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It’d started with a simple invitation from her aunt to come visit. Ichiyo had been burned out and exhausted by her college studies, and a trip back to Spain for the end of summer was nothing short of a dream.
After a long, nearly nineteen-hour, flight Ichiyo Higuchi was hurrying through the
airport and into her aunt’s waiting arms at the exit. Familiar perfume and cinnamon flooded her nose as her aunt kissed each of her cheeks in greeting. She spent the evening winding down and eating as her Aunt Camila listened to everything she could think to tell the woman.
They weren’t actually blood relatives, but Camila had been there for Ichiyo everyday since her first. Camila had met Natsuko Higuchi during college, and they’d become friends that were as inseparable as sisters. By the time Natsuko met Ichiyo’s father, they’d already become more to each other than their other family. When Natsuko got married, Camila stood by her side; and when Higuchi was brought into the world, Camila was holding Natsuko’s hand.
Camila had come to visit Ichiyo every year, twice a year growing up; and in turn Natsuko would bring her daughter for a few weeks every summer to enjoy Camila’s hometown, a coastal city in Spain.
When Natsuko passed away, Ichiyo was already almost finished with her senior high school education. Her father drifted away, maybe because of grief and maybe because he simply needed less time. Ichiyo instead lived at home with Camila, who’d moved to Japan for months following her mother’s death.
Camila had been the one to take Ichiyo Higuchi to university, and had since been calling her niece almost weekly for years.
This trip fell during the summer after Ichiyo’s third year, and was her first time returning to Spain without her mother.
As she helped her aunt clean the table, she was surprised to find that she wasn’t flooded with grief as she moved around Camila’s flat, even though there were pictures and reminders of her mother in every room. She saw her mother and felt her guiding hand as she dried dishes over the sink. Familiar golden rays of sunlight streamed into the windows as the evening fell, and Ichiyo heard her mother’s tinkling laughter as she sat on the deck and felt their warmth.
She was exhausted as Camila left her to sleep that night, but she dug out her phone to send a message to one of her only friends remaining in Spain.
She snapped a picture of the familiar room decor, and captioned it guess who’s back as she sent it out to Michizo Tachihara.
The ginger was technically Camila’s third cousin, but she’d always said he was her nephew. Without any children of her own, she simply pulled the ones she could find closer to her.
Growing up, each summer when she came to visit Ichiyo and Michizo would be left to play together and explore while Natsuko and Camila drank Sangrias and gossiped on the balcony. They’d spend countless hours swimming in the bay, and chasing each other down the cobbled streets.
After they’d hit puberty, there was an awkward couple of years of Natsuko and Camila no longer letting them share a bed at sleepovers or be alone behind closed doors. In Ichiyo’s second year of junior high, after she’d sat down with her parents and explained that her tastes weren’t only inclined to men (and Michizo the opposite, which Camila was incredibly supportive of in contrast to their other relatives) those rules disappeared. Instead they became even closer, finally having somebody with a shared experience to text into the late hours of the day.
Michizo hadn’t been able to come to the funeral, but he’d spent weeks afterwards making sure to call every day and check up on Ichiyo. The spontaneous decision for this trip led to her purposefully forgetting to let him know, and maybe making up an excuse as to why she couldn’t answer his evening call.
The response was instantaneous, as the ginger sent a video of himself making a vulgar gesture captioned You tell me this after I’m already in bed. A quick chat after read: I missed you, and if I wasn’t exhausted from work I would already be outside your door.
Ichiyo giggled, and sent out a quick see you tomorrow Mich and shut off her phone.
When morning came, Ichiyo swore silently at the curtains and window she’d forgotten to shut. Light streamed in with the early morning sunrise, and the sounds of the city greeted her.
Camila had shut her door in an attempt to muffle the sounds of her music and cooking, but Ichiyo pulled on clean clothes and wandered into the kitchen.
She sat down at the table, and Camila spun to set a cup of coffee in front of her while gesturing to the pitcher of milk. Her aunt didn’t pause her dance as she shuffled around the kitchen and music played from a nearby speaker.
