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Ah, the thrift store. Heaven on earth for wannabe fashion influencers and mothers on a budget. If one’s dream is to be overstimulated by the smell of mothballs, some random part-timer’s playlist, the scraping of hangers against metal racks, and the utter lack of good options in a sea of old clothes and useless knick-knacks, this would be the place for them.
Niki’s been coming here since her age ended with the suffix ‘-teen’, once her parents decided there was no place in Japan for them anymore. Niki stubbornly, foolishly, stayed, and quickly learned that managing finances isn’t as easy as her mother’s economical prowess made it seem. Not having much of an eye for fashion anyway, Niki had no problem switching from shiny, new department store clothes to the cheapest hand-me-downs the thrift had to offer.
It was a good thing she had going on for a while, putting style lower on the priority list to make space for food and kitchen appliances and cleaning products. That is, until Rinne came along (which can be said for many things, if not everything in Niki’s life).
Rinne, who cares much more about image than she lets on, adores clothes shopping. She’s endlessly more fashionable than Niki could ever be, and she takes great care in deciding which pieces deserve a spot in her wardrobe. Thankfully for Niki’s wallet, Rinne seems to prefer individuality and classic styles to the latest trends, so their shopping sprees remain in their local thrift store, rather than the expensive malls downtown.
Unfortunately, the less money Niki spends, the more time she’s forced to spend accompanying Rinne as she scrutinizes damn near every clothing item in the establishment.
“Rinne-kuuuun,” Niki whines, clutching her grumbling stomach. “How much longer are we gonna be in here for? I’m starving.”
“You’re always complaining. It hasn’t even been two hours yet.” Without looking up or pausing her perusal of the clearance rack, she digs into her back pocket and summons a protein bar, shoving it in Niki’s general direction. “Eat this.”
Niki half-heartedly thanks her, unwrapping the snack and taking a bite. It’s heavy and filling, but Niki would love something warm and hearty right now. Like dinner.
Nibbling on her protein bar, she entertains herself by examining Rinne’s profile.
Her unruly hair and fair skin are washed out by the fluorescent lights. Somehow, she manages not to look sickly like Niki probably does. Instead, she looks strangely nostalgic, like a memory of eating a lovingly packed lunch in a school cafeteria, or surprisingly decent hospital food. The sense of nostalgia is amplified by the serious expression on her face. There aren’t any anticipatory undertones, like when she’s playing a gambling game on her phone. It’s underlined with scrutiny, focus. It takes Niki back to when Rinne was a fresh face in the city.
Niki returns from the past when Rinne’s body shakes with a snort.
“Dude, Nikikyun, I found the perfect shirt for you,” Rinne smirks down at Niki, her long, manicured nails curling around a clothing hanger. The shirt hanging on it reads ‘THIS FACE AIN’T GONNA SIT ON ITSELF’ with a giant arrow pointing upwards. Niki’s mouth curls downward in disgust.
“Gross! I would never wear that.”
“Why not? I thought you loved eating pussy.”
Niki lightly shoves Rinne’s side, shushing her. “Stop talking so loud!” She whisper-yells. “Our old lady neighbors shop here, man. I don’t want them knowing about that kind of stuff.”
Rinne rolls her eyes. “Who cares? You like pussy, that’s a fact. Screw them if they don’t like that.” Her volume remains the exact same, if not a little louder, to Niki’s chagrin.
“It’s not about that! I don’t want old ladies knowing about the sex I have, period! Even if it was straight.”
“The sex you have?” Rinne snorts, putting both her hands up in fake bewilderment. “Fuckin’ dick-slinger over here. Please, forgive me, O Great Pussy Destroyer.”
“Please, just shut up already!” Niki squeaks, a flush creeping onto her cheeks. The topic of Niki’s sex life has been one of amusement ever since Rinne found out she wasn’t a virgin, much to Niki’s dismay. It’s not like Niki’s a player or anything, she just gets asked out sometimes! Sue her! Who is Niki to say no to a perfectly good meal?
And sex is pretty cool. Making people feel good makes Niki feel good, the same way that filling other people’s bellies makes hers feel full, too.
