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Kyoshi’s ideal Friday night involved wine, good music, and maybe a few episodes of whatever her Netflix sitcom of choice was that week right before bed. Kyoshi went out of her way to avoid the Friday night crowds. She didn’t love the attention her height always inevitably brought, and she’d dealt with one too many nights of Yun trying to fight people that directed their shitty comments at her ever to feel entirely comfortable with the typical college party experience.
Kyoshi still wasn’t sure how she had ended up here, leaning against the wall at a house party Jinpa’s band was throwing. People were pressed tightly together from one wall to the other as the pulsating bass emerging from the speakers threatened to blow out her eardrums. The walls of the house were sweating from the exertion of so many people crammed into such a small space. Her cheap wine threatened to spill over the brim of her solo cup as Yun danced animatedly next to her. At least the drinks were free, she thought to herself for the fourth time since Jinpa’s band had started playing.
Jinpa and Kyoshi had become friends through circumstance: they were in the same major and had struck up a great rapport with one another after nearly two and a half years of shared notes and group projects. He had told her about the party earlier that day, right as he and Kyoshi had submitted the case study worth 15% of their final grade. Jinpa had thrown a celebratory arm around her and told her it’ll be fun, bring your friends with you.
Through some connection Kyoshi didn’t fully understand, Jinpa and Yun were friends, and Yun had insisted Kyoshi come with him.
And now they were both here, pressed against the wall in an over-cramped student apartment a few minutes from their campus’s center.
Jinpa, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, was currently singing a cover of a song Kyoshi remembered hearing most recently in a grocery store. Jinpa was committed to his performance, throwing his bald head back and strumming his guitar in time with the lyrics.
The drummer was a lithe woman wearing a fur jacket that Kyoshi knew she had seen around campus. Even with the woman’s proximity to the other band members, she couldn’t remember her name. Something with a K, maybe?
The bass player was a first-year named Lek that Kyoshi had worked with once on a project in her Law and Society elective last semester. He approached the performance with intense precision, hitting every single note and anchoring the bassline of their tiny apartment performance.
And the other guitar player. Well.
She took Kyoshi’s breath away.
Kyoshi knew that she had never seen the woman before because Kyoshi could have never forgotten a face like hers.
The other guitar player had short black hair that just barely brushed the collarbone exposed by her black tank top. Half of it was pulled up into a ponytail, moving ever so slightly with the tilt of her head while she played. Kyoshi could see the glint of her piercings from her position by the wall. Her eyeliner was sharp, and she played with a rigid intensity that showed her unwavering focus on her craft.
She was easily the most beautiful woman Kyoshi had ever seen. Kyoshi wanted to know her desperately.
Kyoshi watched the guitar player for a few songs, as her hand expertly moved the capo on her electric guitar and fretted even the most difficult of chord changes. The band finished a cover of “Latch”, and as the audience clapped, Kyoshi took a large sip of her wine and leaned in towards Yun. “Do you know the guitar player? Not Jinpa.”
Yun quirked an eyebrow, still swaying to the music. “Rangi? Sure. She was my TA last semester. She’s our year. Bit of a hardass. Easily the most terrifying person I’ve ever met.” He paused for a second, debating leaving the conversation there. “She’s Dean Hei-Ran’s kid.”
“Shit.” Dean Hei-Ran’s reputation was legendary. Kyoshi had never personally met the Dean of Students, but Dean Hei-Ran’s sudden appearance last year had rocked their campus. Nearly half the school had some kind of story about reprimands or infractions they had incurred under her harsh wrath.
Kyoshi took another sip of her drink as the band reached the chorus of their next song. She thought fuck it, and leaned back towards Yun. “Do you know if she likes girls?”
Yun looked from Kyoshi to Rangi in surprise. “Quit it,” Kyoshi warned, even as a grin broke out across Yun’s face as if Kyoshi had just given him the world’s greatest birthday gift.
“You think she’s hot,” Yun said, reaching up to throwing an arm around her shoulders and nearly spilling his drink on her in the process.
