Chapter Text
Ena felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Being a loner —as much as she would've normally disagreed with that description (She had friends, for god’s sake!)— had finally caught up to her. And she wouldn't be able to argue back to Akito next time he called her that, because at that moment, she deeply regretted the fact that her handful of close friends was small, and all just as girlfriendless as she was until two weeks ago.
Ena could’ve said that attaching a label to her relationship with Mizuki was unnecessary. After everything they had gone through together, so many intense emotions in the relatively short period of time they had known each other, a lot of people in their situation would simply find that there's no need to label what they have as either ‘platonic’ or ‘romantic’. And as beautiful as that sounded to Ena, it would’ve been a complete fucking lie to act like she wasn't agonizing every day over her feelings for Mizuki.
She wasn't sure when “I want to make her my girlfriend” became a recurring thought in her mind. All Ena knew was that once it did — or at least once she noticed it did— it became all she could think about. Either in Mizuki's presence, when she would look at her face and immediately get swept over by a surge of emotions like she'd never experienced before, or in her absence, when every single thing that could be even tangentially linked to Mizuki reminded Ena of her.
Ena would catch herself doodling little pink idiots at the corner of her sketchbooks, turning red as a lobster whenever Futaba looked over and asked who that was. One time, she even almost submitted an assignment with a smug, graffiti-drawn Mizuki peering over the paper. Her heart raced as she grabbed the drawing back halfway through turning it over to Yukihira, her thumb covering the exact spot where the doodle was located. Ena cussed herself out for that one.
She would stop to take pictures of street cats, and when she went shopping, she thought not only of what clothes would look good on her, but also what clothes would match Mizuki's long, pink hair and lashes. Though she supposed that could hardly be counted as ‘stupid teenager in love’ behavior, considering she had been doing that ever since their very first shopping trip together.
So it wasn't a surprise to her when those unmanageable feelings erupted in what was possibly the world’s worst love confession.
While they sat on a bench in front of a playground, Ena had simply blurted out the words: “I think I like you.”
And Mizuki, struck all at once with the sudden avowal, was only able to blurt back: “H—huh?”
Ena could have cried.
— “Sorry, Mizuki. I don't know why I said that. Uh… it's true, though. I like you. Romantically, I mean.” She wanted to bury her head in a hole, become an ostrich, or die. Either option sounded great to her then.
But all Ena did was look down at her shoes, unable to face the person beside her.
“Mhm…” Mizuki had breathed out after a moment in silence. “Can I have some time to think…?”
Ena perked up instantly. “Huh?”
“I think I… uhm, I think I like you too, Ena. But I would also like some time to actually think about it, if that's not a problem.”
“...Okay,” Ena breathed a small sigh of relief. “Yeah, sure… Sorry again.”
— That was three weeks ago. A week after, Mizuki gave Ena her response, both accepting and fully reciprocating her feelings, making it two weeks since they had officially started dating. Ena thinks that Mizuki really must love her a lot, because whatever it was that she did back then, it was truly, uncharacteristically terrible.
All that is to say, on top of already not being great or having experience with romance, Ena had no one to turn to for romantic advice.
Of course, the biggest problem of them all — the part where she had to ask Mizuki out— was already solved. But in between the shy handholding in public, that now had another meaning entirely, and the hugs that lingered for way too long, as if neither wanted to ever fully let go of the other, Ena wanted to take things a step further. More than anything, she wanted to kiss Mizuki.
And as far as she was aware, Mizuki was just as clueless as her on the matter. Every time it seemed that they were about to kiss, one of the two would start giggling or avert their gaze, only to giggle more while covering their mouth. That surely made taking that step a lot harder than it presumably should be.
So, she was eventually left with two options: being straightforward with Mizuki about what she wanted to do, or die without having her first kiss. And since she didn't die when confessing to her, she wasn't about to now.
As of currently, Ena lay spread across her house’s sofa. No one else was home, so she decided to make herself comfortable in a spot that wasn't in her room. For some reason (one she knew damn well), being in her room, surrounded by everything she used during Nightcord’s calls, made her feel more nervous for what she was about to do.
With her cellphone in hands, Mizuki's DM’s open, Ena began to calculate in her head how much time she had until Mizuki saw the message she was about to send. Well, not that there was actually a way of knowing— Mizuki had a very unfortunate streak of forgetting to grab her cellphone before heading to class, so if that was the case today, Ena could assume she had two or three hours to spare. That, assuming Mizuki stayed until the end of classes, too.
“Only one way of knowing,” she murmured to herself, pressing ‘send’.
“Mizuki.”