As for Rinne, she won’t tell Niki a thing about her own sex life, but based on her immature handling of the subject and the ‘no kissing before marriage’ law, Niki can make an educated guess. It’s frustrating, even a little embarrassing, to see her act so vulgar and provocative on stage while being so painfully, obviously virginal in her day-to-day life. Although Niki wouldn’t mind changing that if Rinne ever said the word.
Niki snatches the shirt out of Rinne’s hand and places it back on the rack. “You need to focus! You’re the one who wanted to come here, not me!” Niki hasn’t felt the need to buy new clothing since her boobs finally stopped growing. If things go her way, she hopes not to have to go clothes shopping for another 5 years, at the very least. Unless she manages to grow taller than Rinne someday, which she still has a tiny hope of achieving.
Rinne cackles, but relents, turning her focus to sifting through the clothes. Niki does the same.
“You should be looking for stuff, too, y’know. You’re a popular idol now, you should be trying to spice up your wardrobe.” She pulls a blouse out of the rack and holds it up to Niki’s chest. “How about something like this?”
Niki contemplates it. “Not my style. Too… Womanly? Besides, if I wanted to make my wardrobe more idol-like, shouldn’t we go to the mall and not the thrift?” She holds a t-shirt up to Rinne’s chest.
“Not bad, but I have enough black. And you wouldn’t know this because it has nothing to do with food, but thrifting has been the trend. Fans will go crazy if they ask you wear you got a cute top from, and you go ‘I thrifted it!’ Bonus points if you talk about how much you care about sustainable fashion.” She shows Niki another shirt. “How about this?”
Niki shakes her head. “Too booby. Believe me, I know how trendy thrift stores are now. The prices are crazy high now! Even this store! It’s so frustrating, I’m sick of these posers ruining everything. It’s like when a local restaurant gets a good review from an influencer and suddenly there’s a line to get in, and the menu is a QR code, and they charge you extra for refills and extra sauce. Hey, this one’s pretty cute!”
Rinne grimaces. “Too cutesy. And not booby enough. You think I’m a little girl or something?”
“Sometimes you act like you are,” Niki mutters under her breath.
“The fuck did you say, you little shit?” Rinne throws her arm over Niki’s shoulders and wraps the other around her neck, effectively choking her out. Niki sputters, squirming and slapping Rinne’s arm in surrender. Rinne doesn’t let up, and their struggle takes them away from the tops section, past the bags and the shoes, to an obscure corner in the back of the store.
Niki feels herself getting dizzy, and she thinks her vision is about to go out until she hears a gasp and is let go. She falls to the floor. “The hell was all that for?!” She questions between coughs, but it goes unanswered. Niki looks up to see Rinne in a daze.
She’s admiring something on one of the few racks in this section. Niki brings herself to her feet and peeks over her shoulder.
“Oh, it’s a wedding dress!” It sits conspicuously in the middle of the rack, in between a tacky fur coat and a clown costume. The dress has spaghetti straps and a slim shape, only flaring out towards the bottom of the dress. It’s covered in small white beads that mimic pearls and make the dress glitter beautifully, even under the dingy lighting.
Rinne is admiring it with stars in her eyes, fingers running down the delicate fabric with a gentleness that makes it look like the rough-housing she initiated before was a lie. Niki can’t fight the fond smile that appears on her face.
“You’re really into marriage, aren’t you, Rinne-kun?”
Rinne shakes her head. “It’s gorgeous. Why would someone ever donate it?”
Niki shrugs. “I mean, ideally, you only wear your wedding dress once in your life, right? Honestly, I don’t see the point in hoarding it in your closet for years when someone else could be using it.”
“But it’s an important memory…” Rinne trails off, unable to take her eyes off the dress.
Rinne has always been a sentimental person. She keeps everything, from old fan letters to concert tickets to the first gift Niki ever gave her, a stupid mouse plush key-chain that she refuses to throw away even though it’s literally coming apart at the seams. This hoarding habit becomes a pain for Niki whenever she attempts to tidy up the apartment, but the tender expression on Rinne’s face as she looks back on fond memories makes it hard for Niki to put her foot down.
“You should try it on.”
Rinne’s gaze snaps upwards, pulled out of her daze. “What? Try what on?”
“The dress?”
“What? Why me? You try it on.”
