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Ayaka is hopelessly in love with Kokomi.
The first hint of the realisation comes to her not at a party, or an event, or even a moment of tenderness between her and Watatsumi’s mysterious general—it comes to her while the nation is still prying itself out of war.
Sitting around a table at a meeting that she’d been required to attend in Ayato’s place after her brother had fallen ill, Ayaka feels completely out of place. The air is so thick with tension that she feels as if she could whip out her sword and cut it. There’s a reason why her brother is the one who deals with government affairs, but she has to be strong for both her clan and Inazuma as a whole, so she tries her best.
To her right sits a representative of the Hiiragi clan, who she pays little attention to. To her left sits the fearsome general Kujou Sara, which would be absolutely terrifying if she wasn’t already… acquainted with her. To say that they are friends is a bit of a stretch, what with the internal conflicts of the Tri-commission and the recent war, but Ayaka knows that Sara only does what she does for the good of the nation. She can respect that.
And across the table from her sits Watatsumi’s mysterious leader, the one who managed to single-handedly outfox the Shogun’s forces and keep her tiny resistance from falling apart.
Sangonomiya Kokomi.
Ayaka watches in awe as she manipulates the negotiations with such skill, and yet—she does not bend them to her will like so many other politicians would. She writes the new law to be fair. She fights for a new version of eternity, not only for her people, but for the whole nation.
And in that bubble of time where Kokomi looks up at the tengu next to Ayaka with controlled but passionate fire in her eyes as she delivers legitimate reasons why they should allow Watatsumi Island to keep its colour scheme, Ayaka feels her heart skip a few beats.
The next time she sees Sangonomiya Kokomi is when she’s appointed to go on a week-long diplomatic trip to Watatsumi Island. Ayaka is nervous—rightfully so, she’s going to an island that her government was at war with like three months ago, alone— but the sight that greets her at the seashore where she steps off the boat knocks all of the nerves out of her.
It’s beautiful.
In a different way from the beauty of Narukami Island; while Narukami’s beauty lies in valleys, sakura blossoms, torii gates and maple leaves, Watatsumi looks like an ocean paradise. Tiny bubbles rise from the ground, and she arrives at just the right time to see the sunset glancing off the shells that make shelf-like platforms all around the divot in the middle of the island.
Narukami’s beauty blossoms from its serene silence. Watatsumi is always loud, water perpetually flowing through the veins of the island. Sparkling waterfalls flow, bubbling and frothing in a rush that’s somehow soothing, like the ocean swell. The whole place smells like the sea. A rainbow shines against the pinkish clouds, light refracting through the tinkling streams of water, while pearls glisten from within open shells lying in the shallow rivers all over the island. As she walks across the cliffs, guided by a shrine maiden, she is bedazzled by the palace nestled in the giant clam at the centre of the island. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s just beautiful.
And the villages she walks through—they look like typical Inazuman houses, but built on foundations of seashells instead of stone. There are so many bridges, needed to cross the waterfalls, she supposes. Of course, the people aren’t exactly warm to her, but they seem to know that the Yashiro commission and she in particular did help to dismantle the Vision Hunt Decree, so they’re much more welcoming to her than they would be to someone like Sara, for example. There’s a reason that Ayaka, the beloved Shirasagi Himegimi, was the one to go.
They get to the shrine in the middle of the island, like a pearl set deep into a clamshell, and Sangonomiya Kokomi is waiting at the entrance.
She’s beautiful.
Not that Ayaka didn’t know that already, but the final rays of the sunset sparkle off of her, bathe her in orange light, and she looks utterly divine. Briefly, she understands why Watatsumi Island thinks her to be a deity of some sort. She smiles, a smile that Ayaka knows is diplomatic but doesn’t seem strained at all—wow, Kokomi is really good at this, Ayaka doesn’t know if she’s scared or attracted to it—and she speaks. Archons above, her voice.
It’s smooth like water running gently through the rivers of the island, yet pleasant and ringing, like striking a clamshell. Her voice flows over Ayaka, enveloping her in waves, and she wonders if Kokomi can sing.
