October 1st 2017

"What's that smell...?", that was the first thought that appeared in the mind of the purple haired bookworm that quiet Sunday morning as her half open violet eyes got a glimpse of the sunlight forcing its way inside her room even through her jet black curtains covering her window.

The smell was nice and sweet, it reminded her a time when a 5 year old version of herself, while holding the hand of a taller lilac haired woman, walked into a bakery first hour in the morning and her nose witnessed the scent of bread just coming out of the oven.

Yuri soon woke up fully to then get up and see the time on her phone, being around 9:30 in the morning. The purple girl yawned quietly, went to the bathroom to splash some water onto her face and after quickly brushing and tying her hair in a low loose ponytail, she exited her room still wearing her pajamas that consisted of a pair of baggy gray sweat pants and a black long sleeved old t-shirt.

Yuri still trying to get her mind and body to work, walked through the hallway with various doors on each side to head to the stairs, ignoring one that had been left half open as she walked by.

The purple one tiredly walked downstairs as she felt the smell getting stronger with every step, soon the sound of metal clashing and the classic 'tsss' sound of something being fried by the high heat underneath also entered her ears.

Yuri felt confusion growing on her until she calmly turned her head to the side in the kitchens direction and finally caught an unmistakable pink sight that made her violet eyes go wide as she rubbed them repeatedly.

Finally, Yuri's brain had awaken as she remembered the events of the previous day, particularly the ones of the previous night that until now, she only recalled as some strange yet nice dream.

Yesterday, her pink haired friend had come over to work on the preparations for the festival the following Monday, but after she left, just about an hour and a half later, she returned ringing the door bell at night.

Natsuki for various reasons couldn't go home at the time so Yuri had allowed her to spend the night at her house, even recalling now how she even made some delicious meal for her throughout the night which was probably what made her think this was too good to be true as the married couple vibes were too much.

After that, the rest of the night went pretty quiet until Yuri finished her work, giving it a quick check with her friend who approved of it for them to use it the next day. Then, Natsuki wanted to call it a day so Yuri opened the guest room for her, even lending her some clothes to use as pajamas which finally, made Yuri realize she was just wasting time now.

"Please Nyarlathotep don't let me be wrong!", Yuri excitedly thought as she walked fast but quiet to her kitchen, now an eager smile on her face.

"Oh my sweet devourer of stars...", Yuri thought as she snuck her head inside and finally got the sight she couldn't get to see last night, sending a heat wave that vowed to over take her body to burn with the fires of hell.

There she saw a short pink haired girl wearing a black oversized t-shirt and just that. The shirt covered a bit down her now visible firm and more round shaped nice butt, letting those bare slightly toned white soft yet strong looking legs be displayed to the purple girl's delight as she almost passed out on the spot.

Taking her time to appreciate the celestial sight, Yuri just stood there for a while to be in peace with her impure thoughts for once, then she would proceed.

Yuri then sighed quietly satisfied to then come to realize another important fact. Natsuki was there, in her sexy pajamas, her hair also tied in a messy short ponytail while she cooked something in Yuri's kitchen.

Glancing at the table behind her pink friend, Yuri saw a plate full of still steamy tasty looking pancakes probably the source of that sweet smell from minutes ago, a jar with fresh orange juice and two empty plates and glasses waiting for something to be served on them.

There was another smell, obvious by now about what it was as Yuri's stomach quietly growled while her mouth watered already savoring the taste of scrambled eggs during a nice Sunday morning.

Yuri then looked to the floor while a warm happy smile crept to her face and her chest felt funny again. The purple girl then happily sighed and knocked on the door, to then go inside anyway.

"G-Good morning, Natsuki", Yuri said with a nervous yet happy smile as she fidgeted with her hair a bit still glancing at her. "Morning purple skyscraper", Natsuki grinned cutely at her.

"I thought I could make us breakfast, I hope you don't mind", Natsuki said a bit embarrassed as the light blush on her cheeks showed while she set her eyes on the fried pan again. "N-Not at all, thank you. T-This will probably be better than anything I had cooked for myself...", Yuri smiled embarrassed as well.

"Duh! Of course, it's me who's cooking it now after all! B-But don't get the wrong idea! I just do it to repay you somehow for letting spend here the night...", Natsuki blushed hard to quickly assert dominance by pointing at Yuri with the spatula.

"I-It was nothing, like I said, y-you are welcome to come over at anytime...", Yuri blushed deeply and spoke, her voice lowering with every word. "T-Thanks I guess...", Natsuki mumbled flustered.

"Umm d-do you need help with something?", Yuri asked to break the awkward silence. "No, I'm almost done, just sit there and wait, eat some pancakes", Natsuki replied.

"I-I'll wait for you", Yuri said. "H-How did you sleep last night?", Yuri then asked to lighten the mood.

"I slept fine, thanks", Natsuki replied. "I'm glad, I was afraid the bed could be uncomfortable or something since we almost never use that room...", Yuri replied a bit sorrowful.

"Well, it wasn't, relax. That room itself was fancier than my entire apartment", Natsuki chuckled. "I-Is that so? M-Maybe you could inv-", Yuri had unexpectedly found the perfect excuse, but before she could even say half of it, Natsuki cut her off.

"Done! Now, let's eat!", Natsuki exclaimed proud as she turned around holding the frying pan ready to serve the eggs for them.

...

The breakfast went pretty chill, talking about silly every day stuff as they ate, Yuri and Natsuki soon were done and took everything to the sink.

Agreeing on cleaning the little mess together, Natsuki washed the dishes to then hand them to Yuri who dried them and put them in their place.

