Work Text:
“Sooooo like, Karanecchi-” Ahko absentmindedly swirls her boba tea in her hand, with her chin resting in her other hand. As always, she's got her trademark lazy grin on her face. Karane on the other hand, has ‘toooootal RBF going on,’ according to Ahko, whatever that's supposed to mean. Either way, her gaze shifts toward Ahko, an eyebrow raising as if she's giving her permission to speak, although it's not like she'd ever deny her from talking. “Whaddya think of Shizukacchi and Nanocchi getting together? Never thought Shizukacchi would be the one to confess; that sends meeeeeee.”
Ah, so she wants to talk about the big news in Rentarou’s family, that being the shocking announcement from Nano that she and Shizuka were now dating each other. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much time to process that total bombshell when it dropped, as Hahari immediately set up a pretend wedding for them (after passing out, at least.) Well, if Ahko wants to talk about it, that's as good of a chance as any to finally think about it. “I mean, I'm happy for ‘em, definitely. I just never really expected something like that to happen.”
“Ehhh? Whaddya meeeean? You could like, toooootally tell that they were meeeeega crushing on each other. Especially Nano. I've only ever seen her blush at two people, and Shizuka was one of them. And well, I think we both know who the other one is, yeahhhh?” Ahko gives a playful-looking wink to Karane. At least, playful-looking for Ahko standards.
“Nah, it's not them actually liking each other that I'm surprised about, that part was obvious…” Karane takes a sip of her vending machine drink, the citrus flavor reminding her of that fateful day when she confessed to Rentarou… not that she'd ever admit it! “It's just… I never thought that two girls could be so confident to date each other…”
“Woooooow, Karanecchi, it's like, the twenty-first century. Homophobia’s like, sooooooo not it.”
“I'm not homophobic!!” Karane shouts, her face quickly flushing. “I'll have you know that I'm perfectly supportive of same-sex relationships!! All I meant was that it probably takes a lot of confidence to openly be dating another girl like that! I'm not gay, but if I was, I can't imagine that it'd be easy for me to be open about it!” Karane is then met by an uncomfortably long silence from Ahko, and frankly, the fact that she's unable to read the girl’s expression is REALLY bothering her. “Wh-What are you looking at me like that for?”
Ahko tilts her head and blinks. Quick, Karane, remember what Rentarou taught you… Wait, that's her bewildered expression, now she remembers! “Uhhhh, so likeeeee… how do I put this… tee-bee-aytch, I forreal thought you were also into girls, Karanecchi. Like, I've seen you kissing Hakaricchi, like, totally sloppy-style.”
Karane’s face quickly goes red, and the aggressive yelling starts up. “SH-SHUT UP!! IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT THAT HAPPENED-”
“Uhhh, liiiiike, happens a lot.”
“- HAPPENS A LOT, HER BLATANT HORNINESS JUST RUBS OFF ON PEOPLE!!!”
Ahko just tilts her head in response to Karane’s intense, knee-jerk reaction. She knew that she would react strongly to being reminded of the girl she's (accidentally?) made out with multiple times, but for her to be this defensive over it? “Woahhhh, like… chill out, Karanecchi. It was honestly mostly a joke.”
“What the hell do you mean, mostly?!”
Ahko’s intrigued staring continues to bore more and more into Karane's soul as she throws out one strong statement of denial, one after the other. However, Ahko seems to concede as she gives a lazy shrug. “... Karanecchi, if you're into girls, you can like, totally tell me, you knowwwwww. I'm hella bisexual myself, after all.” Ahko flashes a peace sign at her, in true gyaru fashion. “Having to choose between a single gender is just so not my speed. Like, I just look at anyone that’s cute and I just think, ‘cuuuuute.’”
Well damn, that's news to Karane, and it seems to be enough of a surprise to her that it manages to slip past her tsundere defense mechanisms. “Oh- Well, uh… That's cool. Yeah.” She takes another sip of her drink as she continues to process the information. Ahko is bi, huh? Honestly, in retrospect, that shouldn't be much of a surprise, given how outwardly affectionate Ahko can be sometimes… although that could be attributed to her being a total gyaru? It can be hard to tell if physical affection means something more when it comes to gals of her caliber. But… “Hey, Ahko, can I ask a weird question?”
“Like, go aheeeead.”
“Have you ever had a girlfriend before?”
Despite her permanent smile staying right where it always is, Karane notices a very prominent blush grow across Ahko's face. “Awwwww, this is like… totes embarrassing to admit, buuuuuut… nahhhhh. Rentaroucchi is like, the only person I've ever dated. Biiiiig yikes, amirite?”
