Hello, ladies and gentlemen!

It has been a while, hasn't it? Many of you were waiting for the next chapter of this weird story and I told you, I wasn't gonna drop it.

It just took really long!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Timeline

6-1-3-2-4-5-7-8

"Dammit! This is harder than it looks!"

"Looks that way but, easy with it, pushing the buttons harder isn't going to help." Makoto couldn't help but feel anxious about the way the buttons of his old GameGirl Advance groaned under Akane's strong and frustrated thumbs.

It was a rainy day, so the two lovebirds were confined to kill time inside the walls of the academy. Akane and Makoto decided that it was as good a time as any to clean a bit of their rooms, get some work done. That, however, was promptly abandoned once Makoto found his old portable console and some games. The lucky boy explained a few to the gymnast, who never played a videogame except for the times Chiaki invited all her class to play together, and she was excited to play the one about the pocket monsters fighting each other.

The girl grunted when her Hitmontop fell against a psychic-type attack... again. Makoto was glad she wasn't an angry gamer; his console would have ended up destroyed if that were the case. Thing is, Akane had no one to blame but herself. The moment the game explained the different types to her, she declared that the fighting type was the best and strongest of them all. The team of six fighting Pokemon got her through the game with relative ease but there was a wall that couldn't be overcome with only a stead forward attitude and infinite retries.

"At least try some half-types..."

Makoto left the bed in order to return to the task of cleaning the room and knew Akane lost another fight by the loud groan she let out. A small smile appeared on his face but he didn't make any comments about it, there was work to do and it was clear that Akane wouldn't help. The boy bent down the waist to grab a cardboard box full of old clothes, it wasn't heavy so he easily lifted it without a problem. A sudden jolt of sensation straightened his spine and the box fell to the floor with a thud. His mind, confused as it was, began to process information to try to understand what happened while the boy turned around on instinct to see the girl on the bed looking at her hand while in thought.

The pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into place; the faint sting of his backside, Akane's slowly growing smile, how she wiggled her fingers... All pointed to a single answer. "You slapped my butt!"

Now Akane was fully grinning. "I sure did!" She sounded proud. "And I have to say, mama likes what she feels~"

"You can't do that! Why did you do it?" His voice sounded a bit higher than intended, the boy was a bit flustered about that whole situation.

"I can't? Why not? I wouldn't mind if you did the same to me." Akane looked at him with a confused look but once it was clear that Makoto wasn't going to give her an answer besides stuttering and mumbling, she kept talking. "If I have to give you a reason... I wanted to see how your training was going... I also just feel like doing it."

A bit more stammering and Makoto gave up with a sigh, he should have seen that answer coming. "Okay okay, but don't do that again. Or at least warn me first or something."

"Aw but that's no fun... besides, you look cute when you blush."

"The what?" Now that she mentioned it his face did feel very warm, the lucky boy put his hands on his cheeks as if that would let him sense the pink of his face. And yet, he was sure it grew hotter when Akane let out a small laugh. "C-cut it out! It's not cute at all!"

"Nope, it's your own fault for being born as a cutie patootie." She let those last words roll off her tongue, since when was the girl so cheeky?

It wasn't like the thought of being cute made the boy angry or annoyed but it did leave a dent on his male pride, and even if the notion was a silly one, Makoto couldn't simply stay silent and take it. It didn't matter if it was the smart choice.

"I remember you blushing a lot too, you know?" His finger was pointing at her with an accusatory intent, arm extended and all.

It was a shame Akane didn't look up from the screen to see it, too preoccupied with her current combat. "Not as much as you."

The lack of thought of interest to her answer made the boy flinch, she made him sound like some lovestruck maiden whose cheeks turned pink at the slightest romantic act. Was that the mental image Akane had of him? Makoto had to change that, but how? Maybe...

"I could make you blush easily if I wanted."

Akane lifted her gaze from the screen, the glint on her eyes made him know she took the bait. The girl wasn't one to ignore a challenge, not even the most unconventional ones. "That sounds like a challenge, what are you thinking about?"

"It's simple if I can make you blush before the week ends, I win. If I don't I lose." It was a hastily made plan but it mattered little for Makoto thought about everything.

"Sure, I'm game. What are we betting?"

