"Hey Ao," Kotoha says one day in the town office. "Next winter we should get out of here."
It's the middle of spring, and the week before Akina had told them all the truth, that there only might be one more winter left. Ao wonders if this is Kotoha's way of dealing with that, reminds herself that she could easily find out, and reminds herself again that she'd made a promise to herself, long ago, that she wouldn't read Kotoha's mind unless it was absolutely necessary. She'd made that promise regarding every one of her friends, but Kotoha's was a special case. Kotoha's thoughts were what made her Kotoha, and that's what Ao loved about her.
"By ourselves?" asks Ao. "Or with everyone else?"
"Maybe not everyone," Kotoha says. "Someone should stay here and make sure everything's alright. But definitely the two of us. Hime and Kyou will probably want to stay. Akina can come, and Touka, and…" Kotoha bites down on her lower lip, venturing her next words carefully. "Gin can come too?"
Ao wants to say it's impossible, wants to think that Kotoha's just made a slip of the tongue. They all saw the scar across Gin's chest and the leering smile that could never have belonged to him. Kotoha's eyes beam at Ao from behind her glasses, and in a rare moment, Ao can see exactly what Kotoha is thinking even without her Satori powers. It's a promise, Kotoha is saying; We'll get him back before winter.
It's a wishful thought for sure, but Kotoha's disarming smile makes Ao want to believe it'll be true. After all, if a Kotodama had said it, then it would have to be possible.
"Hokkaido?" Kotoha is saying, swinging her legs on top of her desk and placing a finger to her mouth thoughtfully. "No, too far. Osaka? Kyoto? We'll think about it later, right, Ao?"
"Right."
"But maybe we should look into things early. Or we could go to Hakone, I heard it's nice there in the winter too-"
Ao shifts her gaze slightly, keeping Kotoha in the corner of her vision as she brings one of the Nanagou into view. In a year or less, the trees might bloom. They'll have to figure out what to do with Enjin, and her brother's body, but if they do- when they do- there will be other things they'll have to deal with. The cold, for one, and arranging for transportation out of town-
Kotoha, still chattering away, swings her arm in too wide of an arc for the precarious balance of her chair to support. She topples over with a yelp, landing on her back in front of Ao. "Ugh," she groans, and shoves a hand up into the air. "Help me up?"
"Be careful next time," Ao giggles, and grips Kotoha's hand. Her ears twitch, unnoticed by Kotoha, who rights her chair and plops sullenly into it.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"If you say so."
Kotoha adjusts herself in her chair, apprehensively eyeing the teetering stack of paperwork hanging off the edge of her desk. Behind her, Ao lifts a hand to her mouth to hide another bout of quiet laughter, brought about by the thought of Kotoha in the snow, her face bundled up in a scarf like Hime's, trying to stick her tongue through the thick layers of fabric.
"I thought this might happen," Ao says with a smile that's far too serene for the news she's just been given. She watches Kotoha's fists curl just a bit tighter as her friend rounds on her with an anguished expression.
"What do you mean?" Kotoha asks her. "All along, you knew?"
"There's times where I've felt like I'm floating." Ao stretches her hand in front of her, fingers splayed against the cloudy blue sky. "Sometimes I think I can almost see it."
"The other world?"
"Yeah."
"I see." Kotoha's face vanishes into the shelter of her knees, curled against her chest. From there, Ao hears her next muffled words: "You're still going to use your powers, aren't you? You're going to try and help everyone like before, but-"
"Kotoha."
Ao's hand slides onto Kotoha's knee, her gentle touch enough to lure Kotoha out of the dark cavern created by her arms. She looks up to see Ao smiling at her, having moved close enough for their shoulders to just brush against each other.
"I'm not going anywhere, Kotoha." Ao leans over, pushing her cheek into Kotoha's arm. "I'm going to protect this city with the rest of you."
"But if you use your powers too much-"
"I'll save them for an emergency." Ao's ears twitch against Kotoha's shoulder, drawing her gaze. "Don't look so sad, Kotoha. I wouldn't be that careless."
