Archive of Our Own

inside the practically empty school building, in a classroom far away from the remaining students, sat a girl staring out the window. more specifically, fujiyoshi karin. she was in her second year in sakurazaka high school for girls. out of the window was a beautiful view of each of the different sports fields and courts. closest to karin was the tennis courts, currently hosting their after school doubles practice. to the right of it was the basketball courts. then behind the two was a sandpit used for the volleyball club in summer to train them in beach volleyball as well. despite the heat, the athletics club was practicing in the sports hall considering the volleyball club wasn’t using the space.

you see, sakurazaka high was primarily for students wanting to become pro, or at least college level, athletes. exceptions were made for especially smart students that applied to help boost the school’s academic rankings. strangely, karin didn’t match either of these groups. to say she was bad at sports would be an understatement and her grades were honestly below average. unlike what you may think, she didn’t get in because her parents paid for her to either. her family just about had enough money to live and wouldn’t have been able to fund that at all. karin herself was very surprised when she received her acceptance letter to the school. she applied on a whim, interested in the small but well equipped music section of the school. however, it seemed the school were leaning into music and dance too to broaden their income and fame which was most likely the reason she got accepted.

a senior of hers from middle school, kobayashi yui, had applied to sakurazaka high to be with her girlfriend watanabe risa. this persuaded karin to have a look around the following year when it was her time to choose a school. kobayashi was a senior she respected a lot and had developed a friendship with throughout middle school due to their shared love of music. the two kept in contact after kobayashi graduated which boosted karin’s determination to make it in. another determination was her best friend moriya rena. looking out over the tennis courts she saw rena in a doubles match with another one of their friends, inoue rina.

karin could remember her first meeting with rena like it was yesterday. the two girls were seated next to each other in the first day of middle school. karin would’ve been happy on her own, but rena somehow managed to change her perception of having friends. when karin felt up for it, rena would invite her over to her house to play in the garden and watch tv shows together. her friendship with rena showed karin a new side of life she’d never considered before and it made her happier than she would admit. she would always repay rena for her kindness with compliments and going along with whatever conversations rena was interested in. some may have described the two as flirty, but to karin it was just her natural way of displaying she was fond of someone.

inoue was introduced to karin by rena before they actually joined sakurazaka high. they had met in the tennis taster session during the school selection process and were paired up for doubles. you could never see either one on the tennis court without the other. over the previous year their teamwork had become exceptional and they became a hard pair to beat.

in fact, they had friends from most of the sports club at the school. that’s why karin chose a classroom in the top corner of the school. she could watch over her friends, other than the ones in the dance club, to show her support without having to torture herself with the summer heat or winter rain. looking away from rena and inoue she watched yamasaki ten playing basketball. ignoring her perfect height for it, she was also agile and a reliable teammate to have.

karin had begrudgingly met ten at the entrance ceremony. she was content only ever being friends with rena and kobayashi during her time at the school, but rena being the socialite she is called a shy looking ten over to sit with them. through their brief conversations that day karin realised ten would be a nice friend to have and ultimately accepted her into her small friendship circle. a few weeks after that day, ten had admitted she felt the same way at first and only sat with karin and rena to be polite. she also would’ve preferred to not talk to many people.

over at the volleyball court karin could see another one of her friends, tamura hono, celebrating her team winning. looking at who they were playing against, karin was surprised. on the other side of the net stood the seniors, with risa smiling proudly at her juniors. risa was the captain and could only sing her praises about hono when she talked with karin about the club. she found the dynamic between her, risa, and hono quite interesting. especially when it came to discussing volleyball. karin’s friendship with risa was what introduced her to hono in the first place. in the first few weeks of karin’s first year kobayashi had asked her to run risa’s bag down to her. once she had entered the sports hall hono recognised her from class and made her introduction. karin considered running away with the excuse that she was busy, but something about the kindness in hono’s eyes and the dimple that accentuated her smile made karin introduce herself back. from that day hono found herself included in karin’s growing circle of friends.

she slowly turned to face the door when she heard someone enter the classroom. “takemoto. dance class ended early?” she smiled as takemoto yui walked over to her and took a seat next to her. much like inoue, karin’s friendship with takemoto was originally forced by rena. takemoto and rena had spoken in the first few days and immediately became close. karin could tell that takemoto had feelings for rena, but that was none of her business. “mhm. hikari passed out due to the heat so hikaru took her to the nurse and the teacher ended class.” takemoto explained, taking her water bottle out of her bag and chugging half the contents once she was done talking. karin only nodded in response, taking another look out of the window at rena and inoue. “seems like the other clubs will be done soon anyway. should we go check on hikari?” karin suggested. takemoto was surprised by karin actively leaving her safe space to talk to people, but she knew when it came to hikari karin would take extra care to look out for her.

karin met hikari in the library a month into their first year. she went to her usual spot in the back of the room where it was always quiet, but was surprised to see someone else sat there. karin considered asking the girl to move, but noticing how focused she was she ended up taking a seat next to her. from there they talked a little bit about their friends and karin realised hikari was in dance club with takemoto. they further bonded about being quiet and preferring to watch things from afar which in turn made them rely on each other after that.

as for morita hikaru, she was introduced to karin through hono. they were best friends in middle school, and that carried on to high school. hikaru had told karin that she only applied because of hono, but found out about the dance club and her passion to join grew making her study hard to get in. karin was fond of hikaru. she found her lack of height cute. despite having less previous dance experience than takemoto and hikari, karin was surprised at how powerful and naturally talented she was.

“you doing okay hikari?” karin gently asked. she smiled when hikari nodded and reached out to hold her hand. takemoto told hikari that if she wanted to skip out on their plans to go for a meal she could, but hikari brushed the idea off straight away. she figured that even if some of the more chaotic of the group ran off to cause mess somewhere, karin would stay back with her to make sure she didn’t push herself too far. the nurse came back into the room once the bell signalling the end of after school activities rang, letting hikari know she was okay to go home if she felt well enough as long as she was careful about the heat.

the four girls walked out to the entrance gate where the rest of their friends were stood waiting. rena noticed karin linking arms with hikari and pouted. “she passed out rena. i’m being a good friend.” karin laughed after noticing rena’s expression. understanding the reasoning, rena smiled at karin and went back to her conversation with hono. karin didn’t understand why rena was so possessive of her sometimes. although she knew it was a joke, something about it felt somewhat serious. she wondered if rena had a crush on her, but after talking with kobayashi and risa about it she came to the conclusion that she would only know if rena told her. karin wasn’t sure how she felt about that possibility, but she never thought herself to be the relationship type either way.

coming away from her thoughts she noticed her fellow musicians matsuda rina and seki yumiko discussing the pieces they were practicing. she had met both girls in their first music class. in sakurazaka high there were the core subjects, and then extra slots for other things the students were interested in. the most popular were the sports classes, but there were also study sessions for those who entered due to their grades and music and dance classes for those who were interested in that field. the school had noticed more students joining for those reasons in recent years, and set up yearly concerts to help those students get experience. matsuda would be impossible to miss in any room, always laughing away with the people around her regardless of if she was friends with them or not. in honesty karin was scared of her at first, but soon grew fond of the way she could brighten up any room. karin had found yumiko to be similar to herself. she saw her sat in the other corner of the room in that class, but was quickly introduced to her by matsuda by the end of it.

the last of the girls surrounding karin on the walk to the restaurant was ozono rei. yet another friendship forced onto her by rena. she was a part of the group that joined the school due to grades. karin quickly noticed that rei was very smart and studious and wondered why she didn’t go to a school where getting good grades was the main selling point. rei’s response of “less pressure and hot athletic girls” was enough to convince karin. if she was as smart as rei she would also find it preferable to go to a school where her studies would be supported without there being an incredible pressure.

how she ended up with so many friends was a question constantly on karin’s mind. in middle school the only friends she had were rena and kobayashi. but with her spending all her time possible in the music room that wasn’t a surprise to anyone. she was glad though. as much as she was teased by her friends, they were also respectful of her liking her own space and preferring to watch things from afar.

they eventually arrived at the restaurant and took their seats at a table big enough to seat all of them. “let’s play a game to decide who pays.” takemoto joked, followed by inoue lightly slapping her on the arm. “or we can be civilised people and pay for our own stuff.” ten joked back with a smile. the playful atmosphere continued on with matsuda suggesting they play truth or dare to pass the time waiting for food. some of the dares they’d been forced to do in the past included having to drink a drink filled with salt and climbing a lamppost. karin also recalled inoue having to eat a leaf one time. most of the girls sat silently while matsuda and takemoto tried to persuade them to play. hono was the first to give in, saying she would play if yumiko and hikaru played too. rena’s eyes turned to karin to see if she was up for playing, but karin only shrugged in response. she wasn’t bothered either way.

by the time everyone had agreed to playing, the food had already arrived. “i guess let’s just play when we go to the park after then.” hikaru mumbled before eating one of her fries. she wasn’t very interested in playing, but she appreciated how much everyone would laugh when someone got a funny dare. they chatted endlessly while they ate, mostly about how their clubs were going. karin bragged on hono’s behalf about the win she saw from the window earlier. “i know risa will be talking my ear off about how she wants you to be the next captain when she graduates.” karin smiled. hono tried to deny it, but everyone else backed karin up. hono spent almost all of her time talking about volleyball and discussing strategies to anyone that would listen. plus she was simply very talented at the sport. inoue took the chance to talk about how much rena seemed to have improved recently, leaving her behind. “i’m not leaving you behind inori. i’ve just been practicing with akane. you’re free to join us.”.

moriya akane was a senior in the same year as kobayashi and risa, and rena’s sister. she was known around school as being a harsh but caring captain to the tennis club. you would either find her shouting at people on the court, or cuddled up in a classroom with her girlfriend sugai yuuka. both akane and yuuka were friends with kobayashi and risa, so karin had met them multiple times over the years. she had of course spent time with akane in the moriya household due to her friendship with rena as well. karin always thought that akane and risa were similar types of people. they were both serious when it came to their sports and leadership, but had the kindest of hearts and treated people well.