"Betting?" Makoto didn't think about that. "Do we have to?"

"It would be boring if we didn't! Come on, don't be a wuss, or are you scared of losing?" Makoto was sure he wasn't so easily manipulable as other people may think, but that smug smirk on his girlfriend's face sure was compelling. Akane cheered once he gave her an anxious nod. " That's what I'm talking about, now this is interesting! Okay okay, so, if I win... you have to give me your hoodie!"

An audible gasp was heard in the room, hazel eyes wide with terror, and Makoto instinctively bought his hands to his chest as to protect his priced possession. "W-what? Why would you want it?" He sounded a tad more rattled than intended.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Looks comfy, and you being super protective about it makes me want it even more." No way! Even if this whole thing was his idea, Makoto wasn't willing to risk something of such importance for the sake of his pride. "And if you win... Oh, I know. What if I wear that costume we saw on your computer? You know, the small one that doesn't cover-"

"Let's do it!" Reason was pushed out of the car that was Makoto's mind in favor of something more animalistic taking the wheel. What could he say? Makoto was made of flesh and blood like everyone else. Besides, everything will be alright, he just needed to be victorious and nothing would be lost.

They sealed the deal with a firm handshake, their eyes locked into a brief staredown before they went to keep doing their thing. She went to play her game and he went to clean. While his body was busy moving things around, the boy's mind was thinking about ideas to make the shameless girl blush. It wasn't an impossible task for he managed to get her cheeks red on a few romantic occasions, but since her guard will be up from now on the whole thing will be much harder. His first move had to be a daring one...

When Makoto turned to look at her, Akane was no longer playing and opted to look out the window to admire the rainy weather. Meanwhile, his eyes were admiring the space under her neck and above her navel. The way Akane filled that button-shirt was nothing short of formidable; overfilled may be a better way to express it since he was sure that shirt was not once buttoned all the way up. But why was Makoto now staring at the chest of his girlfriend? Not for any lecherous or perverted reason, not at all!

The true reason was a simple one, a plan sparked inside his mind. A bold and simplistic one, at that. He would give her breasts a nice squeeze!

Okay okay, it sounded bad but his train of thought was solid. While it was true that Akane was quite the shameless girl when it concerned her getting physical with him, she should be susceptible to a surprise attack like everyone else. Regardless of whatever happens afterward, he'll win the bet!

For the plan to be a success the element of surprise was vital, so, broom in hand, the boy swept the floor of any dust while slowly moving closer to her. A silent step after the other, making sure she was still looking outside as he arrived in front of her. He made sure the broom was propped against him so it didn't fall to the ground and cause a racket, then he slowly reached forward.

But the closer he got to his soft objective the bigger his uneasiness grew, it made no sense. At this stage in their relationship, it wasn't as if Makoto didn't have any experience being physical with Akane. He has lots of it, in fact. And yet, his fingers were trembling and his brow moist with cold sweat. His shaky digits were an inch apart from her skin, close enough to feel the warmth emanating from her body but they couldn't get any closer as if an invisible barrier pushed against them. Was that his body and conscience warning him against such brazen actions? In any case, he needed to make a decision before-

"Getting cold feet?"

He froze in both body and mind, Makoto was like a deer in front of headlights or a little kid with his hand inside of the cookie jar. A shiver went down his spine which allowed him to move again and his eyes traveled all the way up to meet her face. He expected to see her being angry or annoyed at him but the cheeky and smug expression on her face somehow scared him more.

"S-sorry, I was..." He pulled back his arms and stepped back, the broom clattering to the floor.

"I know exactly what you were doing." She wasn't going to let him go that easily, Akane was like a tiger seizing her prey. The girl leaned forward to close the distance and her prodigious chest jiggled as they hung on her blouse appearing even bigger. Fact that Makoto very much witnessed. "C'mon c'mon~ Why so shy? Stop playing and cop a feel, they are very soft."

Akane may have thought Makoto needed proof of her claim because she gave them a nice squeeze herself with both hands while having a wide grin on her face. It seemed familiar for the boy but he couldn't place his finger on why.

Nevertheless, Akane made a compelling argument and the boy's fingers twitched, tempted by the promise of a quick squeeze but Makoto stood strong. Actually, he backed away but he resisted the pull of his desires. If he gave in then it would mean admitting defeat.

