Work Text:
Emu had barely opened her lunchbox. She perked up immediately, snatching it off the table with both hands before the vibration could stop. A single message sat on the screen.
Nene
Lunch started.
Emu's eyes sparkled.
"Yay!" she whispered excitedly, nearly bouncing out of her seat as she hugged her phone against her chest. "Nene-chan's free!"
She had already taken one step toward the classroom door before suddenly freezing in place.
"Oh!"
A memory resurfaced almost instantly.
"Next time, I'll bring Kohane-chan too!"
"I promised, An-chan!" Emu gasped. Without another thought, she bolted out of Class 2-B so quickly that the breeze she left behind rustled the worksheets on several desks.
None of her classmates even reacted anymore.
About thirty seconds later—
She burst into Class 2-A (Miyajou, she wasn't leaving without Kohane!) without knocking. The door slammed open, though miraculously didn't bang onto the wall.
"Kohane-chaaan!"
The classroom collectively looked up.
Kohane, who had been sitting alone beside the window, jumped so hard she nearly dropped the peach bun she was holding.
"E-Eh?! Emu-chan?!"
"There you are!" Emu exclaimed happily as she hurried over and grabbed both of Kohane's hands before she could even stand properly. "Nene-chan texted me!"
"She did…?" Kohane echoed, blinking in confusion.
"Mhm!" Emu nodded enthusiastically. "Lunch started in Kamikou! And I promised An-chan I'd bring you!"
Kohane squeaked, eyes widening. "Bring me?! You promised An-chan!?"
Emu beamed, nodding as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We're gonna visit our girlfriends!"
"Our..." Kohane repeated faintly, her cheeks immediately flushing pink. "Our girlfriends..."
"Mhm!" Emu squeezed her hands with a delighted grin. "Let's go!"
"W-Wait, Emu-chan—!"
It was already too late.
Emu had grabbed Kohane's wrist and was halfway out the classroom door before Kohane's brain managed to catch up with what was happening.
The classroom door slammed shut behind them. She prayed the door didn't get damaged in any form after all the high speed slamming it's been through.
Keeping up with Otori Emu turned out to be significantly harder than Kohane had expected.
For the first half minute, everything seemed manageable. They ran through shopping streets, crossed intersections, and weaved around pedestrians without too much trouble.
By the end of the first minute, Kohane's breathing had already become noticeably heavier.
By the second...
"E-Emu... ch-chan..."
She stretched an arm forward weakly toward the pink-haired girl several meters ahead.
"S-Slow down p-please...!"
Emu glanced over her shoulder. "Oh!"
She skidded to a stop so abruptly that she almost spun in a complete circle.
"Kohane-chan!"
By the time Kohane finally caught up, she bent over with both hands braced against her knees, struggling to catch her breath.
"Haa— I'm… not that— haa… fast..." she panted, clearly struggling.
"Ueh, I'm so sorry, Kohane-chan!!" she exclaimed, feeling guilty. "I'll make sure to wait for you to be all poka-poka before running off, okay!"
Kohane let out a weak little laugh between breaths.
"E-Ehehe..."
She grabbed Kohane's hand again, this time much more gently.
"I'll go slower!"
"...Please..."
Unfortunately...
Emu's definition of slower and everyone else's definition of slower were very different.
Every few minutes she'd get excited about something, forget entirely that Kohane wasn't built for sprinting across half of Shibuya, dash ahead at full speed—
Only to stop several dozen meters later.
"Ah!" Then she'd hurriedly turn around. "Kohane-chaaan! Sorry!"
This happened.
Several times.
By the time Kamiyama High finally came into view, Kohane felt fairly confident she'd unknowingly participated in some sort of marathon.
"We're here!" Emu announced triumphantly, pointing toward the school gates.
Kohane inhaled deeply before slowly straightening up.
"Haa... we— made it…?" she asked, breathing labored from dashing through Shibuya.
Emu pumped both fists into the air.
"Yay!"
Then, before Kohane had even finished recovering—
"Let's go see Nene-chan and An-chan!"
She dashed straight through the front gate.
"Emu-chan?!" Kohane called in alarm as she hurried after her. "W-Wait for me!"
She slipped through the entrance only a few seconds later.
Students filled the hallways, chatting over lunch and carrying bentos between classrooms.
Kohane looked to the left, then to the right.
"...Emu-chan?"
She looked behind her. A tiny feeling of dread settled into her stomach.
"Eh…?"
She spun around once more.
"Oh no."
She was lost.
The last time she'd visited Kamiyama High had been during the school festival.
