Kotori liked to think of herself as a very simple girl. She liked fluffy things and sweets. She enjoyed making and designing clothes, always so fun and interesting to her! When the people she loved were happy, she was happy too.
Honoka was her very first friend and she would always treasure her so. Honoka was like the firecrackers they lit in the middle of summer, always ready to explode with ideas and excitement. Kotori enjoyed being with her even if there were times where if Kotori looked back on it, it was sort of a wonder how they were both alive and in one piece.
So Umi was like a refreshing breath of spring air. Or maybe autumn air. No, she was winter, the opposite to Honoka's summer.
She was always so shy and reserved that the only way they could get her to do anything was if they literally dragged her. So they did, and Umi began to realize that sometimes, Honoka's ideas weren't always the best and someone needed to be the voice of reason somewhere before they "ended up in the next town over where there was no rice or bread for them to eat!" Umi would yell at them.
It probably came after Honoka's brilliant plan of climbing a tree to watch the sunset and they had all almost fallen down the tree and broken all their bones. And also, there was no way Kotori was going to climb that tree by herself with only Honoka so of course Umi had to go along too. So they had almost fallen down and broken every bone in their body, but it was still almost. Kotori liked to stay positive most of the time, no thanks to Honoka's infectious optimism.
Even when she was young, she always thought Umi looked so pretty with her long hair. And she was always so calm and really smart too! She always had all the top grades in class even despite how busy she always was, with her family's dojo and everything. Kotori wondered why someone like Umi was even friends with them, so amazing and talented she was. She silently thanked Honoka's charisma.
It didn't really occur to Kotori that she might have had feelings for her friend until one day, Honoka and her had come over to Umi's house for the weekend, having never seen it before. Umi-chan's house was old and traditional, but huger than anything they had ever seen. It left the both of them in awe. Umi's mother, a stern faced but kind woman who had the same shade of blue hair, came to escort them through the house. They followed after Umi's mother, their tiny feet padding on the wooden floor. When she mentioned Umi was practicing her archery right now, Honoka had exclaimed excitedly that she wanted to see Umi shooting arrows.
Kotori couldn't forget that day, when they were about nigh high and still growing up, thinking of only about playing all day long.
Umi was there in her gi, bow in her hand as she stared at the target in front of her. When she drew her bow, Kotori held her breath, as she watched her friend, watched how focused and calm she was, even more so than usual. Kotori released her breath at the same time Umi fired her arrow. To Honoka and Kotori's amazement, the arrow struck dead center. Umi's face remained blank but in the next instant, she had a huge smile on her face, smiling with such satisfaction and happiness that made Kotori smile widely as well despite the pounding of her heart.
It continued through their school years. She liked being with Honoka but when she was with Umi, there was an extra fluttery feeling in her chest that wasn't there. She secretly delighted in having Umi's eyes only on her. She didn't know why, only knew that there was something about having Umi's attention that made Kotori smile to herself when she recalled all those times. Her favorite times were when they were all together on Honoka's whims or when she was in the archery range, always still breathless whenever she watched Umi in her natural element.
But the moment that Kotori realized that she was irrefutably in love with Umi had to be after they started their idol careers and she was filming her friends at Nozomi's insistence. When Umi, always looking so serious whenever she was in archery practice, turned to the mirror and smiled so cutely, Kotori nearly dropped the camcorder, gaping as she recognized it now, realized the beating of her heart.
It was so awkward but so incredibly adorable that Kotori didn't know what to do other than slap herself in realization. Oh, she thought, that's what that is. It made her laugh, glad she had finally figured out what it was, figured out why she thought about Umi differently than Honoka.
Then her laughter died down when she remembered Umi was denser than a brick wall.
i.
Kotori glanced around, hoping no one was looking at her right now. Though with the way she was acting, there was no doubt that she was acting strangely. But that wasn't in Kotori's mind, as she gulped loudly. It was do or die! Okay, maybe not die, but close enough. Kotori pushed the item in her hands into the hole, letting out a breath of relief as she did so.
The easy part was done! That was it! And now, all she had to do was wait. It was a completely cliched thing of her to do she would think later, but she honestly wanted to do it at least once in her life. And, there was still the very small possibility of it working though she didn't bother getting her chances up. It was Umi, after all.
Humming to herself, she skipped to class and waited for everyone to show up. The classroom began to slowly fill up and Kotori fidgeted in her seat for the inevitable meeting. When she saw the telltale sign of blue hair and the brown eyes of her friend, she smiled widely, waving.
"Kotori, good morning," Umi greeted, nodding at her. In her arms were a pile of pink letters that she put down on her desk. She sat down in her seat with a sigh, staring at the letters forlornly.
"It looks like you've got a lot more this time," Kotori said, trying to keep her tone nonchalant. Umi groaned, putting her head into her hands.
"I don't even know why I get them all the time..." she muttered, sorting through them. She stopped at one letter though, peering at it curiously. Kotori held her breath. Umi looked at it with her brows raised but in the next instant, she shook her head, a frown on her face.
"Is... there something weird with one of them?" Kotori asked worriedly, hoping she didn't sound eager. Umi put a hand on her chin before shaking her head.
"No, it's nothing. I guess I'll just have to throw these letters away..." Umi said sullenly, sighing to herself.