Or something. Part of him felt he lost control of the situation a long time ago but most of him was too distracted by the girl approaching and her toned body. With every step back he took, Akane took another forward, and by the time he realized his back was against the wall, she didn't stop. Makoto felt like a little bunny about to be devoured by a tiger. The impact of her palm hitting the wall made him jump on the spot, did she do a kabedon on him!?

Words failed the boy who stood there with wide eyes seeing her face get closer and closer. Even now, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. He closed his eyes.

"It's dangerous how cute you are when blushing, makes me wanna..." Her breath washed over his face, she sounded closer than before. "... mess with ya~"

The familiar feeling of Akane's lips graced his forehead, Makoto opened his eyes with confusion just in time to see the girl turn around and lay down on his bed with a satisfied grin. She was simply teasing him and he fell for it completely.

Tired and flushed, he let his back slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. She won the battle but not the war.

At least he got a kiss, and that gave him an idea.

/-/

Aoi let out a happy sigh as she stretched her arms up in the air. "A shower after training is just the best, well, second best. There are donuts, after all, oh that reminds me, they opened a new bakery close by. Wanna go for some, Akane?"

"For sure! Sweet stuff tastes better after sweating a bunch, maybe because they sound similar." The older girl nodded sagely.

"Huh? Do you think so? But one thing tastes sweet and the other salty... And also it's grosser."

It was a nonsensical discussion born from an inane thought, at least, that was Makoto thought as he spied on the two girls. Not exactly spying, he was listening to their conversation while peeking over a corner and they didn't know he was there. Okay, he was spying on them but not for any creepy reason. He was simply waiting for the moment she dropped her guard, again, not for a creepy reason.

Two days had passed since the bet was made but Makoto was still serious about it, he took that time to think about a new plan and let Akane's mind push the bet to the back of her mind. Now, he was waiting for the chance to strike, and seeing the girl happily laugh and chat with a friend was the perfect opportunity. He left his hiding place and made his way towards them.

Makoto made sure Akane didn't see him by approaching from the back and only spoke when they were inches away. "Hey, Akane!"

Said girl's first instinct was to turn around towards the familiar voice, just as he expected. Leaving her no time to think, Makoto leaned forward and captured her lips in a surprise kiss. His new plan to make the girl blush was as ingenious as it was simple, a surprise kiss in front of a friend while your guard is low it's a guaranteed way for blood to rush to one's face. He felt a bit bad for subjecting Hina to their lovey-dovey antics but it was a small price to pay for-

Akane's hand gripped the back of his head with an iron grasp that made his eyes widen in surprise and his body wince a bit in pain as she dug her fingers on him. But instead of pulling him away, Akane made sure he couldn't back up, their bodies now pushing against each other. Everything got worse, or better, for him when he felt something trying and succeeding in getting past his lips.

The warm and wet tongue treated his mouth as its home and freely moved around in search of its companion, and once it found Makoto's tongue, it made sure to dominate it flawlessly.

This wasn't part of the plan! It was supposed to be a small kiss not a full make-out of the french variety! He had to escape before things got even more out of hand but Akane kept him in place with her superior strength. He needed help... Hina! She could help!

Desperate but increasingly foggy eyes went to the swimmer for any kind of help, begging for assistance. Sadly, Hina was looking at them like a deer frozen by car lights. The key difference is that her face was completely red, at least the part Makoto could see. Her eyes were over her face, trying to block the view of the two, very passionate lovers. It would work better if she wasn't peeking between her fingers.

Hina wasn't of any help and Makoto could feel the lack of air and intense stimuli taking a toll on his conscientiousness. The situation was dire and it was getting harder and harder to think about anything that wasn't the deep kiss with Akane.

Slowly, his body lost the will to resist. Everything was getting white inside his head...

Akane broke the kiss with a gasp for air, there was no hint of blush on her face. Only a bit of saliva on her lips that she promptly wiped away with the back of her hand.

"That was nice, anyway, what were we talking about?" As if she didn't just suck the soul out of a poor boy's body through his mouth, Akane turned back to Hina with a grin, ready to go back to their conversation.

