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“I can’t stop thinking about her...why?”
A chilly breeze flowed through Kaoru’s long purple hair, making her skirt flutter in the wind. “Should’ve brought a scarf today.” She mumbles as she shivers, rubbing her arms, trying to warm up.
Kaoru was walking on the way to CiRCLE after school for a small gathering Kokoro announced . What could it be? Practice was canceled for a few days, maybe it was about Misaki?
Ah- her, she has been thinking about Misaki a lot lately for the past few days, why is that? She said as she questioned herself, followed by a light blush. Maybe I should visit her. She continued walking, wondering her thoughts.
She arrives, and is accompanied by Kokoro and Hagumi’s tackle, she didn’t mind, in fact it warmed her up from walking in the cold weather.
“Kaoru-kun!”
“Kaoru!”
Kanon smiles and giggles. “Glad you could make it, Kaoru-san.”
“Thank you Kanon. I’m glad to see you all as well, little kittens.” Kaoru replies with a gentle smile, making her usual gesture. Kaoru asks, “Kokoro, what is the sudden reason you alerted us for?” She tilts her head with her finger on her chin with a curious look.
“Oh yeah!” Kokoro springs up in remembrance.
“I wanted to say I had to go somewhere with my family, so I wanted to extend the break a few more days.”
“In the meantime, I wanted to make Misaki and Michelle smile with some gifts! Since the both of them are out.” Kokoro happily shouts, her eyes sparkling.
Kanon smiles, and puts her hands behind her back. “That’s very sweet of you Kokoro-chan, I’m sure she’ll appreciate it a lot.”
Hagumi and Kaoru smiled and nodded in agreement.
“In that case, I have some croquettes!” Hagumi jumps and walks to get them and hands a bag of croquettes to Kaoru.
“I don’t remember where Michelle lives- so I was hoping you would know!” “I already asked Kano-chan-senpai and Kokoron but they didn’t know.” Hagumi says with a slight frown, slumping her shoulders.
Kaoru chuckles “Ah~ Don’t fret Hagumi, for you’re in luck! I’ll help you deliver them, safe and sound.” She dramatically shouts, “Since I’ll be paying Michelle a visit, any other offers?” Kaoru glances at Kanon and Kokoro.
“I don’t have anything on me, but maybe Misaki-chan would like some coffee.”
“Only if you want to go!” “I-I’m not forcing you.” Kanon nervously adds, trying not to sound pushy. “Also, I have some family errands to run, so I can’t visit..but tell her I said hello, Kaoru-san”
Kaoru replies, “Thank you for that fleeting recommendation Kanon.” She gives a sincere look and nods, showing her thanks. “I shall pay a visit to the cafe then, as the great bard Shakespeare says, “Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.” Kaoru gestures.
“Ah- Kokoro, do you have your gift today? You’re quite silent.” Kanon questions, glancing at her with curiosity.
“Oh I do!” Kokoro quickly rummages through her school bag, it seems like notes for her to catch up on. Surprisingly, it looked decent and well organized.
“It’s some notes and a card I made! Here you go!” Kokoro hands it and Kaoru takes it and manages to fit it in her school bag, separate from her books so she won’t get things mixed up.
“Thank you for the gifts, I’m sure they’ll light up their faces with happiness.” Kaoru puts her hands on her chest dramatically. “Well, I suppose I shall take my leave while the sun still shines. I’ll see you all whenever fate leads us to meet again.”
“Bye! Travel safe Kaoru-san.” Kanon waves.
“Bye Kaoru!” says Kokoro, waving energetically.
“Ah okay! See ya’ later Kaoru-kun!” Hagumi waves.
She smiles and waves back, the rest shortly leave CiRCLE to tend to their personal tasks.
Kaoru went by train to get to the downtown section, while finding a seat she texts Misaki she's on her way to visit, and her parents she’ll be out a little later than usual. When the ride was over, she walked to the cafe to buy herself hot tea and a hot coffee for Misaki. May not be the healthiest thing for a cold, but it's the thought that counts, Right?
