Chapter Text
She was used to it at this point, really. Her eyes brushed over the pages of her open book and landed on Touko, hunched over their desk with a pen at her mouth, afternoon sun beaming through the window and painting her figure gold. Their dorm room was cozy, two beds on either side and a desk in between. Nothing unusual.
She could feel the barest hint of tension in the air, though, since Touko had a new play to practice for and a strict troupe director to fear. Combined with their college workload it was a lot to handle, but she still managed remarkably well, all things considered.
“Touko?” Sayaka spoke up.
“Yeah?” she called back absentmindedly, eyes still fixed on the pages in front of her.
“I was thinking of grabbing some coffee, any requests?”
Touko exhaled soundly, the stiffness in her shoulders relaxing with her breath. She straightened her back and turned with the rotating chair, stretching her legs.
“I think I could use a change of scenery,” Touko said and smiled in that way that reached her eyes, bright and blinding and making Sayaka’s chest feel too tight to contain her heart. “Would you mind some company?”
She smiled back- she couldn’t help it. “Of course not.”
These little moments were what made her waver the most. To reach out, to touch, to say something she couldn’t take back. But she was used to it. How close they were was enough, she thought.
----
“Let me guess, two black coffees,” Miyako said flatly, barely sparing them a glance while wiping the counter.
“You know us so well,” Sayaka replied in a mirrored tone and took her usual spot.
“Coming right up.”
She liked their practiced familiarity, the comfort of knowing she could show just a little bit more of herself here. It’d been a natural progression, with how much time had passed since she first found the café.
Touko sat down next to her and shuffled with her bag and, as predicted, pulled out a binder. A split second and it’s open, pages splayed out in front of them.
Miyako turned back to them in an instant. She put a hand against the counter and straightened her posture in an attempt to stare Touko down.
“If you start practicing your silly scripts here again,” she began slowly, feigning calm, “you’re going to scare away the customers.”
“I’ve never actually seen any customers leave because of that,” Touko stared back, a glint in her eyes of equal parts playfulness, equal parts resolve. “Besides! There are only two other people here right now.”
Miyako glanced behind Touko, at the two girls sitting at the far end of the coffee shop, just out of ear’s reach. “That’s two potential regulars,” she said. “If you can compensate for losing them then go ahead, we could use another part-timer.”
“You wound me.” Touko held a hand to her chest. “Do you really think so poorly of my performances?” she added.
Sayaka tuned them out for a bit. It devolved into their usual back and forth, Touko coming up with more dramatic excuses for Miyako to let her practice at the café. Chin rested on her palm, Sayaka didn’t even bother to hide the fondness that was probably written out in her features. Touko’d always been bold, but joining the troupe seemed to have reinforced that part of her, for better or worse.
“I’m asking for one week, one week,” Miyako repeated, “without you turning this place into your practice room.”
“One week is such a long time though,” Touko drew out the last word, eyes pleading. “If you’re so worried about the loss of customers I’ll go and ask if they’re okay with it, then they’ll be sure to come back,” she paused for effect. “I’m told I’m quite dashing.”
Miyako raised a brow. “Who tells you that?”
Sayaka coughed, and the look Miyako gave her was so full of disapproval she recoiled with a sudden urge to take her coffee to-go after all.
“Alright,” she resigned, “I’ll get you those two coffees, and you,” she pointed at Touko, “see if you can earn me two new regulars.”
“Of course,” Touko said and she was already up and on her way over to the two unsuspecting girls.
They look like high-schoolers, Sayaka thought. She didn’t really have much to go by, but they were definitely younger than her. She hoped they wouldn’t be too intimidated by Touko’s directness, though perhaps her worries were unwarranted. Touko had a talent when it came to maneuvering social situations with an intrinsic subtlety, adjusting to those around her without them ever knowing.
