Chapter Text
Ryo had just arrived to her apartment after going to the hair salon to finally have her hair dyed again, she didn't even know what she would eat at dinner.
All she knew was that she needed her nails done, and Sion had insisted that she had to go to her nail tech. "You'll love her," Sion had said.
Ryo had been sitting across from her at a café near campus, lazily scrolling through her phone while trying to finish an astronomy assignment.
"Everyone says that about their nail tech."
"No, seriously." Sion had leaned across the table and taken Ryo's phone away from her. "Look." She opened Instagram and typed a username, a profile appeared.
𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗺.𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀
𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘺𝘢 — 𝘕𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 ♡
The page was filled with photographs of manicures. Delicate flowers, chrome finishes, tiny stars, pearlescent colors, soft pinks and milky whites, pastries designs. Occasionally, there were more complicated designs: constellations painted onto dark blue nails, tiny moons, little planets, silver stars scattered across black polish.
Ryo's attention immediately stopped on those,
"She does astronomy nails," she murmured.
"Exactly." Sion grinned, "That's basically made for you."
Ryo laughed quietly, "You're ridiculous." She said, brushing her hair with her fingers, pulling strands to the back of her ear.
"I'm right."
She probably was, Ryo had always liked things that made her feel as like she were looking at a piece of the universe. She was studying astronomy at university, and even though she sometimes complained about the amount of mathematics involved, she loved it. She loved sitting under the night sky, learning the names of stars and planets and the idea that something could be impossibly far away and yet still reach her eyes.
She scrolled through Sakuya's page, there were more pictures. One manicure had tiny constellations painted over a translucent lavender base, another had a miniature crescent moon on each thumb, then another had tiny silver stars scattered over a deep blue polish.
Ryo smiled, "Okay," she admitted. "She's good."
"I told you."
Ryo clicked on the booking link, "Should I?" She asked as she looked up at Sion.
"Yes!"
"You sound way too excited."
"Because I know you're going to love it."
Ryo rolled her eyes. Still, she booked the appointment, she didn't think much of it afterward.
She went back to her astronomy notes, attended her lectures, complained about the weather, stayed late at the university library, and continued living her ordinary life until the day of her appointment.
⭑｡𖦹°‧🌠𖦹⋆✴︎˚
Sakuya's salon wasn't particularly large, it was tucked away on a quiet street, above a little bakery whose smell drifted up through the stairwell. The sign outside was simple, with her name written in soft lettering and a tiny painted star beside it. Inside, the walls were white, led lights that were a cute pink, posters on the walls, and lots of glitter on the chairs.
Ryo stopped in front of the entrance, for some reason, she suddenly felt nervous, she frowned at herself.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴?
She was getting her nails done, that was it. She pushed the door open, a small bell chimed overhead.
"Welcome."
The voice came from behind the counter.
Ryo froze.
It was deeper than she'd expected, it wasn't harsh nor intimidating. Just... deep, deeper than most girls. She looked up.
Ryo's first thought was that she was cute, her second thought was that cute didn't even begin to describe her.
Sakuya had soft features and plump lips that immediately caught Ryo's attention, her pink hair framed her face, falling around her shoulders in slightly messy layers. She wore a simple black top beneath a pale cardigan, and there were tiny rings on several of her fingers.
Her eyes met Ryo's, for a second, neither of them said anything, Sakuya blinked, Ryo reciprocated her action.
Then Sakuya smiled.
"Ryo?"
Her voice, again.. that voice.
Ryo suddenly forgot how conversations worked.
"Y-Yeah."
Sakuya's smile grew, "Hi, I'm Sakuya."
"I know."
The words came out too quickly, Sakuya raised an eyebrow, amused. Ryo immediately wanted to disappear. "I mean—obviously. From your page.. I booked with you."
"Right.", Sakuya laughed softly.
Ryo noticed that she had a pretty laugh, too.
𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰. This was bad, she had been here for approximately thirty seconds.
"Come sit," Sakuya said, "I prepared a few ideas based on the reference pictures you sent."
Ryo followed her toward the table, she sat down. Sakuya placed several color samples in front of her, "So," she said, leaning slightly closer, "you said you wanted something related to astronomy?"
Ryo nodded, "Yeah... maybe something subtle?"
