Work Text:
At what started as a 'deal' may have turned into something real.
Their lips met in a chaste kiss as Junna clutched the papers in her arms, slowly opening her eyes as their lips parted. The hand around her waist tightened as a hand cupped her cheek and drew her in gently for another kiss. She clutched onto the papers tightly with both of her hands as the kiss lasted longer, as it tasted sweeter. The school bell rang loudly as they quickly parted from each other. Nana took a step backward as she accidentally hit her rib onto the door knob of the opened library door.
"Ow, ow..." Nana immediately keeled over as she held onto her rib.
"A- Are you alright, Nana?" Junna immediately reached to look after her.
Nana nodded quickly. "I'm alright. The bell rang, you need to deliver the papers, right?" She smiled at her. "Go, Junna-chan."
"Alright." Junna smiled. "You're okay?"
Nana nodded again and waved at her with a wry smile as she held onto her ribs.
"Make sure you attend the class okay? I'll see you there."
"Mm! I promise!"
"Yo, Daiba!" As Nana was running for the next class (completely forgetting her accidental rib hitting/knocking accident), her uniform was immediately grabbed by the collar as she was thrown into a wall.
"Senpai..." Nana was able to break the throw with both of her hands, but undeniably, it still did hurt.
"I see you getting sweet and chummy with class pres." The taller Senpai, whom she used to hang out with until her deal with Junna confronted her with two of her other lackeys. "You returning to the normal life cuz of her?"
"What's it to you? I never associated myself with you." Nana gritted her teeth as she felt herself cornered at the back of the school building. It was a path she usually took to cut classes, but it was also the fastest way to get to their classroom, to think that she'd be caught there... "What is it now?"
"You see... This one here got into trouble with the other school..." The senpai pointed at another student behind her with a broken arm. "If the school learns it was because we picked a fight from the school next door, we'd get expelled..."
"What?" Nana stood her ground. It was true that she used to get into fights too, because she was always pissed off by everything, everyone said.
"But if it was done by a fellow student... that student would get expelled instead, right?" The Senpai grinned as she took out a small knife from her pocket. "We gotta make it look dramatic too." Her lackeys behind her nodded.
"Tch." Nana knew what was gonna happen. They were gonna beat her up and injure her to make it looked like it was her fault... and then reported her to the authorities. She heard the second bell ring as she dodged a punch headed straight for her face. "I don't have time for this...!"
"Sure you don't." The senpai grinned as she ordered her lackeys to grab onto her arms. "Hmm... A slice to the face might be dramatic."
The Senpai slowly drew a sharp line down Nana's right cheek. It wasn't too long but it was long enough to bleed down to her jaw. Nana tried to struggle from their grasp as she elbowed one and punched the other. She made sure to take a step forward as she gave the Senpai a kick. "Why you...!"
The third bell rang as Nana looked at her classroom that was close, yet so far. The Senpai lunged at her with a knife as she caught it with her right hand, slicing the insides of her palm as the lackeys kicked her in the stomach and another blow to her (still) injured ribs. The Senpai realized what she had done and immediately threw away the knife to the side, that thankfully, she had been holding onto with a handkerchief. Her fingerprints would certainly not be on it... but Nana's would be as she held onto the blade. Her lackeys gave Nana a few more kicks before running away.
Nana held onto her injured right hand as it kept on bleeding, her vision blurring, her cheek in pain. "I'm sorry... Junna-chan..."
Junna couldn't believe her eyes when Nana didn't arrive in their classroom after the third bell. She thought that maybe she had already changed... but on the other hand, she knew that she was never a bad girl. Although, it still weighed on her that their 'deal' was that she would date her in exchange for her to stop being a delinquent, cutting classes and getting into fights. She's been having perfect attendance since it started, but why now?
In return, it gave her a bad feeling. What if something had happened?
Fifth Period. Sixth Period. Nana was still not there... She wasn't the type to break her promise. This time she sought to find her.
