Healing Kisses (ch42)

Reviving this fic for a second with another wintery chapter~

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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						Chapter 42. Snow Day

Claudine wakes that morning with her face in her pillow and the soft pressure of an arm across her back.

Right away she recalls it had been just a little bit chilly last night, and so Maya had wasted no time in coming close to hug her. And even now as Maya still sleeps, she continues sharing her warmth with Claudine, partially draped over her back with her face dangerously close to hers on the pillow.

Claudine both feels and hears the lightness of her breath against her lips, and being that she's more or less trapped at the moment anyway, she opts to move in closer to Maya until their noses brush.

Closing her eyes, she savors the early-morning peace and tranquility, thinking about what there is to do today. She remembers an excitement throughout the lounge last night, recalling Junna's statement that it was supposed to snow overnight, but not much. Of course Karen had squealed like a little kid and prayed it would end up snowing tons. Nana and most of the others had agreed it might be nice, while only Kaoruko had wrinkled up her nose with distaste.

Claudine can't see out past the curtains from here, but she has to wonder if it snowed last night, and if it was enough to potentially bar their walk to school today to prevent them from training like they normally would on a weekend.

Either way, there was no great rush to get out of bed today.

Claudine sinks comfortably into the mattress and pillow beneath Maya's slight weight on her back, inching just a little closer to her to breathe in her scent.

"Just how vexing are you going to be today, I wonder?" Claudine closes her eyes for a few moments and cuddles up.

About ten minutes later, Maya starts rousing herself. The instant she opens her eyes to see Claudine so close, Maya smiles.

"Good morning, Saijou-san."

"Bonjour." Claudine rolls onto her side to face her, and Maya adjusts her embrace accordingly.

"Did you sleep well?" Maya asks.

"As well as ever. What about you?"

"I slept wonderfully, thank you."

"Then let's get a move on."

Maya pushes herself up first, then helps Claudine afterward. They fix their hair and nightgowns briefly before Claudine gets out of bed and goes to the windows. Moving the curtains aside, she peers out into a world so bright it makes her squint.

"'Just a little' hm?"

The weather prediction from last night had been humble at best. By now, the entire campus is covered in a solid layer of snow already, and more is still falling steadily. She can already imagine the hyper chaos that must be going on in Karen's room right about now.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to walk to school today after all," she mumbles to herself. As she turns back around, Claudine finds that Maya had been watching her closely at the window, and now she quickly looks down into her lap, almost like a guilty child. Claudine raises an eyebrow.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing at all. I was simply curious about the weather..."

"Oh?" Claudine's lips begin to curve up in the beginnings of a smirk. "Is Tendo Maya perhaps excited about the snow?"

Maya stiffens a little bit, which is enough of an answer. Claudine laughs.

"I never knew you liked it so much. Well then, you'll be glad to know it's a total winter wonderland out there."

Maya perks up with a hopeful spark in her eyes and a blush in her cheeks.

"Is there that much?"

"Come see for yourself."

At the invitation, Maya tosses the covers off herself with a bit of haste and hurries to join her. When she's able to look out the window for herself at the snow-covered landscape, her eyes sparkle and her mouth opens into a silent gasp. Claudine's heart flutters, and she has to look away before she can start blushing so early in the morning.

So Tendo Maya likes the snow...

It isn't really all that surprising, considering how few of life's joys it seems Maya had gotten to experience thus far, but it still sends a small pang through Claudine's chest. But that sadness is quickly overpowered by a strong sense of determination. She takes Maya's hand suddenly, regaining her attention.

"Well," Claudine huffs. "Instead of staring at it from in here, let's actually go out and experience it for real."

"Eh?" Maya blinks, looking from Claudine to the snow and back again. "What do you mean?"

Claudine rolls her eyes.

"I mean, let's go outside and enjoy ourselves in the snow. What did you think I meant?"

"Eh-?" Maya seems to be torn between being confused and being excited. "But Saijou-san, don't we have other matters to attend to today?"

"What? You think we'll be able to walk to school to practice when the sidewalks are up to our knees in snow? As if. And whatever chores or laundry that need to be done can wait. It isn't every day we get snow like this, you know."

She softens her voice a little, looking over Maya who had just woken up to a snowy world looking like she's about to burst from joy, but still trying to hide such childish feelings. Claudine pulls her closer by the hand and cups her cheek.

"It's okay to be excited, you know."

Maya's lips wobble up into a tiny smile, as if she'd been waiting for such permission all her life. She nods, then wordlessly throws both her arms around Claudine in a tight hug. Claudine hugs her back, feeling the mirth in Maya's heartbeat as it bounces around against her chest.

After a moment they ease apart, and Maya's eyes are brighter than the faint sunlight reflecting off the snow outside.

