Chapter Text
A couple of hours later, Yae Miko sits comfortably in her bed, mindlessly scrolling through her phone, liking a TikTok here, and an Instagram post there. She follows most of the people in her class but never pays enough attention to look at their stories or their posts. They’re mostly the kind of people who think they’re the main character in some sort of Wattpad fanfiction, and to Miko, that makes them utterly intolerable.
Checking the time, Miko realises that it’s almost midnight, which normally isn’t too bad a time to start heading to bed in college, but considering how late she stayed out and all of the social interaction she had today, she’s feeling totally spent, and her eyes are practically fighting to keep open.
Her finger hovers over the power button on the side of her phone, but it pauses as a notification pops up at the top of her screen. Miko is about to ignore it, presuming it’s Lisa messaging her that she’s either staying the night at Jean’s, or she’s on her way home and getting mugged.
The notification disappears, and Miko thinks that that’ll be the last one and she can sleep in peace. Lisa normally only messages once and takes a good 3-4 business days to respond, and considering she’s the only person who consistently messages her, Miko thinks that’ll be it. She turns to turn off her desk lamp before another notification lights up her screen. This time, Miko turns to check the contact and to check that Lisa isn’t actually getting mugged.
Her eyes widen as she realises that the contact messaging her is not actually Lisa, but a certain bassist of a certain band. She tapped on the notification.
Ei 🎸💜🎵, two unread messages.
Miko’s heart flutters as she opens her messages. Both curiosity and anxiety course through her veins as the chat with Ei begins to load. What if Ei was messaging her to let her know she’s rethought the arrangement and doesn’t want to meet with Miko now?
Ei 🎸💜🎵
Hey, I know ur probably sleeping rn but I
just wanted to let you know when I’m free
soon
How does Friday after class sound? I should
be free and we can just chill at Starbucks
Miko’s heart rate significantly increases every time she re-reads the messages Ei sends. She lightly pinches herself just to make sure she’s not ACTUALLY fallen asleep and she’s lucid dreaming. When she flinches in pain, her lips sport a wide grin at the reality of the situation.
Miko quickly goes to type a response back. She fumbles with the words in her head, and despite majoring in English Lit, sentences just don’t seem to be forming. She types out something, and then immediately deletes it once she re-reads it.
After going through the write and delete process a few more times, Miko groans loudly and decides to settle on the next thing she types.
Miko💗📖🦊
Hi, Ei :)
Sounds good to me, just message
me when your classes are over and
I’ll come and meet you<3
She hits the send button, then realises the heart emoticon. Miko feels heat rise to her face, and she sits still, staring at her phone screen for a good few seconds. She internally screams as she throws her phone down onto the bed.
Oh my god what if she thinks I’m weird and doesn’t want to meet up now?
Miko’ stomach drops when her phone buzzes, and the screen lights up the blanket on the opposite end of the bed, She swallows as she picks up the phone and hesitantly opens the notification from Ei
Ei 🎸💜🎵
Perfect, see you then <3
Miko’s heart rate practically doubles as Ei reciprocates the emoticon. Her mouth curls into a wide grin, suddenly feeling wide awake. She checks the day on her phone. The time reads 00:03 on a Tuesday. Only Tuesday? Friday couldn’t seem further away.
Miko places her phone down, her chat with Ei still open. She closes her eyes and attempts to breathe deeply to calm herself and get to sleep, but no matter how hard she tries, her thoughts seem to wander to the bassist of the unnamed band. Blurry images of Ei’s face while she played flash in Miko’s mind, and they’re driving her mad.
She eventually gives up trying to fight the unwarranted intrusions, and lets them roam freely in her head. She remembers how happy Ei looks when she’s playing; she’s completely in her element, freely moving around the stage. The genuine smile as the chorus rolls around and the bassline becomes more complex, letting herself test her skills as she fills the thinner parts of the song with improvised riffs.
The urge to sleep slowly replaces her swooning, and is just about to take over fully and drive her into slumber, but an annoying buzzing sound interrupts. Half-conscious and fully confused, Miko reaches for her phone. Lisa is calling. She quickly presses the answer button.
“Hello?” Miko grumbles, yawning down the phone.
“HI MIKO!” Lisa practically yells down the phone. Miko jumps a little at the sudden noise, and pulls the phone away from her ear to prevent hearing loss.
“Hey Lisa, why are you yelling?” She sits back against the pillows on her bed and brings the phone back a little closer.
“I just wanted to tell you that I’m staying the night at Jean’s, so don’t miss me too much and I promise I’ll be back for class tomorrow” Lisa speaks at a relatively normal volume now, much to Miko’s relief.
“I figured as much, but I don’t know what you two could possibly be doing that’d stop you coming tomorrow?” Miko states, her brain obviously still groggy. Lisa laughs down the phone, and Miko swears she can hear Jean in the background
“Oh don’t worry about it, maybe I’ll tell you later on”
“Oh, I’ve heard that phrase before. You’re drinking again aren’t you” Miko sighs, a little disappointed, but not surprised,
“You’re saying that like it’s such a bad thing. We’re in college, Miko, have you ever even drank before?” Miko can practically hear Lisa rolling her eyes through the phone.
“I have no reason to” Miko states back simply. It was half true. She doesn’t feel there’s any need to, especially not when she’s quite happy as she is.
