Sunday, November 5th

The Sun Tomatoes and Midnight Carrots that Haru had planted all those weeks ago were finally ready to harvest. Akira held the fresh red vegetable in his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling how it squished slightly in his grip. This was nothing like those unsatisfying canned ones he sometimes bought out of desperation, this was real and natural. Satisfied with his work, he snuck a glance to his left.

Haru was kneeling over another pot a meter or so away, her eyes fixed on one of the carrots she had just unearthed. She was wearing her gym clothes today, the chilly morning breeze wafting over the rooftop would be no match for the uniform's long sleeves and pants. She looked snug and, for lack of a better word, 'fluffy.' Akira couldn't help but notice how perfectly the red of her outfit matched the red of the tomato in his hand, and he also couldn't help but notice how the baggy jacket tightened its grip around her body ever so slightly in the chest and thigh areas. He looked back down at his hands and squeezed the tomato again.

Would he ever feel the real and natural deal? Or was this pathetic comparison of one of his closest friend's boobs to a fuckin' vegetable the best he would ever do? A small spark of arousal drew his attention between his legs. He looked back over to Haru. To think she could even make such a lame and unappealing set of clothes look hot… If Akira had found himself in this situation a mere 5 days ago, the torrents of baby batter that would erupt fr-

"Did you hear me, Akira?" her voice snapped him out of his horny daydream.

"A-ah, no. Sorry." Akira coughed nervously. "The…the wind…"

"It is a bit windy today, isn't it?" she looked up at the clouds briefly. "I'm glad I wore my gym clothes today, it's doing a good job of keeping me warm."

"Yeah, it boobs comfy."

"What was that?"

"I said it looks comfy."

She smiled cutely. "Haha, I'm surprised you can come up here without even a scarf, Akira. You're seriously not cold?"

Makoto couldn't hear what they were talking about through the door. Every so often she took a peek through its little window to see what the two were doing, but all she saw was Akira and Haru hunched over the flowerpots as they tended to the vegetables. As wing-woman, she was on standby for Haru, but really, she was there more for the emotional support. There was nothing Makoto could do to help without revealing herself and having to explain that she totally wasn't eavesdropping and just happened choose Sunday at 9:07am to come up to the school roof. Haru had said as much, she just wanted Makoto nearby in case something happened, as silly as it sounded.

Makoto did feel a little silly, crouching like this behind a door while her friend tried to flirt with her crush. But she did promise to help the daughter of the Okumura conglomerate's CEO in her pursuit of the leader of the Phantom Thieves however she could, and if that meant cheering her on from under the bleachers, then that is what she would do. Makoto tried not to peek, just in case Akira happened to look at the window and catch her in the act, but the brunette's curiosity got the better of her and she found herself stealing silent glances over the window every few minutes. Every once in a while she would hear a muffled laugh from Haru or the muted clanging of a dropped tool through the buffeting of wind against the door. It would appear the soundproofing was less than ideal, but she still couldn't make out a single word of their conversations.

"Right? Like, what does gluten-free even mean?" Haru giggled at her own question.

Akira chuckled back. Haru had run away from their last gardening hangout for a reason he had yet to understand. Akira was worried that he might have done or said something to offend her, but replaying the scenes back in his mind gave him no hints and her current jovial attitude only served to confuse him even more. When she invited him to come back up here, Akira half-expected there to be a SWAT team or private military hiding behind the door down to the school. But luckily the two of them were joking around and talking about their usual topics like nothing had ever happened. Whatever it was that had set her off last time, it looked like she'd forgotten or at least forgiven. Akira was relieved, but he could not completely shake the sense of foreboding that nudged at his mind as they unearthed vegetable after vegetable.

"Actually, Akira. There's something I need to tell you…"

"Hmm?"

"It's about the other day, when we tended to the veggies, and…"

Akira swallowed. She hadn't forgotten, then.

"Right." He put down the tools and turned his body to face hers. "Look, Haru… If I said something, or did something that offended you, or both… Then I promise, I-"

"Stop right there…!" she snapped her head in his direction, but broke the gaze as soon as their eyes met. "It… It's not what you think… I am the one who's sorry, Akira."

She put the vegetable down and rose to her full 158cm. Akira looked confused.

Haru took a breath and closed her eyes.

"P…please remove your glove."

