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Waking up is almost always the best part of Kokoro’s day; it always leads to excitement and smiles, after all! But waking up to her girlfriend singing happy birthday on repeat while having Monkey dance on her chest? That beats any wake-up and makes the day a million times better.But any day is always better when Hagumi’s there, Kokoro figured that out the first day they were officially dating. Today being her birthday only made her presence more special.“Good morning, Kokoro!” Hagumi cheers with an extra lift to her already smiling face. She pushes Monkey closer to Kokoro, hiding behind him and changing her voice. “And happy birthday!”“Thank you, both of you!” She giggles, reaching a hand up to each one and cupping their faces.Hagumi moves to the side to help Kokoro sit up, then goes back to her lap to hug her tightly. Pulling away after a while, she leads Kokoro to the kitchen with a string of laughter and a soft hand in hers. She let the blonde enter first so she could come from behind her and direct her attention to the table’s setup.“Wow, breakfast looks amazing!” Walking around the table, her eyes widen at the variety of food. “Did your mom make all this?”“I helped her make it just for us!”“Aww! That’s so sweet of you!” Another hug is pressed into Hagumi before they sit down to eat.———From there, Kokoro experiences a birthday like no other, and it’s all thanks to Hagumi. She had put lots of effort into the day’s plans and it showed: the gifts, the things they did, the music they listened to, the things they watched, and the general time spent together. Everything was incredibly well chosen and made her love for the ginger grow more and more with each surprise -but to be honest, her love for Hagumi already grew daily at varying rates.Kokoro feels like her heart could burst from all the joy that’s spilling out of her. Her cheeks have been hurting since noon, but she can’t stop herself from being happy! Hagumi has done so much for her, how else was she supposed to be? Plus, seeing her freckled grin was a gift in and of itself, so of course she’d try and smile more!Their final destination is a sudden change in plans.Although Hagumi had fulfilled her list of things to do with Kokoro, the startling shout of an argument starting downstairs had her rushing to get them both out of the house and guiding her sunflower to a new scene to appreciate.“Wow! It’s so pretty here!” Kokoro spins around the area after letting go of Hagumi’s hand, stopping at the cliff’s railing to look over the city. The sun was setting, blanketing the buildings below in a beautiful array of reds and yellows. “Is this a normal place or…”“I found it after running out when the yelling started getting worse.” She gives a weak smile as the memory flashes through but shakes it away and gives her girlfriend an assuring expression. “But I do occasionally come here for fun, so it’s alright.”Hagumi meets up with the blonde by the edge and sits down with her legs on each side of a supporting pole. Following her example, Kokoro rests a few feet away, kicking her legs out while wrapping her arms around the railing in front of her.The colors darken over the city as time passes, the bustle of cars and ant-like people taking enough of their attention to distract them from the deafening silence between them. Car horns and unintelligible shouting can be heard every once in a while and will occasionally blend with the light rustling of the wind between the trees nearby.Kokoro moves a hand out in Hagumi’s direction, setting it down on the lower part of the railing. After a glance in her direction, she places her hand on top and squeezes.The motion breaks the blonde out of her thoughts and rearranges them into something new. Instead of focusing on what’s in front of them, she begins to think about the space they’re in.Summer’s around them, and they’re right in the middle of it. It’s warm, but pleasantly so as the breeze carries chill air around to those in need. Dusk is approaching, just as the call of school is. Time spent with friends and family flows around in swirling, spontaneous instances of remembrance.And Hagumi Kitazawa -the love of her life besides their band- is a spark of lovely fire in her adventurous, happy life.“What do you think we’d be doing right now if we never met, Hagu?”She turns her head towards her and is met with copper eyes shimmering with curiosity.“Hmm…” Slumping a bit in thought, she hums aloud while tapping a finger on the back of Kokoro’s hand. “I don’t know! Probably everything we did before starting Hello, Happy World!.”“Maybe. But then the question could change to being ‘If we didn’t meet when we did, would we have still met?’ because if our past selves continued doing what we did when we met, I think the chance of us meeting at a different time and not meeting at all becomes equal.”“You sound so philosophical, Kokoron!” Hagumi giggles and leans her head against the bar she’s aligned with. “ What brought all this up?”“I was listening to music while coming over yesterday and ‘If In August’ came on, then I started thinking about where we are right now and it reminded me of the song.”“I thought you hadn’t been here before?”“Not ‘here’ here, but like… the moment. Watching a sunset in August, also known as a part of summer, sitting with someone I care about, that kind of stuff!”“Oh, I see!” She sways with the wind, her orange tufts flipping up in little swoops of fluffiness. “That’s actually kinda cool! I was just thinking about dogs!”They both laugh, sweet and out of sync with each other. Their eyes close as they each feel a warmth inside their chests that’s recognized almost immediately. Calming down, their eyes open and reconnect as they scramble to free themselves from the ledge.With her well-known speed, Hagumi rushes toward Kokoro after getting up, crawling over and pushing her to the ground right as the blonde untangles herself with the railing. She catches her head before it collides with the grass, making sure she’s safely lowered before pressing her lips against hers.Kokoro kisses back, cupping her cheek with a tender touch. Her skin proves to be as warm as her girlfriends and it brings her so much closer that she has to anchor her other hand into Hagumi’s soft hair. She hums in surprise but doesn’t pull away or show any discomfort, only deepening and strengthening the kiss until they’re both in desperate need of air.“I love you, Kokoro!” Her cheeks are dusted in a nice pinky-red that highlights her adorable freckles while her hazy eyes are darting all over Kokoro’s face.“I love you too, Hagumi” Even with the exhale of reply and chuckling, she’s oddly calm for how full of excitement and passion she is.Their lips meet once more after steadying their breaths, trying to be more gentle and patient with the affections they provide. Time seems to pass by faster the longer they’re locked together, and it’s officially dusk when they look to the city again.“I kinda wanna sing ‘If In August’ now.” Hagumi sits up and moves to her right side, leaning back on her hands while glancing up to the sky.“I’ll pull it up!”Kokoro pulls her phone out of her pocket and pulls up the song while Hagumi readjusts to lie her head on her darling’s chest. A pale hand feels around for her face, squishing her right cheek before trailing down her side to rest on her hip, gently lifting her shirt’s fabric as she rubs up and down. The ginger giggles at the light tickling as the intro plays out and Kokoro begins to sing Kasumi’s part.Her heart skips a beat at how beautiful Kokoro sounds.Hagumi then leads into Saaya’s part and the blonde feels like she’s melting into the ground at how fitting her voice is. Light and sweet with something more that can only be found in the definition of “Hagumi KItazawa”.Their duet matches the original in their own perfect, harmonious way, tossing around their parts until they have to sing together. It’s a well-balanced performance for them and the space around them; Nothing and no one else will ever get to hear something as meant to be as Kokoro is with Hagumi and Hagumi with Kokoro.It’s best like that. This moment will only make sense to them anyways.The song’s question is left unanswered as they wrap up the last line and make their way back to Hagumi’s house. They understand that the answer does exist somewhere, but they know that it doesn’t really matter if they vocalize it or not.After all:
“We’re embracing the ‘now’, not the ‘if’”.