Que Sera Seramyu
by Haruka
Please refer to disclaimer and notes in part 1.
Part 11 - Lies
Nao felt panicked. Any moment now Hikari would recognize the diary for what it was,
maybe even read her own name in it! She reached for it, smiling, trying not to reveal her fear.
"Hey, that's nothing important, Hikari, mind if I have it back?"
"Sure, no problem. As soon as I'm finished." Hikari flipped a page. If she didn't know
better, she'd think this was a diary. But Nao wouldn't keep a diary, would she? And she
certainly wouldn't ... Hikari's eyes widened. Whoever this diary _did_ belong to, they had the
good taste to have a big, lustful crush on _her_!
"Nao, where did you get this?" Hikari asked.
Nao hesitated. Hikari thought the diary belonged to someone else. There was still a
chance to keep from embarrassing herself if she thought fast.
"Well, if you promise not to tell ...."
Hikari closed the diary and crossed her heart over it. "I promise!" she said.
"Uh, it's Rei's," Nao said.
Hikari's eyebrows went all the way up to her hairline. "Rei? But I've known her forever
- she never told me she kept a diary."
"Most people don't talk about having diaries," Nao said uneasily. "They're personal, and
they don't want others to go snooping into their secrets."
"Then why do you have Rei's diary?" Hikari asked.
"Um, well, I was saving it ... from Ryuji," Nao said quickly. "I overheard him saying
he'd taken it as a gag. I don't think he's had time to read it yet." I hope not, anyway, she
thought.
"Well," Hikari said thoughtfully, gazing at the book in her hands, "I'm meeting Rei and
Tae in a few minutes myself, so I'll return this for you."
Nao swallowed. "Aw, that's okay, I can do it ...."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she hears how you saved it for her." Hikari grinned. "And
she and I will come up with an appropriate punishment for Ryuji."
"Uh, great," Nao said weakly. "Thanks, Hikari."
The older woman ruffled Nao's hair. "No problem, kid. Good work." She walked away
with the diary, humming.
Serves me right, Nao thought miserably. Lying like that. Nothing to do now but wait for
the inevitable. Oh yeah, and kill Ryuji.
Hikari entered the bar and saw Rei and Tae were already there. She waved as she
approached. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. I had a bit of a collision in the hall that slowed me
down." She tossed the diary at Rei. "There you go, don't say I never did anything for you."
Rei looked down at the book, perplexed. She flipped a few pages and quickly realized
what, although not whose, it was. "How did you come to acquire this, Hi-chan?"
"Nao rescued it from Ryuji. You'll have to thank her - she says he probably didn't have
time to read it yet."
Rei gave Hikari a strange look. She was talking as if she thought this diary belonged to
_her_ instead of Nao. She skimmed another entry and spotted Hikari's name in the diary. Well,
that explained why Nao had lied about ownership of the diary when put on the spot by Hikari
herself. But why did the girl have to tell her friend it belonged to _her_?! She looked up and her
stomach sank. The funny little grin on Hikari's face told her that she, too, had seen at least one
entry that mentioned her and revealed the writer's crush. Her face reddened. Hikari thinks I've
got a 'thing' for her now, she thought with a sinking feeling. How can I fix _that_ problem
without revealing Nao's secret? Should I even try? I'll have to wring Nao's pretty little neck
when I catch up to her for putting me in this position ....
"Am I missing something?" Tae asked good-naturedly.
End of part 11
This fanfic is for your private reading enjoyment _only_. Do not circulate, reproduce or repost
on the internet in any form.
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