"You really like cleaning or why are you humming?", Natsuki asked chuckling which made the purple girl notice she hadn't felt this happy from doing something so simple before, which had her unconsciously smiling the whole time now.

"A-A little...", Yuri replied shyly still smiling happy for having someone there with her. "Whatever, seems we're done! Do you mind if I take a shower now? We can start practicing for tomorrow after that so we have the afternoon free", Natsuki suggested.

"Sure, the bathroom is upstairs last door to the right", Yuri replied. "Thanks purple girl~", Natsuki replied melodically and she watched her go with a smile, Yuri eventually thought:

"No, I'm not going to spy on her while she takes a shower!".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She isn't here yet... 11:45, Maybe I got here a bit too early too...", the beanie hat girl said to herself as she looked at her phone, looking around again at that small lovely park where she and her "date" were supposed to met at.

...

"Emm, h-hi...", a familiar soft voice then snapped her out of her brief moment of meditation as she felt a gentle poke on her shoulder that made her turn around. "Yo! Kanae how are you-!", Jasmine quickly put on her dashing grin as she did but her brain suddenly stopped working as she got a full look at the girl there.

There she was that black haired girl wearing her characteristic bow hairband now white, but more over than that, the friendly sunlight now shined on her smooth looking skin, adorned with a short white empire dress that covered down to her knee and a pair of low heel sandals the same color that overall would only give her an aura that could only be described as radiant.

"-doing today!", Jasmine quickly mentally smacked herself to avoid getting caught in such angelic sight, soon regaining her cool to keep up that grin. "T-Thank you so much", Kanae quickly bowed while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

However, the bow hairband girl herself had gone through a mental struggle herself as she too got a good glance at her beanie hat "date"'s outfit, at first just captivated by how well those ripped jeans and black leather jacket looked on her, but soon her eyes were almost forced to open wide as her hypnotizing 8 pack that dark blue crop top provided her the blessing to see, was too much for her own good.

"I see you really like white", Jasmine said to keep breaking the ice and help herself be less nervous. "E-Eh! I-I really overdid it with white after all, didn't I?", Kanae then looked at the ground nervous to then begin furiously fidgeting with her hands as her worst fear that morning when she chose her outfit seemed to be coming true.

"What? No, no! I mean... It suits you really well...", Jasmine said blushing a bit as she looked at the ground herself. "R-Really?", Kanae asked stilk unsure and growing anxious even more.

"Really", Jasmine then gentle pulled the tip of her bow hairband to make her look at her lift her head and look at her in the eye. Kanae's face then flushed hard as she saw the gentle smile of Jasmine as she had leaned forward for their faces to be closer.

"Between you and me though... I really like white too", Jasmine whispered to then put on her dazzling grin again and pull away. "T-T-Thank you... Very much...", Kanae's eyes sparkled as her face began to shine and her cheeks became cutely pink.

"Well then, let's go~", Jasmine said and began to walk, the black haired girl soon followed her still trying to calm her fast throbbing heart.

Eventually, the mood got back to normal between them as Jasmine continuously made some short conversations to help Kanae feel more comfortable with the situation that in her eyes at least, seemed to have her quite nervous.

Around half an hour later after taking the train and a brief walk, they arrived at the destination the beanie hat girl had chosen for them, which made Kanae's eyes sparkle again as she saw the big letters on top of the big metallic gate at the entrance.

"T-The zoo!", Kanae cutely exclaimed with a smile. "I figured you'd like it", Jasmine replied smiling proud of her choice.

"Should we both go queue up to buy the tickets or just one of us?", Kanae asked. "No need!", Jasmine exclaimed as she pulled out two tickets off her sleeve like a magician.

"When you go on a date you should always be prepared. If possible buy things like tickets in advance so you don't have to keep your date waiting or doing something bothersome like queueing up", Jasmine explained proud.

"Oh!", Kanae nodded impressed and quickly pulled out her notepad and a pen from her bag. "What are you doing?", the beanie hat girl asked giggling.

"Ah, emm j-just taking notes... Is it bad?", Kanae replied blushing with sad puppy eyes. "No, no! You do it anytime you want!", Jasmine blushed at the cute sight and how adorable this girl was.

Then, they entered the zoo and from there, everything was nothing but fun, Jasmine would point out some interesting or fun facts about some animals there, while Kanae like a kid in a candy store continuously walked fast excited to see the next creature.

However, as Jasmine was the one discreetly tracing their path around the zoo, she successfully kept her away from a small surprise she planned for her and it was time for her it to be unveiled.

"Come on, there's one animal you may want to see", was what Jasmine said as Kanae excitedly followed after her without questioning her. "Tada~!", Jasmine said after turning around the corner and come out in front of a big area surrounded by a wooden fence.

It was an area full of small and harmless animals, groups of families mostly scattered around inside as they watched their kids play around and feed those tiny yellow chicken, calves and lambs to mention some, but what immediately caught the bow hairband girl's attention, where those fluffy creatures of long ears.

"Come on, let's go play with them", Jasmine said with tender tone as she gently placed her hand on Kanae's back and invited her inside since the girl seemed still too surprised to move by herself.

However as soon wooden gates weren't in her way, Kanae rushed towards the bunnies hopping around and crouched to grab one. Then some others simply hopped their way towards her as if she was some kind of mother to them.

The beanie hat girl just smiled glad seeing the bow hairband girl's sweet smile while being surrounded by bunnies hopping around to get her attention as she played and talked to them.

