indicating exactly where the girl had just been lying. The way Saki blushed at that was almost too much for Nodoka to keep a straight face.
Once the girl was lying, utterly confused, back in the futon Nodoka gently covered her again and tucked her in. She then whispered to her, "I'll be right back," which made her blush even more. Why am I enjoying this so much? I need to seriously apologise for the awful way I acted yesterday! She stood there next to the presents for a moment to clear her mind and force herself to stop being so inappropriately cheerful, she then picked up the bag and made her way back to the wonderful Saki.
Nodoka knelt in front of the futon with the bag of presents behind her. "I… Saki-san…I," she started and sighed in frustration. She made sure to look into the girl's eyes and tried again, "Saki-san," she said, "I was really cruel to you yesterday. What I did… I was so awful… looking back on it… I really do deserve the blame this time. I was… I was such a b-… such a bitch to be hon-"
Saki was having none of it. "Nodoka-chan!" she interrupted in a surprisingly resolute voice, "I don't like it! You shouldn't call yourself that word, you aren't a… a b-… you aren't one at all! You shouldn't ever say that, especially not about yourself."
Nodoka nodded, wide-eyed at the way she'd been told off in the harshest tone she'd ever heard the girl speak in, "Okay, I won't… I don't like the word either. But… I was still… so mean to you. Even though… I like… I love you so much… I still treated you so badly. I don't know why I act like such an idiot to the people I like the most." She tried a smile at the girl and forced her tears away. It was Nodoka's turn to look after Saki, not the other way around, "I'm really sorry," she finished. She sighed in frustration with herself. It had gone far better in her head as she'd thought about it on the way back, but it almost felt like she was acting insincere about it, even though it was something she really cared about. It didn't occur to her that she was scolding herself.
"Nodoka-chan," said Saki, "Thank you for apologising, but there's… there's no need… I… I prefer it when you can just relax."
Nodoka felt tears forming in her own eyes again but she was determined not to cry in front of Saki this time so forced them away once more, "Why… why are you always so nice to me?" she asked instead, "I deserve… I deserve so much… worse."
Saki shook her head at her slowly with her eyes closed, "Shh…" Saki whispered, "I don't… I don't think you deserve… anything like that, Nodoka-chan, but even… even if you did, why would I? I don't want you to worry."
She's so nice… even at a time like this. She shook her head at the girl, "I don't… I don't think I can be let off the hook so easily for my behaviour this time, Saki-san," she told her, "I know… I know you would overlook what I did yesterday… and be the same lovely and sweet girl you always are but… I need… to be the one to make things okay this time," she told the girl honestly, "I thought about it last night… and this morning. I need to apologise to you properly for what I did, and for the way I acted." Nodoka reached backwards awkwardly for the bag with her presents in it and placed them in front of her. "I bought you these as… an apology," she finished lamely, but doing her best to stay cheerful to help make opening the presents at least a little fun for her.
"Wha…? For me?" Saki asked with excitement, "Really, Nodoka-chan?"
Nodoka nodded, "I… I hope you like them."
"Can I… open it?" she asked, bringing out the gift wrapped box that had the cuddly daddy bear toy in it.
Nodoka nodded, and she watched nervously as the girl ever so carefully unwrapped the present, making sure not to rip the gift wrap. She delicately placed the small blue ribbon to one side as though it were a treasure itself, and soon had the bear in her hands. Nodoka felt herself relax when the girl's face lit up into that beautiful smile that she so adored. She likes it! "Oh wow, it's so cute!" she exclaimed, "Where… where did you find him? I've been looking for a toy like this everywhere!" she said as she hugged it enthusiastically to her chest. "Thank you so much, Nodoka-chan."
"Oh… N-No problem at all... I found him in town… Those initials, they stand for 'Daddy Bear' if you… if you didn't know already."
"Wow, Nodoka-chan figured it out just like that… You are so amazing."
