The heat from the August day gone was still remembered by the concrete beneath Haruka and Minako's feet as they wandered down the street to the pizza parlor. Haruka could almost feel the sun's lost rays radiating from the sidewalk, and regretted putting her jacket back on at Mina's. It didn't help that she had been drinking, a small flush settling on her cheeks.
And yet, despite the heat, she felt wonderful. Mina had turned out to be great company, even if it wasn't the kind she had planned. Honestly, Haruka felt nice just having a woman's company in such a friendly manner. Most of Haruka's female high school friends had felt distanced from her after she came out, and when her grandma passed away, she had excluded herself from all of their get togethers, feeling too emotionally vulnerable, though she would never admit it. She hadn't kept in touch with any of them after she moved to LA, and she had lived in her dorm alone at school. She made a few friends on her softball team, but when the season was over she found herself uninterested in their keggers and ecstasy laced nights at raves. It bored her. Mina was interesting to Haruka. She felt like a constant challenge.
So here she was, strolling down this familiar street of her hometown's, the streetlights and warm vanilla glows from the shops reflected in the fine sheen on her forehead, listening to a beautiful, tanned blonde ramble about her bowl movements of the previous week.
"I don't know, I don't know how it happened, you know? Like I have an AMAZING colon, you don't even know," she practically shouted, waving her arms about in front of her in time with their drunken stumbling. "But last week I seriously only pooped, like, TWO times. Like that can't be healthy, you know? Especially for the amount of Taco Bell I consume."
Haruka let out a genuine laugh, bent over to slap her knee and missed, making her look like she was doing a weird robot-like gesture, and she laughed more. She finally got her hand on her knee and used the other to rub over her eyes and through her bangs. She was practically crying laughing. "Oh my god dude, that's fucking disgusting," she sputtered out through gasps.
"I know. I need to just start doing anal, I've heard it helps," she said casually. "Oh FUCK yes, they have stuffed crust tonight!" she screeched, pointing to the chalkboard sign on the sidewalk outside the pizza parlor, which was a few stores down. Mina ran ahead of Haruka to inspect the sign more closely.
"Oh my god, Mina, that's revolt-" she stopped when she noticed someone through the window of the coffee shop next door to the pizza parlor. She halted in her tracks.
Haruka had never understood why people said their jaws dropped when things happened. Jaw dropping seemed like some weird unnatural expression that only actors did in cheesy movies.
When she saw the girl sitting in the coffee shop, she could have sworn her chin felt the floor.
Suddenly, the flush from the heat and the alcohol spread from her cheeks to her chest, the tips of her ears, her forearms, her core. She felt on fire. The world around the girl blurred, the lights behind her blending together into flared reds and golds and blues. Blue. Her hair was blue. A teal, a cyan, an aquamarine seafoam green blue. It was so weird. It was like, it didn't look dyed, it just cascaded from her roots like a natural waterfall. It held impossibly loose curls, ocean's waves tied up into a sloppy ponytail. Her pale shoulders bloomed beneath like flowers around the pool of the waterfall.
She held one of her incredibly dainty palms against her cheek, her elbow leaning on the wood table in front of her. The other held a dark piece of charcoal, poised against a sketchbook in front of her. If Haruka looked closely, she could see a faint smudge of charcoal beneath the girl's right eye. She shifted a little, a lock of hair falling in front of the smudge, and when her chest heaved, Haruka could have sworn she heard her sigh through the windowpane."-ing," Haruka finished, completely unaware of how long she had been standing there. She knew it must have only been a moment, because the girl had only slightly moved, but it seemed an eternity.
Mina saw the blank look fall across Haruka's face, the taller blonde's eyes widening. "What? Do you want coffee?" she asked, scrunching up her eyebrows in confusion. Haruka didn't answer but continued to stare through the coffee shop window. Mina giggled. "Oh my god, how drunk are you?" she asked, mocking Haruka's dumb gaze until she was at her side, and she saw what Haruka was gawking at.