Kyoshi scoffed even as she felt her face flush. “No, I don’t.” Yun gave her a skeptical look. “Maybe. I have eyes.”
Yun threw his head back and laughed as the audience hollered around them. It looked as if the band had finished their set, Jinpa waving goodbye to the crowd as everyone started to disperse, and the band began the arduous process of packing up. There was a harsh static noise as the band unplugged their equipment, and someone plugged their phone in, clearly shuffling some random party playlist they found on Spotify.
“Come on,” Yun said, pulling Kyoshi through the throng of people. “JINPA! Get over here!”
Jinpa waved passionately to them both, bidding farewell to the people he was talking to, including the guitar player, looking as unamused as ever. Jinpa met them in the middle of the room.
Yun let go of Kyoshi to throw an arm around Jinpa, who welcomed it. “How are you, man? Great show!” Yun leaned in to say something in his ear that Kyoshi couldn’t hear.
As Jinpa and Yun started talking animatedly, Kyoshi turned her attention back to the guitar player (Rangi, Yun had said, and she turned the syllables over and over again in her head). Kyoshi watched her slide her guitar back into its case before clicking it shut. The guitarist propped it against the wall before she quickly turned on her heel and walked out of Kyoshi’s line of sight.
Directing her attention back to Yun and Jinpa, Kyoshi saw Jinpa’s eyes widen as a grin broke out across his face. He glanced towards Kyoshi and then back towards Yun, nodding his head agreeably.
“Hi Kyoshi!” Jinpa said, excitedly grabbing her arm. He began to pull her towards the stage before abruptly changing course and dragging her towards the patio door. “I’m glad you came! I didn’t know you and Yun lived together. That’s great! So, Rangi, huh?”
“Uh. Thanks,” Kyoshi began, unsure of what to say. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-"
Jinpa stopped abruptly at the door. “Kyoshi.” He smiled at her, putting a hand on her shoulder to pull her closer. “As Rangi’s resident best friend, I am here to say, yes, she likes women, she also likes exercising and fighting, she wakes up at sunrise every day, and even though it doesn’t seem like it, the weed does, in fact, make her calmer. Anything else she tells you is a lie-“ Jinpa shouldered open the patio door before twirling them around in a motion that made Kyoshi dizzy. “Rangi!”
Rangi looked up at Jinpa’s shout. She was perched on the old stone wall of the patio with a joint sticking out of her mouth, typing something on her phone. She pulled it out with a start, her expression and harsh tone betraying her annoyance. “What, Jinpa?”
Kyoshi was just as speechless as she had been when she first laid eyes on her earlier. Rangi had thrown on a black leather jacket over her outfit from the show, protecting her from the autumn evening chill.
Jinpa shoved Kyoshi towards the other woman. “This is my friend Kyoshi! We’re in the same major. She knows Yun! I think you two would get along well. Bye!” And with a final flourish, Jinpa disappeared back into the party.
Rangi looked in irritated confusion at the spot Jinpa had vacated for a moment before sharply turning her full attention to Kyoshi.
Kyoshi was speechless. “Uh – I’m sorry about that.”
Rangi waved it off, the tension leaving the hard line of her shoulders ever so slightly. She took another hit of her joint. “It’s fine. He’s like that.”
Kyoshi nodded, searching for the right words. She couldn’t just tell the dark-haired guitarist hi, I think you’re pretty, and I can’t figure out how I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as you before at a school as small as this one.
In the end, she didn’t have to. Rangi held out the burning joint and tapping the spot next to her twice with her other hand. It was both an offering and an invitation in one.
Kyoshi sat on the cold stone next to Rangi, close enough that their proximity made sense but far enough away that they weren’t touching. Kyoshi the joint willingly and took a hit before handing it back to Rangi. “Great show.”
“Thanks,” Rangi said. She paused for a second, taking a drink from her cup. “You know Yun? I’ve never seen you around before.”
Kyoshi nodded. “Yeah. We grew up together, and we’re living together this year. How do you two know each other?”