Their school was strict with a no-mobile phone policy and she knew and watched Nana leave her mobile phone in her locker. Junna excused herself for Home Room and went to their lockers. She peeked into Nana's locker and as promised, her phone was still in there. Where could she have done?
[Daiba Nana, please proceed into the disciplinary office after home room.]
It was the disciplinary officer's voice. "Nana? To the disciplinary office? Geez... What did she do now?"
Nana woke up as she heard her name being called through the speakers.
[Daiba Nana, please proceed into the disciplinary office.]
She scrambled to get up from the floor and immediately felt all the pain course through her body. As well as her hand that was still bleeding. There was blood all over the grass. She immediately got the nearby garden faucet open and cleaned off the blood from the grass and picked up the knife, which was probably something she shouldn't have done. She cleaned it with her clothing as she pocketed the knife and ran for the disciplinary office.
The students looked at her oddly as she ran down the hall with blood on her clothes. Before she could open the disciplinary office's door she heard a familiar voice.
"I don't believe that!" Junna's voice as she shouted.
"Hoshimi-san, please calm down. We need to wait for Daiba-san to come and hear her side." The disciplinary officer calmed her down.
Nana opened the door as she looked at Junna and immediately saw the shock, relief, and disbelief on her face. "I'm sorry, Junna-chan..."
"Nana...! What happened?"
"Did you do this, Daiba-san?" The officer pointed at the printed photo and the injury of one of her old friend's broken arm, and another with a slash on her cheek, the same as her's.
"I...!"
"You should search her for the blade!" Her Senpai pointed at her as the teachers immediately seized Nana's arms and searched her pockets and eventually found the blade.
Nana gritted her teeth as she tried to pretend that she wasn't bruised and injured all over. She kept her hand behind her back as the cut was still evidently raw. "I didn't!"
"Nana..." Junna looked at her and she felt her heart break. One of the things she loved about Junna was that her emotions were always on her face. It shows that she didn't want to believe it, but with the evidences lining up, she had no choice but to believe it which she did. "There's no way that you did... right?"
"Yes, I did this." Nana couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. She didn't... but she went and admitted it. She looked at the face of her Senpai, that wicked grin. She hated it. "I'm sorry..." She bowed her head as she shrugged her arms out from the grasps of her teachers. "...Junna-chan..." She left the room as she slowly walked towards the classroom to take her bag and go home.
What hurt the most was that no one chased after her when she left the disciplinary office.
She wrapped her P.E. Uniform on her still raw and opened knife wound as she held her bag with her other hand while she rushed home. She had to go home before her parents find her. They would understand that she was just being a delinquent if she had small injuries, but they would get really worried if they catch her with her bloodied hand and face... and whatever had happened to her ribs.
She received a text message that the teachers would meet about her punishment and would let her know tomorrow. She didn't want to go tomorrow.
Junna's disappointed expression... She didn't want to see that sight again.
Junna didn't want to believe it. She knew, she believed, that Nana had changed. But this... She couldn't believe that she was able to hurt another person, with a knife nonetheless.
Maybe it showed on her face that she was disappointed in her... "Nana..." She walked towards her locker as she arrived early in the morning. She opened it and found a note hanging.
I'm sorry. Thank you for everything.
It didn't have a sender, but she knew whom it was from.
Was a person as gentle as Nana, if she was guilty, would even do something like this? She pressed the note onto her chest as she hurriedly searched for her. She ran up the stairs to the teacher's faculty to ask for Nana's punishment but she stopped mid-stairs as she heard voices on the classroom nearby.
"I can't believe that she would actually do it." Junna knew this voice as Nana's senpai. The one she used to be with when she was still active as a delinquent. "I was so sure that if that girlfriend of hers was in there, she would deny all accusations but..."
Junna clutched the note to her chest. It was definitely my fault. I didn't believe in her. I...
"Damn. To actually be acquitted for something that I actually did. Hell yeah."
Junna shook her head as she ran past the classroom and up the faculty room.
"Expelled!?" Junna covered her mouth at her shock. "D- Daiba-san got expelled? But..."
