Chapter Text
They heard her before they saw her.
They felt her before they heard her.
Seminar's Treasurer was on the warpath. Again.
Millennium's halls were filled with the sound of students scrambling and ducking into their club rooms for safety, hoping to avoid the clomping footsteps and deathly glare of Hayase Yuuka as she passed by. The no-nonsense Student Council member was difficult to get along with on a good day; namely, on days when her peers weren't causing chaos with their crazy ideas, racking up millions of yen in wanton property damage, or (worst of all) going over their allocated budgets for the semester. And judging by the fire burning in Yuuka's sapphire-blue eyes, and how her black-and-blue halo pulsed dangerously over her head, everyone in Kivotos knew that this was not a good day.
As Yuuka passed them by, various club members dove for cover. Kotori yelped and pulled Hibiki into a nearby classroom, concealing themselves and the multi-barreled confetti launcher they'd built on a whim with Engineering Department resources. Maki squeaked and hastily threw herself against the wall to cover her current mural, pulling away to find that she'd accidentally painted yet another jacket. Even Neru, the irritable and intimidating President of C&C, felt a twinge of something resembling fear as she met the Treasurer's gaze. (Or maybe it was annoyance that flared up. Not even Neru was sure.)
One thing was for certain - not even the famous Sensei of Schale would be able to save whatever poor, unfortunate club Yuuka had in her sights today.
And on this particular day, her target was a rather infamous game-loving club…
"She's coming! She's coming! Oh man oh man we're dead we're dead oh man oh man we're dead we're dead…"
"Breathe in, breathe out…breathe in…breathe out…why isn't it working?!"
"So this is the feeling of dread before the final boss…I do not think I like it."
Hanaoka Yuzu looked at her panicking club members with a barely-steadied breathing pattern and white-knuckled fists. "C-calm down, everyone. T-there's nothing to be afraid of, right?"
Momoi threw her hands up in the air, inadvertently knocking over her hyperventilating twin sister in the process. "Nothing to be afraid of? Nothing to be afraid of?! Did you even hear what Veritas said in their warning message? They said that the one student with control over the entire freaking budget is on her way here, and she is pissed! If Yuuka's paying us a personal visit, that can only mean one thing - she's gonna slash the funding for our club, and then we'll never be able to finish Tales Saga Chronicles 3! We're done for!"
"B-but we've got a pretty good d-d-demo already…" countered Yuzu with as much confidence as she could muster. "M-m-maybe we can upload that, and launch a StartKicker to help fund the rest of it…?"
"Who do you think you are, Cory Fox?! You can't just rely on the goodwill of strangers these days! Look at what's happening with SwapHive!"
"…okay, yeah, that's a good point."
Opposite of the hysterical blond twins, Aris's eyes brightened - literally, the LEDs in her irises grew at least a few shades of blue brighter. "I am sensing vibrations through the floor equivalent to a 7.8 Magnitude earthquake. Yuuka is on her way here. ETA: twenty seconds."
Momoi let out a word that she'd heard online without completely understanding it. "We're dead! We're actually dead! We gotta get outta here! We gotta hide!"
Yuzu's eyes widened. "H-hide? Won't that just make things worse? Won't that just make her m-madder?"
"Not if she doesn't find us!" Midori picked herself up off the floor and stared at their synthetic club-mate. "Aris! Stealth mission time!"
"Affirmative! Securing assets! Calculating optimal exit path! Executing!"
The shy little president's jaw hit the floor as she watched Aris scoop up Momoi and Midori, squat low to the ground, then launch herself out the nearest window.
CRAAAASH!
Rather than be concerned about her club-mates (or worry about the fact that they just dove through a shower of glass shards and landed in a thorny bush outside the club room) Yuzu was more incensed that they hadn't grabbed her too.
"H-hey!" she squeaked. "What about me?!"
"Sorry boss! Aris only has two arms!"
"You'll have to hide on your own!"
"We will carry on in your name, Party Leader Yuzu. Your sacrifice for the greater good will not be in vain."
Clomp clomp clomp clomp clomp clomp clomp…
With the wrathful Treasurer closing in, Yuzu did the first thing that came to mind.
She darted for the cabinet, tucked herself between the old coats, and closed herself off to the rest of the world.
WHAM.
The door to the Game Development Department nearly flew off its hinges as Yuuka finally entered, and for a moment the air was filled with the sound of heaving panting and snarling. Yuzu dared to peer through the slits in the cabinet door, doing her very best not to whimper in fear as she waited out the storm. She watched the violet-haired Treasurer double over to catch her breath for a moment, then right herself to finally notice an empty club room, a FlyStation happily blinking in standby mode, and a rather conspicuously shattered pane of glass.