"R-really?" Kotori blinked at her. "None of them caught your eye?"
"Well..." Umi flipped through the letters until she pulled out one. "This handwriting... it looks... really familiar."
Kotori tried not to laugh hysterically. "Does it now!" she almost shouted but managed to calm herself down. Umi blinked at her.
"Yes..." she said slowly, still looking at Kotori strangely. Kotori could capture when the realization slowly dawned on her face. "This handwriting..." she looked down and then back up at Kotori, "it's yours!"
"You don't say." Kotori's voice, normally so high pitched, was almost a squeak at that point. Any higher and she'd be... Hanayo. Luckily, Umi was still too surprised to realize anything was off because she was sort of just gawking at Kotori. It was kind of... adorable but Kotori kind of wanted her to stop because it was getting more and more awkward the longer she did it.
Umi slowly turned to the letter and neatly opened it in one go with her finger. Hands shaking, she took it out, reading through the contents. Kotori didn't know whether to be proud or completely embarrassed as she watched Umi's face turn as red as Maki's hair. On the other hand, Kotori half wished the ground would swallow her on the spot. Sadly, it didn't (and it would have defeated the whole purpose anyway), because Umi snapped her head back up, staring at her with complete bafflement, her face completely red.
"You... did you..." Umi trailed off, unable to speak. Then, it was as if a light bulb went off in Umi's head. "Ah, I get it now. Someone asked you to help them write one. If I saw your handwriting, of course I'd pause and notice it." A light bulb Kotori didn't want. Umi sighed and shuffled the letter back in with the others. "Really... doing something like... that's so much trouble, especially for you."
"Um, what?" Kotori blinked, trying to catch up with Umi's thinking.
"And they didn't even..." Umi trailed off, sighing again. "I'm sorry, Kotori, for whoever put you up to this. I'll try to see that this doesn't happen again." Happy that she solved the mystery, Umi swept the letters off her desk into her bag. Honoka picked that moment to come in and Umi turned to lecture her about oversleeping.
Kotori slowly turned her eyes downward, face blank as she let her head hit the desk, beginning to realize that maybe she had underestimated Umi's obliviousness and powers of denial.
I should have signed the letter.
ii.
Kotori fidgeted in her seat, watching the clock anxiously. Just a few more minutes... a few more minutes... she repeated in her head. Even so, she kept glancing at the clock every several seconds. The teacher continued to drone on and on, in that monotone voice. Kotori really did try to pay attention, she really did, but she was too excited to calm down. I have bigger plans than complex numbers!
Finally, finally, the time she was waiting for came. The teacher dismissed them and the classroom began to bustle with activity. True to her character, Honoka immediately woke up the moment the teacher walked out of the room, instantly revitalized. "Lunch time!" she exclaimed, putting her hands in the air.
Umi sighed deeply, scowling. "Don't just sleep through class!"
"But it's so hard!" Honoka said with a whine. "And c'mon, I need to get some bread!"
"Honoka!" Before Umi could say anything else, Honoka already dashed out of the classroom, either to get away from Umi or to get bread, Kotori wasn't sure to the point she wouldn't bet on either option. Umi sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Are you ready to go, Kotori?" she finally asked instead. Kotori fished through her bag and took out her lunchboxes. Umi blinked at them, looking at them confusedly. "Did... you bring more than normal?"
"You'll see!" Kotori chirped, ushering Umi out the door.
They went to their usual spot underneath the tree in the courtyard, the two of them settling down first. Within several minutes of waiting, Honoka appeared, bread in her hands, plopping down next to them.
Honoka bit into her bread with a cry. "Delicious!" Umi shook her head but Kotori couldn't help the grin. "Hey, Kotori-chan, did you make more than usual?" Honoka glanced at the unusually larger than normal bag Kotori held.
"I did," Kotori said as she took them out, "we're going to be practicing hard for our next Live, so I wanted to make sure we had lots of energy!" It was partly true, as their next Live was coming up and they still needed to finalize the steps. But Umi-chan also had an archery meet coming up and Kotori wanted to do something extra. "I've made lots to share with everyone, so you can take some."
"Really?!" Honoka pumped her fist. "Yeah! Thanks, Kotori-chan!"
"You spoil her, Kotori," Umi said disapprovingly. "If you eat too much, Honoka, you'll get fat." Honoka tensed up at that word, a visible shiver going through her. Just as quickly as it came though, she shrugged, returning to her food.
"I'll just lose it all during practice," Honoka said, already cheerful. Umi looked as if she wanted to argue the point further but Kotori raised a hand.
"It's only just for now," she said, shrugging. Thankfully, that seemed to appease the strict Umi-chan and they both settled down, eating their lunches.
"Ah..." Kotori glanced down at the extra lunchbox she made, all the neat rows of tamago reminding her of all her hard work. She had spent all her time practicing, at home and at work, perfecting these to the point where she never wanted to look at another egg for two years. They had to be perfect now! Food was always the surest way to someone's heart, if all those manga Kotori had read were to be believed. All she had to do...
Gulping slightly, she tapped her friend on the shoulder. "Umi-chan, would you like some?"
"No, thank you."
"Alright, let me – huh?" Kotori blinked, realizing something was off. Even Honoka looked up, looking at Umi incredulously.
