Warm, winter sunlight floated through the student council clubroom, painting the wooden table orange and purple. The room itself was nearly empty, silent save for the light scratching of pen against paper. A stack of papers, more than an a foot tall, sat ominously on the table, slowly shifting into a second a stack as a pair of reluctant hands pulled sheet after sheet off the top of the pile. Each one, meant to be carefully reviewed, were instead glanced at by uninterested azure eyes and then signed in a hasty black scrawl before being tossed onto the other stack messily.
Honoka cared little for her current work, the lack of love showing in the minuscule amount of effort being poured into each signing. She sighed as she pulled another sheet from the never-ending pile, reading the title alone and then writing down her name: the president was well-aware there would be repercussions for her laziness, but figured she would deal with those when they came. Right now, the only thing she was interested in was getting out of this stuffy clubroom as soon as possible. Of course, even if she managed to finish the stupid stack, there was still the final boss to deal with.
Umi, the student council vice president, sat less than an arm's length away from the president, head down and eyes focused on her own work. The girl could have left ages ago –her own council work long since finished- but she had insisted upon staying, saying that it was the only way Honoka would get anything done. Her friend was not wrong, but it still hurt a little to be told she needed a baby sitter.
So far, the raven haired girl had not said more than a single sentence in the half hour since they began, those three words being 'get to work', after which the she had made herself busy. The silence was beginning to press in on Honoka, making her jittery and unfocused-not that she was focused in the first place but still!- she needed something, anything , to take her mind of this hellish monotony. Would she try to strike up a conversation with her best friend: the only bad outcome would be a scolding, but Umi's rants were legendary and the ginger had already experienced more than her fair share of them.
She continued writing her name on the papers, the motion becoming automatic now, as she considered her options. There was always the possibility that Umi was in a rare good mood-Honoka loved those since Umi was always cute and chivalrous during those moments- and the girl would indulge the redhead. It was also possible she could anger friend so much the raven haired girl decided to leave. Now that would be truly horrible: being stuck alone with this boredom would literally kill the president! Not to ment-
"Hey, Honoka?"
"A-aaaaaaah!" The questioned jumped in her seat so hard the whole chair came with her, clattering noisily when it came back down. She turned to her friend, who was watching warily with wide golden eyes and mouth open as if about to speak. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, just staring at each other, before Honoka collected herself and slipped sheepishly back into her seat, head bowed in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." She said after a while, voice small with shame and surprise: it was always strange how being alone with Umi made her act so out of character. Umi cleared her throat and focused once again on her school work, leaving the redhead to think the girl had given up on speaking.
"Are you alright?"
Holding back another surprised jolt, Honoka nodded her head vigorously, "Yup, perfectly fine. Heh heh. You kinda just surprised me Umi-chan. I didn't expect you to start a conversation."
"I see," Umi glanced over quickly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Actually I'm impressed. It's hard to believe you were so focused that I could surprise you that badly. Maybe I should leave what I have to say until another time."
"Please no," the president blurted, quickly speaking to cover up her desperation "I mean you might as well just say it, my focus is already broken anyway. Besides, it's not like I'll get through all this work today, no matter how focused I am."
Gold flashed briefly to the stack of papers and then back up to Honoka as her friend considered her options. Suspense built as the girl took her time contemplating, making the redhead grow more nervous with each second spent in this new silence. She watched her friend go through the motions of her mind; watched her head dip a bit and then shoot up; her eye lids fluttering briefly and then she turned away, head shooting back only a moment later. Whatever Umi wanted to talk about was, apparently, a very difficult subject.
Finally, Umi stopped thinking and a light blush lit up her cheeks as she began speaking. "Have you…Have you ever wondered why you were friends with somebody?"
Huh? What kind of question was that? Honoka considered it for a moment, reaching back into her memory to see where she might have thought that. Nothing came to mind: all of Honoka's friendships were deliberate and most had been initiated by her. It was an idea completely foreign to Honoka and she said as much to her waiting companion.
Umi took that in with a pensive expression, eyes narrowing as some thought overtook her mind. Waiting as patiently as she could, Honoka began ponder over why Umi would ask such a thing. It was very much like the taller girl to doubt things; it was one aspect of her personality that worried Honoka and Kotori to no end. Was this the same thing? Does Umi doubt her friendships? Before she could speak Umi started again, voice quiet with contemplation, "I see, that is very like you Honoka, to not have any doubts I mean." She nodded her head as if that had just confirmed something for her. Honoka decided to ask at the heart of the situation.
"Um, Umi-chan? What's this about? It's not like you to be so random. Is this for lyrics or something." The raven haired girl was silent for a few moments and the room began to press around them in the midst of the heavy atmosphere. Once again Honoka did her best to be patient: what was happening was a complete mystery, but Honoka would never forgive herself if she jumped the gun and hurt her best friend a second time.
Umi stood up quickly, the clatter and scratch of her chair sounding loud and unnatural in the wake of silence. She turned to Honoka with molten gold for eyes and a clenched jaw set in determination. The odd face scared the ginger as she stared up into it, but once again Umi beat her to punch.
