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"You know you know you know... I've been thinking," said Shiho to Rina. Both of them were walking down the hall at school.
"That sounds dangerous," Rina teased.
Shiho ignored the remark. "Have you ever noticed that Nagisa and Yukishiro-san keep disappearing? And always when something important is happening? Like like like, during a lacrosse match, or that concert the other day. They always disappear together and then come back together. Haven't you noticed that?"
Rina thought about it. "You're right," she said. "I thought it was just Nagisa being forgetful as usual, but it actually always is with Yukishiro-san, isn't it?"
"See see see! I knew I wasn't imagining it." She tilted her head. "What do you think they're doing together?"
"Maybe they're studying," Rina mused. "Nagisa could use the help from Yukishiro-san."
"I thought that first too, but Nagisa would never do it in the middle of an important lacrosse match," said Shiho.
"Oh, you're right," said Rina. She looked up towards the ceiling. "It has to be something that can't wait at all."
"I was sort of thinking..." Shiho lowered her voice and put her head closer to Rina's. "What if they're... you know... together."
"Huh, for real?" Rina was incredulous.
"You know you know you know! All the girls are always giving Nagisa love letters! What if Yukishiro-san confessed to her? And what if Nagisa said yes!"
"What? Nagisa wouldn't say yes to a girl. I know she and Yukishiro-san are close, but..."
"But you see, that's the thing! They're very very very close! And it happened so fast, too. One day they hardly knew each other, and the next day they had matching phone cases and were always talking. And now they're always disappearing together. Plus, remember when we all went to Yukishiro-san's house together? After we left, Nagisa stayed all night. Don't you think it's suspicious?"
"Huh... it didn't seem right at first, but now that you mention all of it... I'm starting to see what you mean." Rina was thoughtful now as she said, "But wouldn't she have told us? We're her friends and all."
"Maybe she's embarrassed," Shiho suggested.
"Maybe," said Rina. She and Shiho both stopped walking in front of a door. "The props are in here, right?" Rina asked.
"Yeah yeah yeah, I think so," said Shiho.
"Ugh, I remember this place being really messy," said Rina. "If it still is, we should split up to look. You go to the left, and I'll go to the right."
"Good idea, good idea, good idea!" said Rina.
They pushed open the door to the storage room and went inside. Sure enough, the place was a mess. They split ways wordlessly and began sorting through old shelves and boxes for props for a display they were putting up. Rina was pondering everything that Shiho had said while she did so. It did make sense, but she still somehow found it all hard to believe. So far as she could tell, Nagisa had never been particularly gung-ho about either boys or girls. Oh sure, she pined for a boyfriend sometimes, but didn't every middle school girl? One of the cute senpai boys had even asked her out to chestnut gathering recently, and Nagisa had responded by thoroughly panicking and freaking out. The idea of her dating Yukishiro-san didn't seem to make any sense.
She pushed another box back into place and decided to walk around the massive shelf she was currently in front of to whatever was on the other side. And as soon as she got there, she froze.
There had long been an old couch there for some reason that Rina had never quite figured out. But that wasn't the shocking part.
Shiho walked up behind her. She looked like she was about to say something, but Rina quickly put her hand up over Shiho's mouth to stop her before she began. She pointed at the couch and Shiho followed her gaze. Her eyes widened.
Nagisa and Honoka were on the couch, together, asleep.
Honoka was lying on her back, her head up on one of the arms of the couch, and Nagisa was lying flopped atop of her, stomach down, head resting very comfortably on Honoka's chest. Honoka had her arms wrapped tightly around Nagisa, one around her waist and one up higher, so her hand could be on Nagisa's head - which it was, each of her fingers lovingly intertwined with strands of orange hair. They were both snoring very lightly, and they both looked very, very content and comfortable.
Shiho and Rina slowly backed away, careful not to wake the two sleeping students. They eventually found their way to the door, and they stepped back out into the hall and then looked at each other incredulously.
Finally, Shiho grinned. "See see see? I told you so!"
"I didn't think they'd actually be like this at school," Rina admitted.
"They must be really into each other!" said Shiho. "Enough that they go and do this all the time even during lacrosse games and stuff."
"I guess so," said Rina. "Anyway, we never did find those props we were looking for."
"That's okay. This is way better. We found a scoop! I can't wait to see what Nagisa says about it later."
Nagisa was on her way back to her locker after school when Shiho and Rina caught up to her. "Hey hey hey, Nagisa~" Shiho said teasingly.
"Nagisaaaaa~" Rina chimed in.
"Huh? What?" Nagisa looked at them.
"Your hair looks a little messy," said Shiho with a sing-songy tone.
"It does," said Rina, drawing the words out as she said them. "It's almost like someone was messing with it..."
Nagisa didn't look amused. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Oh oh oh, it's nothing really," said Shiho. "We just found out what you and Yukishiro-san are doing when you always disappear together."
"Wait, what?" Nagisa's eyes grew wide in panic. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," said Rina.
"Yeah, you can cuddle and do stuff to Yukishiro-san as much as you waaaant... we'll keep it a secret~" Shiho leaned in towards Nagisa to enhance the teasing.
"Oh," said Nagisa, and she looked... relieved? ...for some reason, which Shiho and Rina both thought was odd, but then before they could think about it much, Nagisa panicked again. "Wait, what? We aren't doing that!"
"Oh?" said Rina. "We saw you in the storage room a few hours ago."
"Well, that was like. A one time thing. Because we were both tired. We don't normally..."
"You don't normally what?" Shiho grinned.
"I mean we're not doing that when we disappear together. We're being Pretty... um... I mean uh..."
"Pretty what, pretty romantic?" said Rina.
"It's okay, Nagisa," Shiho said. "I already said we'll keep it a secret."
"But... that's not... ugh... I don't believe this!" Nagisa wailed, her hands on her head. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Honoka approaching, and she ran up to her. "Honoka, let's go home!" she said quickly.
"Huh? Did something happen?" Honoka tilted her head quizzically.
"Yes. I mean, no." Nagisa grabbed Honoka's arm and began walking away.
"Yukishiro-san, have fun with your girlfriend~" Rina called out after them.
Honoka looked over at Rina. Then she looked over at Nagisa, who was still dragging her away. And then she looked back at Rina and smiled. "I will," she said cheerfully.
"I don't believe this," said Nagisa.