An's heart couldn't catch up with her as she had gotten closer to the local spot that Kohane had sent her. This would be their first one on one interaction in over a year, and just the thought of it made the air thicker.
She walked into the spot and noticed the numerous couples that were seated in it, the furniture was gold encrusted and the curtains were made of silk, far from your average eatery. As she was about to step further into the restaurant, she heard someone shout her name, a young waitress.
"Excuse me..do you happen to be Miss Shiraishi-san?" She asked.
"Uhm..yes?" An replied.
"Ah perfect, Azusawa-san told me that you'd be arriving at this time, right this way." She said, directing An towards a seperate part of the restaurant, heading towards a private booth.
Upon pulling the curtains, she spotted an anxious Kohane on her phone.
"Kohane?" An asked, causing Kohane to immediately cast her phone aside.
"An-chan–! Here, take a seat." Kohane quickly shot up, pulling the chair back.
"Ah..thank you." An smiled, taking the seat as Kohane went back to hers.
"Was everything alright? I couldn't help but notice you looked a bit worried." An pointed out.
"Uhm yeah..everything is fine, thanks for asking." Kohane smiled, dragging a menu across the table.
"My..parents used to go here a lot, it's a good place to have a proper sit down."
"Ah I bet, it's very nice, but is there a reason for the whole booth?"
"I just..think it'd be nice for us to talk without anyone listening in, you know?"
"K-Kohane Azusawa?!" Someone spoke up in the distance.
"And...they forgot to close the curtain." Kohane facepalmed, An couldn't help but laugh a little from the reaction.
After the two girls were moved between booths and they ordered their food, they talked about the simple things, how life has been between the two of them, how their fellow ex bandmates have been as of recent, the weather, anything that could be discussed within a conversation.
"So..how have Akito and Toya been?" Kohane asked, picking up her glass of lemonade.
"They've been doing well for themselves, Akito is deep into his soloist career while Toya is staying on hiatus until he graduates."
"Ah really?" Kohane took a brief pause before continuing. "And how about you?"
"Me? Uhm, I've sorta just been doing the regular, except..solo."
"Ah."
A moment of silence surfaced between the two of them.
"Well, I'm glad that you guys are making your own paths for yourselves, I'm proud of the steps you've made." Kohane smiled.
"You're proud of us? We're proud of you, look how far you've gone!" An mentioned.
"Pretty sure you were more disappointed than proud earlier."
"I was disappointed because you couldn't reach out..but that was also not your fault, and it's hard not to be proud."
"Mhm..thank you, An-chan."
They sat at the restaurant for a little while longer before Kohane called the waiter to grab a check, An takes this as a cue to start packing up. She takes her bag and her phone and exchanges her goodnights and best wishes to Kohane.
As she left the restaurant, she heard the girl call out her name in the distance.
"An-chan–!" Kohane announced, running towards the confused girl.
"Ah, yes Kohane?"
"I meant to ask this earlier, however it completely slipped my mind–!" Kohane said, panting "Would you like to come over to my place tonight..?"
"H-Huh?"
"You don't have to, I just don't want to end the night so soon.." Kohane mentioned.
An took a moment to consider the situation, Kohane genuinely looked interested in having An over, her eyes lighting up under the moonlight, An had gotten dazed by the sudden sight.
"An..chan..?"
"Ah..uhm..I'd love to come over!" An replied, having that returned feeling of fuzziness in her chest as Kohane jumped for a hug.
Kohane's house wasn't far from the restaurant, although it had been so long since An had last been over to her place, she had completely forgotten the directory and had to have Kohane lead the way, still having practically picture perfect memory of the path.
An's heart had gotten heavy similarly to how it was prior to entering the restaurant, she felt the beats along her neck with the increasing awareness that she had. She was so dazed that she had failed to realize Kohane's hand sliding over hers.
"We're here!~" Kohane announced.
"I-I- already?!" An asked, snapping back into reality.
"The walk wasn't that long, probably ten minutes?" She mentioned, unlocking the front door.
