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Himari, like any teenager, held the belief that she was utterly right about most things almost always. This included love. Now Himari was willing to admit she wasn’t the straightest and to think she was, well, let's just say it wasn’t accurate. Himari had rectified that mistake by coming out several weeks ago (only to have Moca lament about “the loss of our token straight”). However, there was one thing that Himari was truly, absolutely, positively, entirely, and fully sure about. That one thing was that Himari WAS NOT in love with Tomoe Udagawa.
Sure, a case could be made for how Tomoe was Himari’s perfect person. She fits many of Himari’s ideal partner criteria. Tomoe was tall, strong, kind to a fault, and liked Himari for Himari. So why would Himari not want this tall glass of strawberry lemonade? Because Himari had already fallen victim to being the “oblivious closeted gay” trope. She would not add insult to injury by the “oblivious closeted gay who didn’t realize they were completely in love with their best friend this entire time” trope. No Himari Uehara had dignity. And the knowledge that she would absolutely be torn to shreds by Moca’s teasing should she actually be in love with Tomoe.
Sadly Himari’s resolve about her platonic feelings didn’t matter much in the eyes of all those who knew her.
Moca was by far the worst when it came to teasing about any potential relationship between Tomoe and Himari or, as she called it, TomoHima (“Why TomoHima? Why not HimaTomo?” “Because you’re a bottom, Himari”). So much so that it was hard to pick out specific instances. However, there were a few that stood out. A relatively big and recent one stood out in Himari’s mind.
“Ya know, for someone who gets seasick easily it’s kinda strange you suggested coming here~.”
“It’s not like the boat is sailing! We are just here to support our friends!”
“You mean you want us here to see Tomoe-chin in a hot butler suit?~”
“MOCA!”
Why did everyone else have to be busy? Why was Moca the only one available to come? Oh right, Himari remembered. The universe hated her that's why. Himari truly wanted to support Kaoru and Tomoe. Sure there was the added benefit of seeing both in suits but that doesn’t matter. What matters is supporting her friends. Something that was becoming increasingly difficult and apparent as Moca and Himari made their way up the gangplank.
“KAORUUUUU!”
“SHE’S SO HANDSOME EEEEE!”
“I TOLD YOU RAISE A SULIEN HAD THE MOST HANDSOME GIRLS!”
As it always was with anything and everything Kaoru related Himari was not the first person with the idea of support. In front of Afterglow’s strings was a line that stretched from the entrance to the restaurant to the edge of the boarding area.
“Do you think the fanclub is organized or do they just share a hivemind~?” Moca stuffed her hands into her hoodie front pocket and looked mildly annoyed at the line in front of them. Himari withered under the view.
“Now we’ll never see-”
“See hm~?”
“I mean support!” Himari scrambled to say, “Now we’ll never be able to support our friends.” Suddenly from behind Himari and Moca’s shoulders were bumped into as a trio of girls cut them.
“HEY! You can’t just- Rokka-chan?” Himari paused as the blue hair guitarist stopped in her tracks and turned around, the other two girls stopping with her.
“Himari-senpai? What are you doing here?” Rokka looked red and nervous, maybe from interacting with upperclassmen.
“Moca could ask you the same hm~?” Moca peaked around Himari’s shoulder with a shit eating grin plastered to her face.
“Do you know these people Lock?” a short pink hair girl with cat ear headphones interrupted.
“Ah yes. These are two of my upperclassmen, Himari Uehara and Moca Aoba.” Rokka quickly explained to the quite small human with an angry face.
“Ah Rokka-sama’s upperclassmen! Nice to meet you!” a tall girl, maybe even the same height as Tomoe tall, clapped her hands together. “Are you here to see Kaobu?”
“It’s Kaoru and no,” Himari corrected, “we are here to support a bandmate. She is one of the employees.”
“Oh if you have a bandmate here you’re allowed to skip ahead, at least that’s what Massu-san and Layer-san said.” the tall girl explained.
“I still can’t believe those idiots choose to do this.” the small angry girl folded her arms. Still she turned and started to walk through the crowd with the tall girl and Rokka following.
“But Paero thought you said you wanted to see if Roselia was here to rub it in their faces that we have two people here and they have none?”
“PAERO!”
Rokka chuckled at her two bandmates and turned back to her upperclassmen, “You guys coming?”
Himari and Moca exchanged glances and then turned and hurried into the crowd of girls.
When they arrived at the restaurant the host wasn’t anyone Himari recognized. A tall girl with a short haircut. Evidently, RAS also didn’t know her.