“He was one of my TA students last semester in Macroeconomics. Great attendance. Never really understood the New Keynesian Philips Curve and its place in general equilibrium models of fluctuation, but there’s nothing to be done about that now.” Rangi offered, looking contemplative.
Kyoshi nodded like she understood a single thing Rangi had just said. “Are you an econ major?” Kyoshi asked, passing the joint back to Rangi.
Rangi nodded, taking a hit quickly. “What about you?”
“Law and society.”
“So that’s how you know Jinpa. My condolences.” Rangi said with something close to a smirk. “Are you that friend he’s always studying with?”
Kyoshi nodded. “We were partners for this socio-legal impact research that was due earlier. It was 15% of our grade, so we’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”
“And here I had thought Jinpa’s ‘studying’ was a euphemism.”
“With Jinpa?” Kyoshi made a face, and Rangi laughed at her expression. It was soft, and if Kyoshi hadn’t been listening, she might have missed it. It was a sound she wanted to hear again. “Absolutely not.” Kyoshi took a long sip from her drink. Fuck it. “I’m taking a break from men at the moment, anyway.”
Rangi coughed on her drink before turning back to Kyoshi. There was a different look in her eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago. If Kyoshi knew her better, she might even call it hopeful. “Well, I’m a lesbian,” Rangi said finally, softer than before. “So you could say I’m always taking a break from men.”
Rangi was leaning in slightly, and they were so close that Kyoshi could make out the color of her eyes. They were a deep bronze color, unlike anything else Kyoshi had ever seen.
Kyoshi was about to say something when the music inside cut off abruptly. Suddenly, “Fuck Tha Police” started playing, the volume much louder than it had been a moment earlier.
People began to pour out the door. Rangi sat up abruptly, throwing her cup onto the grass and stomping out her still-burning joint on the patio before she kicked it into the bushes. “We have to go.”
“What’s going on?” Kyoshi, picking up on the situation, dropped her cup on the nearest wall.
“The police are here, which means we can’t be.” Kyoshi didn’t bother to object as she saw people in uniform headed quickly through the house towards the patio.
Rangi reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling Kyoshi with her. “Come on!” Rangi led them to a rusting gate in the corner of the yard, and Rangi vaulted over the gate with impressive skill. Kyoshi was tall enough to just step over the gate, her hand still clutching Rangi’s tightly.
Rangi pulled them down a small back road and zig-zagged around, leading them further away from the party.
Rangi finally stopped running once they were a few blocks away from the party and down the street from their college bookstore. Kyoshi felt staggeringly out of breath after their sprint. Rangi looked utterly content, like sprinting around campus was an everyday occurrence for her.
The night air was cool around them, a gentle breeze just barely brushing the ends of Rangi’s hair. Their college town was quiet around them. The only sound she could hear was the distant sound of voices, striding further and further away with every passing moment.
Rangi dropped her hand. Kyoshi felt her absence immediately. “I shouldn’t have dragged you away like that.”
“It’s okay. I just wanted to talk to you.” Kyoshi regretted the words the instant she said them. It’s not that they weren’t true, because they were. It felt like too much, too soon. Kyoshi laying herself bare for someone she didn’t know, someone she wasn’t sure would reciprocate.
Rangi looked at her, the corners of her mouth just slightly turning upwards. “About what?”
Kyoshi shrugged, unable to meet Rangi’s eyes. “Anything.”
Rangi looked off to the side, smiling at the ground. After a tortuous moment, Rangi looked up and asked, “Do you want to go back to my place?”
“Oh,” Kyoshi said, straightening up in surprise, “Um- “
“Not like that.” Rangi interrupted, rolling her eyes. If Kyoshi didn’t know any better, she’d say Rangi looked fond. “I just meant- it’s not even midnight. And we just met.”
Kyoshi didn’t hesitate. “Sure.” She’ll be embarrassed about her eagerness later.
Rangi’s smile widened by an almost imperceptible amount. Rangi had seemed almost bored during their show, either lost in focus or the desire to be elsewhere. This was a different Rangi. More alive. Like someone had lit a fire inside her. “Alright, then.” Rangi turned on her heel, beckoning for Kyoshi to follow.
