a/n: asuka tanaka is an intriguing, complex character, and her arc in the show (seeming like a cool supportive upperclassman at first but then slowly devolving and showing her true colors as...really just a terrible person) could provide for some excellent storytelling, but unfortunately my writing skills aren't up to par with that challenge so instead i just write about her tricking freshmen into locking themselves in broom closets

this whole fic is really just a trainwreck and you can pretty much tell where i gave up

Reina was not going to admit that she was trapped. This could have been a product of her stubborn pride, or perhaps an attempt at being the "mature" one in a situation like this, or maybe she was just trying to stay calm in the midst of realizing that she and Kumiko were trapped in a broom closet, after school, with nobody to save them.

Kumiko, on the other hand, had no qualms about showing just how terrified she was, and was currently showing it by banging on the door and yelling for help, to no avail. Somewhere in the far reaches of her mind, she briefly realized that this might not be the best way to impress the girl standing behind her, but there was also the possibility of a janitor or honor student having stayed behind, and that filled her with enough determination to continue screaming.

"H-hey!" she yelled, twisting the doorknob in hopes that it would eventually come unlocked and she and Reina would be free from this broom-filled prison. "We're still here! Anyone! Please!"

"It's no use." Reina had ended up sitting on the cold, dusty floor, carefully smoothing out her skirt and reading the labels on a bottle of chemicals. "It doesn't look like we'd be able to melt the door with this, anyway."

"Let me see that." Kumiko held up the bottle and eyed the contents. "We could throw it."

"That wouldn't work either."

"Try me." Kumiko hurled the bottle at the door to demonstrate. It hit with a thunk and fell to the floor. "Okay, I guess you're right," she admitted.

"You know, we could just wait it out until a teacher finds us tomorrow morning. We have our bags, and there's a lightbulb hanging over our heads if we need to see to do homework." Kumiko would have been lying if she hadn't considered that option many times over in the last fifteen minutes since she had gotten herself and Reina trapped, but she hadn't dared to voice her thoughts on the matter. The idea of spending the night with the girl beside her - like something straight out of a cliche movie - was a concept she could really only dream about.

"B-but, uh, where would we sleep?" Kumiko was running out of excuses. Reina appeared thoughtful for a moment, rummaging through the shelf at the back of the tiny room.

"We have towels," she answered. "Unless you're objecting to the concept of remaining in the closet altogether." Kumiko wondered if the irony in Reina's words was powerful enough to break the door.

"N-no, of course not!" she yelped. "Not at all, I've just never really liked, uh, being in any closets at all, regardless of whether they were real or metaphorical, it's all the same to me, heh." Reina was barely visible in the dark, but Kumiko could still see her raising an eyebrow in her mind's eye.

"Is it because of the small space?"

"Nope. I don't really mind small spaces, it's just . . . this is a closet." She made sure to strain the word closet, hoping that Reina would catch on. She didn't.

"I'm not sure what you have against storage spaces-" was she trying to play dumb? "-but we've more or less run out of options, unless you want to use those vents to try and escape."

"I've seen some spy movies where they do that," Kumiko offered. Reina looked up at the vent mounted high on the wall, as if she was actually considering it.

"It's too high up for us to reach it just by standing. If you really want to get out, you could stand on my shoulders and I could just stay here until the morning."

"Wouldn't you be lonely, though, staying here all by yourself?"

"I can manage."

"I won't leave you, Reina. A-after all, it's kinda my fault that we're both trapped here, anyway."

"Did you really believe that Asuka, of all people, would know the location of the school's secret room built on top of an ancient graveyard?"

"No," Kumiko lied. She thought back to earlier that day - the older girl had been excitedly sharing the story with a few of her friends (as well as an impressionable gaggle of first-years that happened to include Hazuki and Midori) and Kumiko had ended up listening.

earlier that day

"They've said, according to Kitauji High School myth, that there is a room deep within the campus, hidden in a place as ordinary as a simple broom closet, where restless spirits wait to be freed from their prison, unknowingly trapped many years ago by the founder of this school," Asuka whispered in hushed tones, as if the spirits could be lurking around any corner. "Those spirits want out, and they'll do anything to be set free. They'll grant you any wish, anything you desire at all" - she had whipped off her glasses with a flourish at this part -"and all you have to do is walk through the entrance, shut the door behind you, and find the secret room hidden behind the shelf. The spirits will thank you, and you'll have nothing left to do but open the door with your wildest dreams come true. Really, just the thought of it makes me shiver!"

