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The past two years had gone fast. It seemed like just the other day that Chika was trying to convince Riko and You to join Aqours, but it also seemed like just the other day the third years had graduated, thus ending the entire group. They had stayed friends, but it wasn’t the same. Chika replayed memories that they had shared together over and over in her head but she couldn’t figure out how to force herself to sleep. She was wide awake.
You was joining her parents’ company, and Riko was studying music at a prestigious institution, and Chika was….well, her mom had given her the option to stay home and take care of the inn, but she didn’t exactly know what she wanted to do. How does anyone know what they want to do right out of high school anyways? She rolled over to her other side. Why couldn’t she have another three years with everyone? Why was everything coming to an end? Why….
Chika got up out of bed and looked over towards her balcony. She wasn’t close to her next door neighbor, not until Riko moved in. But her balcony door was closed, and she was probably sleeping. Chika sighed and put on her slippers before walking out onto it. The cool night breeze ruffled her hair and danced around her skin, causing her to shiver slightly. The moon was waxing, not quite full yet. There were some clouds obscuring the stars. She didn’t know how to read them, anyways. Some of the others had tried to teach her, but there were too many things to remember. The constellation stories were always neat, though.
Sometimes she wished she could redo those two years of high school over again, and re experience all of the memories she made with her friends. But everything had to come to an end eventually. Chika clenched her fists against the balcony and hit them down once, frustrated. Why.
“I didn’t expect to find you out here.”
Chika looked up, eye to eye with one of the only people she wanted to see right now. Staring across at her from the balcony, was her next door neighbor and dear friend Riko. Chika felt a smile creeping across her face as she untensed her hands.
“Neither did I, I assumed you were sleeping.”
Riko was wearing actual matching pajamas as opposed to the t-shirt and flannel pants that Chika had put on. Her maroon hair blew softly in the wind, illuminated by the moonlight and whatever light from the roads near their houses that could make it there. Riko ran her hand through her hair and pushed it to the side so it would stay out of her face.
“I couldn’t sleep,” said Riko, leaning on the balcony a little bit. “I guess I’m just getting nervous about leaving home soon. I mean, I’ve only lived here for two years, but it already feels like a home to me.” Riko’s words made Chika realize just how soon everything was going to change. She hung her head and looked down at the yard below them.
“Neither could I. Everything’s changing so fast, and I don’t know how I can keep up with it all,” she sighed. Riko looked at her with a sympathetic glance. “I guess I’m just really missing all the time we spent together, not just with Aqours, but with you, too.” The wind blew harder again, messing up Chika’s hair.
“Remember when we tried to touch hands that one night?” asked Riko, stretching her hand out a little bit. “And we were so adamant that we touched that you almost threw yourself over the edge.” Chika looked up and smirked. She remembered that night fondly. Hoisting her waist on top of the edge, she reached out to grab Riko’s hand.
Riko’s eyes widened as she got up onto her edge and reached out to grab Chika’s hand. It was so much easier the second time, now that they were both a bit taller and knew that it was possible to do before. The moment her fingers touched Chika’s, she felt a bit of warmth return to her body on this chilly night, like Chika had been keeping it safe for her the whole time.
“Gotcha,” giggled Chika before leaning back towards her house. But her joy was short lived once she remembered the reality of the situation. “To be honest, Riko, I’ve been thinking about our high school days a lot. I’ve been running all the memories through my mind over and over again, but sometimes I wish that I had new ones to think about, you know?” Riko’s gaze softened a bit as she looked at her friend across the balcony. There was a certain loneliness in her eyes that Riko could only attribute to someone who was not yet alone yet, but anticipated it.
“Then why don’t we make some more?”
Chika’s eyes widened as she looked at her calm friend. The wind blew again but she wasn’t cold anymore. Of course it made sense to go out and do things, she couldn’t stay cooped up inside thinking about how much fun she
would
be having if she went out and did things.
“Let’s leave,” said Chika, already formulating a plan in her head. “I’ve been wanting to do something for a while, and you’ve given me just the idea.” Riko scrunched up her eyebrows.
“Like, run away?”
Chika laughed.
“No, I meant let’s get out of our houses and go for a walk or something, I dunno. I kinda like walking around at night, everyone else is asleep and the whole world can be ours,” sighed Chika.
“That was oddly poetic,” said Riko, running a hand through her hair. “Why didn’t you put this much effort into our lyrics?”
“I put effort into them!” Chika playfully retorted. “Sometimes!” Riko rolled her eyes.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in five?” asked Riko.
“Make it three,” said Chika, quickly scanning her room for some real clothes she could put on.
“That’s pushing it,” said Riko before closing her balcony door. Chika felt her cheeks warm a bit as she watched Riko pull her shades shut. She then changed into some jeans with a jacket before heading out downstairs. She waited a few moments before Riko walked out of her house.
“You’re late,” said Chika with a smirk. Riko crossed her arms.
“You didn’t even change your shirt!” she exclaimed. “But anyways, where do you want to go?” The two of them started walking before Chika replied.
“I want to go down by the ocean,” she said, looking to the left. “We spent so much time there training, or just messing around.” Riko grinned.
“Remember when you stayed up for three nights straight practicing your back handspring?” she asked. Chika nodded. “I still can’t believe you did it.”
