Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Claudine runs down the hallway from her University hoping to get to her extracurricular creative writing class in time. She has finally decided to enroll in it after postponing for two years, and had big hopes that it would help in her objectives — after all, the class was focused on her main goal for this semester: participating in the university’s writing contest for the first time.

She always had a liking for writing since she was little, and the ideas always came easily to her — her first book was an easy work while she was still a teenager, and even though the critic called it immature, it got popular among young readers. However, after that peak, she saw herself going downfall with her creativity. She blames it on entrance exams, having to move places and getting used to University, along with a bad relationship in between, so now she wants to end this miserable phase once and for all.

This class would help her work on her new novel, hopefully making her win the contest and get it published — which was the reward for the first place.

Once she finally reaches the small auditorium reserved for the class, she catches her breath in relief as she notices the professor hasn’t arrived yet. She enters the class, eyeing around checking her classmates, and sits on an available seat on the back of the room.

Not much later the professor arrives, excusing herself for being a couple of minutes late. She introduces herself — Yamada-sensei — and catches her class program to make a roll call.

“Oh, that’s right.” She says before she begins the calls, lighting up. “This semester we are pleased to have the presence of two celebrities among us in this class.”

Claudine raises her head at that, curious. It couldn't be her, she thought; her immature YA fantasy novel wouldn’t be considered any achievement in a serious writing course. And, besides, it didn’t even sell that much, so she was far from being a celebrity. So who could those people be?

“Tendou Maya?” The professor calls, looking at a dark-brown haired girl sitting on the front row who raises her hand at the attention. “Tendou-san is the daughter of the famous couple of writers; the best seller novelist Tendou Aoi and the poet Tendou Hajime. She has won twice the University’s writing contest in the category for short stories; last year and the year before. It’s a pleasure having you, I hope you enjoy this course.”

“Thank you very much.” The girl nods politely.

The half-French girl feels glad for deciding to sit at the back of the room, otherwise everyone would see her shocked expression upon hearing that name. There wouldn't be a single person in a creative writing class who never heard about the famous Tendou family, and it was known that their daughter was some sort of prodigy as well. She couldn’t curse the time alignment more, why did she have to be in the same class as such a person?

Her thoughts are interrupted by the professor’s voice, calling her name.

“And Saijou Claudine.” She eyes around, until Claudine raises her hand to make herself known. “There you are. Saijou-san has written the popular Young Adult fantasy novel Into the stars, published three years ago when she was still in high school. I also hope you enjoy this course.”

“Thank you.” She says with a forced smile.

What shocks Claudine the most is noticing that Maya was looking at her, and their eyes lock for half a second before both turn their attention to the professor. Great.

She wouldn’t be able to relax with that person in her class; she’d have to work double the hard to avoid falling behind — and to avoid losing the contest.

After the proper roll call and an introduction to the class, explaining the course’s plan and the projects they’d have that would eventually be focused only on their writings for the contest, the professor decides to give them a small warm up in order to make them get to know each other. She instructs everyone to sit in pairs, which makes everyone stand up and move around to sit together with their already known friends or to find someone friendly enough to partner up with.

And it was not Maya’s case, Claudine soon notices. The brunette girl continues sitting alone, being ignored by everyone — and she does her job not looking around in search of a pair, which makes Claudine wonder if it was out of shyness or she was just too arrogant to bother. Either way, it was enough for the blonde woman to decide to stand up, determined to go sit with her — after all, if that woman was going to be her rival, she had to watch her closely.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer , she thinks to herself.

As she walks towards Maya’s seat, far away on the first row, she wonders if this was the best decision in the world, even though it seemed like the best strategy. But as she eyes around, she figures that everyone else was already paired up, which would force them to get together anyway.

“Bonjour. ” Claudine stops by her seat, getting her attention. “Can I sit with you?”

Maya eyes Claudine for a second, hiding behind her composed expression how surprised she was that someone actually walked up to her.

“Of course.” She agrees with her calm and deep voice, nodding.

Claudine sits down and both don’t say a word, the blonde girl feeling a little fidgety while the brunette was still surprised with that action. The professor begins the instructions for the activity, writing on the board the quote “Once upon a time…” and telling them to continue the story, but with each person writing a different sentence. They couldn’t talk to plan ahead the story, they could only interact through the words on their paper.

The duo ready the writing pads from their seats and grab their material to work, not saying a word just yet.

“Do you want to begin?” Claudine asks, opening her notebook on a blank page.

“You can go first, if you like.” Maya replies politely, watching her with her pencil in hands.

Not wanting to interact too much, Claudine grabs her pen and, after a few seconds thinking, begins scribbling the first sentence on the paper.

“Once upon a time, in a distant kingdom, the bravest and strongest knight had the duty to protect the magical stone brought from the gods that kept peace intact.”

She passes her notebook to Maya, who reads the words curiously. Claudine watches from the corner of her eyes as she smiles softly, promptly writing down her sequence for the story.

“She took her duty with her life, diligently spending all of her days on the care of the tower in which it was hid; however, it all changes once a group of magicians arrive at the kingdom.”

As she slides back the notebook to Claudine, it’s her turn to smile softly in satisfaction. She made the knight a woman, she thinks to herself as she continues writing her part.

The story grows as one of the magicians was a villain witch in disguise, who wanted to steal the stone to begin a war between the kingdoms. The class ends before they can finish the story, but the professor asks them all to hand her the papers so she could read at home and gives them an assignment for the next week.

Maya and Claudine only nod to each other before exiting the auditorium, each going different ways, but both thinking about how interesting that activity was.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

“Tendou Maya is in my class.” Claudine says before sipping on the straw of her bubble tea, relaxing after class in one of the couched seats at the cafe she always went to.

“And who is that?” Kaoruko raises an eyebrow, confused, as she sits down across from Claudine.

“You’re so uncultured.” Claudine sighs audibly.

Futaba, sitting besides Kaoruko, takes a few seconds in silence, thinking with her cup.

“Oh, is that the famous writer from A story with no end ?” Futaba finally clicks.

“That’s her mother, Tendou Aoi.” The blonde girl feels relieved that at least one of her friends knew something about literature.

“Can you ask her to autograph my book? I have the entire trilogy, I just need to finish reading it…”

“Again; it’s her daughter, not her.” Claudine sighs once more. “Are you two aware of my situation here?”

“And what is the situation?” Kaoruko frowns, a little annoyed with all that talk.

“That I have a rival now! I won’t have a second to relax during this class, otherwise I’ll fall behind.”

“I thought you were in this class to try writing your next novel, not to begin competing with everyone.” Futaba says nonchalantly, holding her cold drink in her hands.

“Well, yeah, but you know I’ve been dealing with a writer’s block. That woman must be a writing machine… And she has won twice this contest, not in the same category as I want but stil...”

“Well, maybe this Tendou-han can be used as a push for you. You know, so you feel inspired to work even harder.” Kaoruko waves her hand in the air in dismissal.

Claudine ponders about that as she drinks. Maybe in that aspect it could be a good thing, but it was still a little concerning to her. She didn’t want to embarrass herself; she wanted to make an impressive comeback on her writer career and win first place in the contest.

“Anyway, now I have an assignment for next class to write about my week and make it interesting. So please take me out on the weekend, otherwise it’ll be boring as hell.”

“Okie dokie.” Kaoruko nods. “There’s a clothing shop opening on Saturday, maybe you can get some inspiration in that.”

After their small catch up, Claudine heads back to her apartment, thinking about her project and about that Tendou Maya in her class.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Claudine agonizes for the entire week to come up with an exciting way to write about her routine during that period. In the end, she decides to write exactly about her trouble on figuring out how to write it, which turns into a smart and funny chronicle that makes her feel proud. 

It felt good to finally work on something from the beginning to the end, not leaving it aside like she has been constantly doing in the past years.

Once the next class finally arrives, the professor once again asks them to sit in pairs. Claudine observes as once again no one invites Maya to pair up, and decides to walk toards her seat before anyone suddenly took her spot.

“Excusez-moi, can I join you again?” Claudine asks, a little fidgety.

Maya looks up to her with a hint of a sparkle in her eyes.

“It’d be my pleasure.” Maya agrees with a nod and a soft smile.

When everyone is sitting down, the professor eyes around the class and smiles.

“I see that most of you kept the same partners as last class. It’s nice to see you’re getting along.” She turns on the projector, and on the screen it's shown their assignment for this class. 

They would have to exchange their assignments and make a critic review on them. The idea makes Claudine feel nervous, what would Maya think of her writing?

The critics she got on her book instantly fill her mind. It was an immature story, with an unconvincing plot and a lack of romance as they said, and that has stuck with her until today. She tries telling herself she was only a teenager when she wrote her book; certainly nowadays she’d be able to work on something more complex… But it still frightens her the idea she’d never be able to climb over those critics.

However, the excited comments she got from readers always made her heart warm. Younger readers enjoyed it quite a lot, and some even asked her for a sequel — she knew it wouldn’t happen, feeling completely satisfied with her ending, but it was nice knowing her work did bring joy to her readers.

What would Maya think about it, though? The thoroughbred woman probably grew up surrounded by consecrated literature, not even mentioning the fact that her parents were both known in the literature world for their amazing works. Claudine’s style was far from that, and she could only predict that pairing with her for this assignment would wreck her already damaged self esteem even more.

Reluctantly, the half-French woman exchanges papers with the japanese woman and both begin reading quietly. Maya's writing is just as refined as she imagined, and in her story she describes perfectly the colors from the sky through her whole week. But it's not just a simple description of the sky; it’s all a metaphor for the way she feels inside. It's beautiful to read, and Claudine can't help noticing how similar her writing was to her mother's.

Similar in a way that it would be hard differentiating both of them side by side, if she didn’t know Maya wrote this. Her mother was praised for her delicate and minuscious description of scenarios and heavy attention to details, and Maya did exactly that.

The realization makes Claudine suddenly feel certain emptiness in her work. It was still beautiful indeed, but was this Maya’s real style? The so-called prodigy was just a copycat from her parents?

Once she finishes reading, she notices Maya still read hers with a soft smile on her lips. Was she laughing at how poorly written it was? Claudine fidgets in her seat with anxiety, until Maya chuckles softly as she puts down the paper.

“This was so entertaining, Saijou-san.” She says. “I could feel your struggle to come up with an idea perfectly and related a lot to it.”

“Is that so?” Claudine eyes her, a little unbelieving.

“The way you describe the actions and emotions is really fluid and honest, it makes your writing interesting. I had the same opinion after reading your book.”

Claudine’s brain comes to a full stop, then.

She did… what?

“Did you read my book?” Claudine asks, baffled.

“Of course.” Maya says as a matter of fact. “I actually got your autograph during the release event at that bookstore.”

She… what?

“Of course you probably don’t remember me, there were many people there on that day. But I really enjoyed the universe you created, the summary from it got my attention instantly.”

It felt surreal to listen to those words. Wasn’t her book criticized for being too immature? How could a person like Maya enjoy reading it?

“That surprised me. I’d never think you read it.” Claudine says, shaking her head. 

“Why not? I like fantasy literature.”

Claudine feels so shocked she’s at loss of words, so she just decides to turn the attention back to their current assignment.

“Well, do you have any negative remarks about my assignment?”

“Hm…” Maya thinks, eyeing the paper. “I guess I missed a little more description from the places you mention you went to. You gave more attention to your inner monologue, and so I felt a little out of place with the scenarios.”

“Right.” Claudine nods. “That’s fair, sometimes I forget to describe them.”

“That’s not a bad thing, it’s your style. It’s important to have one.” She says easily, making Claudine blush. “But a little more description in certain parts would make your writing richier.”

She thinks I have a style.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Claudine inhales, feeling like she’s about to combust.

“What about my assignment?” Maya asks with a curious expression.

“Yeah, right.” Claudine goes back to reality and grabs her paper. “I found it beautifully written, like poetry in text format. The way you observed the sky was so minuscious, and how you related it to your possible feelings… It was very clever.”

“Oh, thank you, Saijou-san.” Maya nods.

“But… I couldn’t help thinking this looked a lot like your mother’s writing style. I actually find it hard seeing any of you in it, except for the feelings of insecurity I could capture from your words. Where are you hiding, Tendou Maya? What is your actual style?”

