Chapter Text
After school hours had recently become Agott’s favourite part of the day. The gilded sunlight bathed the pavement beneath her feet, and the slow rhythm of the classical music thrummed through the cables of her one-year-old earphones. It felt pleasant when an occasional gust of wind caressed her skin, or when the rustle of her uniform brought comfort rather than stuffiness.
Born into the Arkrome family, moments of peace like these were never a given. Agott was already aware that from the moment her shoes touched the yard of her family’s estate, she would have to raise her defenses once more. And just like a well-oiled machine, she would slip into the role of the perfect daughter with impeccable manners and faultless demeanour.
And that was precisely why Agott noticed the disruption to her moments of solitude more quickly than most would. Though it did feel sort of irritating to admit that she could only guess why after Coco had helped her notice.
The first time Agott was able to discern the lingering stares had been a day prior, during her walk home from school.
On ordinary days, Agott would walk with the girls from the classroom hallways to the gate, where they would part ways with Tetia—whose family’s car would usually parked neatly in front of the schoolyard. She would then continue on with Coco and Richeh until they, too, had to separate at the bus station.
But yesterday, Agott had accidentally forgotten the notebook she was meant to lend Richeh. Unwilling to be subjected to Richeh’s temper—having already earned herself an Angricheh point just days prior—for an entire week, she decided to head back to the bus station, silently praying to the silver stars above that the bus hadn’t yet arrived and swept the girls home.
Luck was on her side; Coco noticed her almost immediately once she rounded the corner, and the book-lending problem had been solved without incident. Well— save for one rather glaring problem, apparently.
“Hey, Agott,” Coco piped up when Agott was busy zipping her bag closed. When Agott responded with a quiet hum, Coco continued, “...are you dating someone right now?”
Agott coughed violently the moment the question reached her ears, her composure crumbling in an instant. Richeh, bless her soul, came to her rescue by thumping her back a few times.
“W-where did that even come from?” Agott demanded, still catching her breath, unable to fathom what sort of impression she had been giving off for Coco—of all people—to suddenly question about her dating life.
But Coco didn’t seem to realize the extent of the damage her question had inflicted on Agott’s mental state. Instead, she kept her gaze straight toward the roadside from which Agott had come. “That person… has been standing there ever since you came back,” she gestured mildly with her head towards the person standing still several feet away from them, “You two walked here together, you know?”
A chill suddenly ran down Agott’s spine. She had noticed a faint unease for her part earlier, of course, but she had dismissed it—written it off as the familiar dread of returning home, and of stepping back into the life she had worked hard to get accustomed to.
So this was the source of her discomfort.
Strangely enough, relief settled over her, rather cool and fleeting. At the very least, it meant the unease she felt earlier wasn’t born from something deeper—something she had tried so hard to bury. The past remained where it belonged.
And compared to that, some suspicious stranger lingering nearby was hardly worth fearing.
Agott exhaled slowly, steadying herself. She was not worried, after all, she had been trained well enough to take care of herself if the situation ever demanded it.
Glancing back at Coco, who now wore a complicated expression, Agott merely shrugged and said in reply, “No, that person is not my partner.” Agott cast her a familiar glare—sharp, but laced with amusement rather than hostility—and gave her shoulder a light push, “Besides, do you really think ‘dating’ is something we can afford as 11th graders?”
Coco’s expression shifted immediately, brightening into something far more cheerful, and Agott found herself smiling along with her. “You’re right. We don’t even have the time to—”
“But still,” Richeh interjected, her gaze drifting toward the figure in question, “Who is that person over there, then? Is he following you around, Agott?”
Now that the matter had been brought into the open, Agott considered the question more carefully. Her eyes flickered briefly toward the man, standing still just far enough to pass off as a random pedestrian, though she made sure not to linger long enough to draw attention.
“I don’t know for certain,” she admitted after a pause. “He might be someone sent by my mother to keep an eye on me during my school hours.”
