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“So, to summarize, you want advice on how to confess.”
Kanan and Mari watch - one in amusement, the other in confusion - as a sheepish Riko bows her head and holds her clasped hands out like a prayer. “Yes, please.”
Riko pulls out a notebook from the bag by her feet, flipping through the pages until she finds the one she wants. When she slides it across the table for them to see, Mari rests her chin on Kanan’s shoulder as Kanan nudges the notebook between them for Mari to see, eyes already glued to the page.
The first thing she notices is the column of names written in neat cursive down the right side of the paper. It's all the girls from Aquors’, Kanan realizes. On the bottom are hers and Mari’s names in the same neat writing, but unlike every other name, there is a distinct lack of text beside them. Large blocks of characters fill every other unreserved space, the style a little sloppier, as though in a rush to write every detail. Scribbles here and there squeeze in information added later; color coded highlighters and sticky tabs also reveal key points and ideas. Riko is nothing but thorough, Kanan will give her that. What the characters say , however…
“Is this all the advice the other girl’s gave you?” Mari asks.
“Yes.” Riko shuffles her feet anxiously, hands balled into fists on her lap. “I’ve been asking everyone in the group.”
“You’re not kidding,” Kanan comments, tracing the characters on the page as she glosses over the key points. “I wouldn’t go with Yoshiko’s seance suggestion.”
“Summoning the dead for advice might not be the best idea,” Mari agrees. “We’ll save that for final exams.”
“I like Chika’s and You’s suggestion though.”
“Oh yes, a picnic by the sea followed by a movie and sail around the bay are very romantic, if a little trite. Dia’s is so pure and boring, too! Just like her.”
“She’d have your head if she heard you say that.”
“I like that about her~”
Riko brings their attention back with a polite cough. “Yes, well, regardless. I was curious what you two thought.”
“I say go with Ruby’s and Hanamaru’s suggestion.” Mari tries, and fails, to hide her giggles with the palm of her hand. “That would be a sight to see.”
Kanan runs her finger down the edge of the list, locating the two first-years’. Arrows branching from both their names lead to a scribbled side note in the margins. “Ride in on a white horse while dressed as a prince and present a bouquet of roses on one knee...?” Kanan reads aloud. It sounds like something straight out of a fantasy novel. “Is this a confession or a marriage proposal?”
“Oh, Kanan!” Mari taps a finger to Kanan’s nose while Riko works to hide her blush behind her hair. “You don’t understand romance! I think it’s a bold, refreshing idea.”
“Roses are expensive though,” Riko counters, “And where would I find a prince costume? Or a horse for that matter?”
Mari winks at the distraught composer. “Easy! I can give you a few roses from our garden. As for the costume, the school’s drama club might have something you can borrow… Assuming they weren’t one of the clubs that shut down.” She baps herself on the head for her forgetfulness. “I’ll check. And you can borrow Ernesto!”
Riko arches an eyebrow. “Ernesto?”
“One of her horses,” Kanan supplies.
“My favorite horse,” Mari corrects, “He’s very gentle and an absolute sweetheart. Plus, he’s all white! You can come over and meet him tomorrow, if you like.”
“Really?” Riko sits for a few seconds, mouth agape, as she imagines the scenario. “This could actually work…”
Kanan laughs, “You’re not actually thinking about doing this, are you?” When Riko stares back at her, expression unwavering, she asks, “Are you?”
“Of course she is!” Mari replies, sounding almost offended by the idea that they wouldn’t. “What better way to get across her love?”
Kanan leans her elbows on the table to massage her temples with her middle and forefingers; once again Mari’s exorbitant methods were spiraling out of control. “Why doesn’t she just say it?”
“Say it?” Riko repeats curiously.
“Yes. Just go up to the person and tell them you love them. If you want to spice it up or make it meaningful, do it in front of the ocean at sunset or something. I don’t know!” She shakes her head exasperatedly, leaning back in her chair so her neck is propped by the top rail and her face is angled toward the sky. All she sees is the underside of the umbrella and a single cloud rolling against the sunny blue. A simple, beautiful picture. “Why does it have to be so complicated? Simpler is better, in my opinion.”
“I see…” Riko scribbles madly in her notebook, no doubt beside Kanan’s name.
“That is no good,” Mari argues. Kanan looks ready to argue back, but is robbed of the chance when Mari takes this moment to have a seat on her lap, momentarily crushing the unsuspecting girl’s lungs. “It’s her first confession, a once in a lifetime moment! She can’t simply say “I love you ” and that’s that. There’s no feeling! There needs to be a build-up, a rising action toward the climax of her story!”
Riko nods with every sentence, paying rapt attention to Mari’s words of wisdom as she occasionally writes in a hasty scrawl. Kanan can’t believe she’s buying this.
Rather than argue the point, Kanan concedes by settling further into her chair to adjust their position, her arms roping around Mari’s legs and back as Mari’s arms hook around her neck for better balance. All the while, she listens in half-heartedly while enjoying the splash of the ocean against the old pier. She’s glad Riko asked to meet them by the diving shop; the sound of the waves ease her nerves and clear her mind when she needs to think.
