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Was there anything more relaxing than afternoon tea with one's favourite kouhai? Michiru couldn't think of any, especially when she had just taken a sip of Shiori's latest brew.
As usual, today's tea party took place in Shiori's dorm room. It was just the two of them, Shiori and Michiru on opposite sides of the table, the third of such arrangements in a row. The others had been invited, of course, but they each had their own obligations (though Michiru found it odd they were this busy). Not able to leave Shiori alone, Michiru accepted every invitation. She made a point of keeping an eye on the youngest Edel—Shiori had the potential to become Frau Platin some day!—and this was an easy way to keep in touch.
"Delicious as always," Michiru said. "I would drink your tea every day if I could."
"Th-thank you, Michiru-senpai," Shiori said. "It's a new blend. You're the first person I've made it for."
Michiru chuckled. "You really know how to make a girl feel special. You even got my favourite cookies!"
"You and the other senpai are always doting on me, it's only fair if I return the favour." A pause to take a sip of tea. "Um, that reminds me, I ordered a special cake for my next tea party, on the weekend. Yachiyo-senpai, Mei Fan-senpai, and Akira-senpai said they already have plans, so it's just the two of us." The last five words hung heavy in the air.
"I'd love to, but aren't you focusing on me a bit too much? Wouldn't it be more fun to have tea parties with your friends from class?" As much as Michiru loved Shiori's company—having the girl all to herself, no less—it was important that the youngest Edel make some connections outside of the student council.
"I do sometimes, but I enjoy the time I spend with you more, Michiru-senpai." There was something bashful about the way Shiori looked at her. Something expectant.
Michiru wasn't sure what to say to that, so she bought herself some time by eating a cookie. She picked it up with both hands and nibbled contemplatively on one end of it.
Shiori giggled.
"What's got you so tickled?" Michiru asked.
Shiori seemed flustered by the sudden question. "It's just that when you eat your cookie like that, you look like a small animal. Like a squirrel or a hamster. It's cute..."
"You're the cute one, Shiori. If one of us is a small animal, it's you." The youngest Edel was popularly considered the cutest Edel, and Michiru had to agree. Her wavy blonde hair, her honest eyes, the cute expressions she made when she was straining to do a difficult stretch... Michiru wondered how Shiori was still single.
Shiori blushed. "But I'm taller than you, Michiru-senpai."
"Size can be deceptive! A mink can take down an animal three times its size, for example."
"A mink is still a small animal."
"Yes. Well, they're ferocious ones." Michiru realized with some embarrassment that she'd argued herself into a corner. Very unlike her. She took a sip of her tea. There was something different about Shiori today, and it had her off-kilter. Even now Shiori looked like she was trying to hold back another giggle. At her senpai, no less!
"I'm sorry, Michiru-senpai. It's just that you're so adorable. Sometimes I want to just pick you up and cuddle you. Um, like a corgi puppy."
Michiru's cheeks warmed. What kind of flattery was this? She expected this kind of behaviour from Yachiyo, but not Shiori. "Eh? I think I'm more like an apex predator. Like a bear or a lion."
"If you say so," Shiori replied. Then she added in a low whisper, "Maybe a lion cub."
"Hey!" Michiru went around the table and got up in Shiori's personal space. Nose-to-nose. She grinned as she saw Shiori react sheepishly. "Is that any way to talk to your respected senpai?"
"N-no." Shiori hid her face in her hands, but her ears betrayed her blush. "Sorry if I'm being rude."
Michiru tousled her kouhai's fluffy hair. "You're fine. I was just showing you how scary I can be."
It wasn't until Michiru scooted back a few inches that Shiori stopped hiding her face. "That was more surprising than scary, actually. You're too nice to be really scary."
Akira would have disagreed with that assessment. "I can be frightening if I want, you know."
"Maybe on the stage, but right now you're a cute, little mink." Shiori wasn't going to let that example go.
"I might be a mink, but you're a rabbit. If you're not careful, I might eat you up." Even the most terrible dramas wouldn't resort to lines like this. She didn't even go with the classic wolf metaphor. How pathetic. If Yachiyo learned about this, she'd never hear the end of it.
Shiori briefly made eye contact before looking away. "That wouldn't be so bad..."
Michiru's heart skipped a beat. Her line worked? Wait, why did she want that awful line to 'work'? She was trying to convince Shiori that she was the cute one, not make a move on her! Michiru had to backtrack before things got out of hand.
"Anyway, the point is that you're the cute one, not me."
Shiori recovered enough of her composure to get pouty. "You're cute too. Everyone says so."
"Then I guess I should act like more of a tyrant to fix that."
"Is it so bad if people think you're cute?"
"Sometimes. I need people to take me seriously as an Edel."
"I take you seriously, and I think you're cute," Shiori said, leaning toward her, staring intently. "I know about the Michiru-senpai the regular students don't know about, when you're not just being an Edel. And she's adorable."
"Then my evil plan of lowering your guard has worked!" Michiru launched herself at Shiori, targeting her kouhai's weak points with her fingers. "I'm going to tickle you until you admit I'm a terrifying beast!"
She went for Shiori's sides first, then her underarms, then her neck. When she wouldn't give in, Michiru played dirty and started tickling her thighs. "Am I scary yet?"
Shiori could barely speak through her laughter. "You're going to have to do something worse than tickle me!"