She only notices she’s been a little harsh when all that follows is Maya’s silence. She just spoke from her heart what her thoughts were, minding very little about how the other girl would receive her words.

“I’m sor—”

“You’re absolutely right, Saijou-san.” Maya nods, cutting her. “In fact, I haven’t ever received such honest feedback, not even from my editor. But it makes sense, since my editor is the same as both my parents…”

“I… it’s alright finding inspiration from them, but you need to put more of yourself in it as well. Otherwise you’ll just be a ripoff of them.”

“Yes, I need to find my own style.” Maya sighs. She didn’t show signs of being hurt by her words, but Claudine still feels worried. 

“I’m sorry for saying things like that, I wasn’t trying to offend you or anything.” She decides to clarify. “I’m a big fan of your mother’s novels and I’ve read some of your father’s poetry… I was expecting to see your own full shine as well.”

“Hopefully I can show it to you next time.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Class soon finishes and the professor gives them another assignment to work on at home and bring on the next class; a description of a person. Maya and Claudine just bid goodbyes politely before each head their separate ways, both still thinking about each other’s feedback.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Claudine can’t fathom the idea that Maya actually read her book and enjoyed it. She knew she was probably an avid reader and it only made it worse, since it meant Maya knew enough to notice how bad her writing was. But… she didn’t find it bad, she actually seemed to like it quite a lot.

It was indeed a boost to her self esteem, but she was so incredulous that she doesn’t process that feeling properly.

Since curiosity doesn’t leave her, she tries searching online for Maya’s name to check if she had any writings posted somewhere or some sort of blog for her to read, hoping to get more familiar with her works — and to find out if it was all so similar to her mother’s. She finds nothing but the news from the two awards she won from this same university for best short stories, and some other awards she won as a teen and a child. What catches her attention is a news article saying her mother just announced a sequel to her previous novel, which was a bestseller for months.

Claudine herself has read it and feels excited with the news, but soon contains herself upon remembering her daughter.

And, to no surprise, on their next creative writing class, Claudine arrives in the auditorium to meet a bunch of people around Maya’s seat. She pauses for a second and listens as everyone asks her about her mother’s announcement, trying to get any spoiler from what was to come. As much as Maya denied knowing anything, people continued around her seat, and she could sense the other girl felt uncomfortable with that. In a spontaneous decision, she walks there and places her bag over the seat next to her, getting their attention.

“Class will soon begin.” She says with a serious voice. “You should go back to your places.”

No one says a thing and just walks away, and so she sits down by her side.

“Thank you, Saijou-san.” Maya says to her with a soft smile.

“Uh, no problem. Class is really going to begin soon.” Claudine explains, blushing.

“Indeed. My mother’s announcement really got many people excited, it happened as well in my other classes.”

“It must be tough dealing with that all the time.”

“I’m used to it; people only talk to me if it’s to ask me about my parents.”

Even though Maya’s voice is serious and apparently nonchalant, Claudine can sense the bitter and melancholic undertone it hid.

“What’s your major, Saijou-san?” Maya decides to ask, noticing Claudine fell in silence for a few seconds.

“Uh, it’s Japanese-French translation.” She replies nervously. “Because I’m half-French and I can speak both languages so…”

“That seems really interesting. I can actually speak a little French, but it’s rough.”

“Pouvez-vous parler français?” Claudine asks jokingly.

“Juste un peu, soyez patient.” Maya replies elegantly.

“Your pronunciation is good. Anyway, what about your major?”

“It’s Japanese literature.”

“Oh, I can see why everyone gathers around you in all of your classes.” Claudine says teasingly, making Maya chuckle.

The professor arrives then and announces that their activity for the day was reading in front of the auditorium the description of a person they wrote, and their classmates would be the ones to give their feedback. Claudine described her mother, a hardworking woman who was the CEO of a big fashion company back in France, and writing it made her miss her home there. Hopefully she wouldn’t cry during her reading; it would be a huge embarrassment. 

Once they start, Claudine tries paying careful attention to everyone’s work to try giving some solid feedback. Maya does as well, and everyone seemed a little uncomfortable whenever she decided to speak — probably due to insecurity, even though most of her feedback was positive and helpful.

When it’s Claudine’s turn, she inhales deeply before she begins, trying not to feel emotional. She manages to read it smoothly until the end, and most of her feedback is positive and pointing out how she was attentive to build her character perfectly. At last, Maya also shares her feedback, saying she could picture her mother perfectly with her words.

And when it’s Maya’s turn… she begins reading with her calm and deep voice, making everyone stone silent as they paid attention. The description she wrote, full of poetic passages and carefully put together, begins sounding a little familiar to Claudine in particular. Her subject was a woman that she didn’t know yet too well but hoped to get closer to, who looked determined and strong besides owning a beauty capable of stopping the world.  And it only gets more familiar, until it’s described how her gold wavy hair seemed like a ray of light on an autumn afternoon and she knows for sure that description was about her.

Why was that mad woman describing her? They’ve known each other for three weeks and talked just a little during that time; what made her choose her as subject?

Once Maya finishes, Claudine feels some attention aimed at her and tenses up, blushing. No one says anything as a feedback at first, only when the professor forces someone to speak that they say empty things such as “beautiful writing” and the sort. Maya goes back to her seat without much feedback, and meets Claudine’s burning face.

“Why did you—” She asks quietly while the next person settles up.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea we’d have to read it in front of the class.” She says apologetically. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“But… Why me?”

“Oh, I felt like it would be interesting, since we’ve just met.”

The next person begins before they can continue chatting, but Claudine’s inner turmoil keeps her from paying attention to the next readings. Did Maya picture her like that? Her poetic words sounded almost like Claudine was some sort of angel, even though it could just be a fancy description to impress because of the assignment. Either way, being chosen by her still feels weird.

Once class finishes, Claudine stands up first to leave, but Maya stops her before she could.

“Saijou-san…” She calls her attention, making her blush. “Are you free? Would you like to go somewhere for a coffee with me right now?”

“Huh?” Claudine’s first reaction isn’t the nicest one, since her shock makes her almost jump behind.

“Only if you’re not busy.” Maya clears, noticing how uncomfortable the other girl got. “I actually would like to get to know you better, if that’s alright. Maybe we can be friends.”

Claudine pauses for a few seconds, too shocked to react.

“So you did mean what you said on your assignment. Are you investigating me to try describing me again later?” She asks in a suspicious but teasing tone.

“I might be.” Maya chuckles.

She ponders, looking at the other woman as she chuckled. Like this, she barely gave away her Tendou aura — she seemed so… friendly.

“Well, I’m not busy, so I guess we can go.” She decides on a whim.

They walk out of the university campus side by side, not exchanging many words besides discussing where they’d go. They end up deciding to go to the same cafe nearby that Claudine usually went with her friends, and she feels relieved when they arrive there and her friends are nowhere in sight — they’d tease her forever as they always did when they saw her with a new someone. She takes her chance to order her usual bubble tea drink while Maya orders a normal tea.

“Is that drink good?” Maya asks once they sit down.

“Oui, I’m kind of addicted. I always ask different combinations.”

“I haven’t tried it yet; I might order one next time.”

“Since you like tea I guess you might like them.”

The conversation falls into a silence as both sip on their drinks, a little shyly.

“Do you live nearby, Saijou-san?”

“Oui, my apartment it’s just a couple of blocks away.”

“It must be nice. Driving here every day is very tiring.”

“You live far from here?”

“Yes, because of a slight misfortune.” Maya says mysteriously, making Claudine tilt her head in curiosity. Her sign is a cue for her to continue. “I wasn’t supposed to study at this university, so I might say it was a rebellious act. Still, my apartment was already rented, and to avoid the trouble I stayed there.”

“I wouldn’t take you as a rebellious person.” Claudine seems interested. “Where were you supposed to study?”

“At the same university my parents went to. But I wanted to run away from their world a tad… I can’t say it worked, but at least I have slightly more liberty than I would have surrounded by many people who personally knew them.”

“I really didn’t expect that. But I guess I can imagine the pressure you feel.”

“It’s not always easy.” Maya sighs. “And since I’m probably following my mother’s steps, people will expect from me something on her level and above.”

“You’re a different person, though. It’s hard, but you shouldn't take this pressure.”

“It’s complicated, since I hear these things everyday.” Maya shakes her head. “But I don’t want to talk about me anymore. Tell me about you.”

“Me?” Claudine frowns. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you discover your passion for writing?”

“Hm…” Claudine thinks. “I have done it since I was a child. I used to read a lot as well, so both things walked together.”

“I see. Were you a quiet child?”

“Oh no, I was super social. It’s weird, huh?”

“It’s interesting. I believe your social skills were a great part of the reason you can create characters so deep and well detailed.”

“Hm, you think?” Claudine blushes.

“I really love the protagonist from Into the stars, Carmelia. I actually have to say I related to her while I read.”

“That’s…” Claudine once again feels at loss of words. “That’s really nice to know.”

“I also liked how you didn’t force a romance between her and her friend, Jeremy. Stories usually go that path, even when the characters barely have chemistry between each other.”

“I know, right? That’s actually what I wanted to avoid.” Claudine says excitingly. “I’m so tired of reading things with forced romance between the guy and the girl just because… that’s how they think it’s supposed to go.”

“I agree. It was a really refreshing turn, and their friendship was lovely. It would all be ruined with a romance.”

It was like Maya liked everything that was criticized in her book. How could that even be possible?

“Are you planning on a sequel to it?” Maya asks, keeping the conversation.

“Oh, no. The story ended there, I don’t see anything else coming from that universe.” Claudine says easily. “But I’m excited to work on something else.”

“I’m also excited to see your next work.”

That support coming from a known prodigy was unbelievable.

“What about you? Are you working on a bestseller novel?” Claudine turns the attention back to the other woman.

“Expectations over my work are so exaggerated that it makes me cautious, so I’ve been working only on short stories so far, mainly for contests. But I want to try working on a novel as soon as possible, and I actually enrolled in this course with that in mind.”

That was it. So Maya would probably be her rival for the contest in the novel category, as she suspected. It gives Claudine a bad feeling in her chest.

“Anything you bring will surely become a bestseller.” She says, trying to disguise she got nervous.

“I just hope I can create something honest, since I don’t know if I’ll be able to satisfy the expectations.” Maya says. “You know, I’m still surprised you decided to pair up with me in the first class. Everyone is usually… hesitant to interact with me.”

“Is that so…” Claudine trails off, sipping her bubble tea. She didn’t want to reveal to the other woman the real reason behind her decision on that day: pure rivalry. “To be honest, I wouldn’t take you as someone so gentle and easy to talk to at first sight.”

“Being a Tendou does it’s job of creating a heavy aura around me.” Maya chuckles. “I have to say, when I was a teenager I lived to that; I was arrogant and proud. My classmates hated me, and they were not wrong. Nowadays I’m just somewhat tired of it all; I guess I just want to find myself and my place in the world.”

“I used to be like that as a teenager as well, my ego was pretty inflated. We grow up and learn that we’re all struggling just to find our places in the world.”

“It’s indeed a part of growing up.”

Both chuckle at their exchange, and Claudine feels her chest getting rid of the bad feeling from a while ago. Even though being in such an important position, Maya seemed like a young woman like herself, just trying to do her things while ignoring the pressure trying to crush her.

Unfortunately for Claudine, just as she chuckled with Maya her two best friends walked in the cafe. They both stop near the entrance, looking confused at the unknown person with the blonde woman, until Kaoruko decides to head to their table but fortunately being stopped by Futaba midway.

“What?” Kaoruko furrows her eyebrows.

“Let her be!” Futaba drags her towards the balcony, trying to be discreet so Claudine wouldn’t notice them.

“I want to know who that is!” She whines, still looking at them. 

“She’ll tell us later, let her enjoy her date.” 

The two of them continue by the balcony just watching the other girls. Not long later, Maya excuses herself saying she should get going and Claudine walks with her outside. They bid casual goodbyes, and just as Claudine turns around to go back inside and call her friends, she’s faced with both of them.

“Mon dieu!" She shrieks. “What are you two doing here?”

“We always come here, you know.” Futaba says with a grin.

“Who was that?” Kaoruko doesn’t waste time asking.

“Oh, you saw her.” Sighing, Claudine passes by them and heads inside.

Kaoruko runs behind her, followed by Futaba, keen to make the half-French spill the beans.