Ichiyo had taken about two sips of her drink before Michizo literally threw the door open. It hit the stone wall beside it with a crash, and Camila turned to yell at him. Moments later he’d moved across the room, pushed Ichiyo’s cup down and dragged her up into a bone crushing hug.
She burst out laughing as he spun her around the room and set her back down.
“You’re actually here,” He said, meeting her eyes with his hands on her shoulders.
“Yeah,” Ichiyo grinned, and pulled him back into one more hug before they both collapsed into their chairs at the table. Their designated seats hadn’t changed since they were toddlers.
“Well that was sweet,” Camila said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Michizo sheepishly looked at her, and she pointed her spoon aggressively at the door.
“Sorry, tia, ” He pushed out of his seat to gently close the door and hang the bag back on the handle.
“Thank you,” She smiles, presses a kiss into his hair, and goes back to work. She plops down a platter of pastries and toast, alongside fruit jam and chocolate sauce.
“Thank you for breakfast,” Both Ichiyo and Michizo smile, before helping themselves.
Camila sits down beside them and eats away at a piece of toast.
“What kind of trouble do you two plan on getting into today?” Camila asks curiously before adding. “Because I know that you,” She points at Michizo. “Did not just come to visit your lovely aunt.”
“I don’t really have any plans,” Ichiyo dabs at the corner of her mouth, as Michizo smiles.
“I do.” He says, and they both pointedly look at him waiting for him to elaborate. “Well I have work today, but I get done early afternoon.” He pauses. “Then I was thinking we could hit the beach, and Koyou invited us out tonight.”
Ichiyo nodded, but Camila narrowed her eyes. “Out where?” She asked, and her suspicion was clear.
“Just to a little get-together with some friends, she wants to see Ichi and Chuuya is back in town.” Michizo says, with a lazy smile. Camila and Ichiyo both know that he’s lying through his teeth.
Koyou and Michizo are loosely related, but Koyou is on the opposite side of the family so Ichiyo had only met her a few times growing up. Chuuya was her younger, adopted, brother; and a notorious street racer.
Camila did not approve.
Camila took a moment to look down at her cup, before her face became neutrally pleasant. “Okay,” She smiled.
Michizo’s smile widened, and Ichiyo bit down into her churro, savoring the taste.
She’d missed this. She’d missed bustling mornings, and cinnamon sugar. Craved the feeling of family, and the smell of seawater in the air.
Michizo slipped out the door to finish up his work for the morning, apparently delivering a few papers for signatures and dropping off a gift basket for one of his clients. Then there was one office meeting, and he came running back to Camila’s flat. This time with a less dramatic entrance.
Ichiyo had thrown on her swimsuit beneath her shirt shortly after breakfast. Camila had given her a knowing look, but offered to braid her hair out of her face.
She collapsed down onto the floor in front of her aunt, and let her run her fingers through her hair. The honey blonde color came from her mother, and as she got older she started to see her mother more in her other features too.
Camila braided her hair back and into a loose ponytail. As her fingers worked against Ichiyo’s scalp, her eyes fell closed.
“Please don’t do anything too stupid tonight,” Camila said, and she blinked up at her.
“I won’t, it’s just a small party.”
Camila gave her a no-nonsense glance, and she amended her statement. “I won’t, I’m just going out to visit with people I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Camila nodded and finished the braid.
When Michizo stumbled through the door, Ichiyo stood up and kissed her aunt goodbye.
“We’ll see you tonight!” Michizo shouted over his shoulder, before pushing Ichiyo past him. “I’ve got spare clothes for you in the car.” He added.
“What?” Ichiyo questioned, following him downstairs.
“Well I assumed you didn’t bring anything for tonight,” He shrugged, and Ichiyo wanted to be offended but knew there wasn’t anything but T-shirts and denim in her backpack.
She instead stayed silent, and let her cousin laugh at her frown.
They slipped into his car, the same beat up Volkswagen that he’d had for years, and had belonged to the owner previously for a decade.