“make sure to drink lots of water, okay?” karin whispered to hikari who was sat next to her. she watched as hikari rolled her eyes but had some more of her water anyway. hikari knew that karin was just looking out of her, and really she appreciated it. as much as she wouldn’t show that. rei went to tease karin for it, but felt rena glaring into the side of her head. usually karin’s friends had no problems teasing her over the smallest of things, but when rena was there staring at them they knew they would have to wait a little while. as cute and not intimidating as rena looked, that could change in an instant when it came to someone teasing karin.

the girls made their way to the local park once they’d paid for the bill. with it getting dark out, they were pleased to see there wasn’t anyone on the swings. they each looked at each other knowing there were only four swings and eleven of them. it would have to come down to a race. karin stayed back to walk with hikari, knowing she shouldn’t run, and rei who didn't like swings. the athletes hono, rena, ten, and then the short and quick hikaru were the first ones to make it earning them the privilege of getting to sit on the swings. the other girls knew that at least if they got up to do a dare they could steal their swings. sitting down on the swings or on the floor, the conversation went back to truth or dare.

since she was the one who suggested it, eyes went to matsuda to be the one to play first. she decided to start off slow with a truth which immediately had takemoto and inoue thinking. they would always be the first to tease anyone, especially matsuda. eventually ten was the one to come up with the truth first, asking matsuda who she would save first if there was some sort of disaster. the other girls praised ten for her good question while matsuda tried to think of her answer. she decided on karin, stating that she would stay calm in that situation and could help save everyone else. they all nodded at the explanation, that would be the smartest thing to do. although the point of ten’s question was to see which friend matsuda treasured most. but in a way, it showed that she treasured each of her friends equally.

they continued on in a circle, meaning takemoto was next to play. she chose dare which caused mixed reactions. karin noticed from her expression that she had something she wanted to hide which influenced her choice. inoue dared her to sit on the lap of someone on the swings until the next person’s turn was over. karin thought that was a very smart dare. it made her wonder if inoue knew about takemoto’s potential crush on rena. takemoto looked at each of the four girls who had different expressions on their faces. she ended up choosing hono. she didn’t want to crush hikaru, ten was too much of a cute kid to want to sit on her, and rena… she just couldn’t do it. inoue frowned when takemoto chose hono and noticed karin smiling at her subtly. she mentally noted to talk to karin when she got the chance.

realisation hit inoue when everyone looked at her to choose truth or dare. she ended up going for truth, knowing she wasn’t keeping any secrets from her friends. plus, she was already full from her meal and didn’t feel like ruining it by having to eat random things from around the park. yumiko jokingly asked if inoue agreed that she looks like a giraffe, which inoue just couldn’t bring herself to deny. everyone laughed at her ashamed admittance that she does in fact agree. she knew it would only bring more teasing from her friends in the future, but she had to be honest after all. once inoue had done answering, takemoto jumped up off hono’s lap and took her seat back between matsuda and inoue. she was glad she picked hono. it was the least awkward option and both girls make eye contact with a smile when takemoto sat down.

the truths carried on with yumiko, who was asked by rei if she would choose never being able to do music again or never being able to see her friends again. this question caused uproar among the girls, with each of them discussing what they thought yumiko would say. the opinion was pretty much split. in the end she chose seeing her friends instead of music. she laughed as inoue and rei hugged her from each side. it wasn’t as hard of a decision for her as she made it seem. as happy as music made her, it was always her escape from feeling lonely. but with her friends around her, and knowing they would show up at her door with a single message, she didn’t need that escape.

similarly to takemoto, rei chose dare. there were many questions she could be asked that would throw her off, but the only thing around the park that could do that was the swings. her fear of swings was unexplainable, the only reasoning she could give was that watching them made her feel dizzy. as long as she wasn’t asked to do that, she would be fine. everyone in the group knew about her dislike of swings, so they always refrained from mentioning it anyway. hono dared her to climb the closest tree and do a bird impression sat on one of the branches. looking around, rei was satisfied with the dare. the nearest tree wasn’t too tall, and the branches looked strong enough to hold her weight. she assumed hono would’ve taken that into account before daring her to do it as well. karin flinched as she watched rei making her way up the tree. it seemed dangerous, but rei looked confident enough to ease karin’s worry. she did a surprisingly realistic bird impression, obviously recorded by matsuda, and then climbed back down.

karin was next up. her friends already predicted she would choose truth. never in her year long friendship with them had she chosen to do a dare. with a sad smile, rena asked her what her true feelings were for hikari. it was a question that surprised everyone, especially two girls in particular. there was a certain tone of voice used that put rena’s feelings behind it into perspective. karin replied with full honesty, describing how having hikari around was always a relief so that she had someone to sit quietly with. she saw the look rena was giving her and finished off by saying that hikari is only a good friend that she really cares about. rena seemed to accept the answer with a nod. the atmosphere turned glum for a second, with nobody knowing what to say next.

hikari was next and chose truth since she didn’t want to run around, and admitted that her biggest weakness is that she cracks under pressure. hono chose dare and had to swing as high as she could and then lift herself off the swing for a second. rei looked away for this one, the laughter not being worth the horrible feeling it would give her. next was hikaru who chose truth since she didn’t want to get off the swing and end up sitting on the floor. she was made to choose between there being a five year old takemoto, or five versions of takemoto. it was a solid question from matsuda which took some serious thought. she ended up picking a five year old takemoto since that seemed a lot less chaotic. takemoto couldn’t help but throw in a joke that hikaru would finally have someone her own height around which earned her an intimidating glare from hikaru.

rena was next. she went with truth, and karin could see inoue had thought of a good one. karin wasn’t a mind reader by any means, but picking up off inoue’s last dare and her reaction to rena’s truth for karin she could easily figure out the genre of question rena would have to answer. she watched rena’s reaction carefully when inoue asked who she would rather date out of takemoto and rei. takemoto visibly blushed, while rei stayed stoic. rena looked at karin for a second. with a deep breath she answered that if it was a truthful answer it would have to be neither of them. karin watched as everyone cringed in tandem. she didn’t know what people knew or didn’t know, but either way it wasn’t the ideal answer to that sort of question. karin herself was conflicted. the look rena gave her suggested something, but she didn’t want to accept that. she wasn’t sure how she felt about rena. if she wanted them to be more than friends or not.

last to pick was ten. she chose dare, knowing that they would all head home after so it didn’t matter if she lost her swing. there always had to be an eating dare if hikaru was there, so she was told to find something around the park she was willing to eat. usually hikaru would suggest something people certainly wouldn’t want to eat, but each of the friends felt a strong urge to protect ten so she gave her some freedom. ten ended up taking a leaf off the tree that rei had previously climbed. she decided it was the safest option. she ate it without a second thought which earned her more respect from everyone. her swing had been taken by inoue, but just as she predicted matsuda announced it was getting late and everyone should head home.

karin left hikari in yumiko’s care, knowing they lived close to each other and that yumiko was trustworthy. she happened to live on the other side of town to the rest of her friends, so she decided to message kobayashi about rena’s interesting truth or dare answer to get some advice.

karin: koba~
karin: i’m pretty sure rena does like me… what do i do?

kobayashi: why? what happened?

karin: in truth or dare she was asked to pick between dating takemoto or rei… she gave me a weird look and then said neither.

kobayashi: well then… it seems more likely than not. it’s all about how you feel about her. you can either wait for her to bring it up, or you can bring it up to her.

she sighed at kobayashi’s advice. she knew her friend was right, but she didn’t really want to do either option. waiting for rena would take up too much of the space in her brain, and her social skills were far from enough to start that conversation herself. even if it was rena who she’s been close with for years. karin thought back to inoue’s question to rena. surely she knows something. she considered sending inoue a message, but she would still be walking alongside takemoto since they were neighbours. one thing she did know though was that takemoto’s feelings for rena were obvious. rei’s not so much. rei was really hard for anyone to read, even karin. she had seen rei reading multiple psychology books though, so it was possible she had learned how to build up that wall without completely blocking herself off. karin had a lot on her mind. she felt bad having rena’s attention when there were possibly two other girls who were sure of their feelings for her. she didn’t want to be the cause of her friends’ heartbreaks.

once karin was home she made sure her alarm was set for the morning and got herself ready for bed. the situation with rena plagued her mind, but with the help of some trusty relaxing music she lost herself to the sleepiness. she knew she would be thinking about it again when she woke up, but at least some good sleep would take her mind off it for a few hours.

the next morning karin was less worried than she was before she went to sleep. regardless of what could happen with rena, she knew their friendship could never be broken. not over something as simple as a crush. rena meant way too much to her for it to be even the slightest of problems. as she made her way to school she took in each and every sense. she could feel the slight breeze in the summer morning air, she could hear the birds chirping in the trees, she could smell the food coming from the bakeries and restaurants along the road, and she could see the beauty of nature even in a town which was more filled with shops than some.

at the school gates she was met with an energetic inoue. she didn’t even have to ask what was on inoue’s mind before getting her answer. “you can tell what i can tell. takemoto likes rena. she hasn’t said it outright, but we can both tell. as for rei, it was a shot in the dark. but i don’t know i think i can sense something.” inoue rambled. karin refrained from asking her to calm down, knowing that would only distract inoue from what she was trying to say. she felt relieved that inoue had also caught on to what she had. it meant she had someone she could discuss it with, as well as any future plans for helping the two of them. “inori, i’m pretty sure rena likes me. the problem is i don’t know if i see her that way. i don’t know what to do.” karin admitted. she had thought of talking to her friends, other than kobayashi, about it before but she never found the right moment. “there’s not much you can do about that.” inoue frowned. in a way she was on the opposite side of it.

inoue had never confessed it to anyone, but there was a part of her that considered the possibility she had a crush on yumiko. she wasn’t sure what a crush was exactly supposed to feel like, but from the feelings she had of always wanting to be around her and the nervous feeling when it would be just the two of them she assumed it to be the case. her main problem was how close yumiko and hono were. it was hard to know hono’s thoughts in the liking people sense. she was friendly with everyone equally. rumours had circulated around the school about her and yumiko because they were found in the mostly unused staircase cuddling. when inoue had found out about it from takemoto she hid herself away in her room, and spent her time at school in the empty classroom karin would go to when she wanted to sleep. at that time karin had noticed inoue’s presence, and predicted what her reasoning was.