(She imagines what it would be like to dance along with that voice. She would like that very much, she thinks.)
“Welcome to Watatsumi Island.”
After she is given time to put her bags down, she has a wonderful meal with Kokomi and a few senior shine maidens, but in terms of conversation, there isn’t much to note, just formalities and the usual painful diplomatic discussions.
Like a good host, at the end of the dinner Kokomi says, “You must be tired from the long journey. Let me show you to your room.”
Once they’re out of earshot of the rest of the shrine maidens, Kokomi takes her by surprise, and whispers, “Thank you for your efforts to counter the Vision Hunt Decree.”
They reach Ayaka’s room, and as she makes sure all her bags are there already Kokomi somehow disappears.
She isn’t actually tired from the trip, though—she’d rather enjoyed the winds and the feeling of freedom when they whizzed across the ocean in that boat—so she decides to make good use of her time. But what to do? The clanging of her sword would disturb everyone else’s rest, and there’s nothing substantial enough yet to write a report on. She settles for pulling out one of the fans she’d brought and practicing her dance with it.
As quietly as possible, she leaves the shrine and walks down the shell steps to find a place large enough yet concealed enough to dance in. She finds a suitable spot, under a blue-leaved tree and away from the prying eyes of the Watatsumi guards, and begins to dance.
It’s really nothing special—one of her favourite dances, slow and steady, no elaborate dips or turns. In times like this, the world falls away, and she is just Ayaka. Not the daughter of the Kamisato clan, not the Shirasagi Himegimi, not the face of the Yashiro commission, just… Ayaka, who secretly eats chazuke in the kitchens at night, who uses her tea leaves to do silly romantic fortune-telling, who dances under the stars alone in Chinju Forest so that no one will see her.
Speaking of alone…
Just as she finishes the dance, harnessing her Vision to make pristine snowflakes flutter in the air, she hears a noise behind her and nearly stakes Sangonomiya Kokomi through the heart with an icicle.
“S-sangonomiya? What are you doing here?”
Kokomi emerges from behind the bushes gracefully, dipping her head once in acknowledgement. “Kamisato. You’re not the only one who sneaks out of the shrine at night.”
Ayaka blushes, caught in the act. “Apologies, was I not supposed to leave-”
Kokomi hurriedly corrects her. “Ah, don’t worry! You’ve done nothing wrong. You’re a visitor, after all, not a prisoner. Besides, between you and me,” she holds a hand up to the side of her face conspiratorially, “that place can get quite stifling. That’s why I leave every night to take a walk around the island.”
Ayaka internally gapes. Sangonomiya Kokomi, always so put-together, the perfect leader of Watatsumi Island, sneaks out at night? Then again…she supposes other people might be as shocked if they knew what she got up to after hours.
Kokomi walks over, sitting on the edge of the platform and letting her legs dangle over the side. She kicks them back and forth like a curious child, motioning to Ayaka to come join her. They sit like that for a while, staring over the beautiful scenery of Watatsumi Island.
“I saw you dancing earlier,” Kokomi mentions softly. Her eyes roam over the island that is her domain, and Ayaka detects…uncertainty, and another emotion that she can’t quite name, in the way her shoulders dip. That’s another new thing she’s learning about Kokomi. When you peel away all the layers of titles and bravado, what is left underneath? Ayaka wants to reach out and guide her to rest her head on her shoulder, because she can tell Kokomi has been shouldering the weight of the entire island for way too long. But she doesn’t overstep her boundaries.
Kokomi looks over to her, and Ayaka feels like she’s drowning in the gradient of her eyes, pinks and blues like pearls shimmering in the depths of an inky sea. “I never had time to learn any of the traditional dances, because most of my childhood was spent with either the army or my duties as the divine priestess. But…the way you do it, it’s beautiful. If it’s not too much to ask…”
She trails off, and Ayaka picks up the end of her sentence for her. “I’d be happy to teach you, but I’m not very good at explaining.” She runs a hand through her hair. “When I dance, I don’t think about my movements. It almost feels like…I’ve gone to a different world.” She looks up at the stars, thinking of how they shine through the thick leaves of Chinju Forest, and speaks without thinking. “A world where I’m not a Kamisato, just…Ayaka, a normal girl, dancing because I want to.”
