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“you’re sick?!”
emu flinches at the sound of tsukasa’s loud voice through the phone, letting out a huff.
“are you okay? do you need us to bring you anything?” the blonde continues to ramble, concern evident in his voice.
emu feels a twinge of guilt, shaking her head even though the boy couldn’t see it “i’m okay, my sister is home today” she mumbles, fiddling with her cardigan sleeves.
“okay then… i’ll let rui know” tsukasa replies.
“and nene-chan?” emu adds softly.
there’s a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before tsukasa responds “you’re not gonna tell her yourself?”
emu feels the heat rush to her face “uhm i- i just don’t want to worry her too much!”
“okay…?” tsukasa says, the concern from before now replaced with confusion.
“okay, thank you tsukasa-kun, bye now!” emu blurts quickly, hanging up before the boy could speak anymore.
dropping her phone onto her bed, emu buries her face in her hands, willing her red cheeks to disappear. she had to be sick. there was no other explanation.
peeking between her fingers, emu’s eyes find their way to the small plushie next to her pillow. a small pink cat from the claw machine on main street. the plushie that nene had spent thirty minutes trying to win yesterday, only to end up giving it to emu.
“wahh! you got it nene-chan!” emu shrieks, jumping up and down.
nene laughs at her antics, crouching down to collect the plushie from the chute. when she stands, she smiles fondly at it, before holding it out to emu.
emu blinks, tilting her head.
nene looks shy all of a sudden, almost scared; similar to the way she had looked back when emu first met her. an expression she hadn’t shown in a long time, not since they’d become friends.
“it’s for you” nene mumbles, her cheeks pink. they had been standing outside for over half an hour in the middle of winter, after all.
“eh? but you spent so long trying to get it!” emu protests.
nene sighs, taking emu’s hand and placing the plushie in it “i wanted to get it because it reminded me of you” she admits, her voice barely above a whisper.
emu feels her own cheeks redden at the confession, looking down at the plushie in her hand. it was true she’d never seen nene so determined to win the claw machine before.
“well if you’re sure…” emu trails off, hugging the plushie.
when she looks up to meet nene’s eyes again, her heart flutters in her chest. nene is watching her with fond eyes, and an equally fond smile on her face. it’s an expression emu hadn’t seen before, nothing like the fond annoyance she usually showed the rest of wonderlands x showtime, and nothing like the soft happiness she would show when listening to her favourite songs or watching her favourite musicals.
no, it was something else, something emu couldn’t place. something she couldn’t understand. but she thinks she wouldn’t mind if nene looked at her like that more often.
“ah! it’s late, we should get going” nene says suddenly, breaking emu out of her trance.
“o-oh right! let’s go!!” emu agrees, shaking away the feeling and putting on a grin.
as they begin their walk home, emu squeezes the plushie against her chest. she must have gotten too worked up cheering for nene, she thinks, feeling her heart beating erratically.
she looks at nene out of the corner of her eye, finding the other girl still smiling the same fond smile.
emu makes a noise of protest when she feels her heart squeeze, throwing herself face first onto her bed. ever since she’d arrived home yesterday night, her heart had been aching and she felt feverish every time she looked at the cat plushie. she hadn’t been able to sleep, tossing and turning the whole night.
she didn’t often get sick, so when she told her sister she thought she’d caught a cold, hinata had sent her back to bed immediately.
emu sighs, turning her head to the side, looking at the plushie again. she hoped nene wouldn’t be too upset, that she hadn’t texted the other girl herself. her heart ached at the thought of nene blaming herself for keeping emu out so long.
reaching out, emu pulled the plushie towards herself, squeezing her eyes shut as she hugs it. the lack of sleep was catching up to her, and a few minutes later she finally falls asleep.
nene frowns at her lunchbox, glancing next to her for the tenth time since lunch had started. looking back at her phone, her frown deepens, her chat with emu still displaying nothing new.
“ah nene! there you are!”
nene looks up from her phone to see tsukasa making his way towards her. he stops in front of her, taking in her half eaten lunch and worried expression, sighing.
“are you waiting for emu?” he asks.
nene flushes red, putting her phone away “i don’t know what you’re talking about” she mumbles.
tsukasa sighs again, making nene raise an eyebrow at him.
“she really didn’t tell you?” tsukasa asks.
nene blinks “tell me what?”
“she rang this morning saying she was sick and she wouldn’t be at practice today. she asked me to tell you which was weird because usually she would text you first- nene?” tsukasa replies, cutting off when nene stands up abruptly.
“tsukasa, take this for me” nene says, handing the older boy her lunchbox. she slips her phone into her pocket, taking off towards the school gate.
“huh? nene? hey nene!!” tsukasa calls after her, but nene ignores him.
she slips out of the school gates, turning in the direction of emu’s home. sick ? was it because they’d stayed out so long yesterday? nene speeds up, all but running now.
by the time she arrives at the ootori house, she’s out of breath. but she doesn’t pause to catch it, walking up the stairs and immediately ringing the doorbell.
for a minute, it’s quiet, and nene realizes emu is probably asleep if she’s sick. she’s just beginning to regret running all the way here without thinking, when the door opens.
