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It was a nice evening. Not too hot, but not cold either- fitting for the beginning of August. Dazai stepped out of the car, walking over to the trunk to grab some of the coolers her family had brought. Her best friend’s family- the Nakaharas- had invited her family to kind of an odd place. A vineyard. Chuuya talked about going to the vineyard all the time, but Dazai had never been.
“Dazai,” her father- Mori- sighed, grabbing a bag and a cooler out of the car. “Can you please grab the chairs?” As the brunette went to get them, she was stopped by her little sister- Elise- running in front.
“I can grab them, Papa!” she giggled as she lifted two of the folded chairs. Dazai took the last one and closed the trunk before setting off.
When they rounded the corner of the sidewalk, they realized the venue was big. The yard was surrounded by rows and rows of grape vines and the big porch of the house. In the yard there were several trees all wrapped in twinkle lights, a gazebo for music, and a huge lake.
“Keep an eye out for the Nakaharas,” Mori murmured, looking around before guiding his family to where he spotted the others. Kouyou and Verlaine were talking to someone Dazai didn’t know as her father and sister approached, but the brunette made a beeline for his best friend- who was sitting on a picnic blanket dealing playing cards to his siblings- Akutagawa and Kyouka. She dramatically and literally flopped down next to them, taking the redhead by surprise since she hadn’t heard the girl’s footsteps.
“Dazai,” Chuuya grumbled, pushing the taller one off the blanket. “You’re lying on the cards.”
“Aw,” The brunette pouted. “Not even happy to see me, Chibi?”
“First of all, I’m not f-” she eyed her siblings before continuing. “-reaking short, and second of all, we hang out literally every day.” Dazai sighed, looking at the redhead sadly before asking,
“What do you do at a vineyard?” Chuuya shrugged and explained,
“Well, we usually bring a soccer ball, but we stupidly forgot today, we kind of just run around.” The younger girl nodded in fake understanding, opening her mouth to say something before getting cut off.
“Girls! Do you two want dinner?” The pair realized their siblings were already eating and went to join them, listening to their parent’s conversation and the band as they ate.
After dinner, Chuuya stood up and pointed to the lake.
“You wanna go over to the gazebo?” she asked, and when the other girl nodded in return, a smile broke across her face. “Race you.” The redhead whipped around and bolted towards the sidewalk surrounding the water, leaving Dazai in shock for a second until she ran after her. They were both laughing by the time they both got to the small bridge connecting the gazebo to the land.
“God,” Dazai wheezed, leaning against the railing. “I’m so out of shape.” Chuuya playful punched her shoulder and teased,
“I’m not,” before putting her weight on the railing as well. They sat like that for a bit, listening to the music as the brunette caught her breath.
“Do you think there’s fish in here?” the younger girl asked quietly, craning her neck to peer in the murky water. Chuuya looked too and admitted,
“I don’t know, I’m sure there probably is.” As she turned her head, she saw weird bubbles coming up from below the surface a couple feet away. “What’s that?” the redhead pointed. Dazai walked closer before leaning in closer and letting out a gasp.
“Chibi!” she squealed, a huge grin on her face. “It’s fish!” She bounced up and down as she pointed, and her best friend let out a laugh before going over to see.
“Dazai, do you like fish? I couldn’t tell,” Chuuya teased as the other girl nodded back.
As they finally walked into the gazebo, the redhead asked,
“So, anything epic since I last saw you?” Dazai shrugged, kicking her feet as they sat on a small bench.
“Nothing much, I’m worried about high school…Oh, and I saw this really cute guy the other day.”
“I bet he wasn’t,” Chuuya groaned, sticking out her tongue in disgust. The brunette chuckled a little before scoffing and teasing,
“You only say that cause you’re a lesbian.” The two laughed before hearing footsteps.
“Chuuya!” the redhead’s little sister’s voice called out. Chuuya’s siblings soon stood in front of them, panting.
“Dazai!” Akutagawa yelled- despite standing less than a foot away from her. “Will you play ‘red light, green light’ with us?” Dazai nodded before standing up and flashed a mischievous grin at her friend.
“Race you,”
After a very chaotic game of Red Light, Green Light, it had started to get dark.
“Psst, Chuuya!” Dazai loudly whispered, beckoning the redhead over.
“What is it, stupid Mackerel?” The older girl sighed. The brunette grinned mischievously before turning around and running into the darkness between the grape rows. As Dazai ran, her vision adjusted to the darkness, her black skirt billowing behind her. When she got to the end of the row, she went to turn around, running again in a weird kind of joy.
“Hey, Chibi!” The brunette yelled, sneaking up on her best friend from the dark and quickly dodging the redhead’s instinctual attack.
“Fucking hell Dazai!” Chuuya exclaimed. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” The younger girl grinned and grabbed her friend’s hand, dragging her forward and giggling,
“C’mon Chuuya! We’ll be like the children of the corn!” Halfway through the row, the two were laughing, only for Dazai to stop.
“Why’d you stop walking?” the older asked, confused and a little concerned.
