WARNING: More sexual themes in this one too. I'm not sorry...

Jake slowly walked down the hallway back towards his bedroom, his bleeding finger was wrapped in a bandage. But the journey back wasn't easy, as his mind was right in the middle of fighting off a wave of thoughts... Very lewd thoughts.

(She licked my finger... kinda looked like she was enjoying it... Stop that, Jake! She was just trying to help you out... in the hottest possible way... NO! Don't think about those things! She's still in my room waiting for me! Waiting for me... in my room... GOD FUCKING HELL!)

Jake pressed his back against the wall and smacked himself in the forehead. He was hoping this would somehow help him clear his head and allow him to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't possibly face Yuri while he was acting like this. He'd literally die on embarrassment.

(Stupid teenage hormones!)

After taking another few minutes to compose himself, Jake managed to force himself away from the wall and was soon standing just outside his bedroom door. His fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles cracked before he slowly entering the room...

...just in time to see Yuri quickly unroll her left sleeve, pulling it back over her arm and looked up at Jake with a rather forced smile.

"Yuri?" Jake asked.

"Yes?" she replied innocently.

"Uh, h-hey... He mumbled.

(Hey? HEY?! That's all I've got?! WTF is wrong with me?!)

"Y-You were g-gone for a while..." said Yuri.

Jake gulped, sweating uncontrollably, "Well, uh... th-that's because I.... I-I was just, uh... I was... I just couldn't find the bandages. We have l-lots of them in the pantry..."

"I could've helped you look for them..." She told him.

"No, no, no, It's fine! Really, fine... Great.... Grand... All good... don't worry, be... uh, happy?" Jake felt his face redden as Yuri starred up at him.

"You're so weird, Jake." She giggled shyly.

"Eh...? I-Is that good or bad thing?" He asked.

"Well, it's not bad thing, at least to me..." She replied.

Jake blinked at her, "It's not?"

"Of course not." Yuri assured him.

"Uh, c-cool. Sorry, my brain is fried and my finger's stinging a little bit. I dunno if I can still keep focused..." mumbled Jake.

"That's okay. Just try your best." Yuri responded.

The tension quickly began to fade and the two teens resumed their respective activities. Jake watched as Yuri's knife cut through the ribbon like it was nothing but air. Meanwhile, he slowly continued to make progress on the kanji.

  ********** 

After they finished attaching the paper to the ribbons, Jake and Yuri laid them out side by side. It looked better than Jake expected and would be very effective as a door curtain.

"It looks great. I think this was a pretty good idea, Yuri." He told her.

"Ah, thanks..." she replied, "It's just something I saw online, really. Are you ready to move on to the next task? Or do you want to have a break?"

"Nah, I wanna get through this. What are we gonna make now?"asked Jake.

"I'd like to create a banner. That's why I asked you to buy the paint tablets." Yuri explained.

"Ah, yeah, that makes sense." He said. A kit of watercolour paint tablets was one of the items Yuri had asked him to buy.

"We'll need about six cups of water to put each of the tablets in. Do you mind fetching those for us?" Yuri asked him.

"Right ahead of you!" Jake replied, getting up and walking towards the door, "Six cups o' water, coming u-!"

"W-Wait!" Yuri called out.

Jake froze mid-step and spun his head around to Yuri, "Eh?"

"I-I wasn't finished... Just a little bit of water is okay... If you fill the cups up too much, it'll be too diluted." Yuri told him.

"No problem. Okay, six cups of water... six cups of water..." Jake repeated to himself.

Taking Yuri's advice, Jake decided to use small plastic cups rather than full-sized glasses. He placed them on a plate to catch any paint that dripped, then brought it back to his room.

"Did somebody ask for six cups of water?!" Jake asked dramatically. Yuri flinched from surprise and looked up at him.

"J-Jake! You gave me a fright!" She gasped, but she didn't seem to be annoyed, unlike everyone else he caught off-guard for amusement.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself. Hehehe..." Jake chuckled, "Hey, your face looks a little red. Is it too hot in here or something?"