"Thank for being my friend Honoka!" the words came out loud and strong as the raven haired girl bowed deeply, onyx locks nearly dusting the ground. "And I have something I want to say to you. I want you to try and wait until I'm done before you say anything alright?"
Confusion and fear battled horribly inside Honoka's mind, muddling and slowing down her understanding. This was not like Umi at all; her character had almost completely changed in the few spaces of their conversation. All Honoka could do was dumbly nod her head and wait for the all-important message.
Taking a deep, stead
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Umi began, "when we first met as kids I thought you were an odd girl whose parents had done little to raise her. I thought you were just like all the other bothersome, trouble making kids I'd met on the playground. But then we became friends and you showed me a view I would never have seen on my own. For a little while after that I thought you were amazing, like some super hero off of tv. You were the embodiment of everything my parents had tried to make sure I wouldn't be. When I realized that, I found myself hating you a little bit. As much as I tried to ignore it, eventually I could no longer deny that I harbored feelings like hate and jealousy. You were just so free and always so happy. You had the right make any decision you wanted to and I didn't. My family had always made the bigger decisions of my life for me, as you know. Anyway those feelings stuck with me all the way to the end of junior high." She paused to take a breath, face looking strained and tired and just a tinsy bit flushed.
"When we got to high school you started to slow down. Don't try to deny it. You started to lose steam and started to smile less. I had no idea what it meant but it made me happy. And I hated that it did, but seeing you look like a teenager made me happy because now I was sure you were not some amazing person off of tv or from a book. You were human. And then our second year began and we found out the school was closing and all of a sudden that spark was in your eye and you were puling Kotori and I along into some grand scheme. As though the school closing was a choice you were allowed to make. I expected to be mad, to once again feel that burning feeling deep down, but instead I was still happy. And then when no one was at our first concert and you started crying and singing, I started to figure out why. Seeing you fail so grandly made me so sad. It hurt to see you like that and I didn't want to see you like that again. It was an odd moment especially since it was completely different from anything I'd felt before. Then I devoted myself to helping you, partly to keep you happy and partly to understand my own feelings. To be honest I never thought we would gather anybody or stop the school from closing; I just kept going alongside you. Now, after everything has been said and done, I still don't know why I'm sitting here, next to you. I don't hate you anymore and I don't want to ever see you sad again. I still don't understand how it came to this. That's why I asked that question, I wanted know if you had ever doubted me or…had ever disliked me the way I had disliked you. I figured that whatever you said might answer the question for me."
Letting out a long shaky breath, Umi finished speaking and sat down again. Honoka was stunned speechless with her mouth hanging open uselessly. Though she's tried her best, the ginger had only managed to understand about half of that and the part she had understood was so overwhelming. Umi sat ram rod straight, fingers fidgeting in her lap as she waited for a response; face growing redder every second Honoka didn't say anything.
"Um," began Honoka slowly, eyes shifting everywhere as she tried to think of what to say . "i-I've never thought anything like that about you actually." Honesty was best she decided.
"Really?" her friend looked skeptical, but at the same time like she was holding back relief.
Honoka nodded enthusiastically, "yeah, to me, you were always someone I could trust with all my might. You know? Like whenever something was wrong or I needed advice or help with studying, I could come to you and you would always help. Even if you acted mad at first. I know I can rely on Umi-chan the most because you're so kind and so reliable." A smile spread across her face as she finished speaking; Umi really was the best.
The girl in question turned as crimson as a matador's cloak and was thrice as expressive, posture relaxing visibly, however, as Honoka said her piece, molten gold solidifying. In the face of her friends adorable display Honoka could not help but to grin harder and bum rush the taller girl, nearly knocking them both to the floor. She ended up seated on Umi's lap after the latter saved them both from a hideous fall.
"Ehehe, see Umi-chan? You always catch me no matter what happens."
Umi sputtered and looked away, too embarrassed to form an appropriate comeback. Instead she continued to support her smaller friend as she grinned brightly down at her. They settled into a comfortable sort of quiet, letting the distant sounds of club activities fill the void in their conversation. Honoka decided this was probably the best, a tiny blush crawling up her cheeks now as well. It had made her happy, she decided, that her friend had spent so much time worrying over their relationship. In a way, it was similar to a confession; what with Umi declaring she wanted to make Honoka happy. The comparison put a thought into the gingers head and her grin grew impish.
"U-mi-chaaaan," she sang quietly, stopping herself from giggling when she felt Umi jump a little. "Did you just confess your love for me?" It was a joke of course- well sort of- and Honoka was only doing this to get a rise out of the girl. That's why she let out a surprised squeak when Umi's arms tightened around her waist and the girl's jaw clenched again. When she turned again to gaze at the redhead, the expression she wore could only be described as vulnerable.
"If…if I was…Does this mean you a-a-a-accept?"
Blood brought a gorgeous fire to the redhead's cheeks at that, this time her response was almost instant as she quickly leaned down to hide her face in Umi's neck, leaving only the ghost of a kiss on the girl's cheek on the way past.