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“No- Stop it!”
“No you’re doing this, Aya. Today.”
Aya groaned in frustration while her friends pushed her towards the edge of the crowd. They were at the campus summer festival that hosted many local musicians and offered a variety of food stalls, activities and services, one of which Narita, Chizuru and Mao were dragging her to, to her dismay.
“You’ve wanted to get that piercing for ages, Aya.”
“And this one won’t purge your wallet!”
Aya failed to put up any real strength against her friends’ advances because she knew this was the perfect chance to finally get that conch piercing she had wanted to get since high school. Giddiness was already pooling inside her stomach, betraying her.
What her friends did not know, though, was that the piercer under the pavilion was the person she’d been having a crush on for the past semester since attending the same class; and Aya was scared. Mitsuki was a charming person, attracting the attention of people around them without even realising, Aya assumed, because Mitsuki never seemed to pay it any mind. Aya often found herself among these people, drawn to her, her eyes unknowingly following Mitsuki to their seat and gushing over their unfairly good sense of fashion. Despite having been in the same class, Aya never even had an opportunity to talk to them, with the both of them being seated at opposite ends of the classroom and missing each other just barely in group work. She could not imagine being able to utter proper sentences in front of Mitsuki and having her attention on herself. Although she knew that they had things in common to talk about ever since she had spotted Mitsuki wearing tour and fan merch of bands Aya loved listening to.
But Aya had always felt like there was a line she couldn’t cross, that held her back from taking risks. Risks such as getting that harmless piecing, or talking to the person she was crushing on. Risks that implied succumbing to her deepest wishes and truths that diverged so much from the idea people have had of her for the longest time. It had only been recently when Aya had introduced her friends to the music she liked and what made them plan to attend the festival in the first place.
So when she stood a few paces away from the pavilion she had been eyeing, but dreaded to approach, she felt positively defeated. There was no way out of this, and she did not want to run away anymore. “Okay, I’m doing it.”
Loud cheers from her friends attracted glances from people around them which made Aya squirm and almost ditch the whole spiel entirely after all. But she wanted this. She wanted more than just the piercing, but to take a chance to get close to Mitsuki and, possibly, talk as well.
Aya took a deep breath, shook her shoulders to straighten her posture and waved at her friends as she joined the short line in front of the pavilion’s entrance.
She was third in line and got to glimpse at the interior of the pavilion through the curtains, when she saw Mitsuki and another student doing their work. Aya’s stomach did a weird somersault when reality hit her properly about what was about to happen. Mitsuki was wearing their usual pair of black cuffed jeans she probably owned a few of, black loafers with red socks and a band shirt with cut-off sleeves that accentuated the lines of her shoulders and arms. Their hair was tied back with a hair clip, black coal rimmed her eyes with red eyeshadow which made her eyes look even sharper than usual. Aya hadn’t seen Mitsuki wear makeup in class a lot, but this style suited them perfectly.
When it was her turn to go in, Aya took a deep breath before entering. “Hi.” Her voice came out a little cracked and she internally winced at herself. When Mitsuki turned to look at her she smiled easily, “Hey, there. What can we do for you today?”
Aya smiled back, she was going to be okay. “I was hoping to get a conch piercing done here, is that alright?” The other student, whom Aya recognised to be Hitoka from a different class they went to together, answered positively and invited her to sit down while Mitsuki turned to prepare everything. Aya watched Mitsuki put on gloves and arrange the tools while their back was turned to her. Her hair was falling loosely from the clip, sticking to the back of their neck from humidity. Mitsuki moved with such practiced precision that Aya did not realise she was staring and starving to notice every of her moves when Hitoka approached her. Aya’s hands started sweating and she averted her eyes, answering Hitoka’s questions on health conditions and whether she had eaten and drunk enough water. She had.
Right as they finished talking, Aya noticed Mitsuki leaning against the table of tools, waiting patiently on them. “Hitoka, I can take over from here. You go take your break now, I’ll join you later.”
Aya watched Hitoka glance at Mitsuki with a crooked smile and chuckle, “Alright, alright. If you wanna get rid of me so badly.” She laughed at Mitsuki’s half-hearted glare as she collected her things and left too fast for Aya to prepare herself to be alone with Mitsuki. She was still watching Hitoka retreat when Mitsuki cleared their throat.