“I mean, I don't think it's that big of a deal… Rentarou was the first person I've ever dated too. Although… I am a little surprised that you haven't dated anyone before Rentarou. You're just really easy to get along with, so I thought you… y’know.”
“Awww, like, I'm totes flattered Karanecchiiii. Thankiesssss~”
Karane looks down at her lap. A part of her mind is on fire, burning with curiosity, engulfed by a question that simply refuses to leave her brain.
Is Karane into girls?
“I meeeeean, like,” Ahko continues, seemingly not noticing Karane's internal struggle happening right in front of her. “I'm toooootally curious about what dating a girl is like. Maybe I should like, ask Shizukacchi or somethiiiiing. Or like, you have lots of experience kissing girls, I could forreal just ask y-”
“SH-SHADDUP!!” Karane quickly stands up, her face flushed a bright red. “I’M GOING HOME!” And with those last words, she storms off, but immediately calms down as soon as Ahko can't see or hear her.
She brings two fingers up to her lips, and thinks of all the times she’s kissed Hakari. And sure, Hakari was a horny pain in the ass, but… she's never hated it, not even once. In fact, it's actually felt… kinda nice? And watching Shizuka and Nano together always made her feel this small fluttering in her chest, not to mention how she felt as Ahko came out to her. It was a shock, but Karane was happy. Both for Ahko and for… herself? Karane sighs.
She has a lot to think about when she gets home.
And yet, Karane finds no comfort within the walls of her room. Too many thoughts were going through her head, too many questions that she wasn't ready to answer flooded her mind. Well, actually, that's a lie. It's not even a question; it was pretty obvious to her now. She was expecting the realization to at least take a while to hit her, but nope, it instead crashed into her like a speeding truck as she was walking back home.
She was, as Ahko would say, “hella bisexual.”
Karane didn't yell at herself as a mental war took place inside her head, she didn't even blush and stammer as she tried to rationalize these feelings. She just got home, said hello to her family (“It-It's not like I'm exhausted and happy to be home, or anything!”) and immediately retreated up to her bedroom to flop on her bed. She gives a heavy sigh as she turns her head so she can breathe; the comfort of her bed is nice, but not nice enough to suffocate herself over.
She's bisexual, huh? As much as she hates to admit it, it makes a lot of things make much more sense, especially when it comes to Hakari. Curse that horny bitch; it wasn't fair that she was so nice to kiss. Oddly enough, although she accepted her sexuality relatively easily, she was PISSED that she had been crushing on Hakari of all people.
Another sigh escapes Karane. Well… now what? She finally figured it out, but now what was she supposed to do with this information? She grabs her phone; if there's one person that ought to know, it's Ahko.
“Heyyyyyyy Karanecchiiiiii~ What's upppp~?” God, even when talking on the phone, she can just hear Ahko’s lazy grin. It's honestly kind of endearing.
“Hey Ahko. I've just been thinking, and uh, I figured I should probably tell you, so uh-”
“You're like, bisexualllll, riiiiight?”
“... J-Jeez, Ahko, could you at least let me come out myself?!”
“Lawlllll. Sorry Karanecchi, I didn't mean to steal your moment. It was just like, suuuuuper obvious to me.”
“W-Whatever…” Karane’s face has gone completely red; she wasn't expecting Ahko to clock her immediately. Although, she supposes it does make sense; despite her lack of facial expressions, she was surprisingly keen at reading people when she wanted to.
“So liiiiike, now what, Karanecchiiiiii~”
“I don't know, honestly. Like, I know I'm bi now and that's cool and all, but does that really change anything?”
“I mean, liiiiiike, unless you feel like dating any girls, I guess not.”
“Y-Yeah! So I'll just keep on living my life, and everything will be exactly-”
“You could tooooootally date me, though, Karanecchi~”
Thank god Karane wasn't drinking something right then, because if she was, she probably would've choked and died. Reddened face and stammering ensues for a solid three minutes, but it stops when Karane hears a small “pfft” on the other end of the line.
“This sends meeeee. Like, chill out Karanecchiiii, I'm just teasing you~”
“Y-Yeah well, I-” She what, exactly? She would've accepted the offer? Oh, great. She actually would've. And now there's even more buried feelings that she's realizing now.
Fuck.
She hangs up, not even able to give a full response to Ahko. God, she just wishes she could speak with her damn words instead of shutting herself up or bursting out with anger. She just wants to be honest for once. Both with others and herself.
