The café near the gym was small and cramped; a place to pick up a cup of tea or coffee and a pastry or to sit down and have a quick bowl of soup or noodles. It was also, at the moment, very, very crowded. As Kagura slid into her seat across the tiny table from Sakaki and, as she pulled in the chair to accommodate the person sitting behind her, felt their knees bump, she wondered if perhaps this would be considered a bad idea.
She also wondered if her face was as red as it felt.
When she looked up, she saw that Sakaki's lips were moving but she couldn't hear a thing her friend was saying over the din of the crowd.
"What?" she asked, hunching over the table to put her head closer. Which turned out to definitely be a bad idea because Sakaki, clueless Sakaki, responded by leaning forward slightly as well and speaking directly into her ear. And the soft breath of her quiet voice whispering over the sensitive skin had fireworks going off in Kagura's stomach.
"The crowd usually dies down in a few minutes."
Struggling to keep from bolting upright and probably scaring the crap out of her friend, Kagura flashed an awkward smile and, for lack of a better idea, gave an over exuberant thumbs up. When Sakaki gave her a strange look, she wondered if the table was big enough to thunk her forehead onto.
But the waitress took that moment to squeeze in-between the tables. Kagura couldn't hear her either.
"Uh . . . juice?" she tried, as the waitress looked at her expectantly. The woman nodded and scribbled her answer down on a notepad before turning to Sakaki. Turning her head, Kagura strained to make out her friend's response.
" . . . tea."
The woman nodded and disappeared back into the fold of people that seemed to cut their table off from the rest of the café. Kagura scanned the bodies and faces, half looking for anyone she recognized and half-avoiding turning back where she knew Sakaki was just a few inches away. But after a few minutes her neck began to cramp and she thought it might seem a little weird to keep staring at the same faces. When she turned back, her friend was in classic Sakaki pose; chin settled in one hand, eyes searching the world outside the window. Kagura followed her line of sight and saw a trio of cute, fat little birds hopping around, pecking at the grass in search of their own meal. Inwardly she laughed and felt her nerves lessen; same ol' Sakaki.
"So, do you come here a lot then?" she asked, drumming her hands on the table.
Sakaki turned and it was her turn to lean forward, her lips simultaneously forming the word "what".
Grinning, Kagura all but launched herself onto the table. "I said," she began. As she put her face near Sakaki's ear she could smell the flowers that she had given her earlier, that were now tucked away somewhere by their feet, as well as faint wisp of vanilla that came from the young woman's long, dark hair. Some of her nerves blossomed again and she had trouble remembering the sentence she had been about to speak. "Uh . . . do you . . . do you come here a lot?"
Sakaki nodded and before Kagura could pull back, she said, "It's much quieter in the morning and later at night."
Before her brain could even consider telling her it was rude to ask, she blurted out, "Do you come here alone?"
Sakaki blinked and Kagura felt like kicking herself in the head. And then the dark haired girl leaned forward again. "What?"
To Kagura's immense relief their waitress reappeared and set their drinks down. She then took out her small writing pad again and turned to Sakaki, pencil poised. Sakaki's mouth moved briefly and this time Kagura couldn't make out anything that she said. The waitress smiled and nodded enthusiastically. She turned.
"And for you?"
Kagura stared back blankly. She hadn't even looked at the menu. Hell, she hadn't even seen a menu.
"Uh . . ." After a second of thought, she pointed at Sakaki and said, "I'll have what she's having."
The waitress beamed and nodding once more, disappeared again into the crowd. Bringing her eyes back to Sakaki, Kagura found her friend watching her with a curious expression on her face. Unconsciously, she turned around to glance behind her.
"What is it?" she asked, turning back around when she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Sakaki gave a small shrug of her shoulders and took a sip of her tea.
"I just didn't know that you liked snails."
Kagura couldn't stop herself from gagging. "Is that what you ordered?"
To her surprise, Sakaki's lips curved into a smile and she laughed, a surprising girlish sound coming from the quiet and reserved young woman. "No. I just couldn't resist."
Kagura gave her own laugh of relief and tried to ignore the way her heart bumped at being on the receiving end of one of her friend's shy smiles; Sakaki didn't smile very often. Well . . . that wasn't entirely true.
