[Yuru Yuri!]
The town had really livened up by the time they had exited the restaurant. The afternoon had come, and now the rest of the residents were out enjoying the December air, and maybe spending it with someone special to them.
"Wasn't that good?" Kyouko exclaimed happily as she passed through the doors of the restaurant, tossing it open so her date could pass through as well. She rubbed her stomach and then stretched her arms skyward, letting out a small sigh of pleasure as she took in the crisp December air.
"It was ... really good." Ayano replied quietly, stepping out of the building with scarlet adorning her face. REALLY good ... She couldn't believe her luck as of late; Toshinou Kyouko had suggested Christmas dates again, Chitose had secured her a date with her crush (through a personal bloody sacrifice; may Ilmatar bless her and her family), and she had been fed by Kyouko (even getting a little feel of the girl's chest). It was all going so well, unbelievably so, and Ayano was worried that all the luck she had accumulated over her life span would soon run dry.
Looking up to see Kyouko smiling at her, the purple haired girl slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the squeal she was about to emit in response to such a sight. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and wondering if Kyouko could hear it thumping as well. I have to tell her my feelings, or else this will kill me, she worried mentally. Suddenly, she had a stroke of courage. Why not now? We're having a good time together; maybe they'll be a better chance of her accepting my feelings if I voice them while she's so happy and focused only on me ... Removing her hand from her mouth and steeling herself, she took a deep breath and...
"Where to next, Ayano-chan?" Kyouko asked cheerfully as she turned to observe the street with her hands on her hips, seemingly unaware of her companion's emotional struggle. She waved to some person that she apparently knew. "You get to choose the next place, remember?"
Ayano released her breath, half in disappointment and half in relief. She hadn't gotten to voice her true feelings, but at the same time she was relieved that she didn't have to face the possibility of rejection just yet. Besides, no one ever confesses their love at the recently exited doors of some random restaurant, right? Or be proposed to in a clothing store, she thought to herself with a trace of a smile of embarrassment on her lips. I'll let her know how I really feel by the end of the day. I promise.
"I'm h-happy to go anywhere with you, T-Toshinou Kyouko ..." Ayano replied shyly, surprising herself with those bold words. She avoided the blonde's eyes by turning her own head to the side. Did I really just say that? I should've just said "Wherever". Ohh ... I'm like an open book! The vice president, flustered, quickly followed up, "I mean, i-it's not like I have a choice, right?"
"Okay! Let's walk around and see what we can find!" Kyouko decided, gazing happily at her adorable tsundere companion; she was as cute as a tomato, and was coloured like one too. The blonde decided to take advantage of this by extending her hand, giggling as the bewildered purple haired girl looked at the proffered hand, and then back at Kyouko. And then back to the hand. "Shall we, Ayano-sama?" The blonde swept her other hand outwards, and struck a pose that was half a bow, and half a curtsy.
Poor Ayano was trembling as she extended her hand, blood rushing to her face. "T-there's no h-helping it ... it is a d-date, after a-all," she stammered out as she reached for Kyouko's hand. She hadn't had the time to enjoy the contact when she was being pulled out of the clothing store, but now another opportunity had presented itself, and she was eager to make this one count.
Ayano jumped slightly when she made contact with the soft skin of the blonde's hand, and was slammed by a sensation similar to a bolt of electricity when she felt Kyouko's fingers intertwine with hers, making her skin tingle pleasantly from the touch. Ayano's tsundere side kicked into overdrive with the contact, and it took all of her willpower to resist yanking her hand away and launching a verbal assault in embarrassment. Steady, Ayano, steady ...
Kyouko smiled as she closed her hand around her partner's, but that look suddenly turned to confusion when she noticed Ayano's badly shaking hand. "Are you okay, Ayano-chan?" she peered at Ayano curiously. In fact, the vice president's whole body was trembling slightly, and the girl wouldn't make eye contact, instead sporting a blush that threatened to explode off of her face. "AH! So that's how it is!" Kyouko crowed, suddenly coming to some sort of conclusion.
"H-huh?" Ayano pulled her hand out of Kyouko's and stepped backwards, almost cowering in shock. "Y- you know?" she asked weakly, voice cracking.
