First story of the summer, and I'm excited! So I know I usually write Shimako and Sei fics, but I couldn't help writing a Shimako and Noriko fic. They are too kawaii!
Sorry if there's any mistakes, but I wanted to finish this fic as fast as I could.
Read and Review!
Twinkle
The blanket was laid out on the grass before her, yet Noriko Nijo made no attempt to sit.
It all seemed surreal to her, and she felt that if she even attempted to integrate herself with the scene before her, it would all vanish into thin air. The orchestra was warming up on the lighted platform a few yards in front of her, preparing for the evening's concert of music composed by Bach, and the stars above them were twinkling vigorously as if giving cryptic messages to those on Earth. And then there was her. Noriko sighed as she looked at the person sitting before her on the blanket.
She looked radiant, not that she wasn't radiant before, but there something about the way the moonlight illumined her face, showing the uncharacteristic touch of makeup she had applied earlier, that captivated Noriko. Maybe it was the way Noriko could clearly see the pearl earrings Shimako was wearing. Noriko always had a thing for pretty girls who wore pearl earrings. Or maybe it was Shimako's brunette curls, trembling with the breeze, tempting Noriko to come and touch its softness with her fingertips.
But deep down, Noriko knew it wasn't either of those. No. It was the twinkle in Shimako's sapphire eyes. The twinkle that told Noriko that Shimako was excited.
See, Noriko had been Shimako's petite soeur for about six months now, and yet, she had only seen her Onee-sama excited a handful of times. Most of which happened when they passed by a corner bakery in downtown Tokyo. Shimako was a sucker for freshly made pastries.
Though there was one time, Noriko still wasn't sure if she imagined it or not, that Shimako looked at her with those twinkling eyes. Noriko was alone in the Rose Mansion, having just finished cleaning the room for their daily meeting, when Shimako came into the room. She greeted Noriko like she usually did, but instead of putting away her school bag, Shimako walked up to Noriko and grabbed her hand. Surprised, Noriko looked up with questioning eyes only to find that twinkle in Shimako's eyes.
It was captivating.
Shimako then opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when two yellow roses came, arguing, into the room. As fast as it came, the twinkle left as Shimako pulled her hand away, morphing whatever she was going to say into the general 'How was your day?'
Noriko would still toss and turn during the night, wondering what Shimako was going to say.
The reason Noriko liked seeing Shimako excited was because, well, she looked adorable when she was. Shimako would slightly bite her lips, trying to keep the sides of her mouth from turning upward, futile, seeing as they would always curved into a smile. And then their were the fingers on her left hand, always tapping impatiently on either her thigh or her hip bone but always finding the time to smooth away imaginary wrinkles.
And that's what Shimako was doing now, until she realized Noriko wasn't sitting beside her.
"Noriko?" Shimako called.
Noriko broke away from her thoughts, and met the curious eyes of her Onee-sama.
"Yes?"
"Why aren't you sitting down?"
Noriko sweat-dropped as she scratched her head and gave Shimako a sheepish smile
"Um, I forgot how to sit down?"
Shimako raised her eyebrow at Noriko as a teasing smile appeared on her lips.
"My, my, my," Shimako said in mock distress. "What kind of Onee-sama have I been if I hadn't taught you how to sit down? I'm so ashamed of myself."
Shimako stood up, looking Noriko straight in the eyes. "Well, there's no time like the present. Are you ready?"
Noriko nodded her head, playing the eager student.
"Good, there are two ways to sit. One is to plot yourself on your backside, though I don't recommend this method because it's not only painful but can also leave bruises."
Noriko widen her eyes to the size of saucers. "Really?"
Shimako nodded her head solemnly. "Yes, but only unintelligent people do it that way, and I will not have petite soeur do that method. Do you understand that?"
Noriko nodded her head vigorously.
"Good," Shimako said, inwardly giggling at Noriko's playfulness. "The second method is quite safe. First, you bend your knees until your crouching down. Then you place one of your hands on the ground behind you to support you as you slowly lower your bottom until it touches the floor. Like so."
Shimako lowered herself, demonstrating to Noriko what she had told her before, until she was safely sitting on the ground.
Throwing Noriko a smile, Shimako said, "Now it's your turn."
Taking a deep breath, Noriko braced herself as she followed Shimako's instructions throwing in some mock wobbles to amuse Shimako, until finally, she was sitting next to her Onee-sama.