“Well, who was she?” Kaoruko asks her again, clinging to her arm.

“Tendou Maya. I mentioned her to you two.”

“The daughter of the writer?” Futaba remembers. “Wasn’t she going to become your rival?”

“Well… Maybe.” Claudine heads to sit on a table. “But she asked me out for a coffee today. In which neither of us drank, by the way.”

“Ohh, she likes you.” Kaoruko sits in front of her, grinning.

Kaoruko expected to listen to Claudine’s angry retort, but it never came. She actually seems lost in thought for a few seconds, like pondering what her friend said.

“She does like you!” Kaoruko’s eyes glimmered. 

“Non!” Claudine finally says something.

“Why the long pause, though?” Futaba asks, also curious.

“I was just thinking. Something weird happened today in class.” She says, and both her friends bend forward in curiosity. Claudine just sighs. “We were supposed to describe someone, and she described me. It was all poetic and stuff.”

Their mouths fall agape.

“There you go, Kuroko! Stealing all the hearts!” Futaba teases.

“Soon we won’t have Kuro-han all to ourselves…” Kaoruko fakes a sad tone.

“Yah, stop! I don’t think that’s the case. It was just… odd and embarrassing.”

“She must have fallen in love at first sight with your French beauty.” Kaoruko insists.

“Stop that, she doesn’t like me. I’m not some sort of girl magnet.”

“That’s what we’ll see.”

Claudine just ignores their teasing and goes back to her thoughts. The reason Maya chose to describe her was still beyond her understanding, and she couldn’t get over the fact that it was super weird.

But it was also beautiful, though. No one has ever directed her so many poetic words — hell, she doubts that even her first girlfriend has ever thought about her so deeply. Why did she always have to remember that jerk?

Annoyed at herself, she decides to bid goodbyes to her friends and heads back home, trying to ignore the thoughts in her mind.

Chapter Text

In the next creativity writing class it’s finally announced news from the contest, something that everyone has been expecting anxiously. However, the tension in the air caused by having such a strong contestant in class doesn’t allow everyone to get too excited, and that applies even to Claudine, who side eyes Maya on her seat by her side as soon as the professor begins speaking. At least they awarded the three best works for each category — not that she would be satisfied with anything but first place.

She just needed a good idea, something that her block hasn’t yet allowed her to have.

The professor explains the categories for the ones who didn’t know about them, something that makes Claudine’s mind wander, but she’s suddenly brought back to the real world as the professor announces that, starting this year, the category for novels would be divided by solo authoring and co-authoring.

Not that it interested her at all.

But what comes next almost makes her fall off her seat.

“To stimulate everyone to participate in this new co-authoring subcategory, the final project from this class will be exactly a novel suitable for it.” She says, making a huge ruckus blow in the class.

No one expected that, much less Claudine, who freezes in shock. Usually the final project of this class was a solo work for the novel category, but now it was supposed to be a co-authoring project? The idea didn't appeal to her at all. She looks to Maya, expecting to see her as taken aback, but the other woman just seems lost in thoughts.

Later the professor informs about when the registrations would begin — three months from now — and all the guidelines related to required words in each category and other particularities. And, of course, she doesn’t forget to mention the prizes.

First place in each of the subcategories for novels would have their stories published by the University’s publisher. The others categories and positions would get medals of honor, and also some money rewards as well.

The class only starts after she talks about the contest, encouraging everyone to send their final projects for it.

By the end of the class, Claudine is still lost in thoughts about that news. She really hoped to work on a comeback novel to try winning the contest… But now all of her wishes were gone. Seemed like luck wasn’t on her side this year, and maybe this wasn’t the time for her career as a writer to advance.

She’s soon taken from her thoughts when Maya calls her name, not looking as disturbed as her.

“Are you alright, Saijou-san?” Maya asks, a little concerned.

“Oh, oui, I’m fine.” Claudine starts picking her pens to stuff inside her bag. “Just distracted.”

“Are you thinking about the contest? It also doesn’t leave my mind.” She says honestly. 

“Yeah, I’m… very disappointed. I was really excited about this class.” Claudine doesn’t hide her frustration.

“Me too. But I believe this might be a good experience.”

“How so?”

“I don’t have experience in writing novels, and I’ve also been fighting a writer’s block. Maybe a fresh opportunity like this could inspire me.”

“You’re having a writer’s block?” Claudine repeats, incredulous. Could even such prodigy deal with those? “How is that possible? Don’t you have, uh, an editor and the sort to help you out?”

“Well, they don't give me whole plots and neither write for me.” Maya chuckles. “Short stories have a very different dynamic, I have yet to find a style for myself for novels.”

“Yeah, of course.” Claudine shakes her head. It was hard thinking the other woman had these kinds of troubles, but she did remember their conversation from the previous week. “I’m also dealing with a block, and I thought this class would help me work on a comeback novel for my career. Winning the contest was pretty much my goal.”

“I had a very similar goal; we’re on the same boat.” Maya smiles softly. “Well, I hope you don’t find this rushed, but would you join me for the final project, and, consequently, for the contest?”

Claudine turns her head to the other woman, her eyes huge in shock. Did she hear right?

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes, you.” Maya chuckles. “You know I like your work. Besides, I think we’d do great together given our first assignment and our feedback to each other, don’t you think? I have a strong feeling that we would be able to create something honest together.”

Claudine’s mind comes to a pause, trying to process that invitation.

Partnering with Tendou Maya. The Tendou Maya, the writer prodigy that everyone had high expectations for her first work.

This couldn’t be.

“Are you sure?” Claudine asks.

“Why are you surprised? I can’t imagine any scenario where I wouldn't want to work with you, even if you had never talked to me during this class. I’d definitely try approaching you in that case.”

Claudine blushes a little at that, confused.

“That makes me feel flattered.” She turns her head away, trying to hide her embarrassment. “But… What would we even write about?” 

“I actually don’t know; maybe something we’re both not used to? Then we can explore the genre together.”

“Well it… Seems interesting.” Claudine fidgets, trying to digest the idea. 

“Is there any theme you’re interested in exploring?”

Claudine thinks for a few seconds. She absolutely loved fantasy, dystopian realities and action, and pretty much barely touched romance. Since it was the first thing that comes to her mind, she’s soon speaking it out.

“I’m not used to writing about love, since I like other genres more…”

“Maybe that’s our theme; a love story. We may include some come of age elements...”

“You want to write a Young Adult novel?” Claudine frowns. “That will certainly go against people’s expectations for you.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

There wasn’t anything wrong in that, and Claudine knew it. But her insecurity was dragging her away from her own wishes after the critics over her first book.

“This kind of literature is called immature.” She says, exposing what was on her mind.

“Hm. Maybe.” Maya knew about critics so she knew what they used to say about it. “But I don’t see it; to be honest, most of the books I enjoy reading are in this category. Besides, it has a target audience, which by the way we both fit in since we’re young adults.”

Sighing, Claudine thinks for a minute. 

Tendou Maya wanted to partner with her to write a Young Adult love story.

That woman was nuts. Claudine couldn't see any rational reason for her to decide to do this, even though they were now forced to work in pairs for the class.

But maybe… This could be good for herself. If they do write something good enough for the class, they can send it for the contest and maybe win first place in this category. Would there be a bigger impact on her career to publish something with Tendou Maya?

Probably not. This opportunity was actually gold.

Well, of course the expectations the critics had for Maya’s work would get to her as well, but she’d just have to keep on her level and probably things would be fine.

Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea, after all.

“Maybe we should brainstorm a little; see what we could get from that.” Claudine says, and Maya’s eyes instantly brighten up.

But before they can discuss more, they are interrupted by the professor, who finished packing her belongings.

“Ladies, I need to close the auditorium.” She says, and both women look around only to realize the room was completely empty except for them.

“Oh, we’re sorry.” Maya apologizes, standing up. “We got distracted talking about the contest.”

“No problem. I can’t wait to see what you two will create together.” The professor says, making Claudine blush.

Was it obvious that they were going to partner up? Well, it’s not like any of them talked to anyone else in the class, but...

“Saijou-san, let’s head somewhere now to continue our discussion?" Maya interrupts her thoughts with the invitation.

“Sure.” She agrees, still slightly nervous.

Both head to the same cafe from before — the brunette really wanted to try that same tea again, while the blonde just hoped her friends wouldn’t show up out of nowhere to make her even more nervous about this whole thing. As they sit down with their drinks, Maya grabs her laptop so they could begin their brainstorming. As they sort of agreed on the theme, Maya writes the word LOVE in the middle of a blank mental map. 

It seemed like this was happening, so Claudine should just get over her jitters. After inhaling deeply, she tries turning on her productive mode.

“Alright, we need to think about the characters; since it’s a come of age story they have to be young.” She begins speaking, and Maya nods with her attention fully on her. “Maybe they’re in high school, since it gives us many possibilities.”

“Agreed.” Maya creates a box entitled characters.

"And it’s a love story, so…” Claudine frowns. She hated this part. “I guess you can come up with a boy and I create the girl, maybe. I’m really terrible at creating male characters.”

“I’ve noticed there were few male characters in your book, besides Jeremy.”

“Yeah, I just… don’t connect properly with them.” She explains poorly.

In fact, she had no interest at all in creating male characters.

“Alright, I’ll try thinking about a boy. Maybe an insecure type, afraid of the future?”

“I guess it works.” Claudine waves her hand in the air. “The girl will be strong and determined, she has no time to waste in the pursuit of her dreams.”

“I like those kinds of characters.” Maya starts writing down their ideas. “He will fall for her at first sight.”

“Well, then she’ll be clueless at first, then later resistant to a relationship.”

They both continue writing a few ideas, trying to shape something out of them. Not an hour passes and both are interrupted by Claudine’s friends, who appear by their table without warning.

“Hello, Kuro-han.” Kaoruko chants, resting her hands over the table. “Who’s your friend?”

Claudine curses the fact that she didn’t see them coming. Before she could retort angrily, though, Maya stands up.

“I’m Tendou Maya.” Maya raises her hand for a handshake. 

Kaoruko freezes for a couple of seconds before replying the handshake, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Hanayagi Kaoruko. Kuro-han’s best friend.” Kaoruko says shyly. 

“I’m Isurugi Futaba.” Futaba lifts her hand to make herself known.

“Pleased to meet you both.” Maya says politely.

“We’re busy.” Claudine says finally, a little shocked at that formal interaction. “Could you, uh…”

“Oh, sure.” Futaba nods, locking her arm with Kaoruko’s. “We’re leaving you both.”

“I hope to see you another time.” Maya says politely.

Maya sits back down as her friends walk away, both shooting glances behind as they walk out of curiosity. Claudine exhales, trying to get her mind back in the story.

“Sorry about those two.” She says, getting focused. “Well, I guess we got a good draft of the characters, so now we need an universe and a plot.”

“How about a magic school? Then we can put fantasy elements here and there…” Maya suggests with a sparkle in her eyes.

“You really do like fantasy, huh? Wasn’t the point trying to work on something different than we’re both used?”

“I’ve never written anything in the fantasy genre.” Maya says in a sad tone. “But maybe it can have those elements but they won’t take part in the whole story.”

“Hm, like the main focus is the love story, but as background the magic school?”

“Something like that.”

“Maybe it can work…”

Maya writes down a few more things, until her phone starts buzzing. She picks it up and frowns at the caller’s ID, in which Claudine can read Father from the corner of her eyes.

“Sorry, I have to pick this up.” She excuses herself before standing up. “Be right back.”

“Take your time.” Claudine waves for her to go.

As Maya walks out of the cafe to answer the call, Claudine eyes the document they were both creating with ideas. They were indeed getting somewhere, and it looked promising enough, but… she couldn’t shake off the bad feeling she had about that romance.

Well, it’s not like she hasn’t read many books and watched many movies with straight couples, that was the only thing in the media. The problem is that it was exhausting, and to think she was about to create another love story just like it’s seen everywhere didn’t really appeal to her.

The genre didn’t really appeal to her after all, and it was worse to make it about a straight couple. If they were both girls, though… It would be a lot more interesting.

But of course she wouldn’t tell the japanese woman that. What if it gave her a hint about her own sexuality? She carefully picked the people who knew about it — just her close friends and family. No one else. And she wouldn’t be able to deny it if cornered, so… it was better to lay low.

Besides, this seemed like a great opportunity for herself, as she realized earlier. She couldn’t ruin it.