"No, not at all! There's nothing wrong, so... let's mix the paint." Yuri hurriedly dismissed him and took it upon herself to unwrap the tablets, dropping them into the cups.

She then continued, "So, I thought we would do something simple that would look very nice. I'd like to paint across the banner, starting with the colours for a sunrise, then daytime, then sunset and nighttime. Once it dries, I'll write an inspirational quote across the banner. We could hang it on the wall behind the podium at the front of the classroom."

"...okay." replied Jake, "So, what are you gonna write?"

"Well... It will be more fun to surprise you." Yuri said, smiling at him.

"If you say so..."

Jake highly doubting that anything would surprise him at this point. After rolling out the banner, he and Yuri knelt on opposite sides so they didn't get in the way of each other.

Yuri used a brush and added a few dots across the banner to serve as a colour guide when they painted. It felt like the art class projects Jake had back in primary school.

"I wish I was as enthusiastic about this whole thing as you are..." Jake yawned, hoping it didn't sound as rude as just saying he was bored of doing this.

"Oh, I'm sorry if this isn't as exciting for you as it is for me..." Yuri apologised, "It's a lot of work and very time consuming. If you've had enough, I can finish it at home."

"No, that's not what I meant! It's just, uh... well, I'm kinda lazy." He admitted, "I'm not really the type of guy who likes to get up and do these sorts of things, ya know... it can be a bit exhausting when I'm doing something I'm not used to."

"I understand..." said Yuri, "But, I'm glad you decided to help me, or it would've taken the entire weekend to make all these decorations if it weren't for your assistance. It really means a lot that you're doing this."

Yuri stopped painting for a moment, thinking to herself, "For me... I don't need to go out and do crazy things to have fun. In fact, I usually don't even want to. I just like it when I can spend time with one other person. Even if that's something simple, like reading. It doesn't even matter if we don't talk much. Just having a friend next to me makes things feel a little bit nicer. I think that's all it takes to make me happy."

"That... might just be the exact same way that I feel," Jake responded, "I've always hated doing sports and outside activities. I like spending most of my time in here on my own, playing games and using the internet. But when I do it too much, I start to get lonely and bored. So it would be nice to spend time with someone who shared my interests."

"I knew you'd understand..." Yuri smiled gently.

She leaned over the banner to grab an unused paintbrush. But Jake moved at the same time, causing both their heads to collide with each other.

"Kya-!" Yuri cried out, reeling back her head in surprise.

"S-Sorry! Are you hurt?" asked Jake, feeling guilty.

"N-No, I'm not hurt... It just startled me, that's all." She replied.

"Guess I've done that to you a lot today. Here, take it." Jake grabbed the paintbrush and handed it over to Yuri.

"Sorry, I should have asked you to get it for me..." Yuri apologised.

"It's not your fault. Oh no, your face..." Jake muttered. There were some small droplets of paint on Yuri's face and neck.

"Is there something on my face?" asked Yuri.

"Yeah, I accidentally got paint on you. Thank god it didn't get on your sweater. I'm so sorry, that was my fault, I'll go get a towel!"

Jake rushed out and found a small towel, which he dampened with hot water before returning to his room and knelt down in front of Yuri.

"Here..." said Jake as he patted down Yuri's face and neck with the towel.

"Ah-!" Yuri moaned, closing her eyes.

"Is, uh, something wrong?" He asked.

"It's hot... I just didn't expect it." She explained.

"Sorry..." Jake apologised, "I didn't want to use cold water."

After he finished washing off the paint, Jake started to retract his hand. But Yuri suddenly held his wrist and and made him flinch.

"Wait..." She whispered, "Just... for a little longer. It feels really nice..."

"Uh... Okay..."

Jake kept his hand still against Yuri's neck. Her eyes opened, and she starred deeply into his own eyes, wearing the same intense expression she had given him on Thursday. Yuri breathed gently, through her slightly parted lips. All rational thoughts escaped from Jake's mind as he wordlessly admired the gorgeous beauty in front of him.

(Wow...)

What was happening? Was the aroma of the Jasmine oil giving Jake a dizzy feeling. Yuri's fingers, gently wrapped around his wrist, sent a tingling sensation through his arm. And her face seemed to be much closer to his than it was just a moment ago...