Mindlessly walking, looking at the scenery, she thinks about Misaki on her way. Kaoru’s chest tightens on just the thought of her name, “I can’t stop thinking about her..why?” Maybe because she was worried about her health, then why did she get butterflies in her stomach thinking about her?
She stopped walking, with her finger on her chin, in a puzzled expression. Her eyes widened in realization, “I’m in love with her-”. Kaoru whispers out loud to herself.
A bright blush spreaded across her face, her lips curling up. How could she didn’t notice until now? Kaoru sips her tea, trying to get rid of her goofy smile, and continues walking, but her mind still swarms of Misaki and all the moments they spent together.
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Misaki races around her home as she prepares the house to look decent, despite Kaoru probably not even noticing. She’s actually back to normal now after a couple days to rest from her hectic schedule, and the cold weather that probably made her sick in the first place.
Misaki hears a small knock from the front door and a muffled voice from it, " It's Kaoru!" She quickly comes to the door and welcomes her in with a smile. "Ah, Kaoru-san you can come in." Kaoru nods in understanding. Taking off her shoes and dropping them off near the entrance.
"Oh! I got a coffee on my way, Kanon recommended I should get you one" Kaoru hands her coffee to her. "She also said hello" Kaoru smiles.
"Thanks- I was actually going to make some to make some." Misaki says in a breathy manner, but with a gentle smile.
"You seem quite winded, Misaki. Are you okay?" Kaoru says in a worried tone and expression, leaning towards her.
Misaki blushes slightly from the unexpected lean, she quickly turns her head to hide it. "I-I'm actually fine Kaoru-san. I was just tidying up before you came here, that's all." She glances at her, "Plus I feel normal anyway, I just decided to take a longer break."
Kaoru smiles and sighs in relief, and leans back to her regular spot. "Hagumi brought some croquettes, we could warm them up and eat them if you want." Kaoru notes, raising the bag of croquettes.
"Oh! Thanks, and to Hagumi too-" she lets out an awkward laugh while taking it. "To be honest I don't mind having a few to snack on, do you?" Misaki says as she walks toward the kitchen, preparing a plate of them to heat. She pauses and looks at Kaoru for her answer.
Kaoru just blankly stares at her, admiring her features. "Kaoru?" Kaoru snaps out of the trance, shaking her head frantically. "I-I'll take two!" She spurts out. Kaoru doesn't get this out of character around others, why all of a sudden she was so jittery with Misaki? She felt kind of embarrassed, getting caught like that.
"Uhm.. okay then." Misaki mumbles as she sets the time on the microwave and waits patiently. She glances at the taller girl. "The bathroom is down the hall on the right, if you need it. Also, no need to feel tense, you can relax around me Kaoru-san." She gives a small smile to her, and takes a sip on her coffee. Kaoru nods and places her school bag on a seat near the dinner table and heads on to the restroom.
The microwave beeps as it alarms it's done cooking, Misaki opens the door and sets the plate on the counter, she puts the rest away and takes a few bites of a croquette, walking off to her room. Kaoru shortly comes out of the bathroom seeing the room door in front of her opened, revealing Misaki on her desk writing something. Kaoru went past to get her school bag and went to Misaki's room. She knocks on the door to know she's there.
Still writing she says "You can come in Kaoru-" Kaoru walks in scanning her room, it seemed suiting for her, it gave her a laid-back aura to it, well organized, and cool colors all around. "Your room suits you nicely. I like it." she says walking behind her leaning onto her chair, finally breaking the silence. Misaki replies, "Ah- thanks, also you seem pretty silent. Something on your mind?" She looks at her with a slightly concerned expression, and takes a quick bite of a croquette.
Kaoru's face lightly blushes and her eyes dart somewhere else, "I-I'm fine, really- it's just you look stunning as ever." Kaoru quickly gestures and puts up her persona back up with a smile. Misaki sighs, "I guess it can't be helped-" Kaoru remembered a few more things to give out to her.
"Ah! I have some more things from the others, if you don't mind-" she looks around in her bag and hands her out the notes and card Kokoro made. Misaki opened the card and set aside the notes to read it, smiling and softly giggling at Kokoro’s nonsense. A small drawing at the bottom corner of the page, was the band was around Michelle with a towel on her head while laying in bed. While Misaki looks at the card, Kaoru's heart just aches more and more, seeing such a cute moment she'll remember and cherish forever.
