Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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It's 6:25 in the morning when her alarm goes off. Rin throws an arm over her eyes and groans in protest.
It's too early. She stayed up way too late, studying. Okay, studying was a euphemism – it was more like cramming as much of the term's syllabus into her head in the shortest amount of time. There's an English test later in the day; those aren't any fun.
But she has to get up. She isn't going to throw her momentum off by being late for school. She studied way too hard for that English test. That test didn't event carry that much weight in the long run…
So Rin pulls herself up and sits in a stupor. It always takes a while for her brain to kick into gear. Plus, her had feels extra heavy today, no doubt from the amount of vocabulary and grammar rules that she shoved into her head last night. This is why she hates English, and this is why she hates tests, too.
English… Test…
Her eyes snap wide open in alarm as her brain finally clicks the puzzle pieces into place. She has an English test today! This means– Oh goodness, this means–
With a strange cry that is sort of an amalgamation of a yelp and whoop, Rin launches herself towards the adjoining washroom. It's here! The day is finally here! She did it! She finally caught up to Maki-chan!
And so Rin rushes to get ready for school, excited at the prospect of finally being seventeen years old.
:::
Rin stumbles her way down the stairs at 6:47 a.m.
The stairs – wooden, with a lacquered surface – are slippery beneath her socked feet. Her eyes dart between the glowing screen of her mobile phone and the descending path before her. Her inbox is filled with birthday wishes and she's a little preoccupied answering them. Her heart soars at her father's birthday message in particular:
Happy birthday, Tiger! My, my… Already 17, huh? The years really did go by so fast.
I could have sworn that you were a baby in my arms just yesterday. It's like I blinked and you're a grown person. I am so proud of you, Rin – prouder than you can ever imagine!
You've grown to be such a lively and talented young woman. And so beautiful, too. My only wish is that you continue to grow into the person that you're meant to be, and that you experience life in its fullest as you do. The sweet times and the bitter times – experience them all.
I love you, my daughter, and I'm so, so sorry that I have to work so far away from you and Mama. I know I don't see the both of you enough because you catch me off guard every time I come home. I can't wait to see how much more amazing you've become when I come home tonight.
Happy birthday, Rin! Have a lovely one! I'll see you tonight, Tiger ;)
The message makes Rin squeal on the inside and she punches the air in her elation. Her father's coming home for her birthday! Goodness, she hasn't seen him in the flesh for nearly half a year now. She wonders if her mother knows; it would be just like her mother to keep such news a surprise.
And speaking of surprises, Rin jumps a little when her mother wishes her a blessed birthday from the living room couch. A confused pout crosses Rin's face, causing her mother to giggle at the sight. It is 6:49 a.m. now, and that usually meant that she was on her way to help her mom with breakfast. Is there no breakfast today?
Mrs Hoshizora shakes her head. A smile still touches her eyes.
"Look," she says, gesturing towards the kitchen. Rin does. Her eyes grow as wide as saucers the next moment.
There's Kayo-chin manning the stove, expertly rolling omelettes with a pair of chopsticks. A plate of pickles was already laid out, and Rin could tell that the timer for the rice-cooker is set to go off anytime soon. The sight of it all is too amazing; her dear friend had gotten up extra early to make her breakfast. There are tears in her eyes, she's sure, but that isn't going to stop her from bounding over to Hanayo.
It is only when she crosses the threshold into the kitchen that she catches a flash of crimson by the dining table. The anomaly instantly stops Rin's long strides and Rin just stands there gaping like a fish out of water.
"M-Maki-chan?" Rin gasps. It couldn't be, could it? Her tired eyes must be playing a trick on her; there is no other explanation.
But it's not a trick. Maki really is standing in her kitchen, furiously frothing a packet of natto. An annoyed look crosses her face.
"Geez, what is with that reaction?" Maki complains. That is enough to break the spell. Rin changes course and makes a beeline for Maki, tackling the redhead into a hug from behind.
"Maki-chan~" Rin chimes cheerily in sing-song. Maki nudges at Rin with her shoulders.
"Cut that out," she says. "You're getting in the way."
That simply earned Maki a tight squeeze before Rin runs off to hug Kayo-chin. Hanayo laughs softly at her friend's antics, having long been used to Rin's displays of affection. Hanayo gently directs Rin to set the table and Rin hums her agreement. It takes Rin less than five minutes to prepare the table; Mrs Hoshizora makes her way into the kitchen during that time.
At 6:59 a.m., the four of them settles down for a morning meal of rolled omelette, pickled vegetables, natto, miso soup and fluffy white rice. Rin eats heartily, complimenting her friends' cooking in between mouthfuls.
"How do you find the miso soup, Rin-chan?" asks Hanayo, innocently enough.
