Mahiru stared up at the ceiling of her cabin, a quiet huff leaving her like a balloon slowly deflating. She managed to not completely deflate herself this time as she rolled onto her side next, staring out the small circular window, the glass stained. Frown. She should clean that up when the chance next presented itself. She never enjoyed dirty environs. It gave off the wrong kind of image. She rolled onto another side this time, staring at some of the pictures she had hung on the well. Thankfully she hadn't deleted any of her pictures while in despair, so when she woke up she just had to check her pockets, and... There it was. The old SD card with all the pictures she had taken with her class. Just looking at them made her smile like nothing else. All her friends smiling and acting together. Even Nanami. Seeing her smile made the smile tinge towards sadness, but it soon returned to a gentle and happy nature. Nanami wouldn't want her to dwell on her death. She'd want her to look forwards to the future she was making with her friends.
Before she could go further down that trail of thought, she was interrupted by a knock on the wooden door. There was a window on the door, although it was covered with a curtain that made it impossible to see who was coming in. She had her own well educated guess, but she kept it to herself and sat up, running a hand through her hair.
"Come in, it's open."
Just as those words were spoken the door was flung open by the blonde traditional dancer, an impish grin on her face as she strolled in. Despite her attitude, Saionji always had such a grace around her movements. Not that Koizumi was staring, that wasn't her... Agenda. But it was easy to take note of the little things for someone like her. Pictures were an art, and noticing small details in pictures was an art inside an art. Something like that forced her to learn to take note of the little things. Otherwise she couldn't claim to be her mother's daughter. She had trailed off with her thoughts, and by the time she came to Saionji had already stopped in front of the sitting Koizumi, squatting down with that same grin still on her face.
"... What?"
A confused head tilt followed the question Koizumi presented, feeling around her own face for a bit. "Is there something on my face?" She didn't feel anything, though. No zits or anything else that could have been taken as ugly. So why was Saionji still just staring at her with that grin? It was almost unnerving, but she knew the other girl well enough to know she wouldn't harm her or anything. Once she had mapped out every inch of her face and made sure there was nothing there, her frown just grew even more. "Why are you grinning?!"
"Well," Saionji finally spoke and trailed off, running a single finger against her chin with that impish grin now being more fitting as a devilish one, raising back up onto her feet. "I wanted to check on something with big sis. Could you stand up for me, please?"
An odd request, but Koizumi shrugged her shoulders and got up for Saionji. Without a word the dancer spun her finger. It took Koizumi a second to realize the other girl wanted her to spin around. Another odd request, but she complied once more and turned so that her back was facing against the other. Saionji pressed her front against Koizumi's back. This was... Odd. What was she trying to do here? The answer came soon when she felt something press against the top of her head. Was she... Patting her? No, couldn't be, she din't feel any fingers in her hair. It took her a second.
Saionji was resting her chin on top of Koizumi's head, grinning and snickering at the other girl's misfortune(?) of being shorter than her. "Biiiig siiiis." She spoke in a singsong tease that managed to get a little flush on Koizumi's face. "You're soooo short." Teasing too?! She was even redder, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance at the other girl. What was her endgame? Turning her as red as her hair? That was pretty mean of her, and usually Saionji kept her attitude on the low when dealing with Koizumi. She didn't make her objections to the teasing clear in vocal manners, just folding her arms and staring at the wall in defiance. Perhaps she could play mute and get the other flustered that way.
Saionji instead pushed herself and by extension Koizumi onto the bed, giggling to herself. "C'mon, c'mon! Don't be like this."
Koizumi still kept quiet and stared at that dirty window again, pouting and keeping up the mute approach just to egg Saionji on further. The other girl's hands were wrapped around her waist now. Big spoon Saionji, huh? Guess she wasn't the "big sis" figure Saionji had touted her as in the simulation. Now she was just a sis, wasn't she. Shorter than her, maybe not as pretty...
"Hey, big sis?" Saionji spoke up while resting her chin in Koizumi's red hair, smiling to herself. It wasn't smug or devilish this time, instead it was soft and friendly. Even loving. Love was a strong word, wasn't it? But that could be used for a situation like this, at least in Saionji's mind. She didn't know what Koizumi was thinking about, but maybe, just maybe it'd be her. She wanted something like that to happen. For Koizumi to think of her.
A tingle went down Koizumi's spine as she pushed back against the taller girl, huffing and feeling her warm breath against the skin of her head. She was very nice to cuddle up against, even if just before she had been a bit mad about the whole thing. Saionji could make her mood change and her heart flutter, but she wouldn't admit it to her face. That'd be embarrassing, and she wasn't at all sure if Saionji even wanted something like that from her. She spoke up despite the tingles going down her spine, her voice coming off as quiet and reserved. "What?"
"You're the best." Saionji buried her nose in Koizumi's hair, taking a sniff. She smelled good. "... I wanna spend a lot of time with you. I won't let you go away again. I was so sad when you left me in there. I care." Her tone got definitely sadder, but she still smiled and took in the scent of her friend. Friend? No, no. She wasn't just a friend. Koizumi was something much more to Saionji.
"... Where'd that come from? Geez." Koizumi finally managed her snappy report, curling up against the taller girl, who in turn hugged her closer. Despite the kimono Saionji was wearing, they managed to form some sort of comfortable cuddling position. "I won't be going anywhere, though. That'd be irresponsible of me. I want to stay right here too, looking after you." Saying these words made some soft tears roll down her face. She wasn't sad at all, though. She felt so happy speaking these words to someone like Saionji. She was special. And she just wanted to see her be safe and happy, no matter what happened to herself.
"Don't geez me or I'm gonna bop you on the nose. Being you doesn't mean you're immune." Despite her immense threats of violence, she giggled and kept quiet after that. The two girls didn't exchange any more words, passing hours tied together, hands occasionally meeting and then parting. They shared in their warmth even if their skin wasn't touching. Occasionally they might've looked at each other with Koizumi looking up or Saionji lifting her head from the other's head, but soon enough they both drifted to sleep, the rocking of the ship acting like a lullaby to their sweet dreams.
Dreams of a better future together.