Work Text:
Shiho stared up at the dim strand of Christmas lights hanging over the top of the train station and sighed. “Bad news, Akira.”
Akira looked up from the magazine he was reading. “Yeah?”
“I think your hometown is boring.”
The boy pushed a strand of shaggy hair away from his glasses and snorted, his usual response. The two of them had been inseparable since they’d seen each other’s names on their class roster at Yasogami High—they still didn’t know how neither of them had said “Inaba” around Ann beforehand—and being inseparable meant you had a lot of running jokes. “What made you realize it this time, Shiho?”
“I think it’s the way these lights are either alive or dead,” she said. “None of them are flickering. It’d be much more interesting if they did.”
Akira stood from their bench. “I’m sure the electricians appreciate your feedback. Want me to get you a drink?”
“Black tea, thanks.”
She continued to stare at the roof as Akira walked towards the dinky vending machines on the other side of the clearing. It wasn’t like Shiho hadn’t realized the station was lame until today—she’d been here several times, and the only difference from then and now was the winter weather. Maybe the muddy dregs of snow in the parking lot was adding extra disgust to the usual mediocrity, and she couldn’t help but notice it. Or maybe it was the fact that her girlfriend was going to be arriving via train any second now.
Nah, it was definitely the mud.
She flinched as a drink carton appeared in her peripheral vision and managed to catch it right before it would have hit her shoulder. “Shit!”
“Watch your language,” Akira said as he sat down next to her with a can of cola. “I’ll put soap in your mouth otherwise.”
“You just want to get me back for when I switched out your sunscreen for corn syrup.”
“I think I still have some of it stuck in my bangs.”
She was able to giggle for a moment before her queasy stomach turned it into something closer to a wheeze.
“Nervous?” Akira asked.
“How are you not?”
“Medical condition. Takemi said it’s terminal.”
“Let me know if it’s viral.”
“It spreads via kissing, actually.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not applying to join your harem.”
“We wouldn’t take you, anyway. I have a strict non-compete clause with the Takamaki clan.”
The mention of Ann’s name made Shiho turn to look towards the horizon.
“How many times have you checked in the last ten minutes?”
She tsked. “If I squint enough times, the train will come faster.”
She said this as a joke, but instead of seeing nothing but clouds in the distance like every other time, she actually thought she saw something. A deeper squint and there it was: a gray dot crawling towards them.
"It's coming!" She raced through the station entrance, Akira following behind casually—and he was right to do so, considering that the train was still a reasonable distance off. It ended up being just the two of them standing at the platform, with Shiho rocking on her heels as Akira stood next to her. They watched in silence as the train approached slowly at first, then all too quickly, the approaching clattering sending her heart thumping.
“You really are nervous, aren’t you?” Akira asked as the vehicle finally rolled to a stop.
“No, I’m excited,” Shiho replied without turning towards him, still moving back and forth. “Can’t you tell from how flushed my cheeks are?”
“You can be honest.”
Shiho forced herself to calm down a little—after a couple months around Akira, she had learned that when he stopped going along with a joke, it meant he was genuinely concerned. “I mean, this is the first time she’s seeing me in person since we started dating. I don’t want her to associate that with being bored out of her mind.”
There was a moment’s pause where Shiho worried she had misread the situation before she felt Akira grab her hand and squeeze it. “It’ll be okay. Trust me.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I do. And… Well, I’m sure she’ll tell you herself.”
Right as she was about to ask Akira what she meant, the doors nearest to them slid open and Ann stepped out, making Shiho forget the conversation entirely. “Ann!”
Before anyone knew what was happening, Shiho ran towards Ann and gave her a bear hug, prompting Ann to wave her hands wildly as they staggered sideways. “Oh god Shiho I’m gonna drop all my luggage!”
As if on cue, an overstuffed travel bag slipped out of her grasp and landed directly on Shiho’s toes, prompting the girl to recoil away from Ann. “Shit!”
Ann gasped. “I’m so sorry Shiho, I didn’t mean to!”
“I should have told her not to do that,” Akira said as he caught up with the girls and picked up the offending luggage from the ground.
