AN: my friend told me to write kanangst and I decided to. I literally finished this several minutes ago, and I hope you enjoy. It may seem a little rushed, but you know, Kanan deserves a story, especially with her two girlfriends. This takes place after episode 6, sometime after Aqours performed their insert.
Ciao. c:
If there was one thing that Kanan loved more than swimming, it was the lanterns.
Every year, before swimming season began and all the rambunctious children bounded from the town to the beach, everyone in Uchiura, young and old, cleaned up the beach. For as long as Kanan knew, the tradition of "beach cleaning" (as she liked to call it) had been in place for all her life. The lanterns, however, was a new addition that she remembered was added when she was still a child.
She took a deep breath, relishing as the sea breeze filled her lungs. It smelled of salt and oranges, an unlikely combination of scents she would have never expected to find solace in. As she exhaled, she extended her hand over the wooden railing she was leaning against, her fingers covering the fading lanterns floating higher into the sky, and beyond the horizon.
"Shiny," Kanan mumbled to herself as a familiar image of a blonde popping into her mind.
The faintest of smiles curled Kanan's lips.
She wondered if Mari still said that dumb catchphrase of hers. She wondered if Dia still had an unconditional love for idol groups. She wondered if the both of them still had hopes for becoming idols themselves, and if their dream of saving the school was, in some way or another, alive.
But above all that, she wondered if Mari and Dia still loved the sight of the floating lanterns just as much as she did.
A breeze blew past and whispered into her ear, carrying along the laughs and giggles of little children, and the final note of Aqours' new song.
"Lighting up the night sky with your dreams, huh?" Kanan said with a chuckle. The song was certainly fitting for the occasion. Once the collection of trash from the beach was completed, many would tie a piece of paper with a wish scrawled on to the end of the lantern before releasing them simultaneously. It was a symbol, her father once explained to her, to do such a thing. It reminded people of the dreams they held dear to their hearts, and showed how beautiful if those dreams came true.
"Alone again?"
A frighteningly familiar voice shocked the blue-haired girl back into reality, and she quickly drew back her hand so that it hung limply at her side.
"What're you doing here?" She asked coolly as she turned around. The ambiguous smile of Ohara Mari greeted her, and a sudden chill scraped at her spine as another breeze ran past.
"Just came to see the view. You know, this is the best part of the beach to watch the lanterns." Mari explained as she climbed up to stand next to Kanan. Of course, the blue-haired girl already knew that; she was the one who showed it to Mari and Dia when they were children.
They stood atop an outcropping of rock that was ways off from where the general public usually stayed. However, due to an accident that happened a decade or so ago, the town had decided to put up a pathetic wooden railing to discourage people to climb to the top. It worked for the most part—if you weren't a trio of ambitious girls wanting best view to see the lanterns.
"So, when are you coming back?" Mari asked bluntly.
Kanan took her time in responding. "Does it matter?"
"It does," Mari replied without any hesitation, "to me. And Dia, of course."
Another breeze went past, this time bringing a heavy silence and the familiar scent of expensive perfume. Kanan felt her heart clutch at the invading scent.
A surprisingly warm hand touched Kanan's cold balled fingers, and the girl flinched back. Mari stared at her with amusement as she giggled.
"I think you forgot to attach that to one of the lanterns," the blonde said.
Kanan clutched her fist tighter, crinkling the small piece of paper wedged inside even more. She decided to say nothing, and settled for a glare.
"And knowing you," Mari took a glance at Kanan's hand with an inaudible sigh, "that's the same one that you were supposed to attach last year. And the year before that, and the year before that one."
At that, the blue-haired girl felt herself growing impossibly colder. Goosebumps littered her arms underneath her tracksuit and she tightened her hand up to the point where her nails were beginning to dig painfully into her palm.
"What do you want—"
"Hey, what are you two doing up there?"
A voice from the bottom called up to them, and the two girls looked down to see who it was.
The disapproving glower of Kurosawa Dia stared at them.
"You know it's dangerous for people to be on that! Get down now!"
Mari let out an exaggerated noise, one that was much too nostalgic for Kanan's liking. "Eh? But the student council president used to climb this very rock when she was young! Doesn't that make you a hypocrite?"
Dia's face contorted into a mixture of rage and embarrassment, her cheeks glowing red. Despite herself, Kanan joined Mari in laughing at the other's expense.
"Hey, Dia, why don't you come up here and join us? The sun's about to rise completely and you won't be able to see the lanterns." Mari called out, her smile turning just a little more genuine.
The brunette on the bottom stuck up her chin in a defiant way (although it didn't really work because the other two were looking down on her). "Why should I listen to you?"
"Because I'm the school director and I'm issuing a direct order."
Dia flushed even more and stared at Mari heatedly before walking away from their sight in order to start her climb.
"Oh, and don't forget to bring that!" The blonde called out. Dia replied something inaudible, but Kanan was positive that it wasn't something nice.
The blue-haired girl looked at the blonde. "I didn't know you were Uranohoshi's new school director."
Mari's golden-brown eyes twinkled with something that Kanan couldn't quite place.
"You don't know a lot of things, Kanan," she said.
That was enough to keep the other mute.
After a long while—Kanan thought it was about five minutes—Dia finally emerged from the edge, red-faced and panting. The blue-haired girl made a noise in her throat as she tried to stop herself from laughing, but Mari decided to be open about her joviality and laughed heartedly.
Dia turned away with a pout. "Shut up," she said as she climbed up to her feet.
As she stood, Kanan noticed the object the brunette was holding in her hand.
"A lantern?" She asked.
"The last one," Mari clarified, "I asked Dia to save one, and being the dear she is, she did! I'm so proud of her!"
"Don't patronize me," Dia quickly interjected.
The blonde laughed. "It's joke!"
During their exchange, Kanan found herself growing more and more comfortable with the people around her. All the efforts of building walls to isolate herself and all the years of cold-hearted stoicness began to melt. Kanan felt a genuine smile, the first one in God knows how long, chisel itself onto her placid face.
"The both of you are stupid," she said, shaking her head.
Mari's light giggled sang in her ears. "I told you, didn't I? You don't know anything, Kanan."
The blue-haired girl stayed silent, but inside she agreed wholeheartedly.
"Now," the blonde began, "how about we attach that little thing of yours to the lantern and see it off, just for old time's sake. After that, we can go back to hating each other." Mari gave the both of them a playful wink.
But Kanan knew the blonde held a certain amount of truth in her words.
If only her pride allowed to her to say that she missed and loved the both of them with all of her being.
Dia approached the two of them, her face still somewhat flushed from her journey, and held the lantern out to Kanan. The blue-haired girl gave the brunette a grateful look before attaching the piece of paper to the end of the lantern. It looked a little sad, with the way the paper was wrinkled and torn, and how the ink was beginning to fade.
But everything, from the sight of Mari and Dia beside her to finally holding a lantern in her hands made Kanan want to cry.
With gentle touches, the three of them lit the candle inside the lantern with care and lifted it to the sky. A light breeze carried it along over the ocean, and Kanan caught the scents of perfume and lavender mixing in with the salt and oranges.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking in the nostalgia that lingered in the air. Warm hands covered each of her cold ones, and Kanan opened her eyes.
The lantern was slowly rising in the sky, and slowly floating over the water.
A tear scalded her cheek as she watched her wish drift into the rising sun.
Two weights, one atop her head and one on her shoulder, gently pushed on her as she remembered her wish.
I hope I'm with my best friends forever and ever.