"You should really try it. It's really good!"
"B-but probably not as good as Nico-chan's," Kotori had to add with a nervous laugh.
"I mean... I already have my own lunch and I don't want to eat any extra –"
"You have an archery meet coming up too right? And we're going to be practicing much longer for our next Live." Kotori looked away worriedly. "I just want you to have lots of energy so you'll be able to do your best!"
"Kotori-chan made some extra food for the both of us, and I feel it working already!" Honoka added.
"You'll still sleep through classes," Umi muttered. Honoka sputtered, protesting. "But..." she gave an apologetic look to Kotori. "Since you went through the trouble of cooking extra for us, I guess I'll try one." Kotori beamed at her, looking down at her lunch box.
"Okay! Here I'll–"
Except Umi had already grabbed one of the pieces of tamago in the lunchbox and was already chewing by the time Kotori began to speak.
"–feed it to you," Kotori trailed off.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Umi brought a hand up to her mouth to cover her chewing as she blinked at Kotori. She finished, swallowing with an audible gulp. "That was delicious, Kotori. Thank you."
"You're... you're welcome," Kotori said with dull surprise, unsure of whether to be impressed that Umi-chan managed to move faster than she blinked or not.
At least Umi-chan said her cooking was delicious, but there went that plan for feeding it personally to her. She wanted to see how embarrassed Umi would be, eating it from her chopsticks. She sighed, eating with less enthusiasm now.
"Oh, Kotori, you have a piece of rice here," Umi suddenly said, reaching out.
Kotori felt her whole body freezing when she felt Umi's fingers graze her face. When she moved her eyes, Umi was looking at the piece of rice on her finger for a moment before lifting it to her mouth. Kotori inhaled sharply at that time, watching her friend. She turned away before she was caught staring but not before Umi licked her lips. She returned to eating her own lunchbox while Kotori resumed gaping at her. How did something like that not embarrass Umi?! But now...
Kotori looked down at her rice with a thoughtful expression.
iii.
Humming to herself as she spread the pieces of fabric out before her, Kotori let Hanayo grab the other end, spreading it out across the table. Kotori only barely managed to finalize their costume designs for their Live just yesterday so she needed to get to work on them right now.
"Oh... we might need some more fabric," Kotori said with a frown.
"I can go with Rin-chan and Maki-chan to pick some up later," Hanayo said.
"Really? That'd be a big help! I'll keep working on what we have now so we don't have to waste time." Kotori clapped her hands together, glad that it was settled so easily. She turned back down to the table, which now had all sorts of fabric of their iconic colors spread out over it. She picked up the one on top, a dark blue, examining it with a sly grin. I guess I can work on Umi-chan's outfit first, maybe I can make it one centimeter shorter before she notices.
Despite the fact that Umi's sheer denseness made any subtle approach nearly impossible, Kotori still really enjoyed trying. She did little things, like brushing her hand against Umi's when they walked home together, secretly delighting in Umi's flush when there was that brief, "accidental" touch. Or how sometimes, when she walked past Umi's desk, she would innocuously touch Umi on the shoulder, smiling at her innocently when Umi looked at her strangely. She felt bad for teasing her friend so but if Umi truly had a problem with it, she was the type of person to deal with it outright, especially when the issue was with her friends. She had a straightforwardness and honesty that Kotori liked. The fact that she hadn't said anything had to mean there maybe there was something more, was there? Kotori wanted to stay positive.
... but she was distracting herself right now. Working for their Live was more important at the moment, despite how much Kotori liked to think about Umi. Hanayo was still working diligently, tongue sticking out as she concentrated on sewing their costumes.
"Hanayo-chan," Kotori began to ask, "how far have you gotten–"
The bang of the door startled the both of them, dropping everything in their hands. Hanayo and Kotori shared a confused look before they snapped their eyes to the door.
Umi lunged inside, eyes wild and panicked. Her hands gripped the table, shaking it violently.
Kotori slammed the table in both surprise and as a way to steady herself as she whirled to face her friend. Hanayo wasn't lucky to be so dignified, letting out a sharp gasp and falling out of her chair.
"Umi-chan, what–"
"Save me!" was all Umi could gasp before she dove underneath the table. Kotori needed some better clarification, as she slid back to look at Umi incredulously.
"Umi! Don't you dare hide from us!" boomed through the hallways at that moment.
Kotori snapped her head to the door along with Hanayo, horror creeping into the both of them as they heard the pounding of the footsteps. In the quickest decision she ever made, she swiped the fabric on the table and threw it over her legs. She pushed her chair back underneath the table and spread her legs as far as she could.
"Get underneath," she whispered. Umi looked at it dubiously but when the stampede footsteps only grew louder, she obeyed without further prodding, scrambling underneath the fabric.
Kotori liked to think that however much she wavered on making actual decisions, she was a very quick thinker on her feet. But in that moment, she realized this was one of the worst decisions she had ever made.
Umi let out a shuddering breath and Kotori could feel the series of air on her leg, forming goosebumps in their wake.
She let out an involuntary gasp, immediately slapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. Thankfully, Hanayo was still fixing herself, adjusting the chair that had fallen out, not paying attention to them. Umi was panting against her leg, trying to calm herself down. Kotori gathered up all the willpower and self-control she had. This was her ultimate test of character, right here!
