Work Text:
“We will begin our screening.”
Purple meets with rose gold
“Ah…”
Their gazes locked with one another, time seemed to halt as none of them dared to make a move, the both of them getting lost in each other's eyes, admiring its beauty.
The girl beside her seemed to be glowing, it was as if she were one with the stars that they loved admiring with each other. She was a vast contrast to the dark scenery that was surrounding them.
Uika was mesmerised, she never paid attention to Tomori as she was too fixated on someone else .
But now…
This was one of the prettiest things that Uika had ever laid her eyes on, even prettier than the stars that she loved to admire.
Uika wouldn't mind getting lost in her beauty.
Their breaths slowed as they continued to admire one another before Uikareached out to caress Tomori's cheeks, her stare becoming more intense as it traveled lower, pausing at Tomori's lips for a second longer more than she would have liked before returning to the equally intense gaze.
“Uika-chan…”
“Tomori-chan…”
They leaned closer to each other out of curiosity, their breaths in sync and intense. Slowly, their eyes came to a close, their lips hovering against each other.
“Uika-chan…” Tomori whispered, her lips grazing against her own as she spoke.
“Uika-chan…” She repeated in that same soothing voice that Uikahad came to love.
“Uika-chan…” Uika was wondering how Tomori was managing to talk when their lips were locked with one another.
“Uika-chan?” Tomori said a little more worriedly, snapping Uika out of her daze.
Tomori was peering at her with worry, their faces inches away from each other, just like in her dream except Tomori wasn't staring at her the same way.
“Uika-chan?” The ashy haired girl was now hovering over her with even more worry when she didn't get a response for the fifth time. It looked like she was about to bolt out of her chair and ask someone for help. Just the thought of Tomori stumbling her words, struggling to ask someone for help due to her lack of communication skills made Uika chuckle to herself, she found it rather cute especially since it was a contrast to Tomori’s lyrics where she conveyed the way she felt rather beautifully.
Tomori tilted her head in confusion, “Uika-chan?”
“Sorry,” Uika paused, blinking before inhaling deeply, “I was just thinking of something rather…” she paused once more, catching herself looking at Tomori's lips once more when she remembered her dream, “E- ah, funny…” she trailed off in embarrassment.
Feeling her cheeks heating up, Uika grabbed her hat and covered her face with it, pressing herself further down the soft cushion to avoid Tomori's curious gaze. She was silently hoping that Tomori didn't catch her almost saying something else.
“E…?”
And of course she does.
“It's nothing Tomori-chan,” Uika said with a hint of embarrassment, “I think I just need some sleep,” pressing her hat harder onto her face hoping that it would make her embarrassment dissipate, “You can go ahead and continue watching the stars without me.”
“Stars?” Tomori said, confused.
“Mhm, the stars Tomori-chan.”
“Over.”
“Hm?”
“The star show… over…” Tomori whispered, sounding a little… sad?
“Ah!”
Turns out all it took was to be surprised for her embarrassment to go away.
“I'm sorry Tomori-chan!” Uika said while sitting up hurriedly, almost knocking Tomori out in the process, “Sorry!” She apologized again, this time for startling her, “I wasn't paying attention.” Uika clasped hands together while bowing slightly out of guilt, “It won't happen again.”
“Ok.” Tomori responded rather nonchalantly.
Uika sighed in relief before standing, “Well then let's go shall we?” Without even realizing it, Uika offered a hand to Tomori.
A few, what seemed like minutes, awkward seconds passed as Uika awaited for Tomori to stand too. Just as Uika was about to break the silence, the soft spoken girl beat her to it.
“Hand.”
“Hand?” Uika replied, confused, before realizing she had her hand out for Tomori to hold, “Ah, sorry.” She murmured, about to put her hand away in embarrassment before she was abruptly stopped.
“No!” Tomori suddenly exclaimed, grabbing ahold of her hand with hers, staring at it in awe, “Shiny…” Tomori said, her eyes practically shining as she beamed brightly. The girl was clearly lost, gazing at her hands which she claimed was… shiny?
Maybe if this were to happen when they first met, she would've been weirded out, but knowing Tomori, this is how she usually was. Plus, she felt like she shouldn't be one to talk when she viewed Tomori in a similar manner not too long ago in her dream.
The blonde was mortified, she felt her cheeks heating up once more, she didn't know if she should take her hand back or not as Tomori was staring at it a little too intensely, caressing Uika's palms gently as she observed it.
“S-shiny?” The blonde asked, understandably confused.
