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Fumi groaned. She stretched her neck from side to side, trying to bring either ear as close to her shoulders as possible and falling short only halfway there. The pain made her stop.
“My neck is killing me,” Fumi muttered to the empty break room at Kappo Tomoye. She was thankful for the job, and forever grateful to Tamao and her family for the opportunity, but waiting tables after a hard day of practice strained her body. It wouldn’t be so bad if she hadn’t been sleeping so terribly for the last week. However, the cause of that problem had been resolved recently, so things were looking up.
But not too far up—her neck was really sore.
It was already dark out by the time she returned to her apartment. Tamao wouldn’t let her leave the restaurant without having a meal first, so she didn’t even have to cook for herself. She could pass out as soon as she was inside and get some well-deserved rest.
Or so she thought.
“Um, welcome home, Fumi-senpai.”
Rui was sitting at her table, reading a book by the light of a lamp. Fumi could only stare at her, too stunned from work to react. Eventually she let out a breath, locked the door behind her, and flicked on the overhead light. “Should I be concerned about how you got in?”
“Ichie-senpai lent me her key.”
Of course. Leave it up to her best friend to keep things lively for her. “And why exactly are you here on a school night?” Not that Rui was in the habit of showing up on the weekend. Not yet.
“Well, when you texted me from work you said you were tired and sore all over, so I came over to see if there’s anything I can do to help.” Rui gave her puppy-dog eyes.
How could Fumi say no to that? “Fine. Did you bring stuff with you so you can stay over? I can’t send you back when it’s this late.”
Rui held up a backpack. “I’m all prepared!”
Fumi wasn’t sure she could say the same. After all, it would be the first time Rui stayed the night since they started dating.
Nobody expected it to happen, least of all Fumi. Her infatuation with Rui came hard and fast, hitting her like an eighteen-wheeler at the end of the Onikurenai performance when she realized that their one-on-one practice sessions were at an end. No more heated fight rehearsals and wiping off each other’s sweat afterward; no more Rui looking only at her with those intense, rose-coloured eyes. She’d made peace with the prospect of Rui not returning her feelings in favour of her crush on Tamao, and she was content just being at Rui’s side.
Nevertheless, it had been difficult to listen to her gush about someone else.
“Tamao-senpai is just so wonderful!” Rui had said dreamily one afternoon after practice. Tamao had surprised the girls with donuts as a treat, and Rui had her head so far in the clouds that it was technically in orbit. She hadn’t even removed her donut from its bag yet. “I wish she were my girlfriend, then I could spoil her all the time.”
Fumi punched the vending machines buttons and ended up getting a can of black coffee instead of what she wanted, but that’s what she deserved for being bitter. “Why don’t you ask her out then?” she asked in an artificially level voice as she popped open her can.
“What if she doesn’t want to date me? What if nobody wants to date me? I’ll die alone!”
Were it not for her friend’s genuine anxiety, Fumi would’ve laughed. Plenty of girls in Rui’s year would jump at the chance of dating her, to say nothing of the senpai who would snatch her up in a second. As one of those senpai, she couldn’t resist teasing.
“I’d date you.”
Fumi went for a casual tone, with a hint of teasing, to make Rui either ignore her comment or get flustered. Instead her crush’s face went blank, as if she’d been told everything she’d ever believed was a lie.
“R-really?”
Fuck, Fumi thought. I can’t back down now. It wouldn’t be fair to her crush to lie to her just to get herself out of a sticky situation. Rui was worried no one would like her the way she liked Tamao; Fumi couldn’t pull the rug out from under her right after giving her some hope. So instead she took a deep breath and steeled herself for rejection.
“I wouldn’t lie about something like that,” she said, desperately trying to play it cool. She hoped Rui didn’t notice her hand was shaking. “I was just putting it out there. Just in case you... y’know... whatever...” She hid behind her can of coffee by taking a sip of the bitter drink.
Rui’s face turned bright red in a way only Tamao had triggered up till then. She looked around wildly,
her hands worrying away at the paper bag holding the donut. Her rosy eyes finally settled back on Fumi, and she said, bashfully, “I’ll consider your offer.”
PFFFFFFT
A jet of black coffee sprayed from Fumi’s mouth—luckily away from Rui. Consideration was infinitely more than she expected—but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get rejected. Better not to give herself false hope.
Fumi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Um, thank you, Rui. I, uh, have to go to work soon. See you tomorrow!”
She left before she could do any more uncool things in front of the kouhai she was infatuated with. The rest of her coffee went down smoother, and perhaps a little bit sweeter.
The following morning Rui sought out Fumi before classes began. She pulled her aside to the same courtyard where Fumi had confessed to her—a vending machine wasn’t the best backdrop for a romantic moment, but it is what it was.