“oh, kusanagi-san?” it’s emu’s sister, hinata, looking wide eyed at nene on the front doorstep “are you alright?”
“ah yes um” nene flusters, realising how silly she must look “is emu okay?”
“ah right” hinata nods “she should be awake by now, would you like to come in?”
nene nods, slipping inside the house after her.
“you can go up to her room if you like. just call me if you need anything” hinata says, offering a warm smile, before disappearing down the hall.
nene bows her head in thanks, breathing out once she was alone again. she stares down the stairs, eyebrows drawn together in worry.
a heartbeat later, she shakes her head, moving to climb the stairs.
when emu opens her eyes again, she isn’t sure what time it is. her vision slowly clears as she looks around her room.
her uniform thrown haphazardly on the table. her curtains drawn shut, the tiniest rays of light shining through the gap. the glass of water beside her bed. nene, resting her head on emu’s bed, asleep. the plushie she’d fallen asleep hugging, still in her arms-
wait.
emu smacks her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise of surprise she makes when her eyes dart back to nene. she blinks, once, twice, then squeezes her eyes shut, slowly opening them again.
and yet, nene doesn’t disappear. she doesn’t stir either, looking peaceful as she sleeps.
emu’s heart stutters and she squeezes the plushie to her chest again. she rolls slowly onto her side, so she can look at nene properly.
“nene-chan?” she asks quietly, as if she was still unsure whether she was dreaming or not. she had been thinking about nene a lot before she went to sleep, after all.
nene continues to sleep, and emu watches her, fondly.
hesitantly, she reaches a hand out, brushing nene’s bangs away from her face.
and oh , she was so pretty, emu thinks.
she knows she should wake nene, ask her why she was here. but emu wonders how long she could get away with staying like this, admiring nene at her calmest. she wonders, if maybe, she could lean forward, and press a kiss to nene’s forehead.
emu blinks at the thought. huh.
“emu?”
emu startles, but finds her hand held in place, suddenly in the embrace of nene’s own.
nene doesn’t move her head, but her eyes are open now, looking at emu curiously.
“nene-chan” emu’s heart thunders in her chest as she says her friend’s name.
“are you okay?” nene asks, concern lacing her voice.
“nene-chan” emu says again, unable to form any other words.
she watches the way nene’s eyes soften, the way her head tilts in question. feels her squeeze her hand, sending sparks flying straight to her chest.
her heart had always done funny things around nene, emu thinks. but this was different. it was too intense, too overwhelming, emu just wanted to-
“..kiss..”
“huh?”
emu sits up suddenly, turning to face a concerned nene.
“nene-chan” emu says, eyes now sparkling “i want to kiss you”
“you- you WHAT?”
emu watches, fascinated, as nene’s cheeks turn a dark crimson. the blush spreads to her ears, and emu feels her own cheeks warm at the sight.
“i can’t?” she asks hesitantly, her heart twisting in her chest.
“that’s not- i mean!” nene stumbles over her words, burying her face in her free hand “what do you mean by that?”
“i don’t know” emu admits with a frown “but i feel like i might explode if i don’t kiss you right now”
nene looks up again, staring at her wide eyed.
“..explode?”
“mhm. my heart won’t stop pounding when i see you, nene-chan. and just now, i thought i’d really like to kiss you”
“emu, that’s- but why?”
and then suddenly, as if the final puzzle piece had fallen into place, emu knows.
“because i love you” emu says, her smile growing “nene-chan!! i love you!!”
nene stares at her, stunned, and emu giggles, pulling her forward into an awkward hug.
“i love nene-chan!!” she laughs, the weight that had been hanging over her suddenly gone.
“emu! you can’t just- say that out of nowhere!” nene complains, attempting to pull away.
but emu only grins, holding her tighter.
eventually nene stops struggling, surrendering herself to emu’s embrace. she returns the hug gently, burying her face in emu’s shoulder.
“i love you too. just so you know”
emu’s heart rate picks up again, but this time she doesn’t mind the feeling, a giggle escaping her lips.
“i know”
nene pulls back abruptly, her face burning red again “what do you mean you know- ”
she doesn’t get to finish her sentence, squeaking in surprise as emu plants a kiss on her lips.
but emu doesn’t stop there, placing another on nene’s nose, then her forehead, and both her cheeks as well. then she pulls back, grinning at the sight of nene’s dumbfounded expression.
“i love you, nene-chan” emu says again, just because she can.
and there it is, just underneath the embarrassment painted on nene’s face. that fond expression again. but emu knew what it was now. it was love . nene loved her. she wasn’t sure how she didn’t realize it sooner.
“..i love you too”
“hehe nene-chan, your face is all red”
“ahhh emu, don’t pinch my cheeks, please!”