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The store they’re visiting is almost empty save for them and the cashier, but it makes sense as it’s two in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Mizuki sent Ena a text saying that they were skipping class and that she should meet them at the shopping street they liked to frequent. Despite Ena’s warnings that Mizuki should stay in school, they had already left and weren’t planning on going back. She sighed, upset that they walk the tightrope of failing due to lack of attendance, but happy that she would be able to spend time with her girlfriend.
She normally doesn’t visit lolita fashion stores, considering she doesn’t like the style enough to justify the ridiculous amounts of money she’d have to spend just to own a single dress, but Mizuki loves looking at this particular brands’ new collections. She lets them indulge in their dreams of owning a wardrobe of puffy pink dresses and takes in inspiration for her own work.
“Wow! I love this dress!” Mizuki gestures towards the frilly earth-tone garment that’s on display in front of them. They would never wear something like that, no way, neutral colors were not their thing, but they imagine a certain someone in it instead. A certain someone who shoots them a questioning look with a quirked eyebrow.
“Love? You never wear brown,” Ena comments, hand on her hip. She can read them like a book, which would normally be the most terrifying thing in the universe for Mizuki, but something about this interaction makes them feel visible in a positive way. Like that Ena can properly care for them, can cater to them, can effectively make the best decisions on their behalf. It’s scary, but comforting, having someone know them so well.
“I wouldn’t!” They chirp back, “but I can still appreciate its aesthetic value.”
“Sure, sure,” Ena re-evaluates the dress in question. Normally she wouldn’t wear something so lolita-adjacent, but something about the outfit strikes her. Maybe it’s the frilly apron, maybe it’s the cute puffy sleeves, or maybe it’s the fact that Mizuki keeps glancing towards the dress and back at her, surely imagining what she would look like in it.
“Maybe I’ll go try it on,” she grabs one from the rack, rushing to the changing room to ignore how hot her face feels and Mizuki’s sputtering attempts to get a word out. She reaches the changing room before she has a chance to doubt her decision. She doesn’t even have any accessories to coordinate the dress with, let alone a blouse to wear under it. Maybe this was a mistake. She’s standing in front of the stall, weighing her options of just putting it on versus admitting defeat and getting a blouse, until a familiar face pops their way-too-pretty face into the changing room lobby.
“Hey!” they stage whisper, holding a hanger with a cute frilly blouse on it, “I thought you would need this!”
As much as Ena knows Mizuki, Mizuki knows her just as well. She takes the hanger from their hands with a slight nod and disappears into the stall. She changes with ease, buttoning the blouse and throwing the dress onto, observing herself in the mirror. She does a little twirl, it’s cute.
“C’mon, finish up already!” Mizuki complains. They’re anxious to see the result of their work.
“Hold on! Don’t be impatient!” Ena yells back, giving herself final adjustments in the mirror before pulling back the curtain and revealing herself.
“Oh my god,” Mizuki holds a hand up to their mouth, hiding the grin they’re trying so hard to tone down, “you look so good. I love it.”
“Do you now?” Ena spins around, excited to see how excited Mizuki is.
“Yeah. The colors work great with your complexion. And I love how that blouse fits on you,” they get closer to her and tug the collar into place. Ena feels her face burning.
“It’s not really my thing, but,” she stiffens due to the way Mizuki is looking at her.
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful,” they let the words drop out, dripping with sincerity.
Ena knows that word is running through their head, taking up all the space in their mind, as they gently brush her cheek with the tips of their fingers, even though they never say it. They don’t like to say it, it’s too strong, too much commitment, too vulnerable, but it’s in everything they do and in every word they say.
They express their love in their glances that make Ena feel like the only thing that matters to them, they express it in soft strokes and kind words, in thoughtful gifts and heartfelt concern.
Ena closes the gap between them, with a whisper, “should I buy it?”
“Mm,” Mizuki gives her a kiss that is much too short for her own personal liking, “if you’re willing to drop forty thousand yen on a dress.”
“But you like it,” she kisses them, slightly deeper and slightly longer, enough to fulfill her craving to be close to them but short enough to make sure they can move if someone decides to enter the back of the store to try something on.
“I like how you look in anything, Enanan. You could be wearing Kanade’s tracksuit and I’d still compliment you.”
“But you like this,” she does a little pose.
They hum, taking in the moment, “yeah. I love it.”
They’re looking at her, in that same way, and she knows that they want to tell her those words as well, not just the dress. She decides to take the first step, to test the waters, as she grabs both their hands in her own and intertwines their fingers.
“I love you,” she whispers, barely audible under the beating of her own heart. Mizuki’s breath hitches, their hands squeeze Ena’s just a bit. There’s a moment of silence and Ena has to force her heart not to drop. Maybe it was too early, maybe their relationship was still too fragile, maybe, maybe, maybe—
“I love you too,” Mizuki replies, pressing their forehead to Ena’s. The world stops around her.
“That wasn’t too much, right?” She asks for consolation. Mizuki presses a light kiss to her nose.
“No. It was perfect.”
Mizuki overuses the word love to the point where it has no meaning, that they love anything and everything, but this was the first time in a long time that they truly, deeply, meant it.
It was terrifying to expose themselves so sincerely, but if it’s with Ena, then they know it’ll be okay.
“I can’t afford this dress,” Ena breaks the silence, which causes Mizuki to giggle. She’s been picking up Mizuki’s habit of ruining the mood with whatever stupid comment comes into her head.
“Your allowance doesn’t cover Baby the Stars Shine Bright?” they grin.
“No chance in hell. Maybe if it was used and stained. Perhaps not even then.”
“Even if we split it?”
“How do we split a dress that isn’t even your size?”
“I get to see you in it.”
“Oh my god. Shut up. I’m leaving now,” Ena covers her blushing face and rushes back behind the fabric door of the changing stall. The cloth doesn’t stop Mizuki’s laughs from reaching her ears as she studies just how red her face is in the mirror.
She really, really loves Mizuki. Even if she pretends to be upset, she wouldn’t have them any other way.
Her face grows a bit more red. They’ll pay for making her feel so embarrassed. They’ll pay for her falling so deeply in love with them.