October 3rd 2017

Mr. Cow.

That was the name of the red bow girl's favorite character, something she would never hesitate to let you know.
You could see it in her notebooks, stickers of him all over them, her room with a big plushie of him, her cellphone's background and more immediately for the dark blue haired girl clutching it against her chest, her backpack.

Almost like a broken record, the scene of the previous day kept repeating inside Ryona's head over and over again. A day that vowed to be a happy memory for them both turned into some kind of nightmare, not only for them but for their friends as well.

Even though there was not much to that scene, only the image of Sayori and her watery blue eyes crossing her own dark brown eye for a brief instant before she ran away and she went after her.

Somehow, the peach haired girl was able to run faster than her and soon make her lose track of her. Ryona went back to the literature club immediately, hoping she would be there but the only thing left of her was that Mr. Cow backpack she was now holding.

Nobody saw her after that, nobody heard from her but there was no way she'd do nothing about it.
Before the festival was even over, Ryona excused herself and headed to where Sayori lived.

Getting finally a feeling of relief, she found her there, however looking at each other from her room's window was as close as she got. Her parents weren't home and Sayori refused to come down and open the door, no matter how many times Ryona rang the doorbell.

Please go home, I caught a cold and I don't want to get you sick. That's the last text and the only one she got from her since that finally made her desist and head back home.

Saying she was able to get any sleep last night would be a lie but that's precisely the reason of her presence there, in front of Sayori's house, waiting for her to come out, give her back her backpack and walk to school together once again.

Yet, no matter how long she stood there looking at her window or at that door, the bubbly girl wouldn't show up.

"Yo! What's up Aono! I was on my way to your place, didn't expect to see you-", even though she didn't took her eyes off that window, that unmistakable sound that modified engine she helped with was enough to let Ryona know who was now talking to her and reply before they could even finish.

"Go home, Mei", her intention wasn't to seem cold, but serious. "I'm happy to see you too. Watcha doin' around here? This ain't your neighborhood as far as I remember", replied the girl of long dyed blond hair and delinquent looks riding a motorcycle.

"Waiting for a friend", Ryona replied as she turned her attention to her at last. "That friend?", Mei asked as she glanced at that funny cow backpack Ryona was holding so dearly, to which she nodded.

"I see, well you better not be seen with the likes of me then... I was just looking for you to tell you something important, it'll be quick", Mei said and Ryona couldn't care less but still nodded again willing to listen to her.

Ryona had been debating on calling or texting Sayori since she arrived there but due to her lack of sleep last night, she had got there extremely early so she was aware the bubbly girl may even still be asleep, so this could at least help her kill some time.

"What's so important you were going to my place so early in the morning?", Ryona asked. "The big fishes finally came. They were scouting for prospects ready to go to the next level, almost everyone there mentioned your name so they want to talk to you", Mei explained.

"I'm not interested, I'm done with that anyway", Ryona simply replied. "Eh? You kidding right?", Mei asked confused.

"No. I'm done, I was only there to get money but I can't just keep relaying on that for that, I want to do things right", Ryona explained, plain and simple. "I see... Well, you're lucky I'm the one talking to you, if it was the boss he'd probably be throwing a tantrum right now about how this is a great opportunity and all that shit, well not like he would force you or anything, we all know you can beat the crap out of him or anyone else really haha", Mei chuckled and Ryona just shrugged knowing she was right.

"Despite how I may look, how I talk or how I may behave... I'm still a girl so I understand what the heart wants always stands above everything else. I'll let them know of your decision. Good luck with that chick, introduce her to the gang sometime", Mei grinned and turned on the engine once again ready to leave.

"Yeah, right...", Ryona just let out half a smile and rolled her eyes. "We'll behave I swear!", Mei exclaimed as she took off and disappeared in the distance.

Minutes later, a text finally arrived.

💙: I won't go to school today, I'm still sick 😷 see you tomorrow I hope! 🥺

While the news weren't exactly the best, at least by the use of those emojis, Ryona thought Sayori was feeling better. Or at least that's what she wanted to believe.