Music thrummed through the speakers, and they sung along while bouncing around and Ichiyo smiled until her cheeks hurt.
Michizo parked a ways away, but they all but raced to the beach they’d spent countless hours in as kids. Ichiyo welcomed the water that splashed up her legs, and screeched as Michizo grabbed her beneath her legs and dropped them both into the water.
Thus ensued a long fight, which Ichiyo would never admit to losing, and enough saltwater swallowed to fill a small pool.
As they waded back to the sandy beach, an unfamiliar voice called out.
“Tachihara!” A laughing black haired man ran over, stumbling over the sand.
“Ranpo!” Michizo greeted, and pulled Ichiyo up the beach with him. She hissed as the hot sand burned the under sides of her feet.
The two greeted each other and something was said about another mutual friend named Poe before Ranpo turned to Ichiyo.
“This is my cousin, Ichiyo Higuchi,” Michizo introduced.
“Got it, nice to meet you ‘Guchi,” Ranpo stuck out his hand, and Ichiyo laughed, shaking it.
Ranpo slipped away, as Michizo pulled a picnic blanket out of his bag and laid it out on the sand. Ichiyo collapsed, and drank water greedily from the bottle he threw at her.
They sat and talked for hours. It wasn’t anything they hadn’t said before, but it felt nice to be next to one another. Ichiyo vented about school, and her ex-boyfriend. Michizo supported her and her poor decision making skills wholeheartedly. Tossing the occasional “If you want to drop out of school and move here I can get you a job,” into the conversation.
“Why did you let me decide to study Biochemistry?” Ichiyo groaned.
“Because you told me I couldn’t stop you.” Michizo replied, honestly.
In turn Michizo complained about his parents, and job.
“They want grandkids, Ichi,” He groaned.
“They do know you can’t get pregnant, right?” She laughed, and he made a noise of agreement.
“I think they’re just ignoring the fact that I like getting fucked. ”
Ichiyo and him sat in the sun for hours, and Ichiyo gratefully thanked her past self that she’d applied sunscreen in the car. When they finally stood up from the beach and walked back to the car, Ichiyo stretched and then slumped into her seat.
Pulling down the visor, she glanced at herself in the mirror to find that she wasn’t bright red but still slightly sunburned.
Michizo pulled out a bag from the backseat, and tossed it at her as he fell into his seat and closed the door.
“Clothes,” He waved his hand, and she dug through it.
Ichiyo pulled out a mesh top and stared at it.
“That’s mine.” Michizo laughed, and she set it down on the center console. She found a pair of black pants that were also his size, and tossed them to the side, along with whatever else looked to be his.
She was left with a small blue top, the spaghetti straps barely more than strings, a pair of black shorts, and a few pieces of jewelry.
“Who’d you steal these from?” She holds up the clothes. Michizo glances over and chuckles.
“I bought them for you, Camila said she was gonna invite you up this summer.”
Ichiyo glanced over and met his gaze. He was smiling at her, and she grinned in response.
“Got a hoodie?” She asked, and he pointed to the backseat. She climbed over the center console to grab it, and he pulled the car out and drove away from the beach as the sunset streamed over them.
Ichiyo shrugged on the hoodie and began to change, it was a practiced procedure that she’d gotten good at over the years.
Eventually, she pulled the hoodie off and checked to make sure the top was on properly.
Michizo glanced over and hummed to himself, then turned into a driveway.
“We’ve got to pick up Koyou,” He answered her silent question, and grabbed his clothes as he parked.
Ichiyo handed him the hoodie, and he thanked her as he shrugged out of his own swimsuit and changed into his chosen clothes for the evening.
“How are you successfully wearing less fabric than me when you literally have pants on?” Ichiyo laughed, and Michiyo stuck his tongue out.
Moments later, Koyou Ozaki came bounding out of the house. Long ruby red hair fell down her shoulders, and she waved brightly.
She pulled open the back door and jumped in.
