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There’s something to be said about the unexpected.
Neon’s whole life had careened off the track of where it had meticulously been planned to be at this point: if all had gone as her parents had willed it, Neon would be married off to a good business asset to the Kurama Conglomerate (some traditional family guy, maybe twice her age, if her mom had her way; Kyuun, a good foothold into the future of the DGP Admins and audience, if her father had his), ready to be queen and then queen mother to a growing empire, a political mover and shaker who was to be seen but not heard. But she’d conquered true love, a love that feels like freedom instead of like chains of duty and convention, and her parents saw her as… human now, she guessed? Human enough that they only were regular parent awkward when she left them earlier that afternoon to go out with the lover she chose instead of all the suitors they’d brought her.
And so, instead of whatever some Almighty Book could have possibly planned for her, she cozied her head on Sara’s shoulder, bottom comfortable despite the roof shingles beneath them and feet hanging above the world below them with a certain carefreeness to them. It’s like the Sun seemed to favour the two today — wishing both of them goodnight while it radiated its splendor across splotches of peaches, mauves, golds and sleepy blues in the sky — and Sara’s heart pulsed with warmth in her hands, the way hers begged for Sara to stay. Inky blacks microscopically introduced themselves soon enough, and Neon lifted her head off of Sara’s shoulder. There’s a question that plagued her, after all, and- oh, how utterly gorgeous was Sara’s face, every facet and wrinkle personally painted gold by the Sun’s rays like this?
It made tolerating the sunlight beelining to her eyes worth it. Not that she was as affected as the average human — had her father fabricated her to be that way?
“Sara-san, if I can ask… what made you think of this?” she finally asked, as her hand flicked towards the world above.
Sara had been a little coy before, saying that she’d take Neon out for a fun surprise today, but this too broke her expectations. This view was like nothing else she’d seen before, even on the myriad of family vacations her mother had taken her to, sequestered in luxury hotel rooms.
Her question got Sara scrunching up her lips, looking down in thought — it was absolutely adorable. It was simply the order of nature that Sara had the most amazing expressions: all those face masks probably did wonders for how well she could move it.
“Hmmm. I don’t know, really. I just really liked doing this as a kid, so I thought maybe you’d like it,” she mumbled.
Neon was just about to say she loved it, but Sara raised her gaze, big brown eyes looking straight at her, and then she smiled.
“That,” Sara continued, “And it reminds me of you.”
A chuckle escaped Neon’s throat — mainly of surprise, with sparks of amusement swirling through.
“Eh, really? How come?”
Sara replied, “Look at the sky. Then look at your ID core. The colour’s almost the same, isn’t it?”
Oh, huh, it really is. Neon thought, but it quickly soured. She still hated thinking about it. Exploitative entertainment empire-assigned signature color and fursona — even if they suited her perfectly, she knew it was, in an ordinary case, because of the existential horror of perpetual voyeuristic surveillance, and in hers specifically, because they designed her, just like a Jyamato or Raise Buckle.
Amidst all that, however, a grimace had appeared on Sara’s face, accompanying her downcast glance at the rooftop beneath the two women. There had been no hesitation as to what thought could have possibly been haunting her; she must have made the same conclusions as Neon.
“Huh. I guess the DGP still has some leftover effects on me,” Sara said, tone trailing off glumly into the sky.
The DGP as they knew it no longer existed. Ace’s full apotheosis and the advent of his world — and then their smacking sense into him that taking away their memories also took away a significant part of themselves — had taken care of that. But the weight of memory wasn’t without its price. Neon’s hand tightened around Sara’s, and she was just about to check in, but-
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? I’m supposed to be dead. But I’m here.”
Sara had her beat. Flashbacks happened sometimes: of their deaths, near deaths, other such tortures, and horrors, bodily and psychological. The best thing was to make sure they were here for each other, that they could be each other’s home.
“I mean,” Sara said, picking up from earlier, “A lot of things from there are crazy. I’m supposed to be dead. So’s Keiwa. And you…”
As a good tailor-made heiress, Neon would be an accessory to the whole industry of murder misery as her father’s vassal, married off to Kyuun to solidify the Kurama family’s ties to the hyper-technological far future that colonized their present, past, and less remote future. Voiceless. Unhappy. Maybe appreciated as an idol and asset, as consumer goods, but not loved as a person. That was a key thing that she appreciated in getting her memories of the DGP back at least — she got to remember the awakening to the fact that in practice the idea of being married to a man made her skin crawl. Her prince charming was no majestic winged lion, but the everyday masked palm civet.
