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the bright full moon contrasted the darkness around an as she breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of the night. this was one of her favorite places to be, alone and peaceful.
she looked up at the midnight sky, taking in the world around her. as much as an shiraishi loved the energy of being around others, sometimes being alone like this was just what she needed. the universe was so big and she was so small. to some, that was a scary thought. to an, it was comforting, like a giant dark hug.
the graffiti of vivid street was familiar to an and it almost felt like a second home to her. it looked different at night, especially up here on the roof of weekend garage, but it was comfortable nonetheless.
suddenly, a faint sound echoed through the silence of the night. an turned around to see who it was, half afraid it was her father coming to yell at her for being out so late.
"A-AH!!!" a small voice yelped. it wasn't ken. the girl the voice belonged to was stumbling backward, her feet slipping out from under her, and an rushed to help her without thinking.
an grabbed the smaller girl's hand and pulled her forward, stumbling at the sudden weight on her.
"oh man, you okay?" an asked once they were both steady. the girl nodded and an cautiously let her arm go.
now that the panic was subsiding, an could finally get a good look at this girl. she was a bit shorter than an and her long blonde hair was tied in two pigtails. her pink ovoid glasses had slipped down her nose, allowing an to get a better look at her mocha-colored eyes, slightly wet with frightened tears. despite how late it was, she was still wearing her school uniform, which an recognized as miyamasuzaka's.
as funny as it seemed, an found the girl absolutely adorable.
the two just stood there, looking at each other. when their eyes met, the smaller squeaked and averted her gaze before turning away and trying to escape the situation.
"hey, wait!" an shouted, once again reaching out to grab the girl.
after a moment, the girl turned back around to face an - almost. her eyes were glued to her shoes.
"i-i'm sorry! i didn't know anyone else w-was up here, i wasn't trying to intrude or anything! i'll g-go now!" the girl tried to pull away, but an tightened her hold.
"hey, no need to apologize! you weren't intruding on much… i could use some company, if i'm being honest," an smiled softly.
the girl didn't respond, but didn't try to run. an released her grip, holding out her hand for the girl to shake.
"i'm an shiraishi!"
the smaller girl hesitantly shook an's hand, replying quietly with "u-um, i'm kohane azusawa…"
an giggled, moving back to her previous spot and patting the ground next to her.
"eh?!" kohane's eyes grew large and an could make out the blush tinting her cheeks through the darkness.
"you came up here to sit and think, yeah? so did i. why not sit and think together?"
kohane nodded and sat down next to an. an grinned at her and for the first time that night, kohane smiled.
"so, kohane, you go to miyamasuzaka?" an asked, turning to the smaller.
kohane made a sound of confusion before looking down at her lap and noticing the uniform she was still wearing.
"oh, u-um, yeah! do you… go to school around here?" kohane replied, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
an nodded . "i go to kamiyama! it must be so much better at an all-girls school, guys are so tiring sometimes.”
kohane laughed a bit. an’s heart fluttered at the sound and she had to turn away to hide the blush that was making its way onto her cheeks.
“um… an-chan, do you come up here often?” kohane asked, turning to look at an but not quite making eye contact.
an laughed out loud at the phrasing, covering her mouth to quiet her sounds. kohane looked at her in shock, face flushing red. “wh-what? what did i say?”
an took a second to catch her breath before explaining. “it sounded like you were trying to flirt,” she replied, causing kohane to let out a surprised sound and cover her face in embarrassment.
“i-i’m sorry! i didn’t m-mean it like that!” she exclaimed, voice slightly muffled by her hands.
an's laughter started up again, even louder this time. kohane sputtered out something that sounded vaguely like "hey" and "stop laughing" mixed together, which did not help the situation at all.
"sorry, sorry," an exhaled when she finally stopped laughing, "but, to answer your question, yeah! i don't sit up here every night, but i like it here."
kohane nodded and stared into the distance, lost in thought.
"what about you?" an questioned, breaking the silence.
"hm? …oh, i don't really go out at night very much… my parents are away and i don't like being home alone when it's dark."
"oh, i get that," an nodded, "i like it up here because nobody really cares that much… well, except for my dad."
kohane quizzically cocked her head a bit. "your dad?"
"yeah, he runs the place we're on top of right now."
"what?! will… will he get mad if…" kohane started, eyes darting around nervously.
an placed her hand on kohane's shoulder. "no! it's fine, he won't even notice," she assured, but kohane didn't quite hear it due to her heartbeat thrumming loudly in her head.
noticing kohane's sudden tenseness, an swallowed and gingerly removed her hand from kohane's shoulder. "sorry, was that weird?"
kohane blinked hard as if waking up from a dream. "no! n-no, it wasn't weird, i, um. it was nice," she replied softly enough that an had to strain her ears to hear.
an took a moment to process before smiling and wrapping an arm around kohane's shoulders.
"e-eh?! an-chan?!"
kohane's face burned bright red. when she turned to see an's grin, her shocked expression slowly melted into a smile and her body relaxed just a bit.
the two girls spent the next while chatting about whatever they could. they told each other about their families (kohane had a pet snake; an didn’t know how to feel about that), friends (neither of them had many), hobbies (kohane liked photography; an could picture her walking around with a big camera), and an even convinced kohane to sing a bit for her (an had to hide her face so kohane wouldn’t see how enamored she was).
before they knew it, the sun was already rising. people were starting to wake up, and they both knew that someone was bound to notice two girls sitting on the roof of a café.
an looked up at the fading stars solemnly. it seemed trivial, but an really didn’t want to leave kohane. despite having just met the girl, it seemed like they were best friends already; an didn’t quite believe in soulmates, but she felt that she and kohane were almost meant to be together, that the fate of the universe led the two of them to that rooftop.
“oh no, it’s getting light out,” kohane worried, “i should… um… i gotta go! my parents will be home soon! it was nice talking with you, an-chan!”
and just like that, kohane was gone. an watched her jog down the street until she turned a corner, out of sight. an sighed and looked down at her shoes. it was over all too soon.
an felt like her senses were heightened. she missed kohane’s warmth, missed her soft voice and her shy eyes. an wanted - no, needed - to see kohane again. she’d sprint as fast as possible and catch up to the girl, or sneak into her school, or ask everyone in town if they’ve seen an adorable girl with long blonde pigtails and pink glasses, or-
huh?
out of the corner of her eye, an noticed something odd. something that wasn’t there before.
an noticed various pebbles arranged in strange shapes like you see in movies when someone’s trapped on an island and they use rocks to spell out SOS.
but what…?
oh.
OH!
an jumped up with excitement and covered her mouth to quiet her laughter.
the pebbles were arranged in various numbers; just enough for a phone number. kohane’s phone number, presumably.
kohane must’ve done it while an wasn’t looking at her. most likely while kohane was talking about the stars above them; an was mostly listening, however, she was a bit busy looking at the twinkling sky above them and comparing it to kohane’s eyes.
an took a moment to admire how cute and smart kohane was before hastily adding kohane’s phone number to her contacts. she’d text later.
when an’s feet touched the pavement of the street, she still felt like she was floating. she stepped into weekend garage with the biggest smile on her face, not caring what her dad or any early-morning customers thought.
an shiraishi loved kohane azusawa, and she wasn’t afraid to let the whole world know.