No longer a Surprise
By: Escarlata
Precure belongs to Toei, the plot is mine
===o===
Honoka was a perceptive girl, it was easy for her to analyze, find details, understand the operation of things with a simple glance and also recognize clues that could go unnoticed. Those were the skills that would make her a great Researcher in the future. But Honoka didn't need any of those skills to notice that Nagisa had been watching her all the way home without letting her out of her sight, quietly, indiscreetly discreet. Unsurprisingly, Nagisa wasn't much of a fan of discretion. She also had a strange look since the morning but any attempt to find out what the reason was was unsuccessful. Honoka always respected when Nagisa asked her for space and time, still she couldn't help but feel a little weird about the way Nagisa was looking at her.
"Hey, Nagisa," said Honoka in an effort to break the silence. She noticed her partner flinch, her nervousness was noticeable for miles. "You know that I do respect your silence if you ask me to, but you haven't stopped looking at me and now you're really worrying me, what's wrong?" She gently insisted.
Nagisa winced and immediately turned her face away, her face felt hot. Was it really that obvious? She cleared her throat and failed, only managing to choke on her own saliva. Nagisa coughed. She was so embarrassed! Everything was nonsense since she woke up! The poor girl didn't even know why she felt that way! Nagisa was aware that she let herself be carried away by her feelings like a kite in the wind, but she couldn't help it.
Nagisa also couldn't help but feel embarrassed when Honoka quickly assisted her and even handed her own water bottle. Under normal circumstances, Nagisa would think twice before drinking from the same bottle as Honoka, not because she felt disgust for the act, but because of the matter of the indirect kiss that caused so many blushes between lovers and teenagers. But this time her urgency made her need that drink of water. Still red, Nagisa drank until the cough stopped. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and looked at her friend with an embarrassed smile.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Are you better?" Honoka asked and Nagisa nodded. "How about we go to the river? We can go eat at the Tako Cafe later, I'll invite you."
And that was enough to return Nagisa's smile and she finally nodded with recovered energy. Food never failed to lift her spirits.
The girls walked in silence until they reached the river and sat down on the usual bank near the bridge. Nagisa sighed and Honoka took her hand in support. She noticed that Nagisa was startled again, but the latter didn't move her hand away, on the contrary. Honoka immediately felt when Nagisa squeezed her hand firmly. Honoka couldn't let go even if she wanted to. Not that she wanted to let go.
"So?" Honoka gently insisted.
"It's kind of silly", said an embarrassed Nagisa. The more she went over the problem, the sillier it seemed. It wasn't even real! Nagisa made up a problem by herself and now she was upset about it! Was she going insane?
"If it's bothering you then it's not something silly, Nagisa," were Honoka's calm words. "Although... By the way you've been looking at me, I dare to think that the matter has to do with me, right?"
Nagisa frowned at Honoka's correct guess. She nodded slowly and put her free hand to the back of her head. A heavy sigh was enough for Nagisa to finally start speaking. Nagisa felt so silly but she immediately remembered that she was talking to Yukishiro Honoka, the kindest, sweetest and most understanding girl in the world. Nagisa looked at her, despite everything, with a discomfort that she was unable to hide.
"Last night I had a strange dream", she began to speak and even frowned. "You and I were in the park walking, we were having fun and eating ice cream", hers was chocolate-flavored, an important detail. "And suddenly a boy came and asked you out", Nagisa couldn't remember the boy in detail, except that he was tall, in her dream she recognized him as someone attractive with dark hair. "And you told him yes and then went with him and left me alone!" Nagisa complained as if it had really happened. "Then I woke up".
Honoka only blinked twice as she listened to Nagisa's dream. The more her best friend talked, the better she understood her whole problem. Honoka couldn't help but smile, especially at the last part of the story. Honoka couldn't believe it! Nagisa's mind made up a guy, imagined a situation with someone who didn't exist, and now she was angry about it! The subject was so cute and so ridiculous that she couldn't help but laugh a little.
"I told you it was foolish," Nagisa muttered with childish pout.
"No, I'm not laughing about that, I assure you, it's just…" Honoka couldn't stop laughing. She ended up leaning playfully on Nagisa's shoulder. "Give me… Give me a moment please." And she kept laughing out loud, clean and clear.
