Work Text:
Ai Hayasaka laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was thinking about Fujiwara.
Again.
Normally she wouldn't dwell on something so minor for so long, but...
What the hell does 'I'm straight for now!' mean?
She groaned and pulled her blanket over her head.
It wasn't like it really mattered to her anyway, she was straight too! She just got caught up in the moment.
And Fujiwara was the one who brought up kissing in the first place!
…but that didn't explain why she was still thinking about kissing her. It's not that strange to think that about your friends, right?
Whatever, she could figure it out in the morning when her head was clearer. She'd probably be over it by then.
Waking up the next morning, she was decidedly not over it.
It wouldn't have been an issue if her subconscious hadn't given her a dream that very prominently featured Fujiwara.
It's perfectly natural for teenagers to end up having dreams that involve making out with friends, she was just letting herself be close to people for the first time, and she wasn't accustomed to getting enough sleep, so her dreams were all over the place.
...she sounds like Kaguya. But it’s different!
Kaguya and Shirogane both had obvious mutual attraction, they were just stubborn idiots — her and Fujiwara, on the other hand, very clearly don’t have anything mutual.
Ai sighed to herself as she walked out the door, starting her commute to school.
This was a passing infatuation at most, Fujiwara was simply a convenient choice of partner if either of them happened to feel that way, that’s all.
And she literally ran away from her at every opportunity after the… incident, so it was clear she did not feel that way.
Which obviously didn't matter anyway.
Ai stopped a little past the Shinomiya estate and idly took out her phone, still thinking about Fujiwara. Maybe she could text her?
No, it would be weird to text someone this early in the day, it was like an admittance you woke up thinking about them.
...she sounds even more like Kaguya.
“Good morning, Ai!”
She glanced up to see the girl herself smiling at her, “Morning Kaguya, are you ready?”
She nodded, and the pair began walking to school together.
After a short amount of comfortable silence between the two, Hayasaka looked at Shinomiya, “It’s normal to dream about kissing your friends, right?”
It became a far less comfortable silence as Kaguya stared blankly, “I didn’t know you felt that way, but I’m afraid I-”
“It wasn’t about you, idiot.”
“Right, that makes more sense. ...who was it?”
Ai glanced at the ground, blushing, “That’s irrelevant, just answer my question.”
“No, it’s not normal to dream about kissing a friend, a crush on the other hand-”
“I don’t have a crush on h- Them!”
She scrutinised Ai, before sighing, “You sound just like I used to. Can you at least tell me who it is you don’t have a crush on?”
Hayasaka crossed her arms and faced away, “It’s none of your business.”
Kaguya rolled her eyes, and Hayasaka felt a wave of fondness at how expressive she had become, "You can’t just say you dreamt about kissing someone and not give any details! Is he good-looking? Do I know him?”
She dropped her arms, clenching her fists tightly, “They’re very… cute.”
“Ooo, so can you tell me vague details like that? Like… Hair colour?”
“...I definitely can’t tell you that.”
Kaguya stopped in her tracks, her voice turning icy, “Do you like the President?”
Ai held back the shiver that went through her, “No! I don’t have a death wish. Why would you even think that?”
“Well, if your crush had black or brown hair then there would be no issue with telling me. The fact that you can’t specify hair colour implies that it's irregular, and one of the only men we both know with strange coloured hair is the President.”
She rolled her eyes, mimicking her earlier stance, “Your conclusion is based on a lot of assumptions.”
"Well, it's not like you've given me much to work with!"
"That's intentional, I don't need you meddling in my love life. Especially after how long it took you to confess to Shirogane."
"And yet I'm the one who actually has a boyfriend."
Ai winced internally. There might be more than one reason for that.
Kaguya smiled at her as they arrived at school, "Still, if you're in need of love advice I know just the person!"
Hayasaka remembered Fujiwara's ridiculous 'Love Detective' persona and prepared to bolt.
"Kashiwagi, in our year, she gives great advice! She can probably help you out if you won't tell me."
Ai thought for a moment, and quickly decided that was out of the question. Kashiwagi knows far too much about the Incident with Fujiwara.
Not to mention, the last time she spoke to Kashiwagi, she offered to kiss her... and called her cool.
She could feel her face turning red as she mutters, "That's… probably not the best idea."
Kaguya gasped, "Do you like Kashiwagi's boyfriend?"
"You're still way off."
She shook her head, "I'll figure it out. Even if I have to get the whole student council to help!"
"Don't do that! That... would be a waste of everyone's time."
Kaguya had already begun walking to the student council room, so Ai followed her, still pleading, "You all must have better things to do??"
Shinomiya stared into the distance, recalling the past two years, which mostly comprised of the student council wasting time, "You would be surprised."