"Then… what shall we do…?"

Claudine refrains from chuckling again; she can't blame Maya for not knowing how to go about playing in the snow.

"For starters," she says importantly. "We eat. You can't just go out running around in the snow on an empty stomach. You'll get exhausted before you know it. So breakfast first."

Maya tries to remain composed and not show off too much of her excitement, though she doesn't really succeed in hiding it, which is more than fine.

"I see. Then let's eat."

By the time they get to the lounge, all of their other friends have already arrived, and a very merry chatter is filling the room. Nana and Junna are already making breakfast in the kitchen area.

"We got lucky!" Nana is saying. "It's so nice it ended up snowing this much on a Saturday!"

"I'll say," Junna replies. "Though I can't believe they were so wrong about the estimation of how much we'd get."

"That's not a problem!" Karen blurts. "If there was ever an option to have more snow or less snow, the right choice is always more snow! If anything, we should thank the paleontologists for making us think we'd get less snow than we actually did!"

"Ah, do you mean meteorologists, Karen-chan?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!"

Mahiru chuckles and shakes her head hopelessly. Beside her on the couch, Hikari has the same look of quiet wonder that Maya had gotten as she strains to watch the snow falling outside the window.

"It's white and fluffy…" she mumbles. "Like Mr. White."

"That's a great idea, Hikari-chan!" Mahiru claps. "Let's build snowmen of Mr. White and Suzudaru Cat!"

Hikari's lips slowly form a smile.

"Mr. White Snowman…"

"Mm!"

And across from them, Kaoruko turns up her nose of course.

"Well, you all can have fun tumbling around in the snow. I'll be staying indoors where it's warm, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself," Futaba shrugs. "Have fun bein' in here alone all day."

"Ehhh? Futaba-han, you're not staying with me?"

"Hell no! The snow's so much fun! We gotta have a snowball fight or somethin'."

"Ooh!" Nana calls over. "Count me in!"

"Really, Nana?" Junna asks.

"Sure! It'll be fun!"

"Well, all right then…"

"Us, too!" Karen squeals, jumping up from her seat.

"See?" Futaba nudges Kaoruko with her elbow. Kaoruko stubbornly tries to stick to her guns, but eventually caves.

"F-Fine… I suppose it is rather pretty, so I may as well enjoy the scenery at the very least."

"Atta girl."

By now they all notice and greet the final pair as they enter the lounge. Claudine and Maya take their usual seats, though Claudine notes how Maya continues trying to steal glances out the windows behind them. She leans in and murmurs softly to her.

"Don't worry. The snow isn't going anywhere. It won't all melt before we get to it. I promise."

Maya relaxes a bit.

"Kuro-chan, Maya-chan!" Nana sings. "What are your plans for the day?"

"You aren't going to school to practice are you?" Mahiru frets.

"Nobody is," Junna says. "The building is closed, so no one is doing any practicing there today."

"That's all well and good," Claudine says. "Tendo Maya and I plan to join everyone outside to enjoy the snow."

"Oooh perfect!"

"That's great!"

"Then let's eat up and get going!"

They thank Nana and Junna for breakfast and all eat together. All the while, more snow continues falling outside, and even Kaoruko begins to look eager.

When the dishes are done, the girls retreat to their rooms to change into winter clothes. Claudine gets dressed in a sweater and pants, then puts on pink gloves and a pink scarf, white earmuffs, and a cream-colored coat.

Maya, on the other hand, almost walks out of her room with just a coat in her haste, but luckily Claudine is there to grab her and drag her back in.

"Hold on just a second. You can't go out there with just that. Your hands will freeze off! Don't you have any gloves? A scarf? Earmuffs? It's snowing because it's freezing outside, you know! I swear, who are you, Karen?"

Maya smiles and shakes her head to chide herself.

"You're absolutely right. My apologies. I was simply a bit eager..."

"Don't apologize. Where do you keep your gloves?"

Claudine helps her find some, then she wraps a white scarf around Maya's shoulders and places blue earmuffs on for her. By then they're both matching in what they wear and ready to brave the winter.

Once she's satisfied that her partner won't get frostbite, Claudine takes her by the hand and begins leading her down the hallway. Maya follows at a controlled pace, though anyone who passes them by can tell that she's excited by this point.

When they reach the doors, they find their friends already waiting.

"Sorry we took so long," Claudine says. "Tendo Maya here was about to come out with no gloves or scarf."

"That's what Karen-chan and Hikari-chan did too…" Mahiru sighs.

"Seriously?" Junna shakes her head. "Are you sure you guys are in high school?"

"Now, now, Junna-chan!" Nana chirps. "They were just excited! You can't blame them! It's a very special day!"

"You're right."

"Then let's quit yappin' about it and get outside already!"

