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It all started when Makoto mentioned her college’s student council.
Ann and Shiho were on a group date with Makoto and Haru at a kitschy dessert cafe on the south side of Ginza. They were sharing a strawberry and chocolate cake with frosting roses and little cookie straws planted on the top, and despite its enormous size it looked like they were going to finish it with room for more. Ann snagged another bite for herself as the girl ranted about her school administration.
“And do you know what they told me when I suggested making condoms and STD testing easier for students to access?” Makoto said furiously. “They said that they didn’t have the budget!”
“They didn’t have the budget for condoms?” Shiho asked incredulously. She had worn her best shirt and shorts for the occasion, and Ann wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Apparently so,” the fellow black-haired girl answered, sipping on her drink furiously. She was wearing a leather jacket over a blouse and jeans, and Ann had to admit that she loved both the outfit and the girl’s sharp undercut. “Never mind that I can go on the Internet and buy them for fifty cents each, and that’s not even in bulk. I’ve never heard a more ridiculous excuse in my life.”
“I think I’ve heard exactly one more ridiculous excuse,” Haru said, sporting a lavender dress and a brown cardigan. “It was when a hedge fund manager said he wasn’t interested in companies run by women because they were less productive for a few days every month.”
“What’s his name so I can punch him?” Shiho asked furiously.
“Hey, I thought we said no violence on the date!” Ann said as she gave her girlfriend a joking glare.
Shiho smiled and put a dollop of whipped cream in her mouth. “I’m not going to punch him on the date, babe. Afterwards, maybe.”
“Don’t worry, Shiho,” Haru said with a mysterious expression. “I’ve already taken care of him.”
“Alrighty then. Murder victims aside,” Ann said as she turned back to Makoto and pulled a strand of blonde hair away from her face, “you got them to change their minds, right?”
“Yes, I did,” she answered. “I wrote a survey to collect student information with Haru’s help, then used the information to sway the university in my favor.” Makoto sighed at the thought of the effort she had put in. “It took me nearly two months, but I got the policy change through.”
“And it took me a whole week to convince her to let me take her to dinner to celebrate,” Haru said with a pout. “She kept talking about it wasn’t that big of a deal, even though I saw how much work she put onto it.”
“I’m glad you’re here to remind me that my accomplishments are more important than I realize,” Makoto said with a contented smile.
“Good job, Haru,” Shiho said as she watched the couple exchange a short kiss. “Never letting your girlfriend down.”
“And for good reason!” Ann grabbed a chocolate straw from the top of her slice and nibbled off the top. “Even if it wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, the fact that you pushed it through just goes to show how determined you are, Makoto. It’s very attractive, to be honest.”
Makoto looked at Ann like she was speaking French.
“Um…” Ann swallowed the food in her mouth slowly, confused at Makoto’s sudden change in attitude. “Did I say something?”
Shiho giggled. “I think it’s because you called her ‘attractive,’ Ann.”
And yeah, that would explain the sudden blush in Makoto’s cheeks. That girl never could take a compliment, and Ann found it ridiculously adorable. Or at least, she would have if she wasn’t being wildly misinterpreted by everyone at the table.
“I didn’t mean that I found it sexually or romantic attractive,” Ann quickly clarified. “After all—”
“Then what did you mean?” Shiho asked.
“I hope you’re not suggesting that Makoto is unattractive,” Haru said with a glint in her eyes.
“Come on, you know that I don’t mean that, Haru. I mean, have you looked at Makoto?” She gestured at the woman with an extended palm. “She’s hot as hell.”
The CEO took a sip of her drink as Makoto’s face deepened three shades of red. “Uh, thank you, Ann.”
“Wait, not like that either,” Ann said as she suddenly understood the meaning of the phrase digging your own grave. “I mean, obviously you’re attractive, but it’s not like I’m interested. I already have a girlfriend.” She grabbed Shiho’s hand and lifted it in the air to prove a point. “And that isn’t what I like most about you anyway.”
“Oh?” Shiho asked, her chin braced against her hand as she leaned towards Ann slightly. “What do you like about her, then?”