Kanae after a couple of minutes of playing around with them, walked over to her beanie hat date holding a white fluffy one in her arms. "Say hi to Jasmine-san~", Kanae happily said as she gently grabbed its paw and waved it at her.

"Hi!", Jasmine exclaimed and leaned forward in one quick move now her grinning face inches away from the long eared one who jumped off Kanae's arms scared. "You scared him", Kanae began giggling non stop.

"I'm not as charming to them I see", Jasmine joked shrugging. "Wait up bunny-chan!", Kanae then happily went after that one while Jasmine just watched her and giggled herself.

==================

"Ah! That was fun!", Kanae happily said as both walked out of the small animals area. "Glad you enjoyed yourself", Jasmine replied.

"I did~ ah, s-sorry if I took so long playing there... M-Maybe you got bored there...", Kanae got nervous again as she began fidgeting with her hands.

"Nah, I did, watching you playing around with those bunnies was fun", Jasmine replied with a sweet smile. "H-How's that fun...", Kanae pouted embarrassed.

"Because seeing you happy always makes me happy~", the beanie hat girl casually said which brought Kanae's face to heat up like a supernova at once. "Now come on, we have one more place to see", Jasmine added like nothing happened there.

...

"I didn't know there was something like this here!", Kanae exclaimed surprised as her eyes shined due to the reflection of the sunlight on the small lake before her, which had ducks all scattered around. "Pretty cool right? Let me go get us a boat and some food for the ducks in there", Jamsine said.

Both girls then boarded one of the many small wooden boats lined up at the lakeshore. Being the gentle lady she was, Jasmine took care of rowing while the bow hairband girl fed the ducks that looked grateful to her by the way the squawked.

Eventually, Jasmine stopped right in the middle of the lake, which made Kanae tilt her head confused, but then Jasmine just raised her finger while smiling, indicating her to give her a second to then pull out something from her her jacket's pocket.

"I got something for you, catch!", Jasmine grinned as she threw a small object to the black haired girl whose reflexes on point thanks to the martial art she practiced allowed her to catch no problem. Kanae's eyes then sparkled as her face began looking radiant thanks to that moved lovely smile.

"Thank you, Jasmine-san, I'll treasure it forever", Kanae said with sparkly almost watery eyes but smiling all the time as she clutched the strap with a figure of a small white bunny against her chest, which looked like and reminded her of the only friend she had for a long time.

"I'm glad you like it~", the beanie hat girl grinned cutely as ever. "W-What's the plan exactly... For the festival I mean?", Kanae asked shyly after attaching the strap to her phone and look at it with a smile for bit.

"Mm? The festival? I thought you didn't want to participate?", Jasmine asked. "I-I'm the club president, I have to...", Kanae began fidgeting with the bunny strap she refused to put in her purse yet.

"You don't have to feel obligated to anything, don't worry, I just got ahead of myself seeing my friends so invested in that lately I guess I just thought it'd be fun...", Jasmine scratched her cheek awkwardly, but Kanae quickly denied with her head as she spoke again.

"I-I also think it could be fun... I-If both work together and all...", Kanae blushed deeply as she looked off to the side still fiddling with the strap. "I mean... That would make me happy really, but I'd also feel bad if even the smallest thing could bother you or something haha...", Jasmine smiled awkwardly.

"You're so kind...", Kanae then looked at her in the eye with a sweet smile to then lower her gaze again. "Emm... T-The reason our club doesn't have more members... Is me, or rather... Us", Kanae finally got the courage she needed from that ever so dashing yet kind grin her now "date" of beanie hat dedicated to her.

"Us? Did I do something wrong?!", Jasmine gasped and began to panic. "No, no, no! You didn't! I was talking about myself only", Kanae quickly calmed her down.

"Then why you said us?", Jasmine tilted her head confused with crossed arms. "Y-You have noticed it, haven't you? I mean, it's too strange not to...", Kanae said sorrowful.

"You mean... The way you sometimes act one way and one second later you act the polar opposite of that?", Jasmine asked a bit nervous yet almost sure she meant that as she began putting the pieces together.

"Y-Yes... I... I have a special condition, I-I have it since I could remember anything, the common way to call it out there is... A-A split personality", Kanae hesitated a bit to continue but she finally admitted as she began furiously fidgeting with her hands again.

"I've been visited by psychologists, doctors, even psychiatrists since I was little, my papa did it like that so I could be cured but that never really happened, so in the end, I just learned to live with it and thanks to multiple therapies, the two people inside my head learned to coexist", Kanae explained.

"The one who's talking to you right now is Kanae, the one that let's say showed up first and got that name we now used for everything else... But the other one, the more straight forward, bold and strong personality you've met decided to give herself a name, Noroe", Kanae continued while Jasmine simply listened and waited.

"While she's like that, I tend to be more shy and insecure, a bit coward sometimes even... But either way, none of us are liked by other people, specially when we switch from one to another. One thing we have in common is that neither of us like to do something that's not correct, we always like to follow the rules and not cause trouble to anyone but maybe... That's too weird for someone our age", Kanae sighed.

"We were homeschooled for most of our life so we never really had much interactions with people our age, but when we learned to coexist, our parents decided it would be good for us to finally attend school like everyone else and by that time we were ready to go to highschool", Kanae narrated.

"A bit after we entered first year, some people in our class invited us to go to the karaoke with the rest of the class after school but... Since my parents always told me to go home immediately after school and never take detours since it could be dangerous... Plus the school itself tells us that...", Kanae paused a bit.

