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Izumi paced up and down the shopfronts, pretending to browse. In reality, she was internally seething. That tardy vampire was late, again. She was close to freezing despite all the layers she was wrapped in. After another five minutes of waiting she’d made up her mind to go home.
If Ritsu thought it was all fine and dandy to wallow around and let Izumi waste her time, then Ritsu should have no problem with Izumi refusing to spend any of it on her.
It was late afternoon, and the streetlights had been on for some time, bathing the roads beneath in a soft white light as the sun began its slow descent below the horizon. Dinner spots had already begun to open, and Izumi had no desire to have to queue for hours once the lines formed.
As she continued cursing Ritsu in her head, the sickly sweet scent of sugar invaded her senses. She crinkled her nose by reflex – with how strict she was with her diet, it wasn’t a familiar smell to her, and she was averse to it.
Her eyes scanned the crowds of people littering the streets before her, but she couldn’t pinpoint the origin of the smell. Not until a soft, barely audible voice called out from behind her.
She felt a hand on her shoulder before she saw a face. Ritsu gently tapped her, seemingly having caught her right as she was leaving. Izumi jumped at the sensation.
There was that smell – Ritsu’s own fragrance, mixed with whatever goods were stored in the huge bag hanging off of her shoulder. The vampire wore a long grey overcoat over a patterned skirt that just about reached her ankles. A thick woollen hat covered most of the upper hemisphere of her head, stopping just shy of her languorous ruby eyes.
Izumi thought she was the picture of a rolled-up duvet in a bedding store – Ritsu’s clothes hid most of her body, but Izumi could swear that there were at least two more layers under there. Ritsu would never take the time to prepare so thoroughly for any kind of weather, and Izumi assumed her outfit was the work of her roommate, Kagehira.
Ritsu’s eyes crinkled beneath her bangs, clearly trying to suppress a smile.
“Secchan, were you gonna leave without me? I’m hurt… couldn’t you have waited?”
Izumi knew by the sleek grin that had now broken out on Ritsu’s face that she didn’t mean a word, and therefore didn’t feel inclined to apologise.
“You could hardly expect me to wait around, after being fifteen minutes late. How unpunctual of you. Really, your behaviour’s just soo~ annoying! You can’t expect other people to stay this long, you know! You should be thankful that I didn’t leave any earlier–”
Ritsu let Izumi ramble on a little longer. Once the model finally finished her verbal assault, she simply shrugged and smiled.
“Well, Secchan waited for me, didn’t she? I don’t care if anyone else leaves me behind as long as you stay, so it’s all fine.”
Izumi flinched, temporarily startled by the vampire’s words. She tilted her head, hiding it from the other girl’s view. The cold was doing nothing for her slowly warming ears, imperceptibly red.
She tried to say something, to tell Ritsu that one day she, too, wouldn’t be able to wait around for her. But the words wouldn’t leave her mouth. She knew it was a lie. There wasn’t a single scenario she could think of in which she wouldn’t wait for Ritsu.
As frustrated as she might get, as long as she might have to stand, she’d stay and wait. She’d wait as long as she needed to, rather than deny herself the presence of the enigma that was Ritsu Sakuma.
“But I’m still upset with you. We haven't seen each other for so long, and your first thought before meeting me was to run away before I could even see you. I’ve been so lonely while you’ve been living it up in Italy with Tsukipi… You’re killing me, Secchan~”
“Don’t go trying to make me feel guilty–”
“Before I forget, I have something for you. Close your eyes first.” She shook the bag on her arm excitedly.
Izumi huffed indignantly, a soft cloud of warm air blowing in front of her before cooling into frost. Interrupting someone like that. How annoying! She gave Ritsu’s bag another look over. She was already quite sure of what was inside.
“I don’t want to see any of your terrifying sweets, Kuma-kun – and I couldn’t possibly have that much sugar. I’ll break out, don’t you know?”
“It’s a gift, Secchan, you have to take it.” The girl held the bag closer to Izumi, refusing to let up. The model shifted away again, but Ritsu would not take a hint. “Nobody said you had to eat it right now. And they're specially made for you. Pleeeease~?”
Izumi sighed irritatedly, snatching the bag out of Ritsu’s hand. She briefly looked over the contents. Ritsu had been telling the truth about having made them with Izumi in mind – she’d already spotted a few cakes adorned with her face in icing. A horrific rendition of it, yes, but her face nonetheless. She was almost impressed at how Ritsu managed to turn a face as beautiful as her own into such a horrifying decoration.
“Tsk, fine. I suppose I should say thank you.”
Ritsu sidled up to her, slipping her arm under Izumi’s free one and hooking them together.
“No need. It was for Secchan, so I had fun making it~”
Izumi scoffed again, but she didn’t pull from Ritsu’s hold. Ritsu saw that as a good sign.
They walked like that for a while, telling each other about the minor happenings of that day. Ritsu was deeply engrossed in sharing how she’d spent the greater part of her morning with her “darling Maa-kun”.
Izumi didn’t want to say it out loud, but the way Ritsu talked about Mao felt unbearably saccharine. Sure, she was just talking about her friend. They’d known each other since they were kids. It made sense. There was nothing wrong with how Ritsu spoke about Mao. After all, it was Mao – anyone who knew Ritsu should be familiar with how she felt about her.
But the way Ritsu went on made Izumi feel sick. She couldn’t help but feel like Ritsu was speaking so fondly about Mao for the sole purpose of shoving their bond into her face.
