Based off another of Tumblr user sassmasterkurapika's headcanons (FFnet Pen name 'Marie Graham')

Chiyo clutched her sketchpad to her chest, smiling happily as she walked down the hall with Nozaki beside her. There was a faint sound of a shouting match going on that steadily grew louder as they got closer, but she hardly cared just then. She had been helping Nozaki work on his manga for months now, and she still got excited whenever he asked to walk with her, and she hummed happily to herself as they rounded the corner.

"Kashima's performances are unrivaled!" Hori declared loudly, in that actor's voice that wasn't a shout but still carried clear and far.

"She'll never have the radiance of Lorelei!" Wakamatsu shouted in earnest, though even in argument, he leaned forward in a subconscious effort to be shorter than his upperclassman.

"If it's radiance you're talking about, to say that, you've never seen Kashima on stage! She shines brilliantly in every performance!"

Wakamatsu spotted Chiyo and Nozaki's approach, turning to face them with a cry, "Senpai!"

Hori immediately turned, and the two exhanged a brief heated glare and stepped forward towards the two, shouting at the same time, "Who's better, Kashima or Lorelei!?"

Unfazed by their energy, Chiyo smiled happily and Nozaki's expression stayed unchanged as they responded at the same time. "Nozaki-kun!" "Sakura."

It took her a moment for it to sink in, and Chiyo's heart skipped a beat as she turned to look up at Nozaki, her face heating quickly. He seemed oblivious to her reaction, calmly talking with the two boys as they tried to get him to pick someone from their choices before giving up.

Walking home, Wakamatsu and Hori were ahead of the pair with Mikoshiba, filling him in on the afternoon's events. When they expressed their frustration in Nozaki not even being able to pick, Mikoshiba stared at them as if trying to remember something, "That seems familiar..."

"Hm? Familiar? How?"

"Not being able to choose from the selection, it's... Ah! Ahh, I remember now!"

When he didn't explain what it was he remembered, Wakamatsu couldn't resist prompting him, not when he wore that expression, "What is it, Senpai?"

Mikoshiba stopped mid-stride, turning to Wakamatsu and putting his hands on the boy's shoulders, looking at him seriously. "Say that again."

"Huh? Say what, Senpai?"

Grinning happily, Mikoshiba smirked and crossed his arms, nodding proudly. "Right, that's right. Well, look. The first time I got Nozaki to play a gal-game, he named his character Suzuki, right? But then he wouldn't even try to be nice to any of the girls, because of Mamiko!"

"But it was a game, so..."

"Exactly! Even then, he insisted his character couldn't be with someone else! So..."

"So?"

Hori's eyes widened as he understood what Mikoshiba meant, nodding along with it. "If he couldn't with the game, and fictional characters... He must really care for Sakura, if he couldn't say another name, even when she wasn't supposed to be an option."

"Exactly!" He decided to leave out the rest of how that game session went, grinning at the others as they looked forward to where Chiyo and Nozaki continued on their way, having passed the trio without a word.

"And it's obvious that Sakura likes him..."

"It is?"

"Mmhmm! Mmhmm! If we could get Nozaki to say something..."

Wakamatsu looked between the two, completely baffled by what had just happened. The whispered plotting as they finished up the walk to Nozaki's apartment finally clued him in, and he offered what he could from what he knew of Nozaki from their days playing basketball together. It wasn't much, and in the end they still had no idea how to help the pair along.

At least until a few hours later, when he sat back from the table and stretched with a yawn. "Ahh, I better head home now. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Mikoshiba suddenly grinned and put his art supplies away, standing up quickly, "Ah, me too, me too!"

"I should as well," Hori took care with the pages, stacking them aside neatly.

"Eh? Everyone's leaving so suddenly...," Chiyo looked up bewildered.

"Are you nervous to be left alone with Nozaki?" Mikoshiba grinned, winking down at her and watching as she quickly blushed and got flustered.

"Sakura spends time here alone with me often enough."

"You really are so cool, Senpai! Even good with the girls!"

"Huh? I'm not-."

"It only makes sense, of course. You two do spend a lot of time together, both in school and out."

'H-Hori-senpai, you too!?' Chiyo thought with a wail, not sure what had suddenly gotten into the three as they excused themselves so loudly and... suggestively.

When the apartment had quieted down, Chiyo continued to sit there in stunned silence, not sure how to respond or what to say, if anything. After a few more minutes passed, Nozaki turned to her, "What was that about?"

"Eh!? Y-You couldn't tell!?"

"Hm. It sounded as if they were suggesting we're dating."

"So you do know then!"

"But, we aren't."

"N-No, we aren't..."

Nozaki's expression turned curious at her tone, and he turned his chair to face her directly, "You sound disappointed."

"Eh!? I, w-well, I, I mean, I..."

"Would you like to be dating, Sakura?"

She stared at him, wide-eyed and red-faced, her breath catching a moment as her mind tried to keep itself together after such a question, and before she could think of any graceful response, she loudly blurted out, "Yes!"

It was his turn to be surprised, a hint of red on his cheeks that was the first Chiyo had ever seen. He turned serious for a moment, seeming to contemplate something, and then he got up to go over to the table and kneel beside her, "Then, Sakura..."

"Y-Yes...?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"Yes!"

He smiled at her, settling a hand on her shoulder. She laughed happily, leaning into the touch, "I really like you, Nozaki-kun!"

"Mm. I really like you, too, Sakura."