I apologize for not writing. I'm gonna blame it on playing Persona 3 lately. Oh well. Take this KotoUmi oneshot as an apology!

Maybe Again

Umi sighed in frustration. "Really Honoka, how could you have possibly-"

"I'm really sorry, Umi-chan!" The voice from the phone rang clearly. "I was so sure I had your seat ready..."

Umi rubbed her temple in annoyance. "Honoka, how am I going to get to your side of the country if I don't have an airplane ticket?"

The bluenette could practically see the hesitation in the other girl's voice before she said her next sentence. "Well... the train's always an option right?"

The archer almost dropped her phone. "The train?! Honoka-"

"I know, I know, I know! You don't like the train! But still! You said you wanted to come see me in real life, right?" Again, Honoka's skill of conveying emotion over the phone was astonishing.

"I know you keep saying 'Trains. Never again.'" Honoka deepened her voice to copy Umi, and did a surprisingly good job at it. "But still! It won't kill you to go on one train, right?"

Umi sighed once more, this time in defeat. "Fine. I'll take the train. But only this one time!"

Honoka cheered. "Yeah! Umi-chan is the best!"

As Umi listened to Honoka ramble on about all the great things they would do together once they finally met, she sighed inwardly. Honoka had made an understatement. She didn't not like the train. She abhorred the train. If she hadn't already made so many plans for this trip, she would have cancelled, no matter how much she liked her friend. Still, it was going to happen whether she liked it, so she might as well resign herself to her fate.

And so, on a warm Friday afternoon, Umi waved goodbye to her parents as she put her luggage into a cart and waited for her train's boarding time. When it arrived, the girl got her things out of the cart and got onto the train, where she went to find her seat.

Umi grimaced one last time before she put her luggage into the compartment above her and sat in her train seat. Honoka was lucky that Umi was such an introvert that the ginger was her only friend on the internet- not to mention that the ginger was her only friend in real life as well.

The bluenette simply was too awkward and formal to make friends, which was quite a problem, up until she had signed up for some blogging site, resulting in a random blogger talking to her, leading to this situation. Where she had to ride a train. Umi shivered.

A soft voice made Umi momentarily forget her distress. "Excuse me... I'm very sorry to trouble you, but... could you please help me with my luggage?"

When Umi's eyes found the owner of the voice, they widened ever so slightly, while Umi's breath caught in her throat. It was like a scene from the movies. Those mesmerizing golden eyes, those silky strands of ashen colored hair, that smooth and flawless skin that made Umi almost reach out and stroke, the perfect figure that made Umi's mouth water just a little. Not to mention the speaker's lips- full, perfectly shaped and absolutely kissable. But what really captured the bluenette's attention was her smile. It easily and instantly brightened up the entire train car, making Umi absolutely forget about her predicament involving trains

Wait, what?

Umi realized at that moment that she had been staring at the other girl for a good thirty seconds, and the ashen haired girl's smile was beginning to look forced.

"Uh... I... o-of course!" Umi repressed her gayness for the time being in order to help the girl in need, easily lifting the girl's bags into the overhead compartment.

"Wow! You did that so easily!" The girl seemed to genuinely be in awe. "Do you work out a lot?"

Umi tried to fight the blush rising into her cheeks, she really did. "A-Ah..."

...I'm too gay to get complimented by a girl as pretty as her.

"I do a lot of archery... I guess." Umi's social inadequacy was showing through bright and clear.

If the girl noticed this, she didn't show it at all. "Uwa... That's pretty cool!"

Oh what the- this girl is way too cute and way too pretty and way too sweet and way too admiring, and I am way too gay to deal with this and who the hell set up these seats because I'm gonna hug them and punch them at the same time-

"U-uh... yeah." Umi made sure that the girl could not see her inner turmoil.

The girl put her handbag down onto the seat next to Umi's and stretched with her arms above her head, leaning backwards. Umi tried (and failed) to keep her eyes off the girl's chest. Is she doing this on purpose?

"I'm Minami Kotori, by the way." Once the two were seated next to each other and the train was on the way, the grey haired girl introduced herself.

"Sonoda Umi." The bluenette returned the gesture and actually succeeded in looking nowhere but the other girl's eyes in the meantime.

"So you said you did archery... Do you like it much?" Kotori leaned forward and cocked her head to the side when she asked the question, and Umi had to physically fight a squeal.

"Yeah, I love it actually." As the conversation moved into matters that Umi was comfortable with, she became much less awkward and more natural.

