It was a quiet sunny afternoon in summer. Cool winds and the warm sun created a pleasant climate and forged the perfect weather for a walk outside.
This near-perfect summer day, two former HTT members decided to meet up once again, reminiscing about old times back in school. To be exact, the upperclassmen Yui wanted to see their beloved kohai and friend Azusa again. After graduating and starting college, a lot of their free time melted away and complicated schedules made meeting up harder than ever before.
Azusa was waiting on a park bench, dressed in a cute bright green, almost white summer dress. Her hair tied in only one ponytail. The cloth reached just below her knees, not provoking, yet not modest of the parts of her legs that it revealed. Completing her outfit were dark brown wedge sandals. Only made of two pieces, her outfit presented her in a way her senpais were never accustomed to. Her choice of clothes made her look more mature than ever before, yet she still kept a hue of innocence and harmony. No part of her outfit conflicted with her surroundings, in fact, it almost seemed as if she was part of the scenery. She looked as beautiful as the tree surrounding the bench, like a part of nature, a fairy of the woods or a child of the flora. Like the bench has been part of a painting and she was the last stroke to make an artwork into a masterpiece.
Yui arrived at the park not much later. Moving closer and closer to the arranged location, she noticed her heart accelerating more and more. She's been feeling a weird mixture of relief and ever since their telephone call that planned the date. What was she thinking? It wasn't a date, just a meet-up between old club members and close friends... Right? She let out a small sigh while she kept walking. A light sense of disappointment spread in this small sigh, enough to break her usually cheerful and bubbly character just for a moment. This was weird, she thought, unlike meeting Azunyan in and out of school over and over again, her emotions ran wild this time.
She looked down at her outfit. Unlike Azusa whom she hasn't seen yet, Yui's outfit was way more modest. Not in the traditional sense, but instead of a light summer dress or her comfortable clothes, Yui decided to put on her old school uniform. Even though she wanted to dress like she always has, Yui grew anxious trying out different outfits, eventually worrying about Azunyan forgetting how she looked like. While graduation wasn't much longer than a few months ago, the thought of Azusa not recognizing her and treating her as a stranger was terrifying for Yui. The thought of seeing how someone you like treats a stranger might be alluring in a way, but Yui knew that this isn't a time to mess around. This outfit was for someone special and important to her. Her... Friend Azunyan. Hence Yui didn't look much different from back in school, except her hair was a bit longer than it used it. Surprisingly, she did wear her correct school uniform, at least from outside, it looked that way. While top, tights, and shoes were actually hers, she couldn't find the light gray skirt she wore every day back then, but instead, borrowed the piece from her sister Ui.
After walking for a little, Yui cut the corner and was able to see Azusa sitting on a bench. It was as if time stopped the moment she saw her. The songs of birds and the melody of rustling leaves grew silent. The music of this sunny day was nothing compared to the sight of her kohai. Yui's thoughts went crazy from the sight of Azusa, feelings swelled up inside her. They felt like waves of pure warmth, yet she felt her fingertips grow cold at the same time. This wasn't a new feeling for Yui, but she never experienced it like this before. At this moment, Yui noticed how much she missed her, even the longings towards something that's missing in her afternoons or the nights staring at the ceiling feeling lonelier than ever weren't comparable to her realization. Yui bit her lip, she didn't notice until now that a single tear sneaked down her cheek while she was lost staring. But it wasn't a tear of sadness, she wasn't sure what exactly it was, maybe relief or happiness or something entirely different.
Thankfully, she hasn't seen me yet, Yui thought to herself carefully, like she was afraid the younger one could hear her thoughts if she didn't watch out. Indeed, Azusa's attention was fixed on other people, her gaze wandered between two people, not far from her. Their features were hidden in the play of light and shadows that the trees of the park caused, so she couldn't make out if they were men or women, but she did notice in the way they moved together. They couldn't be parent and child, but they did share a loving bond, it wasn't shared through kisses or hugs, but the inexperienced girl could tell that the relationship they shared was sacred. Their playful gestures reminded her of two birds flying together through the lonely sky, playing together and singing their songs as a duet. The moving grass in the wind was the cloud they sat on. She sensed a kind of happiness that she missed out on so far, maybe she had been close before, but recently, it felt as if this happiness grew farther away from her again.
Azusa didn't realize how much she was daydreaming, her feet started drawing lines in the gravel under the bench and the index finger of her right hand traced circles on the wooden seat. Still half-dreaming, the young girl looked around after noticing her absent mind. Her head turned slightly left, when she was suddenly pushed to the right by a tremendous force she hadn't encountered in quite some time.
"Azunyaaaan!", a familiar voice shouted. She knew exactly who just wrapped her arms around her in such an aggressive, yet loving manner. "I missed you so much, Azunyan. You're still so cuddly, I'm glad." Yui pulled her closer, nuzzling her cheek against the face of her former underclassman.
"Stop it, Yui-senpai. You're embarrassing me. We're in public." Azusa complained, her voice growing more and more quiet with each word she spoke. It was true that she didn't like being affectionate like this in public, but she didn't mind at this moment. She didn't mind at all, because her thoughts and her heart knew how much she was craving this feeling of being held by her friend.