"You refused...", Jasmine replied and Kanae nodded. "Yet they kept inviting us to places after that but since I started struggling to say no due to my introvert nature, Noroe spoke for us and being the way she is, she blatantly told them no and told them to be more careful of following the rules", Kanae sighed sad.

"After that, people stopped talking to us and somehow they learned I was from a fairly wealthy family, so they began talking behind our back... T-They said since I was someone from the high society I simply didn't want to have anything to do with peasants like them, that I always acted quiet and refined but when someone tried to get close to me I'd be arrogant and rude to them...", Kanae explained as her eyes began to water.

"That last part... I guess that was just your two personalities contrasting...", Jasmine said concerned. "Yes... Our parents always told us to not mention my condition, since we could coexist now we should just do our best to fit in and not stand out too much... They always say our society is too close minded and judgemental to those that are different for any reason... That it's best to just fit in to not be left aside...", Kanae explained sad.

"B-But I also read some time ago that other countries societies were not as harsh as ours... Americans for example... While I understand there's always a part of society that will not accept the different, at least americans stand up and fight to change that, they protest and demand equality and tolerance... While us japanese live scared of even thinking different to others...", Kanae said as she sorrowfully contemplated the peaceful lake.

"S-So when I met you... That day you came to our club... I-I got excited... We got excited... We just stopped being careful to just be ourselves... I tried to be nice to you but Noroe, who's the one that always loved doing karate by the way, got too ahead of herself and even challenged you... And in the end... You simply smiled at us and treated us the same", Kanae finally smiled again.

"S-So weather it's your nature as american or just the way you've always been... We still thank you... For never judging us and take the time to get to know us...", Kanae looked at Jasmine's red eyes a bit to then drift her gaze to the side, feeling suddenly to nervous to keep doing it as a light blush appeared on her face.

"Well! Now I can understand you better~ thanks for telling me this", Jasmine, cheerful and friendly as usual, just grinned at her. "You've had her all for yourself all day! Let me spend some time with her too! - B-But she invited me... - But she did it knowing deep inside of her that half of you is me so I deserve some time too! - B-But this is just practice remember? - I want to practice too then", and now, for the first time, the beanie hat girl witnessed Kanae and Noroe showing up to her as they seemed to argue about her.

"K-Kanae?", Jasmine asked a bit puzzled, trying to figure out how to react. "Noroe! I'm Noroe now!", Noroe protested pouty as now that moody and aggressive side Jasmine had just learned to accept as Kanae's mood change, had referred to herself by a different name in front of her.

"Sorry, Noroe", Jasmine grinned awkwardly but then a silence just as awkward fell after that. "Don't just stay there! Practice with me too!", Noroe protested angry as she grabbed some duck food and threw at Jasmine.

"Woah! Relax! I was just thinking haha...", the beanie hat girl chuckled as she shook the food off her jacket and beanie hat. "I-I you don't want to practice with me then I'll just go!", Noroe huffed offended while joining her hands between her legs and pouted.

"Eh?! No! Wait, wait, take it easy Ka- Noroe, Noroe! Ummm... Right... check this out", Jasmine said and stood up from her seat, making the upset Noroe look at her getting more confused by the second as she turned around and placed her right hand on the plank the used as seat.

Noroe then opened her eyes in surprise as Jasmine smoothly stood on one hand, perfectly balancing her body on that surely unstable boat. However what suddenly made the bow hairband girl blush profusely and cover her face with her hands was the result of none other than gravity doing it's thing as the brown haired girl's jacket rolled down, allowing her to see thanks to that crop top of hers, those beautifully toned lumbar muscles of hers.

"Phew! I still got it!", Jasmine smiled proud as she came down and sat again. "My dad would make me do something like this to improve my balance, only he made me do it on logs and trees not on a boat haha", Jasmine explained happy.

"W-Why did you do that anyway?", Noroe, luckily for her her blush already gone, asked. "Ah, to impress you, it's also common for both parties to try to impress each other somehow during a date", Jasmine replied.

"Hmm...", Noroe looked to the side. "So... Did I impress you or nah?", Jasmine asked grinning as ever.

"Maybe", Noroe mumbled blushing lightly again as she kept squeezing her hands between her legs gently. "Yeah! Well, now let's just keep talking, tell me, what made you want to practice Karate?", The beanie girl asked as she began rowing again.

Immediately, Noroe's eyes opened wide and brightly as she heard, turning her attention to her "date" as she excitedly spoke, "It all started when I was little and watched the karate kid...", From there, no one could silence her until she was done and both returned to the lake shore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I gotta say, Yuri, your acting skills are not half bad", the pink haired girl said smiling cutely with crossed arms. "Y-You think?", The purple haired girl replied flustered.

"Yeah, but anywho, now that we have the whole drama mastered, we're ready for the big day tomorrow! It's time for a well earned rest now!", Natsuki plopped on the couch after putting aside on the table her copy of the libretto.

Yuri simply sat down as well, resting her back and closing her eyes while Natsuki did the same only she was staring at ceiling, remaining both like that for a while until Natsuki finally decided to ask a question that had been bugging her for a while now.

"Hey, Yuri, where are your parents by the way?", the pink girl asked sitting straight to face her friend. "M-My parents?", Yuri asked nervous taken by surprise as she did the same.

"Yeah, I mean they weren't here when I arrived yesterday so I thought they were just out doing something but they didn't appear even late at night, you haven't even mention anything about them either", Natsuki said with crossed arms cocking an eyebrow confused.

"I-It's very simple really... T-They are in a business trip, as always...", Yuri mentioned those two last words with sorrowful voice that made the pink girl concerned. "What do you mean?", She asked.

