Work Text:
It probably all starts from an argument.
It was so small, so insignificant, that she herself can't even remember anymore
Was it the colour of our supposed matching outfit? Was it the type of tea that she preferred? Was it the time we were out shopping together and couldn't decide which cute hat to buy or was it just…
“...tik…tik…tik..”
Maybe it is all of those things rolling and rolling on top of each other until they hit the breaking point.
.
..
“I couldn't believe you!”
“And I just fucking can't either!”
“Just… please just leave”
“Oh come on now, seriously?”
She turns her face toward her, eyes serious and grim
“Yes”
Only a firm response was given out
“Can we just talk through it like adults for once?”
She fell silent
Hand trembling and yet the soft voice speak
“Please, Kronii... just leave for today before I…”
Her voice started to shake, her hand gripping the table almost as if restraining herself from launching forward
Even though she know the girl in front of her isn't like that
Seeing her all like this, she really doesn't have any other choice is there?
“...okay, alright fine..”
She looks back at her eyes to eyes
“Just... just give me a call when you're ready to talk, okay?”
She turned out of the door, not knowing that would be the last time she would ever lay a glance at this very room
And such call will never come.
It had been months now, memories so vivid, so clear this time that she wished she'd forgotten that instead
Hand above her face, supporting what feel like the whole body weight, her existential weight
With only the small lamp to illuminate the stack of paperwork in front of her, the room is completely dark and with Kronii sitting there like a dead person
Even though her personal relationship has gone sore, she still has work to do
With her
“...tik…tik…tik..”
Sometimes she feel thankful for the modern age technology for letting us work without having to see each other in person
And other times she cursed it.
No voice, only messages
That’s how they communicate now
Every attempt to “talk” met with silence; anything that was not related to the work fell on deaf ears
Even though they work together, the only “words” that they exchange are “hello” and “goodbye”
“Oh hey, you two”
The professor motioned with his hand, calling us two
“Your work together last semester was really impressive. I’ll be looking forward to your group work this year all right? Keep up the good work!”
The professor laughed, placing his hand on our shoulders, apparent that he never noticed our tension as we even struggled to finish the project last semester together after the “accident” that happened.
And of course us, through gritted teeth can only say “yes” as even our classmates watch with worry, It was that *apparent* that everyone else in the class could sense it but perhaps our professional face worked a bit too well when presenting to the professor..
“...tik…tik…tik..”
The sound of a pen constantly clicking on the table is almost therapeutic, but Kronii's mind right now is currently elsewhere, looking past her pile of work
“..just where did I go wrong..”
The memories came crashing up
A hand suddenly grabbed my face
“What?”
A girl with green hair came into my view
A hand that gently caressing..
“I don't know..you..i guess it’s because….you just look so cute”
“Oh Fauna…”
Kronii turned away her red-as-a-tomato face as Fauna still cupping her face
She can still feel her soft and warm mitten even if she tries to escape it
“..Kronii, look at me”
Her soft voice speak up
quickly giving up at the sound of that
“...yes?”
Fauna doesn't answer but smiles lovingly at her instead
“.... I really can't win against you, huh?”
She smiled back
How long ago was it?
What are they even doing?
Grabbing vegan ice cream on the cold winter evening?
Why would they do such thing?
She can't help but smile
Why?
Why indeed
“...tik…tik…ping”
The ticking sound came to a stop as she snapped out of her wave of memories
“Ugh, what is it”
She grabbed her phone, looking at the one disturbing her brooding moment
Bae :
Omg
Kronii
Did you see the news
puzzling she replied
Kronii :
What news?
Within second
Bae :
omg
fauna
open
her page
rightnow
!!!
Her heart dropped at the sight of her name
Page?
Her Facebook page?
