Chapter 2

Sweetest Friendship

"Uwaaaaa~!" Kotori looks upon the shop/house that she's standing in front of. It's about 3 stories high and the shop at the bottom has a sweet aroma just from where she's standing. The sweet smell of bread, cake and other desserts in there. "It really is a shop!"

"Told ya~!" Honoka chuckles as she gently tugs on her shy friend. "Come, let me show you some of our delicious baked goods~!"

The two of them run inside and the smell of the bread becomes stronger. Kotori takes a whiff of the Italian bread that's baking and breathes out happily.

"Smells good~!" she comments.

"Say, you want to try out our cheesy bread that's on sale~?" Honoka offers as she guides her over towards where the cheese bread is being sold. There is practically baked bread with melted shredded cheese on top. Kotori's mouth is starting to water and the happy ginger takes notice. "Someone's hungry~!"

"Ah! W-well, ummm…just staring at the bread made me…ummm…" Kotori is a blushing mess just from looking at the tasty bread in front of her.

Honoka chuckles again and waves to her mother. "Mom! My friend and I would like two of those delicious cheese bread, please~!"

Honoka's mother comes toward the counter and notices Kotori standing there, shyly. She has medium length brown hair and wearing an apron over her clothing. "Oh, is this your new friend you were telling me about?"

"Oh, yes!" Honoka wraps an arm around Kotori's shoulder and pulls her close, followed by an "Eep!" from the ash-brunette. "We became friends yesterday and I invited her over~!"

"How grand!" the mother says, happily. "Here, I'll give you this bread for free."

Kotori jumps and waves her arms back and forth. "Oh, no, no, no! Th-there's no need! I…I can pay with my own money!"

"Don't worry about it~!" Honoka says. "Take this as a token of our friendship~"

Honoka's mother puts the two breads in small bags and hands it to her daughter and Kotori. "Enjoy~!"

Kotori stares at the bag for a bit and then looks at Honoka, who giggles. "Honoka-chan…"

"Let's go to my room and eat~!" the ginger offers. "It's much more quieter there~"

Taking the ash-brunette's hand again, they run up to Honoka's room, shut the door behind them and sit at the small table in the middle of the room. They take out the bread and at the same time, take a bite out of it. The warm cheese melts inside Kotori's mouth and her eyes widen and hums at the sweet taste. It's like eating a grilled cheese sandwich, only it's not.

"Soooo goood~!" Kotori squeals. "Your mother is the best baker in the world!"

"Ehehe~! My mom gets that a lot~!" Honoka replies after eating her own bread. "That's why this business is running very well. Her talent for baking has made this a hit~!"

Kotori eats more and more of the bread until it's all gone. She rubs her tummy happily and Honoka giggles at this.

"Thanks, Honoka-chan~" the ash-brunette says. "The best bread ever~!"

"Oh, Kotori-chan?" Honoka says.

"Y-yes?"

"You got a bread crumb on your face."

"Eh? Ah! I didn't notice!" Kotori jumps at this, but Honoka stops her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll get it for you~" The ginger leans in and licks it off, making the ash-brunette blush heavily.

"H-H-H-Honoka-chaaaan!?" Kotori can't believe what the ginger just did.

"I see some people do that on TV~" Honoka smiles. "So, I thought I'd do the same. Just for the best of friends~"

"Best…of friends…?" Kotori hears those last three words, still having a blush on her face.

"Yes!" Honoka nods happily. "Ohhh, Kotori-chan, why do you have to be so cute~?" She hugs the ash-brunette tightly. "I'm so glad I met someone like you!" When she hears no response, she slightly pulls away to see that Kotori is red in the face and near fainting. "Oh, no! Not again! Kotori-chan, Kotori-chan! Pull yourself together!" She starts shaking the poor ash-brunette awake.

**Next Day**

Kotori feels a bit awkward. For some reason, Honoka is linking arms with the shy girl while walking down the halls, causing everyone to stare. Not that she's against it, but those eyes are scaring her slightly, wondering if they're all jealous or whatnot. She looks over at the happy ginger, who is humming to herself while they are walking. They are actually going to eat outside for lunch with Umi. But Honoka just wanted to take the long way and be with Kotori a bit longer.

