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“Your form is off again! Raise your elbow another few degrees.”
“R-right! Sorry.”
How many times had Takumi corrected her now? It had only been an hour and Corrin had already begun to lose count. Slowly, shakily, she adjusted her arm as directed and sharpened her focus on the target several yards away. Against the protest of her aching muscles, Corrin draws back the bowstring to full tautness. After taking a breath, she lets the arrow fly…
Only for it to hit a pedestrian.
“My leg!!”
“Oh gods. Sorry!”
Takumi, in either disappointment or exasperation (or perhaps a mix of both), rested his head in his hand and heaved a heavy sigh. “Alright, give me that. I’ll show you again, so pay close attention.”
“Sorry, Takumi,” Corrin said, somewhat dejectedly. She hands the bow over to the archer before plopping cross-legged onto the grass. “I haven’t exactly been a model student lately. Do you think maybe we should call it a day? I’ve been kind of...distracted lately.”
“Well you’d better shape up, because we still got another half hour before our lesson is done. Don’t forget you’re the one who asked for my help. Now watch carefully.” Takumi nocked an arrow before assuming the proper stance.”The key is to use your back muscles to draw the bowstring rather than your biceps, and-”
“A-about that, Takumi, I was hoping you could help me with something else today! With the distraction thing...not...archery….” Gods, that didn’t come out nearly as smoothly as she wanted. Corrin could already feel her cheeks burning in embarrassment.
Takumi lowered his bow and looked over at his sister, eyebrow cocked and disapproving frown ever present. A moment passed, then two, and Corrin fidgeted uncomfortably under his scrutiny as well as his silence.
“W-well? Are you going to hear me out or not?”
“...Gods, fine.” After some hesitation, Takumi abandons his bow and joins his sister on the grass. “But make it quick, I’ve got other stuff I need to do, you know.”
Corrin started as Takumi plops onto the ground beside her, and internally scrambled for the least embarrassing chain of words possible. “So um, I was hoping you could...advise me on something?”
“On…?”
Corrin shifted uncomfortably at her brother’s expectant tone. “W-well, there's someone I like and-”
“Oh, that? You know, if you like Azura so much, you should just tell her and be done with it.”
Corrin’s face instantly flushed and contorted into one of shock. She didn’t know which was more mortifying: the fact that Takumi had already known of her hopeless infatuation, or his brazen nonchalance. Gods, had she really been so obvious?
“Wh-? How did-?” Corrin floundered desperately for words. Meanwhile, Takumi had become increasingly interested in the dirt under his fingernails.
“You’re not exactly subtle. You’re always wearing this doofy smile whenever you’re together lately, and I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Takumi was very matter-of-fact with his statement, as if Corrin’s feelings were the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s also the way you stare at her backside whenever-”
“O-okay! I get it! You don’t need to go into that much detail. ” The heat in Corrin’s cheeks threatened to ignite her entire face at this point; being told she acted like what was essentially a lovesick schoolgirl around Azura didn’t do much her confidence, either.
Takumi simply shrugged. “I’m just telling it like I see it. Anyways, you said you wanted my help right?”
“Yes, please. Oddly enough, you’re one of the few people with whom I feel I can be open about this sort of thing.” Corrin would sooner perform an acrobatic pirouette off the top of Castle Krakenburg before she ever discussed her love life with Leo or Ryoma, or - gods forbid - Camilla. Takumi contemplated her words briefly before nodding in understanding.
“Alright, I get it. So, what, you want me to give you some ideas on how to ‘confess your true feelings’ or something like that?”
Corrin gave her most earnest nod. “Yes, it seems I’m at a loss on how to broach the subject to her in a tactful way. Do you think I should just go for it and ask her out for tea or something?” Corrin bristled at the thought of a more direct approach. Surely a woman as fine as Azura deserved better than to be solicited like that; and besides, what if Azura misunderstood her intentions? What if she had agreed to meet her only to think of it as nothing more than a simple outing between friends?