Kronii quickly scrambled her phone try to open her barely used Facebook homepage
Her post was right up top
Hello everyone!
how is everybody doing? I hope you have all been well
actually, I'm here today to talk about something and inform everyone about stuff
But to keep it brief, by the end of this month I have to transfer out of the country, which unfortunately means I won't be able to continue the rest of the semester and possibly next year, I’m sorry in advance to all the friends who have kindly partnered with me in the lab or project, we will talk later but I’ll do my best to assist everyone the best I can with the time I have left, again I apologize for informing everyone on such short notice, some of the elements is beyond my control, but nevertheless
the reason wh-
“tik..tik.”
Without thinking, she rises up dashing out of her room
Leaving the sound of pencil dropping into the floor behind
“Oh hey Kronii”
Irys who is minding her own business in the living room, shot up a greeting to Kronii before her face turned sour after seeing that dead serious expression
“Kronii where a- hey- wait Kronii HEY!--”
She can hear “What going on?” as she grabs her coat and make a run for the door
Bae probably will tell Irys soon anyway
Before she know it, she is now full-on sprinting from the dome toward campus
with no particular spot in her blank mind right now
but she only know one thing-
“...Fauna”
It was also a cold winter evening
Scouting around her potential new university as an excuse to get away from home
Sitting down on the bench under the bald tree
not a single trace of fallen leaves left behind
She pulls out a cigarette, lighting it as of course there's no better time to smoke than this occasion
Leaning back against the wooden frame, head up—looking at the cloudless sky
wondering to herself yet again... What does she hope to accomplish here?
in high school, having friends that basically can be counted on half a hand... and all being in different classes no less, she's an embodiment of a loner
with nothing to her name and not wanting to disappoint her parents, she studies and studies.
and so…years in high school pass in a flash, just like that, going through the motions.
And now she found herself sitting here, cig in hand, I guess the upside of being the perfect student in school is she can choose to enroll in any uni and who know this might just be the one
But even then she still not even really sure what to do after all of this
Is it all to escape from her parents? Was she hoping to have some sort of re-debut in this college life? She’d be a new person everything would go well and she going to have a lot of friends!
…Ugh is her major even what she really want?
Looking around mindlessly, she suddenly spotted a green-haired woman from quite a way talking to people, quite a unique hair colour she noted
After they finish talking, for some reason she feel like that green-haired woman is turning and staring in her direction
“..nah she probably just looking at someone else”
Kronii think while turning and looking around to see if there is anyone
there isn't
So she looking ahead again…
“...Is she walking towards me?”
Yes, she is, fast
“Oh, what-”
Say quietly under her breath, she quickly put out her cig, covering it with white snow
Suddenly the green-haired woman now is right in front of her, a little bit out of breath
“Hey, were you in EC-457 this morning?”
“um..yeah?”
“o-oh good I didn't get the wrong person..”
She went quiet for a bit, recomposing herself while Kronii still quite stunned by all this
the green-haired woman finally looking at her face, noticing
“oh! ah um i'm sorry if I’ve startled you..umm I just ahh wanted to say hi to everyone who might be my classmates! y-yeah! just wanted to say hi…totally nothing else”
green-haired woman studies Kronii expression for a bit before continuing
“o-oh or are you just there to look around? That's fine too! ah...no pressure or anything!”
Kronii was honestly still too stunned to speak, Is this girl some sort of weird extrovert who is just too excited to talk to people or is it some sort of scheme of some professor forcing this poor girl to lure people into their classes?
Why her though?
Focus up, Kronii cleared her throat before replying.
“ah yeah I still haven't really decided on it yet, but everything there does seem pretty cool yeah..”
“Ohh, I see that fine too, it would be wise not to rush things. consider your options, yeah”
“..yeah”
silence sitting in between them, the blue woman who still baffles and a green-haired woman who stand there awkwardly
“ah um…” She looked around for a second before a bright idea came to her mind
“OH, I'm Ceres Fauna. By the way, nice to meet you!”
green-haired woman—Ceres Fauna extended out her hand
..oh right name
“I’m… Ouro Kronii”
Kronii finally stood up and shook her hand
She stared at Fauna with her fluffy scarf pulled up to her cheek, her breath coming out in this white puffs, in this cold winter, somehow she just looked so warm..
