Work Text:
i.
“Remember when we were kids,” Ritsu said, leaning towards Mao, her messy bangs moving with her as they framed her face, “And you did this whenever I got ice cream on my face.”
Before she knew it, Mao felt something warm touching her cheek. The little hairs on her neck bristled as she backed away from the unexpected contact.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Ritsu stuck her tongue out cutely before smiling at her.
“Licking you clean just like you used to, Maa-kun.”
She was feigning innocence. Mao looked away and tried not to focus on the lingering heat where Ritsu’s tongue had traced her skin. She did recall the memories of middle school summers spent balancing precariously on this very fence, ice cream in hand, strawberry for Ritsu and mint for Mao. It never bothered her that Ritsu was a messy eater who always had a line of pink cream around her upper lip but the only way to ease her of the sticky discomfort was to lean in and...
“Thank you.” Mao replied, shaking the thought away with a fond smile. It made her feel funny thinking about intruding on her friend’s space like that now. After all this time, they had grown up. Ritsu, of course, showered her with affection in her own strange ways and reading too much into the gesture would not do either of them any good. Or so Mao thought.
ii.
“Is she even, like, breathing?” Izumi asked, bent over Ritsu’s sleeping figure at the waist with her arms crossed, “The Knights have to practise in ten minutes and she hasn’t even warmed up.”
Mao wiped the sweat off from her own practise session with a towel. She crawled the distance between her and Ritsu on all fours from where she was seated on the polished wooden floor.
"Ritsu," she whispered, shaking her slightly by the shoulder, "Time's up baby bat. You’ve gotta get up."
There was no sign of stirring when the sleeping girl would normally respond. Mao looked at her relaxed face, peaceful in her stupor and made no effort to hide how mesmerised she was. A part of her wanted to curl up right beside Ritsu. Throw an arm lazily around her waist. Pull her close. Tangle their legs...
"So dead or what?" Izumi asked, clearing her throat.
"She's not dead Sena-senp—"
The velvety texture of a tongue against her cheek interrupted Mao's experiment when she leant down beside Ritsu's parted lips to listen to her breathing. Her heart hammered in her chest with the fear that someone had read her mind and was punishing her for having mildly lecherous thoughts about her best friend.
“Ew. Did you just lick her?” Izumi asked, looking aghast. As if Ritsu had just delivered a personal affront to her character by flicking a tongue against Mao's face, “Gross.”
"Gotcha!" Ritsu teased, "I'm getting better at playing dead now aren't I?"
Mao laughed lightly and placed Ritsu’s arms around her neck to make for an easier time piggybacking.
"No comment. Let’s get you to the infirmary, sleepyhead."
She felt warm, her chest pressing slightly into Mao's back as her feet wrapped firmly around her waist. Very much alive and well, much to Mao's relief.
"Come sleep with me." Ritsu said, moving her legs back and forth, "I know you prefer the beds there to the floor.”
Her hair tickled Mao's neck as she walked past Izumi. Perhaps her friend needed to work on her acting but who was Mao to deny her when she asked so nicely?
iii.
"Ah...Maa-kun…"
Mao was sure neither of them could explain how they got in such a compromising situation. All she could remember was that it started after lunch break. It was her turn to put all the desks in place after Trickstar’s impromptu faux live in the classroom when Ritsu had poked her head in from the hallway.
“Need a hand?” she asked, walking in and taking a seat on the desks they were absolutely not permitted to sit on. Mao pushed the last piece of furniture in place beside her and mimicked her friend’s sitting position.
“Very nice of you to offer when the work's all done.” she said, poking her friend in the rib. Ritsu wheezed. Mao knew she was ticklish but she rarely ever exploited it. Ritsu’s wind chime laugh made her feel butterflies and she thought the world would be a better place if there were more of it in the air from then onwards.
“At least I offered, okay?” she said, surrendering with both hands in the air once Mao threatened to tackle her with wiggling fingers.
“Is that what you do with licks too? Offer them?” Mao joked. Ritsu suddenly paused and looked serious.
“No. No, that’s different.”
Mao tilted her head quizzically.
“How?”
“Those are replacements for what I could be offering.”
Mao was confused. She watched as Ritsu hopped off the desk and stepped close to her.
“Replacements? For what?”
“My, my you’re asking a lot of questions today.” she said, placing a hand on Mao’s thighs and grinning when she instinctively wrapped her legs around the small of her back. Ritsu caressed Mao’s cheek, nose a breath away from each other’s, before pressing their lips together without warning. She held back a gasp. And in a single movement, one, singular moment of clarity, her feelings towards her friend made perfect sense. Ritsu felt so good against her. She could taste the cherry lollipop she had given the other before lunch break and tightened her legs closer together to close the distance between them.
"Ah...Maa-kun…" Ritsu had whispered, after she had kissed back, parting those lips as eyelashes fluttered against her skin. Correct. Yes. That was how they had ended up here. Mao tangled her fingers in Ritsu’s soft hair, abandoning any thoughts of the past in favor of the present, and admired the heat from her red cheeks and tips of her ears. If she looked in a mirror right now, her expression would be no different, without a doubt.
“Well.” she smiled, “No need for replacements now I assume.”
iv.
It was hot the next time they decided to cloud gaze from atop the fence. Ritsu’s fingers were tangled between Mao’s nonetheless.