Work Text:
you like a goddess
and in your song most of all she rejoiced.
- sappho
"Do you like flowers, Haruka-chan?"
Haruka busies herself with her flower crown, bending the leaves along the wire, that she almost doesn't catch Minori's question. But Minori waits. Minori anticipates. She works on her own flower crown with as much attention-to-detail as she can muster.
"I've always gotten them as gifts..." Haruka pauses in thought. Images flash. There are birthdays, successful concerts, auditions passed. And then there is ASRUN, her old group, and old friends with bouquets in their hands. It's not exactly a nice thought.
But she has the rooftop too. Another clear, blue sky that could rival the view she gets from stage. There are flowers lying to her right, ready to be intertwined with one another. And there is Hanasato Minori to her left, chuckling softly.
"You must have received a lot of gifts! I mean, how could people resist showering you with bouquets?" She looks up to smile at Haruka.
Haruka smiles back, fond. "You flatter me, Minori."
There's something warm about Minori. A million things, in fact. One of them being Minori's now very-warm face, toned three shades redder. It never fails to make Haruka smile, how flustered Minori can get. This time, she's facing away from Haruka, fingers tangling flower and leaf and flower and leaf together; faster and faster and.
"I like flowers. Very much." Haruka considers, and then, "I just don't know much about them."
Haruka returns back to work, delicately working with the leaves, "How about you? What do you feel about flowers?"
"I like them!" Minori’s eyes light up, "Airi-chan is really the expert when it comes to flowers, but I have a bit of knowledge as well."
Minori gets to work, trailing off about her one-article limited knowledge on Lilies. Haruka listens, taking notes on colors and seasons.
"Come to think of it, your clip does look like a Lily."
"Oh, this?" She sets her crown on her lap for a moment to touch the clip, "You're right! The petals at least resemble each other with their shape."
Minori touches the clip in thought, then goes back to work. It's silent for a while. Two girls, a makeshift workspace composed of a picnic blanket, two baskets and materials sprawled around. All under the blue, blue sky, that just so happens to brighten at every smile Minori gives.
It's a good silence, Haruka thinks. Nothing makes her feel lighter than Minori's company. Minori who hums an advertisement jingle stuck in her head as she concentrates. Minori whose work, and whole being, is clumsy. There’s a little floral tape sticking out from the wire, Haruka notices. And then a little hair pulled down by gravity that she’d like to tuck to the side.
Haruka doesn't keep track of the time, braiding flowers together with the leaves. It's like a dance, she thinks. One she could get lost in, lulled to submission with Minori's humming and the smooth early spring breeze that passes.
She doesn't notice Minori is finished until she hears her take a few breaths. Then she mutters, though Haruka can’t catch what is being said. Minori’s now-finished flower crown is set to the ground, wire now covered with a carefully-chosen assortment of flowers and leaves. Haruka is nearly done with her own, only a few finishing touches away from setting it down.
"Haruka-chan." Minori starts. She is seated facing Haruka now, her eyes looking directly at Haruka's own. Her tone, though shaky, is serious, and her eyes are determined.
"I-” Pause. “Lilies-" There's a stutter between every word, but Haruka doesn't dare take her eyes away from Minori. Because if Minori can wait, so can she.
A breeze blows by. Minori looks like she'll be swept along with it, ever so fragile. But she takes a breath. And then two.
"What does snow become when it melts?"
A beat. Haruka doesn't quite get it.
"Water?" Haruka answers, a little lost, yet no less attentive.
"Spring, Haruka-chan. Snow melts into spring." Minori takes another breath. "For a long time, I was stuck in winter."
"But you came along, and it all melted." Minori pauses. She takes many pauses that Haruka can't keep track of, as she has to take her own pauses as well. One, two. One, two.
"It was water at first, it could all dry up when the time came. But meeting you. Really getting to know you. It turned all this into spring. You know, flowers."
"Flowers.." Haruka echoes.
Minori takes a breath. The breeze swoops in again. It all feels directed, all coordinated; her hair blowing in the wind, along with a few petals that had given in to the current. Like a scene from a romance manga. Haruka braces for the impact.
"You're my spring, Haruka-chan." She says.
Hook, line, and sinker.
Haruka is frozen in place, eyebrows raised in surprise and mouth wide open. Minori, on the other hand, has snapped out of her trance and is now 10 feet away from Haruka, having crawled to the nearest corner of the rooftop.
"Was that too much? I had to tell her now or I would have exploded!" Minori paces back and forth, cupping her very red cheeks.
"Ahh that was so embarrassing!"
She doesn't notice the now-recovered Haruka make her way to her corner until she's right in front of her, in all her glory. Haruka's a little at a loss for words too. Only a little.
"Minori." She calls, softly.
"Yes!" And Minori is all ears, always ready, always anticipating. Ready to tackle another day of intense training with Airi, ready for another one of Samo-chan's dog problems, and ready for this. For this.
Haruka's not quite ready. Frozen throat. Yet, the words have melted themselves into water; into spring.
"You're my spring too, Minori."
In one gentle motion, Haruka places the crown she made on Minori's head. It fits well. Well enough not to fall when Minori all but jumps into Haruka's arms. Laughing, laughing, laughing.
And her light
stretches over salt sea
equally and flowerdeep fields.
- sappho