Throughout the passing hours of the shift, as Ui's urge to see if Yui was alright gradually got stronger, her confidence and motivation to get through the rest of the shift with no screw ups increased, and before she knew it, it was time to close up.
After taking her pay, Ui sprinted out of the fast food restaurant and towards her house. "Sorry to leave so suddenly." Ui called out. "See you two tomorrow."
"Wow, exactly how much did she want to check on Yui-senpai?" Jun asked."Eh, can't say I blame her, though. See you tomorrow, Azusa." She started heading towards the train station, only to stop seconds later after getting no response from Azusa, who was seemingly lost in thought. "Azusa?" Still hearing no response, she walked up to Azusa and waved her hand across the twin-tailed guitarist, which successfully snaps her out of her daze.
"Huh?" Ju-" Before Azusa could respond, she felt Jun pulling her cheeks. "Aaah, hey, cut that out!" she shouted as she pushed Jun's hands away from her.
"Is something up, Azusa?"
"Uh, no. Nothing's wrong." Azusa awkwardly chuckled, before walking away and waving at Jun. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Once Ui made it home, she was out of breath from running as long as she did, and upon walking into the living room, she found Yui happily sitting on the couch. "Onee-chan?"
"Ui! Welcome home." Yui replied with a beaming smile.
"Is... everything okay?"
"Mm-hmm, I'm perfectly fi..." Before Yui could finish her sentence, Leiko's soul crushing words popped back into her mind again, deflating her smile.
"I HAVE FULL CONFIRMATION THAT YOUR OWN SISTER HAS NOW TURNED AGAINST YOU!"
"You're perfectly fine? Your face tells me otherwise." Ui commented.
Unable to come up with a response and internally holding back tears, Yui impulsively ran up to and hugged the younger brunette.
"Still have Leiko on your mind?" Ui asked as she returned the embrace. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I really am."
"W-wait, no, that's not it!"
"It isn't?"
"Well, I've thought about it, and..." Yui proceeded to hold Ui tighter. "I really, really want to remake that cake i baked for you a few days ago."
"Really? I'd love to see how you went about making it." Ui excitedly replied.
"Well, the thing is, I want you to do it with me."
"Huh?"
"I think it'll have just as much value as the previous cake if you help me with this one."
"Alright, let's do it." Ui happily responded as she separated from the hug and grabbed Yui's hand. "Wait, do you still have everything you used to make the previous cake?"
"Hmm... Did I use all the jam last time?" Yui ran over to the fridge and looked through every shelf, only to find an empty jam jar. "Yep, I did." she said as she turned to Ui with a disappointed look.
"What about the other stuff? I'm sure we can still make a great cake without the jam."
"Hmm, now where did I put all the stuff once I put the cake in the oven?" Yui said to herself as she proceeded to look through the top cupboards. "Ah, here it all is."
Ui went over to help Yui carefully place all the baking ingredients down on the table to avert any potential messes, and once they had everything they needed, a knock on the door was heard by the younger brunette."I'll get it." she said, promptly running over to the door, and upon opening it, she saw a certain twin tailed guitarist standing in front of her. "Azusa-chan?"
"Good evening." Azusa replied. "Is Yui-senpai still awake?"
"Yeah. We were just about to bake another cake. Wanna join us?"
"Sure! More than happy to."
Rolling up her sleeves to get ready for baking, stars sparkled in Yui's eyes when Azusa walked into the kitchen. "AZUNYAAAAAAN!" she exclaimed as she started bolting towards her for a hug.
"Yui-senpai..." Azusa sighed. Why didn't I see this coming? While usually annoyed by Yui's affection, Azusa had shown nothing of the sort as the regret of not being able to do anything when Yui trapped herself in the closet back at the light music club, and instead smiled as Yui hugged her tightly.
"Hey, you wanna bake a cake with us, Azunyan? I want my sweet little kitten to see how I initially made this."
I'll let "sweet little kitten" slide just this once. Sure. I think it'll be fun.
"With you joining us, Azusa-chan, we're certain to make the best cake imaginable!" Ui commented.
