3rd Person POV

A short girl with long, black hair and bangs that covered her forehead sat at a desk in the corner of the room. She had her headphones in and was resting on her arms which were on her desk.

She had stopped paying attention to everything going on in class; it wasn’t her ‘thing’ as she told everyone.

“Saito-san, please pay attention,” the teacher called out, not fazing the girl.

It took three separate times for her to finally realize what the teacher was saying as her music was too loud.

She smiled sheepishly, a bit embarrassed by getting caught. She brought her head back up and took off her headphones, finally listening to the class.

In the middle of the classroom, this behavior caught the attention of another girl in the class.

Her name was Takamoto Ayaka. She was taller than Kyoko but also had long black hair and bangs as well as a black pair of glasses.

She had a… weird relationship with the older. She had always known of how Kyoko acted in class; they were always in the same class.

But, they were never really close. Well, not as close as her and her friend Higashimura Mei or even the class president Ushio Sarina.

This would be fine if this was the extent of the problem. She found the older girl slightly cute (well more than slightly but-). She would never admit it, but she had a slight crush.

“Okay! So, this assignment will be completed with a partner!” the teacher said, taking Ayaka out of her thoughts.

The girls in the class began looking around, making eye contact with their closest friends as if it were an attempt to ask if they wanted to be partners.

“But! I chose them,” the teacher said, chuckling at the groans and eye rolls from the girls. “Alright! So, Kosaka Nao and…”

The teacher raddled off the names but the names were going in one of Kyoko’s ears and exiting the other. She was only waiting for her name which was always near the end.

“Takamoto Ayaka and Saito Kyoko…” the teacher announced, making both girls jump.

Ayaka could feel her cheeks heating up and was getting prepared for being teased at lunch by her friends, but she wasn’t the only one.

Kyoko felt the exact same way. Just like Ayaka had a crush on her, she had a crush on Ayaka.

From her outward appearance, no one would think she has a crush on anyone, no less Takamoto Ayaka; a girl who had a completely opposite personality as her.

Besides, if she had a crush, she looked like the kind who would go up and tell them. In reality, though, she didn’t want to make the girl uncomfortable, so she would just pine in silence.

Well, not entirely in silence. Her friends Kakizaki Memi, Sasaki Mirei, and Sasaki Kumi (Sasaku) knew all about it. Actually, it was more like everyone in the class knew but she mostly told those three about it and asked them for advice.

Anyway, back to the class. There was only a few minutes left of the class and it was the last class before lunch.

It was only a matter of time before the bell rang and the friends of each girl practically jumped out of their seats and ran to their respective friends.

“So are you gonna confess?” a young girl named Kakizaki Memi asked the minute she got to Kyoko’s desk.

“Oh my god! What if you two go on double dates?” the other girl named Sasaki Mirei practically squealed.

“You’re a genius, Mi-pan! Let me text Yurina!” the young girl squealed as she turned to face Mirei.

“Aren’t you guys jumping the gun?” the deep voiced girl asked as she took her face out of her hands and looked at the two of them. “We don’t even know if she likes me back.”

“Trust us, she does,” Kakizaki said as Mirei nodded in agreement.

“Oh really now,” Kyoko said suspiciously.

“I mean, you’ve seen us talking to her and it would make sense that she hasn’t told you if you two aren’t dating yet,” Mirei explained.

As those kept teasing the poor girl as well as eating with her, practically the same thing was going on with Ayaka.

The girl was surrounded by Higashimura, Takase Mana (another one of her friends), and Sasaki Kumi. They were doing basically the same thing to her as Kakizaki and Mirei were doing to Kyoko.

“Do you need advice on how to confess cause I got you,” Sasaku said in complete seriousness.

“But… you’ve never confessed. To anyone,” Ayaka pointed out.

The younger girl looked away as her face blushed, making all of the girls gasp in surprise.

“You were just gonna get a boyfriend and not tell us?” Takase gasped as she clutched her uniform over her heart.

