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The low yellow lights always made quite beautiful sight when they fell on the dark streets on late nights. The smell of coffee and midnight thoughts filled her just so that it brought back old memories; not bad memories, or sad memories, just old childhood and youth memories so old that Kumiko couldn't help but be fulfilled by them. She had always missed that feeling, since her first steps or her first time being able to ride a bike she hadn't felt this whole before, so utterly warm and quiet and alone. And thinking that she could reach that point of calmness with just a cup of coffee on an empty café at 12 in the morning made everything else seem so easy that at that time, she even thought that if she wanted to she could reach the stars.
Another small sip of coffee touched her tongue as she stared outside of the window, watching how the streets lights faintly fell on the ground, and everything seemed so alone and quiet that she thought she could be the last woman on earth. But that would be much to ask for.
She had been intending to do this for a long time, just sit alone and think about her life without anyone averting her calmness away. It had been just a month since she got into college, but just then when she thought that she could find herself and be something she wanted to be without anyone telling her she couldn't, she found out that being herself was just as hard and not being something. So she just started to look for a way to be alone in a place where the world seemed to far away that her problems went away with it.
A deep sigh left her lips as she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow she had to go back to the real world, tomorrow all this calmness and wholeness would fade away, tomorrow she would feel like she wasn't enough again, tomorrow she had to go see reality once more.
Tomorrow.
So now she had to enjoy this feeling until there wasn't enough of it.
She breathed in. The smell of coffee and loneliness. She breathed out. Long and deep until her lungs weren't able to let more air out. Silently she looked at her feet, poking her own cheek with her finger.
She nedded more coffee.
She slowly got onto her feet, her legs feeling numb and her mind at ease. She looked at the old man in the register who was quietly reading a book which she couldn't see the title, and sigh left her lips as a smile appeared. She wasn't the last woman on earth after all. Then, she looked around.
Sad, cold ice eyes were staring at her from the distance. She froze, unable to think as she stared back at those calculating and indescribable ametist eyes; she didn't know what made her so clueless and curious towards those eyes, maybe it was the way the shined so bright that she could clearly see them even from two tables away, or maybe it was the woman who they were attached to.
Kumiko was sure that she was the most beautiful person she'd ever seen. It wasn't like she was beautiful just because of her delicate face or her silky black hair, it was something else. Maybe it was the way her eyes danced all around her, or just how sad she looked, or how Kumiko could see how the woman was the same as her just by taking a look at how she realized it too.
She slowly looked away; not because she wanted to, but because staring at strangers wasn't something she was used to do. She could feel the woman's burning gaze on the back of her neck while she ordered another black coffee, and she felt like a rock got stuck on her throat. What was that woman, and far more important, why was she staring at her? She couldn't help but gaze at the woman again just to confirm that indeed, she was still staring at Kumiko. She looked away in a heartbeat, her face suddenly feeling warm.
Black coffee ordered, she went to her own table without looking back. The sight of that woman had startled her, now she couldn't seem to focus on her own thoughts and her heart beating uncomfortably in her chest now seemed louder than before, which made things worse. Looking at the window didn't seem as poetic as before, and she thought it was because instead of looking outside she wanted to look at the woman. A completely embarrassing but correct thought, and it wasn't like she could help it, she had always been a hopeless lesbian after all.
Her right leg started to jump on the place as Kumiko debated on whether to look back to take another silent gaze at the woman, or to just ignore the incident and keep drinking her coffee quietly. If she looked back, she probably would see the woman looking somewhere else because she probably already forgot about Kumiko's existence. And if she didn't look back, she probably would forget about the woman and she would begin to drink her coffee calmly again. But why was she debating on something so unimportant like looking at someone? It was true that she was way too socially awkward to correctly interact with other human beings, but this was just a woman who she probably will never see again. So why was she so nervous?
Kumiko's wrecking thoughts filled her mind and it made her so startled that she forgot about the coffee, and the window, and the darkness of the world outside. And eventually, everything that was in her mind was the beautiful woman.
But, her thoughts were stopped by an angelic and soft voice that came from next to her table.
"Excuse me," it was soft and warm, the tune of the voice filled Kumiko with a weird feeling that crawled all through her stomach to the back of her throat. She tilted her head and looked at where the voice came from, and the sight of the stunning angel with black hair left her breathless. Kumiko was speechless, her eyes were weirdly opened more than they usually where, her eyebrows raised and the shine Kumiko had on her eyes were a mystery to the black haired woman.
Up close, the black haired woman seemed extremely familiar, like she knew her violet eyes from somewhere. The woman tilted her head to the side, and Kumiko's voice came out as a squeak. The brunette tried to get up from her seat rapidly, but as she did so she hit her knee with the table, which sent her ass back to the seat. Kumiko gulped and blinked anxiously as the woman stared with a curious glance, and obscure eyes that were almost impossible to figure out. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire, and she couldn't bring herlsef to make out words, so, everything that came out of her mouth was a startled "Y-Yes?!"
"Do you always come to cafés on midnight?" She asked, her soft and calm voice resonating through the place. Kumiko's shoulders relaxed as she looked at the woman, who seemed totally serious with her question. Kumiko made a confused face and smiled weakly as she looked at the woman like she never heard that question before.