“Oh, piss off, Aki,” Shiho said as she stood awkwardly on one leg and rubbed the toe of the other with her hands. “I was just severely wounded by the world’s heaviest bag.”
Ann looked genuinely worried now. “Was it actually that bad?”
Shiho opened her mouth to reply, but lost her train of thought as soon as she got a proper look at Ann. Her already-beautiful twintails were accentuated with pink flowers attached to the hair ties, and the form-fitting red sweater she was wearing made her look so warm that Shiho needed to hug her. Hell, her hair was probably soft enough for Shiho to put her face in it. Especially if she was still using that conditioner with the floral scent…
She realized she was zoning out and snapped back into a normal standing pose. “Oh, no, I’m good! Just being melodramatic.”
“That’s a relief,” Ann said. “If I actually hurt you I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”
Shiho’s heart skipped a beat. “Th-thanks…”
“You can’t overwhelm her like that, Ann,” Akira said as she grabbed another piece of luggage from her. “She still has to drive us back to Inaba.”
Ann blinked. “Wait, Shiho is driving?”
Shiho grinned, her previous embarrassment replaced by a shameless pride. “Yeah! I just got my license a month ago. The car’s an old beater, but it comes in handy.”
Ann took a second to process the knowledge before she matched Shiho’s smile with one of her own. “You really are the coolest, you know?”
Shiho could feel her face burning as bright as her girlfriend’s sweater.
The car ride was surprisingly smooth considering the amount of times Shiho had to resist the urge to look at her girlfriend instead of the road. The general lack of traffic in the countryside helped, of course, as did Akira’s naturally relaxing banter and the sharp patter of Ann’s voice. If Shiho wasn’t still nervous about this whole thing, she would have been able to forget. As it was, she had to force herself to loosen her grip on the steering wheel every five minutes.
They pulled into Inaba soon enough and dropped Ann’s luggage off at their house before driving back to the shopping district and parking in a lot by the gas station.
“Are you sure we’re allowed to park here?” Ann asked as they climbed out of the car.
“Never had a problem with it before,” Shiho said, “although I guess I walk here most days.”
“The previous owner didn’t like it, but the new one is chill,” Akira said as he stretched and pulled on his jacket.
“Wasn’t that previous owner the one you said was ‘kinda gender?’” Shiho asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Ann shook her head. “I’ll never get you, Aki.”
“Just how I like it,” Akira said. “Anyway, welcome to Inaba’s Main Street.”
Ann spent a couple of seconds taking a look—only a couple, given how humble it was. “You weren’t kidding about this being a small town.”
“Yeah, a little,” Shiho said with a nervous laugh.
“It used to be even more empty,” Akira said as he started walking north, Ann and Shiho following behind. “When the department store showed up in town it drove a lot of these places out of business. But the Hanamuras started an initiative to promote local products a couple years back, and pretty much all of the storefronts are alive again.”
“Seems like it would have been pretty depressing back then,” Ann commented as she looked at the hand-drawn advertisements taped to the bookstore window.
“Yup,” Akira said. “There was a hysteria wave and everything. Capitalism is fucked up.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s better now.”
“We don’t have to walk around here if you don’t want to,” Shiho said sheepishly, cutting into the end of Ann’s sentence. “Junes has heating, so if that’s more comfortable for you…”
Ann waved a hand towards Shiho. “No, I’m enjoying it! I want to get to know this place like you have, Shiho. And besides, Akira mentioned a couple of things here that I wanted to check out. Like a blacksmithing shop?”
“Yeah, that’s right here.” Akira pointed at an unassuming storefront with a dirt-speckled sign. “Wanna go in?”
The three of them walked up to the building and entered in without any issues, although Ann seemed uncertain about the whole thing after entering. Which was understandable, Shiho had to admit—even when the place was open, it was lit almost entirely by the forge in the back, creating looming shadows that stretched across the room.
“Are you sure we’re allowed to touch this stuff?” she asked as she watched Akira grab a pair of kunai from a display shelf, brushing a speck of dust off of it with his shirt.
