One day before the fated day...
"Aggh, not again! I swear, this is the last time we do this, Natsuki! If I ever feel those scissors next to my hair again, I will do things to you with them that'll make this torture I'm enduring feel like a tickle-fest!"
"Oh, and who's idea was it to cut each other's hair, princess?" As another lock of Yuuko's hair fell to the ground, Natsuki smirked and playfully clicked the scissors she held in her hand. Seeing Yuuko's fuming face in the mirror, Natsuki couldn't help but let out a laugh, before gently running her fingers down the soft brown strands in front of her. That oddly affectionate gesture only seemed to infuriate Yuuko even more.
"If I remember correctly, it was you." Sulking in her seat, Yuuko's body being covered in a barber's cloth didn't prevent Natsuki from noticing her squirming. Nothing prevented Yuuko from flat-out leaving, but Natsuki decided to patiently wait for her to finish this hissy fit. Of course, forcibly restraining Yuuko anytime she wanted was definitely an option. There just wasn't any fun in doing that.
"Really? I beg to differ. You took that little musing of mine way too seriously." Snip, snip. Seeing more of Yuuko's hair fall to the ground, Natsuki mockingly sighed as she recalled the events that led them here in the first place. It had been a strange chain of coincidences from the beginning, which only made their unexpected pit stop a textbook case of serendipity.
After finishing the last errands Asuka and Kaori left them, Natsuki and Yuuko were now free to do whatever they pleased. With their final task leaving them in Minant City, it was only natural for Natsuki and Yuuko to take a walk around, soaking in all the sights and sounds this metropolis had to offer. As they strolled down the cobble-covered boulevards together, Natsuki then remembered who lived close by.
"I know! Why don't we visit Kumiko's sister! If I remember correctly, she's the Gym Leader here!" Excitedly dragging a reluctant Yuuko along, the outward enthusiasm Natsuki displayed masked her feelings of longing and regret triggered by this sudden impulse. The last meeting she had with Kumiko ended on an inconclusive note, and meeting Mamiko Oumae a short while later made things worse.
When she was at the hospital a month ago, Natsuki only had a few moments to talk with Kumiko, and unfortunately didn't offer the advice her friend needed to hear the most. If she knew the full details about Kumiko's circumstances, then Natsuki would've definitely made a concerted effort to console her friend as much as she possibly could. Sadly, it was too late for that now.
Natsuki originally planned to visit Kumiko a second time, but those plans of hers had abruptly been cut short by Kumiko's sudden disappearance from her hospital room. While she would learn the true extent of what happened later on, Natsuki was ready to beat herself up for letting Kumiko out of her sight at all. Mamiko arriving at the hospital looking for her younger sister further doured Natsuki's mood.
"Kumiko, Kumiko! Where are you?" Mamiko's cries of despair from back then ringing in her ears, Natsuki felt a sense of crushing guilt inside her as her mind snapped back to where she was. Blinking twice to reaffirm her current surroundings, it surprised Natsuki that Yuuko was now leading her along, using the map app on her phone to find directions to Mamiko's salon.
"What's got into you, Natsuki? Don't make me do all the hard work, will you?" Yuuko's agitated voice washing out the doubt and despair pervading her heart, Natsuki naturally let out a laugh on reflex. With a glare from Yuuko being the only response she received, the fact that she could rely on someone to yank her out of these funks made Natsuki glad.
"Nothing, princess. Looks like it's now my turn to be spoiled." The painful tug on her arm being Yuuko's punishment for her, Natsuki quickly recognized the nearby streets. Both of them having visited Mamiko's salon before, the lack of recall Yuuko demonstrated made Natsuki wonder if she genuinely forgot where it was, but Natsuki brushed that off as Yuuko being Yuuko.
"We're here." Seeing that familiar sign hang above the salon's doorway, Natsuki's gaze soon shifted down to see someone facing the entrance. That shoulder-length mane of light brown hair could only belong to one person Natsuki knew, and her sense of guilt nearly surfaced again before she felt a slap on the back. "Lighten up, alright? You suggested this first, so go lie down in the bed you made."