"Yuri..." Jake whispered quietly, unable to avert his gaze from those beautiful violet eyes. Their lips were mere inches apart now.

"Ah..." Yuri slowly pulls back, "Sorry... I've been feeling a little light-headed today as well. I didn't mean to space out..."

(...I love you.) Jake thought.

The moment was over as soon as it began.

Yuri picked up her brush again, but her movements seemed a lot clumsier, like she was unable to focus. Jake remained silent, unable to keep his mind off the event that just transpired. Although he did his best to follow Yuri's example, he could no longer stop himself from giving her longing glances, fruitlessly hoping to recapture what was now lost.

**********

Jake finished filling the night sky with white dots that looked like stars. Looking at the banner as a whole, it was very pretty and natural-looking. Had it not been, he would have been repeatedly kicking himself for not doing it properly.

"I think it came out better than expected. I'm really happy with the results." said Yuri.

"Y-Yeah, me too..." Jake stuttered, feeling his cheeks redden, "So, what about the lettering? Are you going to add that to it now?"

"Ah, not yet... It needs to dry first." Yuri explained.

"Won't that take a little while?" asked Jake.

"Well... Perhaps it would be best to leave it here, then you have to bring it in the morning." Yuri told him, "I can do the lettering in the classroom before our event starts. Is that okay?"

"Fine with me." replied Jake.

"Wonderful. In that case, I don't think there's anything more for us to do here." said Yuri.

Jake was both relieved and saddened by this news. Although he was glad that all the work was over, that also meant Yuri would be leaving. He really hoped they would have gotten more time to get to know each other. He guessed that was the downside to being a pair of quiet people.

"I'm glad we managed to to get everything done." He said.

"I am, too." answered Yuri, "I was a little concerned about time... I need to start making dinner soon..."

"You make dinner? Isn't that something your parents would do?" asked Jake.

"My parents work for long hours, so they usually aren't home until about nine. Plus, it's good to start being independent now that I'm 18." Yuri explained, "Don't you agree, Jake?"

"Uh, I guess so..." Jake muttered.

Even though Yuri already know he was lazy, Jake did not actually mention how lazy he was. His parents had to constantly reminding him to do the little chores he was given, like throwing out the garbage or cleaning up his room. Hell, he was even too lazy to brush his teeth (until visiting the Literature Club, of course).

"I'm sorry. I was hoping there would be more time..." said Yuri.

"That's probably my fault..." replied Jake, "I have a habit of working really slowly. I'm kind of a perfectionist, you know? Textbook OCD and stuff."

"No, it's not your fault at all. And the important thing is that we got everything done, right? So... I shouldn't be disappointed... or anything."

As she gathered her things, Yuri looked a little downcast. Jake could understand why. It seemed like she rarely got the opportunity to spend time with friends in a relaxed environment. But that didn't mean this was the last time it could happen.

Once Yuri had packed up, Jake walked her out the front door.

"Thank you very much for having me today." said Yuri.

"No problem, I'm glad I was able to help. Just let me know if there's anything else you need me to bring for tomorrow." Jake responded.

"I will..." Yuri fidgets, "Well, then... I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait-!" Jake said without thinking, "About today... It's fine that we didn't have as much time as we wanted... You can always come over again if you want, whenever you want, or we could g-go out somewhere... Oh, wait, you don't like going out much. Well, neither do I, so-"

As Jake stumbled over his own words, Yuri simply smiled bashfully. The sight of this was causing his face to start burning up, "Anyway... You know what I'm trying to say, so..."

"You're very thoughtful, Jake." Yuri took a step closer to him, then she started to squeeze his hand, "I kind of like that about you..."

"Yuri, I... I, uh..." stuttered Jake.

"W-What's wrong?" asked Yuri.

"Wangofestvalwime?"

"S-Sorry, what did you say?" Yuri asked with a confused tone.

"Uh, I... I-I was just w-wondering..." stuttered Jake, trying to keep himself together, "s-since you and I are b-both going to the festival... You, uh... you wanna go with me?"

