[I’m here] Her phone beeps and displays a message from Nanase.

As Mai approaches the shrine, with each step, her vision of Nanase’s figure dark amongst the dim lights of the lanterns refines, her heart beats in her steadily yet so hard against her ribs.

She stops at the foot of the hill. She does not tear her eyes away from Nanase, who stands above her as she keeps the distance.

“Naachan!” Mai yells at the top of her lungs, her hands by the sides of . 

Nanase jumps, and turns. “Maiyan!” Confused, Nanase takes a few quick steps forward.

“It’s fine there!” Mai shouts in return and Nanase complies amidst the puzzlement.

Mai takes a few deep breaths.

“What’s wrong?” Nanase asks when silence falls on them. The whole night, since receiving a text message from the older girl at the end of the concert to meet at the Nogi Shrine as soon as they could be back in Tokyo, confusion has not left her mind. 

Mai isn’t sure if it’s the stinging breeze of the night in late winter or the overwhelming emotions within her, but with freezing cold tears streaming down her cheeks, she cries out, “I don’t want you to leave!”

Nanase drops her hands. She is still unsure of Mai’s intentions, but Mai’s words strike her heart. She takes a hasty step forward, but finds herself frozen when the ache in her chest intensifies and tears find their way out of her eyes.

“The day we took the bus here, to pray for the success of the single, I wasn’t praying for the single,” Mai starts on the words she had planned to say. “I wanted to, but when I clasped my hands together, I could only think of you. I could only pray what I wished for the most, and I wished for your well-being the most,” Mai looks up to Nanase as she speaks, her eyes finding Nanase’s.

Nanase’s eyes widen in incredulous disbelief. When warmth and gratitude overcome her, she realises that somehow, even though she doesn’t know since when, Mai is the most important person in the world to her. Even so, she has always expected nothing more from the older girl; with Mai standing beside her, it was all the comfort she had always needed, and Nanase feels no right to ask for more.

“I found myself dreading this day, as it neared. I wished, if it could, could it not come? I didn’t know what it was, until I saw you today, and realised that I don’t know, no one knows when the next time we meet would be,” Mai catches her breath, and her heartbeat accelerates. 

“I found I had to tell you, Naachan, or I don’t know if I ever will. And I’d regret, if I never do,” Mai takes another deep breath. She stops, and brings her hands up to the sides of again as she yells, “Naachan, I love you!”

Nanase’s tears fall endlessly. She dashes down the slope, plunging into Mai for a tight embrace when she reaches the latter. 

Startled, Mai almost falls backwards. She holds Nanase tight and with her head on Nanase’s shoulder, Mai wipes with her fingers the tears on her wet cheeks. 

Nanase calms herself down after a few sobs. “I thought,” she starts, and they release their hold of each other, “that by graduating, I would be taking a step forward, out of the comfort zone Nogizaka gave me, and away from Maiyan who has always supported me, providing me a backbone, helping me achieve everything I did. Everything I could do, it was because of Maiyan. I wanted to make you proud and express my gratitude by leaving and doing a good job on my own.”

When she finishes explaining herself, Nanase only finds the sorrow that sets in upon realising that graduation meant leaving Mai as well, and tears begin to fall again. “But now I know, that I don’t want to leave you too,” she softly says with her head down. 

“I love you too,” she mumbles without putting her head up.

Mai finds the need to clarify herself. “I mean it, Naachan. I really love you. I want to be with you. I don’t want things between us to end just because you’ve graduated. You mean the most to me. Naachan,” she pauses, “I only want you.”

Nanase brings her head up, unable to believe her ears. “Eh?” the soft sound leaves her lips.

Mai purses her lips together as her heart skips a beat at Nanase’s adorable behaviour, suppressing a smile that threatens to spread across her face. Gently, she places her hands on Nanase’s cheeks as she looks into her eyes. Mai says in a soft whisper, “I’m really glad we met.” 

Slowly, Nanase gives a small nod. “Me too, this gratitude cannot be put into words. I don’t know what you see in me, really,” she says, to which Mai shakes her head, “I really am nothing amazing. I don’t know why you believed in me before, and I don’t know why you want me now, I just...” 

“No, Naachan,” Mai firmly responds, “You are worth so much. You said you’d do a great job after graduating to make me proud. Don’t doubt yourself. You’re worth so much, you mean everything to me, even if you can’t see it,” by the end of her sentence, tears find their way down both their cheeks yet again.

Both girls lower their heads with Mai’s hands still on Nanase’s cheeks to let their forehead touch, sharing a short, warm moment that connects their hearts.

Nanase sniffles, “I don’t know what I’ll do without you, Maiyan. Please be with me always, because I really love you,” Mai finds a plead in Nanase’s voice.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be with you, Naachan. I just want to be with you. I love you.”

Their gazes meet and at that moment, Mai and Nanase feel nothing around them but just each other, as if in the world there only existed the two of them. 

Mai slowly leans in with her hands gently holding Nanase by her sides, before she lands her lips on Nanase’s.

The taste on their lips tells them that this is exactly where they should be, with each other.

“I’m sorry you had to come back all the way to Tokyo in the dead of the night, I’m sure you would’ve wanted to be with your parents since it’s rare to be back at your hometown,” Mai says as they leave the shrine hand in hand after saying their prayers.

Nanase shakes her head. “No, thank you for having me come here and telling me all these. And I love being with you, I could be with my parents tomorrow since I’ve graduated, and instead now I can’t be with you as often anymore,” she ends her sentence with a frown.

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet whenever we can,” Mai smiles. She takes a small pause, “Thank you for accepting my feelings,” she earnestly says.

“No. Thank you for accepting me as well.”

Mai buries her face in her muffler as her lips spread into a smile. “So, what are we going to do until the first train?”

“Any place open? We could sit and eat.”

“Always thinking about food, aren’t you?” Mai raises an arm and lightly pinches Nanase’s nose.

Nanase briefly squeezes her eyes shut, flinching. “I’m hungry! Crying is tiring. There was enough at the concert I can’t believe you made me cry even more.”

Mai’s jaw drops. “Naachan!” she exclaims, to which she receives giggles in reply that warm her heart.

a/n: japanese title translates to 'i want to be with you forever'.

finally a nanamai from me up on here! i absolutely love both maiyan and nanase sooo much, and it's really heartwarming writing fics of them. well, there'll be more~ hope this short one was alright, wrote it some time ago and let it sit and had a few revisions already but i might still make minor edits >< i rly like the shrine btw