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Maki picks up the paw of Kaede’s old teddy and squeezes. It’s a familiar action that the bear, battered by years of loving use, is accustomed to. “I want you to teach me how to kiss someone.”
Kaede, frankly, had not expected that to be Maki’s request. She thinks she recovers from her surprise rather well. (The blush doesn’t leave her face as fast as she’d like, though.)
“Ooh, Maki! Is there a lucky person you wanna learn for?” she teases, though not entirely wholeheartedly.
When Maki had vaguely brought up that she had a favour to ask that morning in homeroom, Kaede had an inkling that it would be somehow related to romantic advice. During the past few weeks, she’d noticed Maki’s growing attachment to two of their classmates–Kaito Momota and Kirumi Tojo. Learning that Maki had started to make more friends made Kaede thrilled! She couldn’t help but beam at the fondness in Maki’s voice when she spoke of her now-daily runs with Kaito, or her occasional tea times with Tojo whenever Kaede was busy with piano rehearsals after school. To see her best friend find people she could be genuinely happy with made Kaede’s heart swell. Yet, the idea that one of her newfound friendships could (and likely already did) transform into a crush…
Well, that is unnerving to Kaede. It fills her with a jealousy that she hasn’t ever felt in the year she’s known of her feelings for Maki–one that she’s very desperately tried to bury since it appeared. And with Maki’s request out in the open, it’s become extremely clear to Kaede that that jealousy is really skilled with a shovel.
“ Maybe ,” Maki’s notorious rolling eyes + fond smirk combo makes Kaede want to smile, and laugh, and maybe embrace total abandon and just kiss the smirk off her face. She refrains. Maki resumes, “But I think I’ll leave that to your imagination for now. I’d rather not tell you who until… after whatever terrible fallout waiting for me occurs. You get it.”
Kaede can see that Maki’s nervous about this; her teddy’s paw is flat and crunched in Maki’s clenched fist. Honestly, she doesn’t get it, not completely. She remembers her crush on Shuichi two years ago, the last year of junior high, and how she told Maki all about it only ten minutes after she figured out she didn’t think of him entirely platonically. With that in mind, this anxiety Maki feels over revealing her crush’s identity doesn’t make complete sense to Kaede, if she’s being honest. Her brain supplies her with an unlikely scenario that would explain it– maybe you’re the crush --but again, it’s unlikely. Extremely so. Especially if Maki's choices are between the jovial and kind-spirited Momota, the caring and listening Tojo, and… Kaede . She really doesn't stand a chance.
“Aww, leaving me in suspense! Incredibly cruel of you, Miss Harukawa,” and she makes sure the mock-pretentiousness in her tone fades completely before continuing. “But yeah, that’s fine! Though I gotta say,” Kaede please stop talking , “if this special someone of yours has any taste whatsoever,” KAEDE SHUT UP , “I don’t think you have any sort of ‘terrible fallout’ to worry about. Anyone’d be lucky to have you as a girlfriend, Maki.”
The subtle but stunned look on Maki’s face makes Kaede instantly feel like her mom just caught her stealing from the cookie jar.
Holy crap, why would you say that!
And then she remembers how flustered Maki was with Momota in the hall after second period, how at ease she was with Tojo during today’s lab in fourth. She feels her thoughts steel up a bit. It isn’t you , Kaede reminds herself, so you can’t slip up. Not now, after this long . So she moves the conversation forward, and hopes Maki forgets what she said.
She feels cold all of a sudden.
“ Well ,” she claps her hands, a bit too loud, startling Maki out of her shock, “we should probably just get started on the lesson!” Maki nods once, and scoots forward on Kaede’s bed so she’s closer to her friend. Kaede tries (and only slightly fails) to ignore her face getting warmer. “A big thing you have to keep in mind for your first kiss with someone is dropping hints beforehand. That way you can see if they’re interested before actually kissing them, without directly asking them.”
Maki appears to be hanging onto Kaede’s every word. “I see. I'd rather not ask directly, so I think this would be especially helpful to learn.” She makes eye contact and nods once more, signalling Kaede to continue. She seems much less nervous all of a sudden. Kaede swallows as imperceptibly as she can.