"Subtle?" Sakuya looked thoughtful, then she picked up a pale pink polish. "What about this?"
Ryo looked at it, "That's pretty." she said.
"And maybe tiny stars here..." Sakuya picked up a sample decorated with little silver stars. "...and a moon on one nail."
Ryo smiled, "That sounds perfect."
Sakuya smiled back, "Good."
And like that, the appointment began.
───
Ryo discovered that Sakuya talked a lot while she worked, not excessively, just enough to make the silence comfortable.
She asked about Ryo's university, "What do you study?"
"Astronomy."
Sakuya looked genuinely impressed, "Really?"
"Yeah."
"That's so cool."
Ryo laughed, "Most people don't think so." She said, her voice quiet.
"I do." Sakuya looked down at Ryo's nails as she carefully filed one of them.
"I've always liked looking at the sky."
Ryo watched her hands, they were gentle and precise. Sakuya worked with the kind of concentration that made everything around her seem quieter. "What made you choose astronomy?" Sakuya asked.
Ryo thought for a moment, "I don't know. I guess I like the idea that there's always something bigger than us."
Sakuya glanced at her, and Ryo continued. "When I was younger, I'd go outside at night and just look up. I liked not knowing everything."
Sakuya smiled, "I like that."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Why nails?"
Sakuya thought about it, "I've always liked making things pretty."
She held Ryo's hand gently as she painted."But I think I like the people more."
"The people?"
"Yeah." She looked up. "Everyone who sits here has a different story."
Ryo smiled, "And you like hearing them?"
"I do." Sakuya's voice softened. "Sometimes people tell me things they don't tell anyone else."
"That sounds nice."
"It is." A pause. Then Sakuya added "Although sometimes I accidentally become a therapist."
Ryo laughed, "That sounds dangerous."
"It is."
They both laughed, and the conversation continued, university, favorite foods, music, the weather, and Tokyo, since they discovered neither of them were originally from there.
Every few minutes, Ryo caught herself staring at Sakuya, the curve of her lips, the pink strands falling over her cheek, the way she concentrated, the way she smiled whenever Ryo said something she found interesting.
And every time Sakuya looked up and caught her staring, Ryo immediately looked away.
Eventually, Sakuya noticed, "You keep looking at me." She said, not looking up from her nails.
Ryo nearly dropped her phone, "I do?"
"Mhm." Sakuya's lips curled into a teasing smile, "Is there something on my face?"
"No!"
"Then?"
Ryo's cheeks became warm, " I was just..." She looked at Sakuya's hair, "Your hair is pretty."
Sakuya paused, then she smiled. "Thank you." Her voice sounded softer this time, and for some reason, that little compliment stayed between them for the rest of the appointment.
───
When Sakuya finished, she turned Ryo's hand toward the light. The nails were beautiful, with soft pink, tiny silver stars, and a delicate crescent moon on her ring finger.
Ryo stared at them.
"Wow."
Sakuya smiled proudly, "Do you like them?"
"I love them."
"I'm glad."
Ryo turned her hand from side to side, then she looked up.
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
There was something about the way Sakuya said it. Ryo smiled and stood up and reached for her bag. "Do I book my next appointment here?"
Sakuya laughed, "You don't have to."
"I know." Ryo smiled, "I want to." she said.
Sakuya's expression softened, "Okay."
She walked Ryo toward the door, the little bell above it jingled when Ryo opened it, she stepped outside, then stopped and she turned around.
Sakuya was still standing inside, they looked at each other through the open doorway.
"Bye, Ryo."
"Bye, Sakuya."
Ryo smiled and then she left.
───
Sakuya watched her disappear down the street, she remained by the door for several seconds, then she closed it and leaned against it, covering her face with both hands.
"Oh my God."
Her heart was beating ridiculously fast, she had met plenty of clients, pretty clients, funny clients, weet clients, rude clients, clients with lots of followers. But Ryo... there had been something different, from the moment she walked in, the nervous smile, the way she talked about the stars so passionately, the way she tried not to stare, the little blush that appeared when Sakuya teased her.
Sakuya smiled to herself, "She's cute." She whispered, very cute, too cute.