For someone so much smaller than Kyoshi, Rangi walked surprisingly fast. Kyoshi had to slow her stroll far less than she usually did. Rangi led her to the upperclassmen part of North Campus, almost as far as Kyoshi could get from where she lives without leaving campus, but Rangi was right. It was still early.
Rangi keyed into one of the more recently renovated buildings that Kyoshi had only been in a handful of times before, holding the door open for Kyoshi behind her. They walked up two flights of stairs until Rangi turned down a hallway lined in event flyers and resource posters, basked in the eerie glow of the fluorescents.
Rangi stopped in front of a door decorated with paper clouds. Two of them, placed at eye-level, denoted the apartment’s residents. There was Jinpa (he/him/his) written on a cloud in blue glitter and Rangi (she/her/hers) written on a different cloud in red glitter. There was a smaller one a few inches above the floor. It was half the size of the others, had a set of cat ears on it, and simply said Yingyong.
Rangi saw Kyoshi looking. Kyoshi thought she saw her roll her eyes ever so slightly as she slid her key into the lock. “Our neighbor kept giving people our address by accident, so Jinpa made those. They’re a security threat.”
“They’re cute. I didn’t know you and Jinpa lived together,” Kyoshi said.
“I’m still not sure how it happened.” Rangi pushed the door to her apartment open, flicked the light on, and pulled off her boots in the entryway. Kyoshi took hers off as well, leaving them next to Rangi’s.
Rangi and Jinpa’s living room was easily the neatest one Kyoshi had ever seen. There were no books or clothing strewn anywhere, no dishes in the sink or items left out. In the center of the room was a couch, clearly owned by the university and well-loved throughout its history. They had a few posters on the wall, mostly pieces of art from the National Art Museum. There was a map print of an island and its streets and another print of a lofty, spiraling tower in the mountains that served as the focal pieces on the wall.
“Nice apartment.”
“Jinpa has a cat that gets into anything we leave out.” Rangi pushed open the first door on the right. She glanced back after a moment. “Come on.”
Kyoshi stepped into the other woman’s room. Objectively, Rangi had a lot more items in her room than Kyoshi had in hers. However, the particular way Rangi had arranged her room easily kept the space from looking overwhelming. Her bed was pushed against one wall, the crimson bedspread a bright spot of color in the room. There was a keyboard pushed under her window and a black acoustic guitar next to it. Her desk on the other side of the room was neat, not a single item out of place.
Rangi plugged in a set of string lights near her bed, illuminating the room in a warm yellow glow. “This is my room. You can sit on the bed.”
The only part of the room even close to a mess was a bin Kyoshi noticed shoved under the keyboard, filled with loose sheets of paper covered in Rangi’s neat handwriting. “Do you play piano?”
“Hm?” Rangi looked up from where she was digging through one of her desk drawers. “Yes. My mom had me in piano lessons from when I was young. I picked up the guitar a couple of years ago.”
“What do you play on piano?”
Rangi shut her desk drawer. “Lots of things.”
“You should play something now.”
Rangi quirked an eyebrow at her even as Rangi moved to sit at the keyboard. “Technically, you just watched me play for an hour.”
“That was different,” That wasn’t in your room with no one else around.
Rangi powered on the keyboard. “Fair enough. I’m not even in Jinpa’s band, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lek’s brother Chen is their usual guitar player. He was sick this week, and Jinpa claimed I owed him a favor.”
“Did you?”
Instead of answering, Rangi started to play, and Kyoshi was instantly mesmerized by the quick movements of her hands across the keyboard.
The song was an instrument waltz from a movie Kyoshi knew she had seen before but couldn’t quite place it. There were clear romance and fantasy notes, and Rangi’s hands moved artfully, holding the song to its tight rhythm. The music wouldn’t have been out of place at a wedding or at one of those formal balls Kelsang mentioned sometimes.