“Your hands are shining!” Tomori said in amazement, holding her hand up to get a closer look, “Pretty…”
Uika was getting more visibly red, she felt like she would pass out if this went on even longer, so without a thought, she snatched her hand away from Tomori, clutching the wrist of said hand. Her hold on it felt much colder as compared to Tomori's, making her already miss the warmth that she lost.
“Sorry…” Tomori apologized, sounding hurt as she averted her gaze from Uika's, suddenly finding the floor rather interesting.
“No!” Uika exclaimed in panic, her embarrassment disappearing once more, “It's not like that at all Tomori-chan! Not whatever you're thinking! I was just a little surprised that's all!” Uika hurriedly grabbed ahold of Tomori's hand, “See!” She held both their hands up, intertwining them with a smile, “No problem at all!”
That seemed to immediately cheer the girl up as she beamed once more, “No problem!” She repeated after Uika whilst tightening her grip, “No problem!”
“No problem!” Uika responded, matching her enthusiasm.
“No problem!”
Uika giggled sweetly, Tomori could be rather adorable at times.
Adorable?
Uika lightly flushed again at the thought, what was she thinking, no, more importantly, now that she thought of it, why was she having these sinful thoughts and dreams of Tomori?
“Go…” Tomori said suddenly, snapping Uika out of her thoughts.
“Huh?”
All of a sudden, Tomori was quickly gathering her belongings while maintaining a tight hold on Uika's hand.
“H-hey,” Uika stuttered, surprised by Tomori's sudden change in pace. She took a quick scan of the planetarium as the soft spoken girl continued to hurriedly pack her belongings. Based on what she’d seen, they were the only ones left there aside from the cleaners, then it clicked, Tomori was in a hurry to leave because of that reason. “Slow down Tomori-chan, we still have time before they lock up.”
“No…” Uika was wrong.
“No?”
“Uika-chan lyrics…”
“Huh?” Uika tilted her head in confusion,
“Uika-chan… Finished writing Uika-chan's lyrics…”
Uika immediately had a flashback of what she had said to Tomori after the star show a week ago.
“Tomori-chan, these are wonderful! Maybe you can write a song for me too.”
She was obviously joking…
But now that she thought of it, Tomori wasn't the type of person to understand a joke unless it were to be explicitly stated.
Before she had a chance to respond, she felt a strong tug that forced her to start speed-walking, “T-tomori-chan wait,” she called out frantically, alas, her words fell into deaf ears.
“Tomori-chan,” she repeated again, but soon she realized that it was no use. Tomori was a stubborn girl. Once she had set her mind onto something, she would be determined to fulfil it immediately, and this was one of the many examples. Which was rather surprising coming from a reserved girl like her.
Uika took the time to observe her surroundings as she followed Tomori from behind. Even though they were walking at a faster than usual pace, it wouldn't stop her from taking in the view.
Looking at the gigantic planetarium projector, a wave of nostalgia hit Uika as she remembered the first time they met again after the whole ordeal with Ave Mujica.
Was that when all these weird thoughts and dreams of Tomori started?
Uika jolted a little, surprised by her own thoughts,
No…
Uika looked at the uniform cladded girl that was dragging her towards their usual spot– the elongated stairs that adorned multicoloured hydrangeas in between the dual-way steps. Even though she was once an empty shell back then, she had always appreciated how well taken care of these flowers were, making them look extremely beautiful whenever she went there.
It was when…
Uika tilted her head in confusion, watching as Tomori plucked out one of the hydrangeas with the utmost care. She then turned to face Uika, her eyes burning with determination yet, her hands were slightly shook with uncertainty as she reached out to Uika, gently tucking her soft blonde strands behind her ears as she placed the flower on it.
“For you,” Tomori whispered gently, her face scrunching into some sort of weird emotion which Uika couldn't quite understand before Tomori settled with a sad attempt of a smile– it looked extremely awkward and unnatural.
“S-smile.”
“Huh?”
“Uika-chan isn't smiling,” Tomori paused, her hand dropping from Uika's hair as she pointed towards her own face, changing her smile to a frown, supposedly imitating hers, though Tomori's seemed more like an adorable pout. “Uika-chan looks like she's worried about something.”
At that point, Uika and Tomori had already met up a few times to stargaze at the planetarium and discuss their shared interests of stars and songwriting.
“Oh! Don't worry Tomori-chan,” she let out an awkward laugh, “Just some personal issues that I'm currently dealing with, it's not really a big deal, not big at all.” She lied, after all, that's a big part of her personality.