Akira didn't move for a second, failing to make the connection between her request and her apology. A tomato still in his right hand, he removed his left glove with the free pinkie.

"Hold your hand outwards and close your eyes." Another request. He complied.

Akira could hear fabric rustling for a few seconds. He really had no idea what it was he did to upset her last time, but if Haru wanted to get back at him for it somehow, he would not complain. Akira braced for pain or heat or something in his hand to indicate her revenge.

Instead, he felt a soft, cold set of fingers lightly touch his skin. Haru held his hand gently between a set of frigid palms. He kept his eyes closed as she slid her fingers over his, feeling the folds of his skin and the light callouses on his palm from his occasional trips to the gym. He could hear her breath hastening slightly and feel her fingers begin to stiffen. Akira had no clue what was going on.

Akira squeezed the tomato in his hand, processing the gentle give its skin had under his fingertips. Oh, he was beginning to picture it. With eyes closed, his imagination was free to run wild… The fabric of the glove mimics the texture of clothing, a 32C lace bra, a soft exterior with a juicy interior… Oh, no. Haru...…

Much like Haru's 10 fingers hardened earlier, Akira's 11th began to do the same. Down, boy! It took a monumental effort from him not to crush the tomato in his trembling hand. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7… He began counting prime numbers in his head, Akira had been so deprived of stimulation the past few days that even the mere sensation of his underpants on the tip of his member might send him over the edge… A tomato bursting would be the least of his concerns, his entire banana would be gone at this rate.

"R…remember my fiancée? Sugimura?"

"Y-yes, Unfortunately." His voice soured at the sound of Sugimura's name, and Haru could feel the tendons in his hand tense up for a fraction of a second.

"You see…" Haru let go of his hand, Akira opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar anger across her face.

"…He was the worst." Haru spat.

"He… gave me a lot of bad experience with… you know…" Haru shrugged. "T-touchy… stuff."

She sighed.

"A-and… the other day, your arm touched my chest… and…It brought some of those memories back…" Haru tugged at her fingers nervously. "S-so I ran away…Because I don't want those fears to be associated with my friends… I was scared…"

"…"

"It wasn't your fault, Akira. I'm sorry that I ran away without explaining anything."

"I'm sorry, too, Haru. I didn't know."

"I-it's okay… I haven't told anyone about it."

"It's terrible that happened to you… If I ever see that bastard again…"

"N-no! It's fine! Really! I want to move on from him. I don't want to have that man control any part of my life anymore, not my marriage partner, my love life, or anything!"

"…That's very big of you, Haru."

"It isn't going to be easy, but I want to give it my all." Haru could feel her face turning red again. "…I actually have a favor to ask of you, too, Akira."

"Anything." His response was instant.

"W-wait! I haven't even said anything!" she panicked.

"It doesn't matter." He stepped forward, putting himself less than a foot away from her.

Haru's heart skipped a beat. How Akira managed to balance on that line between assertive and gentle so expertly, she could never understand. She looked away, afraid her chest might burst if she held eye contact for too long.

"W-will you help me…?" Her voice hardly above a whisper.

The tomato started to leak juice.

"What the hell are they doing?" Makoto peeked her eye over the lip of the window and whispered to herself.

Akira and Haru were just standing there, talking. Akira looked like he was about to throw a punch and Haru was twisting her fingers into knots from nerves. Were they going to fistfight? Inconceivable, Akira would never hurt any of the members of the Phantom Thieves, specially not someone as delicate as Haru, right? She saw Akira turn around and Haru closed the distance between them with ginger steps. Makoto didn't know how to react when she saw Haru wrap her arms around his stomach and bury her face into his back. They're not fighting, they're… hugging?

A familiar tightness returned to her chest, the same one that tugged at her yesterday and last Thursday when Haru sat next to him at Leblanc's. Akira and Haru, on a date. Holding hands, hugging… kissing…H-having se-

Makoto was not the type to squeal, but seeing Akira at full mast forced her to cover her mouth with her palms. What the hell is going on? Haru doesn't know how to flirt, right? Makoto had never seen her so much as high five anyone, and now she was big-spooning Akira? He has a massive boner!? Her face turned red to match her eyes, she could hardly believe what she was seeing! D-does Haru know? She has to know what she's doing, right? Has Haru been hiding things from the other girls? Was Haru secretly experienced with this stuff? She had a fiancée before, right? What was she planning to do with Akira once-

"Niijima-Senpai! Hello!"