“Hey,”
“Hey yourself,” Michizo responds, glancing up into the mirror at her.
“It’s been ages,” Ichiyo smiled over her shoulder, and Koyou agreed.
“Here,” She handed forward a phone, with directions already running on it.
In the backseat, she made small talk with them as she gently applied makeup using a small pocket mirror.
“Want any?” She asked nobody in particular.
“Nah you’ve just got to do my eyeliner when we get there,” Michizo answers, and Ichiyo looks between them.
“I can do yours too if you’d like,” Koyou meets her gaze, and Ichiyo nods eagerly.
“That’d be great.”
They pulled into an old building’s parking lot, and the sun had set behind the cliffs. Music was already playing somewhere, and people mingled. Ichiyo slid out of the car, and Koyou grinned as she saw someone in the crowd.
A dark haired woman with a bob-cut was making their way towards them moments later, and the two embraced without a care in the world. When Koyou kissed the other, it was with a smile on her lips.
“That would be Akiko Yosano,” Michizo leaned against the car, taking his place by Ichiyo’s side.
The other two pulled away from one another, and Yosano held out her hand.
“I’m Ichiyo Higuchi, Michizo’s cousin,” She smiled, and took her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Yosano dipped her chin.
They turned to face the other two, and found Michizo with his eyes closed as Koyou gently smudged eyeliner around his eyes.
“You’re next,” She said without looking away, and Ichiyo smiled sheepishly.
“Give her the cat eye,” Yosano said, and Ichiyo looked over.
“Why?” Koyou looked over as she pushed Michizo away.
“It’ll look good,” Yosano shrugged. “Plus, I’ve heard girls dig it.” She laughed, gently elbowing Ichiyo.
“Girls…?” Koyou trailed off, glancing at a flushed Ichiyo. “ Oh. ”
Ichiyo shrugged, and Koyou was suddenly hugging her. “God Michizo you ass, you didn’t tell me she was one of us.”
“I thought it was obvious.” He shrugged, and Koyou glared at him.
“While now I feel bad for being so quiet in the car,” Koyou grinned, and pushed Ichiyo back against the car.
Without warning, Koyou quickly applied eyeliner and Ichiyo stood as still as she could.
“Good work, baby,” Yosano smiled as Koyou pulled away.
Ichiyo pulled out her phone, and smiled while thanking Koyou.
They slipped into the crowd of people as a group, and Michizo made a line to the bar.
When the evening finally was dark, neon lights came on and the music got louder. Michizo had brought her a drink, and the buzz made her limbs a little looser as they danced.
The thing was, they knew they were hot.
Being two of the most desirable people in a room, draping yourselves all over one another made a statement and it made people look. Ichiyo spun and danced and let Michizo drag her against himself as they made a bit of a scene for the crowd to gaze at.
Koyou and Yosano also drifted in and out with them as the music played. Koyou grabbed Michizo’s hips and he ground back against her as Yosano laughed, and Ichiyo just danced lazily beside them.
When they’d finally made enough of a scene to calm down, Ichiyo let the music lead her movements and grinned as their group simply danced for the pleasure of having the rhythm of the night in their veins.
When the cars revved, the crowd around them went ballistic. It was all screamed cheers, and whoops from everyone surrounding them.
“C’mon,” Yosano gestured, and the four of them shuffled through the crowd until they were in a darker corner of the alley and had a clear view of the cars parked to race.
Plenty were nice, shiny paint and underglow in whatever color you could imagine. Ichiyo listened as engines growled and people pressed themselves against the barricade.
The bike riders were leaned up against their motorcycles, helmets held beneath their arms. Ichiyo let herself study the pair of them.
The first, was a young man with silver hair and painfully uneven bangs. His bike was white and he was laughing at something the other said. The second was a different man, but Ichiyo looked over to Michizo as she recognized Ranpo.
“He races?” She points with her thumb and Michizo shakes his head.
“He’s actually filling in for Poe, the bikers just ride ahead to stop traffic.” Michizo informs her, and waves over at Ranpo.
