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Sayaka looked out the window absentmindedly. Their homeroom teacher had been droning on for longer than she'd bothered to keep track of. It was a bright, sunny spring day, and she was itching to be outside in the fresh air, soaking up the sun and stretching her legs. She hated being cooped up for too long.
Her eyes followed a bird across the windowpane as it flew from a tree to a powerline. Sayaka had always wondered how birds didn't get electrocuted when they did that until her elementary school teacher had explained the concept of grounding electricity. Live wires were harmless until they had a connection to the ground. They were safe in the air, covered in protective casing, until something let it touch the earth. Like people, she thought. People were in their heads so often and nothing came of it until someone connected them back to the earth, and that was when bad things happened. Sayaka lived almost constantly in her head. It wasn't that she didn't let people ground her. Nobody stayed around long enough for her to reach the earth.
The bird on the wire ruffled its wings, breaking Sayaka's trance. She looked around the classroom guiltily as she tried to figure out what she'd missed. Unhelpfully, everyone else seemed to be in the same state as her. She nudged the person sitting next to her in a vain attempt to rejoin the lesson.
"Asahina," she whispered. "What did I miss?"
The swimmer looked at her with an apologetic smile. "Wish I could tell you," she replied. "It got so boring, I think everyone spaced out."
Sayaka laughed quietly. If she wasn't going to be paying attention, she should at least try to hide that fact. "It wasn't that it was boring. The sky is just so blue! And it's way too nice to be inside."
"Wanna go for a walk after class ends?" Asahina asked. Sayaka smiled and nodded before turning back to the lesson. There wasn't too much time left before their lunch break and she wanted to at least get something out of today, because birds were nice, but history was important too.
The minutes dragged by and Sayaka found herself even more distracted than she had been before while she waited for the clock to signal the end of the day. It was one thing to go outside, but another thing entirely to go on a da - a walk with Asahina. She thought the swimmer was the best company she could've had today, actually. Not many others in her class were as athletic. With Asahina, they could stay out longer, walk farther, eat more. Sayaka didn't like to eat around most of her classmates - they all had such small appetites, she felt like a pig in comparison - but Asahina ate just as much, if not more, and never looked at her twice for going for seconds like her producers did.
When the time finally came and Class 78 dispersed for the day, Sayaka stood uncertainly by her desk. Was Asahina going to wait for her? Would they walk out together? Was this going to be like her dates with boys prior, where they took her by the arm and flaunted her around like a trophy? Or would Asahina simply expect her to meet her outside the school?
Sayaka shook her head. She was overthinking. This wasn't even a date. Asahina just wanted someone to appreciate the day with. And there she was, waiting by the classroom door with her books and that beautiful smile. Sayaka gathered up her things and rushed to her, beaming as she pushed her hair out of her face. "Sorry," she began quickly. "I don't know what happened, I guess I was still spacing, sorry!" Her face was on fire. She'd already messed this up by thinking too hard about it.
To her relief, Asahina just laughed kindly. "It's okay, silly, let's go. I heard it got warm enough last weekend for them to turn on the fountain in the park." She held out her hand (this was it, Sayaka was about to hold her hand, Asahina wanted them to hold hands) and Sayaka took it gratefully. She just hoped Asahina couldn't see her blush as they walked out into the warm spring sunshine.
Their walk took them through the trees Sayaka had seen out of the window earlier. Much to her delight, a bird (if not the same bird) was in the same spot on the power line. She pointed this out to Asahina, who immediately looked up and promptly tripped on a loose cobble. Sayaka reached for the swimmer without thinking, her slender hands tightening around her firm waist, catching her and holding, their noses centimeters apart. She was certain Asahina noticed her blush now. It had spread from her cheeks to her whole face and down to her shoulders, thankfully covered by her Hope's Peak uniform. Asahina was wearing a similar uniform. Sayaka tried to look anywhere but down, tried not to look at her shirt (or what was under it) or her waist, thick and firm in Sayaka's delicate hands. Asahina definitely had the build of an athlete - nobody in Sayaka's position, literally or metaphorically, could deny that.
