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Iruma’s coin falls from her hand and clatters against the floor. “Fuck!” Rather than chase after it like she has the past several times, Iruma just slumps back into her seat with a groan and folds her arms across her chest, casting a sullen look down upon the floored yen. “This is such bullshit.”
A glower from beneath the floppy brim of her hat is Yumeno’s response to that. “It’s not,” she responds, just a touch moodily. “And I told you to stop cussing. You can’t say dirty words while doing magic.”
“Fuck and shit are not the dirtiest I can get,” Iruma snorts. Yumeno offers a withering glare that Iruma has to ignore in order to avoid crumpling on the spot. “S-Seriously! Besides, it’s a pain in the ass to clean up my vocab for one fuckin’ show. The world wants to see the Gorgeous Girl Genius in her full, uncensored glory, baby!” Iruma puffs out her chest, arms spread, and meets Yumeno’s unimpressed look head-on.
“Not when you’re performing for a kid’s birthday party.” Yumeno leans down and picks up Iruma’s fallen coin, then holds it out to her. “Try it again. You hid it pretty good last time. If you manage not to drop it during the flourish, you’ll get through the rest of it easy.”
Iruma snatches the yen with a huff. “What’s the point in all’a this, anyways? I’ve seen your shows before. It’s not like you need a helper. And if you did, wouldn’t ya just ask Chaba-shit-ra? She’s always trailin’ you like a lost bitch.”
“Don’t call her that,” Yumeno says, brows knitting, “either of those.” She fiddles with her sleeve, a frown on her face. “I don’t need an apprentice. But the party I’m going to…” A faraway look flickers across Yumeno’s face and disappears a moment later. “Nevermind. My reasons don’t matter. If you want me to help you with Ouma, then you gotta do me this favour back. It’s only fair, ‘nd I’m not gonna pick the lock on Ouma’s door without some kinda compensation.” She pouts. “Why’re you asking me to break into his room? That’s a lot weirder than me wanting you to help me with my magic.”
Well, touché. Iruma fiddles with her hair and looks away, trying to act like she’s not a little bit curious as to what Yumeno was going to say when she trailed off just now, especially because she has something more important to juggle with. After a moment, Iruma decides she doesn’t especially care about keeping her reasons for this a secret, and clears her throat.
“The little shit threw the first stone.” Iruma rests her hands on her waist, coin tucked against her palm. “I can’t let him prank me and get away with it! I gotta get my revenge. A girl’s gotta have pride, y’know?” She fans herself with one hand, grinning.
Yumeno’s nose wrinkles. “I think you have too much pride.”
“H-Hey!” Iruma’s face flushes. “I do not! I have the p-perfect amount of pride for someone with the amount of brains, looks, and charm that I got! W-What’dyou know, anyways? It’s not like you’re exactly humble!”
“Nyeh…” Yumeno pulls down on her hat. “You’re lucky a mage of my caliber is even wasting her time on you… I wouldn’t bother helping you with your dumb prank war if I didn’t have to…” She grumbles incoherently for a moment before shaking her head. “Let’s get back to practice, okay? The spell you’re working on is for beginners. If you try again, you should get it.”
The fact that Iruma has been struggling so much with a “beginner’s spell” would be mortifying under different circumstances, but once again, Iruma finds herself more interested in what Yumeno was alluding to from under the brim of her cap than she is with the actual task at hand. Rather than oblige, she tilts her head to the side and looks curiously at Yumeno, reaching up to twirl her hair again.
“Seriously, why do you need me workin’ the party?”
Yumeno’s sullen gaze sharpens into more of a glare. “I already said it doesn’t matter.”
Taking a breath so she doesn’t cower, Iruma continues, “W-Well, yeah, you said that, but… I already told you why I wanted your help, y’know? It’s only fair!” Echoing Yumeno’s earlier words is probably sort of a low blow, but it’s not like Iruma is trying for the moral high ground, here. She’s just curious. Yumeno is apathetic at the worst of times. It’s rare for Iruma to see her showing any kind of actual emotion barring indignation and annoyance. She can’t help wanting to pick at it. This must be how Ouma feels all the time.
There’s another pout on Yumeno’s face as she responds. “Why do you wanna know so bad?”
“I don’t wanna know bad, I just—” Iruma huffs and shakes her head. “I’m just wondering, a’ight? Stop making it weird!”
“You’re the one who’s being weird about it!” Yumeno retorts, stomping one of her feet. She deflates, though, shoulders slumping like all the air is seeping out of her, and then sighs, both of her hands going up to tug at her hat. Iruma can only barely see her lower lip as she snags it with her teeth. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just that this party I’m doing magic for, last time I went to that house, I was there as my master’s apprentice, not as a mage myself. And it’s fine, ‘cause I don’t need his guidance so bad anymore, which is why he’s on vacation now—but I don’t wanna go alone.”
The display of sudden vulnerability makes Iruma want to respond in kind, which isn’t a normal feeling for her—maybe it’s just that it’s coming from Yumeno, who’s often just as abrasive as she is, even if she uses more innocent words for it. Iruma folds her arms and leans against the desk behind her, turning the coin over in her hand.