"And you dragged me to this place. That should make us even." The ebb and flow of Natsuki and Yuuko's banter returning without delay, it didn't take long for the person standing at the doorway to turn her head in their direction. Mamiko's confused gaze being directed their way, it didn't take long for Natsuki and Yuuko to promptly shut up as they addressed Kumiko's sister.
"H… Hi, Miss Mamiko." Natsuki stammered out. Nervous about seeing Mamiko again after what happened to Kumiko, the tension Natsuki felt made her sweat Bullet Seeds. Though Asuka told her the two sisters reunited a few days later once she tracked down Kumiko's whereabouts, Natsuki being the last person to see Mamiko's younger sister prior to her disappearance would definitely raise some questions.
"Hello there, Miss Nakagawa." The jangling of keys being heard as Mamiko shifted her hands, Kumiko's older sister finished whatever she was doing. "Oh, and I see you've brought Miss Yoshikawa along with you as well. Since Miss Tanaka called an emergency meeting of all the Gym Leaders out of the blue, I've just been locking up my salon here before heading off."
"Wait, what?" Yuuko exclaimed. No one told her about this sudden development. In her (admittedly short) time working for the League, Yuuko never heard of such an urgent summons before. Not even the raid on Houkago Records happened this quickly, so what was it that made this time different? A million possibilities swam through Yuuko's mind, none of which appealed to her.
"Yeah, I was surprised to receive that notification too. Guess Miss Tanaka works in mysterious ways." Mamiko shrugged in confusion. "Apparently, the League only needs the Gym Leaders to report to headquarters, so I think you two should be exempt. Knowing Miss Tanaka, I guess she forgot to do an audit of us last month, and she's simply delegating all the hard work to us."
"Fair enough, but I still think she should've also told us about this." Grumbling to herself, Natsuki wondered how far Asuka's antics would go, and she thought this stunt would be the Elite Four member's utmost limit. However, knowing Asuka, this would most likely end up as yet another 'ordinary' (by her standards) day for her. "If you see Asuka, tell her she can shove it."
"Noted." Placing the keys she was holding into her bag, Mamiko then took a second look at Natsuki and Yuuko. While their hair was reasonably well-maintained, it was immediately obvious to Mamiko that both of them were having trouble doing so. Noticing the trace amounts of grease and hair kinks, Mamiko had an idea. "Why don't you two use my salon to get your hair sorted? You look like you need it."
"Bwah- what? Are you Psychic or something?" Did Mamiko read her mind? Natsuki had been thinking about getting a haircut over the past month, but continually put it off to focus her attention on more important things. Now that her schedule was finally freed up, this was what Mamiko mentioned. "But this is one of the hottest salons in all of Octiva! And you're just leaving it to us like that?"
"Well, you two look like you really need it. And consider this a thank-you gift for looking after Kumiko throughout her journey." Winking at Natsuki and Yuuko, both of them were completely caught off-guard. Natsuki would never have guessed that Kumiko's older sister wouldn't hold any ill-will towards her at all. "There's a spare key underneath the planter on your right. Lock up after me, OK?"
With those words, Mamiko had left them to their own devices in the salon. Despite neither of them having any experience cutting hair before, Natsuki and Yuuko both reckoned now was as good a time as any to start learning the basics, especially since they didn't need to pay anything at all. Even if they somehow messed up horrendously, they could always go to another hairdresser to get their hair fixed.
"Are you done yet?" Yuuko asked, to which Natsuki didn't respond. Pausing her cutting of Yuuko's hair to look at some tutorials on her phone, Natsuki thought she did an alright job. Yuuko's shortened cut didn't look bad, and Natsuki thought her new hairstyle suited her surprisingly well. Compared to her previous waist-length hair, Yuuko's shoulder-length locks gave off an increased air of maturity.