Rin swallows her mouthful of rice before answering, "It really is the best that I've ever tasted – second to Mom's cooking, of course."
"That's a relief," sighs Hanayo. "Maki-chan was so worried that she would mess it up. It's her first time preparing it after all."
"Hanayo–"
"Don't worry, Maki-chan," chimes Rin with a grin, "Rin would like to have Maki-chan's miso soup everyday if she could."
"Rin," Maki whines in protest. She's already scarlet at Rin's jest. "Don't say embarrassing things like that."
"Anyway," Maki says, clearing her throat and sitting up a little straighter, "I hope you've been saving some space for lunch. Nico-chan isn't going to forgive you if you don't finish the bento she prepared."
"Uwaaa~ You girls are the best! Rin is getting spoiled, nya!"
"I'm glad you realised that."
"Maki-chan!"
:::
She thinks it wasn't all that bad. She can't remember a single thing from that English paper but she has a good feeling about it. At the very least, she wouldn't be failing that test – that's enough to put a grin on Rin's face and a spring to her step.
"Yay, kitty apples!" Rin cheers and claps when she finally unveils the contents of the Nico Nii Bento Special during lunch. Nico really is a goddess in the kitchen, isn't she? Rin did try to get Nico to teach her how to carve apple slices into cute cats once; she ended up with a handful of chimera instead.
Maki sighs at Rin's enthusiasm. "I don't know what your fangirls see in you, honestly. They think Hoshizora-senpai from the basketball team is so cool; I wonder if they know what you're really like."
"Clearly it's my winsome grin and charming personality that draws them in," Rin quips, waggling her eyebrows. Maki reaches over and pinches Rin's cheek. Hard.
"Oww! Maki-chan! Violence isn't always the answer, you know."
"I thought I'd better deflate your big head before it gets any bigger. It's rather unattractive."
"Like you're one to talk–"
Hanayo steps in at this point, attempting to re-direct the flow of conversation. "I can't wait to see the rest of µ's again at Homura's later."
"I know, right?" cries Rin in agreement. She throws her head back and groans, "It feels like I haven't seen Nico-chan and Honoka-chan and Nozomi-chan and Umi-chan and Kotori-chan and Eli-chan in forever!"
"You don't have to list everyone individually, you know," Maki says drily, and Hanayo's brow knits in worry that her two best friends would go back to their usual light-hearted arguing. "But, yes, I haven't seen Eli and Nozomi in a while."
Rin hears Hanayo's soft sigh of relief and keeps her urge to giggle to herself. Kayo-chin can't help but worry, can she? The banter isn't ever serious, anyway.
But what is serious is her lapse of memory. As deep as she delves into the recesses of her mind, she really can't remember the details about meeting the rest of her close friends at Homura's after school. And yet, it's instinctual that she could picture everyone getting together, catching up and having a pleasant time together so clearly in her mind's eye. It must have come up in conversations before, Rin decides; after all, Rin knows full well that she's not good at remembering things if she has her mind pre-occupied – and she has been plenty distracted lately with schoolwork, graduation and… other things.
She decides to let it go, turning to demand that Maki feed her. As expected, Maki refuses and calls her a big baby for it. She pouts and turns to Kayo-chin instead, whining that Maki-chan's being mean again and insisting that Hanayo feed her instead. Hanayo relents and Rin cheers, perking up instantaneously. It's all scripted and all in good cheer; Rin wishes that days like this would never end.
:::
She's getting sleepy. Well-fed and watered from lunch, the balmy November air does nothing to stop her from drifting in and out of consciousness. The words on the page swim in and out of her view – more so than they usually do, anyway. The teacher's voice is starting to sound so far away…
And then a phone rings. Crisp, clear and loud. Too crisp, too clear and too loud.
Rin jolts awake.
.
.
.
It's 9:30 in the morning when her alarm goes off. Rin throws an arm over her eyes and groans in protest.
It's too early. She stayed up way too late, studying. Okay, studying was a euphemism – it was more like cramming as much of the term's syllabus into her head in the shortest amount of time. There's an English test later in the day; those aren't any fun.
But she doesn't have an English test later that day, Rin realises slowly. She hasn't done English as a subject in about three years. Three years. That's a pretty long time. She cracks an eye open and reaches out for her mobile phone. It's the 1st of November, her phone informs her. Her inbox is flooded with unread messages.
She's twenty.
Oh goodness gracious, she's twenty. It's today! Today is the day she officially becomes an adult! Rin is finally of age!
But she feels none of that enthusiasm. It's kind of hard to feel quite so happy when she has just woken up to an empty room (her roommate has a morning lab session, Rin recalls), miles and miles away from home. A pang of homesickness hits her and she unlocks her phone. She scrolls through the list of birthday wishes to find the ones that really matter to her: the ones from her biological family and from the family she found.
