Part 1

“My my. If I recall correctly, your name is……‘Yui,’ right?”

She didn’t respond, opting to stare at the girl lazily exposed on top of Yuuko, who returned her gaze with an almost silent sense of satisfaction. It was only after neither girl broke eye contact that Yui finally spoke. “Stand up.”

“Hmm, I’ll take that as a yes~. I remember you from your introduction on our second day of class.” Ai relaxingly smiled. “I believe Miss Wakako said you were to attend class One-Two; the boys made quite an uproar when you left that day, you made quite the impression Yui-chan~”

In response, Yui held up a single finger beside her face.

“One.”

“Oh my, what a serious tint~! You gave off such an elegant one during your introduction a month ago, to think you’d be like me in that others don’t get a chance to see it—” Ai put her index and middle fingers together over her lips in a growing smile that didn’t hide her words. “—not to mention our shared affection for this boy; we’re birds of a feather~!”

“Two!”

It had been years since Yuuko had seen her teeth grit into that all too familiar face. At this rate…

“Ai, please get off me.”

“Oh but Yuu~” she said, tugging at his clothes while staring directly at Yui, “you were the one who made me this way, you need to take responsibility~”

“Ai, I didn’t make you this way. Please stop saying things that’ll cause misunderstandings.”

“Ask any girl, Yuuko; we don’t get this way on our own~”

While gazing directly at the girl holding two fingers in the air, Ai laid her chest against Yuuko’s head.

“Do you hate me~?”

Yui never raised her third finger— with blinding speed she marched towards the near-naked girl, her bag and spare key in one hand dropping to the floor with a frighteningly loud *clang*. But none of them registered the noise.

In fact, it was Yui who stopped dead in her tracks almost as soon as she began, shock draining the color from her face. It was an expression she shared with Ai, who held her palm against her temple to steady herself from the blood rushing through her body from standing too fast.

……she………was standing?

A hand clamped over her upper arm like iron— steadying her body, but dizzying her all the more. No. She was dizzy because of the look tinting the boy’s face right now.

It was dark.

“I’ve been lenient with you,” he said, almost shoving her back onto the bed while standing, “but I won’t forgive you if you make Yui cry.”

Cry?

Ai looked to the girl who still appeared to be processing what happened, and for less than a second, their eyes met. But it was all the time she needed. Yui, the girl with beautiful long black hair, the girl who tore her eyes away the moment that made contact— the whites of her eyes had nearly matched the color of her ribbon; in the corner of the room, she was furiously rubbing her face with her sleeve. Though on the verge, Ai hadn’t seen any actual tears.

She hoped to remain correct about that.

It wasn’t soon after Yuuko pushed her down that he gave Yui a few tissues— she took them reluctantly.

The room grew silent as she finished. And Ai knew it was because of her.

She smiled.

“Do you hate me?”

Of course the girl couldn't give an immediate answer, though Ai was almost expecting an immediate “yes”.

She stood with her back against the wall, her arms folded behind her back. Was it really possible to regain such elegance so soon after having nearly broken down?

Birds of a feather.

“Why were you doing what you were doing?”

Ai brushed a long strand of hair behind her ear before suddenly changing her mind. Separating it into three strands, before long, a small braid could be seen forming on the side of her hair; loosening the ribbon around her wrist with a small tug of her teeth, she used it to secure the braid.

“How do I look~?”

Yui narrowed her eyes, though in frustration at her dodging the question, or at the fact she asked one in return, she didn’t know.

“Yuuko gave you that ribbon, right?”

“Oh my, was it that obvious?” she asked, tilting her head upwards and to the right, showcasing long, wavy brown hair that intermingled with the peach-pink ribbon. “Does it look good~?”

Ai took her silence for an answer.

“To answer your question,” she said, as she picked up various articles of clothing, slowly putting them back on. Yuuko avoided the sight, out of either guilt or respect. “I did receive it from him, as a gift.”