Nodoka blushed, but did her best to keep watching the girl playing with the toy as she spoke, "It was just… luck… The shop-keeper in town knew the initials when I asked her; she was erm… really helpful." I wonder what she would think if I told her about that stupid thing I did as I was leaving that nice lady's shop. Nodoka decided she would probably like hearing it, but she still couldn't bring herself to bring it up.
"Oh… I'm always too scared to talk to shop keepers when I buy them. It's so embarrassing… when I buy that stuff…" The girl blushed cutely as she admitted it, but it didn't slow her down, "When did Nodoka-chan… go into town?" she asked.
"Oh… I just… I just went whilst you were sleeping," Nodoka told her. She stood up again to go and fetch the note she had written before she had left. I wonder if anyone else saw this… I wish I'd known she wouldn't wake up so I wouldn't have had to leave it. Nodoka passed it to her anyway, and suffered more embarrassment as the girl glanced at and read it.
"This is… Thank you so much… Of course I forgive you Nodoka-chan."
"I'm really glad Saki-san… but there's more."
"Even more?" Saki's hand went into the bag once more and brought out the chocolates. "Oh Nodoka-chan… You are just… working so hard for me. I really… think you overdid it… I don't think... you needed to apologise..."
"Not at all. You are just too sweet and kind to realise how horrible I was yesterday. I really don't think these are enough. Those are truffles by the way. I hope you like them."
"They are my favourite… how did you…?" Saki looked up at her, confused.
"A certain Miyanaga helped me pick them. I won't name any names," she teased.
"Eh? Onee-chan went with you?" Saki stared at her, dumbfounded.
"No, I just called her and asked her what types you liked whilst I was there," Nodoka told her, "I'm really glad I got you the right ones."
"Thank you Nodoka-chan… really thank you. I've never… received chocolates as a gift before… not r-romantic ones like these at least." Nodoka was surprised when Saki blushed and looked down after the words.
"Saki-san…" said Nodoka, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I had fun buying you them. The truth is… I…" She stood up then, beckoning the girl to stand up with her. All it took was a look, and the girl understood, "I want you to… I want you to be my girlfriend!" she finished goofily, and immediately blushed and looked away, embarrassed by her stupidity.
Saki took it badly. "Eh? Nodoka-chan… I thought we already… I thought that I already was… your girlfriend..." Saki's eyes dropped then. I'm so stupid, I should have known she would take it badly. Saki continued, still dejected, "I hoped I was at least…"
Nodoka shook her head. She knew what she had to tell her now even as she sighed in frustration with herself, "I don't mean anything like you are thinking… it's just that… I thought you were my girlfriend before too… and I… I really want to be your girlfriend, Saki-san. I even… Today I even told a shopkeeper… the one who sold me the daddy bear even… that it was for… my girlfriend."
Saki's eyes widened at that, "Wow, really Nodoka-chan?"
Nodoka nodded, "I… I even told her… your name…"
Saki's worried expression vanished, and she was suddenly happily smiling, "Thank you so much for doing that," she said, and she seemed surprisingly and sincerely grateful. "I… I really hate the way… I have to pretend… I don't know you that well… because of reporters… and the coach… so… it's nice to hear."
"I… I'm glad it makes you… happy," she said, managing to look away just in time, "but… I don't think I should have… at least this time… because… I think I lost any right I might have had… to call myself as such… I… know… I know that's silly… but I feel… quite strongly about that," she said in a quiet voice. As she spoke she led the girl over to her wardrobe.
Nodoka sighed in frustration. Butterflies were in her stomach as she stood there with the girl, and none of the words she had wanted to say before showing her the present were coming to her now. Saki stayed silent throughout her stuttering, probably confused why Nodoka was suddenly being so weird. She stopped dead as her hand reached the wardrobe. Am I… Am I just projecting my own tastes onto her with this..? I know I would love this kind of a present… but Saki-san… she hates attention! The realisation worried Nodoka enough to panic her. Oh my god… what was I thinking?! I actually bought her something she would hate to wear… just under the pretence that it's blue..? And this girl is so polite… she will feel obligated to wear it… even if she hates it.