"Yeah!"

At Futaba's call, they all file for the doors.

Karen is the first one out, and she takes off like a puppy into the whiteness. A blast of chilly, but not exactly cold air blows into the building as the others follow. Claudine doesn't miss how Maya draws in a deep breath of the fresh snowy air, and her cheeks become pink right away.

As soon as the nine of them are outside, the air fills with gleeful shouts and laughter. Kaoruko shrieks when Futaba sprinkles a bit of snow down the back of her neck, and that has Kaoruko furiously patting down a snowball to chase after her with. Nana brings Junna over to help her begin building something. Mahiru has her hands full trying to ensure Karen doesn't eat snow off the ground or other surfaces, and that Hikari won't get distracted by the snowflakes and wander off-campus.

Claudine and Maya stand together for a few moments and observe everyone else. But eventually Claudine gives her hand a squeeze to get her attention.

"So? Where would you like to start?"

"Eh…?" Now that Maya has been given control of what she wants to do, she seems to have forgotten all of the viable options. "I… I'm not quite sure…"

"That's all right. Then why don't we start with a walk? It'll give you some time to think."

Maya smiles, relieved and appreciative to be given a chance to make up her mind. Claudine wishes she knew there was never any pressure for such a thing, though with all she now knows about Maya's parents, nothing would surprise her anymore.

If Maya had ever gotten the chance to play outside in the snow as a child, she can imagine it was never much fun doing so by herself, so she'd probably only ever walked around before getting too lonely and going back inside. But now she has so many new options, and most importantly, she has friends.

So the two of them begin with a walk, hand-in-hand around the campus. They keep to the spots where they know the sidewalk is underneath the layer of fluff, taking in the beautiful views of the world blanketed in sparkling white.

Though they'd both kept the length of their hair tucked inside their coats, Claudine finds herself constantly brushing the top of Maya's head off so she won't get cold too quickly; she wants Maya to enjoy this day to the fullest extent.

They take their time going around Starlight Hall. Since they're the first ones to be out here today, they make the first footprints, and the snow goes up past their ankles already. At the very least there isn't any ice to worry about just yet, so they enjoy a leisurely walk around the building.

Claudine keeps stealing glances at her, and Maya seems to be happier and happier each time. Her lips are in a constant smile, and her eyes continue shining. Claudine smiles too, and blushes more than Maya does.

By the time they get back to their friends, everyone has stopped running around so much and instead settled into separate spots to begin building snowmen. Claudine casts Maya an inquisitive look.

"Well? Would you like to give it a try?"

"Eh?" Maya blinks, as if pulling herself from the wintery trance she'd been lost in until now. "Sculpting? I'm afraid I'm not the best artist…"

"Who cares about that? This isn't for a grade. We're building snowmen, for heaven's sake." Claudine rests her hand on Maya's back, giving her a firm little push. "Just have fun, Maya."

Maya blinks, smiles, then nods.

So together they kneel down in the snow. Maya expresses her desire to try and make a swan, since it's white and elegant like the snow. Claudine tries her hand at the standard snowman, rolling a base and then a midsection and a head. Maya makes her swan's body easily enough, but struggles with the length of the neck.

In the end, Claudine helps her settle for a very large swan chick, which has a shorter neck, a big body, and a head. They sculpt a tiny beak, a bump of a tail, and two folded wings, then poke their fingers into the head to make eyes. Claudine can't dig up any sticks or rocks to decorate her snowman, so it ends up just being an armless body with the face drawn in.

They both laugh at their creations in good fun, then go around to admire the work of their friends; Junna and Nana's awkward frog, Kaoruko and Futaba's daruma doll, Karen's unsymmetrical star, Hikari's rather impressive Mr. White face, and Mahiru's plump Suzudaru Cat.

They all smile and compliment each other on their creations.

And at that point, it's up for debate who threw the first snowball, but needless to say it quickly becomes an all-out war.

Claudine and Maya team up with Futaba and Kaoruko against the other five, though their group suffers a bit of damage to start since Kaoruko collapses dramatically from a single hit, and Claudine has to spend time teaching Maya how to properly pack snow to make a snowball. Futaba holds her own against the opposing team for as long as she can, until at last Maya and Claudine are ready to join the fray.

But overall, with the numbers and skill against them, they end up defeated for the team snowball fight.

However not a moment later, Karen gives a shout of "Every man for himself!", to which Kaoruko responds, "There aren't any men here!" But even so, the nine of them go solo for the next battle.

When Maya is on her own, she's a bit clumsy with making the snowballs, so Claudine goes a bit easy on her. And poor Junna can't see very well due to the snow constantly smearing her glasses, so Claudine mainly goes for Futaba, Kaoruko, and Karen.