"They own a big international company so they are always traveling overseas for work, it's very rare for them to come to this house to be honest...", Yuri replied smiling sad. "How often do they come?", Natsuki asked.

"Like... Twice or three times a year, for a week as much", Yuri replied. "Geez... You're practically living alone here", Natsuki twitched her mouth, feeling bad for her crush as she tried to put herself in her place and realize how lonely a house that big could feel with just one person there.

"More less, yes...", Yuri said running her fingers through a strand of purple hair while looking at the floor sad. Then Natsuki came to understand more of her friend, realizing not only at school but she was alone at home as well.

The pink girl had already set herself to not let that be the case when they were at school but now she had added a new goal to her list and that was not let her purple crush feel lonely at home anymore.

While she still had to gather the courage to keep coming over to her house more often and not make it painfully obvious how much she actually wanted to be with her, Natsuki knew right now and at least for that moment, she had already skipped that step and had to take the next step.

"That's cool then!", Natsuki exclaimed smug as ever. "C-Cool?", Yuri asked confused.

"Yeah! Because you can do whatever you want here and not have to worry about being scolded for being home late and all that shit!", Natsuki said flashing her fang with a cute grin. "Ummm I-I guess that's nice but not having anyone to spend time with here isn't that good...", Yuri muttered sorrowfully.

"Well you can always invite friends", Natsuki replied looking away but Yuri simply replied with a sad smile as she kept looking at the floor before speaking, "W-Who would want to come over anyway...".

"Hey! Am I invisible or what?! Am I a joke to you?!", Natsuki protested offended slamming her hands against the couch. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean it like that!", Yuri bowed her head in shame.

"B-But I mean... You just came because of the festival preparations so I understand if you really didn't want to be-", Yuri began saying sad with her head still low but soon, the pink girl put an end to it.

"You big titty monster, don't speak for me!", Natsuki said with a mix of sadness, frustration and anger in her voice as she grabbed Yuri by the ears and make her lift her head to look at her. "Ow!", Yuri whined.

"You don't even know what I'm thinking so don't say those things like you do! I'm here because I wanted to be here so shut up!", Natsuki shouted as she kept pulling her ears to then let go of her, cross her arms and look away upset.

"N-Natsuki... I'm sorry please don't be mad at me...", Yuri said trying to suppress the bitterness in her throat. "I'm not mad... But I hate that you make assumptions about me without even ask me", Natsuki said.

"I-I'm sorry... It's just I'm such a boring and lame person that I'm not surprised people wouldn't like to spend time with me... S-Sorry I'm doing it again...", Yuri said fidgeting with her hair.

"But you're right... I-I should at least ask you first... S-So N-Natsuki... D-Do you r-really like to spend time with m-me?", Yuri full of stutters now that her chest began to pound, asked while furiously running her fingers through a prominent strand of purple hair unable to look at her friend eye to eye.

"W-What if I do?", Natsuki replied feisty as ever yet sounding nervous. "Eh? Ummm i-if you do... I would really like you t-to come over to my house m-more often...", Yuri replied nervous.

"Humm... If you insist...", Natsuki replied as she began turning her head and glancing at her. "I-I would also like it if you let me share more of the things I like with you!", letting herself be carried away a bit, Yuri asked as she started noticing how liberating this was.

"E-Eh?!", Natsuki turned to her surprised and face flushed. "P-Please!", Yuri bowed her head.

"Y-Yeah! I mean it was gonna happen eventually so...", Natsuki mumbled flustered as she looked off to the side. "W-Would you like to see the my book collection?", Yuri again asked now looking more excited.

"She's getting carried away now... Well, whatever, I love this side of her too...", Natsuki thought as a warm smile appeared on her face but she soom turned it to cool one as she replied, "Yeah, why not".

"T-Then please follow me!", Yuri quickly stood up now unconsciously a blushing happy mess and turned to head to the stairs almost running. "Hey! Don't run you can hurt yourself!", Natsuki shouted concerned as she saw Yuri rushing upstairs, mostly because she was wearing socks and it was easier for her to slip up.

...

"You really have a lot of books now that I see it...", Natsuki said once she caught up with Yuri in her room, looking at the wall opposite to where her desk and window were, almost covered completely with three bookshelves there.

Yuri simply smiled shy as she waved her hand to indicate Natsuki to come closer, which of course pierced the pink girl's heart for the umpteenth time.

"T-This shelf stores only my collection of Stephen King works, which as you can see, it's almost enough to fill the entirety of it, leaving some space for future releases, this second shelf is for Howard Phillip Lovecraft's works, also enough to fill this one and the third is for other author's who doesn't have that many books yet or books that are the only horror themed one their author wrote and such", Yuri rambled excited while Natsuki did her best to process all that information.

Once Yuri finished her explanation, she simply stood there fidgeting with her hair, blushing lightly as she kept stealing expectant glances at Natsuki who after managing to calm her racing heart down from such adorable sight, realized what Yuri may be waiting for her to do.

"Wow, those are a lot of horror books... Umm what are these books about?", Natsuki asked as she pointed at the second shelf, the one in the middle, which immediately activated the purple girl again.

"Lovecraft works are specifically cosmic horror, he's the father of that subgenre actually. Cosmic horror as its name indicates, it's based on the unknown horrors that could be out there in the infinity of the cosmos, things and entities that can't even be described much less understood by our small human mind, it is the very embodiment of fear to the unknown, so much that a simple glance at them could drive you insane", Yuri passionately spoke, always impressing Natsuki by how she could just get rid of her stutters like that.