The moment the words left her lips, Coco’s expression tightened with deep concern. Her brows furrowed, and she reached out to clasp Agott’s hand closer. The warmth of it was immediate, and it somehow helped Agott to ground herself.
“If that’s the case, then I am worried about you,” Coco said, distress evident in her tone of voice. “Is there anything we could do to help?”
For a brief moment, Agott hesitated. The offer lingered between them, fragile and tethering into something Agott isn’t ready to unpack. Help was not something she was used to accepting—at the very least, not in matters like these.
However, before Agott could form a response, the low rumble of an approaching engine cut through the air. The bus pulled up beside them, its doors sliding open with a hiss. The driver cast them a knowing look, silently urging them to hurry along.
Agott gently slipped her hand away from Coco’s grasp; the absence of warmth somehow gave her the urge to frown. Still, she offered a faint smile, “Don’t worry about me,” she said lightly. “We can always talk about it tomorrow.”
Coco clearly wasn’t satisfied with her answer, judging by her expression. But the loud honk piercing through the silence cut her off before she could meddle further. Richeh was the first one to excuse herself, before Coco followed suit while throwing concerned glances back at Agott.
Why was Coco so worried for Agott, anyway? She could take care of herself just fine, thank you.
After bidding the girls goodbye, Agott made her merry way home while carefully maintaining a facade of unawareness. She kept her pace steady, her footsteps measured against the pavement.
She also resisted the urge to look back. After all, it would have been the clearest sign that she knew she was being followed and that would only serve to put her in danger. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, as though adjusting her earphones, using the small motion to catch a glimpse of the street behind her through the reflection of a nearby window.
The man was still there, so Coco had been right.
And yet, Agott’s expression did not change.
If this is really a game that her mother wanted her to play, she would play her part perfectly.
“WHAT?!” Tetia whisper-shouted, leaning almost her entire body toward Agott, her fluffy pink hair brushing the other girl’s cheek in the process. “Are you saying that Agott is being stalked by a suspicious man?”
The girl in question only sighed in response, her fingers tapping lightly against the desk. She actually had no intention of letting this matter spiral out of control. After all, she had made it home in pristine condition yesterday. That in itself, at the very least, was enough proof for her to believe she would be just fine as long as she avoided dark, deserted alleyways and kept to well-lit streets.
A stalker wouldn’t dare to try anything in broad daylight, not with potential witnesses around catching him in the act, would he?
“It’s probably just another one of my mother’s usual stunts,” Agott said, leaning back in her chair as her gaze drifted toward the open window. From outside, the distant shouts and laughter of students playing soccer spilled into the classroom. “You know how strict she could get, Tetia.”
Appeased, Tetia pulled herself back and nodded repeatedly as if the explanation fit neatly into place. “Well, you’re not exactly wrong about that.”
Agott allowed her shoulders to loosen slightly, relieved that Tetia had accepted the answer so easily. It was simpler this way—easier to pass it off as something mundane and not something to stress over.
But not everyone in the room seemed to share the same understanding.
Coco’s brows knit together, concern evident in her expression as she leaned forward. “Wait… I’m afraid I don’t follow,” she said carefully. “What kind of things has your mother done in the past that could justify something like this?”
For a moment, Agott stilled into place.
Richeh blinked, “Well, for once, she had tried to—”
Just then, the bell rang, and students began to filter into the classroom, their loud chatters drowning out Richeh’s voice.
That was close. Agott wasn’t ready to talk about that just yet. But the question wasn’t totally uncalled for, either. Coco had only recently joined them, after all, being a transfer student since the start of the last semester. It was a given that she wasn’t privy to the much-younger-Agott’s stories.
Tetia shot Agott an apologetic look before pulling Richeh up by the arm, stepping away to head back to their respective classes. “We will talk more on the second break! Don’t worry, Tetia will not let this matter go!”
“Please, let this matter go…” Agott muttered under her breath, sighing deeply. Still, she gave them a small wave as they left and stopped when their sea-foam colored uniform rounded the hallway corner. But then, she realized that Coco hadn’t moved at all.
She was still there, staring at Agott as if waiting for an answer.
