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"Uh?" Nanami tilted her head in confusion. Had she just heard right?
"I-I-I-I'm sorry! I know that- that you don't like me back! But I... I really wanted to confess to you!" Tsumiki started sobbing right there on the spot. How stupid of her! Why would she think Nanami would return her feelings? The gamer probably hated her deeply, yes! That was probably true!
"Tsumiki-san, could you please repeat what you said before?" said Nanami in a soft tone, expression calm as ever.
Tsumiki tried to stop sobbing as quick as possible (it took a while for her tears to cease) and took deep breaths before speaking again
"I-I-I-I have a crush on you-!" Tsumiki went silent and shut her eyes tight. No response from the other girl.
After a while, the timid girl opened her eyes slowly. In front of her was the pink haired girl with a blush spread all over her face with her jaw hanging open and panicking eyes.
"You have a c-c-crush on me...?" Asked Nanami, blurting out the words.
Tsumiki quickly nodded. "I'm sorry! I knew you would find it very stupid! B-but I thought I had to say it, Nanami-san...!" The long haired girl said as more tears slid down her cheeks.
The pink haired girl didn't knew how to react in these kind of situations. She liked Tsumiki too, but in the same way? Well, she really liked playing racing games with her but she hadn't ever thought of developing romantic feelings for the nurse.
Not even at times like when Tsumiki won in the mini games and her face decorated with a precious smile with a slight blush that seemed very cute to Nanami.
Or when she talked to her about her own passion for medicine, and her eyes sparked up with emotion and her tone turned joyful, thing that Nanami thought it was adorable.
Or that one time they were chatting near the hotel and Tsumiki slipped, fell to the pool and had to come out soaked completely, and for some reason Nanami couldn't take her gaze away because she thought it was such a curious scene the way the nurse's clothes seemed to become clear and it leaved nothing to the imagination.
Nanami had forgotten that one time in which she thought that sight was sexy.
Another rush of blood made her blush even more. Oh my god, she had thought a completely soaked Tsumiki was sexy. Maybe she truly was in a dating sim kind of situation. Damnit, she was never good in those games.
Tsumiki was still crying in front of her.
"Tsumiki-chan... I..." Nanami had to choose her words carefully. Suddenly the situation in her head became one of multiple choices. One was to kindly reject the sobbing girl, and the other was to confess her undying love for her and get the good ending in which Tsumiki would be happy. Good ending? Nanami found herself thinking as if she was truly playing a dating sim.
"Nanami-san, I'm so s-sorry!"
The best option was... The one that gave you the best outcome, as in a good ending! That's what Nanami thought before coming forward and holding Tsumiki's hands, much to the nurse's surprise.
"U-Uh? What-"
"Tsumiki-san"
The blushing nurse held her breath. The gamer girl smiled gently and continued.
"I appreciate that you confessed to me. And I-" Nanami leaned in closer to the face of the dark haired girl which heartbeat increased by the second, along with her blush.
"-want to return your feelings" as soon as the last word left her lips, the gamer placed a soft kiss on the ones of the nurse.
Time stopped for Tsumiki. Her feelings were getting returned? How? And she was being kissed by the girl she liked!
Was this some kind of prank? The thought flashed through his mind. But there was no way it could be one, isn't it? After all Nanami wasn't like that.
After the sweet kiss, the long haired girl felt like she was in a dream (and a good one, that is). The way her eyelashes fluttered made the pink haired girl smile shyly at her.
"Nanami...!" The nurse smiled with tears in her eyes. The unfamiliar feeling of happiness spread through his body like a wave of electricity.
The pink haired girl giggled a bit.
"Chiaki is just fine"
Nanami- no, Chiaki was letting her use her first name. The long haired girl could feel her heart still beating fast. Oh, this was too good to be real! However, she didn't think so much about that. Instead she replied "T-Then, could you please call me Mikan?"
"Alright, Mikan" Chiaki tasted the name in her lips. "It's a lovely name" and she truly meant it.
The nurse had never thought she would love the sound of her own name so much, even less think of it as 'lovely'.
Was feeling so happy, okay? The long haired girl didn't know. She started sobbing. The other girl, still holding her hands, quickly asked "M-Mikan? What's wrong?"
In the middle of her tears, she answered "I-I'm just so happy and- And I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The pink haired girl gave her an understanding look. She stopped holding her hands, and hugged her instead. "It's okay, there's no need for you to cry. It's okay if you're happy"
Mikan hugged her back. "I'm sorry!" But why was she apologizing? Why... Why she felt so sad so suddenly?
"You don't have to cry anymore. You can be happy, you know?" Chiaki's words soothed her, but she felt strange. Something wasn't right. "B-But..." And then, something clicked in her mind. Her arms fell to her sides. Everything around them turned blurry.
"But I did terrible things..." The words leaved her mouth and it felt like she was spitting poison. A rush of forgotten memories returned to her mind, all of them too painful to bear, and all that Mikan could do was to scream.
The other just hugged her tightly. "Mikan..."
The nurse could hear Chiaki calling her name, but she pushed her away and dropped to her knees. Nothing felt real anymore. Since when their surroundings turned pitch black?
"I... I did terrible things... In the name of..." She gulped and took a deep breath. "...Love" a shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the look of despair itself. A despair that walked in high-heeled boots.
She felt disgusting. She wanted to puke just to get rid of everything gross inside herself.
"I don't think you're disgusting" soft words made her look up. Chiaki was still there with her in a world that seemed to be completely made of void, and she seemed to be the only light there. The pink haired girl kneeled as well in front of her and caressed her cheek. "Even if I know you did all of those things, I couldn't hate you"
"H-how... How can you say that?" Why was Chiaki still so nice with her? She knew, she knew everything Mikan had done, then why?
"Because you're precious to me" Chiaki held Mikan's face between her hands.
"I don't want you to make others suffer anymore" The nurse teared up but kept listening to everything Chiaki had to say.
"I don't want you to suffer as well. I want you to be happy with everyone. I know it'll be hard but..." The pink haired girl smiled warmly to her. "But I believe you can be happy again"
"Chiaki..." Hearing those words, Mikan smiled back at her.
"Mikan, I'm glad you confessed your feelings to me"
"Y-yeah...?" How odd, she remembered having a crush on the gamer, and yet it felt somehow distant.
"But now you have to wake up, because the future is yours even if I stay behind"
"Wake up?"
Chiaki leaned closer and kissed Mikan for a last time.
"Wake up"
Strange how Chiaki, that seemed to be the light of the world for the last few moments, looked a bit melancholic before vanishing.
That was the last thought of Mikan Tsumiki before opening her eyes again to see a completely different light, one attached to the ceiling.
"Tsumiki? Tsumiki!" A familiar voice called her name. Not the voice she wanted to hear, it wasn't the one of a sweet pink haired girl that liked to play videogames and made her like her own name when it came from her mouth.
Strange, she thought while staring at the ceiling, how someone can love a girl that was never real.
"I love you" Mikan said in a weak voice.
Mikan woke up in a world where Chiaki Nanami could never exist, however she knew it was also a world in which she could find happiness again.
Just like Chiaki wanted.