“Meet me tomorrow outside of Kamikou once your classes are over.”
The short text, with way more overthinking behind it than a two sentence message should ever have, read on Ena's screen. She nervously sighed, lightly tapping the phone and resting it against her forehead. That whole situation was pathetic. She was pathetic.
Not long after, Ena's phone buzzed against her.
“...?”
“Okay, sure!”
Oh. Great.
“Why tomorrow, though?”
Mizuki asked.
“You got something to do today?”
Ena fumbled with her phone before managing to type a response out.
“I didn't think you would see my message so early.”
“I assumed by the time you replied I would be at school already.”
“Ah. Okay, fair. But I replied in time, didn't I? So, how about we meet today?”
Really, really great.
“Why not. Sure, then.”
“See ya.”
“See ya!” Mizuki replied, then went offline.
“Goshh…!” Ena drawled, what was wrong with her?
Mizuki made her act so unlike herself. All of her assertiveness, her resolve, everything just… crumbled. Under absolutely no pressure. She desperately needed to recompose herself and learn how to act like a normal Ena again. Preferably by 15:30 o’ clock sharp.
But before any of that, she was going to have a snack. There should be some pudding left in the fridge. Being nervous made her extremely damn hungry.
Ena dragged herself to the kitchen, grabbing a pudding serving. After, she lingered around the house like a ghost haunting the place until the time to go arrived, when she ran off to the front door, putting her shoes on and practically sprinting off to Kamiyama. Well, maybe not sprinting, but certainly walking fast enough that it could’ve been mistaken for a run.
And once she saw Kamiyama’s gates in view, she also realized her feet hurt like hell. Ena stopped near the bushes in front of the school, hands in her knees, panting.
She looked around, Mizuki was still nowhere to be seen. That was fine. She was early, probably.
Though, it was also not long after that she saw Mizuki leaving the building, walking… really slowly. And looking somewhat exhausted.
Ena soured, and, before she had the chance to walk up to Mizuki and ask (ask… anything, really, not even necessarily “are you okay?”. That surely wasn't the best way to start a conversation), she was spotted by her.
Mizuki’s mood seemed to turn around completely. Her face, that looked so serious, almost sad before, now had a smile plastered on it. She hadn't lit up, Ena could tell. Rather, it looked nothing like Mizuki when she was genuinely happy.
“Hey, Ena,” She approached her, speaking in a low voice despite her poor attempts to conceal her lack of enthusiasm. “How are you?”
“Rough day?” Ena asked, lightly touching Mizuki's hand with the back of hers in an invite to clasp them together.
“No, kind of. Just really tiring,” She accepted the invite, grabbing Ena's hand in hers. “Not going to bother you with the details. You came to hang out, yeah? Or was it that you wanted to talk about something? I didn't quite catch what your message was about.”
“Let's sit by that bench near the school,” Ena said, squeezing Mizuki's hand once. “Well, about that… Yeah, I just came to hang out.”
Mizuki let out a small chuckle. “Missed me that much?”
Although her voice was still low, the teasing was genuine. Because of course it was, Ena thought, serenely smiling at her.
“Yeah, I did. What about it? Did you not?”
Mizuki's chuckle was a little brighter this time, her grip on Ena's hand tightened ever so slightly. “Which bench?”
Ena guided Mizuki, hand in hand, towards the place she talked about. On the very short way there, Ena couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that today wasn't going to turn out the way she intended it to. Not that it truly mattered to her whether today was the day where she was going to kiss Mizuki or not, as they had all the time in the world for that. But in the end she was still human after all, her selfish desires still resided at the back of her mind, and were apparently stronger than her attempts to brush them off.
After sitting down, Ena used both her free hand and the two hands clasped together to slap her cheeks. Earning her a “Ena?!” from a startled Mizuki, who was unsure why her hand was being used to slap her girlfriend’s face. Okay, now is absolutely not the time! She thought to herself, finally managing to dispel the clump of unpleasant (or rather, ill-timed, as they were quite pleasant) thoughts.
“Nothing!” She said. “Anyway, huh, what happened?”
“I don't want to talk about it,” Mizuki replied. “I mean, as I said I don't really wanna bother you with all of the boring details since you came all the way here so we could do something fun together.”
“You know I don't mind listening, right?” Ena said, seriously. “It's fine if you don't wanna talk and all, but just say it if the only thing stopping you is that you don't want to bother me with the details. You're not bothering me.”
Mizuki went quiet for a moment, then tentatively spoke. “Uhm… Yeah, to be honest, it's just not worth talking about. People gave me some crap today, but it was all the same loud group of assholes that are always openly giving me crap. So I’m used to it, not really worth talking about.”