Her hands were clasped together tightly, a familiar gesture that stirred something in Agott’s chest. It reminded her of the days before they had grown close; Coco would fidget like this whenever she was concerned about something. Back then, too, Coco had been worrying about situations concerning Agott… though in a different way, she supposed.
“Go back to your seat, Coco,” Agott said softly, reaching out to place her hand over Coco’s clasped ones.
The movement stilled instantly. Then, as if drawn by instinct, Coco’s hand shifted, wrapping around Agott’s instead.
A flush that had nothing to do with the humid classroom air crept up Agott’s neck. She ignored it, focusing instead on the gentle pressure of Coco’s grip, on the steadiness it brought. She returned the gesture, giving her hands a small, reassuring squeeze.
Agott was no stranger to being the subject of someone else’s concern. For her part, befriending Tetia and Richeh had come with its own share of worries: Tetia with her family issues, Richeh with her former abusive private mentor. Even Mr. Qifrey—her art teacher—would occasionally find his way into her thoughts with his almost pathetically concerning lifestyle.
But Coco was different.
She was the most recent addition to her life and somehow the one who had come to matter the most.
She had come barrelling into Agott’s world without the slightest regard for decorum. And Agott was an Arkrome, for stars’ sake—a daughter of a distinguished family, raised with expectations as rigid as humanly possible with a long history behind her.
Yet Coco had slowly but surely carved out a place for herself in Agott’s heart. With her cheerful demeanor, bright smiles, easy laughter and that oddly unsettling hobby of hers to stare at Agott whenever she thought Agott wasn't paying attention.
But more than anything, it was this. The most impactful reason was Coco’s unfiltered, unwavering concern for Agott’s well-being. There was a gentleness to her, something sincere at its very core.
And Agott, unfortunately, was a weak, weak girl who desperately needed the warmth it brought.
“Yeah.. okay, sure.” Coco agreed with a subdued smile, moving to push herself up from her seat. The teacher would arrive at any moment now, so Agott made no move to stop her. There would be other chances to talk after class, she reasoned with herself.
And yet, Agott found her gaze lingering on Coco’s retreating figure for the rest of the period. By the time the bell rang again, her notebook remained entirely blank.
The second break arrived far sooner than Agott would have liked. The moment she stepped out of the classroom, intending to head for the archery club, the excited girls (read: Tetia and Coco. Agott was pretty sure Richeh was just dragged along) were already there—clearly unwilling to let the matter go.
Fridays were Agott’s responsibility when it came to preparing the club room, a routine she carried out each week. Like always, she had planned to sweep the floors and organize the bows and arrows ahead of time. Still, considering that the room would be empty at this hour, she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to let the girls tag along and spend their second break there.
“Fine, Tetia,” Agott relented, pressing a hand against the girl’s way-too-close-for-comfort face to a more reasonable distance while using her other hand to unlock the clubroom door. “We can talk about the situation here.”
But just to be safe, Agott pressed, “Whatever you do, just don’t disturb me while I am working, okay? I will join you guys after.”
Tetia responded with an enthusiastic double thumbs-up, echoed by Coco and Richeh. Together, the four of them then headed inside.
The wooden flooring greeted them with a chilly atmosphere—it felt almost like stepping into a traditional Japanese home, a striking contrast to the modern design of the school hallways outside.
The floor beneath them was made of smooth wooden planks, each step producing a faint, satisfying creak that only added to the room’s charm. Large windows stretched along one side, their frames carved from dark wood, letting in streams of golden sunlight. Dust motes drifted lazily in the air, illuminated like tiny specks of gold. Along the far wall rested neatly arranged racks of bows, each one carefully polished, but most dusty due to disuse. Everything was meticulously organized. Agott really liked it here.
With a purpose, Agott moved with practiced ease, her motions fluid and precise, as though guided by habit. Maybe it was, since this had become some sort of routine for her. She turned on the lamp, putting her bag on the cabinet closest to the door, then tied her hair back with the band Coco had gifted her, before reaching for a broom and beginning to work.
