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Heavy rain pelted the window, loud enough that it broke Tsubasa's already weak focus. She had been attempting to read a book for the last hour to little success. It had been a story that Maria had recommended to her. She had told Tsubasa that it was one of her favorites, but it hadn't really caught her interest. It was a romance book, the story of a witch and a princess who fell in love. Tsubasa assumed it didn't have a happy ending with the way Maria cried while finishing it. She couldn't understand why Maria would enjoy a story like that, Tsubasa wasn’t a fan of romance stories or tragedies. Still, she tried again to ignore that beating rain and read.
The buzzing of her phone broke Tsubasa's concentration again. It was a message from Hibiki.
"We're all going to dinner together later, wanna join?"
Tsubasa had accepted that she was not going to finish the book tonight, so she agreed. In a follow-up message, Hibiki told her to wear something "sort of nice". It was an odd request, there weren't any holidays or celebrations coming up as far as she knew, so she didn't know why she would need to dress up. She still complied with the request, though, not wanting to show up underdressed for whatever the girls had planned.
The rain had already stopped when the time came around that they were going to meet. Hibiki had texted Tsubasa again, asking her if she could pick up Maria on her way there. It was another odd request, but Tsubasa had no reason to say no. In fact, she quite enjoyed Maria's company while riding. She pulled into the parking lot of the Maria's apartment and called her.
The phone rang for a while before Tsubasa heard the voice of the other girl on the phone.
"Hi, Tsubasa. What's up?" Maria sounded slightly confused.
"I'm here to take you to dinner." Tsubasa was confused by Maria's confusion.
"You are?" Neither girls’ confusion waned.
"Yes, did Tachibana not speak with you?" Tsubasa was getting a bit annoyed at Hibiki's clear lack of planning. "We were all going to have dinner together and she asked me to take you there."
"She didn't say anything to me about it."
"I'm sorry about that, then." Tsubasa sighed and prepared to start her bike back up. "I hope I didn't disturb you."
"Not at all! I don't actually have any plans tonight, so I could still come." Maria spoke excitedly.
"Alright then, I'll still be down here whenever you're ready." Tsubasa thought for a moment and added, "Tachibana said that we should dress ‘sort of nice’."
"Thanks, I'll see you soon." Maria hung up the phone and Tsubasa relaxed on her bike. It had been a while since the two of them rode together. Constant world threatening disasters had made it difficult to find time for joyrides. Tsubasa decided she might take the long way to the restaurant.
Maria came out of the apartment dressed in a short, somewhat loose black skirt and a white sweater that showed off her shoulders. Tsubasa couldn't help staring at the expanse of skin that was exposed as Maria approached her. It was only when Maria reached her that Tsubasa realized she had likely been very obvious in her ogling and she mentally kicked herself. If Maria had noticed, though, she kept it to herself.
"Where are we going?" Maria asked while getting on the bike behind Tsubasa.
Tsubasa responded while handing Maria an extra helmet. "A restaurant near Tachibana's house. I've never been there myself, but it has good reviews."
Maria hummed in response and wrapped her arms around Tsubasa's waist. Once Maria was securely on the bike, Tsubasa started it up and sped off towards their meeting place.
The wind rushed past them as they took back roads and winding streets. The feeling of Maria pressed against her back gave her a sense of comfort. Occassionally Maria would squeeze her tighter if Tsubasa took a turn a little too fast. She found herself taking more turns than usual. The freedom of her bike and the comforting warmth of Maria made Tsubasa want the ride to never end.
Like all things, though, it did end. No matter how many indirect paths she took, eventually they ended up at the resturant.
The restaurant did appear nice, Tsubasa thought when she and Maria arrived. Tsubasa was starting to wonder if there was some anniversary or birthday she had forgotten about.
Given the kind of place it was, Tsubasa assumed Hibiki would have had to have made a reservation in advance. When she spoke to the greeter, her suspicion was confirmed. He led Maria and Tsubasa to a table that seemed much too small for the amount of guests they were going to have.
