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Kizana had always been one for extravagancy. Vaguely, Aoi wondered just how much money she’d spent on this – the decorations lining the walls; the now-half-eaten dishes scattered across every table. It felt too lavish even for a graduation party.
All around her, fellow students swayed drunkenly to the music, several of them almost bumping into her. Why had she come here? She felt out-of-place to say the least – she hadn’t even brought formal clothes for the occasion, earning a distasteful sniff from the hostess at the door. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she headed directly for the stairs.
There was only one person here she could feel relaxed around.
Students flooded the staircase, all babbling incomprehensibly. Nudging students aside and ducking away from a few flailing arms, Aoi trudged up the steps, narrowly avoiding a martial arts club member as he bowled down to the first floor.
Even the landing teemed with her classmates. Aoi rolled her eyes and slipped through the crowd to the next flight of stairs, snorting in disgust when she came across Pippi and Ryuto blocking the way.
“Hey, lovebirds. Move it. Some of us are trying to get back downstairs.”
Yui had taken the words right out of her mouth, glaring down at the couple with a drink in one hand. Amongst much blushing and stammering out apologies, Pippi and Ryuto moved aside, allowing her to step down.
“Can’t believe they finally got past their awkwardness.” Aoi snorted.
“Yeah, people are making out all over the place in here. It’s gross.” Yui thought for a moment. “But I guess it makes sense. For a lot of people, this could be their last chance.”
“…I guess.” Aoi coughed awkwardly, turning to head up the stairs.
Yui’s face split into a grin. “Ooh, is that why you’re going upstairs?”
“What? No!”
“Sure, sure. Have fun up there. And don’t go too crazy or Kizana will kill you.” Giggling, Yui turned and scurried back downstairs.
“Fuck off, Yui!”
The next flight of stairs led directly into the attic. Few students had come up here: only a handful sat huddled in the corner, taking no notice of her.
Aoi stared up at the skylight. Someone had already propped it open – with a knocked-over stepladder beneath it – and she had a good guess as to who it was. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
The stepladder creaked noisily as she picked it back up, attracting the gazes of the group in the corner. They murmured amongst themselves, watching her climb up and out of the skylight. She ignored them.
The first thing Aoi noticed was how much colder it was up here. Shivering and pulling her hoodie more tightly around herself, she peered around the darkened rooftop.
There. A lone girl sat perched on the ridge with a bottle of hot sauce – presumably stolen from Kizana’s fridge – dangling from one hand. Aoi smiled. “I figured I’d find you up here.”
“I figured you’d come up here eventually.” Shiromi grinned and poked Aoi’s side. “Nice to see I’m not the only one who didn’t bring some fancy dress.”
Aoi shrugged, taking a seat beside her. “I guess I just didn’t care enough.”
“Same here.”
The stars blinked in the sky above them, the only light aside from the moon. Aoi sighed and leaned back against the roof. Beside her, Shiromi took another drink of hot sauce.
“So… I guess we’re graduating soon.”
“Uh-huh.” Aoi kept her gaze firmly on the sky.
Shiromi turned toward her. “Think we’ll see each other again afterwards?”
Aoi’s heart skipped a beat. There was the thought she’d been pushing out of her head all night – what if they never met again? Sure, they’d keep in touch for a while, just as they had with Akane and Kuroko. But now, those two contacted them less and less as their hectic college lives overtook them.
For a lot of people, this could be their last chance.
Why were Yui’s words coming back to her now?
“…I dunno. Hope so.” Aoi turned away, pretending to examine something in the distance. A feeling she couldn’t place boiled in the pit of her stomach. Anxiety? But why? She’d already been accepted into the college she wanted to go to – what was there to worry about?
“Yeah… me too.” Shiromi turned away and raised the bottle to her lips again.