Rui looked downward at her nervously shuffling feet, her fingers still clinging to Fumi’s sleeve. “Um, I thought about what you said yesterday, Fumi-senpai, and... well...” She raised her head and her eye’s met Fumi’s, shy yet determined. “I’d like to try dating you! If, um, that’s what you want.”
“A-are you sure?”
“I think so—I mean, yes. When you said you’d date me, I was so shocked. I never realized you felt that way about me, and I hadn’t thought about you that way before. Um, there have been times during practice when you made my heart race a bit, and sometimes it seemed like you were giving me special attention but I was sure it was just my imagination.” Rui chuckled awkwardly. “By the time I got back to the dorms I was sure that I misinterpreted what you said, but Yuyuko sorted me out. She told me if I was going to be a useless lesbian she’d lock me out of our room.” Another nervous chuckle.
Fumi made a mental note to send Yuyuko flowers. Or a luxury pillow.
But there was still one thing she needed an answer for. “What about...” Deep breath. “What about Tamao?”
“Oh...” Rui’s smile faltered. “It’s not like my feelings for her have gone away, but I thought about it a lot last night and I want to try dating you anyway, if that’s okay. You’re important to me too, and what if I miss out on a great relationship with you because I’m holding out for Tamao-senpai? If I were in your shoes, confessing to my crush, I’d be happy with just a chance to make her happy, even if she had feelings for someone else.”
“I can work with that,” Fumi said, regaining a bit of her confidence. She took Rui’s chin in her hand, privately wishing she were taller than her kouhai so the gesture would be more in line with the clichés. “I’ll make you fall for me before you know it.”
Rui’s skin blushed beneath her touch. “I-I’ll be in your care.”
And so began their tentative relationship, which they inaugurated that afternoon with a casual date at Rui’s favourite donut shop. Not much had changed between them so far in the week they’d been dating, but it was enough for her. She had told herself that her feelings for Rui were just an infatuation, that it didn’t matter if they were returned since they weren’t that deep, but she couldn’t have imagined how happy dating Rui would make her.
And now Rui was going to be staying at her apartment overnight, and suddenly Fumi’s crush felt incredibly deep.
“I’ll make you some tea,” Rui said, getting up quickly and heading for the kitchen.
“You’re a guest, I can’t let you do that.”
Rui pouted. “I’m also your girlfriend , and I want to take care of you, so lie down and rest for now.”
“Okay, okay.” How could she say no to a face like that? Fumi lay down on the floor, resting her head on a cushion and rubbing at her sore neck with her fingers.
She almost fell asleep, but Rui woke her up when she set two cups of tea down on the table next to her. Stretching like a cat, Fumi sat up quickly and ended up face to face with her girlfriend.
“Um, the tea’s ready,” Rui said, blushing brilliantly before staring down at her own cup.
“Thanks.” Fumi shuffled into a sitting position closer to the table—closer to Rui as well. She took a sip of the tea—delicious—and massaged her neck again.
Rui took notice. “You said in your texts that your neck was hurting. Is there something wrong?”
The concern in her eyes made Fumi soften—not enough to fix her neck problem though. “It’s just stiff. I’ve been neglecting my posture while working and studying, and I had trouble sleeping until recently,” Fumi explained. “I’d toss and turn and wake up with a sore neck from settling in a terrible sleeping position.”
“But it’s better now?” Rui asked. “What changed?”
“I’m not staying up all night worrying about my feelings for you anymore.” Fumi winked.
Rui hid her face in her hands. “Fumi-senpai, that’s not fair.”
“My body is killing me, let me have the small luxury of teasing you.”
“Where else hurts?”
“My legs are a bit sore too, and my shoulders and back are a bit stiff as well, but I’ll live.”
“You know, um...” Rui bit her lip. “I could give you a massage, if that would, uh, help you feel better.”
It was Fumi’s turn to blush. A massage from her girlfriend? She’d be a fool to pass it up. “Well, since you’re offering...”
They finished their tea and Fumi changed into her sleep clothes, a thin camisole and a pair of shorts. When she returned to the room, she lay down on the floor again, this time on her stomach. She closed her eyes and tried not to think too hard about the massage.
She heard Rui move down by her feet. “Um, I’m going to start with your legs.”
“Go ahead.” Fumi wouldn’t have sounded so cavalier if she knew what she was in for.
Rui laid her hands on Fumi’s calves and started working away at the tension in her muscles; Fumi just about melted on the spot. Had Rui’s hands always been this strong? All the stress from standing around at work for hours evacuated her legs in a matter of minutes. It felt good. Too good. She had to grit her teeth to keep herself from making unflattering noises.
“Um, is this helping?”
“Yep.” The single clipped syllable was the only sound Fumi would allow herself to make; she would die on the spot if she let out a moan right then.
“Are your thighs sore too? Do you want me to massage them too?”