“Mizuki.” Ena squeezed her hand again, moving a little closer along the bench. “That’s not something you should get used to, you know…”
“Yeah, I know. I don't have any other option, though, so I kind of have to get used to it.” Mizuki said, and upon realizing that her tone had come across as harsh— by her own standards, at least— softened up. “You don't have to worry, Ena.”
“How can I not…?” Ena replied, frowning. “God, our school is so fucking useless. They're really never doing anything about any pressing issue ever. It's not just your classmates that are a bunch of assholes.”
Mizuki’s lips couldn't help but curl into a small smile. She eased into Ena's touch, resting her head on her shoulder, intertwining their fingers together. “I doubt they even consider it a ‘pressing issue’ at all, to be fair.”
“But hey,” Mizuki continued after a beat, beginning to sound actually excited as she spoke. “Looking at the bright side, it was a bit funny in the end. Lil bro showed up and totally told them to piss off, they were scared shitless. I wish you could see their faces, it was hilarious.”
“Akito?” Ena said, surprised, but not so much. “Heh. Well, that's great, so he’s not completely useless at school, huh?”
Ena made a mental note to thank him later. Maybe she could get him that new cheesecake flavor from the shop he likes. Though she wasn't going to say what it was for, as she knew Akito was going to say that it was nothing, and it would be a pain in the ass to go back and forth with him. She would just drop it by his door as a silent ‘thank you’.
“Yeah, having a scary-looking friend around is pretty useful.” Mizuki joked. “That’s why I sometimes wish you studied at the same time as me.”
“Yeah…” Ena replied. “It would be great If I could. No way I’m going back to regular school, though. So please get Akito, Shiraishi-san and everyone else to keep you company while I can't.”
“Mean,” Mizuki playfully complained. “What do you mean you won't change your whole schedule for little old me? Doesn't sound like you love me all that much, honestly.”
“You have no idea how much I love you, you dumbass,” Ena sighed, smiling, and she could feel her face beginning to warm up. “Gosh, look, you think I would be saying such embarrassing shit if I didn't ?”
“Hmm… fair enough. Actually, okay, let’s trade. You start attending day-school, and I can go with you to your art workshop. I can kick that evil professor of yours’ ass when he's mean to you!”
Mizuki leaned back on the bench, jokingly swinging her legs in the air.
Ena laughed. “Okay, first of all he’s not evil…”
“From everything you've told me about him, he sure seems to be.”
“He's really strict, and… yeah, he can be quite mean or straightforward sometimes. But he's a great art teacher. Even if he was evil I wouldn't want you to kick his ass, anyway. Not for his well-being or anything, I just wouldn't want to get kicked out of his class.”
“Okayy, fair,” Mizuki replied. Her voice then softened again, assuming a serene tone. “You know, Ena, I really admire you.”
“What's that, all of a sudden?”
“Hehe, I don't know. Seeing how passionate you are made me think about it. I mean, I guess I am always thinking about it, whenever I see you drawing or painting, or when I go to your house… Well, even though it was only a few times. And even fewer when your dad was there, but I very much got the idea of what you tell me about him. I think you're really incredible.”
“I barely said anything, though…” Ena bashfully said, caught off guard by Mizuki's little monologue.
“But… I could say the same about you,” she added.
“Me?”
“Yeah, duh.”
“Hehe, thanks…?” Mizuki said. “Anyway, uhm, you're making me blush. Let's go back to the school topic. Not the bad one, the ‘if we studied together’ one. And let's unlink it from the bad one.”
“Sure, but I feel like that's not a very interesting topic…?”
“Why are you being so mean today? Geez, Ena, don't you see how much of a bad mood I was in just minutes earlier? That's cruel.”
"If we studied together, would I have to deal with this twice as much as I already do?”
“Aren't you excited to be with me twice as much as you already do?”
“Well, I know that I was the one who originally said it, but ‘twice as much’ is really generous for you, anyway. Maybe ten, fifteen percent as much. Maybe five percent as much. Plus, what do you mean ‘aren’t you excited’? It's not happening, Mizuki,” she lightheartedly remarked.
“I think five percent is a bit of an exaggeration. I am here sometimes… Plus, we could skip classes by going to the rooftop together.”
“What would we even do on the rooftop?”
“Make out?”
Mizuki turned visibly flustered as soon as the sentence left her mouth.
“We can make out right now, we don't need to go to a rooftop to do that.”
.
..
…
The words rolled off Ena's tongue before she could catch them.