“You met Ranpo?” Yosano asks curiously, and she nods. The other woman hums, sliding a hand around her girlfriend’s shoulders.
“I haven’t seen him yet, but his car is here.” Koyou says, her fist pressed against her chin. Ichiyo followed her gaze over to a bright red car, sitting turned off.
“He’s the main event-” Yosano starts, but a loud argument cuts her off.
“Fuck off!” A male voice says, and Ichiyo finds a familiar burst of ginger hair.
Chuuya is glaring up at a brunette man, his arms crossed and teeth bared.
“Oh shit,” Yosano laughs.
“I’m just saying, we both know I’m going to win this one.” The brunette laughs, and Chuuya visibly becomes more annoyed.
Koyou stands up straighter, and is about to head in their direction when an engine revs.
“First race!” A voice calls out, and Ichiyo notices the two cars rolling slowly out of their places.
“How does this even work?” Ichiyo wonders aloud, and Koyou mumbles from where Yosano had pulled her back.
“They challenge each other, and then the pair draws lots as to which race they’re in. There’s usually around four,”
The white car that had been loud before forces Chuuya and the brunette man out of the way, and while Chuuya turns on his heel and stomps off the brunette backs up with his eyes still trained on the ginger.
Michizo lets out a low whistle, “Haven’t seen that Mitsubishi in awhile.”
Ichiyo watches it pull forward, but the windows are tinted. “Who’s that?” She asks quietly, but her question goes unanswered as the challenger pulls forward. It’s a deep blue color, and Ichiyo recognizes the Mustang insignia.
Cheers erupt, and the motorcyclists put their helmets on. A young woman walks out, and cheers erupt from most of the men in the crowd. Ichiyo tries not to stare at her bare back as she holds up the flag.
There is a gunshot, and the motorcycles take off. The crowd in front of them begins a countdown, and Ichiyo is entranced by the steady hum of the engines.
When the flags drop, the cars are gone in a blink of screeching tires and dust.
Ichiyo can hear them, even as they disappear out of sight. She and their group are almost entirely silent as they watch the finish line where a person was recording on either side.
When the sound of the motorcycles returning sends the crowd into another frenzy, she finds herself cheering along with them.
The white car is the first she sees, not because it is in front but because as if on instinct that is where her gaze is brought. She leans forward over the railing to watch in the final stretch the Mitsubishi tears forward and wins by an obvious stretch.
It comes to a stop barely feet away from them.
The Mustang goes a little farther, but both cars eventually stop.
The driver’s side doors open on each car, and Ichiyo watches each driver step out. The Mustang opens and a young blonde haired boy bounces out grinning from ear to ear. The crowd roars, and she cheers along with them.
“You were amazing!” Ichiyo hears the blonde say, and her gaze switches over to the other driver.
A woman barely her age stands across from the boy, clad in all black. A tight long sleeve jacket, leggings, and combat boots. She’s obviously fit, from her physique to the way she holds herself, and Ichiyo has to remind herself to not let her gaze linger. Her hair is pulled back into a long black ponytail, and when she walks over to shake the blonde boy’s hand Ichiyo catches a glimpse of her face.
A black face mask had been pulled down under her chin, and Ichiyo watched her mouth move methodically as she smiled at the boy. “Thank you, Kenji. It was a good race,” They shake hands and she ruffles his hair playfully as grins up at her.
They both turn back to their cars, and Ichiyo openly stares as the woman gazes over to the crowd, waving a hand to a group cheering by the starting line. When she flicks her gaze over to them, Ichiyo has to meekly meet her gaze. The woman cocks her head to the side, but doesn’t make any other gesture beside eye contact and then she slips into her car and turns away to park it back behind the start.
“Earth to Ichi,” Michizo drawls, the second race’s cars had rolled up to the start.
Her gaze snaps over to him, and he gives her a knowing look. Instead of pestering, he smiles and winks at her.
“What d'ya think?” He asks, before adding. “Of the racing.”
