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School was still the same amount of exhausting for Mafuyu. If anything his newfound "freedom" made things worse in the academic sense, now that there’s a conflict between following the path of what’s already laid out for him, or does he try to divert from that path? Does he follow the rules of the person that have influenced him so much, or does he disobey more than she already has. What would her mom think of her now.
-It’s a lot to think about, and now was not the time, as Mafuyu had more important things to shift his focus onto-
like the pretty girl sitting in his lap.
They had been doing this for a couple months now. Kanade would sit down in front of Mafuyu and he would brush her hair. It helped both of them relax, Mafuyu after a stressful day at school, Kanade after a long time at her desk, composing. Eventually they got in the habit of this, and Kanade would go on little tangents on song ideas or complain about ‘composition block’. And Mafuyu would listen, not really making conversation but would hum in agreement or acknowledgment to let her know he was listening. It was nice to see Kanade talk so passionately about her work, especially since there were so many days in the past she looked, frankly, lifeless.
A lot of things he did now were not only for his sake, but for Kanade’s. It was a strange thing, Kanade was supposed to be helping him, wasn’t she?
So why was he so insistent?
…
“-So I thought changing the volume distribution of the bridge would give it more of a dissonant feel, y’know? Which goes with your lyrics better..
..Mafu, are you alright?” Kanade stopped her little musical train of thought to glance at him.
“..Hm? Why would I not be?” he replied, regaining focus. Though he already knew she knew that he was indeed, not alright. He went back to brushing her hair, this time paying attention to her words.
“Well, I notice that whenever you’re overthinking about stuff, you get kinda quiet. You don’t usually talk while you brush my hair, but you at least hum in acknowledgment or answer questions if I ask, but you’re not doing that now. You wanna talk about it Mafu?”
Did he want to talk about it? Not really. I mean, what had she not already heard? It’s usually the same things anyway, but Mafuyu still doesn’t really know how to get the words out, how to express what he’s feeling. So he said what he usually said when she asked.
“..’s just the usual.”
“Ah, ok. Well, if there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m always here,” she replied, turning towards him and intertwining their fingers.
“I know,” he quietly scoffed, squeezing Kanade’s hand.
Kanade looked up at Mafuyu. “I’m glad,” and smiled, ear-to-ear.
Mafuyu was caught off guard by that smile. The feeling he usually got when Kanade would say or do something that was very-Kanade-of her to do. His face would heat up and his heart would beat faster. Only she would make him feel like this though.
He still doesn’t really understand why exactly he did it, but he did.
He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Kanade’s forehead.
Now it was Kanade’s turn to be caught off guard. Her pale complexion only made it more apparent to how much she was blushing.
“..M-Mafu?” was all she could manage.
“Sorry,” he was quick to apologize. That was so uncalled for what the hell, you probably made her uncomfortable seriously you could’ve asked-
Kanade giggled and kissed him back, on the cheek.
-And now he was blushing.
“I don’t have a problem with it, but what led you to kiss me?” gently scoffing, Kanade glanced away from him, embarrassed.
“I don’t know, honestly. Felt like it, I guess,” he replied, glancing away as well.
“..I really meant that, by the way. I didn’t mind it, and if you, I don’t know this sounds dumb oh my gosh-“ she stopped to laugh at herself. Mafuyu was looking attentively at her now, too, still blushing.
“I mean, if you wanted to, y’know, kiss me-like, for real- I think I’d like that,” she smiled and slightly leaned in towards him.
“-I think I’d like that too,” he replied, and closed the gap between them.
Their lips met for the first time. Sweet and gentle, but hesitant as neither of them really knew what they were doing. They sat there for a bit, lips gently touching, fingers still intertwined, before pulling away.
“Woa,” Mafuyu was the one to break the silence, “that was, a lot.”
“Yeah. Did you like it?” Kanade replied, fidgeting with Mafuyu’s fingers in her hands.
“Yeah, I did. Can I kiss you again?”
“..Yeah.”
And their lips met again, however this time it felt more natural. Mafuyu moved his hands to wrap his arms around Kanade’s waist, Kanade in return lightly placing her hands on Mafuyu’s face, smiling deeper into the kiss.
They really weren’t doing much, but for them it was everything. They weren’t shy to touch, often cuddling or holding hands. They weren’t really just friends, but they never considered being-anything really.
His classmates would talk about this kinda stuff sometimes. And Mafuyu was never much for romance, but he had knowledge of it (mostly from Mizuki). Was that what he wanted them to be? Dating? Is that what she wanted?
-It’s definitely a lot to think about, but now was not the time, Mafuyu had more important things to shift his focus onto-
like the pretty girl laying next to him, snuggled into his side.
—* ♪ *—