The blushing swimmer took a moment to realize the kiss was over. "W-wow, that was very... Y-you two sure love each other a lot, huh? But doing such intense things is a bit..." She was still blushing hard.

"Hm? You think that was intense?"

"It wasn't?!" Hina was appalled at her lack of romantic knowledge.

While the two tanned gals resumed her talk, a certain lucky student sauntered away from them with a red face, blank eyes, and trembling knees.

/-/

By the second strike, it was clear for the boy that Akane was immune to physical attacks and he didn't need a third one to prove it. The girl was simply shameless in that area and any attempt would only result in more embarrassment for him. Makoto needed a full day to recover after the last time and Aoi kept giving him funny looks, but his determination wasn't crushed just yet.

If attacking the body won't work, maybe going after the mind would.

It sounded more ominous than it was, Makoto wasn't planning on using hypnosis or something sketchy like that. He'll simply share one of Akane's embarrassing moments with someone while she's around and that should do the trick. No way his plan would fail again, the universe wasn't so cruel.

"I'm very touched that you are willing to help me with the cleaning. As a token of my gratitude please rest while I prepare some tea." The words of Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid, were ever professional with a tinge of warmth to them.

Problem was, she wasn't supposed to add more to her workload. While Kirumi's talent implied serving others, she had the unhealthy compulsion of putting too much on her plate, and as a measure to prevent the young girl from overworking herself or making others too dependent on her services, the Headmaster implemented a system for students from different classes to help her around the school.

"I appreciate the sentiment but wouldn't that defeat the purpose of us helping?" The boy had the feeling that the moment his guard was down, he would end up enjoying a warm tea while Kirumi took care of everything else. She was dangerous in a whole different manner.

Today, Makoto and Akane were helping the maid by tidying up the kitchen in the cafeteria, which Akane was unusually on board with. Probably because she could borrow some of the leftovers from the fridge. The perfect situation for his plan, maybe the boy should thank his erratic luck for such a great opportunity. He wouldn't, as the score was too unbalanced.

He went through the plan in his head while cleaning the dishes next to Kirumi. Striking at Akane's weak spot in front of someone else was his last resource, even if it was a dirty strategy brought on by despair. Junko would be proud. Probably aroused too.

And Makoto was the only person in the school that knew exactly what said weakness was: ghosts.

Now, he wasn't planning on simply telling Kirumi that Akane was afraid of ghosts or trying to prank Akane with some trick to make her jump or scream. After all, he promised not to tell a soul about her phobia and didn't wish to be mean. Also, she would suplex him through the floor if he tried that sort of trick on her. Couple or not.

But there was nothing wrong with sharing a story about one of their dates, right? And if said date just happened to be about a certain horror house... Well, that would be a curious coincidence. Nothing more. He cast his eyes to the soon embarrassed girl lazily cleaning a frying pan while eyeing some close-by leftovers, it was time to strike.

"Kirumi, do you know that amusement park called La-la-land? Akane and I went there on our first date." His voice was loud enough for all in the kitchen to hear and innocent enough they wouldn't suspect him.

The maid turned her head to smile at him, her hands still moving precisely and busy. "I never visited myself but I heard it's a popular spot for families and couples. No doubt you two had a wonderful time." Her head turned to the other side, no doubt giving Akane the same smile she granted him.

Makoto spoke again he couldn't let up. "We sure did! There were so many things to do and see... That reminds me, something very funny happened in one of the attractions." Kirumi's eyes were arched in curiosity when she went back to look at him. "Yeah, you see, we went into a haunted house and once inside Akane-"

A horrid, loud sound cut him right off and made him flinch, it was like the dying gasp of a critter. Startled by the sudden commotion, the two of them moved to discover the source of the noise.

The frying pan rested on top of the counter, it was a bit hard to identify as a frying pan at first since its handle was bent in an awkward angle that made the thing unusable. The same frying pan Akane was cleaning just a second ago.

A chill rocked Makoto's spine. Surely that couldn't be real... It couldn't be...

Akane's gaze was as warm as an executioner's ax and was boring into Makoto as she spoke casually. "Sorry 'bout that, the thing was pretty weak."