"That certainly sounds crazy... Maybe I need something lighter to start understanding these things... What about these books then?", Natsuki did her best to process everything but still as confused as cosmic horror wanted her to be, she thought it'd be easier to understand the others first as she pointed at the first shelf.

"King's books are more varied, while they are all horror, some are based on mystery, some on psychological horror, some more traditional just telling the story of a monster terrorizing a city or a group of people and so on", Yuri explained happy. "I see... Umm what's this one about for example?", Natsuki asked as she pointed at one that read "Dreamcatcher" on it's side.

"That's sci-fi horror, it's about an alien species that have been wanting to invade earth by infecting people with their spores to reproduce themselves inside their body and eat them from inside to be ready to come out in full form, but due to complications with the process, they couldn't until one of the protagonists gets infected and they see him as the key to their invasion, but at the same time the alien within him starts trying taking over his mind something he will have to fight to not allow the alien to consume him completely until he finds a way out of this", Yuri rambled once again.

"Well that doesn't sound that scary, actually it sounds interesting...", Natsuki said. "Check it out!", Yuri said happy as she took the book and offered it to her pink friend.

The purple girl then would find herself face to face with a sensation that only kept evolving when Natsuki simply took the book with both hands, which for a very brief moment caused Natsuki's fingers to brush against Yuri's as she did, immediately sending a storm of butterflies to her stomach while her whole body felt tingly just by the mere sensation of the pink girl's soft touch.

"Her fingers are warm...", Yuri thought smiling warmly as she gently rubbed her fingers against her cheeks to try and feel Natsuki's warmth against her skin there, while luckily for her, the pink girl curiously eyed the book at hands.

"W-Would it be fine if I borrow this one to read?", Natsuki asked nervous both at the fact this may be too much for her and the fact that Yuri may start falling for her if she did. "Eh?? I-I mean yes! I-It would really... ke....e...ppy...", Yuri blushed mad and spoke but her voice lowered with every word to the point her words were barely heard due to that crazily throbbing heart of hers.

"It's decided then! I'll go put this one in my bag", Natsuki said and began to turn around. "W-Wait...", but the purple one had an idea just in time.

"Mm?", Natsuki turned back curious. "W-Why don't you read it now? I-I-I could resume reading one of the books I-I have on going so we can both just relax and read..", Yuri said nervously running her fingers through a strand of purple hair.

"Eh...", Natsuki hesitated mostly because she was afraid of Yuri looking at her if she were to get scared. "P-Please...", but the pleading adorable glance of her crush while she hid her face behind that beautiful hair was enough to convince her.

"Sure, why not...", Natsuki sighed with a smile. "P-Perfect!", Yuri exclaimed happy hiding half of her smiley face behind a book she had already picked to read.

After that, both went back to the living room to read, sitting across each other on the same couch, Yuri's idea thankfully paid off as she was able to just lower her book from time to time and steal glances at the pretty pink haired girl quietly reading there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After another walk around the zoo at the request of Noroe, Jasmine and her date eventually left and consequentially from the fun they had, their stomachs began to growl.

Jasmine took her to a fancy italian restaurant to continue to impress and after ordering their meal, it was time to talk while they waited. The beanie hat girl started with more casual conversations but soon, Noroe's more direct nature got her to ask all of sudden, one question that's been bothering both her and Kanae.

"Say, Jasmine... You told us you had plenty of experience with this thing...", Noroe said while fidgeting with a napkin. "Mmhmm", Jasmine hummed.

"How many other people have you been on a date with before? - Wait! Y-You shouldn't ask her that! - but you wanna know too, don't you? - s-still!", Noroe and Kanae began arguing again in whispers.

Then as she watched them, still trying to get used to that, Jasmine also noticed the expression on their face, wether it was Kanae or Noroe, the anxious yet hopeful look in her eyes as she glanced at her seemed to beg for an specific answer.

Jasmine then decided to ignore everything else and just reply to them with whatever would make them happy this time.

"None... You're the first one so... Sorry if I lied", Jasmine joined her hands in praying motion to apologize. "A-Are you telling the truth??", Kanae then asked with sparkly surprised eyes and light blush on her happy looking face that couldn't suppress an inevitable smile.

"Yep~ we're our firsts, isn't that romantic?", Jasmine grinned dashingly as ever. "J-Jasmine-san...", Kanae then covered her madly red face but internally squirmed happy.

Jasmine just giggled happy at the cute sight in front of her but Kanae was not done asking yet as she eventually relaxed a bit, took a deep breath and looked at her nervous.

"J-Jasmine-san, w-what's your type?", Kanae asked looking unusually determined. "My type? Umm let's see... Mmmm... I don't know, I haven't thought about before haha, what's yours though?", the brown haired girl grinned.

"M-Mine?! ...emmm... I-I think... Someone kind, nice, that listens to me, that smiles a lot... - don't forget strong! - Noroe!", Kanae's cutely flustered speech change to surprised as the other girl added. "Someone like me then?", Jasmine smiled confident.

"Ah! Eh, oh, uh...", Kanae began struggling as her face turned into a flustered tomato. "Just kidding! Look, here comes our food!", the beanie hat girl grinned while the bow hairband girl simply sighed both relieved and a bit disappointed.

=================

The way home for them continued to be nice, as the black haired one even fell asleep on Jasmine's shoulder while they rode the train.

Now walking near the park where they met at earlier, Kanae would take one more chance to make the most of this practice date.

Already having taken a lot of deep breaths to prepare herself, Kanae finally listened to her heart and when there was not many people around, she shyly wrapped her finger around Jasmine's own, making the taller girl look at her surprised but secretly flattered.

