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“Come on, Akito! Don’t be a wuss.”
An grabs Shinonome’s wrist and starts speed-walking towards the highest roller coaster in Phoenix Wonderland despite his protests, and Kohane tries to catch up with them.
“I’m not a wuss,” Shinonome says, yanking his hand free of her death grip (which is quite a commendable achievement; An is strong when she has her mind set on something). “I’d just rather stay down here with Touya; that’s all.”
“I’ll be alright by myself,” Aoyagi says, finally catching up to them. He’s not exactly a track star. “You three should go have fun.”
“What’s the point of going on a group ride if one of us has to stay behind?” Shinonome asks.
“You have a point, actually. I say we all go or no one does,” An says firmly. “Kohane, you be the tiebreaker.”
“There are four of us, and thus no one can be the tiebreaker,” Aoyagi informs them.
Kohane giggles at the deadpan expression An gives him in response. “It’s alright, you two. I’ll stay down here with Aoyagi-kun and we’ll do a different ride.”
“But I don’t want to go on a ride with only An,” complains Shinonome, who Kohane thinks probably wouldn’t mind, but is just trying to seem cool. “We’ll seem like a couple.”
“Ewww,” An agrees.
(Kohane thinks they would actually make a very cute couple if they learned to get along.)
An makes kissy faces at Shinonome, and he shoves her away in response.
“If you don’t want to go by yourselves, then I’ll just come too,” Aoyagi says, and they all turn to stare at him.
“Dude. You can’t handle stairs,” Shinonome says.
“I can handle one roller coaster,” Aoyagi says confidently, although he looks a little pale.
Shinonome laughs in disbelief.
“If you’re sure, then let’s go!” An says brightly.
“Wait,” Kohane says. “I really don’t think this is a great idea. A-Aoyagi kun, are you going to be okay with this?”
“Probably not,” Aoyagi says, and Kohane notices his hands are shaking. “But I want to try something new.”
Shinonome looks like he wants to argue further, but he finally sighs and says, “Fine, but don’t blame us if you end up traumatized.”
An takes Aoyagi's hand this time, to lead him in the direction she wants to go, and he promptly flinches away. "Ah. Please don't do that."
"Okay," she says, letting go, and she doesn't look offended. They've come to learn that Aoyagi is just . . . like that; if anyone but Shinonome tries to touch him, he gets a little uncomfortable, but that's okay. "We'll work on that."
So they wait in line for a roller coaster-- a smaller one, not the one An had been dragging Shinonome over to-- and finally get on. Shinonome sits next to Aoyagi, who grips Shinonome’s hand so hard it probably hurts.
“You got this, Touya,” An says, giving him a reassuring thumbs-up.
(As much as Kohane wants to believe that, Aoyagi has definitely not got this.)
The ride begins, and Kohane is so excited about the thrilling ups and downs of the roller coaster that she nearly forgets poor Aoyagi must be fighting for his life behind her. After the final, exhilarating drop, their cars slow to a stop, and Kohane looks behind her. “Are you alright, Aoyagi-kun?”
Oh. Aoyagi-kun does not look alright. Actually, Kohane’s pretty sure he’s crying a little.
“Crap, Touya, why’d you agree to this?” asks Shinonome, whose hand is still in Aoyagi’s vice grip.
Aoyagi cannot answer. He looks like he’s seen an entire war with his own eyes.
As soon as they get off the ride and back out into the main park, Aoyagi says, “Excuse me for one moment.”
“Touya? Where are you–”
Touya makes a beeline to the nearest trash can and proceeds to throw up into it.
“Oh, that’s-- that’s not good,” An says.
Kohane laughs awkwardly as Shinonome bolts to his partner’s side to comfort him. “Never again.”
They cheer Aoyagi up by going to the game booth section of the park, where he easily wins them all plushies that they have no idea what to do with, then go to a show at the Wonder Stage a while later. Kohane tries not to gush about how much she loves Wonderlands x Showtime’s productions, since her friends probably don’t want to hear about that-- but they all listen intently to what she does say, and it makes her feel warm and light inside. (Well . . . not all of them listen; Shinonome almost immediately fell asleep on Aoyagi’s shoulder once the show started.)