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

"You're the famous Jasmine, aren't you??", asked a black haired woman after getting out of her car to help her daughter of bow hairband, only to find a beanie hat girl already coming their way after patiently waiting at the school gates. "I didn't know I was famous", Jasmine grinned.

"Mama!", Kanae shouted embarrassed from the back seat. "I'm Nerumi Tanzaki, my daughter talks about you a lot", Nerumi said with a smile that let Jasmine know who Kanae had got hers from.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am", Jasmine made the proper reverence. "Were you waiting for Kanae to help her out? How sweet of you!", Nerumi smiled moved.

"Yeah, I was actually planning to go to your house and wait for her there buuut she told me you'd drive her here so I just waited here", Jasmine shrugged. "S-She doesn't need to know that!", Kanae snuck out her head blushing lightly.

"Such a gentlewoman you are! I see my Kanae is in good hands", Nerumi sighed relived. "Mama!", Kanae protested again.

"Let's just give her a break now haha, I'll take it from here", Jasmine said as she went opening the door for Kanae. "I thought I'd have to do it myself, which I don't mind but you get me", Nerumi said smiling while Jasmine and her helped Kanae out of the car and getting on her crutches.

"I'll pick you up later, Kany, remember what the doctor said, okay?", Nerumi waved her hand at both to then get in her car again as she said, "it was great meeting you, Jasmine! Bring her to the gates before midnight!".

"Mama!", Kanae wouldn't stop blushing that morning. "Your mom is nice", Jasmine said as both watched her go for a couple of seconds, waiting for her to disappear in the distance.

"Well, let's go to your classroom then!", Jasmine exclaimed as she quickly picked the black haired girl up bridal style, getting a drowned surprised squeak from her. "I-I can walk fine with the crutches...", Kanae tried to protest.

"You told me the doctor said you need to rest that ankle, a single effort from it is unacceptable, plus this way's faster", Jasmine grinned at her, making the bow hairband girl blush madly from how close they faces were now.

"Hey dude, can you put those in my hand, this one... There we go... Thanks!", Kanae then quietly watched her beanie hat crush ask a student passing by to pick up the crutches she dropped when being picked up and putting them in Jasmine's left hand for her to carry them as well.

...

"What's wrong, you're got too quiet all of sudden?", Jasmine asked a bit concerned as they went through the gates and headed to the school building. "Everyone's watching us...", Kanae muttered trying to lower her face to hide her ever growing blush.

"So? Everyone did yesterday too", Jasmine giggled. "T-That was different!", Kanae was flustered.

"Nah, anyone can see that bandages around your ankle and these crutches, I'm sure they understand", the beanie hat girl tried to calm her down. "I guess I'll have to deal with it...", Kanae sighed but dedicated a shy smile to her friend as well.

"That's more like it, now to your classroom and beyond!", Jasmine exclaimed happy and started running while Kanae panicked and protested, "d-don't do that!".

It only took them less than five minutes but in that time, both girls chatted a bit about everyday things once again until they reached classroom 2-A.

Once they were outside the room, Jasmine put Kanae down for the stand on her crutches again, still, she helped her with her bag and made sure she made it safely to her seat, however, both were unexpectedly welcomed.

"Tanzaki-san, good morning, how are you feeling?", one of the various questions boys and girls alike asked the bow hairband girl as soon as she entered her classroom, all already aware of the events of the previous day.

For Kanae and Noroe, these questions were a bit overwhelming. Not knowing exactly how to respond and what to say to people that had been ignoring her for so long and finally acknowledged her existence. Not that they had some grudge against them or anything, she was happy to see people worried about her and wanting to get along.

What she didn't like, was the way some of them smiled at her beanie hat friend there. She really didn't like it.

But Jasmine eventually left the classroom and that thought was forced away.

Jasmine however didn't even notice those, she only had eyes for one.

With that girl in mind, as usual now, she headed to her own classroom and when she turned to the stairs, even though her mind was somewhere else, it didn't take her even a second to recognize the deep voice that brought her back to earth as it spoke to her the following words.

"We need to talk".

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

"Good morning!", with an exclamation point nonetheless, the brunette wrapped her arms around the white haired girl's neck who was quietly sitting at her desk and reading something, making her tense her body startled and consequentially, blush madly as she recognized that voice and that smell.