Kyoshi didn’t even have close to the right amount of words to describe how awe-struck she was at Rangi’s skillful piano playing. Rangi played the classical waltz with no hesitancies or mistakes, keeping just the right amount of pause to take Kyoshi on the song’s journey with her. The music grew louder as Rangi reached the piece’s climax, her hands moving over the keys with purpose.
The song reminded Kyoshi of the never-ending possibility of springtime, of rebirth and new beginnings. It reminded her of a hill in a backyard of Yokoya, where she could climb to the top and watch the sea breeze ruffle the wildflowers for miles.
Rangi wore the same focused look she had earlier, but it was different. As if the actions of the keyboard were more familiar, more a place of comfort. She was putting everything into her playing, not because she had to, but because she wanted to.
Rangi’s hands slowed as the song ended. She allowed the final note to linger in the space between them until the sound dissipated into the air around them, and the only sound was the electric hum of the sustaining pedal.
Rangi only played for a few short minutes, but Kyoshi wouldn’t have minded in the slightest if she had played forever.
“That was amazing,” Kyoshi said, a little breathless.
“That was nothing,” Rangi said, though Kyoshi could have sworn there was a slight flush creeping up her face. “I wrote that arrangement when I was thirteen.”
“Thirteen?”
Rangi nodded. “We had a piano in my living room, and I was so obsessed with the movie that that song is from that I refused to watch anything else. One day, I asked my parents to buy an arrangement for me. They couldn’t find one, so I played the film on the TV, and I wrote one myself. I combined parts of it with an actual arrangement I found a few years ago, and I reworked the piece for a composition class final last spring.”
“And you decided to study economics?”
Rangi leaned against the keyboard. “Economics was more practical,” She said finally. “And I find the subject material very interesting. I’m contemplating going to business school after I’ve finished my undergraduate degree next year.” She paused. “I’m one class away from a music minor, so I’ll probably finish that, as well. You said you studied Law and Society?”
Kyoshi nodded enthusiastically.
“Do you want to go to law school?”
Kyoshi briefly wondered how much information to divulge. “I spent some time in foster care when I was younger.” Rangi stared at her intently, her focus turned entirely on Kyoshi as she absorbed her every word. “Most of the laws in place for state-run facilities right now aren’t effective. There’s too little support for too big of a system, and it’s collapsing under the pressure.”
Kyoshi couldn’t pinpoint why she was telling Rangi any of this. Maybe it was because it felt like, at least for a moment, they had created their own pocket of safety. Here in Rangi’s bedroom with just the two of them, it was like nothing from the outside world could touch them. “I met Yun when he and I were living in the same foster home. We were both adopted, eventually. We were luckier than most. My dad-” Kyoshi couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Kelsang, hundreds of miles away in Yokoya. “My dad is the most incredible person I’ve ever met. I’m lucky to have him.”
“I’m sure he would say the same about you.”
The two of them sat in companionable silence for a moment. The gentle white noise of Rangi’s apartment and their breathing were the only sounds that dared to disturb their silence.
“What do you want to do with a business degree?” Kyoshi asked finally.
Rangi took a deep breath, looking at the trees that swayed just beyond her window. “I don’t know. I spent my whole life thinking that I wanted to join the army like my parents. And then I woke up one day and I recognized nothing. It was like I had fallen asleep, and the entire world had changed around me. So I called up my recruiter and told him I wouldn’t be joining the army after all.” She turned back to Kyoshi. “Where are you from, Kyoshi?”
“A farming village called Yokoya. It’s a few hours south of here. Where are you from?”
Rangi smiled. It was a much sadder smile than earlier. “A tiny island called Sei’naka. Growing up, I was convinced it was the most beautiful place in the world.”
“Why’d you leave?” Kyoshi asked, and Rangi froze. A terrible, sinking feeling consumed Kyoshi for a moment. This is it. I’ve ruined it. Rangi’s going to send me away, and I’m never going to hear from her again. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”
After a few seconds, Rangi untensed ever so slightly. “It’s fine,” she said, even though every muscle in her back was screaming just how fine it wasn’t. Rangi turned back to Kyoshi, her posture relaxing a little more. “I left when I was ten. My mother had accepted a very prestigious position at a school in Caldera City. It was very fortunate for our family.” Rangi said the words like she was still trying to convince herself.