She’s glad she brought her camera. She’s taken so many wonderful shots of her friends-- one of the four of them on the teacup ride, one of Aoyagi focusing intently on one of the dart games (and the look of joy on his face when he won a particularly difficult prize), one of Shinonome when he was asleep (hopefully he’ll never find out about that one), and a few of the beautiful sunset that’s descended over the park.
They finish off their trip by getting cotton candy from one of the stalls, and Kohane watches her friends as they talk and laugh, backlit by the beautiful shades of orange and pink and blue of the sky behind them, melting like the sugary treats in their hands. Their smiles warm her heart more than the beating sun has all day.
Kohane can’t believe that she got so lucky. They’ve only been friends for a little while, but she wouldn’t trade what she has now for the world. If someone had told her a few months ago that right now, she’d be in a street music group with the three most wonderful people she’s ever met, she’d never believe them in a thousand years.
But right now-- watching them just stand there, with An trying to give herself a cotton candy mustache and Aoyagi grimacing at how sweet the treat is and Shinonome somehow already nearly finished with his-- it makes her feel on top of the world. Is that what true friendship is? Enjoying even mundane things like this?
Regardless of what all this means, the scene in front of her is absolutely beautiful.
So she takes a picture.
“Ready?” Shinonome asks, grinning. Kohane always loves seeing him fired up like this when he’s normally so serious.
“Let’s go!” An exclaims, pulling Kohane into a quick hug before they go onstage.
And there’s nothing like this magic.
In the months since they teamed up-- how many has it been now?-- so much has changed, and their singing voices are only part of it. They’re so in sync now, with the rhythm flowing through their veins, like the four of them are connected by soundwaves in a way that’s only possible through both insane amounts of practice and insane amounts of love and care for each other.
Kohane sings with all she has, feeling electric and lit on fire and drenched in adrenaline all at once, and there’s nowhere else she’d rather be than with these four. She catches Aoyagi’s eye during their performance, and he gives her one of those brilliant smiles she loves so much, glowing under the harsh stage lights. An gives her a high-five during an instrumental break, and Shinonome bumps her shoulder playfully after she nails one of her solo lines.
She’s not sure how she managed to become such close friends with these three in such a short period of time, but she revels in every second they all spend together. It’s like they’re almost becoming something more than just her best friends, and she’s not quite sure what. She supposes it’s just another one of those things she’ll have to figure out later.
They finish their performance, and as soon as they head backstage, An throws them into a group hug. “That was amazing!” she exclaims, bouncing on her toes.
Kohane laughs. “An-chan, careful! You’re going to break us!”
“Nah, just Akito,” she teases, letting go of them and pretending to get into a sparring position.
“I’ll end you in seconds,” he says flatly, but he’s grinning too, and he pulls her into a one-on-one hug, spinning her around as she laughs. Kohane thinks it’s the sweetest thing she’s ever seen.
All of this is the best thing she’s ever seen. They’re all sweaty and breathless and glowing with post-show endorphins, and suddenly, somehow, Kohane finds herself blurting out, “I could just kiss you guys right now.”
They all stop laughing and talking and turn to stare at her.
“Sorry!” she says quickly, feeling her face explode in flames. Oh, God, please strike me dead. “S-sorry! That’s-- that’s not what I meant. Oh my goodness. I just love you three. That was an amazing show.”
And just like that, the awkwardness is gone, and An hugs them again, filled with enough excitement for all four of them and then some.
It’s a dazzling, exhilarating, very, very warm moment, so Kohane pulls out her phone and flips the camera so it’s facing them. “Everybody say cheese!”
They all grin at the camera (except for Aoyagi, whose joyous smile suddenly disappears the second she explicitly says to smile-- she’ll never quite understand why he does that), and An flashes a peace sign before Shinonome smacks her hand away.
And she takes a picture.
“Kohane, look out!”
She whirls around and nearly gets hit by the beach volleyball Akito and An are using, but ducks just in time.
“Oh, jeez, are you okay?” An calls.
“I’m fine! I didn’t get hit, An-chan.” She picks up the ball and brings it over to them. “Here!”
“You really should play with us,” An says, handing the ball back to her. “C’mon, it’ll be fun! Just one set.”
“That’s not fair; it’d be two against one,” Akito points out, stretching his arms over his head. Kohane is decidedly not staring at how he looks with his shirt off, because they’re only friends, and friends don’t do that.
“Then get Touya to play! Touya!” An turns and waves at Touya, who’s sitting in the shade, reading a book. “Only losers read at the beach! Get over here!”
