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"... then the head detached from the body, and floated off in search of its next victim!" Shirabe said in a remarkably good spooky voice.
A chorus of 'oooo's and 'eeee's erupted from the people in the room, impressed by Shirabe's skill at scary stories. Though perhaps one person's reaction stood out a little more than the rest.
"Senpai? Are you okay?" Shirabe asked.
"O-of course," Chris replied. "It'll take more than that to scare me!" Despite her bold claim, there seemed to be tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Then why are clinging to Hibiki like that?" Shirabe inquired next. Chris was hanging on tight to Hibiki's right arm.
"Oh, that's easy," Hibiki chimed in. "It's because I'm soft, and Chris-chan lov- ow!" She got interrupted by Chris pinching her.
"Shut up shut up shut up," Chris hissed, though she still didn't let go of Hibiki.
"Ooohhh, it's true. You really are soft," Kirika said, now at Hibiki's left side, and squeezing her arm. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I did it for science!" she hastily explained herself to Shirabe, who was giving her a very disapproving look.
"You are the worst, Kiri-chan," Shirabe said bluntly.
Kirika scurried over to her. "Nooo, forgive me, Shirabe!" she pleaded, and hugged her.
"Mmmm, I'll consider it," Shirabe said, a small smile playing on her lips as she hugged Kirika back.
Miku leaned forward to pat Chris on the head. "Don't worry, Chris. They're just stories," she said, trying to disguise any amusement she might be feeling.
"I'm not worried," Chris grumbled, causing both Hibiki and Miku to giggle. They were used to this.
"Is it my turn to tell a story next?" Miku asked.
"Um..." Shiori spoke up. "Miku... I've been wondering... is there something going on with you, Hibiki, and Yukine-senpai?" she asked.
Chris started going red immediately. Miku blinked, then she and Hibiki looked at each other.
"Oh come on, Shiori," Yumi said. "This isn't fanfiction."
"And even if there was something, that's none of our business," Kuriyo chimed in with.
"No, that's okay," Miku said.
"It's not like we've been deliberately trying to keep it secret or anything," Hibiki continued, as if her and Miku had communicated telepathically.
"See, this thing with Chris is..." Miku started, then gave Hibiki a meaningful look.
"We love her," Hibiki and Chris said in unison.
The room went quiet. Chris was beet red, and it almost turned into an awkward silence, except...
"Like how I love Shirabe?" Kirika asked. Now it was Shirabe's turn to blush.
"Yeah, just like th- ow!" Hibiki got pinched as she tried to answer. "Why did you do that, Chris-chan?"
"Shut up..." Chris released Hibiki and got up. "Y... you're both dummies. I hate you," she said to Hibiki and Miku before walking out.
"Chris-chan?!" Hibiki was confused and startled.
"Chris..." Miku was worried. Maybe they had pushed too much. "Listen, I'll go after her," Miku said. "Maybe she'll have an easier time one on one. Hibiki, I know it's hard, but please wait here for us. I brought your favourite cookies." She gave Hibiki a kiss on the cheek before standing up.
"Okay, Miku... good luck," Hibiki said, though she didn't sound happy about it.
As Miku left the room, the others decided to take a snack break. They were at the school currently, having gotten permission for an overnight stay to tell scary stories and have fun. Miku hoped Chris hadn't left for home. She hadn't taken any of her stuff, so she was probably around somewhere. The music room was her first bet, and sure enough she found Chris in there. Standing by a window and looking out into the night.
"Chris?" Miku slowly entered the room, but aside from a slight tensing of the shoulders, Chris didn't react. "I'm sorry. Did we go too far?" Miku asked.
Chris spun around. "Of course you went t-" The rest of her sentence died when she saw how worried Miku looked. Conflicting emotions fluttered across Chris's face as she found a seat.
Miku pulled up a chair, giving Chris a little bit of distance in case she needed it. "I'm really sorry. And so is Hibiki. We didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
Chris didn't say anything more at first, just kept looking between Miku, the floor, and the window as she tried to sort out her thoughts.
After a while she seemed to have arrived at some kind of decision. "Look, I'm... I..." She closed her mouth again, as she was already stumbling over her words, then tried again. "I don't even know what I am to you guys, and then you just go and say something like that... it's not fair. It's not fair, Miku," she said, with a sense of frustration bubbling up from inside her.