Niki gives Rinne an exasperated look. “You’re the one who likes it so much. Besides, the bust is too small for me, but it’ll probably fit you perfectly.”
Rinne glares. “What are you trying to say? You think you’re better than me because you have those humongous cow tits?”
“No one’s saying that! I’m just saying you should try the dress on because you clearly like it, and it would fit you nicely. I really wish you would stop being so insecure all the time!”
Rinne’s mouth opens to retort, but she decides not to, biting down on her lip instead. Her gaze wanders.
“It feels… wrong. Like I’m stealing someone’s precious memories.”
A chuckle escapes Niki before she can catch it. It’s so Rinne-like to overthink something simple to the point that she feels guilty over an impossible-to-commit crime like stealing a stranger’s memories. Niki wishes she had the same consideration for her wallet.
“I think it’s silly to think that.” Rinne gives her a look, but Niki holds out a hand, signaling for Rinne to let her finish before beating her up again. “If this person wanted to keep the memory of this dress to themselves, don’t you think they would’ve kept it? Besides, it’s not like you’ll be intruding on the old memories, more like creating new ones. Even if you were, aren’t memories meant to be shared anyway?”
Rinne stares at Niki for a bit, expression unreadable. She then snorts, grabbing the dress off the rack as she slaps Niki playfully, which in Rinne-strength terms means Niki still hisses in pain and clutches her arm.
“You’re so dumb you forget you’re a middle-school dropout, and it cancels out into being smart.”
“Wha— Hey?!”
“Do I really have to get in with you?” Niki asks as Rinne drags both of them into the only dressing room in another corner of the store and locks the door shut.
“Yeah, you have to help me, duh. Here, find out if the back has buttons or a zipper.” Rinne shoves the dress into Niki’s hands and, before Niki can say anything, starts stripping right in front of her.
It shouldn’t matter since Niki’s seen Rinne undressed tons of times, but the enclosed space and the fact that they’re technically in public brings a sweat to Niki’s forehead, despite them not doing anything naughty.
Jacket hung up and sneakers kicked to the side, Rinne pulls off her loose tee, unceremoniously tossing it to the floor. Niki has to hold back her gasp.
Rinne has a habit of going braless in public. Her smaller size allows for it, Niki supposes, but it still throws her for a loop when she catches a glimpse of her nipples through the fabric of her top. Niki’s always gotten the idea that they’re sensitive, with the way Rinne will exhale or shiver whenever she happens to brush past something with her chest. Her nipples being hard now, after being exposed to the cooler for so little time, only supports Niki’s theory.
The reflection of Rinne’s bare breasts in the mirror is only made more alluring by the dog tags hanging in the space between them.
Next to come off are Rinne’s jeans. They’re a tight fit around her hips, so it takes her a bit to shimmy out of them and toss them to the side with her shirt. What Rinne “lacks” in the upper department, she makes up for downstairs. Her hips are wide, and her ass is round and squishy. Even now, the fabric of her underwear is digging into her soft flesh. Niki swallows.
“Did you figure it out?”
Niki’s gaze snaps up. Rinne is looking at her through the mirror. Her expression is neutral, which hopefully means she didn’t catch Niki ogling. “Figure what out?”
“The dress?”
“Right!” Niki hurriedly fumbles with the dress until she finds the back of it. “It’s a zipper.” Thank goodness. She unzips it and holds it open for Rinne to step into, crouching down to make it a little easier.
Wordlessly, Rinne steps forward, placing her hands on Niki’s shoulders for support. She lifts a leg. Her right foot, then her left, enters the dress. Niki brings the dress up past her knees, her thighs, her hips, her waist, up to her chest. When they’re face-to-face, Niki pulls the straps of the dress over Rinne’s shoulders. Rinne’s arms wrap around Niki’s shoulders in return.
They’re close enough to be breathing the same air, the red and gray of their bangs intermingling to create an antique color. Their chests are pressed against each other tightly. The way Niki’s larger breasts spill over and envelop Rinne’s smaller ones fills Niki with a sick, guilty sense of superiority. Rinne’s hesitant, green expression doesn’t help. She looks at Niki like a stray kitten, waiting for Niki to hold her hand out so she can lick and nibble her fingers and be given a home. Who wouldn’t want to help out the poor thing?