"Right," Kotoha says, and Ao hears the tremor in her voice that she's grown to recognize without needing her powers, that subtle wavering that tells her Kotoha's not entirely convinced.
"Kotoha?" Ao says again, reaching over and grasping one of Kotoha's hands in hers. "It's a promise, okay? Besides, didn't you say you'd take me somewhere for winter break?"
"Yeah." Kotoha nods, swiping her sleeve across her face. "Maybe up north- I still haven't decided."
"There's time." Ao squeezes Kotoha's hand, solid and warm beneath hers. A quick smile flutters across Kotoha's face as she stretches out her legs, looking fully at Ao for the first time since they'd come up to the rooftop. "But you have to promise me, too. We're going there together."
"Of course." Kotoha squeezes back, her smile broadening, and starts to get to her feet. "What kind of a person would I be if I asked you to come somewhere with me and stood you up?"
"Promise me," insists Ao. "I want to hear it."
"Alright, I promise. We're going somewhere together for winter break. Better?"
"Yes." Ao turns her eyes to the edge of the rooftop, staring past it at the silhouette of the lit office below, through which the shadows of Akina and the others are moving. "We should go back to them soon."
"Just a bit more," Kotoha whispers. "It's nice outside."
"Alright," says Ao. "But not for too long."
"Fair enough." Kotoha lowers herself back down onto the roof next to Ao, their shoulders brushing again. Almost immediately, like it's become second nature to her, Ao turns her head to rest it against Kotoha's.
When Touka finally climbs up to check on them, she finds Kotoha awake, gazing blankly at the moon, and Ao asleep next to her with Kotoha's hand still running through her hair.
Kotoha hasn't stirred since Ao laid her in her bed. Ao had hoped, with that same optimistic naivete that no doubt also stays Akina's hand, that transmitting her own thoughts to Kotoha might have woken her up. Instead, she's as still as ever, and venturing into the realm of Kotoha's mind shows Ao nothing other than the same darkness in which Kotoha is floating dreamlessly.
Ao only knows what happened from Akina, who heard it from Lila, but even with that she can only imagine that this darkness is a mercy. She's lucky, in that sense, she thinks. Hime's strength can be turned against her; Kotoha's kotodama can be reflected; Akina has Enjin's dropping to counter his tuning, and-
Well, she supposes Enjin would be her counterpart too, if it ever came to that.
Ao's hands curl tighter on her lap. She leans forward until her head comes into contact with the edge of Kotoha's bed, precariously balancing her weight on her knees. "Kotoha?" she says into the quiet. "Please wake up soon."
She's not a kotodama; she's only a Satori, but if this is Kotoha's room, then perhaps something might happen. Ao squeezes her eyes shut, ears twitching gently, but even now there's only the black void of nothingness that drones, like static, through Kotoha's mind.
Ao slides her hand up the bed, under the blankets, to find Kotoha's. She feels the tremor of Kotoha's pulse against her own quaking fingers, and grips on to it. Everything's going to be okay, she tells herself. The only people who have left her were the ones who said goodbye first, and Kotoha hasn't yet. They may know each other inside and out, but there are still things Kotoha's left unsaid, just like Ao has: even at a time like this, fear keeps her from telling Kotoha the things she's certain Kotoha must already know, but keeps quiet about for her sake.
They don't have to keep up this forced mutual silence for long- just until October, when Enjin makes his move. After that, they'll finally be able to tell each other everything; Gin will be back; they'll all go on vacation during winter break, just like Kotoha had promised her.
"You promised," Ao hears herself mumbling to Kotoha. "So wake up."
She moves further over the bed, relinquishing her hold on Kotoha to place her elbows on the edge. Without opening her eyes, she bends down until her forehead is just touching Kotoha's, and she can feel the slow, warm passage of Kotoha's breath. She stays that way for a long while, ignoring the ache that builds in her shoulders and knees. For that moment, everything that encompasses Ao is possessed by a single thought, one that also reaches for Kotoha: the Nanagou, their trunks unchanged, standing still against a sky speckled by snow.