They didn't say anything as their eyes met, but they burst into a fit of laughter when they saw the other start to smile, Noriko more rambunctious than Shimako. And it wasn't till the other patrons started giving them quizzical looks that they quieted down.
"You're so goofy Shimako-san," Noriko said breathily, the last of the giggles dieing away.
Shimako stopped the giggles that had engulfed her as she looked at Noriko, giving her a tender smile. "Only in front of you Noriko."
The words left Noriko before she even thought about them. "What about Sei-sama?"
Shimako detected the jealousy behind the words, and grabbed Noriko's hand to give her a reassuring squeeze. "We never had that type of relationship. It was more distant. We just silently supported the other, but I'm glad it's not like that between us."
Noriko calmed herself down instantly, feeling a flutter in her chest at the sincerity of Shimako's words and Shimako's hand on her's. She turned to look at Shimako, and almost blushed at the way she was looking at her. Shimako had never looked at her that way before.
And Noriko suddenly found her mouth dry. It was the right moment; everything was in place. Gathering all the courage she could, Noriko prepared herself to tell her Onee-sama about her feelings for the brunette that transcended the bond placed upon them by the passing of the rosary.
"Shimako-san?' Noriko whispered, worried that if she spoke any louder, she would scare away her newfound courage.
"Yes?"
"I –oof" Noriko was interrupted by a cold gust of wind passing through the crowd, taking hats as hostages as it went along.
Noriko wasn't that cold, seeing as she was wearing a jacket, but the suddenness of the gust made her forget her train of thought, and she glared at the sky because of it, thanking whoever was up there for ruining the moment.
She sighed, turning her attention away from the sky to Shimako, noticing with a frown that her Onee-sama was shivering even though she was trying to appear that she wasn't.
It didn't surprise Noriko, seeing as her Onee-sama was wearing a thin red blouse.
"Shimako-san?" Noriko asked cautiously.
"I'm fine Noriko," Shimako said, noting the worry in Noriko's voice. "It was just the wind."
Shaking her head, Noriko wasn't satisfied with the excuse.
"You're cold." She stated.
"I'm fine." Shimako protested.
"Here take my jacket" Noriko offered, taking her jacket off in the process and offering it to Shimako.
Shimako put her hand up, declining the jacket. "No, then you'll be cold."
Noriko rolled her eyes. She hated when they got into these types of arguments, the arguments about Noriko wanting to be nice to Shimako and Shimako not wanting to be taken care for by Noriko.
"I'm fine Shimako-san. I actually like the cold. Just take my jacket."
"I'm not taking your jacket."
Noriko let out a frustrated breath as her hand raked her hair. "You can be so stubborn sometimes Shimako-san."
Shimako eyed her challengingly. "It seems to be a white rose trait."
"Shimako-san just take-" Noriko was interrupted for the second time that night, not by a hard smack to the face by a cold gust of wind, but a gentle touch to her lips by Shimako's finger.
"Shhh, they're starting." Shimako whispered, turning her head away from Noriko and toward the orchestra in the process.
Noriko was glad Shimako was occupied with the orchestra instead of her because she felt her face contort into a disgruntled frown. She really wanted to kiss that finger.
As the director signaled for the orchestra to start the song, the girls and those around them fell into silence. It was as if the orchestra transformed the sirens' call into a melody, and instead of taking its listeners into a crashing death, it took them somewhere more ethereal. Somewhere more whimsical.
Enchanted, Noriko marveled as each song, capturing emotions so extensively human, passed. She was grateful that they were able to come. Noriko believed that the suggestion she had made earlier that month wasn't going to amount to anything.
They were in Shimako's bedroom, doing homework on the floor, when Shimako, all of a sudden, put down her pen.
"It's too quiet." Shimako announced. Noriko tore away from the math problem she was doing and looked at her Onee-sama quizzically.
"Then put on a CD." Noriko bluntly said, returning to her problem. Shimako thought about it for a moment, then smiled, and got up and put on a CD.
Shimako returned to her spot next to Noriko. They sat scribbling away, but there was a niggle in the back of Noriko's mind. She knew the song, but she wasn't sure who composed it.
Until finally, it clicked.
"Is that Bach?" Noriko asked.
Shimako nodded her head. "It is." She put her pencil down and leaned against her bed. "I wish I could hear this live," Shimako sighed dreamily. "I like listening to the CD, but I prefer listening to music live. There's something lost when you hear recorded music."