“We’d like to be seated in Masking’s section.” the short angry looking girl demanded. This seemed to confuse the girl standing at the podium.
“Masking?”
“She means Masuki.” Rokka covered with a nervous laugh. The host understood this time, grabbed three menus, and led the RAS trio away. She soon returned and asked the string duo if they had a preference for a section.
“We are fine whereeve-”
“Tomoe Udagawa’s please~?”
“Uh, sure, right this way.” The short-haired girl led them away. As they weaved through the tables they noticed Kaoru with her band and several fangirls. It seemed that the san baka was trying to get Michelle into a suit to work at the restaurant. Kanon stood to the side at a loss for how to help her girlfriend out of this mess. Kokoro and Hagumi both were using Michelle as a jungle gym in some strange way to influence the putting on of a suit.
“Ya know Moca thinks Misaki-chin is the strongest person we know,” Moca whispered behind her hand to Himari, who leaned in.
“Spiritually or physically?” cringed Himari as Hagumi had somehow made it to the giant felt bear’s shoulders.
“Both.” Moca cringed in sympathy for her hoodie buddy.
“Here is your table and menus.” the short-haired girl placed the menus down and gestured to a table for Himari and Moca to sit at. “Enjoy.” With that, she walked off.
After a minute or two of sitting in silence and looking at the menus, Himari spoke up.
“You know Moca, I was expecting a lot more teasing from you but I am pleasantly surprised.”
“Oh, how do you figure?” Moca asked shit eating grin back in full swing.
“I just thought you’d try and goad me with the idea of all the girls in suits. Try and make me make a fool of myself.”
“Oh, Hii-chan. I’m saddened.”
“I know I know. I’m sorry I assumed-”
“No, I'm saddened that you think Moca would need to even try to make you make a fool of yourself. You are able to do that yourself.”
“What!?”
“I just assumed with how in love you are with Tomoe-”
“I am NOT in love with Tomoe!”
“Uh-huh and Moca hates bread. Anyway, I just think that once you see her you’ll completely short circuit so there’s no point for me to try.”
“Moca Aoba so help me god-”
“Hey, guys! You came!” It was Tomoe. Tragically handsome Tomoe. Tall and perfect smile having Tomoe. Wearing a suit Tomoe. Tomoe Udagawa.
Upon seeing said suit-clad Tomoe, Himari Uehara promptly fainted.
Out of all of Himari's friends outside her band, Lisa and Aya were some of the best. Despite having a primary friend group of all girls, specific… let's say, feminine things were lost on Himari's bandmates. Those things are makeup (Tomoe and Tsugu, in their effortless beauty, never needed it), crushes (Moca would just tease), and the fun of malls and shopping (Ran, by no fault of her own, was swiftly overwhelmed in malls). So whenever Himari wished to do anything pertaining to these topics, she turned to Aya and Lisa. Both of whom shared part of her woe. And both of whom were currently dating a Hikawa sister. And in Lisa's case, one Hazawa girl.
"-And then she came backstage with flowers for us. Tsugumi can be so romantic. Sayo looked like she would faint, and I had to practically be held back from showering her in kisses." Lisa dreamily sighed as she described the end of her last show.
"Lucky. Hina just tackles me on stage and then throws me over her shoulder." Aya grumbled. This made Himari and Lisa laugh. The three were currently sitting in the mall food court after a long shopping day. As Himari's laughter died down, she felt her face fall a little and let out an involuntary sigh.
"What's up, Himari?" Ah, Lisa, the ever-observant mom friend everyone needs. Should any of her friends show the slightest hint of sadness, Lisa could tell.
"Oh, it's nothing," Himari said, even though it definitely was something, "I just hear how cute you guys are with your girlfriends, and I can't help but be jealous." Himari sighed again forlornly and slumped over while playing with the straw of her drink.
"Aw, Himari, I'm sure you can find someone." Lisa encouraged.
"Wait- Aren't you dating your drummer?" Aya questioned while sipping her drink. Himari shot up, accidentally knocking her glass over. Scrambling, she grabbed napkins to clean the mess up. Lisa began laughing again.
"What? I'm not dating Tomoe! We are just friends," Himari stumbled and fumbled her words, trying to explain just how platonic she and Tomoe were. "I've known her since the second grade, and sure she is really amazing and funny. And she always cheers me up… and her eyes are like looking into the sky on a clear day… haa." Himari plopped back down into her seat and put her head in her hands.