Niki runs her hands down Rinne’s back, purposefully brushing her fingers down her spine to make Rinne tremble. She feels around for the zipper, which isn’t difficult for her. She takes hold of the pull tab in her left hand while grabbing Rinne’s hip with her right. She pulls it up slowly, bringing Rinne closer to her at the same time. Since the dress is backless, there isn’t a lot to zip, so once Niki finishes, she brings her other hand to rest on Rinne’s other hip.
“… Are you done?” Rinne’s voice is hushed, barely audible over the downbeat pop song playing in the background. Niki nods, bringing a palm to the exposed part of Rinne’s chest, just above her breasts.
“You should probably take this off,” Niki suggests, voice equally low.
Rinne ever-so-slightly flinches, something that would’ve been imperceptible if Niki weren’t watching her like a hawk, ready to eat her up. “Huh?”
“Your necklace. It doesn’t really match the dress.”
“Oh.”
“Here, I’ll take it off for you,” Niki takes hold of the cool metal in one hand. In the other, she takes hold of Rinne’s hair and holds it up, exposing her nape. Rinne’s breath quickens. Niki pulls the chain up from and around her head, palming the back of her neck in the process, making Rinne shiver and let out the tiniest, high-pitched sigh. Niki tucks the chain into her pocket and brings both her hands to Rinne’s nape, running her fingers up and down the sensitive skin.
“Rinne-kun,” Niki whispers, pressing her forehead to Rinne’s, looking into her eyes.
She’s trying to hide it, but Rinne’s breath is heaving, her face is flushed, her lips are trembling, and her eyes are wide and teary, and, oh, this is just too sad! It’s as if she tried to give the stray kitten Rinne a bath, and she’s mewling and flailing her legs over the water. How can Niki force the poor thing into something she’s clearly terrified by?
Niki sighs, backing away. She moves her hands from Rinne’s neck to muss up her hair a little instead. She nods towards the mirror. “See how it looks.”
Breathing a tiny sigh of relief, Rinne nods wordlessly and turns around to admire herself. Niki takes the moment to admire her, too.
The slim fit of the dress accentuates her subtle curves, hugging the not-so-subtle ones perfectly, too. The sparkling ivory complements her fair skin and makes her scarlet hair pop. The swooping neckline makes the most out of her meager cleavage, emphasizing its shape rather than its size. Yeah, Niki never wants to hear anything about having a bad eye ever again. This dress was made for Rinne.
The best part is the sunny beam on Rinne’s face as she twirls this way and that, delighting in the way the skirt flutters this way and that, giggling the same way she did when she tried a stage outfit on for the first time.
“I told you you would like it.” Niki boasts, unable to fight the smug grin making its way onto her face. It’s not often that Niki gets to push Rinne to do things, rather than the other way around. Unexpectedly, Rinne doesn’t suck her teeth and slap Niki for getting too cocky. Instead, she interlaces an arm with Niki’s, leaning against her shoulder.
“Thank you, Niki.” Rinne’s voice is serene, like there’s no place she feels more at ease than in a wedding dress, standing at Niki’s side. “You’re a genius. I feel so pretty.”
“You are pretty,” Niki affirms, the words tumbling out of her mouth way too eagerly. She can’t help. It’s the first thing she’s ever known about Rinne. It’s as natural to her as saying that the sky is blue. “You always have been.”
Rinne nuzzles her cheek against Niki’s shoulder. They simply stand there for a little while, staring at themselves (and each other) in the mirror. They make a funny-looking pair. Rinne, breath-taking and ethereal in her gown, and Niki, messy-haired in sweatpants and an oil-stained hoodie. They’ve always been like that, though. Rinne turns heads in the street, for better or for worse, and Niki’s average. Approachable.
Never jealous, though. Only in love.
“My mom was the most beautiful bride.” Rinne starts, after moments of silence. “Me and her used to go through her wedding pictures all the time. She had this big-ass smile on her face; she was so ecstatic to be there. Getting eternally bound to that guy.” Rinne smiles wryly, looking down at her skirt, tracing the beads with her fingers. Flicking them around with her nails. Niki has half a mind to tell her not to ruin store property, but she can’t bring herself to interrupt Rinne’s story.