Friend. A strange mixture of frustration and sadness coursed through her when the word echoed in her mind, just a friend. A friend that is this affectionate and makes her feel safe in her embrace- Azusa blushed lightly, what was she thinking, this isn't right, the small girl thought, she couldn't possibly think of her former fellow club member in this way. It's just not meant to-
Her thoughts were cut off once again, not by her own reservations and denial of her feelings, but by Yui. The slightly older girl did something differently this time while she hugged her. Was it even still a hug like back in their shared school days? All that she noticed at this moment was Yui's hand that softly cupped Azusa's cheek. She knew that her senpai isn't a person that cares too much about her appearance and skin, at least she never seemed to be that type. Yet, her hand felt so soft and warm against her cheek. Even though it was covered with spots of horned skin from playing guitar all day, it didn't feel rough at all. In fact, it felt softer than anything Azu ever experienced before. With this small contact of their skins, she forgot all worries and all the pain she felt when the older HTT members graduated. Once again, on this sunny afternoon, time stood completely still. Not for Yui, but for her younger friend, this time. She felt the warmth of her senpai's hand spread into her cheek, it felt like it even spread into her blood. This feeling was like a drug that she missed for so long, a drug that allowed her to enter a rush that wasn't comparable to anything else she could ever imagine. It was pure, but also adventurous, dangerous, yet without any kind of regret, because she knew that this drug wouldn't damage her body. On the contrary, her body knew that this drug is healing every little part of her.
Still exhilarated from Yui's touch, Azusa started noticing something else. Yui's eyes were fixed on hers, looking into them. She felt her cheeks redden with blush marks, she did wear a little bit of makeup, but the thin coat of cosmetic products couldn't hide her embarrassment from this situation. Idiot, the overwhelmed girl thought to herself, this isn't embarrassment, I'm not embarrassed at all. Maybe a little… but this feels kind of exciting…
Despite her gaze being fixed on Yui's eyes staring into hers and ignoring everything else, she could feel that Yui was blushing as well, she felt like she could feel her partner's thoughts through her deep stare. Azusa knew that Yui was overwhelmed as well, a part of her was wondering whether she has done anything like this with a boy or even another girl at her college. But the rest of her body didn't care right now, the only thing she cared about was that Yui was hers at this very moment, and she was Yui's.
Invisible sparks flew between them, they didn't stop, it felt like they had been going on and on for hours, maybe days or even years. In reality, mere seconds were ticking away, but neither of them realized that. The outside world didn't matter, they weren't sitting on a park bench anymore. Both of them were floating freely, somewhere, their exact location they didn't know, but it didn't matter, they felt free from all rules and doubts. The only thing that filled the air around them was their feelings for each other.
Yui didn't care about her worries anymore, she knew the instant she touched Azunyan that she didn't forget about her. The waves from earlier returned inside of her, just a million times stronger than before. She felt how they turned into an ocean. An ocean that only swallowed her and her beautiful underclassman. Yes, beautiful, one of the few words that appeared in her mind right now. Yui felt that she was sinking deeper into the depths of her sea, but it didn't feel scary, she wasn't afraid at all. The water around her wasn't cold and didn't make her struggle for air, if anything, she was able to breathe just fine. She wasn't coated in darkness either, the eyes of Azunyan that she didn't even notice she started staring into, lit up the world around her. She wasn't sure if there was anything but the both of them down there, yet she felt how everything around her began to bloom in the brightest colors. Colors that couldn't be described by mere words like blue or yellow, these were colors that she has never seen before.
Their faces moved closer and closer without them noticing until their soft lips touched. Mm… Yui-senpai tastes so sweet, Azusa thought barely able to put anything into words in her mind, maybe she ate some candy before coming here.
Before her tongue could make out what exactly her lips tasted like, she felt Yui's tongue entering her mouth aggressively. Azu's thoughts went wild, shutting down all at once and surrendering her to the impressions of her emotions and lust alone. All she could think of was to not let her senpai win, all her remaining reservations disappeared with her thoughts, as she nearly thrust her tongue into the older girl's mouth. Her ears noticed Yui let out a soft sound, the innocent girl wasn't sure what it was, but she felt her excitement rise to new heights. Not guided by her thoughts, but only the heat of the moment, Azusa's hand moved towards her partner's top and twisted into it, getting a better grip of her cloth and pulling her upperclassmen closer.
Suddenly jerked towards the younger girl, Yui's body went limp. All of her muscle power focused on her tongue that was suddenly pushed into defense. Desperately trying to match Azunyan's attacks, she let out several soft moans. Indulging her whole body in this amazing feeling of belonging to the one she craved for so long.
Feeling exhaustion slowly creeping in, Azusa started pulling away just slightly and watched a small thread of saliva connect her mouth with her senpai's. Panting and gasping for air, the kohai rested her head on Yui's shoulder. Her hand searched for it's missing piece until Yui's hand found hers.
She wasn't afraid anymore, no fears and worries about her old friend hating the way she suddenly pounced on her could claim her mind. Azusa's body was filled with content, all regrets washed away by Yui's waves. She felt the older girl's body lean against her and relax. It felt so warm, not oppressively warm, but pleasant and lively.
"I love you," Yui whispered, still unable to catch her breath.
Azusa started smiling, no thought was required, but she was happier than ever before. This time, her daydream wasn't a distant couple that she watched in the park. No, this time she was one of the birds playing around in the clouds, and Yui was the one she chased after up there. She imagined many times how it would feel to be one of the birds. She was afraid because she felt like the happiness she sought disappeared. But now she realized, that it was always right in front of her, only waiting for her to reach out. Maybe Yui felt the same way about her. No, she was sure Yui felt the same way, even if she said anything else, the way they kissed revealed the truth. And the younger girl knew as well, that she couldn't hide her feelings anymore.
"I love you, too," Azusa replied smiling.
"I'm glad…," replied Yui, slowly drifting to sleep, leaning against her love. Azusa looked up at her, watching her fall asleep and cuddled into Yui's arms to follow her into her dreams.