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It’s spring again.
Ena is walking back from the diner with Mafuyu, steps dragging with a sort of drowsy contentment on the way home. They released a song again. People liked it, art and all. The flowers are in full bloom. For the moment, she’s on top of the world.
There’s not going to be a better time.
The thought impresses itself upon her, a fierce, insistent warning - that she needs to say it now, before the moment passes. Ena falters in her step a moment, and Mafuyu stops to find out why, and she... doesn’t know how to say it.
She can’t seem to find her voice. Ena clenches her fists. Relaxes them. Now it’s been too long. She shouldn’t...no, it shouldn’t be this big of a deal. “It’s nothing.”
Mafuyu doesn’t keep moving with Ena when she tries to keep pushing ahead.
“What? Did you need something?” Ena asks, circling back to her. She never can go too far, can she? Not when she -
“Weren’t you going to tell me you liked me?”
Mafuyu says it so bluntly it feels like Ena’s just been hit with a battering ram.
She proffers up a shaky smile. “What? What gave you that...idea..?”
Mafuyu closes the distance.
Ena can’t figure out her expression at all. She thought she’d gotten better at this, so why now - ?
“I know what you were going to say.” She’s so close.
Ena swallows the lump in her throat. “You know?”
“I do.” Mafuyu’s expression is still unreadable, even when they’re close enough to - to - to -
She leans in, and Ena wakes up, heart racing.
The hair she thought had been brushing up against her neck was nothing more than a plushie. The springtime warmth was her blanket. And Mafuyu...
Ena heaves a sigh.
“What am I thinking...?”
Like that would ever work out for her.
Even though it was just a dream, Ena is restless throughout the day. It’s summer, their next song is nowhere close to finished, and Mafuyu is categorically not in love with her, so she shouldn’t have anything to worry about, but she just can’t seem to relax.
They’d agreed to meet up today to go to a store and help Mizuki try to get a specific character from some giveaway or other. It’d been a while since one of their diner trips, and Kanade seemed to be feeling up to it, so the timing was fine.
Mafuyu got the character Mizuki wanted with her drink, handed the keychain over, and that was that. Smooth as silk. Until they split up for the day and Ena realized that, just like in her dream, she’d end up walking the final stretch home alone with Mafuyu.
Just don’t overthink it.
She’s determined not to break her stride, but Mafuyu stops anyway. “Ena,” She says, frowning slightly. “Did I do something to upset you?”
Ena coughs. “What? No.” She turns to face her. “Why would you think that?”
“It felt like you weren’t happy when we got left alone, is all...” Mafuyu tugs at the sleeves of her cardigan in a gesture she’s come to recognize as hesitation. “So I thought I’d ask.”
She runs a hand through her hair. “No, I just... I had a weird dream, but it’s nothing you need to worry about.”
The more she thinks about it, the dumber it feels to have gotten worked up like this. Even if Mafuyu wasn’t totally oblivious to her, there’s nothing at all romantic about walking home in a heat wave. She’s sweaty, and there are dead cicadas everywhere, and they didn’t even plan on being out here alone in the first place.
Unfortunately, Mafuyu doesn’t seem content to let it go. She cocks her head after Ena’s clear dismissal and keeps at it anyway. “And I was there?”
Ena feels her face heat up of its own accord. Oh, she was there alright. Not that she can tell Mafuyu she had a dream that they were about to kiss... She spins around and keeps walking. “What, you’re someone I see a lot of, aren’t you? It’s not weird.”
She can hear Mafuyu walking behind her. She walks faster.
Mafuyu keeps up. “So you didn’t think it was weird that I was there, but what I did was weird. Is that right...?”
Oh, god. Why is she trying to puzzle it out?
“Can we not play dream detective? Seriously, Mafuyu, just -”
“I had a dream that you kissed me, once. Was it like that?”
Ena short circuits. Somehow, the only words she can think to force out are -
“That’s not weird.”
Mafuyu blinks. “Oh.” Then she cocks her head again, apparently mulling over something. “Then...was it a good dream?”
“Yeah.” She’s not counting this as her first confession. She refuses to do it. “It was a good dream, so don’t worry about it.”
Apparently content with that, Mafuyu lets the matter drop. “Okay. In that case, I hope you have another.”
She’s not sure her heart could take it if she did.