She just didn't smile very often at people.
"Wow, I can't believe you made a joke." Even as she was wincing, the noise level in the café dropped dramatically as several of the noisier groups left. Her words seemed to echo off the now nearly empty room. Certain she had offended her friend, Kagura held up her hands. "I mean, I've just never heard you be funny . . ." she trailed off and slapped herself on the forehead. Peeking out from under her hand, she looked directly into her friend's unreadable face. "Save me, please."
Responding to the distress in Kagura's voice—she hated making anyone feel uncomfortable—Sakaki reached out and patted the athlete's free hand. She had moment to feel how warm her skin was compared to her own before she pulled her fingers back across the table.
"It's fine. I'm not offended. I know I've never been the wildcat of our group."
At the word 'wildcat' both of their thoughts shifted in the same direction.
Kagura shook her head first. "I can't believe it. I know Tomo's got spunk, but jumping in front of a car? I didn't know the little twerp had that kind of guts."
Sakaki took another sip of her tea. "Tomo's cared about Yomi for a long time. Probably longer than she even admits to herself. I don't find it that surprising that she would risk her life for her." She paused, and then added so quietly that Kagura could barely hear her, "It must be nice to have someone . . . feel that way about you."
Sighing, Kagura took a long swallow of her own juice. "Nicer to know about it. At least . . . that's what I think."
Neither woman looked at the other.
"Do you think Tomo'll ever tell her?"
Lifting her shoulders, Sakaki brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen into her plate. "It's hard to say how Yomi would react to knowing."
Rolling her eyes, Kagura replied, "That's true. She nearly flipped a shit at the hospital."
The waitress returned to their table and set two bowls down in front of them, along with two sets of chopsticks. Once she left, Kagura looked down at the steaming noodles, her stomach rumbling noisily.
"So, what did we order?" she asked, picking up her chopsticks, ready to dive in.
"Soy noodles."
"Hey, my favorite!" And with that, she wasted no time all but shoveling the food into her mouth.
Unnoticed, Sakaki watched her for a few moments, a soft smile on her lips. I know.
It seemed to Kagura only a few minutes later when they stepped outside the café to a noticeably cooler evening but an idle glance at the watch she didn't remember putting on that morning showed that almost an hour and a half had passed. She blinked in surprise, and then brought it close to her face just to be sure. Yep, it definitely said five minutes to six. Her mouth fell open and she turned to Sakaki, feeling a strange disappoint rising inside of her.
"Kagura! Hey Kagura?"
Kagura's mouth snapped shut and her head whipped around. Jogging toward her was a tall, lithe girl that she recognized as one of her teammates from the swim team. Dressed in street clothes. Guess I'm not the only one who's late.
The girl slowed to a halt in front of them, giving Sakaki a curious glance before focusing on Kagura. "Hey, glad I caught you. Practice was canceled."
"Canceled?" Kagura expected to feel a rush of disappointment as was surprised when something closer to elation filled her. And confused. After all, she liked swimming practice. Sure, it wasn't as good as a match, but any chance to be in the pool . . . Unconsciously she found herself sneaking a sideways glance at Sakaki. Her friend's face was unreadable as usual. "How come?"
The girl laughed. "They say Coach got food poisoning but we figure he probably has a hang over." Her eyes flickered back over to Sakaki and gave her a longer appraisal. "Hey, you ever think of joining the swim team?"
Sakaki stared. "Um . . ."
It was Kagura's turn to laugh. "Believe me, I've already tried, Hitomi. Every year since high school. Sakaki's a lone wolf when it comes to athletics."
Hitomi shrugged and flashed a wry grin. "Two heads are better than one, right? Come on Sakaki, what do you say?"
Sakaki remained silent. Her lack of an answer did not seem to faze Hitomi. "Well, think about it. Anyway, see you tomorrow Kagura, if Coach manages to drag himself out of the toilet."
Kagura laughed again and waved. "Yeah, see you."
An awkward silence descended as they both watched the other girl jog away. Kagura knew she should probably use the time she would have been swimming studying-god knew her grades were all but begging her-but she really did not feel like going back to her cramped apartment, dragging out her books, and trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to be learning. She wondered if Sakaki had plans to study or if maybe she would feel like hanging out some more. The thought made Kagura's stomach bubble with a mixture of excitement and nausea. Maybe she shouldn't push it.
