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Paper Flowers

Summary:

Nagisa always wants to do something special for Honoka, so she'll take any chance to show her girlfriend how much she appreciates her. She didn't expect to be reflecting on so much though.

Or: Happy International Lesbian Day!

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

The thin sheets of paper curled in Nagisa’s hands as she picked them up. Videos played on her computer, someone having turned the volume down around the time they’d started making up their own patterns.

“You really don’t do things halfway, do you Nagisa?” Shiho asked, cutting through the paper with decisive, thick strokes of her scissors.

“At least not when it comes to Honoka,” Rina laughed, pointing her glue stick at Nagisa.

Maybe it was a bad thing that Nagisa still flushed so deeply at the mention of her feelings, she and Honoka had been dating for months now, but on days like this Nagisa couldn’t find herself too bothered by it.

“Oh, stop complaining,” Nagisa rolled her eyes. “You both offered to help me out.”

“Only because you got started today!” Shiho countered, slamming her hands onto the table, scraps of paper fluttering through the air at her impact. “You’d never finish if we didn’t offer because you always do things last minute!”

“H-Hey!” Nagisa protested. “How was I supposed to remember! Neither of you knew either.”

“Yeah, but neither of us are dating a lesbian,” Rina snorted.

These jokes were so new for fitting so right. Once Nagisa and Honoka had started dating, Nagisa had catastrophized for a week before coming out to her two best friends. Not that Shiho or Rina had ever shown any signs of being homophobic, but like, they’d always talked about boys together, what if they thought Nagisa was just faking and ignored it, or thought she was being weird and became awkward around her?

Turned out Rina and Shiho had both been questioning their sexualities as well. It was only a month later the duo ended up dating. Honoka had spent a full ten minutes teasing Nagisa on her inability to pick up on the fact her two besties were in love.

Nagisa had never realized how much she’d been holding back about Honoka before that, how many words had choked her in her denial. Everytime she spoke about Honoka now was with a smile, with the most flowery of language, the euphoria of merely being able to say her love for Honoka.

“You know, Nagisa, at the beginning of this year I never would’ve been able to guess any of this,” Rina started, her hands moving to crease the papers slower and slower. “I don’t know what changed, but there was such a progression, a change this year. Something that kept us all from becoming stuck in our old preconceptions of ourselves. For me, I think it was you.”

Nagisa blinked, glancing over at her friend. They weren’t like, uncomfortable expressing their emotions to each other, but Nagisa would admit it was rare for Shiho, Rina and her to have a serious conversation.

“Yeah,” Shiho nodded before Nagisa could find a response. “I dunno what happened to you this year Nagisa, but you were moving so fast, coming into your own. And we couldn’t just fall behind you. All your self-discoveries, well, they also helped us find ourselves.”

And wasn’t that just what happened with everyone? Had she really changed that much, with her own growth?

It was easy to doubt she’d had this much of an impact on her friends, Nagisa wanted to wave it off. Everything felt so obvious in retrospect, like her past self had been an idiot for just not being able to admit her feelings to Honoka. And what had she changed, when she could barely keep the world in balance as Pretty Cure?

The most impactful of change always felt that small though, Nagisa was learning. What she defined as Pretty Cure hadn’t become fighting, danger, or the adrenaline that she breathed. When she thought of the light enveloping her, what stuck with her was Honoka’s fingers tightening around her own.

Nods at each other in the middle of battle, steely eyes. How could Nagisa give up when Honoka was willing to keep going? How could Nagisa hold them back, no, she would rip and claw for her place at Honoka’s side. The world didn’t scare her as much as the thought of losing the deepening bond between them.

So when Honoka told Nagisa she was a lesbian, what could Nagisa do but follow her lead and start admitting things to herself? Honoka was the catalyst of so many of Nagisa’s changes, in all her small braveries.

Perhaps Nagisa could believe she was the same.

“I suppose we’re all like that for each other though,” Nagisa pointed out. “I don’t know if I’d be here if Honoka hadn’t pushed me along, or if I hadn’t been friends with you two along the way. Maybe we all wouldn’t be here if not for each other. But we were here and together we made something, not alone. I guess that’s even why we’re celebrating like this, right?”

Her two friends gaped at her, all of their crafts forgotten. Maybe Nagisa had grown more than she thought, to be able to say things like that.

Nagisa could learn to love this growth.

Shiho and Rina stayed overnight, finishing up the crafts and shoving them off to the side so the three could curl up in the living room and watch romance movies. These ones weren’t about girls like them, not yet, but they were starting to know their own stories, and one day, they’d write them.

The duo laughed at Nagisa as she scrambled around in the morning. She’d forgotten to choose an outfit beforehand and how was she supposed to know what would look good and appropriate with only five minutes to choose! Shiho and Rina pushed her aside and dug through her closet until they shoved a complete outfit at her.

Nagisa rushed out the door, Shiho and Rina leaving much more slowly for their own houses. The sun may have only just broken the horizon, but the day already felt so alive. Did people on the street know what day it was? Were they celebrating too?

The world looked beautiful in a way Nagisa rarely managed to see, but by god if she didn’t want to cherish it, hold it close and protect it from the darkness.

The outline of Honoka’s house felt almost as familiar as Nagisa’s own, like an exhale, lik kicking off her shoes in the foyer and calling to ask if anyone was home. Nagisa couldn’t regret a single step of her walk here, not when she arrived, not when she’d do so again even for the chance of this.

Had Honoka taught her bravery, or had they just been waiting for someone they could be brave with?

She knocked on Honoka’s door, not hearing the words Honoka called back but rather the lilt of them, the unique timber of Honoka’s voice. Footsteps grew closer until Honoka threw open the door, wiping her hands off on her apron as she smiled angelically at Nagisa.

Honoka would always open her door. Honoka would always be there. Couldn’t she see how amazing that was?

Maybe the way she made it mundane spoke for itself.

“Nagisa!” Honoka gasped, delighted. “I didn’t know you were coming over today, do you want breakfast?”

Nagisa nodded, she was never one to turn down free food, and stepped into the foyer. As she did so, she removed to bouquet from behind her back.

A swirl of oranges and pinks made up the twisting petals, white stems of curled up printer paper clutched in Nagisa’s hand. A striped bow held them all together. They were crinkled, lopsided, some sides too big and others too small, and so obviously fake.

And each one of them was handmade by a person who loved Honoka, a sentiment Nagisa wanted to hold in her heart forever.

“Happy International Lesbian Day Honoka!” Nagisa presented her girlfriend with the paper flower bouquet. “Thank you so much for changing all of our lives, and especially mine.”

And if those words today weren’t enough, well, Nagisa would repeat them every day. She didn’t want this growth they shard to ever end, and these flowers would never wilt.

Notes:

So I woke up this morning to be told it was Lesbian Day, swore, procrastinated for an hour, then cranked this out. I hop this didn't turn out to be too much about Nagisa, I really just love writing Honoka appreciation through her eyes, and I realized early on I could turn this into a bit of a solidarity piece. Honoka really deserves more credit for having so many sexuality vibes.
Idk if people normally celebrate international lesbian day like this, but I personally would love this.
I hope you enjoyed this, I hope yall have a nice lesbian day, and remember to give your thanks to our overlord Honoka Yukishiro.