''So, ready for the Wild West evening, Kaichou?''
He had to take long strides in order to keep up with her brisk walk. He knew she was trying to catch the earliest train possible to avoid the crowds that stacked the trains in the late afternoon.
He slung his schoolbag over his shouloder and smiled when a pair of ambers glared up at him distractedly. She looked like she was going to bite back with a snarky quip, but she looked away, mouth grim.
''I never am'', she muttered. He kept his mouth shut, sensing her discomfort. After years of working at Maid Latte Misaki was still uncomfortable with wearing the skimpy outfits for the special themed evenings, especially when he was there to see them too. ''But you certainly seem to be'', she spoke and the fantasy of her dressed as a cowgirl dissipated in his head when she eyed him skeptically.
''Of course, got my assless chaps ready and everything.'' He said, grinning. He smiled delightedly when she simply rolled her eyes and let it go. She seemed more and more casual and comfortable around him these days. Not long ago she would have blushed and smacked him across his head.
''Anyway, what are your plans for..'', he started tentatively.
''Misaki!'' His speech was interrupted by a feminine shout from afar.
When they spun around, he tried to compose his face into a neutral expression. Hanazono was heading towards them in a light jog. When she caught up with them, bright-cheeked and sparkly-eyed, he searched her face, looking for a sign of.. anything that would betray their secret. Sakura, however, had eyes only for kaichou, ignoring him completely.
''Misaki! So, is it still on tomorrow evening?'' she asked breathlessly, still panting.
''Of course'', kaichou replied with a fond smile and glanced quickly down at her wristwatch. ''Listen, I'm late for work. Talk later yeah?''
''Sure.'' The pigtailed girl chirped, eyes crinkling at the corners. ''Ooh, Suzuki, wait for me!''
With a final wave towards her, Sakura bolted off to join her friend.
''Be safe on your way home!'' Misaki shouted, gazing at the two girls for a second, before resuming her walk.
Keeping up with her, he caught her eyes, arching an eyebrow in question. She huffed dissmissively.
''What, she's coming over for a sleepover tomorrow evening.''
She blushed. He knew it was because she was embarrassed at the prospect of hosting a friend over at her house. As strong and lucid kaichou was, she was still ashamed of the shabby state of her home and tried her best to hide the poverty of her family even from her best friends. Not that Hanazono cared about the interior decor of Misaki's house, he thought grimly. She wanted to explore other interiors.
''So, what's the plan? A pillow-fight? Girl-talk?'' He leaned back to avoid the schoobag that she flung in his direction.
He laughed to hide the anxiety tugging at his heart. What was Hanazono planning to do? She was smart enough to know that revealing what they had done on the rooftop to Misaki would jeopardize her relationship with her more than with him. But there was a dangerous, manipulative little scoundrel hiding behind Hanazono's bubbly exterior and anything could be expected from her. She had that in common with him, he thought grimly.
As they reached the station and stopped at the platform, he looked in distance, his eyes skimming over the homogenous crowd - business suits and school uniforms. Nothing is as it seems, he thought suddenly. He looked down at her face half-shielded by raven hair. Except her.
''So, am I not invited?''
Her voice was drowned out by the approaching train, but when her schoolbag struck him right in his chest, he could guess her answer.
''Oh my god, Misaki, this is icredible!'' her eyes rolled back in her head as she licked her lips.
She grabbed another pastry from the plate while still chewing.
They were in her room, sitting cross-legged on the floor and enjoying a midnight snack of an assortment of sweet pastries. A relaxing tune was mildly audible from the radio: a sweet, low male baritone singing about change of seasons and transience of spring. Misaki was sitting across her, wearing a light grey camisole paired with loose pyjama shorts that stopped mid-thigh.
She was now eyeing the swifly disappearing sweets with a remorseful look on her face, before she gave in the internal struggle and reached out for another mini-tart. When she leaned forward, her fingers daintly scooping up the pastry, Sakura caught a whiff of the strawberry shampoo from her wet, loose hair.
''I know it's so unhealthy to eat these things at this time the day.. night.'' She giggled self-consciously. ''But I was just so hungry.'' She spoke with her mouth full.
''Me too. I was so glad you offered them, I was so hungry I might have eaten you.''
She froze when she heard her own words, which had left her mouth before she could have stopped them. Goddammit. She blamed the sugar. She had let her guard down. She had been so good at hiding her feelings from her, carefully tucking away the maddening desire and impeccably acting out the role of an unassuming, needy airhead-friend. Had she ruined it now? She glanced up at her friend.
But Misaki only hummed in agreement and reached out for her mug of tea, oblivious of the message behind her words.
Of course, Sakura almost rolled her eyes, feeling almost dissapointed.
''Anyway, where did you get them?'' she asked quickly to stop herself from saying anything stupid.
She was surprised when Misaki stopped chewing and blanched. Her eyes glazed over for a second, before she swallowed heavily. She eyed Sakura cautiously.
''Uh, my... sister brought them from work yesterday, you know the cafe. Her chef had baked too many of them, so he gave her some''.
Sakura hummed appreciatively.