“Yui was actually the one who helped me pick it out.” he said, talking to the other end of the room since Ai was still putting on her clothes. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to get it.”

“Oh my~! In that case I really should be thanking you Yui; you have a real sense for fashion!” Ai ran up to her, hand outstretched, with a skirt only halfway zipped below a nearly open top.

Yui looked at it, before meeting Ai’s eyes with much more calm than she anticipated.

“Ai, please tell me what exactly it was that you were trying to do with Yuuko.”

“Ahhaha, I guess we can’t really move on from that, can we~?”

“We can’t,” Yui stated calmly while taking a seat by his study table. Ai mimicked her actions, taking a seat near her on the edge of the bed; Yuuko, however, didn’t move from place, remaining standing by the entrance with his shoulder against the wall.

“You two must have a very close relationship, to care for each other so deeply…”

Yui turned her head to the side, a small blush creeping through her nose and cheeks.

“Um, by the way, I’m sorry about being so rough with you Ai…” spoke the boy from across the room. “I shouldn't have been so rough.”

“I’ve had rougher~”

“You still haven’t answered the question!”

“Hmm~? But I already have.”

Yui looked at her in absolute befuddlement, her blush was a deeper shade after having heard her comment on Yuuko’s roughness; it only added to the distraught expression on her face.

“Like I just told you,” Ai teased, holding a finger to her lips in a silent gesture, “you two must have a very close relationship.”

“We…We……”

“Is it so wrong for me to want something like that as well?”

“It is when you act like that!”

“That’s what two people do when they're in love, no?”

“But Ai……I don’t feel that way towards you…”

A smile stretched across her lips— she knew that already. Ai Hirawa knew that already.

So why was she approaching him?

“Maybe not, no.” she said, standing before him, arms behind her back. Her eyes were locked onto his; he was taller than she was. “But that doesn't mean I don’t feel that way about you.”

“You can’t just—!”

“—are you two dating?”

The question caught them both off guard, as they fidgeted around the room with their eyes.

“Us two…we are…but we’re not……but…”

“…at the moment…we……”

“Hmmm~? I see I see~”

“W-Well what does that have anything to do with anything?!”

Ai turned on her heel, marching back to Yui who had stood up from the anxiety coursing through her body, brought about by the question.

“Miss Yui, it has everything to do with everything~”

“What?” she asked, her body coming to a halt. “What…do you mean?”

“I mean that you came here tonight, you’re both very close to one another, yet aren’t in a romantic relationship.” She raised her head while tapping her chin with a finger. “Come to think of it, you probably haven’t even done anything…intimate, with each other yet. Even though by the look on your face I can tell you want to~”

“Where are you going with this, Ai!?” Yui’s blush had returned, a mix of anger, embarrassment, and admittance.

“So, in the same way you were kind enough to gift me a ribbon through Yuuko, I want you to let him go on a date with me.”

It was as if someone had dropped a boulder into the room, directly onto Yuuko and Yui. They're faces were a mixture of confusion, bewilderment, disbelief, and for Yui—

“What did you say?”

—violent indignation.

Ai held up a single finger by her head. “One week.” she said, tilting her gaze towards the girl.

“I’ll go on dates with Yuuko for one week. In that time, if he doesn't feel the same way I do towards him, I’ll give up on him, return the ribbon, and never speak to him again.”

Yui’s eyes narrowed at the audacity of the request the girl was asking.

“Ai, I can’t do that, that’s—”

Ai held a finger to the lips of the boy behind her, not having removed her gaze from Yui for even a moment.

“But if it turns out we do have the connection I think we do, if we really are compatible, then I’ll be his girlfriend—”

Yuuko could physically feel the emotions resonating from Yui at hearing Ai mention the word “girlfriend”.

“—and if he comes to feel something towards me, you’ll accept it by turning in your ribbon.”

Ai held out her hand.

“What do you say, Miss Yui~?”