springtime | winrina

ten

Yuna's jaw drops in shock, and Winter's feeling of temporary calm is shattered as she suddenly realizes that the younger girl might reveal how she feels about Karina.

"That's me," Karina agrees, a faintly confused expression on her face, and Winter bites her lip anxiously, bobbing her head up and down as Yuna's mouth only opens wider.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Winter-yah," Karina says, turning her attention to the flustered raven-haired girl standing by the counter. "Here to return that manga you're always reading... Blue Lock, I think?"

Winter blushes. Karina remembers.

"Y- yeah, that's it," Winter nods. "I was just here to return it and- I'm gonna go now."

"This isn't over," Yuna says to her, and Winter sighs at the younger girl's curious antics, while Karina just watches them, the same expression on her face. Winter chances a look in her direction, and sees her eyebrows adorably furrowed as she thinks.

In that moment, she's more in love with the girl than she can possibly imagine.

Wait. Love?

Yuna grins at the lovestruck expression that has, no doubt, reappeared on Winter's face. She taps the desk, drops the manga in a basket labeled FOR SHELVING, and smirks. "See you, Winter."

"See you, Yuna," Winter emphasizes, raising an eyebrow, warning her. If this girl tells Karina about Winter's crush on her, she swears to God. Yuna just grins and waves her goodbye.

"Wait."

Winter's entire body comes to a halt as Karina calls her name softly.

"Winter-yah?"

"Uh... huh?" Winter queries as she turns around nervously, looking at Karina, rubbing the back of her neck. "What's up?"

"Can you wait for me outside? I don't want to walk home alone, if that's okay with you," Karina says, and Winter's heart backflips.

"Yeah, of course," Winter agrees, and stumbles outside to wait for Karina as she borrows a few books. She can't listen in, since it'll look weird if she's constantly keeping an ear on Yuna, so she's left to pray that Yuna won't reveal her secret.

Karina comes out just as the sun begins to set, and the light hits her face just right as she smiles at Winter, her skin glowing, and Winter can feel the back of her neck getting warm as she grins back.

"Thanks for waiting."

"Of course," Winter replies, and they're just standing there in front of the store, Karina alight with sunshine as Winter stands next to her, smiling like an idiot.

"Want to start walking?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Winter stammers, and Karina laughs softly. The sound is like music to Winter's ears.

The two girls turn and start to walk in the direction of their houses, comfortable silence settling between them like a blanket. Sometime along the way, Karina links her pinky finger with Winter's, her smile never disappearing. Winter's heart overflows, and she feels full to the point of bursting.

She likes Karina so much it's become part of her.

And that's when Winter makes a spontaneous decision. She has to tell Karina how she feels, and soon.

"Okay, here's my house," Karina says, pausing in front of a neat, yellow-painted home with lacy curtains and a small attic on top. Honeysuckle-styled decorations adorn the side of the home, giving the whole thing a cozy look. "Thank you for walking me home, Winter-yah."

"Of course, Karomi," Winter nods softly, and Karina turns to her. The sun has set, and the slowly darkening sky casts beautifully long shadows over Karina's face as they face each other. Karina smiles gently at Winter.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Winter agrees, but then she thinks better of it and says, "Wait."

"Hm?" Karina turns back to face her, and Winter's breath hitches at how beautiful she looks. "What's wrong?"

"I- uh, this is for you." Winter sticks out her hand, the crumpled note in it, the one professing her like for Karina.

But what if Karina misinterprets the note as platonic? Scenarios go dashing through Winter's mind, and she panics.

Karina accepts the note, a shy smile on her face, and nods. "Should I read it now?"

"If- if you want."

Winter's heart and mind are racing.

Karina opens the note slowly and scans the wording. Winter's eyes are glued to her as she reads, her expression changing from passive to unreadable, and the dark lighting prevents Winter from reading a blush on her or not. Karina stands stock still as she stares at the note, much stiller than expected of someone reading such a short note, and bad things run through Winter's mind.

What if she doesn't like it?

Oh, God, what if she doesn't like me back?

When Karina raises her eyes, Winter sees a hint of confusion in them, and takes a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I- I shouldn't have," Winter gasps out, tears already pricking her eyes, and balls her fists, turning to run.

Karina doesn't even call out after her.

And that's what hurts the most.

When Winter gets home, tears are already streaming down her face, and the first thing she does is call Ryujin.

"What's up?"

"I- she- I- Karina-"

Tears are blurring Winter's vision and her voice, and although her best friend is a goofball and kind of an idiot sometimes, she understands immediately.

That's why Ryujin is Ryujin.

"I'm five minutes away."

"What happened?" Ryujin asks gently, sitting close to Winter as she cries. A gentle hand is laid on her back. Ryujin got to Winter's house five minutes later as promised, and ran upstairs immediately, a bag of snacks in one hand and car keys in the other. Upon finding Winter crying, she'd dropped everything and hugged her friend.

"I- she," Winter sobs out, and then wipes away the tears for a moment to continue.

"I gave her a note saying I think I like you, Karina, and she read it, and her face turned all confused, and she looked up at me and didn't say anything. She went so still. Oh, God, it was so awful and I really liked our relationship and I think I completely and utterly just fucked it up. Ryujin, I don't know what to do, everything is confusing, and-"

"Hey, it's okay," Ryujin says, squeezing Winter's hand and pulling her into another hug. "If she doesn't like you back, she's missing out, Win. You've got so many good things going for you and if she doesn't see that, it's her loss. You put your heart on your sleeve, so it's her move. It's her, okay?"

"O- okay," Winter cries, and she lets it all out- her growing affection for Karina, Karina's teasing, Karina and Winter, Karina, Karina, Karina.

She wants Karina to like her back.

But Karina has the whole school under her thumb.

Why would Winter ever have a chance?

a/n: Sorry it's a short chapter lol, the original author on ao3 stopped writing the fic in 2019 and left off at the previous chapter, so this chapter and the next ones to come are written by me, and I usually write shorter chapters. Hope you enjoyed :)