"UAAAH!" Makoto yelped.

Akira's ears perked up. He gently peeled Haru's hands off his trunk, taking extreme care not to let them touch anything they shouldn't.

"Did you hear that? It sounded like a scream…"

"Whuh-What!?" Haru sounded like she'd just been slapped across the face. "Y-y-you heard something, Akira?"

Shit shit shit… Akira's reputation at the school was bad enough already, the last thing he needed was an accusation of sexual harassment on top of it! Tomato still in hand, he powerwalked to the door.

"Uhh-y-you see! I was just… Uhmm…!" Makoto choked on her words as she tried to explain herself to the freshman gymnast, Kasumi Yoshizawa.

"W-was that Okumura-Senpai? With… Akir…" she leaned over to look through the door's window, but Makoto dragged her down to the floor by the collar. "Woah!"

"Quiet! They'll hear you!" Makoto's eyes were wide with panic.

"S-senpai, what's going on!?" Yoshizawa whispered back.

*Gachunk!* The door handle clunked open.

"Akira, wait!" Haru ran over to him and grabbed his sleeve. "S-sorry, I came on too strong…!"

"Ah, N-no, it's okay, but-" He turned to look at her.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the door, Haru saw two terrified girls kneeling on the floor, Makoto and another girl she didn't recognize. Miraculously, it looked like Akira had opened the door, but not seen them. Haru had to keep him distracted long enough for Makoto and the other girl to flee.

"-Didn't you hear something from…" Akira pushed the door open further and turned his head to look for the source of the yelp, but the muscles in his neck turned to ice when he felt a set of lips make contact with his cheek. A… kiss?

'Did I just… kiss Akira!?' Haru thought. Alarms went off in her brain, but when she remembered who it was her lips were touching, they subsided just enough. She pulled away. Her body was on fire.

'Did Haru just…kiss me?' Akira thought. Suddenly, Akira became very aware of where he was. His every limb tightened and his member went vertical. The tomato in his hand exploded.

'Did Haru just… kiss Akira!?' Makoto thought. A chunk of red vegetable hit her cheek and activated her fight-or-flight response. As quickly and quietly as she could, she bolted around to the other side of the door where she would be hidden, covering Yoshizawa's mouth with her hand and pulling her along with.

Akira was speechless as Haru pulled away. She was breathing heavily and sweat was rolling down her forehead, it looked like she just finished running a marathon. For what felt like ages, the two simply looked at each other in the eye. Neither could identify the emotion on the other's face, but both had a blush so strong it almost stained the whites of their eyes pink. After what must have been at least 20 seconds, Haru finally blinked. She took a breath deep enough to make a tuba player jealous.

"I…"Her voice trembled. "…guess I did come across a little strong, huh?"

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

"Oh, god…" Haru wiped a drop of sweat off the bridge of her nose. "I thought my lungs were going to collapse…!"

"Tell me about it!" Makoto splashed some water on her face.

After Haru's all-out attack, she and Akira loopily packed their bags and headed off to their devices without exchanging many words. Yoshizawa made a quick escape as soon as the coast was clear, and Makoto made a mental note to find her later and apologize. Haru and her were now in the washroom freshening up and recovering from the heart-stopping incident.

"Mako-chan, I seriously will never be able to repay you for your help today."

"I appreciate your gratitude, Haru, but I think my presence actively made things worse." She laughed.

"Not at all!" Haru dabbed her face dry with a paper towel. "It's only because you were there that I was able to distract Akira with that k-…ki-…kis-…ki-… Ouhh~~!"

Makoto swore she heard a balloon popping at the same time as Haru's face turned red. Right, the kiss.

"Yeah, that was a, uhm…" Makoto put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight back and forth between her legs. "…an interesting strategy, for sure."

"Uwaah… I still feel lightheaded~" Haru tugged on her jacket's collar and fanned her neck. "I-Is that normal? For a f-f-first kiss?"

"I uhh… wouldn't know…I haven't had mine yet…" Makoto crossed her arms.

"Really?" Haru said. "I'm kind of surprised to hear that…"

"W-what?" Makoto found herself getting defensive. "It's not that unusual, i-i-is it?"