"Almost there, princess." Putting down her phone, Natsuki readied the scissors in her hand again, but she couldn't place the utensils to Yuuko's hair. It wasn't the threat of torture from Yuuko that made Natsuki hesitate, but something else entirely. Her mind unable to place exactly where this strange feeling was coming from, Natsuki thought it was strange she recalled her meeting with Mamiko a few moments before.
Then it hit her.
"Yuuko, do you have anything you regret?" Natsuki blurted out. Maybe this was it. Meeting Mamiko again had reminded Natsuki of her lingering feelings, the emotions she had put aside or repressed because she didn't have time to deal with them, and chief among those was how she felt about Kumiko. "Like, a friend who you turned your back on right when they needed you the most? Something like that."
"Shut up. You're already doing me a disservice by cutting my hair, and now I have to listen to your gossip?" Yuuko snarked, withdrawing further into her chair. Even with the insult Yuuko threw her way, Natsuki remained undeterred in pushing this conversation further. This wasn't something she would've normally had the opportunity to discuss, and this chance may never come again.
"Well, yeah. Consider it an added bonus." Though her movements weren't as deft as a professional hairdresser's, Natsuki assumed she had enough skill to keep talking while she cut Yuuko's hair. If that didn't work, then she could always alternate between speaking and snipping. "To be honest, I'm not sure why I'm discussing these things with you instead of someone else, but I feel like you're the only one who's going to listen."
"Yammer on. I'm not going anywhere. Not when you've imprisoned me in this chair of doom." Though Yuuko's words and expression implied she was deeply discontent with what Natsuki was about to do, her tone of voice suggested otherwise. Gently replying to Natsuki, Yuuko sighed and closed her eyes. This was going to take a while, so all she could do was sit back and 'enjoy' Natsuki's ranting.
"Alright. Then don't fall asleep." Taking a deep breath, Natsuki mustered up the courage to let her restless mind run free. "I've been regretting how I didn't lend a hand to Kumiko right when she needed my help the most. She's my friend, and yet… I just idly stood by while she suffered all by herself. Maybe it's because I'm used to being passive rather than proactive, but… I don't know anymore."
"You don't know?" Yuuko was left incredulous at what Natsuki just said. Natsuki admitting to being in the dark about something? The Natsuki Nakagawa she knew wasn't like this. "What do you mean, you don't know? Stop being so cryptic here! Is it possible for you to have a regular conversation with me? I'm not some brat who'll yell at you just for saying the wrong thing!"
"I don't know… I don't know why I was so blind to what my own friend was feeling!" Natsuki exclaimed in frustration. Seeing her let it all out, Yuuko breathed a sigh of relief. "Kumiko was just sitting there, talking to me normally, and I responded to her like usual. I should've known something wasn't right by the way she carried herself, and yet I ignored that!"
"Natsuki, there's absolutely no way you could've known exactly what Kumiko went through back then. You're not Psychic or anything." As the routine sound of snipping scissors started and stopped depending on whether Natsuki was talking or not, it was then Yuuko realized Natsuki was putting more thought into her words than expected. "All you could've done in that moment was be her friend."
"But I wanted to be something more!" Natsuki retorted, nearly causing Yuuko to leap out of her seat. It was a miracle Natsuki's scissors weren't placed anywhere close to her hair, or Yuuko would be committing a crime against good taste with whatever haircut disgraced her. "Kumiko was all alone there, and her girlfriend deserted her! Right then and there, I was her only pillar of support, and I couldn't help her!"
"Calm down! It's all in the past now! I'm sure Kumiko's already moved on from this!" Exasperated at Natsuki's self-pity party, Yuuko wanted nothing more than to snap her out of it. This was getting depressing to listen to, and Yuuko knew Natsuki was better than that. "If you want to worry about something, worry about me instead! Here and now, I'm the one who's in front of you!"