She looks back down and realises that Kokomi’s gone silent. “I mean, it’s not that I dislike being a Kamisato! This position allows me to make changes and help the people, and I’m grateful that people look to me as the Shirasagi Himegimi, but…”
“Sometimes it just gets a bit stifling.” Kokomi finishes, standing up. Ayaka takes her offered hand, and when she stands Kokomi looks into her eyes. “I understand that feeling.”
“Then…” Ayaka takes Kokomi’s hand, and spins her around. Kokomi takes to the position like a fish in water, only stumbling slightly when Ayaka whisks her around in the starting moves of a partner dance. “Why don’t we go to a different world? Just for now.”
Kokomi giggles, like jingling bells. “Alright. You can be Ayaka instead of the Shirasagi Himegimi…” she quips.
“And you can be Kokomi instead of the Divine Priestess.” Ayaka responds.
With that, Ayaka starts leading her through a simple dance, never letting go of her hand.
(While they dance, they talk, about silly things and childish things and favourite foods and colours. The war never comes up, and it doesn’t have to be suppressed—being with Kokomi makes it easy to pretend.)
(No one questions how they call each other by their given names after that week-long trip.)
In an attempt to connect more with the populace and heal its tattered reputation of violence, the Tenryou commission is holding a day camp, of sorts, to teach basic self-defense to civilians. All who register are granted free access to the training grounds and instructors in the Tenryou commission dojos for a day, and getting in and out is easier—so of course Ayaka takes this as an opportunity to come and see her friend (she is friends with Kujou Sara now, who would have thought), as well as hoping to sharpen her sword skills and maybe even spar with the legendary Inazuman general.
As she walks through the throngs of people, she sees a few familiar faces; Itto is shirtless, bashing away at a dummy while onlookers gasp, Yoimiya is teaching a child to shoot, and she thinks she sees a mop of white hair somewhere in the crowd.
She finds Sara in a quieter section of the compound, away from all the bows twanging and dropped swords, firing arrows at a target with deadly accuracy. Sara just grunts a greeting, and the two train in silence for a while before something curious happens.
Sara misses a shot.
When Ayaka sees the arrow shoot off into a tree behind the target, she stands shocked for a second before quickly looking over, wondering if the end of the world was coming.
Instead, she sees Kujou Sara, the steadfast and stoic war hero, looking as though someone’s slapped her with a raw fish. She’s facing Itto, who Ayaka belatedly realises is still shirtless, and a wicked thought comes to her mind, because Sara’s blushing. Oh my archons, him of all people? Opposites really do attract.
“Wait…” Ayaka sidles up next to her friend, with an insufferable smirk on her face. “Someone caught your eye, Kujou tengu? ”
Sara looks bewildered for a few seconds before her expression changes to one of disgust. “What? No, not him— how low do you think my standards are?!”
“Then who?” Ayaka draws out the last syllable just to tease her.
Sara’s eyes flit over to whoever she was staring at before, and Ayaka follows them past Itto, to where the crowd has just parted for the arrival of Gorou and Kokomi—
Oh.
Oh no.
“I’m guessing it’s not Gorou…” she mumbles.
Sara straightens up, says, “No comment!” and goes back to shooting, but they both know it’s a yes.
As Ayaka slashes another dummy to pieces, her mind wanders. Sara is one of the kindest people I’ve ever known, under that stony mask she always wears.
She hums to herself. If I told her that I love her, Sara would step aside for me. But I can’t just do that to my friend.
I suppose the best outcome would be if Kokomi doesn’t love either of us.
(She prays that it’s not true, though.)
However, she has no time to ponder this interaction too much, because the summer festival is coming, and as the face of the Yashiro commission, Ayaka is being kept on her toes (read: swamped with work). That’s barring her extra workload from the newest crisis that the Fatui have somehow managed to create. She even needs to attend government meetings, which are supposed to be Ayato’s domain, because she needs to plan the festival movements to make sure no civilian happens to cross paths with any hostile Fatui.