“Lie.”
“Hm?”
“Uika-chan is lying,” Tomori said with a real frown this time, “Uika-chan…” she hesitated before continuing, “Doesn't trust me enough to talk about it?”
I should be the one that you don't trust
“No! It's not like that!” She hurriedly said to prevent the girl's feelings from being hurt any further. “It's not that big of a deal! Really! I-”
“Tell me Uika-chan” Tomori cut her off, “I… want to know more about you Uika-chan.”
And just like that, Uika immediately opened up about how she's currently experiencing writer’s block which was stressing her out the past few days as Ave Mujica had an upcoming concert in a week. She didn't know what made her open up about it easily. Even though it was the most minor inconvenience, Uika would just bottle it in and mentally berate herself over it. Maybe it was the first time someone actually wanted to get to know her not as Uika from sumimi– not as Doloris from Ave Mujica, but for her, herself, just… her.
“Uika-chan smiling… prettier…” Tomori suddenly said as Uika was jotting down ideas for her new song with a newly found inspiration all thanks to the ashy haired girl beside her.
That was the first time Uika felt her heart skip a beat.
Maybe she wasn't an empty shell after all…
Unbeknownst to Tomori, Uika would keep the hydrangea that was given to her safely in a wooden box even though it was all dried up as it was a memory she held dear to her.
Ever since then, Uika had been getting all sorts of weird thoughts and dreams of Tomori.
Do i…?
“Uika-chan…” Tomori whispered, snapping Uika back to reality once more. The both of them were already sitting down on the steps which Uika didn't notice as she was too lost in her thoughts.
She turned to look at the girl beside her who was now clutching her usual lyric book tightly.
Have feelings for her?
Uika blushed furiously at her newfound realization. She felt as though she was going into cardiac arrest with how fast her heart was beating right now. All of her thoughts seemed hazy now as her mind raced, trying to process all of the overwhelming emotions that were swirling inside of her. She clutched her chest tightly, her breath shallow while silently hoping that Tomori wouldn't notice how flustered she was.
“For you…” she whispered shyly, her gaze casted downwards as she offered her book to Uika who was still extremely flushed with a surprised look as she still hasn't really processed the fact that she had romantic feelings for Tomori.
Why?
Uika hesitated for a bit before accepting it in the end. After all, her dumb joke led her to be in this situation in the first place and it would be really rude of her to not even spare a single glance after Tomori probably worked really hard to put a lot of thought into writing these lyrics solely for her.
Uika was nervous to say the least, at the same time she was excited, curious about how Tomori would express her feelings in the lyrics that were written for her. Carefully, Uika turned the pages, skimming through each one until she found the page that she was looking for.
For Uika-chan. It wrote.
Her heart skipped a beat upon reading it, her fingers lightly traced the page, observing the carefully written words. She noticed the smudges and faint remnants of eraser marks on the page, a strong indication that Tomori had changed her writing multiple times before finalizing it.
Uika let out a faint smile, ‘ Tomori-chan must've put a lot of thought into it.’ Way more than she thought Tomori would. With that in mind, she began to carefully read the lyrics.
Ah…
This is why…
–
“Tomori-chan…” Uika breathed out, her eyes brimming with tears. Tomori immediately panicked, the girl beside her was crying after reading her lyrics. There were a thousand things going on in her mind– ranging from bad to even worse which greatly overwhelmed her, causing the ashy haired girl to be on the verge of tears. She was lost in her own world trying to think of ways to apologize to the blonde beside her, thinking that she had greatly upset her.
“This-”
“...rry” Tomori cut her off.
Uika blinked in confusion. “Come again?” she responded, her voice soft as she wiped away her own tears while trying to make sense of Tomori's words, unable to hear what she had said clearly.
“Sorry…” Tomori repeated, a little louder this time, however her voice was shaky. Upon hearing this, Uika immediately whipped her head to look at Tomori.
The ashy haired girl’s lips were quivering. She had her arms crossed over her chest, as if it were to shield her from being berated and to bring her a sense of comfort. Her beautiful eyes that were usually glossy as it was filled with wonder were now glossy due to tears. Uika's chest clenched tightly at the sight.
She was scared.
“Tomori-chan? What's wrong?”
“I-im sorry.” Tomori repeated, her sobs getting louder, “I…” she sniffled before continuing, “I made you cry… I made you upset…” covering her face with her hands, “with my lyrics.”
