Work Text:
“TSU-CHAN!!!!” Himiko shouts, tearing across the mall to tackle her in a hug. She’s hardly stepped through the entrance by the time Himiko’s arms are wrapping around her, squeezing so tightly it steals the breath from her lungs. She sees Ochako jogging after her with an apologetic smile on her face.
Tsu pats Himiko’s back awkwardly—as best as she can when her arms are trapped at her sides thanks to Himiko’s hug. “Hi, Himiko.”
Himiko nuzzles against her cheek. “It’s so so good to see you! I feel like we haven’t gone out anywhere together in ages. It is soooo not fair that I don’t go to school with you and Ochako-chan!”
“Let her breathe,” Ochako teases, having finally caught up with them. With a gentle pull on Himiko’s arm, she drags them out of the direct line of the entry way, so the other mall patrons don’t have to weave around them, and Himiko remorsefully lets go of Tsu.
“We only just got here,” Ochako assures her, leaning over to kiss her cheek in greeting. Not to be outdone, Himiko takes the opportunity to peck Tsu’s other cheek, and Tsu can feel the way her face warms in response. “You look cute, by the way. I like that skirt!”
Tsu glances down at her outfit—a simple ankle-length brown skirt paired with a green blouse. It was sort of just the first thing she saw in her closet that seemed appropriate for a mall date, but the compliment flatters her.
“Thanks,” she stammers. And then, to divert the attention away from herself, she asks, “Where did you guys want to go first?”
Himiko gasps, clapping her hands together. “They have a new jewelry store here!” she exclaims. “Camie-chan said they have suuuuper cute earrings, so I wanna look!” She doesn’t give Tsu or Ochako a chance to respond before grabbing each of them by the hand and dragging them off in what Tsu can only assume is the direction of this jewelry store. She’s not sure she really trusts anything Camie says, but Himiko looks downright elated, so she figures she can set her bias aside and wait until they actually make it to the store before she judges it too harshly.
Himiko’s anticipated jewelry store turns out to be the same one Jirou calls ‘Mall Temu’ with a disgusted scowl, but they do have some cute earrings, though Tsu doubts they’re very high quality. Himiko enjoys looking around regardless, picking out several pairs of earrings as well as a necklace and some lip gloss. Tsu even finds a cute woven bracelet to buy, and Ochako picks out a pair of dangly earrings with pink planet charms.
Himiko gasps upon first seeing them. “Those are so cute!” she squeals. “Oh, they’re just perfect for you, Ochako-chan!” She turns to Tsu. “Don’t you agree?”
Tsu nods. “You should get them,” she advises. “You would look very pretty wearing them.”
Ochako blushes as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Welll…if you guys are sure…”
“We are!” Himiko declares, then plucks the earrings from Ochako’s hands and marches towards the register so they can buy their things and head to the next store.
They look through several clothing stores, with Himiko leading the way. She skips and twirls around, humming to herself and garnering more than a few odd looks which she pays no mind to. Tsu thinks it’s rather endearing, though—she appreciates how Himiko refuses to let anyone else tell her what she can and can’t do. Even if it’s gotten her into trouble on numerous occasions.
Himiko is always prettiest when she’s carefree like this, a wide grin splitting her face, skirt spinning out around her, and fondness filling her eyes whenever she meets Tsu or Ochako’s gazes. It’s strange for Tsu—when she first met Himiko, she hadn’t imagined they would ever get along. She figured the other girl was a no-good delinquent who would end up in prison sooner rather than later.
She’s embarrassed to say she hadn’t for a single second entertained the idea that maybe Himiko just needed a friend.
Ochako was the one to first reach out a hand to Himiko, and where Ochako goes, Tsu follows. They fell into a clumsy sort of friendship, with Tsu and Ochako struggling to adapt to someone with such a starkly different upbringing. But, over time, things got easier between them. Himiko mellowed out in some ways—and became even more wild in others, though she isn’t getting into trouble with the law these days.
