'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.'
The image on the screen slowly faded, until at last only the title remained against a white backdrop.
The Great Gatsby
The white light fell across both Chiose's and Taki's faces — and Shiina Taki, who had cried herself into a tearstained mess, was completely exposed.
"What a small fry. I watch movies like this as comedies, and you actually cried? Hahaha, you're so cute."
Yoshiiro Chiose wiped her own tears away as she disentangled herself from Shiina Taki's arms.
"You…"
As the warmth slipped away from her embrace, Taki felt a strange hollowness settle in her chest.
She had actually — genuinely — sat here and watched an entire movie with this complete stranger.
I must still be half asleep.
"Alright! Let's put on another one. If we watch seven more we'll have just enough time to go to McDonald's for breakfast — I have the breakfast membership! Aren't you excited?"
"Are you insane? I don't even know your name… and I was supposed to go home tonight!"
"Shush. In ten more hours I'll tell you my name. We've still got several more to get through after this one."
"..."
Shiina Taki said nothing more. Her hands moved silently through the air, as though she were calculating whether she could strangle the white-haired girl with a single lunge.
"Hey hey! I'll grant you one more request — how about you be a good girl, go take a bath, and then come be my body pillow?"
With that, Yoshiiro Chiose flopped back into Taki's arms, tilted her head up, and spoke in a voice that was half a whine, half a pout.
"Don't you — no. I'm leaving. I'm never seeing you again."
"Really…? If you leave, no one will keep me company. Wuu…"
Chiose lowered her head and sighed quietly, reaching out to tug at the hem of Taki's skirt.
"That's not…"
Taki had meant to say that's not my problem.
But the soft little sound of the girl's voice dealt her a crushing blow of guilt.
Don't be so cute. What am I supposed to do with you.
"Haah… fine, you win. Let me call my parents first. Don't be sad — and just so we're clear, midnight is the absolute latest I can stay."
In reality, she'd already be getting an earful around ten.
"Yay yay, I really do like you so much," Yoshiiro Chiose said lazily, stretching with the unbothered ease of someone without a care in the world as she strolled toward the bathroom.
"Little Taki, wait until I'm done and then you can go in. Here, take the TV remote — see if there's anything you want to watch."
"???"
So that whole act just now was fake?
But she looked so close to tears — it seemed so real…
"Can't even be bothered to react," Shiina Taki muttered, opening her phone and staring at the long string of missed calls, lost in thought.
She pressed the callback button.
"Hello? Sis, I think I…" Taki gathered herself for a moment. "I made a friend."
"What?!"
Sis, you really didn't need to sound that shocked.
...
At six in the morning, the Yoshiiro apartment was still full of noise.
"Hehe, is a certain little dummy secretly wiping her tears again? Want to come over here and let me hold you?"
Yoshiiro Chiose, her own eyes red, laughed at Shiina Taki, who was clinging to her for dear life.
"..."
Bohemian Rhapsody was playing on the TV.
When "Don't Stop Me Now," performed by the legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, swelled up during the end credits, Shiina Taki completely lost it — tears and snot, the whole disaster.
Yoshiiro Chiose wasn't doing much better.
She had simply been quietly using Shiina Taki's jacket to dab her eyes, making sure no one witnessed her own undignified state.
"Thank you, little Taki — and even though this was your honor! I still want to thank you for keeping me company all night."
A wicked grin spread across Chiose's lips.
"So — how about it, you awful little Taki-chan, who used me as a body pillow all night? Wasn't my texture just absolutely amazing?"
Incredibly comfortable. Taki didn't say those words aloud. Her lips were dry:
"By the way — the movies were great and everything, but who are you, actually? And why did you make me watch movies?" Since Taki hadn't brought a change of clothes, she'd had to borrow Chiose's pajamas, trapped in Chiose's scent the entire night.
"Hm? Did I never introduce myself?"
"No! You never said a word about it!"
Yoshiiro Chiose sat up and looked down at Taki from above.
"My guess is, little Taki hasn't actually seen all that many films, has she?"
"That's… fair, I suppose. I haven't had much time before, though I've seen the big classics everyone knows."
"Not enough! That barely scratches the surface! You need to watch far, far more."
Chiose threw a leg over and sat astride Shiina Taki with a grand flourish, fixing her with those crimson eyes.
"What do you mean? Why should I be watching movies?"
"Because without watching more of them, you can't experience a wider range of emotions or observe more kinds of lives — and because of that, you can't write better lyrics."
"Of course, reading books, traveling, and living out in the world can do the same thing — but I'm greedy. I want to see something interesting as fast as possible, so I'm giving you this crash course."
"Huh? A crash course in what…"
A crash course in staying up all night?
Chiose's hands kneaded at Taki's soft, squishy cheeks.
"What a stupid question! You really are a colossal idiot! In lyrics, obviously! What, did you think I was giving you a crash course in staying up all night? Do you have some kind of condition?!"
"Lyrics?"
When did I ever sign up for that?
"I'm not satisfied, little Taki. I have a lot of problems with your work."
"But — even more than that — I'm in awe of your sharp, cutting expression, and that line: 'Tears cost more!'"
"Sure, I genuinely think these are the most childish, pitiable, total-small-fry lyrics that only a small fry could have written. But across the hundred and thirty-five minutes I spent reading through that entire notebook of trash you wrote, I wasn't bored for even a single second."
"Interesting. Genuinely, profoundly interesting. I saw a play within a play! And countless perspectives! And countless psychological motivations!"
Yoshiiro Chiose sprang up from the girl's warm thighs and made a beeline for Shiina Taki's bag, which had been tossed on the floor.
She pulled out the black notebook with practiced ease.
"I believe psychological motivation has an incredibly vivid, cinematic quality. Put simply — very few things are more thrilling than a psychological motivation."
She settled back into her self-designated, perpetually warm seat.
"In truth, the inexhaustible power that makes lyrics stand on their own comes from trying to catch hold of life's pitch and trajectory — and its irregular, strange rhythm."
"And you! Shiina Taki! Without even realizing it yourself! You have already caught hold of yourself — caught hold of your own soul — and used yourself as ink, writing yourself into this black notebook."
"And I — heh heh — am even more impressive than you, because I caught hold of you!"
Yoshiiro Chiose's face was now almost entirely pressed against Shiina Taki's.
This was Shiina Taki's first time being this close — face to face — with another girl.
So close. Isn't this a little too close…
We've known each other for less than a day. Why doesn't this feel wrong at all?
The air was stifling and warm. Color rose into Taki's cheeks.
The other girl was as fervent as someone proposing marriage.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