Writing a new KumiRei story has been on my mind for a while, but I wasn't able to find any inspiration until now. I also tried to write in a slightly different narrative voice.

Enjoy~

Suddenly the small stain on her otherwise creamy white blouse drew all of her attention. "I'm not going over there, Hazuki. If you want to speak to the 'celebrity', go right ahead without me." She examined the stain closely. Too red. The stain was fresh wine, spilled that very night. It was way too visible for her liking and she groaned to herself.

"But Kumikoooo," Hazuki, long legged, had grown taller in the five years since high school ended. Midori, beside her, had not. "You're the only one of us who was even really friends with Reina. It'd be weird if we went over alone. Or first, at least."

"Don't do it for us, do it for you." Midori prodded lightly, her voice somehow dangerously kind. She knew how to press Kumiko's buttons in the most efficient way. The innocent girl was almost too good-hearted, and she knew how to use it.

"I've nothing to say to her." The stain grew boring then, and Kumiko glanced around the rented-out hotel conference room, which was darker than she'd expect for a celebratory meet-up. Colored lights pulsed slowly blue and red and green upon the people and the walls all around them. There was soft, nostalgic music from the year they'd graduated beating against Kumiko's ears, but she could hardly say that she heard it. Her eyes ran right over that corner - isolated, as if by secret pressure - where she sat mysteriously but fittingly alone. It was the fourth, or maybe fifth time her eyes roamed over the same spot, and Kumiko forced herself to instead look at the two new entrants into the crowded room.

"Anyway," Kumiko resumed, "I wanna go say hi to Natsuki and Yuuko."

Her chair screeched against the floor loudly when she stood up, and she cringed. She was on her feet and moving towards the two girls before Hazuki or Midori could argue anymore. She loved her friends, but couldn't handle them tonight. She could feel a headache coming on.

"Kumiko, hi ya! How've you been?" Natsuki, sleepy-eyed as normal - smirking as normal - asked. Yuuko clung to Natsuki's arm; she wore a pink dress with thin straps and her classic bow, while Natsuki had on a skirt and an almost-too-tight green sweater.

She smiled. "I'm good, thanks. Good as I can be, I guess. You guys?"

"This one," Yuuko looked pointedly at the girl she clung to. "Just lost her job and doesn't seem to care."

"We're fine, she means." Natsuki Cheshire-grinned, "And finally living together."

"We won't have a place for long if you don't get a new job."

"I'll sell myself, ribbon, if it means staying with you." Natsuki's smirk couldn't be any more smug.

"Oh, shut it." Yuuko gripped the girl's arm tighter anyway, and smiled despite her words.

They're being too cute. That stain called to Kumiko again.

"Have you - "

Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask -

"Said hi to Reina yet?" Natsuki asked.

Of course.

"Hmph," she grumbled. "Why does everyone keep asking me to go over there?"

"Scared?" her grin was just glowing now, incandescent.

"Oh please!"

Laughter came from both Natsuki and a voice behind her, a voice she hadn't expected to appear from out of nowhere.

"Asuka?" she turned to see the girl behind her back hold her arms wide open.

"Hey, Ku-mi-ko~!" The older girl's arms around her felt nice. Comfortable and nostalgic. She couldn't savor it forever, though.

"Why're you here? You didn't graduate with us." Kumiko arched one of her eyebrows. "Actually, why are you two here. You didn't graduate with us either."

"Free food and drinks." Natsuki shrugged. One Yuuko-sized elbow in the side later and she continued. "And we kinda wanted to get back in touch with a few of you. I mean, you and I text, but we lost touch with almost everyone else."

Asuka grabbed Kumiko's hands for a moment. "I didn't think it was such a problem to want to see my dear juniors once again."

"Is that it?"

"I'm almost beginning to feel like you think I'm the kind of person to have ulterior motives. You wound me, Kumiko."

"Sorry." She was.

"Don't mention it. I wouldn't blame you for thinking that way anyway." That old mischievous grin reappeared. "But what's this - you haven't spoken to Reina yet?"

"Oi." Kumiko grumbled again. "Why does it even matter to all of you guys?"

"Because it does." What an answer! "And if you don't go over there right now and say hello, I'll drag you there myself."

She wore a bone-chilling grin. Kumiko shuddered. She glanced once more at the three girls before her, once more at Hazuki and Midori back at their table, and gave one more long, loud sigh. She ran a hand through her signature brown locks.

"Fine. Fine! I'll go say hello!"