The girls settled off to the side, carefully unpacking their lunchboxes as they chatted about everything and nothing at all, mindful not to disturb the freshly cleaned floor.
For a while, the clubroom was filled with nothing but a gentle tranquillity.
By the time Agott finished her duty, she set the broom aside and scanned the result of her hard work. And when she was satisfied, she decided to take a break and made her way over to the girls. Their voices had lowered into hushed whispers, tinged with an intensity that piqued Agott’s curiosity, though she couldn’t quite make out the subject of their discussion.
Without a word, she took a seat beside Coco. Her fingers moved deftly to undo the band in her hair, letting the curly dark strands fall free as she pulled a small pack of tissues from her pocket to wipe off the thin sheen of sweat clinging to her skin from the work she had just finished.
And then, beside her, Coco suddenly flushed a deep, vivid red while shaking her head vehemently from side to side. “N-no! I couldn’t possibly do that!”
Agott blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the sudden outburst. “What are you girls talking about?”
Coco, seemingly unaware that Agott had taken a seat beside her, turned around—and promptly flushed an even deeper shade of red the moment their eyes met. The colour spread so quickly across her face that, for a brief second, Agott found herself genuinely concerned the girl might overheat.
Unconsciously, she reached out a hand to check her own face. Had she smudged something on her face for Coco to react that way?
“Tetia,” Richeh muttered slowly, though there was little real reprimand in her voice.
But Tetia, bless her soul, simply grinned and decided to drop the bomb that might actually change the trajectory of Agott’s blissful teenage life. “I think you and Coco should date each other!”
Silence fell over the room.
Agott’s hand stilled against her own face. For several seconds, her mind went completely blank, as if the words coming out from Tetia’s mouth refused to settle into anything coherent.
“…What?”
It came out softer than Agott intended. Could you blame her? She truly was shocked beyond belief with the admission.
Coco, on the other hand, looked as though she might combust on the spot. “T-Tetia!” she stammered, her hands flying up as if to physically block the idea from taking shape. “You can’t just say something like that out of nowhere!”
Agott slowly narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “…And what exactly brought that on?” she asked, her tone not quite as steady as she would have liked.
“You see, according to TetiCalculation, the odds of the stalker being one of Agott’s fanboys are way higher than the probability of him being one of your mother’s men!” Tetia explained proudly, her index finger wiggling in the air as if to emphasize her confidence.
“And why is that?” Agott questioned, doubtful. She couldn’t believe she was actually entertaining this. Maybe it was because she was still recovering from Tetia’s earlier suggestion.
“If it was one of your mother’s men,” Richeh’s voice piped up, “then he wouldn’t be standing out in the open like that.”
Agott’s attention shifted to her. Well, now that was a point she could agree to.
Richeh crossed her arms, “Someone sent by the Arkrome family wouldn’t make himself noticeable, no? Especially not enough for Coco to pick up on him from a distance.”
Tetia nodded vigorously beside her, as if Richeh’s statement had further validated her claim. “Exactly! Professional stalkers—uh, I mean, bodyguards! They don’t just stand out in the open like a lamp post!”
Richeh smiled softly at Tetia’s small slip-up, “More importantly,” she added, turning back to Agott, “Richeh had observed him carefully on the bus yesterday. I’m certain his build matches that of a high school boy.”
“Besides, wouldn’t Agott have noticed the stalker much sooner if he were actually someone skilled?” Tetia added, quickly finding yet another piece of evidence to support her case. “You know, with the Arkrome family’s famous perceptive senses?”
This was bad. Agott found herself starting to waver. Tetia wasn’t entirely wrong—if someone truly skilled were spying on her, she would have noticed almost immediately.
Tetia placed a hand on her hip, looking far too pleased with herself. “But in the case if that boy is looking at Agott with admiration, then of course Agott wouldn’t notice it at all—Tetia can vouch for that!”
Richeh nodded seriously at that, while Coco let out a soft, amused laugh at the remark.