"No! Not at all! I-I didn't mean it like that. I-I mean, that was my first kiss, after all…" her voice trailed. "It's just, you're pretty and popular and have guys lining up just to look at you all the time…"

Makoto scoffed. "Come on, you have the same thing, and we both know those guys aren't worth a kiss of any kind."

"That's true, I guess… I'm just glad I got my first with Akira. Aahh~~I-I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, hehehe, b-but yeah…" she giggled like a schoolgirl at a boyband's meet-and-greet. Makoto couldn't resist smiling a bit at how youthful and energetic her friend sounded over a peck on the cheek. Right, this was no time to be acting up. Haru was clearly very nervous about making a move on Akira, and she'd succeeded tremendously, if not in a rather un-traditional manner. Regardless, she did good today.

"I'm happy for you, Haru." Makoto said. "You deserve it after all you've been through."

Haru's expression almost exploded with glee. "You're the best, Mako-chan!" She bounced over to her friend and embraced her in a quick tight hug.

"Uwaah… I'm still burning up… It feels like August." Haru's voice was still loopy, like she'd just stepped off a rollercoaster.

She took off her jacket and tugged at her shirt to circulate fresh air down onto her stomach and chest, the movement caught Makoto's attention.

Haru really did have pretty large breasts, now that she noticed. Makoto was a B cup last time she'd measured, but her bust size was rarely ever something she thought about unless she had to replace some underwear or try on a swimsuit. Haru looked to be at least a C cup by her estimate. Makoto's eye twitched. Akira had those pressed against his back earlier. That might explain his physiological reaction, did he prefer bigger breasts?

Wait, why was Makoto thinking about that!? Again, that tightness in her heart, telling her something is wrong. Ugh… Focus, Makoto. You have more important things to worry about.

"It's…all well and good that your plan to enamor Akira is playing out, and I'm saying this as supportively as I can, but please remember why we're doing this." Makoto looked at herself in the mirror. Was that vein on her forehead always there?

"I will! I mean, I do remember…" Haru clasped and unclasped her fingers nervously. "I… I'll tell Akira how I feel, I j-just need to…-to…"

When Makoto saw her friend standing there, knees knocking and throat swallowing lump after lump, she softened. She had to admit, she was being too hard on Haru. Makoto didn't understand why she kept getting so worked up about this whole thing. She had already established that Akira did not dislike her or resent her in spite of her earlier slip-up in Mementos, she was beginning to tear down his wall of stoicism, and Haru was actively working on resolving the issue that started it all. Think it over as many times as she might, she could not find a single logical reason as to why she should act like this. She felt like she didn't understand herself anymore. It was extremely annoying and a little frightening.

"S-sorry, Haru." Makoto sighed. "I know you're doing your best. Honestly, just now you did way more than I was expecting."

Haru nodded. "I know how seriously you take the Phantom Thieves and Akira's respect for you, and I'm taking this seriously too. I'm just… no good with this flirty stuff…"

"It's alright, I was a bit out of line there. I can't flirt to save my life either…Maybe we should ask Ann for tips…"

"I hope she gets better soon…" Haru put her jacket back on and reached into its pocket for her phone. "She keeps saying she's fine on the group chat, but I'm still a little worried…"

"She asked us not to bother her about it, so we shouldn't pressure to talk about it if she doesn't want to. I'm confident that when she's ready, she will let us know."

"She's so strong." Haru nodded solemnly. "Hey, Mako-chan? Are you busy after this?"

"Uh, no. Not really."

"Come help me buy some chocolates for Ann! I think her favorite sweets shop is near here."

Makoto smiled. "I'd love to."

A/N:

Hi gang, another chapter out. This is the first of several that will be focused on the romantic antics between Haru and Akira. The poor man almost failed NNN because of a tomato and a kiss! It'll be interesting to see how he copes with the rest of the wacky scenarios I have planned for him! Makoto will be a constant presence in these, and I've decided that maybe having Sumi around would be a good time, too.

Chapters like these will be scattered somewhat evenly as the days pass. They will be interspersed with some chapters that move the plot forwards and others that focus on different characters, so this specific Akira-Haru-Makoto-Sumi(?) plotline won't see a conclusion up until just about the very end, but I promise there will be plenty of wacky happenings to keep you all entertained until then. The story's planning is now 100% complete, so have faith and patience and you, much like Akira himself, will be rewarded handsomely at the end of No Nut November!