Uika's eyes widened, she was shocked to say the least, “Tomori-chan!” She exclaimed loudly, “It's not like that Tomori-chan!” She reached out, moving Tomori's hands away to uncover her tear-stained face, “Tomori-chan…” She whispered while bringing her hands up towards Tomori's face, gently wiping her tears away with her thumbs.
Uika couldn't help but think that Tomori looked rather adorable with her cheeks slightly squished.
Not the right time Uika.
“You got it all wrong Tomori-chan,” Uika let out a gentle smile, “Your lyrics did make me cry-”
“See-”
“-In a good way.” Uika continued despite being cut off, “Honestly Tomori-chan,” she sighed while continuing to gently stroke Tomori's cheeks, “I know you wrote these lyrics for me to read about how you feel,” She paused, inhaling deeply before continuing, “But, at the same time, I feel like I could resonate with it… Tomori-chan, you described my feelings perfectly.”
“So… Uika-chan isn’t upset?”
Uika’s eyes crinkled as her smile widened, “Not at all Tomori-chan, quite the opposite actually.” Uika moved her hands away from Tomori’s cheeks to her lips, using both of her thumbs to pull each corner of Tomori’s lips up into a smile, “So don’t cry, Tomori-chan.”
Tomori beamed upon hearing her words.
‘Cute…’
Out of instinct, Uika squeezed Tomori’s cheeks really tightly.
“U-uika-chan, that hurts.” The ashy haired girl managed to let out as Uika squeezed her cheeks. “Ah!” Uika pulled back as she immediately flushed in embarrassment, “Sorry,” she apologized, tucking a hair strand behind her ear as a sad attempt to calm herself down.
“Oof!”
Before Uika could react, she felt herself being engulfed into a hug. Confused, Uika peered at the girl that was now hugging her. Her eyes were tightly shut, her cheeks red, seemingly embarrassed. This was something she wouldn't usually do after all.
“Thank you, Uika-chan.”
“For what?”
“You told me that a song would reach people…” Tomori paused momentarily, trying to choose her next words wisely before continuing, “These lyrics… are my thoughts… but… Uika-chan, for once… I didn’t write this for myself, it’s for you Uika-chan… It’s not for you to read about how I feel… It’s…for you to understand… how I truly feel about you Uika-chan.”
“Tomori…”
“It was your words that helped me Uika-chan, MyGO too… if it weren’t for you… MyGO wouldn’t be here now…” Tomori looked up to her with a small smile, “Thank you… Uika-chan.”
Uika blinked, stunned by the genuine warmth in her voice and for a moment, the world seemed to quiet down, she could only hear the sound of her heart beating loudly against her chest. The blonde hadn’t realized just how much she needed to hear those words up until now. It was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders, one that she didn’t even know was there.
Tomori’s eyes softened as she noticed the change in Uika’s expression, sensing the shift in the air. The silence between the two of them felt heavy yet comfortable. Tomori reached out to her, gently placing her hand on Uika’s cheek. “Uika-chan… really helped me…” she added quietly, her voice filled with sincerity.
“Tomori…” Uika exhaled, she wasn’t even aware that she was holding in her breath. She felt tears welling up at the corner of her eyes once again. For once, Uika felt acknowledged, someone finally showed appreciation towards her. In order to hide the fact that she was about to cry, Uika reciprocated Tomori’s hug, dragging her down to lay above her as she laid on the floor, tears now streaming down her face. Uika tried her best to not let her sniffling sound too loud, however, it clearly isn't working.
Uika appreciated the fact that Tomori didn’t question her when she can very obviously be heard crying. Instead, Tomori chose to nestle her head comfortably into Uika’s neck, settling in as she snuggled closely.
“Tomori-chan… Thank you.” Uika whispered minutes after she had calmed herself down, “I feel the same way.”
When she didn’t get a response, she peeked at the girl that was now peacefully asleep on top of her. With a smile, Uika gently brushed Tomori’s bangs away from her face before proceeding to gently stroke her head as she looked at the starry night sky. It was beautiful, just like the ashy haired girl that was laying on top of her.
An Ursa Minor…
The constellation that was in the sky when they had first met was now visible once more. It was crazy to think about how the both of them had come so far ever since they had first met. Tomori changed, and so did she. Uika never once thought that she would grow this close to Tomori back then, yet alone develop, which she had recently discovered– romantic feelings for her.
She chuckled, to think that she used to view Tomori as an enemy back then, it was something she regretted a lot now knowing that Tomori only viewed her in a positive light while she, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.
Uika closed her eyes, sleep lulling her in,
She wouldn’t trade these precious moments, even for the world.