"As expected, an injury to a fellow student is irresponsible and unforgivable, Hoshimi-san. I know that you've been working hard to make her fix her ways. It was effective for quite some time..." The teacher closed her notes as she looked at Junna. "But as expected, once a delinquent, still a delinquent."
"That's not..." Junna sighed. "Thank you... Sensei."
She wanted to fix it... but if she couldn't even see her... How could she?
"Daibaaaa!" The rugged man called for her as he waved his hand.
"I'm coming!" She ran over to his side, her injured hand now bandaged. "Boss, can I take a few minutes off soon?"
"Oh? What's up?" The boss tapped at a mountain of boxes for her to lift. "You can lift this?"
"I'll just go grab some energy drink!" Nana grinned as she stretched her arms above her head. "I told you, it's alright~ Don't worry about this!" She flexed her muscles on her right hand.
"That's what you say but when I poke this you go limp." The boss poked her rib as she immediately bent over, immediately settling down the boxes she just lifted. "You have to get that checked."
"Boss, you know I don't have that kind of money." Nana laughed as she rubbed the rib that was poked and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She lifted up the pile of boxes again and carried them to where they have to be carried. She checked her phone's time as the clock struck 3pm. "I'll be off, Boss-san! I'll be back in a bit!"
She started to work manual labor, because she wasn't good at dealing with people so she couldn't work at a convenience store. Most stores also asks for a resume, and definitely they'd reject someone with an expulsion in their report card... Her father recommended her in the construction place. It was the least she could to pay back her parents who did their best to make her go to school. Nana hid behind a tree as she looked at the entrance gates of her school. She knew that if someone caught her being here, she'd get chased away by the security guards. As per the school principal's reprimand to her when she got expelled. "Don't cause this school any more disgrace."
She wiped the tears away from her eyes as the dust from her dirty gloves got onto her cheek. "Just for a bit..." She hid behind a tree as she waited. She perked up the moment the person she had always waited for appeared. The lopsided side purple hair, the glasses, the way she carried herself with elegance. It was her Junna-chan. "I'm so glad she's doing well..."
Nana smiled at her as she watched her interacted with a classmate, Karen-chan, as she remembered. She briefly scolded her for running out of the school gates and chastely forgave her as she apologized. An apology... She wasn't expecting her to forgive her... But she hoped that she at least saw her apology, because she couldn't go and see her and apologize.
"Someone like me doesn't have the right to stand beside someone like..." Hoshimi Junna. Nana blinked her eyes quickly as she wiped away her tears, smearing more dust onto her cheeks. "Time to go back to work!"
Junna felt that she saw someone familiar disappear from her peripheral. Wearing a worker's full body suit... blonde hair shape of the bananas. Was Nana just there? She fixed her glasses as she watched the figure disappear as it ran into the direction of where the recent construction had been going on. One of her regrets during their short dating period was that... because she had always asked Nana to leave her mobile phone in her locker, she never got her contact details. Asking the teacher didn't seem like a good idea... She continued to walk home as the sun set orange.
In their school, Nana was being antagonized for a delinquent who hurt others, However, Junna knew the truth, and that truth that all this time, she'd always been gentle. The way she had asked if she could hold her hand, or wrap her arms around her shoulders or her waist.
The way her soft lips gently kissed her. Junna walked home as she stopped briefly to touch her lips. She had never kissed anyone else, there was no one to compare it with, but having Nana's lips on hers, she felt her emotions... That she was her world.
"I wonder how's Nana doing lately?" She turned back to the direction where the suspicious (?) person went. Was it really her? Or was she just missing her so badly that she was imagining things?
It had been two weeks since Nana's expulsion. She was glad that her wound was healing probably, she still hadn't gotten her ribs checked but she was probably gonna be alright (although it did still hurt a little). She knew that her boss is starting to be suspicious of her taking her breaks every afternoon instead of lunch time. She felt bad taking two breaks every weekday so she decided to just tough it up and take it in the afternoons so she could go and check on Junna, get that well-needed energy and go back to work.