“You should come to a party some day, there’s some pretty decent places around here I’ve heard host some good parties. I bet we can sneak in.”
Miko yawns again, rubbing her eyes and crossing one leg over the other.
“No thanks, I’m happy as I am”
Lisa scoffs down the phone.
“Don’t be such a killjoy, at least give one a shot. I’m sure I can persuade Jean to host one, her place is pretty damn nice considering how well off her family is.”
“Lisa, if you keep talking about stupid parties, and don’t let me sleep, I might just shove your drink where the sun doesn’t shine tomorrow.” Miko huffs, hoping she sounds more threatening than tired.
Lisa ignores the empty threat, and laughs again.
“Sure, I’d love to see you try. I’m gonna get back to Jean and my fancy dandelion wine now, so I’ll leave you be to do whatever a single English Lit student does in her spare time”
Miko frowns, “Aren’t you also single?”
There’s a beat of silence from the other end of the phone, being broken by presumably Jean in the background letting out what sounds like a nervous laugh.
“No comment” Lisa hums and slurps her drink, making it painfully obvious to Miko what she’s doing.
“Wait what do you mea-” Miko’s confusion is cut off by the telltale beeping of Lisa hanging up.
“OH YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Miko cries as she sits up rapidly, and her brain connects the dots. She tries calling Lisa back several times, but each attempt is met by the familiar voicemail. With a final groan of frustration, she eventually puts the phone down and flops back down onto her bed.
Miko closes her eyes, and breathes out slowly. She makes a mental note to verbally abuse the hell out of Lisa tomorrow until she gets a straight answer from her.
And that’s exactly what she does.
All throughout the morning, Miko consistently nudges Lisa and pokes her in the middle of their classes and lectures, trying her very best to get an answer out of her. Her logic is that if she annoys Lisa enough, she’ll eventually cave in and spill all of the details.
“Miko, for the last time, I am NOT telling you anything. I’ve said this time and time again, nothing happened, we both just got a little tipsy. That’s it. Nothing more. We’re just good friends”
Lisa’s voice is slightly raspy and hoarse, probably due to her lack of sleep. Miko notices slight dark circles under her eyes. The pair are walking through bustling corridors, making their way to the cafeteria to meet up with the band.
“I don’t believe that for one second” Miko glares at Lisa as they walk. Lisa merely hums, clearly not willing to argue with the pink-haired girl any longer. The rest of their walk is in silence, Miko trying to think of another way to get Lisa to admit what really happened, and Lisa with an unreadable expression on her face.
They make their way inside the canteen, and they instantly spot two blonde girls sitting together at a table in the corner, opposite to each other. Lisa leads the way, humming to herself with content, pretending Miko doesn’t exist.
“Hello” Ningguang greets them first, politely smiling as Lisa and Miko sit down on opposite sides of the table, Miko next to Ningguang, and Lisa next to Jean.
“Good afternoon” Lisa responds, a soft smile on her own lips as she settles a little too close to Jean than “just friends” would be. Jean clearly notices Miko scrutinising her and Lisa, and tilts her head ever so slightly
“Everything ok Miko?” Jean inquires, looking genuinely puzzled. Miko shakes her head, and is about to mention last night’s phone call until a body joins the table next to Miko.
“Hey I’m sorry I’m late, got a little caught up in class” Dehya pants as she sets her bag down on the floor. She runs a hand through her hair and exhales.
“And by that you mean you just got told you have another detention because you ‘forgot’ about the homework again ?” Ningguang deadpans. Dehya says nothing in return, which says a lot more than words could.
Conversations are passed between the friends, laughter and chatting filling the table. Miko occasionally joins in, but her mind is in a different place. Every other second, she leans ever so slightly forward to try and spot a certain bassist.
And finally, she appears. Miko catches sight of the familiar purple hair making its way through the crowd, heading directly towards their table. Her hands are hanging in the pockets of her hoodie, which seems to be a merch of a band Miko has never heard of (which isn’t surprising in the slightest).
Ei smiles sweetly at the table as she greets them, taking the last empty seat next to Lisa. Jean is in a deep conversation with Ningguang, and Miko can only make out certain words, that of which include, “Business”, “Stock”, and “Production efficiency”. Definitely not Miko’s strongpoint.
Looking out of the corner of her eye, she sees Dehya messaging someone. She tries to subtly look at the contact name, and can barely make out the name “Candace” with a heart emoji next to it. Isn’t that who Dehya said she needed to get back home to?
A snicker from across the table snaps her out of her daydreaming. Miko’s head snaps upwards, and she’s met with the sight of Ei whispering something into Lisa’s ear, causing the brunette to stare directly at Miko, her expression totally unreadable, but whatever it is, Miko knows it’s going to end in teasing.
She watches in confusion for a second, while Ei finishes mumbling into her best friend’s ear. After Ei’s words have sunk into Lisa’s brain, a wave of realisation washes over her.
“There is no way that you , Yae Miko, of all people… got a date with her !” Lisa leans forward and hisses at Miko, Ei sitting innocently next to her.
Huh? A date?
Wait…
Miko’s eyes widen as she looks over at Ei, cheeks slightly red. Did those heart emoticons actually mean something?