Chapter Six

Tepid Hearts

Azusa woke with a jolt, her eyes flew open and her body jerked forwards, her hands reached out for her duvet automatically. She looked around the room and blinked a few times, nothing was there. Still looking around her room, she heard a screeching sound radiating from the ground below. She crawled to the edge of her bed and looked out of the window carefully. A cat. She sighed and called out to it apathetically; it looked up, and then darted away.

A small smile spread across her face as she looked out to the sky that grew steadily brighter. She rolled over her bed to grab her phone and flipped it open to scan through her texts.

I'm so sorry I missed your calls.

A sadness suddenly came over Azusa. Had she been too cold towards Yui? Azusa slouched back into her duvet, tugging on strands of her raven black hair and curling her toes. She jumped out of bed abruptly and shoved on a change of clothes. She left a note for her mum and ran out the door before she even had her shoes on properly.

You were right, I think something's wrong we me and Yui. I'm going over to her house. I'll be back later today. I love you.

While Yui lay awake, she stared at the ceiling. She counted to ten several times, she kept telling herself to get up on ten, but didn't. She couldn't gather up any courage to call Azusa or walk out to make early breakfast, she couldn't stomach thinking about going to school and seeing Azusa's face that filled her with unexplained guilt. She rolled over to look at her bedside table, her eyes rested on a picture of Houkago Tea Time. She gazed at Azusa, who, being hugged tightly by Yui, smiled weakly. Had she always been a bother to her? Yui never thought she bothered anyone; she thought people liked having her around, her gaze dropped to her clock. It was still too early for Ui to be up.

Light streamed through her blinds and she yanked them further down, shielding her eyes. She laid back and breathed heavily when she heard a dull knock from downstairs. Grabbing a jumper, she padded downstairs as she haphazardly threw it over her pyjamas. Another rushed knock rang through the hallway as Yui grabbed the keys from the counter. She fumbled with them, selected the right one, and opened the door.

Azusa panted to regain her breath, and stood upright once she heard the door being unlocked. She breathed out lightly and looked up at Yui with a slightly pained expression.

"How're you?" Azusa breathed heavily. Yui blinked several times and tilted her head to the side.

"M-Morning," Said Yui, in a half sleepy daze. Azusa smiled feebly until something in Yui's head clicked. "A-Azu-Nyan!" Yui cried out loudly, only now realising who the person that stood in front of her was. She hurried her in and shut the door again; she hoped she didn't shout too loudly, Ui was still in bed.

"Y-Yui-Sempai," Azusa began, but was quietened by Yui who made her sit down and asked if she wanted anything to eat. "W-What? No, Yui, I don't want anyth- Yui I need to talk to you." Azusa spluttered as Yui rushed clumsily around the kitchen, she popped her around the corner and came in to sit with her. They fidgeted uncomfortably until one of them spoke, or rather, both of them at the same time.

"Yui I-"

"Azu-Nyan,"

They both sat in silence again after blushing wildly and looking away half-heartedly. Azusa breathed in loudly and looked at Yui with calculating eyes.

"Yui-Sempai, have I done something wrong? I-I feel like you're ignoring me and that makes me sad, you know." It took all of her courage not to look away or run out of the room in embarrassment. Yui stared at her intently and suddenly hugged her so tight that Azusa could hardly breathe. "Y-Yui-Sempai!"

"Oh, Azu-Nyan, I'd never do that!" Yui blubbered, resting her head on Azusa's shoulder. "I-I thought you wanted me to leave you alone after I k-" Yui stopped and pulled away, she looked at Azusa carefully then sat back down again. "I was worried about you Azu-Nyan!" Yui curled her fingers around the fabric on her jumper and smiled warmly.

"Yui-Sempai..." Azusa mumbled, her cheeks were burning red and she felt like she could hug Yui and cry on her woolly jumper all day, she felt tingly in her stomach and she realised they were all alone. Her breath caught in her throat and she sniffed loudly. "When you didn't pick up that night, I thought that you didn't want to talk to me, then you weren't at school and- and-" Azusa hiccupped coarsely and her blush deepened. Yui giggled and asked her if she wanted a glass of water, when she came back, Azusa downed the drink and sat quietly, waiting for her hiccups to stop. Once they had, Azusa blushed a furious pink and apologised for her outburst of hiccups.