“Well… not a boyfriend… But Ayaka is the one we need to focus on now!” she defended, shifting their attention back onto the girl.

“You’re telling me everything later, but yeah. I guess we should focus on you,” Takase said in defeat.

“I think you should confess,” Higashimura said quietly with a large smile on her face.

“See, all of us have the same opinion so you have to do it,” Sasaku reasoned out.

“But I object,” Ayaka tried to fight.

“Okay but it’s three to one. We’re the majority therefore you confess to her,” Sasaku explained again.

“Fine, I’ll confess,” Ayaka admitted. The other girls were about to celebrate, but then she continued. “But only after I get closer to her.”

Sasaku and Takase whined at this, not satisfied, but Ayaka knew what she was talking about.

“I can’t just go up to her, barely knowing her, and tell her that I’ve had a major crush on her for years! That would make me sound weird!” Ayaka explained.

“That makes sense,” Takase said while shrugging. “Just make sure you confess to her.”

“I promise,” Ayaka said with a sigh.

Back to the shorter girl, her friends had convinced her to ask the girl to work on it with her after school. Not really convinced, more like physically pushed her to the younger and made her do it.

“Go away!” Kyoko whisper-yelled at the two girls who immediately complied.

She took a deep breath. She was finally about to talk to her crush. It isn’t about confessing, but it was still communication, which was progress.

“Um… Takamoto-san?” Kyoko called.

The younger girl turned around, slightly shocked by the voice. She kept herself together, though, and hummed in response.

“Do you want to work on the project at the library later?” the short girl asked.

This shocked the younger who kind of wanted to take the initiative. Her lack of response made the older worried, though.

“I-I mean, only if you w-want to… O-Or if you aren’t busy,” she stuttered, feeling kind of embarrassed.

This only made Ayaka let out a small laugh, making Kyoko immediately calm down. “I’m free today!” she said brightly.

“Ah… Okay. I guess I’ll see you at the library after school,” the older said as she left the group of girls and went back to her desk to finish eating lunch.

Now that Kyoko was gone, Sasaku and Takase were finally able to let out their excitement that they had been holding in. Even the usually quiet Higashimura had a pretty big reaction.

“Yah… You’re bringing us attention,” Ayaka said in embarrassment as she hid her face.

“She asked you on a date!” Sasaku squealed as she began jumping up and down with Takase in excitement.

“She asked me to work on the project with her,” Ayaka groaned, hiding her face even more.

“Same difference,” Takase defended.

“Ugh… I just wanna finish my lunch,” the tall girl said as she tried to change the conversation.

“Okay, but just tell us what happened after the library ‘date’,” Sasaku teased.

“Sure, but can we start talking about your girlfriend?” Ayaka asked her, taking the attention off her.

As Sasaku and Takase teased Ayaka, Mirei and Kakizaki were doing the same to Kyoko.

“Ah! You finally asked her out!” Kakizaki teased.

“Yah! I didn’t ask her out!” Kyoko scolded.

“Oh sure. Whatever you say Kyoko~” Mirei joined Kakizaki in the teasing.

“You two are infuriating,” the older girl groaned.

~
~
Fast forward to the end of the school day. Both girls were coming down with a serious case of nerves.

Kyoko was very jittery. She paid absolutely no attention to the lesson, even though she tried. Ayaka was already blushing a lot and felt her heart racing.

Just breathe, she thought to herself, trying to calm her beating heart.

Both girls were in the same class already packing up for the day. Kyoko finished first and took a deep breath as she shifted her gaze to the younger who was already packing up.

She slowly walked towards her under the unknowing stare of all of her friends.

“Look! They’re finally gonna go!” Kakizaki said quietly.

“About time,” Sasaku retorted.

“Do you think we should follow them or…” Takase trailed off.

“Ayaka will text me later,” Higashimura said, rejecting Takase.

“Yeah. I don’t think either of them could keep this to themselves,” Mirei noted.

