The bottle of water hits the ground with a heavy thump, but Tsumugi barely registers it. Besides, she dropped it after she screwed the cap back on, so nothing spilled.
"This is really something, alright," Kaede says, almost softly. Tsumugi turns her head to look at her, notes her widened eyes and one corner of her chapped lips quirking up, then goes back to staring in awe at what she just discovered.
In this harsh world which surrounds them, finding a closet full of soup cans and bottled drinks has the same weight as a miracle. After all, all Kaede and Tsumugi had eaten before going out scavenging was a bag of dried-up apple slices and a pack of stale potato chips each. And now… Now they're going to live like queens!
Grinning, Tsumugi looks at Kaede - and feels her smile slip when she sees the distant, sorrowful expression now marking Kaede's face. But, before she has to chance to ask what's wrong, she speaks up without any prompting, her voice as pensive as the look in her sunrise-pink eyes.
"If I had found this place only a few months ago, then maybe Shuichi-kun wouldn't have had to…" she trails off, her fists tightening by her sides. Hesitantly, Tsumugi reaches out to clasp her hand over Kaede's, to which she is gifted with a tight-lipped smile.
All that she knows about the time before Kaede and her found each other, less than a year into the Tragedy, barely amounts to anything. It's all flashes, a skeleton of a story with small memories dangling from its bones. Kaede has stayed talkative despite all the horror etched into the new world order, yet she hardly ever mentions Saihara-kun. With him she escaped from the slaughter of Hope's Peak's students, and with him she spent months trying to survive. And then he died. That's the end of the story.
Tsumugi blinks off the contemplation and follows Kaede's line of sight. She thought she was gazing at the full cans, but she was incorrect. Kaede is staring at the small gun, tucked between boxes of cereals.
Her palm grows hot and sweaty in Tsumugi's grip.
"He was killed by the despair," she says without any preamble, her voice colder and harder than steel. She still won't look at Tsumugi. "By one of its men. He was shot in the back as we were running away to our hideout. I had to carry him there. It took him almost an hour to die." All short, concise sentences. She sounds a bit like that soldier from the year above, the one who was overprotective towards their sister. "I buried him and went on my way."
"I'm so sorry," Tsumugi says when she can find her words. "I- I imagine it must've been hard for you."
Kaede looks away, dips her head so her hastily cut hair covers her face. "It was." And this sentence isn't like a bullet. It's soft and sad, and Tsumugi moves her hand from Kaede's to her back, gently rubbing her shoulders. "It really was." And her voice cracks on the 'really', and Tsumugi grits her teeth.
"You were close, after all," she offers, unsure of what she is supposed to do. Kaede laughs; it's a short and bitter sound.
"He was my best friend, Tsumugi." She leans into her. "He was like a brother to me. And now he's gone, because I couldn't protect him." She gestures at the pistol.
"At least you have me," Tsumugi says after a beat. That seems to be a good response, because Kaede meets her eyes and holds them, as a tired smile curves her mouth.
"I have you," she repeats, then moves just a few centimetres closer to slot their mouths together, giving the familiar warmth of it to Tsumugi. Without breaking the rhythm of the slow, stolen kiss, she says, "And I'll protect you."
"And so will I," Tsumugi hums back. They pull away, and she slips her backpack off her shoulder as Kaede starts rummaging through the cans. She hands a few to Tsumugi, then sets one aside.
"We'll eat it now," she explains. "Pineapple slices, I know you like them."
"I do." Tsumugi glances up from the tins she was loading. "Thank you."
Kaede gives her another heap of containers. "You're welcome." She smiles, then shoves the gun behind her belt. "We'll have a party! Although… I guess carrying all of this to our place will do a number on our backs."
Tsumugi laughs. "I think we can deal with that."