Can I Be Fleeting Too?

Chapter 4 - *Fangirls In Fleeting*

Tomoe sat patiently in the medical room. Her heartbeat was at a regular pace, and she felt cooler. The hug from Himari still lingered on her skin though.

"I never knew having a crush on someone felt so... weird..." Tomoe said softly under her breath.

A nurse walked into the room, a gentle look on her face.

"Hello. Are you feeling okay?" The nurse smiled.

Tomoe sighed. "A bit odd, but mostly okay."

The nurse gave Tomoe a small check-up, before decieding that Tomoe was alright.

"Sorry for your time!" Tomoe waved as she burst through the doors.

She managed to miss most of class, so Tsugumi had to help her catch up.

"Sorry for this, Tsugu." Tomoe grinned sheepishly.

"Not at all! Glad you're feeling better!" Tsugumi beamed.

"Ehehe... Thanks Tsugu. We're still on for practice this evening aren't we?"

"Of course!" Tsugu smiled.

Thanks to Tsugumi, Tomoe finished class with a sense of ease. Moca, Tomoe, Tsugumi and Himari met Ran outside of school, and the five of them walked to CiRCLE.

"Tomoe!" Himari ran up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're okay!"

Tomoe tried to calm herself down. "Ehehe, thank you Himari."

Himari grinned. "No problem!"

Tomoe's heart was pounding like her bass drum. The amount she wanted to be with Himari was unbelievable. Her sweet smile, her enthusiasm, her good natured personality... everything about her, Tomoe adored.

"Ooooh~! Ran, can we go to Yamabuki Bakery please~?" Moca pleaded.

"Why are you asking me?" A red tint covered Ran's cheeks.

"Why not~? Now, can we go~?" Moca smirked.

Ran sighed. "Yes, I suppose so. As long as you have money?"

"Fufufu...~ I have point cards!" Moca held up a stash of point cards she'd collected over the month. "Now~ Let's go~! I think I'll have a melon bun today~"

The members of Afterglow walked in to Yamabuki Bakery. Saaya greeted them. "Hi! How may we help you today?"

Moca thought deeply. "I'll go with... a melon bun... a red bean bun... and... a... chocolate cornet~"

A random voice squealed. "NOT THE CHOCOLATE CORNET!"

Rimi popped up from behind the counter.

"You can have all but the cornet. I've saved that for Rimi-Rin." Saaya passed it to Rimi, who ate it gratefully.

"Oh, Rimi! When are we going to that Kaoru concert?" Himari asked.

"Uhm... I thought it was tomorrow night..." Rimi checked her calendar. "Yeah, tomorrow at 8pm."

"Ooooh, I can't believe we get to see Kaoru!" Himari giggled.

"I know right?!" Rimi shouted.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeee!" The two squealed in unison. "So fleeting!"

Saaya laughed. "What is even meant by the word fleeting?"

"Believe me, I don't understand it either." Tomoe chuckled.

Rimi looked at the both of them in shock. "It's Kaoru's trademark! I think it means, like, cool, or... something..."

Right... Tomoe thought. Cool... fast... and... having no clue what the words you say mean. Guess I need to find a dictionary!

"I thought it would have meant something more meaningful really." Saaya admitted. "Like, Kaoru's good at taking care of others, so could 'fleeting' be used for 'don't worry, my kittens, I'll help you' or something like that."

"My... kittens?" Ran quieried. "What a weird thing to call someone."

"Oi!" Himari yelled. "It's Kaoru's trademark!"

"Uhuh!" Rimi agreed.

"It's just so..." Himari began.

"Fleeting?" Tomoe guessed.

"Y-yeah..." Himari replied.

The other members of Afterglow and Saaya giggled.

"Anyway, seeing as Moca has her bread now, shall we go?" Tsugumi was consious of the noise they were causing in the shop.

"Good idea. We're making lots of noise." Tomoe chuckled.

"Bye Saaya, bye Rimi!" The members of Afterglow chanted in unison as they walked out of the shop.

Himari sighed. "You guys can say that all together, but whenever I say 'Hey, hey, hoh!' nobody replies!"

The other four members laughed.

They finally got to CiRCLE and set their food down in the room.

"Aaah! I can't wait for that Kaoru concert tomorrow! It's going to be so 'fleeting!'" Himari squealed.

"I'm sure it will be." Tsugumi smiled warmly. "Now, I'm going to call for the extra instruments. Any requests?"

"A synthesizer~." Moca suggested.

"Okay. Anything else?"

The rest of the room stayed silent.

"Okay! I'm going to get our things! Be right back!"

Tomoe noticed Ran fidgeting a bit, a blush surrounding her cheeks.

She walked up to her. "Ran, are you alright?"

Ran gasped, a bit taken aback. "Y-yeah, fine. Wow, Tomoe you scared me!"

"Sorry for that!" Tomoe apologised. "What's up?"

Ran sighed. There was no way Tomoe would leave without an explanation.

"Well... tomorrow... I want to ask Moca... to eat ramen with me..." Ran blushed deeper.

Tomoe smiled. "I'm sure she'll say yes! What's stopping you?"

"If she says no..." Ran mumbled.

Tomoe gave Ran a comforting hug, to which she didn't resist.

Moca gasped, and sneakily made her way to them.

She lightly grabbed Ran's shoulders from behind. "O~i~. No touching my Ran~. She's reserved for me~"

Ran blushed. "M-Moca..."

Tomoe giggled. "Well, I'll leave you two alone for a bit." She winked at Ran, before moving to the other side of the room, where Himari was gorging on chocolates.

"Aha! What happened to that diet?" Tomoe asked jokingly.

"Nngh, Tomoe, it's just too hard!" Himari nibbled on a Pocky stick.

"You have a nice figure anyway, you don't need to diet!" Tomoe beamed.

Himari gasped. "You... really think that?"

"Of course! I never say anything I don't mean!"

"Awe, thank you Tomoe! You're such a great friend to me!" Himari reached over and gave Tomoe a hug.

Friend... no... I'm trying to flirt with you, dammit! Tomoe thought.

Himari pulled out another Pocky stick from her pack. "I just love these! Mm! In the romance novels I've read, couples play the 'Pocky Game' together, and awe it's just so romantic! I want to play it with someone someday!"

A lightbulb turned on in Tomoe's head.

The "Pocky Game", eh?

She knew it was risky, but what was love without the risk?

"Himari...?"

"Yes, Tomoe?" Himari answered.

"How would you like to play the 'Pocky Game' with me?"