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Maki couldn't admit it to herself.
Aishiteru banzai!
She was practically slamming her hands against the keys, hoping the noise would drown it out.
Koko de yokatta...
That stupid, orange haired girl!
Watashitachi no ima ga-
Maki hit a wrong note, instantly stopping and groaning in annoyance.
It seemed that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the damn image of Honoka out of her mind. She hated it. There was no way she could've felt anything for that bumbling fool -
She slammed her hand against the piano again in a low chord out of irritation. Forget about it.
Her fingers danced on the keys once again, playing a song. It was an incomplete song; she wasn't sure how to finish it. Playing through the melody, Honoka came to her mind again - however, she didn't block the thoughts out. Maki's head was focused on Honoka, the music subconsciously flowing through her fingertips.
Honoka.
Her smile,
Her energy,
Her generosity,
Her kindness,
Maki didn't even realize that she had continued playing past where she'd left off writing. Did thinking about Honoka really get her to complete the piece?
Of course not. That was crazy.
"Maki!" Nico burst into the music room. "Nice song or whatever, but you're late to practice."
Maki looked at the clock. Nico was right. "Oh. Guess I lost track of time." Did she really? Was it because of Honoka?
No. No, absolutely not. She was going crazy.
"What, did you get lost in thought thinking of someone?" Nico mocked, making a kissy face. Maki groaned at the gesture, standing up from the piano chair and grabbing her bag.
"No! What would prompt you to even start to think that?" She fumed, crossing her arms. God, could Nico be annoying.
"Well~ I'm just saying it's obvious you like a certain someone~" Nico teased, poking at Maki as she walked by. What a child.
"Yeah? 'Cause you know everything, of course," she groaned, walking out of the room. "Who is it, then, if you're so sure?"
"That's easy! Honoka, duh," the pigtailed girl laughed as she caught up with Maki, who had practically stopped dead in her tracks. "See? I was right! Man, Maki, you know that everyone knows, right? You're lucky she's an idiot who doesn't know how to pick up on that kind of stuff."
"I don't like Honoka!" She retorted, turning to Nico with an angered expression. Her face turned beet red. "She's an idiot. I could never like her. No way."
"Wow, a textbook tsundere as always!" Nico smacked her on the back. "You don't need to keep rejecting your feelings, y'know."
Maki about punched the other girl in the face. "Quit it! I don't like her," she denied again, looking away. "We have to get to practice. Stop talking dumb like that." The floor rattled as her feet were practically stomping against it.
"Psh, whatever you say," the third year teased, trying to catch up to Maki as she started up the stairs to the roof.
-
Normally, they'd stretch in trios.
One group was Rin, Eli, and Umi, another was Maki, Nozomi, and Kotori, and the last was Honoka, Nico, and Hanayo.
At least, that was how it was meant to be. But clearly, Nico had other plans.
"Hey, geez...I kinda gotta talk to Nozomi..." Maki heard Nico complain as they separated off into groups. "Hey, Maki, you want to switch places for today?" Subtly, she winked. It wasn't hard for Maki to catch onto what Nico was trying to do.
"Yeah, whatever," she responded with a roll of her eyes as she migrated to the other group. Nico punched her lightly on the shoulder as the two passed each other, resulting in Maki groaning.
"Heya, Maki! Guess you'll be stretching with us, then?" Honoka stated, shifting on her feet without a care in the world.
Crossing her arms, Maki pried her focus away from Honoka. "I guess so," she groaned, sending a sharp glare over to Nico, who only gave a thumbs up in response. "What's with her all of a sudden?" She whispered, looking at Hanayo.
Hanayo shrugged, motioning to Honoka with her eyes. What, did Hanayo think she knew something, too? Maki shook her head. Was everyone under the delusion that she somehow felt something for Honoka?
The situation was quickly forgotten as everyone began their stretches. Maki wasn't necessarily used to stretching with Hanayo and Honoka, but she quickly adapted to it.
But, for some reason, when she sat back to back with Honoka for one of the warm ups, it felt different. Had she been this close to the girl before? She didn't know, but just the closeness sparked something inside her, something she couldn't put her finger on -
Something that made her lose her focus on the stretch, causing the both of them to collapse.
Honoka quickly recovered, however, Maki laid on the ground for a few seconds, dazed. Oh no, what did she just do? Oh god, what an embarrassment!
"I'm so sorry, Maki!" Honoka pleaded, holding out her hand. Maki quickly grabbed it without thinking, a slight blush creeping up her face when she realized that wow, I'm holding Honoka's hand. "That was totally my fault," Honoka released Maki's hand to scratch the back of her head. Maki couldn't help but notice how empty her hand felt.
"No, no, it was me. I lost focus. My bad," Maki clarified, waving her hand, hardly noticing Honoka's blank expression. "...what?"
"Oh, sorry! I'm not used to you apologizing, I guess?" Honoka laughed, putting both her arms up behind her head.