Fauna speak up
“So uh.. I gotta go soon, but maybe you want to go grab a tea or coffee or something Maybe with me? uuhh totally fine if you don't but if you're not busy or anything mind accompanying me? umm uhh I’m not forcing you or anything of course”
“..gosh” Fauna turned away and said the last part under her breath
“..uh yeah sure, I got sometimes”
Kronii can't help but smile as this bizarre scene plays out in front of her
“WAIT really?”
Kronii just start walking forward
“Well, where should we go?” she said slyly
“O! There's a cafe near the entrance maybe we can try it there”
“Alright deal”
Fauna smile
And Kronii left thinking to herself maybe the lady of luck was really smiling upon her today, it was not even her first day, but..
Well, for an introvert like her who can't even remember the last time she talked to total strangers she think she did pretty well, can't help but smiling to herself
Of course, it's the same cold winter, under the same tree, at the same bench
but no one was there
She wasn't exactly sure why her legs brought her here
It's here that they first met
That was 3 years ago
Time flies fast, doesn't it?
“God damn it”
Now is not the time
Catching her breath for a bit, she started running again
Left the lonely bench
The place where everything started behind.
“Who are ya staring at”
The red-haired girl who sitting like she own the place asking her
Well, we are still in the introduction period, so i guess it's whatever
“No one”
“...is that so?”
That was a lie of course because less than 10 seconds later, the green-haired lady across the room noticed her and gave her a small wave
Well, she has no choice but to give one back is she
“..ohhh quite a pretty girl you got there, ain't it”
so much for that, she think
“Well, you gotta introduce her to me sometime now”
“Well, how about right after this class hm Ms.bae?”
Hakos “Bae” Baelz von the third… or that is what she told her
After forcefully making her way in—again, what with people in university she think, first is fauna now it's her—but her introduction vibes are more of a dudebro just tryna find some people to hang out with, which the unfortunate victims happened to be her
But she doesn't really mind, so she guesses she can say Bae is her second friend here
“That would be perfect~~”
“Yeah, yeah”
As for Fauna, she still can't put her finger on why she seems to be so friendly with her, it's the first week but they met up a couple of times already
She thought Fauna was just being friendly as Fauna claimed, when they first met.
But she doesn't see her around other people much..how curious indeed
Kronii stare at Fauna, who goes back to concentrating on the class, cute glasses on her face
…Yeah, Fauna is pretty..
“..heh”
Kronii immediately turned back to see Bae smile smugly at her
“Dude stop that, that was creepy as hell”
“Ohhh no more than you that keep stealing glances at the pretty lady?”
“Ugh..”
But well was that really her fault tho?
Of course, the class was empty
Everything has moved due to the restructuring
Not a single thing left signifies the room of their first year
Where everything was fun
Where everything was warm
As we shyly look forward to talking to each other after class
Where we met our friends
Make our bond having a blast
Suffer through studying together
Talking, playing, and walking to each class.
Now the whole floor is empty
Nothing but a cold, dusty room in front of her eyes
Only blue light slipping the closed curtain
She…wasn't exactly sure why she is here
Everyone has moved to the new building already, if Fauna went to talk to someone in the department, it wouldn't be here
Maybe it's just a habit..
She decided to catch her breath and sit down beside the wall
Just then something caught her eye.
“...oh”
“Close your eyes”
“Oh okay..”
She felt something in her hair
“Andd there..wow it does look cute on you”
“Eh?”
Touching her hair, she can feel the shape
“..a hair clip?”
“Yeah! I always see you brushing your hair out of the way but never really understand why you didn't have like a hair clip or something, so I just decided to buy one myself!”
“See, it's very cute isn't it?”
Fauna handed me a hand mirror
It was a green hair clip in the shape of a leaf with yellow flowers attached at the end
“Ohhh.. isn't it kinda too fancy on me tho?”
She blurted it out
“Noooo, it look so good on you!”
As she turn, Fauna is smiling at her
“Ah..”