Back then every hallway had been overflowing with decorations, signs, costumes, and attractions. Everything had been colorful and easy to remember.
Now...
Without any of that...
Every corridor looked exactly the same.
"O-Okay..." Kohane whispered to herself as she clasped her hands together nervously. "I-I'll just ask someone..."
She took a tentative step forward.
Then immediately bumped into someone rounding the corner.
"Eep!"
"Ah, shit—"
The familiar voice stopped mid-sentence.
Kohane perked up at the voice. "Shinonome-kun?"
Standing in front of her were Akito and Toya.
And beside them...
"Ah!" Tsukasa spread both arms dramatically, practically sparkling with self-confidence as he recognized her. "Azusawa! My number three fan!"
Kohane's expression immediately brightened.
"Tsukasa-san!" she greeted happily, bowing before looking back up with obvious admiration. "It's nice to see you again!"
"As expected!" Tsukasa declared proudly as he placed both hands on his hips. "One blessed with refined taste naturally recognizes true greatness!"
"I-I really loved your performance at Wonder Stage from yesterday!" Kohane admitted earnestly. "It was incredible."
"Naturally!" Tsukasa laughed, puffing out his chest even further. "I am destined to become a world-famous star!"
Beside him, Toya smiled warmly.
"I'm glad the two of you get along so well," he said with a small laugh.
Kohane agreed immediately. "Tsukasa-san is so amazing…"
"He really is," Toya replied with a fond smile.
Akito looked at Kohane. Then at his partner, who he was supposed to be spending lunch with. Then at Tsukasa, who was already basking in the praise like a sunflower facing the sun.
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Can you guys stop feedin' his ego for, like, five damn seconds?"
Tsukasa gasped dramatically and clutched his chest.
"Akito! Must you always attempt to extinguish the brilliant flames of a future star?"
"The fuck did you get that from."
"Your efforts have failed spectacularly!"
"What." Akito sighed so heavily it sounded genuinely exhausting. "Nevermind."
Kohane couldn't help giggling.
Tsukasa looked positively delighted by the audience.
"Anyway," Akito said as he crossed his arms, turning back to look at Kohane. "How the hell're ya even here?"
"Oh!" Kohane blinked before remembering why she'd come in the first place. "Emu-chan brought me!"
"Otori?" Toya perked up.
"Mhm!" Kohane nodded. "Kusanagi-san texted her that lunch started."
Akito stared for exactly one second.
Then everything clicked. "...Ah."
Beside him, Toya smiled knowingly. "It seems Otori ran ahead again."
"...Again?" Kohane repeated.
"She does this literally every time," Akito answered flatly before jerking his thumb toward the hallway. "She gets distracted halfway there, forgets whoever she's with, then keeps runnin' to see Kusanagi."
"She did..." Kohane laughed sheepishly.
"I'm relieved you happened to find us," Toya admitted kindly.
Akito looked toward him. "We're goin'."
Toya nodded immediately.
"Of course."
Tsukasa blinked. "Leaving already?"
"Nene's class."
"Ah."
Tsukasa nodded with complete understanding. "As usual! Have fun on your dates my dearest of kouhais!!" he shouted out before running off.
"Geh… that guy is so fucking loud."
"Akito."
"…Whatever—"
He motioned towards a corridor. "Follow us, Kohane."
She nodded, ever grateful. "T-Thank you, Shinonome-kun, Aoyagi-kun!"
Sure enough, the moment Akito slid open the door to Class 2-A—
"Nene-chaaan~!"
Emu had somehow attached herself to Nene from behind like an especially affectionate koala. Her arms were wrapped securely around Nene's shoulders while she happily rubbed her cheek against the taller girl's head, completely ignoring the fact that half the classroom was watching.
"Nene-chaaan!!"
"Emu…" Nene sighed as she continued eating her lunch almost normally despite having a pink-haired girlfriend hanging off her back.
"I missed you!"
"You saw me yesterday."
"I still missed you!"
Despite the complaint... Nene wasn't actually trying very hard to escape.
Akito watched the scene for two whole seconds.
Then fake-gagged. "Blegh— lesbians…"
Without even turning around, Nene calmly lifted one hand and extended her middle finger in his general direction.
To which he obviously returned with a middle finger of his own.
Only then did Emu finally notice the doorway.
"Kohane-chan!"
She immediately released Nene and bounded over with the same unstoppable energy as before. "You made it!"
"I-I got a little lost," Kohane admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
Emu immediately clasped her own hands together.
"I'm sorry! I forgot to wait!"
"It's okay," Kohane reassured her with a gentle smile. "I found Shinonome-kun and Aoyagi-kun."