.Meanwhile, upon arriving at Hayami's house, Leiko's uneasiness was still as strong as ever. in spite of Hayami's efforts to make her feel relaxed at her place. "So uh, what exactly did you want to discuss with me?" she asked.
"Um... w-well..." Hayami stuttered as all urges she had to speak up to Leiko vanished in an instant.
"Heh, and you said I was the one feeling uneasy." Leiko commented with a smug expression.
"N-no, I uh... "
Leiko walked over to the stuttering junior and put her hands on her shoulders. "Alright, spill the beans."
"I... heard something about you from the light music club."
"From the what?!" Leiko's suspicions and worries skyrocketed upon hearing this. Yikes, with how I acted back there, they could have easily villainized me! I have to pray that whatever Hayami has to tell me, she didn't take any of it to heart! "I mean, what was it that you heard, exactly?"
"That you... were trying to hurt Azusa-chan."
"Huh? I haven't been trying to hurt her. I only called her trying to convince her that Ui was using her and her other friend for personal gain." Leiko proceeded to awkwardly direct her eyes to every possible direction. "Yeah, this was totally necessary for my plan."
"Leiko-chan, why would..." Hayami shouted before covering her mouth to interrupt herself. What the heck, how could I let that slip out? She then began shaking her head after covering her face in her hands. "F-forget I said or asked anything." she commented after taking a deep breath. "I really need some rest now. Goodnight, Leiko-chan."
Cringing at Hayami interrupting herself the way she did and clenching her hands really hard, Leiko stormed over to Hayami, grabbed her by the arm and slapped her before she could head upstairs. "Forget you said or asked anything? You really think I'm gonna do that?!"
"B-but..."
"No buts about this!" Leiko breathed before rubbing the part of Hayami's face that she slapped. "Now then, finish what you were gonna say."
"W-why would you try to get Azusa-chan to turn on her friend like that?" Hayami quietly responded.
Leiko sighed. "At the time, I thought it would bring me one step closer to what I was trying to achieve. If it makes you feel any better, it didn't work at all."
"I see..."
"Is there anything else they said about me?"
"N-nothing worth noting, no."
"Okay, then. With that out of the way, let's talk about a lighter subject matter. Like that new friend you made a week ago."
"New friend?"
"Yeah, the one you said you gained from my "making the first move" lesson. I still don't know a thing about her, and if she's as nice as you claimed she was, I'd love to meet her."
Hayami found herself unable to open her mouth even slightly after catching onto who Leiko meant.
"Oh no. Did something bad happen between you two?!" Leiko started shaking Hayami. "Please tell me what happened!"
"N-no, we're still friends!" Hayami quickly replied as she waved her hands around erratically.
"Then what's up? Is she just simply afraid of other people? Is she hospitalized right now? Does she want to keep her friend group limited?"
"Well... The thing is, you've actually met her already."
"I have?" Leiko raised her eyebrow.
"It's..."
"It's?"
"It's Ui-chan." Hayami whispered.
The moment she heard that name, Leiko collapsed on the stairs in shock and horror.
"Leiko-chan?!"
NO! NO NO NO NO, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! THERE'S NO WAY THIS IS REAL! I CAN'T... Before she knew it, Leiko's brain comically exploded from processing what she just heard.
A worried Hayami was quick to pick up Leiko and carry her over to her bed, with fleeting thoughts on the state of their friendship potentially falling apart after this stuck in the back of her mind.
Upon awakening 10 minutes later, Leiko's self confidence had once again shattered as what Hayami said was still fresh in her mind. "What have I even been doing this whole time?" she said to herself before covering her face in the bedsheets.
Hayami entered the bedroom with a glass of water. "Oh, you're awake." she said as she walked over to Leiko. "Are you okay, Leiko-chan? Here, I got you a drink."
"Hayami..." Leiko responded, muffled in the bedsheets.
"Hm?"
Leiko lifted herself from the bedsheets. "Remember, when I first confronted Ui?" she asked strainingly.
"Y-yeah. Why?"
Leiko sighed. "Was there anything you felt like saying to me then?"
