Merry Christmas 2009!
Kaname x Momomi
Captivate Me
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
Pink Floyd
When a new girl transferred to their school in the middle of the term, Kaname was a little annoyed, because there were an odd number of girls in her year, and thus far she had been able to have a double room to herself, where she could have all of the space and none of the boring conversation. When she had found out that the lot had fallen on her to get the sole room, she had smirked to herself, because that worked out just fine for her.
But now, that peace was ruined, and by the beginning of October, would be gone completely.
She spent a great deal of time wondering what this girl would be like. She hoped fervently that she would not be a second Amane, come to knock Kaname down to an even more undignified third place, but she hoped too that the girl was not a weakling, or a fool.
When she eventually did find something out about her, she was not impressed.
Apparently the girl coming was the daughter of some wealthy businessman, who had been forced to travel a lot. Kaname, as a rule, hated people like that, and on first glance, she had hated this girl too.
Kaname had marched into the dorm building, tennis racket under her arm and a scowl on her face, and had walked past the new girl, who was standing in the hallway with her bags. She watched with scorn as the girl stared with the same ferocity at the map of the dorms, obviously trying to work out where her room was.
The girl had glanced up, caught her eye, and curled her lip in distain.
"What're you looking at?"
Kaname raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, and slung her racket over her shoulder.
"Not you."
She swept past the girl, back up to her- what would soon be their- room, not offering to help her.
When the girl did arrive, a few minutes after her, she pushed the door open with her shoulder and promptly froze in the doorway, bags in hands, as she caught sight of Kaname, lounging at her desk, staring at the girl. Kaname was watching her with a look of disinterest, making sure that the girl knew that she had been deliberately snubbed downstairs.
"Oh… Ummm…"
"It's you."
The girl blushed, and Kaname found herself internally grinning. Twenty seconds after she opened the door, and the new girl had already lost the upper hand.
"Yeah. Hi. Look, I'm sorry about earlier-"
"Forget it."
The girl faltered, and moved inside, putting her bags at the end of the spare bed.
"Okay."
"So, you're the new student?"
"Uhuh."
Kaname nodded, and that was the end of that encounter. They didn't speak again as Momomi unpacked, but when Kaname found out that the new girl was in her classes, she did not mind too much. A girl who could pull of a glare like that and blush under scrutiny in the space of ten minutes had to have more under her skin than most.
So they lived together, talking without really talking, watching each other without ever really connecting to each other. The term was slipping away from them, as time often did, and soon it was December. They both found themselves roped in to helping the organisation of the Christmas Ball, an annual tradition at the school. They inadvertently both ended up working together on the decoration, which had been placed as their duty, and each night, as Kaname leant her head conspiratorially close to the other, she found this new girl just a little bit more interesting.
She was unpredictable, with a sense of humour that jumped from a near prudish wit to being unbelievably crude in seconds. Her eyes glinted when she was about to make a joke, and soon enough Kaname realised that she spent more time laughing with this girl than she did with anyone else. Her smile was always ready to widen when Kaname walked over to her, and Kaname always found herself smiling in return.
She was pretty, Kaname noticed, in an obvious way, but it was more about the way she scrunched up her nose when she was thinking, or the way her eyes wrinkled when she smiled, that made her attractive; more about the way she tucked her hair behind her ears and the way that she frowned when she was a little nervous that made her appealing. There was confidence, and self-depreciation, and there was restraint and complete abandonment too. The girl was a little bit of everything, and Kaname found herself wanting to taste all of those little bits with the tip of her tongue. She wanted to explore, and to find out more.
Their conversations, across tinsel and cut-out snowflakes, were as offhand and careless as before, and they never had anything to say of great significance. Every now and again though, Kaname would look up, and would catch the her eye over the glow of white fairy light and silvery baubles, and she would feel herself start to smile, just a little bit.
Momomi would smile back, just for a second, before casting her eyes downwards to whatever she was doing at the time, trying hard not to blush.
It took weeks of preparation, and hours and sweat and near-tears, but at the end, it truly was beautiful. It was the kind of ball that was talked about with sights in the terms following it, the kind of ball that the next years committee would struggle to replicate, although next year the duty would not belong to Spica, but to Miator.
The ballroom was crowded, the lights low, and the drinks abundant. Kaname danced the first and second dance with pretty things from across the school, but soon found their conversation lacking, and moved on. The ball was entertaining for most, she had to agree, but she found herself looking for a face that she could not see in the crowd, for the silvery-coloured dress that had been hanging in their room, next to her own dark blue one. She could not bring herself to stay too long in the suddenly overcrowded room- there was laughing, and fun, and much exclamation over the beauty of the hall, but regardless of that, Kaname found herself back in her room early. It was there that she found Momomi, who it appeared had also retired already- although, Kaname was not sure if Momomi had even left. She was in her ball dress, but still sat in her desk chair, her make-up scattered around her.
"You're back early."
Kaname kicked off her shoes in the corner, and slipped the shoulder straps off the dress. She had not really paid much attention to it before, but their dresses matched. She wondered if Momomi had realised that, when she bought her own, after seeing Kaname. She frowned at the thought of her dress. Amane had been in a tightly fitted tux- she had to remember that for next year.
"I'm too tired to appreciate it."
Momomi smiled at the wall, her chin resting on her hands, staring at the blank wall.
"I know what you mean."
"And there was not enough of interest to keep me there."
Kaname smiled to herself as she slid the zip at the side of her dress down.
"Oh? No pretty girl caught your eye for the night?"
She turned to look at Momomi, the atmosphere suddenly awkward as she said nothing in response. Kaname looked at her levelly, her face cold with no expression, before turning sharply away and sliding the bodice of the dress down past her narrow waist.
"No."
Momomi shook her head, as if discarding thoughts that she did not want to think, and watched as the blue dress fell to the floor. Out of the corner of her eyes she followed Kaname as she stepped out of the fabric, leaving it pooled on the floor. She sighed to herself, and Kaname noticed, and turned around, not at all self-conscious.
"What?"
"It's strange… you're not at all what I expected."
Kaname had paused, standing straight in her underwear, frowning a little at her roommate and- she supposed she would have to call her- friend.
"Oh? What did you expect?"
Momomi surged to her feet, and took a step towards the other girl, the silver fabric of her own outfit stopping her from taking long strides. Her dress had been tight fitting, like Kaname's, and she found herself suddenly frustrated by the lack of movement that it offered. They made a strange contrast, the two of them there, one in a long ball gown and the other in nothing but her underwear, but the one dressed looking far more embarrassed.
"Not someone this… captivating."
Kaname smirked, and lifted Momomi's chin with the tip of her thumb. A blush was grazing her cheeks, and Kaname followed it with her forefinger.
"Captivating?"
"Yeah."
Her breath ghosted across the other girl's face as Momomi pressed their bodies together.
"I could get used to being called that."
"That's good. I've got a feeling that you might be captivating me for a long time, you know?"
Kaname entwined their fingers.
"I'm okay with that."