#Natsumi is tall among the girls | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

danganronpa-21 · 3 years

Text

KKB Drabble - Starlight

‘Tis late in the night, but you know what? It is @capnii ’s birthday today! As such is the case, I wanted to make a little present for them. This time around, I decided to do a little drabble focused on their fankids! So here it is :0 Hopefully I did the characters justice!

No warnings to issue this time around. It’s a total fluff piece. Only thing that I ask is that you go wish Morg a happy birthday. Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

“Are you guys coming or what?”

For words not meant tauntingly, it was difficult for Natsumi to not feel just a little mocked. Sure, Mei didn’t truly mean anything by it, but considering she was a bit more spry than the rest of them, she couldn’t help but purse her lips together. It wasn’t often that the four of them had to hike together anywhere, much less in the dark. Given that Mei was the most athletic of them, and additionally perhaps the one with the best night eyes apart from Kazuki, she didn’t think it was fair that she got the opportunity to tease them about being slow. How could that possibly be fair, Natsumi thought with a pout.

“No worries, Asahina-san! We’re on our way!” Jun’ichi chirped happily, his voice distinctly not out of breath. Quietly, she couldn’t help but wonder if all of his years as a pop idol had made his lungs super powerful or something. She’d most certainly be lying if she said that she didn’t secretly hope she would someday have that level of strength. To have lungs so powerful that she would barely get winded when hiking up a blustery hill, even when flakes of snow were blowing into her face… that would be the dream. Right now, though, it was one that was rather far out of her grasp. The heaving of her chest proved as much as she glanced helplessly over at Kazuki, who seemed to be faring only a little better than she was. At least that much could sneak a grin across her face.

Well, that, and the promise of a beautiful sight at the end of this long hike. Mei claimed it was among the most beautiful she’d ever seen, bar none. She’d been going on and on about having to bring them there with her for months, and it was only now that they’d managed to coordinate their schedules to make it happen. There had been a few hurdles for them to jump over to get there — convincing their parents to let them go out during the late hours of the night being one of them — but in the end, they managed to come out of it alright in the end… even if they did have to lie to her father about having a “study slumber party”. Pff. Like that was a thing. In a way though, she supposed that this little hint of teenage rebellion made the night feel all the more fun. Even if she would have to try and keep up the lie with her father, these sorts of memories were the kind she knew she would hold onto for the rest of her life. She couldn’t help wanting to drink it all in.

Any other time, one might have been at least a little resentful of being made to trudge through a huge forest in the middle of February, but tonight she fully intended to relish it. It was true that the harsh wind and heavy hike were sucking much of the air from her lungs, but that was a struggle more easily overcome than one might think. She couldn’t deny herself the pleasure of watching all of the tall, naked trees, their branches swaying ever so slightly in the gusts that came and went. The air seemed to whistle softly as it swooped between them, reminding the world that even among its invisibility, it was still there. Every once in a while she could catch a furry creature scuttling up the trunks of those trees, the twitching noses of little squirrels poking out from the hiding spots that they were finding off of the snowy forest floor. Their tiny feet would certainly sense the cold much more than hers would, given that she had the advantage of warm winter boots crunching the winter’s dust beneath her feet. Thankfully though, the snow was pretty soft, falling gently from the sky until it eventually met its end on the ground — unless, of course, it didn’t. Glancing over at Kazuki and Jun’ichi, the two of them seemed to be getting a formidable amount of snow on their heads and shoulders. With Kazuki’s mess of brown hair and Jun’ichi’s striking blue, it came as no surprise that the flakes stood out on the two of them as well as they did. She wondered if they even noticed how impossibly perfect they looked, laughing and joking as the snow fell around them.

“Alright, alright. I have another joke for you,” Jun’ichi said, still trying to recover from laughing at the last one he’d told, “What did the blanket say as it fell off the bed?”

Kazuki’s violet eyes made a full and exaggerated rotation, but a careless grin rested on his face to remind the other how much fun he was secretly having. The sight of it made Natsumi herself snicker; of course he wouldn’t try to play into Jun’ichi and his terrible jokes too much. Then he’d tell them all night, and who knows if they would get to enjoy Mei’s magnificent view?

“We don’t know, Maizono-san. What did the blanket say as it fell off the bed?” Mei asked, glancing over her shoulder to look at him. “Did it say that you’re taking up our valuable hiking time to tell corny jokes?”

Jun’ichi shot a pair of finger guns her way, sending both Mei and Kazuki into a spiral of amused eye rolls that time around. Natsumi wondered if she should perhaps start keeping track of how many times he got that out of them. She was almost certain that Jun’ichi would get quite the kick out of it. “That it did not, but I appreciate your participation!”

Kazuki folded his arms across his chest, quirking a brow as he prepared himself for the answer he was pretending he didn’t want. “Then enlighten us, Maizono-san. What did it say?”

“What did the blanket say when it fell off the bed?” He began again, throwing in the cheesiest arm swing possible. ““Oh sheet!””

A cacophony of groans and sharp exhaling through the nose filled the night the moment the words left the ex-idol’s mouth, sending him into a fit of excessively pleased giggles. Why and how he developed such a talent for cheesy jokes, they didn’t know, but as much as they groaned now… she knew they would never want it to stop.

