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Saki Tenma is currently out in a bit of a blizzard.
Normally, she’d be on a flight by now. Back to her hometown (rather, home city- Tokyo is probably Japan’s furthest thing from a “town”), to be with her family. It’s Christmas tomorrow after all, practically only in maybe an hour. She had been diligently flying home every Christmas ever since she had moved to Kyoto for university four years prior.
But now, 23 and five years into a four year bachelor of music education program, she’s not sure how exactly to feel. It’s far from her first Christmas alone, and far from her first Christmas in Kyoto alone. She knew she already had an impending video call with her family the next day so they could eat dinner together (even if her dinner ends up just being reheated food from the store).
It’s strange, really. Saki used to love Christmas, with her entire being. She still does, really- her eyes light up when the decorations come out of storage for the few weeks a year that it’s socially acceptable to have them up.
Despite her love for all things festive, something about this year feels different. More… isolated. Both for obvious reasons and other ones she isn’t really sure how to put a name to.
Sure, yes, Tsukasa was back at home with their parents. Toya, and his boyfriend, would be there too. Saki found that she missed the younger Shinonome; even if he seemed a bit abrasive towards her brother, he was still kind to her. Her bandmates had all managed to fly back home, too, but a scheduling conflict with her finals, her finances, and her job left her alone in Kyoto.
Alone, in Kyoto, at Christmas, all over again. Saki blinks firmly to rid tears from her eyes, trying to ignore the pit forming in her chest. It feels like she’s back to being thirteen and lonely in a hospital room, on strict bed rest during some of the worst days of her life.
Before she can ruminate a little too hard on the past, she narrowly avoids walking face first into a pole- and by her luck, she manages to walk face first into another person instead.
Who’s the unlucky one now, Minori?
Before she can even go to apologize, Saki’s mind stalls when she looks up and locks eyes with probably the last person she expected to run into- one Mafuyu Asahina. Her former senior in high school, who she hadn’t even seen in.. gosh, probably five or six years now.
They had been decent friends in school, even if Saki had secretly wanted them to be more than that. Mafuyu had intimidated her a little, with how likeable she seemed and how pretty she was. She was always nice, always patient, her tone always even. Perfect. Almost too perfect.
A streetlight flickers overhead, and it’s like the world has stopped altogether. Nobody is around, especially not this late. They’re all home with their families. That’s a bit of kinship they share right off the bat.
Saki notices a few key things in rapid succession.
For one, Mafuyu looks… frazzled. There’s a new dullness to her eyes Saki hasn’t seen before, a ruffle to her now-short hair that differs from the poised, trained appearance she used to have.
For two, she’s not wearing a jacket. And she’s actively trembling, no doubt from the cold. Saki winces as she watches Mafuyu curl in on herself a little tighter as a gust of wind and snow buffets the two of them.
Saki decides to broach conversation first, trying to rid the shakiness from her voice.
“Asahina-senpai! Long time no see! It’s too cold to be out here without a jacket, what’s…”
What am I even supposed to say?
“What’s up?”
Sure.
Mafuyu doesn’t reply for a long while. Saki’s not really sure what’s going on in her head, what’s giving her such a conflicted look on her face. So, she decides to act on impulse.
She unwraps the warm scarf from her neck, wrapping it around Mafuyu’s in turn. She tries not to focus on how her fingertips brush against her cheek, how close they are, on how she can see all the small details on the face of someone she absolutely used to have a crush on.
You’d never get her to admit it, but that crush never really went away.
There’s a little scar on her upper lip, a slight crookedness to her nose. Little imperfections that make Mafuyu so impossibly human. Saki forces the thought of kissing all her little imperfections out of her brain, almost missing what Mafuyu says next in the process.
Mafuyu shuffles awkwardly before shifting to snuggle into the scarf, clearly welcoming the warmth. Saki can’t stop herself from flushing a little at the sight of it.
“I… don’t know. I just started walking.”
Walking from where?! Saki’s internal monologue is going practically haywire at this new revelation. She walked here? With no jacket! She looks like she’s freezing!!
