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Yuu looked up from her cup of noodles and stared out at the lake shore. The full moon glistened on the water in front of her, and she could hear the gentle lapping of the waves. Other than the slowly-dying campfire, it was the only source of light around them. She briefly set the cup on the ground so she could wrap her blanket more tightly around her body.
“It’s safe to say that heat wave is over, huh?”
Touko had already finished her noodles and was sitting in the folding chair next to Yuu’s, reading something on her phone. It had been her idea to go on a camping trip. If it had been anyone else, Yuu surely would have turned them down. This wasn’t really her field of expertise, but Touko wanted to do something special to commemorate the end of summer. Besides, if anything went wrong, help was just a phone call away.
“Hey, did you not hear me?”
Yuu snapped herself out of her daze. “Yeah, I heard. Guess I was just lost in thought.” She stood up, holding her blanket with one hand and her cup with the other. “You know, you can’t usually see the stars this clearly.”
Touko stood up as well. “Hey, you’re right. Must be because there isn’t as much light pollution out here.” She closed the distance between them and put her blanket around Yuu. “Are you cold?”
“A little. This feels nice, though.” The blanket had a comforting scent, and almost without realizing it, Yuu leaned closer into a side hug, resting her head on Touko’s shoulder. “When I look up at the stars, it always makes me think about how small we really are, compared to the rest of the universe.”
“In that case,” Touko replied, “we must be pretty lucky to have both ended up here.” She put her hand on Yuu’s cheek, bringing their faces closer together. Her lips parted slightly.
Yuu already knew what Touko wanted. She leaned further in and kissed her softly. It was supposed to be a little peck, but combined with the cool air, it made her feel oddly sleepy. Her hands started to slack, letting herself get lost in it, until she felt something warm splash onto her ankles.
They broke the kiss and looked down. Yuu had accidentally dropped her cup, and now there were noodles and broth everywhere. She hurriedly squatted down and tried to clean up the mess. Touko sputtered and laughed, clutching her sides.
“Ugh, I can’t believe this,” she muttered. Once the noodles were off the ground, she went to throw them away before retiring to the tent. Her socks were still wet, so she took them off while changing into her pajamas. She wanted to just curl into a ball and disappear.
As she lay in her sleeping bag, she tried to concentrate on the wind and the waves, but they provided little comfort. Her smartphone was in front of her, almost daring her to call for someone to come and pick her up. Why did she even come here, anyway? Was it really just because Touko asked her? What did she even expect to happen?
Just as she was about to reach for her phone, she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, Touko was lying next to her, grinning from ear to ear.
“Is this okay?”
Oh yeah. This was why she agreed to come.
“You can…come a little closer, if you want,” Yuu whispered.
Touko put her arm around Yuu and held her hand. “Thanks for coming here with me. I love you.”
Yuu felt her stomach fluttering. It was far from the first time she had heard her say that, but something about being here, all alone, in the calmness of the night, made it that much sweeter.