Jun’ichi and the others, they would be what made this night so special to Natsumi. The view would be one thing, but the time she spent with the others would be so much more. She didn’t like to think about it too much lest she make herself sad, but one day, they might not have the time to do stuff like that anymore. The older they all grew, the closer they got to going their separate ways. While she did have other people she liked, none of them could be as special to her as these three. If she had it her way, she’d have liked to spend her whole life with them, watching them grow into the beautiful people she thought they could be. Singing alongside Jun’ichi on stage, watching Mei become the best veterinarian anyone had ever seen, and cheering Kazuki on as he became the world class detective everyone knew she was meant to be… Even if they were apart, she knew in her heart she could do all of that stuff in spirit, but being together in person was something more valuable than she could convey. If one day she had to let them go, then she wanted to have the happiest memories of them that she could possibly get. Tonight was something she wanted to be a part of that collection.

“You think we have time for one more joke before we get there, Asahina-san?”

Still trying to act as if he wasn’t grinning, Kazuki shook his head. “For everyone’s sake, Mei, please say no.”

“Say yes!” Jun’ichi practically bounced up and down as they walked, like a cross between a skip and a full on hop. “C’mon, say yes! I’ve got a really good one!”

“I say we give him this last one and then no more,” Natsumi suggested, looking back and forth between her friends in hopes that they wouldn’t chide her for egging him on, “I think we’ll all go insane if it’s any more than this last one.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Mei let out a semi-amused, semi-exasperated sigh. “Fine. Just this one last joke. But then we should be there, so get it out while you can.”

Jun’ichi let out a whoop so loud that Natsumi cringed. The cry made her think about all of the people who lived near the forest, trying to sleep in their houses... and being woken up these rowdy teenagers plodding through the forest. For their sake, she prayed that they were heavy sleepers. Nobody needed to be woken up by shouting if at all possible.

“Alright, alright, okay…” He had to pause to get his bearings between his little fits of giggles. Potentially her favourite part of his jokes were the fact that he killed himself with them. This was definitely how she wanted to remember Jun’ichi in the future: laughing himself to tears over his own terrible humour. “Asahina-san, you have cats. You should know the answer to this one. How does your feline shop?”

Mei sighed yet again, her gaze focused on the road ahead as she led them forward. If they truly were as close as she said, then most of her focus would need to go towards navigating for them. She wouldn’t be surprised if the redhead was only half-listening. “I don’t know, Maizono-san. How do cats shop?”

Jun’ichi bit his lip in excitement for but a second, his fists curled tight as he fought to avoid bursting into hysterics. Out of the corner of her eye Natsumi could see Kazuki turning to exchange a glance with her, which she happily returned with raised eyebrows. They were both somehow dreading and anxiously awaiting the inevitable end of the jest.

“By reading a catalogue!” He finally burst out, sure to perform jazz hands as he burst into yet another fit of sniggering.

“Oh that is just… awful,” Mei laughed, still not daring to look back at him, “How do you come with these things?”

“Just a natural talent, I guess,” He shrugged, offering a wink in spite of the fact that her back was turned to him, “Girls love guys with great senses of humour!”

Though she knew it wasn’t for her, Natsumi took the opportunity to wink back at him anyway. “That we do! Someday, I hope I meet a guy like that… The kind who can make me laugh until I cry tears of joy!” She said dreamily, thinking about how romantic it would be to have someone like that. Her mind drifted almost instantly to Kazuki. Though the boy was not much of a jokester, he had other ways of making her laugh. He was super fun to tease, and god did he love to make memories. Just thinking about all of those times together flooded her with smiles, and she wished that he would keep at it as they journeyed farther. Into life? Into the forest? Either was fine with her. Being with him would be nice no matter where or how it was. Being with all of them, really, was the best.

“Whether or not your sense of humour can be called great is arguable, but I digress.” Mei looked back at them once again, a cheeky sparkle shining in her eyes. “Your supposedly superior humour paved our path to our destination. Take a look around, guys.”

Arms outstretched, Mei led them into the clearing, waiting patiently for each of them to consume the sight with hungry eyes. They followed excitedly behind, each of them moving their heads in different directions to get an eyeful of what she’d promised. The clearing they’d stepped into was small; small enough to be comfortable and intimate. Perfect for a soothing night of bonding among friends. It was its own gap in a smattering of strong trees that Natsumi thought must have been there for ages. They were so big, seemingly bigger than most of the others in the forest, boasting large trunks and elegant branches. She could only imagine what they would look like in the springtime, all bathed in rich green leaves. For now though, those branches held tightly to the same fallen snow that dusted the shoulders and hair of her and her friends. To the clearing’s edge there was a creek, with chilly waters trickling against well-placed rocks, creating the most gentle forest sound. It wasn’t quite cold enough for the water to freeze, but even if it had been, Natsumi felt sure it would be just as beautiful. Somehow, somehow… it wasn’t even the most breathtaking part. That award would go to the sky. The expanse of inky blackness stretched as far as the eye could see between the trees, and the whole blanket flecked with the brightest white stars. The only interruption to this was the full, creamy moon, shining down on them and illuminating them… like a spotlight on them in the midst of it all. They, too, got to be a part of the beauty.

“Oh wow, Mei…” It was Kazuki’s voice that snapped her out of her trance, his own awe bringing her back to the world, even if only partially. “It’s everything you said.”

“It really is,” Jun’ichi replied, his head tilted towards the stars just as Natsumi’s own was, “Unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Me, too.”

Though she is not looking at her, the joy in Mei’s voice was unmistakable. In the simplest way of wording it, she could hear her smile. “As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to share it with you guys.”

Makes sense, Natsumi thought fondly. When I saw it, I thought of all of you, too.

12 notes · View notes