“Huh. That makes sense,” she says, because it does. Iruma’s talent means that she often spends long hours working alone in her lab, and it’s fine, because she always gets so absorbed in her task that she barely notices that she’s alone, but the relief is always palpable when someone comes around to visit her, whether it’s Ouma looking to harass or Kiibo looking to get her to take a break. There’s a comfort in having someone there alongside you, even if they’re not much of a mentor. Iruma still doesn’t understand, though, why… “Why ask me? Chabashira’d probably be happy to go with ya. Ain’t you two friends?”
“Of course we are,” Yumeno mumbles. Her gaze is downcast. “It’s just…”
Yumeno trails off again, leaving a heavy silence in her wake. Iruma fidgets. “Look, you told me your reason—you don’t gotta say anything else if you don’t want to.” Iruma glances away. “Not like I give a shit.”
“That’s just it,” Yumeno blurts. Iruma meets her gaze in surprise. “Chabashira’s—Chabashira’s my best friend. But she’s always telling me to be honest with my feelings… and I know that I should, but I’m not… I’m not ready to be honest with my feelings about…” She doesn’t finish that train of thought, and Iruma, with little to go off of, isn’t really sure how to fill in the blank. From what Yumeno said before, though, about her master being on vacation… well, she can take a wild guess. “A-And it’s not like I like you, or anything. You’re annoying and loud and you keep saying dirty words.” Her brow furrows. “But… you won’t make me talk about it.”
That’s almost… too vulnerable, if Iruma is being honest. She can feel a light flush on her face, more from the open emotional talk than anything else, and clears her throat, trying to find something sincere to reply with.
“You don’t have to be shy about it,” Iruma grins. “Wouldn’t blame ya if you just wanted to get another eyeful of these!” She gestures at her chest, and Yumeno groans, pulling her hat down further. Her ears, which poke out through her bob, flare bright red, and Iruma finds herself chuckling, warmth fluttering in her chest.
“Will you shut up…” Yumeno complains, fingers curling in the fabric of her hat.
In lieu of a response, Iruma moves forward, the coin hidden in her sleeve, and brushes Yumeno’s hair behind her burning ear. When she pulls away, she reveals the yen between two fingers, winking, like she just performed an incredible magic trick, and not the move Yumeno decided to teach her because it’s one of the easiest in the book.
“Nah, but seriously,” Iruma says. She holds out the coin, and when Yumeno offers her hand, drops it into the other girl’s palm. “You don’t gotta say shit you don’t want to. I mean, I get it, y’know? Chaba-shit-ra’s whole emotional honesty thing is good and all and she’s probably right, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready or whatever.” Iruma shrugs. “Take your time. Not like it makes a difference to me.”
Yumeno pushes up her hat and stares into Iruma’s eyes. Her gaze is oddly intense, her face flushed, lips slightly parted. In order to perform the trick, Iruma had to lean in close, which she hadn’t been thinking about during her little speech—but she sure is thinking about it now. Yumeno’s eyes are brown, but they have red highlights in them under the ceiling lights. Red. Why is it always red with her?
Clearing her throat, Yumeno says softly, “Thanks, Iruma.”
“Pssh. Whatever. You’re the one doin’ me a favour. Least I could do was not be weird about it.” Iruma shrugs. She pauses, looking down at Yumeno’s face again, taking in her eyes, the colour to her cheeks. She’s cute, sure—she’s got that whole red-haired cutie thing going on—but like this, with her eyes all doe-like, she’s downright beautiful.
Iruma clears her throat and steps back. That’s enough eye contact for the day. She sweeps her fingers through her bangs and prepares to change the subject, but Yumeno closes the distance and reaches up, taking the side of Iruma’s face in one small, determined hand. Iruma positively squawks, a blotchy heat crawling up her neck, but Yumeno doesn’t kiss her. In fact, a moment later, she completely withdraws her hand.
Her hand isn’t empty, though. With a flick of her wrist, there’s a bouquet of colourful flowers held in her fingertips. She presents it to Iruma, face serious.
“You had something in your hair,” she explains.
“Oh.”
“And now you got somethin’ on your face.” Yumeno’s lip quirks in a lazy little smirk. “Like… red.”
“O-Oh.”
“Really red.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Iruma groans, swiping at her cheeks with her sweaty palms like she could physically scrub the blush away. “No need to rub it in.”
Yumeno giggles, a higher pitched sound Iruma has never heard before, and presses the flowers into Iruma’s chest. When Iruma takes it, she turns around, waving two fingers over her shoulder.
“Meet me after school for our second practice, okay? I got another spell t’ show you now that you mastered the first.” Yumeno reaches the door and turns her head, her single visible eye crinkling with a smile. “Bye.”
She’s out without another word, leaving Iruma to slump against the desk, the flowers clutched tight in her hand and her heart pounding against her ribcage. Fuck. She never expected such a tiny girl to have so much game.