The door burst open again and Hanayo fell down again. In came a furious Eli, eyes narrowed. Kotori's willpower instantly crumbled.
"Where is she?!" Eli roared.
"W-w-what?" Kotori squeaked out in English. Except Umi grabbed her leg with both of her hands and every thought of coherency left her for the next five seconds. When it returned, she let out a sudden squeal that turned into a hiss. Eli honed her eyes on her.
"T-t-the fabric was about to fall and I needed to catch it," Kotori quickly lied, tugging on the fabric weakly. Luckily, that seemed to satisfy Eli, accepting the explanation with a curt nod. Kotori was only lucky that she decided to sit on the end of the table furthest from the door today. Otherwise, the obvious lump between Kotori's legs would have thrown away their whole plan. She eased her hands over the fabric, trying to use her hands to hide any obvious discrepancies. When Eli wasn't looking, she pushed on Umi's head, to urge her lower. The mental image of how it looked made her face burn and she had to try not to throw herself out the window at that moment.
Kotori could feel Umi breathing against her knee. She had to suppress the shudder. Alpacas, alpacas, fluffy cute alpacas, Kotori chanted furiously, trying to distract herself. After this, she was... she was going to... jump through a sprinkler. Jump into a swimming pool. Jump into something cold, to wash away every terrible image from her mind. (Okay, maybe not all of them, who was she kidding).
"I'm pretty sure she ran in here. If I find out you're hiding her..." Eli walked into the room on that ominous note. Hanayo whimpered, trying to hide underneath the table and make herself invisible.
The sheer ridiculousness and awkwardness of everything made Kotori want to laugh and cry, though she wasn't sure which one she wanted to do first. Why do I always get caught in these situations, she couldn't help but think with a groan. There were worst situations Kotori had been in, she began to think, to distract herself. Like almost falling into the stream because Honoka let her homework get blown away by the wind and they tried to chase after it. Or that one time they lost control of the firecrackers and nearly burned all their fingers and toes straight off. Yeah, there were worst situations Kotori had been in, definitely.
Eli circled around the table, once, twice, before she threw the door to the practice room open. All of them flinched at the loud noise, including Umi, who clung impossibly closer to her leg. Kotori let out a strangled sound as she felt Umi's breath crawling further up her leg. I lied, nothing is more terrible.
She could feel Umi's hair brushing against her leg, tickling the skin. Umi's breaths were sporadic and each puff of air on her leg made Kotori squirm. It feels... really... Kotori gritted her teeth. If there was ever a moment where she needed to know how sensitive her knees were, right now was not the time for it. Alpacas, she thought again, desperately. She imagined the alpacas, of running her hands through their soft and fluffy fur, imagined Umi kneeling down, lower and lower –
She was going to go home, take a cold shower, and marathon through all her romance movies with a bucket of ice cream, μ's practice tomorrow be damned.
Another set of footsteps made them look up and another shout made them all flinch again. Hanayo fell over and Kotori tried not to squeal when Umi pushed herself even closer.
Kotori could have cried when Honoka popped into the clubroom. Honoka was about to say something until she paused, staring at the room with a flat look.
Hanayo was still crouched underneath the table, shaking her head and babbling inaudibly. Kotori had her hand on her face at this point, squirming where she sat with a large piece of fabric over her legs. A large, quivering piece of fabric. Kotori wasn't sure if it was Umi or her legs doing it at this point. If there was a way for things to get worse, they would, Kotori was beginning to think.
"Um." Honoka's look was the definition of utter bafflement. Kotori looked at Honoka and gestured with her eyes to the open practice room. She pointed down with her hands where Umi was now completely still like a statue. Thankfully, thankfully, Honoka understood, giving them a thumbs-up.
"Ah! Hurry Umi-chan! She's in here!" Honoka shouted, stomping her feet. In the next instant, a yellow blur leaped across the room. Kotori would later swear she had never seen Eli (or anyone else for that matter) move that fast in her lifetime.
"Where?!" Eli towered over Honoka. Her friend let out a squeak before she shakily pointed in a direction with her finger. Eli dashed out of the room, stomping down the hallway. Honoka looked as if she lost several years of her life, babbling to herself as she slid down, eyes dead and listless. Everyone waited several moments before Kotori finally breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
"It's... it's safe now," Kotori whispered, reaching down to pat the fabric and what she hoped was Umi's head. Kotori peeled back the fabric on her legs and she was treated to Umi's completely pitiful look, terrified beyond all belief. How could Kotori feel anything but sorry for her?
Until Umi shifted and Kotori was once again reminded that Umi was between her legs.
"Um... what... did you do?" Hanayo asked at that moment. Kotori was glad for the distraction, not that it honestly helped.
"Lyrics," Umi muttered, breathing heavily against Kotori's leg. "I just... lyrics. Eli and Nozomi. For their duet. Lyrics." Kotori looked at her incredulously.
"Lyrics." Maki made her appearance at that moment, reaffirming everyone's statement. Strangely enough, her face was just as red as her hair. She slapped a piece of sheet music down on the table. Kotori glanced at it, skimming through the paper. Her eyes widened.
