Set after the end of the series.
Kumiko wearily staggered across the final patch of dirt, extending both hands and clasping them firmly on the railing. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she wearily raised her head to look at the view – only to stop breathing again, only this time, it wasn't exhaustion.
The ocean of glittering lights, the shimmering, shifting mass of individual spots of light, mirrored the starry night sky above her. It reminded her of the first time she'd been here – the moment when all her incredulousness at Reina's insane plan turned into silent respect, and an unspoken understanding. To be away from it all; the hustle and bustle of the city, the people walking to and fro – to watch all of it unfolding beneath her – her heart was struck with an odd sense of calm, a large contrast to the busy city she was looking at.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kumiko turned to face Reina, whose dress swished in the wind as she walked forward to meet Kumiko, her own eyes fixated to the beautiful scenery too.
"Yeah. It's just as beautiful I remembered it to be." Kumiko tore her eyes away from her – equally as beautiful, of course – girlfriend, once again silently appreciating the view.
Both of them stood there for a good minute, transfixed by a sight neither of them had seen since that magical night many, many years ago. They didn't say anything; they didn't need to. Both of them were equally aware of how significant that night had been – of how it sparked a deep understanding and consequently, love between the two.
"You know, I never told you this, but…" Reina's voice, breaking the serene silence, almost made the brunette jump. Kumiko turned to face Reina, curious of what she had to say.
"The night of the festival… it wasn't the first time I climbed this mountain." Reina confessed. "Remember the one day of band practice in middle school, the week before the Regionals, where I didn't show up?"
Kumiko really didn't – small details like that often got lost on her, and to be honest she didn't even remember much from before high school. But to keep Reina's monologue going, as well as just a sign of courtesy, Kumiko nodded, pretending that she did, indeed, remember that one band practice… what, five years ago now?
"Well, I called in sick, but the truth was… I was just so fed up with everything and everyone. We were supposed to be competing for the National Prize – we had some of the most talented band members outside of Seijo. But instead of working hard every day, half the band slacked off, convinced that their talent was enough, while I was attending lessons outside of school and practicing every day, while there were juniors as good as I was who didn't play a single note half
the year. And I was just so frustrated that I needed to vent and…"
"You went into an empty hallway and screamed your lungs off?" Kumiko asked teasingly.
Reina mock glared at Kumiko, who instantly apologized, albeit with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. Reina huffed, and continued her story.
"I just wanted to do something no one else would do."
"You just wanted to be special?"
"Yes. It was just this odd mixture of feeling trapped by everyone and everything, combined with a… thirst for adventure, you could say. That day, right as I was going to walk to the club, I looked out the window and saw this hill. And I left school to climb it."
"You just… left school? Seriously? Didn't your parents notice?" Kumiko doubted Reina's parents, who she knew to be fairly strict, would allow their daughter to go hiking alone, let alone during school hours.
"No one ever found out. I just told one of our classmates to pass the message along that I was unwell, and I arrived at home exactly on time, as I would've on any other day."
"So you've been up here before, then."
"I wasn't lying when I said it was the first time I saw the view. The first time I came up here, it was still midday, after all. I just needed a place to be alone – separated from everyone else, somewhere to revel in my own existence, I suppose."
"You're weird."
Reina pretended not to hear Kumiko's offhand comment. "Anyway, I promised myself, that day, that one day I'd bring someone up here." And here Reina turned to face Kumiko, who lost herself in those brilliant pools of violet, "Someone who would understand me, someone who would motivate me to keep going." Reina raised her hand to cup Kumiko's face, her soft hand resting against the other girl's rapidly reddening cheek. "Someone I could call truly call special."
Kumiko was far too embarrassed to move (not that she really wanted to) away from Reina's loving caress, but it was really getting uncomfortably intense – and the sudden, rapid increase in her pulse didn't help either. She raised her own hand to bring Reina's away from her face, opting instead to grasp the trumpet player's hand, the other one gripping on to the railing. She returned her gaze to the expanse of lights, causing a sudden wave of nostalgia to hit her. A faint tune played in her head, one she'd last played many, many years ago.
"It would be nice to have our instruments right now." Kumiko said with a soft sigh, "play together again, just you and me."
"We do that often enough as it is. And besides," Reina retorted with a small smirk, "You were the one so against the idea when we left. I was perfectly fine with bringing them along."
"It was painful enough carrying the thing from my house all the way up here." Kumiko vaguely recalled some very sore shoulders the morning after the Agata Festival. "There's no way in hell I'd willingly lug it from our apartment to the train station, let alone carry it all the way up here."
"You didn't seem to complain last time."
"I was still in shock at the whole thing, probably. I mean, really, who climbs up a mountain during a town festival?"
"Hmph." Reina didn't give a reply to that. Silence returned to the two. Kumiko turned around, opting to look at the patio instead. The granite steps, which, if she squinted hard enough, supported two young teenagers, one holding a trumpet and the other a euphonium. A familiar tune began to play in her head again, and she couldn't help but hum it softly as she turned around to look at the city for the umpteenth time.