“So… I’ll make a groupchat for us. Whoever gets a call first tells us what they said,” Takase told them as she grabbed her bag.

Back to the main couple. As much as Kyoko was struggling before, it became a million times worse every step closer to the younger she took.

“Hey,” Kyoko greeted, slightly scaring the younger girl and making her jump. “Oh- Sorry!”

“No, no, no. It’s fine! You just scared me a little,” Ayaka said with a chuckle.

Kyoko let out a nervous laugh. “Want to go to the library now?” Kyoko asked, pulling herself back together.

“Sure!” Ayaka said, just as friendly as always.

Kyoko could feel herself falling more, but tried to hide it by going back to her usual cold state. The only thing is that this, in turn, made Ayaka fall even more.

The conversation to the library was pretty lighthearted. They told jokes, got to know each other a little more, and talked about the assignment a little.

Once they got to the library, they found an empty table and basically went to work immediately. They had to make a slideshow, so they pulled out their laptops and began working on them.

The time at the library was to work on the project, but it was also a surprisingly good distraction for both the girls. They were only talking to each other about the assignment and when they did, it didn’t make their hearts race like before.

It was a nice break from the entire previous day.

“Ah…” Kyoko groaned, closing her eyes and stretching her back. “This is the most work I’ve done in years.”

“Well you better get used to it cause we just barely finished our rough draft,” Ayaka teased. “We only have three more days to do it, so you better get used to working this hard!”

“Yes ma’am,” Kyoko teased back, making Ayaka slap her arm and then making the both of them start laughing. Although, it was quiet. It was a library after all.

“So… Do you think we can stop for the day?” the short girl asked.

“Yeah. I’m pretty tired, too,” the taller girl admitted.

“Wanna meet up tomorrow and do the same thing?” Kyoko asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Ayaka retorted, a grin appearing on her face.

~
~
As soon as Kyoko got home, she practically ran to her room and pulled out her phone.

Ramen-Lover

Kumi

Kumi

Kumi

Kumi

Sasaku

What

Wait

Are you back?

Ramen-Lover

Yes

Sasaku

Let me call you

Kyoko looked at her phone and waited for the call from her friend. It only took a few seconds for it to appear and when it did, she picked up immediately.

“So how was it?” Sasaku asked through the phone.

“It was really good,” Kyoko said.

“Really?” Sasaku asked, surprised. “I mean, you were just doing work.”

“We were, but just being near her… Ugh.. My heart won’t slow down,” she groaned.

“You really like her, huh,” the other girl noted through the phone.

“Duh. I mean, she even touched me,” Kyoko told her.

“Huh?!” Sasaku said, shocked by what she was hearing.

“Well, I and then she hit me lightly,” Kyoko recalled. “Ahh~ She was so cute~”

“I’m happy for you,” Sasaku told her, her smile almost audible through the phone.

“Thanks,” Kyoko said, blushing a little. “Oh- We’re also going tomorrow and maybe the next day.”

“Go get your girl!” Sasaku joked. “It took you long enough.”

“I’ll just ignore that,” Kyoko said with a suspicious tone. “Now, I’m gonna go. You should go spend time with your girlfriend.”

“Oka- Wait. How did you know that?” Sasaku asked, stunned.

“You think I haven’t seen the way you and Shiho look at each other?” Kyoko asked sarcastically. “I may not have the best eyes, but you two are so obvious.”

“Aish! But, I agree. I’m gonna go call her. Bye!” Sasaku said as she hung up.

Kyoko looked at her phone, seeing her text conversation with Sasaku. Then, she fell back on her bed, holding her phone close to her heart, feeling how fast it was going.

“What are you doing to me Takamoto Ayaka?” she mumbled to herself as the girl took up her mind yet again.

~
~
The next day at school was almost the same as the day before. Same classes, same topics, Kyoko getting in trouble; the usual.