Soon her thoughts are interrupted when Maya comes back, a frown adorning her forehead.

“Saijou-san…” She begins before sitting by her side. “I’m afraid I have to go. But let’s continue this as soon as possible.”

“Sure. Tomorrow maybe?”

“Seems good. Can I have your number?”

“Sure.”

They exchange numbers and, after packing her laptop, Maya excuses herself to leave. As soon as she’s alone, though, she’s surprised by her friends lurking back to her table, all curious.

“A second date, huh?” Kaoruko says, teasing.

“We were literally working on a class project.” Claudine explains with a sigh.

“Right.” Even Futaba doesn’t buy it.

“Y’all annoying, you know that?”

“We’re just excited for the possibility of you having a relationship with a nice girl this time.” Kaoruko explains.

“I mean, we don’t know if she’s nice, but at least you two have writing in common.” Futaba completes. “That’s a good start.”

“And also money in common, probably.” Kaoruko thinks out loud.

“I’m not looking for a relationship, stop being so insistent. I’m done with those, you know that.” Claudine retorts angrily.

“It’s been almost two years, you can give it another chance now.” Kaoruko says as if it was the simplest thing in the universe, and it pissed the half-French.

“You two have been annoying me about every girl I talked to since I broke up with that—”

“Asshole.”

“Jerk.”

Both her friends say in almost unison. Well, at least they were on her side.

“Anyway, just stop, ok? We’re working on something big, so I don’t want it to be disturbed by anything troublesome.”

“What are you two working on?”

Claudine explains them briefly about the new subcategory on the writing contest, and how now the class would be focused on it which led to her pairing up with Maya.

“It seems almost destined, you two are working on a love story together as you both fall in love with each other…” Kaoruko sighs infatuated. 

“Mechante va!” Claudine grumbles. “I’m leaving now.”

After a while Claudine gets a text from Futaba apologizing for all the teasing, but sending her positive vibes for the project. Her friends were annoying sometimes, but she knew both worried about her and only wanted her best.

Especially because they saw what she’s been through and were there for her when she felt at her worst.

Feeling somewhat thankful, Claudine manages to clear her thoughts and continues thinking on the following project.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

The next day, Maya texts Claudine asking about where they should meet to continue their discussion. The way she writes it is so formal and elegant that it seems really off for a simple text, but Claudine can’t help replying in the same manner.

And she suggests that both meet in front of the cafe they usually went so they could go to Claudine’s place together. The idea seemed good for the half-French, since both could work uninterrupted there and it was just two blocks away, which was very convenient.

Claudine heads to the meetup spot right after class after sending her friends a text saying she wouldn’t see them this afternoon. Maya takes a few minutes longer to arrive, and when she does, she’d breathless as if she jogged there.

“Saijou-san, I’m sorry…” She says, bowing lightly. “The professor from my last subject always takes longer than class time to finish…”

“Oh, don’t worry at all.” Claudine waves her hands in dismissal, embarrassed. If Maya knew how long she had to wait for Kaoruko when they go out… a few minutes were nothing. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I am.” Maya catches her breath, feeling self conscious. 

“I mean, in general as well?” Claudine asks before thinking. “Yesterday you left in a hurry after that call…”

She didn’t mean to ask, but the words just slipped her tongue before she could think better. She was indeed curious, but it wasn’t like her to nose on other people’s business.

“Yes I am, thanks for asking.” Maya smiles softly, and Claudine feels relieved her question wasn’t seen as too invasive. “I actually forgot I had dinner with my parents and some members from our publishing agency… So I had to run.”

“Oh. I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious.”

“Not at all, don’t worry.” Maya’s expression seems really pleased with that exchange. “Shall we get going, then?”

Claudine guides the way to her apartment and, as both head inside, Maya politely excuses herself before walking in and places her shoes in the tidiest way she can by the door.

“Do you want something to eat? I can make us some waffles…” Claudine offers shyly.

“You don’t need to worry about me, but if you want to eat something I can help you prepare.”

“Let’s do it, then. I won’t be able to think while hungry.”

It’s all a little awkward in the beginning, with Maya embarrassed of being in her place and Claudine embarrassed of having someone over. She didn’t get many visits aside from her close friends and her parents, so she even tidied the place better on the previous night — not a hard work, since she always kept her place organized. And Maya could count in the fingers from one hand the times she went to a classmate’s place.

Once food is done and they settle by her living room table, both open their laptops to get back on work, while munching on their food. Maya is an avid eater as Claudine soon notices, eating three waffles like they were nothing — and claiming she could still eat more. She’d remember to always make extra food for her.

“Well, what we need now is a plot for the story.” Claudine says, trying to get their minds on track.

“I guess it could be something like the boy trying to get over his own shyness to confess to the girl?”

“Yeah, but…” Claudine ponders. “It still misses something, like a big conflict, some dilemma or even a twist.”

“Hm…” Maya begins pondering again. “Maybe they were rivals?”

“Oh.” The suggestion makes ideas bubble inside Claudine’s mind. “That could work, yes.”

They type down that idea on the same file of the mental map from the previous day.

“I guess the twist can be that the girl has always liked him, but she was too focused on her own goals to realize it.” Claudine says. 

“This fits with her personality. Maybe they can bicker the entire way through the book…”

“... Until something happens that makes her realize her own feelings.”

“And his feelings only get stronger.”

Both nodding in agreement, they continue writing ideas on the file, until they decide to move to a writing software to try building a timetable of events for the entire novel. The evening goes by, until Maya realizes it was 9pm and completely dark outside, so she probably should get going.

“Want to call a taxi? Isn’t your car parked far away?” Claudine asks worryingly when she accompanies Maya to the entrance.

“It’s near the campus, so don’t worry. I’ll get to it in less than ten minutes.” Maya says as she puts on her shoes. 

“Alright. Let me know when you get there.”

“I will.”

They bid goodbye and Maya leaves, and not long later Claudine gets a text from her saying she’s in her car already. She releases the tension she didn’t even realize she held on her shoulders then, and decides to head to take a shower.

The day was very productive and she felt proud of their advances, even though the feeling that something was still missing in their story doesn't leave her.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

They continue seeing each other to discuss their ideas for the following days, and even begin working on the timetable by distance. The path the story was taking was for a cavity-inducing love story, which was not Claudine’s cup of tea but the ideas seemed ok so far.

Yet, her feeling of something off only grows. They come up with a scene right at the beginning where the main couple fight a monster using their powers and end having a moment together, and all Claudine could think is how they lack chemistry.

Her character would never like a guy like that. Alright, maybe his personality was okay… But she couldn’t see her falling in love with him. Maybe because she was putting a little too much from her own personality on her, which usually happened on her main characters, and herself would never fall for him.

With no man whatsoever, but anyway.

Claudine told Maya a few times how she still felt that something was missing, but Maya didn’t really see what was troubling the half-French.

In their next creative writing class, the professor tells everyone to pair up to begin thinking of an idea for their final projects. Maya and Claudine have to tell her that they were pretty advanced on that already, which pleases the professor a lot and allows them to work on their idea even more. 

And so they do, eventually moving their discussions to Claudine’s place after class. Maya was very energetic to include on the timetable a scene where the boy decided to explore their school with his friends, only to find a secret room that drags everyone’s curiosity, and Claudine allows her to work while she makes something for them to eat.

Once she came back, Maya was rereading some of the previous pages they had written so far, seeming thoughtful. 

“Something wrong?” Claudine asks, placing a tray with cookies and tea over the table they were both working on.

“Oh, I was just wondering again about what you said of something still missing.” Maya lifts her hand to grab a cookie.

“I will find it eventually, don’t fret. I guess it’s because I’m really not used to writing love stories…” Claudine serves tea for both of them and grabs her mug.

“Well, we’ve put a nice action scene right at the beginning, I think it was a nice way to start and introduce the plot.”

“Yeah…”

“Do you have any experience with love, Saijou-san?” The question gets Claudine completely off guard, as she almost chokes on her tea. “Sorry for the sudden question, I was just wondering.”

“Uh, no problem.” Claudine gathers her composure. “I had just one bad experience that I don’t like thinking about.”

“Oh. I’m really sorry for bringing this up.” Maya’s expression drops.

“It’s fine, we’re writing about this.” Claudine shakes her head. “What about you?”

“I haven't.” Maya shakes her head negatively, bringing her attention back to her laptop.

“Not even a crush?”

“Well, maybe…” Maya trails off. “When I was younger, I never had a lot of interest or time to think about love.”

“Love isn’t something easy. It can go wrong in so many ways…”

“I hope it can go right as well.”

“Yeah, maybe it can. In fiction it has, so we need to figure out what's missing in our story.”

“Indeed. We shall brainstorm more about it.”

They continue working just like the previous times and Maya leaves once it starts getting late. It became a habit already that Maya would let Claudine know when she arrived in her car, which pleased the half-French and kept her from worrying. 

Not that it was very dangerous to walk near the campus at night, given the fact there were always many students around, but she’d still be concerned. You never know what could happen... It was never too much to be safe.

Making up excuses for her worry, Claudine heads to take a bath, trying to keep her mind off the other woman.

Chapter Text

Weeks pass and they manage to finish their timeline for the entire story — that was likely to be adjusted and edited as they worked. With that out of the way, they begin writing the first chapter, first together to discuss the style and later they allow themselves to write freely, each one reading the parts the other wrote and making the adjustments they think are necessary.

It turns out way easier than Claudine imagined to work with someone else. Maybe things were going well because Maya and herself were very organized and liked discussing every single detail, but she always had the impression a co-authoring project would be almost impossible to execute. So lucky of her to meet someone so aligned to her way of working, and how both were also willing to change so both felt comfortable.

This project was turning out a really pleasing experience.

The only problem in her way was still the actual story. Not completely; it was fun and enjoyable from what they had so far, but… it still lacked something to make her eyes sparkle as she wrote.

She loved her character a lot, but that romance wasn’t what she wanted for her.

And she knew what was wrong, but she had no guts so far of proposing the idea to the thoroughbred writer. Especially because she seemed fine with everything so far, so maybe it was already too late to make such a drastic change on the story.

But she really wished the story could be about two girls. She could even picture them together, getting closer as the plot thickens, one with her one sided crush and the other being clueless and resistant to it…

It was a shame it wouldn’t be like that.

But things go by and she continues disguising her dissatisfaction.

On a Thursday evening, after working on some writing by herself in her apartment, Claudine is surprised by her phone ringing. The called on the ID makes she sit straight, quite taken aback. For the time they’ve been working together, Maya has never once called her, so this could only mean something was probably going on.

She picks up the call feeling a little nervous.

“Allo? ”

“Saijou-san?” Maya’s voice on the other end seems calm. “Sorry for bothering you this late.”

“Hm, not at all. I was writing a little more.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure to check it later. I would like to invite you for the press release dinner from my mother’s new book release tomorrow. Sorry for inviting you so close to the date, but I was only informed today that they’re allowing me to bring someone.”

Claudine takes a few seconds to register the invitation.

A press release dinner? Wouldn’t there be only famous people there, along with a lot of media?

She had been to her mother’s numerous fashion events back in France, meeting celebrities and being photographed by fashion websites and magazines, but this was something else. This was in her actual chosen career, and would definitely get her some more visibility.

“Is it alright for me to go?” Claudine asks a little hesitantly.

“Of course, I’d be pleased to have your company with me. These events are usually long and quite monotonous though, so I hope you don’t mind. We’d be able to chat and eat a good variety of food, so I guess it would be worth it.”

“But…” Claudine still couldn’t grasp the whole thing. Why was she being invited? “Is it alright for me to go? I mean… You probably know a bunch of other people to invite...”

“I want your presence, Saijou-san. You’re my writing partner, and to be honest, the best company I’ve had in years.”

It gets her a little embarrassed to listen to those words, but she was the one feeling insecure to the point of making the other woman say them.

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“Marvelous. We can come together to my apartment to get ready right after classes, is that alright for you?”

“Sure. Just let me know where to meet you.”

After a few more words setting some details, they end the call and Claudine places her phone over the table, feeling the weight of that event dawning on her. This was nothing like her book release at that bookstore, full of teens and young adults. This was a fancy dinner of one of the most famous writers in Japan, an unique occasion that would get everyone’s attention.

She’d be there, by her daughter’s side.