“But that’s all in the past,” Sara said, “What was I talking about? Oh, right! Sunsets! I think they’re loved by many, and bring hope, too. Just like you.”
The smile on her face returned, such a beautiful and familiar smile. It used to be the Keiwa smile, reserved for fond thoughts of her beloved little brother, but Neon had increasingly found herself on the receiving end of it. Neon treasured that like the most precious thing in the world. Being treated like family — there was nothing that a stray cat wanted more.
“That, and I like them. And you. You’re both some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” Sara finished.
It was, admittedly, rather perplexing for Neon’s brain to marvel at. Could Neon even be compared to a sunset? The epitome of gentle natural light in soothing colors? The polar opposite of neon? Still, the idea that Sara thought so warmed her heart more than the Sun could ever dream of doing to her skin. It was Sara though, in all her nature and nurture, who looked so much more beautiful than Neon could ever imagine with the soft orange light highlighting her eyes.
Neon finally replied, “I believe you. But wow, this one really does look pretty.”
She didn’t know where the laughter came from when it hit her. It was just so ironically ridiculous; the sun made its journey to hibernating a daily habit. This was just about the cheapest, most basic date one could take someone out on, but it cut so deep in a manner that highlighted just how much they needed each other.
“Neon-chan? What’s the matter?”
She ran a hand over her face, trying to gather herself again, stray chuckles still rattling her throat even as she judged herself fine.
“Isn’t it funny? We’ve had to fight to be here. So much of it, all to watch this one sunset.”
In every way one could fight. Fight for their lives as clawed beasts in armor and masks, but also fight for the right to live their lives as they wished, for a world where they could be happy, alive and together, regardless of what was convenient for the Kurama Conglomerate’s traditionalism or the desires of the DGP’s sadistic audience. But here they stood, victorious, invincible. As long as Neon lived, she’d make sure no harm came to Sara ever again. They’d live long, happy lives, together if they could help it, with the blessing of her best friend, the fox god of this world of fulfilled wishes.
Wasn’t that so incredibly wonderful? Sara could live her life without worries and Neon could choose to love her. Such simple things that one wouldn’t think necessitated such bloodshed to conquer.
Sara’s eyes slowly light up as the weight of those words catch up to her, the absurdity and levity of it too. The smile she gave Neon was brighter than the evening star on the horizon.
“Mhm. But a normal sunset like this is even prettier when we’ve earned it!”
Her soft singing tone as she said it was even sweeter, like the soft candy clouds from earlier.
The reminder turned Neon’s eyes back to the sky. It was still just as pretty, but the world had begun to darken, twinkling stars slowly revealing themselves in the night sky as the Sun receded further behind the mountains. White on black, just like Hakubi. It was such a beauty of destiny that their colors flowed so beautifully in the twilight hours, almost like someone had known that they belonged together. Neon had never had time to see it with such eyes, to see it so unhurried, but now time was their ally. Time was simply a mere putty in her hands.
The time to live a life on her own terms, to wish for her own happiness and make it, to pursue it with the woman she loved most in the whole world and shout it from the rooftops if she wanted to. Destiny was hers to write now. No curfews, not anymore.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the night sky like this before. There’s been so many times I’ve run away under it, but I never took the time to look,” Neon muttered, and there was melancholy haunting her voice — memories of worse times.
Sara’s smile was the gentlest thing, the last slivers of daylight just barely illuminating the crease at the corner of her eye that marked this as an understanding smile. She slowly stretched and reclined to lay on the roof shingles, then gestured at the space beside her in invitation.
“I’ve done this a lot too. Here, I’ll point out everything I can see!” Sara exclaimed, before prompting into the distance impromptu, “There’s a soba bowl, there’s a manga cover, there’s a shopping bag-”
She pointed at various groups of stars in the sky and Neon couldn’t help but laugh again. This was such a typical Sara behavior and it made her heart so full it felt fit to burst. Ursa Major was completely outdated in face of the lovely inventions of the noblest Sakurai Sara, the most important warrior of a simple life.
And it was so nice, wasn’t it? For true love to be silly, joyful, without the stiff formalities of upper class life. And of course, it sent her into even further peals of laughter when she saw Sara’s reaction, her big spooked eyes and open mouth like the world’s cutest fish.
“Eh? Neon-chan? What’s it this time?!”