Impulsiveness runs in her family. Saki reaches out a gloved hand, taking the hand of someone who she’s surprised doesn’t immediately pull away.
“Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”
Mafuyu doesn’t complain. She doesn’t even resist, just trails after Saki like a lost puppy. It’d be endearing if it wasn’t a little more worrying.
They walk for a while. Saki originally had a cafe or something in mind, but nothing is open at almost midnight on December 24th.
So the only option is her apartment.
~
Get it together, Saki. She’s just a friend who you’ve invited over.
Mafuyu, still in her casual clothing that definitely does not fit this weather, sits bundled in no less than four blankets on the couch. Saki sits on the opposite end, occasionally sneaking glances at her new guest.
“…so, Asahina-senpai. What had you outside in such cold weather?”
“Nothing important.”
Great. It’s a bit like there’s a wall between them, one Mafuyu refuses to let fall. Saki looks down at her hands, noting how they’ve subconsciously twisted in the fabric of the blanket across her legs.
“You have an impressive number of blankets, Tenma-san.”
“Oh, um! Thank you..!”
Thank you? Thank you??? Get it together!
Saki mentally curses herself for being so useless until she takes another glance at the girl beside her.
Mafuyu’s face, endlessly neutral (in stark contrast to how she was years prior), is softly curved into a smile. Barely noticeable, only visible to someone who’s actively looking for it. Saki tries not to think about how she was totally just looking at Mafuyu’s face intently enough to notice such a change.
They fall into a semi-awkward silence all over again. It’s been about twenty minutes of this, of Saki trying to strike up conversation only to get shot down. She glances down at her phone, only to see that it’s gone past midnight without her even noticing.
Oh, it’s Christmas.
Saki tries to keep the emptiness from her heart at the realization.
They had, at least, been having sparse conversations in between the extended periods of silence. She’s learned only a little about why Mafuyu is in Kyoto in the first place (she’s at school to become a nurse, which Saki was surprised by- she was sure the girl had said she wanted to be a doctor), and not much more than that.
What she did know for sure is that she liked short hair on Mafuyu. It suited her well, falling in soft, purple curls and framing her face. Her very pretty face, surprisingly soft given how sharp her personality seems to be now. Maybe it was always like this, and Saki just didn’t notice.
Mafuyu doesn’t seem to be in any state to really be going anywhere else tonight. Saki had tried to broach the topic of going home to her earlier, and her dread-filled facial expression had said more than words ever could. So she stands up.
“You can stay the night, if you want! I have.. um…” Her voice goes much smaller and softer than she intends it to, and she mentally slaps herself as a result. “…a spare room. If you want to.. to stay..!”
Mafuyu looks at the door. Then to the clock. Then to Saki herself, to which the blonde stiffens and looks away.
A brief angle of her head is about the only response Saki gets before she whisks Mafuyu to the spare room.
It’s a quaint room. Really, it only has a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand in it. A thin layer of dust lies on the nightstand, and Saki tries to subtly dust it off. Mafuyu sits on the bed, still looking almost lifeless and endlessly tense.
Saki stammers over her words for probably the hundredth time that night. “Okay, so.. if you need anything, I’m just down the hall. I hope you sleep well, Asahina-senpai!”
She turns to rush out of the room, hiding her face purely so Mafuyu doesn’t see the blush dusting her face, shutting the door behind her. The walk to her room seems impossibly long, as she stands outside of the now-closed guest room door, a hand pressed to the cold wood of its surface.
Great. Wonderful. I’ve totally made a fool of myself.
Saki had already been feeling lonelier than ever. Even worse, the cold weather only made her physical condition worse (she had never been good with cold, even when she was little). She grimaces at the ache in her joints and the slight dizzy feeling behind her eyes, as she reluctantly turns from the guest room door and returns to her own bedroom.
~
Well, it was a good two hours of sleep Saki got before there’s a soft knock at her door. However, given the nature of her situation with her new guest, she finds she’s less disgruntled than she could be.
Not feeling exactly steady enough to go and let her in directly, she instead chooses to softly call out for Mafuyu to come into the room instead.