“She was so stupid. He was such a dick. But she was shining so brightly that day. The only time I’ve seen her happier was when she gave birth to Hiiro. It made me think ‘Wow, marriage must be something special. Sacred, even.’ I always wished I would find someone who would make me shine like that. Even though it always seemed like a pipe dream.” Rinne clenches her hands, wrinkling the dress and the sleeve of Niki’s hoodie. She makes eye contact with Niki in the mirror, a beaming grin on her face.
“She wasn’t wearing white, but… I look more like her today than I ever have in my entire life.”
Oh, wow. Niki’s heart skips several beats, and she has to swallow so her voice doesn’t shake when she says, “She must’ve been a beautiful lady, then.”
Rinne giggles, lifting her head from Niki’s shoulder to squish their cheeks together instead. Niki can feel the warmth of her blush, the excited pace of her breaths. She mentally gives herself a fist bump, proud of herself for saying the right thing.
“Nikikyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Marry me.”
“We can’t.” Niki instinctively declines, used to the same comfortable song-and-dance they’ve always done. Rinne frowns, the starlight in her eyes flickering, and Niki mentally beats herself repeatedly over the head with a meat tenderizer for being such an idiot. With the spiky part.
By the grace of… Whatever’s up there giving out all the grace, Rinne gives her a second chance. Squeezing Niki’s arm even tighter, slightly pinching her with her long nails (which feels a little deserved), she asks, heart-wrenchingly vulnerable, “Can we pretend?”
Niki nods. “Yeah.”
Pleased, Rinne nods as well. She releases her grip on Niki’s arm, turning them so they’re facing each other.
“Ok, so are you gonna say your vows or should I go first?”
Niki yelps, thrown off guard. “What?! Right now?!'“
“Yeah?” Rinne tilts her head, looking at Niki like she just missed the most obvious joke in the world. “When else would we do it?”
“But I don’t have any vows prepared!!”
“Looks like I’ll be going first. Get those gears turning in the meantime,” She grins. “Actually, don’t. This needs your full attention.” She takes Niki’s warm hands into her own, always frigid ones. She clears her throat, looking into Niki’s eyes with unwavering conviction. Devotion.
“Niki Shiina.” As confident as Rinne acted, Niki sees the wheels turning in her head. She’s making this up on the fly. Despite that, the words come out as if they’d been practiced a thousand times. “When I met you, I was dirty, lost, and confused. I was a stranger. A weird, rude, demanding, probably delusional-seeming stranger. But you still took me in. You taught me to live, about cooking, to navigate the train lines, to get the best deals at the grocery store. To enjoy living. To appreciate the little things in life. At first, I thought you were such an idiot, doing so much for someone like me. To give so much, even though you had nothing! But…” She squeezes Niki’s hands.
“I was wrong. You’re not an idiot. You’re just kind. And so smart, smarter than you think. And so capable, and caring, and talented, and so gorgeous. Most of all, Niki, you’re deserving. You deserve everything good that happens to you. You deserve love and happiness. So much that I’m willing, no, I am dedicating my life to making you happy, no matter what it takes. You’re not just a friend, or even family, you’re my other half. I can’t live without you. Even though… I stress you out, and I make you worry, and I let you down a lot. I promise I’ll make you happy. I’ll stay by your side, in sickness and in health and in hunger, on stage and off stage, all that shit.” She swallows. “I… I love you, Niki. No matter what.”
Rinne’s face is unreadable, almost blurry, and oh, those are tears. Niki’s tears. She brings a hand to wipe them away. Rinne is flushed from her chest to her ears, and her eyes are brimming with uncertainty, but she doesn’t look away.
“Rinne-kun.”
“… Yeah.”
“Please let me kiss you.”
A laugh punches its way out of Rinne’s throat. “No way!” She bites her lip playfully. “Not yet. You have to say your vows first, dumbass.”
“Right.” Niki closes her eyes, gathering her thoughts. Her feelings for Rinne are so great, so complex, so all-encompassing. She’s afraid she won’t be able to put it into words, definitely not as eloquently as Rinne could. Still, she wants to try. She opens her eyes.
“Rinne-kun— Er, Rinne Amagi. I’m nowhere near as good with words as you are. Like you said, I’m kind of an idiot. Well, you did say all that nice stuff too!! It made me feel really fuzzy and warm inside. But that’s not the point! I might not know a lot, but I do know this. You’re a pain in my ass.”
