Chapter Text
Suou Tsukasa was the only child and heiress of the noble Suou family, a student of the idol course at the prestigious Yumenosaki Academy, and the youngest member of the top unit Knights. She was hardworking, always trying her best at everything she put her mind to. She was hardworking, be it her studies, unit practice, or club activities. She was the perfect girl all parents would love to have and all peers would love to be friends with. However, one thing had been bothering her for the past weeks, months even.
She was definitely not crushing on her seniors.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of the world. In fact, it was perfectly normal for any teenage girl to explore and fall in love. But her feelings got in between her and her unit, with how gorgeous her seniors were and how they took care of her. It was, fortunately, one-sided, as she would rather die than let them know. Still, that didn’t mean practice was good for her heart.
Just like now, almost two hours into practice, Tsukasa couldn’t stop her eyes from diverting to the way Ritsu pulled her shirt up to wipe the sweat on her forehead. The redhead had given up telling her seniors to stop with such ‘un-ladylike’ actions, opting to not comment on it. Or maybe it was because she couldn’t resist Ritsu’s tiny waist and the ever-so-passing slip of said girl’s boobs. Maybe. Just maybe.
Luckily, it was only the two of them. Leo had run off somewhere, it was an impromptu practice session after all, and Izumi and Arashi were at a photoshoot. If the other three had been there, they would notice how red her ears were. So red that she could not explain away with practice or hide them under her equally red hair. It was a miracle that Ritsu had not noticed them.
“Let’s end it here, Suu-chan. You look like you will die if we continue.” Ritsu said, walking over to the speaker and turning the music off before tossing the younger her water bottle.
Tsukasa stiffened. Her very obvious blush stood out on both her pale skin and the dark grey of her t-shirt, but she couldn’t help it, not when the cause of it was right there in the room!
“I don’t-” she tried to reason, but words die when she felt a towel land on her face. Never mind, Ritsu was going to taunt her in other ways anyway.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Suu-chan says. We have like another fifteen minutes of practice anyways, so let’s get cleaned up.”
Distracted by the mopping, Tsukasa missed the way the older cooed at her from the other side of the practice room.
“Suu-chan is really cute~”
But fate had other plans, and by other plans, Tsukasa meant standing next to Leo in the locker room after archery practice the next day. She could faintly make out the girlish scent of the older’s shower gel, which was oddly similar to the one she saw in Ritsu’s bag yesterday. It was a common brand, so Tsukasa chalked it up to coincidence.
“Suo~, good work today!” Tsukasa could feel Leo’s hand on her shoulder, cold even through layers of clothes.
What she didn’t expect to turn her head to was a half-naked Leo, all the ginger had on were her skirt and socks. Not even a bra, because frankly, she didn’t need one. Tsukasa envied her for that, despite their similar heights, she was significantly ‘more endowed’, her mother would say. Well, anyone would be when compared to Leo, who was no more than lanky limbs and a skinny body. But Tsukasa had to keep her cool, her mannerism must always be that of a noble lady and heiress, after all.
“Good work today, Joou-sama,” She returned, feeling the pace of her heart pick up at the sight, and heat creeping from where her Leader’s hand laid on her shoulder. “But I advise you to put your Shirt on. It is cold today.”
It was such a blessing that Keito and Yuzuru had left earlier for their work at the Student Council, or they would be concerned about how fidgety Tsukasa was acting around her unitmates.
“Yeah, I will! But where did I put my shirt? Suo~, have you seen it?” Leo leaned over to her side, and Tsukasa could feel skin pressed onto her arm, painfully in between her breasts. Oh god, her heartbeat was so loud she was sure Leo could compose a song with its tempo right then and there.
“How would I know where you put it? Leader, have you looked through your locker?” The redhead tried to advert attention to anywhere else in the room if it meant she could get away from Leo right now.
“No, don’t wanna. Suo~, help me!”
Who could resist Leo? Not Tsukasa, of course, so she leaned over to Leo’s locker - which meant leaning into the older girl as well - and pulled out a shirt from a hanger inside. Short-sleeved, but it would make do for now. Placing it in Leo’s hand, she could tell there was a lipstick mark on the inside of the collar. A faint, pinkish coral color, akin to a gloss. Leo wasn’t one to wear makeup, often forgetting even sunscreen or lip balm, so it was most definitely not hers. Still, she figured it was only for going home, and that the gigantic collar of Leo’s jacket would cover it up anyways.
