Chapter Text
— April, 2015
Hitoka was quick to give up on her quest to remember if Kiyoko looked nervous during her confession. Her own memory was clouded in sapphic panic and internal screaming that she could barely remember any of the small details. She did wish she caught Kiyoko looking shy at least once, though.
As much as they wanted to stay in the cafe until the end of the day or continue their date elsewhere, it was still the middle of their school week and both women had assignments to work on. In fact, Hitoka’s group mates had started their meeting already but had allowed Hitoka to join them after her date. Kiyoko’s group mates were less forgiving but at least their meetings were online so Kiyoko could sit through them in the comfort of her own home.
“Speaking of that night we started dating,” Kiyoko began with a smile as she stood up from her seat and picked up their tray. “Do you remember how you, quite literally, ran away after kissing me?”
“Stop!” Hitoka poked Kiyoko’s arm but it caused the cups on the tray to shake so she stopped. “You don’t need to remind me of that! That was so embarrassing! I can’t believe I did that!”
“Neither can I. The girl I confessed to kissed me on the cheek and ran away before I could say anything.”
“I’m sorry! Kiyoko-saaan!”
Hitoka wrapped her arms around Kiyoko’s arm after she placed the tray down on the counter. The two of them walked out of the cafe with Hitoka hanging off Kiyoko’s arm and Kiyoko chuckling at Hitoka’s reaction.
After they both got home that night, Kiyoko received a very long apology text from Hitoka about how she ran off but that she would never do it again, she was just so shy . Kiyoko still had that text message saved, she found it very cute and read it whenever she needed a pick-me-up.
“I don’t do that anymore!”
“Only because you’ve gotten used to it by now.”
“... Maybe.”
Kiyoko glanced to her side and leaned down to drop a kiss on Hitoka’s forehead. “Cute.”
Outside, Hitoka leaned away from Kiyoko and glanced at the clock on the wall. She had told her group that she was going to meet them an hour from then so she still had some free time. Kiyoko, on the other hand, had to start making her way to her dorm if she wanted to be on time.
“Could I walk you back to your dorm, Kiyoko-san?”
“Sure. The weather looks a little better, it’ll be nice for us to go on a walk. You could even leave your wet clothes with me and I’ll throw it in the dryer.”
“Great!” Hitoka reached down to slip her hand in Kiyoko’s and tugged forward. “Let’s go!”
Hitoka started to walk almost as though she had a pep in her step but Kiyoko recognized it as Hitoka simply on a mild sugar rush; it even explained how Hitoka casually grabbed Kiyoko’s hand as though it was no big deal for her.
One of Kiyoko’s favourite things was Hitoka on a sugar rush. She seemed brighter than the sun and most of her social awkwardness would disappear, leaving a very energetic and bubbly Hitoka that loved to cling onto Kiyoko. They did not have that much sugar earlier so Hitoka’s sugar rush was not a very strong one that evening.
The walk to Kiyoko’s dorm was shorter than the two of them would have liked. Kiyoko was half tempted to skip her meeting and to convince Hitoka to skip hers, but both of them were honour roll students and she could not jeopardise Hitoka’s status just because she wanted to continue on with their date. Kiyoko would just have to hold out until the weekend.
Outside Kiyoko’s door, Hitoka was digging through her bag to pass her the clothes she had soaked in the rain. Unlike her own dorm, Kiyoko’s dorm had a dryer and Hitoka loved to take advantage of that.
While waiting for Hitoka to dig through her bag, Kiyoko simply watched her girlfriend and found the way Hitoka’s eyebrows scrunched up when she was focused on something absolutely adorable. Everytime Hitoka used to do it, Kiyoko had always wanted to smooth down the lines with her thumb or with a kiss but held herself back. This time, she had no reason to.
Without saying a word, Kiyoko leaned forward to kiss the space between Hitoka’s eyebrows and smoothed it down afterwards.
“Wh—Why did you do that?”
“No reason. I just thought you looked really cute.” Kiyoko leaned on the doorway with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “Plus, it’s our monthsary. I couldn’t let you go home without a kiss.”
“D—Does this mean I need to kiss you too?”
“Only if you want to, Hitoka-chan.” Kiyoko’s expression softened. “I would never want you to feel like you have to do something when you aren’t ready for it.”
“I want to…” Hitoka admitted and took a deep breath before collecting herself and looked up into Kiyoko’s eyes. “Is that okay?
“Of course that’s okay, Hitoka-chan.” Kiyoko pushed herself off the doorframe and opened up her arms for the younger woman. “Come here.”
Placing her bag on the floor, Hitoka stepped forward and let Kiyoko place her hands on her hips; Hitoka’s own hands awkwardly settled on Kiyoko’s shoulders.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“If I’m okay with my girlfriend kissing me? Absolutely.”
Hitoka blushed at the way Kiyoko was joking around but it did keep her nerves at bay so she appreciated it. Tip-toeing, Hitoka placed a gentle kiss on Kiyoko’s cheek but unlike their previous exchanges, Hitoka did not shyly step back once she was done. Instead, she seemed to hover in place.
“Hitoka-chan?”
Kiyoko turned her head to look at Hitoka and see if she was okay, only for Hitoka to lean in one more time but this time, she captured Kiyoko’s lips instead of her cheek. It was so quick that Kiyoko did not even have time to close her eyes and hold Hitoka closer before Hitoka pulled back and stepped away from her.
“Hitoka-chan…”
“Happy monthsary, Kiyoko-san” Hitoka squeezed the hand she was still holding. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.”
“So have I.” Kiyoko couldn't stop the silly smile that was growing on her face, or the way her other hand reached up to touch her own face. “Ah, damn. I can’t believe we both have to rush off for a school project. I’d love to invite you in so we can try that again.”
Hitoka went through various shades of red and Kiyoko was very interested in what the other woman had been imagining, but decided not to rile her up further. She knew it took Hitoka a lot of courage to do what she did in the first place, she did not want to make her feel embarrassed.
“I’ll come by on the weekend.”
“Perfect. It’s a date.”
“It’s a date.