"Tell me good morning, Mayu!", Monika demanded as she squeezed Mayu's neck harder. "Good... Morning...", Mayu spoke with a pained voice.

"That's more like it~", Monika sighed satisfied as she let go of her and began petting her white hair. "I see you're feeling better", Mayu blushed lightly but didn't reject the friendly affection.

"Thanks to you for not allowing that to be public, let's just not talk about that though, I want to leave that behind", Monika spoke in a low voice as she pulled an empty chair and sat next to Mayu. "Alright", the white haired girl nodded.

"So! What were you reading?", Monika asked getting way too close to Mayu to see her book. "I was just studying, midterms start in two weeks, remember?", Mayu said pushing her gently. She still liked her personal space, at least for now.

"I was hoping I didn't have to hear about that until next week... Oh well, I'm gonna beat you again anyway", Monika winked mischievously at her. "You wish!", Mayu looked at her defiant with fired up golden eyes.

"I like your eyes", Monika said like it was nothing, resting her cheek on her hand and smiling mysteriously, looking at Mayu in the eye. "W-What was that about...", Mayu looked away immediately flushed again.

"The teacher's coming, talk to you later~", Monika then brushed some hair behind Mayu's ear and waved bye to her to go to her seat. The white haired girl simply sighed and smiled to herself, covering her mouth a bit to hide it with her hand.

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

"Okay everyone! As you know, we have the midterms in two weeks so starting next Monday, we will suspend club activities until that's done. However, you can still come to this clubroom after classes if you want and study here, of course you're all free to go and use the library or go home and study there. In the meantime, let's just enjoy the rest of the week before hell falls upon us", Monika announced when the literature club reunited once again.

"I hate exams", Natsuki stated and slammed her head against her desk, making Yuri panic and worry. "Also, If anyone wants to start studying from now, you're free to skip club, just let us know. No? Nobody?", Monika asked and no one responded. They all wanted to wait until it was inevitable.

"Well! That aside, I want to thank everyone for your efforts on the festival yesterday. I know it didn't go like we expected in the end but we still managed to do good I believe. But! That wouldn't have been possible without our newest members who did their best to maintain this boat floating while some of us had some issues to attend haha...", Monika smiled awkwardly.

"So please, Haru, Omiko, Ryuko, Erika, Ryou and of course, the one and only Emerson! Stand up and the others, let's give it up for these amazing girls and boy who made a good ending to the festival possible!", Monika exclaimed and started clapping, followed by Natsuki, Yuri and Ryona.

"Here's where Sayori's absence plays out... we'd be hearing some loud woos and praises by now if she hadn't caught that cold... but seriously, thank you guys for everything you did yesterday and I hope we can keep counting on you!", Monika bowed to the girls and boy still on their feet.

"No problem dude, I think I speak for everyone when I say it was our pleasure and of course we'll stick around this awesome club!", Emerson spoke and the rest agreed with a smile or a nod or both.

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

The rest of the hour had gone by quickly as everyone got back to their usual activities, some reading together, some alone, some wielding a rolled newspaper to stay safe.

While everyone had silent agreed on not thinking about the midterms until next week at least, there was one that didn't quite keep that up.

Yuri couldn't help but think about a certain possibility throughout the whole hour. Having that pink haired girl who continuously asked her about the book they were reading (the one Natsuki had told her it may not be so scary and would like to read back during the preparations for the festival), gave her the idea for yet another way to spend time with her and not seem so pushy.

The only thing stopping her from talking about it, aside from her own shyness, was the fact that she was still wondering which place would be appropriate for the occasion but in the end, Yuri decided it would leave that up to the spur of the moment. After all, that's what had been working for her so far.

"It's almost time, let's put this back in its place and-", Natsuki said as she looked at the time on the clock on the wall and calmly closed the book titled "Dreamcatcher". "N-Natsuki, can I talk to you about something?", Yuri interrupted to boldly starting making her claim for Natsuki's attention the next few weeks.

"What's up?", Natsuki asked curious. "A-About the midterms... Ummm h-how do you do on that?", Yuri asked nervous.