It was juvenile of her to be annoyed by something so trivial. But she couldn’t control her body’s response – the perfectly innocent words from Ritsu’s mouth seemed to worm their way inside of her, spiking her blood pressure, making her sweat.
Ritsu eventually noticed Izumi’s silence. The vampire knew that look on her face – her mind was far from the conversation at hand.
“Secchan, are you listening? Maa-kun helped me make those sweets for you, so make sure she gets a huuuuge thank you once you get back to the dorms, okay?”
Even the mere thought of Mao’s hands handling the bag she was holding was enough send a shiver down her spine. Izumi’s response came as an automatic murmur. “Of course I'll remember. Isara was very kind to help you out.”
“Hm. I can tell when Secchan isn’t listening to me. Fine, I guess I won’t talk, then.”
Izumi let out a small sigh, clearly unimpressed with Ritsu’s childish behaviour. But she still stayed quiet.
Their steps sounded in discord. Izumi’s short, curt feet fell onto the pavement with a clack, courtesy of her heeled winter boots. Ritsu’s longer, softer strides made almost no sound as she walked next to the model, staring into the shop display windows as they went along.
A small stampede of assumptions went through Ritsu’s mind just then. Usually, Secchan could never stop talking. Ritsu, more often than not, depended on her to drive the conversation. She usually didn’t mind a little bit of silence, but when it was with Secchan it just felt foreign.
She stole a glance at the model’s profile. She really was breathtakingly gorgeous. Her eyes, looking aimlessly ahead of her, looked like two crystal clear pools of freshwater. Every single one of her features carried a distinct elegance. Even the tiniest things, like the slight curve of her nose, or the minute parting of her lips on a cold day like this one, were sights to behold.
Yeah, sure, it was true that Izumi went on and on about her own looks – it wouldn’t even be a lie to say she was vain. But Ritsu believed that words couldn’t explain what she saw when she looked at Izumi. She could understand how a beauty like hers could inspire Leo to keep composing masterpieces. Even she felt a wave of inspiration overcome her, a profound urge to even attempt to create something, anything, to endeavour to recreate Izumi’s overwhelming beauty.
Someone like Izumi had a presence that was unreal. She had a manner that was unattainable by someone as ordinary as herself. Izumi was someone to be admired. She was proud, and she was right to be so. Ritsu had never seen the girl doubt herself, or look even the slightest bit perturbed in anything she’d put her mind to.
Her own languid existence wasn’t enough to be by Izumi’s side. She’d made peace with that fact. She would never be dear to Izumi in the way Izumi was dear to her. She’d seen the way she and Leo looked after each other.
So she instead savoured the moments they did have with one another. To be this close to Izumi was a blessing in itself.
Ritsu toyed with the hairclip just behind her ear. Still – she didn’t like feeling so far away from Izumi. But her mouth wouldn’t open. With every passing second the thick silence between them grew stronger. Say something, Secchan.
“Kuma. What’s that?”
“Eh?”
“That hairpin. Where’d you get it?”
What an abrupt question. But Ritsu’s heart rate slowed considerably. Any conversation would do, if to keep her from her own thoughts.
“Maa-kun lent it to me for the day. I was waiting for you to notice~”
Isara. Maa-kun. Izumi almost laughed out loud. It was delusional of her to think she could ever be first when it came to Ritsu.
“It looks nice.”
“Wow, Secchan, you really have changed. Not one comment on how crooked it looks on my head~”
Izumi tutted, inclining her head towards Ritsu to look her up and down. “I haven’t said anything about that horror of an outfit either, so maybe I’m feeling kindly today.
Ritsu giggled, tugging on Izumi’s scarf to steady herself, and Izumi jerked as the whole thing came undone. It tumbled down from her neck, landing neatly in Ritsu’s arms.
“Kuma-kun! How can one person be so ungainly – you really are a pain sometimes.” She held out her hand, motioning towards the scarf now in the vampire’s hands. “Wait a moment while I put it back on.”
Ritsu looked at her for a moment, her cheeks rounding as a grin crept onto her face. She looped the scarf around Izumi’s neck with a flourish, tying it into a knot at the front.
“Sorry, Secchan. I’ll do it up for you, so don’t be mad, okay?”
Izumi stiffened as Ritsu's hands weaved through the fabric, turning it inside and out until her fingers turned the plain knot into a lovely bow. Ritsu straightened, admiring her work. The cloth looped around itself wonderfully – she really had done a good job, hadn’t she? Her eyes slowly moved up from the scarf to Izumi’s face.
Izumi hadn’t stopped looking at Ritsu’s delicate hands throughout the whole process. They really were so defined – the perfect picture of ‘pianist hands’. Soft and fragile, sharp and biting, all at the same time.
She met Ritsu’s eyes.
Soft and sharp all at once, just like Ritsu.
“Are you cold, Secchan? You’re pink all over.”
Ritsu leaned forward to wrap her arms around Izumi, holding her tightly. She rested her head on Izumi’s shoulder, sighing in content. 'Cold' was the last feeling racing through Izumi’s body, but she supposed this wasn’t too bad of a position to be in.
“You still cold?”
“I’m just fine, Kuma-kun.”
Warmth settled comfortably in Izumi’s chest. She’d missed Japan. She’d missed being with the rest of Knights. She’d missed going out and being carefree. She’d missed Ritsu.
“You’re such a nice pillow, Secchan…”
“Ghk– Get off of me, you sluggard!”