She walked back to her workstation and noticed something on the table. Ryo had accidentally left her university notebook behind, the one she had showed Sakuya because she asked to see her notes.
Sakuya picked it up, there was a small sticker on the cover, a constellation, and she laughed quietly.
───
Ryo didn't realize she'd forgotten her notebook until she was halfway to the station, she stopped.
"...Oh."
She checked her bag, and she found nothing, she sighed, rhen her phone buzzed.
𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝘆𝗮: You forgot your notebook ♡
Ryo stared at the message, her heart jumped, she hadn't even realized Sakuya had her number.Bur of course she did, it was part of the booking system, and still Ryo smiled.
𝗥𝘆𝗼: Oh my god 😭 I'll come get it
The response came quickly.
𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝘆𝗮: You can come tomorrow if you want.
Ryo stared, then another message arrived.
𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝘆𝗮: Or I can bring it somewhere.
Ryo's heart beat faster, she typed with shaking fingers, deleted, typed again and deleted it. Finally:
𝗥𝘆𝗼: I'll come tomorrow :)
Sakuya responded with a simple: "I'll be waiting."
Ryo pressed her phone against her chest, she had known this woman for less than two hours, this was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, and yet... she couldn't stop smiling.
⭑｡𖦹°‧🌠𖦹⋆✴︎˚
The next afternoon, Ryo returned. She told herself it was because of the notebook, only the notebook and nothing else. When she entered the salon, Sakuya was working on another client's nails.
She looked up, her face immediately brightened. "Ryo."
The way she said her name made Ryo smile, "Hi."
"You came back."
"You have my notebook."
Sakuya laughed, "Right." She said, and then pointed towards the chair. "Sit."
Ryo sat, and when Sakuya finished with her client and returned a few minutes later, she handed Ryo the notebook. "There."
"Thank you."
Ryo stood up, but neither of them moved toward the door, there was a strange little pause.
"So..." Sakuya said.
"So..."
"How's university?"
"Good."
"That's good."
Another pause, the silence filled the place, only lefting the sound of cars on the streets be hard. Ryo laughed nervously. "We're really bad at saying goodbye."
Sakuya laughed, "Apparently."
Ryo looked at her, and Sakuya looked back, and something changed, it was subtle, almost impossible to describe, because neither of them said anything but they both felt it.
That quiet realization of 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
Ryo tucked the notebook against her chest, "Would you maybe..." She stopped, so Sakuya waited. "Would you maybe want to get coffee sometime?"
Sakuya's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled. "I'd like that."
Ryo's heart practically exploded, "Really?"
"Really."
⭑｡𖦹°‧🌠𖦹⋆✴︎˚
Their first date was simple, on a small café near the river, nothing extravagant. Ryo arrived early, Sakuya arrived five minutes later, wearing a soft sweater and her pink hair tied loosely behind her head.
Ryo stared, "You look pretty." She said.
Sakuya smiled. "So do you."
They sat across from each other and they talked for hours, about everything and nothing. The kind of conversation that didn't need an ending.
Ryo told Sakuya about the professor who constantly gave impossible assignments. Sakuya told Ryo about the strange clients she'd had over the years.
Ryo talked about stars and Sakuya talked about nail art. Eventually, Ryo realized that she could listen to Sakuya talk about practically anything and she would still be interested.
Because it was Sakuya.
When the sun began to set, they walked along the river, the sky turned orange. Ryo looked up. "You can see Venus sometimes around this time."
Sakuya looked at the sky, "Which one?"
Ryo pointed, "There."
Sakuya followed her finger. "Oh."
They stood together, shoulder to shoulder. "Beautiful," Sakuya whispered.
Ryo smiled, "Yeah."
Sakuya looked at her, "I wasn't talking about Venus."
Ryo froze, and her heart stopped.
Then Sakuya laughed softly, "I'm kidding."
"You can't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because..." Ryo looked away. "...you'll make me fall for you."
Sakuya went quiet.
Ryo realized what she'd said, and her face immediately turned bright red. "I-"
Sakuya gently bumped her shoulder, "Too late."
Ryo looked at her, Sakuya was smiling.
"I think I already am."
And beneath the evening sky, surrounded by the lights of Tokyo, Ryo realized that maybe love at first sight wasn't such a ridiculous idea after all.