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An’s eyes are positively sparkling.
“Wow, Kohane, you look so cute!” she says, clasping her hands together.
“Thank you, An-chan!” Kohane does a little twirl so her dress flares out. “You do, too.”
“Aww…” An rubs her neck, her face going hot. She was proud of her outfit today — and even fantasized about Kohane complimenting it —, but having Kohane look at her with that level of affection is thrilling. She takes a deep breath once she feels her heart racing. “I love you, Kohane!” She walks forward and hugs the girl.
Kohane giggles. They hug An back, squeezing her harder than she was even squeezing them. “You say that a lot, An-chan.”
“Do I?” An asks, briefly mortified.
“It’s not a bad thing!” Kohane says quickly. “I just noticed, you tell me you love me a lot. It’s… nice, actually.” Kohane’s blush is completely precious.
An sighs in relief. “That’s good. I’ll keep saying it a lot, then!” She kisses Kohane’s cheek and takes her hand. “I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you I love you I love you—”
“A-ahh, maybe not that much!” Kohane cries, but after a few seconds they start laughing.
“Man.” An pouts in faux disappointment. “Well, we’ve got a lot to do today!”
Kohane nods seriously. “Buying things for Count Pearl, buying photography supplies… Th-these are all for me, though.”
“Well, those are important! I was thinking we could get your stuff, eat lunch, and then I could walk around and find something I want.”
“Sounds good!”
As they find the pet store, An stares at the fish tank and thinks. Contemplates, even. Her family has always been very liberal with their “I love you”s, so much so that a lot of people called her weird when she said it to literally all of her friends. She tried to tone it down, but with Kohane, it all comes spilling out. She just loves her so much!
Yes, but… She’s also in love with her.
She wants to spend the rest of her life with her and adopt a bunch of whatever animals Kohane wants and continue to sing together until their vocal cords can’t take it anymore and— well. She knows in practice that’s unrealistic, but whenever she pictures her and Kohane as adults together, she’s just so… happy. It might not happen, but she’s gonna fight tooth and nail to try.
The first step?
Um. Getting the courage to tell Kohane about these feelings.
She can tell them she loves them every day of the week, but saying she’s in love with them is intimidating. It feels so much more serious! She knows Kohane won’t reject these feelings, but how will she react?
“Ah, that fish looks like you, An-chan!”
An shrieks, scaring the black and blue fish away. “O-oh, ahaha, Kohane!”
“You were really lost in thought there,” Kohane says, giggling.
“Y-yep! Just thinking about—” She opens her mouth to say it, but an unreasonable anxiety seizes her heart and she backs out. “Thinking about that fish, mhm. Where did it go, anyway?”
“Oh, it went to hang out with that other fish.” Kohane points to where the blue fish is swimming circles around a slightly more purple fish. She drops a package of something that An doesn’t want to know what’s in it, but An picks it up anyway like the good girlfriend she is. “Thank you.” They smile, and An’s heart skips a beat.
“You’re welcome,” she says.
They buy everything for Kohane’s snake, and continue walking around the mall.
In front of an indoor fountain, An makes a decision.
She’ll tell Kohane just how deeply she loves her soon.
And so begins the saga of An trying to say a few simple words to Kohane.
Unfortunately, An seems to have developed something of a cowardly streak. Every time she tries, her chest implodes with nervousness, and she chickens out.
After practice:
“An-chan, good work today!” Kohane tosses her a water bottle. Delicious condensation hits An’s hands when she catches it.
“Thanks, Kohane.” She sighs deeply after chugging almost half the bottle. “Damn, that’s good.” Kohane giggles.
The gay boys have already left, so they’re left alone in the park. Kohane is mumbling about things they want to do better next time; An is watching how their eyes sparkle in the sunlight.
She gets hit with a scene of making breakfast with Kohane in the early morning, sunshine streaming through the windows of a small yet well-loved apartment, the sound of eggs sizzling in the pan. Kohane grins at An and leans in to kiss her tenderly.
She blinks, and she’s back in the park. Late afternoon, sunset framing Kohane’s pigtails, her fingers flying over her phone’s keyboard.
“An-chan?” Kohane looks up to make eye contact with An.
“Yeah?”
“You’ve been staring at me for a while,” they say, smiling.