She hadn't even had the time to process what Mizuki had said, let alone think properly of what to reply. ‘Make out’, coming from Mizuki's mouth, activated something in her as if she were a sleeper agent, and from there on, everything went downhill.
Mizuki, on the other hand, didn't seem to be in a much better state. The faint blush spread across her cheeks from since when they started to hold hands had now spread all the way to her ears, intensifying to a deep, vivid red. And, as much as Ena was aware that thought might be nothing more than wishful thinking on her part, it led her to believe that maybe what Mizuki had said wasn't simply a joke.
Without uttering a word, they both stared at each other.
Next thing Ena knew, Mizuki had gotten even closer. So close that she could see all of her makeup’s details— her discreet eyeliner and lashes, her pink lip stain, the pale concealer to hide her dark circles, followed by well-defined, shimmery little eye bags. Too close. Too damn close.
And with a single move, she completely closed the distance between them. Their lips touched, and Ena could feel how soft Mizuki's was, and she could see how her eyes were close shut while hers were wide-open.
She froze in place for almost a minute, when Mizuki, noticing that Ena wasn't reciprocating the kiss, was about to pull away. That prompted Ena to snap out of it, she closed her eyes, leaning in, holding both of Mizuki’s upper arms. Ena felt her heart beating so fast that she thought it would stop, and as her chest touched Mizuki's, she could feel hers was the same.
The kiss lasted all of a good three minutes before one of them pulled away. Ena couldn't tell exactly whether it had been her or Mizuki; her mind felt fuzzy, and her hands stayed right on Mizuki's arms.
All she knew is that they had finally kissed. And she felt conflicted about it. And she wanted to do it again.
“Mizuki…”
Another addition to her ever-growing collection of romantic blunders that somehow hadn't convinced Mizuki to dump her.
At least this time, she could argue that Mizuki had started it, and had equally messed up too. So they were square now. At the very least.
“Ena, I…” Mizuki stumbled on her words. “You look so red, god,” she laughed.
“Have you seen yourself?” Ena chuckled, then followed with a brief pause before speaking once more. “Uhm… Can I kiss you again?”
Mizuki nodded. “There's no one here, so… It's probably fine if you do.”
Ena planted another kiss on her lips. Mizuki stayed put, looking off to the side from time to time. When Ena noticed it, she covered her eyes with her hand.
“Don’t worry, yeah…?”
Was it a wise thing to say? Probably not, but at that moment, Ena couldn't care less.
“There's no one walking around here now, you said it.”
“Surprisingly,” Mizuki remarked, voice weak. Why had her heart begun to beat even faster when Ena covered her eyes?
“We got lucky, yeah. But… yeah, we shouldn't be doing this here, I think.”
…
“... One more time,” Mizuki mumbled, caressing Ena's wrist with her thumb. “Just one more kiss, then we go.”
“Are you sure?” Ena asked.
“… We're already doing it, aren't we? I don't know if I'm sure, but one more kiss won't hurt. Plus, I kind of really want you to kiss me again, Ena.”
Thump. “Okay, I will… whatever…”
But, as soon as she started to kiss her again, Ena could feel the agitation inside of her turning uncomfortable.
Her heart, that had been beating with near-euphoric excitement just moments ago, now thudded with unease. And sure enough, as to match the loud sounds inside of her ribcage, she heard a heavy footstep thud against the floor.
Then another.
And another.
And before she could end the kiss, a group of schoolboys turned the corner, heading straight down the street where they sat.
Mizuki, who had opened her eyes at the sound of the first footsteps on a whim, could have sworn the atmosphere suddenly turned cold despite the hot afternoon sun. A chilling shiver ran down her spine, she could feel herself getting colder as all color drained from her face.
One of the boys pointed at them.
“Oh, shit,” he said, nudging one of his friends. “Dude, look over there.”
Both boys started laughing. Ena felt frozen in place once again, but this time for an entirely different reason.
She could feel Mizuki's hand trembling in hers.
“They're really just doing it out there, no shame at all,” the second boy said, still laughing. “Do you think they're like lesbians for real?”
“They must be, I can't think of any other explanation for whatever is happening here.”
Each time their laughter hit her ears, Ena felt more and more nauseated.
The third one, who the entire time had his eyes fixated on them, spoke up. “Huh… Isn't that Akiyama though? Dude, this might be even funnier than we thought.”
“Akiyama?” the first one replied. “Shit, that freak? For real?”
He looked more attentively at Mizuki and Ena.
“Oh my god,” he said. “You're right. It is Akiyama. Holy fuck, this is definitely funnier than we thought.”