Pretty soon, she heard another tune joining her - Reina had begun to hum along as well. She made sure to only hum the euphonium parts now, and Reina, catching on, began to raise her pitch, as if playing her trumpet.
Their improvised concert was, to say the least, mediocre – the two were out of sync fairly often, and both of their attempts to correct themselves only ended up snowballing their mistakes. For all the lack of coherent music coming out, though, the odd duet still sounded right to Kumiko, as if this was how music was meant to be played, not following some rhythmic meter, but rather in tune with human hearts, and their erratic, unpredictable nature. Kumiko had her eyes closed and a small smile on her face as the duo finished the last few notes of the song in sync.
"'The Place Where We Found Love', huh?" Kumiko was the one to break the silence this time.
"It was a fitting song for the occasion." Reina responded simply. Kumiko snorted at that – her old self was so determined not to fall in love with Reina after that night that she would constantly deny her own feelings for the next year, until a determined Hazuki set them up on a date, arranging a hangout and then abandoning both of them at the last second.
I really don't thank her enough for that. Kumiko thought, resolving to get her best friend something nice for her upcoming birthday.
Kumiko contemplated her relationship with Reina, and how much it really meant to her. She remembered those teenage (not that she was much older) says, the ones where she'd pick a high school based on its uniform, or play the euphonium even though she wanted to try out a new instrument, simply because Asuka had pleaded her to.
"I couldn't imagine life without you." Reina's eyes widened imperceptibly at the brunette's statement. "I'm so, so glad to have met you, Reina."
"The truth is, back then, I was just so… lost. I just went with the flow, doing whatever everyone else told me to, not really paying attention to what I really wanted, or what I really aspired to be. But then you came along and changed that. You showed me what it meant to dream. To believe in something greater, something to push towards, something to strive for every day. And I'm so glad to have become best friends with you, and I'm so glad to be able to love you like this."
Kumiko wasn't entirely sure where her monologue came from – the words just spilled out of her heart and out into the world for Reina to hear.
"I'm glad I met you, because you give me a reason to keep living, Reina."
Reina had an unreadable expression on her face, though if her pink cheeks were anything to go by, she was touched by Kumiko's confession of love. Suddenly, Kumiko spotted what looked like determination in the other girl's eyes. Reina took a deep breath, and strode forward, pulling her hands off the railing. She extended her arms towards Kumiko, silently signaling the other girl to come closer. Kumiko shot Reina a confused glance, but at the trumpet player's silent insistence, she finally relented, allowing the shorter girl to wrap her arms around her.
"Oumae Kumiko."
The way Reina said her name made her heart beat erratically faster and caused her stomach to do flips, as if she was falling from the sky – yet she wasn't nervous. Not at all. Kumiko wanted to fall, wanted to experience her heart dropping into her stomach, wanted to feel this strange lightheadedness she always felt around Reina, her first and only love.
Reina's eyes held a dangerous glint as she closed the distance between the two, pulling the brunette close until their faces were barely touching. Violet and amber held still for what seemed like an eternity as the duo basked in each other's presence, neither daring to speak another word, as if anything else they might say or do would shatter this singular moment in time – a moment in time for just the two of them.
Kumiko felt Reina's soft hands grasping her own, holding them delicately, and… pressing something into her hands. Closing her palms to try and feel the foreign object, she caressed a small box of velvet. Her eyes widened.
She can't seriously be…
"Will you stay with me forever?"
Reina's voice – soft, gentle, melodic – rang out through the night, cutting Kumiko's train of thought. Her beautiful violet eyes – crystal, sparkling, brilliant – pierced through her soul, silently seeking Kumiko's answer. Her own heart – wild, fierce, burning – leapt straight up into her throat, rendering her speechless. Kumiko tried to give her answer several times, but her voice failed her. Finally, she gave up, deciding to answer Reina through her actions.
Kissing Reina was always a new experience. Sometimes, it was gentle and loving and made Kumiko melt into her arms. Other times, it was passionate and intimate and sent fire running into Kumiko's veins.
This one had Kumiko flying, soaring high above everyone else. It made her heart and her body feel light and Kumiko couldn't think straight anymore and all she could smell and taste was Reina, and she tightened her arms around her, trying to hold the other girl's body against hers and trying to burn this memory in her mind for the rest of eternity.
After minutes, hours, years – neither of them particularly cared to take count – they pulled away from each other, both of them panting heavily.
"I take it that was a yes?"
"Hmm… I might have to think about this one. It's not every day I get proposed to, after all." Kumiko teased, letting out a small giggle.
Reina let out a sigh and leaned in, touching her forehead against Kumiko. "You really, really are terrible, Kumiko."
Kumiko giggled once again, closing her eyes, basking in Reina's presence. "I love you, Reina."
"…I love you, Kumiko." Reina closed her eyes, and shifted her lips to meet Kumiko's once again.
When they finally did pull away from each other, all Kumiko could see was the beautiful face of her girlfriend - now, fiancée - framed against the twinkling lights both below and above them. The sight of Reina; beautiful, elegant, special Reina; and her brilliant violet eyes, made Kumiko feel warm and fuzzy inside; feelings she'd very clearly remembered from one summer night, many years ago.