Nana is actually much more skilled than she'd thought, but the real dark horse is Mahiru, whose passion for baseball has proven to make her particularly deadly with throwing any sort of ball.

Claudine makes sure to keep an eye on Maya to ensure she's having fun. Even when she's down on her knees and splattered with snow, Maya is laughing her heart out. More than once, Claudine gets so distracted from watching her that she ends up taking a snowball directly to the side of the head.

The whole campus is filled with their shrieks and laughter, and dozens of other classmates soon come out to enjoy the snow as well.

The girls must enjoy themselves for nearly two hours before the cold starts taking hold of them. Nana and Junna go inside first to begin making hot cocoa for everyone. Kaoruko is at her limit begging for a hot bath, so Futaba commends her for making it this long and brings her back inside soon afterward. The second Mahiru hears Hikari sneeze, she rounds up both her and Karen and herds them back inside to change their clothes.

Claudine and Maya are the last ones outside, though they're both very cold and wet with snow by now, so Claudine is intent on going back inside soon. But first, she wants to make sure Maya got the full experience today.

"Well?" she asks, dusting a bit more snow off her own head, then some off of Maya's. "Is there anything else you'd like to do before we head back in?"

Maya ponders for a moment.

"Ah. There was something I saw Aijou-san doing before, when you lay on your back in the snow…"

"Ah, snow angels?" Claudine guesses. "I guess it's best to do that now at the end when we're about to go inside and get changed out of these wet clothes anyway." She takes a step back expectantly, waiting for Maya to make her snow angel. But Maya doesn't move, and instead stares right back at her with the same expectance in her eyes. Claudine blinks. "What is it?"

"Oh… It's just that… I'm not entirely certain how to go about it…"

"Ah. Right. Then I'll show you first."

Claudine finds an untouched patch of snow and crouches down, then slowly lies down onto her back and stretches out, putting her arms to either side and keeping her legs apart.

"You lie down like this. Like a star fish. And then you're supposed to move your arms and legs like this…" She demonstrates the movement, swiping her arms up and down and her legs from side to side. Maya watches intently so she'll be able to mimic it. Once Claudine has finished clearing out the shape, she blows the snow out of her eyes and bangs.

"Something like that. But I'll need help getting up."

"Of course."

As Claudine reaches up for her, Maya takes her hand and helps her back to her feet, then cleans the snow off her back as they look at the results.

"I can see why it's given its name," Maya muses. "The pattern does make it appear as a person with wings."

"Give it a try."

"Very well."

Maya lowers herself down into the snow beside the spot where Claudine had made her imprint. Claudine stands back a few feet to watch her, trying not to chuckle out loud at the image of the mighty Tendo Maya flailing her arms around in the snow like a little kid.

"Have I got it right?" Maya wonders.

"Oui. You're doing splendid. Try moving your arms up even higher."

Maya makes her snow angel, and a moment later reaches up for her. Claudine takes both of her hands and pulls her up, then proceeds to dust her off as well. The two of them look back to admire their snow angels, side by side. Maya is absolutely beaming. Claudine loops her arm around hers.

"Well done, Tendo Maya. I think you've done just about all there is to do on a typical snow day."

"Indeed. And I have you to thank for that, Saijou-san."

Claudine blushes a bit more deeply and looks down.

"Not just me. Everyone else, too…"

"Of course," Maya says. "But it was mostly thanks to you I could enjoy today as much as I did. Thank you very much."

"You don't need to thank me."

But Claudine certainly doesn't protest when Maya pulls her into a warm hug. Claudine wraps her arms around her too as the snow continues flurrying down around them. When they ease back, Maya makes one last confession.

"There is just… one more thing I would like to try on such a beautiful day."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

Maya shows rather than tells. She kisses Claudine without a word, warming up their lips and faces with the contact. Though their cheeks are cold on the surface, they are rosy with heat underneath, and the chill on their lips melts away from the mutual heat. Claudine kisses her back, pulling her in a bit by her scarf to deepen it.

They kiss until they simply can't any longer, and when they part their breath is thick and white.

"Well…?" Claudine pants. "Is that everything, then?"

Maya nods.

"Yes. I believe so."

"Good. Then let's get inside and shower. By then the hot chocolate should be ready."

"Yes."

Maya takes hold of her hand again, leaning cozily into Claudine's side as they begin making their way back to the building.

Behind them are their many footprints, two cute snow sculptures, and matching snow angels; the evidence of their most enjoyable snow day thus far.

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A/N: Similarly to my concept in "Tendo Maya's Best Christmas Ever," I feel she never got to enjoy snow/snow days as a child either ;v; To the point where she would hardly even know what to do if given the freedom to enjoy herself. I had a lot of fun writing them doing cute wintery things together!