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”cold” was probably the word nearly every students in the yokohama eiwa high school would have used if asked to describe gin akutagawa.
a disgustingly superficial description, and the only exceptions would be the two kids that somehow always manage to exchange some lovely chit-chat with the scarily quiet teen, ryūnosuke, and higuchi ichiyo.
gin was sunlight. gin was sunlight to ichiyo. despite the brunette always telling her that no, no, you're the sun, the sunlight, its warmth, ichiyo kept repeating, kept believing that the real sun was her gin, and she was nothing but a lucky flower blossoming under her rays.
a feeble ray of sunshine was doing nothing to dry the tears rolling down gin's face, staining their school uniform and ruining their mascara.
”gin? dear, are you here?”
the honey-sweet voice belonging to higuchi broke the silence in the bathrooms. gin knocked three times on the door of the stall they were in, catching ichiyo's attention and guiding her to gin.
the blonde opened the door and entered the small space, immediately kneeling down with her hands resting on gin's knees, eyes full of worry as she scanned the other's teary face. ”gin,” ichiyo exhaled softly, rubbing circles with her thumbs on her sweetheart's legs, ”are you okay to talk right now?”
sniffling, gin shook their head with an apologetic look in their eyes. ichiyo's soft hands went to brush the tears falling from those eyes away with a gentleness only angels could have. then strawberry colored lips brushed on wet cheeks with love that only venus herself could hold in her kisses.
”it's fine, i'm with you, gin. now, try to slow down your breaths? i'll do it with you, here,” one of ichiyo's hands now moved down to rest on the other's trembling ones, gin pressed their trembling lips together before parting them again with a weak exhale and nodded, trying to focus on their breathing.
”good baby. take a deep breath, right, like that— perfect, good.” another peck on their cheeks, now gin was holding ichiyo's hands thight, thight as if they would fall down the depths of tartarus if they let go. tight because knowing their honey-blonde treasure was there was the only thing that could ground gin.
for a while— twenty minutes, half an hour, a second, who knows?— the only sounds in the girls' bathrooms were the hiccups breaking gin's deep breaths and higuchi's reassuring words softly whispered on the brunette's cheeks in-between butterfly kisses. tears were no longer wetting their face, and despite their hands and lips trembling still, gin was now in control of their breathing.
positions switched, with the back of their head now resting on ichiyo's chest, they were playing with the tips of her blonde hair while the girl ran her hands up and down gin's arms.
”better?”
”yeah. better.”
that dainty voice, like pale sunlight in the early hours of the day. her sun.
”thank you. do you need to go back to class?” higuchi shook her head,”nah, i told hirotsu-sensei it was an emergency.”
gin bit their lower lip, eyes on the freckles they could spot on the other's face. ”you didn't have to rush out of class, you could have waited till break. i should have waited till break to text you...”
ichiyo clicked her tongue and spoke before an apology could be uttered by the other, ”no, you shouldn't have waited to text me and i wouldn't have waited to come. i won't get in trouble either, you know sensei lets students stay out as long as we need.”
“right... still—” gin's lips curved in a weak smile that lifted a weight off the blonde's heart, “thank you. i know you say i must not thank you for doing what you call good girlfriend things, but i love you. and i want to thank you for everything you do.”
ichiyo felt as if her heart was about to swell brust into pieces at the sight of those grey eyes, still reddish and puffy from crying, lighting up because of her presence. oh, gin, how can an angel like you feel graced by the mere presence of a mortal?
”i should be the one thanking you. for, you know, being there. through it all you're here. in my arms.” ” ’chiyo—” ”
”i'm as thankful for your existence as the flowers are thankful for the sun, gin.”
”ichiyo, god i–”
the taller teen squeezed their eyes shut for a second— an unsuccessful attempt to repress a second wave of tears, sharp teeth bit into the soft flesh of their bottom lip— an unsuccessful attempt to control the smile stretching on their face.
with trembling hands, they cupped the blonde's cheeks and both craned they necks for their lips to touch in such position.
the flowers are eternally glad for the sun, for its light and for the life it brings.
but if gin was the sun, or anything remotely close to the god, then they could tell you, the sun would never shine as bright without its darling bathing in its sunlight. the sun exists only for its flower, dear flower that kept it from fading away.
”we have about,—the blonde paused for a split second, checking their wristwatch— fifteen minutes 'till break. i see no point in going back to class, do you?”
”nope,” replied gin, their eyes fluttering shut as their head went back to rest on ichiyo's chest, only to snap open a mere second later with a light that said i have an idea in them.
” 'chiyo, since we don't have school tomorrow, do you want to spend the day with me? i'll bring you to have lunch at that poké resturant you really like and when we get home we can do whatever we want because ryū's at work and he'll go to atsushi-aniki's place when he's done.” gin gave her girlfriend her best puppy dog eyes, as if there was any convincing needed do be done, before getting a forehead kiss and an enthusiastic yes in response.
they spent the break still sat on the floor of the bathroom stall, kissing a bit—no, to be real, kissing quite a lot– planning their evening while ichiyo braided the taller's hair. when they stood up, legs numb and cheeks rosy, gin pulled up a marker from their pocket—why did they carry that around, ichiyo couldn't tell you— and scribbled something on the wooden and already much-vandalized door.
“what are you writing?” ichiyo peeked over their shoulder with curiosity, manging to read once gin put her hand down to put the marker back in their pocket.
the handwriting was a bit messy, and you could tell from that that gin's hand were shaking and that she used her left one, and it read:
g+i
love you to the moon and to saturn <3
ichiyo couldn't help the blush and the big grin that were spreading across her face, so she made gin turn around to face her and pulled her close.
”you absolute sap—” she gushed between kisses, ”i love you too. to the moon, to saturn and beyond.”