Title: paths untaken
Prompt: I created you, you created me
Character/Pairing: Hanabi, Sanae, Mugi, hints of Hanabi/Sanae, Hanabi/Mugi
A/N: takes place several years post-series. It's not a romantic fic, but there are hints for either ship occurring. =D
Summary: Perhaps time really healed all wounds. Sanae was a little stronger, Mugi wiser, and Hanabi more confident.
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1. Sanae
"You're growing your hair out?" Hanabi reached out to touch Sanae's hair. It was shoulder length now, half way between her original hair length and her previous style.
Sanae felt like that sometimes, half way between her teenaged high school self and the vague, blurry image of an adult she could be. It didn't help that all it took was a touch from Hanabi and she was reduced to an awkward pile of feelings.
"Just a little." Sanae smiled wryly. "I haven't had time to get it chopped off between job hunting and finals."
Hanabi grimaced. "I can't find anything." She spread out on the small table between them, pouting as she stretched. "No one wants to hire me, no one will hire me, I'm going to be homeless."
"You'll find something. Probably." Sanae flicked her best friend on the forehead, gesturing for her to get up. "You don't want to roll around on that table, who knows what's been on it."
"Food, obviously," Hanabi retorted but she got up anyways.
Sanae looked away as she recalled past exploits. "You can do more than just eat in the food court."
"What—" Hanabi turned red as she realized what Sanae meant. "That's disgusting!"
"Don't knock it till you've tried it." Sanae grinned, laughing as Hanabi swatted at her. "Alright, alright, I get it."
"Ewwwwwww." Hanabi grimaced, taking care to not touch the table at all anymore. "I don't even want to eat here anymore."
"They do clean it." Sanae rolled her eyes. "You've had sex how many times now? This shouldn't be so shocking."
"I…" Hanabi turned red again and Sanae wanted to just pinch her cheeks. "I've done it in normal places like a normal person, you weirdo."
"How boring." Sanae shook her head. It still felt funny, the weight of her hair, how it tapped on her neck with every movement. Her last girlfriend had been disappointed by the change, but she wasn't dating her anymore so whatever. "It's so boring being single. Almost as boring as you are."
"Laugh it up," Hanabi grumbled, glaring at her. It was strange how she could live with that now, with angry looks and sharp words and hints of rage. In highschool, Sanae couldn't breathe without Hanabi's approval. Without her love.
And now, here she was, several girlfriends later. Just sitting with an old friend. Just being.
Sanae laughed again, ignoring Hanabi's deepening frown. How comfortable it was.
-x-
2. Mugi
It was strange, seeing her again. Talking to her again. He had forgotten they attended the same university till now.
"Hey!" Hanabi waved at him awkwardly as they passed in the hall. "It's been a while."
It had been. Four years since high school and this was the first time they crossed paths. He hadn't thought their university was that big, but then again, with different courses, different schedules, even the smallest time lapse was the difference between meeting and not meeting.
"Yeah." Mugi rubbed his hair awkwardly. "Though you haven't grown at all."
Hanabi blinked, looking as surprised as he felt. The words had just slipped out and he scrambled to apologize when she laughed.
"You haven't changed at all." Her expression changed, a pout forming as she stood in front of him. "Besides, I've grown a bit, I can reach your shoulders now."
Her head tapped his shoulders lightly, a gesture that was almost too intimate. She seemed to have realized it too, her words faltering as she stepped away.
"I'm not that short now."
The silence was deafening and Mugi struggled to remember what they used to talk about. First loves and heartbreak, insults and banter—it used to be so easy to tease her. To help her.
And now she stood in front of him, a virtual stranger. Mugi wasn't certain yet if he wanted to change that. Part of him did, and a weaker part of him didn't.
"How are finals?" he finally asked and he almost slammed his head into the wall. It was like asking about the weather, it was such a stupid question.
"Not bad…" Hanabi clasped her hands behind her, an old nervous tic. "I hope I can graduate, there's just one course that I'm scared I'm going to fail."
He tried and failed to resist the urge to laugh. "What happened to your good grades?"
Bingo. She turned red, and really, she was always cuter when she was angry. "It's harder in university," she mumbled, turning away. "Stop laughing."
"Nah, you're right." Mugi sighed. "It is harder, but we're almost done."
"That's true." She made another face. "But then there's job hunting."
He couldn't respond to that—there were too many rejections in his email right now. An alarm went off and Hanabi looked at her phone in a panic.
"Crap, I have to go." She waved as she ran down the hall. "See you later."
"Bye." He waved back, watching her disappear around the corner.
Akane might have been his first love, but Hanabi would always be the one that got away.
It was funny how neither of those thoughts hurt as much anymore. Maybe he was getting a little wiser.
-x-
3. Hanabi
She didn't have any photos. It was strange but true. Hanabi had looked through her phone, through her laptop, and even in the old albums in her parents' house. She had re-lived almost every embarrassing and happy moment since she was born.
Yet, there was not a single photo of that year. Of Mugi. Of Ec-chan. Of those romances that weren't. It was strange that all she had were her memories, just jumbles of fleeting feelings and images. A kiss she could never forget, a hug she could still feel. Of those first awkward steps into the world alone.
It had been a summer of goodbyes and a winter of growing up. Her heart had broke and healed and broke again.
And now here she was, able to talk, to chat, to laugh with those two like nothing happened. Perhaps nothing did. There was no evidence, after all. There wasn't even a strange sense of unease or awkwardness.
Time really could change everything.
Hanabi smiled to herself and took out her phone. Maybe now was the time. It didn't hurt at all when she thought of Narumi, of that first love and that gentle kindness. There was just fondness now, a soft feeling that blanketed her as she dialed his number.
It had been a while she had tried to have a proper conversation with him. He was still her brother of sorts, her childhood friend, a person important and special to her.
"Hello?" A voice that was saccharinely sweet answered the phone and Hanabi was proud that she didn't even flinch.
It had been years after all. There was no reason to hate this woman anymore, no matter what she did. No reason at all to be angry at her because Hanabi was over Narumi and over that highschool phase.
A frown slipped on her face. "Oh, it's you."
Well, she wasn't perfect. She still had a little more growing up to do.
And Akane had been a really shitty teacher.