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“Tsuru-chan? Hey, Tsuru-chan? Are you listening to me?”
And so brings the end of Saki hunting for starlight within Asahi’s eyes. A futile search, ultimately, but a search Saki cannot help but embark on, again and again, in the company of this singular girl. Perhaps, it is finding what it is about this lantern of a life that radiates light so prominently — like no other life Saki has encountered in these past thirteen hundred years — but the lantern seems unconcerned about its sheer magnetism.
It just glows. Saki does not respond, but she blinks.
“Oh, so you were listening! But I really thought between Erina, Nanaka, and I, I’d be the one who got kissed first…”
Asahi situates her fists beneath her chin, and memories of orangey glows flow back to Saki, of pumpkins and a surefire method to extort anything out of her brothers. Is she unaware that these foolish tricks do not work on Saki?
“After all, I’m really cute!” she exclaims, tilting her head.
Even this does not work on her. Absolutely not. Despite the heart pounding right in between her ears, she swears there is no correlation between the two.
And so, she crosses her arms. Most humans take this as a sign of indifference, but Asahi never seems to care for what signals Saki may be trying to send — only assuming the best. Judging from her relentless smile, emitting beams of dancing light, such is the case here, too. How… naive.
“Is it that important for you to be kissed?” Saki asks.
“Of course it is,” Asahi asserts, “All the fairytales and movies make them look really happy!”
A distant look crosses Asahi’s eyes, and her hands finally drop to her side as she emits a sigh.
“I just hope my first kiss comes soon…”
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Longing; noun.
A strong desire especially for something unattainable.
Asahi longs for a first kiss soon, but with the orbit of Leugocyte, it may have to stay longing speckled in between the stars. Still, Saki finds her own thumb dragging slowly across her lower lip while sitting in the President’s office at AizenTech. It leaves a stain, as she had expected it to — Asahi had said that this product was not transferproof or waterproof — but it still leaves something to be disappointed in alongside.
However, nothing unexpected. Just as this lipstick is not waterproof, nothing on Earth seems to be; a story rooted in Mesopotamia had once said that this entire planet had drowned in the surging tides of its own water, its own blood. It may have possibly been an omen for the fate her water-wielding brother had met, but- Asahi. Asahi’s tears, naive and young, empty of true suffering, are what permeate through her mind.
Empty as they may be, it still calls forth the urge for Saki to wipe them away.
“Hi, D.R.L.N.,” she prompts.
“Yes, boss~?” comes the reply.
The owner of the voice doesn’t take very long to make its physical presence known, either, readily zipping around in front of Saki’s eyes.
“Why do humans place such importance on kissing?”
“Kissing releases oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, and lowers your cortisol! It helps with bonding, improving your mood, reducing stress-”
The people Saki had met thirteen hundred years ago surely would not have known any of that. Yet, without knowing any of this human jargon, they’d kissed passionately anyway — kissed as if there was nothing else was worth living for, at times. As if they were sparks, gasping for air and on its last dregs, reviving, reversing their eventual fizzling out. Sparks. A soft glow reaching Saki’s eyes. Asahi. Asahi. She pulls out a tissue, and finally scrubs the stain onto it.
“Then,” Saki idly asks, “How do you kiss someone correctly?”
“It’s all subjective~!” D.R.L.N. chirps, “But you should make sure your lips are soft beforehand. Then, when the main event’s there, you have to pull your partner close, tilt your head, and press your lips gently against theirs! Oh, and be sure to not do it for too long! By the way, were you going to use this on Miss Minato Asahi, or does the Prez have a new beau~? ”
“Shut up. I have no need for such things-”
Happy!
Any further noise thought to be made does not make itself known.
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Birds flap their wings overhead, making a ruckus of themselves. Saki’s footsteps, crunching as she paces, make equally as much of a ruckus of themselves, for there is no Asahi in sight.
This is a waste of time. For all Saki could be aware of, Asahi could have had her first kiss already within these past thirty six hours, and this entirely pointless endeavour would become even more pointless. A beret pokes out from the buildings to her right, and it’s still pointless, but Saki rushes towards it anyway.
“Asahi,” Saki mumbles, rather dumbly.
Asahi’s eyes widen, then crinkle. A toothy smile forms on her face, and when she waves, it’s as if the sunlight streaming onto her is weaving between her fingertips. Mere humans are unable to do that, but-
Asahi exclaims, “Ah, Tsuru-chan, there you are! What did you-”
Pull. Asahi lets out an abrupt squeal when Saki pulls her closer, until they’re inches apart — and D.R.L.N. had failed to mention how much cuter Asahi could be up close. Tilt. A faint scent of artificial cupcake wafts to Saki’s nose, unmistakably from her chapstick. Press. She tries not to go too hard, even if Asahi’s sheer magnetism beckons her closer, begs her to kiss further by offering that warmth of Asahi’s she’s grown so attuned to. Asahi, in turn, seems to freeze, before gradually closing her eyes and tugging Saki’s sleeve closer.
That must be it. If Asahi, who swears that she is from Earth, can gravitate Saki’s body to her even when she attempts to resist, then she must be the Earth itself. But the Earth will soon be pointless, and so Saki must pull away and straighten herself as if it isn’t much more difficult than she’d thought the task to be.
“There,” she immediately huffs, “Now you can say that you kissed someone.”
Asahi’s body pauses — a state that’s very unnatural to Asahi, Saki’s brain can’t help but point out. With all her hopping about and beaming and ridiculous spouting of happiness-related poetry, seeing her still, deathly if it weren’t for the pink in her face, it almost brings Saki’s breathing to a halt in turn.
No, not just Saki’s, from the looks of it. The breeze threading through Ayaka City’s everyday humdrum does not breathe, either. The clouds roll forth, eclipsing the Sun — and the world has not been this grey in years. Yet, when Asahi inhales deeply and straightens her back, it proves to be a healthy substitute for the evaporated colour.
“Can you do it again?” Asahi asks.
The breeze resumes its melody. Saki’s eyes squint.
“Huh?” she inquires.
A warmth — Asahi’s warmth — bolts through her hands, now enclasped in Asahi’s. Saki’s eyes drag themselves upwards, towards the light beaming from Asahi’s face. This, too, should be something she squints at. She doesn’t. The lovely glow only lets her bask in it.
Asahi announces, “Tsuru-chan kissing me makes me very happy!”
“...So I have to do it again?”
“Please?”
Starlight peeks through in Asahi’s eyes again, brilliant and otherworldly. This time, perhaps, Saki will find a constellation she’s visited within them-
If it were not for the lips crashing into hers.