"Don't those doors lock from the outside, though?" Midori asked.

"Oh, that's just a legend," Asuka sighed. Haruka looked like she was about to point out the hypocrisy in that statement, but held back.

"They can really grant any wish?" Hazuki repeated. Asuka nodded wisely. Kumiko stepped closer to the group, oddly drawn to the idea, as ridiculous as it was.

"Whatever it is that you desire. What do you want, Kumiko?" Asuka inquired. Kumiko stiffened. She didn't think that she had been noticed. "To be the greatest euphonium player in the land? To have more money than you could possibly dream of? Or, perhaps, something else?" Asuka leaned in close, close enough for Kumiko to see the sun blindingly reflecting from her glasses. "Something such as, say, love?" Kumiko flushed a bright pink. Asuka grinned. "I was right on the money there, wasn't I? Now, listen closely. The secret entrance is hidden in the broom closet right down the hall from the band room, and you won't be able to bring in your phone. The spirits, they don't like that too much."

"That's a really specific set of rules," Natsuki grunted from a few feet away. Kumiko hadn't even noticed that she was there.

"It's the easiest thing in the world, really, finding those spirits. I'm pretty sure that everyone else is just too terrified of the supernatural to try it. Even I get chills when I think about all of those spirits, waiting behind the shelf for someone to set them free."

"Well, I'm not afraid of the supernatural!" Midori piped up. "If I don't have to do anything else to get this wish, of course I'll do it!"

"Not if I get there first!" Hazuki challenged. Kumiko silently vowed to try, no matter how unlikely it was that there was really a group of ghosts trapped in a broom closet.

She still didn't know why Reina had joined her on that specific quest, though.

now

"Y'know, if we were in a TV show or something, there probably would've just been a flashback, explaining some of the stuff that lead up to now," Kumiko mused. "Weird, huh?"

"I didn't even know that you believed in ghosts," Reina said. "You don't seem to be the type who'd be into all of that."

"I'm not, really!" Kumiko wondered if Reina was mocking her. She couldn't see the other girl's expression in the dark - they had collectively decided to save the flickering, near-dead lightbulb for later that night, when light would be more desperately needed - but it was easy for her to imagine the other girl with an expression of ridicule. She was getting good at imagining Reina's expressions, at least.

"It's a nice idea, a group of spirits waiting to be freed from their worldly prison. Rather poetic, actually. I've always wondered if something existed beyond our realm. It would be comforting, in a way, to think that we're not alone in this world."

"L-like in a fairytale?" Kumiko gulped. This could very easily stray into a conversation about Prince Charmings and happily ever afters - things she couldn't provide. Taki couldn't, either - he was a teacher - but the thought of him riding a white horse to a glowing castle in the sunset with Reina was enough to make her want to throw up. You can't do that when you're trapped in a broom closet, she reminded herself, forcing away the thought.

"Something like that, yes, although I've found that fairytales have often wrap up in a way that seems unrealistic - which is a paradox in itself, really, since this is a world of fairies and magic we're talking about - but I've often wondered about the lives of the supernatural beyond our own relevance to it, when the princes and princesses aren't the focus. They 'all' end with so much joy, and yet . . ." Reina trailed off. "I suppose I've just never been able to sympathize with the stories."

"B-because of the romances?" Kumiko didn't want to push her luck, but the question ate at her until it practically leapt off her tongue.

"You could say that." Reina looked down at her shoes and started rummaging through her bag for something. "You may have left your phone outside, but I've kept mine with me."

"W-wait, why didn't you say so earlier?!" Kumiko yelped.

"I hadn't thought of it. The solution was hiding in plain sight, as they say." Reina started tapping out a message, her movements swifter and more deliberate than someone writing a text message needed to be, and promptly gave a sigh of defeat.

"What happened?"

