"Sumire Yoshizawa to the floor, Sumire Yoshizawa to the floor please." The announcer's voice sounded across the gymnasium.
"Oh geez, oh god." The 19 year old looked around anxiously, scanning the crowd for one person in particular.
"Sumi, you've gotta get out there." Coach Hiraguchi told the girl, a stern look in her eyes.
'But-"
"I'm sure he's somewhere in the crowd," She assured the redhead. "But it won't matter if you get disqualified!"
"Y-You're right!" Sumire nodded. "I'll do my best Coach!" She gave a slight bow before heading to the floor to begin her routine...Before immediately turning back around. "Maybe if I just check my phone one more time-"
"Sumire!"
"Sorry!" She said, turning back to the floor.
This was her specialty, she had this. Everyone on the team was counting on her, her dad was in the crowd and Senpai was...somewhere. His last text said he was on his way, but that was 15 minutes ago! She took a deep breath, regaining her composure. This was fine. She was fine. Everything was...fine.
Sumire confidently strutted out onto the floor. "I've got this."
...
"Hmm," The on-site doctor applied a slight amount of pressure to Sumire's wrist.
"Ouch!"
"Yeah, definitely a sprain." He stated, getting up from his chair. "Thankfully it doesn't seem too bad. It'll probably only need about two weeks to heal."
"Two weeks!?" Sumire's eyes widened in shock. "B-But I have another competition next week!" She explained as the doctor wrapped her hand.
"Sorry kid, but I've done all I can. Now it's up to your body to take care of the rest." He explained. "If you want to heal up fast, just try to take it easy for a while, alright? That means no competitions or training for two weeks. Got it?"
Sumire sighed as she got up to leave. "Yes sir."
She arrived in the locker room to collect her things shortly after. Checking her phone, Sumire saw that it was filled with texts, most of them from her concerned teammates asking about her wrist. The rest of the team wasn't mad at her for blowing her routine, not that she'd blame them if they did. A good number of them were from her dad, asking if she was sure she didn't want a ride home from him. The last was from Coach, telling her to chin up and that next time she would nail it for sure.
And that was it.
By now the gym was void of anyone save for her. The lights had been shut off a while ago, the only source of light remaining was the soft glow of the moon shining in from the windows. Sumire took her time to walk across the gym floor, replaying her mistake over again in her mind. She had practiced that routine dozens of times, what had been different this time? Could it really have been because-
"Sumire!" A voice called from the opposite end of the gym.
The girl turned to the source of the voice, her eyes widening. "R-Ren!?" For a brief moment, she wondered if she imagined him there, but ran toward his figure regardless.
The two met in the center of the gym, the younger redhead embracing her closest friend with a bone crushing hug. They stayed like that for what could've been minutes or hours, but Sumire didn't care. She hadn't seen her best friend in almost a year, she needed this.
"S-Sumi…" Ren managed to breath out. "M-My lungs!"
"Sorry!" She released him before apologizing profusely. "I don't know what came over me! I-"
"No Sumi," He stopped her. "I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. My phone died at 15 percent and I had my ticket on there so they wouldn't let me in, I only managed to sneak in because there was a crowd of people leaving." As he finished his apology, Ren turned to Sumire, only to find her giggling to herself. "Uhh, did I miss something?"
"N-No." She managed to get out between laughs. "I-It's just," She smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Of all the reasons I could think of, I never imagined it would be something so...mundane." She took a seat on a nearby pile of mats.
"I'm sorry?" Ren raised an eyebrow, confused as he took a seat next to her.
"Well, how do I explain this?" Sumire pondered for a moment. "Knowing you is like being friends with James Bond. It feels like you're always off saving the world from some unknown shadowy threat or attending some high class event with a beautiful woman at your side." She explained, trying not to make her jealousy apparent.
"What? That is not-" Ren thought about it for a moment. He had been spending an awful lot of time with the women of the Shadow Ops lately. "I resent that statement."
"See!?" She stood up, pointing at him accusingly. "You don't even deny it!"
"Sumire." Ren suddenly took on a serious tone, surprising the girl as he softly took her hand into his own. The redhead blushed as her ruby eyes met his stormy grey ones. "I'm still the same me that I've always been. And I want you to know that I will never be too busy for you. You know that, don't you?"
"..." The girl stared back with wide eyes, unresponsive. Her face still bright red.
"Sumire?"
As Ren tried to get the girl's attention, Sumire's mind was off somewhere else. Specifically, in a small cafe in Yongen Jaya four years ago. It was mid-January and a light dusting of snow covered the ground, giving off a soft crunch beneath two pairs of footsteps as a teenage Ren Amamiya and Sumire Yoshizawa entered Leblanc from the cold outside.
"Brrr!" The 15 year old Sumire shivered as the door shut behind her. "I can't believe how cold it's getting out there."
"Tell me about it." Ren nodded as he shook off his heavy coat. Setting his bag down, Morgana hopped out before immediately scampering upstairs to lie next to the space heater. "Feel free to get comfortable, I'll make us some coffee." The raven-haired boy said as he grabbed his apron off its hook.
"Thank you." Sumire replied as she took a seat at the counter, removing her glasses to wipe the fog from them.
"So," Ren began as he selected a bag of coffee beans. "You said you wanted to talk about something?"
"Huh?" Sumire looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected him to bring that up so soon. In truth, she had been dreading this moment from the second she had texted Ren to meet. It had taken all of her courage to send that text, but she wasn't sure she had any left to actually tell him how she felt toward him. "I um…"
Over the course of their time together, Sumire had fallen hard for the older boy in front of her. After everything they'd been through together, how could she not have? What started as a simple deal to help her improve her confidence quickly blossomed into a close friendship. Ren was Sumire's rock in an uncertain world, someone she could always rely on for comfort and advice.