She stayed behind the tree from across the school's gates again as she peeked. She's been waiting for about thirty minutes. She knew that usually Junna had a meeting with the committee on that day so she knew she would have to wait some time. "Ah." She smiled as she saw her leaving figure.
"Ohhh. Purple hair... Glasses. Beautiful."
"I know right..." Nana nodded as she watched her walk home. "Wait, Boss!?"
"You know, you always forget to eat every time. You sure you're alright? I know that lady's pretty, but love won't feed you, you know?" Her boss shoved two rice balls into her hands as he pushed her back. "Go on, eat those and go back to work." He looked at the direction of where Junna was and saw her looking. "Ah look, she's looking here."
"Wah! She can't find me!" Nana accidentally dropped the rice balls as she ran away. "G- Going back to work sir!"
"Daiba!" He picked up the rice balls, glad it was plastic wrapped. "Eat first!"
Junna looked at the commotion. She was sure that was definitely Nana, and the worker she often sees at the nearby work construction. What's Nana doing there? "Ah, she ran away..." Junna spoke to herself as she followed the direction she ran away at. "Nana?"
Maybe it really was her? Junna tried to recall again something that Karen recently told her.
"Hey, Junjun. Recently, I've been seeing Banana in the nearby construction place. I always see her behind a tree too, I think she's waiting for you?"
Junna usually just ignored whatever Karen told her about what she did after school because she just went to baseball places to get prizes for her friend Hikari... but maybe this time... she should believe her.
Besides, she'd been wanting to see her... talk to her, too.
Alright, the preparation was perfect. Conveniently, near the tree that Nana(?) often waited at, there was a convenience store. Junna decided to excuse herself from class early for "personal reasons" and waited near the convenience store. Somewhere that no one would notice unless they looked there. She usually went out of the school exactly 40 minutes once the bell rang and Junna knew that Nana knew that. When they 'dated' she always waited for her, of course she would have memorized her schedule by then.
Then there she was. In a construction worker's suit, blonde hair in the shape of bananas. Junna could hear her heart racing quickly. She could finally see her again. How should she approach her? Ah... Without thinking of what to say, she just approached her. "Nana."
She stood up straight like a pole and slowly turned to look at her. Nana looked surprised to see her. She also looked thinner, bags under her eyes. She also looked tired, covered in dust and sweat. "Y- You got the wrong person!" She said in an unnaturally high pitched voice as she prepared to run away.
Junna immediately grabbed her wrist as she tugged onto her. "...me properly."
"E- Eh?" Nana swallowed as she turned to look at her.
"...See me properly." Junna gently squeezed her wrist as she looked at her with strong emotions. Those green eyes that Nana always loved to look into, that gentle voice that always saved her...
"H- How... What... What...?" Nana tried to speak as she swallowed nothing. "What do you mean, by that?" It was one of those things that she loved about Junna. The way how her emotion showed her face. This one showed gentleness. Kindness. Love.
"Are you an idiot?" Junna whispered under her breathe. She moved her hand down to take in Nana's hand gently. The one that was wrapped in a bandage as she took a step closer into her personal space. "I meant it as... Date me, and come see me properly..." She looked up to her face and touched her cheek with her other hand. "No deals... No anything else."
Nana swallowed as she felt raw, and pure emotion in her eyes. Her tears fell from her eyes as she blinked. "Are you sure?" She sobbed as Junna nodded and smiled at her. "Junna-chan..."
"I love you, Nana." Junna wiped away Nana's tears with her fingers as she kissed her cheek. She let go of Nana's hand as she gently wrapped her arms around Nana's body as Nana did the same. "You're so tall, and yet a crybaby... What an unexpected combination." Junna laughed lightly.
"Because..." Nana sniffed. "I've always loved you, Junna-chan..." More tears came out of her eyes as she sobbed and hugged Junna tightly.
Junna didn't say anything else. She just hugged her, gently rubbed her back, as she cried.
