“Fweee~eeeh, it’s so hot… Can this line hurry up?”
“Himari, you’re so impatient.”
It was a bright and sunny afternoon, the blazing summer heat beaming down with an intense humidity. The usual summer breeze was nowhere to found, making the day feel ever hotter than usual. Though Himari donned a crop top and shorts, it was still way too hot for her delicate senses. She frowned at the sky as she attempted to to cool herself down with a fan she had handy.
Tomoe only laughed when she saw Himari desperately trying to get cool, which made Himari pout.
“Why are we even here again? It’s too hot to be outside!”
“You’re the one who suggested we get ice cream, Himari…”
Himari pouted more hearing Tomoe’s answer. “I wouldn’t have left the house if I knew it was this hot!!”
Not long after Himari’s protest, the line full of hot, sweaty people had moved up far enough so that Tomoe and Himari were next to buy their dessert. Tomoe could only chuckle at Himari’s displeasure, patting the top of her head.
“Once we finish eating we’ll head back, okay? Just a little bit longer.”
Himari could only nod as she continued to sulk. When the two moved up to place their order, Tomoe placed it quickly, paying in the spare change she’d kept around. Afterwards, the two moved to a nearby wooden table that was placed near the establishment, sitting next to each other with cones in their hands.
Himari quickly began to lick the top of her scoop, slurping up the melted ice cream before it trickled down the side of the cone. Tomoe did the same, but was a little more cautious, using the napkin provided to her to wipe up the excess dripping.
“Don’t eat too fast, you’ll make yourself sick!” Tomoe scolded.
“I know, I know! I just don’t want it to drip onto my clothes!” Himari whined, quickly licking the cone after her reply so that the dripping ice cream didn’t land on her shorts.
Tomoe continued to lick up her own scoop while waiting for Himari to reply, stopping when she wanted to talk again. “Use the napkin if you need to, okay?” She stopped, following her own advice and using her napkin to wipe up some ice cream that had begun to trickle down her cone. “You don’t want me to have to take care of you again, do you?”
“Jeez Tomoe, it wasn’t that bad!” Himari retorted between licks.
Tomoe giggled as she continued to slurp up her dessert. “You were sick the entire weekend and got mad at me because I went home!”
Frantically trying to lick up the dripping liquid at the bottom of her ice cream cone, Himari got a reply in. “Yeah, that was mean!”
Tomoe was still working on the scoop on top of her cone, but with a few more licks she would be done, so she relaxed a bit. “Did you want to make me sick that bad?”
“But I missed you...” Himari pouted.
Tomoe chuckled, finally finishing up the scoop on top of her cone and biting into it. “You're too cute, Himari.” Tomoe softly expressed, using her free hand to tuck in some stray hairs that had escaped from her ponytail.
After a moment of silence from the two of them, Tomoe discreetly leaned in closer to Himari, placing a free hand behind her back and gripping her side tightly. Tomoe moved her head down just slightly to lick some of the ice cream off of Himari’s cone, licking her lips and winking at Himari when she was done.
“Mmm, strawberry!” Tomoe exclaimed, crunching on her own cone moments afterwards.
Himari froze, her face heating up and turning a bright shade of pink as she tried to process what just happened. Tomoe’s face was so close to hers, and she just… licked her ice cream !? Before she could fully process what happened, the remainder of the scoop on top of Himari’s ice cream cone fell on the pavement, barely missing her shorts.
“Himari?”
Himari quickly snapped back into reality when she heard Tomoe’s voice, bringing down her now empty cone to rest in her lap. “Y-yes?”
“Was that… too much? I’m sorry, I—“
“N-no, I…” Himari interrupted, fumbling to find the right words. “Er, that is, uh, I just really liked your face there, I think.” Himari stuttered, her face still pink as she laughed nervously, her free hand scratching the back of her neck.
“My face…?” Tomoe asked, unsure of what Himari was trying to express. She wasn’t sure if what she did was received in the way she had hoped. “Maybe I read into things wrong—“
“No!!” Himari immediately interjected, catching Tomoe by surprise. “I liked it! Because, you know, I, uh, I really… like… you…” The last part of her sentence Himari was barely able to squeak out, trailing off awkwardly.
Her cheeks were still warm and hot as she looked at Tomoe expectantly after her confession.
Tomoe’s cheeks too began to warm upon hearing such an honest proclamation. But just to be sure, you know, just in case !— Himari didn’t just mean as friends, right? “A-ah, well that’s good! Thanks!” Tomoe answered awkwardly, realizing immediately that she said something weird. “Wait, I didn’t mean that! Uh, what I meant was—I like you a lot, too. You know, in the… hold your hand kind of way.”
By this point both of the girls ice cream cones had fallen to the ground in their mutual embarrassment. The two sat in awkward silence for a while, Tomoe unsure of whether she should move her hand from Himari’s side and Himari wondering how to respond without embarrassing herself.
After more long moments of silence between the two, Himari eventually shifted her head to rest on Tomoe’s shoulder, the stray hairs from her ponytail tickling her cheeks. Himari moved her hand that was closest to Tomoe to rest on top of the one Tomoe had placed on her seat. She wrapped her fingers around Tomoe’s, squeezing them gently.
“I like you like that, too.” Himari whispered.
The sound of Himari’s quiet voice seemed to calm the both of them down considerably, allowing Tomoe to reciprocate Himari’s touch by rubbing her fingers with her thumb. She smiled timidly, allowing herself to lean into Himari’s position on her shoulder. She didn’t want to say anything, feeling perfectly content to simply enjoy how close the two of them were. She caught a slight waft of Himari’s perfume, filling her nostrils with a fragrant, flower-y scent.
Himari too enjoyed the moment with Tomoe, but eventually her neck grew stiff and she started to sweat more than she already had. She leaned out of her position on Tomoe and released the grasp on her hand. Tomoe was—of course—a little blue when Himari decided to detach herself from her, but felt relief upon her heart returning to its normal rhythm, which she hadn’t even realized had sped up.
“Tomoeeee.” Himari whined, looking up at Tomoe eagerly. “Can we go home yet? It’s so hot…”
Tomoe could only laugh, energetically wrapping her arm around Himari’s neck. “Yeah yeah, I guess we can!”
Himari grumbled, removing Tomoe’s arm from her neck as the two rose from their position on the table. “Do that when we get back, okay!? It’s too hot right now!”
Still laughing, Tomoe nodded as she started to lead Himari down the street and back to her house. “Sure, but once we’re at my place—“
“You can do whatever you’d like once we’re back, Tomoe.” Himari interrupted, wiping a line of sweat from her forehead.
Tomoe’s face turned a vibrant pink at such a suggestion, stopping her in her tracks. Himari looked at her perplexed for a moment until Tomoe was finally able to form a reply.
“That would be… nice.” She managed to stutter.
Himari smiled. “It’s okay if we hold hands on the walk home though—uh, if that’s okay anyways.”
Tomoe smiled despite her nerves, clumsily grasping Himari’s hand in her own as they continued to walk down the street.