A/N: I changed this a little bit. chapter 2 is now from Kotori's perspective and the Nozomi part will return as chapter 3.
will return as While eating lunch outside with her two best friends, Sonoda Umi and Kousaka Honoka, Minami Kotori's thoughts drifted to a certain love letter. She didn't really know who was giving the letter or who was receiving it, because her friend and fellow alpaca caretaker, Hanayo, had forgotten to mention that part when she told her about it, but she knew that someone was going to receive one today.
Kotori smiled happily to herself as she thought about how lucky the future couple would be if everything worked out with the confession. She hoped it would go smoothly for them, whoever they were. She looked over at her two friends, who were squabbling over how much bread it was safe to eat in one sitting, and thought about how nice it would be to receive a love letter from Umi.
Kotori had loved Umi for as long as she can remember, but she was waiting for Umi to confess to her. She knew that Umi wasn't ready to deal with romantic things yet, as she couldn't even watch a movie that involved a romantic sub-plot without freaking out, but she had a plan for that. Kotori was going to get Umi used to thinking about those sorts of things subtly, and then one day, she knew Umi would confess and then they'd live happily ever after.
"One of our sempai is going to give someone a love letter today. I wonder if the recipient is someone we know. Oh! Maybe Eri-chan is going to get confessed to again." Kotori smiled brightly as she said this and looked at her two childhood friends expectantly. Disappointingly, Umi just took in this information with blank look and a hint of confusion about the sudden topic change. Kotori sighed quietly to herself; operation 'get Umi to think seriously about romantic things' would still require a lot of work.
"Oooh! Who's going to confess? Is it Toujou-san? She's had a crush on Eri-chan for forever, right?" Honoka immediately and excitedly jumped on board the new topic of conversation. Kotori smiled fondly at her friend. Honoka could always be counted on to back her up, even if the girl didn't realize that she was doing so. Kotori suspected that the reason Honoka was so excited to talk about this was because it distracted Umi from her scolding.
Kotori thought about the question that Honoka had just asked. Toujou Nozomi was one of two friends who Kotori visited every once in a while with her mother, since all of their parents were friends. She hadn't gotten to see her very often before they started high school, but they'd been friends since they were little, just like Kotori had been friends with Umi, Honoka, and Eri since they were little. Kotori had even showed Nozomi and Maki, the other friend, a picture of the four of them together once. She didn't have the picture anymore, because afterwards, Nozomi had wanted to keep it.
"I don't really know who is it is, but wouldn't it be nice to receive a love letter from the person you like? It's a very romantic way to confess, I think." Kotori let her eyes drift over to Umi as she said this, in the hopes that maybe this time, Umi would finally take the hint. Unfortunately, Umi only frowned at her juice box and didn't comment. Kotori hid her disappointment and told herself that it was too early to give up. Umi would get the hint eventually.
"I know! Let's stake-out the schoolyard after classes let out. If they meet out here, we can see who it is!" Honoka exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing up and down on her seat. Kotori was tempted to agree, because she really was a little curious to know if the love letter confession would turn out well.
"Absolutely not. We have kendo practice this afternoon." Honoka looked dejected as Umi reminded her that they had to participate in club activities. Any chance that Kotori and Honoka might have had to change her mind was cut off by the bell ringing to signal that lunch was over. Kotori sighed once again as they packed their things and headed back to class.
It was just a coincidence that they ended up being there to see the results of the confession. Kotori had decided to stick around for a little bit to watch Umi and Honoka do their practice warm-ups, so she was a little later than usual taking care of the alpacas. It also took longer to finish since Hanayo wasn't there to help her this time. Kotori was just about to head back to meet the other two girls when she noticed Eri pacing under the large tree nearby.
Kotori debated on whether or not to call out to her friend, but finally decided to wait and see what would happen. She wondered if Eri really was the one that had received the love letter after all. She was so excited at the possibility that her childhood friend who refused to get close to anybody would finally experience love for the first time. She absolutely couldn't take the chance of interrupting that.
Kotori was still waiting and watching Eri pace from the shadow of the alpaca stalls when Umi and Honoka showed up to find out what was taking her so long. She quickly motioned for them to join her in hiding and pointed over to where they could see Eri waiting. Honoka very nearly gave them away with her excited squeal and Umi gave them both a disapproving look, but came over to crouch next to her anyway.
"Oh wow! It really is Toujou-san! And look at Eri-chan blush! I never would have guessed that Eri-chan liked her that much." Kotori worried that Honoka would give them away in her excitement, but Nozomi and Eri didn't even notice. They were too wrapped up in each other. Kotori was so happy for her two friends. She thought that the two of them would make a wonderful couple.
"S-shameless…" As the three of them had watched, Nozomi leaned close to Eri and it looked to them like she was about to kiss her, but Kotori and Honoka didn't get a chance to see it, as their attention was drawn to Umi as the poor girl passed out from the very idea of the upcoming kiss.
When the two of them looked back at Eri and Nozomi after moving Umi to a more comfortable position with her head on Kotori's lap, Nozomi was still holding Eri's hand and wearing an extremely bright smile and Eri was looking at her with a face even redder than before.
"Aww…we missed seeing Eri-chan's first kiss…" Honoka complained as she threw herself down to sit next to Kotori. It was an unspoken agreement that they would wait there until Umi pulled herself together enough to go home. Kotori just smiled at Honoka and ran her fingers through Umi's hair. Knowing that Nozomi had finally gotten the girl of her dreams after liking her for so long gave her hope that one day, Umi would finally realize that the two of them were meant to be together. Until then, Kotori was just going to keep being by her side, showing her in little ways that she was loved. And tomorrow, she would congratulate the new couple and wish them a long and happy relationship.