After a few more minutes of silence, she snuck another look at her friend and saw that the taller woman was still staring in the direction that Hitomi had gone. Well, they couldn't stand there all night. Well, they could but it would look a little stupid. Taking a deep breath, she said,
"So—"
"Miss Sakaki!"
The shout was deeper than the last and both Kagura and Sakaki turned to watch a lanky, brown haired young man wave in their direction. He headed towards them, his long legs eating up the distance quickly though every so often he paused to wave at someone who waved at him first. Kagura watched his approach closely, trying to coax her mind into telling her where she had seen his face before. It was an attractive face, sharply angled and smooth, the kind of face that a majority of girls probably sighed into their pillows over.
Kagura thought his eyes were spaced too far apart. And maybe they were a little crooked.
She glanced over at Sakaki and felt a small, short burst of something hot shoot across her brain when she noticed that Sakaki's cheeks were flushed slightly as she too watched the young man's progress.
Yeah, definitely crooked.
He flashed what some girls might consider a charming grin—Kagura thought it looked cocky—and bowed his head slightly to the two of them before turning his attention solely to Sakaki.
"I'm glad I found you, Miss Sakaki. Some of us from class are setting up a small review session for the exam tomorrow. We would be honored if you would join us."
Yeah I bet, Kagura thought sourly as she jammed her fists inside her jacket and tried to ignore the twinge that felt suspiciously like jealousy. After all, what was there to be jealous of? Nothing, that's what. It wasn't like she was desperate for Sakaki's attention or something. Hell, they just had dinner together. Which, by the way, was perfectly normal for friends to do. Unbidden, her eyes drifted down to the bouquet of flowers still clutched in Sakaki's hand.
Friends gave each other bouquets of flowers.
She barely resisted slapping herself in the forehead.
You're an idiot, her brain cheerfully told her.
I know, Kagura thought back.
And you're not fooling anyone, you know.
I know!
So caught up in the argument in her head, Kagura almost didn't catch Sakaki's quiet, formal response.
"Thank you for the kind offer, but I must graciously decline."
Disappointment flashed across the young man's face but he recovered quickly. His smile a bit tight, he bowed again. "Of course. Should you change your mind, we are meeting in the classroom. A pleasant evening to you."
As she watched him saunter off, Kagura's mind finally clicked into place. Eyes wide, she turned to Sakaki with something of a slack jaw. "That's Mitsuo Takahashi. He's the captain of the basketball team."
Sakaki nodded and began to walk. "Yes. He's in one of my biology classes."
Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, Kagura fell into step beside her. "You could have gone with him. I wouldn't have minded," she said, lying through her teeth.
The taller woman stopped underneath a street lamp just as it sputtered to life, not quite in time to catch the flash of hurt flicker across her face. "I'm not taking the exam tomorrow. It's only for those who feel they did not do well enough on the previous exams."
"Oh," Kagura offered, not able to think of anything else to say.
"Besides, I thought that . . ." Sakaki trailed off, looking away.
Kagura tilted her head. "What?"
After a moment, Sakaki shook her head. "Nothing."
The awkward silence returned. And then, as if in response to some unspoken agreement, they both began to walk at the same time.
At first Kagura assumed they were just wandering, moving through the sparsely populated quads and past the buildings where light could be seen shining through the windows of a few of the classrooms.
But as they kept walking, steadily in the same direction, she got the feeling the Sakaki had a destination in mind.
It wasn't until they were standing in front of a plain brown door and her friend was inserting a key into a lock that Kagura realized that it was home that Sakaki had been heading toward.
"Is this where you live?" she heard herself ask, even though the answer was obvious. Sakaki nodded and pushed open the door, leaving it ajar so Kagura could follow.
Kagura blinked as she realized that in the two years since they had started university, she hadn't once been to her friend's home. Was that weird? That was weird. Her forehead wrinkled. Now that she thought about it, she'd never been to Sakaki's house in high school either. That was definitely weird. Her mind, never quick to offer up math solutions or literary revelations, rapidly supplied several suggestions to on why she had never born witness to Sakaki's dwellings.