“how would you want that conversation to be held? if she liked you back or didn’t.” karin asked, turning to look at inoue. they were both walking through the hallways of the extravagant school making their way to their math classroom. karin had arrived a bit earlier than usual, intending to find inoue anyway, so she knew the rest of her friends wouldn’t be around yet. other than matsuda and rei who would most likely already be at the classroom chatting away. “if i was rena, i would you to say it when i decided to tell you. i think it would be embarrassing to be turned down before even confessing. if you feel the same, i guess the timing is up to you” inoue replied with a sympathetic smile. karin nodded at the response, it did make sense. it would be romantic to confess in that situation, but painful to be rejected.

the two girls arrived at the classroom and smiled at matsuda and rei. karin was right, they were already there. looking at the time the class wouldn’t start for quite a while yet, so karin pulled up a chair to sit at the table matsuda and rei were at. inoue followed along, grabbing her own chair. matsuda happily informed karin and inoue of what her and rei were talking about. takemoto choosing to sit on hono’s lap in truth or dare. inoue smiled at karin, thinking about the conversation they’d just been having. rei proposed her theory that hono was the easy option, which the others agreed with. the conversation turned to who each of them would’ve chosen. they all ended up choosing hono, other than karin who chose rena. matsuda’s eyes went wide, while rei showed an emotionless smile. “we’ve been best friends for years. i’m just the most comfortable with her. it’s not like that.” karin explained, trying to destroy any questions they might come up with about it.

rei seemed to visibly relax at the explanation, which both karin and inoue noticed. they both mentally noted to discuss it later. takemoto, hikari, and hikaru were next to enter the classroom. they had to do some dance practice before class to make up for finishing early the day prior. not even a minute later hono and yumiko showed up with rena trailing behind them on her phone. they were all surprised to see karin in school so early, with her usually showing up right before the bell. she explained that she had to talk to inoue about something which seemed to be enough to not be asked further questions. last to arrive was ten who didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. math had never been her favourite subject anyway. once they all took their own seats the bell rang signalling the start of class.

the group gathered at their usual lunch table with their assortments of food to eat. it had become a tradition for them to put all their food in the middle of the table for everyone to share. karin didn’t like it much at first, but she soon found the appeal when hikaru had brought in some cold pizza that she really wanted. after that day the rest of the girls never had to struggle to get karin to share her own food.

karin noticed that takemoto and rei were sat on either side of rena and smiled. usually they would be more spread out, but something seemed off. it looked like inoue had noticed it too by the way she was looking at karin. thinking of an excuse, karin asked inoue if she would go with her to buy a drink from the vending machine on the other side of the room. inoue nodded with a sly smile and got up to go with karin. everyone else at the table seemed confused, with ten asking when they got so close that karin would ask inoue instead of rena. rei comfortingly put her hand on rena’s shoulder, knowing that she would be worrying that karin would be replacing her as her best friend.

“they seem to be trying to get her attention after yesterday.” karin noted. inoue laughed in response, her way of agreeing with karin. it really did seem that way. “you know, why don’t we just try and get them to like each other?” inoue suggested. she wondered if it was a stupid idea, but karin actually thought it was genius. that would be a good way to distract them from potential heartbreak. “okay i like that. let me talk to rena about it after school today and i can see what we can do. she might be able to find a way to get them together” karin sighed. she knew it might be hard work but ultimately she could see takemoto and rei being cute together.

to thank inoue for going with her, karin bought her a drink too. they both decided to go for chilled tea and walked back to the table with bright smiles at their plan. rena looked at karin, silently asking what they were talking about. karin walked up behind rena and whispered in her ear for her to go home with her after clubs to talk about something. rena simply nodded in reply and focused back on the conversation the rest of the table were having. she didn’t know what to expect. she knew if inoue was involved there would be some sort of chaos, but surely karin would refuse to do anything too strange.

rena found herself getting more and more nervous as the day went by. what could karin want to talk to her about? she said goodbye to her friends that didn’t do sports as she walked down to the changing rooms to get ready for tennis. she noticed inoue a little bit ahead of her along the corridor and ran to catch up with her. “hey inori! what is it that karin wants to talk to me about?” she questioned as she caught up beside her. inoue sighed at the question. she could tell what rena might’ve been expecting and didn’t want her to get her hopes up… yet. “we need your help with something. we think you’ll be able to do more than we can for it. but karin will tell you the rest. for now let’s just focus on tennis because we’re playing against the seniors today.” inoue explained. all rena could do was accept it. she wasn’t sure if that was the response she wanted, but either way inoue was right. they were playing against akane and her doubles partner and needed to focus.

karin watched from her usual window as each of the clubs ran out to their respective courts. volleyball were first out, with hono leading them out with a jog. she was surprised it wasn’t risa leading the group, but when she looked out she noticed risa already checking the net and sand were ready for playing. next she saw the basketball club in a full sprint towards the court. she laughed at ten almost tripping over on a stick left on the ground. as rena walked out with inoue and akane, karin heard someone enter the classroom. “not practicing for the concert?” rei asked, sitting opposite karin at the table. karin shook her head, then explained that she preferred to watch the clubs and then practice at home.

looking away from the window, she saw rei taking a notepad out of her bag. she gave her friend a questioning look, but rei only smiled in reply. karin began to feel nervous with rei sat in front of her with a notepad looking intently at her. she felt like she was in an interview or something. “so karin, tell me. you and rena. dating?” rei asked with a curious tone. karin was taken aback by the question. after clearing her throat, she denied it. she wondered how many times she would have to face that question. karin noticed the smile on rei’s face. her and inoue’s theory was correct.

“so rei, tell me. you and rena. you have a crush on her.” karin joked. the glare rei gave her only made her laugh more. it was rare for her to tease her friends, so it always shocked them when she did. rei didn’t say anything, choosing to look out the window at rena. she sighed watching rena line up her serve and hit the ball towards the back corner of the court. “i’ve not admitted it to anyone, but i do.” rei smiled, turning back to face karin who had been watching her every movement. karin simply hummed to show that she listened. she wasn’t sure how she felt about the confession. it meant that she could use rena to lure rei somewhere with takemoto, but it also just added to her guilt.

the two spoke more about rena since they were already on the topic. rei told karin all about the fact that she’d already noticed rena before the first time they spoke. in the first few weeks she had watched each of the outside clubs practicing from afar, similar to karin. the moment she saw rena playing tennis and her cute smile when she won caught rei’s attention. the first moment she could find after that she brought out the courage to talk to her and become friends. she could tell that takemoto had feelings for rena, and that rena seemed more interested in karin. they both laughed at that point, karin’s being more of a happy laugh and rei’s seeming sad.

in a way karin was starting to feel really bad for rei. she could tell how much she liked the other girl and she didn’t know if trying to push her over to takemoto would even work. “speaking of takemoto, what are your thoughts on her?” karin asked, not worrying about if it would spoil her plans or not. although she was sure inoue would scold her for it if she found out. rei thought seriously about her answer. it was something she hadn’t thought much about before. the more she thought about it the less sense it made which was weird for her. she usually had all her thoughts figured out. she eventually replied that she honestly wasn’t sure, but her opinion was far from bad. karin was surprised by that response. it wasn’t what she was expecting. she thought it would be the typical she’s a good friend, or a joke comment. it gave her hope.

karin and rei watched out the window as the clubs finished up their practices and headed back into the changing rooms. they walked down together, with rei saying she was headed out to third wheel with yumiko and hono. karin commented that it was strange for hikaru to not be there with them, but rei explained that she already had plans with inoue, takemoto, and matsuda. that made karin feel a bit bad for leaving hikari and ten without plans, but she was sure they would already know and would’ve figured out something they could do together. her suspicions were correct when she saw the two of them walking down the corridor together, making sure to give karin and rei a wave on their way past.

rena’s face visibly lit up when she saw karin stood by the door. she had hono and inoue at her sides. karin nodded subtly at inoue, confirming that their plan was good to go ahead. inoue nodded back with a smile. all they had to do was fill rena in with what was needed and they’d be good to go. karin quickly muttered that she needed to message someone quickly and began to send a message to inoue.

karin: rei likes rena 100%, but doesn’t know her thoughts on takemoto.
karin: ask takemoto her thoughts on rei today if you get the chance and drop me a message!

inoue smiled feeling her phone vibrate in her bag. she knew they had more information. when she found the right moment she would have a look at what karin felt important enough to say straight away. once she was done on her phone, karin gestured for her and rena to go by reaching out her hand for rena to hold. rena happily held it and walked alongside karin. “you look cute all sweaty from tennis.” karin smiled, looking at rena. it was clear rena was blushing from such a simple compliment which warmed karin’s heart.

on their walk to karin’s house, karin explained everything to rena. she felt bad for doing the confessing for rei and takemoto, but by rena’s reaction it seemed like it wouldn’t have ended the best for them anyway. after hearing what karin had to say, rena immediately moved her free hand to her forehead with a sigh. it wasn’t what she expected at all. “so let me understand this. you know neither of them have a chance with me, so you want to match them together? that’s actually not the worst idea from you and inoue. they would be cute.” rena thought out loud. karin was more than relieved to hear that rena was okay with the plan.