Kaguya entered the room, dragging Hayasaka with her. Much to her dismay, only Fujiwara was currently in the room.
She glanced up, noticing her, "Hey there, Hayasaka!"
Ai felt her cheeks heating up slightly, but remained stoic, "Good morning, Fujiwara."
Kaguya sat Hayasaka down next to Chika before she had a chance to make a run for freedom, and put herself opposite them.
"Treasurer Fujiwara, I have important news. Hayasaka has a crush!"
She gasped at her, eyes going sparkly, which did nothing to help her, "The two of you came to the right place!"
She pulled a detective hat out from between the cushions, "Love Detective Chika is on the case!"
Kaguya tilted her head, "Was that rhyme intentional?"
She giggled as she shrugged, and Hayasaka felt her life flash before her eyes. It's just a sound. She has to pull herself together.
"So, Hayasaka, what exactly is your issue?"
She didn't reply, instead focusing her gaze on the table.
It was a very nice quality.
Kaguya sighed, apparently taking her unresponsiveness as a cue to step in, "She had a dream about kissing a 'friend' of hers, and I want to figure out who it is, so I can help her out."
Hayasaka glanced up, undeniably curious of how Fujiwara would react, and was surprised to see her fidgeting. There was even a blush rising on her face.
She hadn't figured it out, had she? There's no way that she could have, with such little information.
Fujiwara briefly met her eyes, then looked away again, "You're still interested in kissing then, Hayasaka?"
Kaguya blinked, "Still?"
The other two sat in silence for a few beats too long.
She could feel the tension simmering and decided to rip off the bandaid, "There was an... incident a while ago. Involving Fujiwara and I. Which, really, was entirely your fault, Kaguya!"
"My fault!?"
"You wouldn't shut up about kissing, and how great it was, and how amazing your relationship with Shirogane is, and then Fujiwara saw you two being all… romantic, which led to… It."
Fujiwara gasped, "That was you and Prez I saw?"
Kaguya ignored Fujiwara, "You're still being so vague!"
"Hayasaka tried to kiss me!"
"Only after you were talking about how much you wanted someone to steal a kiss from you!"
"Then you chased me all around school-"
"I was just trying to clear things up, you were the one who kept assuming things and running away!"
Shinomiya watched the back and forth with a dazed expression, her brain whirring into action as she pieced together all of the details she'd picked up on.
"That's just because-"
Kaguya suddenly interrupted, "You like Fujiwara?"
The pair immediately stopped in their tracks.
"HUH?" Chika looked between the two of them frantically.
Hayasaka desperately avoided eye contact with anyone, clinging to the last of her denial, "Wh- Why would you think that?"
"To begin with, when I referred to your crush as 'he' you tensed up, which I didn't immediately realise, and even after that you kept all of your descriptions gender-neutral. Then you refused to tell me their hair colour, and since Fujiwara is the only person we know with bright pink hair, it would be a dead giveaway. Also, you described them as "cute" which is one of Fujiwara's most common descriptors. And now there’s the new information that you attempted to kiss her, which you never told me!"
Hayasaka stared down at her lap, hands scrunching up the edge of her skirt as she held it tightly. There was no way for her to refute it after Kaguya laid out all the facts, not to mention her own obvious reactions.
And... She didn’t want to spend all her time lying anymore. She was sicking of faking every second of her life.
Instead she would just sit there, and wait for Fujiwara to call her a creep, or just run away screaming again.
After a few seconds without a response, Ai risked looking up.
Fujiwara was staring at her, jaw slack.
"You actually- You like me? You weren't just..."
Hayasaka blinked, then nodded hesitantly.
She glanced away, a goofy smile across her face, and cleared her throat, "Y’know, I wouldn’t mind if...”
Chika looked back, her gaze drifting to Ai’s lips. She got the message.
The kiss went much more smoothly than her first attempt, but was cut short by a squeak across the table.
Hayasaka looked over after they broke apart, Kaguya was beet red and staring at the two of them as if they were the most scandalous thing she'd ever seen. Hypocrite.
She touched her hand against her cheek to regain her composure, “I would quite appreciate it if you two would be more aware of your surroundings before you begin… Something like that.”
Chika buried her face in her hands to hide her blush, mumbling something about karma.
Hayasaka didn't bother masking her deadpan stare, “Yeah, like you and Shirogane are?”
Kaguya ignored her remark, “In any case, I’m glad you’ve..resolved things? It's surprising, to say the least, but I am happy for the both of you.”
As Chika removed her hands from her face, Ai slowly inched her own hand over. They met in the middle, wordlessly intertwining their hands between them.
The two of them faced away from each other, smiling softly to themselves.
For once, Hayasaka was barely thinking at all. She could get used to it.