"Ah yes, very platonic indeed." Lisa snickered.
"It is!" Himari shot back, "Just because I think Tomoe is attractive and cool doesn't mean I like her in that way!"
"Himari," Aya began hesitantly, "how you just talked about her sounds like Hina talking about fries."
Himari flushed. Working at a fast food place, Himari was quite familiar with the Hikawa twins' love of fries. Still, that didn't mean anything about her feelings for Tomoe.
"Well, Aya, to be fair to Himari, she's right; Tomoe is effortlessly attractive and cool." Lisa imputed and took a sip of her drink.
"Thank you- wait, what?" Himari froze, the smug expression making its way onto her face dissipating fast. It was replaced by a wide-eyed stare at Lisa, which Aya shared.
"What?" Lisa questioned, "You said it yourself, and I'm agreeing."
"I DID NOT MEAN IT LIKE THAT! DON'T YOU HAVE ENOUGH GIRLFRIENDS?" Himari shot up from her chair again, yelling. Both Aya and Lisa looked shocked by the volume of Himari's reaction.
"Okay, first of all, you can never have enough girlfriends so long as your other girlfriends are okay with it. Secondly, like Himari, I also don't have romantic feelings for Tomoe," if you were to ask Lisa how she managed to say that with a straight face and not give away her sarcasm, she wouldn't know what to tell you. It was honestly a miracle, "I just noticed Tomoe during dance club. We are usually partnered up, and the girl is super hot up close. Third, referring to statement one, I do believe I personally have enough girlfriends and am not seeking Tomoe as a partner, no matter how kind and genuine I'm sure she is."
"You're not going to stop till you're dating my whole band, aren't you?" Himari glared at Lisa. Pausing for a moment, Lisa shrugged.
"Maybe. But you seem very protective of Tomoe for someone not in love or interested."
It was at this point that Himari stood up and left.
Moca was sick. It was rare for members of Afterglow to get sick alone, considering the time the friends spent together. But it was not unheard of, such as now. So in these trying times, the band…, well, banded together to assist their fallen friend. Tsugu was providing soup for the bedridden guitarist. Ran and Tomoe were collecting and helping with homework. And Himari had the most important job of all: getting bread.
Bread: the life-blood of the hoodie-loving, mischief-making gremlin. The reason Himari was currently in the Yamabuki Bakery, waiting as Saaya prepared Moca’s usual, staring at a photo of Saaya and Kaoru. The picture was from a strange wedding thing that Tomoe had told her about. The fiery drummer had somehow gotten it into her head that Kaoru and Saaya were getting married at sixteen. Looking at the picture, Himari could see how the misunderstanding could be. Kaoru, in all her glory, the peak of her extravagance, played the role of a dashing groom well. Saaya, the picture-perfect bride, in the photo and in real life. She could cook, take care of kids, and was beautiful. When Himari first heard about the “wedding,” she had been jealous of Saaya for getting to play Kaoru’s bride. Now, she was envious of Saaya’s perfection as a wife. Himari always dreamed of marrying the perfect person, but could she do that if she wasn’t equally impressive?
“Ah geez, I keep telling dad to take that down,” Himari turned at the voice to see Saaya holding a paper bag stuffed to the top with bread, “gives people the wrong idea.”
“If you really don’t want it, I’d take it.” Rimi, who had been standing by the counter, spoke up. Saaya rolled her eyes.
“Honestly, Rimi-rin, your Kaoru obsession is ridiculous.”
“Waaah, Himari-chan is obsessed too! She likes the picture also.” Rimi pouted.
“Ah, oh, yeah. Kaoru looks super handsome and cool in this.” Himari spluttered to cover up her actual thoughts. Saaya chuckled at the two and set the bag down on the counter.
“If I’m being totally honest, I thought Tomoe was the cooler one that day.” Saaya blushed as she admitted to this.
“Really? Why?” Rimi wondered.
“I dunno. I think it might be just how chivalrous she can be,” Saaya admitted, “She ran into a wedding chapel, objected, and carried me out, all because we are friends. I can’t imagine what she would do if the genuine love of her life was about to marry someone else. What do you think, Himari?”
Himari wasn’t listening. Himari got lost. Lost in Himari land. Thinking about the idea of someone bursting through the doors at her wedding, proclaiming their love. Long hair flowing as they kick the door down. Fashionable jacket billowing as she runs down the aisle. Blue eyes so earnest as she delivers a speech about being in love since the second grade. Strong drummer’s arms lift Himari into a princess carry. Tomoe’s boisterous laugh as she runs with Himari in her arms- wait. Tomoe? Who said Tomoe?