hearing her phone go off, karin checked her messages to see that inoue had replied. she smiled brightly at the response she got. she quickly showed it to rena who matched karin’s smile. takemoto was fond of rei and likes the way her brain works. karin let inoue know that rena was happy with the plan so far and would update her with anything else they came up with. she then put her phone back into her pocket and focused back on talking to rena.

now all that was left to do was think about how to bait rei and takemoto into the same place, alone. karin and rena sat down next to each other on karin’s bed. rena had always liked karin’s bedroom. she thought it suited her personality perfectly. light grey wallpaper, with minimal decoration aside from a framed picture of the two of them from their trip to a theme park a few years prior. she also had a desk in the corner which was empty except for a notepad and a pot filled with various types of pens and highlighters. karin would usually be insecure of people seeing her house, considering it wasn’t the most big or fancy. it was actually on the smaller side for her neighbourhood. but with rena she knew that if the girl had any judgements they would’ve disappeared over the years. she had been there too many times to count after all.

karin was the first to suggest an idea considering she’d had all day to think about it. she asked rena if she would be willing to ask both rei and takemoto to meet her somewhere and then leave the two of them using the excuse that karin had asked her to help with something. rena pondered over the idea for a while. it was the most likely to work, but she would feel mean doing it to her friends. she still cared about them a lot and didn’t want them to be put in such an awkward situation. she explained this to karin who understood completely. hearing rena put it into words fully made her realise how sly and sneaky she was being. it wasn’t like her to do something like that at all.

she took a deep breath, trying to process everything. what was she even doing? there was one thing that kept her from completely scrapping the idea then and there, though. the things rei and takemoto had said about each other. it was clear it was a possibility. she wondered if she even needed to do anything to push them together. once it was on her mind, she began to think why she even cared so much that both of the girls liked rena. it felt as if something had switched in her mind. realisation kicked in. she began to blush as she looked at rena who was looking softly back at her. karin was sure she’d never blushed before in her whole life. was she jealous?

rena brought karin out of her thoughts by asking what was on her mind. karin quickly brushed it off, using the excuse that she was hungry. it seemed to work, with rena commenting about how karin always seemed out of it when she was hungry. the two headed down to the kitchen to see what they could cook. realising there was nothing, they decided on going out to a restaurant. they could’ve ordered food, but karin felt the need to take rena somewhere. maybe to take away the sudden nervousness at rena being in her house. especially in her bedroom.

as they walked into the nearest place, they saw some of their friends already sat at a table in the back. karin began to blush once again, thinking about the assumptions that would be made if they were seen. she seemed to be out of luck. rena noticed yumiko, hono, and rei and ran over to talk to them. karin could only roll her eyes and follow behind her best friend. the look on rei’s face was something karin had never seen before. it seemed like for once she was struggling to keep her composure. karin smiled sympathetically at her. there was nothing she could do to escape now. “when you said third wheeling i didn’t expect it to be on a literal date.” karin joked, which seemed to lighten up rei’s mood. rei patted the seat next to her and karin sat down. noticing this, rena took her own seat on the end of the table.

naturally hono asked what rena and karin were doing together at the restaurant. karin left the answer to rena, knowing she probably would’ve stuttered if she tried to reply. rena explained the situation of karin being too hungry to focus and there being no food for them to cook. rei was suspicious of the reasoning judging by karin’s reaction of looking down at the table and biting her lip. however, she also knew that if they were out on a date that rena would’ve been bragging about it nonstop. using her psychologist brain she concluded that karin’s thoughts about them going to a restaurant differed from rena’s. but that still didn’t make sense to her. karin seemed to only see rena as a friend. she would have to find a moment to ask her about it.

yumiko admitted that the three of them had just arrived at the restaurant and hadn’t ordered yet. both karin and rena smiled at that, knowing that they would be able to spend the full time with them. karin was most relieved to hear that. she didn’t think in her current state she’d be able to handle a one-on-one meal with rena. once they had all ordered their food and drinks, rei excused herself to the bathroom. karin took the hint and said she would go too.

“you’re being suspicious.” rei pointed out as they both stood by the sinks. karin looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. she would be stupid to think that rei wouldn’t pick up on it. all karin could do was explain that she came to a realisation. she knew rei would pick up the rest, so she didn’t bother to say anything else. rei sincerely asked karin if she was serious about rena. when karin nodded immediately, rei understood. she would have to take a step back. she knew rena would never see her the same way as she saw karin regardless, hence why she never made her move in the first place. rei ended the conversation by warning karin that if she broke rena’s heart she would get hers personally ripped out by rei. karin laughed at that, and promised to keep rena’s heart safe. content with that answer, rei pulled karin into a hug. she laughed too when karin reminded her there were many single girls amongst their friends.

once they arrived back at the table they saw the drinks were already there. it didn’t take a second for hono to excuse herself and yumiko to the bathroom. rei and karin looked at each other with knowing looks and laughed, confusing rena. “they’re probably going to make out or something.” rei explained, knowing karin would be too embarrassed to say something like that. rena asked if that’s why rei and karin went, but was happy to hear them denying it straight away. she was truly scared for a second.

the three of them talked about how it took at least a year for the potential couple of the group to be formed considering how close they were the whole time. karin defended them using yumiko’s shyness as a possible reason for it. plus the way hono was with literally everyone. this topic brought rena to talk about how akane and yuuka were actually the same. they had been best friends their first year, and then in their second year they found themselves dating. no matter how many times karin heard the story she still found it cute. maybe because she’d talked to akane a bit about it in the past and got to hear her true feelings. rei asked about kobayashi and risa and how they started dating. rena left that explanation up to karin as she knew it a lot better. “for them it was love at first sight. they were already together when our year joined the middle school. when i first met kobayashi she had risa by her side. to be together this long without any major issues has made them my ideal couple.”.

the rest of the meal went smoothly with no truth or dare or random games being played. karin secretly appreciated when matsuda, inoue, and takemoto weren’t there to suggest such things to be done. she was sure the others felt the same way too. as fun as those times were, for it to happen all the time would tire karin out too much.

they exited the restaurant and said their goodbyes. karin urged rena to go home with the others since she lived in that direction, but rena brushed it off saying she’d get akane to pick her up later. karin laughed at rena using her own sister as a taxi service. the two of them walked back to karin’s house in comfortable silence. that was something both of them treasured about their friendship. they could be in each other’s company without having to force conversations all the time. karin noticed rena’s hand at her side and immediately got the urge to hold it. holding hands was nothing new for them, but with her realisation she felt herself getting nervous. it seemed as if rena had picked up on her change in emotions and turned to face her. she asked if everything was okay, to which karin simply nodded.

without a second thought karin held rena’s hand in her own. rena felt herself blush at the action, not aware of the fact that karin was too. they continued on in silence, the only sounds being their heartbeats. karin felt her perspective on life changing. she had always considered herself against dating anyone. not just because there wasn’t anyone she liked, but also because she thought she would be a pain to be around. in her mind who would want to date someone who doesn’t like being around people a lot and prefers not to speak too much? however when it came to rena, she realised that their friendship had already lasted so long as it was. how different could them being in a relationship be to that?

as they arrived back at karin’s house the two of them sat on the sofa to watch tv for a little while. her parents were still at work, so they didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone. however, they didn’t get around to actually turning the tv on. karin decided to talk to rena instead. she wasn’t sure why she all of a sudden wanted to talk, but the reasoning didn’t matter. she found it hard to find things to talk about though. they’d been friends for so long that it was hard to think of things they didn’t already know about each other. she settled on asking rena about how tennis went, despite the fact she had watched pretty much the whole practice with rei.

rena told her all about her and inoue’s preparation for the matches and how much concentration and effort they had to put in to keep up with akane and her doubles partner. that was no surprise to karin. she’d been to a few of akane’s games in the past with rena and she was always amazed by just how good the older girl was at the sport. but she knew at least half of that was how much effort and dedication she put into improving herself. she couldn’t help but feel proud seeing rena matching akane’s determination to be better at the sport. maybe it was because she was inspired by her sister, or maybe it was because she herself had the same passion for it. but either way it was impressive in karin’s eyes.

karin smiled as rena asked her how her practices for the upcoming concert were going. she was never the most confident in her musical abilities, but she had only ever received good feedback from her friends and family. she explained to rena that kobayashi would be giving her some help with it the next day which made rena sad she wouldn’t be able to see it. she knew kobayashi was only ever free after school and she would have to go to tennis practice. rena found herself thinking back to the old times in middle school when she would sit in the music room while karin and kobayashi practiced their pieces together and gave each other feedback and support. while rena wasn’t particularly close with kobayashi, she really respected her and was glad that karin had someone like her to look up to and confide in. while rena had akane, she always worried about how karin would do as an only child. kobayashi seemed to fill in that gap perfectly.

it began to get dark outside, so rena messaged akane to pick her up. akane reluctantly agreed, wondering why she always ended up doing whatever rena asked of her. but with a sister as adorable as rena how could you say no? karin invited akane into the house for some coffee to thank her once she arrived, which akane gratefully accepted. “at least karin has some manners.” she joked, earning her a pout from rena. karin couldn’t help but wonder how the two sisters ended up so different yet so similar at the same time.

they talked for a while, with akane catching up on the things in karin’s life she hadn’t yet had the chance to ask about. as much as she was friends with kobayashi and talked to her daily, it would be a bit strange to ask her about how karin was getting on. she sensed that something seemed different about karin that wasn’t explained during their conversation. she seemed more formal… more nervous. akane wondered if something had happened between the two friends, but everyone knew rena was easier to read than a book. especially to her own sister. if something had happened it would be as clear as day.

once rena and akane had finished their drinks it was time for them to head home. karin felt an emotion she was yet to experience. she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but it wasn’t good. we would all categorise it as longing for someone we like to stay, but she was unable to recognise that. pushing the emotion aside, she accepted rena and akane’s hugs. it wasn’t unusual for akane to offer a hug to karin considering they might as well be considered friends too.