And as their friendship deepened, Tsu found herself developing feelings for Himiko that were quite similar to how she already felt for Ochako. It felt almost natural to bring Himiko into her and Ochako’s relationship. Like she was the piece they didn’t know they were missing.
“Wait,” Himiko says, stopping suddenly and shaking Tsu from her thoughts. She shoves the shopping bags into Ochako’s hands, and then takes off towards the benches in between the walkways at top-speed.
“Himiko!” Ochako calls. “What are you—?”
“PARKOUR!!” she shouts, propelling herself up onto the bench and immediately breaking into a sprint across it. She hops to the next bench, and then onto the edge of a plant display, and from there, she flings herself over to the mini carousel.
It’s at that point when Tsu buries her face in her hands. Meanwhile, Ochako giggles beside her.
“You got this, babe!” she cheers.
Tsu glances up just in time to see Himiko throw a wink and a kiss over her shoulder at them. And though she very strongly disapproves of this sort of behavior in such a public setting, she finds herself unable to call out a chastisement of any kind. Not when Himiko’s eyes are twinkling and Tsu knows just how hard she fought to feel free enough to have fun like this.
After Himiko is, inevitably, chased down by mall security, they escape to the crowded food court.
Ochako orders bubble tea and sandwiches for the three of them while Tsu and Himiko claim a table. Himiko laughs as she throws herself into a chair. “Isn’t today just the greatest, Tsu-chan?”
Tsu takes the seat across from her. Himiko’s bright grin makes it impossible to answer anything other than a soft, “Yeah.”
Himiko leans forward, reaching for Tsu’s hands. She brings one to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to Tsu’s knuckles, and her heart flutters in her chest. Himiko is so casual in her expressions of love; it catches Tsu off guard sometimes. It took some getting used to, but these days, it’s more often a comfort than a surprise.
“I’m glad you got to come today,” Himiko whispers sincerely. “I like hanging out with just Ochako, but it’s never the same as when the three of us are together.”
“I understand,” Tsu replies. She feels the same way—of course she likes spending time with Ochako at school, and she enjoys the evenings when Himiko shows up on her doorstep alone because Ochako is at practice. She enjoys every moment spent with either of her partners. But it always feels a bit…incomplete, if the three of them aren’t all together.
Himiko lets out a dreamy sigh, her eyelids fluttering shut.
Ochako joins them a moment later, drink carrier in one hand and a paper bag in the other. “Ready to eat?”
“YES!” Himiko cheers, making grabby hands towards the food and drinks. “Ochako-chan, you’re the greatest in the whole world!”
Their final stop before they leave is the pet store.
Himiko declared there was one last place she wanted to look at, and when they’d ended up here, Tsu assumes she wanted to fawn over the cats and dogs. But she strode past all of that, tugging Tsu and Ochako along behind her, until she came to a stop in front of the reptile and amphibian tanks.
She tilts her head, looking over at Tsu. “You said you like to look at the frogs,” she comments.
It was something Tsu must have only said in passing once, because she can’t even recall the moment where she told Himiko such. She’s right, though—it’s been one of Tsu’s guilty pleasures ever since she was a little kid. She knows pet shops like this are awful for the animals, but the allure of gazing at an assortment of frogs (and lizards and snakes) in their tanks without having to go all the way to a zoo or aquarium is rather appealing.
“I do, yeah.”
Himiko wraps her arms around one of Tsu’s and rests her chin on Tsu’s shoulder. “You know, when you first said frogs were your favorite animal, I thought it was kinda weird. I used to think they were gross and slimy. But now… Now, I think they’re super cute. Just like Tsu-chan is!”
Ochako giggles. “Maybe we can get one someday. The three of us, together.”
Tsu’s focus shifts, from the frog in the tank in front of her to the reflection of her, Ochako, and Himiko in the glass. Himiko is still clinging to her, and Ochako stands close on Himiko’s other side, holding all of their bags because she insisted she could carry everything. An overwhelming sense of love and adoration wells up in her, so fierce that it nearly brings tears to her eyes.
“That’d be nice,” she agrees.
It feels like a promise—that there will still be many, many, more good days like this to come.