Saki isn’t sure if the hesitation is genuine, or if her temporary roommate just hadn’t heard her. Shortly after, though, the door cracks open, to reveal probably the last thing she could’ve ever expected.
Mafuyu has absolutely been crying. The soft hitch of her breathing gives it away from the start, but Saki can see the shine of tears on her face in the dim lighting of her bedroom.
“Asahin-”
“Please. Just… call me Mafuyu.”
An unexpected show of intimacy. Saki tries not to think about it too much, even as she pats the bed beside her, scooching over so Mafuyu can sit down. After another extended beat of silence, something that had seemingly become standard for the two of them, Saki speaks first.
“Mafuyu, what happened?”
Saki likes the feeling of her first name in her mouth. She wants to say it more.
Mafuyu’s voice is so broken it hurts to hear.
“I don’t know. I.. got into an argument with my mom, and… well, she.. I…”
In another Tenma-style impulsive action, Saki reaches out. She laces her fingers with Mafuyu’s, softly shushing her. She’s always been a physical touch kind of girl, and that’s all she knows how to do to help mend the broken soul in front of her.
Mafuyu breaks down into tears all over again.
Before she can even really process it, Saki’s wrapping her arms around her, holding her as close as possible as she sobs. It’s heartbreaking to hear how broken she is, even just from one argument.
Saki doesn’t know the full story of what happened between Mafuyu and her mother. She finds she doesn’t really care to know, not right now- her focus lies entirely on calming her down.
In a way, it’s a form of self-soothing. She remembers, distantly, the first Christmas she spent in the hospital in Kyoto. She had felt lonelier than ever, watching the stars in the sky, watching people walk by outside as they celebrated with their friends and family. The hospital ward had had a little Christmas party for the residents, but she didn’t want to attend.
Mafuyu’s arms wrap around her. She’s a solid and warm presence beside her, her grip strong from years of archery and her breathing slowly beginning to mellow out. Her chin rests on top of Saki’s head, and she seems to be responding well to the soft patterns being traced on her back.
It’s more than either of them have experienced before. Saki can feel how Mafuyu’s hands transition from gripping the back of her shirt to softly rubbing her back, seemingly sensing how tense she’s become.
“I’m sorry, Tenma-sa-“
“If you want me to call you Mafuyu, you’re going to have to call me Saki. And, you don’t need to apologize. I’m glad that… that I was able to help a little bit.”
Saki feels a little bit of hope at the flush that colours Mafuyu’s face. Selfish hope, sure, but hope is hope.
Mafuyu pulls back.
Saki pulls back, too, staring into Mafuyu’s eyes, and seeing the same hope she’s feeling reflected in the purple depths.
There’s a hand touching her face now. She leans into the touch, closing her eyes as she hums with contentment. Mafuyu’s hands had warmed up significantly since they first ran into each other on the street. Larger than her own, delicate and soft. Much like Mafuyu herself.
She hadn’t expected to be on a first name basis with Mafuyu in her lifetime, even if she wanted to be. However, she’s even more caught off guard by her next move.
Saki leans in. Mafuyu leans in.
She’s faintly aware of the scar on Mafuyu’s upper lip as she kisses her like her life depends on it. It’s impulsive, yes, but it feels more right than anything else has before.
Mafuyu’s hand is tangled in her hair. They pull apart for only a brief moment, mere seconds to take a breath, before they’re pulling each other back in. Saki hums in the back of her throat at the contact, relishing in the sweetness of the kiss.
Finally, they pull back for longer than a few moments. Saki tries not to freak out over the fact that her longtime crush just kissed her on the mouth for, like, five minutes straight, and Mafuyu looks a little mortified in the cutest way possible.
Saki tries to speak, but it comes out as a strangled, flustered laugh. She’s about to apologize, but then, Mafuyu’s laughing too.
“You’re so cute, Saki.”
Her voice has a lilt to it that Saki’s never heard before. A warm, gentle tone, fitting the soft smile that remains on her face.
Saki wants to make her smile forever.
In that moment, holding Mafuyu close and peppering her face with kisses to hide her flustered embarrassment, Saki decides that this gift is better than any gifts she could’ve ever gotten had she gone home.
She’s found her home here, after all.