"Nodoka-chan… Why are you so upset?" Saki asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I… I really think… I really think you need to stop scolding yourself so much, like we said, remember? Even if… Even if you really think you deserve it, I think… I think scolding yourself… it's just no good."
"I'm not upset. I'm sorry I didn't mean to space out," she tried before giving a girl a smile to show her just how un-upset she was, and then she continued, "I just… I think I made a mistake, Saki-san… I really think… I… made a stupid-"
Saki stopped her then with a hug, and just tenderly rubbed her back as she soothed her, "Shh, Nodoka-chan. You are working too hard… Just relax okay? You know… it's really okay to be sad, it isn't weak," Saki said in a surprisingly serious voice. Nodoka didn't know what to do, but it was nice being held in such a way, so she just let herself be held, and listened to what the girl felt she needed to say,
"I know that's a little strange to say," Saki continued, "but I think that… sometimes you pretend… just a little bit… to be happy, but lately your smile was always real. I thought so at least, but today… you are just so worried, Nodoka-chan, and you are upset… and you keep pretending you aren't. I'm sorry… I'm not sure I should say it… but I think you would feel better too, if you didn't have to pretend… if you could just be how you wanted to be… if you didn't have to force yourself. So if you are feeling sad, or if you want to cry, you could just cry instead, I think that would be better for you… especially if you could do it… with Yuuki-chan and Maho-chan."
She gently broke off the hug with Nodoka and just smiled at her, her serious tone forgotten just like that, "Just try to relax, okay? Everyone wants it so you can just be yourself," she finished.
Nodoka actually was crying by the end of it and could do nothing but stare at the girl in gratitude, "You are so beautiful, Saki-san," she told the girl simply and very honestly. "I'm not sure how I coped before I met you, but… the way you can just… understand me… and the way you are always ready to help me feel better about anything is just… it's just so wonderful to be around you."
Saki smiled and nodded at her, "I'm really glad, and... your… y-your smile is real now, Nodoka-chan," she said shyly, as though Nodoka needed to be informed no matter how much it embarrassed the both of them.
Nodoka nodded despite her embarrassment, "I don't know about a 'real' smile, Saki-san, but I'm always happier when I'm with you, but you're right… I am upset. I should have been more honest about that. I think I need to explain properly… and truthfully… why I'm so upset… with myself…" she said and sighed before looking downwards, "Erm… I'm not sure how I should say this but… I don't like being rude anyway… but with you… when it was so unnecessary… I just hate that I did that. I let my anger risk what's really important to me… and I should have been stronger and explained this before, but my reason is the same as yours actually."
"Eh? The… same as mine?"
Nodoka nodded and looked up into Saki's eyes then and did her best to explain, "The reason… or rather… the main reason… I am so upset about the way I acted yesterday… is that… I really want you to be able to relax as well. It was our picnic together… You were just so carefree and relaxed, and you smiled so much. I was so happy to see that, Saki-san. I cannot stress that enough. It was so nice to see that you could be so carefree and so happy. I wanted to make that happen more for you… That… That might be a selfish or egotistical thing for me to think, but it's why I am so angry with myself. I can't calm down just thinking about the way I talked to you on the phone… How are you supposed to relax like that again when I acted in such a way to you?"
"You are the beautiful one, Nodoka-chan, and so kind, too," said Saki with a wonderful smile on her face. If there was just one true smile in existence… Hers would be it. The way she spoke was almost worryingly confidently however, "You shouldn't worry about that at all… At first yesterday, I thought we wouldn't have a chance to be together again at all."
"Saki-san?" said Nodoka, "You really thought I'd be upset for what, 2 weeks about that?"
