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Kana Koumoto, in the present moment, is an entire fucking swirl of emotions. She just came off of saving everyone’s lives from Medical Mechanica’s iron flattening the earth, and in doing so, ended up creating a new planet where everyone is alive and well. She learned a lesson and is on the path to growing and changing. Yet, after everything, one thing is eating her up.
She loves Pets.
Her best friend, well, ex-best friend now, who blew up on her for her behavior and selfishness, and whose departure for Mars ended up being the catalyst for Kana’s final actions. Despite everything, she’s still in love with her. As a side effect of the Naked Focal Point, time was reversed, and Pets is now here on this planet with everyone else Kana knew, as if nothing had happened.
They both still remembered what had happened though. She couldn’t bring herself to say or do anything. She didn’t even know what to say. She’d need some time to figure out what to do now, while settling back into normal life.
Weeks passed, and things only got more and more and more tangled. Pets seemed to not even acknowledge her existence. Kana had expected this, but she’d absolutely be lying if she said that it didn’t cut her. She walks home after another day, staring at the now-pink sky. She had a conversation with Mossan and Hijiri during lunch about the situation, but it proved fruitless as to how to approach things. She guessed this is just something she’d either have to let die or reach out and grab on her own. For now, drowning out the thoughts with her tangled earbuds will put her at ease.
Later that night, Kana leaves the house and decides to go to the park that her group used to hang out at all the time. Like everything else, it’s like nothing happened and it didn’t change. She figured it’d be a nice way to clear her head. She ends up sitting on a swing, absentmindedly going back and forth. She stops herself when she hears someone else sit down right next to her. She decides to turn her head and figure out who it is.
If fate really is a red string, it would be as tangled as every pair of earbuds she manages to get her hands on.
“Pets?” Kana calls out
“Oh. Kana.” Pets responds with zero interest or enthusiasm.
Several seconds passed before Kana tried to speak up again. She really couldn’t believe that this opportunity’s just getting handed to her like nothing! She’s got this!
“...I missed you.”
Christ, that’s all she could manage to say, after all this time?! She was already beating herself up and wishing to just jolt up from that swing seat and run away and keep making distance between the two of them. Well, that was before Pets replied.
“...I missed you too.”
Hearing that felt like a bomb went off in Kana’s chest. Things felt like they were slowing down and she started sweating and panicking. It took a minute to formulate everything and how to lead into telling Pets how she felt and taking the first step to repairing things. Eventually, Kana got it, and she continued.
“Watching that rocket take off felt like everything in my life was coming to an end.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really. I’m glad you’re here again, Pets.”
Kana flashed a smile, waiting for a response. Pets was looking everywhere but at her, and then spoke up.
“Listen, Kana, I didn’t mean to be as harsh as I was, but I still meant what I said back then.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I don’t think you’re a malicious person, but you still muscled into other people’s problems when it didn’t concern you, and you tried to hold everyone back from changing just because you weren’t quite ready to.”
“I realized a lot of things after you left, Pets. I’m working on myself now. I want to change.”
“Hmm.”
Another bout of awkward silence commenced. The two girls avoided eye contact like it was a secret game only they knew about. Conversation struck up again when Pets pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a single puff.
“I thought you quit smoking?”
“I never really stopped, I just didn’t wanna do it in front of you guys.”
“I guess there’s a lot I never knew about you, Pets.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
There went the silence again, but Pets broke it before Kana started to crack.
“Listen, Kana, I... I...”
“Pets?”
“I’m sorry! I wish I never said that shit about wishing we were never friends. I really couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Wait, was this really happening? Kana felt like she should be the one apologizing for everything, but here they are! She let Pets continue.
“I think with everything happening at once, I just let my feelings bloat up and explode as me hating you. I really don’t, Kana-bun! You’re still my friend!”
Pets’ tone and posture shifted. She was crying now, and looking Kana in the eyes. Kana’s eyes were watery too. She composed herself though, and dug her feet into the sand as she got ready to go for it.
“Pets, I love you!”
For five seconds there, it felt like everything… stopped. Pets stopped herself while wiping away tears, awestruck by what she just heard. Kana was really shaking now, nerves taking over her whole body, but she went on.
“I always loved you. I’m in love with you!”
“H-Huh?!”
“It’s all I could think about when you left, and since then, just being around you makes my heart beat just a little faster. It’s like you’ve got this glow that just makes you stand out in my head. I didn’t even feel this strongly about Sasaki, and I know you remember how I was when I had a crush on him.”
The waterworks were back for both girls, and Kana’s voice was quivering. Pets managed to speak up again.
“I… I just wanna know, Kana-bun. Why me?”
“You were always there for me. I’ve been grappling with self-esteem and depression for years now, and you were the first person I really got attached to. I’ve spent so much time with you that I’d never take back. I know I don’t know that much about you, and what’s happened to you, but I want to know. I care about you, Pe-, no, Tomomi. And I want to grow and change with you, if you’d let me. Because I love you.”
The conversation fell into a lull again, but now Kana and Pets were staring into each other’s eyes. Pets decided to break the silence.
“Kana-bun, I, I just… Screw it.”
“What did you want to s-MMPH?!”
Pets blew out one last puff of smoke, stomped out her cigarette, and then closed the distance and put her lips onto Kana’s. Her mind was in complete meltdown mode. Pets was kissing her like the world was gonna explode, taking her time and doing it deeply and passionately. It was extremely sudden, but something they both wanted to last forever. Pets then pulled back and started to speak.
“I think I love you too, and I want to be by you and change with you too. Well, as long as we take it slowly. Don’t wanna rush into things like with Sasaki, right?”
“...Kana-bun?”
“You taste like smoke… I don’t mind it though...”
Kana was in a daze, her head was spinning and it felt like it was on fire. Pets shook her a little, trying to get her to come back down to Earth, or whatever planet they’re on now. Finally, she calmed down, and they resumed.
“So, yeah, I want to try again with you. As long as we take things slow, I wanna be by your side through it all, Kana-bun. OK?”
“On one condition, and just one, I promise.”
“What’s it about?”
“Another kiss, maybe?”
“Oh, someone’s getting greedy now. But yeah, sure.”
Pets got out of her swing seat and closed the gap again, and the two girls sat on the sand and kissed passionately under the purple sky, with things patched up and nothing but the future ahead.