"I got dust and gravel on your uniform..." Nana sniffed as she dusted off Junna's skirt. "Sorry..."
"Geez. That's alright." Junna laughed as she held onto Nana's hand. "You have to go back to work, right?"
Nana nodded like a child as she sniffed.
"Let's go." Junna gently patted her head as she walked Nana back to her work, while they held hands.
"Boss, I'm sorry I'm late." Nana bowed as she watched her boss light up a cigarette.
"Go home." He shooed her away as he puffed out smoke. "Work's here mostly done anyway."
"But..." Nana swallowed as she walked towards him, untangling her hand from Junna's.
The boss just sighed and walked over to Junna, ignoring Nana. "This one, overworks, forgets to eat, doesn't go to the hospital to get her injuries checked."
"B- Boss!?" Nana got flustered as he told on Junna about the things she'd been 'forgetting' to do lately.
"She blames herself too much, and needs someone to take care of her." The boss sighed. "So lady, I'm not sure what your name is."
"I'm Hoshimi Junna." Junna nodded as she introduced herself.
"Polite. Wow." The boss scratched his head. "Anyway, Hoshimi-san. Take this idiot back to her home and feed her, make her rest. Come back tomorrow." He pointed at Nana's direction and left.
"Wha-- Me? Idiot?" Nana looked at her Boss in disbelief as Junna laughed.
Junna bowed. "Thank you."
The boss just waved as he shooed them away.
"Come on, Nana." Junna wrapped her arms around Nana's arm and dragged her. "You're going home now. Taking a shower, resting, eating. Tomorrow, we're going to the hospital."
"J- Junna-chan!?"
Junna phoned her parents that she would be staying the night at a friend's house and they promptly allowed her. The next day she excused herself from day classes (using her credits to still get grades for her attendance) and accompanied Nana to the hospital, against her wishes.
"Nana... This hand injury is pretty deep. It could leave a scar, you know?" Junna inspected Nana's hand as Nana just nodded and sighed as she was being scolded. "Tell me?"
"Eh?" Nana swallowed.
"Tell me what actually happened."
As they waited for Nana's appointment. Junna made sure to keep her hands onto Nana to prevent her from running as she confessed to what transpired on that day. Junna made her promise to not skip any details, as she listened to her story intently, assuring her that it's alright. That Junna believed her, and that, she was sorry for even doubting her, even just a little.
Boss commended 'Nana's Girlfriend Hoshimi' for actually bringing her back to work healthier. Junna asked their friends in school to help her find evidences of Nana being framed for a crime she didn't commit, as well as even asking the neighboring school regarding it. Soon, she brought it up again to the school's disciplinary office.
She didn't care if she would lose or win the argument, but she just wanted the world to know that Nana, her , Daiba Nana, was a gentle girl. True she might have been a delinquent for quite some time. She did it to get the attention of her parents, who were both working and rarely paid attention to her... but she promised to be a proper student now, as well as her parents are now properly spending time with her. Nana was able to go back to school, and her Senpai and her lackeys were expelled in her stead.
Junna almost dropped the papers in her hand as warm lips met her own in a sweet kiss. She held onto the papers tightly as the kiss lasted a bit longer than usual. "Nana..." She whispered onto those lips as she felt arms wrap around her waist. "I told you, we should stop kissing at school."
Nana smiled as she leaned her head onto Junna's head. "...Every time I see you I just want to kiss you..." She confessed.
"Geez..." Junna sighed as she fixed her glasses, still trapped in that warm hug. "I need to pass papers."
Nana nodded and let go of her. She gently touched Junna's cheeks as she kissed her again.
"Wait for me?" The school bell rang.
"I'll be here." Nana smiled and waved at her.
"This time, we're going to class together."
"I don't cut class anymore, remember?"
"I just want to go to class with you." Junna turned around and winked at her. "See you."
Nana put a hand onto her chest. "...Junna-chan's such a dangerous woman..."
And their love story would just continue from hereon.