Saki suddenly had a surprisingly worried expression on her face for such a little mistake and she waved her arms to indicate it wasn't the case, saying, "Oh… no… sorry I didn't… mean that long… it… it just felt like my mistakes in the match were going to cost us a lot of time together… and that phone call… I was scared and… and upset at the time… but… I think you were really strong. It gives me hope erm… I think… I think I'll feel even more relaxed with you now, so there's no need to worry."
"Pardon, Saki-san?" asked Nodoka, "I'm sorry but… I will not accept that it was strong of me to do what I did… to act the way I did… and I really don't understand how you can feel more relaxed after it… I was… I was really harsh and judgemental. I don't understand how it gives you hope, either frankly."
Saki shook her head, apparently unperturbed by the comments, "Yesterday in the match… you thought I did things… that you really hate, right?" she asked.
Nodoka simply nodded hesitantly, unsure about what she should do or say.
"And you forgave me so quickly, even though it would have been easy for you to keep being angry at me for that… you did your best to listen to me and understand. Nodoka-chan is so strong to do something like that, to push away your anger… and you did your best to understand that I was having a hard time during the match. It would have been easy for you to think I deliberately played… into Senriyama and Achiga those times… but you really listened to me… and you even came and found me afterwards, and you worked so hard for me today. It's really amazing. It's wonderful to be around you, Nodoka-chan, so stop scolding yourself, okay?"
Nodoka was shaking her head gently in disbelief. "You know how to make me feel better about every little thing," she said, smiling what she thought must be a 'real' smile at her. If my smile isn't genuine now then it never will be.
"I was just being honest," said Saki, as though being honest the way Saki could be was the easiest thing in the world, "It makes you happy because you are so kind and strong. You just have a little trouble seeing it sometimes, that's all."
Nodoka shook her head, "That's not it," she said truthfully, "It makes me happy because it's you."
"Nodoka-chan…" said Saki with a touch of surprise, and somehow the atmosphere had changed. Just like that the girl's eyes were on her own again and she was powerless to do anything but stare into that wonderful cauldron of red and black. After several entrancing moments like that, Saki reached out her hand towards Nodoka's face and touched her so gently, the touch somehow filling her with a wonderful calmness. Nodoka placed her hand over it almost instinctively as Saki moved forward to kiss her. Nodoka kissed the girl back. To not do so was not possible. Her free hand found its way somehow into Saki's as they kissed, the fingers interlocking together comfortably.
Saki reached and took her other hand from Nodoka's face and put it into her own after the wonderful kiss and gave it a small squeeze, "Y-You had a problem, right N-Nodoka-chan?" she asked, still flustered from the kiss.
Nodoka nodded, quite flustered herself and also still rather worried about how she was going to precede, but it was so much easier thanks to the girl who had worked so hard to make her feel loved. "I… I bought you… something… It's in the wardrobe."
"Another present, Nodoka-chan? I… I… love receiving presents, especially from Nodoka-chan… I don't understand… Why would you worry about that?"
"Oh I just… I think… I think I bought you something… that I would like… that I would like to receive… I guess you might like it… but I think it was a selfish purchase."
"You shouldn't worry so much about such a thing, Nodoka-chan… I would like it more if you like it as well, and I'm sure I will like it anyway… you really tried so hard for me."
"Okay… but… but if you hate it, please just tell me. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable just because… just because you want to be polite. Promise me, okay?"
"Okay… I promise but, I'm sure I will like it! I'm really excited!"
Nodoka smiled at the girl before placing her hand back onto the wardrobe, hesitating only for a moment longer before pulling it open, carefully watching Saki out of the corner of her eye to see what she thought of it as she did so.
"Oh Nodoka-chan… it's so beautiful!" Saki exclaimed, "It's so pretty… wow…"
"Really?"
When Saki just nodded up and down without even taking her eyes off of the dress, Nodoka took it down from the clothes hanger she had hung it on, placing it in front of Saki in an attempt to gauge if it would indeed fit her. The dress was made out of silk and it was light sky blue with hints of silver-white. It had frills and ribbons on the arms. The top was modest, and whilst that might have disappointed Nodoka herself she thought Saki would prefer it that way. Nodoka really did think it was adorable, and she'd just had to buy it at the time.