"Ugh…seriously?" Yuuka groaned. "Another broken window? That's the fifth one this week…hell, that's the third one today. Great, now I gotta add that to the expense forms…probably gonna have to take it out of the STEM budget again…or front the cost myself…no wait, I already did that for the two this morning…snff…"
With an exasperated sigh and a small sniffle Yuuka walked over to the cabinet, flopped down onto Momoi's favorite pink bean bag chair, and buried her face into her hands.
Whatever fear Yuzu felt at the fearsome Seminar member being literally inches away gave way to curiosity, then concern as she heard a few muffled sobs ring out. She touched her own face to confirm that she wasn't the one crying, which left just one conclusion plain to see: as unbelievable as it was, Hayase Yuuka was actually silently breaking down in what she thought was an unoccupied club room. A pang of guilt shot through her heart at the sight. Had the antics of the Game Development Department moments earlier pushed her over the edge like this? Was she intruding on Yuuka's privacy by hiding? And how often did Millennium's Treasurer have moments like these, where she silently wept when she thought no one else was looking?
As if she was thrust into the leading role of a visual novel, Yuzu had two options in front of her: come out of her cabinet to comfort the crying Yuuka, or stay hidden and allow her to continue weeping.
Both seemed equally terrifying.
Fortunately, the moment didn't last long enough for her to make an inkling of a choice. Yuuka sniffled one more time and wiped her face on her sleeve, drying her eyes and doing her best to make it look like she hadn't cried at all. Then she looked around one more time, as if she was expecting any hidden club members to pop out. What she found instead was a homemade game chip laying on the floor, one that had a plastic plate on the back with writing done in permanent marker.
TSC3.
Yuzu's heart jumped into her throat. Oh! That's the Tales Saga Chronicles 3 Demo! It must have gotten knocked off the shelf in Aris's, uh…escape…
A surge of panic shot through her as Yuuka picked it up, only to be quelled by rational thoughts. Okay…if she confiscates it or demands it as a deliverable, we can let her have it. We have backups, after all. This is fine. This is okay. Everything's going to be okay, as long as she doesn't actually play it.
Naturally, Yuuka grabbed a nearby FlyStation and popped in the game chip to do just that.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO-!
The next thirty minutes were the most terrifying in Yuzu's life - even more terrifying than the time she and her club had gone to war with C&C, or when they'd stormed an artificial city. Electronic music filtered softly through the portable console's speakers, along with crunchy sound effects and heavily-compressed "dialogue" lines that were actually just Momoi's voice pitch-shifted and sped up to sound like gibbering NPCs. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blind herself to the embarrassment that was sure to come, but she couldn't filter out the sound of clicking buttons or the occasional thoughtful hum from Yuuka.
And then…laughter?
Wait.
Yuzu dared to open one eye and press her face against the cabinet door, peering through the slits to see the Treasurer smiling and laughing as she nestled deeper into the bean-bag chair. Her jacket had shifted to hang down by her shoulders and her tie was misaligned, but she didn't look like she minded too much. And the smile that spread across Yuuka's face, the way it was framed by loose violet curls, and how well it paired with the gleaming sapphires that stared joyfully at the screen in her hands…it made all the fear and panic the shy President felt earlier melt away, and filled her heart with warmth for the rest of the demo's playtime.
I've never seen Yuuka like this before, pondered Yuzu with a budding smile. She looks so…happy. So…cute…
Her face instantly felt hot. Cute? Cute?! Had her brain really used the words "Yuuka" and "cute" in the same sentence? Why? Why was that the first place her mind had gone? Even if it was true…especially if it was true…it didn't make any sense. She couldn't understand why her heart was still pounding, even though she now knew she had no reason to be afraid.
Of course, the moment she thought that, the other shoe dropped.
The coat she was leaning against suddenly snapped off its hanger, making her lose her balance and topple off the shelf she'd perched on. Given that she was fully enclosed within a cabinet, she could only fall forward. Given that the door in front of her had a smooth and loose hinge, it did nothing to stop her sudden fall. And given how the person she hid from was splayed out literally inches away, there was only one thing to stop Yuzu's swift and humiliating descent.
Yuuka's lap.
THUMP!
"Eep!" went the redhead.
"E-eh?!" went the Treasurer.
If Yuzu's face felt hot before, then landing in Yuuka's lap made it burn. She let out a nervous squeak and curled herself tighter into a ball, which had the unintended side effect of bringing more of herself to rest on the Treasurer's soft, warm thighs. So paralyzed by fear was she that she made no effort to roll away, or right herself, or even do anything except look up at the person currently serving as a cushion for her. Yuuka herself seemed halfway between enraged and flustered, her face turning as red and hot as a pepper in a microwave - which was an apt metaphor, as she seemed like she was about to burst at any moment.
This is so awkward! Yuzu wailed. So embarrassing! Say something, Yuzu! Anything! Literally anything!
"Y-you're…" Her throat suddenly felt like it was full of cotton balls. "You're…really pretty…"
Wait no anything but that AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGH!
