Riko knew she shouldn't be feeling like this, hell, she knew she shouldn't have been feeling like this for several months now. She supposed it began with the time they held hands in public last year, when Riko's hands were shaking and clammy, and face hot. She knew they were just friends, and that it was normal for girls to be like this at her age, she knew that. But none of those facts stopped the loving thoughts that would drip into her subconscious as she daydreamed in English class, or as she talked to Maki- about anything, really. To her defense, it was hard to keep the romantic thoughts away when Maki was so interested in love as a whole. But it started getting hard to ignore when every single time they would talk about love, Riko's mind would wander to thoughts that involved her and Maki in every situation. She could've sworn she was interested in men, seriously, but imagining Maki in her arms and asleep in her bed and kissing her were far more attractive than any imaginary guy she could think of.
It was these inescapable thoughts that led her to make the decision of confessing to Maki today. Well, also the cryptic and vague commentary by the all-knowing Sayo, but it was fueled by Riko's own decision. Breathing in sharply, Riko walked up to the student council room, taking a deep breath while gripping the doorknob tightly. All of the worst case scenarios sloshed around her mental cavity and she took a steadying breath, finding her mental resolve to continue before twisting open the door and walking inside, seeing a blissfully empty room. Well, empty aside from Maki herself, who was currently seated on one of the couches. She looked up and smiled at Riko, standing up and walking around the side of the couch.
"I'll make some tea," Maki said, her expression light and unknowing that the mood would be changing very soon. Riko walked down to the couch Maki hadn't been sitting on earlier and took a seat, shifting her legs before crossing them. She listened as Maki poured out two cups of hot tea and plopped in tea bags, already knowing what type Riko would've told her to make. Walking back around and setting the drinks on the coffee table, Maki sat down and looked over at Riko expectantly.
"So what are we going to start with today?" Maki asked, smiling. Riko sighed inaudibly, looking down at her lap as she began speaking.
"Well, I was thinking we could talk about something that's been on my mind recently," Riko began, messing with her hands and pointedly avoiding eye contact with her love. Maki made a slight noise of confusion, her curious expression falling on blind eyes. Maki shifted her weight and then began to think about Riko's body language. Could she…? Could Riko be confessing to her? Maki shook her head physically to better help in clearing her thoughts. No way, there's just no way Riko would be in love with someone like herself, Maki thought, feeling her face heat nonetheless.
"Ah, yes?" Maki asked. "Go right on ahead." Riko breathed in, finally lifting her head to get a good look at Maki, feeling her breath hitch immediately. Maki's stained cheeks and amorous eyes, only highlighted by the subtle lighting from the adjacent window that shined off her gorgeous dark hair and radiated from her form in an ethereal way, making her look almost heavenly. Riko knew that she didn't need to find the courage in her anymore to confess, she knew that this was right.
"I love you, N-Natsuo," Riko said, her voice faltering around the unfamiliar name on her tongue. She saw the initial reaction of shock that crossed Maki's face and she looked away briefly before continuing. "I have been interested in you in a while now, and… I thought you deserved to hear it after all this time. I'm sorry if you think I'm weird for it," Riko said, Sayo's words echoing in her head, Don't you think she, above everyone else, deserves to know? Riko took a steadying breath and stared over at Maki, flinching back in surprise and almost falling over the back of the couch. Of all the reactions she predicted, this was the one she had expected the least.
Maki held her head in her hands, and despite how little of her face was visible, it was obvious that she was crying quite passionately. Riko felt instantaneously horrible, and almost ran to her side before remembering that it was she who elicited this reaction from her. She felt her own eyes well up and stood up abruptly, nearly jostling the coffee table, and started walking towards the door.
"I'm sorry, Maki, I'll leave you alone," Riko blurted, feeling the tears race down her cheeks at a rapidly increasing pace. She screwed up, she screwed up, she screwed up, and there was nothing she could do to change it now. Gripping the doorknob, Riko unexpectedly felt her entire body get crushed by an outside force, her wet cheek pressing against the door and a hand still loosely gripped around the doorknob.
"Please don't go, Riko, please," Maki pleaded, her face pressed between Riko's shoulder blades and her tears staining Riko's top. "I… I like you, too, I…. I l-l-lo-lo-," Maki choked on her words, her voice hiccupping with happy tears.
"I love you, too!"
At that moment, the entire world ceased to matter at all. The light that cradled the scene was innocent and pure, the two girls who had both lost hope in their seemingly unrequited love were now filled with an astounding feeling of hope that diluted every other feeling in the world. They probably wouldn't even care if someone were to walk in right now, as Riko turned around and cradled Maki's head in her hands and kissed her sloppily and inexperienced, her fingers shaking but tears drying. And she also didn't mind that when Maki wrapped her arms back around her she held a little bit too tight and her lips kind of tasted like salt from her tears. This is what happiness is, this is what love is.