They’re having another long conference at some unearthly hour of the night, and Ayaka is there because it’s good for her to know what’s going on, even if Ayato is the one presenting and answering questions.
Kokomi is at the meeting too, but Ayaka came to listen to…uh, government affairs, not to stare at her, even if it was at one of these very meetings that she first met Kokomi and wow, she’s still as scarily competent as Ayaka remembers.
(They’re never really at the same meetings, because her duties and Kokomi’s don’t really coincide. Add their busy schedules and the fact that they live on different islands to the equation, and other than coincidental meetings she barely sees Kokomi anymore. …Sara and Kokomi are usually in the same meetings. Kokomi probably enjoys having someone who actually understands what she’s saying to talk to.)
Although, Kokomi doesn’t look too good. On the surface, she is still the picture of perfection—but Ayaka can almost see her trying not to fall asleep on the table. Hiiragi Chisato isn’t doing much better.
Just as Ayato ends his speech on who knows what, at this point—Ayaka should have slept and read the transcripts afterward—Sara pops her head into the meeting room, apologising for being late. In her hands, she carries a tray with five drinks on it, and everyone internally cheers.
Ayato speaks up. “Okay, I know this is supposed to be a serious government meeting and I swear I’ll get back to it, but archons, Sara, you’re literally an angel. We all know each other here, guys—can we at least drop protocol and talk casually, even if the substance is of utmost importance? I just think this meeting will be a little less painful and we’ll understand more if we talk normally instead of adhering to stuffy old protocol.”
Kokomi sighs, finally dropping her head onto the counter. “Amen. Sara, could you hand me whatever drink you got, I’m about to pass out.”
Ayaka sees red bloom across Sara’s cheeks, and although everyone but Kokomi seems to notice, no one says a word. The general stiffly hands a cup over to Kokomi, mumbling, “Ice blended mocha with two espresso shots and whipped cream, right? I mean, um, that’s what you…usually get…”
Kokomi smiles softly, and archons, Ayaka wishes that was her. “…Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly what I always get.”
The meeting continues after everyone has been brought back to life with caffeine, but Ayaka doesn’t miss how Kokomi glances at the cup of coffee with powder-pink dusted across her face and how Sara, flustered, staunchly avoids looking at her in the eyes at all. Though it’s plain to see that she sneaks glances whenever Kokomi’s not looking.
(Sara seems to forget that Ayaka likes sweet, milky drinks. The americano that she’d gotten for her isn’t the only thing that brings a bitter taste to her tongue.)
Ayato wiggles his eyebrows at them, Chisato is smirking, and Ayaka…is trying not to let her selfish desires ruin her friend’s happiness. She is happy for Sara. But it still hurts.
It happens at one of their triannual sleepovers, where all of them manage to synchronise their schedules (with great difficulty!) and meet up to just…be the normal girls they would have been if they hadn’t taken on the roles they have now. They allow themselves to be undignified, to play silly games—Sara somehow always falls asleep first, and gets her face covered in little ink doodles from a certain divine priestess—and to talk loudly, unrestrained. Brief moments of freedom like this always hold a special place in Ayaka’s heart.
To think, just a few years ago, they had all been at war trying to kill each other.
Today, it’s Ayaka’s turn to host. Her brother and Thoma have already been exiled from the house, and Ayaka smirks as she opens the sliding door, because she knows that Thoma’s been looking for an excuse to drag Ayato away from his duties for ages now. She bets her brother has been made to eat a proper meal and is now being kissed stupid in a Komore Teahouse cleaning closet.
(Ayato sneezes and bashes his head into the broom handle behind him. Thoma sneezes too, before continuing to suck marks into his boyfriend’s jawline.)
Just the mention of kissing makes her traitorous eyes flit over to where Kokomi is kneeling over Sara, drawing on her face as usual, and she wills herself not to turn red at the thought of kissing her. Ayaka walks over, careful not to step on the tengu, sits down on the mats at a respectable distance from Kokomi and tries her best to pretend that she definitely wasn’t thinking about how soft her lips would be.