"Yes ... I do know ..." Kyouko whispered, smile gone from her face as she closed the gap between them. She took a hold of Ayano's wrist and drew it away from the girl's face. She leaned her face in close to the vice president's, so close that she could feel her partner's breath. The blonde carefully examined Ayano's face, eyes taking in every detail, and made the vice president feel like she was under a microscope.
Ayano's trembling intensified and sweat began pouring from her forehead. Her purple eyes darted from side to side, looking to see if anyone was watching, only making eye contact for split seconds as if searching for a way out of the trap she never wanted to escape from. Her mind started going blank as Kyouko's scent filled her nostrils and began to overpower her with its sweet embrace. Wha ... what is she going to do?
"And I know how to fix it," the blonde finished, leaning in closer.
Ayano whimpered in response, and slammed her eyes shut, but didn't turn her head. This would be her first, and she didn't know exactly what she should do. She twitched slightly as she felt their noses brush, and gave a quick prayer of thanks to the higher powers as she waited, breathing heavily.
Is ... is she going to ...?!
...
"Your blood sugar levels are low, aren't they, Ayano-chan?"
"...Huh?" Ayano's eyes flew open to see that Kyouko had released her wrist and stepped back. The blonde girl was currently regarding her with a hand on her chin, deep in thought.
"That's why you're shaking, yes?" Kyouko pointed at Ayano's trembling hands, which were clenched at her sides.
The purple haired girl took a few moments to process the ridiculous claim. "N-no, stupid!" she sputtered out, realizing that her attraction had been mistaken for a symptom of a medical condition that she didn't even have. She immediately felt bad for calling her crush stupid, but Kyouko didn't seem to mind, as the blonde was smiling broadly. "I-it's just that ... that I ...!"
Ayano turned around and took off running, flustered because she couldn't bear to confess her feelings just yet. She didn't know where she was going, but nevertheless she pounded down the sidewalk amidst all of the surprised looks other people were giving her. She paid them no heed, as she ran away from her almost-confession and possibility of rejection. She blazed past several stores, causing several people exiting to stumble as they were buffeted by the unexpected tailwind the schoolgirl had generated. Although that this part of the sidewalk was uphill AND icy, it did little to slow the embarrassed girl.
As Ayano's mind cleared due to the crisp air, it suddenly dawned on her that running away from Kyouko on their "date" was probably not the best idea, and terror began to rise in her chest as she pulled a brutal and probably illegal U-turn on the sidewalk, not even bothering to warn the surrounding populace of her intentions. She briefly acknowledged the fact that it was an absolutely beautiful day before horrible thoughts invaded her head once again. What's Kyouko going to think of me now?! I just called her stupid and then ran away from her! I hope she doesn't think I hate her!
Relief washed over Ayano as she spotted Kyouko jogging down the sidewalk towards her, weaving in between the pedestrians, a bemused expression on her face as she peered into the different stores lining the streets, checked her corners, and scanned the rooftops for snipers or RPG squads, seemingly looking for something. The blonde noticed her, and a smile lit up on her face as she started skipping towards her, singing "Ayano-chan, Ayano-chan!"
"T-Toshinou Kyouko!" replied Ayano, more loudly than she intended, increasing her speed. Suddenly, the crowd of people between them inexplicably parted, giving her a clear path to her crush. The vice president suddenly noted with horror that everyone in the little section of the street had heard their shouts, and stopped what they were doing to watch the two girls run to each other. Ayano had made a horrible mistake, and now all eyes were on them.
Eager to avoid a cheesy and clichéd romantic jump into the arms, Ayano scrambled to slow down, but the icy slightly-downhill-slope had other plans for her. The people were too far away on either side to grab onto; an unexpected downside of their politeness, and now Ayano could do nothing but stumble down the slope, arms flailing as she headed towards what would undoubtedly be very embarrassing.
A man up ahead stepped slightly closer, and Ayano felt a burst of hope; would he slow her down? All hope was suddenly lost when the man simply crouched down low, with a hand behind his back. With his free hand he touched the street, and then pointed towards Ayano's destination, signalling that the purple haired girl was cleared for takeoff. Ayano didn't see his salute as she skidded by.