“I still remember when she was being genuinely confused while being confessed to—”
“E-enough!” Agott hurriedly interjected, flush evident on both her cheeks, “Fine, if the stalker was indeed a fanboy of mine, that still doesn’t explain your earlier conclusion.” Her gaze slid toward Tetia, sharp and pointed. “What does any of this have to do with me and Coco dating?”
Tetia lit up instantly, as if she had been waiting to answer that exact question.
“Well!” she leaned forward with a grin. “If he’s a fanboy, then the best way to get rid of him is to make him lose interest in the girl she likes, right?”
Richeh sighed under her breath, already sensing where this was going. She quickly turned her attention to the brushbuddy charm attached to Coco’s bag.
“And what better way to do that,” Tetia continued, gesturing pointedly between the two girls sitting side by side, “than for Agott to already have a very obvious girlfriend?”
Coco choked, and Agott went very, very still.
Once she made a point, Tetia was basically a rolling ball unable to stop, “It’s a solid plan! Think about it, if he sees Agott has already been taken by someone else, especially by someone as cute as Coco, he’ll definitely give up!”
Coco made a strangled sound somewhere between a protest and a whine. “T-Tetia, stop! Don’t just, don’t say things like that so casually!”
Agott, however, had entered her ‘Agott.exe have stopped working’ state. Her mind, usually so composed, seemed to falter at the words circulating around her brain. Dating. Her. And Coco. The words circled back, uninvited, refusing to settle into something she could understand.
And suddenly, she became acutely aware of Coco’s presence beside her. The faint warmth, the way her sleeve brushed against her own, and the soft, uneven rhythm of her breathing. It felt hot, too hot.
Did Agott forget to open the window when she was busy cleaning a while ago?
Snap that, she stopped allowing herself to linger.
Agott exhaled slowly, closing her eyes for the briefest moment before opening them again, her usual sharpness returning in mere seconds.
“…That is the most absurd and nonsensical conclusion you’ve reached today,” she said at last, her tone not quite as cutting as it might have been on any other day. “You’re proposing that I enter a relationship—publicly, no less—for the sole purpose of deterring a stalker whose motives we have yet to confirm.”
Tetia hesitated for a second, “Well, if you say it like that… it sounds kind of extreme,” she admitted quietly.
Agott ran a hand through her hair in restrained frustration, only for her gaze to drift involuntarily toward Coco.
The girl was still flushed, her face tinted a deep red, her posture slightly drawn in on itself. There was no mistaking it— she was obviously feeling uncomfortable.
Something in Agott’s chest tightened.
“Besides,” she continued, looking away from Coco in guilt. “I would hate to put Coco in a position that makes her uncomfortable over something this trivial.”
With that, Agott rose from her seat, brushing off her skirt as she signalled toward the girls to follow her and prepare for the next class.
A brief silence followed.
“Oh–” Tetia blinked, the realization dawning on her all at once. Her expression shifted into one of genuine remorse as she shot Coco a deeply regretful look. “I am sorry, Coco— I didn’t think about it that far.”
Surprised by the sudden apology, Coco shook her head quickly, though the lingering redness on her cheeks betrayed her. “N-no, it’s okay, really…” she murmured, her voice small, hands fidgeting slightly in her lap.
“After all…” Coco added bashfully, lifting a finger to scratch her own cheek, “I wouldn’t mind being Agott’s girlfriend if it meant she could go home safely without any worries.”
She paused, just for a second, as if realizing some errors in the words she said.
“Actually, no!” she continued, suddenly straightening up, shaking her head with newfound determination, “I would feel glad to be her girlfriend! Please let me be—!”
Coco froze, again.
The words seemed to have caught up to her all at once.
Her eyes widened, and her face went from a faint pink to full, unmistakable crimson.
“I! W-wait—no, that’s not- I mean, it is, but I didn’t mean to say it like that!” she stammered, hands flying up in a frantic attempt to take her own words back. “I just meant—um—if it helps you! For safety! Not because I—uh—”
Coco buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know what I am saying anymore…”
Beside her, Tetia and Richeh’s jaws had practically dropped to the floor. And they slowly turned—almost in sync—to look at Agott.