1) Neat as a pin Sakaki was actually a slob and didn't want anyone to see the state that she lived in.
2) She often had dead bodies that needed to be disposed of.
3) Sakaki was a secret agent.
It occurred to Kagura that the last two suggestions were probably simply a product of having spent far too much with Osaka. She quickly discarded them.
She discarded the first one as well as soon as she stepped through the doorway. Sakaki's apartment was . . . perfectly normal. Small but clean without any clutter. There were no dishes in the sink or on the low table. The bed was neatly made and surprisingly full of cute, stuffed animals. There was a desk as well, pushed up against a wall, and also clear, save for a stack of books and a jar of pens and pencils.
Kagura scratched at the back of her head and glanced over at Sakaki, who stood near the sink with something that almost resembled apprehension on her face.
"I feel messy just standing here," Kagura joked, grinning.
Sakaki gave one of her slow, shy smiles. "Would you like anything to drink?"
Shaking her head, Kagura bounced on the balls of her feet lightly. "Nah. I should probably head back to my place." She frowned. "Since practice is canceled I ought to study or something. They might kick me out if my grades get any lower."
As she turned toward the door she felt something sharp dig into the back of her neck and winced. Catching sight of the expression, Sakaki stepped forward.
"Are you alright?"
Hunching her shoulders and reaching back with her left arm, Kagura fished around for whatever it was that had caused the pain. Her fingers brushed over something jagged but couldn't seem to grab hold of it.
"Yeah, I think the tag on my jacket is twisted funny," she guessed.
"Here, let me help." Before Kagura could think of a protest, Sakaki closed the distance between them and, leaning down and over her shoulder, pulled back the collar of her coat.
Kagura felt her breath back up as she found herself staring at the long line of her friend's neck. Sakaki's fingers were soft as they accidentally brushed the back of her neck and Kagura found herself squeezing her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
After only a second or so, Sakaki pulled back slightly.
"Is that . . ." she trailed off, surprised at how close Kagura still was. Close enough to feel the heat radiating from her skin. Close enough to hear her quiet, unsteady breaths. Close enough to see that the little circles around her eyes were, in fact, green.
That was the last thought she had.
Kagura, on the other hand, did not have any thoughts. Not one. She stared into Sakaki solemn, striking eyes and, without even realizing she was doing it, pushed up onto her toes and tilted her head back.
Their lips met in a gentle press.
And then, a-not-so gentle press.
Sakaki's mind only barely registered that as Kagura's hand was snaking around her neck and drawing her closer her own were slipping around to press against the small of the athlete's back. She could practically feel through the jacket the tension vibrating in the muscles there but though she tried to rub her hands along them in a soothing motion she found her fingers curling into the material instead. Her head began to spin and she felt her face flush. She wondered if she was still breathing and every brush, glide, press, and tug of Kagura's lips against hers sent a cascade of shivers and tingles down along her skin.
The phone rang.
As if the loud ringing were a bucket of icy cold water hitting them, the two all but leapt apart. The normally well balanced Kagura stumbled backwards and Sakaki felt as if her own world were none to steady. They stared at each other, eyes mirror images of one another.
The phone rang again.
Shaking her head, Kagura mouth opened and closed. And opened and closed.
"I gotta go," she mumbled, bolting out the still open door.
The phone rang again.
Sakaki continued to stare at the empty space that, until seconds ago, Kagura had been occupying. It was as if her brain refused to acknowledge that her friend was no longer standing there.
The phone rang again.
Blinking slowly, Sakaki dropped her eyes to the blue phone that sat on the counter. She reached out pausing when she noticed her hand was trembling violently.
The phone rang again.
She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.
"Hello? . . . Hello, Chiyo . . . Yes . . .No, I'm fine. . . Yes. I . . . just got in. . . Actually, I'm not really feeling all that well. May I call you back? . . . Yes . . . no, nothing serious. . . I will . . . Goodnight, Chiyo."
Setting the receiver back down onto the rest, she placed her hands on either side of it on the counter and waited for the buzzing in her head to quiet down.
And when it did, she grabbed her coat from off the bed and ran out the door.