Noriko smiled at her Onee-sama's wistful expression.
"Then why don't we? I heard there was going to be an outdoor concert, featuring music by Bach." Noriko suggested.
Shimako smiled widely. "That sounds like a marvelous idea."
And here they were, listening to Bach live.
Noriko looked around at the crowd, noting with amusement everyone's captivated expressions. But when her eyes fell upon Shimako's placid, content face, something erupted inside her. An overwhelming feeling gripped her chest that desired only one thing: to touch Shimako.
She looked down at their hands; they were a few inches apart, but Noriko had it set in her mind to touch Shimako, so she crept her hand closer to Shimako's until she was almost there. And then…
Another gust of wind passed, and Shimako quickly brought her hands up to rub away the coldness from her arms. Noriko hardly noticed the chill, glaring at the sky, too irritated at being foiled once again. But the urge didn't leave her; if anything, it grew even stronger, almost suffocating Noriko. She chanced a glance at her Onee-sama, and found her shivering.
Noriko would forever wonder why courage chose to endow its abilities to her at that moment, but she would forever be grateful.
She wrapped her arms around Shimako's waist and pressed her to her front.
"Noriko!" Shimako gasped. Noriko felt Shimako's body tense and quickly moved her mouth near Shimako's ear to reassure her.
"It's fine Shimako-san. This way, we can both use the jacket." Noriko whispered, and Shimako had to resist the urge to blush. Yes, she felt warmer with Noriko's holding her, but that still didn't stop her from feeling uncomfortable. No one had ever held her like that much less her petite soeur, and if she was being truthful with herself, she would admit that she felt like she taking advantage of the younger girl.
She turned to look at Noriko to garner her reaction and was met with a small smile, eyes dancing along with the music. Shimako turned back, smiling, and decided that for tonight, she would just enjoy the moment.
She relaxed into the younger girl's embrace, and Noriko had to repress a moan.
The concert continued, but Noriko didn't notice or couldn't notice. It was more like background music to her as she paid more attention to Shimako's heartbeat than anything else. It was a bit more rapid than Noriko expected, which she assume was due to her excitement from earlier.
A lighter breeze passed, and Noriko unconsciously placed one of Shimako's rouge curls back into place, marveling at its softness, and then grinned like a mad woman when she heard Shimako sigh. She tried to memorize the feel of Shimako's body against her's, knowing that the chance of her holding Shimako again was slim to none, and even though that thought felt like a sucker punch to the stomach, Noriko was glad she had this moment and would make the most of it.
Eventually, the director brought the song to an end with the crash of the cymbals, and after the last tremble resonated throughout the field, the audience stood and applauded vehemently. However, not everyone stood, seeing as there were still two white roses rooted to the ground, but they applauded nonetheless.
When the patrons stared leaving around them, blushing, Noriko loosened her grip on Shimako, thinking that they should leave too, when Shimako held Noriko's arms in place.
"Don't," Shimako whispered, so softly that Noriko wasn't even sure if she heard it correctly.
Heart beating wildly in her chest as she tightened her grip on Shimako, Noriko hesitantly asked, "Don't what?"
"Don't let go." It was a small plea, one that Noriko dreamed of hearing, and she conceded. She wouldn't let Shimako go.
Noriko closed her eyes, relinquishing the warm feeling of joy spreading throughout her body.
Was all this really happening? Was she really here holding Shimako? And was Shimako actually asking her to never let go?
It was all a huge bundle of surreal-ness that had Noriko chuckling into Shimako's hair in absolute joy.
"Didn't I already promise you that I wasn't?" Noriko teased.
Shimako nodded her head languidly, enjoying the warmth Noriko provided and sub-consciously tracing imaginary patterns on Noriko's hands. "Yes, but that was until I graduated."
Detecting the small amount of fear in her Shimako's voice, Noriko gave her a reassuring squeeze as she nuzzled her neck. "I don't mind extending it a bit," Noriko said nonchalantly, but Shimako detected the silent promise behind the words.
Shimako smiled and turned her head to meet Noriko's protective and loving eyes, only for Noriko's breath to hitch when they locked eyes. There was that twinkle again, and this time Noriko was dead sure that it was meant for her.
Shimako cupped Noriko's cheek.
"I'd like that."
They shared a smile as Shimako snuggled into Noriko's warmth. It was silent, seeing as all the patrons had left, but they stayed there, having no intention of letting the other one go.
FIN