Yoimiya picks up the spicy noodles in her bowl with chopsticks, challenging Thoma to a duel-- as always, the two like siblings competing for who could slurp down their entire bowl the fastest. Ayaka always finds herself intrigued by this. Thoma and Yoimiya weren’t related, but they acted more like siblings than Ayaka and her own brother, Ayato. She couldn’t help but be envious, not only due to their closeness, but also because Yoimiya never challenged her to these sort of playful duels.
It’s not like she wasn’t used to being left out due to people assuming she’d not be interested without even asking first, but she expected either of the two people she was closest to, to at least make an attempt in getting her to participate-- especially Yoimiya. She couldn’t help but silently cheer for her to win, not that there was any reward. The only incentive for doing these battles was the pride, the satisfaction of being able to ridicule the loser for not having won the contest. Ayaka enjoyed seeing Yoimiya win, because she’d always smile so proudly, a smile that Ayaka would call the apple of her eye if it wasn’t for her uncertainty regarding Yoimiya’s current relationship status. It’s not that Yoimiya had many partners, it was just that she’s always been so friendly with everyone, it’s easy to misread her intent, and additionally she always seemed to keep everyone at an arm’s length despite this kindness she always exhibited.
Ayaka always did wonder, what exactly did Yoimiya have to hide? Is she ever sad? Unhappy? Has she always been this spritey?
“Mmph…” The muffled noise draws Ayaka out her thoughts. When she looks up, Yoimiya’s face is stuffed and stained with noodle broth. She swallows hard, and firmly places her bowl on the table. “And I win! Suck it!” Yoimiya begins to down a cup of milk Ayaka poured her and wipes away any essence of her meal from her mouth.
“Yet another loss…” Thoma sighs, placing his bowl down in defeat.
“Do you want any milk?” Ayaka holds out a cup and jug for him, leaving the implication she'd get it for him.
“Ah, Miss Kamisato, ever the considerate one,” Thoma says with a nod, and she pours some out for him to soothe the burn.
“Rather ironic that the Shirasagi Himegimi’s housekeeper is being looked after instead of doing the looking after. Yet another thing you’re relying on her for-- C’mon stop getting Ayaka to buy you alone time with her brother and fess up already,” Yoimiya teases, extending her hand and stealing a rice ball from Thoma’s plate using her chopsticks.
“Oh, you’re one to talk, when you’ve been-” Thoma attempts to retaliate, but Yoimiya is not letting him finish that sentence.
“You’re the reason that homophobia is still a thing, you know that right?”
“You two, stop it!” Ayaka lands a light backhanded slap on Thoma’s arm right next to her and earns a laugh from him. What Ayaka doesn’t notice though, is that Thoma looks up at Yoimiya and catches her attention. He leers and she knows exactly why. Since Ayaka isn’t looking, she mouths a, “Don’t you dare,” to him silently.
He pretends to think like he hadn’t already made up his mind, and then looks back at her. Yoimiya seems slightly panicked, and Thoma considers this revenge for her making fun of him earlier.
“I think I’m gonna go now. I need to help the young lord with his sparring.”
“Oh, I see. Goodbye Thoma, enjoy your session and please do tell my brother I might be back late for dinner this afternoon. I want to take a late night stroll before going to bed, I won't forget to eat.”
“Got it, my lady. Well then, I’ll be off. You two enjoy the alone time.” Yoimiya refrains from glaring at him since Ayaka’s attention is on her, and Thoma knows it. Just to tease her even further, Thoma shoots her a smug expression. She’d put a blazing arrow through his knee just so Ayato would have to come pick him up bridal style and take him home if Ayaka wasn’t here. Now that was something she’d love to make fun of him for later.
Once he left the room, Yoimiya and Ayaka resumed eating until their tea arrived. Yoimiya would like to say they sat in comfortable silence, which may have been the case for Ayaka-- but for Yoimiya, being stuck in a room with nothing to talk about while accompanied by the same girl who’s been selfishly taking up all the space in her thoughts for the longest time was absolutely dreadful.
“Yoimiya?” Ayaka calls out from the other side of the table.
“Hm? Oh, yes. Sorry, I got distracted by something.”
“That’s okay. Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me on my night stroll in a few minutes. We can visit the beach right next to the estate, if you’d like.”
That’s when something in Yoimiya’s mind lit up, no pun intended-- but she twisted around and pulled a bag over her lap, digging through it and presenting Ayaka with her latest creation.
“Sure! Can we test out my newest fireworks? I Promise it’ll be really cool!”
“Of course!” Ayaka’s heart skips a beat at the way Yoimiya’s eyes glimmer whenever she talks about fireworks. She knew, that ever since they were children, Yoimiya had a fondness for all things bright and loud. It's when she met Yoimiya, that she realized she did too.
