Chapter Text
Mornings were now different for Shioriko. Instead of waking up in a quiet, lonely home, she would now be woken up by her new roommate in an apron, often still holding a spoon or a spatula as she told her breakfast was ready.
After getting home from traveling the world - or becoming Miss Worldwide, as Mia put it - Lanzhu asked if she could temporarily stay with anyone at the moment, not wanting to burden her mother any longer. Seeing as how Mia already lived with Rina, Shioriko offered her place as it was big enough for both of them.
Not so much for Lanzhu’s luggage of apparel, but it’ll do for now.
This morning was no different from any of the past days. Shioriko yawned as she finished cleaning herself up in the bathroom before heading towards the dining table where Lanzhu was already drizzling syrup onto her pancakes.
“Eat up, you don’t want it to get cold!” She says, handing Shioriko her serving.
“Thank you, Lanzhu.” Shioriko rubbed an eye. “You’re starting work this upcoming semester, right?” She broke off a piece with her knife and fork, making small talk as she did so.
“Yup!” Lanzhu replied, settling into her own seat. “I hope I do a good job. I’m gonna be teaching two different subjects for the first time, after all.”
“You’ll do amazingly, I’m sure. Have more confidence.”
“I know. But still, Can you believe it? English in the general curriculum and Japanese Literature for the foreign exchange class! My worst subject is now one of the very things I teach!”
Shioriko couldn’t help but giggle, blushing lightly. Lanzhu was just so cute, she couldn’t handle it. “Didn’t you say you could teach World History too?”
Lanzhu nodded, before swallowing her food. “I could, but there’s so much material to read up on with so little time that I passed up on it - next semester though, I’m totally taking it up!”
“Don’t overwork yourself with this one, dear.” Shioriko shook her head lightheartedly.
“I won’t, I won’t~” Lanzhu grinned.
The two ate the rest of their food with discussions littered in-between. It mostly centered around little trivial things, with silly banter occasionally making its way into the conversation. Although these were never serious, and the two would end things off with a laugh. It honestly reminded Shioriko of the good old days. Back when all they worried about were deadlines for song lyrics and homework.
Of course, the past is the past, and they've both learned to put that behind them. While the past years have been painful for Shioriko, she’s simply grateful to just have one constant of it back in her life - that constant being Lanzhu.
She feels the same way she felt back in high school when Lanzhu returned to Japan for the first time; the only difference being that Shioriko doesn’t have to repress her emotions unlike back then. She was incredibly affectionate towards Lanzhu this time, in an attempt to reassure her that her feelings for her are genuine and that she doesn’t want her to leave ever again.
This made her think of the two's current state of relationship... but she's not prepared to talk about that right now.
Shioriko got ready for work, having just gotten out of the shower. She enters the bedroom and finds Lanzhu already having ironed out her work clothes while she got ready. It took about an hour for her to look presentable, but by the time she finished, she was all ready to go. Lanzhu even teased her, saying how irresistible she looked then, much to Shioriko’s embarrassment.
As she was about to leave, Lanzhu hands over her car keys and bento for the day, before lightly kissing Shioriko’s cheek.
This small tidbit of affection sure did signal a good day ahead for Shioriko. “You know, perhaps us living together isn’t such a bad idea after all. Do you want to permanently move in?”
Lanzhu rolled her eyes, smiling. “We’ll have that talk later. Now shoo, traffic might not be on your side if you stay here any longer. Plus I’ve got guests coming over for dinner!”
“ We’ve got guests coming over, you mean.” Shioriko chuckled. “Tell the girls I said hi, okay? I’ll see you later.” She waved as Lanzhu giggled all silly.
“Bye bye. Love you~”
And with that, Shioriko was off to another productive day at work.
The once quiet home was now littered with chit-chat as the girls talked to one another, inquiring Lanzhu about her travels and encouraging her to tell them all about it. Cakes, drinks, and food of all kinds were shared around - especially meat, Lanzhu's favorite - for a full-blown celebratory party for her return.
There were tears aplenty as Lanzhu told her tale, but were soon made lighthearted as Kasumi broke the streak of sadness by lightly poking fun at her impulsive senior. Mia followed suit, then Karin, then Kanata - and soon, laughter was shared as everyone comforted Lanzhu yet found humor in all of it at the same time. Lanzhu herself found the solemn nature of her story unbearable, and was grateful her once-rival/cuteness teacher managed to turn it into a good memory for everyone.
Shioriko couldn’t help but be proud of her. She stayed close by Lanzhu’s side the entire time, listening to her showcase her journals and proudly present her photographs to everyone, who were all in awe at her talent.
“Hey, if the whole teacher thing doesn’t work out, or if you need some extra gigs to keep you loaded; call me. I’ll get you hooked up as a photographer.” Karin commented, much to Lanzhu’s amusement.
“Deal. How could I turn down such a generous offer? I better rake in some bag if I ever call you, Karin!”
Ai snickered. “Leaf it to Karin to rake in some cash money. Get it? Rake and leaf?” She says, making Yuu snort and shake with laughter.
“Rake… leaf…”
The blonde grinned. “Still got it!”
After an hour or two, the girls mostly ended up with their chosen drinks in hand, trying to catch Lanzhu up on what’s been happening in their lives for the entirety of her being gone.
“I heard about the legalization of gay marriage in Japan, but I didn’t think you two would be the first to go at it in our little group!”
"Really?" Emma curiously tilted her head. "Everyone else said it was an obvious choice!"
“You’d be surprised~ the moment it was announced, I immediately went to plan my proposal,” Kanata hummed. “Turns out, Emma-chan had the same thing in her mind, so we ended up proposing to one another when the time came~”
She then winked at Emma, making her giggle. Emma clapped her hands once as she spoke. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while - I even planned on getting married in Switzerland if it didn’t get approved!”