"It is stainless steel..." Kirumi whispered, more to himself than to the other two in the room. It only made Makoto gulp, and were those indentations along the handle fingermarks? Kirumi softly shook her head and gave Makoto a calm smile, no doubt she didn't wish to think about the logic of what just occurred in front of her. "It must have been a defective product." She excused. "Forgive me, you were in the middle of telling me about what occurred on your date?"

Makoto could still feel Akane's glare even with Kirumi between them. How could his mouth be so dry while his hands were so damp? "Huh? Oh! Y-yeah I was, wasn't I?" His tongue fumbled and he almost bit it. "T-turns out she wasn't scared at all! I-imagine someone going to a haunted house and not being scared, hilarious!"

"Oh... Yes, it's quite a fun tale." Even the Ultimate Maid with all her training and experience, couldn't quite feign interest or amaze for what she just heard. She simply closed her eyes in contemplation and gave him a polite nod.

For his part, Makoto assumed that Akane accepted his lie well enough, for his head wasn't buried in the concrete. Always a good sign.

With a heavy sigh, he returned to the most awkward washing of dishes of his young life.

/-/

This hasn't been Makoto's best week, in fact, one may say that he had made himself look like a fool in front of friends, classmates, and his girlfriend while trying to win a challenge he himself created. Said person would be completely right, but they didn't need to be so rude about it.

A heavy groan left the unlucky boy before he rolled on his bed and let the pillow swallow his face and another groan of dread. His, o so infallible, plans backfired one after another, and now there was only a day left before he lost and his priced hoodie was taken away. Maybe he could make a run for it and leave the country... No, that would be crazy. Akane would track him down by smell and make him honor the bet.

Without any more options and defeat knocking at his door, the boy decided to spend the rest of the day sulking in his room and listening to some of his favorite music in hopes that it would cheer him up a little.

After a few popular songs and anime intros, the list on his phone reached the pop songs of a certain friend idol of his. It was a bit of a strange situation being friends with the girl whose melodic voice was now singing in his ear but it was a privilege he was happy to enjoy. As the happy and catchy song reached its climax the boy suddenly sat up, his eyes wide with a spark of inspiration twinkling on them.

"That's it..." He whispered to no one, he wasn't beaten, not yet. The embers of a plan kindled in his mind until they turned into a fire. Hope wasn't dead yet, he could do it, he could win!

But not alone.

Grabbing his phone, he dialed a certain number.

/-/

Akane looked around the dance practice room with curiosity, it looked a bit like the room she used to train her routines but with one of the walls entirely covered with mirrors. She didn't like training, so she didn't like her room and so, she also wasn't fond of this one just by association. The girl wouldn't be caught there if not because certain someone asked for a favor.

Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps before the door was opened and she turned around from the mirrors to watch a girl entering the room. The girl looked at her for a second before smiling, she had blue eyes and blue long air to match.

"You are here! Sorry to make you wait, not very polite of someone asking you for a favor, is it?" The girl's name was... Sam? Something like that.

"Don't sweat it, I had nothing to do so I was bored out of my school." She closed her eyes and scratched her ear using her pinky. Akane wasn't one to be too humble, she really had nothing to do today. Maybe training but she preferred to help Samantha with whatever problem she had. The two girls never talked to each other, at least Akane didn't remember to do, but she recalled her being one of Makoto's friends so she should be nice enough. "So, what's the deal? Ya want me to beat up some dude following you or something?"

"Oh, no no no. It's nothing like that, my security team is excellent at handling that. No, what I need your help for is in this bag." Sara extended her arms to show a big duffle bag hanging from one of her hands. She wasn't gonna ask her to carry that around, was she? "You see, the next routine for my concert is very tough this time. Lots of running around, jumping, and all of that, which I can normally do but I'm afraid the costume won't hold up or I'll be restricted by it. Could you do me the favor of testing it for me?"

That's it? Jumping around in some silly costume, Akane expected something more fun, not the same thing she did for work. She grunted and reached for the bag, it was lame but she wasn't about to leave her without help just for that. "Sure but don't blame me if it tears in places."

A fair warning, their bodies were very different in the thickness department.

The idol didn't flinch or anything, she just smiled brightly and tilted her head to the side. "No problem, that's why I asked Tsugumi to widen it a bit. Should fit you like a glove."