Leo, in true Leo fashion, thanked Tsukasa for something that was definitely not good for her heart.
“Thank you Suo~! I love you! I’ll dedicate a song to your kindness, called ‘My adorable junior’ or something!”
If Leo saw how fast she ran out of the room when her driver called, she didn’t say anything.
It was a few days later, after lunch, that Tsukasa noticed it. She was chatting with Tetora about the video game they were playing on their way back to their classrooms when they parted ways at the restroom, something about Tsukasa needing to ‘freshen up’ before class.
The restroom was empty, save for Izumi who was touching up her makeup at the sink. Despite her height, she was standing on her tiptoes to lean closer to the mirror. Tsukasa greeted her before slipping herself into a stall, hoping the other girl didn’t see the way her face was getting redder from the small sliver of her thigh spilling over between the high stockings and the soft flow of the uniform skirt. No, Tsukasa, you’re not an 18th-century man getting flustered over an ankle!
When Tsukasa got out of the stall, Izumi was still there. She figured her senior was getting ready for an important event. The half-spewed makeup bag by the sink wasn’t new, Tsukasa had seen it plenty of times before Lives and knew the older girl always kept it in her bags, but what caught her eyes was a small tube of lipstick. It was painfully ordinary, and frankly old, with half the printed label missing and the tube itself scratched up. If it wasn’t in the bag, Tsukasa would have thought it was thrown away.
Still, the lipstick wouldn’t have caught so much of her attention, if she hadn’t seen the color of it. A pinkish coral color, almost sheer, glided on Izumi’s lips. Just like the one she saw on Leo’s shirt. They made her lips look so…kissable? Tsukasa willed her mind to stop thinking about those lips, but when she looked up from the sink, her eyes caught them again in the mirror.
“What’s with the staring, Kasa-kun? Never seen someone this beautiful before?” Izumi looked over at her in the mirror, and Tsukasa stilled.
“N-no, it’s just that,” Tsukasa tried to reason, “You’re wearing more makeup than usual, Sena-senpai.”
“Yeah, a girl can look pretty however much she wants. You got a problem with that?”
Tsukasa shook her head, there was no use arguing with Sena Izumi anyways. Her attention, still on Izumi, quickly found something else for her to keep her mind occupied, like a child with a new toy. As the older picked up her phone, its phone case came into view. A bright shade of yellow, with a small sunflower pattern and a dangling blue heart phone charm hanging from it.
That wasn’t important, as Tsukasa quickly forgot about it after the bell rang and she was reminded that she still had classes that afternoon. Some dance classes she was trying her best to not fall behind.
It was later that Tsukasa learned from Tori who learned from Nazuna that the second and third years’ vocal lessons that day were canceled and that Izumi didn’t have any of her modeling work that day either.
“Tsukasa-chan, there you are!” Arashi shouted from the other side of the track field, one hand holding onto her schoolbag and the other waving at said girl.
It was a rare, warmer day at the end of winter, and Knights had a meeting that day, right after club activities. The younger had chosen to walk through the courtyard and fields instead of through the hallways, opting to take in the lovely air and melting snow.
Tsukasa waited for Arashi to walk across the field from her place close to the door of the building. The wind was quite strong, though, and by the time the blonde reached her side, her hair was disheveled, with stray locks and baby hair everywhere.
“Oh my, Tsukasa-chan, can you wait a bit? My hair is all messed up now.” Arashi asked, noting how the purple bow on the redhead’s bun was coming undone as well.
“It’s okay, Narukami-senpai. Would you like me to hold your Bag as well?” Tsukasa offered, her signature chivalrous habit.
“Of course. Thank you, dear,” the older nodded, “Let me just get my hairbrush first. It should be in here…”
“Okay darling, can you hold this for me as well?” Arashi handed Tsukasa her phone. The back of it was to the redhead’s face, and she could clearly tell the pattern on it was familiar. Small sunflowers on a yellow background, complete with a yellow heart-shaped phone charm. Just like Izumi’s, but she would rather not vocally point that out right now.
Despite knowing that Arashi was using the phone as a mirror, Tsukasa couldn’t help but think the older girl was staring at her right now. The blush was slowly coming back to her cheeks, and maybe she could hide it with either her hair or the warm light of the sunset. However, the world was a cruel, cruel place, the sun was setting way too fast and Tsukasa had made the horrible choice of wearing her hair in a high ponytail. She needed to do something about her feelings for her seniors soon.