"Lyrics," Kotori whispered, mortified, as she went over what was written on the paper again. There was no way Umi could write something like this. "A maze of lilies–"
"D-don't read them aloud!" Umi cried out, covering her face in embarrassment.
"You're the one who wrote them!" Maki shouted at her, exasperated. Then she blinked, bending low to the table, bemused now. "Wait, why are you down there?" Umi had whimpered at her shout before she blinked owlishly, realizing where she was.
"Oh! I should get out. Sorry, Kotori," Umi mumbled, putting both of her hands onto Kotori's legs, trying to hoist herself up. She still must have been out of it because there was no way Umi would have done that without realizing what she was actually doing. Kotori inhaled sharply, pushing down the gasp. "Could you move back a little?" Not that Kotori had much of a choice and if she didn't want to die from complete embarrassment, she needed to let Umi out right now. She quickly scooted back, wishing her face didn't feel like it was going to burn right off. But Umi paused suddenly. "Kotori, are you feeling alright?"
Kotori swung her eyes down to where Umi was looking at her worriedly. "I-I-I'm fine!" she let out in a squeak. Umi only frowned though, rising onto her knees now and now she was getting closer to Kotori's face –
Why are you coming closer please don't no no why–
"Alpacas," Kotori whispered before she fainted.
iv.
"Umi-chan! Good morning!" Honoka greeted cheerfully with a wave of her hands.
"Honoka, Kotori," she greeted with a smile on her face, sitting down next to them. When there was no reply from Kotori, her look became suspicious.
"G-good morning!" Kotori let out breathlessly.
"Are you alright, Kotori?" Umi asked, frowning at her. "It seems like you've been unwell since–"
"Nope!" She quickly said. "I mean, no, I'm not – I mean, I'm fine!" she insisted, convincing none of them. Even Honoka looked at her strangely.
"Kotori-chan, that's really off, even for you," she said. Umi remained pensive though, looking at her worriedly.
"No, really, I'm okay." Kotori tried to reassure them, waving her hands. She was only lucky the morning bell rang at that moment and they scrambled back to their seats for class.
Class was only a momentary distraction though. Kotori felt her thoughts wandering, drifting like the clouds above them.
… how did it seem like Umi was unaffected by what happened? Maybe she was still shocked from being hounded by Eli? Kotori suspected that Umi had pushed the event so far from her mind that it was blocked.
Even stranger though, was how Eli seemed to switch between either glaring at all of them or turning so red she couldn't look anyone in the eye. Though with the lyrics Kotori managed to see, she was more impressed that Eli wasn't dying from utter embarrassment. But Nozomi was the one everyone was being wary of, smiling so secretively at everyone that they were all sure they were planning something. Even Eli was beginning to give her odd looks.
Kotori wanted to forget what had happened. It was a terribly embarrassing event for everyone and she never wanted to recall it ever again until they were fifty (or ever).
What she really wanted to forget was how Umi-chan's hands felt on her legs, hands calloused from all those years of archery and martial arts training. How nice they felt as they gripped tightly, couldn't forget how her breath slowly –
Kotori let her head hit the desk with a quiet thud. Her face felt like it was on fire and there was no way for her to do anything about it because they were in the middle of class. She crossed her legs, hoping fidgeting in her seat would help. It didn't, but it was a nice try, she had to think miserably. Everything was terrible. She was squirming helplessly in her seat and she wanted to sink into the floor.
Somehow, somehow, she managed to get through the day, sliding down in her seat with weariness.
"Kotori-chan! C'mon! We gotta go to the clubroom!" Honoka exclaimed as she ran to her desk. "Our Live's coming up soon! We have to make sure everything is perfect!"
"Eeeeeh." Kotori grimaced. A hand on her shoulder made her blink, looking up into Umi's worried eyes.
"Kotori, if you're not feeling well, then maybe you should go home and rest up?" Umi murmured.
Kotori was about to say she was fine, really, she was going to. Except when she looked at Umi, she was reminded of everything that made her frustrated and confused and just, everything. What came out of her mouth was completely unexpected. "A maze of dreams, a maze of lilies–"
There was a sudden bang and shout as Umi slammed the desk. Kotori, so caught off guard and already sliding down her seat, flinched and twisted away from the sounds. And fell off her seat. She didn't hit the floor as she thought she would though, and when she opened her eyes, there was a pretty face framed by blue hair and brown eyes–
"U-U-Umi-chan?!" Kotori felt like she was going cross-eyed and her breath caught in her throat. Umi let out a sigh of relief as she readjusted Kotori into a more comfortable position. It had the opposite effect though, as Kotori felt like everything in her was exploding and she wasn't sure if it was utter bliss or complete embarrassment. Probably both. She wasn't sure if she minded or not.
"Sorry about that," Umi apologized, guilty expression on her face. "But your face is really red too. Are you sure you're fine?" And before Kotori could react, she raised a hand to her forehead. Kotori felt like the room became ten degrees hotter. She couldn't say anything, not when Umi's face was so close and her hand on her forehead, and she was in her arms–
Kotori couldn't stop staring at Umi who, when she finally noticed, had frozen like a deer in the headlights.
(Kotori hoped someone would take a picture so she could see how dashing Umi was and make ten copies).
