[A/N] [20th June 2021]: Happy Watanagashi everyone! - Xanquine

The Moment of Change

White balls of cotton peacefully drifted on the river's surface, each carrying the sins and pains of the villager that had sent them. Despite it being Keiichi's first time participating in the ritual, it already seemed familiar to him and he couldn't help but to feel more at home than he'd ever felt as he watched the little white dots float away.

His life had changed drastically ever since his family moved to Hinamizawa. He'd gone from being a moody loner who did his own thing, detached from the people around him, to someone who would wake up in the morning and genuinely be excited to face another day with his friends. The contrast between his bleak and stale life in Tokyo, to his colorful and lively days in Hinamizawa was one he could barely comprehend anymore. How could those two lifestyles be separated by nothing more than a few hours by train?

Of course, it wasn't only the place he called home that was different. He had changed, too. The friends that had immediately dragged him into their circle had inspired him, had given him a desire to become a better person. Being social and dealing with people had never been his strengths, but his friends looked past his awkwardness and allowed him to grow more confident with them. They had given him the chance he needed to break away from the jerk he used to be, wanting nothing other than his kindness in return. He was deeply grateful and could genuinely say without feeling embarrassed that he loved each and everyone of them — or at least, as long as none of them heard him, because they'd definitely harass him for getting corny.

Keiichi chuckled quietly to himself, watching his friends fondly. Mion stood with her hands on her hips, looking proud of her little band while everyone else still observed the cotton balls in silence. Shion stood next to her, smiling but seeming lost in thought. Rena and Hanyū were still crouched by the river's edge. Satoko and Rika were holding hands, Rika with tears down her cheeks even though she was glowing with joy.

A pang of sadness then stabbed him, and not for the first time tonight.

He could've lost them today. Several of them, had fate been crueler. Rika to a messed up conspiracy. Shion to the gunfight in the Sonozaki chambers. Mion or Hanyū at the hands of Takano. And so much else could've gone horribly wrong in between the whole thing. None of them had truly been safe.

"Right... Let's head back," Mion finally said, arms high above her head as she stretched.

They all gathered and began to walk back, Mion in the lead with her sister while Rena began fussing over Rika's tears.

But Keiichi only took a couple of steps with them.

"Actually," He spoke up as he stopped. "Mion, could you hang back a moment?"

The whole club halted and looked at him with puzzled eyes.

Tilting her head, Mion tried to judge whether he was serious or about to prank her somehow. "Hm? What's up, Kei-chan?"

Keiichi ignored the gazes from the others and maintained eye contact with Mion. "I just want to talk," he said earnestly.

Shion was the only one whose expression changed, her lips curving into a mischievous grin. Even so, she said nothing, amusing herself internally.

"Sure.." Mion, oblivious to her sister's wordless mocking, went back past the other club members to Keiichi. "You okay?" She asked as she reached him.

Keiichi shrugged lightly and turned around, the two of them separating from the club as he headed upriver. Mion followed him, the sounds of the festival fading behind them as they went in the direction of the pedestrian bridge.

Sighing, Keiichi struggled to untangle the mess of words that were wrapped up in his mind. "How… are you..?" He finally asked, not taking his eyes off the river bank ahead.

"Huh?" Mion turned her head to look at him, confused. "What do you mean? This ol' man's always fine, right? Bones just creaking and aching with my old age!" She laughed, trying to break the tense atmosphere.

Keiichi's lips set in a hard line and his forehead furrowed.

"Sorry," Mion muttered, dropping the light-hearted smile as she realized he wasn't in the mood for fooling around. "I'm good, Kei-chan. Why do you ask?"

"You almost got yourself shot today." Keiichi brought up carefully. They began to steer away from the riverbank, walking down a narrow trail into the woods.

Sheepishly, Mion made a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, guess I did, huh? Why, did it spook you?" Again she tried to lighten the mood, not comfortable with the heavy subject.

"Scared me shitless," Keiichi replied flatly, shutting her attempt at humor down.