“Why do you keep asking me these questions?” Ann said, well aware that she was getting almost as flustered as Makoto currently was—and Makoto, who was looking between Shiho and Ann in confusion, was very flustered.
“I’m just curious,” Shiho said as she raised her eyebrows. “You’re not getting nervous, are you?”
The blonde wasn’t going to back down from a challenge like that, even though she currently wanted to shrink into the bright red hoodie she was currently wearing. “Of course not! It’s just…”
Ann took a deep breath and calmed herself down before giving Makoto a gentle, nonthreatening look. “You’re just so fierce about the things you care about. Once your mind is set on something, you won’t stop until either it’s done or you’re done. Like, you know how unusual that is, right? Combine that with your no-nonsense attitude and your wicked brain, and you’re basically unstoppable.”
Alright, this wasn’t helping either of them. Makoto was now as embarrassed as Ann had ever seen her, and Ann could feel her heart racing in her chest too. God, her own body was betraying her. It wasn’t Ann’s fault that Makoto had a jaw carved like a statue, or that her red eyes sparkled like gemstones, or that her voice was so soft that Ann couldn’t help but…
Oh.
Oh.
“That…” Haru’s mouth was slightly agape. “That was really nice of you, Ann.”
“It’s nothing! Nothing,” Ann said as she averted her eyes and grabbed another slice of cake, not even daring to look anyone else at the table in the eye. “You just wanted me to be honest, and so I was.”
“I wonder if it’s someone else’s turn to be honest,” Shiho said with a smirk.
Ann’s arm froze with her fork still in her hand.
Shiho and Haru both directed their gazes towards Makoto, who had almost settled down just a moment before and was now jolted back into relevancy. “Wh-what?”
“I mean, Ann was just so nice to you, dear,” Haru said, batting her eyelashes slowly. “I think it’s only fair that you do the same thing, right?”
Makoto’s attention flicked between everyone at the table before settling on Ann. “I mean, if Ann doesn’t mind…”
“Oh, of course!” Ann said, pasting the most laidback mien she could muster onto her face. “Who would I be if I couldn’t take a little compliment?” I’m so fucked.
“In that case…” Makoto paused for just a moment and tilted her head, clearly thinking of the right words to say. She was so cute when she was thinking hard like this, it made Ann want to—react totally normally. Like a normal best friend would to compliments. Not like she had just realized she had a crush on someone other than her girlfriend. No sir.
The tactician cleared her throat.
“I think the thing that you possess more than anything else, Ann, is confidence.”
“Really?” Ann said, surprised that that was it. “I don’t feel like I’m great at anything I do, to be honest.”
“I’m talking about your confidence in yourself.” Makoto’s eyes moved to the streak of black in Ann’s hair, which she’d recently dyed in to the consternation of her fashion agent. “You’re never afraid to just be who you are, to show the whole world who Ann Takamaki is. I could never even imagine being on the cover of fashion magazines, and yet you manage to do it every month and look beautiful all the time.”
Ann could feel the sweat beading on her brow.
“The way you face the world unafraid, despite your sexuality being frowned upon… The way you use your own confidence to lift other people up… It’s so inspiring to me,” Makoto concluded. “I think about it almost every day.”
She gave Ann the sweetest smile she’d ever seen from the girl.
And then both of them looked away from each other as quickly as possible.
“That was… That was so fucking wholesome,” Ann said to nobody in particular, her hands covering her face. “I’m gonna explode, Makoto.”
“Well, it’s all true,” the girl replied as she brought her head back up. “Honestly, if Haru wasn’t in my life, I’d probably—”
The two of them gave each other a look of pure horror.
And then Shiho started cackling like a maniac from her seat at the table.
“Oh my god,” she said between gasps as she finally settled down after a solid thirty seconds of laughter. “We didn’t even have to force the issue, Haru!”
“I told you they’d get to it themselves,” Haru said as she took a bite of cake. “They’re both too honest to dance around it when they’re stuck together.”
Makoto turned to her girlfriend with a wide-eyed expression. “Wait… You mean—”
“You set us up!” Ann realized as her head whipped towards Shiho.
“I mean, yeah,” Shiho said as she wiped a piece of cream off of Ann’s face. “You two have been giving each other these yearning looks for like, months now.”