Rinne reels back, playfully incredulous. Niki stammers. “Let me finish!!”
“You’re such a pain. Every day, I’m inconvenienced by you in some way, each time more infuriating than the last. Seriously, I rue the day I met you sometimes. But that’s just because…” Niki takes a deep breath.
“Before I met you, I didn’t realize how lonely I was. I knew I was alone, sure, but I never knew how bad that felt because I never knew anything else. If it weren’t for you, I would have never felt so sad! But also… If it weren’t for you, I would’ve missed out on so many good feelings, too. I would’ve never known how good it feels to cook for someone and see their eyes light up when they take a bite. I would’ve never known how fun it is to sing and dance and run around on stage. I would’ve never known how satisfying it feels to see someone you care so much about achieve their dreams. I would’ve never known what it was like to be in love.”
Rinne lets out the heaviest breath. It’s her turn to start crying.
“Rinne-kun. I’m madly in love with you. Since the day we met, I’ve loved you. More than words could ever express. That’s why I never tried to say it. I think that actions are more important. That’s why I’ll always wait for you when you get home late. I’ll always make you breakfast in the morning and lunch for long work days, and dinner when you’re drunk. I’ll follow you anywhere you go. I’ll be with you forever, even if you get tired of me. We don’t have to be married. We don’t even have to be a couple. We transcend that. We always have, and we always will. Not even death can separate me from you.” Niki’s head hangs, suddenly embarrassed by admitting such intense feelings. She laughs wryly. “So yeah. I love you. A lot.”
A silence envelops the two of them. It’s not awkward or tense or anything. Just… Reflective. They’re taking in the words they said to each other, processing each other’s feelings. The air is heavy because that’s how much they feel for each other. They’re not uncomfortable feelings. They’re warm. A weighted blanket of affection, loyalty, and gratitude.
“Niki.”
“Yeah?”
“You little shit.”
Niki’s head snaps up. “What? What did I do?!”
Rinne takes Niki’s face in both hands, pulling her forward until their noses are almost touching. “How dare you outdo my vows! You said you weren’t gonna be as good as me! Yours were supposed to suck!” The grin on her face is the sun: wide and hot and blinding. Niki can feel an identical one stretching across her face.
“Hey, it wasn’t on purpose! I was just saying how I felt, I swear!”
“That’s even worse,” Rinne chuckles, pressing her forehead against Niki’s. They stare at each other through eyelashes for a little while, until Rinne gets embarrassed and looks away. Haha. Niki wins. Rinne clears her throat. "We’re supposed to exchange rings now, but we don’t have any, so…”
Niki leans in ever so slightly. “…So?”
“We have to,” Rinne clears her throat. “Skip that part. Just make it official.”
Niki hands ghost over Rinne’s sides. Her pulse quickens. She’s a dog, tempted by the promise of a treat coming very soon if she sits tight like a good girl for just a few more minutes.
“How are we going to do that?”
Very slowly, Rinne rubs her hands down and around Niki’s head to wrap around her neck. “Niki Shiina.”
Niki, having to use the entirety of her body’s restraint to not slobber all over Rinne’s face, swallows. “Yeah?”
“Do you take Rinne Amagi to be your lawfully…” A pause. “Unlawfully, symbolically wedded wife?”
“I do.” Niki nods. She’s never been more sure of anything in her life. She takes one of Rinne’s hands off her neck, intertwining it in her own instead as if they were about to slow dance. Honestly, Niki feels like spinning her around a little, but it would probably ruin the moment. It’s a shame. Her skirt would twirl really prettily.
“Rinne Amagi.”
Giddy anticipation dances across Rinne’s features. “Yeah.”
“Do you take Niki Shiina to be your unlawfully, symbolically wedded wife?”
She nods. “Yeah. I do.”
“Cool,” Niki breathes, dumbly. Her eyes dart across Rinne’s face, wanting to capture every part of it at this moment and preserve it forever. Her ruddy cheeks. Her misty eyes. Her snaggletoothed grin. Her eyebrows playfully furrowed. The bangs falling over her face. Once Niki decides she’s had her fill, she asks, “May I kiss the bride?”
