Secret Crush
Things have been awkward recently between the Keeper of Nature and the Warden of Time. As much as the sweet kirin wants to pamper her, the clock always tries to avoid her. It wasn’t like this at the start, she didn’t really mind before, but slowly after interacting with her more and more, she gradually began to distance herself from Fauna.
“Did I pamper her too hard?” She paces around the Council office, thinking about all she’s done with her. The only thing that would bother Kronii that she can think of is her wanting more physical contact, but even then, Kronii didn’t seem to mind it too much at the start… Well, there’s also the Minecraft incident but it’s been long enough to not hold a grudge over it, right? When she doesn’t find an answer, she can feel some sort of sadness appearing. “But if I say sorry without knowing what I did wrong, she’d just get upset.”
While getting too caught up in her worries, she fails to notice a brown-haired girl approaching her. “Is something wrong, Fauna?”
The kirin turns to look at her, “Oh, nothing much, Mumei…”
Unsatisfied by the answer, she frowns and walks even closer to her, making Fauna try to back up a little. “I know this face, you’re worried! What happened?”
Mumei’s eyes see right through her, Fauna gives up and explains her problem to Mumei. As she talks, the owl’s face slowly turns into a frown, like she’s annoyed.
“…And I really don’t know what I did wrong… Do you have any idea, Mumei?” She’s already looking away when Fauna asked the question. “M-Mumei?”
She sighs and looks at Fauna, “Do you like Kronii, Fauna?”
She’s taken aback by this question, “Of course I do! I love her!”
“But as friends, right?”
“…Huh?”
“I can’t really say much… Cause there wouldn’t be a point, but I can at least say you didn’t do anything bad to her.” Confused, Fauna tries to get more information out of her, which only results in Mumei sighing even more, “Fauna… You have to pay more attention.” And that’s just more confusing. “Have you ever noticed something about Kronii whenever you approach her? Or whenever she cuts your conversations off?”
Fauna tilts her head and tries to remember. “Hmm… Well, sometimes she turns around too fast for me to look at any changes, but… Oh!”
She recalls one time she wanted to show Kronii how her hair color changed with the seasons. In fall, she approached her from behind, trying to make it a surprise. When Kronii turned around, she was stunned for a few seconds staring at her and right before she did her usual response of snapping her fingers, stopping time, and acting like nothing happened, Fauna thought she saw her blush.
Having recalled that, she remembers other times when she swore, she could hear Kronii’s voice behind her, but when she turned around, no one’s there. There were also similar moments like the first one where Kronii takes a bit longer than normal to respond, it’s mainly whenever Fauna tried to get closer to her face.
“Oh, no…”
Mumei notices Fauna’s expression turning grim, “Fauna?” The kirin holds her shoulders, and stares directly at her.
“…Am I ugly?”
Mumei’s worry turns into anger; she got the wrong idea. She pulls back from Fauna’s clutches and begins to walk away. “I’m gonna go now…”
“W-wait, Mumei!”
The owl doesn’t look back and continues to walk, “Stick around when everyone leaves the building… Maybe something will happen.”
Since Mumei refuses to answer anything else, Fauna decides to heed her advice and stays in the council building for a while longer after everyone leaves. One day, when she manages to talk to Kronii longer than normal, unfortunately when she tries to apologize, Kronii simply runs away after telling her off. Strangely enough, she once again hears her voice at random times while working, but she can’t find anyone when she tries to look. This only adds to her depression, so she slowly paces alone around the office with a sad look on her face.
Suddenly, she receives a DM from Mumei.
Pay attention
…To what?
After walking a little more, Fauna starts hearing something from a room close by. It sounds like Kronii’s voice. She carefully walks towards the half-open door. She can see Kronii lying on a sofa covering her face with a pillow and a very annoyed Mumei reading a book on the couch right next to her.
She knows it’s wrong to eavesdrop, but since Mumei told her to do it, she tries to pay more attention...
“Uuuugggghhhhhhhhh… Mumeiiiiiiiiiiiii…”
“…What is it” She’s half paying attention to her friend’s breakdown. Kronii starts kicking the sofa.
“I screwed up again…”
She flips over a page, not reacting at all. “Wow, again? I can’t believe it”
Fauna covers her face trying to not giggle. You could almost feel the sarcasm emanating from the owl.