“It’s cool.” She nods. “They’re very impressive,”
She didn’t cheer along this time, just stared at the crowd trying to catch a glimpse of the woman from the first race. There was a silver car, and a yellow one. The yellow lost, and it’s driver was a light brown haired man with one of the least flattering haircuts Ichiyo had ever seen.
When the third race came to pass, a thrill zipped through her. A different Mitsubishi rolls forward, this time black, but identical in style to the car from the first race. The silver haired biker purposefully rides in front of this one, because he asked to switch with Ranpo. As if someone knew she was desperate, the black clad woman slips out of the crowd and walks up to the driver’s side window. It rolls down, but Ichiyo can’t see the driver past the tinted windshield.
They exchange light conversation, and then the Mitsubishi’s challenger rolls up in a brightly painted green Volkswagen. The woman slips away from the Mitsubishi, and Ichiyo’s gaze follows after her as she disappears back into the crowd.
Michizo pinches her side lightly, and she yelps.
“Pay attention to this one and the next one,” He says, and leaves her obvious staring unsaid.
The next race is done almost as quickly as it started. The black Mitsubishi sails over the finish line, and is already stopped with the white motorcycle beside it before the green car crosses the line.
A black haired man steps out of the Mitsubishi, clad in a similar black fashion to the woman. He has her same sharp features, but is harsher with his opponent. They shake hands, but nothing is even spoken before the green car’s driver turns around.
Just as the green car turns to go park, the white motorcycle’s rider pulls off his helmet. He strides over to the Mitsubishi’s driver and, regardless of his unseemly bangs, says something that has the other driver dragging a hand over his face to hide his flush and his smile.
The motorcyclist slips away, and the other Mitsubishi driver goes and returns his car.
Koyou visibly moves closer to the barrier, pressing herself against it like Ichiyo.
When the Camaro pulls up to the starting line, the crowd seems to get impossibly louder.
The silver car revs its engine, and the lone red car from earlier sidles up next to it. The same girl makes her way onto the track, but the cars roll down their windows. Nobody hears what is said between Chuuya and the other man, but they tear off at the start without a sign of hesitation from either party.
Ichiyo expects the cheers to quiet down, but they remain. In fact, even while the cars are out of sight, they get louder.
When the motorcyclists come zipping back, it becomes deafening. Her companions are yelling alongside the crowd.
The silver camaro’s headlights are what she sees first, but Chuuya’s car is neck-and-neck with it as they hurdle towards the finish line. Ichiyo realizes in that moment why they have the people recording on either side of the line as both cars zip over it and have to sharply stop.
Chuuya is out of his car seconds, the brunette man meets him between their vehicles and Ichiyo watches them delve into an argument. The taller brunette man is grinning and laughing, Chuuya seemingly growls in response. He gives the taller man a vulgar gesture, and noise crackles through the speakers.
“And the win goes to,” a pause while the cheers erupt once more. “Chuuya Nakahara!”
It becomes so loud that Ichiyo can feel it in her bones, but she doesn’t drag her gaze away from Chuuya. He had turned to face the crowd, and she watches as his brows go up in disbelief.
He turns back to his companion, who’s gaze had softened into a kind smile as he watched Chuuya.
“Heart eyes if I’ve ever seen them,” Yosano chuckles, and Ichiyo is inclined to agree.
The ginger laughs, and then he is grinning. Dazai smiles and watches him carefully as Chuuya says something nobody can hear. Dazai smiles, and leans down to say something before they both are slipping down into their cars and pulling away.
After they park, both disappear.
“So are they fucking?” Ichiyo blurts out.
Yosano laughs, Michizo shakes his head in disbelief, and Koyou stares blankly at Chuuya’s parked car. “Hell if I know,” She mutters.
With the rest of the crowd, they moved back towards the music and the DJ grinning out at the crowd. Drinks were passed around, and smoke clouded around them. Yosano and Koyou danced with swaying hips and steady rhythm as Michizo handed Ichiyo a plastic cup.
