A/N: Some people have been requesting for more Kanami X Hiyori fanfics, so here's a one-shot for you all. Sorry it's shorter than normal, but I still hope you enjoy it.
Can You Ask For Me?
Hiyori continued to pace back and forth in circles around her dorm room, all the while trying to control her breathing. She was sure if she didn't calm down anytime soon, she'd probably pass out from hyperventilation. For the past five minutes, she had been feeling lightheaded and her heart was racing at an abnormally rapid pace.
Her laptop lay on her desk open. Hiyori stopped pacing and stared at the blank screen, willing for it to brighten saying she had someone calling her. During the time she wasn't walking back and forth, she spent trying to video-call a certain pink-haired loli.
'Why does she never pick up?!' Hiyori internally growled. 'No wonder Director Maniwa gets so irritated with her.'
Right after she thought this, her laptop started letting off a ringtone.
"Finally," Hiyori sighed, clicking the Accept button.
Her eyes were greeted with the irritated face of Kaoru. Bags were under the Osafune Toji's eyes, which were also rimmed with dark circles.
"Why have you been wanting to video-call me, Cutting-Board?" Kaoru yawned. "I'm losing precious sleep right now just calling you back."
Hiyori shot daggers at her, before preparing herself for a barrage of teasing. What she was about to tell Kaoru she knew would ignite hysterical laughter of some sort from the pink-haired loli.
After taking a deep breath, Hiyori said, flatly, "I think I like Kanami. As in like, like her."
The word Kaoru said next shocked her. "Yeah, I know."
"What?! How?!" Hiyori cried.
Kaoru rolled her eyes. How could this flat-chested girl be so clueless?
"Come on, Hiyori. It's so obvious," Kaoru said. "I mean the way you two act around each other...practically everyone in the Toji workforce has been gossiping about you both. Even Origami Yukari agreed once that you and Kanami are a match made in Heaven!"
Hiyori felt her cheeks burn and she tossed her head in the other direction with a tsundere-like huff. "T-that c-can't possibly be true. You're lying."
"If that's all you wanted to tell me, can I hang up now?" Kaoru asked. "Have to go on another goddamn mission tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep."
"No!" The outburst was abrupt and made Kaoru noticeably jump a little in surprise. There was no mistaking the desperation and anxiety in Hiyori's voice.
"Please," Hiyori said, "don't hang up yet. I need to ask you something. A favor."
Kaoru let out something between a groan and a sigh. "Fine. What?"
"Can you ask Kanami if she feels the same way?"
Hiyori felt a little silly asking Kaoru of all people to do this for her. But asking any of their other friends would definitely result in her Minoseki Toji crush finding out. Kaoru could only give Hiyori an arched eyebrow in response.
The Heijou Toji sighed, "You're going on a mission with her tomorrow anyway. Please, Kaoru? Just to be sure!"
Kaoru groaned, "If you're so curious, why don't you just snoop on her social media page, and ask her yourself with that fake profile of yours?"
While she was suggesting this, Hiyori had already opened another page on her browser, before searching TojiSocials.
Not making eye-contact with Kaoru, Hiyori typed in her username and password, saying, "I don't have a fake profile."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Cutting-Board? If you want to make a fake username, choose anything but mint-chocolate lover 14. Kanami may have been fooled, due to her airheaded brain, but even Sayaka could see through that trick."
Hiyori was barely paying attention as she continued scrolling through Kanami's page. It looked the same as when she last saw it, which was an hour ago. The Heijou Toji could never admit that she looked at Kanami's page more than necessary. Hiyori struggled to keep her poker-face, as she stared at the posts of the sword-enthusiast. Nothing was too out-of-the-ordinary besides photos of the Minoseki Toji with her kenjutsu equipment.
'Too cute...' Hiyori thought with a blush.
"Oi! Are you even listening?!" Kaoru snapped.
Hiyori was brought out of her dream-world and asked, stupidly, "What was that?"
Kaoru rolled her eyes once again. "I'll do it. I'll ask for you."
The ebony-haired beauty couldn't help a grateful smile cross her face. "Thank you, Kaoru."
Then, in a more frantic tone, she added, "But don't tell her that I asked you to ask her."
The Osafune Toji sighed, hating how she was basically going to be a wingman for what she called "the two lovebirds".
"Fiiiiiinnnneee," she drawled. "Buy me some snacks and you got a deal. This is honestly a waste of my time as it's not necessary."
Then, in a more unintelligible voice, she muttered, "Considering how Kanami's TojiSocials password is your name."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," the pink-haired loli said. "Anyway, gonna nap now in case that old fart lady of a director orders me to work extra hours tonight. See ya."
And before Hiyori could say anything more, Kaoru ended their video-call, leaving the Heijou Toji to wonder just what she said under her breath.
In Northern Kanto, Kaoru let her stiff muscles relax in the steaming waters of the hot springs. What felt like tight strings binding her limbs had loosened, as she let out a sigh of contentment. After a tiring day exterminating aradama, at last, she had the chance to have a real break.