Rangi twisted a ring on her index finger. “I graduated high school early. After I decided not to join the army, I went out in search of something different. I was enrolled at a different university before this one. Things didn’t work out, and my mom got a job here, so I transferred last year.”
Rangi looked like she wanted to say something else but was interrupted by a loud yowl from outside of Rangi’s door. Kyoshi’s head whipped towards the door in surprise as Rangi rolled her eyes. “That’s Yingyong. He likes music. Are you allergic to cats?”
Kyoshi shook her head, and Rangi opened the door, reaching down to scoop the cat into her arms. “Don’t be so dramatic,” Rangi reprimanded the bundle of white fur in her arms.
“Here,” Rangi brought the cat over to the bed, depositing him into Kyoshi’s arms. “This is Yingyong.” The cat in her arms was the most stunning white cat Kyoshi had ever seen. He was missing his front left leg, but judging by how quickly he settled into Kyoshi’s arms, he was content to be carried everywhere like he was a small prince.
“He’s cute,” Kyoshi stroked one of her fingers down the cat’s head, unable to suppresses a smile at his content purr. “Yingyong?” Kyoshi raised an eyebrow.
“Jinpa claims it was his name at the shelter.”
Kyoshi didn’t point out that Jinpa could have changed the cat’s name when he was adopted. Somehow, it fit the little three-legged beauty.
Rangi climbed up next to Kyoshi, sitting cross-legged on the bed so their knees were touching. Kyoshi was hyperaware of the contact, the few inches where their limbs overlapped. Yingyong decided he was bored with Kyoshi and jumped off Kyoshi’s lap to sit in Rangi’s, his claws digging into the fabric of her jeans.
Rangi wasn’t bothered, clearly used to the cat’s antics. “He’s a diva. He gets it from Jinpa.”
“He seems sweet.”
“I don’t know if you mean Jinpa or Yingyong, but they’re both annoying.”
Kyoshi laughed and realized with all the subtlety of a freight train slamming into her that regardless of what happened, this couldn’t be the last time she saw Rangi. Somehow, someway, even if it would only be as friends, Kyoshi knew she wanted desperately to see her again.
But Kyoshi didn’t want to be just friends with Rangi.
Rangi looked back at Kyoshi, and the air around them shifted.
Their legs were still touching. All Kyoshi would have to do is-
The tension in the air hung thickly around them, like each of them was desperate for the other to make a move.
“Am I reading this right?” Rangi asked quietly, her hand coming up to stroke Kyoshi’s cheek.
Kyoshi swallowed, unable to think with Rangi’s hand touching her cheek like that. “Absolutely.” She closed her eyes and leaned towards Rangi, ready to bridge the gap between them, and-
“Rangi!” The door to Rangi’s room slammed open, loudly smacking the wall.
Kyoshi and Rangi jumped apart, pulling whatever had been about to happen with them.
Rangi flew across the room instantly in a tornado of fury. Yingyong screeched at his rapid ejection from Rangi’s lap and bolted through the open door.
Jinpa was standing in the doorway, eating chips and oblivious to the scene he had just interrupted. “I can’t believe you left without telling me. “
“Jinpa. Get out!” Rangi yelled. She put his hand on his shoulder, violently shoving him out of the room.
Jinpa spun around her, evading the shove, and proceeded as if Rangi had never spoken. “I brought your guitar home for you. Lek is annoyed that you left as soon as the police showed up.”
“Maybe you should have stayed to help Lek figure things out with the police considering he’s barely 18,” Rangi said through bared teeth, making another attempt at shoving Jinpa out the door.
“He had Kirima and Wong. They were better off without me,” Jinpa said, popping another chip into his mouth.
Kirima, Kyoshi repeated to herself. That was the drummer’s name that she couldn’t remember earlier.