"We'll see how you feel after five minutes of this!" Michiru's options for sinister, scary behaviour were severely limited. She didn't want to actually scare her. Shiori was too sweet for that (she would have happily given Yachiyo nightmares, for comparison). In lieu of genuinely terrorizing her, Michiru chose to showcase her mercilessness.
To her credit, Shiori continued to resist. She might have been rolling around on the floor with tears in her eyes, but she didn't give in to her senpai's demands. A testament to her willpower as an Edel. Michiru was impressed, but dissatisfied. Her fingers were getting tired. At this rate, Shiori would win through attrition.
But Michiru wasn't going to give up that easily.
"This is your last chance, Shiori! If you don't admit that I'm scary soon, I'm going to—"
Shiori had been kicking her legs as soon as the tickling started, and one of her feet finally hit Michiru, striking her in the knee and sweeping her leg out from under her. The tiniest Edel collapsed onto her kouhai in a heap. Very scary indeed.
Shiori was soft and warm and altogether too comfortable a cushion to lie upon. Michiru quickly propped herself up on all fours. "Are you alright, Shiori? I didn't hurt you?"
Shiori didn't answer. She looked fine, albeit her face having turned a concerning shade of red.
The door opened slightly, and a familiar pink head out from behind it. "Is one of you murdering the other? You're making a lot of noise..."
Yachiyo took in the scene in front of her and smirked. "Oh my~"
Michiru did an acrobatics routine that would make Frontier's Lalafin sweat. "This isn't what it looks like!" she said, as would anyone found accidentally pinning their kouhai to the floor.
"I had no idea you were such a carnivore, Michiru-senpai. Well, Shiori doesn't seem to mind, so I'll leave you to your canoodling." She laughed as she closed the door again.
"Wait! Get back here, you!" There was no telling if Yachiyo had genuinely mistaken what she'd seen, or if she was just starting shit. Either way, she'd be telling everyone who'd listen about what she'd witnessed. Michiru had to stop her. For the honour of the Edels. She couldn't let anyone think that she would... do that kind of thing... with Shiori...
Blushing as hard as Shiori now, Michiru tried to get up and chase after Yachiyo. No sooner was she on her feet again than she found herself being pulled back down. She landed in Shiori's lap and was held in place by two surprisingly strong arms around her waist.
"Wh-what are you doing? I need to clear up things with Yachiyo."
"Clear up what?" Shiori's voice was small, yet Michiru could feel it all through her body. "Weren't you trying to convince people that you're an apex predator?"
"Not like that!" How had Michiru allowed herself to get into this situation? "I need to go talk to Yachiyo."
"Trying to run away? Looks like you're the prey animal now, Michiru-senpai."
Michiru's heart rate skyrocketed. So much for being the scary one. The embrace was overwhelming, and she gasped when her kouhai started nuzzling her. "Sh-Sh-Shiori!?"
"I won't let you go until you admit that you're cute." She sounded serious despite the absurdity of the situation. The heat radiating off her face (her face was so close!) suggested that she was just as flustered as Michiru, but she showed no signs of letting up.
Michiru clenched her jaw. She wouldn't give into Shiori's cuteness. It was precisely because Shiori was cute that she had to maintain her position. Shiori was the cute one, not her!
Yachiyo knew quite well that Michiru would never pounce on a kouhai like that. Not without filling out a Seduction Approval form first. It was far more likely that Shiori would be the one to make the first move. You could only invite a girl to so many private tea parties before getting impatient with your intended's obliviousness, after all.
Be that as it may, Yachiyo never missed a chance to tease her fellow Edels.
"Michiru-san would never do something like that!" Mei Fan said as the Edels headed toward Shiori's dorm room.
"You must be mistaken," Akira agreed. "Perhaps Michiru was just helping Shiori stretch, as she often does."
So many inappropriate comments to make, so little time. "Just wait and see. If we don't interrupt them, who knows what they might get up to. We can't let the Edels' reputation be sullied by premarital hand-holding."
Mei Fan covered her face in embarrassment. "Shiori's too young for that!"
The trio stopped outside Shiori's room and listened for signs of something untoward happening inside. They didn't have to listen too closely to hear voices steadily rising in volume.
"You're the cute one!"
"No, you're the cute one, Michiru-senpai!"
"For the last time, you're the cute one, Shiori!"
Yachiyo frowned. "What kind of nonsense is this?" Ever the nosy one, she threw open the door to see what exactly Michiru and Shiori were doing.
What they were doing was cuddling. Michiru was sitting in Shiori's lap—or perhaps trapped there. Their flushed faces were only an inch apart. Any closer and they'd be kissing.
"This is the weirdest courtship ritual I've ever seen," Yachiyo said. Mei Fan and Akira were speechless.
The cuddlers turned in unison. Michiru let out a verbal keysmash at having been caught in another compromising position with her kouhai. Shiori recovered quicker than her senpai.
"Help us settle this: Michiru-senpai is cute, right?"
"No, Shiori's the cute one!"
Mei Fan and Akira were too baffled to answer, so the burden fell on Yachiyo to sort things out.
"Maybe I'm missing something here, but is there a reason you can't both be cute?" The pair didn't appear to have a response to that, so Yachiyo decided to drive home the point. "How about you two compromise and become a cute couple?"
"What?" Michiru looked back and forth between Yachiyo and her captor, growing increasingly flustered. Was she finally realizing that dating Shiori was an option?
"Only if Michiru-senpai admits she's cute," Shiori said adamantly.