"Kaoru-chan?"
The Osafune Toji slowly opened an eye to see a certain Minoseki Toji entering the waters beside her. An exclamation of cheerfulness came from Kanami's throat, as she likewise relaxed in the sulfur-rich bath.
"So warm..." Kanami sighed. "Makes me wish Mai-chan, Ellen-chan, Sayaka-chan, and Hiyori-chan were with us too."
It was really this mention of Hiyori that reminded Kaoru of the task she'd been begged to do. The pink-haired loli felt her stomach tighten at what she was about to ask. Honestly the lovesick sappiness surrounding this situation was threatening to make her barf.
"Yo, Kanami?"
"Hm? What's wrong, Kaoru-chan?"
Slightly bashful all of a sudden at how awkward things were going to get, Kaoru began, "Listen, Kanami, it's not just me but...a lot of people have been noticing your behavior around Hiyori. And we can all tell that you don't treat her the same as our other friends. I mean, you act way too friendly around her that honestly—I don't think it can even be defined as 'friendly'. So, mind telling me what's up?"
The Minoseki Toji was starting to feel slightly uneasy. Sweat rolled down her neck, and it wasn't because of the water temperature.
"W-What are you talking about, Kaoru-chan?"
"I wasn't born yesterday, Kanami," the pink-haired loli said, with an unconvinced expression. "So, do you have feelings for that flat-chested girl?"
Kanami paused. The awkward smile of denial that was on her face had been replaced by a solemn look. Kaoru couldn't help feeling slightly rattled at how grave Kanami looked. When the Minoseki Toji was serious, she was full-on business.
"I do. I love her," Kanami said, at last. "Not like how I love sparring and not because she's an equal opponent. I truly love her. Even more than I love kenjutsu."
Although she already knew the truth, Kaoru couldn't help feeling slightly relieved. However, Kanami's next words pulled her up short.
"But...I don't think I'll confess to her."
Kaoru's eyebrows creased into a noticeable frown. "Why not?"
"Hiyori-chan may not feel the same way as me. And if anything could hurt me more than Mother's death, it's Hiyori-chan hating me because of my feelings."
Kaoru had to put her mouth underwater to release an annoyed sigh, letting bubbles rise to the surface. How could both of the two lovebirds be so dense?!
Once she raised her mouth from the water, Kaoru said, "Might I give you a piece of advice? I'm not saying that it'll happen anytime soon and this may sound very grim...but Hiyori's life can be snatched away as easily as when Tagitsuhime killed her."
Kanami's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Kaoru-chan! How could you say something so awful?"
Kaoru cringed slightly, but continued, "I know, I know. It's just that...I'm certain that at that time there were many things you regretted after her death."
Kanami let her gaze drop. Kaoru wasn't wrong. She could never forget that terrible day. After Hiyori got absorbed by the aradama princess, Kanami felt as though she had died with her. There were so many things she thought she'd never be able to say to the Heijou Toji.
"What I'm saying is that if you truly love Hiyori, you need to let her know. Tell her what's in your heart or you may regret it the rest of your life," Kaoru advised. "If you do, I can assure you...you won't be sorry."
Her words made Kanami raise her head a little. "Kaoru-chan, are you saying that Hiyori-chan feels the same as me?"
Kaoru stood up, letting drops of steaming water roll down her bare body. Grabbing the small towel she left at the bath's edge, she wiped the sweat off her face. Before walking back inside the shower room, she turned around with an apathetic expression.
"I met many tsunderes like her and let me just say...they're all the same," Kaoru said simply, shrugging her shoulders and walking off.
Kanami sat confused for a while in the hot springs, trying to figure out Kaoru's reply over and over again in her mind.
'She didn't say "no".'
"Well, did she say 'yes' or 'no'?" Hiyori asked, impatiently.
On her computer screen, she saw Kaoru blow away a lock of pink hair that had fallen in front of her face. The Osafune Toji had a self-satisfaction plastered in her grin.
"What I can say is...I wish somebody talked about me like that," Kaoru said, and there was an almost wistful tone to her voice.
"Like Ellen?" Hiyori asked, with a smirk.
"This conversation is over."
And with that, the pink-haired loli cut off their video-call. Hiyori let out a small chuckle, before closing her laptop and turning on her phone. She scrolled through the contacts in her texting app and pressed the one labelled Pink-Haired Midget.
"To return the favor, I can always ask Ellen for you too," she typed before pressing Send.
Whether Kaoru would actually accept the gesture Hiyori didn't know. What she did know was that she had a certain brown-haired Minoseki Toji to find.
'I'm coming, Kanami!'
A/N: This is based off of when in high school, one of my friends asked me to ask her crush if he liked her. I felt like Kaoru in that moment because it was obvious to everyone in our class how much they both liked each other. But I did it anyway—and they've been dating for more than five years now.