“Oh, Daidara is cool with us,” Akira said as he spun a knife in his left hand. “He doesn't know about the… you know, but apparently he saw me holding a dagger and could tell I knew my stuff. He even taught Shiho some basic sword technique.”
“He did?” Ann’s eyes widened as she spun to Shiho. “You didn’t tell me!”
Shiho hoped that the Ironworks’ dim lighting was hiding her embarrassment. “It wasn’t much,” she said quietly. “Daidara still won’t let me use an actual sword, just a practice one.”
“Could you show me some stances?” Ann asked. “I wanna see you all posed up!”
“I-I mean, it’s not that impressive…”
“It’s probably not happening,” Akira said flatly.
Ann pouted. “Why not?”
“Because we’re closed.”
The trio jumped as a comically muscular old man appeared right behind them.
“Why did you bring us in here if it was closed?” Ann hissed, as if Daidara wasn’t standing right next to them.
“Don't worry, we’re besties,” Akira said while he tried to look like he wasn’t hiding knives up his sleeves.
Daidara glared at Akira’s wrists. “We are not.”
Shiho bowed apologetically as Akira put his smuggled goods back on the shelf. “I’m very sorry, Sensei!”
Daidara chuckled and looked towards Ann. “Don’t let Suzui-san be self-effacing. She has great potential in the martial arts.”
Shiho grabbed Ann’s wrist and made her way towards the door as quickly as possible. “Alright we’re going now goodbye Sensei!”
“Do you two really think you can finish this?” Ann asked as she looked up at the massive beef bowl placed in front of her.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Shiho said as she stared at the caramelization of the meat in front of her and licked her lips.
“Not a chance,” Akira agreed, his eyes already demolishing the top layer of rice.
“Then why did you order it?” Ann asked. “It’s like three thousand yen—”
“Mementos money,” Akira interrupted.
“Okay fair, but why would you stuff yourself?” Ann asked. “Isn’t it just uncomfortable?”
“For the challenge,” Akira said with a gleam in his eyes.
“We do this every week,” Shiho said.
Ann turned away from the beef bowl for the first time that conversation. “Every week?!”
Shiho and Akira nodded in unison.
"Have you ever felt truly alive, Ann?" Akira said.
"And are you really human if you can't demolish 5000 calories in one sitting?" Shiho added.
“You people are insane,” Ann said.
The two of them shook their heads in disappointment. “You’ll never learn,” Akira said.
“Learn what? That you want a heart attack by age 30?”
Shiho grinned. “That we’ll lie about anything as long as it’s funny.”
Ann stared at them in confusion for a few seconds before the realization hit and she slumped over in her chair. "I hate both of you."
Akira turned and gave Shiho an ear-cracking high five, earning several looks from the other customers and staff. "I told you that you should've joined the drama club."
“Oh, hush,” she replied as she made sure her hair tie was secure. “Ann never would have bought it if you hadn’t done the Big Bang Burger challenge.”
“Yeah, that’s just not fair!” Ann complained, still unmoved from her pouting position on the counter. “You were doing that like twice a week last year.”
“I had something to prove last year,” Akira said. “I had to stand up to the world and tell it I could handle everything they threw at me, including a five pound burger with way too much lettuce.”
“But this is just about having fun,” Shiho said. “We finished the challenge together once, and now we just get regular portions once a week.”
“So why the hell are we doing it today?” Ann asked.
“Because we’re making a memory,” Akira insisted as he grabbed a hunk of meat with chopsticks. “Now start eating. Shiho and I will be comatose for the rest of the day without a third stomach sharing the load.”
“You’re both terrible,” Ann said with a grumble as she grabbed a spoon.
Shiho laughed. “Love you too, babe.”
The group was only able to take one bite each before Shiho dropped her utensils and buried her face in her hands. “Oh my god.”
“What, does it taste bad?” Ann asked innocently.
“Nah, it’s fine,” Akira said as he chewed. “Shiho just realized this was the first time she’s said ‘I love you’ in public since you started dating.”