“Huh, what?” Himari shook her head in confusion, face pink.
“We wondered how you think Tomoe would react to the love of her life getting married to another.” Rimi clarified. Himari went redder than Tomoe’s hair.
“The love of her life? Who? ME? Wait. What?” While not exactly the stages of grief, the tones and faces Himari went through were akin to them. Saaya watched intently as Himari continued to dig a hole for herself. After a minute or so, Rimi got a text from her mom asking her to come home. This left Saaya alone with the still panicky Himari. It also reminded Himari of what she was here for. She quickly pulled out the money for Moca’s bread and fumbled with it, Saaya waiting patiently at the register.
“Hey Himari,” Saaya spoke calmly, “If you ever need help confessing to Tomoe, I’d be willing to lend a hand.” Himari promptly dropped her wallet on the floor.
“I- I- I- I am- am-a- am n- no- not INLOVEWITHTOMOE!” Himari quickly picked up her wallet, paid Saaya, and took the bread bag before sprinting out the door.
Sometimes Himari liked to get away from it all. Away from school, from work, from her band, and from her so-called friends who kept insisting she was in love with Tomoe. Which, by the way, she totally wasn't. Getting back to getting away, every member of Afterglow had their own thing to help get away. Tomoe had Taiko, Tsugu had baking, Ran had flowers, and Moca had bread. For Himari, her getaway was tennis. It was the only sport Himari felt truly good at. And she even had a rival in it: Misaki Okusawa. Okay, so maybe not exactly a rival, but Misaki was someone who played for a different school, and Himari knew her reasonably well.
“Uhhg”
THUNK THUnk Thunk thunk…
"Okay, let's take a break," Misaki said after she watched as Himari's match point landed perfectly. "I'm tired of getting beat."
"Alright."
The two made their way over to the side of the tennis court they were using. Himari dug through her bag, pulled out her water, and chugged. She then slumped down against the wire fence, the sound ricocheting. Misaki did the same but pulled out her phone to check messages. Evidently, one caught her eye as it made her pause. It was hard to tell if her cheeks got redder considering the running they had been doing, but the goofy grin was all Himari needed to know exactly who the message was from.
"What did Kanon-san say, hm~" Himari leaned over. This time she could watch as Misaki's face got even redder. As she leaned, she also caught a glimpse of a photo. The picture was of Kanon taking a selfie in front of her drums while holding the sticks in one hand. She had a determined look on her face. The caption read: "I'm working just as hard as you are right now ᕙ(`▿')ᕗ! ILY (ɔ˘ ³(ˆ‿ˆc) <3!"
"Awww. You two are so cute!" Himari exclaimed. From her experience with Lisa and Aya, she had learned that it was better to be happy for your friends than to feel jealous.
"Shut up," Misaki was definitely blushing as she took her phone back from Himari.
Suddenly a ding came from Himari's bag. She and Misaki made eye contact. Their eyes narrowed. Simultaneously they both bolted for Himari's bag and reached it simultaneously. While Himari knew precisely where she put her phone, Misaki had much more strength and overpowered Himari, taking her phone. Himari had already unlocked it in the scuffle, so Misaki had full access. She clicked on the message. It was from Tomoe. Around Tomoe's contact name were red hearts.
"You put red hearts around Tomoe's name? God, you are so in love with her." Misaki stated.
"What?! No, I'm not! I put hearts around all my bandmates' names!" Himari took her phone back and went to show the rest of Afterglow's names. It was true. Moca had two light blue hearts, and Tsugumi had two yellow ones. Ran had a black heart in front of her name and a red one at the end.
"Huh. I guess." Misaki said dismissively, turning back to her bag.
"Wait," Himari hadn't had the chance to ask anyone else about this, but now she could, "did you really just think I was in love because of the hearts?" Misaki paused, a look of contemplation on her face.
"No, I don't think it was just the hearts," she spoke after a minute, "At first when people started to mention it, I couldn't understand. Then I started to feel for Kanon. I noticed you did a lot of things that look like love to me. You hang around her because she is safe and sane. You trust her more than you trust yourself. And just the way you two act. It's hard not to assume you are a couple, even if I'm told you aren't."
Himari was frozen. Misaki had read her like a book. Misaki definitely wasn't one of Himari's inner circle, yet even with the amount of time she spent with her, she came to the conclusion. Himari was in love with Tomoe.