Takumi, as if somehow sensing Corrin's apprehension, frowned slightly. “Sister, I seriously think you're overthinking things just a tad.”
Perhaps he was right. With a groan, Corrin laid back and sprawled out on the grass, which she noted was still slightly damp from the morning dew. She couldn’t bring herself to particularly care at the moment, however.
“Okay then, since I am obviously not in the right mindstate to not be overthinking things, what do you suggest?”
“Er, well..,” Takumi began. There then came a brief silence between them, with only the breeze and the distant chirping of birds as backdrop for the archer’s contemplation. As if in deep thought (or as though to appear in deep thought), Takumi furrowed his brow and scratched his chin before continuing. “Think of it this way: romance is like…uh…”
Takumi quickly scanned the field in front of him for something, anything really, to adapt into a coherent - or at least believable - allegory. There was no way he was going to admit he hadn’t the faintest idea of what romance is like, either; especially not when Corrin herself was already under the impression that he was someone she could come to on such matters. His eyes came upon a snail, a discarded milk bottle, and a stray bird feather before settling on the forgotten practice bow a few feet away.
“Like archery! Yup, the trick is definitely to think of Azura in terms of archery.” Takumi could feel beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead.
“Uh...Archery?” Corrin sat upright and gave her brother a quizzical look.
“Yeah, archery!” Takumi attempted a confident smile, hoping it didn’t look cheesy enough to rouse Corrin’s doubt. Gesturing to the long abandoned target from their lesson, he continued: “You see that target from earlier? Imagine that’s Azura, and try to think of your feelings as an arrow. ”
“Uh-huh…” Corrin’s expression was difficult to read.
“You just gotta, you know-” Takumi gestured vaguely. “-make the depth of your love obvious! The best way to do that is to make your feelings fly straight and true, and head on towards your target. There’s no doubt she’ll be so moved that there’s no way she could say no to such a passionate confession!” Or something.
Corrin said nothing, but looked pensive at the archer’s words. Takumi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“So yeah, uh, you basically just pull back on the bowstring of your love, and let all that pent up tension fling itself at full force. Pretty simple right?”
More silence; it was Takumi’s turn to shift uncomfortably. Just as he thought to make up some other spiel, Corrin spoke, slow and soft.
“Takumi, that might just be-”
“Y-yeah I guess that was kind of-”
“The smartest advice you’ve ever given me! Oh, thank you so much! I know exactly what I need to do now.”
“Whuh-?”
Before Takumi could even process her words, he became trapped in a crushing embrace from his newly emboldened sister. The archer sputtered and squirmed in confusion, but to no avail, and he cursed himself for being so wise.
Before he knew it, Corrin leapt to her feet and bolted off. To where, Takumi didn’t know, but he could guess, and he only hoped she wouldn’t do anything to humiliate herself.
Corrin could only think about two things: Azura, and running as fast as her legs could carry her. Because clearly that was what Takumi had meant right? ‘ Fly straight and true,’ as he put it. ‘Let your tension fling itself at full force.’ Even now the words echoed inside her mind, like some kind of frantic prayer as she was now rapidly approaching the songstress. There was only one way to interpret such advice: crashing into your love with every ounce of your strength, your soul, your passion is the surest way your feelings will be communicated clearly, and to the fullest extent of their depth. She had no idea Takumi could be so poetic, really; she would have to thank him once this was over. For now though, Corrin estimated she had about six seconds before she collided with Azura, who was strolling casually along the lakeside and still unaware of her impending impact with the other princess.
Those were six seconds Corrin could not afford to waste.
“Azuraaa!! Hey!!” Against the will of her burning lungs, Corrin cried out to her love in the hopes to get her attention. It worked, though there was obvious confusion etched onto her features. What mattered though, was that she was looking in Corrin’s direction! Were her heart rate not already elevated from sprinting, it certainly would have lept from giddiness. With renewed vigor, Corrin kicked her already aching legs into overdrive, and rushed towards Azura with all of her might.