"I think it will fit you Saki-san… I really hope you like it."
"It's for me? Seriously?"
Nodoka nodded, feeling flushed just at the thought of her wearing it.
"Nodoka-chan… this is… so beautiful… but for me… There's no way… I think you…"
"Are you sure you like it?" asked Nodoka.
"I… It's incredible Nodoka-chan… It… it's so beautiful… Of… Of course I like it… but it… it looks so… so expensive."
Nodoka shook her head, "Don't worry about that… I… I really wanted it as well… I…" she said, feeling shy, "I… I really want to see you in it," she admitted.
Saki turned her head downwards, and she seemed as worried as Nodoka had ever seen her, shaking her head even as she talked, "I… I love that you did this… but… it's too expensive… it's too much… I… I just… it's… the wrong time… maybe you should just… take it back for a few days and give it to me later, if you still feel like it."
"Saki-san? That makes… no sense… if you don't like it you can just say, remember?"
"It's not that!" she said immediately, "I really like it… it's just… the wrong timing…"
"I really don't understand, Saki-san… I… I'm really okay if you don't like it. I don't understand how it can be the wrong timing."
"I… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to seem like I didn't like it, I really love it. Thank you."
Nodoka frowned at her. There was something unnatural about her reaction to the gift, and it was so blatant that even Nodoka couldn't fail to notice it, and it felt like it was important, but she was just too dense to understand it. "I'm glad you like it," she said in defeat, "I don't think you should try it on now, however, although we ought to make sure it fits at some point."
Nodoka then excused herself to go to the bathroom.
As she was opening the door Saki stopped her, "Are you really sure about this?" she asked.
"Of course," Nodoka said without hesitation.
Nodoka turned to the bathroom, relieved. She genuinely needed it but also wanted to take another break to compose herself. She really needed to pull herself together a bit, and fortunately she caught herself before she could think back to earlier. When she walked back out into the bedroom she soon stopped dead in her tracks. Saki had hung the dress back up in Nodoka's wardrobe, but she'd left it wide open so that it was still visible. The girl was sat down in front of it, simply rocking back and forth with her arms around her knees just simply staring up at the dress, humming an unfamiliar tune as she did so.
She really likes it! Those thoughts soon turned into thoughts about how cute the girl was however, and she soon had her phone out to guiltily sneak a few pictures. Once she was satisfied, she just stood there happily watching the girl watching the dress. She supposed the situation was almost absurd, but that didn't make things less enjoyable.
"Try it on, Saki-san," Nodoka said, breaking the quiet, "but only if you want to, of course."
Saki turned around in surprise. "But you said…"
"I know… but I think it would be fun," Nodoka told her lamely. I am so weak. She sighed at herself at that. Didn't I tell her I was going to stop scolding myself like this? The realisation that the second thought could easily be considered scolding as well as the first did nothing but confuse her.
Fortunately Saki was paying no attention to Nodoka's stupidity. "Can I really?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Why not? What time do you have to be back in your room?"
"Onee-chan wants me there at about 6… We are going to… discuss our opponents then."
Nodoka smiled at that, "I hope you aren't too brutal when it comes to talking about us," she teased. "But that means we have plenty of time."
"Okay… but… I can't do it… with you watching…"
Nodoka had expected as much, "Say no more, Saki-san. I will wait in the lounge. Make sure not to rush it."
Nodoka had her book in her hands as she sat there waiting for the girl to change, but found she couldn't read it at all or calm down for that matter. Instead she anxiously awaited seeing the girl in the dress.
"N-Nodoka-chan…" a voice called after about ten agonizing minutes, "It's on…"
Nodoka's heart sped up simply at the mere anticipation of seeing the girl. "Okay S-Saki-san, whenever you are ready," she said, trying not to betray her excitement to the girl.