''Well he certainly bakes amazing cherry-tarts'', she grabbed the last pastry from the plate.
''Yeah, he's... good.'' She mumbled quitely. ''Anyway, bedtime? I'm gonna lay out your futon next to mine. If you need anything at all during the night don't hesitate to wake me up. But I'm a heavy sleeper so go ahead and give me a good nudge.''
She smiled when Sakura nodded in silence, getting up on her feet to head towards the bathroom.
She was not sure what had woken her up, but it happened so suddenly it knocked the wind out her.
Ah, too hot. She plucked the collar of her camisole off her sticky chest, frowning. Who had turned off the air conditioning?
The full moon was cloaking the room in pale blue light, illuminating the interior just enough for her sleepy brain to identify her surroundings.
Oh. She was at Misaki's. No air conditioning here. She stretched her back, stifling a groany yawn.
A muffled whimper reached her ears. When she turned her head towards the source of the noise she froze on spot.
Misaki was on her stomach, blanket removed off her quivering body. In a second she knew why she was uncovered. Her eyes widened in disbelief and elation.
The blanket was beneath her, completely crumpled up between her legs, her bottom propped on top of it as she… grinded.
Sakura suddenly felt hot and cold at the same time. This couldn't be happening. Misaki could not be masturbating in her sleep next to her at an arm's reach. Panicking, she cast a glance at her face, relieved to find her eyes shut close, a frown transforming her face into a pained, rapturous expression.
"Ah", she heard her again and a bolt of electricity ran through her body. The heat from her face rushed down, pooling below her stomach.
The sleeping girl's lower body rose and fell in steady rhythm and Sakura could swear she could smell her arousal perfuming the air between their closely-aligned futons.
''Yes'', she half-whimpered half-hissed into her pillow and the shuffling grew louder when her body seemed to find a better way to rub her heated front against the fabric.
Unable to move, Sakura could only stare. She could not believe she was witnessing Misaki in such state. She knew she could never be the same after seeing her like this. All she wanted was to wrench down her shorts and fill her with her fingers, hear her whimpers turn into screams.
"U…. Us.. Usu… Ah!"
Another shiver ran through Sakura, but this time due to anger and shock. She stared at the moaning brunette as her body's movements became more frantic, her hoarse voice trembling as she neared her pinnacle.
She could not have this.
In a matter of seconds she had slipped out of her covers and crouched beside Misaki.
"Misaki", she cried out softly, receiving only a whimper in response.
"Misaki!" she cried louder shaking her by one shoulder.
I won't let you, not with him in your thoughts, she thought.
She knew she was regaining consciousness when her body stopped moving abruptly. Her head rose from the pillow gingerly, her body going stiff. Turning her head, it took her few seconds to take in Sakura's face.
"Oh…Oh!" Suddenly she was on her back, staring at her friend and looking completely appalled.
Sakura decided to have mercy of her.
"You were having a nightmare, you OK?", she spoke, feigning ignorance, knowing this would spare her the embarrassment.
"A nightmare? Right.." she breathed out, sounding relieved. She closed her eyes in resignation, falling back on her pillow. She squeezed her thighs together.
''Wanna talk about it?''
"No! No.'' She ran her hand through her hair in consternation, staring at the ceiling. ''It was uh, terrifying. Oh god.'' She shook her head and sighed.
Sakura looked away, suddenly baffled by the absurdity of the situation. Here she was with the girl she loved who had just been jerking off thinking of a guy whom had cunningly fingered her.
No, she thought stubbornly.
Without further ado, she grabbed the crumpled blanket and shook it out. When she cradled her in her arms beneath it she felt Misaki stiffen in surprise and unease. She knew there was nothing more uncomfortable than such physical proximity when she had just interrupted her orgasm. Her skin felt hot, clammy and she was shifting her legs awkwardly under the covers. Misaki had just pretended it had been a nightmare, so for all she knew Sakura was cuddling her for comfort, which she could hardly reject reasonably.
"Do you need anything?" she spoke quietely into her hair. Like me cleaning up the mess down there? She tightened her arms around her ever so slightly, wistfully waiting for her answer.
"No, uh, jus' gonna sleep it off." She murmured. Her body relaxed slowly, her heartbeat evening out.
"It's gonna be OK, darling", she whispered softly.
Had she meant that for Misaki or for herself? - she wondered, suddenly feeling an overwhelming wave of sorrow deluging her. She swallowed hard and fought back tears.
Usui. She had uttered his name in her final throes.
Fuck. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly until white spots appeared behind her eyelids. She took a deep breath. It's going to be OK, she repeated to herself. Just a minor drawback. All she had witnessed was meaningless lust. All it meant was that Misaki was not immune to his stupid good looks. Nothing more. Her heart wasn't his. It couldn't be.
Yet she could not ignore a small voice in her head fueling her doubts. After all Usui had made the same mistake out of desperation: assuming that all Sakura felt for Misaki was lust, hence his stupid attempt to bargain with her.
Listening to Misaki's soft breathing, Sakura tried to shut the nagging thoughts out of her head.
She took a deep breath to cool herself down and prayed for sleep.