Aoi peered at Shiromi out of the corner of her eye. Two years ago, when they’d first earned their respective places on the council, Aoi hadn’t liked her much. She wasn’t sure when she’d started to warm up to her: it had happened so gradually, Aoi hadn’t even noticed. That, and the fact that neither of them had many other close friends in the school, had led to them sticking together for most of the past year.
But she knew deep down that it wouldn’t stick. Shiromi would drift away as time went on, just as Kuroko and Akane had. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Rarely did Aoi find a person she didn’t want to leave.
Shiromi glanced at her. “Is there something you need to get off your chest?”
“What? No. Why?”
“You just seem nervous.”
Aoi remained silent for a long moment. “I guess… it’s a big deal. Going to college and stuff.” She sat up, keeping her eyes on that distant point she’d been staring at. She took a deep breath. “I… well…” What was she even going to say? She didn’t know. Damn it, she’d come up here to relax – why was this making her so nervous?
Shiromi finally broke the silence. “Yeah. It is. It’s like our whole lives are gonna change.”
“Yeah.” The words stuck at the back of her throat. Her mind screamed at her, telling her to say it – but she didn’t know what to say. She cleared her throat. “Uh… we should keep in touch. After we go to college.”
“Of course we will!” Shiromi grinned and smacked her arm. “What, did you think I was just gonna delete your number as soon as we graduated?”
“No! I was just – y’know. Just making sure.”
Shiromi snorted. “Aww. Are you gonna miss me?”
Aoi mumbled something unintelligible and turned away, pretending to ignore Shiromi’s giggling behind her. Yui’s words repeated in her head. Her face burned.
This could be your last chance.
“…You know, I’m gonna miss you too. All joking aside.” Shiromi stared down at the near-empty bottle in her hands. For a moment, her smile faltered. She looked up at Aoi. “I mean… I really like you.”
Aoi stopped thinking. She didn’t remember leaning down, but suddenly her lips were pressed against Shiromi’s, one hand gripping her scarf. Her heart raced, the thumping filling her ears and drowning out every other sound.
For the briefest moment, Shiromi sat shocked, staring up at her. Then she closed her eyes and leaned in.
The rest of the world dropped away. Aoi shifted closer to Shiromi. Shiromi tasted of nothing but hot sauce, but she didn’t care; for once, Aoi found herself liking the taste. She leaned in closer and –
“Eww. Get a room.”
Aoi nearly choked, immediately jerking back away from Shiromi. “Fuck off, Yui!”
“Jeez. We were just kissing.” Shiromi stuck her tongue out.
“Yeah, I noticed.” Yui quirked an eyebrow at her. She turned to Aoi, grinning from ear to ear. “Thought you said that wasn’t what you were coming up here for…”
“I didn’t plan–”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Rolling her eyes, Yui leaned forward over the edge of the skylight. “I just wanted to let you know that someone told Kizana you guys were up here. She wants you to come down right now, or–” her voice changed to a shrill impersonation of Kizana “–there’s going to be trouble!”
“Fine. We’ll be down there soon. Just go away.” Aoi glared down at her.
“Sure, I’ll leave you to your makeout session or whatever. You kids have fun.” Before Aoi could say another word, she had disappeared back down the stepladder.
An awkward silence settled over them.
Aoi cleared her throat. “So, uh… what are we going to do now?”
“Hmm…” Shiromi thought for a moment. “Wanna go back to my place and watch a movie?”
“Sounds way better than staying here.” Aoi began the climb back down toward the skylight. “What movie are you thinking of?”
Shiromi slid down the tiles to the stepladder. “I dunno. Let’s watch a really bad one and make fun of it.”
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”
“Aoi, wait. One more thing.” Slinging one leg over the edge, Shiromi stood atop the stepladder and turned to face Aoi.
“Yeah?”
She leaned up and pecked Aoi on the lips. “Love you.”
Aoi blinked, dazed. A fond smile spread across her face. “I love you too.”
Grinning back at her, Shiromi turned and headed down the stepladder, back into the chaos.