"It's… embarrassing…"
"Oh don't worry, Saki-san; I'm sure you look fine."
"Promise… promise not to laugh Nodoka-chan…"
Nodoka smiled at the girl's shyness. The girl was clearly directly on the other side of the door from how close she sounded. "Of course I won't laugh, Saki-san. I promise."
Nodoka thought she heard the girl moving then, and several seconds then passed before the girl quietly yet unmistakably uttered the word, "Okay..."
"Does that mean I can come in?" she asked, heart in her mouth.
"Yes…"
Nodoka opened the door. She couldn't have laughed if she'd wanted to.
Oh my god… Nodoka instinctively raised her hand to her mouth that was gaping quite rudely open. "Saki-san… you are… so beautiful…" The girl was stood in the centre of the room, bashfully holding the front of the dress with her hands. The dress hugged the girl's body in all the right places, just where her hips met her waist, then her waist, and her slender arms. The petite girl looked truly stunning in it. The way the girl was holding the dress so shyly made her look even more adorable.
The girl started to really blush at the way Nodoka was staring at her which snapped Nodoka out of her rudeness. "You look… incredible… Really… you are so pretty." She made her way over to the girl, who was shyly looking downwards and still holding her dress in that cute way. She took her hands into her own easily, and couldn't help but continue to stare at the girl in her dress quite rudely, looking her up and down like some kind of lecherous old man.
"It really… contrasts well with your eyes, Saki-san…" she told the girl. After quickly squeezing the girl's hand she released the girl's hand with her own so that she could brush the girl's face. "I… I r-really want to k-kiss you," she told her truthfully.
"Really? Do I really look okay Nodoka-chan?" she asked, so delicately.
"I promise you Saki-san, if you walked into a room like that no one would have eyes for anyone else," Nodoka told her. "You are… such a beautiful girl."
She thought she might have overdone it with the compliment, but it was true so she didn't regret it. Saki was looking down and embarrassed after the comment, so Nodoka placed her hand under her chin and gently brought her head back up so that she could look into the girl's eyes. She moved in to kiss her then, unable to hold herself back, but Saki turned her head away before Nodoka could make it to those lips.
Nodoka pulled backwards, unable to look anywhere but away and downwards. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed and disappointed and even hurt, but she tried to keep it out of her tone of voice, "I-If you don't want to, just say something, Saki-san..." she whispered, "I-I won't be mad at you, I promise."
"That's not true," Saki told her, shaking her head, "That's not it at all… P-Please don't think that!" she said, sounding surprisingly upset, "I just… I just… don't want to mess up the dress. I w-want… I want to as well but… I don't think we s-should…"
"That's… s-sensible," Nodoka admitted quietly, "W-What do you think about the dress?" she tried, keen on changing the subject. They'd kissed enough for that day anyway. Enough for a lifetime, really. Nodoka wasn't sure why her brain was so interested in recreating that scenario.
"The dress… is amazing Nodoka-chan. Really amazing," Saki told her.
The words snapped Nodoka out of her daze. It was the way the girl emphasized the word 'dress' that disturbed her. "Only the dress? Saki-san… you look really nice… It's not just the dress. Not at all."
"Mmmm are you sure…? This is the type of thing… you should wear…"
"And not you?" Nodoka asked her, more harshly than she'd intended. She signed in frustration. "Have you looked at yourself, Saki-san? In a mirror I mean… You should… You are… so pretty."
Saki didn't respond to that, and simply shook her head, holding tightly onto Nodoka's hand. They walked together hand-in-hand to the bathroom. Just before they entered Nodoka told the girl, "Close your eyes Saki-san." To which the girl complied easily. Just a few more steps and they were there, in front of the mirror. "Okay."
Nodoka enjoyed the audible gasp the girl made when she first opened her eyes, "Oh… wow it really is pretty… isn't it Nodoka-chan?"
Nodoka nodded, "It really is. You really are."