An swallows. She has.
“That’s because…” She searches their face, gearing herself up to say it. But there’s a crumb from the snacks they had earlier on the corner of Kohane’s mouth, and An can’t do it. “I’m sorry, but you have some chocolate here!” She wipes it off and grins. “There, all better!”
“Oh.” Kohane turns off her phone and nods. “Thanks, An-chan.”
“No problem.”
An hangs her head in disappointment when Kohane looks away. Pull yourself together, Shiraishi!
At Kohane’s house:
“Aww, Count Pearl likes you, An-chan!” Kohane clasps her hands together, grinning.
“Uh huh.” An is freaking out just a little bit. But only a little bit! If Kohane can trust this weird, wiggly creature, then she can, too! “Oh, its face is kinda cute.”
“I know, right?” Kohane scratches the snake’s head with their finger.
“It looks like it’s doing the cat emoticon!”
Kohane gasps. “You’re right!”
An laughs at the look on Kohane’s face, as if she’s just had a great realization. “You’re so cute, Kohane.”
“A-An-chan,” Kohane says, almost a whine. Their face is red.
“You’re not disproving my point,” An teases, booping Kohane’s nose. Count Pearl does the same thing to her, almost as if it's scorning her for teasing its owner. “Oh, you really are cute, little guy.”
“I’m glad you two are getting along.” Kohane detangles the snake from An and puts it back in its enclosure. “Maybe now I can have you over more often.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah! I didn’t want you to be scared of Count Pearl, o-or vice versa…” They play with their fingers.
“Aww…!” An melts. She stands up and pulls Kohane into a hug. “You’re so sweet, Kohane! I—” She cuts herself off. This isn’t the right time.
But she knows that’s just an excuse.
“I’m really thankful you thought about that,” An says instead, pecking Kohane’s cheek.
“Oh, it’s not a big deal.”
“Nope!” An boops her again. “You’re a great partner, Kohane!”
Kohane nods, sighing as she nuzzles into An’s neck.
At the cafe:
“Eh? What are you doing here, Kohane?” An asks. “We don't have practice with the guys anytime soon. Ah, unless you just wanted to practice with me?!”
“No, no.” Kohane waves their hands in front of their face. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Aww.” An pouts. “If I had known you were gonna show up today, I would’ve changed my shift time.”
“It’s okay!”
An is still frowning as she takes Kohane’s order and makes her a warm hot cocoa for the warm weather. Not that she minds the surprise visit, but she doesn’t want to have to work while Kohane’s right there! Ah, maybe she can make it up to her by—!
She comes back with a mug and a plate of a couple cookies; Kohane’s favorites, naturally.
“Ah, An-chan, you didn’t have to do this,” Kohane says, taking the plate.
An tuts before Kohane can speak again. “Nope, these cookies are on me!”
“Are you sure Ken-san will be okay with that?”
“Yep! He used to give my mom free stuff all the time after he started the cafe.”
“Oh, r-really?” Kohane takes a sip of their drink. “Like father, like daughter, I guess.”
“Ahaha…” An laughs sheepishly.
After biting into the vanilla cookie, Kohane sighs with a smile. “Thank you, An-chan. I love you.”
An nearly falls over. It’s not like she’s never heard Kohane say she loves her before, but… but… they’ve almost never said it first!
“Kohane…!” she says, trying not to cry. To her credit, only a few tears slip out.
Say it, An. Tell her!
“Kohane, I—”
“Yes?” Kohane tilts her head, still smiling.
“I—”
Damn it, she can’t! She’s been put on the spot!
“It was nothing!” she says instead. “Don’t mention it.”
Kohane frowns but doesn’t comment any further.
An walks back to the counter with the distinct feeling that she disappointed them. She sighs, then leaps out of her skin when her dad puts his hand on her shoulder.
“D-dad!” she says, clearing her throat.
Ken laughs. “I see you’re still giving your girlfriend special treatment.”
“Oh, as if you don’t do the same thing.” She huffs and puts her hands on her hips.
He looks around the shop, then claps her shoulder again. “Hey, business is a little slow right now. I wanna talk to you about something. Come upstairs with me.”
Oh no! Is it about her grades again?! She’s been trying to keep them up, she really has…
But the look on his face says it’s not as serious as that, so she follows without much protest.