"That's not it." Natsuki shook her head. It seemed like she couldn't truly put how she was feeling into words, and that was why Yuuko couldn't understand her even after everything she said. Despite how close they were, it felt like some things between them were destined to remain apart. "I'm not worried about Kumiko at all. In fact, I think she's fine. There's just… an opportunity I missed to give her the push she needed."
"Natsuki, everyone's got those moments. Even I do, and I'm not the type of person to admit that." Upon replying to Natsuki, Yuuko's face turned a deep shade of red, and she quickly dipped her head. "Nevermind. Pretend I never said anything. Seriously though, there's no use ranting over something that already happened, especially when there's chances to fix this in the future."
"...Now that you mention it, you're right." Pausing again to focus on Yuuko's hair, Natsuki internally noted that she was almost done. "While I'm not sure when I'll do that, I can always see Kumiko if I want to and talk with her then. There's a lot I want to tell her, so I hope she's patient enough to listen. We haven't seen each other for quite a while, but I'm confident Kumiko won't run away from me."
"That's the spirit." Yuuko would give Natsuki a pat on the back if she could, which was currently impossible because of the cloth covering her. With one last round of combing, washing, and blow drying her hair, Yuuko's haircut was finally finished. Ruffling her damp hair to make it dry faster, the girl in the mirror looked unrecognizable to Yuuko for a few moments as she stood up. "You've got it."
"Alright. Now it's your turn to cut my hair." Taking Yuuko's previously occupied seat, Natsuki patiently waited for the cloth to be tied around her neck. Leaning back in her chair, the reflection of Yuuko she saw reassured Natsuki. No matter how badly the resulting haircut would be, knowing it would be done by someone she trusted gave Natsuki some peace of mind. "So, do you have anything you regret?"
"There's one thing that's been on my mind." Undoing Natsuki's ponytail before combing her hair, Yuuko took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Not knowing how Natsuki would react was the main reason Yuuko had been keeping it secret for quite a while now. Finding the courage to push those words out of her mouth, what Yuuko said next led to a chain reaction of events. "Not telling you I loved you sooner."
"Bwah-WHAT?" Upon hearing that, Natsuki leaned back in her chair from utter shock. Unfortunately for her, the direction she was heading in just so happened to coincide with where Yuuko was pointing her scissors, and she clamped down on them in the ensuing chaos. Though Natsuki was miraculously unharmed by this SNAFU, something else of hers was mortally wounded instead.
"My- my hair!" Feeling the oddly-bare area of her head where hair was once present, Natsuki gaped in horror at the complete travesty that was her current hairstyle. Forget shoulder-length, what remained of Natsuki's hair on one side of her head now only extended a short distance away from her scalp. "How- how am I supposed to fix this?"
"Natsuki, I- I'm so sorry!" Yuuko exclaimed in distress. With the last remnants of Natsuki's locks slowly drifting towards the ground, the crime against fashion Yuuko committed with her lax scissor safety skills was now set in stone. Unable to say anything else for fear of any potential repercussions, Yuuko spent the next few moments in silence, ruminating on what she had just done.
"Well, it's not like you hurt my pride or anything." Natsuki snarked back with a laugh, causing all tension Yuuko previously felt to instantaneously disappear. As they both laughed at Natsuki's remark, Yuuko quickly remembered she needed to get back on task. Preparing her scissors again, it was then that Natsuki had a request. "Cut it all the way, will you? I want to try having short hair for once."
"Really? You mean it?" While Yuuko had been frantically wondering about how to fix up Natsuki's botched haircut, this proposal was not something she was expecting. Yuuko liked Natsuki the way she was, long hair and all, and she got the same kind of feeling from Natsuki. Hearing that Natsuki wanted a change threw a wrench into Yuuko's decisions. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, cut it all so that it's this short." Natsuki gestured at Yuuko's screw-up to indicate what she wanted. "I really hate it when my hair gets all damp and sweaty, so I've always wanted to try cutting it short. It's a complete nightmare to wash and keep clean, especially when I've been going around a lot. Getting used to it may take some time, but I'm sure it's going to be convenient in the long run."
