Work Text:
“Moooou…” Sumire whined, leaning against the windowsill, her disappointment growing as heavy rain continued to pour down. “Cooome oooon, go awaaaay…”
“Haha, I don’t think it’s going to work, Sumi,” Ren remarked with a teasing smirk as he looked over her shoulder.
“Arrg…” Sumire grumbled, turning towards Ren. “Stupid rain… It wasn’t supposed to rain while I was visiting…”
Ren chuckled and gently patted the top of his best friend’s head. “The weather around here can be unpredictable.” Ren moved over and sat on his bed, patting a space next to him, silently inviting Sumire over to join him. “We’ll just have to stay in today. Even if it stops,” Ren flinched as a crack of thunder echoed around them. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to do gymnastics haha.”
Sumire exhaled a soft, defeated sigh before joining Ren, disappointment still clear across her face. “I was looking forward to going today… I haven’t been able to practise with you in ages…”
“I mean… It’s not like I’m much help anyway,” Ren said with a playful grin. “It always ends up being you helping me more than you getting to practise-”
“That doesn’t matter!” Sumire pouted, lightly poking Ren’s shoulder much to his amusement. “You know I have a lot of fun when we do it together… Even when you mess up.” Sumire sighed and looked down at her hands. “So don’t say that- Eep!” Sumire yelped as Ren placed his hand on top of her head, gently messing up her hair, much to her playful annoyance, “Reeeeeen stooooop.”
“Don’t worry, Sumi,” Ren said, ignoring Sumire’s protests. “You don’t have to go home for a couple of days. I'm sure we'll be able to do it another day so…” Ren fell backwards, “How about we just hang around here today?”
Sumire stifled and giggled and leaned back until she was level with Ren, “Fiiiine…” Sumire subtly shuffled closer to Ren, only leaving a small gap between them. “But I’m going to work you extra hard when we can go to make up for it.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault we can’t go!” Sumire simply giggled and playfully poked Ren’s nose. Ren rolled his eyes and let out a weary breath. “So what do you want to do now?”
“M-Me?”
“Mhmm.” Ren nodded, pushing himself back into a sitting position. “We can do whatever you want. It’s only fair..”
“R-Ren…” Sumire murmured, her cheeks gaining a light shade of red. “I-If you don’t mind could… We just talk for a bit?”
“Talk? About what?”
“I’m… Not sure.” Sumire said with a small smile as she pushed her back up. “I don’t really feel like doing much and…” Sumire glanced away from Ren, as she felt her face already starting to heat up. “I… I just want to spend some time with you…” Sumire said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Hmm… If that’s what you want to do, I don’t have a problem!” Ren said with an encouraging smile. “Actually… I guess now is a good chance to ask something I’ve been wondering about for a while.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve been wondering… Are you having trouble with your gymnastics?”
“E-Eh!? W-Where is this coming from!?”
“Hmm…” Ren crossed his arms as he hummed in thought. “It’s just been something I’ve been thinking about for a while I mean… I know you love doing it but whenever Kasumi talks about it she’s always saying about how she wants to reach the top of the world and be the greatest gymnast ever!” Ren said the last bit in a poor imitation of Kasumi’s voice, resulting in a small giggle from Sumire. “But recently… You always seem to avoid saying anything like that… In fact, you usually seem uncomfortable whenever she’s including you so…”
Sumire gently bit her lower lip, soon letting out a weak sigh, “Ren… It scares me how observant you are… Not even my parents noticed…”
“Hehe,” Ren snickered with a smug grin. “You can’t hide anything from me, Sumi~”
“Ah-” Sumire felt her entire face turn red. “T-That’s not true…” She quickly covered her mouth as the realisation she had spoken out loud struck her.
“Hmm? What do you mean-”
“N-Nevermind.” Sumire hastily interrupted, praying Ren wouldn’t pursue that line of questions any further. Not that she planned to give him a chance as she turned the topic back to Ren’s original question, “A-Anyway… I-I guess you could say… I’ve just been feeling a little… Lost recently.”
“Lost?”
“Mhmm…” Sumire nodded, anxiously fiddling with a lock of hair. “It’s… Our last year of competing in middle school Meets and… I… I haven’t been improving at all while Kasumi just keeps getting better and better…” Sumire lowered her head, “So… I’m starting to wonder if… Maybe I’m not cut out for it…”
“That's silly,” Ren said in a completely blunt tone of voice. “You love gymnastics-”
“I know, I know…” Sumire interrupted. “But… That doesn’t stop it being really frustrating… It feels like I’m barely scraping by and… Kasumi keeps trying to encourage me but it just feels like it's more pressure.” Sumire bit her lower lip, “I… I don’t think I ever told you but… I… never really wanted to do gymnastics when we started.”