Kronii doesn’t notice this and keeps going. “I wanted to talk to her more… But then she tried to apologize for something that… SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING IT WAS JUST ME… And I just… AHHHH”
Fauna stares at her, any thoughts of laughing disappeared. She didn’t do anything wrong? Then what…
“I keep doing this… Why am I like this…?”
Mumei looks at her for a second, then goes back to her book, “I dunno, Kronii, if only you were better at talking.”
“I KNOW.”
She rambles for some time, Fauna keeps listening, with a softened expression, at least she doesn’t hate her.
“Thank you for listening, Mumei…”
Mumei rolls her eyes. “No problem Kronii, I don’t mind getting kidnapped when I’m trying to take a nap in my home only to be carried all the way back to the office.”
“I’m sorry…”
Just as she apologizes, Mumei finishes reading. She loudly closes the book and sighs. “Can’t you just take me to your place? Or better yet just stay at mine since you just barge in like you own it, and it would save me the hassle.” Kronii finally lifts her head from the pillow, her face is covered in snot and tears.
Even though she looks like a complete mess, Fauna still finds her cute.
“First of all...”
Mumei makes an exasperated sigh just as Kronii starts talking, knowing full well the kind of explanation the Warden is about to give.
“...I’m not letting anyone in my place, and second of all, I’m not staying in anyone’s place uninvited, that's simply too rude and I'm the nicest Warden justignorethekidnapping.”
The owl looks at the ceiling, “Man, that’s craaazy. You’re not letting anyone go to your home? Reaaaaaally?” Mumei leans in and gives her a smug smile, which makes her start blushing.
“Okay, well, maybe ONE p-person if… if she doesn’t mind.” She can’t handle it and covers her face again.
“Imagine if you could just say that to her, wouldn’t that be nice.” Just as she says that she turns to the door, staring at Fauna. She waves at her.
Now what does that mean?
“…I know… I-I’ll try to talk more next time.” Kronii tries to clean her face and gets up. Fauna backs away from the door so she can’t see her.
“B-but, if I screw up again, then…” She looks at Mumei with puppy eyes, she gives her a reassuring smile.
“It’s fine, I’m absolutely thrilled to hear you talk about your problems with your secret crush for the millionth time.”
…Secret crush? Could that…?
Fauna’s eyes widen.
“Thank you… It’s just… she’s just too cute, you know?” Mumei regrets saying anything and grabs another book.
“Here we go…”
Kronii begins to pace around the room, “Her voice that can melt all your worries, the silly jokes she cracks, the pout she makes when you refuse her pampering…” Fauna can feel her face turning hotter.
Mumei refuses to look at Kronii now, she just continues to read, “Yeah, yeah, I know…”
Kronii sits back down, her expression has softened. “She’s not just cute though, she’s also beautiful…” She smiles, clearly thinking about the kirin, “Her hair… I love the green but that time she showed me it can change color… The orange took my breath away…” Fauna’s starting to feel dizzy, while Kronii keeps smiling to herself and Mumei is halfway through her book “And that smile that tells you everything will be all right…” She sighs, “I wish she could pamper me more”
Mumei stops reading to interject, “She literally offered yesterday”
“I didn’t wanna be a bother…”
Mumei steals a glance at Fauna again, “No I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded.”
Kronii grins again, “I know… she’s just so nice…”
Fauna can’t deal with this anymore; she can almost feel like she’s about to pass out from the compliments. More specifically, compliments from THAT Ouro Kronii, the one who’s been trying to avoid her this entire time. She runs away covering her face heading straight home. Kronii thinks she could smell the scent of flowers but decides to ignore it just to keep talking about Fauna. Mumei hopes she can go back home soon.
That night, Fauna still hasn’t recovered from what she witnessed, she fervently pampers her cats to try to calm down. Clover is pretty much done with her, so he tries to get away from her. “Cloveeeerr…” While Fauna tries to put him back on her lap, her phone rings.
It’s Mumei. She’s not sure what she even wants to talk about now, but she can’t stop herself from picking up.
“H-hello, Mumei?”
“Did you enjoy the show from your dearest?”
“NO! What were you thinking showing that to me???”
She can hear Mumei sigh in frustration, “Fauna… she’s been like this… FOR SO LONG… I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE.” Fauna has to lean away from the phone because of how loud the owl is getting.