“That’s great.” Rangi shoved at Jinpa again, getting him further out the door but not enough that she could shut it entirely without hitting him in the face. It seemed like Rangi was considering it. “Get out. I’m busy.”
Jinpa’s brows furrowed, and he straightened as he wrapped up his bag of chips. “What’s wrong? Did those guys harass you again? I know you can handle yourself, but I can get Wong to -” Jinpa stopped as he caught sight of Kyoshi on Rangi’s bed, a wild grin breaking out across his face. “Hi Kyoshi!” He said something more quietly to Rangi that sounded an awful lot like "I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Jinpa.” Rangi gritted. “Get out.” She shoved him once again, and in his shock, Rangi was able to get him far enough out the door to close it in his face.
“Rangi has a GIRL in her room,” Jinpa teased through the door. Rangi banged her hand against the wooden door a final time, rattling it with her strength. The two of them heard Jinpa laugh in the living room, followed by the sound of Jinpa talking to Yingyong and shutting his bedroom door behind him.
Whatever moment they had been about to have had passed.
“I’m sorry about him,” Rangi said. She sat back down at the keyboard, oceans away from Kyoshi. “Unfortunately, they haven’t found a cure for stupidity yet.”
“It’s okay,” Kyoshi said, meaning it. “He seems like a good roommate.”
“Yeah.” Rangi stared out her window for a moment. “I met him during the first month of school last year at Martial Arts Club. He’s impressively skilled at bugazhang.”
Kyoshi’s head was spinning with the information that Rangi competed in martial arts. “And you?”
Rangi smiled. It had a sharp edge to it. “He’s good, but I’m better. I’ve been competing in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu since I was 4. I don’t lose.”
Kyoshi admired the hard lines of muscle cutting Rangi’s body and was inclined to believe her. “I think it’s great that you do so many different things.”
Rangi stared at Kyoshi like she was trying to puzzle her out. “You’re probably the only one that thinks that.”
“I doubt it.”
Finally, Rangi held her hand out, and Kyoshi had to actively suppress the urge to slide her hand into Rangi’s. Kyoshi wanted to hold tight to Rangi and never let go.
“Give me your phone,” Rangi demanded.
Kyoshi pulled out her phone and quickly unlocked it, handing the device over. Rangi rapidly typed something in before handing it back to her. “You have several unread texts.”
Kyoshi glanced down at the phone and saw Rangi was right. It was nearly 2 AM (where had the past few hours gone?). Most of her texts were from Yun, asking where she was.
“I think I have to head out,” Kyoshi sighed. It would take her a good fifteen minutes to walk back to her apartment from Rangi’s.
“Yeah.” Rangi stood up, looking like she wanted to do something with her hands but was unsure what. “Do you want me to walk you home?”
Kyoshi had a quick internal debate about the merits of spending more time with Rangi versus the genuine possibility that Kyoshi would be inconveniencing her. “No, it’s alright.”
“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”
“I’m sure. Thank you, though.”
Rangi opened her bedroom door and turned into the hallway.
She stopped just shy of the front door, turning to give Kyoshi a questioning look. “Did you not bring a jacket?”
“I did, but I left it at the party.” It was her favorite jacket, too. Soft and warm in all the right places while still shielding her against the harsher elements of their college winter. Having grown up in Yokoya, she was used to the cold. That didn’t mean she liked it.
Rangi stared at her for a second before she sped past Kyoshi and ducked back into her room. She emerged a second later and threw a clump of maroon fabric at her head. “I’ll text Wong about your jacket. Put this on. It’s cold out.”
Kyoshi slipped the hoodie over her head. Despite the size difference that should have been there, the hoodie fit Kyoshi well. It was a deep crimson and black tie-dye pattern, the crimson nearly identical in color to Rangi’s bedspread that Kyoshi had sat on mere minutes ago. A chain of red, white, and green roses trailed up the left arm and over her left shoulder. “Is everything you own black and red?”
“It’s October! You could get sick!” Rangi shouted, not answering Kyoshi’s question and instead deciding to defend her choice to give Kyoshi her hoodie. As if there was any universe in which Kyoshi would go sorry, no, and hand the hoodie back to her.
