Work Text:
Please not Kotori, please not Kotori, please not Kotori
“Sonoda-san, you’ll be partnered with Minami-san.”
Kamisama, doshite??
The bell rang. The blue-haired girl sank into her seat, lunch the last thing on her mind.
“Umi-chan, I look forward to working with you!” Kotori stood before her and clapped her hands together.
Umi sighed internally. The ashen-haired girl was cheerful as ever, no hint of distress dare breach her bubbly disposition, unlike the girl who sat slouched before her. Of course Kotori would be elated to work with her, they were best friends after all. But for Umi, being around her best friend was starting to feel more miserable than enjoyable. Why? She knew the reason of course, but she could never admit it to herself, let alone Kotori. It was far too shameless.
“Y-yeah…” Umi mustered in reply.
“Maybe we can meet up at my place to get started! I know we have a show coming up soon, so maybe we should try to get this assignment out of the way, what do you think?”
Leave it to Kotori to just nonchalantly invite her over. Umi had been to Kotori’s house on multiple occasions. No big deal. However, Honoka was always there to accompany her. Her face reddened at the thought of her and Kotori, alone in her room, undoubtedly more chances for awkward silences without the obnoxious musings of their carrot-top friend.
“S-sure…” she managed. They’d have to get the assignment done eventually. And Kotori was right, Umi was having enough trouble concentrating on practice as it was (thanks to a certain, long-legged, doe-eyed second year) she certainly didn’t need school work piling up on top of it all.
“Honoka, for the last time, I’m not bringing over a whole box of sweets.” The bluenette turned her back on her friend who offered her a heavy box of pastries.
“Aww, Umi, why not? I’m sure Kotori would appreciate it.”
“We’re just doing the class assignment. And besides, there’re enough sweets in that box to feed an entire village.”
“Just think about it Umi! You and Kotori, eating sweets together, it’ll almost be like a date!” Honoka lit up at the thought of it, the opposite reaction being elicited by her friend.
“D-date!??” Umi shuddered upon hearing the word. “Y-you’re not making any sense, Honoka!”
“Eh? You like Kotori-chan though, right? As in, like like?” A sly smile crossed her lips as Umi’s hands quickly shot up to cover her ears.
Let’s walk home together, Umi-chan! It’ll be fun, Umi-chan! Let’s stop at the bakery, Umi-chan!!!
Umi scowled at her own ignorance. Ironically, in a couple hours, she’d be wishing Honoka was there to blabber on incessantly.
Umi walked down the pavement to the train station, the large box, reluctantly, in tow. She had to give Honoka credit. For as much of an airhead as she was, she was pretty observant when it came to her close friends. Hell, she probably knew of Umi’s true feelings before Umi herself. The bluenette certainly appreciated the support of her friend, but it definitely couldn’t hurt for her to be a bit more delicate when it came to those sorts of things.
“I’m home,” she announced out of habit, though she knew her parents would not be home that night. Damn, she definitely could have offered to have Kotori over her house instead. She would’ve been far more comfortable in her own realm.
She flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Why? Why does Kotori make me so nervous?
She’d answered that question several times already. Everything about her was, well, perfect. She couldn’t remember at what point in their friendship she noticed these things, but once it hit her, it hit her like a truck. She’d noticed how short Kotori’s skirt looked one day, but instead of mentally patronizing her, her gaze was drawn to those long creamy legs, legs so heavenly it’d be a sin to call them shameless. And little by little everything about Kotori seemed to attract her attention. Her smile, full pink lips that would gently curve upwards whenever she caught sight of her blue-haired friend. Or her amber eyes, glassy pools of gold which were the subject of many of Umi’s stares, many of which were close calls as those eyes would look up and meet her own. Even that loop she wore in her hair, a damn circle for crying out loud, was so enticing, the very essence of Kotori. At that point Umi knew: she’d fallen head over heels in love with her.
She sighed as she rifled through her drawers. What should she wear? Maybe just her uniform? Would Kotori be dressed casually? Or maybe in her pajamas already? Why was she so worried about what clothes to wear in the first place??
Calm down Umi, you got this. It’s just homework with Kotori. Nothing fancy, absolutely nothing like what Honoka said, just focus and we’ll get through it
“Hey, Umi-chan! Come on in!” With a simple greeting, Umi could feel her resolve melt away.