"… I've never felt pretty before… I really am… I'm pretty Nodoka-chan… aren't I?" Nodoka nodded at her, surprised at the girl's sudden tears, "It's such a nice feeling…" she said, even as she brought her arm up to wipe her eyes.
Nodoka caught her wrist before it managed to reach her eyes, and instead wiped the girl's tears with her own sleeve. She would usually be remiss to do such a thing, but it was better than letting her use the dress to do it and it would be fair to say Nodoka enjoyed wiping the girl's eyes anyway.
"You are daft Saki-san," she scolded in a light tone, "you are such a pretty girl. Imagine, this is how cute you are and you haven't even touched your hair since you woke up. Why on earth have you never felt pretty? I've always thought you were. Even… even before we started being… " Nodoka realised all too late that she was on a road with a dead-end, and Saki was a little too happy with her stumbling. "I-I don't know what I said, frankly…" she tried, in vain, "A-Anyway, we still have hours until you have to go prepare with your team. Do you want to go and try out the swimming pool like president suggested?"
For some reason Saki looked down at that, embarrassed. "I-I can't swim Nodoka-chan… I'm sorry."
"There's no need to-" she froze when she heard a sound from the other room. Mako and the president had arrived.
Saki immediately started panicking, "oh my god…" she whispered urgently, "What… What am I going to do..? I can't be seen… I'd be too embarrassed."
"Shh Saki-san they will hear you," she whispered calmly, "honestly I don't think you should be embarrassed, you really are pretty. But I understand you don't want the attention. Hopefully they will leave soon."
Saki and Nodoka stood together listening at the bathroom door, and it was becoming painfully obvious that Mako and Hisa were there to stay. They were setting up the mahjong table ready for Kiyosumi's practise. Oh my god… how did I forget about our practise? Wait… what time is it?
Mako suddenly spoke up, loudly enough for them to hear, "President, is Saki or Nodoka here? Saki's uniform is still in the wardrobe."
"I don't think so."
"Erm… president… Her pyjamas are here as well…"
"Oh my… Those two are so bold!" the president exclaimed loudly.
Nodoka immediately forced her way out of the bathroom, "It's not…" only to find them both waiting for her, not surprised in the slightest to see her from the smirks on their faces, "what you think…" she finished, far more lamely than when she started.
"Oh, Nodoka," the president started with a knowing smile on her face, "Fancy seeing you here."
"Yes…." Nodoka said, defeated. "Welcome back…"
"Is Saki still not coming out? Don't tell me… she's actually naked?" said Mako.
"Someya-senpai!" she scolded even as she blushed at her senpai's absurd suggestion, but when her senpai stared at her incredulously Nodoka sighed and added, "Why on Earth would you think that…?"
Mako just seemed to smirk more at her after her comment, so Nodoka pushed it out of her mind and turned back to the bathroom all whilst trying to contain her blush. The bathroom door was still open, but Saki herself was staying conspicuously quiet and seemed to be hiding behind the door. Nodoka touched the door with the palm of her hand and spoke gently, "Come on, Saki-san… I think it would be better to just get it over with, right?"
Her senpai were watching curiously when the girl made her way out from behind the door, absolutely crimson and looking downwards. "This is… embarrassing," she said so quietly Nodoka thought her senpais had missed it.
"Oh wow, Saki. You are beautiful!" the president told her with a big smile on her face.
Mako was also grinning, "Really pretty, Saki. That is an impressive dress. Is there some kind of occasion I don't know about?"
That just made the poor girl blush harder, "Erm… n-no… I'm going to go… and get changed…" she said, almost tripping over as she passed the president who stretched out a hand to steady the girl. She mumbled thanks and rushed into the bedroom.
"That is one pretty dress Nodoka. Did she bring it with her?" the president asked, seeming to be genuinely curious as far as Nodoka could tell.
"Erm no…" Nodoka shook her head before quietly deciding on the truth. She wasn't going to cause any more trouble for Saki. "I… bought it for her."