“No. I mean, I’m fine.” Her “fine” was an octave higher than her other words. How is she cool with touching my thighs? Fumi marvelled. Is she just professional when it comes to massages, or is she not physically attracted to me at all?
“Okay. I’ll move up to your back then.”
She neglected to mention that she would be starting with Fumi’s lower back. Rui put her body’s weight behind her arms as she worked her hands over the body beneath her.
Fumi tried to restrain her reactions, but she couldn’t focus on anything but the way she could feel her girlfriend's hands through her camisole, undoing all the stress in her body.
“Is there somewhere on your back you’d like me to focus on?”
“Shoulders. My shoulders.” Fumi clenched her jaw to keep a moan from slipping out. Even though this time she knew where she would be touched next, she still wasn’t prepared for the way Rui’s hands pressed into the bare skin of her shoulders, dissolving knots wherever she found them. Had Fumi died and gone to heaven? Of course not. She hadn’t done anything remotely worthy of receiving this treatment.
“I’m moving to your neck now.”
Fumi only nodded this time; she didn’t trust herself not to let out any weird noises. She almost broke when Rui’s fingers pressed into the soreness in her neck. If she hadn’t already been crushing on Rui, she would have fallen for her right then and there. The massage felt amazing, overwhelming. Her noises could only be contained for so long, and they began escaping as little sighs, but thankfully Rui didn’t react to them.
After not nearly enough time, Rui lifted her hands away from Fumi’s neck, and Fumi almost cried out with longing for those magic fingers.
“Is that good for now?” Rui asked, oblivious to Fumi’s reaction.
“That was plenty.” A gross understatement. Any more of that and she’d end up proposing. This was a dangerous situation for her. On one hand, her body felt like brand new; on the other hand, she was hot and bothered over her girlfriend running her hands all over her body.
Fumi propped herself up on her elbows, exhaling deeply to try to let all the built-up heat in her body. Her sigh sounded a little more erotic than she’d meant. Breathless and no better off than before, she turned herself over like a well-done pancake and looked up at Rui, which was a mistake. Her crush was looming over her in a way that evoked certain immodest thoughts.
As it happened, Rui wasn’t as unaffected as she’d thought; her face was bright red, her hands held out in front of her as if she didn’t know what to do with them. Or where to put them. Fumi could only smile at that reaction.
“That was incredible, Rui,” she breathed. “Is there anything I can do for you in return?”
“I’m good!” Rui squeaked. “I’m happy just helping you feel better. You don’t need to do anything for me!”
“Oh?” Fumi smirked. “In that case, could you do me another favour?”
“Anything!”
“How about a kiss?”
Fumi couldn’t help but chuckle at Rui as her entire body flushed, steam pouring out of her ears. “I, um, that’s sly of you, Fumi-senpai...”
“Don’t worry,” Fumi said. “I was just teasing. You don’t need to—”
But Rui was already leaning forward, planting her hands on either side of Fumi. Their bodies drew closer, Rui’s face stopping just short of touching Fumi’s, barely an inch between them. “You don’t want to kiss me?”
Fumi’s body already felt hot, but now she was on the verge of overheating and passing out. “Of c-course I want to kiss you... but I know your feelings aren’t as strong as mine.”
“Maybe.” Determination lit up Rui’s eyes, the same determination that made Fumi fall for her. “But right now I... I think you’re really hot, and I want to kiss you really badly!”
“Oh.” Fumi blinked as Rui leaned in closer. “ Oh. ”
Their lips came together. Tentatively at first, then more fervently. Fumi let out a little sigh. Even though she’d started dating her crush, she hadn’t anticipated kissing to happen so soon, maybe not at all. It wasn’t at all like she’d imagined it would be. Whenever she’d fantasized about her first crush with Rui, their lips would crash together during fight practice when the tension between them became too much. This was much nicer.
Fumi wanted to deepen the kiss, to do so much more, but she didn’t want to scare Rui off.
She leaned back onto her elbows, breaking off the kiss. Rui started forward—seemingly by instinct—to recapture her lips. Her eyes shot open and she panicked, flopping onto the floor to Fumi’s side. “I, um, sorry!”
“You don’t need to apologize, I’m the one who’s worried she can’t control her own thirst.” Fumi reached out and stroked Rui’s hair. “So how was it? The kiss?”
Rui buried her face in her arms. “It was really good.”
“It really was.” Fumi chuckled again, partially from relief. She wasn’t sure she’d hooked Rui yet, but it was a start. “I’m ready to pass out after that massage. Shall we get ready to sleep soon?”
“I’m pretty worn out too,” Rui said. “Thank you for letting me stay here overnight and for taking care of me.” Always so polite.
Fumi, however, wasn’t modest. “Did I mention I only have one futon?”
Rui squeaked. “You’re a little too sly, Fumi-senpai.”