Author's note: It's been a while. I've had the basic idea for this story for a long time, but only recently thought up a working plotline and a bunch of jokes. Let's get right into it!
Chapter 1: A fatal slip in the clubroom
The door of the Tea Club room was slammed open.
"Toshino Kyouko!" yelled the ponytailed girl from the doorway.
"Oh hi Ayano," came a nonchalant reply from the blonde.
"I have an important announcement to make!"
"Why, what is it, sweetheart?"
The ponytailed girl blushed. In the background, Chitose was bleeding from her nose, even with her glasses on. She was quietly handed a box of tissues.
"W-well, my d-d-dear Toshino Kyouko, you have forgotten to hand in today's printout!"
"Oh, this one, right?" Kyouko produced the requested sheet of paper.
"Yes, that's the one, about time!"
"Anything else?"
"I-I-I'll be expecting to meet you at the school gates tomorrow at six!"
"Ooh, a date! I'll make sure my schedule is clear. Sorry you three, we might have to cut tomorrow's club session short."
Ayano blushed further at word 'date', then stomped out of the room. "That will be all!"
"Sorry for the intrusion", sang Chitose with a blissful smile as she closed the door.
Silence set in the clubroom.
Yui was first to break it. "...can't you make plans using phones or something?"
"Seriously," sighed Chinatsu. "Why do we have to keep witnessing this tsundere show even when you two are going out?"
"Ehehe... but Akari feels happy, seeing Kyouko-chan and Sugiura-senpai showing their love. Even when it's in such a weird way."
"Sure, I get you, Akari. Congratulations again, Kyouko-senpai." Chinatsu's smile was sincere. Even if she found Kyouko annoying at times, she was genuinely happy her friend had gotten herself a girlfriend. The cessation of unwanted advances from Kyouko was a plus.
"It's certainly relieving", said Yui. "I was beginning to fear that Ayano would never be able to confess, stuck in an infinite loop of bashfulness. But she managed it, and we managed to get Chitose stabilized. Things are better than ever now."
"Oh? It's that simple for you, huh?" asked Kyouko.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't simple at all for me! After Ayano's confession, I was having some serious doubts. My biggest worry was you, Yui! Had you fallen for me, your longtime best friend? Or had Ayano's bad puns smitten you? Would me accepting her confession break your heart?"
"Wow... that's so kind of you, Kyouko-chan," said Akari.
"You can be surprisingly caring at times, senpai", remarked Chinatsu.
"Was that a compliment or insult?" retorted Kyouko, mocking indignation. "But anyways, in the end my love for Ayano won out."
"Heh. You didn't have to worry", said Yui. "My crush isn't you or Ayano."
Silence took hold in the clubroom again.
"What?" asked Yui. "Did I say something weird?"
"Your exact wording there..." pondered Kyouko.
"Yes, you said 'My crush isn't you or Ayano', meaning..." continued Akari.
"You do have a crush, and it's someone else!" declared Kyouko triumphantly.
"...no, no," stammered Yui. "I just said it weirdly for no reason." But a blush was already spreading on her cheeks.
"No use denying it, suspect! Your reaction reveals everything!" Kyouko yelled, pointing at Yui.
Yui grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight, burying most of her reddened face into it.
"Aww, but that's nice, Yui-chan", said Akari with a smile. "You have someone you like."
Yui mumbled unintelligibly into the pillow.
"Now, are you going to tell us who it is?" questioned Kyouko.
"I'm not telling," replied Yui, with more strength in her voice. "And don't ask again."
"Then we'll have to solve this mystery by ourselves. Any ideas, Akari?"
"Hmm, well..."
"We can certainly rule out one possibility."
The mood of amusement and embarrassment came to a crashing halt with that terse, bitter statement. Chinatsu was hugging her knees, sullen eyes staring at the floor.
"After all, if her crush was constantly spending time with her, being all clingy, showing attraction and affection... there's no way she wouldn't return those affections, right? It wouldn't make any sense." Chinatsu continued her depressed monologue.
Then she lifted her head, blue eyes with tears building in them staring at Yui. "Have you ever taken me seriously, senpai?" she yelled. "Should I give up on you?"