They didn't realize how long they stayed in that position until Honoka crouched down, arms on her legs as she rested her head on top of her hands, as if waiting. "So how long are you guys going to stay like that?"
They blinked at each other before looking at Honoka. Kotori realized they had a crowd. Unfortunately, Umi did too. Umi, so mortified and embarrassed that she had been caught in such a position and had everyone's undivided attention, drew her arms back.
And Kotori landed on the floor.
v.
Kotori rubbed the back of her head as she followed after Honoka and Umi to the clubroom. She had to make sure to smile reassuringly whenever Umi looked back at her, a guilty look on her face every time. She felt more bad about making Umi feel guilty but the entire thing was so worth it, as she dreamily recalled what it felt like being in Umi's arms.
When they finally arrived, they found Hanayo bouncing in her seat, gaping at her cellphone. Rin was next to her, a sparkle in her eyes. Maki was on the other side, eyes wide as she blinked at the picture. For some reason, Hanayo became even more enthusiastic when they entered and Maki began to shake her head, mumbling to herself. Kotori wasn't too sure what to feel when their underclassmen glanced at them with obvious excitement.
"It's the dashing Umi-senpai with her swooning princess, Kotori-chan!" Rin said with a thumbs-up. The both of them froze.
"Let me see!" Honoka ran around to see what the fuss was about. "Oh hey, this is from earlier! Look, it's you two!" For some reason, she looked proud of herself.
"What?!" Umi finally regained her senses and swung around the table, grabbing Hanayo's cellphone. Every color left her face and she was gaping wordlessly, choked sounds leaving her mouth. Kotori would have been lying straight through her teeth if she didn't admit to not being curious at this point. She made her way to them, already suspecting what was on that cellphone.
It was, Kotori realized when her face began to burn with embarrassment. Someone had taken a picture of Kotori in Umi's arms. They were both staring at each other, with their faces close and Umi's hand on her forehead, nothing but concern and worry in Umi's face while Kotori looked as if she was starstruck. It was... perfect, Kotori thought with amazement. She needed ten–no, twenty-six copies of this. Her eyes trailed over the rest of the picture.
There was Honoka in the background posing with her fingers in a V sign, winking at the camera.
"Honoka-chan, you ruined the picture!" Kotori was aghast, with tears in her eyes. Honoka gave her a flat look.
"Is that seriously what you're thinking about?!" Umi shouted, gaping at both of them. "Delete this picture!" She frantically searched for the delete button but Kotori swiped it from her hands before she could do so, grinning wildly. Umi continued to struggle, trying to grab it but Kotori managed to run away, now on the other side of the table as she stared at her picture.
"Nope! How can I delete something so perfect?!" Kotori said with the right amount of alarm that even Umi paused. But Umi's face narrowed, unamused, and she reached out, trying to grab the cellphone. Kotori easily slipped out of range, laughing. "I'm going to send it to myself, is that okay, Hanayo-chan?"
"Sure, go ahead," Hanayo answered, somewhat bewildered at her upperclassmen acting strangely. Rin giggled next to her, goading them forward with her cheerful cries. Maki looked as if she didn't want to be there at all, shaking her head at all of them.
"Kotori! Delete it!" Umi pleaded with her as she chased Kotori around the table. "Please!"
"This is for dropping me on the floor!" Kotori shouted, quickly discovering that escaping from a livid Umi and trying to use a cellphone at the same time was actually harder than it looked. Umi's face turned even more red as Honoka burst out in laughter.
Nico picked that moment to kick the door open. "You're all so noisy in the afternoon," she muttered, completely annoyed. "Do I even want to know? You're lucky Eli isn't here right now."
At the mention of Eli, all of them froze. Hanayo let out an unconscious whimper as Rin patted her back comfortingly.
"I'm... I'm going to archery practice," Umi finally mumbled, skipping her way out.
Kotori only sat down in a chair, hoping no one would ask why she kept crossing her legs.
vi.
Sighing as she rubbed her legs tiredly, Kotori yawned. She didn't know how long they had spent working on the costumes, but once Hanayo suggested a small break, Kotori found herself quick to agree with her. To get some fresh air, she left the clubroom, walking around absently.
Before she knew it though, Kotori's feet brought her to where the archery range was, where Umi was inside practicing. Of course, she had to think, both exasperated and fondly. Maybe... only a little, she'd watch her friend before returning back. Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan were taking an awfully long time picking up their supplies anyway.
When she peeked in, Umi was standing, back straight, eyes trained on the target as she held her bow taut. Kotori held her breath as she watched Umi nock her arrow. Umi's face was calm, serene almost, as she drew her bow back. In the next second, she released the arrow. Just as Kotori expected, the arrow struck the center with a loud thwack. Umi continued to stand, back straight until finally, her shoulders relaxed and she had a satisfied smile on her face.
Kotori clapped, awed at her friend's skill. She always liked to watch when Umi was in the archery range, even when they were little. There was always something about the way Umi could focus completely on the target in front of her, block out all the noise in the background and hit the center every time. There was no cooler sight, she thought.
"Ah?!" Umi spun around, face embarrassed. When she realized it was Kotori, her face became less embarrassed and more exasperated, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. "Kotori, I didn't realize you were there."