"Anyway, let's get back to it. I want to win one."
Himari shook her head, agreed, and continued to head back onto the court.
Himari was excited about her day with Tomoe. The two were going to see a romance movie. Which sounds like a date but wasn't. Usually, Himari would go with Tsugumi, but she had work and had already seen it with her own girlfriends. So the next best thing was Tomoe.
Tomoe wasn't particularly interested in the movie (she preferred action), but she wasn't hard to convince to come. That's just how Tomoe is. She is accommodating to all her friends and would do almost anything to keep them happy. It was one of many great things about the tall drummer. Himari hummed to herself as she walked to the Udagawa household. They could have met at the theatre, or Tomoe could have picked her up, but Himari liked doing it this way. It usually meant she got to see Ako.
The small, feisty, purple-haired drummer, Ako, was practically like a little sister to Himari. She had seen Ako grow. She remembered the many adventures that Ako tagged along on. Moca and Ran would complain about the young Udagawa's presence when they were younger. But Himari and Tsugu always thought she brought her own flavor to the mix and provided some variety the group of five would rarely have. Then Ako discovered video games. She hung out with the group less and less but still idolized her sister. The times she shared were spent kicking their collective asses at any and all video games, which earned her Ran and Moca's respect and acceptance.
The one thing Himari treasured in particular was speaking to Ako one-on-one. Her way of speech as a child and now was unique and fun. Others might find it annoying, but Himari always found Ako endearing no matter what. Plus, younger sisters had to stick together. And her skill in anything she put her mind to was undeniable. So when Ako wanted to learn to play the drums, she threw herself into it. She got good enough that even Yukina had to admit to her skill. Which was another reason Himari saw her less and less. Bands. Of all the bands, Roselia had the most rivals. One even being Afterglow. Ako herself connected to Sayo and Yukina in ambition.
However, even with all her talent, Ako would always be the same little girl who idolized her big sister in Himari's mind. And with that thought, Himari had arrived at the Udagawa's. Ringing the bell, she waited for the door to open. Checking her watch, Himari noticed they had 30 minutes to get to the theater. Plenty. Maybe they could just stay at Tomoe's house and then head out. That is so long as Tomoe hadn't thrown herself into something right before… the door suddenly opened.
Taking up most of Himari's view and attention was Tomoe Udagawa herself. Except she wasn't exactly ready. Her hair was wet, seemingly from a shower. She wore a tank top and shorts that clung to her damp skin. Around her neck hung a towel. She was panting and had flushed cheeks (she wasn't the only one, Himari had gone completely red at the sight).
"Hey! Sorry I had been practicing and forgot when we were meeting. Please come in," Tomoe gestured for Himari to enter the house. Himari shook her head and picked her jaw up off the floor, and stepped inside the house. "Here, how about you wait in the living room while I get changed." Suddenly inappropriate images flooded Himari's brain at the word "changed." She just nodded, took her shoes off, and headed to the living room, a path she had taken a thousand times. She heard Tomoe bounding up the stairs as she reached the living room and was surprised to see Ako in it. Ako was sitting on the bent part of the L-shaped couch. Himari took a seat next to her.
"Oh, hey, Ako-chan!" Himari smiled pleasantly. It seemed she'd get to talk to Ako like she wanted. Yet something was off with Ako. She seemed cold and distant. She turned to face Himari with a look Himari could only describe as intimidating even though it was anything but.
"Ako-chan?"
"Silence, mortal! So it seems years of goodwill mean nothing to a traitor!" Himari was officially confused. She moved back from where she was sitting.
"T-traitor? Me?"
"Yes, you! Was the kindness you showed this family nothing but a ploy?" Ako was straight up glaring now. Himari was beyond confused and scooted further from Ako.
"A ploy?" Himari was almost at a loss for words.
"YES! A ploy to- to- to deflower my dear sister?" Ako was red when she said this.
"Deflower!? Ako I- wait. Ako, what do you think is happening right now?" Himari needed this cleared up before she spoke more. She took a deep breath. "And please just talk normally."
"You're here to take my sister away from me!" Ako almost cried, standing on the couch now.
"Yeah. To a movie, she's gonna hate." Himari shrugged. She thought that was obvious.
"Exactly! A romantic movie. Alone. Just you two. To confess your love!" oh, for fucksake, not again.
"Confess my what?!?" Himari all but screamed. She shot up from her spot.
"Everything okay down there?" Tomoe shouted from her room.
