Chapter Text
Only when Hitori started dating Kita did she start to take note of the little things. Those things—being the little movements and gestures that Kita would do.
Practice today was being held in Hitori's room. Kita claimed hours before there was even a possibility of coming here that it would be a nice change of pace, and Hitori couldn't refuse. It wasn't like she was actually going to in the moment. Hitori was happy, of course, but there was a part of her that wanted to cancel practice to just sit and admire Kita. Or do things that couples would do. You know, normal things that she could never admit that she was curious about doing with her.
Kita meanwhile continues strumming her guitar back and forth in a simple pattern, humming a melody Hitori recognizes as one of their songs. She lets a small smile grow on her face as she watches her girlfriend sway back and forth and tap her foot to the rhythm. The way her eyes shimmer as she continues playing without any mistakes is enough to make Hitori's smile grow larger without her realizing.
Kita looks up at Hitori and stops humming, but continues playing.
"What are you smiling for?" Kita asks, slowing down her strumming.
"Huh?" Hitori's smile instantly drops and is replaced by a face filled with anxiety. "Oh, n-nothing."
"Aw, I shouldn't have said anything, your smile disappeared!" Kita eventually stops strumming her guitar, chuckling a little bit. "I thought it was pretty."
Hitori accidentally lets out a small squeak at Kita's comment, trying her best not to turn into dust and disappear with the wind. She nearly chokes.
"Your...I think yours is…prettier. Than mine." Hitori then decides that she wishes to be buried six feet underground.
Kita only giggles in response, and Hitori is absolutely convinced that at some point during this she was going to absolutely one-hundred-percent going to pass out and never see the light of day again.
"I disagree, yours will always be the best to me," Kita blushes slightly. "I like it when you tell me what you're thinking. Especially stuff like that."
Hitori is a prominent shade of bright red at this point. She could only nod frantically as a response.
"Can we take a break for second?" Kita asks, pulling the guitar strap over her head before laying the guitar safely on the floor. "I'm at the point where my fingers are starting to hurt a lot."
"A-a lot?!" Hitori frantically puts her own guitar to the side and moves over to Kita as quickly as she can, grabbing her hand and looking at it intensely.
"I-I didn't mean literally!" Kita laughs nervously, "They just hurt a little bit. I still have the habit of pressing on the strings harder than I need to."
Hitori sighs in relief and lets go of Kita's hand. "I...I'm sorry. For overreacting. I don't know why I d-did."
"You were worried, that's all." Kita takes Hitori's hand back in hers, softly rubbing their thumb on the top of her palm. Hitori holds her breath for a second, then relaxes into Kita's touch. She can feel butterflies forming in her stomach in response to the contact.
Hitori was not much of a physical touch type of person, or at least that was the case two weeks previously. Knowing that made it all the more insane for Hitori knowing that Kita completely threw that preference out the window and set it on fire. She now finds herself melting whenever Kita's hand would touch her own, like now, or how Kita's embraces made her feel just as safe as if she were hidden in her bedroom closet.
The thought of hugging Kita sounded very comforting right now.
Though, it was always Kita who initiated. Always Kita who would do anything without needing any reason or justification. It was never Hitori herself.
That realization made Hitori nearly jump out of her own skin.
How do you initiate contact like that? Should she ask for permission? Work up to it? How can Kita just do anything without coming to an agreement first? It's not like Hitori needed to discuss a contract with her or anything, so it should be the same right? Or maybe it wasn't because it was Kita herself?
"Hitori-chan? Are you doing okay?"
"E-eh?" Hitori snaps out of her frantic thinking. "Y-yes?"
"That's not very reassuring." Kita frowns, making Hitori's heart sink a little.
Hitori shakes her head, grabbing onto the end of her jacket with her free hand for some kind of support. "I-I just don't know how...to..."
"To what? Is it something to do with the guitar?" Hitori can sense Kita's concerns growing, and it only makes Hitori more frantic by the second. She shakes her head again.
"I-well..." S hould she just go for it? "C-can I..."
"Take your time," Kita places another hand on top of Hitori's own. "You also don't need to force yourself!"
Hitori's mind suddenly shifts focus to her hand being held in between both of Kita's hands. And how reassuring it felt.
She impulsively separates her hand from Kita's grasp and reaches over to her in order to wrap her arms around her. Kita lets out a weird combination of a grunt and a yelp due to how tight Hitori was hugging her.
"Aughh--?!" Kita pats Hitori desperately on the back. "H-Hitori-chan?!"
Hitori's embrace loosens, and after a while of semi-comfortable silence, Kita rests her hand on Hitori's back and stays still, stopping her efforts to break free.
Hitori can feel Kita's arms starting to lower and go around her body in a reciprocated embrace, and it fills her with a warmth that she struggles to put words to.
"Did you just want a hug?"
Hitori nods shyly. "I-I didn't know how to ask."
"You don't need to, silly!" Kita laughs playfully, hugging Hitori just a little bit tighter. "I'm always happy to hug you. No permission needed."
Hitori could cry right then and there.
"How can...you just hug or touch people? Like that?"
Kita raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Like what?"
"Sh-shouldn't you make a pact or something?"
Kita laughs softly. "You don't need to do that. Sometimes it's nice to ask permission, especially the first time, but if you have established that it's okay no matter what, then there's no need, unless they say otherwise."
Hitori grips onto Kita's shirt, pulling her in closer, as if they weren't already close enough.
"It-it's okay. No matter what. For me."
Kita reciprocates by pulling in Hitori even closer. "It's okay for me, too."
"R-really?" Hitori says in a weird hushed whisper that sounds like she might break in tears at any moment, though she was far from it. The usual tremble in her voice keeps coming out no matter how much she tries to control it.
"Mhm!"
Kita beams, and Hitori nearly turns into dust.