Chapter Text
Tokoyami Towa had a problem.
'Earth to Towa-sama.'
And it stood right in front of her, cool and beautiful as always.
'C'mon, they're about to lock up the office.'
Looking up, Towa came face to face with an amused grin framed by a messy white mane. Both, of course, belonged to Shishiro Botan.
'Had a nice dream, Towa-sama?' Botan asked, because of course she’d never miss an opportunity to tease her. Stepping aside to let a janitor pass, the lion gestured around to empty workstations backlit by the setting sun. ‘It really is time to go home, though.’
'Yeah, yeah. I'm coming.' Towa replied, letting her musings fade away as she stood up to follow Botan to the exit. The lion's tail swished lazily through the stale office air, and she couldn't help but wonder what the fluffy tuft at the end felt like. It certainly looked much softer than her own spade-tipped devil tail.
Botan had been her colleague for about a year now, and while they quickly became friends Towa had been increasingly frustrated by her ever since. Why? Because she had quickly developed a massive crush on the lion. How could she not when Botan was so cool and skilled but also adorable in every small gesture, always ready to help others and just endlessly cheerful? She was literal perfection in the shape of a lion-eared girl… and a very attractive shape at that.
Which would be one thing if she had just kept it to herself, but she worked up the nerve to confess a few months ago. And the usually so perceptive lioness somehow completely misunderstood her, even having the nerve to ask if she was running a fever…
'Hey Botan, want to have dinner together?.' Towa casually asked as they left the building and emerged onto a quiet street. They had settled into an odd stalemate after that mishap, with Botan remaining her friend and Towa just taking whatever chances she could get to spend time with her crush even if she was never making any progress. Because it had happened again. And again. And again. Towa knew she has never been great at honestly expressing her feelings, and between that, Botan's infuriating denseness and a string of unfortunate coincidences and misunderstandings she was still stuck in this limbo. Sighing quietly, she kept pace with Botan as the lioness considered her question for a moment.
'Sure, how about that new grill in Tsukiji? I've been wanting to try their lamb meat.' Botan said. As per the usual she was completely oblivious to Towa’s frustrations, which at least prevented their every interaction from becoming awkward. It was a small mercy, but one that Towa was glad for all the same. She didn’t know what she would do if Botan started avoiding her.
'Yeah, that's fine. Meet there at seven?' Towa replied. For a moment she even dared to get her hopes up, and had to will her tail not to twitch up in excitement. Botan usually already had something planned with one group or another, and while those never minded another member it wasn’t exactly the kind of atmosphere she was aiming for.
'Alright. Oh, do you mind if Polka tags along? She's been nagging me about spending more time with my own generation lately, and I think she’s free tonight for once.' Botan said with a giggle.
And just like that, Towa's plans were casually crushed again.
'And then, Nene accidentally threw the controller straight at Lamy’s sake cabinet! It took almost an hour to calm down Lamy-chan, and then another to clean up the whole mess…'
Despite the interloper, Towa found herself enjoying dinner. The food wasn’t half bad, and while Polka may have been the personification of yet another shattered hope today she was also an entertaining storyteller and a great person to be around in general. The energetic fennec and her antics were impossible to dislike, and her ability to bring out Botan’s wonderful, infectious laughter made Towa seriously consider inviting Polka herself next time.
'Anyway Towa-senpai, did Botan ever tell you about the PS5 incident?' Polka asked. But before Towa could answer a loud honking sound interrupted them, almost making Towa jump out of her seat and drawing a long sigh from Botan.
'Sorry, gotta take this real quick,' Polka said, taking out her phone and ending the clown noises.
'Yeah, it’s me.'
'What?'
'How did she even…'
'... of course she did. I’m on my way.'
Pinching her nose exasperatedly, Polka stood up from their booth. 'I'm sorry to cut this short, but Nene somehow managed to adopt a seal and bring it home,' she said. Botan burst into laughter, and Towa couldn’t help but giggle too at the sheer absurdity of it.
'Maybe we could help?' Towa said, 'It's not like I have anything planned for tonight.' Botan nodded in agreement and moved to put on her coat.
'Thanks, but me and Lamy can probably take care of it. You two should just enjoy your dessert.' Polka replied. Botan shot her an unreadable look, but put the coat back down after a few seconds.
'Oh, but Shishiron? You ain't getting off this easy, so you'd better keep some room in your agenda for things besides work and Towa-senpai.' Polka said with a broad grin.
'Yeah, yeah. I'll make it up to you all soon, now go save your girlfriend from Nene already.' Botan replied, rolling her eyes. They traded some more banter before Polka left and almost bowled over the waiter carrying their desserts on the way out, but Towa was no longer paying attention.
What did she mean by that? Sure, they chatted a lot on Line, and they had been spending a lot of their free time together lately, but usually with various other hololivers present. It's not like they were going on actual dates…
'Towa-sama, do you usually ignore your date like this?'
Snapping out of her thoughts, Towa immediately blushed as she realised what Botan had just said.
'Just kidding,' the lion chuckled - and how could disappointment sound so beautiful? - 'Your reactions are just too cute.'
Because of course she was joking. Of course she still had no idea just how easily she could toy with Towa's heart. Just some innocent jokes between friends, that's all it was. Her beautiful friend had no idea how badly she wanted to pull her down to her level and kiss that smug grin right off her face. Maybe she'd find out whether a blush would go all the way up to those cute ears.
Suppressing a sigh, Towa elected to take a bite of her chocolate mousse rather than dignify the teasing with a response. Sometimes it almost seemed as if Botan knew exactly how she felt, but Towa really couldn't imagine her being anywhere near that callous. Then, she caught on to another thing Polka said.
'Wait, Polka and Lamy? When did that happen?'
'Oh, right. They haven't announced it yet,' Botan chuckled. 'They've only been together for a week or so. Turned out Polka has been quietly pining after Lamy for over half a year because she thought Lamy and I were more than friends, while Lamy spent a few months thinking the same about Polka and Nene. I'm still not sure how they broke out of that, though. I love them, but they really are dense dummies at times.'
That's rich coming from you, Towa thought as the lion rambled on about her friends’ budding romance, But at least she’s not dating Lamy after all. I should have taken that bet with Kanata…
Then her thoughts came to a screeching halt again as Botan reached out and touched the corner of Towa's mouth. 'Sorry, you had a bit of chocolate on your cheek.' she said, so very casually. Bursting into brilliant red again, Towa couldn't focus on anything but Botan's twitching ears and smug grin, a grin that grew even wider as her own tail went rigid and peeked over the table. Just what the hell was Botan playing at today? She knew the lion didn't get too worked up about physical affection, but even then this was a bit much between friends, right?
Her mind running a million miles a minute with fantasies and denials, Towa only vaguely remembered saying goodbye to Botan and walking home.
This evening certainly had turned out very different from her expectations.