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Kumiko enters the building, holding the notebook Asuka just handed her against her chest as she falls in step with Reina. Reina looks down at the notebook in Kumiko’s hands and slightly frowns. However, she won’t say what she was thinking, rather she says, “were you able to find Tanaka-san?” She already knew the answer, but decided to play it cool.
Kumiko smiles and with a nod says, “yes, I did. I was able to say what I needed to say and I feel much better now. I feel like I can finally go on, without regrets. I’ll miss her though.”
Reina feels a tinge of something in her chest, making her pause momentarily. However, when Kumiko looks at her strangely, she snaps out of it and continues on. “That’s good then.”
Kumiko looks at Reina, slightly confused by her reaction, but having arrived to the band room, she’d have to inquire later. “I guess I’ll be off then Reina, let’s walk home together, ok?”
“Ok, let’s do that.” Reina watches as Kumiko walks away and joins up with Sapphire and Natsuki. She feels strangely envious of them, feeling that they get to spend so much time with Kumiko on daily basis, where she’s limited to in-between classes, lunch and walking home together, but even that is short lived, as Hazuki and Sapphire are with them most of the way. As much as she loves her Trumpet, she almost wishes she played a bass instrument, just so she could have a bit more time with Kumiko. “Why…?” She wonders quietly to herself, unable to understand. The trumpet has always been her number one priority, her life, so how could she ever think such a thing, for even a second? Her dream has always been to excel at the trumpet, so that she can be worthy of Taki-sensei, who she idolizes and loves. She can’t bring home the gold for him in honor of his wife unless she’s at her absolute best. That’s always been her sole desire, it’s all been for Taki-sensei, so how can she be having these thoughts. It’s just not possible, no.
The remainder of the day is spent in sectional practice and by the time it’s over, the sun has already begun to set. Reina meets up with Kumiko and as it turns out, Hazuki and Sapphire had other obligations and so had to leave a bit earlier, allowing she and Kumiko to go home together alone. As they sit on the train, Reina once again looks at the notebook that Kumiko holds in her hand. Unable to resist, she finally asks. “Did Tanaka-san give you that notebook Kumiko? What is it exactly?” She tries to ask casually, but it sounds more like an interrogation.
“Oh this? This is Asuka’s favorite Euphonium piece, it was left to her by her father. She let me hear it that time I went to her house. It’s a beautiful piece, so much so that I wanted to hear it more. I wanted to play it too, but not just as any Euphonium player, I wanted to play it like Asuka-senpai. I want to be just like her one day, that’s how much I love her.”
Reina feels her heart drop, but she doesn’t understand why. So, she finally says what she’s been wondering since she heard Kumiko’s declaration to Asuka earlier. “Kumiko.”
“Yes?!” Kumiko startles at Reina’s abrupt call, always ever so jumpy around her.
Reina laughs, as Kumiko’s strange reactions never fail to amuse her. Why does she always seem so nervous around Reina? Is she doing something unusual, or is she being too harsh? She really doesn’t understand, she’s never understood why Kumiko is always so nervous and anxious around her. Why she’s always staring at her and blushing when she’s caught. It’s almost like she…. Reina’s brain momentarily triggers, but she just as quickly stifles it and returns to the question she wanted to ask. “Kumiko, are you in love with Tanaka-san?” Although she was prepared to ask, Reina finds herself still blushing at the thought.
“Eh!” Kumiko’s loud reaction gets them many looks from the other passengers and Kumiko freaks out, realizing her awkwardness has struck again. “W-, what are you saying?”
“You told Tanaka-san that you loved her, earlier didn’t you? What did you mean?”
“You heard that?” Kumiko blushes, slightly embarrassed. “It’s not what you think.”
“Well, what is it then? Because it sounded a lot like a confession of love to me.”
Kumiko looks at Reina strangely and asks, “what, are you jealous or something?”
Reina becomes even more flustered than before. “Eh? D-, don’t be ridiculous!”
“Oh, I guess it was my mistake then. Anyway, I did confess my love for Asuka-senpai, but it’s not what you think. I do love her, but it’s totally in like a mentor way. I really admire and respect her, so much that I want to follow in her footsteps, but I don’t want to date her or anything. I mean, she’s kind of like my sister, that’s probably what drew me to her honestly.”
“Oh, so it’s platonic. I see, that’s good then.” Seeing how Kumiko looks at her so strangely, she quickly adds to it. “I mean, it’s just, you’re both girls so…you know.”
Kumiko laughs nervously. “Yea, of course, we’re both girls. So, we couldn’t…huh?” Kumiko smiles awkwardly and looks away, almost as if in shame and Reina suddenly feels like she’s been insensitive or offended Kumiko in some way. However, she can’t deny the relief she feels knowing Kumiko’s feelings for Asuka are totally platonic. Though now she’s wondering, why’d she even care in the first place? Her reaction right now was very similar to the ones she’s always had when Shuichi closed in on Kumiko. She always felt he was a spineless guy and that’s why she’s always been so defensive of Kumiko against him, but she’s starting to wonder, is there something more? “Is everything ok Reina?” Reina is snapped out of it by Kumiko’s voice.
“Yes, everything is fine. I was just…thinking.”
