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A scarce collection of beams shone through the curtains, invading the previously pitch-black space. It tore through the darkness, highlighting a small aspect of the large room. A set of bedsheets, silken and appearing delicate. They had clearly been carefully woven and dyed. As the sun continued its rise, more of the room came into the light’s view. It’s walls were painted with graceful patterns, abstract and birdlike in a series of whites and oranges. The sides of the room were adorned with expensive looking paintings and photographs in gold and silver frames. Most of the photographs were of two women, although a few stood out; In particular, those with groups of nine and three in them.
More time passed and the light began blazing, forcing itself through any crack in the room’s shadowy defense. However, it didn’t seem to have all too much of an effect. In the very centre of the room, contrasting the elegant aesthetics of their surroundings lay two bodies. Gracelessly entangled as they slept. The smaller woman lay on top of her partner, face buried into her neck. She began stirring first, hesitantly raising her head before letting it collapse back into it’s original position. Eventually she forced herself to get up, lightly shaking the woman underneath her. “Honoka-Chan, it’s time to get up.” she crooned.
“Ts-Tsubasa-Chan nooo.” Honoka whined, picking up a pillow and childishly covering her head. It only elicited a smirk and a giggle from Tsubasa.
“Fine, fine. You can sleep in a little more. Remember, we have that interview today.” she said, finally getting up from bed and stretching. As she began changing, she glanced back at Honoka. “Aw, she looks adorable in her sleep.” she thought, humming to herself happily as she continued to put on her clothes.
Despite her appearance while sleeping, Tsubasa knew she would have to wake her up at some point, and so resolved to simply get it over with. At first she was gentle, lightly shaking her as she had previously. It had no effect however, she was entirely entrapped in her slumber and refused to leave it. And so, she realised drastic measures had to be taken. She took her phone from the bedside table, made sure the volume was all the way up and all of a sudden…
“PARTY SHOCKING PARTY” erupted from the phone, awakening Honoka in a burst of panicked swearing and spasming. Tsubasa burst into laughter, struggling to stay upright and holding onto the wall for balance. After a few seconds, the two of them regained composure and the ear-destroyingly loud music was silenced.
“Tsubasa-Chan, why’d you do that?” Honoka groaned, “I was gonna get up…”
“Honoka-Chan, please. If you were in any deeper of a sleep you’d be dead.” Tsubasa retorted, lightheartedly stern.
She grumbled, getting up and standing next to her fiance. “Tsubasa-Chan, what time was that interview again?” she asked, aimlessly fumbling through their wardrobe.
“Two o clock, so you should get your nice clothes on already. We’ve only got three hours.” she replied, beginning to do her makeup.
Once again, Honoka grumbled. She had been looking forward to a couple of hours just lazing about the house. Sadly, it wasn’t possible. She changed into her outfit quickly before draping her arms over Tsubasa. “I don’t see why you’re doing your makeup, the tv people are gonna do it before we go on air.”
She smiled as she felt her fiance’s arms around her, it was a comforting feeling of familiarity. Honestly, she didn’t think she could live without it. Closing her eyes and leaning her head onto Honoka’s arm, she spoke. “Well, I’d want to look good in case anyone catches us before we get to the tv station. You know how photographers and stuff are.”
“You look good without it though” she dismissed, kissing her neck out of both boredom and adoration. Tsubasa flushed slightly, freezing up for a second before going back to putting her makeup on.
Honoka giggled, kissing her neck again. She didn’t react as much this time, however she was still blushing. “Honoka-Chan, could you go start breakfast please?” she asked “I might be a little while with this.”
“Sure!” she chimed, letting go of Tsubasa and leaving her with another kiss. “Don’t take too long. Or else I might eat it all before you even get downstairs.” both of them knew Honoka was only joking, despite her inhumanly large appetite she was much too considerate to leave Tsubasa without breakfast.
About five or so minutes later Tsubasa made her way downstairs, finding Honoka humming and working away at making breakfast. It took her a second to realise the song she was humming, it was one of A-Rise’s more recent songs. Tsubasa was honestly shocked she had learned it so quickly. Without hesitation she joined in, providing vocals for the song as she made her way to the table in the centre of their kitchen.
