Prompt provided to me by discord user Mopen. Written for discord user Aysah. Enjoy if you can!

Nodoka Manabe tapped her fingers rhythmically on her desk, idly skimming the notes she had written for the lecture she'd attended that afternoon. They were detailed and concise, like most of her notes, but they also felt strangely unnecessary, at least compared to her notes back in high school. How was it that college entrance exams were more of a challenge in terms of focus and knowledge than the actual material taught once she was actually in college? Not that she was complaining, of course, but it did make her wonder. Why was her Japanese high school education so difficult when the next step was so tame in comparison?

The sound of her phone vibrating against the table snapped her out of her musings, making her jump in her seat. With the shake of her head, she flipped open the device. It was a text message from Mugi.

[Are you free tonight?]

Nodoka pursed her lips as she read and reread the simple message. She began typing a reply.

[I have a lecture tomorrow at 8]

Seconds later, before Nodoka could flip her phone closed and return to her studying, Mugi texted back with another simple message.

[So you're not free?]

Nodoka stared at her phone screen, slumping against the backrest of her chair. On one hand, she definitely had no plans of being late or skipping any lectures the following morning. On the other hand, she'd been musing on how unnecessary it felt to review her notes not even five minutes ago. Hanging out with a friend from high school seemed like a much more productive use of her time somehow.

It felt strange to experience this sort of indecision. She remembered being quite sure of her own priorities in high school. College life seemed to have drained much of the certainty she once had. It also didn't help that she decided to forgo joining the student council or any clubs or organizations in lieu of focusing on her studies. Given how little work her classes seemed to require, she might have just had too much time on her hands now.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she felt that she didn't need to study, which was an alarming discovery. She needed to make a choice now and stick to it, if only to placate her rising discomfort.

She quickly sent a message to inform Mugi. The reply came shortly after.

[Oh wonderful! Your ride is on its way]

Minutes later, Nodoka leaned against the window, watching the traffic outside with thoughtful silence. It ought to have felt strange, sitting in the back seat of a limousine that Mugi had arranged for her. The heiress typically avoided flaunting her wealth, so splurging on Nodoka's ride was an odd indulgence. Then again, given their relationship, perhaps it should have been expected.

Nodoka reclined and sighed, her gaze rising towards the limo's ceiling.

What was their relationship, though? She wouldn't really say they were dating. They were never particularly close in high school, they only barely kept in touch, and neither of them had romantic inclination towards each other. At best, they were acquaintances. And yet…

The limo dropped Nodoka off at what looked to be a hotel. She checked her phone for instructions to Mugi's room and proceeded inside the lobby.

Thinking back, this all started back during their senior year in high school. Nodoka's university of choice was going to be the same prestigious institution that Mugi was considering. The blonde pianist would eventually decide to go to Japan Women's University instead, but had already invested in study materials for the entrance exam of the other school. Thus, she offered those materials to Nodoka, even arranging study sessions when their schedules permitted it.

Nodoka had a brief exchange of words with the hotel receptionist, who advised her to take the left-most elevator to the fifth floor. She nodded and did as she was told.

Nothing truly happened during those study sessions. Nodoka's focus was resolutely on the exam material and the heiress made no attempts to break that focus—though, it was clear that her mind was elsewhere. It didn't bother Nodoka that Mugi was always distracted. After all, they were studying for an exam that only one of them would be taking. But Nodoka did wonder what had been going on in Mugi's head during those times.

The elevator doors opened to an empty hallway lined with doors. Nodoka began walking, eying the numbers above every room she passed by.

Mugi continued to invite her to "study sessions" long after the exams concluded. And Nodoka continued going to them—though she did struggle to think of a reason why. As it stood, the general companionship that she had grown to enjoy from Mugi was the only thing she gained from these additional meetings.

Then one day Mugi asked if she'd ever kissed someone…

Nodoka took a deep breath to steel herself, then knocked on the door to Mugi's hotel room. A knot of tension formed in the pit of her stomach—a sensation that she always seemed to feel whenever Mugi called her to one of these trysts. One would think that, after a year of having them, she'd have gotten used to it by now.

There was the sound of bare footsteps, then a click from the door, followed by more footsteps. "It's open," Mugi said, her voice muffled by the physical barrier between them.

Nodoka pursed her lips and turned the door knob, taking a step inside.

The room was dimly lit, filled with the faint smell of flowers—a rich assortment, so varied that she couldn't separate one scent from another. Continuing deeper led her to the room proper, sparsely decorated, but with intricately carved wooden furniture that expressed the luxury of the room far more than paintings on the walls or knick-knacks on the tables and shelves. And the most luxurious of all was Mugi, laying on the bed in a loosely tied bathrobe, her hair still wet from the shower she'd no doubt just finished. She smiled knowingly at Nodoka's approach.