“I thought you didn’t want me to take any more risks after the Phoenix Wonderland incident,” Touya replies cheekily.
“This isn’t a risk! It’s freakin’ beach volleyball! It’s even safer than regular volleyball. And said Phoenix Wonderland incident was forever ago.” An motions for him to join them. “ One set,” she repeats.
Touya sighs heavily and sets his book down, then joins Akito on the other side of the net. “How do you play?”
“Haven’t you read a book about that?” Akito teases, and Touya gives him the same deadpan expression he usually reserves for when Akito and An fail their tests.
“I’d be scared if I were you,” An tells Akito, since Touya usually only makes that face if he’s really displeased. Touya throws the ball at Akito’s head, only to completely miss, and Kohane can’t stop laughing.
Once they’ve all calmed down, Akito briefly explains the rules to Kohane and Touya, and they begin the set.
Akito spikes the ball over the net, and Kohane and An both try to receive it, but An realizes what Kohane’s doing at the last second and ducks out of the way. However, Kohane was trying to do the same thing, so she stands there confused for a second before the ball hits her straight in the face.
“HOLY CRAP ARE YOU OKAY?!” (An and Akito yell this at the same time. Well, mostly. Akito doesn’t say ‘crap’. Either way, Kohane’s pretty sure they’re spiritually connected.)
Kohane just starts laughing as she gets up. “I-I’m fine, I promise!”
“Go easy on her next time,” Touya scolds Akito.
“I don’t know how!”
Somehow, they make it through almost a full set. Touya somehow slips on the sand at one point and falls over, and An spikes the ball into Akito’s face on purpose to spite him, and Kohane misses every serve (and Touya isn’t much better). They lose track of points a handful of times, and the whole game is a disaster, but Kohane can’t think of anything else she’d rather be doing.
“It’s our match point,” Akito warns as Kohane gets in position to serve.
She hasn’t been able to hit the ball where she wants it to go yet (and she’s tried a lot) but she prays that this will be the one. She closes her eyes, tries to concentrate, and then serves.
. . . It lands in the ocean.
“Chance ball,” Akito jokes, then dives in the water after it.
“You just want an excuse to cool off,” An tells him, but she follows him into the water, and then Kohane and Touya do the same, and just like that, the volleyball match is forgotten.
They splash each other with water and laugh and joke about how Akito is going to be totally sunburned after this trip (he protests that he tans in the sun, even though they all know he gets burnt to a crisp every time they go anywhere in the summer) and race each other to the nearest buoy-- well, try to. As soon as they’re about to begin, Touya awkwardly raises his hand and says, “I can’t swim.”
“. . . Oh, right.”
Every look that’s exchanged, every playful touch, every smile, every conversation-- it all makes Kohane feel like she’s filled with magic and constellations, glittering with thousands of stars, each one a precious moment she’ll treasure forever. Something about these new feelings scare her, yet something else about them just feels right, like they’ve always been there-- they’ve just waited for the right time to truly emerge from the water’s surface.
When the sun sets, they sit on the dock together, dipping their feet in the cool ocean, looking out at the beautiful watercolor painting of summer-tinged colors in the sky, and An says, “This feels super romantic, doesn’t it?’
They all go silent.
“That’s just you,” says Akito, but he’s holding An and Kohane’s hands, and An’s comment doesn’t make him embarrassedly let go.
Kohane squeezes his hand tighter.
“Moments at sunset on the beach are definitely romance-novel material,” Touya says. “I don’t really read much of the genre, but sometimes there’s a bit of romance mixed into the mystery ones I read, and I’ve definitely experienced a beach scene or two.”
“So if this is all a cliche that you’ve seen before, what happens next?” Kohane asks, leaning her head on his shoulder. He smells like the sea and the faded artificial coconut of the sunscreen he put on earlier and Kohane thinks it’s the most beautiful scent a person could have. She's glad Touya doesn't flinch away from touch anymore.
“We’d all have a very deep and metaphorical conversation in which a few aspects of the plot are hinted towards but not discussed in heavy detail due to the romantic subplot being only one small part of the story that serves as a distraction from the main events, and then we would kiss with the sunset as a picturesque backdrop.”
Kohane feels herself blush.
“Really,” An says, amused.
“I’ve never kissed anyone,” Touya says thoughtfully. “If you really did want to follow the cliche, we could try it out. Any volunteers?”
