A Happy Accident – "Worldshaking" Fanfic

It was an accident.

That’s all.

Just an accident.

It had been a busy week. Homework was tougher than usual for some reason, end of term exams loomed in the not at-all-distant future, there was a lot of prep work for next term’s school festival to be done and kendo practice was gearing up for training camp over summer vacation. And it had been really, really hot out, which just sapped the energy from her body.

So when Sunday morning arrived, Yoshino was not at all in the mood to get up, much less get up bright and early, and go shopping. Although, she thought, as the sweat pooled behind her knees despite with the room’s air conditioning, a cold shower would be nice. Eventually.

She wrestled with the idea of canceling but, ultimately her desire to spend time with Rei won over her sloth. Moving slowly and painfully, she dragged herself out of bed and forced herself to shower and dress.

By the time she was brushing her hair out, Yoshino felt marginally more human. She needed a cup of tea and some breakfast, but she thought she could hold out until Rei arrived, which should be any min….

The knock was short and strong, followed by “Yoshino?” in Rei’s deep voice. Immediately Yoshino perked up. It’s funny, she thought, as she put the brush down and went to the door of her room, how much of a difference hearing her voice makes. She opened the door with a smile to welcome Rei.

“Good morning,” Yoshino said brightly, stepping back to let the older girl in.

“Good morning!” Rei greeted her happily, stepping in to the room, leaning down slightly to give Yoshino a light kiss on the lips, and moving past her to put down the pile of magazines she carried on Yoshino’s desk. “I brought a few magazines over, because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to try and make, so I thought we’d go through them, before we headed…?” Her words ended abruptly, her hands falling heavily to her sides.

“…” Yoshino was still standing at the door, one hand gripping the door’s edge, the other gripping her skirt tightly. She blinked once, but otherwise seemed paralyzed.

Slowly, Rei turned, her face pale. “I…” her voice faltered.

“You kissed me.” Yoshino said, beginning to shake. Slowly, with agonized effort, she shut the door to her bedroom and placed her back against it. As if to block out some intruder trying to get in…but it was too late, really, wasn’t it?

Rei’s face paled even further, to a worrisome shade of gray. Yoshino wondered if she was about to pass out. “I’m sorry, it just, it seemed…,” she was clearly flailing for words. “It just seemed natural.” Rei’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

It just seemed natural. Yoshino put her finger to her lips. It had seemed…something. She had opened the door, greeted Rei, they had kissed good morning just like always. Only, it wasn’t “just like always.”

Because there had never been an “always” before that.

“I guess it did.” Yoshino admitted.

“I’m sorry.” Rei sounded like she wanted to cry.

With an effort, Yoshino pulled herself together. “Don’t be,” she took a deep breath. “I’m not angry.” She let the breath out. She was still trembling, but it wasn’t the same as before.

Color flooded into Rei’s face. “Good, because – I’m not really sorry at all.” Her voice was ever deeper than usual; all gravelly from tears that were threatening now. Her smile turned bitter, self-recriminating.

Silence fell between them. Rei stood by the desk, unmoving, Yoshino on the opposite side of the room, her back to the door.

“What are you thinking?” Rei asked, when the silence had gone on for what seemed like forever.

“I want to try that again.”

“What?”

“I want a re-enactment.” Yoshino said. “I want to see what happened.”

“What…happened.” Rei repeated the words without comprehension.

Yoshino pushed off the door, straightening her spine. “How many thousands of times have you come into this room? And you never did that before. So – what was different this time?”

Rei blinked, then again. “Nothing was different.”

“Something was.” Yoshino insisted. She pulled the door open and pointed. “Out.”

Rei shook herself, as if to wake herself from a dream. “Yoshino…”

“Go,” Yoshino said, a small smile creeping on to her lips. “Give me a minute to get myself back to where I was. Try to remember what you were thinking when I opened the door. Okay?”

Rei nodded. “Okay, but…”

“No buts. Go.” Yoshino waited until Rei had left the room and closed the door behind her.

“Yos…” Rei began.

“Ssh!” Yoshino warned. “Just give me a moment before you knock.”

She walked across the floor, picked up the brush and stood in front of the mirror. She had been brushing her hair. And thinking how she was hungry, but that she wanted to have breakfast with Rei-chan and….

The knock made her jump. Her heart thumped loudly. Rei! She dropped the brush. She wanted to see Rei. To see her gentle smile.

“Yoshino,” Rei’s voice was a little shakier than it had been the first time, but Yoshino’s heart thumped again. She wanted to hear Rei’s voice saying her name.

She pulled back the door, desperate to see Rei, smiling up at the person she loved more than anyone in the world.

“Good morning,” Yoshino said breathlessly, stepping back to let Rei in.

Rei stepped in, took the door from Yoshino’s hand and closed it behind her, then scooped Yoshino into her arms, pressing her lips onto Yoshino’s.

It wasn’t a long kiss. They moved apart and looked at each other in embarrassment.

“I wanted to see you,” Yoshino said. “I wanted to see you so much.”

“I did too. And you look so cute, with your hair down, and I just…” Rei buried her face in Yoshino’s hair, embracing her once again.

It wasn’t a moment, Yoshino thought, to wonder what would happen now. It wasn’t a moment to worry about the future. As she and Rei moved once again to kiss one another, she thought that she would forever think of this morning as just an accident.

A happy accident.