First thing she does after that is calling her mother to tell her about it, and her mother feels delighted with her opportunity. Then she reminds her to check what the dress code would be, and soon Claudine is texting Maya to ask her about it. Her answer is pretty vague, saying she doesn’t need to overdress but it would be a good idea to wear something a little fancier, and Claudine spends the rest of her night searching on her all branded wardrobe for something fitting.

Picking a blue dress she bought a while ago and had yet to wear, she organizes a bag with her huge makeup collection and shoes for the next day and can barely sleep anticipating it.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Claudine waits for Maya after her class in front of the literature department building, since her classes ended a little earlier. Not long later the Japanese girl appears, walking out with two other girls.

“Saijou-san.” Maya greets her with a smile. “These are my classmates and friends, Hoshimi-san and Daiba-san.”

“Oh, we’re finally meeting you.” The taller girl clasps her hands in excitement. “Maya-chan talks about you all of the time.”

“Nana.” Maya shoots her a glance with an uncomfortable chuckle.

“We also read your book once it was released, it was such a good story.” The smaller one says, adjusting her glasses.

“Merci beaucoup.” Claudine blushes. “I’m glad you enjoyed reading it.”

“We both can’t wait to read what you two are working on.”

After a few more exchanges, the two of them excuse themselves to allow Maya and Claudine to get going. The blush doesn’t leave Claudine’s cheeks, the realization that not only Maya but also her friends read her book making her feel giddy inside.

Just like Claudine imagines, Maya’s car is one of the most expensive available in Japan. Inside is as luxurious as on the outside, and she can’t help herself from relaxing on the passenger seat. She always loved car rides, not much driving, and the opportunity of going on a ride happened very rarely while she was in this country.

Maya is a careful driver, not running too much and focusing all of her attention on the road. They take a while to arrive at her apartment complex, located in a fancy neighborhood, and Claudine almost dozes off on how comfortable she felt.

But she manages to keep herself awake, and once they arrive, she’s surprised that her apartment isn’t as fancy as her car — not really different from her own apartment.

“Dinner starts at 7, so I guess we could start getting ready…” Maya says as they walk in, Claudine eyeing around the carefully tidied apartment. 

“Seems good.” Claudine turns her attention back to the other woman.

“I’d offer you something to eat, but we better save space for later.” Maya says with a chuckle, and Claudine chuckles as well. 

“You are quite a glutton, aren’t you?” Claudine teases.

“I just appreciate good food.” Maya blushes a little.  “Oh, I forgot to mention that my mother actually got a makeup artist and a designer to help her get ready and invited us to get ready at her place as well, but I usually avoid all that ruckus and just do my own thing. Hope it’s alright with you.”

“Well, if you don’t want it, then I don’t as well. Besides, I came prepared, and I have some experience with makeup.” Claudine says easily. “I can help you if you want.”

“I’d love to have your help.” Maya smiles softly. “And… there’s another important detail I didn’t mention before.”

Claudine furrows her eyebrows, curious.

“Something wrong?” She asks.

“Not really. I just... “ Maya trails off, not knowing how to start. “My parents don’t know about our project together. I’m trying to keep them away from my decisions, as I’ve mentioned to you before, so they only know I sometimes participate in the university’s contest.”

“Oh.” Claudine mouths, feeling a little insecure.

“But don’t think too much about it, it’s just because I don’t want their pressure to reach us. We’re doing great together and I’d like to keep it this way.”

“Alright, I got it.” The half-French nods, trying to understand the situation. “I’m not going to mention anything in their front.”

“Thank you, Saijou-san.” Maya smiles softly. “Let’s get ready, then?”

They both go to Maya’s room, which was simply decorated with soft and neutral colors, and begin their preparations. Claudine tries to shake off the insecurity that came with Maya’s words, trying to focus on her reasons behind keeping that from her parents — but she knew they’d probably hate to know her first published book is going to be a YA co-authoring novel.

But Maya was with her, excited about their project as she could see in her eyes whenever they worked on it. She should just trust her for now.

To keep herself distracted, Claudine shows her huge makeup collection to Maya and they both show each other their dresses to think about colors that would suit them. The half-French does their makeup using all of her knowledge, then later both help each other with their hairs and, in the end, change into their dresses.

Maya’s was a gray sheath dress that ended just above her knees, nothing too dressy but clearly not a casual outfit. Her hair was curled to the side, with her signature ribbon — now in white to match the details in her dress — adorning it loosely. As she fixes herself on the mirror she spots Claudine coming back from the bathroom, wearing her beautiful full skirted blue dress. She’s too busy fixing her hair, tighten in a loose up-do, to notice that Maya stares at her a little too long.

“I guess we’re both ready.” Claudine says with a smile as she feels satisfied with her hair.

“Indeed.” Maya nods, turning her attention from the mirror to the other woman. “You look lovely in that dress.”

“Thanks. You look great in yours as well.”

As the finale of their visuals, Claudine grabs her lipsticks and tells Maya to choose one. She goes for a light pink one to avoid contrasting with her smokey eyes, while Claudine goes for the red one. Seeing her with her colored lips does something to Maya’s chest, but she manages to disguise it perfectly as she should.

Maya opts to call a taxi instead of driving, and soon they’re at the salon where the event was being held. Not a minute passes once they step in and some photographers ask to take their photos, making Claudine feel all giddy, but soon Maya excuses themselves so they can head to their table. 

Claudine couldn’t believe she’d be sitting at the same table as Maya’s family, as she soon notices when she sees the names reserving the spots. And it makes her blush that her name was there as well, right beside Maya’s seat.

They sit down and are served some appetizers while they wait for the event to begin. Soon Maya’s parents arrive and Claudine blushes as she’s introduced to them, trying to maintain her composure in front of two of the most respectful figures in Japan. Maya’s mother doesn’t fail to comment about her book, in which she didn’t personally read but knows her daughter loved, and the half-French almost has a heart attack. 

Once the event begins, Ms. Aoi goes to the front of the auditorium to talk a little about her book and answer questions related to it. Claudine pays attention to how elegant she is, not only in her words but in her figure, and can’t help thinking she wants to be like that in the future. The sequel from her last book seems as promising as the first one, and the journalists fill her with questions about the plot and even about the possibility of a drama adaptation, just like one of her previous works was.

It lasts for a while, and Claudine’s attention doesn’t faze for a second but to frown at how Maya doesn’t stop eating the appetizers, wondering if she’d be able to eat the proper dinner once it begins. She herself only sip on her wine and ate a tiny bit, trying to maintain her elegant posture.

When the talk part finishes, Ms. Aoi comes back to her spot in the table along with her editor and asks one of the waiters for some water, feeling tired of speaking. The salon gets filled with everyone’s murmuring, and soon dinner is served.

Much to Claudine’s surprise, Maya manages to eat a lot of it as well, and she can’t help teasing her for having a black hole in her stomach. Maya just chuckles it off and feeds Claudine with one of the fish balls in response, which were indeed delicious.

“It’s good to see you’re getting along.” Ms. Aoi comments on the exchange from the two, chuckling. “Maya-chan never had many friends, but I knew that would change in university.”

“Mother, please spare Saijou-san from too many details.” Maya says, feeling embarrassed.

“Uh, it’s a pleasure for me to be her friend.” Claudine says, not really knowing what to say.

“Please take good care of my daughter for me. She barely tells me anything these days…” Ms. Aoi says with a hint of sadness.

“You don’t have to worry; she’s one of the most diligent and serious persons I’ve ever met. She’d never do anything to disappoint you.” Claudine can’t help gulping dryly after those words, and disguises it by sipping on her wine.

“I know.” Her mother smiles.

When it’s near the event’s ending, a journalist asks to take a photo from the Tendou family and so they excuse themselves for that, and her mother’s editor follows to make sure the journalists wouldn't keep them forever. Claudine finds herself alone at their table with only her wine left to make her company, so she continues sipping on it while looking around the salon.

She can see some other renowned writers are also present, along with famous journalists and critics. Would she ever be able to hold an event like this, for one of her works? It all seemed so big that it was hard to imagine, but she hoped so.

Would her immature writing ever mature to be respected as Tendou Aoi’s was?

Her wine finishes and soon a waiter passes and refills her cup, even though she doesn’t even ask. But glad to have something to still keep her company, she continues lost in her inner thoughts. 

What if her novel with Maya wins the contest? It was very likely to happen, given the fact Maya has won it twice already... And she was working her best to keep up with her level. If things went right, they’d publish it together real soon. What would be her parent’s reaction? What would be the media's reaction?

Tendou Maya, the known prodigy, pairing up with a mediocre writer as herself for her first book. It sounded like a bad taste joke.

Those thoughts bring back to her mind her first insecurities about this whole thing. It would do great for her career, but would she be able to keep it up to the other woman? The expectations people had for her work would certainly reach her as well.

And all she can think about is her immature first novel.

Besides, to make things even worse, she wasn’t even certain of the plot of their novel. Something was missing, she felt it wrong and off. Maya didn’t seem fazed by anything, but she felt it in her chest every time she opened the document to write more.

It wasn’t being a honest work, like Maya said they could create together. Claudine wasn’t being honest with herself and neither with the other woman.

The time passes and Claudine doesn’t even notice she has drunk around three glasses of wine, just sipping on them and getting then refilled as soon as she finishes while lost in her inner turmoil. But she was good at handling alcohol, so she just stops and tries to keep her cool.

When finally Maya comes back, alone, she stops by her side with a sigh.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you alone, Saijou-san. They wouldn’t stop asking questions.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” For no rational reason, Claudine decides to stand up, and once she does, she unbalances as she feels the alcohol come up.

Maya keeps her steady, worried.

“Are you alright?” 

“I guess I drank too much wine. But don’t worry, I’m fine.” Claudine waves it off. 

“Do you want to leave? The event has pretty much finished anyway.”

“Is that alright?” 

“Of course. Let’s go.”

Claudine ends accepting mostly because she was getting bored already of staying there. They both say goodbyes to Maya’s parents and leave in a taxi that was already waiting at the front, towards Maya’s apartment.

The silence between them on the way there allows Claudine’s thoughts to come back. And the alcohol doesn’t hold her tongue, so soon she’s blurting out what’s on her mind.

“Tendou Maya, I need to tell you something important.” Claudine says, seeming serious but slightly tipsy. 

“What is it, Saijou-san?” Maya asks, concerned. 

“I’m not being honest about our work, and I should be.” She begins. “In truth, I don’t like our main couple.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Maya presses, feeling confused. “I thought we agreed on everything…”

“I was afraid of telling you, but I should tell you now and finish this for once. Our story looks like a cliche romance that we can find everywhere around, there’s nothing refreshing or new about it. It’s always the socially inept guy that has a crush on an amazing girl that ends helping him overcome his insecurities and forgets completely about herself and her own shine. I mean, I was hoping to keep the story from going that path, but I see it happening and I hate it. I promised myself when I was younger that I would write things that I wanted to read, and this is a story I wouldn’t want to read.”

“So what’s your suggestion?” Maya feels a little shocked, but mostly curious about what the half-French had in mind.

“We should reformulate the guy, create something different for him. And he shouldn’t be a guy, he should be a girl.”

The taxi arrives in front of Maya’s apartment complex then, as both eye each other. They exit it and head inside in silence, with Maya processing her suggestion. Only when they reach the elevator she continues their discussion.

“So… You want them to be both girls?”

“Exactly.” Claudine says with a sigh, like leaving a weight from her shoulders. “That’s what I wanted to read and still do. I want to be honest with myself.”

They both fall in silence, Maya thinking about her idea. Claudine soon notices she might have come out as imposing, so she’s quick to reformulate it.

“I mean— You’re completely free to deny it and feel uncomfortable with the idea, I get it. I’m just— That’s not the path I want my work to go. We can still come with a solution that pleases both of us.”

The elevator reaches her floor and both head out.

“Saijou-san, I…” Maya begins, reaching for her small bag to grab her keycard. “I have to say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind, which is quite ironic—”

She stops herself before saying anything stupid and goes for the door, getting it opened.

“But I’m seeing a lot of potential in that idea.”

“You do?”

They walk inside, Maya closing the door behind her back.

“Yes, I can see it working a lot better, actually. I feel like I can create a character more honest as well, now.” She continues.