“Wait, Akiyama?” The second one asked. “That Akiyama?”
“Yeah,” the first one laughed. “I don't know who the girl is, though. She's not wearing a uniform, you think she's from a different school or something? Does she know about—?”
At that moment, Ena suddenly got up.
She grabbed Mizuki's hand and dragged her off the street. She wasn't going to let her listen to any more of that, and she wasn't going to confront them for her sake.
Mizuki kept trembling. She stared blankly at the pavement with her head lowered, moving her legs only because Ena pushed her forward, as the rest of her body seemed completely static.
Ena only stopped when they walked into an alley, god knows how far from Kamiyama. She immediately pulled Mizuki into a tight hug, trying to ignore the bitter taste in her own mouth.
“Mizuki…” She said, wavering. “Mizuki, are you okay? What the fuck… Were— were those the same people that bothered you earlier today?”
“No,” Mizuki weakly replied. “No, no— they weren't. I don't know who… I don't even know who they are.”
She sounded on the verge of tears, and that made Ena's heart tighten painfully.
“I'm sorry,” Mizuki said, increasing the distance between them and almost letting go of Ena completely, if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't lose her grip on Mizuki's hand. “I’m sorry, Ena. Today was supposed to be fun. Are you okay? I'm sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing…? What do you mean ‘are you okay’? Who cares about me right now, they were being horrible to you!”
“I care! They were also being horrible to you, Ena. It’s not a problem that they were talking shit about me, but I don't want them treating you like this.”
Ena's shoulders tensed.
“Mizuki, how many times do I have to tell you this? I don't care what people say about me. Yes, they were being weird and annoying to me, but they were downright cruel to you…”
“But I’m used to it, you know that.” A tear rolled down Mizuki's cheek, and she promptly wiped it off with her free hand. “haa… I knew that kissing there wasn't a good idea.”
Ena stopped for a moment, swallowing the bitter taste in her mouth, trying to prevent her own tears from falling before speaking. “Look, I’m not going to not show you affection in public just because of what other people might say or think. If you don't want me to, that's fine. But if it's just for my own ‘well-being’ then I am not going to stop. It's not like we ever kiss in public to begin with…”
Mizuki sniffed. More tears rolled down her cheeks. “Oh, right… that was our first kiss, wasn't it? Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing, Mizuki… again, what are you apologizing for? Seriously…”
“But our first kiss was a disaster because of me. Because you're with me, because I was so impulsive as to not be able to wait more, at least until we were …”
“What?” Ena asked in disbelief. “If anything, we were both impulsive, but… No, I am totally at fault, if anything. I didn't want to tell you, since you looked so sad when we met, but I messaged you today because I wanted to kiss you.”
“What?” Mizuki sniffed again, taking a breath and very faintly giggling. “Actually?”
“Yes, and it wasn't a disaster, much less because of you!”
Mizuki stopped and tilted her head back, trying to stop more tears from falling and her nose from running. She covered her nose and mouth with one hand before lowering her head again. “You… Ena, even if you say that you don't want to stop showing affection to me in public, you know that what happened now is bound to happen again, don't you? That's—”
“Yeah, yeah I know,” Ena cut Mizuki off. “You made me very, and I mean very, aware of that when we started dating. And before we started dating too. It was scary in practice, but I still don't care. Get that through this thick skull of yours already, please.”
“...”
Mizuki looked at her, brows furrowed in sadness. Ena released her hand and let out a deep sigh.
“We need to calm down, first things first. It all happened too fast… “ Ena said, and only then did Mizuki notice how out of breath they both were.
“Give me your hand again,” Ena asked. Mizuki obliged.
She drew her hand close to her forehead. “It’s okay, yeah? I'm fine, and it's just the two of us again now. You don't have to blame yourself for what happened, it's not your fault.”
“Ena…”
Hesitantly, Mizuki hid her face against Ena's shoulder, pulling her closer.
Ena softly smiled, letting the hug linger for a while.
“You know what?” She said quietly. “Let's go to my house. Sleep over.”
“What?” Mizuki asked.
“Let’s go,” Ena tugged on her hand again.
“Hello?” Mizuki said, voice a little hoarse. “Earth to Enanan? You still have classes to attend today.”
“Let's skip together. In my house, instead of the rooftop. C’mon, let's go.”
“But— Isn't this too sudden? Are you really going to just…? Bring me over? Without even warning your family?”
“I did that with Mafuyu that one time, no one cared. C’mon. This alleyway is kind of giving me the creeps.”
“Well, that's true… It is a bit creepy here.”
