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“Hey, Aya-chan! I came up with a boppin’ idea! Do you wanna hear it? You gotta hear it!”
Aya blinks, looking up from her phone towards Hina. Pastel*Palettes practice had run a bit late, leaving the vocalist at a bit of a loss in terms of getting home. She would never make it to the bus and the others (minus Hina) had already taken their leave, so she couldn’t carpool with them. Heck, how does Hina get home anyways?
For a moment, she ponders on that; Hina seems like the type to ride a bicycle to and from practice with a guitar on her the whole time. Do bicycles fit two people? … Right, the two-seater ones exist, but why would Hina just have one of those?
…She should probably answer the question.
“Um, yeah! What’s your idea, Hina-chan?”
A clap of her hands and eyes sparkling like stars, Hina starts to speak. “Well, since it’s just the two of us right now and we don’t have classes tomorrow… you should come over to my house! Onee-chan won’t mind probably since you’re a friend as long as we don’t make a mess of anything! I have a really good idea that only you can help me with, sooo… what’dya say?”
Aya isn’t quite sure her mind registered all of the words that were just thrown in her direction. Go over… to Hina’s house? For some mysterious reason? For what sounds like an overnight activity? It… It almost sounds like a…
“Eh? Aya-chan, your face is red ! What’s wrong?”
“Romcom—!”
“Romcom…?”
Oh sweet Sapphos, she’s embarrassed.
Without another word, the vocalist reaches back into her bag and yanks out a water bottle, cracking it open and taking a drawn out drink until she can feel the excess blood drain from her face. Coming away from the lip with a gasp, Aya replaces it in her bag and clears her throat.
“I’m fine! Totally fine! A - Anyways, I’m up for a sleepover! I just need to go to my house and grab my pajamas and stuff first--”
“Oh, don’t worry about that stuff! You can just borrow my clothes for the night and give them back later!”
Did Aya say she was fine? Well, she’s a liar. She is very much not fine, what with her face exploding into crimson once more. Her water can’t save her now, not with the bottle drained entirely after its last encounter with a disaster lesbian.
“O - O - Okay!” she stammers, hands slapping over her face (and effectively hitting herself with the phone still in her palm). Hina only blinks, tilting her head for a moment before shrugging.
“Boppin’! Let’s get going then! I don’t live far away or anything, so we can just walk there,” she muses, picking up her stuff and doing an energetic walk towards the door. When it swings close and leaves Aya on her own, she can’t help but glance at the wall covered in mirrors.
Even from this distance, she can see how red her face shines. Having a crush on someone like this… is it normal to be so tongue-tied in simple conversations? They’re band-mates, she can’t keep acting like this!
Pocketing her phone in order to slap her cheeks, Aya puffs out her chest before exhaling. Right, she was going to be so calm during this endeavor with Hina tonight that she’ll be questioned on if she’s the real Maruyama Aya!
She marches out the door, right into the back of the waiting Hina. The guitarist looks over her shoulder for a moment, a wide grin on her face. “What took you so long? Did you trip on your way out? I wouldn’t be surprised or anything, but I wanna know!”
Aya pouts, mumbling that that isn’t it, and why is Hina-chan like this, and a few other things. In the meantime, Hina takes her hand and pulls her along since (apparently) Aya isn’t about to start moving herself.
“Okay, we’re here!” Hina sings, finally dropping Aya’s hand. She snaps to attention at the sudden absence of warmth, the gears in her head turning to realize how they had even gotten to the house past all of her distracted thoughts. Aya can feel her heartbeat pick up again for what must’ve been the fourth time today alone, stepping inside the house with her head down to avoid Hina commenting on her face again.
“So, so! What I wanna do is make aroma oils with you, but I also don’t have a lot of room for them anymore! You can help me make them and then you can use your social media stuff to advertise for me! What do you think, Aya-chan? That’s a good idea, isn’t it?”
Oh. Oh. Yeah, figures Hina wasn’t on the same wavelength as her. Aya’s heart falls for a moment, though she nods. Hina’s oils always smell good and relax her before practice, so creating some (and possibly taking some home) would probably do her wonders. “Let’s do this...! I bet my followers would really like some… I - I mean, they smell really good and they help me out, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t help other people…”
Hina only giggles, giving a nod and scurrying off to her room to grab supplies. Before Aya has the chance to follow her, the guitarist returns and heads into the kitchen, leaving her friend to trail behind.