Ideally, the small fireworks display was for Ayaka, Yoimiya and Thoma to view together-- but only Thoma and Yoimiya knew the true meaning behind the arrangement of blindingly bright colours.
--
Yoimiya bends down, igniting a flame at the base of each firework, urging Ayaka to run a minor bit away with her so that they’ll be at a safe distance.
Within seconds, a bright combination of multiple shades of blue dash into the sky, leaving streaks of colour and bursting into azure flowers that popped when they blossomed, the particles plummeting out of existence when the flowers are fully bloomed. Ayaka’s head turns to face the girl next to her, and she just has to admire the way the blue light illuminates her eyes, and in that moment she can see it. A burning passion for that which lights up the darkness. This is what she liked so much about her.
Yoimiya’s shoes give her some height over Ayaka, so when she feels her staring she has to bend her head slightly to make eye contact. They don’t say anything, but she knows that in those blue-grey pools of wonder that embody elegance so well, there's something she wants to say.
The feeling is mutual, as the more Ayaka falls into the depths of gold, the more she wants to be enveloped by it. The fireworks stop. The night is silent and the wind is cold, but the fingers of the hands interlocked with each other are warm and the crash of gentle beach waves on the shore are too loud. Ayaka swears she hears something thumping louder than those crashes and brings her free hand upto Yoimiya's chest. She can feel it, they're the same. Yoimiya mimes the movement, eyes going wide at the sudden revelation.
Slowly, they both begin to close the distance between them, but they immediately realize neither of them are very good at this when they bump foreheads and step back, the fingers once tightly interlocked coming loose to rub their own foreheads.
“Ow!”
“Ow!”
Ayaka panics, and begins to chant apologies, but Yoimiya shushes her unintentionally when she begins to laugh. That laughter is contagious, because once Yoimiya starts, Ayaka follows.
“We’re not so good at romance, huh? Did Thoma tell you I’m really bad at that kind of stuff so you decided to surprise me? Maybe I shouldn’t have rambled about how much I liked you when he was begging me for relationship advice to get closer to your brother.” She giggles. Yoimiya holds Ayaka’s hand and sits on a rock that has enough space for both of them.
“Of course he didn’t.” Ayaka softly chuckles., “Though, I do believe we can try that again-- if you’d like..that is.”
Yoimiya nods, and Ayaka brings a hand up to her cheek as they properly close the distance this time, pressing their foreheads together afterwards and feeling Yoimiya’s breath tickle her cheek. Yoimiya giggles as she feels Ayaka's eyelashes dust across her skin, the feeling foreign but not unwelcome.
“Are you sure Thoma didn’t say anything?”
“I promise...I must confess though, I was unaware as to whether this is the right call, considering I also rambled about you to Thoma- but he never confirmed whether you liked me back or not.”
“That’s Thoma for you.” Yoimiya widens the gap between them by pulling out the butterfly kisses with care.
“That aside, I have been wondering for a while now...May I participate in more things with you? I would like to make fireworks, and have food contests…and do all the things you and Thoma do together as friends, but...not as friends, as something...more than friends.” Ayaka flushes and looks at Yoimiya’s face hoping for approval.
For a second, the cryo user leaves Yoimiya starstruck. She almost forgets how to speak. She was so sure she’d be the one asking Ayaka to be her girlfriend, but oh- how the tables have turned.
“Yoimiya? Please, answer. The silence is making me nervous.”
“Of course! I’d love to! I’ve always wanted to do those things with you but I never knew if you’d be interested.”
“Well, you never asked.”
“My bad,” Yoimiya sheepishly laughs as she stands up with Ayaka and walks her back home.
“Would you like me to get someone to escort you home, Yoimiya? It is a long walk.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine!” Yoimiya blushes and appreciates the concern from her new girlfriend.
“Alright then,” Ayaka presses a kiss to Yoimiya’s cheek and steps back, “Goodnight, Yoimiya.”
The blonde’s hand ghosts over her own cheek where Ayaka’s lips had touched, and she mumbles out a, “Goodnight, Ayaka,” with new kinds of fireworks going off inside of her.
As Ayaka opens the door to step inside, she’s greeted by a very cheeky pair that’s smiling down at her. Of course they’d be spying, Ayaka always told Thoma about Yoimiya, and chances are, he spilled it to her brother.
She immediately opens her fan and covers the lower half of her face.
“How was the walk, sister?” Ayato nudges Thoma as they both try not to snicker when she turns her back to them and continues walking to her room.
“It was lovely, thank you for asking. I’ll be going to bed now.”
“Goodnight, my lady. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, but something tells me you’ve already gotten everything you wanted already.” Thoma chimes in.
“I will keep that in mind Thoma, thank you.” She chooses to ignore the second half of his statement as she locks herself in her room and holds back a squeal knowing she did indeed, get everything she ever wanted and more.