"Practice, right?", Kanae asked with shy pleading eyes. "Practice", Jasmine smiled sweetly at her as she fully took her hand and held it throughout the rest of the way home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is it okay for me to feel like this? Me, who I used to think was deserving of nothing but people's disdain? I have many flaws, many wrongs, many bads. Yet, you chose to be here with me. When I take a quick glance at your precious self, just sitting there reading a book I never thought I could get to share and look around this big fancy house as you call it, which barely ever heard other voice but mine, I realize....".

"This feeling, having you just here with me feels so natural, so right, so nice. It doesn't matter if we don't talk right now, it doesn't matter if we don't look at each other right now... Just having you here, knowing I can go to you at any time and change that is enough... the mere sound of your heart pounding so close and yet so far to mine drives me crazy because I just want them to be closer and closer...".

"Now, as I see you stand up and stretch your beautiful body, that adorable face that sometimes resembles a cute kitten that teases me to just want to hold her... I hear you say something about you having to go and my heart feels like it's about to shatter... I don't want you to go... I see you go grabbing your stuff while I just cowardly nod and fake a smile... I don't want you to go... I stand up and follow you to my front door to say goodbye to you... But I don't want you to go...".

"Thanks for the book, purple bud, I'll make sure to give it back to you once I'm done", Natsuki said now both at the front door again. "T-Take your time... I-It's still a shame you have to go now...", Yuri mumbled that last part just for her to hear while Natsuki put on her shoes.

"Of course, I can't bring myself to tell you that... What would it make you think of me? That I'm pathetic? That I'm selfish? That I'm so lonely? I don't want to even imagine it anymore...".

"What?", She asked. "Nothing!", Yuri said with her hands behind her back and a cute smile that never failed to pierce Natsuki's heart.

"I just want you to think the best of me every second we spend together... I still dream at the least expected time, you'll just feel the same as I do and won't ever leave my side again...".

"Anyways, thanks for the hospitality, I'll make sure to drop by tomorrow morning to help you carry the stuff", Natsuki said. "I'll be waiting... And Natsuki...", Yuri said as she began to turn around.

"You've done so many things for me today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that... And so on... In such a short span of time, you've shown me a world full of things I never thought I could experience ever in my life".

"Yeah?", she asked. "I hope you come over again sometime...", Yuri said shy.

"I once thought you hated me, I was thought I hated you... But at least for me... I now just want to go and punch my past self and tell her how wrong she was...".

"I'll try", Natsuki grinned cutely and finally waved her hand to then walk away. "See you soon, my love...", Yuri mumbled to herself as she watched her go.

"But I have found the right time now... There's no need to wait anymore... I can't wait anymore... This feeling that grows inside of me every second I think of you... this feeling that has me smiling every day... this feeling that makes want to scream my joy to the world... This feeling will soon reach you too... You'll soon listen to my heart", Yuri thought as she clutched her hands against her chest while she watched that pastel pink hair disappear in the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for the pink girl, coming back home was oddly easier than she expected.

Fully ready to apologize and make peaces with her father, she came back to her apartment only to find the door open before she even knocked.

Growing worried she entered, only to find her father laying down on the couch almost curled up like a ball.

"Papa, are you okay?", was the only the thing she asked. "I'm too tired to deal with you... Just go to your damn room", was the only thing he replied and from there, as strange as it felt for her, everything seemed to be back to normal between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everything's ready for tomorrow, boss".

"̵̵̴̸͈̦ͨͫ̂̔̑̋̀͘͠Ḭ̠͉̖̓ͭ̆̎ͥ͗ͨͬͦ̓̒̑ ̸̵̸̨̜̮̣̝̥̣̳̫͋͐ͪͫͥ̄ͣ͋͊̌͐̀͘͞t̤̖̰̖̼̥̖̲̦̽̑́ͣͭ̾r͈̥͔̻̜͈̺̱͙ͤų̸̵̷̛̛͚̤̣̬̠̹̙̀ͫͥ̓́͘͡s͓̯̦̩̪͉̰̻͒̔ͮͨͥ̃͋̈ͭ̈́̍ͅt͎̹͚͈̳̺̂̆͗ͮͩ̊͌͡ ̝̞͖̼̺͉͚̭͔̬ͨ̉ͣͤŷ̴̢̺̘̩̞̻̍̃͜ọ̷̦̼̯ͮ͊ͪ̑̅͌͌̈̀́͟͡u̶̴̴̢͙̱̟̫̼͎̲̫͙̝̅̋'̴͔͈́͆͛̇̃ͬ͢l̴̢̢̛̀̀̕͝͞l͈̟͈̥͓͈̜͙̞̖̝̿̋ͣͣͤͩ̓ ̷͔͇͔̤̙͔͇ͧ͗͏҉̧̀̀͘͟͡d̯͍̻̹͍͡ỗ̯̻̖͙̅͢͢ w͓ͣ͏̸̴̸̴̕̕͜͝e̺̣̯̖̙͇ḷ̢̧̢̧̪̻ͪ͗̀͛͊̐̀ͬͬ́́͜͠͡ľ̬͗ͭ̅͏͝ ̶̧̪̔̾͑͘͟͠͝t̬̞̗̝̼̞̤̣͓͈̋͗͊ͮ͌̑̈́ͪͫ͗̈́h̸̸ͮ̏̕͘i̵̴̘͉̙͙̫͇̯͜s̢͙̯̣̖̽́̑̃̓̓ͣ̏̅͂ͪ ̼̫͖̩̓̒̏̌̀̈ͦͣ͂̽̎̋́͜͢͢ͅt͎͚̞̹̼͍͙̬͜ͅȉ̴̼̦̥ͮͨ̑̔̎̾̌̎̈̀̚m̨̞͍͇͙̬͚̙̘̬̰͖̄ͨ̇͛͆ͯ̀e̪͚͙̹̮̭̪̱̪̻͔̹͐̏̊ͮ,̶̛̺̙͑̽͋͋̇̓̾ͩ́̀̕͟͠ ͉̹̻̳̹̫̳̳̒ͤ̓͒͒͜y̶̴̧̛͙̦̜̮̮̱̰͍͈̣̾ͥͫ̿͑̈̚̕͟͡͠ͅơ̧̭̖͙̲̳͔̄̕͜͜͟͝͡͞ͅư̖̟̲̭̣̪̼ͅ͏͠͡͏̧̕ ̘͈̭̞̈̊ͥͣ̀̽͘͟ͅt͕̪̲̙̏̌̀͠͏͞͠h̶̳̯͋͆r̶̹̪͚͇̦̯̰̬̪͕͛̎́͠e̛̞̍́̔ͥ́ͨͤ̏̎̃͆͆͘͜͡e̴̸̛̹ͤ̈́ͮͨ́̃̈́ͫ̓̀̿͜"̶̝̙͙̪̪͇̭̘͓̓̒͋͞͏.̨͇̜̣ͤ̅ͬͪ̀̇ͤ͐̈́̍