“But are you really alright with it? Your first published book will be an explosion of unexpected things for everyone… a co-authoring young adult love story, involving two girls.”

“I’m not worried about the expectations they have for me in our work, Saijou-san. I just want to create something honest with you, that’s what I said. So nothing else really matters.”

“What about your parents?” Claudine can’t help asking.

“I’ll deal with them when the time is right, but you shouldn’t worry about them. They’ll trust me if I show enough confidence.”

“I hope you’re right.” Claudine sighs. “Sometimes I still think this is all too crazy, for you to be working with me…”

“I couldn’t feel happier for this opportunity, Saijou-san. I told you I like your work, and each day working with you I feel as if I’m finding myself. You allowed me to experience something different, and I feel as if a new door was opened ahead of me. So please, don’t let these troublesome thoughts get to you; if it weren’t for you, I would never know who I am.”

The silence from the apartment greets them for a few seconds, both thinking about that sudden and important change in their novel and all in between. Claudine tries to listen to Maya and erases the bad thoughts that filled her mind, instead starting to think about their novel. They’d have to discuss everything again and probably change the timeline in general, and this starts giving her a headache. Maya, on the other hand, actually feels so excited with the half-French’s idea that she could grab her laptop now to begin writing.

“Can I have a shower? I guess the wine is getting too much on my head…” Claudine says, placing her hand in her forehead with a pained expression.

“Of course, sure.” Maya promptly guides her to her room.

She grabs some clean towels and pajamas for her to wear, and also offers her some painkillers for her headache. Claudine accepts it all a little tiredly and heads to the shower, trying to keep her mind clean. She doesn’t take long and soon lies down in Maya’s giant bed, already prepared for her.

“You should sleep too.” Claudine tells the other woman as she gets comfortable. “There’s plenty of space for both of us here.”

“I’ll soon be there.”

However, after showering, Maya can’t help heading to the living room and grabbing her laptop to begin writing some ideas. Like that, she ends sleeping on the couch, dreaming with the finally honest story they were about to create.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Claudine wakes up lazily on the next morning, taking her time stretching up. Soon she notices that the bed’s owner is not there as well, and so she stands up to look for her — she did say she didn’t mind them sharing the bed, so where was that woman?

She finds her passed out on the couch at the living room, her laptop open by the middle table. With a sigh, Claudine walks closer to it and moves the cursor to see what she suspected — the other one started working last night after her sudden outburst.

Well, she wasn’t proud of blurting all of her frustrations related to their novel while tipsy, but at least the brunette accepted everything she said quite easily — to her surprise, she didn’t even protest about anything, much on the contrary. She sits on the floor with her back against the couch to see the changes she made to her character, now a confident young girl who aimed to be the best magician of the school.

Maya wakes up as Claudine reads, and upon seeing the other woman by her laptop, she stands up in a hurry. Claudine jumps up a bit in surprise with the movement.

“Sorry for nosing, but your laptop was open…” Claudine explains. 

“It’s alright, I was actually excited to show my ideas to you.” Maya stretches. “Did you sleep fine?”

“Yeah, like a baby.” She replies, turning her attention back to the laptop. “I like Samantha.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Maya leaves the couch and sits by her side on the floor.

“She’s the headmaster’s daughter, very interesting…”

“I feel like this could create a tension between her and Elisa, since Elisa is competitive and determined.”

“I like that. They’d bicker all the time, but eventually realize their feelings are deeper than simple competition.”

“And Samantha will realize it first, after both are forced to cooperate on that first action scene with the monster.”

“This is looking so good.” Claudine giggles in excitement, reading the rest of the things the other wrote.

“There’s just one unfortunate thing; I had an idea that might need us to rewrite what we’ve written so far.”

“It’s just three chapters, we can do it. What’s the idea?”

“What if each chapter is from each girl’s point of view? I’ll work on Samantha’s and you in Elisa’s, but always keeping pace with our timeline.”

“That’s actually a great idea. We could immerse ourselves in our characters and the readers would be able to see both sides of the romance.”

“Indeed.” Maya finds herself smiling at how excited the other woman got.

“I want to begin working on it now, it’s a shame I didn’t bring my laptop.”

“Let’s eat something first. Maybe we can continue making the adjustments I began making on the timetable later.” Maya suggests, feeling her stomach growling. “Aren’t you feeling hungover?”

“No, I can handle alcohol well. Just got a little too much yesterday.” Claudine says proudly.

“Let me know if you need more painkillers.”

They have breakfast together — Maya makes some pancakes and almost burns them in the process — and later both sit at the living room to continue working. Time flies as they discuss new ideas, and when it starts darkening outside Maya insists to Claudine she’d drive her back home.

They go all the way there still talking about their ideas, and both bid goodbyes not really wanting to.

As they each lie on their own beds to sleep, they can’t help feeling proud of the new look of their novel.

Chapter Text

They make sure to inform Yamada-sensei about their changes on their novel, which are openly accepted and supported by her, claiming that the story sounded really promising and original now.

And like that more weeks pass, with both dedicating themselves almost furiously on the writings of each of their characters. Both were now excited on the same level about the plot, and ideas kept popping in their minds even in the middle of the night. Maya has never felt this way before with one of her works, and Claudine has to admit that this energy was something new for her as well. To have someone by your side as excited as you about the same thing is surely something rare and intense.

The excitement to work prevented both from reading thoroughly everything the other wrote, but they trusted their constant conversations and their timeline to keep up with each other. On the end of everything they’d read as a whole to revise the work, so they could continue doing this for now.

Sleepovers also become really common between them, mostly at Claudine’s place for the commodity, and sometimes they’d just sit together in silence each writing their own parts, but other times they’d talk all the time to discuss ideas.

Creative writing classes soon become mostly for them to present their ideas to the other classmates and hear opinions and insights, which were helpful and interesting most of the time. But the hard work they were doing outside of class, sleeping late and talking until dawn almost every day.

They were really on time according to their timetable, so they didn’t need to rush too much — even though the excitement kept them from going slow as well. But they could have some time to relax in between, not like they felt that they needed it, and an opportunity for that appeared a while later.

Both are invited by Junna and Nana to an arts festival from the university, which would hold some performances, band concerts and art related workshops, besides art related works from the students on sale. Thinking that it would be good to distract themselves a little they agree to go, and soon Claudine finds out Kaoruko and Futaba would also be there.

It would happen during an entire weekend, but they decide to go on the Saturday night just to watch a couple of bands and soon return to Claudine's place and their work. The half-French meets her writing partner near the campus entrance, and both walk together to the arts department where it was happening.

Quite a lot of people were there already, enjoying the music and meeting their friends. They meet Junna and Nana and the four of them walk around until Kaoruko and Futaba also tag along, and so they stay near where the band was playing just chatting.

Claudine gets excited when she sees some handmade accessories for sale in some tents nearby, and so she and Kaoruko walk there to look at the things. Both end up buying matching necklaces — just different colors, since both liked the design — and as they were about to head back to their group, Claudine hears the voice she hoped to never hear again.

"Blondie, is that you?"

That tone makes her freeze from head to toe, and Kaoruko notices something is off. Just when she turns around she sees the red-haired woman who used to be Claudine's girlfriend there.

Before she can pull Claudine to leave with her, the half-French turns around, her expression angrier than she has ever seen it.

"Who do you think you are for calling me that way, you jerk?" She blurts, and Kaoruko jumps up nervously.

"I thought you might be missing it. It's been a while since we last met."

"Let me get this straight again: if you see me, pretend you don't know me, you've never seen me, and we never interacted. Don't ever speak to me again."

With that, Claudine grabs Kaoruko's arm and drags her back to the others. Kaoruko could feel Claudine's hand was trembling, but her expression was still furious.

Once back with the group, they were chatting about the band and pause upon seeing Kaoruko's shocked expression and Claudine's angry one. Before anyone can ask what's going on, Claudine speaks.

"I guess I'm leaving now, I'm not feeling very well. Tendou Maya, you can come to my apartment later, just text me."

With that, she begins walking away. Maya is so shocked that she can barely process what's going on.

"What happened, Kaoruko?" Futaba asks, concerned.

"Kuro-han's ex was here. I've never seen her so angry…"

That's the cue Maya needs to realize she should go after the other woman.

"I'll go after her. Sorry everyone."

"It's okay, Maya-chan. Let's hang out another time." Nana smiles apologetically, understanding the situation.

And so Maya is off running, hoping to catch up with Claudine. She finds her walking alone almost out of the campus area already.

"Saijou-san!" She calls, speeding up to reach her.

Claudine quickly dries the tears that ran down on her face, turning around with an angry expression. 

Maya could see easily that she was crying.

"You didn't need to come." Claudine says, stopping on her tracks. "You can enjoy more of the festival."

"I was worried about you.” She catches her breath, and the fact that she actually ran to check on her makes Claudine blush. “I want to accompany you, if that's alright."

Claudine just sighs and continues walking, allowing the other woman to go by her side.

"Are you alright?" Maya asks, not knowing exactly what she could say. 

"I am. Just angry." Claudine replies sharply.

"Kaoruko told us that you met your ex..."

The half-French sighs audibly. She really didn’t want that.

"Of course she would tell you. But don't worry, I'm really fine."

She wasn't fine, and it was easy to see how it disturbed her to see that person.

"If you say so. I'm here for you, if you need to talk."

They walk in silence for a few meters, Claudine pondering if she should say anything. Maya was probably lost in the situation and just wanting to help, but she didn't know if she wanted to bring up the past to her right now.

Especially because… in theory, Maya didn't know about her sexuality. Even after the changes in the novel and all that honesty talk, she never said it applied to herself. And besides, this isn’t how she wanted the other woman to find out about it, after such an unfortunate encounter.

She was still worried about her reaction, after all. What if their relationship turned awkward after that? They were writing a love story between two girls; what if knowing about her actual sexuality made Maya wary?

But what was there to hide anymore, when Kaoruko already spilled half of the beans? And Maya came to check on her, seeming legit worried. Maybe she could put a little trust in her, since she seemed open to listen.

Besides, when would she have another opportunity to be honest like this? Opening her heart and venting to someone about her troubles was so hard for her, and this was the perfect moment to do it.

With someone who seemed to care about her.

So she just begins talking.

"That person… cheated on me. A lot of times."

Maya gets a little surprised that she actually accepted her offering, but manages to disguise it in her expression.

"That's horrible, Saijou-san."

"You have no idea. I gave all of me in that relationship just to find out she was often going to clubs with other girls. She used and abused my feelings for her in all ways she could, only for me to find out she didn't even love me. I guess I was really naive, which makes me angry at myself for trusting that jerk."

"It wasn't your fault. You trusted her as a lover and she broke your trust; it only shows how much of a horrible person she is. But it was never your fault."

Claudine sniffs, not wanting to cry again.

"I'm fine now, completely over it. I just felt angry at the world for a long time after I broke up with her."

"You were frustrated, a situation like that would surely leave scars."

"Yeah, but I’ve closed my scars, I’m stronger now.”

They continue walking in silence, already near to Claudine's apartments complex.

"Aren't you taken aback?" Claudine asks suddenly. "For knowing I've dated another woman…"

"Not at all. Love is love, isn't it?"

Claudine finds herself smiling, not knowing the reason for it.

"Yeah, love is love." She bites her lip. 

“I hope you haven’t lost your faith in love. After such experience, I can only think you’re now skeptical about it…”

“Maybe I am a little. At least I guess I wouldn't fall for that act anymore.” Claudine sighs. “Anyway, thank you for listening.”

“I’m here for you, whenever you want.”

They opt for not working for the rest of the night, just ordering something nice for dinner and later going to bed. Since they started with sleepovers Maya would always stay in Claudine’s bed, having enough space for both to sleep comfortably. The Japanese girl liked looking at the ceiling from it before dozing off, given the fact the canopy design gave it a magical aura, and on this night she barely sleeps as she feels lost in thoughts. At least Claudine managed to sleep soundly, which was good after the turbulent evening; she needed her rest.

On the next morning, Claudine wakes up to meet Maya already sitting up, her laptop in her lap as she typed nonstop.

“Had a sudden creativity outburst?” Claudine rolls around in bed, trying to catch a glimpse on what the other was writing.

Maya nervously scrolls down the page, keeping a blank part of the document on the screen.

“I still need to review it, too many typos and bad phrasings. Did you sleep well?” Maya asks, trying to get her attention to something else.