"It's fine!" Both Ako and Himari responded. This seemed to satisfy Tomoe as her door shutting could be heard.
"Confess my what?" Himari repeated at a lower volume.
"Your love!" Ako declared. Himari sighed and moved closer to Ako.
"Okay. I think I know what's going on here. You think I'm in love with Tomoe, right?" Ako nodded. "Well, I'm not okay!" Ako looked skeptical. "And even if I was, I wouldn't A. tell her little sister and B. do it a dumb movie. Tomoe deserves more than that. She deserves something at sunset with chocolates, maybe even an anonymous love letter." Ako looked wide-eyed at Himari.
"Okay."
"Thanks for understand-"
"I'm fine if you date my sister."
"WHAT?"
"But if you ever hurt her, I'll- I'll…." Ako fumbled for words.
"Call down your demon army?" Tomoe finished as she walked into the room, pulling on a jacket. "Jeez, you two were being loud. What's all the racket about? Who's hurting who?"
Ako opened her mouth to speak, but Himari quickly covered it.
"Nothing! Ako was just talking about a cool thing she did in a game!" Himari felt like she was sweating. Tomoe looked back and forth between the two and eventually shrugged.
"Alright. Well, we'll be off Ako. Don't cause any trouble while I'm out!" Tomoe pointed at Ako. Then she turned and started to walk to the door.
"'K," a still muffled Ako said. Himari took her hand off Ako's mouth and followed after Tomoe. Finally, she reached the door and found Tomoe holding it open for her, smiling. Then, just as she was about to step out, Ako called out. "Have fun on your date."
This time both Himari and Tomoe went red. Himari buried her head in her hands as Tomoe shouted at her little sister.
"Sorry about that. Ako sometimes says the dumbest things randomly." Tomoe continued to speak, but Himari wasn't listening. She felt bad. She had lied to Ako. With everyone else, it was easier because… well, she didn't know why. Maybe because she had been lying to everyone for so long? But with Ako, she always tried to be truthful. This was the one thing she couldn't be honest about.
Because the truth was she was in love with Tomoe. And had been for years. She had been in love with Tomoe so long that she loved her even before the teasing started. And she could pinpoint the moment she fell in love.
She was 6 years old with a scraped knee, sitting on the counter in her kitchen as her mom patched her up. Her older sister and Tomoe were both also present. Tomoe because she felt guilty. She had been the reason Himari had tripped in the first place.
Himari watched as her mother pulled out the antiseptic.
"Wait!" she cried. "Can't we just put a bandaid on it?" Himari's mother gave her a warm smile.
"No, sweetie. We have to disinfect it," she calmly explained as she poured some onto a cotton ball. "We want it to heal as quickly as possible." Himari winced even before contact and winced even further after. She felt more tears prick her eyes. "There, all better." Mrs. Uehara said as she placed a bandaid over the wound and kissed it. "Let's hope it doesn't scar."
"Why does it matter if it scars? Scars are cool!" Tomoe spoke up.
"No one would want to marry her if she had a scar," Himari's older sister Haru bit back snidely.
"HARU!" Mrs. Uehara started to lecture her eldest. But it was too late. The idea was already in Himari's head. Himari had often mentioned she wanted to be a bride one day. She loved looking at her parents' wedding photos and loved stories about weddings. She felt more tears form in her eyes. Just because of one minor fall, she may lose her dream.
"I would." The kitchen became very quiet after Tomoe spoke. "Hii-chan is great. If some people can't get over a little scar, I'll marry her."
"You'd marry her just because you feel guilty about a scar?" Haru questioned.
"Not just 'cause of the scar. Hii-chan is pretty and nice. And she always reminds me how to do stuff. I think Hii-chan would be a great bride!" Both of the older Uehara women started to try and explain to Tomoe why that wouldn't work, but Tomoe was having none of it. She seemed dead set on marrying Himari.
"-mari? Himari? You good?" Tomoe, 16-year-old Tomoe, was waving her hand in front of Himari's face. Evidently, Himari had stopped walking. Himari suddenly realized just how spaced out she had been.
"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine." She moved closer to Tomoe as she said this. Then she wrapped her arm around Tomoe's. "I'm totally fine." Tomoe's face was the same shade as her hair. She then abruptly looked back up but didn't remove Himari. She scratched her nose.
"Alright, if you say so." The two continued to walk intertwined.
"Hey, do you remember when you said you'd marry me?"
"EHHHH!? What brought that up?" Tomoe shouted.
Yeah, Himari was totally in love.