“You’ve been acting weird when it comes to her,” he says, sitting down at the table.
“Hm? Kohane?” Embarrassment hits her in the chest, and she looks away. “I-I don’t know what you mean, Dad! Everything’s been great between us.”
“And there’s the issue, isn’t it?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“You’re falling in love with her. I can tell.”
“You can?!” she demands.
He chuckles loudly. “I’m pretty sure everyone can. I mean this with all the love in my heart, you are not subtle.”
“Dad,” she whines, covering her face with her hands. “Just get to the point, please…”
“Oh, alright.” He leans forward and adopts a serious expression. “I know it’s hard to express feelings that strong, honey. But don’t let it keep you from saying what you truly want to.”
An looks up at him.
“You’ll thank yourself for telling her sooner rather than later,” he says. “Trust me on this one.”
“O-ohh…” She frowns. “But— but we’re still only in high school! If I tell them I’m in love with them, what if they get intimidated o-or think I’m moving too fast—?!”
“Have a little more faith in her, yeah? She loves you, too. I see the way she looks at you when you’re not paying attention.”
“And how is that…?”
“Like you hung the stars in the sky, An.” He looks out the window with a smile. “Tell her. I think you’ll make her the happiest girl in the world when you do.”
An’s heart leaps in hope. “You really think so?”
He nods.
“Thank you, Dad!” She sniffles and tackles him in a hug. “I-I’ll do it!”
“You’d better. You dancing around it is driving me nuts.”
She blows him a raspberry. “Boo. You’re supposed to be supportive of my teenage woes!” The door at the front of the cafe rings, and both of them leap up at the same time. “A-ahh! We have to go!”
When they rush downstairs, Kohane is gone.
An frowns. Oh, she hopes she didn’t hurt them too badly.
At least the plate of cookies is empty.
The next day, An calls Kohane and tells them to meet her in the alleyway by the park. She hangs up before Kohane can say anything more, and takes a deep breath.
She can do this. She can do this! Her dad told her she can do this, and even fucking Akito told her she can do this, so she can do this.
“A-An-chan?”
She jumps up and grins. “Hi, Kohane—! Ah! Why are you crying?!”
Kohane sniffles, wiping her eyes furiously. “I’m sorry…!”
“Don’t be sorry!” An runs forward and puts her hands on their shoulders. “Are you okay?”
Kohane looks up at An with the saddest, wettest eyes she’s ever seen. “Are you going to break up with me, An-chan?” she asks, voice shaking.
“What?!” Dread fills An’s entire body. “No, no, why would you think that?!”
“I-it’s just—” They sniffle again. “You stopped telling me you loved me, and you were avoiding me for a little bit, a-and you called me today and didn’t even let me respond, I thought—” They start heaving sobs out again.
“Oh, no, Kohane…” An pulls her into a hug. “I’m so sorry! This is all just a big misunderstanding…”
“Really?” Kohane asks, fisting her hands in the back of An’s shirt. “I’m so glad!”
Poor Kohane. God, An should’ve gotten her head out of her ass before she allowed this to come between their relationship.
Once Kohane cries everything out, the two of them sit on the ground.
“So, what happened, An-chan?”
“Ah, that’s…” An’s face starts to heat up, and she puts her hands on her cheeks. “Well, I realized something a little while ago. I tell you I love you all the time, but… Um, Kohane, I… I’m in love with you. And I truly mean that.” She steels herself and looks into Kohane’s eyes. “I want to live with you and grow old with you and I want us to be in love forever! I know that sounds naive, but—”
She’s cut off by Kohane pulling her head down and kissing her forehead.
“An-chan,” they say, quietly. “I’m in love with you, too. I want us to be together as long as we can.”
“Really?” An’s voice cracks. “Do you mean it?”
“Of course I do.”
An kisses her on the lips, this time, and Kohane smiles into it.
“I’m in love with you,” she repeats, crying tears of joy herself.
“A-An-chan.” Kohane wipes her tears with a sheepish smile. They press their forehead to hers and sigh. “Can we stay here just like this for a while?”
“Uh-huh.” An nods.
(Later, she realizes that this means Akito was right. She groans into her pillow and decides to wait to text him until the morning.
She wants to be happy for just a little while longer.)