“I guess I did.” Claudine stretches, accepting the excuse. She'd hate if Maya read one of her outbursts without revision. “I feel hungry.”

“Let me do something for you, then.”

“You don’t have to. You’re at my place.”

“I know where the things are in the kitchen, don’t worry.”

Maya takes her laptop with her and leaves it at the living room before heading to the kitchen, sighing in relief that Claudine accepted her lame excuse. Her creativity outburst was for an specific part of the story, where Samantha couldn’t hide her feelings anymore and has a huge inner monologue about her realization that she should confess to Elisa.

It wasn’t all so sudden for her to get inspiration for that scene in particular, since it has been floating inside her mind from time to time, but last night gave her a push to just begin writing. Hearing Claudine’s story made her heart ache; how could someone be so cruel like that to her? No one should have their feelings played that way.

Claudine deserved to be loved honestly and wholeheartedly by someone who’d treasure her. She deserved… so much.

And so she wrote, with her heart on the line and mixing her feelings with Samantha’s. But maybe it turned out a little too... relatable . The words were raw as they came to her, expressing all of her inner turmoil of feelings, and she took the opportunity to write everything on the document. Maybe it’d be better to cut some parts or tone it down later, something that she’d decide on the next time she works on it.

They spend the rest of their day still writing, each one working on their parts mostly in silence, and when it’s getting dark Maya decides to leave. Luckily Claudine didn’t ask her about that part again, allowing the Japanese woman to think carefully about it later.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Their story was already nearing the end with both working so diligently. And they still had a month before the registrations for the contest began, enough time to finish and revise everything.

More weeks pass until both meetup to write the last chapter together, which would be from both girl’s point of view. They managed to tie together all the loose threads in the story, so this last chapter was just the result of everything that happened so far — and the chapter Elisa finally says she liked Samantha back. After moving the laptop back and forth between each other for the entire afternoon, when they type the word END on the page they both cheer up, proud and happy they managed to get everything done. 

“It was a long ride.” Claudine says, scrolling up on the chapter to give it a quick check.

“I think it passed rather quickly, don’t you think?” Maya says. “Or maybe I just enjoyed myself a little too much while working on this.”

“Indeed, it did pass quickly. But it was hard making these two get together; Elisa is such a headstrong! It was a journey making her realize her feelings.”

“You had a lot on your hands with her.” Maya chuckles. “Samantha had a crush since chapter one, so it felt more like an emotional ride.”

“I can’t wait to read her point of view properly now.”

Maya gulps dryly with Claudine’s words, but keeps her expression calm.

“I can say the same.” She manages to say.

Maybe she didn’t tone down Samantha’s realization scene, and maybe she was a little too nervous for the moment Claudine read it. Even though she could easily dismiss the scene as merely being about her character's feelings, there was still a chance the half-French could read between the lines and catch what the writer actually implied — and the reality of her feelings towards her.

Well, until that happened, she’d continue as casual and calm as she could, while they continued working on revision.

However, once Kaoruko hears from Claudine they finished writing, she gets really persistent with the idea that they should go out to celebrate. It was actually an excuse to go out with the half-French and Futaba, since they missed their friend, but they knew she’d refuse to go if her new partner didn’t go as well.

And it happens just like Kaoruko predicts; Claudine refuses at first but then accepts when they put Maya in the game. Still, the two wanted to drag them to a bar, which made the half-French a little hesitant — even though Maya expressed she was alright with it and it would be a good distraction.

She knew Maya wasn’t used at all to this kind of environment — she has never gone to a bar and never even drank too much. Well, they both had just turned the legal age for drinking, but Claudine already went dozens of times with her friends for these nights out — and in France she could drink since she was 18 anyway.

Well, they still go, and as soon as they arrive at the bar, they meet with Kaoruko and Futaba. The Kyoto woman was very keen on the idea of getting drunk, with Futaba telling her to slow down every once in a while, and Maya trusts Claudine in ordering something for her since she had no idea about these drinks. The half-French orders something soft and sweet for her while ordering her usual favorite drink, and Maya likes it so much that she orders another flavor soon later.

It was sweet and barely tasted like alcohol, a dangerous combination. Especially for someone who wasn't used to drinking.

It only takes those two drinks to make her see the world spinning around her, and Claudine feels bad for allowing her to drink so much so fast — she seemed to be handling it fine at first, though. However, it soon becomes their cue to leave, with Maya uttering more nonsense each minute that passed and barely being able to sit properly.

Claudine asks for a taxi and Maya goes all the way sleeping on her shoulder, passed out. When they arrive, she has to help the other woman to walk, and it's a struggle to get to her apartment properly. She takes Maya to her room and throws her on the bed, sighing in relief.

"I hope you don't throw up." Claudine says, sitting by her side in the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Drunk, I believe." Maya replies lazily. 

"Très bien . Let's get you ready to sleep, then."

Claudine moves to grab her arms to pull her to sit up, intending to help her out of her jacket. Yet, Maya stands up with too much force and ends almost bumping on her, their faces just a palm from each other.

“Aie, you smell like alcohol.” The half-French sighs, following to try removing her jacket from her shoulders.

"Have I ever told you you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen?" Maya blurts, sounding drunker than ever.

"Great, you're this kind of drunk." Claudine chuckles, opting to ignore and continue helping her off her jacket.

"I'm serious. You are the most beautiful woman in the world." Maya repeats, lifting her free hand to touch Claudine's face. "From the first time I saw you, when we were both teenagers and I was waiting in line to get your autograph on my copy of your book, to the day you were suddenly asking me if you could join me for the class assignment, all these times I can only think how beautiful you are. Outside and on the inside too. I am so lucky that our paths crossed."

The thing was that Claudine had drunk as well, so she felt a little tipsy. And her rational mind takes a few seconds to judge her words as just drunk conversation; her heart even skips a beat.

But she manages to control her mind and removes her hand from her face.

"Tendou Maya, you should get some rest." She says again. "Do you want to change into some pajamas?"

"Claudine, it took me a while to understand it, but I fell in love with you at first sight. And I’m only falling deeper and deeper, honestly and wholeheartedly.”

Everything in her words startled her, from being called by her first name with her almost perfect pronunciation and her feelings being exposed in such a raw way.

And she doesn’t stop her hand from touching her face once more, and neither pushes away when she approaches for a kiss. A soft and gentle touch of lips, that make her heart race in her chest and her eyes shut closed.

Her mind was already fogged because of the alcohol, and this kiss only breaks what’s left from her rational mind. So she corresponds to it, placing her arms around her neck to bring her in as she tries to guide the inexperienced woman — at least she tries, but it’s still messy. They taste like alcohol and it only serves to intoxicate them more in their drunkenness.

“Is this a dream?” Maya says between their parted lips.

And her words break Claudine from her trance.

“Maybe it is.” Claudine says, pushing her away. “You should sleep.”

“But…”

“You’re too drunk, Tendou Maya. Just lie down and sleep.”

She pushes her gently to make her lie down, and Maya instantly closes her eyes and accepts her fate to just try and rest. With a sigh, Claudine stands up from her bed and heads to the bathroom, locking herself inside it and taking a minute to breathe in and understand what just happened.

Was that real? Was it just because she was drunk? Why did she allow herself to kiss her back that way?

And... Why didn’t she feel as shocked as she was supposed to feel by that?

With her mind turbulent, she decides to take a shower and later heads to bed. Maya was sound asleep there on her side, and so Claudine lies down on the other side as far as she could from her body.

She’d solve this in the morning.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

She wakes up before Maya, who was still drooling in her pillow, and heads to make breakfast for them. Meanwhile, she wonders all the time about what she would tell the other woman, and worries about all possibilities that could come from what happened on the previous night.

What if Maya realizes it was a mistake and runs away? They still had their project in progress, they couldn’t cut ties right now. Hell, she didn’t want that to happen not now and not anytime soon.

What if Maya really is in love with her? Was she ready for another relationship? Maya was way different from her ex. She was sweet, caring, they were comfortable around each other and actually enjoyed each other’s company... And she has dedicated her beautiful words, something no one has ever done to her.

But what if Maya is just confused? She’s never been in love, it seems. She could have been confusing her feelings because of the amount of thought she’s giving on that subject due to their novel, but that might be not what she really feels.

Then, interrupting her inner turmoil, Claudine hears steps coming from the room, followed by a bed-haired and slightly shocked Maya who appears by the kitchen.

“Good morning.” She says nervously, not being able to face Claudine properly.

“Good morning.” Claudine replies also nervously and tries continuing to focus on making their onigiris for breakfast.

Maya stays quiet for a second and Claudine feels about to combust — a feeling she was having too much around the other woman.

“Did I act inappropriately in any way last night?” Maya asks carefully, placing her hand on her own forehead. “I don’t really remember what happened.”

Claudine takes a few seconds to reply.

“No. Why?” She decides to say simply.

“It’s nothing; I probably just dreamed it.”

And that was it. With her simple negation, things turned out to be just part of a dream. Claudine feels both relieved and frustrated; she actually wanted to know what all those words and that kiss meant, but also felt afraid of finding out. So maybe this was for the best for now.

They manage to eat breakfast mostly in silence, and Maya calls a taxi to go home in the afternoon.

And things stayed like that for now.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

Registrations for the contest begin while they are still working on revision, so they force themselves to work harder to send their novel and finish this assignment once and for all. Their professor had read their complete work and made some observations, which they included on their revision, and they were already guaranteed a top score on this class.

Which pleases them both and gives them high expectations for the contest’s result.

Their weekends are mostly alone, each reading nonstop and making alterations. Sometimes they’d call each other to discuss something, but most was already set and so they could only search for poor sentences and typos. And that’s when Claudine gets to one of the parts from Samantha’s point of view that she hasn’t read yet.

She knew it was supposed to be the scene where Samantha’s feelings were exploding inside her heart and so she decides she should confess, so she’s not surprised by the heavy emotional content. But, as she reads, something feels weirdly off. 

And maybe slightly familiar as well.

Samantha’s words carried a longing and yearning that was almost touchable. Her struggle to continue silent about these feelings exploding inside her heart, while afraid of what could happen if she told Elisa about them, seemed so real. How would her rival react if she told her about them?

And then Samantha describes how she saw Elisa. A beautiful girl both on the inside and on the outside, strong and passionate, and whose determination inspired her to give her best everyday as well. A girl who allowed her to see the world from a different perspective, getting her rid from the expectations the headmaster and the school had for her; someone who showed her an open door that allowed her to dream outside of her comfort zone. And now she was finally finding who she really was.

A girl who had a beauty capable of stopping the world, with a fiery gaze that could make anyone’s heart skip a beat and an elegant figure that was mesmerizing whenever she used her magic. And whose wavy gold hair seemed like a ray of light on an autumn afternoon.

Claudine has to put the laptop away over the bed, feeling her heart racing. Those words, those descriptions… Just what the hell?

Samantha was describing Elisa pretty much just like Maya described her in the past.

Was this a confession? So Maya wasn’t just uttering nonsense while drunk?

She tries making up excuses for all that similarity. Maybe she just got inspiration from their assignment from the beginning of the semester and it didn’t mean anything.

But all that talk about experiencing something new... Maya did tell her that Claudine allowed her to see a new world, and that she was finding herself.

Could this be what it seemed? Could it be that Maya was really in love with her?

Samantha’s words… were also Maya’s?

She tries to calm her racing heart and grabs her laptop again to continue reading, now even more attentive to the details in Samantha’s point of view. And she can’t help reading those in Maya’s point of view as well, just proving to herself what she already suspected.

She stands up from her bed and starts pacing around her apartment, her hands in her forehead as she thinks.

How could Maya continue seeing her so casually while feeling so much inside her chest? It was all too easy to understand she wasn’t able to hold it while drunk, allowing her secret feelings to show a little too much.

Maya is in love with her. It wasn’t just drunk babbling or a simple confusion because of their novel. And as much as she tried to ignore, she knew she saw evidence all along.

Then, what should she do now? Should she just tell the other woman she knew? Would she be able to just say it like that?

And, the most important... How did she feel about the other woman?

The thoroughbred Tendou Maya, who was supposed to be her rival but ended up becoming her partner and friend. The one who made her feel intimidated at first, but showed herself to be friendly and even a little goofy. The one who revealed to be a fan of her work and seemed always supportive towards her. The one who described her as almost an angel a little after they met each other, and has only treated her lovingly.