"Whatever you say." Readying the scissors she was holding, Yuuko hesitated for a few moments before plunging them straight into Natsuki's hair. Snip, snip, snip. As bunches of brown hair drifted down onto the floor, Natsuki seemed at ease with this decision, which made her more confident at speaking her mind. "By the way, what was that about 'telling me you loved me sooner'?"
"Exactly that." Though a blush was rapidly appearing and brightening on her face, Yuuko managed to keep her composure as she continued to cut Natsuki's hair. "I've been in love with you for quite some time. I didn't know how exactly to describe that sort of feeling at first, but the more I hung around with you, the more it fit those descriptions I've read about."
"That sounds real sappy." Natsuki's words were a bit harsh, which only made the smile on her face feel more genuine to Yuuko. Classic Natsuki, playing coy with her like that. Returning a smile in response, Yuuko continued to listen to what Natsuki had to say. "Honestly, I understand how you're feeling right now, because I feel the same way towards you."
"Bwah- WHAT?" Now it was Yuuko's turn to be left in a state of shock. Much like last time, Yuuko's haphazard scissor discipline left Natsuki with less of her hair remaining, thankfully within bounds of being adjustable to her desired length. Hurriedly rushing to fix her mistake, it wasn't until a few moments later that Yuuko spoke again. "Did you just… say that?"
"Yeah, I sure did. Get with it, princess." Her face turning more red with each passing moment, Natsuki spoke those words with all the control she could muster. Admitting how she truly felt about Yuuko wasn't easy for her, but that was simply what Natski thought, nothing more or less. "So that means we're even, right? I love you, and you love me. Just like that old nursery rhyme."
"Good grief… what would I do without you. You really are a handful." Yuuko sighed, then leaned in closer to Natsuki's head. "I can't believe we'd be tangled in something like this. You don't seem like the type of person to fall in love that easily, and neither am I. But after everything we've been through together, it feels… kind of natural to see our relationship this way."
"Can't argue with you there." Glancing at herself in the mirror, Natsuki was eagerly anticipating how her new hairstyle was going to turn out. Without her ponytail dangling behind her, Natsuki thought she looked like a brand new person. Coupled with the shortened hair on both sides of her head, this series of unfortunate events seemed to actually be a blessing in disguise. "After all this, I think we're made for each other."
"...Well, now that you mention it, you're not entirely wrong on that front." Continuing to trim Natsuki's hair, Yuuko agreed with her. "Ever since we met each other in middle school, we haven't really hung around anyone else that much. Day in and day out, I've been staring at your face for the past few years and vice versa, whether we've liked it or not."
"Truer words, never spoken." The smirk Natsuki flashed at the mirror looked irritating at first sight to Yuuko, but it was immediately obvious to her that the intent behind it was sincere. Despite being a reflection of the genuine thing, it was still enough to effectively convey Natuski's inner feelings. "And I've never been tired of looking at you, especially considering how beautiful you are."
"Natsuki Nakagawa, was what you said a…" The already-present blush on her face becoming even more luminous, Yuuko's body realized what was happening faster than her mind could process it. Did she just receive a compliment? From Natsuki? Without any insincerity in it at all? To Yuuko, that was something she thought was completely impossible. Until now.
"Are you done yet? I don't want to spend the whole day here." As Natsuki hurriedly changed the topic, Yuuko then realized she had stopped cutting Natsuki's hair midway through talking with her. The scissors she was holding idly dangling around in midair, a look of embarrassment appeared on Yuuko's face before she rushed to snip at Natsuki's hair. "Ah, thanks a lot."
"Don't sweat it." Taking a second look at Natsuki, Yuuko couldn't help but be pleased with the result of her efforts. Despite needing some time to get used to Natsuki's drastically different hairstyle, all this work Yuuko put in to fix her mistake had paid off indeed. Knowing she was in the home stretch, Yuuko decided to cap off her conversation with Natsuki. "So, are we an official couple now or what?"