"Nodoka. I'm glad you could make it."

"Ditto." Nodoka returned the smile before depositing her bag onto one of the tables. "How's uni life been treating you?"

"It continues to be refreshingly liberating. I still can't get over how much freedom has been afforded to me."

A chuckle. "Yeah, I understand. I feel pretty much the same way."

Mugi leaned forward and patted the bed invitingly. "Why don't you take a seat? We can begin as soon as you're comfortable."

With a slow nod, Nodoka crossed the room and fell atop the mattress, allowing the soft folds to envelope her and cushion her landing. Mugi let out a giggle and leaned over to press her lips onto Nodoka's forehead.

"I missed doing this with you," Mugi whispered. "We don't do this nearly often enough."

Closing her eyes, Nodoka dug deep inside her heart for any feelings that would tip the scales of her ambivalence, if only slightly. She found that it was not that difficult. "I suppose I missed it too," she replied, matching the softness of Mugi's voice. "Though, to be honest, I do wonder why that is."

She opened her eyes and met the heiress' gaze, bright blue irises catching the light in a way that made them seem like they glowed.

"What exactly are we, Mugi?"

Not breaking contact, Mugi straddled Nodoka, pinning her shoulders to the bed. "Does it really matter?"

"It does, a little," Nodoka insisted with a weak smile. "I don't mind leaving it ambiguous, but…"

"The honest answer is that I don't know." Mugi closed the distance of their two faces, her breath ticking Nodoka's lips when she next spoke. "What do you want us to be?"

Nodoka closed her eyes and leaned forward, kissing Mugi full on the lips for a moment before breaking away with a half-lidded smile. "I don't know either. I'm just as confused now as I was back when this first started."

Mugi's face flushed as she finally broke eye contact. She crossed her arms atop Nodoka's chest and rested her chin on the crook of her elbow. "So… Do you want us to stop…?"

A snort. "Have I made any indication that I wanted that?"

The heiress whimpered. "No…"

"Then why worry?" Nodoka ran a hand through Mugi's hair, brushing away the wet strands that blocked the view of her face. "You always get like this when I ask about our relationship. What are you so afraid of?"

"I…" With a hitched breath, Mugi buried her face in her arms. "I'm not sure… when all of this started, I didn't really think we'd ever get this far… I thought it was a fluke. A one-off thing. An event that we'd just pretend never happened…"

Nodoka laid one hand atop Mugi's head, the other stroking her back. "I thought that too." She half-smiled. "And in a way, we did pretend it didn't happen—at least when we were with other people." A sigh. "But when it happened a second time, I knew it'd probably just keep happening. Looking at us now, I'd say I wasn't wrong."

"Nodoka… Do you regret that I took your first kiss…? Or your first time…?"

"Do you regret that I took yours?" Nodoka shot back. "Honestly, it's not something I feel that strongly about—not even back then. And regret can be a really strong feeling."

Mugi made a dissatisfied noise. "That doesn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine either." This earned a louder noise of dissatisfaction, making Nodoka chuckle. "If I must give a definitive answer, then no, I don't regret it. I was probably gonna have sex with someone eventually. The fact that it was with someone I knew and was comfortable with?" She shrugged. "It's certainly preferable to any alternative."

"That's heartening, at least…"

For a moment, it seemed like Mugi was going to continue where she trailed off, but only silence followed her last words. She pushed off of Nodoka, sitting herself on the far end of the bed, head turned downward. Nodoka sat up as well, watching the heiress with a carefully neutral expression.

This was a song and dance they'd performed a number of times now. When it first happened, it had been an honest conversation about the nature of their relationship. Now, it was just another part of their routine. The questions. The feelings. None of it ever reached a resolution. They were both just going through the motions.

Again, Nodoka didn't mind. If she was truly bothered by the ambiguity of their relationship, she would have pressed the issue more, but she couldn't find it in herself to feel that upset. If anything, Mugi felt more bothered by it than Nodoka did, though that was mostly just conjecture on Nodoka's part. The time would eventually come where they're forced to push the needle forward, but until then, Nodoka would be happy with whatever relationship they already had.

Shaking her head, Nodoka began unbuttoning her shirt in anticipation of Mugi initiating their love making. She imagined that the pianist would have enjoyed doing it herself with those dexterous fingers, but Nodoka didn't like wasting time and the buttons were her least favorite part of being stripped of clothing. Mugi could be the one to finish undressing her later, but the buttons had to go now.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Nodoka said gently.