Even Sayaka hadn’t seen it, at first. It took time and patience, but once she started noticing small cracks in her act the mystery that was Touko began unraveling right in front of her. Began, because she knew she didn’t have nearly all the answers yet. But that was alright. She’d keep this up however long she needed to.
Touko looked chipper from this distance, hands clasped behind her back while the orange-haired girl nodded once or twice at her presumed monologue, the other girl with short black hair listening with a smirk and a raised brow. No need to worry, after all, Sayaka thought. Before long Touko was walking back, stride confident and smile ever present.
“So?” Sayaka prompted once Touko was back at the counter. “How did it go?”
“As usual,” Touko said, and she was back just in time for Miyako to hand them their coffee. Touko radiated self-confidence as she took her cup and Miyako rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she surrendered, “you win this one.”
Sayaka glanced at Touko sipping her coffee and lingered a second too long; Miyako gave her a knowing smile. She didn’t mind. They both knew anyway, and Touko wouldn’t notice, she thought as she raised the cup to her mouth.
No matter how close she got, there was a persistent distance between them that she couldn’t close. Maybe they were too similar in some critical, mind-bending way. Repelling magnets being pushed together. She was in no rush, though. She’d keep this distance, and maybe one day they’d both change enough to turn into something more.
----
Natsuki tapped her finger against the table twice, effectively snapping Yuu’s focus back from watching the two other girls in the café, as the one with flowing black hair - Touko, as she introduced herself - stood up with her script and handed a few of its pages to the other.
“Anything catch your attention?” her friend teased.
“What?” Yuu perked up. “No, it’s just-” she paused to glance toward the counter, “it’s not every day you see someone prepare for a play in a place like this.”
“True,” Natsuki said as she had her gaze drawn in by an increasingly animated Touko. “I guess we’re lucky to be the only ones here.”
Yuu hummed and took a sip of her latte. The two of them had stopped at the coffee shop by chance, having left for practice too early for a change, bags heavy with training equipment under their table.
“Here we go,” Natsuki said, all too interested, as Touko pulled her friend up from her seat and away from the counter, in their direction. Yuu didn’t think Natsuki would be one to care for theatre, but she promptly shrugged it off. The topic probably just never came up.
The two girls started practicing their dialogue close enough for them to hear. Yuu noticed the woman working there’d been watching just as attentively, an elbow rested on the counter. Maybe they were related? It must’ve been something of the sort if she was allowing it while looking at them so… fondly? That’s what it felt like.
It made for a pleasant atmosphere.
It didn’t take long, a few sentences, looks between them and Yuu found herself unable to take her eyes off. Touko held the script but didn’t as much as look at it, navigating the dialogue seamlessly. Her persona changed entirely - one second she’d been an outspoken girl Yuu just met, the other she was calm and collected. Her voice had a different ring to it, it mellowed out. She averted her gaze when the other girl reached out to her; she flinched when the hand reached her.
Yuu felt her jaw slack when the realization set in. One, the two girls were practicing the roles of lovers, but while unexpected - especially in a still somewhat public setting - it wasn’t what threw her off the most.
She knew this play. She’d been the first one to read it, as she was Koyomi’s go-to person whenever she finished writing anything. The lines were changed somewhat, but they were still familiar.
She hadn’t actually seen any of the plays her friend had written acted out. She wanted to keep watching just for a bit longer, see how it'd unfold for herself. And Touko must have had some serious acting experience, Yuu could tell that much. Maybe she used to be one of those child actresses, she wondered.
It ended all too abruptly. The two read the final lines of the scene and silence enveloped them as they stood in the center of the café. There was a connection between them Yuu couldn’t quite place, but that might’ve just been the context of the play distorting her thoughts.
“That was pretty good!” Natsuki called out and Yuu jumped. Touko beamed at them and promptly walked over while her friend gave them a polite smile and returned to her spot at the counter.
“You think?” Touko asked, tilting her head slightly so some of her hair fell over her shoulder.
“It really was,” Yuu said without thinking. “You must have been acting for a long time.”