The only difference was that today, Ayaka had the confidence to eat lunch with Kyoko. Well, Shiho, Sasaku, Mirei, and Kakizaki were also there, but she was most focused on Kyoko.

“Who confessed first?” Mirei asked, wanting to know more about Sasaku and Shiho’s new relationship.

“Uh… She asked me to meet her first, but I confessed first,” Sasaku confessed, hiding in Shiho’s neck.

“Eh he he… I asked her to meet me at that park near us,” Shiho confessed, exposing more about their confession.

“Wow… That’s so romantic,” Ayaka said breathlessly. “I want someone to do that to me…”

Right as she said that, both her and Kyoko made eye contact. They broke it almost immediately and turned red.

This wasn’t unnoticed by everyone else, though. They snickered at the sight of their two friends exposing themselves that easily.

“I think I know someone who could do that to you,” Shiho told Ayaka.

“Oh really? Who?” Ayaka asked, curious about the person who liked her.

“Well… Their initials are SK and they’re in the same year as us,” Shiho revealed.

“Why can’t you just tell me their name?” Ayaka whined.

“It’s like a mystery!” Shiho said excitedly.

Kyoko, on the other hand, was pale. Shiho was basically exposing her to Ayaka who was also sitting right across from her.

I’m gonna beat her later, she thought in her head, wanting to get mad at Shiho but holding back.

I wonder if SK is Saito Kyoko, Ayaka thought hopefully. No! Don’t get your hopes up!

~
~
Ayaka and Kyoko were in the library working just as diligently as the day before. They were finally working on their final draft.

They had a lot of information on their rough draft, so it didn’t take long for them to make a good amount of progress.

Like yesterday, this was a nice distraction to the both of them. Kyoko was distracted from her anger at Shiho, almost exposing her and for Ayaka a distraction from what Shiho told her.

They had been working for around three hours at this point and they were both getting tired. Their energy was running out and, in turn, their ideas.

“You think we should stop now?” Kyoko asked. “I mean, we already have half of the final draft done with one day left.”

“Yeah, I think we’re good,” Ayaka agreed.

“So we’ll be here again tomorrow?” Kyoko asked as she started packing up her stuff.

“Of course,” Ayaka said. “We want to finish the project, right?”

Kyoko chuckled at that and then remembered something she wanted to ask. “Um… Do you want to exchange numbers? I think it would be easier to, like, plan… and stuff.”

“Yeah!” Ayaka said happily. She pulled out her phone with Kyoko and they wrote their number in the other’s phone.

“Thank you!” Kyoko said, proud of herself for getting her crush’s number.

“Okay! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Ayaka said as she gave Kyoko a smile and left the library.

She had to walk home and she had a smile plastered on her face almost the whole time. Her hopes were getting up and she was beginning to think that SK was Saito Kyoko.

She was thinking of how she could confess.

~
~
Today was the final day they could work on the project. The two girls also ended up texting each other late into the night.

Kyoko came into the school and looked obviously tired, attracting the attention of her friends.

“Woah… What happened to you?” Kakizaki asked.

“I couldn’t sleep last night so I was texting Ayaka for a long time,” Kyoko explained.

“Wait hold on. Did you say texted Ayaka? Did you say Ayaka?” Mirei asked, surprised by this improvement.

“Oh- Um… We exchanged numbers yesterday and she told me to call her Ayaka,” Kyoko confessed, feeling her face turn red already.

“Huh!” the girls exclaimed, happy with this notion.

On the other side of the classroom, similar things were happening with Ayaka, Sasaku, and Takase.

“She just asked me for my number so we could work better,” Ayaka tried to defend.

“Um… You only have today to work on the project,” Sasaku pointed out.

“Well… We also got pretty close, so she probably just wanted my number so we can talk as friends,” Ayaka came up with another excuse.

“She is giving you hints left and right and you still make up excuses to say you’re just friends,” Sasaku said, exhausted by this game they played.

“When do you want me to confess then?” Ayaka asked.

“Hmm… Friday!” Takase suggested.