Those golden eyes stared at her, she felt like she could almost see the reflection
That slight blush on her face
It all just all feel so warm…
She quickly turned back
“T-thank you Fauna.”
“You're welcome!”
She giggled.
That same green hair clip is now in her hand
The very same one she thought she had lost forever
“Just falling through the crack, huh?”
Clipping the back onto her hair
Wiping off the small tears
She stood up and ran again
It's a little long, but this time she'll go straight to the source..
“Oh dear, be careful!”
They slowly climb the stairs
“I'm fineee see!”
Kronii throws a thumbs up and a face full of smile at Fauna while getting carried by her in the other hand
“Alright, alright hang on tight now”
They stop in front of the door
“ohh where is this”
“.. it's my room”
“Oh heck yeah woo let's goooo!”
“Why are you so excited?”
Fauna said with a giggle while grabbing for her keys
“Well, I'll be staying a night with a pretty girl What is there not to be happy about~~”
“Gosh, you are super drunk”
They go inside, leaving the cold wind behind
“Alright, you sit there!”
“Yes, ma'amm…”
Kronii mumbled with seemingly all her energy drained out the moment Fauna let her down on the couch with an electric fireplace in front
Fauna grabbed a blanket near her, trunking this drunk girl in
“I'll make us some hot cocoa”
“Mmhm”
Fighting to stay up, Kronii just looked in front of her it was just a screen of a fire with the sound of crackling burning wood but there was no real heat to be felt
“Ah, if only we knew you’d be this weak to alcohol but well not that the other is much better either”
“mhm..”
struggling to keep her eyes open with only Fauna's voice ringing out that made her try to stay awake
“But good thing me and Sana were there, right?”
“People who don't drink sure can talk”
“and I'm surprised people as drunk as you still can”
Fauna giggles
“Here”
Kronii accepted a mug from Fauna, staring at it in a daze
Fauna sitting beside her, sipping her own mug
Kronii following in her example
“It's good”
“Right? I don't usually drink them but I think it's perfect for time like these, I'm glad I still have some”
“Mhm”
Two girls sitting together starting to warm up
Kronii now staring at her empty mug
“Lemme take that” Fauna extended her hand
“Why are you so nice to me?”
Kronii suddenly speak up
“Eh?”
“..i mean why are you doing all of this”
“...why?..I mean that because we're…”
Fauna still quite stunned by Kronii's word
“...friend, right?”
“.. friend huh”
Kronii finally handed her mug while Fauna still wasn't sure what to make of this
“Kronii are you okay?”
Fauna slowly put down the mugs
“Woah!”
That's when Kronii suddenly lunged at her
They both fall onto the couch with their backs against
Kronii is hugging her
“Kronii!”
Stunning by all this fauna looking down to see Kronii, full face down to her body
“.. just why..are you..so nice..to me…”
Her voice trembling before going full sobbing
“Oh Kronii…”
Fauna slowly patted Kronii head while her hug kept getting tighter
“.. I don't know what you were going through before Kronii but right now…it's okay you're okay Kronii”
Patting her back now too, she only sobbed harder
“It's okay…It will be okay…”
Two girls now lying down together on the couch on this cold winter night embrace each other, sharing their warmth
Fauna, who keep patting Kronii, reassuring her
Sobbing that is getting quieter until it eventually..stop
Quite an embarrassing memory isn't it? Slowly going up the elevator, Kronii thinking that to herself
The nervousness is getting to her, the world feel like it's spinning and doesn't stop and before she know it
She arrived at the Fauna floor
Looking out at the empty hall, she slowly walks out
What can she even say? What thing does she need to apologize for? What should be first, the first word that she should have said
She might have started running out without thinking, but now that the reality is setting in
What does she even want to say to her?
And now she's in front of the door
Still has not a single word in her mind
She decided to just knock anyway
After all, what she wanted right now was to just..
Cracking sound on the door
And swing open
But what she see right in front of her isn't fauna but
“Mumei?”
“..look who has crawled back”