“I mean, I can probably still do it…”
“Really?”
“No.”
The two of them laughed again before Riko stopped in her tracks. She turned and looked at the ocean, with her hair softly blowing to one side. Chika stopped too, and looked at her. Riko was gazing at something off in the distance, but Chika was gazing into her eyes. Suddenly, Chika felt a hand brush up against hers. It was soft and certainly warmer than the air around them. She grabbed it.
“Do you remember that one time we were out here?” asked Riko, still not turning. She stepped up onto the barrier that protected the cars from driving straight into the beach. Chika did the same. Only when they were standing up here did she realize what Riko was talking about.
Chika had thought back to that moment a bunch of times over the course of the years. She wanted to bring it up again, but couldn’t figure out how, but now that Riko was offering her the opportunity to talk about it, she took it. Turning to face Riko, she took her other hand in hers and looked at her.
“I love you.”
Those three words broke Riko’s gaze from the ocean of blue back into the magenta of Chika’s eyes. It had been forever since the words had been spoken, but at that very moment, it felt like no time had passed at all. The two looked into each other, speechless, before Chika let go of Riko’s hands and pulled her into a hug.
“I don’t want you to go, yet I know that you have to. You’re amazing at playing piano, and I think you’ll get even better once you go to an arts school,” said Chika, hugging her a bit tighter. “But damn it, I’m selfish and I want you to stay, here, with me.” Chika felt Riko’s hands run up her back to just beneath her shoulder blades. She gave Chika a little squeeze.
“I know,” said Riko, softly. There was a bit of a pause. “Sometimes, I think about all of the events that have transpired over the course of the past two years, all of the little things that brought us closer together. I’ve come to the conclusion that if it wasn’t meant to be, we wouldn’t have become what we are today.” She loosened the hug and looked down at Chika’s face. She wasn’t
that
much taller than the other girl, but it was enough of a height difference to point it out.
“If that’s true, do you think we’ll have a chance to be together again?” asked Chika, her eyes wide with both hope and sadness at the same time. Riko bit her lip. In a perfect world, she would have convinced Chika to go to the university with her, and the two of them could be together for longer. But Chika wasn’t as passionate about music as she was. Riko had considered long and hard about simply staying back in her new hometown, but had chosen against it. And what a tough choice it was.
“We still have phones, and computers, I’ll make sure to call you,” said Riko, feeling as if she should turn away, but knowing better than to. “And right now, I’m here, with you. I’m not halfway across the country. Why don’t we focus on the now?” It was the least Riko could say to keep herself from tearing up at having to make the decision again whether to leave or to stay. Chika nodded her head and fully let go of Riko, only to grab her hand again as they started walking.
“You have to make sure to tell me everything about your new school,” said Chika, kicking a rock that was in front of her a few times before she kicked it out of her reach and deemed it replaceable. “I want to know all the drama. Even if I don’t know the people, if you describe them good enough, I basically will.” Riko laughed.
“I’ll make sure to tell you all about it,” she said. “But you have to make sure to tell me about life back here, too. I’ve grown rather attached to this town.” Chika rubbed her other hand on the back of her head.
“Oh, it’s not really all that exciting-”
“It was when we were in town,” said Riko. Chika agreed with that. In the distance, the two of them spotted a wooden pier. They looked at each other, before they, hand in hand, ran towards it. The two of them sat down on the edge, their legs dangling above the water.
“Remember when you wanted to take a swim in the freezing water?” asked Chika. Riko facepalmed.
“Oh, don’t remind me,” she said, looking down at the deep blue waves. “I didn’t realize how could it would be.”
“It was about as cold as it is now, want to try again?”
“Of course not!” exclaimed Riko. Chika narrowed her eyes playfully.
“You sure?” she said, giving Riko a little push.
“Push me again, and I’ll actually push you in,” said Riko sternly, but under her little façade Chika could tell that she was just kidding.
“You know, I’m really glad we met that day,” said Riko, breaking the silence. “I was a bit intimidated with you, at first, because you came on really strongly. I was kind of the quiet girl back at my old school, and I wasn’t used to people coming up and talking to me like that.”
“I guess I was just drawn to you somehow, because you looked like you needed a friend,” said Chika cheekily. “And I’m also really glad I did.” The two of them sat there for a few more moments. Chika rubbed her thumb against the back of Riko’s hand as they were clasped together.
“Riko,” said Chika, turning to face her friend. “I feel like this was just what I needed. I’d been thinking back to our past memories for so long without realizing that you were still here and that we could do all sorts of other stuff together and make new ones.” Riko smiled.
“I think I’m going to remember this night for a while,” she said, brushing a hair out of Chika’s face so she could get a better look at it. The moonlight illuminated her eyes nicely, and she looked rather soft. Chika leaned in just a bit, but Riko knew what to do. She put her hand on the side of Chika’s cheek before leaning in more, and softly pressing their lips together.
It had been a long awaited kiss, not just for Riko, but for Chika too. Years of dancing around their feelings and not being sure of each other were all summed up in one swift action that would be ingrained in their memories for many years to come. No matter how far away they would go, the time they shared together had been worthwhile.
They certainly made it a night that neither of them would forget.