after closing the door, karin found herself stood with her back to it for a moment. it had been a long day for her. all she needed now was a good sleep. she didn’t lock the door, knowing her parents would be home any moment. dragging her tired legs up the stairs, she made her way into her bedroom. she sighed as she grabbed some clothes to sleep in and prepared herself for a quick shower. as badly as she wanted to sleep, she could never get into bed without having a shower first. satisfied that everything was as she wanted it to be, she slowly walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower to set it to the right temperature. her thoughts felt like they were going a mile a minute, thinking back on if there were any previous signs of her crush on her best friend. however, anything she thought of felt like it would be normal for best friends anyway.

that night she managed to get to sleep easier than usual. maybe because she hadn’t snuck in a nap during her hours at school. or maybe because she was so emotionally exhausted that it was what she needed most. she didn’t dwell on it more though, allowing sleep to completely take over her.

karin instinctively rubbed her eyes as her alarm sounded next to her, letting her know it was time to think about getting up to get ready for school. the moment of dread knowing it was time to start a new day was always her least favourite part of any day. it wasn’t that she didn’t want to experience the day ahead, more just that she wanted a whole lot more time to be comfy in bed. she eventually turned her alarm off, knowing the sound would irritate her parents after a while. it was a daily routine for her to check for any messages when she woke up. usually there would be a few in the group chat of her friends, but nothing special. that day she was surprised to see a cute good morning message from rena. she thought to herself that rena must’ve woken up happy, since that was usually when she would do that. karin’s emotional response to the message wasn’t as it would normally be. she started to feel a smile forming on her face, and butterflies in her stomach.

taking a deep breath, karin replied to rena’s message with a simple good morning. in her heart she wanted to say more, but she wasn’t ready to own up to her feelings yet. she needed to talk to someone other than rena about them first. the idea of telling one of their group of friends came to mind, but she knew none of them would be able to keep it secret. of course rei already knew, but karin assumed it would be insensitive to go to her about it. she decided to talk to kobayashi about it in the music room after school. she would know what to say.

the first classes that day were the extras that they chose. karin always wondered if that was some sort of torture. in a generic class you could get away with a little nap, but she could never do such a thing in her music class. she especially sympathised with those doing sports. to have to be that active first thing in the morning sounded like some sort of cruel punishment. she was met by matsuda and yumiko as she entered the room. yumiko seemed as tired as karin, while matsuda was already her typical energetic and happy self. “how is she already that awake?” karin mumbled to yumiko, who laughed in agreement. she was sure that no matter how many years she would be friends with matsuda she would never get used to her.

matsuda immediately noticed something off about karin. she didn’t seem as emotionless as usual. there was something clearly on her mind. she wondered if she should ask about it, but really she was one of the least curious of the group. her goal was to be someone that her friends could come up to if they needed to talk about something. she never saw the point of forcing those sorts of conversations on them. she took a mental note to stop the always mischievous takemoto and inoue from asking karin too many questions at lunch. if it was anyone else she’d leave them to it, but she knew that with karin it most likely wouldn’t end well.

karin considered asking yumiko what went on at the restaurant with hono the day before, but just as she was about to ask the teacher began the class. she would have to find another time to ask her about it. usually she was similar to matsuda in not wanting to insert herself in other people’s business, but something about the situations lately had made her become more interested. especially her conversation about the two of them with rena and rei. she cringed remembering rena’s reaction to rei’s theory about what was going on in the bathroom. rena’s innocence really was something that needed to be protected at all costs.

time flew by and it was suddenly time for lunch. karin was especially hungry, having skipped out on breakfast in exchange for more time in bed. once she arrived at the table she saw everyone’s food already laid out in front of her. she smiled at hikaru seeing she’d brought pizza again. when she tried to reach for a slice she got her hand swatted away by hono. “you know that the person who’s food it is gets the first bite.”. karin sighed in defeat and took a bite out of her sandwich. it would do until hikaru decided to eat some of the pizza, allowing karin to finally have some.

conversation around the table turned to what everyone got up to the evening before. it seemed like they were all aware of who was with who, allowing for it to be an easier conversation. inoue was the first to speak, asking rei why she decided to third wheel with hono and yumiko. rei could only laugh at first, before explaining they owed her a meal for helping them study. she carried on by jokingly thanking karin and rena for showing up and giving her people to talk to. karin noticed rei looking at her with a soft smile. she felt like her soul was being looked into, but when it was rei she didn’t mind too much. the girl is harmless. from there rena brought up the mystery of what was happening in the bathroom. the blush on hono and yumiko’s faces was more than obvious, making everyone burst out into laughter. other than one. inoue. karin noticed her expression and gave her a sympathetic smile. there’s no way that could be easy to see.

wanting to save inoue from overthinking, karin asked what chaos hikaru got up to with matsuda, inoue, and takemoto. matsuda was the one to reply, trying to describe it through her laughter. all karin could get from it is that they went to a nearby farm and met all the animals they could. hikari joked that they must’ve been confused to see a giraffe there in the form of inoue, to which takemoto enthusiastically explained that she said the exact same thing. the expression on inoue’s face was no joke. she looked like she was about to go on a rampage. ten took the opportunity to take a quick picture of her to use as a meme when she found the chance to.

eventually it got to the end of the day. karin was out of breath from running down to the music room. usually she wouldn’t care much about being on time, but she wanted to do her best for kobayashi since she was her senior. plus she really needed to get everything about rena off her chest. it was starting to bother her too much. she noticed that kobayashi wasn’t there yet, giving her the chance to prepare her thoughts and her sheet music. once she had everything sorted kobayashi walked through the door, apologising for being a bit late. karin brushed it off saying it was okay and that she wasn’t waiting for long anyway.

before she started playing her piece for her senior, karin wanted to talk to her about rena. “koba, i have something i want to talk about first. i kind of realised yesterday that i think i do like rena. i don’t know how i didn’t notice it before, but i think that if she confessed to me i wouldn’t say no. it’s to the point that i’d be willing to confess to her first.” karin explained, eyes not leaving the floor in front of her. she didn’t know if kobayashi would tease her for it. but maybe she was just too used to her other friends’ ways of dealing with such information. when she finally got the confidence to look up she saw her friend smiling at her. “i wondered if that was the case. you’ve always talked about it too much for someone who doesn’t actually care about it. akanen did speak to me earlier about something seeming off with you yesterday. if you want to confess to rena i would say just do it. you know you won’t be rejected.”.

karin took in kobayashi’s reply. she knew she was right. now she had two relationships she wanted to form. both her own and the not forgotten pairing of rei and takemoto. with a nod she thanked kobayashi for her advice. it was what she needed to hear. it was interesting for akane to have mentioned her. she really must not have been hiding it well. she figured that rei noticed because she likes to analyse people, but for akane to notice too. she had what she wanted to do decided. she just had to put it into action.

after the quick advice session, the two of them got back to what they were there for. karin practicing for the upcoming concert the school was putting on. with summer starting, it meant it was nearly the end of the school year. to celebrate this, sakurazaka high came up with the idea to put on a show. this event would include musical performances and dancing, as well as a quiz in between to give the students who chose to study a chance to show off too. it was an important event for the students and staff involved which had the hype around school growing as it grew nearer. karin hadn’t actually rehearsed as much as she should’ve done for it. there was still a few weeks to go, so it wasn’t a lost cause. which is why she asked for kobayashi’s help in the first place.

sitting in a music room with kobayashi reminded her of old times. everything felt a lot more simple back then. all she needed was rena and risa to be there with them. in a way karin wanted to somehow get them both to stay back there past the bell so that the other two would go looking for them. she wondered if rena would even do that, considering they didn’t have any plans afterwards. plus she knew the other girl wouldn’t have her phone on her. akane banned phones from being anywhere near the tennis courts for training. she figured she would give it a try. at least risa would show up.

“are you doing anything for the concert?” karin asked, looking up at kobayashi. the reply she got was a small laugh followed by a simple no. she was confused for a second, before kobayashi explained she was focusing on studying for a little while outside of her music class. that made sense to karin. even though the school wasn’t grade based, they still had to at least pass their subjects. she didn’t think that would be a problem for kobayashi, but considering how much time she put into her music there must not have been enough time left for studying. seeing her senior and friend working that hard inspired karin to want to do the same. it would have to be after the concert though, she couldn’t risk failing on stage. especially knowing rena would be there watching her.

kobayashi brought karin out of her thoughts by reminding her what they were there to do. she never held back on being strict when she needed to be. that was pushed further by how much she cared about karin and wanted her to do well. karin nodded at the reminder and played her piece she was practicing. there was a moment of silence after she finished playing. it built up her nerves to an immeasurable amount. did kobayashi not think it was good? thankfully her friend smiled at her and gently clapped. karin couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips. “that’s good enough as it is honestly. practicing a few more times will have it perfect.” kobayashi smiled. she could see the pride on karin’s face at the compliment. that was one of her favourite things about karin. the way she would only happily smile when she genuinely wanted to. it was never faked or to cater to other people.

the two of them carried on chatting after that, with them both deeming karin’s performance to be good enough for now. kobayashi shared some funny moments that had happened within her friendship group recently, and karin did the same. she told kobayashi all about the game of truth or dare and when her and rena bumped into hono, yumiko, and rei at the restaurant. kobayashi had been curious about karin’s friends since she first heard about each of them. the only one she really knew was rena since she’d known her for quite a few years through karin and then akane too once they became friends. hono she had spoken to a few times and heard a lot about from risa, but that was mostly just volleyball related. she was tempted to ask karin to meet them, but she felt like she would be very out of her element.

after a while more they both heard the bell ring. club activities were over. karin hurried to think of an excuse to keep kobayashi there until risa or rena showed up. in the end she couldn’t think of one, so when kobayashi went to stand up she asked if she could wait. kobayashi was confused at first, what else could karin want to talk about? however, when she saw risa walk into the music room with rena trailing behind her she understood. “i asked rena where you might be, and she said you two were meant to be here.” risa explained, walking over to karin and kobayashi. karin smiled at rena who smiled back. “it’s just like old times.” kobayashi commented. they all felt themselves warm up as they realised.

karin gestured for rena to walk over to her, which her best friend followed immediately. she noticed a chair across the room and went to grab it, but karin held onto her arm. she mumbled that her lap was a good enough seat, which rena only just managed to hear. she could feel the familiar blush gracing her cheeks, and this time noticed that karin was blushing too. she had never seen her do that before. taking the opportunity she sat down on karin’s lap. kobayashi watched with a bright smile, while risa looked extremely confused. “i’ll explain later.” kobayashi whispered, which risa responded to with a nod. not wanting to miss out, risa took her own seat on kobayashi’s lap. karin thought that if anyone walked into the room in that moment they would have no idea what to say or do.