Damn it, just when she thought this was easy…
Ahko was a bit of an odd girl. Despite being a total gal that was accessorized to hell and back, her facial expressions were lacking, with nothing but a lazy grin on her face at all times. But even though Ahko had a severe case of self-same-face syndrome (Ahko herself thinks it's a result of low blood pressure,) she's the most genuine person that Karane can say she knows.
And as of the past week, Karane has been avoiding her like the plague.
It's honestly not because she doesn't want to be around Ahko, far from it; the sensible part of her is screaming at her to stop avoiding one of her closest friends. And yet, the sensible side of herself can't help but be drowned out by countless thoughts of fear and anxiety occupying her mind. It was infuriating just how much she struggled with her feelings, and Karane could only become more and more pissed at herself when Ahko picked up on what was going on.
She knew that Ahko wasn't a dumb girl. She knew that Ahko had plenty of social awareness; more than enough to realize that Karane was explicitly avoiding her. And worst of all, she knew that Ahko was honest to herself, unlike Karane. So it was only a matter of time until…
A panting, clearly worn-out Ahko burst through the door of the rooftop, much to Karane's surprise. Karane herself had elected to stay back at the school when it came time to walk home with Rentarou and the rest of the family, partly because she needed time alone, but mostly so she wouldn't have to interact with Ahko. But now, here was Ahko, bent over and catching her breath like she had just run a whole marathon.
Karane couldn't even act all avoidant; she had been taken too much by surprise. “Uh- are you okay?”
“Liiiiiike, yikes. I wanted you to think that I had already left and stuff, and then double back and catch you up hereeeee… But I like, tooootally forgot that I'm suuuuuper unathletic…” Each sentence is punctuated by huffing and wheezing, to the point of Karane stepping forward and offering a hand, which Ahko refuses. “Like, thankiessss, Karanecchi, but I'm fineeee. Just… gimme a min…”
It takes a good more than just a minute, but Ahko eventually does recover, letting Karane finally ask her starting question: “Why did you come here?”
Ahko’s smile, as always, doesn't dissipate, but that doesn't stop her eyebrows from furrowing in suspicion. “I think we both know why, Karanecchi.”
“Nope.”
“Girl. Don't you 'nope’ me. I can read it on your face. Look, you can't even face me right now.” Ahko was right, Karane’s face was turned to the side, likely in an attempt to hide her look of guilt. “I know you, Karanecchi. I know how you work.”
“No you don't! You could never understand how I think, Ahko!” Despite her words coming out on their own because of her desperate defensiveness, she actually did hold a bit of belief in her statement. To her, it was true that Ahko could never understand how she felt; how could the most honest, genuine person in the whole entire world ever know what was going through the head of the girl who could never be honest every single time she experienced emotion? It was pathetic. Karane was pathetic.
“I…” Ahko falters with her words, seemingly not knowing how she can possibly respond to such a statement. The silence deepens the pit in Karane's stomach; a small part of her was hoping that she was wrong, praying that Ahko truly did understand her so she could finally tear down the facade that she hid behind. That part of her was now being crushed by the heavy confirmation in the form of silence.
Karane doesn't have long to wallow in self-pity before the sound of a sniffle causes her to whip her head back to face the source of the sound. Confusion distorts herself into horror as she sees the tears welling up in Ahko’s eyes and running down her face, and she suddenly realizes what she's done. She's made a close friend cry. Oh god. This isn't what was supposed to happen. This isn't what she wanted. Ever. She reaches forward, but falters. What if she ends up hurting her more? “I- Ahko-”
“No, Karanecchi, you're right. I don't understand you.” Never before has a smile looked so sad, and the sight is like a dull, rusty knife twisting in Karane's chest. “But… that's okay, isn't it?” Karane’s head, which was hung with shame, lifts up in surprise. What was Ahko saying? Didn't she hurt her? “Like, I… I probably took my teasing too far. That's why you were avoiding me, right? I'm sorry, Karanecchi…” The apology readies tears in Karane’s own eyes. “I just… I miss you, Karanecchi. Even if I messed up, even if I don't understand you, you're still- hic-! you're still the greatest friend I've ever had- I still want to spend time with you, Karanecchi-”
Karane breaks.
She doesn't know when exactly she fell to her knees, or how long she had been crying, or how long Ahko had been right there next to her with her arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. The burst of pent-up emotions just… got to her, completely overtaking her awareness and senses for who knows how long. But as she came to… “I'm sorry for avoiding you, Ahko.” She weakly wraps her arms around the girl. “You didn't deserve that…”
“Nah.” The sound of a soft sniffle rings out. “It's cool. I'm just glad that we made up, y’know?” Ahko then pauses, and Karane can feel her flinch in her arms. “Wait, we did make up, right?”
