Mari had been thinking about it all day. A strange note left in her desk, anonymously. She hadn't seen who had done it, and apparently nobody else had. Plenty of students waited in the classroom before class started, so perhaps whoever left it had placed it there the night before. But who would have had access to it at that time?

"Go to the little tree in the corner of the courtyard, 6pm."

Such a vague note, yet it truly did pique the blonde girl's insatiable curiosity. She had talked to both Kanan and Dia about it, and they'd just suggested to check it out, but to be careful. Currently, it was 5:51 in the evening, and she was standing in the courtyard, nervous to approach the tree. She squinted, and didn't see anything too special about it from where she stood. Her need to know overwhelmed her nerves, and she approached it carefully, as per her best friends' instructions.

When she finally stood close enough to it, she saw a little envelope on the soil underneath the tree, and of course, it had her name written on it. Quickly, she snatched it up and ripped it open. Eyes wide with excitement, she pulled the piece of paper out from within. Unfolding it, she read what was written inside.

"I'm glad you came. I knew you would. I have a little scavenger hunt for you, with something very important left at the end. Your second destination is the student council room."

Mari made a face, feeling a glorious mixture of emotions. The thrill of the chase, it excited her and annoyed her all at once. It couldn't just be simple? Then again, when had Mari ever enjoyed things being simple and straightforward? This made whatever this was much more fun~!

With a skip in her step, she made her way to the student council room. At this time of night, it was unlikely Dia would be there. There wasn't anything going on at the moment that would keep her there late, especially since Mari had kept up on her own work this time, so the other girl didn't have to do that too. Still, she knocked on the door when she reached it.

After waiting for a moment and not receiving an answer, she confirmed her suspicions that Dia wasn't there. She opened the door slowly and stepped in, looking around. The student council room wasn't open to everyone, so there weren't many people this could be. She stepped forward and heard a crinkling sound. She looked down to see the envelope beneath her foot, looking as though it had been slid under the door. She pouted. That meant it actually could be anyone.

She bent down and picked up the envelope, going over and sitting on the desk to annoy Dia, even though she wasn't there. It was a habit. She paused before reading the letter, taking a moment to write a note to Dia, so when the dark haired girl next came to the student council room, she could see Mari had been there.

"My butt touched your desk~ ;P You're welcome."

She left the note taped right in front of the chair, so it could be seen immediately upon sitting down. Getting back to the task at hand, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper.

"Destination number three will be the beach. This letter will be taped onto a light post."

Mari hopped up off the desk, ready to make her way to the beach. Luckily, it was warm out today. A good thing, too, because she hadn't brought a coat or umbrella, in case it begun to rain. The sky was clear and beautiful! Why bother?

The beach's letter had led her to three more locations, before finally, she ended up at the top of the staircase, overviewing the sea. She stopped for a moment to admire the view, before looking around for the letter. She spotted it on a bench near the edge, and picked it up, taking over its spot with her butt.

She ripped open the letter, immediately seeing that this one was much longer than any of those before it. Within reading the first paragraph, she understood vaguely what was going on. A love letter, it seemed. It made her heart race to think that maybe it was… No, probably not. Dia would never do something like this.

Yes, it was true, she admitted it. She had feelings for Dia, and she was completely unable to deny it. She hadn't ever said anything about it, but wow, that girl made her heart just feel so full. How she reacted when being teased, the way she liked to pretend she was so much tougher than she really was, her secret silly side. Everything about her made the blonde girl feel so warm and amorous.

Mari continued to read the letter, her curiosity growing more and more intense with each sentence that she read. It was so flattering to read such nice words about yourself, and it really was inflating her ego. Poor Dia and Kanan would have to deal with her being even more bigheaded the next day. Whoops.

Finishing the letter, her eyes widened. She could swear, her heart stopped. She reread the name at the end of the letter over a hundred times. Kurosawa Dia. No way. There was no way. This couldn't be real. Putting the letter down on her lap, Mari pinched herself hard, letting out a yelp of surprise when she actually felt it. This really was happening.

She stood up ridiculously fast, putting one final destination on today's adventure. She had to get to Dia somehow and talk to her. Her legs were getting tired, from all the walking she'd done, but this was too important to put off. Dia returned her secret feelings? How exciting.

After a walk that seemed way too long, she finally reached Dia's house and rang the doorbell. She was hoping it would be Dia that answered the door, but instead, it was her father. She asked if she could come in to talk to the other about something important, and he let her in without question.

Mari climbed the stairs faster than she'd ever climbed a set of stairs, throwing Dia's door open and stepping in, closing it behind her.

"Wha- Mari!" Dia yelled out in surprise, her face turning a shockingly bright red, knowing that Mari had gotten the letter. It was in her hand, after all. This was it, she was going to be laughed at, and then she would just die on the spot of embarrassment.

Instead, Mari tackled Dia with her full weight, knocking her over in the most passionate hug ever given between anyone in the history of the world. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but Mari didn't care at all.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. The blonde just hugged the other girl with all her might, and Dia reluctantly hugged her back, her heart pounding nervously.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Mari finally asked, closing her eyes and refusing to pull away from her hug with the girl she loved. "I feel the same way."

Dia felt her heart pound harder, and was quite sure that Mari could feel it banging against her ribcage too, trying to escape and go to the blonde. "You do?" she said in a hoarse whisper, clearing her throat before trying again. "You do?" That was better. "Wait, then- why didn't you tell me?! You're supposed to be good at that sort of thing."

"I couldn't figure out the right way to do it. Everything you do is so perfect, Dia, and you deserve the best," she admitted, putting a hand to the back of the darker haired girl's head, petting her pretty hair. "And I couldn't figure out how to say it in a way as perfect as it should be for you. And I didn't want you to not take me seriously. So I'm glad you did it, and it was so perfectly done and so unexpected of you. Of course I accept your confession. Let's go out, Dia."

Dia's face turned red, yet again, her heart skipping a beat so many times it may as well have stopped. She buried her face into Mari's shoulder, shutting her eyes tightly and holding onto her. "How could I say no to that?"

In this very moment, each of them considered themselves the luckiest girl in the entire world.