"Eh... I'm not a genius so I don't really do that good... But I do enough to not fail anything at least", Natsuki looked a bit troubled. Not being as smart as her crush did bother her in the past and still does sometimes, not because of jealousy, but because of the ever present insecurity of not being good enough for her.

"Great!", Yuri unconsciously voiced her excitement. "Huh?!", Natsuki looked at her offended and ready to brawl.

"I-I'M sOrrY! I-I mean... It's great because... I-I could give you a hand... I-If you want of course...", Yuri furiously fidgeted with her hair and hid her face behind it as she asked.

"Humm... Well, I-I guess it would be less boring if I study with someone else...", Natsuki looked away blushing lightly. "S-So where should we study? I was thinking about the library, but maybe we could go to Minmeimaru's bookstore or at my house-", Yuri began rambling awfully excited.

"Woah, hold it right there, we don't have to study until next week relax!", Natsuki knew she had to calm her down but Yuri soon lowered her gaze ashamed as sorrow started to cast upon her.

"But I'll think about it in the meantime, your house sounds good but old Minmei could also be fun... Agh, just let me think about it", Natsuki was quick to speak before Yuri's mood went gloomy, a shy yet sincere smile from the purple girl then let her know she had succeeded.

"R-Right, sorry... I'll be looking forward to study with you though", Yuri granted her a beautiful smile that didn't help Natsuki's already racing heart but that she still thanked the heavens for. "Ye, ye, I hope you're good at math", Natsuki sighed with a smile.

The club ended a little after that conversation, some of them had already started making their way out of the room before they even finished discussing that and soon they followed them too.

In the end, only the club president and the blond gyaru remained. Haru was always glad to keep her some company while she stayed there with the excuse of having to make sure the classroom is in good conditions for the following day, however she knew she was just killing time while the student council finished their business. Having Emerson there had proven to be useful to learn the student council regular schedule.

Finally, Haru said goodbye to her friend around 4:30 pm and headed home while Monika started gathering her stuff to head to the student council room.

But just before she could leave the room for good, when she was making her way to the door and looking at her phone to confirm it was time, a voice suddenly spoke and asked from nearby, "Is this the literature club?".

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

Procrastination.
Trouble persuading yourself to do the things you should do or would like to do.

Kanae couldn't exactly relate to this concept in most aspects of her life. She always did her homework just getting home, she always studied in advance for tests, presentations or anything that required her preparing herself for something she didn't know that well yet, she always cleaned her room every night although there was not much to clean due to this same fact.

However, there was one aspect she could relate this concept to and ironically, it wasn't because any particular reasons other than her own inexperience.

Love.

The concept of love was complicated for her. Having a crush on someone, liking someone, be in love with someone, she could barely tell the difference.

She had grown up in a good loving family, mom and dad who always looked after her and saw throughout the years they loved each other as well in a slightly different way.

She always thought she'd end up falling in love with a boy and become like mama and papa in the future.

However, all of her preconceived ideas and beliefs turned upsidedown when a foreign girl of brown hair, red eyes and remarkably fit came to her life one day like any other.

While she wasn't exactly an expert about the concept of friendship either, she at least knew the difference of a friend and a special someone.

Surely, she wanted to make friends after being homeschooled most of her life due to her condition and when that girl appeared and gave her that opportunity, after being denied of it by the rest of people around her at that school, she took it gladly.

But in the short time they had spent so far, that friendship started to change and it gradually evolved into something else.

She didn't know when or how, it just happened and she was convinced this is simply how it goes when it comes to that.

Then when she realized that special person was a girl, she found herself surprised of how easy it was for her to accept that.

She read some people have a lot trouble accepting something as being in love with someone of the same gender and it genuinely made her curious why.

For her, it was simply okay. She couldn't see any problem with loving a person, despite their looks, gender or any other superficial aspect. For her, it was what was inside what's truly important.

Once she accepted her own feelings, things became easier on one side but difficult on another.

It was easier to spend time with that girl, she didn't worry about things like being wrong or not, she simply enjoyed their time together.