"Toshinou Kyoukoooooo!" she squealed out as she rapidly slid towards the blonde. She flung out her arms, hoping that her date would catch her. Kyouko's eyes widened as she assessed the change in the situation, before stopping in her tracks and digging her heels into the ground to prepare for impact.
"Stranger; tell my mom that I love her!" she said over her shoulder to some reddish-pink haired girl on the sidelines that she definitely didn't know and definitely not named Akari. She ignored the girl's lament about being called a stranger and turned back to her incoming date. "Come get some!" Kyouko growled menacingly, crouching lower and spreading her arms, ready to absorb the impact and save her tsundere from total annihilation.
"Eep!" Ayano yelped as she closed the gap involuntarily. She was so startled by Kyouko's ferocious and determined stance that she actually jumped a few feet into the air, which put the vice president's feet on a crash course with the otaku's neck. It would probably be very painful.
Luckily for both of them, all of Kyouko's years training as a KGB operative would not go to waste. Seeing the incoming shoes, she quickly changed stances and cupped her hands around waist level. When Ayano's feet were just a metre from her jugular, Kyouko gave a mighty "FOR THE MOTHERLAND" and thrust her cupped hands upwards. They slammed into the soles of Ayano's shoes and boosted the startled vice president up into the air.
"Guh!" Ayano choked out as she sailed through the air like a Russian warhead. Time slowed down as she came to the sudden realization that it must be very scary to be a missile. Seeing the sidewalk coming up to meet her, she managed swing her body forward so that she would land on her feet, and landed hard with an "Umph!" The wind was knocked out of her, and she remained hunched over for a while longer.
The purple haired girl felt a hint of annoyance at Kyouko for throwing her, but at least it didn't end in an embarrassing way. Relatively speaking. I just wish she would've warned me or something... She straightened up, and was turning around with her hands on her hips to scold Kyouko, when she heard a voice.
"Oh, vice president, do you like this place too?"
"Eh?" Ayano spun back around to see that she had landed right at the door of a teahouse. She hadn't even noticed the two girls standing there. Himawari was holding the door open, and she and Sakurako had apparently been in the middle of entering before their vice president had landed in front of them.
Sakurako was standing straight behind Himawari, seemingly frozen in surprise, her grope-ready hands still floating in the air in front of her. She quickly shook it off and gave Ayano a big thumbs up. "Nice catch!" she said in English, showing that she had remembered at least one thing from English class, although it didn't particularly apply at the moment.
"Good trajectory, Ayano-chan!" Kyouko said cheerily, walking up and putting an arm around her date, "Hi Hima-chan, Sakurako-chan! What's up?" The crowd that had watched Ayano's maiden voyage had dispersed rather quickly, but not before singing a few verses of Soviet national anthem.
Ayano tensed up at the touch, expecting to pass out from the proximity of the two, but instead she simply felt her annoyance fade away. She just sighed and leaned against Kyouko's arm, suddenly drowsy from the blonde's soft touch and scent. The purple haired girl just felt like lying down somewhere (preferably with Kyouko's arms around her).
"You two are looking like a couple already, Ayano-san," Himawari said in a friendly tone, gesturing towards the two, "I'd think you two were dating if I saw you on the streets as a stranger."
Ayano suddenly pushed herself off from Kyouko in embarrassment, "I-is that so?" she asked unsteadily, trying to act natural and hide her quivering. Himawari-chan thinks that we look like a couple! This is awesome! Although excited in her mind, she didn't show it, and turned slightly away to hide her blush.
"Yep! That's us!" Kyouko grabbed Ayano by the waist (who yelped in surprise), and flashed a V with her fingers at their friends. "Now, what's this place you're going into?"
"It's a Teahouse, but I think you'll like this one a bit more than the others," Himawari replied before realizing that she was still holding the door open. She ushered Sakurako inside, and turned back to the two saying, "Would you like to join us?"
"What do think Ayano-chan?" Kyouko turned smiling to her date, "Up for some tea?"
Ayano just nodded, and contentedly leaned in her beloved's side.
[Yuru Yuri!]
Author here. So sorry for the wait. I usually put my art before my writing, because I'm a bit better at that. I'm also really out of it, as you can see by my writing.
This chapter was to be longer, but I realized that an event I had planned was dangerously similar to another story I read. So I'll stop it here and re-plan that part of the story.
Hope you liked it, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.