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Summer is an obsession. Summer is the sun, the humid air, incandescent hues, painfully long daytime, and child-like optimism. It's the liberating feeling of school being over, responsibilities are out of the way, and the world momentarily becomes your own.
Their feet pound against the wood of the boardwalk, their hearts alive, and the unspoken agreement to race to the nearest ride they see seems to start. It is led by Usagi, with her blonde twintails riding the humid wind, and then Ami following closely behind, and then Minako.
"Can't you guys wait for a second?!" Rei growls from way behind, only getting Minako's giggle as a response.
Minako gets why they have to sprint to this ride, though. The line to that ride quickly lengthens and people keep adding up every second. The four of them would like to be in the next batch as much as possible, whilst still being completely intact.
As they finally fix a spot in the line, something suspends in Minako's stomach — something like nervousness, or maybe excitement, or maybe a homogenous mix of both. She finally goggles at her surroundings, a marvelous shade of blue filling in everything beyond the wooden floor. It's like a little peninsula filled with colors and life and music.
"You… Guys…" Rei bends over and catches her breath beside Minako, "I can wait for the next ride…"
Minako feels the need to answer. "Well, I can't."
"Sucks to be you."
"You two would argue nonsensically everywhere, like give it up." Ami scolds. Minako shoots Rei a teasing glance one last time, and smiles in satisfaction.
–
In Minako's peripheral view, there's a glint of panic in Rei's face as Ami and Usagi narrowly take the last seats of the ride, and the two of them humiliatingly get cut off.
Minako stares at the two who begin securing their harnesses around them, with Ami looking back at Minako and Rei apologetically, but Usagi throws them (especially Minako) a knowing look. Something about Minako and Rei being left behind, alone with each other. Minako squints accusingly, as if to say "quit that."
"Great. Now what?" Rei voices. Minako supposes she should quickly find somewhere to escape to.
Minako's eyes dart everywhere, in search of a shelter or something, to hide away from the summer sun that cooks above them. A stall selling frozen goods lies nearby. "Wanna get froyos until the two are done?" Minako leisurely offers.
Rei doesn't even have any other choice.
–
Being left alone with Rei fills Minako with more tension than it should.
"I told you the four of us shouldn't have rushed to get in line." Rei spits sourly, placing the froyos she grabbed on the table and sitting across Minako.
"You didn't tell me that."
"I implied it."
Minako resets, reaching to help herself with her froyo, the cold sensation in her mouth feeling nice against the warm air. She removes her gaze from Rei to the ride Ami and Usagi and currently on, seeing it toss and turn in the air and emit deafening screams. Minako's eyes gleam with envy.
"The two of us should ride that too," Rei says, probably noticing how Minako looks at the ride towering over their heads, "Just the two of us. Y'know? As revenge for leaving us to rot in here?"
Just the two of us.
Minako's heart races and she hears it in her own ears.
"We should," is the only thing that comes out of Minako's already dry throat. She shoves another bite of froyo into her mouth for some moisture, the dryness too much to bear. "For revenge," She adds, slurring while the froyo still sits in her mouth.
"Eugh, don't talk when your mouth is full, Mina. That's basic etiquette word for word."
"You can never be sweet to me without being mean to me after, do you realize that?"
"Sweet?" Rei does a minuscule eye roll, like the word is gross on her tongue, "What part of that is being sweet?"
(In years of knowing Rei, Minako can tell that's denial shining through her tone which she tries so hard to sound aloof.)
Minako laughs inwardly, continuing on her froyo without another word to rebut.
–
Rei's mocking giggle is suddenly the only thing that reverberates in the air, "You suck at this."
"No, you suck at this." Minako absentmindedly retorts, with the sole intention of reciprocating Rei's 'taunt'. Minako aimlessly throws the last dart at the board, becoming red with anger when it, again, doesn't hit any of the balloons.
Minako has been stuck at this stall for a concerning amount of time now. They've been here since finishing the froyos, Usagi and Ami already got back from their ride and strayed away once again for some 1v1 game two stalls away. ( "Will that take long?" Usagi even asked Rei. "Fuck I know," Rei could only answer.)
"Mina, you know you can let it go already, right? You know there's absolutely no reason to spend so much irrevocable money on just one carnival game."
"We are not going anywhere, Rei." Minako firmly — stubbornly — declines, "I can prove to you I can win you something!"
(In truth, Minako just wants to impress.)
"I don't even like any of these prizes." Rei answers a little above a whisper, so the game watcher doesn't hear.
Minako decides to ignore her and pay for another try. Again, she misses, her heart heavy and painful.
Rei seems to detect the distress in Minako — well, she has been for quite a while now — and asks Minako to step back to 'let her try'.
"Hah!" Minako bitterly crosses her arms on her chest, eyeing the inside of the stall with so much loathe as if it hate-crimed her. "As if you'll be able to do this, out of all people."