"No... Not really..." Kumiko whispered vaguely, the woman made a humming sound and Kumiko gulped "I just felt like it, you know... Just go somewhere where no one knows me and relax a little, throw everything away." Kumiko explained as her eyes fled to the window. The woman remained silent as she looked at Kumiko like she was trying to crawl into the intensity of Kumiko's soul. Kumiko looked at her cup of coffee, and the liquid had gone cold.
The woman lowered her head, looking at the mug between Kumiko's hand like it had the answer she was looking for. Kumiko stared deep into the woman's eyes trying to figure out what were in there, or who was in there. A sigh left her lips as the uncomfortable silence grew between them, and for some reason, she felt extremely nervous around the woman; maybe she felt intimidated by her beauty, and that probably was the correct answer.
"Isn't it creepy to ask that type of questions?" The words came our of her mouth before she knew it, and a it seemed like the woman had stopped breathing. Kumiko yelped and got up from her sit with her cheeks red as bright as fireworks on new year's eve "I-I didn't mean it that way! It's not like you're creepy or anything- I mean, it was kind of creepy asking that all of sudden- wait no, not like old man creepy!" Kumiko's words were coming out of her lips fast and almost incomprehensible, but she couldn't help it "It's a nice kind of creepy! Like mysterious creepy- no, that sounded totally bad I'm sorry! I mean, you're pretty so you're not old man creepy of course-"
A gentle and beautiful sound filled Kumiko's ears and before she knew it, she had stopped talking to witness the soft sound coming out of the woman's lips. It was a laugh; more like a soft giggle really, but Kumiko was too lost in the sound to figure it out. It was one of the most beautiful tunes she'd ever heard, it was almost like the soft and warm sound of a harpa in an empty room; or the sound of the spring wind gently hitting the leaves that were about to fell off the branches of a corniferous tree. So tender and so beautiful, she felt it was all she needed.
The sound of the woman's laugh began to fade and turn into a soft giggle, and then into a smile that Kumiko thought was similar to a nightingale's tune. She was astonished, and couldn't do anything more than stare at the woman in awe.
"What's your name?" She asked, her hand delicately running around the table almost as she was inspecting it. Kumiko stared at the woman's hand touching the table, and she was sure her skin was soft.
"O-Oumae Kumiko," she babbled as she smiled awkwardly "I go to Kyoto University... What's yours?" The woman stared, then after what seemed deep thought she sat down in the seat that was in front of Kumiko. She gulped and looked away.
"I'm Kousaka Reina." She muttered, caressing her long black hair which Kumiko wanted to touch as well. Kumiko waited in awkward silence until the woman said what university she goes to, Kumiko assumed she was on her twenties, or perhaps she was nineteen. But the woman didn't say say a word, so she had to ask herself.
"What university do you go to...?"
Her ravenous eyes darted to Kumiko, and her heart skipped a beat "I don't go to college" she said, taking Kumiko's cup of coffee in her hands "I play professionally the trumpet, sometimes on marching bands, and sometimes solo." Kumiko was amazed by the woman. An artist, a beautiful artist just in front of her like a miracle. She smiled a felt herself calm down, somehow the woman didn't seem as mysterious as before.
"I used to play the Euphonium in High School," Kumiko confessed, smiling with melancholy at the thought of those days "but I quit after our band lost the Kyoto competition." She admitted, and she saw something in Reina's eyes, something that seemed like disappointment.
"I see..."
Then, silence.
Kumiko moved uncomfortably in her seat, while Reina just looked outside the window like she was doing before. She wanted to talk more, but she didn't know how to ask or what to ask; she wanted just to hear her voice, just a little.
"Oumae-san."
Kumiko startled, noticing she was daydreaming, thinking about how Reina's name would sound on her lips, and how her own name would sound on hers. She looked at Reina, waiting for what she had to say.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Kumiko felt her cheeks warm and she looked at Reina's soft expression, like she remembered something that made her feel warm inside. Kumiko didn't know what she was talking about, but she nodded anyways, hypnotized by her lips.
"It's a clear night... I'm pretty sure the view would be amazing..." Reina muttered to herself and Kumiko sighed "City lights..."
"What are you talking about..." Kumiko murmured almost to herself, but Reina had heard her and focused her attention on Kumiko again "The city. From below, it'll look beautiful." She said as if that was an answer, and grabbed Kumiko's hand.
Kumiko squeaked when she felt the warmth of Reina's hand on hers, but she didn't back away, she just stared at Reina who was sliding out of her seat to get up.
"Come with me."
Kumiko's heart dithered in her chest. Once again, without any idea what she was doing she got up, with Reina's soft hand still on hers. She hesitated in front of Reina's expectant eyes, and she felt like she didn't have an option. I mean, A beautiful woman telling her to go god-knows-where, it wasn't like she wanted to oppose.
But, she did have at least some principles "W-Where?"
Reina squeezed her hand softly, like she didn't want to let go. Her eyes shined under the yellow lights of the Café like stars you only could see when nobody was around, like the sight you only get to see once in a thousand years. Kumiko squeezed back, getting a soft grin from Reina, and Kumiko was sure the soft lights falling on the streets were nothing compared to Reina's blooming eyes.
"The sky."