Title: blush
Rating: G
Fandom: Sakura Wars
Relationship: Amamiya Sakura/Shinonome Hatsuho
Wordcount: 1060
Short summary: When Hatsuho gets tripped up during rehearsal because of Sakura’s acting, it makes her think. Why did that “love declaration” make her blush so hard?
“That’s because my love for you shines like the sun even on a cloudy day!”
“…Ah, uh…”
Hatsuho tries to move her mouth to form more words. She knows what she is supposed to say next, she’s read the line like a hundred times, but Sakura’s face is just so close. Her gaze is so strong, so intense, shining with a radiance that traps Hatsuho, heats up Hatsuho’s face, takes Hatsuho’s breath away. Yeah, that’s why she feels like she has no air in her lungs, no air to vocalize with her mouth, no way to…
“Cut!”
Hatsuho takes a step back, shoulders slumping, like the puppeteer strings holding her upright have suddenly loosened. She sags and finally just sinks to the floor.
“Hatsuho, are you alright?”
A moment later Sakura is holding her, shaking her. Her gaze is so intense, Hatsuho has to close her eyes. The blush across her cheeks is probably even deeper now. Why does Sakura look so radiant?
“I’m…fine…” Hatsuho manages to say. She takes a moment to breathe out, then slaps her own cheeks before reopening her eyes. “Sorry, let’s try that again.”
It was just a small hiccup. Sakura’s acting is just improving leaps and bounds and Hatsuho is just a bit too much of a fan at the moment. She’ll do better next time.
“Actually, let’s stop here for today.” At some point Seijuro had walked up onto the stage. He gives Hatsuho a light punch to her shoulder. “Clariss and I will tweak the script and present it to you tomorrow.”
The punch was likely supposed to be encouragement but Hatsuho still feels guilty about her poor performance. “Sorry everyone.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Seijuro smiles. “Everything else has improved greatly since the first rehearsals. I’m sure with these tweaks everything will be fine.”
Sure, Seijuro might be right… “But Clariss’ script is…”
“Actually, watching you on the stage, I am inspired to change it,” Clariss interrupts, shouting from the middle of the audience seats. “I think it will turn out great.”
“Trust Clariss on this,” Sakura adds, going in to embrace Hatsuho. “It’s alright.”
Although she keeps her face low, Hatsuho lets Sakura’s warmth soak in. “Alright, I’ll give in for now.”
She doesn’t know what they saw on stage to want to change the script. Her instinct is to doubt herself, but her second thought is to trust in her friends, her comrades. In Sakura.
It doesn’t stop her from fleeing the stage and making her way out of the theater for some fresh air. Yes, she just needs to breathe fresh air. Her heart isn’t still pounding from…
*****
”Why was it so difficult earlier? I’ve acted before. I have been close to Sakura like that before.”
“Sakura has leveled up her ability to act after training with Anastasia. Everyone can see it. It’s not a surprise.”
“I guess last time it was Sakura and Anastasia who worked so closely together? Not that I was jealous or anything…”
“I’m not jealous of Sakura’s ability! I’ve gone through this before. I worry about her getting far away from me. I want to be close to her. I want to support her.”
“I want to be a part of her life.”
“So all this heart-pounding suddenly…”
”It’s because I’m in love with Sakura?”
*****
“I…what?”
Hatsuho’s eyes widen after reading the revisions to the script. This seems like a pretty big change for something that was “just a tweak”. How much time had Clariss spent “tweaking” this script in one night? Before Hatsuho’s “knight” character was supposed to declare her undying loyalty to the “princess” in response to the princess’ love declaration, but now she’s supposed to look away and mumble about how embarrassing this all is. Which is way too close to how Hatsuho would feel if this situation were real, but this is acting so…
Azami giggles. “That’ll be easy for you.”
Hatsuho huffs. Azami is just observing from afar. “Hey, no need to be so…”
“Isn’t it cute?” Clariss exclaims, clapping her hands together. “Having the knight taken in completely by her strong princess will make everyone’s hearts melt.”
Hatsuho blinks. “That’s…good?”
Hatsuho isn’t as well-versed in literature as Clariss is, so she wouldn’t know if this is a common story beat with that type of response. In her limited reading she mostly remembers the knight being bold, but then again she usually pays more attention to the fight scenes…
“It’s really cute,” Sakura says with a big smile. “Hatsuho’s blush will make everyone’s hearts melt.”
“Wait, it’s about my…” Hatsuho feels herself blushing now with Sakura saying that about her.
“That’s because my love for you shines like the sun even on a cloudy day!”
Hatsuho takes a step back. “Ah…uh…you shouldn’t just say things like that, it’s bad for my heart.”
She looks down at her feet. She wants to hide, she wants to fall, she wants to scream. They weren’t rehearsing just now, were they? They weren’t in the right positions…Seijuro didn’t tell them to start, right? Then what is Sakura…
“I mean it, Hatsuho.”
There’s an incredibly tender expression on Sakura’s face as she approaches Hatsuho, brushes a finger against Hatsuho’s left cheek. Hatsuho closes her eyes, swallows.
“Perfect!” Clariss squeals. “I’m so happy, this is going to work out great!”
Hatsuho’s eyes fly open. “Huh? That’s…”
That’s not what’s written in the new script either. She looks around. Clariss is smiling. Seijuro is nodding his head. Azami is quietly laughing. And Sakura…
“I love you, Hatsuho.”
Sakura gives Hatsuho a light kiss on the nose before moving back, stepping away. Hatsuho is left with a big blush and a heart threatening to beat out of her chest. If Sakura means that;, then… She’s been on stage charming Hatsuho like no other! No wonder Hatsuho couldn’t say those lines earlier.
…And everyone could see it, well before Hatsuho could.
Hatsuho shakes her head with a small smile. Well, this whole thing really is embarrassing. But… She is happy about it. She reaches out for Sakura’s hand, grabs onto it, squeezes it. Even with her revelations yesterday, it feels so new, so fresh. She doesn’t have the ability to say it quite right, but…
When Sakura pauses, looks down at Hatsuho, and sports a blush of her own, Hatsuho knows that everything is alright.