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“Hey sweet thang, wassup?”
Hair that reminded one of wheat fields and eyes that shone like rubies. Izumi Yuki was undoubtedly mesmerized by them. While it was true that Ruka’s actions often left Yuki at a loss for what to do, at the same time, she couldn't tire of them. It was as if she had been poisoned with a toxin she had become hopelessly addicted to.
“Are you hitting on me again?”
Sighing with an air of defeat, Yuki moved to make space for Ruka on the bench, and then went back to tinkering with her mePad. This had recently become a routine in Yuki's life. She would be sitting on the bench when Ruka would approach her with a cheesy pickup line, Yuki would give the same retort every time, which Ruka would dismiss in favor of sitting down with Yuki, and then Yuki would go back to her work while Ruka randomly chatted with her. At first, Yuki would tell Ruka to go to others instead of staying with her. But when Ruka insisted on staying, she didn't want to force her to leave. It wasn't as if she hated having Ruka next to her.
On the contrary, she couldn't figure out why Ruka would want to stay with someone like her when all she did was play with her mePad. It wasn't as if she could provide useless trivia like Tojo. She wasn't cute either like Asakura or Kunimi. And she lacked the liveliness of Aikawa and Karen-chan. Simply put, she was dull—Just an old hacker obsessed with computers. The polar opposite of Ruka who shone under the light. Sometimes Yuki couldn't help the instinct to move away lest she melted due to the accompanying heat. The distance between her and Ruka was never meant to be closed. Yet, Ruka seemed to seek her out and maybe she even enjoyed her company. It puzzled her to no extent.
“Hey…” Slowly, hesitantly, Yuki opened her mouth.
“Yeah?” Ruka's answer was as nonchalant as ever, her usual carefree look adorning her face.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“What do you mean?”
“It's probably too late to be asking this question, but we're just sitting in silence while I'm on my mePad. Isn't that boring for you?”
Ruka blinked a few times as if the question Yuki had asked was too difficult for her to comprehend.
“Of course, I’m always waiting for you to chat with me but…I like watching you play with ASS.”
“STOP! Don't put it that way! What if someone hears you and misunderstands things!”
Yuki turned bright red as she tried to stop Ruka from speaking another word. It was a mistake to have asked her.
“See, this is what I mean.”
“Huh?” Yuki lifted the head she was holding in shame and watched the curves of Ruka's mouth twist into a playful grin.
“Your reactions are fun.”
Yuki was stupefied. After a few seconds, she straightened herself and shifted her gaze away from Ruka and back to her mePad. She could still feel her cheeks burning but she tried to distract herself. She couldn't let herself play into Ruka's hands that easily.
“Wait, are you mad?”
“Not really.”
“Then look at me.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Reluctantly, Yuki looked. And of course, there she was. Kayamori Ruka. The glittering celebrity. The girl she had ignorantly approached during the opening ceremony. Her squad's surprisingly capable captain. The dazzling light in her perpetually dim life. But she couldn't afford to look too much and her eyes wavered.
“No, don't look away.”
She felt hands on both cheeks holding them in place, blocking her sight so that all she could see was Ruka. She feared that she might go blind even without staring at a screen all day—If Ruka's sharp gaze on her didn't melt her first. She was going to open her mouth to protest but the expression on Ruka's face made her hesitate.
Finally, the other girl's features relaxed again and she smiled—The softest smile Yuki had seen on her face.
“This makes me happy.”
Yuki felt her already unsteady heartbeat rise at those words.
“I… I see,” All she could do was stutter out a reply and then shift her eyes again. She hadn't really understood what Ruka meant. She had wanted to ask her to clarify. But for some reason, she was afraid of knowing. She could take a guess but she didn't want to go there—No, thinking that Ruka could even harbor such affections for her would be a mistake. There was nothing to be attained by desiring Yuki. There was nothing she could give Ruka. It pained her heart but she never dwelled on it and never planned to do so.
“I have to go now!” Yuki exclaimed after separating herself from Ruka's grasp.
“Huh? Where?”
“H-Higuchi’s place! She had asked for some help. I just remembered.”
Ruka frowned.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“What? No, I…really have to go!”
“That’s not what I'm… Well, whatever. I don't care.”
Seeing the pout sitting atop her face, Yuki couldn't help but think that Ruka looked like a displeased child. But she had no time to worry about that. Her thoughts were a flurry. And while a small part of her hoped that Ruka would stop her from going, even if that meant being blinded by her light, her instincts screamed at her to run. And so that was what she did. Not taking the chance to spare a second glance, Yuki stood up and walked briskly in the direction of the lab.
Watching the figure walk away, Ruka placed her hands on either side of her own face and let out a soft sigh. Yuki's cheeks had been warm. And that warmth still hadn't left her hands. Yuki seemed to think that she was as cold as ice. Yet she radiated such warmth when she was with Ruka.
“Oh, Ruka-san. You're alone today?”
Looking up, Ruka saw her team’s intel agent staring at her. She had a book in her hand—Most likely the third or fourth volume of That Time I Became a Shut-in Despite Being Reborn in a Parallel Universe. She wondered if Tsukasa had come to ask Yuki directly about the difficulty level of the volume. Then maybe Yuki had left at the right time…
“Sorry, Tsukasacchi. Yukki just went to see Higumin.”
“Oh my...Then that explains the look on your face,” Tsukasa's eyes twinkled and she giggled. “Well, Izumi-san usually reserves her special warmth for just you, so I understand why you might feel that way.”
Warmth.
“Isn’t it funny? She seems to think that she's as cold as ice. But she gives out so much warmth when she's with me,” Ruka rubbed her hands together as she thought back to how Yuki's cheeks had felt. She remembered her flustered expression, her red cheeks, and the way she looked at Ruka as if she was her whole world. No matter what Ruka did, Yuki could never truly look away. Wasn't it natural to want to seek such a gaze and desire to monopolize it?
“Well, Izumi-san is snow after all, not ice,” Tsukasa said with a knowing look. “As cold as it may seem, snow traps heat and provides shelter for animals.”
“Really? I didn't know that. But…” Ruka suddenly became aware of a desire that she didn't know existed within her. “Do I have to be just another animal sharing her warmth?”
Tsukasa seemed surprised at the question Ruka had voiced without much thought. The girl's eyes were twinkling again and Ruka wondered if she should have perhaps taken more time to understand her feelings before sharing them with someone. It felt like she had seen something Ruka had missed.
But before Ruka could say anything more, Tsukasa slowly smiled. “Then it looks like you’ll have to make her melt.”
Make her melt… That didn't sound bad.
Ruka's lips started mirroring the smile on Tsukasa's face. It might be too soon for that now. Doubly so when Ruka was only the moon and had no light of her own. She could only go slow. But if Yuki was willing to accept her light, Ruka had made up her mind that she wanted to shine it on her.