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It all started when she saw her. It was easy to tell now, looking back, but the first time Riko saw Yoshiko she really didn't think much about her. It was just another weirdo in her life, just like her new mikan-loving neighbor. The fallen angel shtick was just stupid: a way to justify her mistakes instead of facing the reality. When Chika invited Yoshiko to join Aqours, Riko wasn't thrilled about it: sure, the "fallen angel style" was beautiful, daring even, something only the boldest characters in her manga collection would wear. But it wasn't for her. But when she saw Yoshiko so unsure, so afraid of being out of place, something moved inside her. A flutter of the heart, so subtle that she missed it, and that she realized she had only now. For a while, she was actually grateful to Hanamaru, who was going out of her way to stop Yoshiko from being stupid.
The second time was when she stayed at school longer than usual to finish up a song: Yoshiko was there, sat on the fence, looking at the sun setting in the sea. The raven-haired girl didn't give any signal to have noticed her, but when she walked out of the front door Yoshiko talked to her. But it was nothing she expected.
"Your face looks like the sunset." She said. Thinking about it, that was the first time Yoshiko talked to her, outside of practice.
"What?" She answered.
"Your hair, combined with your eyes, and the colour of your skin. It's like watching the sunset every time I look at you."
The bluntiness of that statement made Riko's heart skip a beat, and this time she really noticed it, along with the bright blush that covered her cheeks.
"Th-thank you, I... guess?" She stammered back.
For the first time the self-declared fallen angel turned and looked at her. "It's nothing. I like staying up here watching the sun set in the sea, and hearing you play, you were on my mind. It was a beautiful melody." She said, before hopping down from the wall and striking a pose. "I shall depart, now, little demon, as my chariot to hell is coming". And, with a wave, the first-year was gone, leaving a dumbfounded Riko in the attempt to slow down her heart and bring her face back to normal temperature.
That night, for the first time, she thought about Yoshiko as something more than a weirdo.
The third time was when Riko found out about Nocturne. Seeing Yoshiko care for the little dog so much, with that kind of love, to go out of her way to make him happy, showed the older girl how big Yoshiko’s heart was. Hearing her talking about her upbringing, then, was really something else. She had no idea how lucky she was to have had a normal life to that point. That time, she felt really sorry for judging Yoshiko about her behaviour, when she never knew the cause of it. That time, for the very first time, she longed for physical contact with her, wanting nothing more than hug her, and tell her it was okay, she had friends now, that cared for her, and herself, Riko, on top of them. She restrained herself, obviously, because she didn’t want to scare her off.
The night she got called ‘Riri’ for the first time she slept with a smile and her face in mind. She dreamt of swimming in a lake of fire, but then Yohane, complete with a set of dark wings, came to her rescue.
She didn’t insist to trade places with Kanan, when the sub-units were formed, she really didn’t.
She did. And never felt happier about a decision.
Mari was a surprise. Her musical tastes were, at least. But the greatest surprise was Yoshiko, once again. She actually refused to sing a solo in their first single, ‘Strawberry Trapper’. She deemed herself unworthy of it, and it took a lot of words on Riko’s part for the first-year to give in. “Yohane, rise.” She called, before the solo, without letting her know, while recording. The first time they heard the full song, Yoshiko threw herself in her arms. And Riko, for the first time, admitted to herself that she fell in love with her weird underclassman.
With love came obsession. She felt gloomy whenever Yoshiko wasn’t around, so she started making up reasons to spend time with her. She started playing videogames, even persuaded her mother into buying her a Nintendo DS. Her sketchbook became filled with Yoshiko: impressions of her being Yohane; her being focused on homework or on a particularly hard fight in a game; drawings of her trying a puppy dog face, to convince Riko to do something. Her favourite, though, was a snapshot she got one day, while playing the piano: she glanced over to Yoshiko, and found her so lost in the music, so passionate, so… beautiful and serene, that the image burned itself in her mind, and it stayed there until it was transferred onto the paper.
The sixth time Riko fell for Yoshiko was when the latter confessed to her. They were hanging out at Riko’s, as usual, but then suddenly, while Yoshiko had excused herself and went to the bathroom, Mari called her, and told her to open the front door.
When she complied, thinking of a surprise visit from her former chairwoman, she found Yoshiko instead, a bouquet of lilies in a hand and a box of assorted sweets in the other.
“Riri.” She said. “From the first time I saw you I thought you were special. Being around you told me that I was partially wrong: you are even more amazing than I thought. I think you are the most kind, beautiful, caring and passionate person I know. I tried to resist the temptation, but before I knew it you had me into your spell. I’m in love with you, Sakurauchi Riko. You are the angel that can cleanse my dark soul, and I wouldn’t complain about it one second.”
Riko’s heart skipped several beats that day. She didn’t even respond to the confession, instead she rushed into her new lover’s arms, whispering “I love you” times and times again, before, and it all happened in a daze, she found herself trapped between the girl and the wall, in a perfect Kabedon moment, and, with a small hesitation, Yoshiko closed the distance and kissed her.
Since that day, three years had passed, and tonight marked the umpteenth time Riko fell in love with Yoshiko. But this one was more special. After re-living each moment in an instant, the redhead opened her eyes, to find Yoshiko where she left her, on a knee with a dark winged ring in hand, having just proposed to her. Unable to muster a word, she just nodded, sobbing, and time seemed to stop as the cold ring slid on her ring finger. “I love you so much, Yocchan. I loved you since the first time I saw you. Thank you for being into my life. I’ll be proud to call you my wife.” She declared, with a cracked voice, before kissing her future wife hard, on the lips, holding her tight.
She was sure that, over time, the wonderful fiancée she had would make her fall deeper and deeper into an amazing sea of love.