Work Text:
Just like the artistic stance of the environment just outside her door, the only thing nestled on Ena's mind right now was nothing like stars or a fading rosé firmament. It was closer to the fiery storm pouring outside. Clouded, uncontrollable, gray-yet she was spared from all the creativity that could be rooted from that image.The raindrops began falling heavy, hitting the windows and ceilings with their light but noticeable tapping. It was already nearing dusk-the sun setting in the immensity of the sky, its hues shifting from vermillion to a dead blue; its clouds fading their pink to become part of the mass nimbus that looked down at the panorama that would soon nestle stars, millions of them. If it had to come from big authors to describe the fleeting scenery, words would be at loss. Just as lost as Ena's motivation to work.
A cry of exasperation resonated in her room. Being an underrated and unknown artist waiting for stardom was already difficult enough on its own, but this senseless blank space on her mind—the struggle surpassed anything she could have even imagined. The canvas remained white as snow: not a single trace of a pen stroke could be seen. Only the helplessness of the upcoming due date for her project dawning on her, haunting her every step.
Already prepared to give up sleep on working for the rest of the night, her pen about to throw the first stroke over the nothingness on her desktop, something caught her attention first... Ding dong! The doorbell's sound filled Ena's eardrums. Hitherto had she hated a sound this much. Mayhaps it was her concentration breaking and the frustrated efforts of beginning that gave her a predisposition to the loathing she harbored towards the ring of the doorbell; either way, it mattered not. Nothing would make Ena move from her seat.
Ding Dong! Ding Dong!
The doorbell rang once more—faster, demanding to be answered. The person waiting at their doorstep must have been eager to step out of the rain. The burn-out artist wasn't even a hint curious for this guest of theirs. Maybe it was that one boy that came to see Akito a lot lately. If, so it was his problem to deal with.
"Akito. Go open the door now!" A groan of annoyance echoed at the opposite side of the hall that connected the rooms of both of the Shinonome siblings. The sound of a textbook snapping close and school papers being stuffed and ruffled aside in a small tantrum were followed by another angry reply. "It's- your -time to open the goddamn door. I am busy." The door of Akito's room closed with enough force to startle Ena, who now had no option but to race downstairs to greet whoever the hell thought visiting uninvited at these hours was a good idea.
"Just know that if it is your boyfriend, I will lock him outside" Complained the oldest Shinonome before crossing the threshold of the staircase. She didn't give him any time to answer, but she could already mimic the ghost of the words "He is not my boyfriend" in his nervous voice he always emulated every time Touya was mentioned.
The silence in the house was relative. The rain grew stronger in the short time she had moved from place to place around the house; it made her feel slightly guilty about leaving the unknown guest waiting at the mercy of nature's worse, yet that didn't suffice to bury how displeased she felt about unexpected visits.
"Hell-" The voice outside her house saluted. No second thoughts as she opened the door and immediately closed it with force. "What the fuck are you doing in my house, Mizuki?" Ena's pique turned immediately into unadulterated anger. Mizuki's nerve to show up at a time like this was just what she needed for the day to turn into a complete mess. Not that Ena disliked their company; on the contrary. Even if Mizuki could be a bit too much for her sometimes, the artist enjoyed the presence of the cheeky individual Mizuki was, more than she would like to admit to anyone; even herself. Yet what infuriated her was how inopportune this sudden knock on her door was. Ena took a quick look at herself on the reflection of her phone's screen. She looked terrible. Her hair tangled over her shoulders and her tired eyes framed how many sleepless nights she had passed since the day Kanade announced their new song.
Ding Dong!
The doorbell rang once again.
"I know you are there, cut it out" The older Shinonome complained.
"I am freezing out here. Come on!" Ena was cornered. She could be cruel at times without noticing, but leaving Mizuki waiting a second more out in that hell of a storm was more torture than letting them see her in her current state.
With an open door now, she was met by her friend, that resembled more of a sad wet rat rather than the fashion icon she was so used to seeing. Their usual hairdo ruined by the rain, same as their clothes.
"Finally you open up. I thought you were actually going to let me freeze to death" Mizuki threw their hand over their forehead as their voice wavered in a histrionic and over-exaggerated tone.