Agott, who had been in the middle of adjusting her uniform, had completely stopped moving. Tetia and Richeh were convinced that she had stopped breathing, too.
“...”
The crimson that colored Coco’s face seemed to migrate to her face, spreading from the tips of her ears down to her neck, staining her composure in a way that felt almost unfamiliar. “Y-you—”
“... Agotta be kidding me.”
Just then, the door slid open far too loudly, the sharp sound cutting clean through the strange, lingering tension. The four heads turned towards the source of noise at once.
Standing in the doorway was one of Agott’s clubmates, someone she vaguely recognized but couldn’t quite place a name to. Though she was fairly certain they were in the same year.
Agott straightened almost immediately. The lingering warmth on her face refused to fade, but she cleared her throat softly, willing her composure back into place.
“Hey,” she called, her tone steady. “Did you need something from the clubroom?”
The boy blinked, as if only just realizing he wasn’t alone. His expression shifted quickly into something more polite. “Ah, Agott! Sorry, I didn’t notice you and your friends were here,” he said, dipping into a small bow. His eyes flickered briefly between the girls, lingering for just a second too long before he looked away again. “Did I interrupt something?”
“No,” Agott said smoothly, reaching to tug Richeh up by the arm, using the motion as a subtle cue for the others. “We were just about to leave.”
The rest of the girls scrambled to their feet.
“It was my turn to prepare the clubroom today,” Agott continued, brushing an imaginary dust from her shoulder. “That’s why I came early.”
“I see,” the boy nodded. He then stepped further into the room after offering a polite nod toward the others. “Excuse me, then.”
As he passed by, the wooden floor creaked softly under his steps, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet space.
Agott’s gaze followed him for a brief moment. Then, just as quickly, she looked away.
“…Let’s go,” she said, quieter this time.
She didn’t wait for a response, already moving toward the door, though the faint stiffness in her shoulders betrayed that the earlier conversation had not left her quite as unaffected as she pretended.
Agott was, for all intents and purposes, a walking ghost for the rest of the day. She paid no attention to class, failed to exert her usual focus during club activities, and most certainly did not press the right button when she stood in front of the vending machine to buy a drink.
And when the sharp, sour taste of citrus hit her senses instead of her usual bitter and biting coffee, it made her physically recoil from the canned juice. “W-what the hell?”
Tetia, who had been worriedly hovering over her friend, immediately voiced her concerns, “Agott?! What’s wrong?”
The shock jolted her back to her senses. Agott glanced at the pink-haired girl before shrugging slightly. “Nothing, I just bought the wrong drink, that’s all.”
Tetia narrowed her eyes, not buying any of it. “It has something to do with Coco’s confession on our second break, doesn’t it?”
Agott choked violently, the can slipped slightly in her grasp as she looked at Tetia in horror. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Tetia whined, “Agott has been acting all aloof since our second break— you’re slowly turning into Agloof!”
Agott clicked her tongue and turned away, taking a steadying breath, willing the heat in her face to subside and to make sure that her blood didn't rush to her ears. Again.
“Look, your ears are turning red again.”
Damn it. So that didn’t work. Whatever.
“...Fine,” Agott relented at last, as she often did when faced with an unstoppable force that was Tetia. “I was thinking about it. Is that wrong?”
“No!” Tetia cheerfully exclaimed, immediately changing her expression. “I think you should just take her up on the offer!”
Agott genuinely doesn’t have the slightest clue about how Tetia’s mind worked. Did she actually find joy in humiliating Agott? Or did the mere image of her— and Coco— dating bring her that much delight?
Actually, now that she thought about it. Why Coco, of all people? She had two other perfectly reasonable frie—
“Agott!”
A familiar voice cut clean through her thoughts.
And as if triggered by an involuntary reflex, Agott felt her ears burning all over again, and she hastily brought her hands up to cover them.