"What, seriously Nodoka? But that thing looked really expensive," Mako told her. Nodoka looked away, embarrassed at the very accurate comment.
"You have excellent taste Nodoka," the president told her, "You met her at the inter-middles right? Does that mean it was an anniversary gift of some kind?
"No… It was… an apology…"
The president mercifully cut her off, "Don't worry about telling us the specifics Nodoka, but that really did look like quite the dress. Was that teddy bear that's lying next to a neat stack of wrapping paper part of your apology as well?" she asked.
When Nodoka nodded Mako laughed, "You can totally apologise to me as well, Nodoka, any time" she teased, "Are you looking forward to playing against her tomorrow?"
"Yes… I guess she won't be allowed here when we start practise."
Both of her senpais laughed, and the president answered as she expected, "I'm afraid not, Nodoka. We need to focus now; it's going to be much harder this time. That goes for your match as well, and this time she won't be able to help you with her advice."
"That's true… I'm not sure how I'm going to defeat her… Did you watch her yesterday? She was… amazing."
"I did, but we should talk about that later," replied the president before she gestured towards the door, "she is actually standing right there, Nodoka."
Saki spoke up at that, "Sorry… I didn't mean to eavesdrop like that." Nodoka dropped her eyes from the girl when she glanced at her, embarrassed by what she'd been caught saying. Saki was back in her Shiraitodai uniform and seemed to have mostly recovered from her own embarrassment, but she seemed overly sad considering it was always likely they wouldn't have that much time together that day, but her smile was nowhere to be seen, and the expression in its place was a new, surprisingly worried, scared and sad looking one. Nodoka didn't think simply accidentally eavesdropping could possibly explain it either. Nodoka became worried when she realised it wasn't actually entirely new, that expression. Nodoka recognised it, although she hadn't seen it since their very first match together.
"Don't worry about it," the president told Saki.
"Yes. I just want to say thank you for having me these past few days, it's been so much fun. Good luck tomorrow!" She glanced upwards before looking down again, saying, "I hope… we can... still be friends after the match."
The comment was surprisingly painful. Does she really think they'd stop being friends with her just because of a loss or something like that? "Saki-san? Why… what are you talking about? That makes no sense," said Nodoka.
"That's right, Saki, that's just silly to say," agreed the president in a concerned voice, "We are all your friends here at Kiyosumi, and we will be after the match whether we win or lose, and we are going to win anyway."
Mako nodded in agreement as well, "That's just daft, Saki! You will always be welcome to join us whenever."
"Oh, sorry I guess that was weird to say. Thank you all for looking after me."
Nodoka watched as the girl attempted to pick up all of her presents under one arm, her bag over her shoulder and she used both hands to pick up and hold the dress carefully out in front of her, completely obstructing any view she would hope to have of where she was going.
Nodoka stopped her, "Don't be silly, Saki-san. Let me help you carry your things back to your room." She then turned to the president, "Do you mind if I take her to breakfast after we drop her things off, president? She hasn't eaten at all yet." It was true that the girl hadn't eaten yet, but Nodoka was also very glad for a chance to try and get the girl to relax a bit, and to find out what was wrong.
"No, that's fine Nodoka," said the president, "Just don't take too long."
Nodoka tried to get the girl to talk about what she seemed to be so worried about at the café whilst they ate breakfast, and it hadn't taken her long to realise it wasn't because their day together was cut short, at least, but couldn't make any more headway than that. She didn't smile or blush at all and outright lied that there were no problems when Nodoka asked her directly what was wrong. She seemed determined to bottle up her feelings this time, and they were out of time.
They stopped outside the elevator on Shiraitodai's floor which was Nodoka's drop-off point for the girl. Saki's eyes were cast downwards as she turned back with her own fake smile, "Sayonara," is all she said.
Nodoka just stood there watching the girl walk away, entirely confused at why she suddenly felt so badly. Saki was out of sight before she even realised she hadn't returned the goodbye.