"Don't push your luck"
They giggled at Ena's foul statement. Every new sentence was a new challenge for Mizuki, who only wanted to tease Ena for the fun of it, even if it was easier to make her rage. "Why so cold?~ With that frame of my mind I don't need to be outside to become an ice cube, Enanan"
"I see the cold hasn't changed you at all, huh? Now come in before you catch a cold" Ena grumbled. Her countenance relaxed a bit at the sound of their voice.
"Oh, so now you worry about me? You must really like me a lot then~"
Mizuki was rather right, actually. But responding to their teasing would result in more of it, and that vicious circle could loop for hours if she enabled them. Silence and a welcoming gesture would make up for any answer now.
Lately, Mizuki's famous "Shinonome House Invasions" weren't but a regular for the siblings. When they skipped class or were running from trouble they caused as a whole, the number one hiding place was always this house or Kamishiro Rui's. Usually Ena's for some odd reason; maybe because she lived closer to their school.
By now, they knew the house and every single room as though it was their house, and it could not be better; that way Ena had nothing to care about when they came.
"Take this. If you keep those on, you will flood the house and I'll have to clean up your disaster" Ena handed Mizuki a pair of unevenly folded clothes. They helped themselves into any room that could help as a dressing room, that could really be any; the house was just Ena and Akito on their own.
From the other side of the door, the artist scolded her friend for pulling that stupid stunt of running there under the rain—which wasn't out of character from them, just deserving of no praise.
"I just wanted to see you. You've been leaving the meetings earlier each passing day. It gets lonely without you" Their words sounded earnest.
"Drop the truth, you are better than this"
Mizuki chuckled. "Am I?" Ena's tone was playful and sarcastic. It was always a good feeling for her to know someone cared for her, even a little. A small smile showed itself on her face. They made her feel special for once.
"I have work to do. Make yourself at home, but don't break anything"
"I promise I won't break anything again, we've talked about this"
Back to her own problems to attend, Ena sat down in front of her drawing tools once again, hoping that the late intromission would maybe ignite a spark of creativity. Once more, head empty.
The thud of steps on the staircase grew louder and louder as they neared Ena's room. On the door rested Mizuki, asking for permission to go into the room with their eyes. The older Shinonome tilted her head in agreement; they were welcome into her domain.
Her room wasn't the cleanest, something Mizuki, who always had theirs tidy and organized, criticized Ena over rather often. And as it was usual of them, they roamed around the scene, picking up the misplaced pens and clothes that were spread around and putting them back in their respective place. They could sometimes be this thoughtful out of their own volition.
Meanwhile, Ena had nothing on her canvas still. Her tablet pen was now a fidget toy for her entertainment and the blank page, a space wide enough to play tic tac toe with herself maybe.
Mizuki watched in awe from the artist's bed-or like they liked to call it—"The struggle throne", where they could see from a perfect angle, Ena's patience boiling short. The sighs and the groans were even symphonic by now; where Ena would have not done anything in a solid span of twenty-five minutes, Mizuki already had done a lot, enough to figure their friend's mind.
The artist's friend stood up from the mattress and walked towards the desktop to check out what was going on. In reality, they were already aware, but curiosity and boredom were the best mobilés for someone like Akiyama Mizuki.
Arms wrapped up against Ena's neck from behind, head leaning over her right shoulder, peeking over the workstation to witness how marvelous the emptiness of her canvas was. Ena twitched at the feeling of their arms brushing against her. The closeness was rather comforting, even if Ena wasn't used to it as much, she rather liked it as much she tried denying it to herself—her cheeks always catching a glimpse of ruddy at the touch of their friend that could be easily mistaken for the blush on her make-up palette. It would be a lie to say it wasn't tempting to just melt at the touch and rest her head against the other that was so close to hers. But that possibility scared her just enough to stop her train of thought.
"I see you are already on it, Hokusai*. Amazing job! I'll be honored to manage to put this masterpiece in a video. Tic tac toe doesn't sit right with our aesthetic though" Laughing at Ena's downfall delighted the pink-haired person.