As if Rangi giving her the obviously well-loved hoodie didn’t imply that they would see each other again, even if only so Kyoshi could give it back. Kyoshi couldn’t help but smile.
Rangi’s hand was resting on the doorknob, not opening it.
Kyoshi broke the silence first. “I had a great time tonight.”
“Me too. I can’t believe we’ve never met before.”
“I’m sure now that we’ve met, we’ll see each other everywhere.” Kyoshi thought of something Kelsang used to say, back when he first adopted her. “People come into our lives when they’re meant to.”
Rangi was doing that thing again, where she looked at the floor. Like she was afraid of being seen.
Kyoshi didn’t realize she was staring until Rangi’s eyes suddenly met hers.
The other woman bit her lip like she was thinking about something. Finally, she asked, “Do you want to get breakfast tomorrow?”
Kyoshi stared at her in stunned silence. Rangi wanted to see her again? Tomorrow?
Apparently not one to be deterred by silence, Rangi just shift slightly to lean further against the door frame. “I work out early in the mornings, but I could do 9. At Chija’s?”
Kyoshi couldn’t help the smile that burst across her face. “It’s a date.” The reality of 9 AM sunk in, and Kyoshi was quick to correct her previous statement. “Actually, could we do 10?”
Rangi’s smile widened. “It’s a date.”
Rangi opened the door for Kyoshi. “Text me when you get home. I put my number in your phone.”
“I will,” Kyoshi promised. “Goodnight, Rangi.”
“Goodnight, Kyoshi,” Rangi said, and Kyoshi’s name on her lips was the sweetest sound she’d ever heard.
Kyoshi spared a final glance back at Rangi, still standing in her doorway before Kyoshi finally turned down the hallway and out of Rangi’s line of sight.
What had just happened? Kyoshi shook her head in elated disbelief as she pushed open the door to the outside world. The brisk night air was refreshing after the charged heat of Rangi’s bedroom.
As she started her walk down the long, straight road towards her apartment, she skimmed Yun’s texts, which were all variations of asking if Kyoshi was okay or if she needed anything.
Kyoshi at 2:11 AM
Are you still up
I was with Rangi
We’re getting breakfast together tomorrow
What do I wear on a date?????
Yun at 2:12 AM
!!!!!
KYOSHI
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’M SO HAPPY
YOU AND RANGI
AHHHHHHHHH
As Yun continued typing, she switched over to her text with Rangi. She couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about her time in Rangi’s room, Rangi’s beautiful playing, their stories, and their long, charged looks, Rangi giving her the hoodie that Kyoshi was wearing right now, wrapped around her chest like a hug. It made her feel brave.
Kyoshi at 2:13 AM
I wanted to kiss you before Jinpa came in
Rangi started typing immediately.
Rangi at 2:14 AM
I nearly kicked down his door to punch him for interrupting the moment you left
But for the record
I wanted to kiss you too
Kyoshi at 2:15 AM
There’s always tomorrow
Speaking of tomorrow
Chija’s @ 10 AM?
What time do you wake up?
Rangi at 2:16 AM
Yes Chija’s @ 10
Their omelets are impeccable
I usually wake up at 5. But it’s a weekend, so I’ll wake up at 6.
Kyoshi at 2:17 AM
So generous of you to give yourself an extra hour on the weekends
I’m nearly home but you’re waking up in 4 hours so I’ll let you go to sleep
I had a really good time tonight
goodnight rangi
see you soon
:)
Rangi at 2:19 AM
text me when you actually get home
goodnight kyoshi
<3
Kyoshi locked her phone and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. She slipped her hands into the pouch of Rangi’s hoodie and took a second to tilt her head back to stare at the stars dotting the sky above her. It was cold enough that Kyoshi could see her breath every time she exhaled, but she didn’t mind.
She had so much to do, but the crushing academic pressure she usually felt at all hours of the day was absent for once.
She had a date with Rangi tomorrow.
Everything else could wait.