Shiho’s voice was muffled by her hands. “How do you know everyone so well, Akira?”
“I see it with my third eye,” he said while winking with both eyes.
“I’ll stab you in your third eye, dumbass.”
Ann, meanwhile, had a smile warm enough to melt through the snowdrifts outside. “I can’t believe you’re getting embarrassed by such a little thing, Shiho.”
“Listen,” Shiho started.
Ann leaned forward. “I’m listening.”
There was a short pause before Shiho sat up with a sigh. “You’re both terrible.”
Ann’s grin grew as she took her second bite. “Love you too, babe.”
“How are you two not even breaking a sweat?” Ann asked as she flopped onto the bench conveniently placed at the top of the flight of stairs they’d all just climbed. “Are you making climbs like this every day or something?”
“I mean, we walk to school, so yeah,” Shiho said as she leaned against a tree a few feet away, a sled propped next to her.
“Want a water bottle?” Akira asked as he fished one from his bag.
“Yeah, sure—shit!” Ann shouted as Akira lobbed it at her, managing to catch it with her fingertips right before it fell into the snow. “You really need to stop doing that.”
“Never,” he said. “And don’t give up now, we’re almost at the top.”
“I am not giving up,” Ann said as she drank. “I’m just complaining a little.”
Shiho gave Akira a glare. “Yeah, Aki. God forbid women do anything.”
“Yeah, he tried,” Akira said as he zipped his bag closed and put it back over one shoulder. “We killed him.”
Ann choked on a sip of water.
“I need to stop setting him up for that,” Shiho muttered as Akira flashed them a smile.
After a couple more minutes of climbing, the three of them finally reached the peak of the hill. Ann spent a minute admiring the view while Akira shared a couple anecdotes about how the hill was the best spot to watch fireworks from, but Shiho knew the real reason they were here. And so did Ann, judging by the way she scrambled away from the edge of the landmass after looking down.
“It’s gonna be great to ride down,” Akira said. “And don’t worry, Shiho won’t be steering.”
“I’m literally the one with a driver’s license,” she bit back.
Ann took another look down the slope. “I mean, if you say so…”
Upon noticing the actual worry in her voice, Shiho put a hand on Ann’s shoulder. “We don’t have to do this if it’s too much for you.”
Ann turned to look at Shiho, then looked away as the skittishness on her face morphed into something else. “Just keep a solid grip on me, okay?”
“Well, of course,” Shiho said with a shoulder squeeze that made Ann flush red. “Can’t let you go flying, right?”
The three of them set the sled near the edge of the hill and scrambled onto it, Akira taking his position at the front while Ann ended up sandwiched between him and Shiho.
Akira turned his head to look at the girls behind him. “Any last words?”
"I ate that mochi from the fridge two weeks ago," Shiho said.
"Morgana will be so pissed once I tell him," Akira said as he leaned forward, the nose of the toboggan tipping with him.
“It's a good thing dead men tell no tale—"
The words were shaken out of Shiho’s mouth as the sled shot into motion down the hill, forcing her to grab onto its sides to not fall off. The picturesque view of Inaba turned into a blur as the winter air slammed into her face, making her feel like she was being squashed into a puddle.
“This is awesome!” Ann shouted over the screaming wind. “It’s like a roller coaster, but way more intense!”
“We told you it was the best spot in town!” Shiho yelled back.
The ride continued for another minute, although Shiho only knew that from experience—it was impossible to keep track of time when blood was pumping through your face to keep it from freezing off. There was the occasional yelp from Ann when a tree appeared ahead of them, although Akira was more than capable of steering away from it well before it would have hit them.
The real obstacle, however, was a speck of red and blue waiting for them past the last crest of snow.
“Oh my god, is that Teddie?” Shiho said as the hill started to level slightly, although the speed of the sled wasn’t dipping in the slightest.
“Who?” Ann asked.
“Shit,” Akira cursed as he stuck one foot into the snow. "He's too close!"
“What?!”
“Hold on!” Shiho said as one of her arms shot up to wrap around Ann.