"Rest assured, the festival, the crucial date as you say... Will be our time to turn everything upside down".

"̷̨̞̺̦̭̹̟͔́ͩ̌̓̍ͭͨF̴͎̖̰̫̼̙͚̗̞̙̿ͭ͋ͨ͐̅͂͝͠ǫ̶̢͇͈̳̱̘̘͎͉͇͎̮̯͐͢͏̸͞r̛̝̺͉̤͉̺̃̈́́͘̕͘ ͖͎͕̦͔̅͂ͩ̏y̨̦̤̬̭̯̺̦̱̪̪̮̆̇̓͂̔̃ͮͅȯū͈̺ͪͣ͊́r̶̓͑͑̒͏̴̴̢̧̀͝ ̶̷̜̦̱͉̤̟̻͓͕̳̿́̊̑̒ͧ̍̔̐ͬ̈́͠o̶̱̩̤̰̗͎͇ͪ̾̔̆͒̒ͤ͛̓͂̃́̚͡͞͝͠w̨̢̰͖̮̩̥͊̋ͤ̏̀ͫ̚͞n̷̂̓̏̈́̇̂ͭͬ͠͞ ̴̴̸̴̡͎̝̣̰̣͕͔̮̱ͭ̃̌̽̂̾̄̋ͨ̀̕͜͡s̴̡͙͓̫͙͕͓̟͒ͯ̿̌̽̽ͫͪ̋̾͟͏̴̴͞à̸̡̧̛͎̤̟̪͚̤̤͍͇̕k̷̨̤̭̗̘̪͎͈̖̤̐̽̽̂͒͌͆̈̽͡e̻̖͎̮̪ͥͧ̊̈́̕,̸̡̨̡̦̤̘̉ͬ͢͜͟͞ ̟̞̺̟͎̮̩̘̝͉͔̄͛ͯ̓ͯͧd̷̨̥̜ͫ̐̌ͧͬͮ̈̾̀o̶͉ͥ͑̂ͬ̿͛̆̑̓̚͢͝ǹ̛̠͈͉̂̆ͤ̔̈ͪ̑̎͘ͅ'̖͎͙̤̠̬̺̂͊̿̿͋ͧ̿̌ͫt̺̾͗ͬͧ̓͒̅̑̚͟͞ ̼͇͍̯̦̝̣̬̱̥͙ͣ̒̿̉f̮̬̭͓̳͇͉̩̭̪a̡̺͇̘̻̰ͨ̌͋͌͒ͨ̆̽͊̇̾ͦ̀į̴̧̨̡̛̛ͩͣͨ̆̏͒͛͆ͣ̎͢͠l̷̡̝̯̒ ̷̖͔̪̲̜͈̥̖̅͟m̴̧̨̯̒ͯ͊̽ͧ̆̍͆̾́̑͗͟͡͞͡ȩ̟̗̩̖͙̹̟̉̓̀͞͠͠ ̵̇̐̏͏̵͢͠҉a̧̧̛̻̗̤̜̭͕͕̣̳g̶̬͚̙͙̟̣ͩ͢͏͏̸̡͞à̤̂ͬ̓́̕͟i̷̴̼̠̼̼̮̤̞̰̘̞̭̱̒͆̐ͪͪͯ̈̅̂̀́̚͜͟͢͏ň̷̙ͯ̐ͪ̔̑ͧ͠,̹̾͠ ̧̆ͥ͊ͣͣ̈́̿̀͢͠O̴̊̽͛̑͠͏k̢̧̨̙͈̥̉͌̀̚ͅą̬̮̗͍̼̘̤ͯ̽̉̆̇̄̋ͫ̀̚̕b̸̴̢̨̛͉͕̪͙͚̥͉̠̈́ͯ̿ͬͮ̈̀e̛͎̠͍͇͍̾̂͂͌̍̈́̀ͯͤ̐̑ͬ"̡̱̦̭͙̺̬̹̺̑͌ͦ͝.͇̟͇͈̝͍͇̤̘̾͒͌́̇̒́̀͜͝҉҉̢̛̕