“And what do you want me to do? She’s just gonna run away again no matter what!”
“I DON’T CARE JUST DO SOMETHING, PLEASE.”
“…Uuuuuu, let me think some more…”
Since Mumei called, they keep talking about other things, trying to distract themselves from the problem. At the end, they can’t help but talk about their awkward Warden again.
“You do like her, right?” Mumei can’t see her, but Fauna covers her face anyways.
“…Yes…”
“Then PLEASE do it.”
“Uuuuuuuuuu…”
They hang up and Fauna rolls around in her bed, mulling over Kronii. “…If I just outright say it, she won’t believe it.” Self-deprecation is quite the obstacle. “Uuuuuu…. But if we keep going like this, Mumei won’t be able to survive…” She frowns and gets up. “I’ll just… try to get her attention another way.”
On the council meeting, Fauna encounters Kronii before meeting the others. “Kroniichiwa, Kronii!” Fauna gets closer than normal to the awkward clock; she can’t help but try to back away.
“H-hi Fauna…”
“It’s cold today, isn’t it?” It’s still winter after all.
“Um… A little bit”
“Then, how about we try something?”
Before Kronii could react, Fauna hugs her arm, “I bet we’ll be a bit warmer like thi—” She hears fingers snap, “Oh!" She almost falls, Kronii stopped time and ran to the others.
“Uuuuuu…” Fauna’s mad now.
During the council meeting Fauna takes another chance to grab her and refuses to let go. Kronii can’t escape this time. Mumei gets a good laugh out of Kronii’s face and thinking about what’s going through her mind right now, what is happening why is she doing this she’s so cute right now and another hundred thoughts, probably. Kronii somehow manages to respond to whatever inquiries that come up in the meeting, even with Fauna deciding to lay her head on her shoulder.
Kronii thinks she’s finally free when it’s lunch time. Too bad for her, Fauna has other plans.
“No veggies again, Kronii?” Fauna’s staring at her plate, just meat.
“…You already know what I think about them.”
She frowns and brings out her own lunch. “Here, no stopping time.” She offers what Kronii considers poison.
“F-Fauna, please—”
“Ahhh…”
She can’t say no to her, she reluctantly closes her eyes, opens her mouth and chews as fast as possible. When she opens her eyes, she sees Fauna giving her a big smile, “Thank you~.”
Kronii blushes a little. “N-no problem, now I’d like to—”
“Now here’s your reward!”
She’s now holding a piece of meat. “Say ahhhh~.”
Kronii’s stunned for a few seconds, then attempts to obey Fauna again. Just as the kirin gets closer, the clock can’t take it anymore and disappears. She took her lunch with her, too.
“…Uuuuuu…”
Mumei tries to chime in. “I think that was too much.”
Fauna pouts at her. “I’m not giving up…”
She gets up and tries to look for her. Mumei rolls her eyes, “Guess I’d better just stay here instead of going home...”
Fauna can’t find that girl with hair vents anywhere, though at times she can feel a certain kind of warmth enveloping her. Eventually she gives up and goes back to eat with Mumei. Continuing the council meeting, Kronii does show up, but Fauna doesn’t try to do anything now. Feeling dejected, she doesn’t really pay attention to the rest of the meeting, though she does feel someone staring at her at times.
Later that night, she receives another message from Mumei.
She tried to hug you.
Well, that’s the reason for the warmth.
I think it’s kind of working? She didn’t keep me around for that long.
Fauna types back. That’s nice, I’m glad my embarrassment is helping you…
Hey, I’m rooting for you!
While she still feels the sting from Kronii going as far as stopping time to get away from her, the kirin doesn’t think about giving up.
She keeps trying to tease Kronii, suddenly giving her a hug, offering her more food, scooting over right next to her while playing games, the more things she tries, the more Kronii’s brain short circuits. As much as Fauna says it’s embarrassing, getting to show Kronii how much she loves her has become very enjoyable. Unfortunately, it’s still not enough to get through to her.
“She still thinks it isn’t serious.” Mumei gives her usual report to Fauna, she covers her face, “Or at least she really doesn’t think you actually like her.”
“…Does she not notice I’m only doing this kind of thing with her…?”