"That was the point," Kotori muttered to herself, realizing she blew her plan on not being seen. But she quickly smiled so Umi wouldn't get suspicious. "That was so perfect, Umi-chan! You still look really cool when you're using a bow."
"Ah..." Kotori grinned when Umi's cheeks darkened even more, "thank you. By the way, what are you doing here? I thought you were making costumes?"
"I was, but we ran out of supplies again and we sent Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan to pick up some more," Kotori said. More like, when they realized Eli and Nozomi were coming, everyone scrambled for a plausible excuse to send them back away. Eli was still fuming at all of them and no one wanted to be in the same room with their student council president when she was like that and they figured Nozomi would calm her down. It was only lucky that they actually did run out of supplies at that time. "But they're taking a really long time now that I think about it..." she muttered, suddenly suspicious.
"I'm sorry I'm not there to help." Umi gave her a regretful look.
"No, don't worry about it!" Kotori shook her head, hoping she was reassuring her friend.
Umi let out a sigh before glancing around for a moment. "I can take a small break right now, so if you don't mind..."
"Really?" Kotori clapped her hands together, any thought of whatever Eli and Nozomi were doing flying from her mind. "Want to get something to drink then?" Umi shrugged, already falling into step behind Kotori.
They went to a vending machine where Kotori picked up a canned drink for herself. Umi refused though, holding up her water bottle. Now, they were leaning against a wall of the school building, idly enjoying their time together.
Kotori sneaked glances at Umi, trying to watch her friend. Except she wasn't as subtle as she thought, when Umi coughed into her hand. "Kotori, you've been staring at me," she said.
"Because why wouldn't I?" Kotori blurted out. And blinked, realizing that was the completely wrong thing to say. But when Umi gaped wordlessly at her, any embarrassment she would feel won out teasing Umi (as most things). So she shrugged, pushing ahead with it. "No, really!"
"Kotori... you..." Umi sighed, shaking her head. "I feel as if you've been more forward lately."
… what was that supposed to mean? Kotori was the one blinking rapidly at her even as Umi covered her face to hide her embarrassment. "No, never mind, I just... um..." She looked so embarrassed and flustered that Kotori felt the words slipping out of her mouth before she knew it.
"I like you," Kotori blurted. And promptly froze upon realizing what she said, making not quite flattering noises to accompany her realization. It didn't help when Umi blinked rapidly at her in confusion.
"I... like you too?" Umi-chan answered questioningly, tilting her head in confusion. Kotori didn't know whether to be thankful for either Umi's obliviousness or all their years of friendship. But it also didn't help that either way, Kotori felt her heart pounding faster at Umi's words.
She could smile and laugh it off, play it as a joke and talk about something else. That was the easy thing to do.
But there was something holding her back for some reason. It was the perfect opportunity right here. Kotori had always been indecisive and there were just some moments where she wished she wasn't, here being one of them. Honoka and Umi were always there to push her forward but she couldn't always depend on them all the time. She had no one to blame but herself if she didn't act now.
Umi-chan was dense but that wasn't fair to her, not when Kotori was being anything but direct.
Kotori balled her fists, sighing deeply. She was the legendary maid of Akiba, Minalinsky! She had dealt with all sorts of customers, even troublesome ones! She became Minalinsky to change herself... something like this... she could do easily! If she could charm Umi-chan into doing anything, then something like this was like baking a cake! Never mind how many times she failed the first several times when she did try to make a cake from scratch! She just had to take that one step in!
"Umi-chan, I like you," she said again, taking a literal step forward.
"... hah?" Umi blinked confusedly at her again. It made Kotori frustrated and she took another step until she was right in front of Umi. So determined she was, she didn't exactly realize how close she was, until she noticed she could see the slight sweat on Umi's face from archery practice. If she moved closer... she could...
Kotori let out a mortified squeak, ducking her head. "K-K-Kotori!?" Umi loomed over her, bringing her hands up as they hovered with uncertainty in the air when Kotori began to groan.
No! She had gone too far now to stop! She needed to continue! She couldn't be indecisive here, not when she knew that if she didn't do anything, she would be full of regret later. So, fully intending to confess her feelings before every ounce of courage left her, she swung her head back up.
And knocked her head against Umi's chin, with an audible click as Umi's teeth clinked together.
vii.
"Y-yes, I'm fine!" Umi waved away Kotori's hands. "It's not your fault, don't worry about it!"
"B-but it sounded like it hurt! Are you sure?" Kotori couldn't help but fuss, wanting to reach out with her hands to make sure but Umi was being stubborn now, moving her face away.
"And what about you?" Umi poked her head and Kotori let out a whimper of pain. "See! You're hurt too!"
"Ahaha..." Kotori tried to laugh it off but she couldn't help the wince. They were both quiet as they went back to nursing their own injuries, leaning against the building. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Umi wincing every time her jaw moved and it made her feel even more guilty, though the throbbing of her head made that a little hard. Umi's head was a lot harder than it looked.
"... are you sure you're fine?" Kotori asked for the ninth time. "You didn't feel any teeth falling–"
"If any fell out, I'd be bleeding everywhere!" Umi exclaimed, exasperated at this point. Kotori made a noise of disgust at the ensuing image and even Umi grimaced. "Sorry. I probably bit my tongue but it's nothing as bad as you're thinking. Sort of pay back for dropping you, I guess," Umi said with a small laugh before she went back to rubbing her mouth. Even Kotori had to crack a smile at that.