The one who kissed her so softly, tasting like alcohol but full of tenderness, and said she was in love with her.

She can’t help grabbing her phone and calling her, not really sure about what she should say, but knowing she wanted to hear her voice.

“Saijou-san?” Maya answers on the other end.

“Tendou Maya!” She shouts, accidentally sounding angry.

“Did something happen?” She asks nervously.

“Nothing life threatening, but what are you doing?” Claudine’s heart is so accelerated that she has to take deep breaths to calm down.

“I was about to continue revising…”

“Glad you didn’t begin, then. Come pick me up and take me somewhere.”

Maya pauses for a few seconds, confused.

“But where?”

“I don’t know, you can choose the place. Take me somewhere quiet and that you like, I just want to see you.”

“Alright I guess, I’ll be there soon.”

They end the call, Maya utterly confused on one side while Claudine wants to scream in anxiety at the other. She had no idea what she would do, but asking to see her was a good start for now. She walks to her room and puts something casual on, trying to calm herself down, and just waits for the other.

It doesn’t take long for Maya to text her saying she was parked in front of her place, and so Claudine leaves to meet her feeling calmer than before. She thought she had a plan; maybe she could make Maya confess with this sudden date, not having to corner her saying that she knew already about her feelings.

When she gets on Maya’s car, she sits on the passenger’s seat looking as calm as always, which makes the Japanese woman even more confused.

“You’re acting quite odd, Saijou-san.” Maya says suspiciously. “Didn’t anything happen?”

“No, I simply wanted to go for a ride.” Claudine says with a serious expression.

“Alright…” Maya chuckles. “I thought of a place to take you that I’ve been once with my parents when I was younger, I hope you like it. It’s a little far, though.”

“I don’t mind. It’s Saturday, we have all the time we want.”

Driving there takes around an hour, since it was a little distant from the Tokyo area. The sun was setting on the horizon, which made this the perfect moment for them to visit the place in Maya’s plan. The Nanohana View Terrace was a beautiful spot where they could see the sunset and stargaze once the night settled in, and Claudine would be able to relax and maybe tell her what was really going on.

Luckily there aren’t many people around once they arrive. Maya parks her car and from inside the vehicle they could already have a beautiful view from the town far away, and the first thing Claudine does is jumping off of it to go see it near the fenced edge. Maya goes after her and both just enjoy the breeze from the mountains while watching the sky darkening.

It was like Maya read perfectly what Claudine meant with her sudden wish to go somewhere, because this place was perfect. It was romantic, quiet, and they could have the private moment they needed right now.

Maya just needed to… confess.

But she stays quiet even after many minutes pass. Well, Claudine should have realized that just asking her out suddenly wouldn't make her instantly confess, so she should try setting the mood and pushing it a little.

“Tendou Maya, let me ask you something. If you were to write that first description of me again, what would’ve changed?” She asks.

Maya feels taken aback with the sudden question, but tries to maintain her composure.

“Quite a lot, I believe. Now I know more about you and your interests, so it wouldn’t be from an outsider perspective.”

“Oui. Please elaborate.”

“Now I know you sleep with a frown on your forehead, that your cheeks get red really easily when you’re embarrassed or angry, that you are mostly rational but sometimes allows your heart to speak, that you’re sometimes a little short tempered…” She could keep the list going, and it was amusing to see the blush spreading on the half-French’s cheeks with all that tease.

“Stop teasing me.” Claudine frowns, making Maya chuckle. “Be serious.”

“Alright. Now I know that you’re strong and passionate in everything you do, that you’re beautiful on the inside and on the outside, that your determination is inspiring…”

“Okay, enough.” Claudine was seriously going to combust any second. ”Don’t you think I sound like Elisa?”

“Well, you did tell me once that you were putting too much of yourself in her, and I can see the similarities.” Maya says. “But you’re also kind, supportive, gentle...”

“Mon dieu, I guess I went too far. I am Elisa.” Claudine sighs.

“Don’t worry. I guess I ended up putting a little too much of myself on Samantha as well.”

Claudine’s eyes fall on her face then, a little too shocked at the obviousness of her words. Did she even realize what she was saying?

It was almost the confession Claudine hoped to hear. But Maya doesn’t say anything else.

“Tendou Maya, isn’t there anything you want to tell me?” She asks, trying to keep her tone soft.

Maya doesn’t answer right away, just as if her mind turned blank. Her slightly shocked expression was amusing in Claudine’s eyes.

So she decides to help a little more.

“I read all parts from Samantha’s point of view.” She blurts finally, her cheeks reddening slightly in the process.

Maya instantly turns her attention towards her, blushing as well. She tries opening her mouth to say anything, but words don’t come out.

It was really amusing to see her so flustered.

“By the way, I lied when I said you did something inappropriate while drunk. It wasn’t just a dream, you really did it.”

Maya’s eyes grow as much as how shocked she feels. She barely remembers what happened while she was drunk, but she did have a very realistic dream in which she kissed Claudine. Was that real, then?

“I’m so sorry Saijou-san...” It’s the only thing she manages to say in her state.

“I don’t want you to apologize, I’m not angry.” Claudine says seriously, biting her lower lip. “I just want to know if that was honest.”

Seeing her feeling insecure makes Maya’s heart flutter. She didn’t plan these things ahead, but she knew she wanted to tell Claudine about her feelings properly.

Now Claudine was here, asking her for a confirmation that wasn’t necessary of her. If only Maya had been honest earlier, she wouldn’t have made her feel like this.

So, gathering all of her courage, Maya inhales deeply and moves closer to Claudine, grabbing her right hand in hers.

“I’m sorry for ruining it by getting drunk and blurting it all out, it wasn’t how I planned it to go.” She begins, trying to keep her voice from cracking out of how nervous she feels. “I wanted to do things the way you deserve them to be, wholeheartedly and honest.”

“To be fair, you’re not the only one getting drunk and blurting out a lot of things.” Claudine manages to get the strength to chuckle, even though she was nervous as well. “I don’t mind it. I just want to know if you meant what you said.”

“I don’t remember exactly what I said while drunk, so I’m just going to do it again but properly, this time.” Maya chuckles as well before inhaling again to begin speaking. “Saijou Claudine, I’m in love with you. It all started with an admiration that suddenly developed as I got drawn into you… You’re just amazing.”

She expects Maya to continue, but she doesn’t. However, she notices her cheeks get a deeper tone of red each second that passes.

At least Claudine got the certainty she wanted.

“You did say more stuff while drunk.” Claudine teases to disguise her nervousness. “About how you’re happy that our paths crossed... And I wouldn’t mind you stealing some of Samantha’s words, since they’re pretty much yours.”

“Uh, yes, I’m extremely thankful that our paths crossed. Sometimes I can still barely believe we met like this and got along so well—”

“I’m just teasing you. I got it already.” Claudine chuckles.

“I’m so sorry, I wish I wasn’t so nervous.”

“I am nervous as well.”

The wind blows between them, making their hairs fly to the side, and Maya can only think how angelic Claudine looked. She lifts her hand to touch her face, soft and warm, and Claudine can feel how her hand trembles slightly.

Deciding to help her a bit, Claudine grabs her by her shirt and pulls her closer, so they can finally kiss. A soft and honest kiss, without alcohol between them this time, and proving what both knew for a while already.

Both were in love with each other.

After spending a while at that beautiful place just enjoying themselves and those newfound feelings, they go back to Claudine’s place for the night. Both sleep cuddling at her canopy bed and take their time to wake up on the next morning, enjoying the most they could together.

Having this sort of relationship bloom between them doesn’t really change things so far. They continue working hard to finish their revision, but now meeting everyday and with the slight distraction of kissing in between. They also spend a lot of time doing sweet nothings together, but not too much to avoid wrecking their schedules.

Kaoruko and Futaba tease Claudine endlessly when she tells them the news, since it happened just like they predicted when they first met.

And, finally, a few weeks later they upload their inscription to the contest. Now they just had to wait for the results, but being able to enjoy themselves even more with the free time.

And they were really needing time just for themselves.

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

The university always posted the results for the contest online, but for those who wanted the experience they also made a public announcement at the auditorium. Maya insists for them to go hear the announcement, even though Claudine would rather just read it online, but she’s convinced and both wake up early to go watch it.

It surprises both of them to meet many classmates there, anxious and excited to hear the results. The auditorium was quite filled with people, which meant everyone was with high expectations for it.

They begin by announcing the results for the short stories category, followed by some other minor categories until finally for novels.

Maya and Claudine hold hands when they begin the announcement for the co-authoring winners, hoping they’d call their names for first place. But they don’t.

Another pair gets the position, and both were also there so they begin cheering on the other side of the auditorium. Maya and Claudine fall in silence, still shocked to say anything, and just awake from reality when they announce the results for second place.

They got it.

And Maya presses Claudine’s hand tighter, happy.

“We did it, Claudine.” She says, giddy.

And it makes Claudine angry, because they didn’t. They aimed for first place, a position Maya always got when she tried alone.

Why did they get second this time? Was it… her fault?

Not being able to continue there anymore, Claudine gets rid of her girlfriend’s hand and storms out of the auditorium. It was certainly her fault, the immature writer who wasn’t able to be on the same level as the other woman.

Of course it was, otherwise Maya would have gotten first place again, like she always did.

The thoughts fill her mind as she walks away hurriedly, feeling embarrassed and angry at herself for being insufficient. She heads towards the exit of the campus but is stopped as she feels someone grab her arm.

“Claudine, what’s going on?” Maya’s worried voice follows.

The half-French turns around angrily and Maya can see her eyes were glassy.

“Aren’t you mad at me? It was my fault!” Claudine shouts, getting rid of her grip.

“What?” Maya feels shocked.

“It was my fault you got second place.” The bitterness in her words almost makes her break down, but she tries controlling it. 

“What are you saying?”

“If you wrote your novel alone then you’d have gotten first place, as you always do. You’re a Tendou, that’s the position you should always be.”

Maya pauses for a second, shocked at her words. After everything they went through together while working, Claudine still felt this kind of insecurity?

“If it weren’t for you, then we wouldn’t have created such a beautiful love story that will surely inspire many others. If you weren’t with me, then I’d never realize my true inspirations for writing and find my own style, that is this. I want to write young adult literature, this is my place." Claudine looks at Maya then, biting her lip. “If you weren’t by my side, I’d still be lurking in my parent’s shadow. Claudine, you allowed me to try something else; you’ve shown me a new world, both in literature and in life. I don't have any regrets, I only feel grateful.”

Claudine can’t help starting to cry, feeling somewhat embarrassed of her outburst. She dries her face and tries to find something to say.

“Mechante va.” She mumbles. “I still feel like I took something from you; something that was meant for you.”

“You're wrong. I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

Claudine inhales deeply, trying to calm her nerves.

“So what now?” She asks, a little impatient. “What should we do?”

“Now we get our novel published. We don’t need the contest for that anyway.”

Her words make the half-French a little surprised.

“You still want to do it?”

“Of course. I want people to read our work.”

“But… We didn’t even win, it’ll be terrible for your reputation. And also I already doubted your parents would be any pleased by this even if we had got first place…”

“That’s none of their concern. That’s none of anyone’s concern but me and yours, and I want to do this. Will you do it with me?”

Maya lifts her hand in invitation, and, with some hesitance, Claudine takes it.

“Don’t blame me if it sucks on sales and your reputation is ruined.”

“I’d never blame you for anything, Claudine. Besides, I really think that the opposite will happen.”

♡──⭒─⭑─⭒──♡

A few months later their first novel together has a release date announced. Of course the media bubble with curiosity about Maya’s expected first novel, but it doesn’t bother her at all.

Maya’s parents were a little skeptical about her decision but didn't prevent her from it, since she seemed sure enough that this is what she wanted to do. And, like she predicted, she’s able to convince them by showing enough confidence.

And when the date arrived, it surprised both of them to see people from all ages waiting to get an autograph at the bookstore they were holding their release event. Fans from Claudine’s first work, fans from Ms. Aoi’s work and other curious people were there, all excited to read their novel.

Maya felt even more sure this was the place she wanted to be. And Claudine feels encouraged to continue working on stories that would feel honest for her fans.

And they would continue writing, together or separately, always supporting each other. Because they could shine the best when they were side by side.

END