She realized she had maybe been holding on a moment too long when Asahina cleared her throat, obviously embarrassed. With an overly-loud apology, Sayaka set her right and let go, mentally cursing herself. Of course Asahina was embarrassed. She was probably displeased too. Even if she did like girls, she wouldn't like Sayaka. Oogami was much more her type, and they were much closer; there was no way a girl as beautiful as Asahina would choose her over someone as gorgeous and strong and kind as Oogami. The beat of silence that followed was a clear indicator that Asahina was probably figuring out a way to tell her she was either straight or completely not interested.
Sayaka was completely unprepared for Asahina to laugh and thank her, cracking a joke about her clumsiness before taking her hand again. Their walk continued down to the park, where the fountain was indeed in operation. She took a moment to breathe in the scent of the water. It was treated as usual in case a small child or bird (or one time Hagakure) decided to pee in it, and the cool scent of the lightly-chlorinated water calmed her frayed nerves. She took in a deep breath. She could do this. It was going just fine so far.
They took a moment to sit on the lip of the fountain, facing out the way they'd came. Her hand shifted nervously on the stone, inching a little closer to Asahina's. She quickly reined it in. Yes, Asahina had agreed to spend time with her, and she'd forgiven her holding her too long, but even someone as kind as Asahina would think Sayaka perverted for trying to put a move on her, especially in public. It would be a horrible thing to do. They were just friends, and it would be a terrible thing to make her think she only wanted a Bad Thing from her. Sayaka knew she felt terrible when boys only spent time with her to try and make her do Bad Things. She couldn't do that to Asahina.
"Hey, Maizono-chan, are you doing okay?"
Sayaka started, looking guiltily at Asahina. "Ha, yeah, of course!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up to her chin and tilting her head to the side. "Don't worry about me, Asahina-chan!" She forced a smile. Hopefully she could get through this afternoon without Asahina realizing that Sayaka had been looking at her in a way she was definitely not supposed to.
Still, Asahina didn't seem satisfied. "Come on," she pressed. "You've been out of it this whole time!" A moment passed, and then Asahina's face fell. "If you didn't want to do this, we can go home."
"No!" Sayaka protested, probably way too loudly yet again. "No, I'm having a really great time with you! I really wanted to do this, I just didn't know if you did, or if you were humoring me, and then you looked really pretty, and I didn't want to be weird," she babbled, her face starting to hurt from the influx of blood to her cheeks. Then she realized what she was saying and shut her mouth with an audible click. This was it, she realized. This was the live wire connecting to the ground. And this moment, as some sort of comprehension dawned on Asahina's face, was the moment she would cease to be Sayaka Maizono the super popular pretty idol and become Sayaka Maizono the predatory freak. She stood stiffly, brushing off her skirt. "I'm so sorry, Asahina. I should go."
Asahina seemed so surprised by her uncharacteristic solemnity that Sayaka was a few feet away before she felt a hand grab hers. She pulled the idol back to her, and Sayaka made a noise as their chests collided together and Asahina wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "Please don't go, Sayaka," she said into her shoulder. Sayaka stood there, dumbfounded, until Asahina pulled away. "I'm sorry, this was a terrible first date!" she cried.
Sayaka's heart leapt. "Date?" she asked in disbelief. So... she had gotten all worked up over nothing? Asahina had thought of it as a date from the start? She had misinterpreted all of Asahina's behavior, chalking it up to disinterest, when really it was... first-date jitters?
So much for being psychic.
"Wait, you didn’t know this was a -? Oh, god, I messed this up so bad," Asahina groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I thought you knew it was a date but didn't wanna say no because you're too nice!"
Now it was Sayaka's turn to groan and cover her face. "I thought I was just being too hopeful," she moaned. "Can we try this again?"
Asahina laughed in relief. "Yeah, of course!" She extended her hand out to Sayaka, who took it much more confidently this time. "Um, there's a really good dessert café down the street?" she proposed.
Sayaka nodded and squeezed her hand. "That sounds great." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Asahina's cheek, feeling reassured at the heat that met her.