“i’ve missed us four doing things like this.” rena sighed. the other three nodded in agreement. it really had been a long time. it hadn’t been since the day kobayashi and risa graduated from middle school. once they entered high school they all got too busy with clubs and seeing their friends to find the time to hang out together. risa knew that kobayashi said she’d tell her what was going on with karin and rena later, but with them in front of her curiosity got the better of her and she had to ask. she could see karin trying to think about what to say while rena looked at her questioningly. that might’ve told risa more than words would’ve done. it made the situation very clear. risa was surprised to see karin being the one feeling that way. risa knew that rena liked karin. she’d been told by karin herself, as well as kobayashi and akane. she questioned to herself why karin hadn’t made a move knowing that fact.

trying to escape, karin hurriedly said she had somewhere to go. nobody believed it, even rena who now had a lot of things she wanted to ask. rena apologised to the seniors on karin’s behalf but they shrugged it off saying it was fine and karin is harmless karin. the three other girls watched as karin packed up her stuff and put her backpack over her shoulder. she was really trying to get away. they knew karin well though. if she didn’t want to talk about something she didn’t want to talk about something. she said goodbye to everyone and walked out of the room. she felt really guilty doing so, but she didn’t know what else to do. realistically she knew she could’ve just said nothing and they wouldn’t have carried on asking, but her fight or flight kicked in. if anything, it made her realise that she truly needed to talk to rena about her feelings. they were just getting worse and worse. well, better and better. she didn’t have to walk for long before rena came running up behind her.

the two best friends walked together through the corridors in silence. neither of them knew what to say. rena wanted to ask what just happened, but she doubted that karin would actually tell her. in her head she imagined the worst. that she had misread karin’s blushing and that the idea of there being something between her made her angry or upset. she tried hard to push away those negative thoughts, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up. she continued walking alongside karin until they got to a quiet part of the town. rena knew it wasn’t on the route to karin’s house. maybe karin had something she wanted to talk to her about.

karin was stressed and nervous. with every step she took she could feel the anxiety rising. she wasn’t mentally prepared for the conversation she knew she now had to have. she had a plan, but she went ahead and ruined it by not being able to hold her emotions back. in a way it was a good thing that she was about to tell rena. she could get it out of her head and stop worrying about outcomes that weren’t at all likely to happen. at the same time, the outcome that would probably happen also scared her. she’d gone so long with the same frame of mind that the idea of that changing so quickly threw her off completely. she found herself walking to her safe space. a small park not too far from her house with a pretty fountain in the middle. sometimes she would sit there for hours listening to music when she needed time to herself without anyone bothering her. she didn’t know why exactly she was taking rena there, but it felt significant to her. like she was letting rena into her safe space that she’d kept to herself for so long.

once the fountain was in view, karin walked quicker towards it. rena had to jog to keep up with her pace. sitting down in her usual place, karin took a needed deep breath. it didn’t go unnoticed by rena, but she chose not to mention it. she knew she needed to just let karin talk. if she did want to talk at all. she did follow her on her way home either way. rena saw karin open her mouth to talk and paid full attention. it didn’t matter if it was something she thought she wanted to hear or not. if karin was the one speaking she would always listen.

“rena, i don’t know how to do this. but i know i have to be honest with you. you’ve been good with this liking someone thing. you always have been. you know what my stance used to be on it. i’m sure that has hurt you in the past. so for that i’m sorry. but now, i think my opinion has changed. you see, all of a sudden someone has taken over my thoughts. i’ve tried to not think about it, or brush it off like i would anything else, but no matter what i do i just can’t stop. it’s you, rena. yesterday when you were sat in my room and we were talking about rei and takemoto something clicked. why i care so much that they like you. i think that this whole time i’ve liked you. maybe i wasn’t ready to admit it, or maybe i truly just didn’t connect the dots. but when i think about you now, after realising, i can’t picture anything but us together. not just as best friends. i’m scared for some reason. i don’t know why. but i know you’ll be able to take that fear away. you always have been able to. you’re like the cherry on top of the cake that is my life. you make it better.”.

karin didn’t know what brought her to ramble so much, but all the thoughts that had been bothering her came out all at once. throughout the time she was talking she couldn’t bear to look at rena. she had no idea how she would’ve been reacting. when she finally picked up the courage she turned to see rena crying. in a panic, she wiped her tears and apologised for dropping everything on her at once.

rena couldn’t hold back her emotions hearing karin’s words. they were things she had been thinking about for a very long time. when she first saw kobayashi and risa holding hands and hugging back in middle school all she could think about was that she would like to do that with karin. she had no idea what it meant at the time, but when she asked akane about it she got a very blunt answer. she liked karin. to finally hear that karin reciprocated those feelings took everything out of her and put it straight back into place. it felt like she became whole. she heard the words she’d been dreaming of and more.

“i’m crying because i’m happy, karin. i can’t even explain how many times i’ve dreamt of you saying those things to me. i didn’t know if i was being my usual dumb self or if it really would ever happen. this whole time i’ve been so worried that it’s too much for you and whether or not i should hold myself back. i don’t know. i don’t know what to say here. but one thing i can say is that i like you so much. i always have done. more than as best friends. don’t be scared. look how we’ve been all this time. nothing can go wrong now, i promise you that. i’m not sure what you want from this, but i would be so happy to be able to say i’m yours.”.

they both couldn’t help but laugh at themselves. how did they get to this point? it felt so dramatic and unlike them. they were both crying, wiping their tears on their uniforms. karin had always considered the idea of laughing while crying to be ridiculous, but she was experiencing a lot of new things lately. with one last smile, karin watched as rena put her head on karin’s shoulder. as she did every time, karin put her arm around rena and pulled her closer. “i guess you can be my girlfriend.” she mumbled. she could feel the way rena smiled against her. “i guess i will be then.”. yeah, that felt more like them.

noticing it was getting dark, rena offered to walk karin home. she knew she would have to ask akane for a favour again, but she was sure that the news would be more than enough to make up for it. they walked hand in hand to karin’s house. their usual comfortable silence remained. karin focused on her senses. she could see the stars faintly showing above her, she could smell the food being cooked in the restaurants that the two of them passed, she could smell the summer evening air, she could hear the sounds of people talking loudly in the distance, and she could feel rena’s hand in hers. everything would be okay.

akane arrived at karin’s house just as karin and rena had settled down in the living room. she could immediately sense the atmosphere when she walked into the house. rena and karin both seemed happy. karin didn’t have that weird awkwardness that she’d seen just the day prior. she accepted karin’s offer of coffee, wanting to know what was going on. “i’ve been told you’re not allowed to tell your friends yet, but i guess we’re dating.” rena smiled, before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. akane couldn’t hide her excitement. she’d been waiting years to be told that. she was proud of both her sister and karin. it was a big thing for them. she wondered for a second why she couldn’t tell her friends yet, but she assumed it was because karin wanted to tell kobayashi and risa herself. really she just felt proud that she was the first one to know.

karin went to sleep happier than usual that night. she wasn’t burdened by her thoughts anymore. she had said everything she needed to say, and the outcome was decided. nothing else for her to worry about. next was to figure out what to do with rei and takemoto.

she was surprised to see a car outside her house when she left to walk to school in the morning. with a second look she noticed it was akane’s car. “get in dumbass.” akane joked out of the window. karin laughed and got into the back. she’d never been given a lift to school by akane before. she felt like she had unlocked an achievement.

win over your girlfriend’s older sister

the ride to school was filled with teasing (mostly from rena and akane to karin) and discussing how to tell their friends about it. they decided to wait a while before telling their friends so that they could let it sink in, but karin would be telling kobayashi as soon as she got into school. akane promised to accompany the two of them to where her friends usually went so that they wouldn’t feel lost. karin was grateful for that. she only knew kobayashi, risa, akane, and yuuka out of the group. she didn’t like the idea of them all having their eyes on her. but that was just her not liking being around people she doesn’t know in general.

akane lead them up to the third year classrooms, to one which was only occupied by a few students. looking in, karin noticed kobayashi and risa sat on a table together. there were a few more girls there that she didn’t know, and then yuuka in the corner on her phone. they all looked up at the same time to see who had just entered into the room. there was a sense of relief on their faces when they saw it was akane and rena, along with karin. she’d managed to hide herself behind rena so you could just about see her eyes over rena’s shoulder. “yuipon and risa go talk to karin.” akane deadpanned, walking over to yuuka and placing a light kiss on her forehead. kobayashi and risa jumped up off the table with a laugh. they were both thinking how cute karin looked hidden behind rena.

both older girls already knew what they were about to be told. it was obvious. but they let karin talk anyway knowing she would want to say it for herself. the smiles on their faces widened when karin told them that her and rena were dating. they didn’t try to pretend to be surprised. they knew they didn’t need to. risa joked that she couldn’t sleep not knowing the outcome of the day before which lightened the mood enough for karin. she was getting too nervous for some reason. kobayashi hugged karin tightly. she was proud. she really saw karin like a little sister and was happy to see her happy. anyone could tell that karin did seem happier. rena too. they both seemed like they had reached an unknown level of happiness.

wanting to make karin feel less nervous around her friends, kobayashi offered to introduce her to them all. karin reluctantly agreed. not because she wanted to, but because rena whispered in her ear to just go ahead and do it. they walked back into the room with all eyes on them. karin also noticed that another person had entered the room since they went into the hallway. kobayashi went through each person in the room telling karin their names, nicknames, and a random secret that she probably shouldn’t have mentioned. in return karin introduced herself too. they all already knew rena, so there was no need for her to do the same. it felt nice for karin to meet them all. having rena by her side definitely helped.

with one look at the clock karin realised the time and quickly announced that she had to go to class. the seniors all said goodbye to her and rena and the two of them headed off to their science classroom. karin knew they had more time before they had to go, but she needed to talk to rei and takemoto first. she hadn’t forgotten about her plan after all.

