Work Text:
Everyone has thought life was hard before. Reprimanding your crush at the school gate was harder.
Rui was part of the student council. One of her jobs was to stand at the front gate…and inspect.
She hated the job for many reasons. One of them being that she had to wake up extra early on weekdays to be at the gate. Another reason was Toko.
Whenever it was her turn to be at the front gate, Toko would always magically appear.
It’s like Toko wanted to get caught, which only infuriated Rui more.
Today was one of those mornings.
It was May. The weather was pleasant in the morning and unbearable by the afternoon.
Rui stood outside the gate, waiting for the flock of girls to start rolling in. She had her clipboard, which she used to write names down of people who violated the dress code. It was stupid, but it was her job.
Rui greeted her classmates with a gentle smile. A perk of being a “celebrity” according to some was the fact that people seemed to obey the school rules. The place had become more lively as well. Rui felt accepted.
Just around the corner was Toko. She had a smile on her face. It was laced with something mischievous…
Toko snapped a picture of her nails. One last goodbye before she had to take them off. Rui would scold her for not following rules. She didn’t mind, for that only meant she got to spend more time with her future girlfriend.
Maybe girlfriend wasn’t the best choice of word. Toko was sure Rui would get sick of her one day.
Regardless, she flipped her hair and fixed her bangs right before getting to the front gate.
“Good morning, Rui-Rui!”
Rui’s sappy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her friend, using the silly nickname that all her friends called her. Secretly, she loved the name.
“Good morning, Kirigaya-san. You seem happy this morning.”
”Mhm! I got my nails done, see!” Toko flashed her nails for Rui to see.
Rui peered down at Toko’s nails, half-expecting them to be a nude color; appropriate for school, of course, but this was Toko. The nails were obviously fake, they were long, and vibrant pink.
“What do you think?” asked Toko.
Rui stared face blank, “they’re pretty, but you know what I’m going to say.”
“I know…” Toko’s shoulders dropping, her face becoming sour like she had just eaten a lime. Rui knew she had to do something about it.
“Fine, I’ll let you off the hook this time. If you get caught, don’t drag me into it.”
Toko nodded furiously, “of course, thank you!”
Rui could get in trouble if someone found out she let a student off the hook, but Toko was her friend and a trusted band member.
Before Rui had anymore time to reconsider her decision, Toko had grabbed her hand and was pulling towards the side of the school’s gate, behind a tree.
“Look at the cherry blossom trees, they’re gonna be in bloom by next week’s concert…too bad we won’t get to see them,” said Toko, using her hand to guide Rui’s. She touched the petals, some falling to the ground before her eyes.
Had it ever been so serene?
Rui could never recall a moment when Toko looked so at peace. She had a slight smile and her cheeks had a slight blush, which was quite unnoticeable unless you were really close to her face.
Shit.
Pretending to not notice the proximity of their faces, Rui pulled away, still holding her hand but looking towards a different direction.
“We should get going, class starts in a few minutes…” whispered Toko. Rui nodded, letting Toko’s hand go, while subtly trying to wipe her sweating hand.
Awkward was an understatement.
They walked in silence, neither of them uttering a word.
Even though it was warm that morning, Rui couldn’t help the inevitable blush on her face. She was never one to get flustered.
For once, Toko couldn’t come with something dumb to talk about. This situation was useless.
Neither of them spoke the rest of the way.
By the time they had reached class the silence was comforting. They wouldn’t have to speak to each other until lunch.
The rest of the day was a blur, a boring day like any other.
The only thing to look forward to was rehearsal, especially with the upcoming performance they had scheduled.
It was no secret that Toko would always be late. Maybe she was buying crepes, or distracted by window shopping.
By some miracle, Toko was always early to practice nowadays. It was abnormal to her friends, but Toko always brushed it off as her wanting to be more responsible. In hindsight it was great, but that wasn’t the reason she was early to rehearsal.
A while back, Toko had found out that Rui would show up to rehearsal early to practice on her own. The music always lulled her almost to sleep. It was the way Rui played, the way her hips moved, her expression, the sweat glistening on her skin.
The heat rose to Toko’s cheeks, imagining herself in a faraway land where it was only her and Rui. Just them alone…and no one else.
She liked it better when they were the only ones together.
It was a selfish thought, but Toko could care less.
Toko happily skipped down to a cafe to grab snacks for her friends. She wasn’t really sure what Rui would like, perhaps a black coffee?
She made her way through the city, it was nice. Toko could feel her shirt clinging to her back. Nervous sweat as she approached the door.
The blonde made her way through the entrance of CiRCLE. Waving a ‘hello’ to Marina, flashing her charming smile.
Toko walked to the practice room, her hand was right there on the knob.
The door opened, creaking as Toko pushed it open.
A soft melody reverberated against the walls of the studio. It was gentle like the waves at the beach.
The last note of the song rang out, fading into nothingness.
Rui set her violin in its case.
“Well you’re here early.”
“Yeah, I just wanted to pick up some snacks for the others…” replied Toko, trailing off.
Rui nodded, not questioning any further.
“Would you like to go to dinner after rehearsal?” asked Rui.
”I’d love to, maybe we could ask the others to come!”
“No, you misunderstood. Just you and I.”
Toko’s eyed widened at the revelation, while Rui looked away in embarrassment.
“I’d love to go with you!”
Rui nodded, “Alright you pick the restaurant.”
Toko smiled. Maybe it was all going to turn out okay in the end.