Mumei pats her back, feeling a bit happy she finally has someone to share the pain of Kronii’s awkwardness with, “She refuses to acknowledge it… She also keeps me around for like 10 minutes at best, now. She’s too scared.”
“Uuuu….”
She sits down and stares at the ceiling, thinking.
“You’re going to have to do something more direct.”
“…Let me think a bit…”
They both try to brainstorm ideas that would make the clock realize how Fauna feels, to no avail. Everything they think of ends with Kronii stopping time and running away.
“…Stopping time, huh?”
Mumei looks at her, “Did you figure something out?” Just as she asks this, she can see how Fauna’s slowly blushing more and more.
“I… I’m gonna try something I’ll probably regret”
“Since it’s like that, I’ll at least make sure you’re alone.”
Fauna manages to give her a smile, “Thanks, Mumei.”
Fauna finds Kronii sulking around a hallway, she moves as silently as possible to get closer. Just as she’s about to turn around, she hugs her from behind.
“F-FAUNA?!”
Kronii tries to escape but Fauna won’t let go. She notices her raising her hand and she grabs it.
She whispers in Kronii’s ear. “If you stop time, I’ll hate you forever.”
The threat worked, she slowly lowers her hand, “W-what is it, Fauna?”
She begins to lead her to a room.
“We need to talk.”
She makes her go to the couch and she sits beside her, as much as Fauna’s blushing, it doesn’t compare to how beet red Kronii is, “D-do you… hate me?”
Fauna’s taken aback to such a question, “Why would I ever hate you, Kronii?”
She bites her lip, trying to find the words to say. “I… I dunno, I’ve been so rude to you recently…”
Fauna holds her hand, “It’s okay, I know you never meant to be rude.” Kronii seems surprised by this, “That’s just part of what makes you so cute, Kro— Noooooooo…"
Just as she says that she immediately grabs Kronii’s other hand, already preparing to stop time.
“That threat is still there, you know?”
She pouts and lowers it again, now realizing she’s holding both of Fauna’s hands. “This is nice, right?” She looks at her, the blush is still there but there’s also a beautiful smile.
“…It is.”
Kronii takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
“Something wrong?”
She lets go of Fauna’s hands and leans in to give her a hug. “…I’m sorry.”
Fauna almost feels like crying, Kronii’s finally reciprocating. She embraces her as well, in a much tighter hug. “I’ll forgive you if we can stay like this for a little while longer.” They can’t help but smile from feeling each other’s warmth.
Once Fauna’s satisfied, they slowly get separated, until Kronii nuzzles up against Fauna’s chest.
“K-Kronii?”
She looks up to her, “Can you pamper me a little more?” The cute clock manages to make the kirin’s heart skip a beat.
“Of course I can, silly.”
Fauna lies down with Kronii still on top of her, and she begins her “treatment”. She strokes Kronii’s hair and caresses her back. “There, there…” Kronii closes her eyes and lets herself go.
“I’m so happy I can finally do this.”
“…I’m sorry…” She’s probably going to keep apologizing, huh.
“Hmmm… Maybe I can really forgive you if you do something else.”
Kronii lifts herself up to face her, “W-what can I do?”
Fauna closes her eyes.
“Be honest.”
She can almost hear Kronii’s heart about to burst out of her chest, this might have been too much for her. Just as she thinks about stopping all of this, she can feel Kronii lean in again. She can feel Kronii’s hair on her face, making her giggle.
“Hey…”
“It’s ticklish!” She can’t help but laugh a bit with her. This helps calm her down more.
“Keep your eyes closed, okay?”
“Mm-hmm.” Fauna wonders what she’s going to do.
Then she feels something pressing on her lips.
Is she touching them? No, this doesn’t feel like her fingers… Then what is it? Fauna slowly opens her eyes and sees Kronii right in front of her with her own eyes closed. She’s so shocked she can’t move; not like she wants to move right now anyways. Kronii slowly gets up and looks at the kirin; she realizes she’s blushing way more than before.
“…I thought I told you to close your eyes.”
Fauna covers her mouth with her hands, “I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that…”
“You did ask me to be honest…”
They awkwardly stay like that for a little while, remembering how each other’s lips felt. It’s becoming too much for Kronii to be on top of Fauna, so she tries to get up. Fauna grabs her and pulls her back down.
