Firecracker
Kumiko doesn't know if it's the tiredness of the reharsal, the joking atmosphere of their classmates, the starry sky above them or the summer breeze, but it's almost easy to forget why Reina is there. She squats at her side, gleaming eyes looking at her, effortlessy regal as usual.
Kumiko keeps the little stick between her fingers, smiling at Reina while she turns it on, showering the space between them in a cascade of sparkles. "It's been a long time since I did something like this", she says, raven hair framing her face. Kumiko breathes "Yeah, me too".
She inhales the scent of the evening, the fire that someone has lit. Her classmates laughs resonate in the background, and then she senses Reina's sigh. She follows her look and sighs in return, then turns and puts her hands firmly around her face.
The look they exchange holds a meaning that can't be said aloud.
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going" Reina mumbles.
After all, she did promise to be always at her side. No matter what.
But she is not left alone to make herself miserable, because Hashimoto sensei reaches her. His amused comment about Reina and Taki sensei is cut short by the memory of a loss, something Kumiko would have never expected. His story almost succedes in catching her attention, not a simple task given the moment. Her eyes remain glued to Reina though, despite her heart throbbing at the thought of a broken Taki sensei.
Kumiko really likes Taki sensei – it would be petty not to – brave, committed as he is. As a bonus, he sometimes really reminds her Reina, something she finds stealthily endearing.
Yet there is something amiss in the scene before her.
Kumiko is almost sure, things are not suppose to be that way. She knows, because she saw it happen to her, once. She knows what it is, a confession of love. Better, she knows what a confession of love is for Reina.
The two of you, alone, her eyes hard and serious, her breath that puffs on your lips, her hands that rest on your cheeckbones. Most of all, the truthness in her words, meant for your ears only, and the unfathomable glint in her eyes.
Not this tangled, akward mess of words and silence, at the public display: they don't even look each other in the eyes.
When Reina comes back to her after an excruciatingly long time, Kumiko doesn't want to confront her. The tight curve of her lips and her frowned eyebrows speak enough for her, so she knows better than asking. She will have to wait patiently that her friend decides to share some word about what she found out. She is not very anxious to know it, tough.
Later, that night, her brain keeps mulling over that scene, of course, so she tries to think about something else. Like Natsuki and Nozomi senpai, and how good Asuka senpai is in keeping in check her priorities.
She turns on her side, facing Reina, who sleeps peacefully. Kumiko focuses on her breath, trying to regulate her own.
When she closes her eyes and inhales her scent, the fire that sets in her chest sends sparkles in her throat.
A.N. Episode 3 of season 2 was so utterly unfair, I had to do something about it. Thank you for reading!