"You can't help getting hiccups, Azu-Nyan!" Yui swayed on her seat and hugged Azusa tightly once more. "You're really cute... when you hiccup." Yui whispered, looking down at Azusa's shoulder while she buried her head in her hair. The sentence hung in the air awkwardly and Azusa hiccupped once more. Her cheeks deeply flushed and her words lost, Azusa's feeble protests resulted in an incoherent mumble. Yui tightened her grip on the younger girl and pressed her cheeks against Azusa's neck. Azusa spluttered a half understandable sentence and slid out of her sempai's grip just before Ui stumbled in the living room. Yui's gaze flashed up to her sister and she jumped up off of the sofa and beamed at her.

"Morning, Ui!" Said Yui clumsily as she rushed to explain why Azusa was in their house so early. "Azusa's here to help me with Gita! I thought he sounded a little off when I last played him so Azusa came over to help." Yui laughed and Azusa mumbled "Good morning," to Ui while she tried to collect her composure. Ui didn't seem to see anything strange and she welcomed Azusa in and offered her breakfast. The two went upstairs while Ui cleared up from the kitchen and Yui hurriedly closed the door.

"Yui-!" Azusa half shouted while she stared at her sempai. "W-What was that about?" She whimpered, her blush returning to an even stronger red than before as she pressed her hands against her cheeks in a wasted effort to stop Yui from seeing her embarrassment. She felt her heart hammering against her chest and she confused herself as she jumped to conclusions which both thrilled and embarrassed her.

Yui made an attempt to calm her but then gave up and they sat down on her bed. Yui wondered whether Azusa could hear her erratic heartbeat and she shuffled her feet around the floor to concentrate on something other than her closeness to Azusa. The carpet suddenly became very interesting as they both stared at it intently, not wanting to stare into each other's eyes with an intensity that would make even Yui uncomfortable with embarrassment.

"I don't want to do anything without you Azusa, I mean it." Yui breathed in deeply and continued. "You're the person I want to spend all my time with and... and you're the person I want to have fun times with." Yui blushed but kept her eyes on Azusa's while she tried to keep her breathing quiet. Azusa smiled a clumsy smile and nodded slowly.

"I understand, Yui, I feel the same way. I'm always having so much fun when I'm around you and I don't want that to stop either." Yui tilted her head to the side and blinked quickly, she spluttered a string of words that didn't quite form a sentence. She sighed and tried again.

"N-No... Azusa, I mean," She breathed in and readied herself for a reaction that she believed she wouldn't be able to handle. She knew she was at that point of no return, her confession to Azusa could go many ways, she knew that. She just hoped, a little naively, that everything would come off for the better. She hesitated, seeing the look on Azusa's face made her think it over again and again, though she smiled and carried on. "Azusa, I think I'm in love with you."

"Ritsu, you really shouldn't be doing that!" Mio cried, waving her hands in front of her face and trying to steady a flailing Ritsu. She was too busy trying to prove to Mio that she could in fact balance herself perfectly on the top of the wall without falling. Ritsu always had the worst of luck anyway.

"Look Mio! I told you I- AH, MIO!" Ritsu slipped and fell over on to the rough grassy flooring and rolled sideways while she clutched her sides.

"Ritsu-!" Mio yelled, and then stopped abruptly in front of her. "Wait. Are- are you laughing?" Mio looked over at Ritsu who was shaking wildly in fits of laughter.

"I told you Mio! I could balance myself, not for too long but that's beside the point... OW!" Ritsu covered her now throbbing head and stifled complaints.

"I thought you were hurt, you idiot." Mio's muffled sobs made Ritsu sit up and apologise.

"Sorry, sorry." She threw her hands out in a calming gesture. "Look, I'm perfectly fine! I only rolled on to grass anyway," Ritsu smiled. "Why don't we go get some McDonalds? My treat for worrying you." Mio was visibly taken back and Ritsu scrunched up her face to stop from smiling too widely. Mio collected herself and huffed.

"That's a first. I usually treat you- or rather, you bribe me into buying yours." She groaned. Ritsu stood up and smiled brightly.

"Maybe I'll have to treat you more often, Romio." Mio blushed deep red and lightly hit Ritsu on her arm as they walked towards the restaurant. The promise of Ritsu doing something nice for her without any strings attached did sound nice. She looked away as she smiled to herself.