“Okay, I’m done. Thank you Tsukasa-chan.” Arashi smiled at her as she put her things back in her bag. Oh, those crinkling eyes adorned with long lashes and the soft shimmer of pink eyeshadows. Tsukasa could die from overheating on an autumn day right now.
The walk back to the practice room was short, the halls empty save for the two girls. What a girl to do when she’s surrounded by her crushes for the next hour or so? The question hit Tsukasa when she opened the door to the room and came face to face with a scene she would otherwise describe as chaotic, but to her right now, nothing was at chaotic as the thoughts running through her mind.
“Hello Joou-sama, Sena-senpai, Ritsu-senpai. I’m sorry for being late.”
“You’re late Suu-chan~” Ritsu mock-scolded, “I was starting to miss you.”
The sun had already set, but knowing Ritsu, she would take every chance she got to tease or flirt with anyone and everyone. Tsukasa could hear the blonde giggle from behind her as she walked into the room, a warm hand brushing against hers.
The redhead sat down by the kotatsu, between Ritsu and Leo, who was scribbling something, not composing, her mind surprisingly supplied. Izumi was on the other side of the kotatsu, scrolling through her phone again. The phone case stared back at Tsukasa menacingly, as if a mere phone case could do so. She really needed to advert her focus onto something else.
The rest of Knights didn’t seem to be in a rush, despite being some fifteen minutes or so behind their scheduled meeting time. No Live had arranged to be held anytime soon, both internally and with other units. But it was unlike Knights to have a meeting and laze around like this if they were to have something urgent on the agenda.
“Uhm, Leader, what is the objective of the Meeting today?” Tsukasa tried to get the meeting going. Really, if she hadn’t been so infatuated with her seniors, things would have been so much easier on her heart when they all turned to look at her.
“You don’t know?” Arashi asked, her hands stilled from where they were painting Ritsu’s nails. Was it even the right time to paint nails now?
“You seemed weirdly tensed whenever we see you lately, so we figured might as well talk to you about it. Really Kasa-kun, if you’re stressed or tired, you could just tell us. We’re not scary monsters you know.” Izumi said, but there weren’t any edges to her words. It was out of genuine concern more than anything.
“It’s that look again. It’s okay if you’re going through things, but I- no, we want to make sure Suo~ is fine.” Leo added, her eyes observing. In moments like this, Tsukasa could understand why the ginger was their leader.
Tsukasa didn’t even notice her hands instinctively pulling away as Ritsu’s unpainted one reached out for her. Great, she thought, this was not going to end well if she kept up her fronts. So, she caved.
“There’s a Secret I have been keeping from my senpais.” She finally said, slender fingers fumbling with each other, “Ahh, I apologize, it’s not an important matter, I shouldn’t have brought it-”
“Tell us.” Ritsu said, red eyes staring into lilac ones, “You don’t have to worry about us telling anyone else. If it’s important enough for you to think about telling us, then it’s important enough for us to know.”
Let’s get this over with, Suou Tsukasa. But first, she needed to address the elephant in the room.
“Correct me if I am wrong, but are you dating each other?” She asked meekly, lacking the usual frank she had.
Tsukasa came to this conclusion after confiding in her friend Sora about the things she had noticed over the past few weeks, to which the blonde told her that her senpai and shisho~ had secret little matching things they thought were discreet. Still, it could just be some kind of gifts or odd coincidences she unintentionally picked up as clues about a relationship.
“Yeah? Took you long enough.”
“Izumi-chan!”
“It is obvious, Nacchan. If you stop making out with Joou-sama behind the bleachers then I would be more surprised.”
“But that’s how I get my inspiration Rittsu! You can’t tell me to stop doing something you do all the time.”
That was…not the reaction Tsukasa expected. Well, not that she expected anything, pointing out that she knew people were dating wasn’t the end of the world. That at least gave her some hope for what she was about to say.
“That’s all?” Izumi asked, squinting her eyes in disbelief. “If that’s what bothers you, then I can assure you it won’t get in the way of the unit, or your relationship with us. Satisfied?”
