Work Text:
"Ah, it looks like the rain is finally letting up. We should be able to keep going soon."
Nene hummed and glanced up quickly to where Hanako hovered above her shoulder, book leaned against his hat to keep any stray droplets from the peach tree they'd taken shelter under out of his eyes.
Nene shifted slightly, feeling her skirt flutter around her legs before she clutched her bundle tighter. It was supposed to be a fun little outing. Hanako had been playfully outraged when she said she'd never heard of the author of his book even though Kou had, which had led to a round of him teasing Kou that he'd didn't know the boy could even read.
So Hanako had suggested they should read it, and that they could go and have a little fun after. Nene let her eyes drop to the picnic basket at her feet, a little muddy from where she'd set it down a bit too heavily, but the blanket was still clean if a bit damp.
It was all starting to seem less like fun and more like a date.
There wasn't anything wrong with that, Nene decided as she took a tiny step closer to Hanako. He looked handsome in the old-fashioned clothes that Yako had shoved him into. A bit like his brother, which made Nene shiver, but the warm color of his kimono only deepened the gold in his eyes.
And her own outfit only complemented that with its bright pinks and yellows, the soft ruffles of white at her throat and settled in her hair. She remembered how he'd blushed and dipped to hide under the brim of his hat before he'd said she looked cute and Yako had shoved them off.
Her breath caught as he shifted, one hand curling around the branch just behind her, and she couldn’t help but turn as he floated just a bit higher. She could set her head into the curve of his arm, it would drape around her shoulders comfortably as he leaned down to kiss her...
Heat flooded her face but there was nowhere to run. She watched with wide eyes as he shook the raindrops from his book before he tucked it away, and turned to her with a quiet expression.
If she had not been blushing, if she had not let her mouth part on a sigh of his name, maybe he would have turned and taken her wrist and tugged her along towards the next set of trees.
Nene heard the branch beside her head creak as his hand tightened around it, watched those luminous eyes dart over her face before he reached up and brushed the back of his fingers over a stray droplet on her cheek.
She waited for him to laugh, to pull away and say that she'd gotten enough water for her daikon legs today and they should head back. But his hand only retreated to lift his hat from his head, held carefully in trembling fingers before he leaned down so his cool breath fanned across her lips.
"Yashiro...I...may I?"
He looked just as he had at the gate so many months ago; soft, sweet, and nervous. Nene reached out and curled her hand in his kimono, gave it a gentle tug as she nodded.
Nene let her eyes flutter shut as his mouth met hers, a nervous brush before he pulled away. She opened her mouth to ask him for another, just one more, when the bundle in her arms was pulled away. She watched through half-lidded eyes as he dropped it with his hat and book into the picnic basket before his hand tangled into her hair and brought her back to him.
Hanako was no prince, he wasn't even alive. He was only taller than her because he was floating, cold not because of the rain but from the chill of death that lingered on his skin.
And yet she only wanted him closer.
Each kiss they shared burned and set her alight beneath the gray sky and peaches, every whimper and sigh as they tried to get closer bubbled in her chest before they both gave a little shriek as the branch behind her head snapped.
Nene looked up at him, blushing again as his arms locked around her protectively, before that stupid smug smile she loved pulled at his lips.
"A little eager to get me undressed, Yashiro?"
She glanced down between them, only just realizing one hand had slipped between the buttons of his shirt and was brushing icy skin while the other had slid under his kimono to clutch at his back.
She dipped her head, trembling as his hand brushed over her hair before she took a breath and tipped her face up.
"Nene. Call me Nene. And...kiss me, please?"
She watched Hanako’s eyes widen, thought for sure he was going to release her and run, ask her to pretend this never happened. But then his face softened, eyes darkening as he leaned in.
"Of course, Nene. I can't say no to you."
She hoped Yako wouldn't be angry at the grass stains on their clothes as they tumbled to the ground in a flurry of giggling kisses, but even so, Nene wouldn't mind.
Not when she finally had the boy she was in love with in her arms at last.