"Personally, I think based on what we've already done, we've already passed the 'official couple' mark a long time now." Recalling their past activities, Natsuki was confident she was right. Though they didn't confirm or deny anything about their relationship to each other, the feelings they held were certainly romantic in nature. "I mean, from all the times we've gone out, to the drinks we shared, to-"
"Alright, alright. I get it." Embarrassed about what Natsuki was getting close to describing, Yuuko wondered why she was getting so flustered when there wasn't anybody else with them. Maybe she was getting paranoid. Regardless, Yuuko wholeheartedly agreed with Natsuki's judgement. "Oh, will you look at that? How do you like your hair now? Does it need to be shorter or something?"
"Nah, I'm fine." Tentatively ruffling her shortened hair, Natsuki ignored the many falling strands she unleashed in favour of continuing her conversation with Yuuko. "Hopefully, it's going to be much less of a hassle to clean once you're done with this. Speaking of which, don't you need to wash and dry my hair now? I'm happy with the length you cut it to."
"Yeah, I'm getting to that. Just wait a moment." Moving through the relatively easy final routines, Yuuko was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was to wash Natsuki's hair. Compared to Natsuki washing her own, the time it took Yuuko to get through that step was probably halved, with the drying process also being much smoother. "And that should be it. Now-"
What Yuuko was about to say next was interrupted by a knock on the salon's door, shattering the tranquil atmosphere inside. This was unexpected. With a 'CLOSED' sign hanging at the entrance, Yuuko and Natsuki were left utterly confused as to who would do that. Was it Mamiko? Staring at each other for a few long seconds before nodding in mutual understanding, Yuuko slowly walked over to the door and opened it.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Mamiko Oumae. Do you know where she is?" Instead of Kumiko's sister, a brown-haired teenage girl stood in the now-open doorway. Wearing a navy blue sailor fuku with white ribbon and highlights, she carried a small film camera in her hands as her eyes met Natsuki's. Natsuki couldn't place how the girl was feeling, but she suspected there was a bit of shock mixed in for some reason.
"Um, Miss Oumae left for a Gym Leaders' emergency meeting a couple of hours ago. She left us here to lock up the salon after we've finished using it." Quickly answering the girl, Yuuko glanced at Natsuki for advice about what to do next. The only thing Natsuki offered being a shrug from underneath the barber's cloth, Yuuko defaulted to a standard response. "Is there anything you need?"
"If Miss Oumae isn't here, then it looks like I didn't need to come after all." Sighing, the girl's head dipped slightly, though her composure remained constant throughout. "Before I leave, I have one request for you two. Is it alright if I take a picture of both of you together? Your hairstyles look really stylish, and I want to show them to my friends."
"Ehh… umm… uhh…" Unsure of how to respond to the girl's strange request, Yuuko nearly panicked on the spot. Just what kind of random question was that? However, seeing as it seemed mostly harmless on the surface, it didn't take Yuuko too long to conclude there wasn't any downside to doing this. "Alright, but my f- girlfriend here needs to take off the cloth covering her first."
"I can wait for as long as you need." Readying her camera, the girl scouted out different potential angles and distances as Natsuki got tidied up. Once they were both ready, Yuuko signalled to the girl, who quickly got into position. Snapping several shots, the shutter's mechanical clicking sound caused Natsuki to realize it was a film camera, rather than a digital one. Wait, how did she even notice that?
"Thank you very much for your time." Politely bowing at Natsuki and Yuuko, Mayu Kuroe put her camera back in her bag before taking out the photo she always used. While doing this was unnecessary at times, especially in this situation, she considered it part of her 'routine' now that she had repeated it so much. "Actually, the person I'm looking for is the girl in this photo. Do you know her?"
"Not just on the surface, but deep down, Natsuki Nakagawa." she thought to herself. "How close your friendship is with Kumiko Oumae will be crucial to all of us making it through those trying times ahead."
"What was that all about?"
