Ara, Natsuki. I found something at Backstage today that is quite possibly the most adorable thing in the world. I'm in our room having a cute attack right now.
Yes, possibly even more adorable than you...
“What!?” Natsuki spat out in shock from reading Shizuru's note. Wait, no! Not that... not being cute is fine! Natsuki's mind ran at full speed to try to preserve her dignity. She was the Gakuencho of Garderobe, after all. If there were things cuter than her in the world, that was fine. Even if it was in Shizuru's opinion.
“Ara...?” A saddened voice said within Natsuki's head. “Natsuki-suki doesn't want to be cute for me?” Shizuru let out an exaggerated sniffle. “Ikezu...”
“What? No! No, I'm cute, I'm cute... don't cry, Shizuru!” Natsuki protested to her inner Shizuru. She smothered the image with kisses to try to make things right...
...Only to realize that in the absence of Shizuru, she'd had to resort to her dream version of the woman to tease her. Natsuki's cheeks were beet red at the realization. At even just the hint of trying to show some dignity before Shizuru's teasing, she'd crumbled even further than she would have if she'd just taken the tease.
The verdict was in: Natsuki was Shizuru's blush puppy, like it or not. She was just lucky she'd learned to like it, and luckier still that Shizuru refrained from exploiting this fact in public. Well, at least she refrained from exploiting it too much...
Shaking her head in defeat, Natsuki tossed the note back down to the table and shouted out an annoyed, “Shizuru!” into the apartment. She might not have been so annoyed at this point, but it was her line, after all. She was also obligated to let Shizuru know that her tease had landed successfully. If she didn't, she'd only be risking a bigger tease later, where she wouldn't be able to help her protests.
But on the subject of a bigger tease... it occurred to Natsuki that this was likely exactly what she was in for when she got to the bedroom. She let out a grumble as she made her way there. There was no way out of it now. Shizuru knew she was home, and it would do no good to delay the inevitable. Besides, it's not like it isn't sweet in its way... Natsuki shook her head, forcing those thoughts out, along with all thoughts of how Shizuru's tease had completely distracted her from the stresses of work.
Not thinking about that at all, Natsuki resolved, her cheeks reddening.
“Mmm... Suki...” If Natsuki's cheeks weren't already red, the sounds of Shizuru's cuddly murmurings from the other side of the bedroom would have done it for her. She must have gotten her Natsuki pillow out, and was cuddling with it while she waited for the genuine article to return home. Perhaps this meant Natsuki would be spared her tease when she got in.
And I did not just feel a pang of disappointment about that!
Holding her breath to steel herself, Natsuki pushed open the door to her and Shizuru's bedroom. She was relieved to see that Shizuru seemed to be in her pillow-cuddling position, so perhaps she was spared today. Wait... then what's her Natsuki pillow doing over at the head of the bed? What's she cuddling with now?
Just as the question formed in Natsuki's mind, Shizuru rolled over to reveal what it was she held in her arms. Wrapped in a hug of Shizuru's and being kissed on the head, was a plushie version of the Gakuencho. Natsuki couldn't help letting out a strangled gasp as she saw this, and her cheeks shot through four shades of red before settling on “tomato.”
“Ara!” Shizuru said with a huge smile on her face. “It's big Natsuki! Would she like to come and join us, I wonder?”
“P... p... p...” Natsuki stammered out. The plush doll Shizuru held gazed back at her, a ridiculously happy grin on its face. “Plushie!?”
“Ara...” Shizuru said. She pouted as she looked up at Natsuki with big doe eyes. “Is Natsuki-suki jealous? But I got her her own...” Shizuru pointed her finger out towards the dresser.
Natsuki followed the direction of Shizuru's finger with a feeling of impending dread. Her dread was validated when she laid her gaze upon a sight that nearly broke her mind in half from overwhelming cuteness: A plushie Shizuru, sitting atop her dresser, grinning as if right in the middle of a tease.
“Zu... ru...” Natsuki stammered, trying to resist the pull from the plushie's adorable face. She was not going to pounce on a plush doll, especially not in front of Shizuru! She would never live it down...
“Mmm...” Natsuki's head jerked back to Shizuru, only to see her start to cuddle with her Natsuki plushie again. The sight was almost too adorable for her to take... Shizuru looked so sweet and protective, holding the miniature version of Natsuki in her arms as she planted kisses all over it. And that smile... Plushie Natsuki was enjoying every minute of it.
Yet still... Plushie Shizuru gazed at her needingly. Shizuru loved her cuddles so much... surely her plushie version would too? And Natsuki really did need to give out some cuddles when she was in this state...
But she couldn't just walk away from Shizuru! She was being adorable as well. Each step towards the plushie would be a step farther away from Shizuru. But each step towards Shizuru would be a step away from the plushie, denying it the cuddles it so desperately needed. Trapped between Shizurus who needed her, Natsuki could do nothing but whimper.
She was only saved by the grace of Shizuru making the decision for her. Getting up off the bed, she approached Natsuki and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Ara, it seems I was wrong,” she said. Natsuki's mind was still too numb to try to figure out what Shizuru was referring to. “The real Natsuki is still cuter than this plushie. Now let me help her out...”
Natsuki stood stunned, too weak to move, as Shizuru walked over to the dresser and picked up Plushie Shizuru. She then strolled back towards the bed slowly. She was just about to sit down on it when something inside Natsuki snapped. She leaped forward at full speed, pouncing on both Shizurus and pinning them to the bed.
The only thing that pierced through the haze of her mind was a gentle laughter and the word, “Ara...”