Eventually, Honoka is in need of a drink, so she drags the shy girl over to the vending machine, tosses in a few coins and gets them both juice. Honoka hands one of them to her shy friend and the two girls head outside to meet up with Umi.

"What took you two so long?" the blunette asks.

"Ohhhh, I just wanted to spend a little more time with Kotori-chan~" Honoka says.

"You spend time with her most of the day."

"So~? Kotori-chan's so cute I can't keep my eyes off of her~"

Umi sighs softly and turns toward the ash-brunette. "You okay, Kotori?"

"U-ummmm…I'm fine…uuu…" Kotori feels like fainting again. She cannot get enough of Honoka's energetic personality and how loving she is to her. She is what she can call a true friend.

The three of them eat lunch silently for the rest of the period until they leave to take afternoon classes. Sure it's boring the rest of the day, but all Kotori can think about is how to spend her time with Honoka more. But the ginger is being one step ahead of her, so she really can't think of anything at this point. However, it makes her happy that Honoka is giving her time to her friend. Soon after, the classes end and Kotori is getting ready to leave when the happy ginger approaches her from the halls.

"Want to come over to my house again?" she offers. "There's some new deserts that Mom made, so I thought I'd take you along~"

Kotori can't believe it. She's inviting her to her home again? This is like heaven. "I'd love to~!"

"Excellent! Let's go~!" Taking Kotori's hand, the two of them speed off to Honoka's home.

**At the House**

"Mmm~! Very tasty! This ice cream cake is outstanding~!" Kotori comments as she finishes a piece that Honoka's mom cut up. She ate a chocolate fudge brownie before hat. She eyes the cupcakes. "Ohhh, I don't think I want another bite. Ehehe~!"

"Awww, come on~" Honoka says. "Here, I'll give this strawberry cupcake to you myself~" She picks up one of them and holds it out to her shy friend. "Say 'Ahhh'~"

"E-ehhh!?" Kotori doesn't know what to do for a second.

"It's just a friendly offer. Nothing to be scared of~"

Kotori hesitates for a moment, putting a fist on her chest before eyeing the cupcake. She then opens her mouth and Honoka feeds it to her. Kotori chews the desert and hums happily at the taste, putting a hand to her cheek.

"Chocolatey and strawberry flavored~!" she says.

"Ehehe! Glad you like it~!" Honoka hands the eaten cupcake to her shy friend for her to finish.

The ash-brunette does and licks her lips in satisfaction. "Thanks so much, Honoka-chan~! Those were really good!"

"Thanks! I'll thank Mom when I have a chance. Right now, what do you want to do?"

Kotori thinks for a moment. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Hmmm…oh, I know! How about you and I can sleep together tonight~?"

"Eh!?" That came out of nowhere. Though, the ash-brunette is really excited at the thought of sleeping with her friend. "I-I've never been to a sleepover before…"

"Well, let's start tonight then~" Honoka says with a finger held up. "Won't you…Kotori-chan~?"

Those baby blue eyes staring into hers is too irresistible. She cannot say no to those cute eyes of hers.

"O-okay…let's sleepover tonight."

"Yaaaaaay~!" Honoka hugs the shy girl tightly. "I love you, Kotori-chan~!"

Love. Love like a friend? To be honest, Kotori has already fallen in love with the happy ginger. She herself knew that, but she isn't really sure if Honoka loves her back in the way she does. But it's good that they are really good friends.

**That Night**

After a yummy dinner and talking with Honoka's mom, the two shower, change into their PJs and snuggle close to each other in Honoka's bed. They share some lyrical giggles and get themselves comfortable under the covers. Kotori looks at her happy friend.

"Thank you, Honoka-chan~" she whispers to her. "You've made my days a whole lot better compared to my school days back then. I don't know how you did it, but you…you are the miracle that was brought to my life~"

"Awwww, Kotori-chan, that's SOOO nice of you to say that~!" Honoka squeals. "Oh, my gosh! Am I blushing right now? This is so embarrassing!"

Kotori giggles at this. "Y-you're so cute, Honoka-chan."

Both of them snuggle next to each other and close their eyes, falling fast asleep. Kotori's days with Honoka is getting better and better. She's having the sweetest friendship with Honoka than ever before.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but that's all I can think of at this point. Still, let me know what you think~! New HonoKoto chapter everyone~!

Have a nice day~!