An felt more the dizzy the closer that she had gotten to Kohane's room, the sense of deja vu flooding into her mind as Kohane held her hand along the way, it brought her back to when they were sixteen, unknowing of what the future held for either of them.
"An-chan?"
"..."
"An-chan..? Is everything alright?"
"..."
"An–"
"A-AH.." An jumped up, snapping back again.
"Are you okay? You keep zoning out.." Kohane frowned.
"Yeah..I'm fine!" An laughed.
"Mhm..let me get you water, you can take a seat if you'd like." Kohane said, backing out of her room.
As soon as Kohane was out of sight, An scrambled for her phone.
"MIZUKI..MIZUKI!!! I'M AT HER HOUSE AND I FEEL LIKE PASSING OUT..THIS FEELS SO WEIRD!!!!!!" An messaged, plopping down onto Kohane's bed.
"Girl are you high? Goodnight."
"MIZUKI NO PICK ME UP NOW."
"I'll pick you up in the morning, have fun girlie."
"Goddamnit." An mumbled.
"Hey, An-chan? I'm back." Kohane said, closing the door behind her before sitting beside An, passing over a water bottle.
"Thanks Kohane." An said, taking the bottle.
"It's..really been some time since we were like this." Kohane mentioned, looking over to An.
"Yeah, my brain has no idea how to take this all in."
"Was I moving too fast?" Kohane asked.
"Huh?"
"Like..was inviting you to two places in one night a bit too much." She reiterated.
"To me, it just seems like you're just happy to be back." An replied.
"Yeah..I'm glad you see it like that and not something weird or too sudden."
"Mhmm!" An hummed, putting the water down.
Kohane looked away for a few moments, reaching for the television remote that was on the nightstand.
"Are we watching something?" An questioned.
"If you want to, we could, I was originally gonna turn it on for some background noise." Kohane replied, going through the channels.
"Today on idol television, we have Azusawa Kohane from group —---!! [Cheers erupt in the crowd]"
"Oh look, it's you!" An chuckled.
"Yeah, it is." Kohane replied, switching the channel over to a drama, slightly lowering the volume. "Oh they're still broadcasting this? I've been wanting to watch this for quite some time." Kohane said.
"Me too, they took it off all the streaming services."
"Would you..like to watch it with me?" Kohane asked, tossing the remote onto a nearby pillow.
"Sure.."
An attempted to take those sudden feelings aside, assuming that they were some sort of anxiety that was flooding into her, likely from the fast pace of Kohane after the lack of interaction for so long. She took the moment in, focusing purely on the drama that was on the television.
Between advertisements, An noticed how Kohane would move closer, something that she tried not to pay too much attention too, at least until they were only a foot away.
One of those lovey dovey scenes have played in the climax of the show, An was invested into it, so much so that she had yet to realize the Kohane that was leaning on her shoulder by that point.
Once it had ended, and the advertisements were cued yet again, An looked over and spotted Kohane, she felt as if she was going to explode right at that moment, she wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but more of that eerie feeling climbing back to her consciousness.
Despite that, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Kohane, causing the girl to slightly shiver, looking up at An.
"Ah..sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Kohane asked, placing her arm along An's waist, leaning her head back into An's shoulders as the show continued.
At that moment, any attempt that An had to brush away those feelings for that girl had rushed back to her like wildfire, she couldn't pretend to not like her when they were in this position, although anyone else, possibly including Kohane would consider it otherwise platonic.
She had completely lost focus of the show that they were watching, instead, paying attention to the slightest movement made by Kohane throughout the rest of its screen time.
"Hmm, it's a shame that they canceled the show so early, I'm now stuck with theorizing the ending.." Kohane frowned.
"Uh huh..."
An was in her own world by that point, Kohane had yet to take notice of that.
"So, how did you like it?"
"Like...Like.." An mumbled.
"Did you like the show?" Kohane repeated.
An, still dazed, looked over to Kohane.
"I like..you."
"What."
"What?"
"What..."
"Wait...WHAT!?"