Ena tried—emphasis in tried—to convince Mizuki that this was part of her creative process. It was a good attempt, it made them laugh a little, and even if that wasn't the intended purpose, it made Ena happier. The sound of their laugh filled her ears like music—she really liked their stupidly smug laughter after all.
Again, her friend leaned even more forward until they reached the top left of the tablet screen, where the off button waved at them frantically. And before the frustrated artist could complain, the tablet wasn't on anymore. The arms around her neck untangled quickly as a precaution to the most likely scenario. Either Ena would throw hands with them, or a good old complaint would be placed at their ears like that.
Truth be told, it was kind of both.
"Why would you do such a thing?" Ena complained sonorously.
"You won't achieve anything this way. If your attitude isn't stopping you per se, the twenty-something minutes you've been spacing out will" God's, she hated when they were right.
"Yes, Jiminy Cricket, I know. When did you get so wise?"
Mizuki's sincere concern over Ena tasted more like a joke than an actual gesture of kindness if you counted how many times they snorted at Ena's-close-to-snap moments. They created a strategic distance from their angry friend before making any other joke.
"Also, if you keep overthinking stuff so much, that blood vessel on your forehead will jump out, silly" Ena made her chair make a full 180º to pierce Mizuki with a death glare plastered on her face. They could get under her skin rather easy and that was infuriating.
Pushing everything out of her work station, she stormed towards her bed in which Mizuki sat, expecting whatever Ena was going to do. Grabbing the yellow cat pillow they won for her some time ago, she readied her aim and shot towards Mizuki at the other side of the bed. A muffled thump and a small "Hey!" in response to the hit landing made the artist grin.
Ena let herself fall headfirst into the mattress, a heavy sigh leaving her mouth. "This is useless. I am useless" Sarcastically remarked the girl, head still covered by the crumpled bed sheets in the place she dived into. She could hear a light chuckle from over the other side coming closer.
"There must be a reason why you are so stuck with this project"
"Of course there is! It's just a stupid case of artbl-" Ena interrupted herself.
When she turned to her sides and opened her eyes, she was met face to face with Mizuki.
Their expression didn't reveal a lot of the thoughts going on their mind—if there were any to begin with, but Ena was too focused on her own heart racing at this unusual sighting. Mizuki was looking at her like one would look at a precious thing: as though she mattered the world to them. It was an overwhelming feeling... Not in a bad way though, but it was numbing nevertheless.
Before any words could be spoken, Mizuki reached Ena's face with their hand, cupping her cheek gently, their thumb tracing under her eyes carefully.
"Someone hasn't been sleeping enough~" Their calm countenance suddenly turned into a small and concerned smile. From up-close, there were no barriers to hide behind. Mizuki could see behind the remaining of this morning's make-up the dark circles drawn under her eyes, and that tired face of hers.
"I might have pulled some all-nighters this week to—" Ena was interrupted.
"Hush. I care not for the reason. Sleep now" Mizuki gestured with their index over Ena's lips.
"But-"
"No buts, close your eyes now. You look terrible"
Proved right once more, Mizuki took pride in this victory in an un-fought war. Ena could sometimes be extremely stubborn, but they knew their way around her walls. That frustrated friend of theirs was a special one, maybe more than they imagined she was.
Mad at their brutal honesty, Ena turned her back on Mizuki, who couldn't help but giggle at their friend's temper tantrum. They found it cute somehow. How she would try to shake off the help from others but still accept it when it came to them. It made them feel special.
Careful not to disturb Ena even more, they crawled closer to her. Even closer they could see how cruel this week had been for her. The tips of her hair knotted and tangled from days of neglected self-care were difficult to count, and especially more difficult to watch for Mizuki, who not only cared for her, but worried about the consequences of knotted hair-which was even less important, but it still haunted them-in the long run.
Mizuki's hands didn't hesitate to try and untangle the little knots. The scent of a faint splash of the perfume they bought for her birthday caught their attention for just a second, as they ran their fingers through her hair softly. So it was a lie when she said she would probably never use it, huh? The thought made Mizuki's day a bit brighter. Getting to visit Ena was already rewarding, but it was the little details that made them fall even more for her.