"Who is that?" Haruka asked, her words an unintentional whisper. She cleared her throat, briefly breaking her gaze to glance at Mina.
Mina let out something between a cackle and a sound of surprise. "No, Haruka," she grabbed Haruka's wrist and attempted to pull her towards the pizza parlor, but Haruka barely flinched.
"Wait, no, who is that?" she asked, turning her head to look at Mina, but keeping her feet planted to the spot in front of the window. She would die there if she had to, if it meant finding out the girl with the waterfall hair's name. "Why 'No, Haruka'?"
Mina let out a long exasperated sigh. "Oh my god," she groaned loudly. "Well fucking FIRST off, you're TECHNICALLY on a date with ME right now, so that's, like, really fucking rude," she said, her voice's pitch changing as rapidly as Haruka's heart was beating.
"We both know this isn't a date anymore," Haruka slurred. "I bought you a beer, remember?"
Mina sighed again. "Point."
"Do you know her?" Haruka asked, her eyes once again latched to the girl, who had finally noticed the insane looking six foot lesbian staring at her through the window. The girl glanced over at Mina awkwardly and gave her a small wave.
"Yeah, kinda," Mina said, waving back at the girl. "She's like… a friend of a friend I guess."
"Oh," Haruka said. "Oh god she's coming over here, what do I do? I'm way too drunk for this," Haruka spilled, turning to Mina with panic in her eyes.
Mina sighed a third sigh, this one short and almost a yell. "Oh my god, just shut up, okay? I know her, I'll talk to her, I'll introduce you, she'll smile politely and do her snooty nose thing, and then we'll get pizza. Please? Can we do that? Get pizza?"
"Yeah, yes, okay, okay, be cool," Haruka squinted, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers.
Mina scoffed. "Are you saying that to me or yourself?" she asked. She smacked Haruka's hand from her face. "Dude open your eyes and pretend like you're not on the worst date ever right now, stand up straight and stop swaying back and forth like a gay weeble wobble- heeeyyyyyY! Michiru! Oh my god how are you!" Mina stretched her arms out for a visibly awkward hug when the girl with the waterfall hair emerged from the coffee shop, the wooden door creaking to a shut behind her.
Michiru. Michiru.
"Interesting hour for you to be getting coffee, Mina," Michiru commented, flashing a smile that was far bigger in her eyes than was reflected with her mouth. She accepted the hug from a distance, patting Mina on the shoulder. "I thought you only drank hard liquor and women's tears after 6pm."
"Ha, yep, that's me," Mina's laugh sounded forced and sarcastic. She punched Haruka in the arm. "Gonna make this one cry tonight."
Haruka saw an amused look dawn on Michiru's face when she realized they were on a date. "Oh, no, it's not, I, uh, we're getting pizza," she stammered, repeatedly switching the weight on her feet and smoothing her bangs across her face.
"Lovely," Michiru said, not breaking eye contact even as her blue bangs fell into her eyes when she looked up at Haruka. She stood with her hands in the back pocket of her dark jeans. The boatneck collar of her shirt revealed smooth collarbones and the hint of a lavender bra strap on one side.
Haruka cleared her throat when she realized she had been staring for a moment too long. "Yeah, uh, I'm Haruka," she said, and almost stuck her hand out for a handshake but felt Mina swat her hand away and shoot her a glare that said 'what the fuck is wrong with you, don't fucking shake her hand'. She used it instead to smooth her bangs again and tried to still her drunken swaying.
Michiru flashed a smile, one that was different than the one she had been showing Mina. It was luminous, the shine of her teeth reflecting the sparkling cosmos in her eyes. "Lovely," she said again, blinking slowly and raising her eyebrows as if she'd just been told something she already knew. She took a step towards Haruka, shaking her blue hair from her face as she raised her chin up to Haruka's height. "You're quite tall," she said softly. She still had her hands in her back pockets, her shoulders protruding forward ever so. Haruka wanted to sink her teeth into the spot on her shoulder where escaped locks from her ponytail brushed softly. Even the thought had her stomach fluttering. Haruka smiled with a blush, rubbed the back of her neck and shied away from the girl just a little. This made Michiru giggle. "I should probably get back to my sketching."