“This Friday? As in… two days from now?” Ayaka asked, shocked.

“Yeah. I mean, you did say you two were close now, right?” Sasaku asked, using her own words against her.

“Fine… I’ll do it on Friday,” Ayaka grumbled. She tried to be annoyed, but on the inside, she was very happy.

She had been wanting to do this for a long time and this was the final push. But, at the same time, she was really scared.

She thought of a lot of the bad ways this could end, but at the same time, with Shiho’s hints, she also thought about some of the good ways this could end.

“They’re finally gonna get together!” Takase celebrated. Sasaku joined in as Ayaka attempted to disappear in her seat.

~
~
“So we’re finally finished, huh,” Kyoko noted, clicking through every slide.

“Yep!” Ayaka. “I think this is gonna give us a good grade.”

“Any grade above failing is good for me,” Kyoko said, half-serious.

“Well, now that you’re friends with me, I won’t let that happen,” Ayaka promised.

The girls immediately went to the library after their classes were done. They were excited to see each other and to finish the project.

They had been working for a few hours and were really proud of their work. They were mentally exhausted, but proud.

“Oh- Um… Are you free on Friday?” Ayaka asked as they packed up their stuff.

“No. Why?” Kyoko asked, feeling her heart speed up.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school,” Ayaka told her. “To celebrate us getting an A on our slides.”

“How do you know we’re gonna get an A?” Kyoko teased.

“If I manifest hard enough, it has to come true,” Ayaka explained.

Kyoko started laughing at that soon followed by Ayaka, not being able to keep a straight face.

“And yes, I’ll hang out with you on Friday,” Kyoko said as she calmed down.

“Okay! I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ayaka said as Kyoko left the library.

She waited until she knew Kyoko was gone and then grabbed her stuff. There was a specific place she wanted to go to.

She thought it would help her confess, and she would do anything to calm her nerves. It was still two days away and she was already like this.

Ayaka walked for around ten minutes until she finally got to the place she wanted to go to. A ring shop.

She walked in and went right over to the matching rings. She thought that she could call them friendship rings at first and, if the confession went well, promise rings.

She browsed around for a little while until she found the pair that was perfect. She had them rung up and paid.

Like the day before, she had a smile on her whole way home, but this time, she was also swinging her bag with her steps.

~
~

Today was finally the day. It was Friday, the day of confession.

Kyoko and Ayaka hung out at school a lot the day before and presented their project. Based on how their peers and teacher reacted to it, Kyoko made a guess that Ayaka was right about them getting an A.

Ayaka brought the rings in her bag, hiding them under a lot of her books so no one could find them.

Even with the rings though, she was extremely nervous. Her heart was going 100 miles per hour all day and nothing could stop it.

“I understand how scared you are to confess, but I promise you it’ll go well,” Sasaku tried to comfort Ayaka.

“Yeah, but I still can’t shake this nervousness,” Ayaka told the two girls.

“That makes sense,” Takase said. “She is like your ultimate crush. There’s really no way to get rid of the nerves until you get an answer, right?”

“I remember I felt like you did before I confessed to Shiho,” Sasaku confessed. “But look where we are now!”

“I hope that’ll happen with me and Kyoko,” Ayaka said with a sigh.

“I bet it will,” Sasaku reassured.

The bell rang right after that signalling the end of lunch and the second half of the day.

~
~
“So where are we going?” Kyoko asked, kind of sneaking up behind Ayaka.

“Why are you so good at scaring me?” Ayaka whined, getting even more scared than last time.

“Sorry,” Kyoko said with a soft laugh.

“Oh- We’re going to the park near the school,” Ayaka said. “I have something to tell you.”

“O-Okay,” Kyoko said, kind of shocked.

She had the idea of Ayaka confessing to her in her head already, only seconds after being told that vague sentence.

“Let’s go!” Ayaka said with a bright smile on her face.

Kyoko couldn’t help but also smile with the girl as they left the school together.

