Maho gave Fujiko a small smile. "I think these flowers are ready to sell at the plant fair. What do you think?"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuW5fqDOiL
Fujiko held up a pot of roses to her nose and breathed in the sweet fragrance. "They're beautiful-"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yjtuUHvxj
Maho glared at her. "If you say they're beautiful like me, I'll hit you." Fujiko laughed. Maho thought the laugh was as sweet as the roses, but she would never admit it. The memory of Fujiko confessing her love to her swirled around her mind like flowers put in a bowl of water. They had not talked about that event for months and Maho had to admire her friend's patience in waiting for a response.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0TdTLYK0N
"I wouldn't say something like that. It would be too embarrassing." Fujiko's cheeks were tinted with a rose colour. Maho wanted to point out that she often said embarrassing things, but her tongue was less sharp than what it used to be. Had Fujiko softened her?694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHloeIj3USp
Maho looked down at her flowers as she spoke. "Do you... still have feelings for me?" Fujiko gently placed the pot of roses on the balcony's rail. She looked up with a smile that failed to hide her anguish.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66e5JfWaGW
"I... I do... I'm sorry if you think it's strange. Don't worry about it too much."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSnR3WfOGG
Maho frowned. "I don't know what you see in me. I'm a mess, plain and simple. I'm always getting drunk, annoyed or both. How do you put up with me?"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRsJrJ1qEh
"It's not a matter of putting up with someone. I can see that you're more than just that. You've broken out of your frame, so-"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6UVclg5LH
"Enough about that! I'm sick of talking about 'frames'. Is it so bad to want to fit in a frame? I... I just want to...."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QdcccAc8W
Maho wiped her tiny tears away before they had a chance to be noticed. She looked at Fujiko. "It's ridiculous how you keep cutting your hair short. Are you trying to be like a man to get closer to me? Why do you bother when you still look like a woman? Why do I bother trying to pass for a woman?"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySDbhuAqBp
"But... you are a woman. And I'm not trying to look like a man. My hair just feels constricting. Cutting it off makes me feel free, like I'm out of my frame."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfztbs54J4C
"What did I say about the frame?"694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQ03kmYnxp
"I don't care! Unlike you, I'm not content in being what's expected of me!" Fujiko shouted, startling Maho. Maho stepped back quickly. Her back almost folded on top of the rail as she fell backwards. Her eyes widened as she saw concrete that darkened with raindrops, which began to dive into the air until they reached the ground. Despite the now stormy weather, Maho's thoughts became clear.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW42OwAgOI0
She finally allowed herself to cry as she felt Fujiko's warm hand holding her arm. She looked up and saw the pain in her eyes. She shook her head.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpiv4yXppM
"Just let go. Let me die," she said in a gravely low voice.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWzpFfj9xf
"Now's not the time to be joking about things like that."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBojfRuVOI
"I'm not kidding this time. I really want to go."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DV2r5HLVs
"And leave me all alone?" Maho furrowed her eyebrows. "It's okay if you don't like me back, but you can't forget that you and Koko are my only friends. I... I would crumble if you died. My world would shatter to pieces."
Fujiko was a big fan of using clichés and dramatic metaphors in her speech, whether she realised it or not. Sometimes this quirk made Maho grumpy, but on other days, such as when they first talked about social 'frames', she found it endearing. As Fujiko's hold on her arm tightened, Maho reached an epiphany. 694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsnzgBhrzL
"I... I do return your feelings. Can I live?" Fujiko grinned like a child high on sugar. She pulled up her friend with all her strength until Maho was sitting on the balcony. "Thank you. I still don't know how you can stand me."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkwmm473iq
Fujiko wrapped her arms around Maho's broad shoulders and held her close. "It's okay. I'm sorry for complaining about being lonely. I shouldn't have been such a burden."694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddu5tC66Tw
Maho held Fujiko's chin up and crashed their lips together. She tried to remember kissing someone like this, but all of her memories of being with other girls were filled with judgement and harsh words. She remembered coming out as a woman to her first crush.694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXSAkM3Sdk
"You're... not a boy? Are you some sort of tranny? No offence, but you could never pass for a girl. Just be a guy and we could be together." 694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIdvYbqwRb
She knew that this would never happen again. She had Fujiko and that was all that mattered to her at the moment. 694Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YTLXok2kt
Fujiko ended the kiss, her beam growing wider as her heart warmed up like a heating pad. She wiped away more of Maho's tears. Maho smiled back at her, showing no traces of her earlier depressed state. Both women had cheeks as red as roses.
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