Chapter Text
"I think you get it."
Kumiko's heart seemed to slow down.
"This crazy feeling."
And then just stopped.
Even as Reina turned to watch her, Kumiko couldn't recover. When her pulse did return, it was unsteady. Her eyes widened a little, as if to take in every last fiber of Reina's being.
"You do, don't you, Kumiko?"
Her throat was dry, but she schooled the confusion out of her already unsettling expression. "I.. Kousaka-san—"
"Reina."
Kumiko looked up, slightly startled by that response. She waited for an explanation. It never came.
The wind danced around the lush vegetation of the trees that surrounded them on all sides. It whooshed through her brown curls, Reina's black ponytail, her stunning white-blue dress.
"Reina," Kumiko echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I want to become special," Reina breathed, and it was as if the wind paused to listen to her words. "Different. I can't be like everyone else." Her voice became thicker, and she lifted one hand into the air. Index finger extended, she pressed it against Kumiko's forehead. "Neither can you."
"What's so bad about being like everyone else?" Kumiko wondered out loud, no longer afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of Reina. She couldn't remember precisely when it was, but after a specific moment that night, Reina's thoughts had unfolded themselves before her. Kumiko had soaked in every last detail, all of the secrets and wishes, the countless unconfessed ambitions, the notes of music that swirled under all that beauty, binding everything together.
She wasn't afraid anymore. She was fascinated. She felt daring. Reina was like this book that sat on Kumiko's shelf for years, gathering dust as Kumiko refused to sweep through its pages for fear of damaging them. But now that she had, now that Reina had offered a new branch of hope to hang from, Kumiko had not shied away from clinging to it. Reina was a treasure Kumiko didn't know she had, and now she was going to make up for lost time. Somehow. Someplace.
Maybe right here. Right now.
Reina's finger slithered downwards, drawing a line from Kumiko's forehead down to her nose, and then to her upper lip. "You can't be ordinary," she warned. "It will consume you." She removed her hand, her finger bouncing off Kumiko's lips.
Before it could return to Reina's side, Kumiko caught it by the wrist.
Kumiko couldn't remember ever seeing Reina look so taken aback. Awe lingered in her features for less than a heartbeat, but Kumiko absorbed every last trace of it anyway. "Maybe.. Maybe I want to be consumed," she said, slowly rising to her feet. As they faced each other on the stone steps, Kumiko stood taller than Reina.
Violet eyes alight with new-found hope, Reina stared straight at Kumiko, her piercing gaze never wavering.
The world ceased its muttering, every last sound swallowed up by the surreal atmosphere that settled upon the small glade framed by trees. The glare of the lights below them seemed to grow steadily more blinding.
Kumiko never got the chance to finish her sentence.
Neither did she find out when Reina learned to move so fast.
Her next breath caught in her throat as a pair of lips collided with her own. Reina was suddenly so close to her, and so warm, Kumiko immediately fretted of losing her to the breeze that had picked up once again. One hand weaved through the stray locks of black hair to clutch at the back of Reina's neck.
And then she was lost in the kiss.
It was neither as perfect as the books she read made it out to be, nor as magical. But it was new. Different. In those few heartbeats, enveloped in the heat of Reina's lips against her own, she felt that she had everything she'd ever wished for.
Happiness was a trick played on everybody by the mind. This was a new sort of pleasure, one she'd never experienced before.
It didn't last.
When Reina pulled back, breathless, Kumiko couldn't help the cold wave of disappointment that washed through her insides, freezing her body in place. It was too soon. Her hand fell from Reina's neck to her shoulder, where it stayed fixed, hanging on to the warmth that radiated from Reina's body in waves. Reina didn't seem to mind.
Though her expression was unreadable, Kumiko thought she could see the suppressed signs of bursting excitement. She fought to keep her own expression neutral, but she couldn't. Her smile was brighter than the light of the moon that washed over them.
"They should be here.."
"Why would they be here of all places?"
"Kumiko's text said they'd be climbing. This is the only place I could think of."
Footsteps echoed down the cobblestone path all the way to where Reina and Kumiko stood, holding each other, faces flushed, eyes wide and glittering like stars.
Hazuki-chan's petite silhouette emerged from the trees, flanked by..
Kumiko felt Reina stiffen under her touch.
Shuichi's step faltered as his eyes fell upon them, and his feet skidded to an abrupt halt behind Hazuki-chan. A tense silence overtook the four of them before Shuichi broke it.
"Hey."