At that moment, a very familiar voice called out from across the classroom.
"Kohane?"
An looked up from where she'd been talking with a classmate.
The instant their eyes met, her face lit up.
"Kohaneeee!" she called out, hurrying across the classroom without a second thought. "What're you doing here?"
"Emu-chan invited me… she said she promised you I'd come," Kohane explained with a smile.
"Ah!" An turned to Emu, "Thank you, Emu-chan!"
"Wonderhoy, An-chan!"
Kohane smiled shyly. An gently squeezed her hands, "Well, now you're here."
She leaned just a tiny bit closer, smiling so brightly that Kohane couldn't help smiling back just as hard. "So now we can eat together!"
"Mhm!"
Nearby, Emu had somehow returned to hugging Nene again within the span of a few seconds.
The lesbian energy levels in the room was insane.
Akito looked from the pink-haired menace attached to the gamer girl...
To An and Kohane, who were smiling at each other as though nobody else existed...
Then over to Toya.
"Seriously…" He sighed. "We're surrounded by couples."
Toya followed his gaze before letting out an amused laugh. "Do we count towards that?"
Akito flushed. "...Don't start."
He felt gentle fingers brush against the back of his hand.
He glanced down. Toya's pinky had quietly hooked around his. Without saying a word, Akito sighed one last time and quietly intertwined his pinky with Toya's properly.
"There, happy?"
"Are they always like this?" a student asked to her friend.
She was a new student, and this was her first week.
As if having senpais who explode something everyday and get constantly chased down by teachers, there were apparently also Miyajou students who break into school.
Not only that, but they're all gay!
To which her friend simply groaned. "Unfortunately, yes."
The moment Emu finally let go, Nene took a slow breath before reaching up to smooth down her thoroughly disheveled hair.
A few pink strands had somehow ended up plastered across her face, and she quietly tucked them back into place with practiced resignation.
The shorter girl was smiling as always, but Nene didn't miss the faint flush lingering across her cheeks or the way her shoulders still rose and fell a little faster than normal.
Her uniform was slightly wrinkled from the frantic run, and a few loose strands of hair had escaped from her braid.
Nene's gaze slowly shifted toward Emu.
"You ran here, didn't you?" she asked flatly as she folded her arms, trying to sound a little more intimidating.
Emu immediately puffed out her chest with unmistakable pride before giving an enthusiastic nod. "Mhm! We came as fast as we could!"
Kohane let out an embarrassed laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck. "W-Well... Emu-chan came as fast as she could."
A loud snort escaped Akito from near the classroom doorway.
"'As fast as she could,'" he repeated as he shook his head. "More like she dragged ya across half of Shibuya."
Nene sighed. "Emu…."
The pink-haired girl immediately stood up straighter. "Yes?"
"You almost killed Azusawa-san..."
"Wah?!" Emu squeaked as she whipped around toward Kohane, her eyes widening in genuine horror.
"Kohane-chan!" she cried as she hurried over and grabbed both of Kohane's hands. "Are you dying?!"
"N-No!" Kohane hurriedly waved both hands despite Emu still holding them. "I'm really okay!"
"Really?" Emu asked as she leaned down until their faces were barely an inch apart.
"Mhm!"
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Only then did Emu visibly relax. She practically melted with relief before gently patting Kohane's head as though reassuring herself that she was still alive.
Nene let out another long sigh.
"You're unbelievable," she muttered, though the tiny smile tugging at the corner of her mouth betrayed her completely.
Across the room, An had already closed the distance between herself and Kohane. She rested both hands lightly on Kohane's shoulders before carefully looking her over from head to toe with obvious concern.
"Kohaneee~" she called out. "Are you really okay?"
Kohane smiled reassuringly. "I am, don't worry, An-chan."
An tilted her head.
"You're still breathing a little hard though." she pointed out
"Eh—? Do I?"
An hummed in response, before crouching beside her school bag. She smiled triumphantly when she found what she'd been looking for.
"Here," she said as she held out a chilled Pocari Sweat.
Kohane blinked. "...For me?"
"Mhm!"
"You don't have to, An-chan. I'll be okay...!"
"But you need it! Please?" An pleaded, giving Kohane her irresistable puppy eyes.
Kohane immediately gave up rejecting her partner's kindness.
"Ehe… thank you, An-chan!"
She accepted the bottle with both hands, smiling shyly.
"Yay! There we go—!" An replied warmly as she watched Kohane unscrew the cap.
Kohane took a long drink before letting out a quiet sigh.
This was so worth it…