"Call us in the morning~" Natsuki joked. The deep sound of Yuuko slapping her on the back followed. Then, Natsuki's laugh.

She made her way though faces both familiar and strange. Reina was seated close to one of the large, monolithic speakers at one of the darker corners of the room; the thumping bass of the music beat angst Kumiko's chest the closer that she came to Reina.

She felt Reina's gaze, sharp and direct, before she even saw the girl's violet eyes. Reina came into view then, and Kumiko sucked in a breath. She was taller now, her hair looked a bit longer (though just as luscious), her chest slightly fuller, her skin just as fair. She stood at her table alone, drinking slowly from a fluted glass. There seemed to be a kind of invisible bubble around Reina, and those at the tables near her's steered clear of the girl like they couldn't stand the air of intensity, of uniqueness, of unapproachability that the girl gave off.

Kumiko felt her old awkwardness filling the marrow of her bones. One uncomfortable summer- from middle school to high school - had been hard enough to endure back when she and Reina reunited in their first-year band. What did five years worth of repression feel like?

Almost insurmountable.

She very nearly turned around.

"Kumiko."

One word and she froze in her tracks. A deep breath. Two.

"Reina." She resumed her walk to the girl's table. "Uh...congrats, on, you know - the whole record deal thing."

"What a mouthful." Reina grinned. "Just 'congratulations' would've been fine, but it's good to know that you're just as verbose as you used to be."

Her heart stung. This is why she didn't want to walk over; she didn't want to feel that old longing for Reina again. She'd beaten it back years ago.

"V-verbose?" She shook her head and tried to release some of the confusing emotions bubbling up in her brain. She didn't miss this part of dealing with the girl. "Really, though, how are you Reina?"

"Fine. I finally feel like my journey to being 'special' has begun."

"Just begun? You're kidding, right?" If she's just beginning, where am I in life?

"I've only just begun." Reina reasserted. "Many people have record deals. It's not too special of an accomplishment."

"At 23?"

"It took far too long, if you ask me."

This girl...

"Well, it was good seeing you. "

Silence befell them. Kumiko returned to looking around the room uninterestedly, then back at the stain on her shirt. Of course nothing came out of their meeting. What did she expect? She never admitted her feelings back in high school and that was five years before. Anything Reina might have felt back then -

Reina wasn't having it and she pulled Kumiko in without warning. She placed one hand, commanding but soft, on Kumiko's cheek and forced her to look her in the eyes. Her other hand was wrapped in Kumiko's blouse and it brought her close, clutching desperately to the fabric.

"Not yet. Don't go just yet." Reina ordered. Their faces were so close that Kumiko could feel Reina's breath on her lips and those purple eyes drinking in her face, and those strong, soft fingers keeping her in place. Reina's stare was powerful; commanding.

Kumiko barely noticed the looks of the people around them. Barely.

"Reina," She breathed out, "Reina, why don't we take a break outside."

"Alright." She grabbed Kumiko's hand - eliciting a squeak - and pulled her through the crowd and out of the hotel doors into the night. Natsuki snickered when the girls passed. Damn it, she saw us.

Outside of the hotel, the night air cooled down the fire blazing across Kumiko's cheeks. There was hardly any light; a new moon sucked out what little color they could see.

"Reina - "

"Why didn't you tell me how you felt back then?"

"I, uh - what?"

"You knew I was too wrapped up in trying to be special to focus on whatever your 'signs' were back then. Why didn't you say anything?"

She was caught. She looked to the stain on her shirt for something to focus on, but it was too dark out to see it.

"What was I supposed to say? 'Stop focusing on music and start focusing on me'?"

"Yes."

"No, you'd resent me. I know you would."

"I wouldn't have. I already relied on you. I already trusted you. Those confessions of love - "

"If you hadn't made something of yourself by now and I had done that, you'd have resented me. I know you best of all, Reina." Her voice, previously direct, went soft. "We were villains together, remember?" She leaned back against the cool brick of the hotel. They were surrounded by trees, hidden from sight. "Plus," Kumiko added. "I was way too awkward back then." She smiled ruefully.

The other girl smiled back. "Was awkward? If you looked at me any more tonight without coming over I might have just pulled you out of your seat myself."

"I-I wasn't staring at you." Kumiko grumbled. "You just happened to be where I was looking."

Another groan from the same girl.

"Never mind." she shook her head. "What good is it lying to you?"

"It's no good at all. I'm a villain, remember? I can see through your lies." Reina moved from standing before the brunette to leaning on the wall beside her. "And a villain is selfish. She's impatient. And -" their hands intertwined again, finger lacing between finger. Kumiko's knew her hands must've been clammy. Damn it. Why now? "And a villain can be very lonely."