Nagisa gave in and finally smiled. Honoka's laugh was so cute that it was impossible not to get in a good mood listening to it. She still felt embarrassed, but saying what had bothered her since she woke up was quite freeing. And since Honoka had just made it clear to her that she wasn't teasing her, Nagisa was curious about her friend's thoughts of the matter.
Honoka finished laughing a few seconds later and had to take a deep breath and drink from her water bottle to compose herself. Nagisa blushed upon seeing that and slightly averted her gaze. Honoka's lips were cute.
"Okay, tell me, come on", Nagisa insisted, blushing.
"I want to confirm some data first, is it okay if I ask you some questions?" Honoka consulted with regained seriousness.
"Huh? Well… Yes, go ahead. Ask whatever you want," replied a confused Nagisa.
"Were you happy in the part where you walked with me?" Honoka asked firmly, her serious expression now a bit exaggerated, bordering on comical.
"Yes", was Nagisa's immediate reply.
"You say that the part where I went with the boy and left you bothered you the most, right?" Her friend nodded, Honoka nodded as well. "So what's been bothering you all day is the idea of me leaving you to be with someone else?" Was Honoka's firm and concise question. She was quite interested in Nagisa's answer.
Nagisa turned red up to her ears and turned her face away from Honoka's eyes. Since they went over everything, yes, that was what really bothered her, but it was so silly to even think about it. Nagisa was going insane!
However, Nagisa was able to nod.
"It's silly that that bothers me because we're friends but you're not mine, you don't belong to me," saying that words made her feel a strange taste in her mouth. Nagisa swallowed hard. "Besides, one day you're going to meet a handsome boy who falls in love with you and likes all your good sides," those good sides that Nagisa herself knew and that she got to know over time and with a lot of work and coexistence. "And surely you'll fall in love with someone who has everything you like in a person, so I should support you as you always have done with me", she continued, hurt by her own selfishness. "I can't believe this."
Honoka kept looking at Nagisa even though Nagisa wasn't looking at her. And precisely, Honoka took advantage of the fact that Nagisa wasn't looking at her to gently shake her head and smile sweetly. She seriously wondered if Nagisa was listening to herself every time she spoke.
Honoka leaned back into Nagisa, affectionate this time. Nagisa didn't move.
"And you know what type of person I like?" Honoka asked with the clear desire to shake Nagisa's ground a little.
She made it.
Nagisa jumped and turned back to look at Honoka, but the position only allowed her to come face to face with her best friend. All the colors rushed to her face and the girl swallowed once more. Nagisa mentally reviewed Honoka's question and realized something: she had no idea what kind of person her friend would find attractive. All Nagisa knew was that Honoka looked up to the late Professor Breakstone. And that was all she could say without fear of being wrong.
A stroke of shame made Nagisa suddenly feel guilty. What kind of person did Honoka like? Someone like Kiriya? That was her first thought, but reviewing everything they had experienced so far, it was easy to guess that the answer was no. Honoka definitely loved Kiriya but not in the romantic side of the word, more like a big sister-young brother way. On the other hand, Nagisa knew that Honoka didn't like guys like Fujipi either. If that were the case, then Honoka would already be the handsome soccer player's girlfriend.
Nagisa stuttered a bit and let out a funny growl of frustration.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. Surely I should know, but I don't," said Nagisa, defeated. Quite embarrassed, now she felt like a bad friend.
Honoka smiled softly and moved a little to get Nagisa onto her lap. And she did it without any warning, because Nagisa was seriously surprised by the new position. Honoka looked at Nagisa, the poor thing was still blushing.
"You don't know because I've never told you," Honoka said soothingly. "In any case, you don't know either because I've never shown any interest in any boy," she completed, noticing Nagisa's confused face
"That... Well... You're right," Nagisa muttered, relieved. She immediately seemed curious. "Hey, that's right! Have you ever had a boy catch your eye?"
"Nope. So the last thing you need to fear is me running off with someone," Honoka replied, amused.
"What if someone comes and seriously catches your eye?" An anguished Nagisa asked.
"For someone to get my attention, then they must far outweigh the person who already has my full attention," was Honoka's firm reply.
Nagisa had to sit back down to look at her friend in surprise, almost horror. In her head the last part of her dream started replaying: Honoka holding hands with someone else. Nagisa didn't know what to say, her hands moved clumsily, her mouth couldn't get any words out and her expression was one of pure anguish.
