Kicking Hearts: The Blossoming of Hanazaki Blaze

Chapter 5: Neighbours

An hour later, Uchuu, Rubi, and Emiko slowly started to wake up one by one. First, it was Rubi who slowly sat up, yawned, and stretched while Emiko opened her eyes to the sight of Momo's chest and smirked. "Always liked that view," Emiko said as she slightly sat up and bonked her face into Momo's chest, which looked down and blushed with annoyed and playful expressions. "Emiko... Stop being adorable and a pervert." Momo said, her face blushing more and steam coming out of her ears. Emiko giggled, then she slowly sat up and leaned her back to Momo, leaned against her, and rested her head on Momo's shoulder. At the same time, Naiomi lay next to Rubi and snuggled up to her. Uchuu opened her eyes to see a napping Sakura leaning her back against the wall. Uchuu smiled, then slowly sat up and cupped Sakura's cheek. "Wakey, wakey, Sakura." Uchuu giggled as she smiled softly, and Sakura slowly opened her eyes to see an angel in her sight and blushed. "Oh!... Uchuu...." Sakura softly started, then leaned forward a little, getting off the wall. "Hope you slept well, Sleeping Beauty," Sakura said teasingly, causing Uchuu to giggle and blush. "Oh, stop you," Uchuu replied, then she hurried across, giving Sakura some space. The others were watching them and had teasing smirks while Sora had a big smile, her eyes halfway shut, and her nose bleeding from thinking about Uchuu and Sakura being together. Emiko slowly got off Momo and then stood up and stretched. "Okay, girls, today's club event is a success. Tomorrow, we will do some drills and training, but we also need some more members," Emiko said as everyone looked up at her and smiled except for Sora, who was still daydreaming about Uchuu and Sakura. Then Momo spoke up, "And I'll be putting us in our positions, and Emiko and I will be watching you all to see who will be fit for the role of Captain; my Emiko is already our team manager." Momo explained as the group nodded and smiled, but Sora was still daydreaming. "Please remember to clean up before you leave," Emiko said as she and Momo went over to a desk and picked up the paperwork they needed for tomorrow while Rubi picked up her daydreaming cousin and carried her bridal style. Then she sighed, "Oh, for goodness sake, she's having those annoying shipping dreams of hers." Rubi said she carried Sora away while Naiomi laughed and followed them out, leaving Sakura and Uchuu with some of the cleanups. "Well... At least we don't have to clean up too much." Uchuu said with a smile as she got up and went to the futons. Then she kneeled, cleaned up the futons, and rolled them up while Sakura couldn't help but admire Uchuu's happy personality and kindness. Sakura snapped out of her trance, got up, and then went over to help Uchuu put the futons away.

A minute later, once the futons had returned to their storage place, Sakura and Uchuu left the storage room, closed the door, and then were about to leave the Tea House with their bags until Ume showed up with a hand full of new paperwork for Emiko and Momo to fill, as Sakura and Uchuu said how Ume was struggling. "Oh!... Ume, let us help you with that." Uchuu said as she went over to Ume, took half of the paperwork, and took it over to Emiko's work desk, leaving Ume puzzled. Her gaze follows Uchuu, who is still not sure about her. Then Sakura approached Ume, "I'll help you too. You look like you have too much to do." Sakura said as she took the other half and went to Emiko's desk. "Well... Thank you very much, you two. I would have struggled if you two weren't here." Ume said as she sat down, and then she took a bottle of water out of her bag and took some sips. Uchuu came over, took a napkin from her bag, and gently wiped the sweat off Ume's forehead. This startled her a little, and she looked at Uchuu with slightly wide eyes, saw how close Uchuu was, and got a better look at her face. Ume took the bottle away from her lips and smiled slightly at Uchuu. "Thank you, Uchuu, I needed that," Ume said as Uchuu smiled back and nodded. Then, Uchuu left her napkin with Ume, and Sakura came up beside Uchuu and placed her arm around Uchuu's shoulders. "You take it easy, Pres. We'll see you tomorrow," Sakura smiled as Ume nodded. Then Sakura and Uchuu left the Tea House, and Ume's gaze followed them. She muttered to herself, "What is with that girl I don't understand yet?." Ume sat there for a few minutes, stood up again, and looked at Uchuu's napkin. She thought about something, then placed the napkin in her pocket and left to head home for the day. Sakura and Uchuu had their arms locked, and Sakura was walking Uchuu home after an eventful day. "Honestly, Sakura, I'm fine. You don't have to walk me home." Uchuu said and giggled, but Sakura showed determination and giggling. "Oh hush, Uchuu. I'm walking you home, and that's final." Sakura said in a playful tone that Uchuu found cute as she felt a bit naughty and leaned her head on Sakura's shoulder. "Whatever you say 'babe'," Uchuu said in her playful tone, causing Sakura to blush like the Planet Mars. "Oh, hush you," Sakura said in a playful and defensive tone as she playfully pushed Uchuu, knowing Uchuu would cling to her arm tightly. As Uchuu tightened her grip, she laughed for a few seconds and looked at Sakura with a smile and half-lids. Sakura smiled, but she suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach. She pushed them aside for now and continued to take Uchuu home. "Are you going to point the way to your home?." Sakura asked as Uchuu looked up at Sakura from her shoulder and nodded.