“...so yeah come with me and rena to that cafe tomorrow. 1pm.” karin whispered to rei, before going and saying the same thing to takemoto. rei seemed to already catch on to what karin was doing, but takemoto seemed clueless. this time karin’s plan wasn’t evil. she wouldn’t be leaving the two of them alone anywhere. she would simply allow them to spend time together with herself and rena. she wasn’t completely sure it would work, but she figured either way it would be a fun day with her girlfriend and two of their friends.

rei kept to herself for the rest of that class. she could tell that takemoto shared her like for rena and that karin would’ve picked up on it. she was just as perceptive as rei really and rei knew it. she figured that there was a reason karin had asked her about her thoughts on takemoto a few days before. now she was being asked to go with her to a cafe. usually rei would spend her saturdays at home relaxing or reading books that hono had recommended to her so she considered not going, but her curiosity as to what karin was doing made her decide otherwise. she had thought more about takemoto after karin asked about it. she started realising things that she hadn’t before. she was far from over her crush on rena, but there was something else growing in her heart.

at lunch nobody seemed to noticed the change in the way karin and rena were with each other. it was most likely because they had always been quite flirty and cuddled up for as long as the other girls knew them. that was part of the reason karin felt alright going along with it as usual. she looked softly at rena as she was talking to matsuda and ten about their dream holiday locations. she was surprised at rena’s response. “i would be happy going anywhere as long as it’s with karin.”.

that day after school karin only watched rena through the window. she couldn’t take the proud smile off her face. rena had already improved so much. it seemed as if her dream finally coming true of dating karin had helped her to be even better. maybe as a means of motivation. rei had joined karin half way through, and they got around to talking about what karin was planning for the next day. ultimately karin knew rei would’ve noticed it all, so she took a deep breath and explained it to her. from the original reasoning, to it even being okay if nothing came out of it. rei listened intently. she was somewhat fascinated by the way karin’s mind works. “i’m happy to go along with it. and i think your idea is quite alright. in a way i have started seeing takemoto differently. both because of you asking me about her, and also because i can tell you and rena feel the same way about each other. it’s better for me to move onto someone where i have a chance.” rei explained. karin smiled as rei spoke. she could see less sadness in rei’s eyes talking about not having a chance with rena than the last time they spoke about it. she was glad about it, the guilt would’ve been too much.

karin didn’t know whether to tell rei that she was dating rena or not. it was the right timing for it, but she didn’t want to rub it in any further. in the end she decided to tell her together with takemoto at the cafe. it wasn’t her original plan, but she knew they would at least have each other for support there if they needed it. she was also shocked that she didn’t mind rei’s presence at all. “you know, i think i’ll need a new best friend soon. if things go further with rena. if you want to fill that gap i think that would be nice.” karin thought out loud with a smile. rei couldn’t help but gasp. she didn’t expect that karin would suggest for them to get closer. surely that wouldn’t be the first thought about someone who likes the same person. she was happy though, she knew that was an important thing for karin to mention. she agreed to it, as long as karin treated rena well.

takemoto took a sip from her water bottle as the teacher announced the end of their dance practice. there was still a bit more time before the bell, so along with hikaru and hikari she went over to the corner to sit down for a while. usually they wouldn’t end early, but the teacher was happy with how the club’s performance looked so she rewarded them for it. plus she knew she could keep them back another day to make up for it.

once she’d finished her bottle of water, takemoto told her friends about what karin had whispered to her that morning. hikaru asked who else would be going, but takemoto replied that she didn’t actually know. she had been wondering the same thing the whole day. she assumed it would most likely be inoue, but she really didn’t know for sure. she was honestly a bit nervous for it. she found it hard to talk to rena. any time they made eye contact takemoto would find herself having to look away out of nervousness. it was almost as if she was a different person around rena. she struggled to make the usual jokes she would if she was talking to anyone else.

as takemoto and inoue were walking home together, takemoto noticed inoue smiling at her phone. she asked what inoue was so happy about, but inoue joked that it was none of her business. inoue knew that takemoto couldn’t know that she was messaging karin about the plan for the next day. despite inoue not going, karin figured it would be better to tell her since they started coming up with it together. she had already done a lot without informing inoue so she knew it had to be done.

part of inoue wanted to straight up ask takemoto about rei, but that would give too much away. she instead decided to ask her about rena. takemoto was taken aback by the question. had inoue somehow found out about it? but she hadn’t told anyone, so she wondered how it was even possible. the idea of her just being very obvious with her crush seemed to not cross her mind at all. with a sigh she told inoue about her feelings, but that she knew she wouldn’t have a chance if karin shared rena’s feelings. inoue nodded as she listened. she thought back to karin telling her that she wasn’t sure how she felt about rena and sighed herself. she felt bad for takemoto. really bad.

“this isn’t common knowledge, but i’ve actually had a bit of a crush on yumiko for a while. i don’t know why i never told you before, but i guess i’m telling you now. with her probably being with hono it’s put me in a sad situation. so just know, even if things with rena don’t go as you planned, you won’t be alone with it. plus you never know if there’s someone else of our friends that you might match better with than you thought. i’m not talking about me though i have no interest in dating you.” inoue rambled, having to add a joke in at the end. takemoto didn’t expect for inoue to have felt that way about yumiko. she didn’t show it at all. in takemoto’s eyes anyway. but she wasn’t known for being the most perceptive.

when takemoto got home she thought more about what inoue said. what did she mean there might be another of their friends she could match with? she couldn’t recall anyone that looked like they had any interest in her. unless she took what inoue said wrong. either way, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to move on from rena. as hard as she tried, her crush hadn’t gone anywhere. it had already existed for a year. she knew realistically that rena liked karin, but there was a part of her that was holding on to the hope that one day rena would reciprocate her feelings. not thinking any more about it, she turned on her switch to play without having to think.

karin woke up bright and early the next day. she never set an alarm on weekends, but checking the time on her phone it was only 8am. knowing that rena wouldn’t be awake yet she decided to be the one to send her a good morning message. this time she added some more to it. once she had done that, she began to get ready.

part of her was excited to spend time with rena, but she was also nervous. she had no idea how rei and takemoto would take the news of her and rena dating. she assumed that since rei already knew a lot she wouldn’t be surprised by it. as long as karin kept rena’s heart safe of course. takemoto was more of an unknown. that’s also one of the reasons karin decided to tell those two first away from the rest of their friends. she knew that they could rely on each other without the potential teasing from the other girls.

choosing an outfit was something karin never usually thought much about. she would throw on whatever looked like it would work together. but all of a sudden she felt a need to look good for rena. she knew that rena hadn’t minded her outfits up until that point, but she still wanted to make that effort. it felt like hours had passed of her looking through her clothes to find something, anything, that she was satisfied with. in the end she gave up and did her usual of throwing on anything. all that time spent thinking for nothing.

she checked her phone to see if rena had replied. she smiled as she saw the reply.

rena: good morning my karin~

noticing that the reply was a whole 15 minutes ago she rushed to send a reply. there was still quite a while before they had to go to the cafe, so karin decided to ask rena if she wanted to do something to pass the time. karin thought about what there was around their town and decided on asking her if she wanted to go bowling. the two of them hadn’t been together for a couple of years. at that time akane had been sent with them to watch over them and beat them by more points than they’d be willing to admit. this time, however, they could truly see who the best out of the two of them was.

since the bowling alley was closer to rena’s house, karin chose to walk to rena’s house first to say hello to her family and spend a little bit of time with them. all she could think about on the walk was if rena had told her parents or not. akane already knew, and her parents knew about akane and yuuka too so it wouldn’t be like they would have a problem with it. but at the same time, the vibe of being around your girlfriend’s parents is different to when it’s just your best friend’s parents.

after an hour of watching random tv shows, karin began walking. it didn’t take her long to get there. she had done the walk so many times that she didn’t even have to think about it anymore, letting her get fully engrossed in her thoughts. akane was the one who opened the door after karin knocked. she loudly shouted to rena that karin was there, and then invited her into the house. returning karin’s usual favour, akane offered her a cup of coffee before she took rena out to wherever they were going. karin politely accepted and took a seat at the kitchen table. akane walked into the living room for a second, but came back into the kitchen holding onto yuuka’s hand. yuuka smiled brightly at karin and asked where her and rena were doing. karin explained that they would be going bowling before meeting their friends at the cafe. akane smirked at the mention of bowling, making a remark about her being the best out of the three at it. yuuka glared at akane for karin, while karin laughed.

as rena walked down the stairs karin had her mouth agape. she felt like she hadn’t seen someone so beautiful in her whole life. rena wasn’t wearing anything special, just a simple pastel pink dress with white accents, but to karin it was something she would never forget. rena noticed karin’s expression and giggled with a light blush. she’d worn similar dresses in front of karin in the past, so she thought that karin realising she liked her really had changed her.