Whatever biting retort Yuuka had seemed to die before it could leave her lips, as she turned an even darker shade of red and fell silent yet again. Yuzu squirmed and died at least fifty times, only to respawn in exactly the same compromising spot each time. Neither girl seemed particularly comfortable with the current situation…but neither of them made any attempt to move, either.
"What…um…uh…" Yuuka looked down at her unexpected cuddle buddy and blinked slowly. "How long were you, um…in there?"
Yuzu froze once more. Lying didn't feel right. Telling the truth felt even worse. Even thinking of what to say was difficult. Why was it so difficult?
"S-since before you got here?" she squeaked nervously. "U-um…I like to hide in the cabinet when things get overwhelming…o-or when people drop by unexpectedly. It h-helps with my anxiety…"
Yuuka looked from the girl, to the cabinet, then back again. "…oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. I just came by to deliver an invoice for your club activities, but I didn't see anyone here…"
She swallowed hard. "O-oh, yeah. Momoi and Midori and Aris are all, uh…"
Hiding? On the run? Halfway across Kivotos by now?
"…out on club business right now, so it was just me in here."
It wasn't untrue.
The Treasurer turned her stare at the shattered pane of glass along the back wall, next to the TV. "…they jumped out the window to hide from me, didn't they?"
Ouch.
"Y-yeah…sorry…"
"Not your fault." Yuuka shook her head as she looked down at the redhead, who was still awkwardly curled up in her lap. "I…wasn't in the best mood on my way here…sorry about that…"
"N-no! It's okay!" Silver-blue eyes blinked frantically. "Um…are…are you f-f-feeling better now?"
Now it was Yuuka's turn to bite her lower lip, turning a few shades of red darker. "I…I think so…although…my legs are starting to fall asleep…"
"O-oh! Sorry! I didn't realize I was still - here, I'll let you up!"
Yuzu tucked herself into an even tighter ball and pitched herself backwards, rolling along Yuuka's legs with all the grace and agility of a bowling ball going down a rocky hill. She awkwardly rose up to her full height (which wasn't very tall at all) and dusted off her usual white jacket, then shyly slipped her hands into pockets and hugged herself with a shiver. The Game Development Department room suddenly felt so much colder…did Momoi turn up the air conditioning earlier again? Or did she miss being in Yuuka's lap already?
She pushed that last thought out of her mind. Nope! Nope! Nopenopenope!
Nevertheless, she couldn't keep her eyes off Yuuka as she pulled herself out of the bean bag chair, stretching her long legs and rolling the shoulders under her own jacket. After fluffing out her violet hair and straightening her uniform's tie she wordlessly handed over a stack of papers, turned on her heel, and marched back towards the doorway. It didn't escape Yuzu's notice that her steps were lighter…or that her crimson face hadn't returned to its usual shade of tan, even though the little redhead was no longer occupying the same space as her.
As Yuuka was almost out the door, Yuzu realized she'd forgotten to ask something very important.
"Wait!"
The sudden volume of her own voice surprised her, like a viral video of a panda cub being startled by its own sneeze. Yuuka turned and faced Yuzu once more, clearly just as taken aback as she was. Casting one glance at the FlyStation, which displayed the placeholder end screen for their game demo, she looked back at the Treasurer and summoned all her courage for one more question.
"S-so, um…did you enjoy the g-game?"
Yuuka blinked once. Twice. Three times. And then…she did something that made Yuzu's heart skip several beats all at once, for reasons she couldn't understand.
She smiled.
"Yes…I suppose I did," intoned Seminar's fearsome Treasurer in a soft voice. "Thank you, Yuzu. Keep up the good work."
Haaaaaaahhh?!
Her face went all hot and melty all over again, and she did her best to hide in the collar of her coat. It didn't work.
"Th-thank you! Um…it was nice to see you, Yuuka! C-come back anytime!"
After giving an affirming nod - and failing to hide her own growing blush - Yuuka finally turned and exited the club room.
A head full of long black synthetic fibers peered through the shattered window a moment later, joined by two pairs of cat-eared headphones and dirty-blond bob cuts.
"I detect that Party Leader Yuzu's HP is in the green…" mused Aris, "yet her heart rate is still elevated beyond normal resting ranges. Perhaps she has been inflicted with the Fear debuff?"
Momoi gasped, then grinned. "Yuzu, that was incredible! You actually tamed the beast!"
"That was so cuuuute!" Midori squealed. 'I'm definitely gonna draw that later!"
Yuzu's body spontaneously decided that she'd endured enough stress for one day, and promptly shut down for emergency repairs.
FLOMPH.
"Oh dear! She fainted! Does anyone have a Phoenix Tuft?"
"Hey! That's my bean bag chair! Go pass out in yours!"
"C'mon, sis…let her rest…"
As the depths of sleep welcomed her like an old friend, Yuzu's mind processed one final thought.
This bean bag chair smells like Yuuka.
And then she was out like a light.