It's getting rather cold now that it's November but the messages from her dear ones warm her up better than any hot beverage could. She takes the time to reply to all of them; she could afford to – her first lesson of the day starts around noon. So Rin reads the well-wishes and write out thoughtful responses to them, whittling the list down till she has zero (0) messages left in her inbox.
A small frown touches her features. She hasn't heard from Maki-chan at all.
Rin buries her face in the palm of her hand and sighs. Maki must have passed out from pulling an all-nighter again. One would've expected Maki of all people to understand the importance of rest and its role in maintaining one's health. But, then again, Maki is reading Medicine and reading Medicine, as everyone knows, is a lot of hard work. The irony brings a wry grin to Rin's face: those tasked with watching over the health of others often neglect their own health in the process.
Rin taps out a quick text message before rolling out of bed. It reads:
Maki-channnnnn.
I know you're working hard but remember to take care of yourself, alright?
(^・ω・^ )
Her phone bounces once when she tosses it on the bed. Rin grabs her shower caddy and heads out the door.
:::
It's an occasion, so she deserves it. After all, she doesn't turn twenty every other day. And yet, her hand hovers uncertainly over one of her two remaining cups of instant ramen – the good stuff that she brought with her all the way from Japan. It's her birthday, so she should be able to eat whatever she wants – but that would mean that she'll be down to her last ramen cup. Ah, decisions, decisions.
Her fingers barely graze the plastic wrap of the ramen cup when there is a knock on the door. Rin straightens up and waits, wondering if it's just her noisy mind playing tricks on her. It isn't, for the door goes thud, thud, thud again. Perhaps her roommate is back early and had forgotten her keys when she left this morning. Whoever it is at the door, Rin should probably answer it anyway.
The door opens and Rin's jaw drops. She splutters incoherently where she stands.
Maki shakes her head and gently lifts Rin's jaw with the tips of her fingers. "I guess some things just don't change, huh?"
Rin's guest enters her dorm room and Rin, still dumbfounded, sidesteps out of Maki's way. It takes a long while before Rin's brain kicks itself into gear and takes in that – oh gosh – Maki is here. Like right here. In person. Right in front of her.
Rin squeals Maki's name and throws herself at the other girl. She picks Maki up by the waist and spins her around; Maki yelps in panic at that. Rin only stops when she hears a hushing noise from down the corridor; she calls out an apology and shuts the door firmly before her. Rin is breathless – partly from exertion and partly in disbelief that Maki is actually here. She pulls Maki in for a hug.
"I missed you," Rin admits. Her words are quiet, as if she's afraid that speaking too loudly would cause the spell to break and Maki to vanish from her arms. "I missed everyone loads, of course, but I missed you the most."
Maki places a hand over Rin's sternum and pushes her back slightly. Rin's arms are still wrapped loosely around Maki's slim waist (Maki always did have the slimmest waistline out of all of µ's). The visitor reaches up – yes, up – to cup Rin's cheek and give her a quick peck on the lips.
"I wish I could say that it wasn't like I missed you or anything but that would be lying," Maki confesses. If there's one thing that Rin knows about Maki, it's just how easily embarrassed Maki could be. Rin swallows her bubbling laughter when Maki hides her face against Rin's shoulder. The other girl was just too cute; Maki could go from bold and confident to a shy mess in under a minute.
"I brought your presents from everyone," Maki announces abruptly, as if to kill the embarrassing situation that she put herself in. "Half my luggage bag is taken up by instant ramen because Honoka insists that you can't live without them. She thinks it's three months' worth of noodles but I swear to goodness, Rin: you better make that stash last for the next half a year or so or your kidneys are going to be very angry with you in the future."
Rin chuckles at that, internally saying a blessing for Honoka because yes, ramen.
"Hanayo got you those basketball shoes you've been saving up for – please stop looking like you're about to cry, Rin – and Nico-chan got you tickets to see that band that you like. I can't remember what they're called at the moment but apparently Nico-chan will be opening for them," Maki rants, filling Rin in. "The concert's showing when you're back in Japan so you don't have to worry about missing out."
"Nico-chan and Kayo-chin are doing pretty good with their careers, huh?" Rin replies. "Makes me wonder why I still bother with school."
That comment earns her a slap on the elbow and a warning to not even think about it (leaving school, that is).
"Kotori got you a copy of her sketchbook for your birthday; she still remembers how you like looking at them for fashion inspiration. She would have filled a sketchbook especially for you but her schoolwork has been relentless lately."
"Oh, there's a small album, too. There's a filled postcard from every town that Eli and Nozomi passed through during their trip in it, and a couple of pictures, too. They were clearly thinking about you during their time in Russia."
