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Hands. It’s part of our bodies we get used to from infantry. People get accustomed to the feeling of their hands together along the way. But that feeling of new gets renewed time and time again when your own hands holds another.
It’s a feeling that Kaede loves to relish everytime Nene holds hers.
Somehow it became a habit sometime during their first year, and more frequently after the field trip. Then they became third years, the last year of high school. Anyone can barely see either of them be alone, it’s like they come in a pair. Nene pulling Kaede along, keeping their hands together. Kaede adores the feeling that warms from the tips of her fingertips to her chest when she stares at their hands.
“Hey, Kaede…”
The brunette stopped in her tracks, waiting for the called girl to give some sort of reply. She didn’t turn to look at her, unconsciously squeezing the hand she was holding.
“Hmmm~?”
There it is the dragged out hum of a tune that Nene struggles to get out of her mind. Once she gets to hear it, it plagues her head for the rest of the day. She turned her body to fully face the shorter girl, refusing to let go of her hand.
“Should we spend Christmas together? You know, before we head over to Komi-san’s house?”
The silence doesn’t do any favors for Nene. She knows that this happens often and the only thing that can soothe her are the subtle changes in Kaede’s expression. Except she can hardly pick up on anything on her at the moment.
“Sounds like a plan~!”
Her face brightened up. A huge smile on their faces, mirroring each others’ own.
“Great! I’ll meet you at your house.”
They stayed together, getting comfortable with the silence. Along the way Nene started humming and Kaede joined in. It was a beautiful exchange of tunes dancing around each other. That was kept up until Nene brought Kaede home and watched her enter her house before she left to buy groceries for dinner.
Kaede closed the door to her room and melted onto her bed. She raised her arms to drag the pillow closer to her. She somehow gathered herself together, leaned to the headrest of her bed, and brought her palms in front of her. She continued to stare at it with complete fondness, her left caressing her right, feeling the ghost of the warmth of Nene's hand in her own.
She couldn't wait to see her again.
Nene still hummed the same tune over and over again while she walked home from the grocery. Once she opened the door to her home, she anticipated a barrage of jumps from her siblings, mainly younger brother. She prepared herself by raising the groceries above their reach and hardening her stomach for impact.
"Nee-chaaan!"
There it is. Even if she got herself prepared, she still let out a grunt at his weight.
"Kaede-neechan isn't here today?"
"It's already late so I sent her home first. Let me just quickly cook dinner now. You guys can still wait a little longer, right?" She set down the groceries and patted both of their heads.
"Yeah!"
"Good."
Her siblings have gotten used to Kaede really fast and they ask her about her every now and then. It's like they've expected for Kaede to come over even more frequently than they are doing in the present. But, Nene doesn't want to let Kaede be in a constant space around her rowdy siblings. Maybe that's just the reason she keep reminding herself instead of the real selfish reason she admittedly knew of.
That's beside the point.
She has to make a plan now. Since she did ask Kaede out on a date, on Christmas no less! In Nene's experience, she hasn't received any decline from Kaede so she thought it would go that way like always. But, somehow, she had this fear inside her about what-ifs and self-doubt. It all was crushed and renewed into a warm feeling in her chest when she received her usual reply.
Whatever comes to her, any plan or event she has in mind, she has complete trust that they will enjoy it together. With each other by their sides, it's the truth they choose to believe and make reality itself.
The awaited day came quickly along with colder winds and a need for thicker clothes.
In her coat, Nene lightly jogged her way to Kaede's place. Succeeding in warming herself up in the process, she let herself in and went straight to Kaede's room.
"Kaede! You still here?" She opened the unlocked door to find that the girl was still brushing her hair.
"Neenee~. Good morning~." She looked away from the mirror and welcomed the brunette with her usual smile.
"What am I gonna do with you?" Nene smiled to herself and helped the girl get properly dressed.
With the final button fastened, Kaede was finally ready. Nene separated herself from her, a few steps in front of her. She looked at her from top to bottom and noticed that her hands were still bare.
"Kaede... Where do you keep you mittens?"
Nene looked around the room for possible places to find the mittens. She doesn't notice Kaede reaching for her face with both of her hands. Kaede giggled and it was enough to get Nene mesmerized, only to realize that her head was on Kaede's chest a second later.
"What are you doing?" She muttered under her breath, ignoring the blush forming on her own cheeks.
"Since you're already here, let's just spend today here~."
"How about Komi-san's birthday?"
"Neenee will bring us there on time, won't she~?"
"I have no choice." Nene shivered at Kaede suddenly moving her hand through her hair and she swore that Kaede actually felt that, making her flushed cheeks a darker shade.
"I'll go get us some chocolate drink~."
"Sit down."
"Okaaay!"
She was finally let go of the hold, letting out a breath. Her breath hitched when Kaede interlocked their fingers together.
"You're coming with me? Even though you already agreed on sitting down?"
Nene only gets raised brows for an answer and she laughed at that.
"It's better when were together after all."
"Hm."