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On the first day, all three of them had been extremely tense.
The school's inhabitants had been as welcoming as ever, faces no longer blotted out and voices undistorted, so there was reason to assume the best, but it was hard to forget what had happened in the closing minutes of the day. Having snuck out hopefully unnoticed, the three of them took position at the end of the fateful hallway; if all went wrong, they could get out fast. If not, this would be the ideal place to run their tests. Papika and Cocona placed themselves right at the door of the tower, Yayaka more forward to the rest of the building, eyes keenly trained on the hallway as the clock ticked towards midnight at an agonizing pace. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when a lone door opened and two of the inhabitant girls stepped out with mere seconds to go until midnight either arrived or the day would reset.
When the deep, melodious sound of the bell rang out through the hall for a twelfth time and the two girls only briefly lifted their heads and continued down the hallway, Yayaka nearly stumbled and fell from having all that built up tension leave her body at once. She turned around just in time to find Papika and Cocona throw their arms around her neck, laughing excitedly. After a moment's hesitation, Yayaka responded in kind, pulling the two closer.
Officially, they were on a mission; "Forward Reconnaissance of Pure Illusion territories", Salt had called it; they were sent to investigate if the time limbo of the school had remained broken, and subsequently gather data about its inhabitants and their way of life.
However, it was an open secret that the actual goal of the operation was something else. Cocona and Papika have officially been together for a few months now, and after much, much agonizing over it, Yayaka had pulled the two of them aside and, in a rather meandering and undignified attempt at coming clean, had confessed the messy and chaotic state of her own feelings that she'd long held for Cocona and was beginning to hold for Papika. Much to her own (if not so much anyone else's) surprise, not only had they not been taken aback and tried to cut ties with her, but accepted her wholesale and offered her to take part should she want to; an offer that she had taken after yet more agonizing, and was sealed by an exchange of kisses that very nearly made Yayaka's heart jump out of her chest.
Not long after, they discovered the location that even after the harrowing end held some rather fond memories for them and, reason to suspect that things may have changed for the better, command sent the three of them off to enjoy their time there unbothered, thinly veiled under the guise of a reconnaissance mission.
This concludes today's report. Requesting new orders.
Operative Yayaka, your team is to remain on site to observe until further notice. We expect this to take another ten days at minimum.
Yayaka softly chuckled as she turned off her communicator for the evening. Ten more days minimum, huh.
Her old-timey nightgown already on and lulled by the cozy atmosphere of the school, she laid down next to Cocona, who was already fast asleep. Papika had gone to wash up, so Yayaka seized her chance to take the spot usually occupied by her, lying face to face. Cocona was nice and warm against the pleasantly cool air of the dorm; shuffling closer, Yayaka quickly began to doze off.
When Papika returned, she was greeted with a very cute sight: Cocona and Papika, huddled together and sleeping peacefully. Seeing how far Yayaka had come in being comfortable around her and Cocona brought a warm smile to Papika's face. As quietly as she could, she removed her slippers and crawled into the bed as well, hugging Yayaka from behind, nestling her head against the nape of her neck.
Cocona was the first to wake up. Between the soft drumming of the rain against the windows and the warm embrace, she had slept better than ever. She was mildly surprised to find Yayaka being the one immediately next to her instead of Papika, but this only made the moment even more magical; it was the first time that Yayaka had slept between them like this, and Papika was right there on the other side, arms around Yayaka.
Seeing the two people most precious to her like this, Cocona for a moment attempted to wrestle down the urge to wake them up with a kiss each and let them wake up on their own, but soon thought better of it than to pass up this golden opportunity.
Getting up very carefully so as not to wake them before the exact right moment, she first leaned over to reach Papika's lips.
The span of a breath passed and Papika began to shuffle around, making soft sounds of dispelling sleepiness. Cocona knew that it had worked, so she lied back down and did the same for Yayaka. Just as she pulled away, both opened their eyes at the same time.
"Good morning, Papika, Yayaka."
The inevitable realization of where she was and what woke her up brought a deep blush to Yayaka's face, but the firm hug that the two of them pulled her into made sure that it was not to stay. In spite of all that happened Cocona and Papika were the two most important and most trusted people Yayaka had. Waking up between them, she could not be happier.
After a few more minutes of blissful snuggling, they got up and began to get changed for the day. It had become ritual for Cocona and Yayaka to brush Papika's hair whenever they were together in the morning; not that it changed anything, her wild mane was untamable by a mere hairbrush, but it was the joy of doing it that mattered.
Papika braided Yayaka's bangs, Yayaka put the clip into Cocona's hair, Cocona tied the narrow bow on both of their uniforms. It was the little routine that they had settled on in their time here that made every morning just a small bit special.
Stepping outside, a flock of girls waited, greeting them with a cheerful "gokigenyou!"
Another cozy day of soft rain and candlelight awaited them; this special reconnaissance mission really was not so bad.