Yui was stunned. It was Akari who moved, grabbing Chinatsu and bringing her into a hug. The pinkette started sobbing into Akari's shirt.
"It's okay, Chinatsu-chan. It's okay. You can't lose hope yet. You never know what might happen. It's just a crush. She'll get over it, and then you will have your chance."
"Sob... thanks... Akari-chan..." Chinatsu muttered as she cried.
Yui was mortified. Her little slip had brought one of her friends into tears of despair, and completely ruined the jovial atmosphere of the clubroom. Getting teased by Kyouko and Akari was one thing, but this was terrible. Why did it come to this?
Yui felt a hand take hold of hers. She glanced to her left and met Kyouko's eyes. She could understand her from just the soft touch and kind look. 'I know this sucks, but don't blame yourself. It's not your fault.'
Yui felt slightly reassured, knowing that her best friend would trust and support her, no matter what. Kyouko could be a fool at times, but she was a kind soul.
In a clubroom with one girl suffering from heartbreak and two girls sad from sympathy, there was one with a twinge of impure feelings in her heart. Akari had been developing a crush on Chinatsu over the past months. She hadn't yet realized that, and consciously only wanted to care for her best friend. Yet subconsciously, hugging Chinatsu and being her closest emotional support felt nice to her. And in the depths of her heart, the idea of 'maybe she will give up on Yui-chan, maybe she will give me a chance' took root.
"I'm home!"
"Welcome back, Akari! You're earlier than usual. Did something happen?"
"The club session kinda went sour, onee-chan. Yui-chan ended up revealing that she has a crush on someone, which made Chinatsu-chan break into tears. That completely ruined the mood, so we decided to call it quits for today."
"Oh dear. Is Yoshikawa-san okay?"
"I got her to calm down and took her home. Yui-chan was pretty sullen too, but I think Kyouko-chan has got that handled."
"Sounds like it was rough for all of you."
"Yeah. And I even feel a bit bad for teasing Yui-chan about her crush at first. But most importantly, I'm worried about how Chinatsu-chan will take this in the long term."
"Hmm. It's hard to predict. It probably depends more on what Funami-san ends up doing. Speaking of which, do you know who her crush is?"
"No idea. All I know is that it isn't any of Chinatsu-chan, Kyouko-chan or Sugiura-senpai."
"By process of elimination, maybe it's you, Akari?"
Akari blushed. "Wha-what, me? N-no way!" she stammered. "There's tons of other possibilities! It could be a classmate, for example Ikeda-senpai! Or Himawari-chan! She's smart and pretty!" Akari flailed her hands wildly while trying to come up with options.
"Don't be so quick to count yourself out. You've been her friend for a long time. You're kind, and you're cute."
"Jeez! Stop teasing me, onee-chan!"
"Fu fu. Maybe this is payback for you teasing Funami-san earlier today?"
"Aah!" exclaimed Akari, holding her head in her hands. After a moment, she let out a giggle. "Well, anyway, thanks for always hearing me out, onee-chan. I'll head to my room to unpack."
"Alright, see you sooner or later!"
As Akari climbed upstairs, Akane double-checked that her comic book was safely hidden under the cushions, where nobody would find it. Then she leaned back on the sofa. Wearing her usual smile, she started thinking.
Akari had told her of Yoshikawa-san's crush on Funami-san. What she hadn't told Akane of, because she didn't know about it herself, was her own crush on Yoshikawa-san. But Akane could tell. She knew her little sister better than anyone.
Akane wanted nothing more than Akari's happiness, and few things could make her happier than seeing Akari in a relationship with her loved one. Ideally, that would be Akane herself. She wanted to be Akari's closest person, in every respect. But she knew that was largely a pipe dream. She wouldn't impose herself on Akari, especially not now when she was so young. And she would never get between Akari and her crush. Rather, she would help Akari reach a happy relationship with whoever she loved.
And so, having heard about of Yui's crush, even if she didn't know who it was, gears started turning in Akane's head. The calculations were adjusted. What sort of happiness awaited her and her little sister?
That's the end of chapter 1. How did you like it? And can you guess who Yui's crush is?