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Shiho pulls back the handbrake, and the car comes to a stop on the side of the road. There’s no other vehicles in sight.
It’s late. Really late. The sky is a magnificent palette of dark blue hues, and the brightly shining lights of the city behind them refract off of the windshield and rear view mirrors like the stars themselves. It’s almost as if she doesn't even need to leave the car - the view she so desperately desires to see is right there in front of her, simulated perfectly. To enhance it even further, all she needs to do is turn around and look to her left.
Ah. Ichika’s still asleep in the seat next to her.
Simply staring at her, however, reminds Shiho that the view isn’t just enhanced. It’s blown out of the water by the girl, and her beautiful smile, and her sleek black hair, and her soft lips that are so familiar. Everything about her is familiar. Ichika is perfect in that way, even more so than everything else around them.
Then she remembers they’re actually here for a reason. And she stops staring, and tries to take action.
“Hey,” Shiho whispers softly, gently shaking her girlfriend in a feeble attempt to wake her up. “We’re here.”
Her eyes are still closed as she yawns, slowly raising her hand to take hold of the other’s. “Give me a second.”
“One. Now, come on.”
Ichika grins and opens her eyes, starting to undo her seatbelt. They’re a deep, shining cyan, and Shiho can’t help but gaze lovingly into them for a moment. For a moment she can’t believe the girl isn’t wearing any makeup. It’s just that effect Ichika has on her, after all - she’s learnt to get used to it by now. They live together. It’s become part of her daily routine, as has cuddling her in the morning, and kissing her all the time, and making her breakfast and taking her out on nice dates and–
“Earth to Shiho? Hello?”
Shiho jumps in the driver’s seat, hitting her head on the roof of the car. “A-ah, yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
Ichika just laughs, and takes her hand. “I’m all yours, got it? If you get me lost I will tell my parents and break up with you.”
God, she’s so pretty.
Eventually, they arrive at their destination - a massive expanse of grass in the middle of nowhere. The area itself isn’t the most exciting, per se, but as Shiho glances upwards, she gets a feel of the true beauty of her surroundings.
The sky she was seeing from inside her car? It’s so much more vibrant out here, and it’s not just colorful city lights that illuminate the sapphire tones of the stratosphere. A blanket of white stars glow softly across the space, like dots of bright paint sprinkled on a dark canvas, and the moon frames the scene as it hangs in the corner of her vision. It’s breathtaking, it really is.
She smiles when she turns around, and she smiles even more when she catches Ichika staring at her.
It's not the same stare as when Shiho would sit on the school rooftop while she was a kid. Ichika isn't in the school courtyard, gazing up longingly at Shiho as she plays her bass and tries to pretend she doesn't notice. It's something else entirely, and she's glad for that. The last thing Shiho wants right now is for these old memories to resurface from a simple gesture. She wants to enjoy the moment.
The stare is love, and it makes Shiho feel special, as it has many times previously.
The girl turns away, speaking once again in a last-ditch effort to prevent any accusations. “So, can you explain why we’re in a huge field at four o clock in the morning for me again?”
Shiho wraps her arm around the other girl’s waist and smiles. She’s warm, despite the late-night breeze in the air. “I wanted to show you something. It’s not much, but… look up for me, would you?” She’s clinging onto Ichika’s (well, it’s her own, really, but she chooses not to say anything about it) sweatshirt now. She couldn’t imagine tonight any other way.
Ichika obliges, and diverts her gaze to the atmosphere above her.
Her eyes widen.
“S-Shiho, oh my god…”
She’s not looking at the sky anymore, just looking at her girlfriend’s expression. “Hey, don’t cry, or I might end up crying too.”
“No, no. I just–” Ichika stops for a moment, turning around to face Shiho and holding onto her shoulders. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as–”
Before she can even finish her sentence, Ichika pulls her in.
And God, it’s amazing.
The lights shine down on them as they kiss, and Shiho instinctively throws her arms around Ichika’s waist once again as she tries to get the girl even closer. They move in perfect sync with eachother under the cover of the night, only pulling away to take a breath before going back in. Ichika’s hands are both buried in her hair, somehow dragging her in further, giving her more. It’s like heaven. Ichika is like heaven. She fits in perfectly with all the stars in the sky, and manages to trounce every single one without an effort.
Shiho wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Because it’s with Ichika she feels she can truly be herself. The band is great and all, but alone with her in their apartment she feels like she can talk about anything she wants. Her dreams, her thoughts, their future together. There’s nothing else to it; it’s as simple as that. She doesn’t have to worry about anything else. The rooftop. Middle school. She can throw it all away, and simply bask in the glory of her own personal star.
Scratch that. Ichika Hoshino isn’t just a star.
She’s the whole galaxy.
They pull away for a final time, and Shiho doesn’t need a mirror to see the heat rising in her face.
“Ichika.” The dark-haired girl’s name rolls off her tongue. It sounds so natural, a common practice.
She laughs, a confident grin plastered across her face like the constellations across the night sky. “That’s me.”
And then before they know it, they’re laying together in the grass, Ichika on top, hugging the other girl as tightly as she can. It’s soft, and it’s warm, and it’s just so distinctly Ichika it hurts. Shiho plants a chaste kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek, then another, then another.
“I love you so much,” she whispers inbetween each one.
There’s no reply, and the silence is comfortable. They lay by eachother’s side for a while, Ichika combing her hands through Shiho’s hair and whispering to her unintelligably. The only other sounds are the breeze swaying through the grass, and the odd motor vehicle driving away into the distance. It’s peaceful. Everything feels right like this, with nothing at all to distract her from the stars above (and next to) her.
She can't wait to shoot further with everyone; to become professional, together, with them. It's a dream Shiho's held close to her heart for years now. Sharing it with them is special. It's something it feels like only the four of them can have. Not just that, but every day it seems to get closer - they're improving their technique as a band in leaps and bounds, really. So to spend this moment of brief respite, next to the girl she loves the most out of everything the world has to offer?
There's absolutely nothing else Shiho could ever ask for.
And so, she curls up into Ichika's chest, closing her eyes, and letting the clutches of sleep take her.