a/n: natsuki and reina might not "ever canonically interact" but that will not stop me
Kumiko texts Reina that Natsuki will be in town for the day, and Reina is seeking a bit of a break anyway, and that is how she finds herself in a mid-sized restaurant in the middle of the day in New York with Natsuki Nakagawa facing her at the other end of a tiny two-person table likely built with romance in mind.
"Kousaka and Nakagawa take the Big Apple!" Natsuki crows, looking more at ease than Reina has ever seen her. "Y'know, it's weird that we've never really hung out."
"Is it?"
"Well, I thought so. I'm Kumiko's best friend, and you're her…" Natsuki trails off. Reina wants to know what she was planning to say, but doesn't ask, because there is too much risk in that, and it's already much too weird, sitting here with this girl who is draped across the chair like someone will steal it out from under her if she doesn't take up as much space as possible.
Or maybe, Reina muses, she is doing this because she hadn't been able to take up so much space before, as a second-fiddle - literally, if you substituted the fiddle for the euphonium - high school student in a small town, because while Uji is hardly backwards their particular neighborhood definitely wouldn't be ready for her.
"My studies are good," Reina says. This isn't a lie, even if it's the least she can possibly say.
"Glad to hear it." Natsuki slurps her lemonade from the straw.
"And how are yours?"
"They're fine, mom." There's no malice behind her words. There never is. "It's not that hard of a place, academically. Well, it is for Yuuko - guess it's one of those you-get-out-what-you-put-in environments. Anyway, I'm more focused on the band."
"Ah." This is her language, even if Natsuki's music is more or less the polar opposite of all of Reina's interests.
"I'm gonna meet with a talent agent later, actually. Doubt anything'll come of it but if it does, you knew us before we made it big. Wouldn't that be something?"
"It would," Reina says, because Natsuki is grinning, straw pinched between her fingers, joy on her face. "You look…better."
"Backhanded compliment, eh?" Natsuki ruffles her own hair. It's a reflexive enough gesture that Reina wonders if she even knows she's doing it. "Yeah. I get that a lot. It's not like I was…unhappy, at home. I wasn't."
"But you weren't happy, either."
"You're always making these assumptions about people, Kousaka." Natsuki glances out the window, at the crowds and crowds of passerby, none of them noticing these two college girls just having lunch. "Sometimes you're right about 'em. Sometimes you're not."
"I suppose." Reina looks at the napkin in her lap. It's reusable. They're big on things being reusable here.
"Must be nice, living here."
"It is." The conversation has reached an impasse, anyone with ears would know that. Anyone with eyes, too; Natsuki is looking out the window, not at her. "I miss home, sometimes, though."
"Doesn't everyone?"
"You're wiser than people give you credit for, Nakagawa-senpai." If Reina strains her ears just enough, she can hear the footsteps of the people outside. New York, like any city, like any place really, has its own rhythm if you listen hard enough.
"Oh, please. Natsuki. It's not like I'm your senpai here, am I?"
"I suppose not."
"It's weird, seeing ya here." Natsuki stops people-watching, drops her gaze to the table. She isn't a fidgety person, not like Kumiko, nor is she still in a practiced way like Reina herself. Natsuki conducts herself like a ragdoll, moving when she wants to, always with a relaxation in her movements that would put anyone at ease.
It doesn't set off Reina's warning signs like Asuka did. Whatever signals Natsuki puts out, they're genuine.
"Why is that?" Reina asks, curiosity getting the best of her.
"Eh. I guess you just kinda…decide, even before ya leave high school, who you're gonna stay in contact with and who'll fall off of your radar, a little. We weren't friends."
"We were acquaintances."
"Didn't make us friends."
"I suppose not."
"You love that word, huh? Suppose."
"I…yes." Reina turns red, in spite of herself. "I do."
"So it's weird," Natsuki continues, picking the conversation thread back where she left it, "that we're here now. Chatting like a pair of old pals."
"That's the nature of life." The food is taking a while to get here. Reina has trouble remembering if she's ordered. Natsuki snorts. "What?"
"Nothing. I just think I might've hated you if we'd really spent much time together in high school. You're kinda pretentious."
"What does that make you?"
"Wise. Funny. Ravishingly good-looking."
"Now you sound like Asuka-senpai."
"Duly noted. I'll never say that again, then." Natsuki makes a motion of crossing her heart. Reina laughs a little. "Really, though, it's nice to see ya here, Kousaka. I'm glad you're doing well."
"You too…Natsuki."
The food is cold by the time it reaches them. Reina has difficulty caring one way or another. The city continues on, chatter and taxicabs creating their own symphony, and two sort-of friends talk about everything and nothing at all and Reina feels peaceful.
a/n: i think about natsuki and yuuko canonically being in a band together a lot