"There's no cell service." Reina pocketed the phone and leaned against the wall. "At least we have an alternative light source now." The phone was still glowing from her skirt pocket, and she placed it in the exact middle of the broom closet.

"Do you have any movies or music or anything on there?"

"Unless you're interested in the entire High School Musical trilogy or 'charming' recordings of my trumpet performances from when I was six, I don't."

Kumiko didn't respond.

It had been approximately two hours since the two girls had gotten trapped in their fairly ironic prison, and Kumiko couldn't help but feel glad for the fact that she had company. The close walls and linoleum floors alone were enough to make someone go mad, and she had considered dancing with a broom more than once. Reina, her thoughts of childhood performances and High School Musical seemingly forgotten, was intently working on her homework under the light of her phone.

"Done," she announced, shoving the papers back into her bag.

"Do you think our parents are wondering about where we are?" Kumiko murmured.

"Mine aren't," Reina sharply retorted, and Kumiko instantly regretted her choice of conversation topic. "Not unless they had some kind of important thing planned tonight, they'll just assume that I'm practicing in my room. They don't particularly care, as long as I'm being efficient."

"Oh." Kumiko started awkwardly plucking at a scrap of peeling paint on the wall, wondering why someone would even bother painting a room that nobody entered. Except for idiots like you, she thought.

"I'm sorry if that alarmed you," Reina continued. "It wasn't my intention."

"You didn't alarm me or anything," Kumiko mumbled, resisting the sudden urge to wrap Reina in a hug. "I'm just . . . sorry."

"It's nothing to be sorry about. I wouldn't want you to pity me."

"I don't." It was true. Kumiko could never see herself pitying Reina, of all people - she was more incredible than anyone Kumiko had ever known, but something about how she looked right now, tired and vulnerable, allowed Kumiko to see her as more . . . human. She wasn't a goddess. She wasn't a fairytale. She was a girl. Nothing more (but really, she seemed like more) and nothing less (how could she be anything less). Kumiko tentatively reached out a hand, and Reina held it without hesitation, sending a current of warmth through Kumiko's body. "So, uh, what're we going to do for food? I have one cookie in my bag and that's it."

"We'll split it. I doubt it's possible to starve over the course of . . ." Reina held up Kumiko's wrist and peered at her watch. ". . . fourteen hours." Her touch made Kumiko feel like she was glowing, as it often did, and she seemed almost as if she was craving human contact, hugging her knees to her chest with her one free hand as she kept her other tightly intertwined with Kumiko's.

"A-are you cold?" Kumiko blurted out. Reina drew her hand away, and Kumiko was left with the second feeling of having done something wrong within five minutes.

"Dinner's ready," Kumiko announced an hour later, unceremoniously snapping the cookie in half.

"We'll ration it." Reina stuck the half-cookie in her pocket.

"Weren't you the one saying that we won't starve?"

"I was attempting to console you."

"Anyway, we should, uh, try to go to bed soon, or something. It'll probably be kinda hard to fall asleep on a couple of towels, so it'd be best to, er, get an early start, y'know?"

"Okay."

"I'll take the left side, you can, uh, take the right, is that okay?"

"Sure."

Kumiko had realized, later than she should have, that towels did not provide nearly enough heat to keep a teenager wearing a skirt in a freezing broom closet with a linoleum floor warm. Reina, stretched out on the other end of the tiny room, wasn't moving.

"H-hey, Reina?"

"Yes?"

"Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You're kinda . . . still."

"If I don't move, I might be able to conserve more energy that can then be used for keeping myself warm."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Neither do I, but it's at least more effective than curling up in the fetal position and flopping around every three seconds." Kumiko slowly unfurled herself, blushing deeply. "I'm sorry, that sounded harsh. It's just very cold in here. The only sources of warmth right now seem to be these towels and our own bodies."

"W-well, yeah, unless you have another idea, I guess we'll just have to stay like this for the rest of the night."

"We could move closer together and use each other's body heat." Kumiko was grateful for the lack of light, for she had just turned the same shade of red shared by Asuka's glasses.

"Uh, yeah, I mean, I guess that could work, if you, uh, really wanted to . . ." Reina, still tightly wrapped up in her towels, rolled over to lie next to Kumiko.