“Shut up, dude, ” Akito says suddenly. “What on earth is wrong with you.”
“We all know you want to kiss him,” An tells him, earning an elbow to the gut.
“To answer your question, Akito, a lot of things are wrong with me, I think,” Touya says, looking out at the sky again. “Without flaws, a character is uninteresting and two-dimensional.”
Kohane really wishes they really were living in a story like the one in Touya’s mind. Then, they really would all get to follow a cliche and live a perfect life.
Can’t every moment be like this one?
“Maybe we already are living in a story,” Kohane says. “Maybe someone out there is reading a book about us right now.”
“I don’t like these weird existential questions,” Akito says. “They creep me out.”
An laughs. “Either way, I think we’re living a pretty damn good story as it is, aren’t we?”
Of course, they all agree.
Kohane wishes she had her camera on her. This would make a lovely photo.
But maybe some things are better off without proof they ever existed; just lovely memories, a sea-scented secret between her and An and Akito and Touya and the beautiful view of the beach in the evening.
Over time, those words she said during that concert months ago turn out to be truer than she thought; they weren’t just something the post-show adrenaline made her say by accident. She’s pretty sure the flurry of feelings swirling through her mind like a dizzying storm of butterflies goes a little bit beyond friendship.
Akito has always been touchy with Touya, but his physically affectionate nature has extended to Kohane and An lately, too. Warm hugs and hair ruffles and high fives have become the new normal. Every time he notices one of her pigtails is out of place, he fixes it for her. He’ll fall asleep on her shoulder when they’re taking breaks in SEKAI, and let her do the same to him if she’s feeling sleepy. One time, she sprained her ankle during dance practice and he carried her all the way home on his back; feeling so close to him, with her arms loosely wrapped around his neck, head next to his, his fluffy orange hair tickling her face, hearing his gentle breathing . . . something about that experience just made her love him even more.
Akito is dazzling onstage, powerful and compelling with a beautiful, strong voice that screams Look at me!, but offstage he’s surprisingly gentle, sweet, and so, so caring. He’s the pillar of their team, an irreplaceable leader, and even though he doesn’t believe himself to be important in any way, Kohane would never doubt anything he says. She’s never met someone more reliable than him.
One day, they’re waiting at a table for An and Touya to show up in SEKAI so they can start practice, and she catches him just looking out the window, chin propped in his hand. The daylight caresses him-- his silver piercings, his peridot-green eyes, the faint dusting of freckles across his cheeks that Kohane finds absolutely adorable-- and, even though he’s just sitting there doing nothing, Kohane thinks he looks ethereal.
So she takes out her phone and snaps a quick picture.
(Then has to explain what she was doing and does a very poor job of lying that she was taking a screenshot of a meme An sent her, but she gets so flustered about it that thankfully, Akito gives up on questioning her.)
Touya took a while for her to truly understand after they first met, but with every new thing she learns about him, she loves him more. At first, he seemed like such a serious and cold person, but he’s anything but. He’s goofy and warm and a bit airheaded and has such a pure and sweet heart, looking out for everyone and showering them with compliments and joyfully giving them presents all the time. (A lot of presents.) While he’s still not as expressive as Akito and An are, he’s loving in his own way; through recommending Kohane new books he thinks she’ll like, or giving her a plushie he won that reminded him of her, or offering her his last cookie, or his jacket when it’s chilly outside.
She accompanies him to the arcade once, and watches him as he tries to get a particularly difficult prize from one of the crane games. His pure focus and concentration is somehow very cute to Kohane, and she can’t help but smile, so, well, she takes a picture. Despite the shutter sound, Touya’s focus isn’t interrupted, and he wins the prize. When he holds it up to show her, he gives her that one smile she loves so much, the one where his eyes get crinkly in the corners, and if he were in an anime, there would be sparkles all around him.
(She thinks it’s so cute that she takes another picture of him, and Touya genuinely thinks she’s trying to get a shot of the plushie he won.)
And An. Oh, An. She’s always been her partner and the person she loves most in the world, and even though things have been a little different lately, her affection is one of the only things that’s never changed. She’s a fiery ball of energy, burning bright with passion and love, attacking Kohane with dozens of hugs and cheek kisses and over-the-top words of affirmation and constant texts saying, This reminded me of you! or Hey, I thought you’d like this! that let Kohane know An’s always thinking about her.
