Originally written in September 2016.

As far as she can remember, Riko always liked girls. Their soft hair, shiny eyes, pretty dresses, dazzling smiles. When a child, she admired and wanted to stand out like them. Some years later, she also started to long after them, wanting to kiss their cute faces, but also wanting to be held by them. It was too shameful for her to admit, though, but her feelings were overwhelming.

In the second year of middle school she got her first crush (a young student-teacher of hers) and also her first romance book.

Those pocket books about high school girls in some fairy tale like world made her feel good about herself. Allowed her to dream about a pretty, strong, older sister-type of girl who would sweep her off her feet and drive her mind to the clouds with a passionate kiss (a chin in hand one, please). It made her... comfortable about herself, but also feel a bit left out. While all of her classmates were into shoujo manga and its bishounen characters, Riko would always have a paperback copy of her favorite novel with her - the dramatic story of two best friends in an all girls' school, who together with her friends (which also formed the side couples) were trying to solve the mystery of the school princess' disappearance. The chemistry of the main characters always glued her, and independent of how many times she read it, she couldn't get enough of it. But... She had no one to talk about it. Not like she would ever have, besides not being close to anyone, she didn't wanted them to think of her as a freak.

That was when Riko would be brought back to real life.

In her third year, she met her first love and stopped buying books for a while.

She was a fellow pianist, graceful and proud, a couple years older. Her performances were breathtaking and so was her beauty. And her voice. Oh, her voice. Riko would search for interviews of her online just to listen to her speaking. Her alto made Riko's heart race in a way she never understood, and her laugh was godly. Realistically speaking, it was the perfect girl for her. Just to think that she got to stand in the same stage as her had the maiden's head spinning, full of romantic clichés. Practicing more, learning more difficult pieces, the girl was pushing her limits even further, just in hopes that someday she would met her crush.

Her crush, who announced her engagement to a fellow cellist in the orchestra she was a part of. He was tall, much taller than any man Riko had seen on her life. His stern face when playing his instrument reminded her of the real reason why she should devote herself to the piano. Yes, for love, but not for a person. For the music. When realizing how delusional she was being, Riko felt extremely ashamed.

That was when Riko buried her passion deep inside her heart.

In her first year of high school, besides completing her collection of her favorite author's works, she moved to a small city by the ocean called Uchiura.

There were bookshops here, but none of them had her favorite genre, not even in Numazu. Settling for online shopping, Riko couldn't help but be frustrated about how long it would take for new novels to arrive. Maybe she should try those online stories she often overheard people talking about...

She needed a distraction from the piano, after all. The memories of her failed performance were heavy and painful, so much that she couldn't bring herself to play it again. Maybe the change of scenery would help her, but it was the same even after moving to somewhere so far away from Tokyo.

The huge, infinite sea tickled her heart, but it made no effect.

That is, until a orange ray of light hit her, making Riko come out of her shell and giving her the chance of her life.

That was when Riko became a school idol.

For the first time in her life, she had close friends. You and Kanan who would take her to scuba diving, Mari whose culinary talent she couldn't understand, Hanamaru who would discuss books with her (even girls' love ones!), Dia and Ruby who had a beautiful house, Yoshiko whose antics were amusing, cringy but endearing, and Chika.

Chika, her neighbor, whose dog seemed to be a bit obsessed with her, who was always shining, who loved μ's, who was beaming with enthusiasm, who always had a smile for her, who pushed her forward, who she fell in love with before Riko could realize.

After all, she really was a hopeless romantic, whose heart thumped loudly every time they held hands and hugged each other. She had no idea about Chika's feelings, but she felt like she was inside one of her books, living the love fantasy she dreamed of for many years. Riko was afraid of being delusional again, but that always seemed to fade away when she heard that affectionate tone in her crush's voice. It was a special feeling, that one that a novel protagonist would describe when meeting her soulmate. It always made her chest frizzle when Chika said her name while tightening the grip on her hand.

Riko never was a brave girl, even when it was a second-hand experience. Confession scenes always had her breath quickening, the palm of her hands sweating intensively. In her sixteen years, she never told anyone about how she felt about girls, let alone confess to one of them. But while in Chika's arms in that early morning, while the sun rised in the horizon, Chika's warm body, her citric smell, her hair brushing against her face, everything felt like home to Riko. Like she belonged there, and how that should be her place forever. She was really head over heels, deeper in love than she ever was, and that was okay. It was just like in a novel, no, even better. It couldn't even compare. She felt so light inside that hug, those hands were so soft...

"I love you."

That faint whisper, it came out without planning. It was easier to say it than Riko ever imagined.

Chika's widening smile was beautiful.