The two walked up to Kotori’s room, Umi completely spacing out, only nodding and grunting as Kotori casually chattered away. As she entered the room, Umi was hit with a heavenly scent. It smelled of flowers and fresh laundry, very fitting of the brightly colored room. A menagerie of cheerful stuffed animals sat neatly atop of the bed. This was Kotori’s room all right.
“Oh, did you bring something, Umi-chan?” Kotori had noticed the large box Umi was carrying.
“Yeah, I almost forgot. These are from Honoka. There’s a lot, so be sure to share with your family.” She set the box next to the small table in the center of the room.
“Thanks, Umi-chan, that’s so sweet of you!” Kotori beamed.
Umi could feel her face getting hot, despite the fact that it was most definitely Honoka’s idea.
The two sat across from each other at the table and started on the assignment. Kotori was still wearing her uniform, Umi noted. If she looked hard enough, the outline of Kotori’s bra was visible through the sheer white fabric, and you bet your ass Umi was burning holes in that shirt with her eyes. Kotori finally looked up at her friend, who was already looking away, face looking guilty as all hell. A sly grin formed on the lips of the gray-haired girl.
“Umi-chan were you staring at me?”
“W-what??” Umi stuttered in reply. “O-of course not…I mean…maybe…T-there was something on your shirt! Yeah that’s it. B-but it’s gone now so…”
Kotori giggled softly to herself. “Whatever you say, Umi-chan.”
Luckily, Umi was able to continue without further incident for a good hour or so. At that point Kotori suggested they take a break and eat some of the food she’d brought. Understandably, Umi was in no mood for sweets, but she smiled as Kotori eagerly scanned the different options, making faces and remarks about the cuteness of each pastry.
Alright, every thing’s going smoothly, just have to…
Umi’s thoughts were interrupted as she noticed a spot of cream on Kotori’s lips. The light-haired girl was oblivious as she happily took another bite of the sweet, while simultaneously flipping through the pages of a textbook.
Umi’s mind went blank as her body began to move on its own. She subconsciously brought herself forward, eyes fixed on Kotori’s plump lips. The cream remained vigilant, refusing to be licked away by the preoccupied girl. Umi was mere inches away from Kotori’s face when she felt the gaze of her amber eyes.
“Umi-chan, what are you doing?” the wide-eyed girl inquired.
The bluenette snapped out of it and retracted back to her side of table in a heartbeat, the blood rushing to her cheeks. “N-nothing…nothing at all…”
“You’re so silly, Umi-chan! But you’re also really cute when you get flustered like that…” Kotori climbed onto the table, licking her lips and inching slowly towards Umi.
“K-Kotori…what’re you…”
“Am I making you nervous, Umi-chan?” Her voice was deep, seductive.
The blue-haired girl’s face couldn’t reach a deeper shade of red, yet she couldn’t avert her gaze. The girl in front of her began unbuttoning the top buttons of her shirt, revealing the smooth skin beneath, still inching towards her.
“KOTORI, STOP! THIS IS SHAMELESS!”
Umi’s eyes were covered as Kotori retreated to her side of the table, buttoning up her shirt.
“Ah, gomen, gomen,” she laughed weakly. “You’re just too cute when you’re embarrassed, Umi-chan.”
The pair went back to their assignment, both of them trying to put the incident behind them. Umi felt bad, it looked like Kotori was regretful of her temptress act.
“Listen, Kotori, sorry I yelled at you-”
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” she waved her hand back and forth, “I took it a bit too far, I’m sorry.”
Umi smiled. Kotori was always quick to apologize whenever she teased someone (unlike a certain redhead she knew). She didn’t have a malicious cell in her body.
The two finished their assignment as Umi glanced down at her watch.
“It’s almost midnight, I should get home-”
She glanced over at Kotori who had already fallen asleep next to her. Umi grabbed a blanket from the bed and draped it over the sleeping girl. She gazed on at the girl she loved before gently kissing her forehead. “Good night, Kotori, see you tomorrow.”
“Soooo, how was your ‘homework’ last night, Umi?” Honoka mockingly inquired, air quotes and all.
“It was fine-”
“Honoka-chan! Umi-chan! Good morning!” Kotori bounded into the classroom before placing her lips on the cheek of her blue-haired friend.
The two classmates looked at each other, then at Kotori, one wearing an obvious blush on her cheeks.
“Umi-chan didn’t get her good night kiss yesterday!” She winked at Umi, which did nothing for the flush of her cheeks.