Kumiko turned her head. Reina's lips were so alluring, so plump and vibrant that Kumiko couldn't help herself. She couldn't stop herself even if she tried. She leaned over and kissed the girl, her lips gracing only the corner, the side of Reina's own. Mistakenly, as it was.

She gulped. How'd I mess up something as simple as a kiss?

Reina was wide-eyed for a moment, but her surprise settled to a knowing smile, and then a warm one with her eyes half-lidded. Her chest rose and fell evenly, while Kumiko's fluttered frantically.

"You're a terrible kisser." Still, the smile.

"Not like I've had a lot of practice." Kumiko grumbled.

"Not with that attitude, I'd expect."

"Are you done teasing me?"

A giggle. "Yes, I suppose." she paused. "It's been a long time since I've felt like this." She admitted with a small sigh.

"Like what?"

"Relieved, I guess. Not under so much pressure."

Kumiko smiled a bit, but tried to keep it out of her voice. "It looks like being special is tougher than you expected."

"I'm still on the journey, remember?"

"When's it over?"

Reina squeezed her hand and Kumiko remembered then that they were linked, that they were connected. She missed the days when she and Reina experienced so much together like this. Festivals, concerts, moonlit mountaintops...they had done so much hand-in-hand.

"I'm not so sure anymore." A sigh. "It always was such a...nebulous dream."

"What's a villain without a master plan?" Kumiko asked, "Don't you want to, uh, take over the world with your music? With being special?"

"Don't joke. I'm still serious." despite the admonition, she grinned a bit. "But, well, I suppose it still feels like I'm missing something important. Some part of myself and this 'master plan', if you want to call it that."

"You're human, Reina. Villain or not I think that's a pretty normal feeling." she paused, then let out a sigh. "At least, I can empathize. I know how you feel."

"Lean in closer." She ordered. She didn't even wait for Kumiko to respond, and tugged at the girl's hand until Kumiko was nearly on top of her. Their bodies were pressed close, and Reina had wrapped an arm around her back to hold her tighter. Kumiko thought she might melt.

"Hmmm." Reina made an affirmative sound. "It feels as good as I thought it might."

"R-reina?! What are you trying to do out here in public? This is...this is..."

"Answer me one thing Kumiko: do you feel the same way you did back then? Back in high school?"

"Is it pathetic to say yes? I haven't seen you in five years, but..."

"It's not pathetic. Not to me, anyway."

She sighed, defeated. This could lead to something good, but embarrassment flared in her chest regardless. She hated to admit it. Pride, or some such, stuck like a rock in her throat. "...Then, yes. I tried to bury those feelings but, well, you know, it didn't work and then I saw you on tv and..."

"Like I said earlier, you're verbose."

"S-stop smirking! You're not in my position, Reina! This is harder to do than you think."

She felt the black-haired girl's breath on her lips again. "No, I'm in a worse position." she smiled, almost sadly, and Kumiko unconsciously gripped their hands tighter together. "What's a budding musician doing in love with some weird girl from her high school days?"

"How flattering." she deadpanned. L-love?

"Sorry," a beat. "Do you want to...let's go back to my place. That's fine, right?"

"Eh?!"

"Well," Reina looked away, blushing in embarrassment for maybe the second time Kumiko had ever seen her do so. "Five years is...it's been a long time to wait. Why not take advantage of the opportunity?"

She opened her mouth to respond once, twice, but closed it to groan a bit. Weren't things moving too quickly? Her hesitation meant nothing, though. She knew she'd say yes. They both did.

"Don't make me regret saying yes, Reina. This isn't going to be a one-time fling, right? I couldn't...my heart couldn't...it wouldn't be right, villain or not."

"Of course it won't be." The near-glare she gave Kumiko almost froze the girl's blood. "When I want something I take it and I keep it. You know that. Whether it's a place in the ensemble, or a chance at being special, or you."

"Now I just sound like another conquest." Kumiko said dryly.

"It's all the same to me."

"You're terrible, you know. Just terrible."

"I know."

They grinned at one another again, but the moment barely lasted a few seconds before Reina pulled Kumiko with her in the direction of the train station. They were leaving the hotel, and their classmates, behind.

"W-wait, Reina! I have to get my stuff from inside."

"Ah, good point. I forgot my things too."

As they turned to walk back, Kumiko remembered a few other important things she'd left behind. "Oh!"