“Corrin? What on earth are y- OOF! ”
All at once, Azura felt the wind knocked out of her, and crashed to the ground with Corrin in a painful tangle of limbs. The sheer blunt force of the impact left her disoriented, though she was given not a moment to regain her senses before Corrin scrambled to her hands and knees and began shouting like a madwoman.
“AZURA! I REALLY LIKE YOU A LOT AND WAS HOPING WE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE MORE THAN A FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN US!!! WHAT DO YOU SAY??”
As the last words left Corrin’s lips, her situation had slowly began to dawn on her. The familiar burn of embarrassment flushed her cheeks once again, and she had suddenly become very conscious of the aches in her legs and chest. Beneath her sweaty, panting form lied Azura, who was still visibly recoiling from the assault on both her ears and body. A brief meeting of their eyes made Corrin jerk back onto her heels.
“Dear gods, Azura, I am so -”
“Corrin! What in the gods’ name has gotten into you?! Ngh...” Azura's attempt to sit upright was met with dull pain from her bruised arm.
Corrin's first impulse was to help Azura onto her feet. Weak mutters of ‘ sorry, sorry ’ tumbled out of Corrin's breath as she brushed the dirt and sand off of a still wincing Azura.
“Thank you. Now would you mind telling me why you just tackled me to the ground?”
“Er, w-well, I just- Oh gods, how can I salvage this ...” Corrin’s legs turned to jelly under Azura’s cool gaze. She wondered how much dirt it would take to bury herself. Her every instinct screamed at her to dart, but Corrin ultimately figured she might as well go the full mile, so to speak. “Gods, I’m sorry, Azura. I got the idea from Takumi.”
Azura’s expression softened from one of serene anger into one of doubt. “Takumi told you to charge me out of nowhere? Really, Corrin?”
“Yeah! I mean, at least I’m pretty sure he did. I just…” Corrin ran a hand through her sweat-soaked hair, and mustered every bit of remaining courage. “I asked Takumi for advice on how to ask you out and he gave me some archery metaphor, and I guess I took it as meaning that I shouldrunintoyouatfullspeedand-”
“Pfft…”
“Whuh?” From her trembling shoulders to the dainty hand covering her mouth, Corrin could tell that Azura was clearly trying (and failing,) to suppress her amusement. Shouldn’t she be furious? Why was she laughing?
“Pfftth hahaha! Oh goodness, Corrin, did you truly take romantic advice from Takumi of all people?”
“Uh...Yes?”
More suppressed giggles staggered out of Azura as she closed the distance between herself and Corrin, the latter of whom took a cautious step back from her approacher.
Azura reached for the other princess’ clammy hand in a reassuring gesture. “Corrin, please. It’s fine.” A gentle smile played on her lips.
Corrin could feel the pink tinge in her features flare up once again, but this time out of nervous excitement rather than shame. Azura was too close, too close , and she could only stare dumbly as a soft hand rested upon her cheek. The midday sun was suddenly much too hot for her liking. “..It is?”
“Yes. Though I would rather you have taken a slightly different approach, I’m glad you sought me out today.”
“Y-you are? I mean, does that mean you-?”
“Yes, Corrin, I’m quite fond of you as well.” Azura then stroked Corrin’s flushed cheek with a thumb, and the mere tenderness of her touch was enough to send flutters into the pit of her stomach. “Your kindness and sincerity are your greatest gifts, and I want to be the one to treasure those gifts. Even at the cost of a few bruised ribs.” Azura punctuated her confession with a soft chuckle at her own joke.
Without thinking, Corrin pulled her in for an embrace. Her arms wrapped firmly, yet lovingly around the songstress, who squeaked in surprise at the sudden gesture but ultimately reciprocated in full. A soft ‘ thank you ’ was whispered into the crook of Azura’s neck before they eventually pulled apart, with only their interlocking fingers connecting them.
Corrin, still feeling bashful from their moment together, piped up. “Heheh, all’s well that ends well I guess. Maybe we should ask Takumi were to go on our first date!”
“....Maybe we should just go out for tea.”