Feeling Ayaka’s presence, the strategist caps the marker and smiles at her. Kokomi’s long hair falls around her face like the sea foam cresting on the waves and archons, she’s beautiful. Ayaka feels so guilty that she thinks she’s beautiful. Kokomi sets the marker down, and suggests, “Do you want to keep playing the game of Truth or Dare we started right before Sara fell asleep in the middle of your turn? I still owe you a truth or a dare.”
And maybe it’s the late night, or the fuzzy warm happiness permeating into her skin that feels like being drunk on honey and milk, but no matter the reason, Ayaka decides to be bold right then and there. “Sure. Truth or dare?”
Kokomi makes her adorable thinking face, with the scrunched up nose and everything, before declaring, “Truth.”
Ayaka contemplates asking what would you do if I was hopelessly in love with you, but decides that’s too direct and settles for “Who do you have a crush on, if anyone?”
She’s not expecting Kokomi to flush pinker than her hair and mutter, “Archons, I shouldn’t have said we play this.”
Kokomi looks away, fidgeting with her hands, and for a second Ayaka allows herself to hope. “You know I won’t tell anyone.”
“Fine.” Kokomi sighs, and Ayaka’s heart skips a beat. “I like…”
Me?
Kokomi looks down at Sara, sleeping on the mat with hearts drawn in ink all over her face, and Ayaka only needs to see the look in her eyes before she knows the answer to her question.
Oh.
Ayaka feels sick.
“I like Sara.”
Ayaka is silent for a second too long, and Kokomi sighs, tracing her thumb across Sara’s sleeping face wistfully. “But I doubt she loves me in that way.”
“You know, she’s happier than I’ve ever seen her when she’s with you.” Ayaka blurts out, and has no choice but to keep going down this path despite the tiny, selfish voice in her head screaming at her to stop. “She seems…freer. She laughs more, smiles more, and she trusts you enough to draw on her face while she’s asleep.”
Kokomi looks up doubtfully, but Ayaka can see the faint spark of hope light up in her eyes. “She would let you draw on her face too, and I think she’s probably just happier now that our country isn’t in the midst of a civil war.”
Ayaka leans back onto the mat and whispers just loud enough for Kokomi to hear her, ignoring the way her stomach churns. It’s not Sara’s fault that Kokomi happens to reciprocate her love. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. I think…” Her chest hurts. “I think you would be happy together.”
The small smile on Kokomi’s face is almost enough to drown out the sound of Ayaka’s heart shattering into glass.
Ayaka is hopelessly in love with Kokomi.
This is obvious by the way that she’s sitting in a booth at a bar, staring at how Kokomi is still so beautiful as she dances with reckless abandon and none of her usual grace.
Yoimiya is holding a party. This explains the gaggle of vision wielders drunk out of their minds.
Ayaka agrees to come as a chaperone as usual, partially because she dislikes the taste of alcohol and partially because it’s been such a rough week that even Kokomi, usually such an introvert, feels like getting absolutely wasted, and someone (Who’s not drinking! Looking at you, Gorou.) needs to make sure she doesn’t kill someone and/or die.
Ayaka also happens to be strong enough and resourceful enough to stop any fires, fights, or other vision-related incidents because it really isn’t a great idea to stuff a bunch of inebriated vision wielders in a room, Yoimiya, but she’s learned from the…ahem…previous incidents.
Ayaka sits in one of the booths, sipping her cup of soda and watching as the people around her get increasingly drunk. Lights flash overhead and the music is pumped to a level that might not be safe for human eardrums, but Ayaka tolerates it anyway, so that she can keep her friends safe! It’s totally not because she wants Kokomi to have a good time. Totally not, she says, staring at how Kokomi’s hair sways as she throws back another shot.
