Archive of Our Own

Mayu inhaled deeply, observing as Kaede took an unhurried sip of her iced coffee. The younger girl shifted her eyes to meet Mayu's. It was almost as if Kaede could pry the older girl apart - with nothing but her gaze alone.

"What do you even know? You skip school too much to see me during the day," Mayu quipped. "Besides, it's not like I don't have friends..." 

There was no denying how her voice faltered on the last word. Koma Mayu had friends - plenty of them, in fact. She was practically never seen without top student Yooyeon, star athlete Nien, charismatic rapper Kotone and stunning fashionista Xinyu. Despite that, the thought of them now seemed miles away from Mayu.

The isolated rooftop offered a view of the vast city. Streetlights dotted the night, illuminating sleek roads on which cars cruised. The world fizzled right into the late hour, and Mayu could watch life unfold from her vantage point. She was alone, standing far from a life rightfully hers. 

Unlike Mayu, Kaede appeared to be in her element. The younger girl's presence was quiet, though not quite distant. It was no different from the unfamiliar breeze in Mayu's hair.

"Well, it's obvious you have friends...but that's not the point," Kaede drawled, shivering as cold wind blew right into her face. "Barely anybody comes here. Even when they do, nobody sees me."

"I come here every night because I want to see you."

Just like that, the words tumbled out of Mayu's mouth. The truth had successfully intertwined itself with her instincts. The wind was to blame, and Mayu refused to believe otherwise. She could only wish to hate it.

"Precisely. You're lonely," Kaede paused, a thoughtful expression blanketing her face. "Lonely enough to see me. Lonely enough to want to see me..."

The wind howled loudly just as Kaede stopped speaking. She placed her iced coffee on the roof's parapet, before pulling her jacket's hood over her head. Kaede was now backfacing Mayu, losing herself in the rooftop view and the sky. 

You're right, Kae. You always are.

"Is it wrong to be lonely then?" Mayu sounded more defensive than she had intended. Kaede only smiled faintly, brushing off the older girl's question with a shrug.

"Look up, Mayu. It's not that far from us."

At midnight, standing on MSNZ Boarding School's rooftop meant that the moon hung right over your head. It was close enough to be tempting - despite lying just barely out of reach. The silver orb silently called out to Mayu. She wished to lift it from the sky and into Kaede's hands.

"Kae, you didn't answer my question," Mayu fake pouted. Her voice lowered to a tentative whisper. "Not that it matters. The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

As if on cue, wispy windblown clouds closed in on the moon, shrouding it in a protective embrace.

"Indeed it is. Everyone thinks the moon is beautiful...but most of us can only admire it from a distance, unable to come close to it," Kaede glanced at Mayu. 

She shifted her gaze back to the sky. "The moon remains lonely as it only receives superficial, distant affection. However, you can see that the clouds are trying to change that."

The wind gradually slowed down, allowing the residue of Kaede's words to settle within Mayu. The older girl's vision drifted idly, unable to coalesce with Kaede's line of sight. It eventually settled on her abandoned bottle of iced coffee.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with being lonely...now that you're trying to change that.

"I see you want a sip?" Kaede managed a subtle grin, holding the bottle up towards Mayu.

The older girl stifled a light chuckle, snatching the drink out of Kaede's hand. It was even colder than the windy night. "Kae, this coffee is the reason you can't fall asleep."

"Maybe...but that's also because I keep dreaming of you," Kaede admitted bashfully. Her cheeks were tinted with tender rose, and Mayu's heart stirred at the sight. She had painted the colour across Kaede's face. The euphoria of it was enough to send her to the moon.

Mayu did not wish to think about the moon.

Lonely, because I've only ever known love that didn't know me.

It was all wrapped up in clouds. The sight itself was a mirror, reflecting Mayu when Kaede was with her.

Not anymore, though.

I know you now. I won't have it any other way.

"Is that what love looks like to you?" Mayu cautiously sipped Kaede's iced coffee. The drink was the perfect blend of sweet and bitter, crashing over her taste buds like a welcome relief. "Like...dreaming under the cold moonlight?"

"You're right, but it's also a special world, far away from the noise outside. Our midnight flower, I suppose."

Midnight flower?

Kaede's earnest eyes found their way to Mayu's. They were filled with glowing moonbeams - soft, yet strong enough to shatter what Mayu knew of love. 

Love was not the infatuated schoolmates queueing for her number. Love was not the boy who had confessed to Mayu before ever knowing her. Love was nothing like the blind dates that Kotone had dragged her on.

"Kae, your kind of love is different. In a good way. It's just...better."

"You're the first to say that," murmured Kaede. It was inaudible to the night, but not to Mayu.

Mayu's hand gravitated towards Kaede. The younger girl instinctively reached out, holding it gently and enveloping it in warmth. Silence hung comfortably in the cold air, careful not to disturb a blooming midnight flower. 

"I've always thought of my love as flawed...because I simply never saw the point of kissing and getting together," Kaede laughed shyly. "But you helped me realise that I'm free to love in my own way."

Mayu squeezed the younger girl's hand. "That's more than enough for me," she assured, her voice not wavering in the least. She was now certain of the truth in her words.

After all, love was the moon, which ceased to be lonely. Love was the rooftop on which two girls stood. Love meant holding Kaede's iced coffee in one hand - whilst holding her hand in the other.

Kae, you're my midnight flower.

The breeze in Mayu's hair was no longer a stranger. Sensing that the older girl was at ease, Kaede playfully prised the drink from her grasp.

"You're not lonely anymore. I just know it."