Mion fell quiet, seeming stunned over the weight of his words. A pang of guilt flickered across her, but Keiichi continued before she could say anything.

"Until then, even with all the shooting, I felt like we were on top of it. That we would definitely win and we would all be okay. But then when you said I was next in line, it was like I was snapped awake from some surreal dream and I realized you might actually fucking die." The words stumbled clumsily out of his mouth. Silence followed, broken only by the crunching of their footsteps on the gravel and the rustling of trees in the wind.

Mion was looking pointedly away, like she wanted to be anywhere but there. "Well… I didn't count on actually getting hit too bad, you know. Shooting people isn't as easy as they make it in the movies. Takano-san isn't experienced with guns, she was holding it wrong and there was a fair distance between us. She could've gotten lucky, but still, she missed us all entirely." Mion tried to explain, acting confident.

"Still, you could've gotten hurt. We could've lost you." Keiichi murmured anxiously.

"Yeah. I know." Mion said, flatly but not dismissively. The woods were thinning out as they approached the bridge, weak lights on either end guiding them. "But I'm all good. So you don't have to worry. I don't plan on throwing myself in front of a gun again any time soon. But hey, it's nice to know someone cares about me," she laughed heartily, once again trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah. I care a great deal about you." Keiichi replied bluntly. He cast a sideways glance at her, not blind to see how his words immediately flushed Mion. She chose not to respond, looking away awkwardly.

He stopped on the middle of the bridge, leaning on the railing and staring at the dark river below them. Shion had said something like that in the tunnels, hadn't she? That vague hint that she didn't want Mion to lose him as she herself had lost someone just as important. Someone she'd loved. At first, Shion's words had concerned him on the matter of Shion's well-being, but when Takano had pointed a gun at Mion, his focus had shifted. The thought of losing her had shaken him, woken him up from whatever bubble he lived in that always let him pretend things never changed.

Because among his many flaws, there was one Keiichi couldn't easily work to improve. His fear of change. He'd come to be so fond of his life in Hinamizawa and his friends that he'd developed some sort of anxiety of losing it. Of fucking it up. He'd decided to be content with what he had, take one step at a time and never ask for anything more, and yet…

Keiichi looked at Mion out of the corner of his eye. She had still not spoken a word, having joined him on the railing and watched the river in silence.

Once Spring came around, she would graduate from the Hinamizawa branch school. She wouldn't be waiting for him at the mill every morning, wouldn't make lame jokes with him, leave obscene drawings in his notebook or put him in stupid costumes by the end of the day. Though he felt certain he would still see her after her graduation, his everyday life would change. He wouldn't see her nearly as often. A selfish part of him wanted to guarantee she couldn't pass her exams so she'd repeat the year, but he knew that wouldn't be fair or appreciated.

He sighed, feeling pathetic about himself. Whether he wanted it or not, change happened. The real question was whether he would take a chance to make those changes himself, or remain passive as they went by him.

"Hey… Mion?"

Keiichi turned his head to look at her, and he felt his heartbeat increase when his eyes met hers, adrenaline responding in a mix of fear and affection.

For the longest time, he had dismissed the feelings that had wormed their way into his heart. He'd rejected how she messed with his head, denied himself the right to think he could try to pursue them. After all, he was content as things were. Happy, even. He had a strong circle of friends that meant the world to him. So even if there were vague hints backing up the wishful thinking in his head that Mion might return any of those feelings.. he'd always pushed them far, far away, swept them under the rug and stayed quiet.

"What's up, Kei-chan?" Mion prompted when he didn't continue, withdrawing herself from the railing.

Keiichi swallowed, hesitating. What if he'd gotten it all wrong? He was bad at reading people, after all. Maybe he had understood Shion's words all wrong. Maybe all those 'little hints' he thought he saw and heard were just misconceptions.

The risk of losing his best friend simply wasn't worth it.

He opened his mouth to say never mind, but then felt a grip of resolution catching the words before he spoke them.

