Omake Week 2020, Day 2: Some AU fun for this one! My enjoyment of this classic pair isn't quite done yet...

~X X X~

Chikane Himemiya had a lot on her mind. She had two college entrance exams lined up for the next week, one for her second choice university and one for her mother's alma mater that she was taking for sentimental reasons. Of course, there was also the need to graduate from Ototachibana Academy first, so she needed to study for the tests coming up the week after that. And there was an exhibition match arranged by the tennis club against the champion of a rival school coming up on Saturday. If all that wasn't enough, she also had all of her duties as student council president to deal with, as she hadn't resigned the position the way most third-years did.

The perils of being a perfectionist.

She'd been convinced that she could handle the burden of so many demands on her time, and in general terms she was right; neither her grades nor her performance had slipped, and keeping herself busy helped to suppress the…feelings…that kept bubbling up in her mind, threatening to shatter her façade.

Keeping all the demands on her life straight, though, made her a bit insensitive to others' struggles with their own, less burdensome schedules and duties. Like when Makoto Saotome had forgotten to bring in the stack of flyers she'd had printed for the cultural festival.

"Please, Himemiya-san!" she'd begged, bowing and pressing the palms of her hands together as if praying. "I remembered to pick the flyers up from the printer's; it's just that I left them in my room!"

"So why can't you go get them, then?"

"Because Coach is going to kill me if I'm late to track practice one more time. Look, here's my room key. If you can just pick them up for me, I'll pay you back, I promise!"

Chikane sighed. There was nothing to do for it, she supposed.

"All right."

"Thanks, Miya-sama! You're the best!" She tossed Chikane a saucy wink and was out the door in a flash.

Despite Chikane's feelings, she wasn't immune to her own faults of perception. If she hadn't been juggling so many things (and trying very hard to not think about one specific thing), she might have heard something as she approached Makoto's door. The patter of feet as she pushed the key into the lock. A whisper of cloth as she turned the knob. She might not have come face-to-face with that one thing that she was trying so hard to avoid thinking about. That one idea that, hard as she tried to suppress it, kept bubbling up in her thoughts whenever she let her mind lie unoccupied, in the quiet moments between tasks, in the bath, when the beauty of music or art or a garden took her out of the world, and worst of all in the dark of night lying in bed.

Makoto's room wasn't empty. Her roommate was there. Himeko Kurusugawa. Chikane's treasured best friend since their third year of middle school. The girl who, for the past several years, had been inspiring more and more unfriendlike thoughts in the school idol until love and desire were all tangled up in one giant mass in her mind.

The girl who was, apparently, in the middle of changing out of her school uniform.

Her blouse, vest, and tie had been tossed on the bed. Her skirt was pooled at her feet. One of her tights was draped over the back of the chair, and one foot was up on that chair while she was in the middle of rolling the other stocking down over her knee.

"C-Chikane-chan?"

Chikane stood there, frozen. She knew she ought to move, ought to say something, ought to turn her head or close her eyes, but she couldn't. Her tongue felt thick and swollen, unable to form words. Her eyes were fixed on Himeko, staring, no, devouring the sight. Himeko's bra and panties were virginal white, with a lacy pattern, decorated between her breasts and at her hips with cute little bows. And there was so much skin on display, her peaches-and-cream complexion just as Chikane had imagined it on those frustratingly long nights…

What am I doing?

Nearly twenty seconds had passed before she wrested back control of herself with a sharp cry, swiveled, burst out of the room, and slammed the door behind her. She could have run away, but she couldn't, not after leering at Himeko like that, like some sort of perverted lecher. She leaned up the door, burying her face in her hands as the hot, stinging tears began to flow.

"Himeko, I'm so sorry," she sobbed out, anguish in every word. What must Himeko think of her now? There was no excuse for ogling her like that, taking advantage of an accidental moment of vulnerability to satisfy her own desires. Did she really have so little self-control around the object of her affections? "I don't know what you must think of me now. I promise that I…" She broke off, stilling what she knew would be a lie even before she finished saying it. She didn't think that she could promise anything. She wasn't even sure that if the door opened again, she wouldn't stand in there drinking in the sight of Himeko for every bit as long as the first time.

She finished with the only promise she felt that she could make.

"If you don't want to see me again, I'll stay away from you from now on."

Parts of her wanted to leave right then. The scared part, the cowardly part, even the calculating part that thought that maybe if Himeko couldn't give her answer until after some time had passed that she'd be more likely to have had her revulsion cool a bit and at least allow them to continue as friends. But she throttled down those parts with all the will she'd failed to use a moment ago, and stayed.

Himeko deserved to have her chance to speak, no matter how much it would hurt to hear.

It took a few more seconds after Chikane stopped for her answer to come, maybe because Himeko wanted to be sure she wasn't interrupting. But when it did, Himeko's voice didn't sound angry or hurt, just…hesitant.

"Chikane-chan…um…"

"I'm still here."

"D-did you like what you saw?"

~X X X~

Makoto Saotome was definitely in a triumphant mood.

"Who was it that said Tall, Dark, and Princessy was head over heels for you?"

"You were," Himeko admitted.

"And who said that you should just go to her and confess your feelings because she was too uptight to make the first move and would have suffered in silence all the way through graduation?"

"You did."

"And when you insisted that no, you couldn't do that because you were afraid that you would ruin your friendship, who was it that came up with a brilliant plan to bait Miya-sama into making her interest too obvious to ignore?"

"You were."

"So, go on," Makoto urged. "Say it. Saaaaay iiiiiiiit."

Himeko sighed, then grinned.

"All right. 'Mako-chan is a relationship genius and I will always go to her for girlfriend advice.'"

"Thank you!" the petite brunette caroled. She did not actually do the Smugness Dance, but only because her hands were occupied and it really wasn't the same without the gestures.

Himeko didn't really mind Makoto's attitude. It was justified, after all! She had the memories to prove it, memories of passionate, mutual confessions of affection, of formal pledges of love, and of tender, honey-sweet kisses that led into a half-hour make-out session that only stopped when a couple of Chikane's buttons popped off and they decided that they really ought to take things a little slower and more sensibly (and remembered that Makoto would come home sooner or later).

"That said," Makoto continued, "the next time that a plan calls for you to wait around for Miya-sama in your battle undies…don't get so nervous that you won't be able to get ready in time that you strip three hours early and sit around with the window open so that you end up catching a cold!"

Himeko hung her head.

"Sorry, Mako-chan. I was just afraid that since I'm so clumsy, I'd trip and fall trying to get my skirt off and instead of a sexy pose she'd walk in on a crumpled heap."

Makoto thought that over while she set the food tray down on the nightstand next to Himeko's bed.

"Okay, you're not wrong. But at least, next time get her to feed you rice gruel and peaches. 'Taking care of sick girlfriend' chances don't grow on trees, you know!"