Which made this all the more terrifying.
'What if I ruin this? What if he's already seeing someone else?' Sumire thought to herself panickedly. Was telling him how she felt really worth the risk of losing everything they'd built together?
"Sumire?" Ren's voice called out to her. "Sumire?"
"Huh?" Back in the present, Sumire snapped back to her senses. Seeing Ren staring at her with a concerned look in his eyes.
"What happened to your hand?" He asked, holding her wrapped up wrist.
"Oh, that." The redhead gave a sheepish look. "I...took a bit of a tumble during the meet earlier. Messed things up for my team big time."
"Sumi, I'm sorry." The older boy gently ran his thumb over the back of her wrist. "I know you practiced that routine so much. Does it hurt at all?"
"N-No! I'm fine really." She assured him, averting her face to hide her blush.
The soft touch of his hands, calloused from years of fighting, sent sparks throughout Sumire's skin. Four years since that day in the cafe and the butterflies she got around Ren hadn't lessened in the slightest.
"If you say so." He released her wrist. "Hey, do you feel like grabbing some dessert? My treat."
Sumire considered it for a moment. "Actually um...do you think we could stay here a bit longer?"
"Hmm? What for?"
"Well..." The redhead flopped her back onto the stack of mats, her long hair splayed out around her head. She turned to look at Ren before immediately averting her eyes. "I-I'd really just like to lie here a bit longer...with you." She softly whispered the last two words.
"Okay weirdo." Ren smiled at her before lying down with her. If he'd heard her, he showed no signs of it.
As the two of them laid still, staring up at the ceiling, Sumire could smell the faint scent of coffee from Ren. Despite the fact that he'd moved out of the cafe attic years ago, he still carried that pleasing aroma with him everywhere he went. It was that smell that carried her mind back to Leblanc again, where a younger Sumire sat shivering on a barstool.
"You said you wanted to talk to me about something." The 16 year old Ren reminded her, handing her a steaming cup of coffee. The heat radiating from it alone was enough to warm her up from the cold outside. "What was it?" He raised a curious eyebrow.
"O-Oh right. Um," She twiddled her thumbs aimlessly. "I...I wanted to ask you…" She took a deep breath, her cheeks flushing red. "Are you busy this weekend?"
"Hmm? No, I shouldn't be." He replied casually as he poured himself a cup. "Just doing the usual Palace prep."
"O-Okay, then um…" She paused for a moment, the voice in her head yelling at her. 'Ask him out! Ask him out! Ask him out!' She could feel her heart pounding against her ribs.
"Sumi-"
"Could you come with me to my next practice?" She finally blurted out. "I-I want to show Coach my new routine and I could use some...moral support." As soon as she got those words out, Sumire kicked herself mentally. 'Why is it so hard to just tell him how I feel!?'
"...Is that all?" Ren seemed surprised, and possibly...disappointed? "Of course I'll come. I want to see you perform too."
"G-Good! I'm so glad." She forced a smile, pretending as though she'd accomplished what she came here to do. Meanwhile her heart rate was through the roof, if it had gotten any faster she might've had a coronary. "I'll um...I'll see you then, bye!" She stood up abruptly before grabbing her things and leaving.
"Wait! What about your coff-" Ren was cut off as the door shut behind her.
'Dammit! Why am I such a coward!?' She thought to herself as she ran to the train station. 'I couldn't tell him this time either! N-Next time! I'll definitely tell him next time!' And that's what Sumire had told herself, each and every time she met up with Ren over the next four years, but each and every time she tried, she couldn't seem to get the words out.
Back in the present, Sumire opened her eyes to find herself still lying on the gym mat, a slight trail of drool escaping from her mouth.
"Oh, I must've dozed off." She said to herself before turning to face Ren. "Sorry about-" She paused as she saw the raven haired man next to her fast asleep.
Taking a closer look at him, she noticed the purple bags beneath his eyes. How long had it been since he'd last slept? Sumire wondered. And even in his sleep deprived state, he used what free time he had to come see her. Ren Amamiya was certainly something else.
Smiling to herself, she took the opportunity to move in closer to him, feeling the warmth of his skin against her's. She could stay like this forever, this closeness to Ren that she longed for, Sumire wanted to go to sleep like this every night. As she closed her eyes again, her mind echoed one question before sleep took her.
'If I finally told you...What would you say?'
Unbeknownst to the sleeping pair, the night cleaning crew entered the room several minutes later, finding the two young adults in a comfortable embrace.
"Goddammit." One of the custodians muttered before turning to his coworkers. "Somebody break out the purple stuff, we gotta disinfect the mats again!"
[Shadow Operative File: 032]
Sumire Yoshizawa
Codename: Violet
Status: Standby
Species: Human
Age: 19
Sex: F
Persona: Ella, formerly Vanadis, formerly Cendrillon
Description: Gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful, Sumire Yoshizawa was offered a position in the Shadow Ops immediately upon high school graduation but declined. Currently, Sumire is attending Tokyo University as a freshman and participating in the school's gymnastics team. While she has undergone the Shadow Operative basic training and agreed to operate on standby, she has expressed no intent to join the team in the future.
Notes: During her short stay at the Shadow Ops compound, Sumire consumed roughly 4 times the amount of calories as her fellow operatives. Her metabolic rate continues to baffle the onsite medical team and they have, to date, performed four cholesterol tests on her and each time they have come back remarkably low.