"As long as you're not opposed to it, I don't see any harm in relying on each other for warmth." The two girls shuffled around their makeshift towel-blankets until they were lying right next to each other. Kumiko briefly wondered if this was Reina's attempt at flirting, but the thought disappeared as she nestled into the towels, resisting the urge to press herself against the other girl like a cat.

"Kumiko?"

"Yeah?"

"You seemed amused by the fact that we were trapped in a closet. Why is that?" Kumiko stiffened.

"Er, yeah, I just thought it was kinda funny because . . . y'know . . . we're in a closet . . . and I'm in the closet . . . and by 'the closet' I mean I'm gay . . ." Kumiko trailed off. She could feel Reina shifting in her spot next to her. Alarms might have blared over her head, for all the internal screaming that was taking place. "Crap, I shouldn't have told you that, I guess." Reina didn't move. "Y-you can forget I said anything! Really! It's not anything important, I swear!"

"I was actually thinking that same thing," she murmured. The closet felt deathly quiet, practically suffocating the two girls as they lay in silence. "So, I suppose this is what you might call a confession of love, then?" Reina added, almost an afterthought. Kumiko nearly jumped out of the towel pile.

"Y-you mean it?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure we'll forget this by the morning, anyway, considering how late it is."

"Y'know, in all of the dreams I've had about confessing to you and stuff, none of them prepared me for it happening in a broom closet in the middle of the night." Kumiko could hardly manage the words, still reeling from shock, her brain practically working on autopilot. "So, uh, does that mean we can . . . uh. . . hold each other? Right now? Since it's still really cold?"

"I don't see why not."

Despite the absolute freezing temperatures of the closet, Kumiko felt like she was drifting on the sun. After what must have been at least an hour of sheer giddiness and excited talking, Reina had fallen asleep, and Kumiko was starting to feel somewhat drowsy, burrowing into the towels and more or less snuggling with the girl next to her.

"Mmf . . . y'know . . . your hair's really soft, Reina . . ." There was no reply, but Kumiko smiled regardless. She wondered if this was a dream, and slapped the floor to check. Ouch. Definitely not a dream. This is real.

This is real.

She still couldn't believe it as she slowly drifted off into sleep, her arms around Reina with a smile on her face.

Kumiko was awoken, rather rudely, by someone shuffling around outside of the closet. Reina stirred beside her, mumbling something incomprehensible and grasping for her bag.

"Hey, who left their phone out here?" the stranger outside grunted. Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that the voice didn't belong to Asuka. "Geez, that better not have been . . ." The door creaked open, and Kumiko was met with a look of disbelief from someone who definitely wasn't Asuka. Blinking to adjust to the glaring sunlight shining through the windows, Kumiko realized that it was none other than Natsuki Nakagawa, standing in front of the two girls with Kumiko's phone in her hand. "Let me guess, Tanaka tried the old 'pretending a bunch of wish-granting spirits live in a broom closet to lure in unsuspecting first-years' trick?"

"You knew about that?" Kumiko asked, slowly standing up and shaking off the towels.

"I'm familiar with it, yeah. I got trapped in here with Yuuko - ya know her, I think - last year. She said that she'd eat her ribbon before she stayed in the same place as me. Thankfully, we got out after an hour, but it doesn't look like you two were as lucky, huh?" Kumiko and Reina both shook their heads. "I guess ya should just be glad that it wasn't Tanaka who found ya. I can't imagine the things she'd say with a situation like this and with the two of ya looking like . . . that." The two looked at each other and blinked. Kumiko's hair was sticking up at every angle, and Reina still had a towel draped over her shoulders, tied like a cape. "Anyway, you must be freezing. I'll go and see if I can find some hot chocolate in the teachers lounge, 'kay?" Natsuki started to walk down the hallway, but stopped in her tracks halfway through. "Y'know, as much of a load of crap that story is, it does seem like ya got something good out of it. Who knows, maybe there's some magical presence there, after all." With a wink, the girl was off strolling down the hallway as Kumiko and Reina held hands, watching her leave as they stood, out of the closet - out of two closets, really.

a/n: also natsuki is a snarky gay nerd in every single fic now, that's just how it happens