Rei already pays for the game and grabs the darts handed to her before Minako bursts into the rant ominously hanging at the tip of her tongue and ready to fall. Rei briefly faces Minako and the corner of her lips curl up in a quick smirk.
Minako blushes, finding that action so attractive more than anything else.
Before Minako realizes it, Rei thrusts one dart into the air and it lands on one balloon with almost superhuman precision. The balloon fell with a loud pop, and Rei makes sure Minako hears that. She almost chokes at how impossibly calculated Rei's movement is, as if the hundred—thousand times Minako was doing this was Rei's chance for her to study the nature of this ludicrous game.
The second throw, pop! The balloon bursts out loud and the dart stays piercing the board. The third dart is thrown almost thoughtlessly, but as soon as Rei's hand lets go of the dart, expectedly, another balloon bursts.
"Easy as that , Minako." Rei says, pride stitched all over her syllables. "Now, just tell me which plushie motivated your ten thousand wimpy throws."
Minako stays silent as if to forfeit. Her gaze moves from Rei to a plump white cat plushie hanging from the innermost corner of the stall which, before she knew it, Rei is already pointing at. "I'll have that one."
Minako blushes, the heat on her face now tripling in intensity. Rei is so cool that Minako all but visibly fawns over her.
A voice gnaws at the back of Minako's skull. "I like her a little more now." She receives the cat plushie spaced out, too out of it to even feel embarrassed about the red tint on her cheeks.
–
"I hope you enjoyed your free time together," Usagi starts, throwing an arm around Minako's shoulders as the line for the cable cart tickets shortens. There's that heat creeping up to her face again. "You two should sit together."
Minako scoffs. "Why do you like me suffering?"
"It's funny," Usagi answers with almost angering nonchalance. "Ami and I were laughing about how pissed you two would be, being left out of the line." She says through chuckles, and Minako feels a headache looming.
"You're insane."
-
Sitting beside Rei in a cable cart multiple feet above the floor reminds Minako of a conversation she has had.
"Why do you even like Rei?" It was Ami who asked once.
"I don't even know." Minako answered, but it was an oversimplification. She knew. She would list a myriad of reasons if she could. Yet it was just overwhelmingly beyond words, beyond expressing.
The sunset that has just begun renders the world an orange tint. It's not as hot as earlier either. The hue lurks on Rei's face perfectly, her raven locks more beautiful than before, and it leaves Minako breathless , that someone like Rei is this perfect with her figure in front of the golden sun dissolving at the edge of the bay.
It's just awfully easy to fall for her, Minako thinks. She's so elusive yet alluring at the same time, so eccentric yet inviting.
So, really, how this happened has nothing to do with Minako, and everything to do with Rei.
"Something tells me you're dying to say something. So just fire away." Before she knew it, Rei is already facing her, probably feeling Minako's eyes trailed at her.
"How about you guys?" Her mind re-echoes the conversation with Ami. "How'd you even know I like Rei? I'm not even saying anything."
"It's not rocket science," Ami said like it was a solid fact. "You're practically Miss Obvious, for the record. Maybe try harder hiding it next time."
Minako never hides it.
It's something Minako just isn't good at. She isn't hardwired to keep feelings under wraps and, she thinks, that's the stupid part of their friendship. Rei is anything but dumb and dense, Minako's feelings is out in the open for Rei to see. She thinks Rei already knows.
That's what complicates this whole ordeal, your best friend already knowing you're in love with her and is perfectly fine with it, even though she doesn't say it.
"Okay, I have to ask you something, but like, you have to answer honestly. It's something that has been seriously eating me away."
Rei doesn't budge. "Go on."
"Did you know I like you?"
There's a pause, a bit more dramatic than intended, and Rei bursts into a fit of laughter. Minako doesn't know if it is because of what she told her, or if it is their comical pause that got her.
"Oh, what a surprise, Minako, what a surprise." She says with the residue of laughter slipping in her words.
"If you already knew, why didn't you say anything?!" Minako's pitch is higher, face reddening once more.
"Because I suck at letting you know that it's mutual..." Rei trails off as if she has just said the most embarrassing thing on Earth. Minako's eyes double in size, pupils dilating, face in flames. "And acknowledging your feelings means I have to assess mine."
"Rei, you..." Minako stammers, eyes brimming with uncertainty, "are you sure you were ready to tell me this?!"
"Do you think I would ask you in the first place if I was not?"
"She's so intelligent," Minako fawns. "Always knowing what to say and how to say it."
Minako blinks in amazement, and looks at Rei with more adoration sparkling in her eyes than ever. The cable cart steadily whirrs and the lively carnival continues on below them. Rei tentatively scoots closer.
"Is this how you do it?"
Minako is perplexed, "Do what?"
"Affection."
"You're hopeless." Minako scoffs.
"Says the one who wouldn't confess to me if I didn't ask her?" Rei bickers back.
With the sky slowly turning from orange to purple and Usagi and Ami squealing at them embarrassingly loudly (never faltering one bit even when they already got off the ride), Minako thinks it's amazing how things fell into the right places.