“Drink up, the night is young Ichi,” He grinned, and she couldn’t do anything but smile in return.
Ichiyo’s memory blurred as she danced. Her hips swayed, and she toyed with her ponytail as she let herself enjoy the evening.
With music streaming around them, they let the night lead them.
When a hand spun Ichiyo around, she turned to find Michizo who spun her around and she let herself sway in the midst of the crowd. He glanced behind her and pulled her in before letting there arms go out as she leaned away from him.
As she glanced away from her cousin, she was met with the female Mitsubishi driver looking down at her.
She was in the same clothes, and her hair hadn’t left its high ponytail. She stood there for a moment, before realizing she was staring. Ichiyo dropped Michizo’s hand, and grinned up at the woman.
Maybe it was the liquor in her system, or the confidence that came with the adrenaline high but Ichiyo let herself hold out a hand in question.
“Dance with me?”
“You don’t even know my name,” The black haired woman laughed, gazing at her intently.
“Then tell me,” Ichiyo smiled.
The woman took a moment to question her, but inevitably took Ichiyo’s hand in her own.
“Gin Akutagawa, but please call me Gin.” The black haired woman spun her out, before pulling her back in. Ichiyo’s back went flat against Gin’s chest, and maybe she let herself push back ever so slightly.
“It’s nice to meet you then, Gin,” Ichiyo laughs leaning her head back on the woman’s shoulder to whisper in her ear as she tries the name out on her tongue.
“And what should I call you?” She murmurs, breath hot against Ichiyo’s ear.
In that moment, she realized how the woman’s velvet voice sent shivers down her spine.
“Ichiyo, my name is Ichiyo Higuchi,” Gin hums in contentment, and they pull apart to dance at more of a distance. Ichiyo misses the contact almost immediately, and makes up for it by draping her arms over Gin’s shoulders and intertwining her fingers behind her neck.
“How come I’ve never met you before?” Gin asks, reaching out to pull Ichiyo in by the belt loops.
“Because I’m not from around here,” She leans in to whisper.
Gin smiles and Ichiyo lets her be led through a simple sway and dance as a more familiar song bounces through the speakers. She sways her hips in time, and grins up at Gin. They’re pressed closer together by the crowd around them shifting and Ichiyo grins up at her dance partner.
Ichiyo wasn’t entirely sure when she decided that she needed to know this woman, but as they twirled around like they were the only people there something in her heart smiled at the feeling.
The music didn’t slow, and the hazy smoke didn’t fade away. They were surrounded by sweaty people and the smell of alcohol, but Ichiyo was living in this very moment and didn’t want to leave.
That was when Gin leaned over to her ear and asked a quiet question, her voice husky and Ichiyo’s knees a little weaker than they were before.
Ichiyo nodded and Gin gripped her hip with one hand while pulling Ichiyo into herself with a hand on her lower back. It wasn’t much of a question when their lips met.
Ichiyo tasted alcohol and mint on her breath and pushed into the other woman. Her hands wound up into her hair and she kissed her. Gin’s hands gripped her tightly as she kissed like a woman starved.
When they pulled away, it wasn’t out of necessity or desire. Instead, the same black haired man who drove the other Mitsubishi in the race had tapped on Gin’s shoulder.
She didn’t let go of Ichiyo as her eyes narrowed, but the man simply pushed his hands deeper into his jacket pockets.
“We need to go,” Was all he said.
They seemingly had a silent conversation beyond that, but Ichiyo couldn’t follow it.
When Gin’s grip on her loosened, Ichiyo pulled back. She had an apologetic look on her face, but their hands fell off one another.
She pressed a light kiss to Ichiyo’s cheek, and whispered in her ear gently once again. “We’ll see each other again, darling, I’m sure of it.”
Before Ichiyo could respond, the two racers slipped away in the crowd.
So, she went back and found Koyou seated on Yosano’s lap and Michizo lazily drinking in his chair next to them. He took one look at her mussed up hair and swollen lips and passed her his bottle. Gin's voice and the word darling ringing in her ears.