“Can I get another one?”
“A-another?” Kronii’s voice begins to tremble, but Fauna doesn’t want this to stop. She closes her eyes again and puckers her lips. Kronii can’t resist and leans in once more. This time, Fauna embraces her while kissing, surprising the clock a little.
After the second kiss, Fauna giggles, “Your lips are so soft, Kronii.” Her awkward partner looks away, “Y-yours too…”
Kronii tries to move away, but the kirin pulls her down again, now putting her face on her chest.
“F-Fauna?”
“Shhh, shhh…”
She strokes her head again, “Can you hear that?” Kronii tries to pay attention, and notices Fauna’s heart. It’s beating really fast. “You’re not the only one who’s nervous, you know?” This reassurance is enough to calm Kronii down and she once again nuzzles up against the kirin, she responds by softly kissing her head.
After being pampered some more, they both sit up and try to talk, as awkward as it is right now. While chatting, Kronii tries to move her hand closer to Fauna’s, she notices and holds it. The clock slowly looks down while talking and stares at their hands, she giggles a little and smiles. Fauna can’t help but do the same, Kronii’s face is just too cute and innocent.
“Um… So, we’re uh… we’re a couple now?”
Perfect timing for that question, Kronii.
Fauna squeezes her hand, “I’m not sure, Kronii”
This answer shocks her and she stares at her horned partner, “W-what do you mean?”
Fauna pouts, “Aren’t you supposed to say something?”
Kronii’s eyes grow wider and the blush returns, “U-um… I don’t know if I even deserve yo—"
Fauna can’t believe she’s still not going to do it, “Kroniiiii…” She leans in with a frown added to the pout.
“I…”
Kronii takes a deep breath.
“I really like you, Fauna.”
The pout disappears and is replaced with a smile, she hugs her cute clock. “I like you too, Kronii!” She breaths a sigh of relief and embraces Fauna as well.
“I can’t believe you had to kiss me twice before confessing.” Fauna giggles again, adding to Kronii’s embarrassment, “I’m sorryyyyy…” Fauna kisses Kronii’s cheek, “It’s fiiine~.”
The kiss freezes Kronii, making her fall over. Now Fauna’s the one on top.
“Hmmm, this is nice too.” Fauna leans in and kisses Kronii again, this time on her forehead. “I’m really happy I can do this now.”
Kronii can barely react, “N-now?”
Fauna holds Kronii’s face and kisses her on the lips, “You’re not the only one who had a secret crush, Kronii~.”
The clock covers her face, to try to hide her reaction, “R-really?”
“Well how would you know if you don’t look at me?”
She grabs her hands and moves them away. Kronii stares at her eyes, she can tell they’re full of love.
“I’ll… try to be more honest.”
This answer satisfies Fauna, and she lays her head on her chest, “You better...” She looks up at her, “No more time stopping, too.” Kronii looks away again.
“I’ll think about it…”
The next council meeting, they arrive while holding hands. This doesn’t shock anyone, “W-wait, you all knew already?” They nod but still congratulate the pair.
“You’re literally the only ones who didn’t know.” The idiot couple blushes and looks down, they don’t let go of their hands though.
Mumei walks up to them, “Kronii, please tell me I’m not going to have to deal with your ramblings again…”
Kronii’s blush turns up to 11 “GWAK, I T-TOLD YOU NOT TO SA—”
Fauna interrupts her, “Well~, I don’t know what you mean by ramblings, but I’m sure Kronii will talk to me if something happens, right?” She holds her arm and leans on her, “Y-yeah.” She tries to make a serious face, but everyone can tell how happy she is.
Fauna looks up to her, she’s just as happy as Kronii. “I hope you can keep being honest” she whispers.
“What?” Kronii didn’t hear so Fauna tightens her hug.
“Nothing~.”
Unsure on what to do, Kronii tries to pat her head. She gives her a smile in return.
This is fine for now, little steps every day. Fauna can be as patient as needed, she has time by her side now after all.
t. Nameronii
Source for the art used: https://twitter.com/Legz0s/status/1463897142376886281
And thank you to Dat for the amazing art:
https://twitter.com/hikigaya_0926_/status/1483061115915767813
And also to @lakedodlz: https://twitter.com/lakedodlz/status/1483753403914366993?