One time, they’re hanging out at An’s house, and An is laughing at some joke Kohane makes, her smile bright, joy illuminating her face like a sudden sunrise painting over the night with a burst of light. She’s so beautiful. There’s so much life in every expression, every word, every gesture she makes, and Kohane gets her phone ready. However, before she can take a picture, An notices her staring and grins, then somehow convinces her to take a bunch of selfies together. Kohane adds all of them to her favorites album and decides she’ll probably print some out.
Kohane sits in her room at some point after all these things have happened and fondly scrolls through her photo gallery on her phone. Twirling ribbons spin and swirl in her chest as she looks at the beautiful faces of her friends-- their smiles, their energy, just them, not even doing anything-- and that’s when she finally realizes.
Her phone nearly slips from her fingers as the new epiphany steals the breath from her lungs.
She’s in love with all three of them, isn’t she?
Moments come and go too fast, memories skidding past in the beautiful landscape of Kohane’s life. She can hardly even remember when exactly they all started dating-- it all happened so naturally. They all love each other, and they all knew it without having to say anything at all. (Although when they did say something, one of them was quite a bit more flustered about the whole ordeal than the other three.)
Akito’s quick hugs become longer, more romantic ones, and his high-fives and shoulder nudges become quick kisses on the cheek-- or the lips, if one of them gets lucky, although both usually end with him bright red and unable to form a coherent sentence for the next five minutes. Touya’s compliments become open I love you s, and An-- well, while she’s a lot more affectionate with the boys now, her attitude towards Kohane doesn’t really change much, besides the new addition of kisses. (An has always sort of pushed the line between friendship and romance with her partner.)
Kohane brings her photo album to SEKAI one day, and as they’re waiting for MEIKO to make their drinks, she opens it on the table to show everyone.
“Oh, it’s like a memory treasure trove!” An says, her eyes sparkling. “I forgot you took a bunch of pictures during that first time we went to Phoeniland. Hell, I practically forgot about that whole trip in general. I can’t believe it was so long ago.”
“What’s that one for?” Akito asks unhappily, pointing to the picture of him sleeping during Wonderlands x Showtime’s performance. Kohane giggles. “You looked cute.”
“I did not,” he says flatly. The overexaggerated annoyed face he’s doing right now is quite endearing too, but she keeps that comment to herself.
The pages are filled with hundreds of photos of the four of them-- backstage before and after performances, just hanging out at Weekend Garage or in SEKAI, individual photos of them singing . . . photos from when they went to the beach together, and the mall, and of course so many from their camping trip (Touya absolutely lights up when she gets to those pages; they really need to go camping together again).
“Half of these aren’t even album-worthy,” Akito says around halfway through the scrapbook. “I’m not sayin’ your photos are bad. They’re, like, professional level. Most of them. But why’d you feel the need to take all these? Especially all the ones on this page. They’re a little embarrassing.”
Kohane smiles down at the page they’re on-- a collection of funny faces her friends have made that she’s snapped pictures of when they’re not looking-- and looks back up at Akito. “Because I love you three, and everything about you is picture-worthy to me.”
“Awww!” An exclaims, reaching out as if trying to hug her, then realizing she’s on the opposite side of the table and that won’t really work out. She settles for grabbing Kohane’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “I love you too, Kohane.”
“Me too,” Akito says, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
An turns to Touya, waiting for him to join in, but Touya is too engrossed in the contents of the photo album and apparently doesn’t even register what they’re talking about. An taps him on the shoulder.
“Yes?” he says, looking up, and An laughs.
They had planned on starting practice right away, but they end up looking through Kohane’s photos for quite a while longer. The collection is a ride of both nostalgia and love, and Kohane’s so glad she’s captured so many moments of their developing relationship and their journey towards their dreams.
Her heart feels so full it might burst. She’s wondered how she got so lucky a hundred times, but still, she wonders it again. It’s like she’s so happy that there’s a million things she wants to do right this second, and if she doesn’t, she’ll explode. So many things to express her love, since no words could ever really be enough to describe this.
So first, she kisses all of them. It’s the easiest way to start.
“Kohane, who’s the best kisser out of the three of us?” An asks once Kohane sits back down.