That comment makes Rin laugh: "I'm not sure if I want them to be thinking about me all the time, knowing those two. And as much as I love their present, I think I would rather hear that Eli-chan finally got that question out – she's been stalling forever. I'm pretty sure that Nozomi-chan knows that Eli's been getting around to asking her–"
"Rin, you're ranting," Maki warns, pinching Rin's nose so that Rin would run out of air and cut her spiel short. "I would suggest that you read those postcards they wrote to you – you can still read Japanese, right?"
Rin scoffs at Maki's point – of course she can read Japanese, she's Japanese isn't she? – when something about the way Maki framed her words hit her. Rin gasps loudly at the realisation: "Did Eli–"
"Read and you'll find out," Maki says firmly. Rin puffs her cheeks up and purse her lips. "Fiiiine. Maki-chan's no fun."
"Say that again and I'll walk," Maki threatens though they both know that she has nothing but air to back those words up.
"Rin takes it back! Don't go."
"Good," Maki nods. "Let's see who's left… Ah, Umi! She apologises for it not being much but I can assure you that Umi spent a great amount of time picking out your present for you. She got you a new wristband, water bottle and knee guards; and you know how Umi isn't Umi unless she has spent at least a day and a half researching for the best products."
"That does sound like Umi-chan – thoughtful as always," Rin agrees. "Hmm… Okay, Rin's going to be real direct and just bite: should I be expecting a gift from Maki-chan, too?"
"Wow, aren't you a greedy one," Maki comments. "As for your present, I'm here, aren't I?"
Rin tilts her head, surveying Maki with curious eyes. That's true: Maki-chan is here, isn't she? And 'here' is very, very far away from home. Plus, it's a weekday – doesn't Maki have lessons on weekdays? Huh…
"That's true," Rin drawls. "You are here. Do your parents know?"
Maki's face colours instantly. "Well, they know I won't be home tonight. I told them that I'll be sleeping over at Hanayo's–"
"And your classes?"
"It's just today and tomorrow; skipping a couple of lessons won't hurt. I've read ahead, anyway."
Rin clicks her tongue, "Tsk, tsk, Maki-chan. I wonder what Papa and Mama would say?"
Maki stomps on her foot in retaliation.
"Geez, Maki-chan, did you have to step so hard?"
With her arms crossed, Maki retorts, "Well, you didn't have to tease me so much."
Oh dear, her girlfriend's in a huffy mood again… Rin swears it's the lack of sleep; Maki might be good with concealer but Rin could always tell. She has been with Maki-chan for nearly four years now, after all – ever since their second year of high school. Rin might be a little dense at times but she did learn how to pick out the little things as well as de-fuse situations.
She grips Maki by the hips and draws her in; Maki squeaks in surprise, and Rin agrees that she is being a little forward. Rin plants a kiss on Maki's forehead. Maki's arms drape lazily around Rin's shoulders. Maki leans in. She's warm. This all feels so familiar to Rin and yet, so new. Rin is hit by excitement and nostalgia at the same time.
Rin's mind races. There's so much about her life here that she wants to show Maki: the campus grounds, Rin's favourite diner, the pet store down the block… She wants Maki to experience them all but there's just so little time. In less than 36 hours, Maki would most likely be on a plane back to Japan, and life would resume as normal. Where should Rin even start?
And as if it was perfectly times, a low growling noise made itself clear to them both.
Rin laughs at that and asks, "Have you eaten, Maki-chan?"
The answer is no and Rin knows exactly where to start: the grocery store. It's an occasion, so Rin thinks she can muster enough effort to pull a simple breakfast together for them both. While her cooking skills can't hold a light to Nico's, Rin's pretty confident about handling eggs. Scrambled, poached, soft-boiled, sunny side up – just name it.
It's 10:37 a.m. when Rin shrugs on her coat, grabs her wallet and heads out the door – with Maki at her side, of course. It's just a quick grocery run but Rin already feels like she's walking on sunshine. They aren't holding hands but they're walking close enough that their shoulders bump every so often. She thought that she would have to spend her birthday lone but boy is she glad that isn't so. It's a good day, Rin decides; oh, how she wishes days like this would never end.
And they won't. Rin is sure of that.
Sure, life might have taken each of them down different roads but their paths will always cross at some point.
In a couple years' time, Maki would be a doctor and Eli, a lawyer. Nico's idol career will boom and Hanayo will be popular voice actress, Rin's sure of it. She knows deep down that Kotori's fashion line is going to take off and Nozomi will be busy holding photoshoots then. Umi will write a great many books, and Honoka (and Yukiho) will establish Homura's place in the culinary world. And if everything goes well, Rin might be representing Japan at the Summer Olympics a couple of years down the line.
A lot of things might change, and a lot of things will change, but Rin won't be afraid of the future anymore.
Because friendships? No, they don't change.
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