“Really?” Ren said, raising his eyebrow.
“Yeah… It was Kasumi’s idea and she… Asked if I wanted to do it with her. I didn’t have a reason to say no so I tried it and… I do love doing it but…” Sumire sighed, “I always just went along with her dream instead of having my own… And now I’m struggling to keep up with her, I don’t know if it’s worth- Wah!”
Sumire yelped as Ren wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a loose but warm and comforting hug. “Sumi, you’re still being silly.” Ren once again spoke in a blunt voice. “You still enjoy doing gymnastics, right?”
“O-Of course I do!” Sumire exclaimed, “But… I get so frustrated when I’m at practice… I-I only feel like I do well when you-” Sumire shook her head, barely managing to catch herself. “I-I mean… I know I’m not good enough to follow Kasumi in her dream and… I doubt anyone would want to watch a mediocre gymnast who is just performing because her sister wants to…”
“Don’t say that,” Ren said, pulling Sumire even closer until there was no gap left between them. “I’d miss your performances, they always blow me away.”
“That’s only because you haven’t seen Kasumi lately… If you did you’d see exactly what I- Mhmp.” Sumire was cut off by Ren gently placing a pair of fingers on her lips.
“Sumire, your anxiety is getting to you again,” Ren spoke with a calm, understanding voice. “Don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to do with gymnastics,” Ren slowly pulled his fingers back but Sumire remained silent as he continued. “But there’s no rush. You don’t need to follow Kasumi, just… Focus on enjoying it until you can work out what you want to do.”
Sumire exhaled a long, frustrated breath as she found herself melting into Ren’s embrace. “I… I wish I could but… I just get so frustrated-”
“Then talk to me.” Ren interrupted, turning to look at Sumire. “You know I’m always here to help, Sumi. So if you’re getting frustrated or something happens at practice or a meet, just tell me about it and I’ll listen.”
Sumire felt her cheeks get hotter at the same time as her face scrunched up with growing anxiety. “A-And… What if… Y-You’re not there…” Sumire whispered.
“I will be,” Ren said with no hesitation. “No matter what, I promise I’ll be here for you.” Ren tightened his grip around Sumire, “Just like you’re there for me. Remember… We’ll always have each other’s backs.”
“R-Ren.” Sumire felt her entire face light up. Part of her wanted to question or refute what Ren was saying but… That part was quickly silenced by the confidence Ren’s words gave her. “You mean it?”
“Of course. I might not know what the future is going to be like but… I know we’ll handle it together. Just like we always have.”
“Ren…” Sumire felt her lips curl into a small, subtle smile. “Hehehe, R-Ren… Hahaha.”
“W-What!?” Ren yelped, clear confusion in her voice. “I-I thought what I said was good-”
“I-It was, it was. Hehe.” Sumire said in a reassuring voice as she tried to hold back her laughter. “S-Sorry, I-it's really nice. But you have to admit it’s a little cheesy.”
“Haha,” Ren joined his friend’s laughter, “Maybe a little but… it seems to have worked.”
“It has.” Sumire nodded, “I-I’m still not sure about… Everything but… You’re right…” Sumire leaned into Ren’s chest. “I… Might need to take you up on that offer soon… If you don’t mind.”
“I wouldn’t have offered it if I did.” Ren placed his hand on top of Sumire’s head, “I’ll be here to help you find and follow your dream, Sumi. I promise.”
Sumire held back another giggle, “Thanks, Ren… That means a lot to me…I just hope I find it soon…”
“I’m sure you will.” As Ren finished speaking, the rain outside started to come to a stop and the sun started to beam through the windows. “Haha, I told you, it was unpredictable.”
“Mooou…” Sumire whined, “Stupid rain…”
“Haha, well since the weather is improving… Do you want to go out now?” Ren asked, slowly releasing Sumire and getting back to his feet.
“Hmm? I thought you said it would be too wet to do gymnastics.”
“And it is.” Ren offered his hand to Sumire, “But we could still go for a walk if you want.”
“O-Oh… I-In that case…” Sumire took Ren’s hands, allowing him to pull her up. “Let’s go!”