"Hmm?"

"Would you also mind doing me a favor when we're in there?"

"W-wow! Reina, you're, like, a celebrity now!" Hazuki.

"I'm very happy for you. You've always worked hard, Reina. It's good to see it pay off." Midori.

"Thank you, you two."

Some non-committal small talk later and Kumiko and Reina were out of there, out of the hotel, and on their way to the star's apartment on a late night express train. Half an hour later and they were stumbling their way into Reina's home, limbs flailing and lips mashing and bodies struggling for dominance. The door hardly slammed behind them before Reina was pulling, pulling Kumiko into her room, onto her bed, and under her sheets. Under her.

The stain on the white sheets the next morning was red too, like the one on her blouse. It was blood this time though, not wine. Way too red, still...She had been - both of them had been - untouched, pure. A little blood was only to be expected. She looked away feeling a bit embarrassed at the whole situation.

Sitting up in bed alone she finally felt how cold it was in the room. The winter wind leaked in through the weak windows. Reina's apartment was well furnished, but it was older than it looked during the night. The room made settling sounds around her.

She tried shaking the tiredness from her bones. No luck. With an oomph she laid back down on the large, soft bed. She said something about, uh, a meeting in the morning? I think? Then another memory. 'Call me in the morning' Natsuki joked the night before.

...

A ring, two, and then, "Uh, hello? Kumiko?"

"I think you might've cursed me or something. Or maybe charmed me."

"It's, like, 8 in the morning. What're ya calling for?"

"Call me in the morning you joked when I went to talk to Reina. Well, you know, uh...morning."

A pause. A loud guffaw. Natsuki laughed so loud that Kumiko heard Yuuko in the background complaining about being woken up so early from the sound. "Oh my God, Kumiko, you finally did it. I didn't think you had it in ya!"

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

More laughter. "Never mind. Care to share the juicy details? Or are you not the kiss-and-tell kind of girl?"

"I - why would you want to know how - "

"I get it, I get it. Good for you, kid."

"Kid?"

"Have fun with your girl. She'll be a handful. Later~"

She hung up and Kumiko tossed her phone onto the bed in frustration. A minute hardly passed before her phone buzzed with a text and she moved her tired body slowly to read it.

Reina: Meet me at this address for breakfast.

She sighed, but got dressed anyway. In no time she was out of the door and in a cab on her way to whatever restaurant Reina invited her to. The city was bustling even this early on a Saturday morning. Before she walked in she smoothed out her clothing - all she had was what she'd worn the night before - and entered the modern-looking restaurant.

Kumiko hardly had time to look around before she saw Reina beckoning her from a seat in the far back. The restaurant buzzed with voices; it was full to the brim, really. Ever even-voiced Reina had to speak up over the din of the other patrons to be heard.

"Do you feel any different?"

How is that her first question? And in a restaurant? What happened to the mood?

"Physically?"

"Emotionally."

"Five years was a long time to nurse a crush in the first place. Of course I feel, you know...great. Wonderful. To finally have...d-don't make me say it like this. Just not here, at least..." she grumbled.

"Awkward as ever, it seems."

"That wasn't just going to change over night."

"Mine didn't either," Reina said between bites of pipping hot pancakes. "My faults, I mean."

"Is that so?" Where was this going? She bent forward in her chair unconsciously.

"That emptiness, that loneliness I talked about at the party...I want you to fill it. I, well - I need you to, I think. That's what I got out of last night."

She paused, and Kumiko sucked in a breath. "You think? That's not like you, Reina. You, of all people, know what you want."

"You're right." Another uncharacteristic pause. "You're absolutely right."

Just as she did everything, Reina didn't wait for an answer. She didn't take their surroundings into account, or her new-found fame, or even Kumiko's embarrassed, wide-eyed squeak. She simply leaned over, pulled Kumiko close, and kissed her deeply there for all to see. Kumiko's silverware clattered loudly on the porcelain plates. Without looking Kumiko knew that the squish she felt beneath her chest was a strawberry from Reina's plate. Just one more bright red stain on her shirt. Damn it.

"Mmmph - R-reina?"

"You're right, Kumiko. I know what I want."

"And what's that?"

Not a beat. Not a moment of hesitation. "You."

At least she finally said it.

"Well, that's good." Kumiko sat back in her seat. She glanced down at the stains on her shirt, but then looked back up with a wide smile. She didn't need to distract herself from this. Not at all. "Because I want you too."

Thanks for reading!

Reviews, criticisms, and responses are all welcome!