Krystina's Presentation!

Stumbling out of bed into the living room, Erina was still mystified about this upcoming 'presentation' she was going to attend; she was waking up half an hour earlier just to see this presentation after all. Rubbing her eyes as she sat down and smoothed out her clothes, Erina mumbled, "I don't even know why I have to be here..."

Sitting down next to Erina, Yuiko suppressed a yawn as she nodded, "Well... I guess the presentation is going to be for the both of us..."

Interrupting their little drowsy chat, Krystina exclaimed with energy that belonged in a party, not in an early morning meetup, "This presentation will open your eyes to a whole new world! Be prepared because I have used my unparalleled presentation skills to create this masterpiece!"

Nodding with a smug expression as she powered up her projection, Krystina cleared her throat before taking a deep breath. "Today's presentation is about a topic I feel that both of you should be more aware of! Well, mostly Erina though," Krystina explained while getting out a pointer, "The topic is... couples, love, and our personal feelings towards each other!"

"Why do we need to learn about that, Krystina?" Erina asked with another yawn, "It's not like Yuiko and I have any feelings for anyone..."

Sighing as she fired up her presentation, Krystina retorted, "That's why I'm doing this presentation! You'll understand afterward!"

Watching Erina and Krystina banter with an amused expression, Yuiko thought to herself, dejection hiding in her amused eyes, 'Ah… is Krystina trying to make Erina realize her feelings? I… have my doubts… I don't even know if Erina even has these types of feelings.'

Chuckling with an unnoticed sigh by the other two occupants of the room, Yuiko wondered if her late-night talks with Vladimir and Hiroshi had made their way to the keen ears of Krystina, or if this was just a coincidence with timing out of this world. Yuiko did not like to admit it… but she had feelings for the ever bright and innocent childhood friend she had grown up with.

Pushing those thoughts aside, however, Yuiko concentrated back on the presentation, her thoughts of insecurity being forgotten as she watched the presentation unfold.

"To reiterate," Krystina explained, trying her best to suppress her teasing smile, "If you're feeling a weird feeling you can't quite place about your closest friend, of wanting to be closer, or wanting to always be with them, you might be feeling LOVE!"

Laughing along with the points Krystina was making, points so obviously targeted towards the actions she and Erina had done over the past few days, Yuiko had to wipe away some tears as she saw the next slide on the presentation.

"Public announcement!" Krystina narrated with a cheery tone, winking at the new arrivals in Vladimir and Hiroshi, "Cuddling is not a behavior witnessed normally between friends! It's more seen between lovers!"

Using her pointer to tap on a blacked-out picture that had subjects that seemed to be suspiciously similar to the two girls on the couch, Krystina continued, "If you see two people like this, they might be lovers! So don't disturb them!"

Having been woken up by Krystina's impassioned yelling, Hiroshi and Vladimir took a seat on the other couch, deciding to eat some early morning popcorn as they watched the drama unfold before them.

"Krystina's really getting into it isn't she?" Hiroshi whispered with a chuckle, "I hope it works out between Erina and Yuiko!"

Nodding with an expression befitting a sage, Vladimir munched on some popcorn as he added, "It's amazing how dense Erina is, I can't even remember the number of people who have brought up how they bet the two will be dating."

"It's really early, earlier than most expected, but looking at how… it's unfolding," Hiroshi laughed, reaching into the bag for some popcorn, "They'll probably date soon."

"I guarantee it, no 'probably' with a presentation like this," Vladimir retorted with a grin, "it is very early I'd say but Krystina… really forced it along didn't she."

"Yep, she definitely did, which is quite the relief for our shoulders wouldn't you say?" Hiroshi whistled, sipping some water with a dead fish stare.

"My shoulders will be thanking me until my 80s, Hiroshi," Vladimir replied, having a dead fish stare of his own.

Back on the couch with the two girls in question, Erina flushed deeper and deeper as the presentation went on, with a constant question in her mind rattling around, Erina thought, 'AHHHHH! Is that... the feeling I've been having… could it be? Maybe? Was this what I've been feeling?"

"And that's the end!" Krystina exclaimed, grinning at Erina, who was burying her red face in a nearby pillow, "So, Erina? Do you have any questions~?"

"No!" Erina's muffled voice replied, "I have zero questions at all! None! Nada! Zilch! Zero!"

Packing up her things, Krystina teased, "Ok~! Also, by the way... Natsuki wants to see you!"

"Ok..." Erina answered, taking a few deep breaths to calm down, "So you wanna go now Yuiko?"

Walking with Yuiko, Erina clutched Yuiko's hand with a slight blush tinting her face, 'it's nothing special, Erina… you two always did this! Don't overthink it!'

Looking at Erina's face, Yuiko grinned, watching Erina's face flush, 'ah... I knew it! The relief is overwhelming! Well, I'll just enjoy her embarrassment for now~'

"Hello~! It's been a while~!" A voice called out from behind them, "We can talk out here instead too~"

"Aunt Natsuki?!" Erina yelled while jumping in surprise, "Why do you want to talk to us...?

Chuckling at the little amount of blush tinting Erina's face, Natsuki replied, "I was just going to ask about Krystina~ she shouldn't have just given you her presentation right?"