And once again, Mizuki found herself being dragged somewhere by Ena. They walked all the way to her house, Mizuki fidgeting and muttering things Ena couldn't quite make out all throughout the walk.
“I’m home,” Ena loudly announced, opening the door unceremoniously.
Akito sat on the couch, watching TV. He glanced at her as she walked in, but didn't bother to get up to greet her.
“Good morning,” he said.
“It's afternoon,” Ena replied.
“Doesn't matter. Also, you left your socks on the couch. Could you at least look after your stuff if it's around the house? I don't feel like picking up your mess whenever you decide to not rot in your room.”
“God, who pissed in your cereal today?” Ena glared at him. “By the way, Mizuki's staying over today. We're going to my room, don't bother us.”
As Ena said that, Mizuki, who had been standing by the door outside of view, sheepishly entered the house.
“Akiyama’s staying over?” Akito said, looking at Ena, then Mizuki. “Uhm, good afternoon, you.”
“Hey, lil bro,” Mizuki replied, waving at him.
Akito was quick to catch how uncharacteristically quiet she was being. And after remembering what had happened earlier that day, he thought that Mizuki might still have been feeling blue over it.
He sighed. “Does mom know about this?”
“She doesn't,” Ena said. “And now it's your job to tell her.”
She starts to walk away towards the stairs, motioning for Mizuki to follow suit.
“What?” Akito asked, irritated. “Why is it my job to— Ugh... Whatever. I'll tell her, but pick up your goddamn socks from the couch next time,” he groaned.
Mizuki awkwardly looked at him, then at the staircase. She waved goodbye as she started to climb up the stairs, and Akito nodded at her before returning his attention to the TV.
Upon arriving at Ena's room, Mizuki took a look around.
To put it lightly, she could see what Akito meant by ‘her mess’. There were a bunch of clothes thrown on her bed, as well as a bunch of plushies scattered across the floor. Half a dozen unfinished canvases of varying sizes leaned against the wall in a corner, and a bunch of art supplies on the table in the middle of her room.
Ena, who had entered the room first, worked on getting the clothes off of her bed and into her walk-in closet.
“... Please stop staring. I know it's a mess in here, okay? If I'd known you were coming over, I would've cleaned up first.” She said, embarrassed.
Mizuki quietly chuckled. “I can't say I’m exactly surprised. Was your room also like this when Mafuyu stayed over?”
“Huh? Of course not!” Ena replied. “I clean my room regularly, just so you know! This is the exception, not the rule.”
“Okay, okay,” Mizuki said, smiling and sighing. “Anyway, do you need help putting these away?”
She pointed at the clothes, seeing as there were still some of them in the bed and Ena was busy storing the first batch she took in her closet.
“If you want to, yeah,” she replied.
Mizuki grabbed the remaining clothes, mostly blouses, and started putting them away alongside Ena. After they were done, they both sat on the bed, now devoid of the mount of clothing.
“Phew. Okay, thanks for helping me out,” Ena said.
“No problem,” Mizuki replied. “...How long were those in your bed?”
“Obviously not for long. I just couldn't decide what to wear, so, that happened.”
“And when exactly was that?”
“You're asking a bunch of unimportant questions today, huh?”
Mizuki looked at her. “Okay, sure. Let me ask an important one, then. Where am I going to sleep?”
“Uhm…” Ena looked back at Mizuki. “Well, I was going to say ‘here, obviously,’ but I'm kind of embarrassed to do it now. But, yeah, here. In my bed… Obviously.”
“Oh,” Mizuki nervously replied.
“Uhm, yeah, sure!” she added, after wondering for a second if she had understood what she heard right.
“Is that okay?” Ena, equally as nervously, asked.
“Yeah, uhm, of course, Ena.”
Ena blushed. “If it's alright with you, then…”
She shuffled closer to Mizuki, cupping her face with her hands and wiping at where the tears had trailed down her cheeks. It was still damp.
“Do you feel at least a bit better?” Ena asked.
Mizuki placed her hand on top of Ena's, faintly nuzzling her face into Ena's hand.
“I do,” she replied. “I think.”
Ena felt her gaze on Mizuki turn bittersweet.
“And you?” Mizuki asked.
“I'm fine, I told you,” Ena said.
“Ena,” Mizuki sternly replied. “You don't have to act tough, it's okay if you're upset.”
“But I'm fine,” Ena insisted.
She knew that Mizuki would blame herself even more than she already was if she showed any signs of being shaken or sad.
Ena didn't want that. Therefore, she wouldn't tell her. It was not like she was… traumatized by the experience or anything.
“Okay, fine.”
As she seemingly dropped the matter, in a swift move, Mizuki lightly bit Ena's hand.