Aya looks over all the ingredients lying about, noting the few names she recognizes such as lavender, vanilla, and cinnamon. What kind of combination can even be made from that?
Bottles clink as Hina goes about business, hurriedly putting drops of several of the oils into a bottle fast enough that Aya loses count. After a couple minutes, she backs off and turns back to her guest, face shining with a mix of sweat and excitement. “Okay, so I did a lot of it, but I want you to finish it off! You gotta put in ten drops each of rose otto, jasmine, ylang ylang, and lemon!”
While there’s a mild fear of messing up due to nerves, Aya nods and steps forward and carefully begins putting in the oils, counting under her breath. Hina leans over, bouncing on her toes and watching with a look of anticipation. As the minutes tick by and Aya only gets around to the third ingredient, Hina decides to take initiative. One hand reaches over and clamps down on the vocalist’s, squeezing out a squeak and a few startled drops of ylang ylang into the bottle.
“H - Hina-chan, don’t do that! If you scare me like that, I might mess it up and ruin it--”
“Pfft! Aya-chan, you worry too much! I got you, so don’t worry!”
With that, Hina takes control and uses Aya’s hand to finish up the mixture, not releasing her for a moment. In the meantime, there’s a distinct amount of heat coming from Aya’s face along with a very obviously sweaty palms that is taken notice of and given a giggle.
“All done! Now we just have to shake it all up and I can diffuse it later after you get some good photos!” Hina muses, her energy level skyrocketing as she bounces about the kitchen with the bottle in her hands. She sets it down after a moment, turning to Aya and gesturing.
Once Aya manages to drag herself out of the love-struck stupor she got herself into, her phone is out and she’s instantly on top of the game. Multiple photos are taken, along with a few instructions for Hina to go grab some of her completed oils (with a response of ‘yes ma’am!’ as she takes off) before Aya finishes off the photo session. “There you go, Hina-chan! You can look through them and pick your favorites so I can post them!”
However, Hina… doesn’t appear to listen past a point. It takes Aya a solid thirty seconds to realize what is happening as the mischievous nature of Hina’s expression dawns on her. “H - Hey, wait, you’re posting it yourself, aren’t you?!”
There’s a move to grab the phone, though it’s quickly deflected by Hina swiveling on her heel and sticking her butt out, blocking Aya from reaching her outstretched hands. Aya puffs, her second plan resulting in her hands wiggling against Hina’s exposed sides and getting… nothing.
“I can turn my tickle off, y’know?” Thus, with that known, Hina raises the phone enough for Aya to see and sends the tweet off. The phone is handed back a moment later, Aya snatching it and turning around, leaning over so Hina can’t see easily over her shoulder.
“‘The guitarist of Pastel*Palettes, Hina Hikawa, is selling aromatherapy oils! Please, if you’re interested, send a message to ask how to purchase them! The one showcased is a… love… potion...”
Aya, for a moment, blanks out the rest of the tweet and focuses in on those simple two words: ‘love potion.’ Hina had asked for help making a… love potion. Fire alarms could be set off by how hot her face is as she slowly turns to face Hina. “H… Hina-chan, did you…?”
There’s a blush finally painting Hina’s own face, one hand up to try and block her mouth from the devilish smile on her face. “You talk kinda loudly, Aya-chan! Some days I waited outside the studio room and heard you talking to Chisato-chan about your crush and how you don’t know if I like you like that, and other feelings things!”
Aya sniffles, already feeling the hot tears of embarrassment welling up. “Oh… Oh jeez, I…”
Hina lets out a loving sigh, walking closer and setting the phone on the counter in order to gently take Aya’s hands. “You could’ve told me sooner, silly! I could have set this all up earlier, but I wanted to make sure I was right, so I waited longer! It’s fine though, I just think it’s boppin’ that you feel that way about m--"
She’s cut off by a kiss, one that’s gentle and warm with the vague smell of bubblegum chapstick filtering into Hina’s nose when she breathes. The gesture is returned with an electrifying amount of energy before both parties pull back, Aya knuckling the tears from her eyes.
“... Thank you, Hina-chan. I’m really, really thankful that you feel the same!”
Hina only laughs, ruffling Aya’s hair and nuzzling her cheek against the other’s.
“Let’s go diffuse that love potion, okay? To celebrate!”
A nod from Aya, enthusiasm kicking in past the embarrassment.
“Right!”