Contemporary music was a stupid bachelor to pursue, and Mina had never known this fact so well until she’d missed a tute and had to show up to the one immediately after – the one that Minatozaki Sana was also attending.

They’d managed to sit far away from each other, enough to cast the occasional lightning glare as was their tradition. In fact the tute hadn’t gone badly; there was a sort of entertainment to be had from her rivalry with Sana, something that was strangely uplifting. Mina worked hard to find the words ‘entertainment’ and ‘uplifting’, because her first instincts had been ‘fun’ and ‘happiness inducing’ and they just didn’t fit.

The real issue came after, when somehow everyone left before them, and they were left to stare at each other, alone in a suddenly rather small room, desperately aware that something should be said and in Mina’s case desperately aware that that scent was back.

“I notice you’ve been hanging out with Momo a lot,” Mina said, slinging her bag over her shoulder in a way that she hoped looked as cool as it felt.

“Yeah,” Sana said. “Whereas you’ve been keeping much more quiet with her.” Slowly she smirked. “That or you haven’t been talking to her.”

“The push-pull method works,” Mina said defensively, closing the distance slightly to improve the coolness of their showdown.

“Really? Because she doesn’t seem to be going crazy over you. She has enough distractions.”

Sana helped with the distance, and then they stood really close, and Mina felt this strange itch that she wasn’t exactly sure how to scratch. She probably just needed a killer comeback.

“Momo keeps to herself. You don’t know what’s inside her like I do,” Mina said, smirking back slightly, and she knew that it had been a good comeback because Sana scowled at it, but the itch was still there.

Her arm developed a life of its own and reached out, grabbing Sana’s wrist, and the itch was gone. Had it just been to touch Sana? That didn’t make any sense.

“What are you doing,” Sana said, looking down and freeing her arm.

“Your skin is really hot,” Mina said, forgetting everything suddenly. “Are you alright?” She lifted her hand, resting it against Sana’s forehead, and she realised that Sana’s face was looking red as well.

Rivalry was rivalry, but Mina didn’t want people getting sick. Sana stumbled back slightly, not getting very far due to her legs colliding with a table, as Mina got lost in a thought.

Sana’s eyes were really pretty up close.

Mina didn’t really know what was happening, because she felt vaguely like she was moving but she’d never planned on doing it.

Her hand had shifted from Sana’s forehead to her cheek. She’d stopped thinking about her eyes, and now it was more how soft her lips looked, how pink and full and…

Her hand. Was on Sana’s cheek.

And it occurred to Mina all of a sudden that her lips were about a whole millimetre away from the other girl’s.

She stepped back very harshly, feeling suddenly like the temperature had gone up about 50 degrees and like something in her chest was on fire. Sana’s arm was slightly outstretched, after Mina pulled its resting spot, her own waist, away.

“That didn’t happen,” Mina said urgently, and her rival shook her head to agree. “We like Momo!”

Sana nodded violently.

And then Mina rushed out of the room, moving as far away as she possibly could.

Closing the living room door behind her, Mina put her back to it, staring at the room like there was a monster behind her.

There was a sort of monster, if she looked at it metaphorically. The monster of what the hell was that just now.

“Hey, Mina…”

Nayeon’s voice brought Mina back into the world, and she blinked over at her. Beside her was Jungyeon, the stranger Mina had accidentally given an invite, and behind them were two complete strangers standing shoulder to shoulder and facing a desk by the wall, playing with something that had been sitting there.

“Hi,” Mina said, continuing to lean against the door. A door could be her spine while hers was taking a break to scream about how crazy everything was.

“You look red,” Jungyeon said, a small smirk playing around her lips. As if she had any right to make fun of Mina.

Well at least I didn’t get a crush on my best friend and then stop talking to her!

Yeah, that’d be weird to say.

“What happened?” Nayeon asked.

“Nothing.”

“Is it just me, or does nothing usually mean ‘something really interesting’?” Jungyeon looked at Nayeon curiously.

“Usually,” Nayeon agreed. “Who was involved in nothing? Momo? Sana?”

“No one,” Mina said, looking at Nayeon with a victimised look on her face.

“SaMo!” Mina flinched as she looked at the two girls who had been facing away earlier. They wore matching high school uniforms, and one stood much taller than the other.

“Huh?”

“That’s their pairing name. Of course, we prefer Saida.”

“What?”

“Saida is Sana and Dahyun, obviously. Are you involved too? Is it a love square!?”

“Where would she fit, Tzuyu?”

“Hmm, maybe if she likes Sana…”

“Ohh, maybe! But then who would like her?”

“What?”

“Good point, Chaeyoung!”

“She likes Momo,” Nayeon said, turning back to the young girls.

“Aha!” Probably Chaeyoung said, holding out a finger. “If Dahyun likes Sana, then Sana could like Mina, then Mina could like Momo… and Momo would have to like Dahyun!”

“It’s beautiful!” Probably Tzuyu said, clapping in delight.

Nayeon laughed, standing and approaching Mina as the latter stared at the two girls, at a complete loss. Nayeon pulled the younger girl towards her.

“You sad little puppy. It’s okay, they’re high school students. They have nothing better to do.”

“Hey!” Both girls answered at once.

“Chaeyoung’s my baby sister,” Jungyeon explained. “I cannot separate her from Tzuyu even if I use a crowbar. I tried.”

“Who’s Dahyun?” Mina asked confusedly as Nayeon patted her head. She didn’t want to think about Minatozaki Sana liking her. That would just… confuse everything.

More than it was already confused, at that! Though they’d agreed that that moment had never happened. So nothing was confused, really. Except the temperature hadn’t gone down and Mina didn’t know how to think anymore unless it concerned that Minatozaki Sana.

“She’s our best friend,” Tzuyu said. “She betrayed us by graduating and attending this university.”

“Oh,” Mina said confusedly.

“And she’s going to make Sana fall in love with her, and then you can have Momo!”

“I’m going,” Mina said, stiffly walking out of the room. She didn’t know why she had so little patience with that – having Momo was the whole point. But winning was also the point. And if Sana just fell in love with someone else…

Somehow that still felt like losing.

a/n- This chapter was a little bit shorter than mine usually are, but the next one should be coming tomorrow, so hopefully that makes up for it!