Rinne huffs out a laugh, closing her eyes. “Do what you want.”
Finally having the go-ahead, Niki gently leans in, pressing their lips together. Belatedly, she realizes that she’s never taken anyone’s first kiss before. She’s always been approached by more experienced women. So, in a way, this is a first for both of them. How nice!
Still, Niki doesn’t want to scare off Rinne, who’s only a beginner, and also is generally flaky and skittish. She decides that they’ve been kissing for long enough and pulls away.
“How was it?”
Rinne bites her lip in thought. Her face is redder than it was before, and she’s nearly panting. They’re close enough that their chests are pressed together. Niki can hear the rapid, melodic beating of her heart.
“I think… I need to try it a second time. Y’know, to properly assess the experience?”
Niki dives in. She’s a little hungrier this time, a little less restrained. She takes Rinne’s bottom lip in between her teeth, nibbling and sucking to her heart’s content. Clutching Rinne’s hand in hers even harder, she digs her way into Rinne’s mouth using her tongue, desperate to get even closer to her, to become one.
When they part lips, a silver thread of saliva is left behind as a remnant of their connection. Rinne’s eyes are hazy. Her skin is flushed cherry red, and her chest is heaving, desperately trying to catch her breath so they can lock lips again. Niki looks about the same, from what she can see of her reflection in Rinne’s eyes.
“Niki,” Rinne begs, planting a kiss on Niki’s hand that is intertwined with hers. She looks up at her through long, pretty eyelashes, desperate. Niki can practically see the hearts in her eyes. “Touch me.”
Rinne lets out a surprise squeak when Niki pushes her up against the dressing room door. The door squeaks a little too; its joints weak from old age, but it doesn’t falter, providing much-needed support as Niki eats into Rinne’s face. She presses Rinne’s arm up to the door, locking her in place as her other hand comes down to squeeze her ass. It’s soft and fluffy and obedient, squishing underneath Niki’s fingers.
Niki’s gone. Hunger’s number one spot as the best spice is affirmed once again. Nothing has ever tasted better than Rinne’s lips, sticky-sweet with lip gloss, plush against Niki’s chapped ones. Niki wants more. She digs in deeper and deeper, desperate to explore brand new textures and flavors.
Rinne’s fingers dig into her scalp, tugging a little on her ponytail. The slight pullback only makes Niki want it more. A dog fighting her leash.
Niki pulls away, only to shift her sights to Rinne’s neck, licking and sucking the underside of her jaw. She can feel the beating of her pulse on her tongue. Scarily, Niki gets the urge to bite into it as hard as she can. To sate herself, she sucks a small hickey over the spot instead. Rinne can beat her up later.
With her mouth free, Rinne’s moans and whines are no longer muffled, and they ring out inside the dressing room, making beautiful background music to go along with Niki’s meal. Once she’s satisfied, Niki stands back, admiring her work.
Rinne’s lips are bitten; partly the work of Niki, another part a desperate attempt to silence her own noises. A little line of drool is dripping down her chin. Her neck is covered in shades of red, from her own flush, as well as Niki’s bites. She’s an utter mess. Niki’s never found her more beautiful in her life. Her heart swells with adoration for this woman, her wife.
Niki gets the urge to drop to her knees and show Rinne just how much she loves pussy.
Before Niki can reach the floor, banging on the door knocks situational awareness into the two of them. Right, this is the thrift store. And—
“Will you hurry up in there?! There’s only one dressing room in this store, you know?!”
Cool air pinpricks Niki’s cheeks and nose, a startling contrast to the desperate heat that took over her body moments before.
The two of them, heads hung low, had awkwardly shuffled out of the dressing room, to the register, and out of the store. They’re now walking home, Rinne in front. Niki is trailing behind, clutching the train of the wedding dress, dutifully making sure it doesn’t touch the ground. In their shame, they hadn’t bothered to get Rinne out of the dress. They simply ripped the tag off and handed it to the poor high-schooler at the register to scan. Well, Niki did. Rinne was more concerned with finding a way to wear her jacket that would cover up her neck.