“About Taki-sensei?” Kumiko asks this with slight sadness behind her voice, but why?
“No, I haven’t really thought about Taki-sensei since nationals now that I think about it. I mean, he kind of rejected me anyway, didn’t he? I mean, he never responded to my feelings.”
“Maybe he just didn’t understand what you meant! Maybe he just thought you meant in the same kind of way as I feel about Asuka, a love of admiration and respect. Maybe you need to tell him again, more directly this time. Sometimes, people won’t know how you feel unless you say it clearly.” Kumiko says this to Reina, but seems as though she’s speaking to herself.
Reina has finally picked up on the fact that Kumiko seems to be speaking in riddles and double meanings and being as straight to the point as she is, decides to ask Kumiko what’s up. “Kumiko, is there something weighing on your mind? You seem to be deep in thought.”
“No, there’s nothing.” She stutters, only making Reina more suspicious.
Reina thinks on it a bit more and a lightbulb suddenly goes off in her head. “Kumiko, do you perhaps-.” Before she could finish, their station was announced and they must get off.
“This is us Reina, we should get up now.” Kumiko jumps up, very anxious and jumpy. Deciding that a quieter place would be best to finish this conversation, Reina says nothing more and quietly follows Kumiko out the door. They walk together quietly, until they get to their parting intersection. “Well, I guess this is where we part. I’ll see you tomorrow Reina. Good-.”
“Kumiko.” Reina once again calls out her name, but this time, it’s much softer.
“Reina?” Kumiko can also detect the change in her tone and is now curious as to why.
“Kumiko, do you maybe…do you have feelings for me? Do you perhaps, like me?”
Kumiko’s face suddenly goes white as a ghost at Reina’s question. “R-, Reina! What could you possibly mean? How could I? I mean, we’re, we’re both girls, so we can’t…no!”
“Kumiko, tell me the truth. Please just be honest with me.” Reina looks down.
Kumiko is sure that she must be angry now, but being asked so directly, she can no longer deny it. She decides that it’s time to come clean, ready of not and so she does. “I do.”
Reina can hardly believe what she’s hearing, but to her surprise, the tears she’d been holding back began to fall. “Are you serious? Kumiko, do you really like, like, me?”
Upon seeing her tears hit the ground, Kumiko stands taller and gets brave, speaking loudly and proudly. “I do Reina, I don’t just like you, I love you! I’ve always loved you, even back in middle school. I loved you, but then I said such a horrible thing and made you dislike me and that hurt me so much. So, I ran away, thinking I’d never have to face you again, but then you showed up at Katsuji and brought all the guilt and feelings I’d left behind back and I didn’t know what to do. So, when we gradually got closer as we did, not only did those feelings return, but they got stronger. I’ve love you so much, and every special moment we’ve shared has made me realize it more and more. Our mountaintop hike, our confessions of love, the fireworks at the festival were just the highlights, but I’ve loved you long before any of that. I’d always been waiting for you to give me some indication that you might feel the same way, but I was never certain. I was too scared to be honest about how I felt. Then you confessed to Taki-sensei and I thought that I had to let you go at that point. I was so sure you only had eyes for him, but as hard as I’ve tried to erase these feelings, I just can’t. I know we’re both girls and I know that realistically we’ll never be able to be together or have the kind of life you’d be able to have with Taki, but even still, I love you so much Reina and so I want to try, but how about you?”
Reina feels as though she’s just been hit with a bomb of realization and surprise all at once. She realizes that the signs have always been there and that Kumiko has always been very obvious about her feelings, but it was only her that didn’t see it. However, she realizes how silly it was to have missed it, because Kumiko was acting exactly the same way with her as she acted herself around Taki. Could it be, that she was so absorbed in her crush on Taki, that she didn’t see what was so clear right in front of her? However, unlike her feelings for Taki, which if Reina is honest with herself, she knows will never be returned, Kumiko’s feelings are not unrequited, because deep down, Reina feels them too. Just now, it’s all come to light and she’s just realized that she also has feelings for Kumiko, but she couldn’t see them until now. She finally looks up at Kumiko and with tears in her eyes, she smiles. “Thank you, Kumiko. Thank you for this.”
“You’re welcome, but does this mean you don’t feel the same way?” She says sadly.
Reina shakes her head. “No, not thank you for your confession, I mean thank you for waking me up. I was so absorbed into Taki-sensei, trying so hard to make a relationship out of my one-sided childhood infatuation, that I was blind to everything else, including you. You’ve been so supportive of my pursuit of Taki, despite having your own feelings for me, yet I was absent in your time of need, when you were having issues with your sister. You were so sad and lonely and I never paid any attention to it, but I promise I’ll never do that again. I’ll never put anything over you again Kumiko, because you are my best friend and you are the one that I love. I don’t care that we’re both girls, all I care about is you and me and our love.”
Kumiko starts to tear up as she smiles at Reina. “Does that mean you’ll stay with me?”
Reina walks over to Kumiko and pulls her in close. I will stay with you always Kumiko, this is a confession of love after all. If I ever leave or break your heart, you can kill me.”
Kumiko smiles at her reversal of their promise from before. “I really will kill you.”
“You can, I’m prepared for that. It’s you, only you, Kumiko, that I want forevermore.”