yuuka noticed the way karin was looking at rena and smiled. “i was like that with akane. i still am honestly.” she remarked, which caught karin’s attention. akane proudly claimed it ran in the family. nobody could deny that, even if they wanted to. rena took that opportunity to sit down next to karin. she smiled and told karin that she looked beautiful. that threw karin off, she wasn’t expecting that at all. she felt herself blush and covered her face with her hands. was that how rena felt every time karin had complimented her? after a second she replied that rena looked prettier than she thought anyone could ever look. rena giggled at karin’s choice of words. typical karin.

once karin had finished her coffee her and rena announced they would be off to go bowling. akane and yuuka waved them off with big smiles. they started holding hands as soon as they began walking. rena asked karin about their plan for the cafe and karin told her what her thoughts were for what they should do. she also explained that rei already knew and was with the idea. that eased some of rena’s worries. they both agreed that takemoto would be a mystery. both how she would take the news of her year long crush having a girlfriend and whether or not she would end up wanting to get closer to rei. neither karin or rena wanted to push it onto her, but both them and inoue were in agreement that they would be a cuter couple than either of them might’ve realised.

karin insisted that she would pay for the bowling as they walked through the doors, which melted rena’s heart. karin would usually offer to do that, but this time rena could tell from the tone of her voice that it wasn’t open for discussion. that moment made rena remember that it was their first official date as girlfriends. she had to take a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies. the idea of a first date with karin was something she had only dreamed of happening.

they walked over to their lane and the battle began. neither of them had gone bowling for years so it took a few turns for them to get back into the hang of it. rena did better than karin expected, making her want to step up her game. a part of her wanted to let rena win so that she could see the proud smile on her face, but her competitive side kicked in so she knew that wasn’t an option. she had to win.

in the end, karin won after getting a last minute strike. she was really only 5 points above rena so to call it a win was a bit questionable, but she took it regardless. “time for your reward.” rena smiled, surprising karin. reward? she didn’t know anything about a reward. but her questions were answered when rena took a step forward and kissed her on the cheek. as much as they had cuddled up to each other as friends, they’d never kissed each other on the cheek before so the action shocked karin. she didn’t expect it at all. in that moment she realised that she’s truly happy. it’s what she’d wanted for so long without even knowing it.

the two of them decided to walk to a nearby park to sit there until they had to leave for the cafe. there was only an hour before they had to leave for the cafe. their discussion turned to memories. it started because karin joked that she totally would’ve won back when they went with akane if the older girl wasn’t so good at it that it put her off focus. rena thought back to all the times they’d gone to various places and picked out her favourite one to talk about first. when they went to universal studios japan together. it was a planned trip for karin’s birthday one year. she remembered that her parents had saved up for a while to allow her to buy whatever she wanted while she was there. it was all a massive surprise and they took rena along because they knew karin would have more fun if she was there. they both talked about what they would do if they went back there. karin’s first response was that she would eat all the food she could, while rena said she would want to go on all the rides to prove to herself that she wasn’t scared of them. when they had gone before, they didn’t go on any of the more thrilling rides. mostly because karin refused to though. she was never good with rollercoasters.

next in the conversation was when they first joined sakurazaka high. rena had never told karin before, but she was scared that when they joined karin would find someone and start liking them. karin was surprised to hear that was a concern that rena had. her biggest worry of joining was that she would have to meet a bunch of new people. when she explained that to rena they both laughed. their fears seemed to cancel out each other. rena told karin that she felt guilty every time she introduced her to a new friend because she knew that she didn’t want to be around a lot of people, but it was a relief that she ended up liking their company in the end.

karin took that opportunity to tell rena that she had been replaced as her best friend by rei. rena was sad about it for a split second before remembering that karin was now her girlfriend instead of her best friend. rena mentioned how close karin and rei seemed lately and asked the reason why. “honestly, that evening at the restaurant she asked me why i seemed different. i admitted that i realised that i like you and instead of being sad that she wouldn’t get a chance with you, she was happy for both of us. she’s also joined me in watching you all play with your clubs twice now so we’ve had chances to talk. since we both like to observe people we’ve been able to get along well.” karin explained. rena simply nodded in reply. they were a good pairing for being best friends. although she was surprised that karin would call rei her best friend instead of hikari. but she figured their friendship was more out of having someone quiet around other than best friends.

looking at her phone, rena realised it was time to walk to the cafe. she was sad that she wouldn’t have more alone time with karin, but they had all the time in the world for that. when they got to the cafe they noticed rei stood outside on her phone. “you’re here early.” rena noted with a smile, which rei reciprocated. she explained that she was bored in her house so decided to leave early. the real reason was that she had finished a chapter of the book she was reading and wouldn’t have time to read the next one so decided to just leave anyway. but she was excited to see both rena and karin so she didn’t mind waiting outside for a second. she had considered going in on her own, but she found that to be quite embarrassing.

the three of them went inside to find a table, with karin sending takemoto a message to say that they were going to wait inside for her. takemoto replied straight away saying she was a few minutes away. karin relayed this to rena and rei who simply nodded. rei didn’t bother to pretend that she didn’t know why she was there, telling karin and rena that she was kind of nervous to see takemoto. when rena asked why, she replied that she wasn’t actually completely sure why. karin smiled to herself at rei’s confession. from what the two had talked about the day before, she could connect the dots.

takemoto hurried into the cafe, sitting down in the empty seat next to rei. she profusely apologised, but the others told her it was okay. it was then that she realised rei was the one with them. she was a bit surprised, but she assumed there wouldn’t be a particular reason for it. after their usual greetings, the four of them decided it was time to order their drinks. rei made sure that karin went with her so that she could talk to her. “takemoto looks so pretty today karin… what do i do?” she asked, panic evident in her voice. karin giggled at rei’s comment. she didn’t really know what advice to give, considering she was thinking the same thing when she saw rena earlier. “talk to her as usual i guess. you’re good at keeping composed so you should be fine.”.

whilst karin and rei were at the counter buying their drinks, takemoto was struggling to start a conversation with rena. eventually rena asked her what drink she was going to get, which she just about managed to answer. she didn’t know what was wrong with her. she knew she shouldn’t have been so nervous. it didn’t help that she had no idea why she was even there. luckily for her karin and rei came back with their drinks so it was her turn to go up. she noticed rena gesturing for them to go up together, so she smiled and got up too. rei couldn’t hold back her laugh after seeing it. at least she wasn’t that bad.

after a deep breath, karin quietly told rei that her and rena would be telling both rei and takemoto that they’re dating. rei’s eyes went wide as she slowly nodded her head. karin carried on by warning rei that she told her before she was supposed to so that she could look out for takemoto without being surprised herself. all rei could do was reiterate her words from when karin first told her she realised she liked rena. don’t break her heart.

once rena and takemoto sat back down with their drinks, karin nodded at rena. it was time. hopefully it wouldn’t become a mess. “okay so, we’re here to tell you both something. we wanted to do it in a smaller group so that it wouldn’t be chaos. me and rena are dating.” karin hesitantly explained, eyes not leaving takemoto. rei smiled and congratulated the two of them, but takemoto didn’t move a muscle. she looked frozen. she was glad that she hadn’t taken a sip of her drink because it most likely would’ve been spit out straight away. part of her wanted to run away, but she remembered inoue’s words. she would be fine. shaking her head she came back to her senses and joined rei in congratulating them. really, as long as rena was happy she would be happy too.

she turned to look at rei and noticed her sympathetically smiling at her. it was comforting. she wondered if rei had liked rena too, but that didn’t matter anymore. with a sigh, everyone began taking sips of their drinks. the atmosphere felt awkward. nobody knew what to say. karin was hoping rei would be the one to break the silence, but rei was waiting for rena to do it. rena was just enjoying her drink, not even noticing the change in atmosphere. realising nobody else was going to speak, rei finally spoke up. “i’ll be honest, i did or well i guess still do have a crush on you rena. but i know that karin has had this on her mind so ultimately i’m very happy for both of you. plus i feel like this has sort of helped me realise i need to move on. there might be someone i have my eye on, i don’t know.”.

rei noticed the proud look on karin’s face. she knew she was tempted to tease her, but was holding back. rena on the other hand, not knowing who rei was talking about, asked her all about it. rei could only laugh. she couldn’t say it in front of takemoto, so she replied that she would be keeping it to herself for a little while until her crush on rena went away more. takemoto was confused at first, but she began to think back to the vague things inoue had said. was rei talking about her? if she was then how did inoue know? when she looked at rei, she saw her smiling at karin. she must know about it.

the rest of the time at the cafe takemoto’s thoughts were full of questions. none of which she had the courage to ask. she wondered if she should even bring them up or not. even if rei was talking about her, how did she even feel about rei? inoue had asked her about it before, but she was only thinking of her as a friend. inoue had also asked her about the rest of their friends which made it not as suspicious so she didn’t even think about it.

“what’s the one food you hope the others bring to lunch more often takemoto?” rena asked, bringing takemoto out of her thoughts. she didn’t have to think about it, immediately admitting that she liked when hikaru brought pizza just as much as karin. rei made a mental note to start taking in pizza. she didn’t eat it often, but for both takemoto and karin she wanted to make them happy.

after a while longer of chatting, karin announced she would be walking rena home. rei and takemoto both nodded and got out of their seats at the same time as karin and rena. after the couple said their goodbyes, they left a nervous rei and takemoto outside the cafe together. they decided that since they both lived in the same direction they should just walk together. since it was just the two of them, takemoto took her chance to ask rei about what she had said earlier. “maybe you won’t tell me, but who is it you were talking about before?”. rei smiled at the question and turned to look at takemoto. “that’s a good question. actually, you’re the reason i didn’t say it. not because i don’t trust you. but just… yeah.”

“i hope i haven’t got this all wrong, but if it’s me you don’t have to worry. i still like rena, but you said you do too right? why don’t we just help each other through this and see what happens?”.

“you know what takemoto, i like the sound of that.”.