Mina gagged. "Ooookay, um, nice to see you Michiru," she murmured through the side of her mouth. "But we have an important meeting to attend to," she grabbed the collar of Haruka's flannel and dragged her away towards the pizza parlor.
—
Haruka contemplated what her life had come to when circumstance landed her on Mina's kitchen floor, leaning her back against the cabinet and her head on the smaller blonde's next to her. They sat in silence, mouths full of cold pizza. Haruka's head spun along with the swirling pattern on the tile floor. Or wait, was it swirling? Haruka giggled a little, seemingly waking Mina from a sleep even though she had just been chewing pizza a second ago.
"Oh my god," Mina said, breathing in as if she had just regained consciousness. She chewed a few more times, then looked at the slice of pizza in her hand. "Hawaiian pizza is disGUSTing," she shouted, throwing the slice across the tiled floor before dramatically throwing herself across Haruka's outstretched legs.
"Did you mean what you said before?" Haruka asked, her eyes closed, resting her spinning head against the cabinet.
"Hmm?" Mina grunted against her knee.
Haruka struggled to keep her eyes open. "That we were on the worst date ever," she laughed a little when she felt Mina start to laugh against her leg.
"No dude," the smaller girl lifted herself up with an exaggerated grunt and rubbed her eyes. She breathed a deep breath and sighed. "I think this might have been the best date I've ever been on." She grimaced at Haruka, making her laugh and smooth her hands across her bangs again.
"Me too," Haruka chuckled.
They were silent for a few moments, and Haruka thought Mina might have started falling asleep leaning against the cabinet.
Suddenly, Mina sighed the same heavy sigh again. "Her name is Michiru Kaioh. You can take her number out of my phone if you want," she said. She pushed herself from the kitchen floor to stand, pulled up her jeans as if they were renewing her life, then pointed a finger in Haruka's face. "But on three conditions."
Haruka grinned. "I knew you'd crack eventually."
"Shut the fuck up. You didn't even do anything except eat all my pizza," Mina sneered, her less accusatory hand resting on her hip.
Haruka snorted. "I paid for the-"
"One," Mina interrupted, pointing her first finger up. "You will understand now that she is out of your league, and everyone's league, and her life is fucked up, and I don't advise you to date her."
Haruka scrunched up her eyebrows and laughed a little. "I don't understand, her life is fucked up? How? How is she out of my leag-"
"If you want her number just say you understand," Mina sighed and placed a hand over her eyes as if the conversation was exhausting her. "I don't want you thinking I caused your heartbreak when I have to clean it up three months from now."
Haruka swallowed. She couldn't fathom what could be so wrong with the perfect creature she had encountered earlier. It was obvious Mina wasn't going to tell her without a little prying, but Haruka feared if she pried too much Mina wouldn't give her Michiru's number at all. She had only met these people tonight. If she left Mina's apartment without the number, she might not ever see Michiru again. She didn't think she wouldn't see Mina again, but who knew? "Okay, fine, I understand," she gave in.
"Two, you have breakfast with me and my roommate in the morning and not slip out at sunrise. I hate when boys do that to me," she rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, using an exaggerated valley girl accent, eliciting a snicker from Haruka.
"Yeah, okay, fine," Haruka grinned. It was so confusing how quickly Mina switched back and forth between being completely rude and lovingly needy.
"Three, you never, ever, tell anybody in this mother fucking town that we were on a date," Mina said, waving her arms about. "And if you do that for me, I will make it clear to Michiru that we weren't."
Haruka breathed a drunken giggle through her nose. "Okay, Mina," she said sleepily.
"Goodnight, you fool," Mina said, and she was gone.
Haruka had a fleeting thought as she stumbled to the couch about how small and silly our lives must be if they can change this much in one evening. She closed her eyes and fell asleep to the smell of peaches and the sound of waterfalls.