“So, is it going to be on the left or on the right?” Aya took another deep breath before replying, “On the right.” Mitsuki smiled, “I like that.”
Aya felt her brain short-circuit for a second, heat rushing to her head, and questioned why Mitsuki would say something like that. Aya laughed lightly, “Thank you?”
Mitsuki laughed as well and turned back to pick up the tools they needed, “I think it would look good on you.” They angled their head slightly to look at her, with what Aya would assess to be an earnest smile, like she really meant it. Another somersault of warmth lingered in her stomach when she returned the smile, ducking her head shyly.
Aya’s breath hitched when Mitsuki finally approached her, even less prepared to be literally face-to-face with her. “I need to get a look at your ear for the positioning of the piercing, is it okay if I touch you?”
Aya couldn’t do anything else but nod, and Mitsuki nodded back with assurance. Aya kept still, body unnaturally rigid as Mitsuki leaned in to get a closer look at her ear, their fingers gently caressing her skin. Aya felt the goose bumps on her arms.
“Hmm.” Mitsuki hummed softly, making Aya flinch at the rich, low tone of their voice. She gulped. “Okay, got it. Can you reach for and give me the mirrors to your left?”
Aya found the hand mirrors laying by her side and handed them over when Mitsuki’s surprisingly cold fingers grasped them and brushed Aya’s own. Aya cleared her throat, “Here you go.” “Thanks.” Aya could hear the smile in Mitsuki’s voice.
Mitsuki positioned the mirrors next to Aya's face so she could see the little dot she made in the shell of her ear. “Is this fine?” Aya tilted her head to get a closer look and replied with approval.
“Are you alright, so far?” Mitsuki asked her, leaning back a little to look at Aya directly. “Yes, thank you,” Aya replied a little breathlessly, but she was, in fact, doing alright, she was excited.
“Good,” Mitsuki smiled crookedly, “this will sting for a short moment when I pierce through the skin, but it will be over immediately. You’re likely gonna feel echoes of pain for a while but that’s normal.” Aya sighed, relieved as she worried this piercing in particular might actually hurt, “I’m glad.”
Instead of leaning back into Aya’s space, Mitsuki stayed where they were, her eyes lingering on Aya. “What made you wanna get this piercing? It’s usually not the type people get for the first time.”
Aya startled, not having expected Mitsuki to ask a personal question, but her expression was curious. Aya scoffed lightly, feeling bold, “How would you know I don’t have any already?”
To Aya’s surprise, Mitsuki looked away sheepishly, rubbing their neck. “You’re right, that’s a bad assumption on my part.” She returned her gaze at Aya again. “You just seem very nervous and you don’t have any facial piercings. I assume you wouldn’t be as nervous if you had a piercing on any other body part, they’d have been more painful.”
To that, Aya had no retort. Mitsuki was right. “Ah.. I’ve been meaning to get a conch piercing for the longest time, but it never felt right,” she chuckled shyly. Mitsuki smiled brightly. “It’s a good choice.” Aya sighed, relieved. Mitsuki was so nice to her.
When Mitsuki leaned forward again, the first thing Aya noticed was the whiff of a deep, warm perfume that Mitsuki was wearing and she hadn’t smelled earlier. It fit her really well. Distracted by the scent, Aya belatedly noticed Mitsuki cleaning the place for her piercing by how the smell of disinfect replaced the perfume.
“Who were your friends waiting outside with you earlier?”
Aya startled again. Mitsuki had seen them? There were curtains enclosing the pavilion, how had they seen Aya and her friends? Why would Mitsuki notice them in the first place? Aya cleared her throat.
“They’re Chizuru, Mao and Narita. We’ve known each other since high school and got lucky by attending the same university.” Mitsuki hummed. “That’s nice. I thought I recognised Mao, now that you mentioned her name.”
Aya’s stomach sank a little. Why would Mitsuki have recognized Aya out of all people?
They both remained silent for a moment.
“Okay, I’m going to puncture your ear now. Ready?” Aya fixed her posture and nodded. “Ready.”
Suddenly, the pain of the piercing swallowed all her thoughts, and Aya couldn’t help but hiss.
Just as fast as the pain appeared it had faded, like Mitsuki said, into an echo of the pain. Aya giggled.
“You okay?” Mitsuki asked, and Aya could hear the hint of concern in it. “Yeah, I’m great, thanks.” She beamed at Mitsuki as they watched her reaction, but their expression changed into a small smile.