The park was pretty close to the school; a less than ten minute walk. On the way, the two girls never stopped talking.

It was kind of surprising how well they could never end a conversation; going from one topic to another effortlessly.

Finally, they got to their destination. Ayaka let out a shaky breath, attracting the attention of Kyoko.

“Are you okay?” Kyoko asked, concern visible on her face.

“Y-Yeah! I’m fine!” Ayaka said, convincing Kyoko enough for her to stop being concerned. “How about we go over there?”

“Okay!” Kyoko said and they began walking to the spot

The spot was nice. It was a bench under the shade of a bunch of trees, shielding them from the sun and also giving them a pretty view.

They both sat down and Ayaka went to go and get the rings from her bag.

“What is that?” Kyoko asked as she pulled out the box.

“Um… So you know how some people have friendship bracelets?” Ayaka asked, getting a nod from Kyoko. “Well, I thought we could have friendship rings!”

She opened the box with a smile revealing two rings. Kyoko let out a gasp, touched by what her friend did.

“They’re so pretty!” Kyoko admired as she picked one up. “Wow… Thank you!”

“No problem,” Ayaka said with a chuckle.

The two girls slid the rings on their pinkies, admiring how pretty they looked (and how they matched their crush).

“Um… Can I tell you something?” Kyoko asked, looking up to the younger girl.

“Sure,” Ayaka said with a smile.

“I- um… I kind of have a… crush on you,” Kyoko confessed, saying each word at an infuriatingly slow pace.

“H-Huh?” Ayaka almost yelled in confusion.

“I-I like you… a lot,” Kyoko said, hiding her red face.

“That’s so weird,” Ayaka blurted out. “I-I mean I asked you to come here so I could tell you the same thing!”

“W-Wait! You like me too?” Kyoko asked, showing her face with wide eyes.

“Yeah! That’s also why I got the rings,” Ayaka admitted. “They’re promise rings.”

“Wow… You’re so… perfect!” Kyoko exclaimed, trying to find the words she wanted.

“Stop~” Ayaka whined, embarrassed by the comment. She leaned closer to Kyoko and buried her head into her shoulder.

Kyoko let out a chuckle and brought her thumb on the girl’s chin and pulled her face up to look at her. “Don’t hide your face. It’s beautiful.”

Ayaka was blushing so much it looked like she was sick. Her breathing was erratic and her heart was pounding in her chest and Kyoko brought their faces closer together.

When she was close enough, Kyoko rested her forehead on Ayaka’s. They both knew what was going to happen, so they prepared for it.

They both closed their eyes as their lips got closer and closer together. Only moments later, their lips connected.

It was soft. Nothing too passionate, just celebrating their new relationship. Kyoko used her hands to cup Ayaka’s cheeks as Ayaka wrapped her arms around Kyoko’s neck, pulling her closer.

They melted into the kiss, feeling nothing but bliss. But sadly, this had to end.

Ayaka pulled away as she ran out of air. Kyoko was also running out, so she was panting with the younger as well.

Their faces stayed close as they calmed down from the slightly sudden kiss. They looked into each other's eyes, easily getting lost in them.

Kyoko was the one who broke the silence. “Do you want to be my girlfriend?” Kyoko asked

“I thought you would never ask,” Ayaka told her, a smile forming on her face as she pulled the girl closer into a hug.

“I could get used to this,” Kyoko whispered as she held the girl tight.

“You better get used to this,” Ayaka teased.

They stayed in the hug on the bench in the park for a few minutes until Kyoko’s stomach interrupted them.

“Uh… Wanna get ramen?” Kyoko asked, embarrassed.

“Yeah!” Ayaka said as she jumped up.

Kyoko smiled at her girlfriend’s actions, standing up right after her. She grabbed the taller girl’s hand, interlacing their fingers.

Ayaka looked at their hands and then smiled at Kyoko, which made Kyoko smile back at her.

The couple, finally together, left the park together, their relationship just beginning.