Ena jolted in surprise.
“Ouch, what the hell, Mizuki?” She said, startled.
“I’m going to nibble on your hand,” Mizuki stated, doing as she said. She buried her face on Ena's palm, scraping her teeth against the soft skin.
“What for…? You're so weird.”
“Punishment,” Mizuki stated again. “You're getting your hand nibbled as punishment for being stubborn.”
Ena tried to free her hand, unsuccessfully, as Mizuki held it in place and continued to nibble. “That tickles, come on.”
Mizuki didn't reply. The nibbling continued, making Ena giggle and puff. Her face scrunched up in protest, and she felt her hand squirming at the ticklish sensation.
After Ena finally managed to free her hand, she, in retaliation, shoved Mizuki backward onto the mattress and pinned her there.
She puffed again. “Got you,” Ena said, proudly. “Honestly! Don't do that, it's so weird—”
Ah. Ena felt her own face warming up as she looked at Mizuki below her.
Mizuki was blushing. Just like when they kissed. And now she was pinning her to the bed.
…
“Ena,” Mizuki laughed softly, trying not to lose it.
“You got me, yeah. I'll stop it.”
“Okay, you better,” Ena mumbled. She doesn't move.
Her eyes scanned Mizuki's lips.
“Can I…” Ena began to ask. “Can we continue where we left off?”
“But lil bro’s home…? Would suck if we got a replay of what happened earlier,” Mizuki said, also looking at Ena's lips.
“He's not gonna just barge in,” Ena replied. “He doesn't enter here. I mean, he does sometimes, but he always knocks. Same with my mom. So, we're pretty safe, if you want to…”
Mizuki kept looking at Ena’s lips, then at her eyes, then nodded. “...Please.”
Ena silently gulped, and after she pressed her lips against Mizuki's, what followed was half an hour of tentative pecks, hands moving across arms and waists, knees brushing against legs and bumping into one another— each tentative touch brought one more. And after a while, as Ena began to slip her tongue inside of the other girl's mouth, causing their teeth to awkwardly click together, Mizuki slowly began to let her defenses fully crumble. She finally felt wholly at ease, for what felt like the first time that day.
And when Ena stopped kissing her, all she wanted to do was to pull her in again, to keep kissing her until the next morning. But as she noticed the state her girlfriend was in— like she was on the brink of malfunctioning— Mizuki just smiled, pulling her into a hug instead.
“I’m gonna crush you, Mizuki. Let me roll off to the side,” Ena whispered.
“You’re light,” Mizuki whispered back. “You're not gonna crush me.”
“I weigh more than you.”
“Half a pound doesn't count,” Mizuki drawled in protest. “Let me enjoy the hug…”
Ena gave Mizuki a resigned sigh, snuggling up to her. After what felt like another half hour, though Ena wasn't sure, as she had lost all sense of time while in Mizuki's arms, she heard a knock at the door.
“Oi,” Akito's irritating voice called from outside of the room. “Ena, get out of there, I need to talk to you.”
Ena, after the first knock, only hummed in acknowledgement. After the second, she got up, groaning and complaining that she “told Akito to not bother them”. Mizuki laughed at her.
“What is it?” She asked, closing the door behind her. Akito was standing there in the corridor, a displeased look on his face.
“I told mom Akiyama's staying over, she said it's alright, but that you should start warning her when you're bringing friends over for sudden sleepovers. You're welcome,” he said.
“Well, it was an impulsive decision on my end, it's not like I knew I was going to be bringing her over today, you know,” Ena replied.
“You're welcome.” Akito repeated.
“Alright, thank you, geez!” She huffed. “Can I go back to my room now?”
Ena expected Akito to harshly dismiss her in response like always, but instead, he suddenly went quiet for a second.
“Why do people even… like, bully Akiyama? Did she do anything?” He asked in an even tone.
“What?”
Ena looked at him, confused.
“ …You didn't hear what it was about when you intervened?” She asked.
“She told you about that, huh…” he sighed. “Should've seen that one coming. No, I didn't. I just saw them cornering Akiyama and calling her weird and shit, so I told them to fuck off. But I have no idea why they were calling her that. I mean, she's annoying, but I don't think she's particularly weird.”
…Does he ever pay attention to anything at all?
“That’s not something I can tell you,” Ena answered calmly, crossing her arms. “You can ask her that directly if you want to, but I doubt she’ll tell you either.”
“Fair enough, I guess,” Akito said, rubbing the back of his head. He then added, awkwardly, “ok, I know that you just said you can't tell me… but it's not because she's, hm, homossexual, is it?”
