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It was early morning, a little on the chilly side — the kind of autumn cool that creeps in and makes you wrap your arms around yourself. Teio and McQueen were on their usual morning jog together when it came up.
"Speaking of which, today is the mid-autumn moon festival, isn't it?" McQueen said. "I believe in ancient times people would offer items shaped like the moon and seasonal harvests to give thanks."
"Huh, really? I didn't know that. You sure know a lot, McQueen."
"I read it in a book once. But anyway — why did you bring it up out of nowhere?"
"Apparently the Chairman suggested doing a moon-viewing event. Says the school's rooftop will be open for it."
"The Chairman enjoys seasonal events, does she?"
"Yeah, more than you'd think. And since it's not just plain moon-viewing, they're putting out food too — sweet dumplings, sweet red bean soup..."
"Sweet things?!"
Right up until that moment McQueen had been speaking in her perfectly composed manner — but the second she heard sweet things, her eyes lit up like lanterns and she leaned slightly forward, voice sharper than before. You really can't help yourself, can you...
"...I don't dislike that sort of thing about you," Teio said.
"Pardon? Did you say something?"
"Nope, nothing at all. Anyway, let's go — it'll be fun!"
"Indeed. Let's."
"Whaaaat, the ground floor? Not the roof?!"
"Ah. Turns out more people signed up than expected."
It was lunch break, and Teio had wandered over to the Student Council room to hang out with the Chairman. That's where she heard the news.
"I thought we'd get a great view from the rooftop though..."
"Can't be helped, Teio. Tonight's forecast is clear, so even from the courtyard it'll look beautiful."
"Hmm..." Teio drooped a little. She'd been hoping she and McQueen could sit quietly on the roof, just the two of them, watching the moon like in those manga she read. Just the two of them, side by side...
"Is McQueen coming too?"
"Yeah, she said she wanted to."
"I see..." The Chairman fell briefly into thought, then smiled. "Well — don't give up on the rooftop entirely."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Ah, that reminds me — I left some things up there that were meant for the event. Could you run up and grab them for me? You'll know which ones when you see them."
"Sure thing! I'll go grab them!"
"Here's the key. And Teio — the roof will be cold, so pick up something warm from the food stall before you head up. Enough for two people."
"Oh — thanks, Chairman! See you tonight!"
"Have a good evening."
"Oh, hey Teio! You heading somewhere?"
On her way to the courtyard stalls, Teio ran into Narita Brian — wait, no, it was Nature. Gold Ship's rival, the warm-voiced one.
"Yep! Can I grab food for two from here?"
"Sure thing. Hot stuff, yeah? What's the occasion?"
"The Chairman asked me to grab something before I head to the roof."
"The roof, huh..." Nature raised an eyebrow and started packing up an order. "You're not going alone, are you? Two portions and all."
"Oh — yeah, I guess it does seem weird, huh. Actually the Chairman said to bring two portions. I thought maybe she's joining me up there?"
"Ahh..." Nature put down the ladle for a moment and looked at Teio with a very patient expression. "Sure. The Chairman. That's probably it."
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Here you go — two portions of red bean soup and moon dumplings. Blanket's one, right?"
"Yeah, just one. Thanks Nature!"
"Mhm." Nature watched Teio trot off toward the building. She shook her head with a small smile. "...Those two."
Teio climbed the stairs to the rooftop slowly, warm food balanced carefully in both arms. When she pushed open the door—
There, on a bench set against the railing, was a girl with flowing lavender hair.
She sat with her back straight and her face tilted toward the sky, lit pale and silver by the almost-full moon above. The wind moved through her hair in slow, gentle arcs.
Teio stopped.
She wasn't sure for how long.
The whole scene looked like something from a picture book — still and luminous and somehow set apart from the rest of the world.
Then the girl turned, and Teio recognized her face.
"Oh — Teio."
"...McQueen." Teio blinked herself back into the moment. "What are you doing up here?"
"The Chairman spoke to me as well. Said I should come up here and wait." McQueen's expression softened toward something closer to a smile. "It seems we were guided here by the same hand."
"...Huh." Teio finally understood. She felt warm even before she sat down. "I'll have to thank the Chairman later."
