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It's early morning when Nozomi asks Tsubasa to join her for an exploration into the mountains to restock a couple herbs for her potions.
There's still fog lingering around the trees but the sun is breaking through the branches, tinting the floor in golden dots. The breeze is pleasant, even if a little bit chilly.
It's a beautiful morning. Invader activity has been low the past days and the SDU is almost tempted to relax. It's easy to escape into the prospect of a few days off.
But Nozomi wants to be prepared, for whatever the enemy is planning, and she'd feel more at ease knowing her supplies are fully stocked and ready to use. Who knows when they'll have the chance to take their time like this again.
"Wow, there's a whole bunch of them here!" Tsubasa excitedly points at several of the healing herbs they've been searching for.
"Seems like it's our lucky day. We're going to be done way sooner than I thought."
They pick the plants together, finishing up as quickly as expected, and Nozomi rests a hand against her heart, sighing solemnly.
"I almost don't want to go back yet... It's so beautiful out here, isn't it?"
Being inside the academy makes her restless more often than not. There's not much to see there besides the courtyard.
Tsubasa hangs her bag over her shoulder and follows Nozomi's gaze up to the sky. It's spotless, not a single cloud in the vast blue stretching all over the horizon. It's easy to get lost in the sight. The real sky, not a projection.
"Hey, Kirifuji-san. Look over there."
Tsubasa taps Nozomi's arm and she pries her eyes away from marveling at the sky to follow where she's pointing. Among the rock formations at the foot of the mountain is a pool filled with water. Steam rises from the water's surface and wafts away in the mild breeze.
"It's a natural hot spring", Nozomi says. Takumi said they've found one before in the cave system. Nozomi didn't want to admit how jealous she had been. Of course the boys would find one and get back suspiciously late from exploring.
"If only we had known, we could have brought our swimsuits." Tsubasa rests the back of her hand against her forehead and sighs theatrically. "I could die for a bath right now. I'm feeling kinda sweaty."
"Why don't we then?" Nozomi turns to her and beams. "It's just us out here and we'll be hidden behind the rocks."
"B-But we don't have—Kirifuji-san?!"
Nozomi has already started to undress.
"Come on, Kawana-san! It'll be nice."
It takes a bit of effort to wiggle out of her artificial armor, but she pauses when she starts to unbutton her dress shirt. Tsubasa is busy taking off her own clothes, so Nozomi bashfully turns around and quickly strips, slipping into the water before being seen. The steam hides her body, warmth sinks into her bones and she takes a deep, content breath.
There's a splash and a squeak and then Tsubasa is next to her, still a little timid, her arms wrapped around her chest.
"You're beautiful, Kawana-san", Nozomi says dreamily without thinking.
Tsubasa turns red and hugs herself even tighter.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Nozomi averts her eyes and Tsubasa sighs.
"You're not, it's just... I'm not used to such straightforwardness." She smiles a little sheepishly. "You're also very pretty, Kirifuji-san."
Nozomi feels her face heat up. She juts out her lip and laughs, splashes some water into Tsubasa's face.
She splashes back, and it quickly turns into a little fight until they are both drenched and their hair soaked, stuck to their bodies.
"Just wait until I get—"
Taking a step forward, Nozomi suddenly feels no ground under her feet anymore. She trips and falls into the water, waving her arms for a second before her body remembers how to swim.
When she re-emerges from under the water, Tsubasa's wide eyes greet her and shift from worry to relief. Nozomi finds ground again. It seems the formation has a drop in the middle.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that..." Tsubasa sighs.
Her eyes trail down on Nozomi and Nozomi can see her pause. The mild rise of her eyebrows, the darting of her pupils to look away, meeting Nozomi's eyes again and her face turning red.
"I..." Tsubasa tries to turn away but Nozomi reaches out her hand, gently rests it against the side of her face to direct her back to her.
"It's alright... You can look."
Tsubasa hesitates. Nozomi nods with a small smile and she relents.
A hand dives under water, fingers brush past the scar running along Nozomi's stomach.
It feels like a reminder of her own flaws, of her failures, of her own vulnerability. The scar and the artificial armor and the experiments that never made her mother proud. She's always been self conscious about anyone seeing, but strangely enough, she no longer feels that way now that Tsubasa is looking at it.
Tsubasa doesn't look at it like it's a blemish. There's no disgust on her face, no repulsion.
Nozomi feels a shiver run down her spine. She raises her head and looks back at brown eyes, half lidded and lips half parted, just as if she wanted to say something but ran all out of words.
Their eyes meet and Tsubasa gasps, and the next thing Nozomi knows is that she presses her lips against Tsubasa's with urgency.
Tsubasa wraps her arms around her neck, and then her legs are around Nozomi's waist and they sway and splash in the water, and Nozomi feels hot and floaty and beautiful all at once.
Tsubasa's hair sticks to her skin, her gasps against Nozomi's skin feel like kisses themselves and she mourns the connection when she has to break away to take a deep breath.
Tsubasa blinks, unwraps herself from Nozomi's waist and smiles sheepishly, busying herself with brushing her wet hair out of her face.
"Phew! That just happened—"
"Kawana-san."
Tsubasa peeks past her fingers, one eye closed. "Hm?"
"Thank you", Nozomi says and smiles.
Tsubasa turns red and quickly turns away, hiding her face behind her hands. "D-Don't thank me for kissing you!"
"No... Well, that too, but... I think I needed this."
For someone to see Nozomi's flaws and see her as valuable regardless.
Maybe she didn't need to hide anymore. At least not around Tsubasa.