Now in the dark of night, Rinne isn’t worried about obscuring herself. She’s strolling at a leisurely pace, head tilted back to stare at the sky. She’s always had the habit of looking up when she’s deep in thought, searching for answers in stars that can’t be found in the city. Niki wishes she would have some consideration for her, the one stuck hauling the surprisingly heavy skirt, and pick up the pace, but she supposes Rinne has a lot to think about.
“I wish I took them with me,” Rinne muses aloud after a while.
“Took what?”
“My mom’s pictures. I could’ve shown you. She really was beautiful.”
Niki smiles reassuringly at the back of Rinne’s head. “I would’ve loved to see them.”
"Yeah,” Rinne chuckles, but the humor in her voice is dark. Sad. “Everyone always said I looked like her. Back home. The spitting image.” Her arms move. Niki can’t tell if she’s crossing her arms or hugging herself. “I never saw it, though. I mean, we had all the same features, but… She was softer. More innocent. She made you want to protect her. I always saw her in Hiiro more than anyone. That kind of beauty.”
Niki hums aloud to signal she’s listening. Rinne needs that sort of reassurance when she’s pouring her heart out. So she doesn’t clam up.
“You don’t think you’re soft like that?”
Rinne scoffs. “Hell no. I came out the womb jaded. Always fed up with one thing or the other.”
“I disagree,” Niki murmurs, watching the beads of the dress twinkle and sparkle under the different colored streetlights. “I think you’ve always had an innocence to you. Even now. Despite everything. There’s something a bit childish in never giving up, don’t you think?”
Rinne doesn’t respond.
“I might be the only person in the world who thinks this, but… I’ll always want to protect you. Your dreams. I don’t want you to ever change, Rinne-kun.”
Rinne suddenly stops. When Niki looks up, they’re at the metal stairs leading to their apartment. Neither of them makes any move to go up.
“Always, huh…” Rinne parrots.
“Yeah,” Niki affirms, nodding with conviction. She has no clue how Rinne could doubt it, after everything they’ve gone through. That they’re forever.
“Niki.”
“Yes?”
“Have you fucked a lot of girls?”
Niki jolts, quickly feeling the sweat form across her forehead and the back of her neck. “I mean, I wouldn’t say a lot! Definitely not more than I can count on all my fingers!” Niki stammers, realizing that ten people is still a lot. “Plus, it was never me who initiated, I’m just easily swayed, y’know~ N-Not that it was never consensual or anything!!”
Feeling like she’s losing control of her words, she lets the skirt fall to the floor. She can spend the money to get it cleaned another day. Niki steps forward and wraps her arms around Rinne, resting her chin on her shoulder.
“It never felt that right anyway. ‘Cause it wasn’t with you.” Niki whispers from the bottom of her heart.
“I never cared about that, dumbass…” Rinne claims, but Niki can feel the way the tension releases from her body, how she melts in Niki’s arms. “Were you scared? For your first time?”
Niki hums, thinking back to the past. She shakes her head. “Nah. It was a little awkward, sure, but… That girl was older and more experienced, so I knew I was in good hands. I learned a lot from her. And then I learned I like it better when someone’s in my hands! So I’d say it was pretty valuable."
Rinne nods slowly. She plants a hand over Niki’s. Niki intertwines them.
“I don’t want to have sex yet.”
Niki chuckles. “That’s fine.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Yeah?” Niki shrugs. “I mean, I’ve already been waiting this long. What’s a little more? I’m not in a rush.”
“Good. It just seemed like… I don’t know what you were about to do back there. If we didn’t get interrupted.”
Niki feels herself go red in the face. She didn’t think Rinne had noticed that.
“Don’t worry about that!!” She stammers. “It makes sense to wait. You’ve only just had your first kiss! That was just me getting carried away, I swear!”
Rinne snorts, to Niki’s embarrassment, but it’s better than seeing her tense and insecure like before. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
Niki hums, shutting her eyes. She takes a huge, deep breath, taking in Rinne’s scent. She smells like old clothes and Niki. Rinne turns her head, pressing her nose against Niki’s temple. Niki wonders if she’s smelling her, too. A puppy and a kitten meeting for the first time. Getting used to each other.
“We can still kiss, though,” Rinne whispers, a smile in her voice. Niki wastes no time taking Rinne’s lips. They taste like a promise. A promise to stay, of things to come.
A promise of forever.