But it was also difficult to do so because she found herself worrying of being careful on everything she did just so that girl didn't start thinking badly of her, instead, she wanted it to be the other way around.

Overall, it had been a flurry of emotions so far but she thought she could safely say that in a good way.

She felt they were getting closer day by day, she felt that girl looked at her the same way she looked at her, she felt that girl enjoyed spending time with her just as much as she did.

They both had gone through multiple situations together so far in that short span of time that continuously helped grow their feelings for each other.

She even thought once that if there was some kind of higher entity entertaining themselves watching their relationship unfold, there would've been many times where they'd say something like "Oh! Come on!" seeing how things didn't get to the next level between for some reason.

At first, Kanae thought it was funny and while she wished for it to happen, she believed it was nice to just take their time and wait for the right moment for both of them to be willing to take the next step. It was pure romance and she liked that.

However, among that many positives that had granted her a great amount of happiness, it was just a matter of time before the negatives started to appear, like they do in every single thing we do.

It started that morning, with those smiles.

She didn't like them. She didn't like them because they were similar to the way she smiled at her.

But she tried to shrug it off.

Eventually, classes were over and she had made a few new friends, which was good.

Jasmine then came to her classroom like they agreed earlier during lunch

The beanie hat girl had insisted they stopped club activities while her ankle healed but Kanae didn't want to do that.

She remembered well how people said they'd join their club during her encounter against the boxing club. She had proven everyone wrong, just like she told Jasmine she would.

Kanae told her she wanted their club to be open in case someone came and while Jasmine showed herself reluctant to the idea at first, she understood her friend's feelings and allowed her to have her way, after all, that's why they did what they did during the festival.

To Jasmine's surprise, people did come to join the club that same day. 5 people, 3 boys and 2 girls.

Kanae of course couldn't lead the training like that, so she was counting on the beanie hat girl to make a good impression on them so they wouldn't retract from it.

It was during this time that all these thoughts came to her mind.

She watched Jasmine greatly lead them during their first day. She watched her help them out with their stances, their strikes, their condition, everything. She watched her amaze them every time she showed them how it should be done.

But she was also able to watch the new members and she didn't like what she saw.

The two boys glanced at her a few times, she didn't want to seem arrogant but she was almost sure they were interested in her. However, 2 of the other girls had their eyes also set on someone.

Kanae felt as if she was looking at herself in the mirror, to a certain extent of course, while looking at those girls.

At first, she wanted to think of it as admiration, but seeing their expressions whenever Jasmine went to help them correct their moves was enough to know that wasn't it.

She couldn't blame them either. She understood that as girl, you often find yourself attracted to a person that can protect you from the harsh world outside, to someone that will embrace you in their strong arms and will tell you everything is going to be okay.

Specially after seeing how strong and beautiful she was yesterday, they had enough reasons to think like that.

It was then that she finally understood the consequences of procrastination when it comes to love.

The negatives gradually made their presence in the form of fear and jealousy.

She didn't like it when they looked at her like that, she didn't like it when they smiled at her like that, she didn't like it.

The sole idea of Jasmine doing any of the things she did with her with any of those girls scared her to a point she could feel herself trembling.

The idea of Jasmine comforting any of those girls during a sorrowful time and them kissing her cheek in gratitude made her shiver.

The idea of Jasmine holding hands with any of them after a practice date made her want to cry.

The idea of Jasmine defending the honor of any of them and them granting her another kiss on her cheek made her feel like fainting.

But thinking about those situations also made her realize.

What else is there left for us to do?

The answer: she couldn't think of anything.

She realized they had shared everything there is to share for a couple of friends who look to get to the next level, she realized they had gone through situations couples may not even go in their entire life.

So again, she asked herself. What else is there left for us to do?

The answer was now clear.

Procrastination.
Trouble persuading yourself to do the things you should do or would like to do.

She had been having trouble persuading herself to do the things she should've done and wanted to do a while ago, because she believed no matter how long it took, everything along the way would be nice.

But it wouldn't.

In love, fear and jealousy always reach you and they had reached her that day.

She realized procrastinating any longer could lead to a bad ending.

One where Jasmine may find someone else better than her and she wasn't willing to let that happen, they weren't willing to let that happen.