“Are we really—”
“Yes, Ann, we’re that obvious,” Makoto said in defeat. “Haru is remarkably perceptive when it comes to things like this, and we all know how well your girlfriend knows you.”
The brunette gave Ann a knowing smile. “Shiho and I decided we should have you two acknowledge it sooner rather than later before it ate you up inside.”
“You two are the worst,” Ann groaned as she reached for her drink and took a sip.
“I agree. Although… now what do we do?” Makoto asked.
Shiho grinned. “Well, you kiss, obviously.”
Ann turned her head to the right and sprayed her mouthful of soda onto the ground.
“You’re the one who mentioned you were okay with polyamory a while back,” Shiho argued as Ann wiped her mouth with a napkin and Makoto went as pale as a whiteboard.
“Yeah, but that was—I wasn’t saying we had to do it,” Ann stammered. “And what about Makoto?”
“I… may have told Haru the same thing last year,” Makoto admitted. “Although Haru said she was unsure at the time.”
“That was true at first,” Haru sad. “But the more I thought about it, the more appealing it seemed. I do like all of you a whole lot, and Mako-chan always says it’s unfair that all my kindness goes to just one person. Why not share it with a few more?”
She gave Ann and Shiho a greedy grin that made the two of them shiver.
“And you, Shiho?” Ann asked, turning to her girlfriend.
“Well…” It was Shiho’s turn to go bright red. “I mean, you know how cute Makoto and Haru are.”
“I mean, yeah, but—”
The realization hit Ann like a truck, and Makoto picked up on it as well. “You two developed crushes on each other around the same time we did, didn’t you?” the student council member asked.
“Look, you try not getting enamored with the girl who makes you free coffee whenever you watch reality shows together,” Shiho protested.
“Wow,” Ann said, giving off an exaggerated scoff. “I cannot believe you’ve fallen in love with another woman. In fact, I’m so upset that I’m going to have to get revenge somehow.”
Then Ann leaned across the table and pulled Makoto into a passionate, movie-screen kiss.
Ann had known that kissing Makoto would be an entirely different experience from kissing Shiho; after all, her (first? original?) girlfriend was a uniquely good kisser, as Ann had discovered after being forced to touch lips with another model for a commercial once. Kissing Shiho was like having a blast of fresh air pouring into your lungs, where you forgot to breathe because it felt so good. Ann made sure to smooch the athlete at least once a day and wished she could do it even more.
But kissing Makoto was entirely different in a way Ann felt like she couldn’t describe. The older girl was uncertain as first, nervous about what was an unexpected event—not that Ann had expected it either, she just happened to be the initiator. But then something in her posture shifted and Makoto grabbed Ann’s collar and became so eager. It was like there was this furnace roaring in her mouth, and she was desperate to pull you in and share it with you until you were just as warm as she was.
She definitely didn’t want that kiss any more than she wanted Shiho. But as she let herself be completely enraptured by Makoto and the excitement of the moment, she knew that the heat flooding into her face would be even better if she could share it with the people she cared about.
“Okay, sheesh,” Shiho said as she yanked them apart after a few moments. “Makoto was about to start using tongue.”
Makoto’s sheepish look told Ann that Shiho had been right. “Maybe later?” Ann suggested.
And Makoto… oh my god, her smile was almost as ravenous as Haru’s had been. “If you’d like.”
“So, I was thinking we could go to Haru’s mansion after this,” Shiho said as she gave the embarrassed Ann a comforting pat on the shoulder. “You know, get some personal time as girlfriends, now that it’s official.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful!” Haru said, a certain sensuality belieing the cheer in her voice. “I have a bed big enough for all of four of us, after all.”
“It’s ridiculously comfortable,” Makoto said as Ann gave the girl an eager look. “Haru doesn’t like to splurge, but she doesn’t go to sleep to easily, so I made sure she got the best bed money could buy.”
“I, uh…” Ann’s laugh was nervous at first before shifting into something more comfortable than she’d anticipated. “That sounds amazing, Haru.”
“Of course,” Haru said with a sly grin.
Ann gazed at that enticing expression and prepared herself to fall in love with yet another girl.