"I mean, it's not like I expect you to think anything of it! I'm just trying to be a decent person..." Frowning, Maki turned away, hiding her red face. God, what was she doing? Honoka's just a friend, stop acting like it's anything different!
"Oh, there she is," Honoka teased as Maki turned back to the group. "But, really, Maki, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Wasn't a bad fall," Maki assured with a small smile. "We should finish up our stretches. Look, everyone else is almost done."
It was true; the other two groups were relaxing. The stumble had set them behind. Quickly, they finished what they'd missed and caught up with the rest of the group.
Other than a few jabs from Nico, the rest of practice went pretty smoothly. Maki nailed all of her moves, and felt confident in the song they'd been practicing.
Of course, for some reason, Honoka kept coming to her mind. Practice had come to an end when she finally realized where her thoughts had trailed off to.
Geez, Maki, what are you thinking? It's not like you actually like her! She's so stupid, she's just got a pretty face and a nice voice and a sunshine smile and soft hands and that never ending kindness-
Quickly, she covered her face. Undoubtedly, she had to have been blushing.
"You're so bad at hiding things, Maki~" Nico poked her in the shoulder, causing her to flinch and nearly smack Nico in the face. Maybe she should've. "Geez, quit denying it~"
Maki groaned and turned away, heading back down the stairs to the music room. In her mind she continued telling herself that she couldn't possibly like Honoka. That girl had a walnut brain...but god, she had so much heart...
-
In the music room, she started playing the "unfinished" piece again, now writing down how she had completed it. Once done, she began playing through the piece again.
Her fingers fluttered seamlessly, the piece felt natural; but she wasn't sure how she felt about it. It'd be nice to have a second opinion. Stopping her playing, she was about to send Umi a message-
"Woah, is that a new song?" Honoka bounded into the room. The girl herself. Perfect timing, too.
"Uh, yeah," Maki responded quickly. This had happened before, when they first met; Honoka heard Maki playing Aishiteru Banzai...even then, Honoka had endless energy and motivation, didn't she? "Did you like it...?" Instinctively, she tucked her hair behind her ear.
"It was so good!" Honoka exclaimed. "I'm sorry for barging in like that, though, heh," she scratched the back of her head. "I was just-"
"It's okay, I don't mind," Maki smiled, shaking her head. "I wanted a second opinion, anyway," she reassured, waving her hand. This was weird. Normally, she would absolutely care about someone barging in, but something about Honoka's presence made her more comfortable...
God, what was she thinking? Stop acting like you like her, or something!
Suddenly, Honoka slid into the chair next to her. Red crept up her cheeks in response, but she did her best to keep her cool. "Can you play it again?"
"Y...Yeah, sure, just...move over a bit," she responded, lifting her hands to the keys, noting Honoka watching intensely. She started playing the song from the beginning, but her focus was elsewhere. The girl beside her gave off such an aura that it was impossible to ignore. She was like a ray of sunshine, sitting there, glowing, watching. In Maki's eyes, she was beautiful.
Wait, did that really just cross her mind?
Shaking her head, she quickly finished up the piece, trying her best to avoid wrong notes. Finishing up, she sighed in relief, turning to Honoka, who was clapping quietly as her eyes lit up. Maki smiled.
"Your songwriting is so cool! I'm glad I listened to Nico," Honoka smiled back, her hands now together. Maki's expression turned concerned.
"What did Nico say?"
Did Nico say something about Maki liking her, or something? God, no...
"Oh, she just said you had something to tell me," she shrugged, which received a relieved 'phew' from Maki.
But then, she began to think.
Maybe Nico had been right. Maybe, just maybe she really did like Honoka...maybe...
"I...well, I do have something to tell you, I guess," she said without thinking, looking down at her hands that found their place in her lap. Honoka's interest seemed to increase, and she leaned in closer to hear. "I...I uh, I think I like you, of whatever."
"Oh, well, duh! We're friends, of course you like me!" Honoka laughed, patting Maki on the back. "Was that a joke?"
"No, I mean," Maki paused, hesitating, taking a deep breath- "I like you a lot. Like, more than friends. Like...I love you." She looked up, her face burning with heat now, to see Honoka's surprised expression. "I'm sorry-"
Honoka just smiled huge. "Do you really? Man, I thought I'd had one-sided feelings all this time!" She said excitedly, hugging Maki tightly.
"What? You mean-"
"I love you too, Maki!" Honoka pulled away from the hug and nodded, still holding onto Maki's hand.
Maki didn't really know what was happening, but she looked away from Honoka and at the piano, in some sort of attempt to hide her face, which had gone an even darker shade of red. Looking at the keys, she thought of an idea.
"You know, I...I thought of you. While finishing this song," she confessed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck with her free hand. "Do you think we could do a duet?"
"Yeah!" Honoka leaned onto Maki's shoulder. "Let's do it. Together."
"Yeah, together."