Flushing like a tomato, Erina retorted, "S-so? Wh-what about i-it?"

"Well I know what it's about, so I was going to ask if you two were going to start dating or not~" Natsuki answered with a teasing grin plastered on her face, "You know, I helped make the presentation too~!"

"Though I must say as an adult," Natsuki's demeanor changing to a more serious tone, "It is quite early so I'm pretty sure in the end your dating will be more just, 'extra-extra best friends'! Nothing too much beyond that! You're still young after all!"

Blushing at the sudden bluntness of Natsuki's statement, Yuiko stammered, "U-um, so far we have no plans... to date..."

"Well..." Natsuki advised, "I feel like you two should try it~! There wouldn't be much of a change~"

Grin widening at the blushing 'couple', Natsuki began counting on her fingers, "You guys tell each other all your secrets... you are practically always together... you always seem out of it when not together, and you already kissed! Though that last one doesn't really count, there's not much else if I'm being honest~"

Spending some time convincing Yuiko and Erina to try it out, Natsuki watched as their figures walked off, going to the nearby cafeteria for milkshakes, "Ah... another mission accomplished~! My powers of convincing as an adult are boundless!"

Pulling out her phone, Natsuki texted Krystina:

[Natsuki: I've done my part~! They're going for milkshakes right now~]

[Krystina: Amazing! Thanks for the help! It should be smooth sailing now~!]

[Natsuki: Yeah~! I'm going to update the Yuina tracking group ok?]

[Krystina: Sure~]

Switching chat rooms, Natsuki took a deep breath before texting,

[Natsuki: Yuiko and Erina have decided to try and start dating~ well to the extent that they can at their age. So they've become extra-extra besties!]

Shutting off her phone just as it began blowing up with messages, Natsuki chuckled with a thousand-yard stare, "Don't wanna be a part of that storm~ not again~"

----

Walking towards the cafeteria, Erina mumbled, "So... we're 'dating' now...?"

"I guess… we can keep away from the term though, we can just be as they said… extra-extra best friends," Yuiko replied, squeezing Erina's hand.

"That sounds better honestly… that other stuff still seems so… far off if you get what I mean," Erina murmured with a small gesture, "We don't need to rush that stuff, we'll figure it out as we get older."

Nodding, Yuiko, trying to suppress her grin, "However, now I can do this without feeling guilty~"

Poking Erina on the forehead, Yuiko motioned upwards to distract Erina before pinching Erina's nose, then continued to walk along as if nothing had transpired.

Walking with Yuiko, Erina continued to meander along with Yuiko towards the cafeteria, this time, with her eyes staring at her feet, trying to bore holes through the ground, "Why'd you pinch my nose, Yuiko? That was unfair…"

Looking at how shy Erina was, Yuiko thought to herself, 'Ahh, my heart, she's so cute I want to hug her!.'

Coughing to clear her thoughts, Yuiko giggled, "For no reason at all, Erina~ I just felt like pinching it~"

Ordering milkshakes with Yuiko, Erina sat down sipping her milkshake, asking, "So now what? We won the tournament... do you think that we caught the attention of any commandments?"

"Yeah... we probably did… Honestly, we probably had their attention before the tournament anyway because of Aunt Natsuki." Yuiko murmured, leaning back into her chair, "It's fine though~ they won't do anything bad~"

"That's true..." Erina agreed, taking a sip of her milkshake, "Heavenly... as always..."

Giggling at Erina's blissful expression, Yuiko whistled, "These are amazing though... still stuns me every time... Erina, what do you think they do to make their milkshakes so good?"

Gazing at her milkshake with stars in her eyes, Erina proclaimed, "They probably pour love and heart into these milkshakes~"

"Probably..." Yuiko replied with a giggle, 'She loves her sugar doesn't she...'

Finishing the last of her milkshake, Erina lamented, "Classes again tomorrow... I don't wanna go..."

"It'll be fine~!" Yuiko reassured, helping Erina out of her seat, "You're at the top of like... every class~"

"That doesn't mean I like it~!" Erina moaned, "I wanna sleep again..."

Walking back to the dorms, Yuiko mentioned, "It's kinda surprising though, that diligent top student, actually doesn't study all that much..."

"Meh... the classes aren't too hard..." Erina answered, tightening her grip on Yuiko's hand, "I feel like what's more surprising is that our group is all in the top 10... like, you're number 2, Krystina is number 4, and Vlad and Hiroshi flip-flop at around number 6-7… Ever the rivals, those two."

Opening the door into the dorm room, Yuiko added, "Charlotte and Vanessa are also pretty awesome~ they both are just outside the top 10~"

Flopping onto her bed, Erina hugged Strawberry replying, "That's amazing! I didn't know they were that high... though I do know that Jason, the captain of Vanessa and Charlotte's team, is ranked 3rd... and Haizaki is ranked 5th..."

Sighing, Yuiko asked, "Oh yeah, Erina? I don't know if you've ever seen, but Haizaki parades around his rank 5 like he's the best under the sun... what a fool..."

"I'm pretty sure we already know he's a fool..." Erina mumbled, curling up in bed, "Wake me up for dinner..."

"Sure~" Yuiko assured, sitting down next to Erina, choosing to spend some time braiding her and Erina's hair.