She did? Wow, Tsumugi must be really good if she knew her sizes just by looking. Not thinking much about it, Akane went into the adjacent changing room.

Five minutes later, a disgruntled cry rose from the depths of said room and Akane appeared a moment later.

"The hell is this!?" All that was needed was a single glance to understand Akane's reaction.

The casual blouse and short skirt she favored were nowhere to be seen, discarded for something more... girly. She was dressed in a white and pink idol dress, the skirt going just past her knees and with so many frills that it was as if she was using a big pink flower as a dress. The white jacket was almost as bad with an unreasonable amount of pink bows, a giant version of the same bow holding the back of it. She even had two small ones on her head, styling her wild mane into two messy pigtails. Akane almost passed out when she saw herself in the mirror.

"Oh my God, you look amazing!" What? Was Sasuke, or whatever the girl's name was, blind?

"Amazing? What are you talking about? I look like someone puked glitter and cake on me!" Of course, she didn't like it, the whole get-up was too girly and stuffy. Why would anyone who wasn't a five-year-old girl wear this? "I'm taking this off!"

But before she could tear that pink mess away from her body Salma's hand clasped around her wrist with a surprisingly solid grip.

She looked at her with those big, sparkly eyes and pouted. "You can't do that, Tsumugi worked really hard on it and you promised to help me!"

The girl in pink flinched at her words, she didn't use those words but she still promised and Akane wasn't one to break a promise. Looking around to make sure no one was hiding around and against her gut feeling she nodded. "Okay okay, I'll do it but if you tell anyone am gonna beat you up!"

The idol wasn't fazed by the threat of violence and pain, she nodded and stepped back to give her space. With that out of the way and still uncomfortable with her new image, Akane began.

It wasn't a competition so she didn't need to do anything fancy or tiresome, she ran around the room, made some jumps, a cartwheel, she even somersaulted just because she could. The clothes around her hold good enough, they didn't make any weird noise or tore in any place.

It sucked. Akane would have loved to see the damn thing as a heap of rags on the floor.

The stress test ended with Akane landing on her feet with her arms raised out of habit. "There, the damn thing holds up, can I take it off now?"She would prefer walking around naked or in her underwear at that point.

"Just one last thing, I need you to do a pose for me?"

"A... pose?"

The girl with the blue hair nodded. "I have to know for sure, what if I go through the whole routine and fail the pose at the end? It would be terrible!" Would it? "Here, do it like this."

Akane watched with confused eyes as Sabrina lifted her left leg behind her, made two peace signs, and winked at her. She wasn't serious, it was some dumb joke. Had to be, she wasn't going to do it!

The girl dropped the pose and looked at her with expectant eyes.

Dammit.

"I-I'm not gonna do any winks!" A girl had to have limits. Clenching her jaw, Akane mimicked the pose perfectly except for the wink as she promised. She twitched and almost fell to the ground when she saw herself in the mirror.

The sound of a camera going off froze her in place as if she was now an ice statue, only her eyes moved, now with a dangerous shine.

They focused on Salma first but she didn't have anything in her hands and was simply standing there with her usual smile. Then who...

"You look good but pink doesn't suit you." She recognized that voice. Her eyes darted to the other room and saw a very familiar boy standing at the door. With a phone in his hands.

Akane unfroze and began to stomp her way to him, her fist clenching and relaxing just to clench again. It was a shame he had to die so young and it pained her that their relationship would end in such a bloody way but it had to be this way.

Once she was looming over him with unblinking eyes and cracking knuckles, she spoke. "Any last words." Hands reached for him.

"I won." He said with a smile.

She froze once again but this time because of confusion, what the hell was he talking about?

She followed his gaze to the mirrors and saw her face, was she... blushing? She was! Her cheeks sported a nice rosy color over her tanned skin. The girl glanced at the idol girl but she wasn't surprised by any of this.

Akane's eyes went back to the boy in front of her, an intense stare nailed him down. Then, she laughed. "Finally got me, huh? Took you the whole week and some help but you did it."

Once her murderous aura disappeared, Makoto let out a breath. Turns out he wasn't sure he would walk away from his little stunt. "Sorry for tricking you but you were a lot tougher than I ever expected.. you aren't mad, are you?"