“Heh~” Lanzhu smiled. “Who’s next, by the way? Any volunteers? I know Ai and Karin are engaged and getting married this summer, but other than them - speak now or forever hold your peace~” She teased, holding her glass of half-finished champagne up as she not-so-subtly eyed Mia.
The latter cleared her throat. “I dunno, maybe you and Shioriko should put a label on your little situation before
you go accusing anyone of proposing
.” She says, emphasizing her words with gritted teeth.
While Shioriko’s face flushed due to both the alcohol and embarrassment, Lanzhu simply gasped dramatically. “Mia! Didn’t your mother ever tell you how rude it is to pry into a girl’s relationship? That’s a delicate secret!”
A snort. “Yeah, right. Hey guys, did you know Shioriko actually had Lanzhu as her phone wallpaper for the entire 9 years of her childhood bestie being abroad?”
“M-Mia?!” Shioriko suddenly sat up properly, eyes wide from being outed.
“Oh you think I didn’t know how down bad you are?!” Mia cackled as Shioriko flailed her arms in panic. “You even kept a photo of her on your nightstand that you’d occasionally kiss!”
“Stop that! Stop it!”
Kasumi nudged Rina’s side. “Rinako, I think Miako’s drunk.”
Rina stared at her blankly. “...You think ?”
Of course, the night couldn’t end without some games. And as a homage to the old days, the girls decided to play a round of Old Maid.
It didn’t really take long for everyone to figure out that Lanzhu ended up with the Joker card.
“Some things just never change, huh.” Shizuku commented quietly as she built a house of cards with Setsuna.
“They really don’t!” Setsuna carefully put two cards down. “Except that one time I suddenly felt my voice deepen slightly.”
“Wasn’t that because of a cold that you had to endure for 2 days?” Shizuku arched an eyebrow, looking at Setsuna.
“Well yes - but afterwards, I did find that speaking in a lower tone helped me preserve my voice better so they could come out stronger and clearer whenever I sing!” The idol grinned.
“You can’t possibly defeat me this time, Ayumu!”
The two looked towards the remaining two players. Though really, it was more of a one-sided battle as Ayumu chuckled nervously, contrasting Lanzhu’s determined look.
“I’ve grown and matured all these years! I will beat you and be crowned winner once and for all!”
“Ahaha… Lanzhu-chan, Ai already won the game earlier by finishing first.”
“Well it’s between you and me! Come now, pick a card, any card! I guarantee your loss!” Lanzhu held out her remaining two cards towards Ayumu, much to everyone’s amusement.
Ayumu hovered her hand over one card, before switching to another, staring intently at Lanzhu’s face.
…she did not, in fact, guarantee Ayumu’s loss.
The former members of R3BIRTH comforted Lanzhu who was sat sulking in the corner as she mourned her defeat yet again.
“There there, Lanzhu. You tried your best.”
“9 years and she’s still got no fucking poker face. Typical.”
The girls have all left, and Lanzhu and Shioriko just finished cleaning up the place before getting ready for bed. Lanzhu happily laid down, sinking on the soft mattress, arms wide open with a goofy smile on her pretty face. Shioriko chuckled, taking her hair out of its low ponytail.
“I take it that you had fun?” She says, sitting on the empty spot beside the taller girl.
“‘Had fun’? Shioriko, I had a total blast!” Lanzhu sat up, easily wrapping her arms around her roommate’s shoulders. “We should do that again sometime!”
“Not too often, I hope. We’ve all got our adult lives to take care of, plus they could have such busy schedules.”
“I know that, you killjoy.” She rests her head on Shioriko’s shoulder, nuzzling the side of her face. “Thanks for helping me set it all up.”
“Well, you are staying in my home. It’s only natural that I help you achieve your dream of a reunion party for us.” Shioriko smiled, leaning into her touch. “And… I think everyone else needed it too. A little break, even if it was just a quick night out.”
“You’re right.”
They stayed in that position in comfortable silence, before Lanzhu asked, “Hey, was Mia telling the truth earlier? Did you really miss me that much?”
Shioriko couldn’t find it in her to answer that moment. She took a deep breath, before sighing it all out. “Yes, that’s… true, actually. I missed you more than you will ever realize.”
Lanzhu held a solemn yet apologetic look in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It really was a stupid, impulsive decision. I got overwhelmed and went with what looked like the easiest way out but," she shook her head. "It came at the cost of losing contact with you guys for so long.”
“I forgive you,” Shioriko whispered as she moved to face Lanzhu, kissing her cheek. “I’ve just been really lonely, you know? My girlfriend left me for seemingly no reason, after all…”
“I know, I know…” Lanzhu smiled softly, pulling away to lay down. She patted the spot next to her, and immediately wrapped an arm around Shioriko as soon as she laid beside her.
“Are we still dating actually? I mean Mia mentioned it earlier, and you did just call me your girlfriend just now, but I guess I didn’t really think about whether or not we sorta broke up in the midst of me traveling.”
Shioriko hummed, curling up to snuggle with the older woman. “Don’t you want to be? I missed you a lot, and I’d like to catch up on lost time. It’s going to cost you a lot of missed anniversary gifts though.” She joked, hugging Lanzhu back by the neck and instinctively nibbling on her ear.
Lanzhu sighed in response. “Oh dear me, the price I have to pay for self-discovery. What a travesty.” She says before giggling and holding Shioriko by the waist. “I’d love that. I love you , Shioriko. I always have.”
A smile formed on Shioriko’s face as she then moved to capture Lanzhu’s lips in a short but loving kiss. “I love you too,” she chuckled, now straddling the latter’s hips. “Now how about we catch up on… other things?”
Lanzhu smirked. “I like the sound of that.”