"I'm sorry," Miku said again.
"You're a couple. You might as well be married. What does that make me? Where do I fit into this?" Chris sounded frustrated, and maybe a little bitter.
"We love you, Chris. A relationship doesn't have to be just two people," Miku said softly. "But we also... we also don't want to pressure you into anything you're not okay with." It was a genuine concern. They knew Chris had been through a lot, and it wasn't like they were experts on what she needed, or what to do. But they didn't want to give up.
Part of Chris knew this. It hadn't flown her by how Hibiki and Miku might test her boundaries, but rarely would they push too hard, and they'd pull back if she showed signs of discomfort. "Things don't end well for the ones I l- care about," she said. Though she wasn't entirely sure why she had stopped herself from saying the L word. Stubbornness maybe. Or something else.
"Chris..." Miku wasn't sure what to say, or if she should say anything at all. They had all been through a lot by this point, some of it very dangerous. Somehow things had worked out so far, but there was no guarantee it would stay that way. And everyone had more scars now.
"I don't... I don't want..." Chris was having a hard time finding the words. "I'm scared..." she mumbled. For some reason it was hard to keep her walls up around Miku, and it just slipped out.
Miku smiled sympathetically. "Listen, Chris. Can I tell you something?" she asked.
"Huh?" Chris looked over at Miku, slightly surprised. "Um... sure," she said.
"I don't think I ever told you this," Miku said as she got up and walked over to the piano. "But I used to be worried about you."
"Worried?" Chris repeated in confusion.
"Yeah... about you and Hibiki," Miku said. "When you would go on missions together, or be at base together." She hadn't even directly told Hibiki this, since her attempts had flown over Hibiki's head at the time.
"R-really? Me and her, you thought...?" Chris hadn't really thought about that.
"I..." Miku dragged her fingers across the piano keys, just hard enough for the occasional plink and plonk. "I know Hibiki is pure and kind. She would never do anything to hurt me like that. I know, but... I didn't know you very well back then, and I get... very insecure sometimes." She turned around to face Chris, folded her hands behind her back, and smiled. "I'm a very weak person, you see. She is my strength, and I... I get scared too."
Chris was speechless for a moment, then managed to recover somewhat. "W-what are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm saying... I'm glad I got to know you better," Miku said, and started stepping back towards Chris again. "The closer we got, the more I realised that you're a very good girl, Yukine Chris." Now she was close enough to pat Chris on the head again.
"Dummy," Chris murmured, while starting to blush.
Miku smiled contently. Chris's hair was very fluffy. "And considering how much you seemed to lean on Hibiki, maybe you can imagine my surprise when it was me you kissed first," Miku said.
Chris went from embarrassed to ashamed in an instant. "T-th-that was..." she stuttered.
"I know," Miku said. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought that up." Even if it was how it all got started, she knew it wasn't a very good memory for Chris. She had been in a very bad place when Hibiki and Miku tried to comfort her, and things had gone... unexpectedly.
"I shouldn't have..." Chris said.
"Listen... that's the past," Miku said, and crouched down in front of Chris, trying to get her to look at her. "We can't change what has happened, nor can we change how Hibiki and I feel about you now." Chris met Miku's eyes. "We want you in our lives, as much are you are comfortable with being part of it. We're not going to make you move in with us or anything. Though if you wanted to, I'm sure we could work som-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Chris said. She was feeling somewhat better now, and got up along with Miku. "We can head back. But no more public declarations of love for now."
"Oh? For now?" Miku asked with a wry smile.
"I... um... dummy," Chris said as her blush returned.
Miku giggled. "And feel free to cling to Hibiki as much as you want. The story I have in mind is sure to be really scary," she said.
The way Miku started chuckling unnerved Chris. "M-maybe I should think about going home now..." she said nervously.
"You'd let your precious kouhai see you run away?" Miku asked, smiling wide.
"Ugh..." Chris's stuff was in the room, and leaving without it would be even worse. She was trapped.
While Chris was distracted thinking about possible ways to escape, Miku took the opportunity to give her a quick kiss before they got back to the room.
"Come now, it won't be that bad," Miku said, and opened the door.
"Um... uh... huh?" Chris walked back into the room in a slight daze. What had she been thinking about, again?