Karane can't help but chuckle and give her the lightest bop on the head. “Of course we did, dummy…”
“Hehe. Sweeeeet~”
After that emotionally exhausting encounter, both of them agreed that they should probably go home and get some rest. What they had planned to do was walk to Ahko's home, drop her off, and then Karane would walk back home on her own. What they did not plan for, however, is for a torrential downpour to start halfway on the walk to Ahko's house, forcing the two of them to sprint the rest of the way there. (Karane sprinted, Ahko got dragged along. Admittedly, it was faster than Ahko trying to sprint.)
So now, here she was, stuck at Ahko’s home until the rain cleared up the next morning, after getting permission from Ahko’s parents (she was surprised at just how similar her parents were to Ahko,) as well as her own, (“I-It's not like I'm glad to be staying at my friend’s house, or anything!”) Karane hopped into a nice, warm shower, then slipped into some clothes to sleep in, courtesy of Ahko’s wardrobe. It was a bit more pink than she was used to, but at least it was a familiar, comfortable outfit consisting of an oversized t-shirt and volleyball shorts. After waiting for a bit in Ahko’s room, the girl herself emerges.
“Oh goshhhhh, I hope I don't, like, look too different without makeuppppp-”
“Nah,” Karane says nonchalantly, “I think you look good even without it.”
Ahko takes a moment to process the words and blinks, “Wowwww, did I hear that right? Karanecchi giving me a direct complement? I guess miracles do happennnnn~”
Ahko’s jest is met with an immediate glare from Karane, although both of them can tell she's not genuinely mad. “Shut it you. I had a whole breakdown over this, the least you could do is not make a big deal out of it when I try to speak my mind.”
“Fair fairrrr~” Ahko plops down on the bed, sitting right next to Karane. “Y'know, I really am sorry. About the whole, like, taking the teasing too far thing.”
Karane just lets out a sigh. “Nah, it's really not that big of a deal. I mean, hell, it's what helped me finally realize I was bi, so I guess that I should be thanking you about it?”
“Whaaaaaat?” Ahko’s face seems relaxed, clearly entertained by this notion. “No wayyyy, Karanecchi is thanking me for teasing her? This is like, the biggest first everrrrr~” She lets out a gentle giggle. Continuing the teasing, she says, “Well if you wanna thank me so badddd… you should, like, tooootally kiss me~” Ahko was expecting Karane to get all defensive, so when she's met with silence, she's confused. But she can barely even get out an “Eh-?” before Karane swiftly pushes her back and pins her to the bed.
Karane can feel her heart beating out of her chest, she can feel her face growing redder and hotter as Ahko lets out an “Eep.” The reasonable part of her knew that this was a ridiculous idea.
But since when has she ever listened to her reasonable side?
“Hey Ahko, you said you've never dated a girl right?”
“I. Uhhhhhh. Haha. Sure haven'tttt~”
“That means you've never kissed a girl, right?”
“Nnnnnnope.”
“Wanna find out what it's like?”
Ahko's blush grows more prominent at the offer. God, she looks so cute like this.
“I totes do~”
Karane lowers herself down and kisses Ahko.
Kissing Ahko feels so soft, which is how she would've compared her… other experiences kissing women, and yet, this time feels completely different. The girl under her feels so frail, so delicate that she doesn't want to push too hard in fear of breaking her. And the way she smells like her floral shampoo, it's wonderful. She can taste the lingering remnants of some fruit-flavored lip gloss, too. She can't quite tell what fruit it's supposed to be, but every cell in her body seems to want to keep trying to figure it out. Kissing Ahko feels so… so nice. She likes this.
Karane only breaks away from the kiss as she feels the cold skin of Ahko’s wrists brush the back of her neck, and that's when she realizes that Ahko’s loosely wrapped her arms around her neck, and she's staring up into Karane's eyes with an affectionate warmth. “Hey, Karanecchiii~ You're cute like this.”
All Karane can do in response is avert her gaze and give a small “shaddup.”
“Hehe~ There's the Karanecchi I know and loooove~”
“You do realize that ‘love’ kinda holds some different implications when we're making out on your bed, right?”
“Eh, I don't suppose I really mind those implications, do IIIII~?”
“... wait, so do you mean?”
“We should like, totes go out, Karanecchiiii~”
Karane didn't stammer or get defensive at the offer. She didn't bother trying to hide behind a hastily constructed wall of denial; there was no need to anymore. She just raised an eyebrow at Ahko in an expression that can only be described as amused, then gave her answer to Ahko's proposal in the form of going back in for another kiss.
Perhaps understanding her own feelings wasn't too difficult of a task after all.