“You can choose the jewellery yourself, any preference?” Mitsuki grabbed a container with different pieces in it. “I like the silver ring!”
Mitsuki picked up the ring, put the container aside, and came back closer to her. Aya felt the gloved hands working as Mitsuki spoke up again. “Are any of your friends by chance your partner?”
Aya was going to lose her mind, what was with all these questions?
“Ehm.. No, we’re all just friends.” Aya laughed lightly and Mitsuki replied with a hum.
Aya could not figure her out. “Why are you asking me?”
Mitsuki looked back at her, the piercing already fixed in place. Their eyes lingered on Aya’s face for a few seconds.
“You know,” Mitsuki glanced away, and Aya was shocked to watch Mitsuki’s face turn red. “Every time our class ended, I would walk behind you out the door and would take a look at the pins on your bag.” Mitsuki chuckled. “You would change them every few weeks and, every time, I was surprised to see another band I liked on there.” Now Aya felt her face warm up and she hastened to hide her face with her hands.
“Oh wait, was that creepy? I could see that being creepy, looking at your stuff without you knowing. I am so sorry, Aya.” Mitsuki’s panicked voice and steps of retreat made Aya look back at them again with wide eyes.
“What? No! You’re okay, it really is not,” Aya rushed, reaching forward and holding Mitsuki’s wrist in assurance, but the next moment, Aya stiffened.
“You just said my name,” Aya gasped. Mitsuki blinked at her. “You know my name?”
Mitsuki exhaled, still rigid. “...Yes? I did say I liked your pins, I had hoped to talk to you someday.” Mitsuki cleared their throat, averting her eyes shyly. “Also, I liked whenever you shared something in class, and that last presentation we did? I did some personal research on your topic, I thought it was so cool. It made me remember your name when our professor called out your name. That makes me sound even creepier, doesn’t it?” Aya felt Mitsuki attempt to get out of her grasp, but she squeezed their arms gently.
“No, it doesn't.” Aya smiled at them, and Mitsuki looked at her incredulously, which made Aya laugh.
“Well, then I must be creepy as well for always looking forward to seeing you in class, fawning over your style and maybe even stare a little because I thought you were very cool?”
Mitsuki started to relax, a lopsided smile blooming on her face. “Very creepy.” They laughed together.
Aya realized she was still holding Mitsuki’s arms and started to let go when Mitsuki grasped Aya’s hands with her own.
“So,” Mitsuki started, swinging their hands a little between the two of them. “About that non-existent partner of yours.” Aya snorted at Mitsuki’s small smirk.
“Who said I did not have one? I only said none of my friends were“ Aya teased them and Mitsuki look playfully offended. “Was that confession just now for nothing?” Aya shook her head in amusement.
“You’re right. I am single.” At that, Mitsuki grinned. “Would you like to hang out sometime then?”
Aya watched Mitsuki wait for an answer, because that question confused her given the situation they were in.
“In a creepy way, I’d hope?” Aya questioned and Mitsuki’s smirk widened. “Bingo.”
Aya laughed, realizing that Mitsuki was adorably silly. ”Yes, let’s hang out in a creepy way.”
“That would be lovely.” Aya agreed and, this time, Mitsuki smiled brightly, squeezing Aya’s hands.
“Can I get your number?” Aya blushed and nodded. She noted her contact information to Mitsuki’s phone, adding a red heart next to her name. Mitsuki smiled when they saw it and put their phone away. Aya then paid for her piercing in cash, filled out a form and was about to say her goodbyes when she hesitated by the entrance. She looked back at Mitsuki who was looking at her curiously.
“Mitsuki, can I do something and you can stop me anytime?”
Mitsuki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise but they nodded almost too rigidly. Aya smiled. She fully turned to Mitsuki, got onto her tiptoes and leaned in, placing a chaste kiss on Mitsuki’s cheek.
Both were a blushing mess when Aya rushed her goodbyes and fled out the pavilion as Mitsuki screamed, "I'll text you!" Aya noticed that there was no line outside the pavilion, but she spotted her friends by a food stall, talking to Hitoka, who winked at Aya when she saw her approaching. Hitoka definitely knew.
Aya’s gut churned with even more vicious butterflies now. What a creep she was.
Pain from the piercing long forgotten.