For her, saying one part of her still wanted to take her time and another keep telling to act now was literally what was going on.

Kanae wanted to take her time and trust she wouldn't lose her.

Noroe didn't want to wait any longer and didn't want to even take the risk of losing her.

Sharing the same body, both had to reach an agreement and what both shared in common was that they didn't want to lose her and that finally lead to their ultimate decision.

Once the new members called it a day, Jasmine of course stayed last with her to make sure everything was clean and set for whoever uses this space the following day.

Giving one last look to the place and herself, she almost retracted herself from her decision but in the end she didn't.

While Jasmine finished packing her stuff, Kanae stood up by herself and grabbed her crutches to get closer to her.

"Um? What's up?", Jasmine asked curious after hearing her getting closer and turned around to face a Kanae of sparkly brown eyes and hopeful look who stared right at her own red ones.

"Jasmine-san", Kanae couldn't bring herself to say anything else than her name. She was starting to realize it was not as easy as it seemed. "That's my name~", Jasmine grinned and it was that same characteristic grin she found adorable what she used to pull herself together and speak again.

Then taking a deep breath that only made the beanie hat girl tilt her head curious, Kanae and Noroe spoke as one.

"Jasmine-san, this cramped tiny space we call club is where we met, do you remember?", Kanae asked with a smile. "Of course I do", Jasmine replied giggling.

"It's special. It may not be pretty or anything great but it's special. It's special because I met you here and from there my life changed", Kanae smiled warmly and then looked at herself down to her injured ankle. "And this... I may not look as good as I would like to. Wearing just my school uniform and one sock because on the other one I have bandages wrapped around my ankle, plus some small bruises I did my best to hide with make up although the ones in my body are not so lucky, but all serve as proof of a day I'll never forget because of you", Kanae giggled.

"The fact is I'm not looking the best right now and we're not in the nicest place either, but don't they always say "in the good and the bad times"?", Kanae liked the way her red eyes opened wider and started sparkling when she said those words.

"I feel there's not much left to say. I told you who I am, who we are already and you accepted me. You welcomed me to your world and now I don't want to leave", Kanae didn't plan it, neither she expected it, but tears finally escaped her eyes.

"All that's left and all I want now, because I love you, is for you to say Kanae is my girlfriend", Kanae didn't feel anything sort of difficulty saying those words, surely she was nervous but she was more eager to say that than anything else but now, a greater weight fell upon her shoulders as she waited for an answer, now that there was nothing left to say for her.

For a brief moment, Kanae feared. She truly feared. She could even feel her heart cracking and about to shatter in a million pieces. All for what she perceived in Jasmine's face.

Hesitation.

Something that faded into the eternity of things as Jasmine immediately smiled.

A heartwarming smile and beautiful red eyes that looked into hers as the following words reached her heart.

"Kanae is my girlfriend".

And then everything was right.

Kanae couldn't help but cry of happiness, the few tears that had escaped her eyes turned into many but that soon began to disappear as Jasmine tenderly wiped the first with her thumb to then use her sleeve while holding her cheek with one hand.

"I love you... We love you!", Kanae and Noroe exclaimed with a smile that could guarantee the world's happiness. "I love you too, both of you", Jasmine replied and held her face between her hands, for a moment both simply smiled and looked at each other as if thet were the only people in the vast universe and had met for the first time.

Kanae knew one thing was actually missing.

Jasmine smiled sweetly as she saw the bow hairband girl slowly close her eye, lift her face and pucker her glossy pink lips in a shy adorable manner only she was capable of.

Kanae felt what she believed was the greatest and nicest feeling inside her chest, her heart racing, her mind full of peace and her body about to melt as she felt Jasmine's lips pressing against hers for what she kept praying would be an eternity.

Love was born in battle, battle was born in love, she welcomed her into her world and that's the bond they shared and the bond they would never break.

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

A/N:

Slowburn.

Drama.

I forgot to add those tags to the story but please keep them in mind.

Things are getting hardcore from here, you're still in time to leave and tell me to fudge myself. You may not like what's about to come and to an extent, I don't either, but it's a boundary I need to cross.

That is all!!