"Uh... N-no, I d-didn't have anything to..."
"Stop! I usually don't mind your stuttering, but right now, I can tell that you actually did have something to say."
"I..."
"Hayami, listen. Any life advice I give you during our club activities, you have every right to project onto me. And this includes what I said about being open with how you feel yesterday."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Whatever you wanted to say to me then, go ahead and say it now."
Hayami took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "LEIKO-CHAN, YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE UI-CHAN A CHANCE TO SAY EVERYTHING SHE WANTED TO SAY BEFORE THREATENING HER! THAT WAS ALL TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR! YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE DOING WHAT YOU DID THEN!"
She wanted to say that all this time..
"T-that's everything."
Leiko lifted herself off the bed and walked over to hug Hayami. "It's fine. And you know what? There's something I wanted to do, but... Actually, no, I'll wait until tomorrow. Wouldn't be fair if Ayako knew about it much later."
"Leiko-chan?"
"I'll just say this." Tears started streaming down Leiko's face. "I'm sorry... for everything."
Upon hearing this, Hayami returned the hug, almost about to cry herself.
A few hours later, Yui, Ui and Azusa were covered in cake mix as Azusa was putting the icing on the cake
"Yikes, was the kitchen this much of a mess after Yui-senpai baked her last cake?" Azusa asked.
"Um, yeah." Ui replied. I don't want to make Onee-chan look bad by telling her that it was worse!
"Yeah, I'll help you clean this up."
"What about me? I wanna help too." Yui commented.
Both Ui and Azusa were shocked at how much cake mix Yui was covered in. It was triple the amount that either of them were covered in.
"I think you should clean yourself before cleaning anything here." Ui stated.
"Yes, ma'am." Yui saluted before heading over to run herself a bath.
"How did Yui-senpai make such a cake all by herself?" Azusa asked. "Even with all three of us working together, it was quite a hassle."
"Sometimes I wonder that myself, but more often than not, I can't help but find it really admirable." Ui happily replied.
"I mean, I've seen first hand that she can do anything she puts her mind to, but to this level?! Is she a god or something?!"
Ui giggled.
After cleaning the kitchen, Ui went into her bedroom to get into her nightwear, and upon walking back into the living room, she was surprised to see that Azusa was also in her pajamas as she and Yui were about to go into the latter's bedroom.
"You're in your PJs, Azusa-chan?" Ui asked.
"Uh, yeah. I kinda wanna sleep here for tonight, if that's okay." Azusa replied.
"Sure. I'll go get a sleeping bag for y..."
"No, it's alright, Ui. I've decided that I'm sleeping with Yui-senpai tonight. B-but only to make sure she gets up on time since we spent a lot of time making that cake!"
"Okay, then. Good night, you two." Ui said before going back into her bedroom.
Yui's eyes sparkled as she went into her bedroom and crawled into bed with Azusa.
While Yui went to sleep fairly quickly, it took a bit longer for Azusa as she was lost in thought for a while. It was kind of hard for me to pick between sleeping with Ui and sleeping with Yui-senpai. But I know who needs me more right then turned towards Yui and softly smiled at her.
Just as Azusa was about to go to sleep, Yui suddenly opened her eyes and held onto one of Azusa's hands. "Azunyan..." she quietly said.
"What's up, senpai?"
"I heard from Mugi-chan that Leiko-chan went after you. Did she... do anything to you because of what I did?"
"Well... honestly. when I talked to her, she was a total jokester to me. Wasn't really the easiest person to take seriously." Wait, because of her? She feels responsible for Leiko's actions? "Also, no, it had nothing to do with you."
"It didn't?"
"No, she, uh, thought I stole something of hers that I happened to find on the road one day. Her assumptions and pettiness were off the charts."
"Oh..." Yui pouted.
Azusa held onto Yui's hand tighter. "Believe me, you aren't at fault for anything she said to me, so don't worry about that."
"O-okay." Yui softly smiled. "Your hand is so warm, Azunyan." She went back to sleep as she leaned her face towards Azusa's hand.
Azusa quietly giggled. Silly Yui-senpai. Good night.