"No." Takeru's voice was firm as he stared at Miyako, trying to wrap his head around the current situation.

"But last night-"

"I don't care what I said last night when I was drunk, we are ~not~ playing strip poker."

Hikari, Takeru, Miyako, and Ken were all sitting in Ken and Miyako's apartment. The former two having spent the night after a late night at one of the local izakaya. The blush on Hikari's face grew- expanding to her ear's as she listened to her Jogress partner's insistence. Ken looked equally awkward at the situation, as Miyako and Takeru continued to debate.

"Miyako, can I talk to you in the other room?" Hikari voice broke into the conversation as she stood up, causing everyone to turn their attention her.

"Sure, Hikari!" Miyako's voice was very chipper and caused Ken to wince in concern as the two girls headed into the small kitchenette, which would provide them a modicum of privacy. The two guys sat in a still awkward silence after the girls left, both unsure how to address the situation.

"So um..." Ken started, his quiet and slightly awkward nature causing him a disadvantage.

"Don't worry," Takeru sighed. "I'm sure this is just as awkward for you. I have no idea why Miyako decided this would be a good idea..." Another awkward silence filled the air as both of them were lost in their thoughts, trying to not listen in on the conversation in the other room.

"What are you thinking?" seethed Hikari, her voice low as she spun around towards Miyako after they got far enough into the kitchenette.

Miyako put one hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at Hikari. "Weren't you the one saying that you were having trouble confessing your feelings to Takeru?"

"How in the world is strip poker supposed to help!?" Hikari struggled to keep her voice down in her exasperation.

"Well, it's a start if nothing else, you never know what will happen." Miyako shrugged with a certain non-nonchalance. Hikari buried her hands in her face, the embarrassment going to her core.

"Or... you know, if you just confess to him, I'd just drop the subject." That statement caused Hikari to look up at the purple haired girl, sharply.

"You're not seriously using strip poker as blackmail to get me to confess." The brunette's tone was flat as she stared at her friend.

"I'm just saying..." Miyako didn't finish her sentence, but it was easy for Hikari to tell that she was suppressing a grin. Slight regret washed over Hikari as she went over the situation in her head- leave it to Miyako to come up with a crazy plan like this.

"Can you and Ken give us some space while I talk to Takeru?" Hikari's heart was beating faster and she could feel the heat across her face.

"Of course, as long as you promise to follow through. You can't spend your entire time just pining and never telling him your feelings." Miyako headed back into the living room, not giving time for Hikari to respond to her statement. Despite the fact that this entire situation was Miyako's fault, Hikari couldn't help but smile at her friend's constant support. She remained in the kitchen gathering her confidence as she heard Miyako make some excuse about her and Ken needing to head to the store. They passed through the hall and the purplenette gave her the thumbs up, before the couple went out the door.

Takeru sat in the living room, even more confused as Miyako grabbed Ken, making some note about needing to go to the store and nearly dragging him out of the room. He didn't expect Miyako to give up this easily. However, his attention quickly went back to Hikari as she walked into the room, still blushing quite a bit. The sight was beautiful as ever as Hikari looked at him with reddish-brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" Takeru asked, his concern for Hikari's embarrassment at the forefront of his mind.

"Oh, yeah." Hikari responded before she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She knew that they had limited time. "Hey, Takeru... Do you have... someone you like?"

Takeru felt a jolt through his body as Hikari asked her question- could she...? Takeru stared at Hikari, who currently wasn't meeting his eyes, the blush on her face deepening. After a few moments, he realized that he was still staring and hadn't actually answered her question yet. So he shifted his focus to the glass of water on the table in front of him.

"Actually, yeah I do..." Takeru's voice was a bit unsteady as he answered her question.

Hikari closed her eyes, pulling out every ounce of her boldness. "Do I know her?"

Takeru swallowed thickly as Hikari reopened her eyes and looked at him. Takeru scooted closer to Hikari, so he was sitting directly next to her, his body shaking slightly with anticipation and nervousness. "You do."

The space between the two of them had closed significantly and Takeru couldn't take his eyes off of Hikari. He leaned forward towards the brunette in front of him, his eyes naturally closing as he pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. He caught the small intake of breath before she pressed back and he could feel her soft smile against his lips. He slipped one of his hands into her hair using the momentum to pull them closer to each other, her body now pressed against his. She moaned into the kiss at the contact. They let the kiss linger a little longer, enjoying the sensations and emotions within it. Then, Takeru pulled back his eyes still closed, unable to open them right away. When he finally did, the first view he had was Hikari's eyes.

"I love you, Hikari."