“Your voice is always so pretty Tsubasa-Chan.” Honoka commented, grinning as she began plating up the eggs she had been frying. She watched Tsubasa’s face carefully, her grin growing wider as her fiance’s expression shifted to a pouting frown that she found ever so adorable.
“Eggs?” she complained “Why eggs? They’re terrible.”
“Well, for starters.” Honoka began, tapping Tsubasa’s nose playfully “They’re good for you. Second, the egg you had before was fried. These are scrambled. It’s completely different.”
“It’s still eggs…” she grumbled. The concept of scrambled eggs was mostly foreign to her in both meanings of the word. For a little while she sulkingly prodded at the yellow mass on her plate, it was clear Honoka wasn’t going to compromise, she had sat down and began eating her own (Paired with a fair portion of bread, of course). Sighing, she finally took her first bite. Shockingly, it wasn’t awful. Despite her usual distaste for eggs the change in cooking method and Honoka’s slight overuse of salt made it far more enjoyable than expected.
“So, you like it Tsubasa-Chan?” Honoka said triumphantly, beaming.
Tsubasa gave her a slight smile “Yes.” she replied simply.
For the next two hours, the two went about doing mundane things they did most every day. Honoka messaged her former group-mates, Tsubasa worked on melodies and hooks for the next A-Rise song at her piano, the two of them cuddled on the sofa, it was content and calm. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it didn’t have to be. The ordinary for them was wonderful, they relished in each and every second of it.
“Honoka-Chan, it’s about time we got going. It’s quarter past one.” Tsubasa piped up, regrettably moving out of the comfortable position of holding her fiance. Honoka groaned, forcing herself to stand up and making her way out to their car. She took passenger’s seat; unlike Tsubasa she couldn’t drive.
She silently took her position in the driver's seat, driving away from their sizeable, decorated house and toward the studio. It would be a half an hour or so before they arrived there. Once they had gotten out to a long stretch of road, Honoka suddenly spoke up. “Hey, Tsubasa-Chan. Can I kiss you? I know you’re driving. I just feel like it.” she asked uncharacteristically sheepishly.
As much of a hazard it may be to other drivers, she couldn’t refuse with the soft, expectant way she was looking at her. “Okay, go ahead.” she said.
It took Honoka no time at all to start kissing her. She started with a few on her cheek, a couple straying onto her neck. They were all very light.
By the time they had reached the studio, she had gotten carried away. An obvious, eye-catching mark clearly displaying itself on Tsubasa’s neck. “Heheh... I-I’m sorry Tsubasa-Chan” Honoka apologised weakly, nervously fiddling with the collar of her sweater.
Sighing, she replied abruptly “It’s okay, Honoka-Chan. Don’t worry.” she smiled reassuringly “They’ll cover it up in makeup I’m sure.”
While they did cover it in makeup. It was still clearly visible, all they had really done was make it slightly less obvious. Tsubasa simply shrugged, accepting she would have to go on camera with it. She and Honoka had already announced their engagement, the tabloids couldn’t exactly get any further rumours about them from it.
They carried themselves on stage in contrasting, yet complimentary ways. Honoka waved at the live crowd and beamed, eyes gleaming in the stagelight. She loved performing, and television interviews certainly fell under it. She was energetic and playful, every bit of her genuine exciting coming through to the audience as she made her way to the sofa across from the host. Tsubasa similarly waved to the crowd, but there was something much more commanding about her presence. While Honoka grabbed people’s attention, Tsubasa forcibly took it and kept it until she was finished. It was a talent that had been prevalent since the very start of her idol career. Her group-mates insisted it was a large factor of their success, although Tsubasa would never agree. As she sat down, she looked directly into the main camera and winked. She did it every performance, and this interview was no different.
The couple exchanged greetings with the host of the show, briefly getting acquainted before the interview began. “So, Kira-San. You and Kousaka-San recently announced your engagement. But the question that’s been on everyone’s mind is which one of you actually proposed?”
The two looked at each other awkwardly and laughed, realising they would have to go into the story behind it. Honoka began the tale excitedly, putting on her best storytelling voice “So, me and Tsubasa-Chan had our four year anniversary a few weeks ago. And I thought, well. I thought I should propose to her on that day.” she giggled fondly at the memory “I don’t know why, it just came to mind a week or so before. The only issue with that was…” She began, hoping Tsubasa would know where to continue.