"Indeed."
Teio settled onto the bench beside McQueen and set the food between them. She shook out the blanket.
"Here — you've been up here longer than me, you must be cold."
"Thank you." McQueen paused, then shifted closer. "Actually — shall we share it? It's wide enough, and this way we'll both be warm."
"O-oh— sure, yeah, of course—"
McQueen drew the blanket over both of them and curled close to Teio's side. Close enough that Teio could feel the press of her arm, the warmth of her — and, coming faintly through the night air, something sweet and faintly floral.
Teio's heartbeat picked up in an odd, unsteady way.
"Shall we eat?" McQueen lifted the bowl of dumplings with both hands, her eyes bright.
"Yeah! I got them from Nature — she even packed extra sauce."
"How thoughtful."
They ate.
At some point, Teio realized she'd been so busy watching McQueen's expressions — the little flicker when a dumpling turned out particularly sweet, the way she held her soup bowl with both hands like something precious — that her own food was going untouched.
"...Oh. Yours is gone already."
McQueen glanced at the empty bowl. Then at Teio. "I'm afraid I let you feed me without thinking... your portion is still full. I'm sorry."
"It's fine! I like watching you eat. That sounds weird said out loud — never mind."
"No — I don't think it's strange." McQueen looked at her for a moment longer than usual. "Then — shall I return the favor?"
Before Teio could ask what she meant, McQueen had lifted the bowl of red bean soup, taken a careful sip to warm the liquid, and turned to face Teio with quiet, intent eyes.
"McQueen — wait, is that—"
McQueen leaned in.
Teio's voice cut off entirely.
For a moment everything was still — the city lights far below, the soft rustling of wind, the sound of the crowd drifting up from the courtyard.
Then McQueen pressed her lips to Teio's.
The soup passed between them, warm and sweet — and then the soup was gone and it was just them, lips barely parted, neither pulling away.
It started soft. It got deeper.
Teio made a small, helpless sound. McQueen's hand came up to her cheek.
Their saliva mixing together. Their shared warmth. Something sweet with a note of red bean — or maybe that sweetness was just McQueen, just the moment, just the impossible nearness of her.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing hard. A thin silver thread still connected their lips for a brief, shining second before it fell.
"...Was that..." Teio swallowed. "Was that you feeding me? Or—"
"Eat your soup, Teio," McQueen said, voice just a little unsteady. But her eyes were soft.
"...Yeah." Teio looked up.
Above them, the full moon hung clear and round in a cloudless sky, enormous and white-gold and impossibly bright. From the courtyard below came a distant wave of laughter and voices.
But here — just here — it was quiet.
"It's beautiful," Teio said.
"It is." McQueen agreed. She tilted her head, and the moonlight touched the curve of her cheek, and she looked like something out of a poem. "I've never seen such a beautiful full moon before."
Teio felt the warmth return — right in the center of her chest.
She had a hunch that McQueen didn't just mean the moon. There was a phrase for it — an old one — that meant something else entirely when said like that, in that voice.
The moon is beautiful.
—I love you.
Teio looked at her. McQueen was watching her back, patient and waiting.
"...Yeah," Teio said carefully. "It's beautiful."
She paused.
"But it's only this beautiful because I'm watching it with you."
McQueen blinked. Once. Then her composure cracked open just slightly at the edges, and she looked at Teio with an expression Teio had never quite seen on her before.
"Teio — what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like!"
"Do say it plainly, if you would."
"I am saying it plainly! It means — it means I'm happy when I'm with you! Okay?! It makes me feel good and warm and I look forward to everything more and that's — that's you, McQueen! That's what I mean!"
McQueen was quiet for a second. Then:
"Fufu." A soft laugh, barely audible. Her eyes curved into something like crescent moons. "The same is true for me, Teio. Being here with you makes this exceptionally pleasant."
"You — you're teasing me!"
"A little."
"McQueen!"
"I'm not teasing you about the important part."
That made Teio go still.
McQueen was still smiling — but her eyes were steady and entirely sincere.
They sat there a while longer, speaking and laughing in low voices, wrapped in the same blanket, the city glittering beneath them. The moon watched over all of it without judgment.
Fin