Speaking of the devil, Coco approached alongside Richeh with both girls still wearing their aprons. It seemed like the Home Economics club that the two girls enrolled in had just finished. Tetia immediately waved them over with far too much enthusiasm, while Agott briefly entertained the idea of digging a hole in the ground and burying herself inside.
The three of them quickly fell into a passionate conversation about scones and desserts, their voices lively and full of warmth.
Meanwhile, Agott stood there as if isolated, with her thoughts drifting in a direction that the Agott-in-a-good-day would definitely not approve of.
She found herself tracing Coco’s features in her mind. The curve of her smile. The way her eyes softened when she spoke. And the faintest flush that never seemed to fully leave her cheeks—
Wait.
What was she doing?
“Earth to Agott,” Richeh’s voice suddenly whispered right next to her ear, and Agott let out what was, quite possibly, the most girlish scream of her life.
She turned sharply to the left, only to be met with the sight of a cutely decorated scone, topped with the frosting shaped suspiciously into what looked like ‘Euini’. Richeh held it up with quiet pride. “Do you think I should give this to Euini?”
Agott blinked, regaining what little composure she could muster. She had done that a lot today, losing and regaining composure, that is. Then, after scanning the pastry once again, she softly answered, “Well, I don’t exactly see why not.”
After all, this scone was far more edible-looking than the first dessert Richeh had forced upon them months ago. Agott still vaguely remembered having to refuse the… food multiple times and had to fight off multiple Richeh-bite attacks for her opinion.
“That looks delicious,” she added.
“Then,” Coco suddenly spoke up, her voice bright yet slightly hesitant. As if she were being shy. “Would Agott want to try mine?” She asked while holding the scone out with a gentle smile.
Agott turned to look at Coco.
Coco’s cheeks were flushed pink from the walk, a stray lock of hair clung stubbornly on the side of her face, damp from the heat, while a light sheen of sweat could be seen clinging to her skin—likely from dealing with ovens and doughs without a chance to freshen up first, because she had been too caught up in the thought of showing up here. Agott briefly wondered about what it would feel like to brush the hair aside and to gaze deeply into her-
“Ahem!” Tetia cleared her throat loudly, cutting in with impeccable and suspicious timing.
Damn it. Did Agott space out again while looking at Coco?
Agott, once again, hastily forced out a reply—something she hoped sounded socially acceptable enough to pass as an affirmation. Her hand reached out, a tad weaker than intended, to the scone offered to her. For a brief second, she hesitated, then, as if committing to something far more serious than simply tasting a pastry, Agott took a bite.
It was… too sweet for Agott. Far too sugary for her taste. It wasn’t unpleasant per se, just not something she would ever choose for herself. And yet, she continued eating, bite after bite, until not even a crumb remained. And then, she carefully folded the wrapping into a neat, little square and slipped it in her pocket.
Only after a pause did she gather the courage to speak, “...it tasted fine,” Agott said. Then, after a beat, she added, “You’re good at baking, I suppose.” The words leaving her mouth felt insufficient the moment she let it out, not nearly enough to match the way Coco had looked at her when offering it.
Agott regretted it immediately. What if her short, clipped answers had inadvertently hurt Coco’s genuine feelings towards her?
Agott stilled.
Wait… hurting her feelings?
The thought struck her abruptly. Since when did Agott start caring so much about that?
A strange realization suddenly settled over her. Just as suddenly, an idea was formed in her brilliant head.
Agott abruptly turned to Coco. “I’ll do it— no, let’s do it.”
The words came out before she could second-guess them. Coco blinked in confusion, her fingers tightening slightly around the edge of her apron. “...Huh?”
Agott straightened, her expression slipping back into something akin to a smile, albeit a slightly menacing one, as if she had already convinced herself of the decision. “I’ll accept it,” she clarified, her gaze steady. “Your offer.”
A brief pause hung in the air, heavy and uncertain. Then, more plainly, she said, “Let’s date. You and I.”
Silence followed. Tetia’s mouth fell open, Richeh went completely still, and Coco looked as though her entire world had just stopped turning.