“Well, easiest hint, in my opinion, is looking at their lips every so often, and making sure they notice.” Or in my case right now, making sure she doesn’t. Even if it's very difficult. She really had to wear that sparkly lip gloss today..! “If you wanna be more obvious, though, touching their arm or holding their hand can work too."
Maki raises an eyebrow–and a corner of her mouth, enough that Kaede thinks she might be smirking–and reaches for Kaede's forearm with her right hand. Kaede tracks the movement like a hawk, and Maki's schooled her expression back into a neutral one by the time she looks up again. "Like this?"
Kaede stares for a few seconds, then she realises, ahhhh I should've answered that like five seconds ago, brain start working PLEASE , and then her brain finally decides to be kind and heed her request.
"Yeah!" she sputters, her voice somewhat breathless as Maki does not remove her hand , much to her poor brain's dismay. "Nailed it on the first try. Though, haha, uh, if you wanna touch the other person for this long, it'd be best to hold their hand. It's a bit more, uh, comfortable than the forearm!"
"That does make sense", Maki replies cooly, as she pulls her hand away. She then decides to give Kaede a heart attack by intertwining their fingers. She's held Maki's hand before this, of course; they’ve known each other since childhood after all. But it was always when pulling her along to the swings, or to class, or to a shop that had something interesting displayed in the window. Something loose that she’d never give herself too much time to think about. A touch this intimate, where she can feel every callous and faded scar on Maki's hand, makes her heart beat in double time. She lets out a nervous little chuckle.
"You seem to have mastered hand-holding as well! I think you're ready to move onto the…" as much as she wills herself not to, Kaede swallows, "uh, the kiss itself!" Oh, her face must be tomato red right now. Yet, as her mind very loudly points out to her, Maki looks much the same. It’s distractingly adorable. Kaede looks away before her thoughts leap out of her admittedly feeble control.
“Honestly, I don’t really have any tips for this part. I think it’s best to just… do what feels right.” There’s a pause after that. Kaede, curious, lifts her head and turns her gaze towards Maki–just in time to see her free hand glide through the air toward Kaede, and her eyes –
Fire. Kaede sees bursts of determination and vulnerability and hope in those eyes, and they burn like the most warm and welcoming fire she’s ever laid eyes on. Maki’s hand cups Kaede’s face and she instinctively leans into the touch.
And then she remembers a moment when they were children, when Kaede had fled to the Harukawas’ quaint little house across the street, overwhelmed by her mother and father fighting, everything drowned out by their shrill screams and force-packed stomps and hateful barbs–
And then Maki held her face, and Kaede looked into those blazing crimson irises, and all she could think was this is home .
Maki’s other hand rises to gently brush loose bangs out of Kaede’s eyes. Kaede wonders why for a split second, since she begins to shut her eyes as Maki gets closer, and Kaede begins to lean forward, impatient and wanting and yearning.
That welcoming fire embraces Kaede’s entire being as Maki kisses her.
The brunette is intense in her affection, which Kaede returns in full force. She notes that the sparkly lip gloss tastes faintly of cherry. Maki is obviously intent on continuing the kiss past what’d be normal for practice, so Kaede has to briefly shoo away the Maki-sounding voice in her head teasing, You’re such an oblivious idiot, y’know that? because she is not letting this moment she’s fantasised about for a year be interrupted, dumbassery be damned. She feels more than hears Maki moan for a brief second, and the vibration sends warmth pooling in her gut. Maki moves her hands down, over Kaede’s shoulders, and Kaede melts forward, when–
Well, she melts a bit too far, to say the least. Maki lets out a small “oof” as she falls backward onto the soft bed, pulling Kaede down on top of her. After that, they’re both giggling quietly, Maki running her fingers through Kaede’s silky hair, Kaede gently nuzzling into Maki’s neck.
“Kaede?”
“Yeah?”
“I gotta say, you’re a pretty great teacher.”
Kaede laughs, clear as a bell, and turns her head up to kiss Maki once more. Red warmth engulfs her again, and it stays there long into the night.