The girl mused for a second, lips pursed in thought before smiling again. How could she be mad when they went so hard just to beat her? "Nah, I don't like losing but at least you won't be acting like a dumbass anymore."

His mouth opened to object to that but closed back up when Sally nodded in agreement. Now he was the one blushing, things were once again how they should be. The only thing left was to take the damn dress off, but first...

"Anyway, give me your phone so I can delete that picture." Her hand reached for the cellphone but Makoto took a step back. "What are you..." She took a step forward, he took a step back again.

They stared at each other for a second, Makoto putting his phone into his pocket, then the chase began.

It wasn't as romantic as the one in the movies where a couple ran around the beach, but looking at them running around the room, Sayaka could feel their playful love.

OMAKE:

As fun as it was seeing the couple acting like a couple of doofus in love, Sayaka had some things to prepare for her job so she let them go at it while she went inside the changing room.

It had been fun to plot the whole thing to trick Akane into losing the bet, but Sayaka was terribly curious about what that implied for them. When she asked Makoto what he would win, the boy became a blushing, mumbling wreck and didn't give her a proper answer. In the end, the idol accepted to help but her sharp instinct whispered that his motivations weren't completely pure.

Not truly important, they were both big kids and Akane wouldn't have agreed to something she wasn't ready to do. At least, she hoped so. That girl could be pretty shameless.

As she was getting some props ready, Sayaka's blue eyes noticed a red cloth that she didn't recognize but on close inspection, she realized it was Akane's skirt and her shirt was next to it. That girl, she just left there on the floor without any care or thought.

Sayaka picked them up with a sigh, feeling like the mom of some unruly child that was playing outside instead of cleaning up after themselves. She took another look at the clothes in her hands and smiled, she just had an idea.

Akane was currently wearing one of her dresses so she shouldn't mind if Sayaka were to try her clothes a bit. Nothing weird, she simply wanted to play dress-up a bit. Making sure Makoto and Akane were still occupied after a fast peek into the other room, Sayaka quickly changed into Akane's garments.

They weren't a perfect fit, it was loose in a few places and very simplistic, but Sayaka enjoyed it. She even ruffled her hair a bit and left a few buttons of her top unbuttoned for effect.

Looking into a full-body mirror, the idol grinned and flexed her arms. "Rawr! Feed me or I'll punch you with my boobs! Hehehe~" It was fun being silly once in a while, to have to put on a smile in front of hundreds of strangers for hours on end. Did she love her job? No doubt, it was her dream and she worked hard for it but it could be very draining sometimes.

Now that she had her fun, she better change back before someone saw her goofing off.

Her blood ran cold, feeling the exact same that Akane just moments ago. Her pupils shrank, sweat wetted her brow, and her jaw clenched. In front of her, Tsumugi was waiting by the door, directly looking at her in the strange get-up.

The other blue-haired girl didn't say a word and had an expression on her face that Sayaka couldn't place, neither surprise nor confusion. The cosplayer kept looking at her with her nose turned up a bit. Sayaka had to say something.

"O-oh, T-Tsumugi, I didn't know you were... C-came back to check on the dress?" Tsumugi didn't answer. "It was perfect, you did a great job with it but that was expected of a pro like you." Still nothing, maybe she should stop talking. "Oh, this? I was just playing around, having some fun. You know how it is."

Tsumugi's words had a sharp tone to them and she looked over her glasses as she spoke a question. "Do I?"

Her sharp intuition told her to say nothing, to wave it off and get out of there fast, sadly, her nerves won the battle for her mouth. "Yeah, it's like cosplay!" Sayaka knew she fucked up the moment the words left her lips.

Tsumugi didn't say anything and the light of the lightbulbs reflected on her glasses. Was she always this menacing? And did she just lock the door behind her?

No one heard, not even the two teens close by, Sayaka's silent screams of desperation as she listened to Tsumugi rant for over an hour about how cosplay was much more than just putting clothes on and how trying to cosplay real people was bad and cringe.

And that's a wrap.

Glad to be writing this again, I wonder how many people were confused by the joke of Akane giving Sayaka a different name every time. I know it went a bit long but I was giggling every time I did it.

Have little more to say. Have a good day and hit me up if you want a commission!