"Excuse me, I'm wondering if we could get a bigger table, we are expecting more people."
The man looked at her with polite confusion. "But the reservation is only for two."
Tsubasa suddenly had a suspicion of what was going on. She checked her phone and sure enough, there were messages from all the girls canceling for some reason or another. Tsubasa felt annoyed anger pulse in her head.
"I apologize, I think there was a misunderstanding." Tsubasa pushed past him out of the restaurant.
Maria chased after her, calling her name. “Tsubasa, what's wrong?”
"They're trying to set us up." Tsubasa stopped but didn't turn around.
"You mean like on a date?"
"Yes." Tsubasa began walking again and mounted her bike. "Come on, I'll take you home." She turned towards Maria and offered her the helmet she had been wearing earlier.
"What? We could still have dinner, couldn't we?" Maria asked, slightly red-faced.
"No, we can't."
Hurt flashed across Maria's face, and Tsubasa looked away with guilt. "If you don't want to go home, then we're going to see Tachibana."
Maria nodded silently and got on the bike again.
It was clear to Tsubasa that all the girls had planned this together. Arriving at Hibiki's place, they could see through the window, Kirika and Chris talking and laughing.
Not waiting for Maria to get off, Tsubasa stormed towards the apartment and banged on the door.
A timid Hibiki opened the door. "Tsubasa-san? What a surprise, did you finish dinner already?"
"What's your game, Tachibana?" Seeing all of them happily laughing together irritated her more, and she hit the wall near the doorway in frustration.
Hibiki jumped and the chatter inside quickly fell away. "We didn't mean to upset you..."
"Hey, chill out, Senpai. We were trying to help you, you know, like, realize your feelings for Maria." Chris walked up to Hibiki and put a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"I know my feelings for Maria!" Tsubasa felt herself getting louder and louder as she spoke. "Of course, I know I'm in love with her!"
"Then why don't you-"
Tsubasa cut off Chris. "Because we don't get the luxury of a happy life! We can't fall in love when we know any day out here fighting could be our last!"
"Tsubasa-san..."
"Don't you think I want to go on dates with her? Do you think I'm so stupid that I can't see what's in front of me?" Tsubasa's voice cracked. "I don't want to fall in love, not at the risk of losing it again."
"You're really an idiot." Maria spoke quietly. She had joined them some time during Tsubasa's ranting without her noticing.
Tsubasa couldn't say anything in response, instead just balling her fists and gritting her teeth. She could feel tears growing in the corners of her eyes.
"You know, I've also lost people I loved, but I cherish those moments we had together. I never wished that I didn't love them, even after I lost them." Maria walked slowly over to Tsubasa, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "I'd rather love you now, even if someday I lose you."
The tears now flowed freely down Tsubasa's face and gentle sobs bubbled out from her chest. "What if-"
Maria interrupted Tsubasa's response with a kiss. Tsubasa placed her hand on top of the one on her cheek. A warmth spread through her body as Maria pulled her closer. It felt like she was trying to tell her through her body that everything would be alright and Tsubasa wanted to believe it.
Maria pulled back from the kiss and leaned her forehead onto Tsubasa's looking her deeply in the eyes. “No matter what happens, I’ll love you.”
"Then I will love you as well, even if it terrifies me." Tsubasa leaned up and kissed Maria back.
"So are we done with this soap opera now?" Chris asked sharply.
Tsubasa broke away from Maria to respond. "I'm sorry." She blushed, both at the kiss and her own outburst.
"So in the end, our plan was a success!" Kirika shot Hibiki a thumbs up, which the girl returned weakly.
A loud rumble cut the atmosphere of the night and all the girls turned towards Tsubasa, who's face was even redder now.
Hibiki laughed as the last of the tension having dispersed. "Why don't you come in and have dinner with us?"
"I'd like that, thank you." Tsubasa followed Hibiki into her home grabbing Maria's hand as she did.
That moment she swore to herself that she would hold onto this hand, no matter what the future held.