Yuri released his hand and pulled back in surprise, "W-With you? You mean like as friends, right? Or do you mean like... as a... a d-date?"

"Uh, um... I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything! Please don't hate me, Yuri..." Jake begged, looking down at his feet in shame.

He knew this was a stupid idea. They had been though so many awkward situations the last few hours, now he'd just added one more to top it off. How could he have thought this would be an appropriate time to confess? This was a stupid decision, even be his standards.

"No, Jake! I don't hate you! W-Why would you think such a horrible thing?" asked Yuri. The way she said it made Jake doubt himself for a moment, but he knew what he was.

"B-Because... I know I'm not good enough for you." He admitted, still unable to look her in the eye and kept his head bowed.

"I-I like you, Yuri... I like you a lot... You're so pretty and smart. I haven't stopped thinking about you since last Monday... and being with you has been the most fun I've ever had at school... But you deserve so much better than someone like me. I'm awful at writing poetry, I don't drink tea, I barely read any actual books besides fan fictions-"

"Jake, stop... please."

Upon hearing Yuri's command, Jake's jaws clenched shut and he looked up at her. He knew this could only go one way. She would say that she only liked him as a friend and tell him they would just act as though nothing happened. Jake could feel his heart sinking as he watched Yuri trying to think of the right way to tell him this. But this would be pointless, for the pain would not hurt him any less.

"Do you really mean that?" Yuri asked calmly.

"Y-Yes..." Jake murmured, desperately holding back the tears that were building up from behind his eyes (he wondered how he even still had any left after yesterday). If he cried right in front of her, he would never have the guts to even think of speaking to her ever again.

To Jake's utter shock, he saw Yuri's eyes had become rather watery. Her gaze wasn't filled with either sympathy or even repulse, but with what he could only describe as... joy. And after what felt like hours, she blushed and looked away from him with a small smile.

"J-Jake... you have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that." She said quietly, "Because the truth is, I-I've been th-thinking about you a lot, as well... I don't mind if you're not very good at poetry or don't like tea. E-Everyone has got different interests, e-even the ones they l-love..."

Jake could not believe what he was hearing: this could not be true. How could such a pretty girl like Yuri feel that way about a guy like him. It seemed impossible to him. But the way she said it, the way she was looking at him... it all seemed so real. Could it be...?

"Y-Yuri, I... So, d-do you..." Jake stumbled over his words.

Yuri looked back to Jake, blushing madly, "Yes, I'd love to go to the festival with you. P-Perhaps we can even w-walk there-together. Not that you have to, of course! I'll be g-going there early to s-set up our other d-decorations..."

Jake remained silent for a few moments as Yuri continued talking. His mind was still processing all this information and the butterflies in his stomach were not helping very much; Yuri actually liked him! More than just a friend! It was as though all the awkward moments from the last few hours had never existed. Today was now officially the greatest day of his life.

"You don't have to wait for me, Yuri." Jake told her, "I'll probably have to drag Sayori out of bed anyway. But I'll make sure to try and get to school before our event starts. And once that's over, m-maybe we can... spend the rest of the day together...?"

"Th-That sounds l-lovely. J-Just remember to b-bring the banner with you, s-so we can get it all finished in the classroom." said Yuri with a smile.

Jake smiled back, "Thanks for the reminder, Yuri."

"Your welcome, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you then..."

And with that, Yuri hurried off and Jake waved goodbye after her, feeling extremely good about himself as he watched her until she walked out of sight. Then he ran back into his house, returned to his bedroom, and lunged onto his bed, covering up his face with his pillow.

"YES!! YES!! YEEEES!!" Jake screamed into it. He got a date with Yuri! Something told him he would be having a lot of fun at the festival. With all the excitement flowing though his body, Jake could hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive.

____________________

At last, some originality! No more copy and paste from the game, which means the next few chapters will probably take a long time to come out. But at least we've made it to the confession part, so that's all that matters. Please point out any spelling mistakes if you see any and make sure to vote and leave a comment to show that your interested in what I'm writing.
~ Cheesy