The sled veered to the left and slowed slightly as the blob of color loomed closer, but it wasn’t enough to divert them away. Shiho squeezed Ann as tight as she could as they hit the bear with a poff, sending the mascot flying to one side as the three of them were knocked into the snow, the sled skidding to a halt ahead of them.
It was a solid half minute before Shiho could sit up in the snow, her left arm thumping dully from the impact. “Ugh, why is it always him we run into…”
“Uh, Shiho?”
She blinked and realized that she was still holding onto Ann tightly—too tight, given how the girl was bright crimson. “Sorry, Ann.”
“It’s fine,” Ann said as she crawled forward slightly, trying to catch her breath. “You said you’d keep a grip on me, right?”
Shiho grinned. “I guess I did.”
“That was beary mean of you!”
Their heads snapped over to their right, where Akira was currently holding back a cartoon bear with one hand as it tried to attack him. “You’re the one who was standing there, you know. You’d think your big bro would have told you not to.”
“Absolutely terrible!” it continued unabated. “Why, if I wasn’t forbidden from it, I could slash you all to pieces!”
“You couldn’t even catch Morgana if you tried.”
“Oh, you fiend! You coward! You—”
As the insults continued, Ann looked towards the nearby parking lot, where Shiho’s car was gleaming with light reflected from the snow. “Should we go?”
“Yeah, we should go.”
They grabbed the sled and started to walk off as the bear continued to wail against Akira’s side uselessly with his arms. Even though her arm was still throbbing, Shiho managed to grin a little as she saw Ann’s confused expression—she always loved telling people about the Junes mascot.
After Akira finally made it back to the car after “taking care” of Teddie—his words—the three of them decided they were finished for the day. They took a quick stop at a new boba tea place in town, then another at Akira’s house to drop him off and give Morgana some affection now that the cat had returned from his appointment at the vet.
“Have fun at work!” Shiho said as she and Ann got back into the car. “See you tomorrow!”
“See ya then!” Akira said as Morgana mewed happily.
The two girls then drove back to Shiho’s house, where they tore off all of their winter clothes and got to enjoy a properly heated room for the first time in what felt like ages. The two of them settled onto the living room couch and spent a solid ten minutes negotiating what movie they’d put on, only for Ann’s chosen rom-com to get ignored as they spent the next two hours catching up on each other’s lives while cuddling under a blanket. (Shiho still didn’t know how Ann was so soft when she was as skinny as she was.)
As the conversation entered a brief lull during the credits, Shiho paused while running her fingers through Ann’s golden hair and started to laugh.
“What’s up?” Ann said, shifting in Shiho’s arms to look at her face.
“It’s nothing.”
“Come on,” Ann pouted. “Tell me.”
Shiho rolled her eyes before looking out the window. “It’s just that, when Akira and I were waiting at the train station for you to show up, I was really worried that you were gonna be bored. That you would regret showing up, even.”
Ann snorted. “Seriously?”
Shiho sat up defensively. “What?”
“This was the most fun I’ve had in ages,” Ann said. “I don’t think you could have made it boring if you tried.”
“Look, Inaba isn’t the most interesting place,” Shiho said. “And you’ve like, lived in Tokyo and all these other cities. I know how much you love walking around a city.”
“But there’s only one city with Shiho Suzui in it.”
The response caught her completely off-guard.
“And even if it was the most boring place in the world, it wouldn’t matter.” Ann brought up a hand to Shiho’s cheek and caressed it. “Because anything’s interesting with you around.”
“That’s—”
Ann just smiled as Shiho tried and failed to stammer out something coherent. “Besides, Akira’s here too. I think he could make a pit of dirt entertaining.”
“Oh, so he’s more fun than me?”
Ann’s eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant!”
Seeing Ann get embarrassed helped Shiho to recover from her own embarrassment a little. “That was the most obvious joke I’ve made all day, Ann."
Ann blushed, groaned, and wriggled up even closer to her girlfriend. “Ugh, you’re the worst.”
Shiho grabbed the remote and kissed her girlfriend softly on the head. “Love you too, babe.”