“Look at all the pretty stars,” the younger one said, voice oddly soft. Chuuya turned her head upwards, and as she looked at the sky, she realized her hand was still in Dazai’s. She would be eternally grateful for the darkness hiding her blush as she turned her head downwards to look at the brunette. She couldn’t see much, but as her eyes adjusted, she could make out her friend’s features. Her long shiny hair looked fluffier than ever, and her soft pink lips were parted in a delicate awe. Before Chuuya could gawk any longer, the brunette pulled her along again, making their way back through the row.
After a little while of listening to the band and grabbing water bottles from the bar, Dazai walked over to Chuuya, holding a bowl of strawberries.
“Wanna walk back over to the gazebo?” Chuuya took off running, her hand still inside the Goldfish bag as Dazai chased after her. When they plopped down on the bench at last, Dazai was wheezing. “Why…do we…always…have to run?” Chuuya shrugged and got up, opting to instead sit on the concrete in front of the railing.
“It’s just kind of what we do at the vineyard,” Dazai was learning that there were a lot of things you did at the vineyard, especially when Chuuya had told her to take off her shoes because ‘it’s the vineyard’. The brunette sat next to her, opening up the bowl of strawberries. They ate for a while, talking about funny things their friends had done until they’d almost finished the fruit.
“Hm,” Dazai frowned, looking down at the bowl and picking up the last strawberry. “This one is bad.” Chuuya nodded before glaring at the other girl, watching as she eyed the water.
“Don’t do it,” the redhead warned. “You’re not supposed to throw food in the lake.”
“But Chuuya~! The fish will like it,” the brunette whined. Chuuya sighed, invoking a staring contest between the two. “Will you stop me if I try?”
“No,” Dazai’s hand inched closer to the water as the older girl stared at him. Plop. The two watched the strawberry dip beneath the water before coming back up, floating on the surface. The two looked back at each other again and burst out laughing, Dazai yelling,
“Why the hell did it float?”
“I don't know!” the redhead exclaimed, the pair still giggling. As the giggling died down, Chuuya let out a gasp, whipping her head towards the band. “I love this song!” Dazai listened for a bit before realizing the song and lighting up.
“Me too!” she exclaimed. Chuuya sang to herself in quiet contentment, noticing when Dazai joined in. She looked over to her best friend, watching her quietly sing along. But her eyes trailed to what she was singing with. The redhead’s singing died out as she forgot about the song, her attention drifting to her best friend. Or more accurately, her best friend’s lips.
The soft, pink skin was dyed red with strawberry juice, moving up and down as the lyrics spilled out of her mouth. Dazai opened her eyes, slowly turning to face the redhead. Chuuya’s eyes drifted up to the brunette’s visible eye, and she felt her breath catch. Her beautiful plump lips combined with her gorgeous eyes- brown mixing with shades of red- captivated the redhead, who felt her cheeks heat.
She didn’t even realize the two were leaning forward until their lips pressed together, not passionate or heated, just sweet. Chuuya could taste the fruit juice on the other girl’s lips as she savored the feeling. When the two broke off, the redhead could tell her face was fully flushed, while Dazai only had a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks.
“I thought you liked men,” Chuuya blurted, panicking a little in embarrassment. Dazai avoided her gaze, looking down at the floor.
“I do,” she mumbled, voice quiet and shy. She lifted up her skirt a little to reveal a pair of black shorts, reaching inside the pocket. The younger girl pulled out a small pin and a keychain, the keychain a cute picture of a little cat holding a bi flag, and the pin was colored in three pink, purple and blue stripes. “I’m bi,” the girl whispered, her cheeks flushing further. Chuuya smiled and leaned over, pressing another kiss to the girl’s cheek.
“I’m glad you found the courage to tell me,” Chuuya reassured her, watching as her cheeks grew brighter.
“Oh my god Chuuya,” Dazai mumbled, placing a hand on her best friend’s.
“What?” The redhead asked, worry creeping into her voice. The brunette pointed to the water, where the strawberry was still floating. The silhouette of a fish came up beneath it, nibbling it a little and causing it to bob a little.
“I knew they’d love i-” Dazai whipped her head around to tease her friend (unless the kiss changed things) and stopped when she realized they were so close, their noses brushed. Her face grew even redder before Chuuya smirked and gave her a small peck on her lips.
“Yeah, you did,” she flirted, turning her hand over to grab Dazai’s.
The ride home from the vineyard was boring, with Dazai debating her father on whether or not he drank too much to drive, Elise giving unnecessary commentary. When the brunette finally got home and flopped down her bed, her phone vibrating a little. She picked it up and swiped on her best friend’s message
[Stupid Slug]
hey i had fun tonite
[Dumb Mackerel]
yeah me too
[Stupid Slug]
yeah…
hey
i was wondering
if
[Dumb Mackerel]
you still there chibi?
if?
[Stupid Slug]
if you maybe wanted to go on a date
or be my girlfriend
or neither thats fine too
or maybe only one
[Dumb Mackerel]
id love to :)
to both
[Stupid Slug]
oh
oh thank god
so…meet up on sunday?
[Dumb Mackerel]
yeah, i can’t wait
[Stupid Slug]
Me neither <3
Dazai went to bed happy that night, excited and nervous for her upcoming date with the girl of her dreams.