Although, confessions are not exactly her area of expertise. Diving advice she can give, but romantic advice? Riko is much better off soliciting that kind of guidance from Mari, the one that actually reads the romance novels Hanamaru recommends. Good thing Mari was already here this morning to hang out after her usual morning run. It saves her from having to give anything more than a simple answer. The simplest way is usually the best.
She starts from her thoughts when Mari says her name. “Kanan has a fair point though. The words really are the important part, and for you simpler might be better. The delivery just makes it memorable, so the rest depends on what you want to do.”
“But that’s why I’m asking for advice,” Riko exasperates, forehead meeting the plastic tabletop in defeat. “Hearing all these ideas make me second-guess the best possible method. I don’t know what to do.”
Mari pats the poor girl’s hair. “If she could see how much you’re thinking about this, I’m sure that would be all she’d need to know how much you like her.”
Riko shoots up, back ramrod straight as she stammers, “S-she? I n-never said it was a girl!”
“No worries, no worries! Your secret is safe with us.” Mari laughs and taps a name on the notebook page. “What I’m surprised by is that you asked the one in question how best to confess to her. Clever girl.”
“T-thank you… But even though I asked her what she likes, there are so many different ways to do this… I want it to be perfect,” Hands covering her blush, Riko shyly asks, “You don’t think she knows I like her, do you?”
Mari’s hum is thoughtful, her smile warm as she teases. “Probably not. She’s a little clueless from time to time.” She jerks a thumb toward the girl she uses as a seat. “Just like this one here. She still doesn’t know how to dress properly for a date. The only person I have ever known to show up to a family dinner in a bathing suit. And no matter what I pick out for her, she refuses to wear anything but those hoodies and shorts. Unbelievable.”
Kanan rushes to defend herself. “One time! It wasn’t even my fault. The diving tour took up my whole schedule before that dinner and you know it. Plus, I don’t want to ruin the clothes you get me; they're too nice to wear just anywhere.” A few seconds pass before the implications behind Mari’s words begin to sink in. “Wait, dates? Are we dating?”
Mari leans over the table toward Riko, voice lowered conspiratorially in a whisper with a hand cupped around the side of her mouth. “See what I mean? Clueless.” Her arms curl tighter around Kanan’s neck as she hugs them together, easing back into her seat. “Of course we’re dating! What did you think we were doing?”
“Hanging out as friends.”
“Well , yes,” Mari acquiesces, “But friends don’t normally hold hands or cuddle as often as we do, you know.”
“Huh.” Kanan sits for a moment, processing the new information. They always were pretty close, she supposes. And Mari is pretty. She certainly doesn’t consider dating her a bad thing.
She shrugs. “I guess we’re dating.”
“Wha-? It can’t be that easy!” Riko exclaims. “There has to be more to it than that.”
Mari taps a finger to her chin. “It helps that we have history. In your case, the important thing to remember is what you already have with her. The two of you have been getting closer recently, right?”
Riko nods uncertainly.
“Then use that! When you feel like the right moment is coming up, seize it. Don’t let it slip by. For example -”
Further conversation halts when Kanan feels a grip on her chin direct her gaze up. Mari looks down at her with a burning intensity that rivals stars. Kanan knows that look - she’s deadly serious.
“Kanan, we’ve been friends ever since we were kids, ever since you reached out to me and helped me understand what it means to have friends. You taught me what it means to feel like I want to give to others, to be happy for them, and to give them happiness like they do for me. Every year we spent together, my feelings for you only grew into something more. I didn’t know then if what I felt was real or passing, but I knew for certain when I was gone those two years and I couldn’t get you out of my head: I love you.”
She pauses to take a breath. In that time, Kanan can’t remember who took whose hand first, but they find each other, fingers naturally twining.
“I can’t picture doing anything but making you happy and, if you let me, being anywhere but by your side. It may not be obvious, but I always considered our time together precious. Every day, every conversation, every date, even if they weren’t official, meant everything to me. So, I want to make it official… Would you go out with me?”
She finishes and Kanan finds herself in the spotlight.
Before, it had felt like one of Mari’s jokes that they were dating, but this feels like anything but. The fire in Mari’s eyes, the kind that lights when Mari finds her passion, spark a feeling inside Kanan she can’t quite describe.
But she tries, tries to summon the words, a lump that has formed in her throat making it all the more difficult to spit out. She swallows dryly, giving the only word she can manage.
“Okay.”
Mari slams her palm flat on the table, causing Kanan to jump and Riko to fall out of her chair.
“That, my dear, is how you make a confession,” Mari proclaims proudly.
“I…” Riko pauses, looking as lost for words as Kanan is. She bolts up then, wide-eyed and awestruck. “I have a lot to learn.”
Riko takes up the pencil again as Mari continues her explanation. Kanan, meanwhile, sinks back into her chair, defeated, as Mari squeezes the hand still woven with hers. She squeezes back, not sure what to make of what just happened.
She supposes this means she ought to actually try and dress up for their trip to town later since it probably counts as a date. No, it definitely counts. The time where she can get away with an excuse about why she’s in a bathing suit again has come to an end. But that's fine. It puts a smile on her face when she imagines Mari’s reaction to Kanan wearing one of the outfits she picked out for her.
Maybe she can do this romance thing after all.