There was a first time for everything.
On a Saturday evening, the Koito household was oddly quiet. There was nothing to be seen or heard. Gone were the taps and steps among the walls of the living space, and gone was the talking and bickering that naturally came with such a family. There was none of that tonight.
The dark living room and kitchen said a lot about the emptiness of the house. You could stand there, and think to yourself that nothing was going on among these walls. Nothing but silence in its purest form.
But approaching Yuu's room, that would instantly become nothing more than a lie. The purity of silence didn't hold true, but that didn't mean that it didn't happen somewhere else.
Music played quietly. It was loud enough to where you can hear it slightly through the walls of Yuu's room with the door completely closed. The song that was currently playing was one that Yuu had picked out to start with, and it was comforting and calming. It filled a subtle warmth inside Touko as she listened to it while sitting on top of Yuu's bed. Her eyes were on the light of the black speaker now on Yuu's shelf.
"You have good taste in music," Touko says, her voice soft and quiet, "It's nice."
"Thank you."
The song ends, and another begins playing. Touko's ears perk up.
"Oh, this is another one that Sayaka added, right?"
"Sounds like it," Yuu agrees while looking at the playlist on her phone, "Yeah it is, even if I didn't see who added it to the playlist, I can still tell that it's her."
Touko breathes in, taking in the new sound of a woman singing along with a gentle piano playing in the background serving as the instrumental. She shifts a bit, and the bed creaks a little.
In her mind, Touko attempts to try and not take in the lyrics. She had heard this song before from Sayaka herself, once when they went out downtown and sat on a bench outside of a coffee shop. This was months prior when Touko could barely keep herself together, like trying to keep ripped and crumpled pieces of paper together with two-year-old tape. It reminded her of her loneliness, and just how much she refused to listen to anything that encouraged her to be herself.
Despite being mostly out of that state, her body still refuses to listen to something that she didn't choose to listen to and take in herself. She wonders if she has opened herself up to the level that she wants to believe.
She's still her worst enemy.
"Hey, Touko."
Yuu breaks the silence.
"Yeah?"
"None of the songs you chose have played yet, have they?"
A direct answer is not given, and Touko stays silent. Without even having to think about it, Yuu hands Touko her phone.
"Here," She says, looking at Touko with soft eyes, "Play one of your songs."
Touko looks down at the phone and takes it. There is a second of hesitation, but that is quickly ignored.
"I will."
At a moment's notice, Touko does just that. She apologizes to Sayaka quietly in her head as she changes the song.
A trumpet is heard.
Two trumpets.
A voice.
While all of this is happening, Touko subconsciously starts to sway back and forth to the song. This was a song that she cherished and listened to a lot, and it excited her a little that Yuu was listening to it. Childlike, yes, but that still didn't change anything.
"Hey, Touko," Yuu says again. Touko looks back at her, paying attention.
"Do you—" She pauses, her hands spread out together as the tips of her fingers touch each other.
"—want to dance with me?"
Touko's eyes dilate slightly. She looks down at Yuu and turns her body to face her properly.
"Of course."
Touko did not know just how much something like this can change the entire perception of a song.
In silence, not speaking a word, Yuu takes a hold of both Touko's hands, looking down at them and feeling their odd but usual coldness.
"Your hands."
Touko laughs, "They're cold aren't they?"
Yuu nods, her head swaying very gently back and forth, "Yeah, sometimes I'm concerned about the circulation in your hands."
Touko looks at Yuu, who is still looking down at their hands until she looks up at her and they make eye contact. Suddenly, Touko's words get caught in her throat and no sounds come out.
Yuu begins to move, and Touko follows along.
Their steps and slides along the floor begin being as messy as one would expect it to be. The combination of two people not exactly knowing how to dance is bound to be one that creates even a little bit of chaos. At one point Touko almost trips on her own feet, her heart racing in anxiety trying to figure out how to dance correctly. Yuu was executing more graceful movements, and Touko was trying to keep up.
Touko takes a moment to listen to the music. She didn't realize that a beat had started in the song. The singer's voice was soothing; she listened to his words about lying in bed alone, and the lyrics stopped for a moment.
There is a moment of reflection, to a past that Touko had completely forgotten existed. The period that seemed as if it had no end, where no matter how many days passed, it seemed like at any moment she would break. It was back when she questioned how things like glass and wood can live and stay strong for so long if they're just as fragile as her.
She was aware that things have changed, and dancing proved a point; she was no longer fragile.
The singing starts again, and there is a period of silence where nothing but the music was all to be heard. Touko/s mind had become quiet. The singing stopped again, and her mind was no longer empty.
"Can I kiss you?"
Her words almost got lost in the upcoming chorus, but Touko had a small drop of lingering hope. She looks straight into Yuu's eyes.
Her eyes were calm, and there were sparks in them.
"Yes."
Yuu's feet slow down and come to a stop, and Touko also stops. As soon as the chorus hits, there is a moment that reminded Touko of just how glass and wood have stayed alive for so long. It also reminded her as to why she was still alive even after dropping her sister's act of perfection.
She immediately forgot why that was, as Yuu's lips touched hers.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Touko would never get tired of kissing. Actually, Scratch that, to be more specific, she would never get tired of kissing Yuu. There were no other possibilities out there.
She could feel Yuu pull her in closer by tugging on her sweatshirt sleeve, and Touko reciprocated shortly after by wrapping her arm lightly around her waist, pulling her in closer. Her heart began to race much, much faster when Touko could feel Yuu's other free hand caress her left cheek, putting her into a weird state of relaxation and restlessness.
If Touko could see herself right now she would call all of this cliche as all hell, but that didn't matter. That was not a thought that crossed her mind at all.
They parted, and Yuu started to laugh.
"What?" Touko asks teasingly.
"Nothing," Yuu stops laughing, but a smile remained on her face clear as can be, "I'm just happy, can I not be happy?"
Touko hums, receiving a curious hum back from Yuu.
"Why ask? You already know the answer."
The song stops, and the room goes silent for a brief period before Yuu said anything.
A new meaning has been gained.
"You dork."
A/N: The song that Touko plays is entirely up to interpretation, but if you're curious, the song that I used as reference is Cosmic Hero by Car Seat Headrest.