Touko put her hand to her chin seemingly lost in thought, but the gesture seemed practiced. “You could say that,” was all she said.
What an evasive answer, Yuu thought. “You portrayed the main characters really well, both of you,” she said instead.
Touko lit up. “Sayaka’s been helping me ever since I joined the theatre troupe in high school. She’s become a great actress herself, hasn’t she? I keep telling her that, but she doesn’t want to believe me…” she trailed off.
“Well,” Natsuki cut in, “you can tell her two more people think so, then.”
Touko smiled. “Maybe with the three of us she’ll finally listen,” she said. They all looked over at the counter and saw Sayaka staring right back at them. Yuu felt like the girl knew exactly what they were talking about and it unsettled her greatly.
“I’m sure the author of the play would be happy to know it’s in good hands,” Yuu said to say anything at all. “I’ll tell her next time I see her,” she added.
That earned Touko’s attention. “Oh? You know Koyomi?”
Yuu’s eyebrows shot up. “You know Koyomi?” she echoed.
“Well, yes,” Touko chuckled. “Apparently we both do.”
“Right.” Yuu felt her cheeks getting warm. She cleared her throat. “She lets me read anything she writes before it goes anywhere else. For feedback and stuff.”
Touko looked genuinely surprised. “She must trust you a lot,” she said. “I only talked to her a few times during rehearsals, but she seemed really nice.”
Yuu tried to imagine how their conversations must have gone. Koyomi was still somewhat shy when talking to new people, especially if they were as upbeat and talkative as Touko seemed to be. “She’s a great friend. We went to the same class back in high school and it’s kind of become a thing, talking about writing and such.” Yuu said. “Though I can’t ever give too much input with plots like these.”
“Like these?”
“The romance kind. I’ve never felt any of what they’re describing, so I can’t really tell if it’s portrayed realistically or not,” she said all too fast. Why she was revealing all this to an apparent stranger was beyond her, and she could see Natsuki’s grin in her peripheral.
She expected an answer or a comment, but instead, she found Touko looking at her, looking through her, silent for some reason. Yuu realized she couldn’t tell what the girl was thinking at all. Which was normal. They just met, after all. There was no reason for it to surprise her.
It only lasted a few seconds, Touko’s eyes cleared and she was back to her cheerful demeanor, though Yuu couldn’t shake the feeling that the tone had changed subtly. “Will you be here next week? Let’s say, around the same time?” Touko asked, and the way she looked so expectant, like it was the most important question she had asked anyone all week, didn’t really leave Yuu much choice in her mind.
“Sure we will!” Natsuki answered for her and they both jumped, side-eying her in sync without realizing, then returning to look at each other. It felt like Touko was still waiting for confirmation.
“Yeah” Yuu ended up saying. “We’ll be here.”
“Great! See you then,” she said and smiled and Yuu wasn’t entirely sure what just happened. “I should go back to Sayaka, I still have a few things to read through,” Touko added with a small wave of her script.
“Of course! I-” Yuu paused. “We have to leave soon too,” she said, looking at her wristwatch.
Touko gave her a final smile and turned to walk back, and as soon as she did Yuu saw a hand wave up and down right in front of her face.
“Earth to Yuu,” Natsuki said, still grinning in a way that made Yuu tired. “Never seen you talk this much to a stranger before.”
“She talked a lot, so it was only fair,” Yuu reasoned. “And she knows Koyomi.”
“And she’s drop-dead gorgeous,” she stated. “Her friend too.”
Yuu had made an error of judgment. Of course an interest in theater hadn’t been why Natsuki was so taken with the performance. “You’re unbelievable,” she said.
“Don’t tell me you don’t see it. I’m talking objectively here,” Natsuki defended.
It isn’t like Yuu didn’t see it. She just failed to see how it mattered in any way. “We should get going,” she said.
Natsuki sighed. “Fine, fine. You’re no fun, you know that?”