"How long have you been practicing archery?" Kotori seemed to be genuinely interested in Umi, which was kind of a first for the amber eyed girl.

"Ah... About ten years, I think?" Kotori's jaw dropped. "Uwa... that's a really long time!"

"W-well, I didn't really have a lot else to do..."

"Hm?" Kotori put a finer to her lips in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"A-ah... N-Nothing!" Umi tried to redirect the other girl's attention. "What kind of hobbies do you enjoy?"

"Hm..." Kotori seemed to ponder the other girl's redirection, but dropped the issue. "I'm actually on this train to go to a fashion show on Sunday!"

Umi's smile almost dropped. She knew she had little to no understanding of fashion, and most of her wardrobe consisted of sweatpants and hoodies. The bluenette could almost see her chances with this girl fly away.

"A-ah... how long have you enjoyed fashion?" Socially inept as she was, Umi knew her only hope of keeping this conversation (and her possiblities of getting to know this girl more) alive was to repeat everything the girl said back at her.

"I guess... ever since I was a little girl. My mom tells me that when I was younger I wouldn't wear anything unless I had handpicked it from the store, hehe!" Kotori giggled slightly at the thought, and Umi thought she was going to die from how cute she was.

"So, ah, this fashion show you're going to... are you interested in any particular designer there?" Umi surprised herself with how easy she was keeping this conversation going. There was something about this girl that made Umi lose her normal anxiety about conversations. Maybe it was how she seemed to be actually interested in what Umi said, or maybe it was because she didn't at all seem bothered by Umi's social ineptitude.

Kotori laughed aloud at the question, then covered her mouth to cover her chuckles. "I'm sorry, it's just..." She smiled and Umi went red again. "I'm actually supposed to be the head designer at the show!"

Umi's jaw dropped. This girl, who was clearly no older than her, was already at the head of what sounded like a fairly large fashion show. If the bluenette had any hope with this girl, it was gone in a flash.

"A-ah... that's... very impressive."

The ashen haired girl beamed. "Thank you!"

"If you don't mind me saying so... you do look the type to be a very knowledgeable about fashion."

Kotori looked almost offended at that, and Umi scrambled to purge any misunderstandings. "I-I mean- It's just- you're... very well dressed?"

The grey haired girl relaxed once she realized Umi had meant nothing negative. Then her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh."

"Oh?" Umi parroted.

Kotori leaned forward once more, then put her hand onto Umi's knee gently. "I think I understand where you're coming from now."

Umi almost went unconscious from how close Kotori was getting. Oh god, she found out how gay I am.

The other girl giggled and leaned back into her seat, making the bluenette breathe a sigh of relief. Until Kotori lifted up the armrest that had been between their bodies and scooted right next to Umi, so that their bodies were closely pressed up against each other.

"You don't mind if I get a little closer, right, Umi-chan?"

"U-Umi-chan?"

"Gomen, gomen." Kotori grinned a little. "It seems like I'm getting ahead of myself. I just assumed that maybe..." A coy look was shot at Umi. "You would like to get to know me a little better?"

The bluenette whimpered in response.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

Honoka stood at the tips of her toes to try and get a better view. "I don't see her, Tsubasa-chan!"

Her girlfriend leaned against the wall next to the ginger haired girl. "Don't worry so much, Honoka. Her train just arrived a few minutes ago, she'll be here."

"Ah! I see her! And she's with..." Honoka narrowed her eyes at the ashen haired girl Umi was talking to. And... holding hands with?! How dare she make all those 'tfw no gf' jokes! She had a girlfriend the whole time!

The girl seemed to notice something off to the side, then said a few words to Umi, before quickly planting a kiss on her cheek, making Umi splutter in embarrassment, and running off in the direction she had been looking a few seconds prior.

Eventually, Umi made her way over to where Honoka was standing, tapping her foot in irritation as Tsubasa tried to calm her down. "Umi! Explain yourself!"

The bluenette sighed exasperatedly, but the grin on her face gave away what she was truly feeling. The ashen haired girl's surprise kiss, along with the phone number she had received, made any lectures and interrogations from Honoka completely worth it.

Trains... Maybe again. If Kotori comes with me, anyway.

Sorry it's short and kind of weird. Also don't ask me why Umi hates trains. I'll try and post more things! I promise!

µ's Music House will get an update soon! I kept stumbling on what to write next, but I have a few ideas now!