"Mahiru! Mahiru!" Hiyoko's shrill, excited voice echoed across the beach. The redheaded girl standing along the shoreline lowered her camera and turned away from the shining, silver waves.
"Oh, hello, Hiyoko," Mahiru smiled at the approaching student, who was quick to pick up her pace once she saw Mahiru's smile. Then, she broke into a run. The gentle smile on Mahiru's face quickly changed into horror.
"Oh, no… No, no, nonono-!"
It was a good thing Hiyoko was so tiny! Even though she'd launched herself at Mahiru at top speed, the redhaired student was easily able to catch the other girl and prevent them both from tumbling backwards into the sea. Hiyoko giggled and wrapped her arms tightly around Mahiru, kissing her cheek over and over again.
"Gosh, you are so clingy!" Mahiru complained, but even though she looked irritated, Hiyoko knew she wasn't actually mad.
"Awww, I just love my big sis, Mahiru!" Hiyoko was half teasing and half sincere as she nuzzled Mahiru and kissed her cheek again.
"Geez!" Some of the red from Mahiru's hair was starting to reflect on her face, but Hiyoko only giggled again and hugged her even tighter.
At long last, though, Mahiru managed to extricate herself from the smaller girl's death-grip. She may have been delicate and dainty, but she could still pack quite a punch, and sometimes without even realizing it, which was why Mahiru was always so quick to forgive her.
"It's so nice being on the beach with you!" the tiny dancer beamed up at her taller companion, who gave a soft, knowing chuckle.
"I missed you too, Hiyoko," she said, playfully ruffling Hiyoko's hair. Hiyoko laughed right along with Mahiru, but only a few seconds later, her smile faded just slightly. She sighed to herself and tilted her head as she looked up at Mahiru's. She wanted to ruffle Mahiru's hair too, but…
But Mahiru was quick to pick up on Hiyoko's sudden change in expression, subtle though it was, and she gave the dancer a mischievous smile before quickly scooping her up in her arms.
"Hey!" Hiyoko squealed, both in surprise and excitement, as she suddenly shot upward.
Mahiru laughed, lifting Hiyoko high above her head, then she began to spin round and round and round.
"Oh, wheee!" Hiyoko shrilled and raised her arms, pleasantly surprised but more than happy to enjoy her little "flight".
Mahiru continued to smile and spin for several more seconds before finally slowing down, and once she'd stopped, she lowered Hiyoko so that they were both eye to eye. That mischievous sparkle was still in hers, and just like she'd done for Hiyoko before, Hiyoko was able to understand what that look meant immediately. Her grin spread from ear to ear as she eagerly buried a hand in Mahiru's hair.
"Yay!" she sounded very proud as she patted Mahiru's head.
Mahiru chuckled softly, closing her eyes and smiling as she felt little fingers explore their way across her scalp, it tickled a little!
"See, Mahiru? Now I get to be your big sis!" Hiyoko grinned.
"Ha! Maybe in another couple of years," Mahiru laughed and then made a big deal out of setting Hiyoko back down on the ground.
"Wha-? Hey! No fair!" Hiyoko crossed her arms and pouted.
"If you're trying to convince me that you're big sis material, you aren't doing a very good job," Mahiru continued to tease.
Hiyoko's pout deepened and she made a small whining noise.
"Ok, ok, I'll stop, I promise!" Mahiru managed to hold back her laughter. "I just like being the big sis too much to give it up, I guess!"
"Well, it's a good thing I like you as a big sis," Hiyoko grumbled, but even though she was pouting, that fact that she couldn't even think up a more biting insult, let alone bring herself to say it, betrayed her true feelings to the other girl. Mahiru ruffled her hair again, friendly and reassuring, and Hiyoko couldn't stop a smile from quickly spreading across her face.
"So, what were you taking pictures of, anyway?" she asked, lightly clearing her throat and trying not to look like too much of an idiot.
"Oh, just the waves and the water," Mahiru turned her gaze back to the ocean. It was so beautiful and calm. Her hand slipped from Hiyoko's hair.
"Ohh, but that's kinda boring, isn't it?" Hiyoko asked, and a frown flashed across her face as Mahiru returned her hand to her camera.
"Boring?" Mahiru raised her eyebrows.
"I mean, it's just the water, there's not even anything out there," Hiyoko cast a bored, almost disdainful look at the waves. "No people, no sea life."
"Well, there doesn't have to be "anything out there", Hiyoko," Mahiru tried to explain. "The water itself is pretty enough! Besides, I don't just take pictures because things are "pretty". And I know I don't normally take photos of nonhuman subjects, but I guess there was just something so beautiful about the serenity and uniformity of the sea and I just… couldn't help myself, I guess," Mahiru paused to laugh at herself, then she said no more as she raised her camera and pointed it back towards the water, panning it along the shoreline once again.
Hiyoko only rolled her eyes. She liked Mahiru because Mahiru was the least weird one in her class, but even she had her moments and tangents. But to her credit, Hiyoko did genuinely try to see what Mahiru was talking about, it just didn't click, unfortunately. She was patient enough to let the Ultimate Photographer snap a few more shots before she finally let out a small huff.
"Something the matter, Hiyoko?" Mahiru asked, camera still practically glued to her face.
"Mahiru!" Hiyoko whined.
"What!?" Mahiru sounded both annoyed and confused as she whipped around on Hiyoko.
"C'mon! I want someone to play with me!" Hiyoko reached out to grab Mahiru's hand.
"But I was still-" Mahiru pointed back to the water.
"You've already taken like a hundred photos!" Hiyoko interrupted.
"Actually, I've only taken four," Mahiru corrected her, smirking slightly.