“... Akito, what?” Ena once again stared at him, now with a mix of confusion and amusement across her face. Homossexual? Who even asks if someone is gay like that?
“Oh, come on,” He harshly replied, embarrassed. “I'm not stupid. I know that you two are dating, everyone knows.”
“What?!” Ena asked again, even more embarrassed than him.
“I don't have a problem with that! An and Kohane are homossexuals too, for God’s sake. It's fine! I just wanted to know.”
“It’s not because of that!” Ena yelled as she turned around, heading back to her room. “Thank you, but don't go around saying stuff like that! it's embarrassing!”
“Huh? You don't think I'm dying over here too?” Ena heard Akito saying as she closed the door in his face. She covered her face with her hands, and when she glanced over at Mizuki from between the gaps of her fingers, Ena saw that she was trying not to burst out laughing.
“So lil bro already knows, huh?” She mockingly said, visibly having enjoyed the spectacle that unfolded on the other side of the door.
“You heard everything?” Ena asked, despite already knowing the answer. She had hoped shutting the door had at least cut off some of the sound, but that was clearly not the case.
“Well, you two were practically yelling, it was hard not to,” Mizuki replied. “Well, it was really funny, though. But I kind of thought lil bro was also a homossexual, so that's surprising.”
“Akito?” Ena pondered for a moment.
…
…Yeah.
“... No idea.”
“Fair enough, I'll ask Toya-kun later.”
“Please don't.”
Mizuki laughed. “Come here again?” She opened her arms, inviting Ena for another cuddle session. Ena, of course, took her up on that offer.
Ena barely noticed the rest of the afternoon going by. It was like, as soon as she became aware of her surroundings again, it was already evening, they had already had dinner, and she and Mizuki were in her room again, preparing to fall asleep.
“Here,” she handed Mizuki a change of clothes. Namely, an white sleeveless shirt adorned with lace and a tiny bow, and matching shorts. “If this doesn't fit, we can try picking another pyjama. But it should fit.”
“Thanks,” Mizuki said, holding the pyjama close to her.
“You can change here, I’m going to change in the bathroom. Scream if you need anything, though I may not hear you.”
“Alright,” Mizuki replied. She watched Ena leave the room, and after a while, she returned wearing her pyjamas. By that point, she had also finished changing, so all that was left to do was…
“Come here.”
This time, Ena was the one to invite Mizuki onto the bed. She went under the covers, patting the spot beside her.
Mizuki did the same. She snuggled up to Ena, much like she had done to her before, and Ena brought her closer.
“Good night,” Ena said. “Are you going to school tomorrow?”
“Nah,” Mizuki replied. “I’ll spend the day with you.”
Ena hummed, pulling her closer. As close as she physically could.
The last thing Mizuki heard before falling asleep was the sound of Ena's heart, now beating peacefully alongside the sounds coming from the A/C.
“Hey, Ena…”
And the first thing Ena heard that morning was Mizuki's soft voice, husky from sleepiness.
The first thing she felt, as Mizuki wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled on the back of her head, was the warmth of her body.
“Hm…?” Ena airily mumbled, sleep-tipsy much like her partner. “Mizuki…? What is it?”
“It's morning already,” she said, pressing a small kiss to the place she nuzzled, and Ena could feel her thoughts slowly starting to make sense again.
She quietly groaned, “okay, that doesn't mean we need to get up.” And with that, she drowsily turned around, wrapping her own arms around Mizuki and pulling her into a surprisingly tight hug. Mizuki could have sworn she felt like a pillow or a giant plushie sometimes, happily so.
“I didn't say that,” Mizuki giggled. “I just missed you sooo much in these fifteen minutes I was awake and you weren't, you know? I had to wake you up.”
“I’m barely awake, it doesn't make that much of a difference…” she drawled.
Mizuki pressed another kiss to Ena's head, right on top, and nuzzled more into her hair. “That's okay, It's enough that you actually are awake. I didn't think I would be able to pull such a feat.”
Ena couldn't quite string together a coherent argument back, not in her current state. Instead, she choose to get Mizuki to stop talking by kissing her. As their lips meet, Mizuki let out another giggle, clumsily kissing her back.
With them being so close, Ena could smell Mizuki's perfume. She couldn't help but think of how good it is, and when Ena half-liddedly gazes at her, loving pink eyes staring right back, she couldn't help but feel so glad that she was able to wake up to that sight. All five of her senses were full of Mizuki, she permeated every single one of them at that moment.
It was kind of cool, in Ena's opinion.
She wouldn't have minded if that became a part of her routine.