Kohane blushes furiously. “W-well . . . you always have a lot of energy, and pepper a lot of little kisses on my face, too, and I love that. And Akito-kun always puts his hands on my face or my hair or my back and almost kind of hugs me when he kisses me, which is really sweet . . . and Touya-kun is so gentle and elegant and seems like he’s had a bunch of experience, and it always makes my heart race, and . . .” She’s getting too flustered to continue, which is probably a good thing, since she was getting Very sappy.
“I seem like I’ve had a bunch of experience? With kissing?” Touya asks, genuinely surprised.
“Who knew Touya was a wizard with the ladies?” An teases.
“I’m not a lady,” Akito tells her.
“Well, maybe he’s not a wizard with you.”
“I’ve never kissed anyone before you three.” Touya actually looks confused about this.
“It’s all the novels he reads,” Akito says knowingly. “I’m sure they describe kissing in pretty heavy detail, right?”
Touya chuckles. “Not in heavy detail, since I usually only read mysteries. But . . . well. I have to admit I did read a handful of romance novels when we started dating.”
Akito snaps his fingers. “Knew it.”
“Those weren’t much help, though. I like experiencing all these new things firsthand instead of trying to memorize how to do things from a book,” Touya says, then leans over to An and kisses her. She makes a surprised sound against his lips, not expecting that at all.
To make things even, Kohane pulls Akito in for another quick kiss, and he blushes again, then clears his throat and says, “We’ve really gotta practice, guys. If we’re going to surpass RAD WEEKEND at our next event, we can’t slack off and kiss all day.”
An sighs. “That’s a shame.”
“You guys go on ahead without me,” Kohane says. “I’m going to pack up my photo stuff and be right out, okay?”
“Sounds good,” Akito says, and the three of them head outside to set up for practice as Kohane puts her albums away.
“You four are growing so much.”
Kohane whirls around, startled, to see MEIKO standing behind the counter, smiling warmly at her. “M-MEIKO-san . . .! Sorry, I didn’t realize you were there.”
MEIKO shakes her head. “I just came back downstairs a minute ago. I apologize for eavesdropping, but you kids just have such a lovely relationship. I’m proud of you.”
Kohane smiles back. “You think so?”
“I always knew there was a little something more than friendship going on between the four of you, so I’m happy to see that you’ve all realized those feelings and are welcoming them like this. It really is very sweet to watch.” MEIKO tilts her head. “Would you mind if I took a look at that photo album?”
“Oh! Of course not.” She hands it to her, and MEIKO opens it-- and there’s something like sadness in her eyes . . . no, not quite that, but . . . bittersweet, somehow.
“MEIKO-san? Are you alright?”
“Oh, I’m fine!” The warmth is back in her eyes all of a sudden. “You’re all just growing up so fast. It’s like you’re completely different people from when I first met you.”
Kohane looks at her feet, shy. “I . . . I guess we are.”
And there’s some sort of nostalgia in her, like she misses the early days of their friendship, when they were just starting to get to know each other and the SEKAI and the world of possibilities they had as a team for the first time-- but there’s also a warm swell of pride and confidence settling right behind her ribcage.
They’ve come so far.
And they keep taking more steps, going further, closer to their dreams, every day.
“I’ll leave you to that if that’s alright,” Kohane says, nodding towards the photo album. “I have to practice or Akito-kun will never forgive me. I think he’s already mad at me for showing everyone mildly embarrassing pictures of him.”
MEIKO laughs. “I don’t think Akito could ever be mad at you for longer than a minute, but I’ll let you go anyway. Have fun, honey. Don’t stay out too late.”
“I won’t.” She grins at her, then heads out the door, making sure to bring her camera with her.
There’s so many ideas swirling in her head of what to do next. After they surpass RAD WEEKEND, they’ll probably take a little break before trying to conquer the world, won’t they? Maybe they’ll go to Phoeniland again, or . . . or maybe . . . a road trip!
Yeah. That sounds fun. She’ll have to bring the idea up to them!
She finds where the others are practicing, but doesn’t walk over to them quite yet. They’re just doing vocal warmups, but as always, there’s just something beautiful about it. Just watching them . . . be. Simply seeing them exist is enough to send her heart spiraling into a dizzying rainbow whirl of konpeito and glitter. Love makes you see everything through rose-colored lenses, or however the saying goes.
Well, it makes Kohane see everything through a rose-colored camera lens.
So she gets her camera into position, and she takes a picture.