"Who is that person?" Nagisa almost yelled it.
"Oh well," playfully, Honoka took both of Nagisa's hands in hers. At least she got her best friend to stop making a tragic face. "This person is active and friendly, quite beautiful and a total glutton, with a nice smile too," with each word she said, she noticed that Nagisa turned redder. Honoka smiled. "This is the person who has fought by my side, the person who has always been there for me when I need it," she pressed her forehead against Nagisa's. "My brave partner in battle, my dear friend who knows all my good points and also the bad ones, and embraces them all of them because this person accepts me as I am."
Nagisa felt herself trembling all over, she didn't have the strength to move, not that she wanted to. She clung to Honoka's hands. Her thoughts seemed to shut off, as if her brain cells had suddenly shut down.
"But..." Poor Nagisa gulped again. "That person... The person you're talking about... I... It's... It's a girl," she stammered.
"Yes, and she is the girl I love like crazy, even if she dreams strange things and doesn't realize that I love her more than anything in this world," Honoka said sweetly, lovingly.
Nagisa couldn't take it anymore, all of her short-circuited and ended on Honoka's lap. Unable to speak, weak babble came out of her mouth, the only thing that could be half understood was an I can't believe it repeated over and over again.
Honoka laughed.
"Now I don't know how I'm going to surprise you tomorrow, my declaration of undying love and devotion for you was supposed to be part of your birthday present," Honoka said with humorous reproach. "It's not going to be the same when I give you the rest of the gift."
Those words were enough for Nagisa to react and sit down again. She looked like a little child about to cry because she had been denied a piece of candy. Honoka knew how to read her gestures and immediately took her hands lovingly.
"I ruined everything," Nagisa lamented.
"Don't say that, I'm sure I'll surprise you with the rest of the gift, do you want to know what it is?" Honoka proposed, seeking to comfort her in some way.
"Yes, tell me," Nagisa whimpered.
"Well, your birthday present consists of three parts," Honoka explained appropriately. "The first part is a special edition box of Mont Blanc, the desserts we saw in that magazine the other day along with Takashimizu and Kubota."
"Ah, from that French pastry shop that just opened! The desserts that sell out in less than an hour!" Nagisa exclaimed excitedly. In addition, these desserts were sold when they were in school hours, so it was impossible for them to buy them.
"Yes, I was able to get a box," Honoka announced excitedly. "Actually my grandmother got it for me, she went to the pastry shop yesterday," she clarified and immediately kept talking with a seriousness that seemed comical. "It's said that you can conquer a person's heart through the stomach, so I want to sweeten you up first before the second part of the gift: confess all the love I feel for you", she added with a mischievous face, making Nagisa blush even more. "All the love."
"Ah," Nagisa cleared her throat. "And the last part?"
"A kiss on your cute lips," Honoka replied with a sweet smile.
Nagisa almost fainted again. She only managed to escape from the warm hands of her partner to be able to cover her face.
"Honoka!"
"I know it won't be a surprise anymore, but... Can I do it as I planned it?" An amused Honoka consulted.
Nagisa swallowed hard and looked at her partner through her fingers.
"Yes please. Do it," replied the poor girl as best she could.
"Thank you Nagisa."
Nagisa smiled and didn't know what to say. There were too many things in such a short time, but that didn't stop her from reaching for Honoka's hand again. Nagisa needed to feel her. That warmth and soft touch always had an analgesic effect on her system. Nagisa took a deep breath to regain her calm. She half made it.
Honoka glanced at her friend without stopping to smile.
"Do you feel calmer now? Now you know I wouldn't go with someone else."
"To tell the truth now I'm nervous about tomorrow."
"And now I'm glad I warned you. I had calculated that you might pass out from the surprise. Now that you know, maybe we'll get to the kissing part," Honoka said between giggles. "And I'm allowed to know the answer that awaits me?"
It was a flushed Nagisa's turn to smile, nervously, but she managed.
"At least let me do that part like you planned, okay?"
"Okay," Honoka sighed deeply, contently. "Shall we go to the Taco Cafe? I'm getting a little hungry".
"Let's go!"
Nagisa got up first and made Honoka stand up to go to their next destination. They both looked forward to Nagisa's birthday with more emotion, it would undoubtedly be a very special one.
FIN