Come on, Maebara Keiichi. You face a dozen armed spec-ops guys in the mountains without backing down, but can't even spit out a bit of truth to one of your best friends? Trust her, damn it. Even if you mess up now, even if you make everything awkward for a bit, trust her, trust that your friendship will get past it and thrive! Even if you're wrong, it's gonna be okay!

Keiichi trembled. Hesitated. Waited for that split second where his resolve felt stronger than the fear of regret, then gave up, turned off his train of thought and spoke with his voice unintentionally quivering.

"...Do you want to go out with me?"

Time stood still. Mion didn't move for a few long seconds, standing there with heat rising to her face. Then as if in slow motion, she opened her mouth, gaping at him.

"K.. Kei...-chan..?"

Keiichi's lips curved into half a nervous smile, frustrated that he had no idea whether her reaction was a good or bad one.

"Are you… serious?" Mion breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Keiichi nodded slowly, far too anxious to speak.

Mion put her hand to her mouth, still staring at him in complete disbelief, eyes wide and glistening. Feeling a staggering sense of unease, Keiichi wanted to turn tail and run; the damage was done, and the sooner he could sweep it under the rug, the better. He opened his mouth to apologize – but then a wide smile spread across Mion's whole face, her cheeks pushing her eyes half closed. She started laughing sheepishly.

"Yeah," she said in between her laughs, a couple of tears running down her cheeks. "Yeah, I do, Kei-chan. I'd… I'd be happy to go out with you."

"..You… mean that..?" Keiichi still felt like he couldn't breathe.

Mion nodded, radiating with joy.

"Holy shit, you gave me a heart attack," Keiichi exclaimed involuntarily as the tension loosened in his whole body, relief washing over him as he watched the girl have a small breakdown.

"I'm sorry, Kei-chan, I just... It's just... I'm..." Mion then shook her head and gave up trying to talk, overwhelmed with emotion.

Keiichi chuckled, feeling warmth in his cheeks as everything sank in. He reached his hand out to pet her head and she took a step closer to him as he did, leaning herself against him as she wrapped her arms around his back. He returned her embrace, closing his eyes as he laid his chin over her shoulder. The two held each other for an amount of time neither could define, taking in what had just happened and the change in their lives his words had just caused.

Finally they pulled back a little, faces dimly lit by the weak lights on the bridge. Both beaming, but both at a complete loss for words in their bliss.

Mion's mouth twitched, as if she wanted to talk or couldn't settle on how much she should smile. Then she once again gave up on words and instead grinned shyly, carefully leaning closer. Keiichi's heart missed a beat when he realized what she wanted, but the second he felt her lips on his, he returned her affection every bit as fondly. His hands on her cheeks, they kissed – probably badly and awkwardly, Keiichi reckoned – lost in their happy little world. When they stopped, Mion immediately went in for another hug, heads over the others' shoulders.

"We should probably get back before the others send a search party…" Keiichi then said.

Mion squeezed him, as if reluctant to let go. "Fuck… They can't know, Kei-chan."

"I highly doubt Rena won't find out the second she sees either of us." Keiichi pointed out, amusing himself with the thought of Rena squealing obnoxiously over them.

"Okay, fair, but not one fucking word to Shion."

Keiichi chuckled and let go of her. "Alright." He knew it was futile to keep a secret like this from the club for long, but he let her have it. He looked at her fondly, and she lowered her head a little as she blushed. But her rosy cheeks were only accompanied by a genuinely happy smile rather than any embarrassment.

"Come on, then." Keiichi said as he began to walk, taking her hand in his, and she gleefully joined him by his side. The warmth of her presence sent a wave of emotions through him, and he couldn't keep a grin from spreading across his face.

But they only managed to take a few steps before they stopped dead in their tracks, Keiichi's grin fading as fast as it had come when something caught their attention.

By the end of the bridge, cheek resting in palm and elbow propped on the railing, Shion looked right back at them with a smirk.