After that they have a quick snack break, even though Misaki ate a little ahead of Kaoru. They talked and laughed about random things like they usually do, it was mostly Kaoru talking about her plays and parts she was thinking about alternating and opinions on them. Misaki didn't mind, it was pretty interesting, although she doesn't know much about how acting works, listening to her talk but her at ease.
Misaki suddenly asks, "Hey, is it okay if you can stay a little longer? I would like some help with these notes and a few parts in the new song-" Misaki asks with a light blush looking to the side, rocking back and forth on her bed.
Kaoru replies with a cute laugh, "Of course, I love spending time with you. If I could, I'll spend time with you for eternity." She gives her a soft gaze and makes a gesture, her eyes sparkling. Misaki blushes furiously, "T-thanks, I appreciate hanging out with you too-" She scratches the back of her head, looking somewhere else. She didn't know if it was one of one of her mindless flirts or an actual one, either way it was pretty sweet, and she felt the same way.
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Kaoru is helping Misaki on her notes and working on her bed as pens, papers and books are scattered everywhere. Their warmth radiates as they sit close to each other, slightly cuddling. Kaoru hums in thought, "How about you improvise on this instead of the melody?" Kaoru suggests. "Ah- thanks, I wouldn't have thought of that." Misaki says tapping her pen on her chin and making corrections.
More times went past as Kaoru helped Misaki on the new song they were working on. “Ah! Finally!” Misaki grunts as she stretches out her arms making a few pops. "Thanks Kaoru, you really helped me a lot today." She says smiling, leaning back. "Anytime~ I always help out my cute, little kittens when they need it." Kaoru gives her a soft gaze. Misaki blushed and rolled her eyes. Kaoru's phone vibrated, she picked it up to see what it was about. She sees a text from her mother.
[Mom- 5 seconds ago.]
"I hope you’re having a great time there, but when you plan on coming back?"
Misaki sat up, "What is it?" Looking at Kaoru curiously.
"It seems I was caught up having fun and lost track of time. Ah~ As the great bard Shakespeare says, ``I wasted time, and now doth time waste me." Misaki laughed, "You really are the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, Kaoru-san." Kaoru blushed, clearing her throat trying to think of something else, other than her cheeks burning more and more seeing Misaki being so precious.
"Anyways, I'll help you get ready Kaoru-san." Misaki hops off her bed and picks up some of her pens and pencils that rolled off. Kaoru nodded, and got her things together as well. After they cleaned up, both of them headed to the door, Kaoru sat down for a brief moment to put on her shoes, got up and tightened her tie.
"Alright Misaki, I shall head my way home now." Kaoru opens and heads out the door. "Erm- Wait, Kaoru!" Kaoru immediately turns around, with a puzzled expression. "It's pretty cold out there, uhm- here, take this." Misaki gets her hat and scarf and puts it on her, as she starts she pulls her in for a small kiss. Kaoru wanted to refuse but the feeling of her made her feel safe and warm, eventually she broke it. "M-Misaki!" Kaoru blurted out, extremely flustered and her face bright red, Misaki smiled.
"I love you Kaoru." She hugs her, Kaoru hugs back even tighter.
"I-I love you too, Misaki." Kaoru was so happy she could cry, all the butterflies were gone and the ice wall was no longer; but right now she just wanted to embrace this feeling, her warmth. Misaki pulled away sliding her hands into Kaoru's, their fingers intertwining.
"How about we have a date later?" Misaki's smile getting wider, she could practically feel the heat on Kaoru's beet-red face.
"Sounds good to me." She squeezes the shorter girls hands tighter, sure it was pretty fast since they just confessed. But they just wanted to see each other yet again, just them, and their special moment.
"Well uhm- I'll have to get going now. I'll see you later then." Kaoru mumbles, both of the girls hesitated letting go of each other's hand. They waved to each other, and Kaoru headed off putting her hands into her pockets. Misaki watched her walk down until she slowly faded away in the lit streets. She smiled more, blushing slightly.
"A date it is."