Tsukasa wanted to say no, that it was a hundred percent getting between her and her seniors. What if they were not open to having anyone else in their polycule, or simply only had platonic feelings towards her? The possibility of being turned down was high, but not high enough to deter her. After all, she was a Suou, and her parents had taught her to face her challenges. It was all or nothing.
“Actually, there is one more problem I want to bring up. if Sena-senpai and everyone don’t mind, that is.” Oh god, Tsukasa’s heart was planning to ruin her day, and it had chosen the worst time to do so. If this failed, she would be blaming it.
It was scary, everyone’s attention on her. Tsukasa was only a little high school girl, she couldn’t possibly handle four pairs of eyes staring into her soul like that. Especially not when she’s head over heels for them.
No one said a word for what felt like an eternity, so Tsukasa took it as a cue to continue. It’s now or never.
“I- I think I like senpais. Romantically, I mean.” It’s okay Tsukasa. Breathe in, breathe out. The worse they could do was reject her, right?
“Haah? Of course, you would like me, I’m Sena Izumi.” Never mind, this was worse than she anticipated!
Tsukasa’s face was so flushed she almost missed the way tears slowly welled up in her eyes, but she swallowed them in. Right now was not the time to cry.
“Izumi-chan, stop teasing her.” Leo was stern. She was not one to make fun of serious matters despite her attitude toward everything, Tsukasa had learned over the past few months. Slowly, she felt cold hands - Ritsu’s, still smelling like fresh nail polish and fabric softener and that shower gel - against her heated cheeks, wiping tears overflowing from lilac eyes and drawing her face up to look up at her seniors. How Tsukasa longed to end her miserable existence right then and there was cut short when she saw how concern drew over their faces.
“Thank you for telling us how you feel,” was all she got before she was embraced in a warm hug. Well, warm wasn’t the right word, judging from how cold Leo’s body was even through layers of clothes in a heated room. Still, the love dripping from her seniors was enough and she had to refrain from crying even more.
“Oh god, don’t get me teared up as well. A girl has to keep her composure you know.” but she could hear the quiet sniffles from the other side of the kotatsu. Izumi had a soft spot for adorable juniors, after all.
It was sweet, her seniors letting her collect her composure before telling her those dreaded words. Maybe it was like what her friends had said, how their crushes turned down their feelings so well they couldn’t help but fall harder. Right now, Tsukasa felt how she was treated was already evidence of what she was dreading.
“No, Ritsu-chan, we can’t do that yet!” Ah, some semblance of normalcy in this situation was not unwelcome, not even when it came in the form of a scandalous gasp.
“Nacchan is really not fun~” Ritsu’s soft laughter by her ear was lovely as always, really, how could anyone not fall for her?
It was different from how Tsukasa’s parents would treat her when she cried, even as a child. They would say things about how a child of a noble family needed to be strong, how showing weakness was ‘unsightly’ for an heiress, and how whatever problem she had at hand was never big enough for her to shed tears. But now, surrounded by warmth and the textbook definition of ‘doting’, soothing hugs and soft circles drawn onto her back, she couldn’t resist falling for people who treated her like they would any other person, or maybe even more.
‘What are we?’ was left unsaid, for now. The question was bound to come up sooner or later, but it needed time. Tsukasa needed time to think about how she wanted this to go. She knew her seniors would respect her choices, no matter what they could be.
Knights sat in silence. Hands wiped at Tsukasa’s eyes (Izumi’s overpriced baby wet wipes, where had those come from?), held her like a ball of affection, and she could vaguely tell who was where. Izumi across the kotatsu holding her hands tight, Ritsu hugging her by the arm and Leo by the waist, and Arashi tucking her under her head. Those pretentious novels written by men from centuries ago on the shelves of the Suou estate were right, girls always had a distinct scent. Not the shower gel Ritsu and Leo had, not Izumi’s expensive body mist or Arashi’s perfume she stole the idea from Akiomi-sensei, but something soothing and healing that she couldn’t put into words.
“Are you good now, darling?” Arashi asked after some time, Tsukasa couldn’t tell how long. But when she looked up, the sky outside the window was completely dark.
“...I believe so.” She said, weak. If anyone in her family heard that, she would be having a lecture on etiquette right now. But they were not, and her loving seniors in Knights would never do that to her.
Tsukasa needed to solve her problem soon, or she would fuss over it before she could get a clear-cut answer to the relationship between her and her seniors. It was now or never.
But her phone had to ring at that exact moment. Her chauffeur was calling.