nautical eve (ycsh)

Mei Fan gave Yachiyo an odd look the first time in the morning as the pinkette arrived at the school close to the first bell.

“Where did you went off to? When I knock your room, you’re nowhere.” Mei Fan asked.

“Ah, Shiori is a bit unwell, so I took care of her.” It wasn’t a lie—half of it contained the truth, unknown for the rest. Her face might not show it, but she is indeed worried.

“Is she having a cold again?” Mei Fan’s voice tinged with worry as well. Mei Fan is a sweetheart, she won’t let anyone suffering alone.

“Ah, no. She’s just tired. She said to me that she’ll be okay.”

Mei Fan still has her worried eyes. Yachiyo couldn’t help it even though Yachiyo wanted that only her to know the details behind Shiori’s absence. Edels should know – and she can’t prohibit anyone for paying a visit.

—Yachiyo has yet to tell anybody yet about her and Shiori. Let Michiru sniff around, Akira and Mei Fan likely won’t notice.

“I’ll bring a sport drink for her later!” Mei Fan decided. “And by the way, Yachiyo. Akira-san was searching for you earlier.”

“Akira-senpai?” Yachiyo blinked. “Did something happen with the budgeting?”

“I don’t know, but maybe you’d want to see Akira-san the first time when the school ended.” The purple-haired girl directed. “Aw, I’m so jealous. I hope Akira-san will pick me to talk with next time.”

Yachiyo wanted to shoot back with a remark, but the first bell is already ringing. The pinkette wondered why Akira wanted to meet her, if excluding any of student council work since there’s no pressing issues.

Or is it about Shiori?

There wasn’t anything hidden between Akira and Shiori, right?


- - -


Akira will always be the first to come to the student council room, if she doesn’t mention that she would be away for her solo training or something else. It is easy to find the Frau Platin.

Oddly enough when she stepped in the student council room, Yachiyo spotted that there’s no Michiru around Akira. The timing of the blonde senior is somewhat impeccable, as if she had her eyes on the walls of Siegfeld. Though as Yachiyo waited for half the minute, no sign of Michiru entering the room.

As Mei Fan has said earlier to Yachiyo, she would be coming to visit Shiori first before going in to the student council room – the pinkette won’t stop her.

“Ah, so you’re here. Let’s get on it fast,” Akira said. “Yachiyo, are you pressuring Shiori?”

Yachiyo paused, waiting for any follow-up question. Pressuring? What happened? Did Shiori talk to her about something or Akira simply came into a conclusion?

“Pressuring? What are you talking about, Akira-senpai?” Yachiyo inquired.

“I saw the two of you together often and every time after Shiori met up with you, she’s flustered.”

Uh oh, how to even go away from this red zone? And how Yachiyo hoped that Michiru randomly appears as her lifeline.

“I’m only teasing her~”

Another her ‘half-truth’ answer. Shiori is an easy target like Mei Fan – though, not every time she’s doing a prank teasing. Sometimes she would steal a kiss (on forehead), or a bear hug, or … yeah, normal-looking skinships between girls.

“Really, you should tone it down,” Akira sighed. Finally Yachiyo is out from red zone. “I’m glad there’s nothing bad happened between you two.”

“Come on, Senpai~ I won’t sully our youngest addition~” this one is a lie, not half-truth anymore. What she has been doing is not to ‘taint’ Shiori either, this is a pure joke.

“She’s not coming today huh? I guess I must have made her tired.”

Yachiyo feigned innocence. “Tired?”

“It’s our choreography drills. Maybe I went too far with it this time.”

At least, glad it wasn’t anything bad. It’s a good thing that Yachiyo believed Shiori for her answers.

It’s okay to be worried, once in a while. And it will be better if turned out that everything is okay in the end, rather than how horrid it is to have the worries come true.

.

How’s Shiori doing right now, she pondered. Mei Fan might start to do something, though she can’t escape once Akira is talking. She could only cross her fingers and hope nothing ‘extra’ is happening right now, back in the dorm.


- - -


“… Mei Fan didn’t do anything to you, right?” was Yachiyo’s first question as she arrived back to the dorm.

“She didn’t. Please don’t worry about it, senpai.”

Shiori was having her me-time tea time when Yachiyo is coming in. The pinkette facepalmed as she saw the said sport drinks (yes, ‘drinks’. Apparently, Mei Fan bought a full plastic of it) beside the bed. One of the bottle is opened beside the tea set, maybe Shiori drank one when Mei Fan was around so the purple-haired girl will be satisfied.

Yachiyo placed her bag away and joined to sit beside Shiori on the bed. The blonde put away her cup when she is finished.

“Do you want some tea, Yachiyo-senpai?”

“It’s alright. You should be resting instead serving me,” Yachiyo said. “Feeling better?”

“Yes. I feel okay after getting a lot of sleep.”

Yachiyo was late to notice that she eventually left her stole there in Shiori’s room, and the younger blonde ended up wearing it around her shoulders. Yachiyo didn’t know why she did it. It warms her heart to see it, however.

“Is it warm, my stole?” the pinkette smiled as she spotted it.

“Ah! I’m sorry that I wore it without your permission!” Shiori instinctively pushed the stole back, flustered. Yachiyo was giggling.

“It’s alright, it’s alright~ I don’t mind – rather, I’m happy that you did.”

“H-Huh?”

“Say, why did you wear it?”

Yachiyo asked. She tried hard not to have a stupid grin on her face, imagining of what Shiori might say – or thinking whether Shiori will react with her usual shyness.

“Well,” those petite ears hidden beneath her bangs were red again. “It makes me calm, just like your … your embrace.”

The pinkette was sure she is losing it a minute ago; her heart, that is. It was such a cute, honest response – something small that Shiori would say which enough to make her swoon. It might be cheesy (if it happened to show up on a script, Yachiyo will laugh for sure), but it is … a pleasant thing to hear.

Nothing can beat the voice that’s coming from deep inside your heart.

Shiori lowered her head in embarrassment, hiding part of her face with the red stole. They stayed for a long silence, looking anywhere but each other, consoling their racing hearts to no end.

“Shiori.”

Yachiyo called in low voice, Shiori complied. Staring on the pool of calming jade never gets her tired, and never gets her to calm.

“Can I kiss you?”

Shiori’s response was a slow, but concise nod. And afterwards, they are busy with each other’s lips and touches.