Walking away from Mamiko's salon, Natsuki and Yuuko had no idea what just happened back there. Without any warning, that mysterious girl whipped out an odd picture of Kumiko from her bag, catching Natsuki and Yuuko completely by surprise. The photo seemed ordinary enough on the surface, but enough details were off about Kumiko's appearance to make Natsuki suspect something weird was at play.
What made matters worse was that after receiving a seemingly urgent phone call, the girl had departed just as abruptly as she arrived, leaving behind no physical trace of her existence. The only exceptions were the myriad of questions surrounding who she was, where that photo of Kumiko came from, and how she had obtained it. It was as if Natsuki and Yuuko just had a collective hallucination.
"Beats me. I have no clue at all, and I think my brain's going to short-circuit if I go too far down this Raboot hole." Shaking her head, a few strands of soft brown hair drifted down as Yuuko then shrugged. "And I think if you're asking me that, you've got absolutely zero idea as well. Let's take our minds off this and go somewhere else instead. How about a bath to get those stray hairs out of our heads?"
"Good idea. I know a place-" Before Natsuki could elaborate, both their phones began ringing simultaneously. Wondering if this was the League calling both of them or simply an eerie coincidence, Yuuko and Natsuki took out their phones and answered, waiting to hear whatever reply came out of the other end. To their surprise, the callers were both people they knew.
"Nozomi?" Upon hearing her friend's voice, Natsuki blurted out her name. As Haruka had been out of commission for the past month after being brainwashed by HTT, Nozomi was running herself ragged trying to fulfill the Elite Four member's duties in her place. Knowing she would be busy for the foreseeable future, Natsuki hadn't contacted Nozomi to give her some breathing room, making this call a shock.
"Mizore… what?" Finding out who called her nearly gave Yuuko a heart attack on the spot. Of all the people Yuuko would've expected to hear from, Mizore's quiet voice sounded particularly unnerving, especially when it came from the tinny speaker of her phone. Mizore making a phone call in general also seemed weird to Yuuko. She didn't seem like the type of person to do that. "Do you need anything?"
"What? You want to invite us over to a sleepover? Over at Mizore's house?" Even after it was explained to Natsuki, Nozomi's proposal was preposterous on many levels. This wasn't something either Nozomi or Mizore would do out of the blue. There had to be something behind it. Was this an elaborate early/late birthday present? "Well, I've got time in my schedule, so count me in."
"Yeah, Natsuki's with me. That should make things easier." While she was mainly concentrating on her own call, Yuuko could hear snippets of who Natsuki was talking with on her side, but not enough to make any concrete judgements. "Wait, you're not at home right now. Fine, then I'll grab Natsuki and Teleport us over there in a jiffy. See you there! Bye!"
"Natsuki/Yuuko, Nozomi and Mizore have invited us to stay over at Mizore's tonight!" Both of them ending their calls at around the same time, Natsuki and Yuuko's overlapping shouts carried the same message. Unaware of who or what the other was talking about, this 'coincidence' almost seemed good to be true. However, Natsuki and Yuuko knew better.
"Well then, should we get going?" Sending out her Meowstic Soul, any hope of Natsuki receiving a verbal reply from Yuuko was quickly quashed by a kiss on the cheek. Her face turning a light shade of red, the response Natsuki received was clear as day, and she took it in stride. "Didn't expect that coming my way, but I'm happy to get it. Glad to know you're on the same page as me."
"When wasn't I? I'll always be at your side- mmph!" Yuuko's words were cut short by a kiss on her lips from Natsuki, most definitely as a response to what just happened. Their hands soon following up with a tight embrace around each other, it wasn't until a few moments passed that Natsuki and Yuuko finally broke off their kiss. "And that seals the deal. I really am in love with you."
"Likewise. I love you too." As they laughed at each other, the mutual warmth Natsuki and Yuuko shared accompanied them as they were Teleported away.
A/N: Next up on the list on intermission acts is the pair of blue birds. Stay tuned!