“I had also decided to propose. Unlike Honoka-Chan though, I had been planning it for a while. I’d had a ring prepared for a few months.” she similarly left off the rest for Honoka, confident in both her skills at performing and their natural chemistry that she would follow up correctly.
“Whereas I had gotten one a couple days before the day I actually proposed.” she laughed at her own recollection of events, fortunately the audience matched her. “I even had to borrow a few thousand yen from her to buy it. I’m amazed she wasn’t suspicious!”
“It was 100,000 yen. And I was suspicious. But I didn’t really think you’d be buying me an engagement ring…” she went slightly red, as did Honoka. (Although it was for a very different reason.)
“A-anyway. It came up to our anniversary and we were both really nervous. I know Tsubasa-Chan always seems so in control, but she looked like she was freaking out the whole night.” Honoka exclaimed, much to her fiance’s chagrin.
“I-I did? You didn’t tell me that…”
“You did! Although, I don’t think I was much better. As we got through the night the two of us got calmer and calmer. Once we had gotten more comfortable we both just kinda… Blurted it out.” Honoka blushed even more, looking across the sofa they shared at Tsubasa.
“Wait. What? At the same time?” the host pressed, just as eager as the audience to find out more and more about the story.
“Yep! Pretty much the exact same time. It sounds crazy. And well, it kinda was. It was great though.” Honoka replied.
“It was definitely a shock.” Tsubasa commented “But I suppose the moment was just right. We had finished our food, the music set the tone and both of us just. Said it.” she seemed to get carried away as she told the story, nostalgically recalling every detail in her mind.
“It got kinda awkward after that, but we ended up exchanging rings and here we are now.” Honoka concluded, squeezing Tsubasa’s hand and beaming at the camera.
“Can we see those rings up close, please? No one’s had a chance to yet.” the host all but pleaded, it was clear they were just as much of a fan as all those watching the broadcast. The two held out their hands, a cameraman rushing over to get a good shot of jewelry that resided on them. They were nothing alike. Honoka’s was silver, two separate metal bands meeting in the middle and curling around a circular orange gem. Tsubasa’s was far more intricate, little patterns and detailed engraved into a gold band with no gem.
“We’re planning on making our wedding rings a bit more similar. These are kinda weird with how different they are.” Honoka chimed, tapping the ring absentmindedly.
“Speaking of your wedding, do you have any plans?” the host asked, smiling to themselves over their smooth transition.
Tsubasa took charge this time “It’s not gonna be anything big. Just us, our families and our close friends.” she smiled. “I’m sure you can guess who they are.” she hinted, winking at the crowd and eliciting a cheer from them. Unfortunately, it left Honoka utterly confused.
“Huh? You could’ve just said A-rise, Tsubasa-Chan.” she said, not quite catching what Tsubasa was implying.
“Honoka-Chan. Did you somehow forget how famous Muse was?” Tsubasa sighed, although she adored her fiance she had to admit she wasn’t the smartest.
“Oh yeah, heh. I guess we were pretty big.” she stated, smiling. “Although, I suppose Nico-Chan still is…” The host opened their mouth to speak, only to be cut off. “Oh, and Maki-Chan by extension. Like how people know me because of you, Tsubasa-Chan.” It took Honoka a second or two to realise she had wholly interrupted the interview. “Sorry.”
“No, no. It’s okay.” the host smiled “So…”
More and more questions about their romantic life were asked. How it was for Honoka when Tsubasa went on tour, how much Honoka spoke to the rest of Muse since their disbandment and plans for the future after marriage. Which were answered with, not that bad, every single day and a shrug respectively. Unfortunately, their time had run short and their part of the show was coming to an end. It was clear both the audience and the host had many, many more questions they wanted answering, desperate longing for more evident in the way they watched them leave. “Maybe we should go for another interview like this, it was fun.” Tsubasa thought, heading back to the car with Honoka’s hand in hers.
“Hey. Is that a bite mark on your neck Kira-San?” an employee of the studio suddenly asked. She jumped in shock, just as she thought she had gotten away with it. She didn’t answer the employee, merely holding Honoka’s hand tighter and escaping to their car.
It didn’t take Honoka long to fall asleep, resting her head on Tsubasa’s shoulder as she drove them back home.