But she let out a defeated sigh, rubbing her head soothingly. All determination left her and there was no will in her to continue, especially after something like this. She always had bad timing, she was beginning to learn. Kotori wanted to drown her sorrows in her juice.
"Ah... I still haven't thanked you for the other day," Umi began to speak. Kotori blinked at her, still drinking from her juice can.
"Hm?"
"When you helped hide me from Eli," she clarified before she began to grumble. "I mean, it wasn't even my fault! Everything was all Nozomi's idea! Do you know what she–" and suddenly she stopped speaking, inhaling sharply as her eyes widened. Kotori would have been concerned and sort of amused if Umi hadn't turned to her in that same second, whispering something she thought she would never hear.
Umi whispered in a horrified voice, "I was between your legs."
Kotori spat out her juice.
Thankfully, she wasn't looking in Umi's direction as she did so, because that would have brought up eighty more levels of awkwardness. She began to laugh afterward, covering her face, just laughing. She didn't care if she sounded hysterical, she continued to laugh.
I really hope no one heard that, she managed to think. Finally, after controlling herself, she let out a deep sigh, preparing herself to face Umi.
Except Umi was muttering to herself, making unintelligible noises. "Umi-chan?" Kotori reached out, shaking her friend's shoulder. "Umi-chan!"
Umi whipped her head at her. Kotori blinked confusedly. And Umi grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away, holding her at arm's length. "Er?" Kotori blinked again. Umi opened her mouth, until her eyes shot down to Kotori's legs.
"Um!" Umi's eyes went back up to her eyes, trying to act as if her eyes didn't wander. Her face was completely red and she looked as if she wanted to sink into the ground. Unfortunately, the ground didn't work like that and Kotori would have been a little peeved if the ground worked differently for Umi. But Kotori shook her friend's hands from her shoulder, smiling softly. She reached down, laying her hands on top of Umi's.
"Umi-chan, I like you," she said again, leaning forward slowly. Umi snapped her eyes up at her, staring at her with wide eyes. They widened even further when Kotori raised a hand, brushing Umi's cheek before moving down to rest on her shoulder. She inched forward slowly, waiting, waiting for Umi to push her away. She could feel Umi's hand shaking underneath hers – no, her whole body was shaking. Kotori continued to move closer, slowly. If Umi wanted to stop her, she had all the power in the world right now, if she said anything or pushed her away. Kotori closed her eyes, still leaning forward–
"W-wait!" Kotori felt herself shoved away, opening her eyes as she felt a hand on her mouth. When she looked at Umi, her other hand was on her face, covering her mouth, with cheeks flushed. But through it all, Kotori felt it, the sting of rejection. It made her eyes water and she tried not to cry right now, as she opened her mouth to apologize.
"K-K-Kotori," Umi mumbled first though, stopping her. "Uh... I just... my... jaw, er, mouth, still hurts from, um. And, uh! I'm... I'm pretty sure I also... smell from practice..." she rushed out, "so that isn't... uh, um, I just, um..." Umi leaned down, trying to hide her face from Kotori. "I... just... not... not right... now?"
"Eh?" Kotori blinked, Umi's words bouncing all in her mind. It took her a while to finally figure out what Umi was saying, not helped by all the times she hit her head today. When she finally did though, she began to laugh, the tears that had gathered earlier streaming down. Umi snapped her head up, gawking, moving her hands though unsure of what to even do with them. Kotori only shook her head.
"No, it's just... just... wow," she could only say through her laughter. When she finally calmed down, Umi's look was even more guilty, completely shy and unsure of herself as she looked everywhere except her. One of Umi's hands was resting against the ground. Kotori gently laid her hand on top of it, pushing their fingers together. "So Umi-chan," she failed to keep some of the teasing from her voice, "I like you, but do you like me?" She didn't miss how Umi shot a glance down at their fingers, delighted when Umi only pressed down on her hand.
"I!" Umi's voice was high pitched before she coughed into her hand. Kotori would have laughed but when Umi took a deep breath or three and looked at her with such a serious expression, she blinked, feeling her mischievousness leave her. Whenever Umi looked at her like that, Kotori loved it.
"I... Kotori... I like you too," Umi said quietly. It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, Kotori could feel her face breaking into a wide smile. They stared at each other, with Kotori grinning widely and Umi blinking at her before finally, she smiled shyly. Kotori laughed again, breathlessly, knowing that Umi had to be dying of embarrassment but was able to give her a smile.
"So..."
Kotori and Umi froze, horror on their faces once they realized they weren't alone. Honoka was crouched next to them, arms on her legs and head propped on top of her hands, smiling at them so expectantly that it seemed as if she knew. Umi let out a scream and shoved Kotori off. Head smacking against the pavement, Kotori found herself on the ground once again.
"H-H-H-H–" Umi sputtered uselessly before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Kotori only groaned weakly, head throbbing too much to even feel embarrassed at anything anymore.
A/N: I was listening to Anemone Heart when I was first writing this so because of that, it started with a serious tone. Except SIF came out with Wonder Zone (and that event Eli wow) and I lost every ounce of seriousness. Thanks for reading.