Sure enough, Mugi huffed and met Nodoka's eyes once more, beckoning her with the curl of one finger. Nodoka obliged, crawling forward and accepting the touch of Mugi's hands on her face.

"I think I'm in love with you," Mugi said, her expression serene, yet intense. "I probably have been for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself—especially since you didn't seem to love me back. But…" She smiled sadly. "I can't lie to myself anymore, Nodoka. I have feelings for you."

A blink and blank stare was all Nodoka could muster as she parsed Mugi's words.

Well, this was new. What had changed since the last time they met? What gave Mugi the strength to finally push past the non-committance—the very basis of their entire relationship since the beginning? Of course, Mugi did say she couldn't lie to herself anymore. That alone said enough for Nodoka to put together the pieces.

"It was probably inevitable," she said with a slow nod. "You can't just do the things we do without developing feelings for whoever you're doing it with."

Mugi bit her lip, her thumb lightly rubbing against Nodoka's cheeks. There was a quaver in her voice when she next spoke. "Then what feelings did you develop for me?"

Nodoka fought the urge to avert her eyes, keeping them squarely on the woman in front of her. "I don't know… I don't think it's romantic, at least…"

She could see the way Mugi's expression twitched—feel the way Mugi's hands trembled on her face. There was something tense inside the blonde that was right on the verge of snapping. Nodoka had no intention of allowing that to happen.

"But I do think I've come to love you, Mugi," Nodoka said with steady calmness. She covered the heiress' hands with her own, appreciating their warmth. "Your smile? Your kisses? Your very presence? I appreciate it deeply. I could never regret the time that we've spent together."

"Even when most of that time was spent just having sex…?"

"Even then." Nodoka leaned forward and gave Mugi a quick peck on the lips. "I agree that much of our relationship is predicated on sex and little else, but that's not a bad thing in my eyes. It's always been something you wanted out of this—something I wanted as well. We wouldn't have kept this up for so long if it wasn't."

Once again, Mugi's breathing hitched. She closed her eyes tightly and buried her face into Nodoka's shoulder. "The thing is, I don't know what I want out of this anymore, Nodoka…"

"Don't you still want the sex?"

There was a pause as Mugi seemed to mull over the question. "Yes… I still want it…"

"And I assume just that is no longer enough for you?"

Mugi broke away, wiping tears that were welling from her eyes. "Where are you going with this?"

Nodoka scratched her cheek and turned away, the urge to avert her eyes finally overcoming her willpower. "I'm saying: our relationship doesn't have to be based solely on what we do in the bedroom—and it never did, for that matter. It just happened to turn out that way…" She shook her head. "A-anyway, if you want our relationship to change moving forward, I'd be happy to take that journey with you."

"But… didn't you say you don't feel anything romantic for me?"

"Yes, but I also said I loved you." Nodoka managed a small smile and booped Mugi on the nose. "And because I love you, I still want to try. Who knows, maybe romance can still bloom between us yet."

Mugi stared, her expression unreadable. "Are… are you sure…?"

A snort. "I was willing to have sex with you back when we were barely friends. I don't see how this is any harder than that."

This earned a stifled laugh as Mugi once again rubbed tears from her eyes. "I suppose you're not wrong."

"So, what now, then?" Nodoka asked airily. "That confession caught me off guard. I sorta expected us to start the foreplay when you told me to come closer."

"Oh? Well, that was what I would have done, but…" A wistful sigh. "A lot of things happened today that made me think about you—about us. When I finally got to talk to you, I just became more and more convinced that I had to tell you…" She shrugged. "So I did."

"That doesn't answer my question, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked what we'll do now. What do you plan?"

Mugi blinked. "Do you mean, like, right now, or…"

Nodoka crossed her arms, smirking. "Up to you. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

With a thoughtful nod, Mugi cupped her chin. "Well… We could talk about what our plans for the future of our relationship are…"

"But…?" Nodoka said helpfully.

"But, I'm currently wearing only a bathrobe, your shirt is already unbuttoned, and we're both sitting on the same bed."

"I am aware. Will you elaborate? Or shall I infer your intentions?"

Instead of answering, Mugi shrugged off her bathrobe, revealing her bare chest. "Kiss me, Nodoka."

Nodoka chuckled and leaned in for another, deeper kiss. Mugi was right. They could have that serious discussion about what the two of them would do moving forward, but that could come later. For now, there was something they came here to do and they still had every intention of doing it.

End

This will probably be another Apartment Visit situation where I'll write an additional fic the unmentionable activities.