Work Text:
”That’s not how you do it.”
Her smaller hands grace yours — Graze? Is that what you meant? No, you definitely meant grace — as slowly they take the flower stem from your fingers. You can’t help but observe that, yes, her hands are smaller, but yours are thinner, and it’s always been that way. Her cheeks are rounder, too, but that’s not a bad thing, especially since it only seems to highlight the way her eyelashes lightly brush them whenever she blinks or looks down..
Who exactly is Hajime Hinata? You feel as if you should be able to place her somewhere along the ranks of friendships as you normally would be able to, but you can’t, and that’s strange. It’s not strange in a bad way, though — Aren’t talented people supposed to be unique in their own ways? — and you never once thought that, considering how much you happen to enjoy her presence. It isn’t simply because she has the potential to be a talented student, either, but rather, Hajime was the first person to talk to you so warmly once you arrived on this island. It was such a pleasant experience, having woken her up for the first time despite how worried you had been in the beginning. You didn’t think that you would ever regret it, especially not now.
“Almost done.” Her voice breaks your train of thoughts, but despite speaking to you, she doesn’t even glance up for a second. She’s so concentrated on her work that it seems as if connecting the soft, white flowers is the only important thing in the world. Even though previously she had been trying to teach you the skill, you don’t mind watching her complete it herself instead. It’s all the same. Perhaps seeing her have a nice time (or, at least, what you would assume was a nice time. Hajime wasn’t getting frustrated like she normally might) was probably even better, actually, but you didn’t take the time to debate that with yourself.
She ties one last stem together and looks up at you briefly. It rests in her lap and she looks back down at it, almost as if admiring her own work, but you know by now that this isn’t so. You might not have been as close to Hajime as you would have liked to be (you didn’t want to risk making her uncomfortable, after all), but you know enough to tell that she wasn’t satisfied in what she had done.
“Hajime-ch—” No, you stop. You stop and you correct yourself. “Hajime-san.. Could it be that, if you’re not a Super High School Level Dojikko or Tsun-Tsun Hair, that you could be a Super High School Level Daisy Chain Maker?” The tone you choose is light and airy, one that’s chosen specifically to let her know you’re just playing around with her simply because it would be easier to cheer her up that way. You’re never exactly sure if she actually feels better, though, mainly because she always gives you the same frustrated look, followed by a comment like, “That’s stupid,” or “Stop already.”
This time, though, when Hajime glances up again, she’s still giving you that frustrated look, but she gently takes the newly made flower crown and reaches up to place it upon your head. It takes you by surprise, but only for a moment before your smile returns, and she speaks before you even get the chance to say, “Thank you.”
“Don’t break it or lose it,” she advises you, looking off to the side and then up to the sky. It’s cloudy, so the sun is covered easily, leaving the two of you with a nice amount of shade to sit in. It’s a relief, too — you really rather avoid getting sun burn, even if someone like you might deserve it… But, ah! Those thoughts are for another time. They are to be saved for a moment when you aren’t spending time with Hajime, a time when you have the moment to yourself to sink in with them, so instead you close your eyes and wait for her to finish what she has to say.
She looks back over at you before continuing, “I won’t make you another one, so… consider that one special.” You can’t tell if she’s lying or not because situations like these always end up becoming unpredictable with her. Sometimes, she follows through with that statement, and other times, Hajime abandons it shortly after saying so.
You finally get your chance to show your gratitude, but when you open your mouth to speak and your eyes to see, you only notice her face closer to yours than it normally would be. It leaves you pretty startled, quite obviously by the look on your face, you’re sure, but when you try to mention something about it, no words come out. You sit there, stiff, as Hajime’s eyelashes tickle not only her round cheeks, but your own, and just as you can almost feel her lips brush yours, she pulls away abruptly, shielding her eyes.
The clouds had moved away during that brief moment, leaving you both to have a hard time seeing. You blink once, twice, three times to try and get used to the new lighting, but the third time you open your eyes, it’s completely different.
No longer is the light surrounding the whole area around you, but it’s still there. It’s simply coming from a single source instead, a door being pushed over to brighten the dark room. The brightness dims, however, as a figure steps into the doorway, holding what appears to be a tray. The figure is unmistakeable, but how you went from the previous moment to this was what seemed confusing.
It was all a dream, wasn’t it? That whole moment.. it disappeared simply by you waking up, and now there’s no getting it back. Still, it’s not surprising somehow — Why would someone like you deserve a moment like that? Be honest. You don’t.
Now, all that’s left is to greet the familiar person standing in the way of the light. The person who, just a moment ago, might have left you feeling something a little more than just bitterness.
“…Hajime-san?”