Briefly, she wonders where Sara went, and sees her calmly sitting at the bar, winning a drinking game against Itto. They share a brief look across the bar before Itto pours two more shots and yells, “Again! I’ll beat you this time…Kujou tengu…” Ayaka can’t hear what Sara says over the thumping of the music, but she can feel the affectionate exasperation seeping out of her and hopes Itto doesn’t end up dying tonight.
She looks back towards the main dance floor of the club, where Gorou and Kazuha have…started a striptease? The cheering is loud—they are pretty boys, though not Ayaka’s cup of tea—and oh, Thoma’s climbed onto the stage, her brother looks like he’s about to pass out. Is Kazuha wearing a miniskirt? And heels? And a bra—she doesn’t even want to know what he’s got on underneath that skirt, what in the Shogun’s name—
Yeah. Yeah, she’s not dealing with that right now. Said skirt flies past her and she sighs, knowing that she’ll probably have to drag several people out unconscious and forcefully clothe several others by the time the night is over.
Kokomi is swaying on her feet, stumbling towards Ayaka like a newborn deer, and she reaches out to pull Kokomi onto the seat with her before she can fall on her face. Kokomi looks up at her with stars in her eyes. Suddenly, she blurts out, “I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Like water bubbling from a crack in the earth, Kokomi starts repeating “I love you” and doesn’t stop, words bursting from her lips and smashing into Ayaka with the force of a tsunami.
She is stunned into silence for the first few seconds because the girl of her dreams is sitting in her lap and looking up at her and saying how much she loves Ayaka and it’s all too much, because Ayaka knows she doesn’t mean it. As much as she would like to believe her, she knows. Kokomi won’t even remember this when she wakes up and archons, it’s too much, it’s everything she’s ever wanted on a silver platter and yet it means nothing, the reflection of the moon over a shining lake, she has to get Kokomi away from her—
(In all her declarations of “I love you,” never once does Kokomi say her name. Her eyes, blown wide in a drunken stupor, seem to look past Ayaka and at someone else. Ayaka knows that it isn’t her who makes Kokomi have that lovestruck look in her eyes. And it still hurts. )
Kokomi tries to grab her shoulders and pull her down for a kiss. “No,” Ayaka chokes out, pushing her away. “No, Kokomi, stop—You don’t love me.”
“Nooo, I love you.” Kokomi slurs, wobbling, and Ayaka reaches out to steady her subconsciously.
Ayaka has to hold back the tears in her eyes as she keeps pushing Kokomi away from where she’s trying to kiss her. “No, you’re drunk, you don’t—you don’t love me, Kokomi. You love Sara.”
“Sara…” Some of the clarity returns to Kokomi’s eyes for a second, and she stops trying to press her lips to Ayaka’s, settling in her lap. “I love her. Ayaka, I love her so much. ”
Kokomi tugs on her sleeve, looking up at her with teary, glazed eyes, and all Ayaka can do is pat her on the back and whisper, “I know.”
Ayaka looks up, meeting Sara’s eyes from across the bar. Sara looks slightly worried at the sight of Itto passed out on the ground, but when she sees Kokomi, sleeping peacefully in Ayaka’s lap, her eyes soften. She flashes Ayaka a small smile and mouths thank you before hefting the oni over her shoulder and dragging him outside.
Ayaka decides to get them together at the summer festival. After all, she is known for her organisation skills. She won’t let her own selfish desires interfere with her friends’ happiness.
(Setting one of your best friends up with someone is one matter. Setting one of your best friends up with your crush is a lot harder, apparently.)
The night before the festival, Ayaka lies on her back and stares at the ceiling. Am I really going to go through with this?
In all of her life, Sara has never once been treated as a first priority. No one ever puts her first—not as a member of the Kujou clan, or as a general—just as Sara. This, combined with the Kujou clan’s strict upbringing, means that she hasn’t really had a lot of happiness in her life. So…it’s only fair if I, who’s had a happy and gentle life, put her first, at least this once. She deserves someone to make her happy. They’ll definitely make each other happy.
The conclusion she comes to is fairly succinct and logical. So why does it still hurt?
Just like the first time they went to the summer festival, Kokomi grabs Ayaka by the hand and races up the hill as soon as they reach Amakane Island, smiling. Ayaka barely manages to grab Sara with her other hand before they’re all dragged over by the priestess.