"You spent that long on four pictures?!" Hiyoko looked horrified. Why would sensible Mahiru ever do something as ridiculous as that?!
"I am the Ultimate Photographer, after all," Mahiru reminded the dancer.
"Well, I know that, but shouldn't that mean you're faster at taking pictures?" Hiyoko continued to complain.
"Well, I guess…" Mahiru sounded genuinely thoughtful as she took Hiyoko's question into serious consideration.
Technically it was true, Mahiru could take a better picture in less time than anyone else, but having a Talent wasn't a passive thing. It wasn't as simple as having a superpower. Part of having a Talent meant having a passion for what that Talent was about. It meant loving that topic so much that one would devote their entire life to the craft. They would become masters, and feel genuinely invested in every step of the journey.
In other words, Mahiru wasn't the Ultimate Photographer because she could take better pictures faster than anyone else. She was the Ultimate Photographer because she loved photography enough to learn how to take better pictures faster than anyone else. She got out what she put in. She loved photography enough to master it and make it a core part of her identity, and that was where her Ultimate title had truly come from. The ability to take such amazing photographs was just the result of all her dedication and devotion.
"Ugh, how did we even get on this dumb, boring topic anyway?" Hiyoko sighed, interrupting Mahiru halfway through her very long, boring explanation. "Or are you trying to distract me again?! I just wanna spend time with my big sis! Is that really too much to ask for?" Hiyoko began to pout again, but this time, she tried making it as adorable as possible.
"Oh, you're evil…" Mahiru narrowed her eyes and raised an accusatory finger, but Hiyoko only held the adorable pout.
"Hiyoko…"
Still pouting.
"I mean, I was going to hang out with you anyway! Just, after a few more-"
Still pouting.
"Ok, fine! Geez!"
"Yayyyy!" Hiyoko jumped up and down excitedly. Mahiru huffed, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. Hiyoko only laughed before grabbing her arm and dragging her back along the shoreline. "Don't worry, big sis, I'll find you lots of pretty seashells! You can take pictures of them instead!"
"Huh," Mahiru paused, taken aback by what Hiyoko had just said.
"Yeah! I'm really good at finding shiny things, y'know? So I-" Hiyoko nodded enthusiastically.
"No, not that, I mean… Was this really what you wanted to do with me from the start? Find seashells for me to photograph?"
"Wellllll, no, I didn't really have anything in mind when I first came out here, except to see you, obviously, but… I know how much you like to take pictures, so I thought this was something fun for both of us!" Hiyoko was proud of herself for being so creative on what activity they could both do!
"Oh, Hiyoko…" Mahiru paused, a look of genuine surprise spreading across her face, then it quickly morphed into a deep gratitude. "Thank you, Hiyoko, that's really sweet of you to help me with my photography…"
"Well, you help me with my kimono all the time, so, I wanted to help you, too," Hiyoko replied, but because she'd seen the sudden change that overtook Mahiru, she was starting to feel a bit shy and embarrassed now too.
She couldn't even look at Mahiru, eyes glued to sand instead as she continued to ramble out the rationale behind the shell-searching session. Luckily, she didn't have to explain too much else. That was another reason Hiyoko liked Mahiru so much. She was smart. She was able to understand Hiyoko without forcing the girl to go through the mortifying ordeal of spelling everything out.
Even though Mahiru was the only one Hiyoko felt no shame in showing affection to (in fact, Hiyoko actively sought out reasons to shower the redhead in affection), she still wasn't always the best with putting that affection into words. But again, lucky for her, Mahiru didn't always need words to understand. But it made sense, of course the Ultimate Photographer would be excellent at reading meaning from faces and visuals rather than words or dialogue. So all that needed to be said was said, and not a single word more than necessary was used.
But that didn't mean Hiyoko was trying to shut the conversation down, she would never do that with Mahiru. Instead, there was still one more thing she wanted to ask the photographer.
"And then, uhhh, maybe you could take a few photos of me… with the shells?" she asked, touching her pointer fingers together shyly, eyes still glued to the ground. The tenderness in Mahiru's eyes only seemed to increase tenfold after that.
"Oh, of course I will, Hiyoko! I'll take as many pictures of you as you'd like!" she promised passionately.
"Oh, really?" Mahiru could hear the smile in the smaller girl's voice as she slowly began to lift her head.
"You betcha!" Mahiru gave Hiyoko a big thumbs up.
"Yay! Then come on, let's go!" Hiyoko cried, grabbing Mahiru's hand.
"Ah! Wait! There's actually one more thing I want to say before we begin," Mahiru said.
"Huh?" Hiyoko dropped Mahiru's hand again.
"It's just that, well…" Now it was Mahiru's turn to smile shyly, "I may be the big sis, but… you, Hiyoko, you're the best sis!" Then she reached out to ruffle Hiyoko's hair again.
"Awww, Mahiru!" Hiyoko's face was suddenly buried in Mahiru's shirt as threw her arms around the taller girl for yet another hug, which Mahiru was more than happy to return.
But once the hug came to its natural end, the touched expression slowly faded from Mahiru's face, replaced by a smile so bright and sunny that even the actual sun would've been jealous. Or at least, that's what Hiyoko thought. Then Mahiru happily intertwined her hand with Hiyoko's and let the smaller student lead her back along the shoreline.
AN: So I WAS already trying to write a Mahiru and Hiyoko-centric fic for today, but it wasn't supposed to be THIS one, but my brain just kinda took me down this road instead and I decided to go with it, LOL!
So hey, I guess that means I'm just writing an impromptu extra Mahiru and Hiyoko-centric fic today and we're gonna wind up with the other one I originally tried to write tomorrow! A double upload that was such a surprise even I didn't know I was doing it until now! LOL!