“Come on, guys, let’s go and get our fortune sticks read!”
Sara teases, “How surprising, to see the dignified general Sangonomiya Kokomi so excited over fortune sticks.”
“Oh, drop the act, Kujou Sara, you know you’re just as excited as I am.” Kokomi fires back, with no real weight to her words.
Ayaka chuckles, seeing Sara’s feathers fluff up just like a baby bird’s as her cheeks go rosy. They reach the head of the line for the fortune sticks, and each take one carefully before stepping away to open it up.
Ayaka’s eyes scroll over her paper slip as she hears Kokomi chattering to Sara about how they both got great fortune in the background. Misfortune, hers reads. Be careful. You may be about to lose something that you treasure. Remember to rest if you're feeling unwell. Think twice before you make a decision. Ayaka internally chuckles, amused by the irony.
She usually loves summer festivals, but…the plan she’s about to carry out puts a bit of a damper on her mood. Nevertheless, Ayaka is nothing if not persistent, and so she taps Kokomi on the shoulder and smiles. “You two should go ahead and find us a spot to watch the fireworks from. I’ll buy some snacks.”
Kokomi seems to see what she’s doing, and asks, “Wait, are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?”
Yes, Ayaka’s selfish heart screams. “No thanks, it’s pretty crowded down there. I promised Thoma that I’d try and worm the recipe for tricolor dango out of the vendor anyway.” says Ayaka in real time.
Kokomi looks absolutely terrified at being left alone with her crush as Ayaka walks away, but she looks back, just to check, and they’ve already overcome the awkward tension and started laying out a mat under the stars. Ayaka tries to console herself. Her plan is going great! They…should at least be close to confessing by the time the night is over. She buys some random snacks and returns, handing a box of Sara’s favourite skewers to the general and setting the rest on the mat.
Under the light of the summer festival fireworks, Kokomi is positively glowing. The orange hue of the crackling explosions casts a filter over her that makes her look like the goddess her people make her out to be, radiant and ethereal, as the flowing waves of her pink-and-blue clothes shimmer.
With that look of almost childish innocence on her face, mouth slightly open, the world seems to fall away because Kokomi is so beautiful when she’s genuinely happy. Ayaka nearly walks up to sit next to her, maybe lay her head on her shoulder like she’s done so many times—but then she sees Sara, standing on the side under a tree close by, looking not at the fireworks, but at Kokomi— and she remembers why she set up this whole thing in the first place.
Ayaka quietly walks up to where Sara is standing, box of skewers forgotten as the general stares. “Do you like her?”
(A part of her hopes she’s wrong about the whole thing and that Sara will say no.)
Sara seems to jolt out of a trance. “Huh? I…Of course I like her. We’re all friends, aren’t we?”
Ayaka doesn’t look at Sara, because if she sees the look on Sara’s face she might lose her nerve. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
Sara falls into silence. They both know it’s a yes.
And Ayaka smiles up at her, ignoring the painful twinge in her chest. “Go for it. She looks at you like you’ve hung the moon.”
She pushes Sara hard, catching her off guard and making her fall right next to Kokomi, who reaches out to steady her. Sara looks back at Ayaka, panicked, but the blue-haired girl just mouths you’re welcome.
With that, she turns and walks off under the pretense of buying another sakura mochi. The sweet treat sticks to her mouth like glue and stops her from saying all the words she shouldn’t.
A year later, they are at the summer festival again, and another year means another splendid fireworks display from Yoimiya. Everything is almost exactly the same as all the other times she has gone with her friends to watch the fireworks, except—
This time, Kokomi doesn’t walk with her up the path to the highest point of Amakane island.
This time, Kokomi doesn’t excitedly pull her by the hand to go and get their fortune sticks.
This time, Ayaka returns too early from buying the snacks Kokomi asked her to and ends up watching her kiss her now-girlfriend under the explosions lighting up the night sky.
And Ayaka is still hopelessly in love with Kokomi.