Ena's eyelids began to weigh enough for her to close her eyes, yet she couldn't allow herself to fall asleep just yet. She had work to do that she left unsupervised and she had to cook something for dinner or Akito would probably wreck the house. The task of staying awake was even harder than before; Mizuki playing with her hair made her hold her breath for a second. She wasn't fond of this type of affection, but she wasn't going to stop them now. It wasn't a bad feeling, it was pleasant, but she still couldn't put her finger on why she felt like her heart was so close to bursting out of her chest.
Before overthinking anything more, she was already fast asleep.
The uproarious sound of thunder resonated in the neighborhood. Jerked awake by the noise and light spectacle on her window, Ena jumped from her current sleeping position to face the ceiling. After that small period of time you pass between consciousness and subconsciousness, the sensations and signals from her surroundings hitting all at once grounded her to the current stage of reality. She was in her room again, not within the walls of her mind. The chamber was dark, and the storm outside didn't seem to cease either. The sheets of her bed were gone though—a certain someone stole them, actually.
Also startled by the thunderous bustle, a mildly awake Mizuki stared at Ena with their eyes narrowed, almost closed, hidden in their own small cocoon of stolen blankets.
As Ena dropped her head down to face her friend, she noticed the clock on the nightstand marking about 3:57am o' clock. Her face grew pale for a second. She had missed their reunion at 1am. Maybe if she logged on now she could catch K on her desktop to ask for forgiveness or something.
When she meant to reach for her phone on the nightstand, a loose grip around her wrist stopped her.
"Hey workaholic, it's ok. I told K and Yuki why you were absent. You can rest easy now" Mizuki exited their handmade cocoon to stop her before she resumed action with few hours of sleep on her.
"You did what now?"
"Don't argue with me now, just come back to bed. You deserve it" Their voice sounded sleepy, yet their claim wouldn't be moved.
"What if I refuse, huh?" Ena replied playfully, even if her statement was somewhat true—she wouldn't go to sleep just yet, not after that sudden awakening at least.
"I mean, your loss. But I won't stop you. Just know you are forbidden from going back to work unless you sleep four more hours" Even if it was dark, Ena could sense Mizuki's smile just a few centimeters away from her face.
"Then what am I supposed to do? That's so unfair!" Ena softly pushed Mizuki's shoulder in retaliation, just enough to get them to laugh at her antics.
"Then speak to me" Once again that earnest tone filled their voice sending Ena into a short trance.
The artist fixed herself on her side, staring eye to eye at her friend. Not a single word suffused the silence or cut the lack of their voices. Only the drops of water hitting the window and some far away roars of the angry thunderclouds harmonized in a song for them. A song only they knew the lyrics from.
Little could they make out of each other's silhouette in the deep of the night, with such a scarce light source the moon provided, even so, their eyes browsed for each other eager to meet.
"Let's go back to sleep" Mizuki whispered to their friend once more.
After several minutes of gazing into each other's eyes, Mizuki's started fighting somnolence before diving again into a peaceful and undisturbed state—their grasp loosening from Ena's wrist, but not moving away.
Falling asleep again was not an easy task for Ena, who shook by the sense of having Mizuki so close that they could count their eyelashes, felt a tad bit nervous all of a sudden. They seemed so peaceful when they slept it even made Ena somewhat jealous.
Jealous that she could not be part of that peacefulness especially. At least not yet.
Even if they were just a breath away from each other, Ena felt like she was drifting away faster and faster from them, only their hand's faint touch keeping her anchored to reality. Oh, if only she could reach out for them right now, or if only that telepathic silence could express feelings clearer wouldn't she be struggling to decide what to do.
The situation felt surreal at most. Like a dream she had the key to and wanted to live in, but the key and the lock were made out of crystal, and at the first wrong turn they would shatter in millions of particles in front of her eyes. It was hard to explain. Even she had to figure what these were as a whole: the dreams, the thoughts, the racing heartbeats, the unspoken words, and the comfort in their eyes. They were all notes in the staves of a song she had written but didn't know the tune of.
The rain outside eased, the clouds vanished, leaving the moon on its own to shine bright through the window.
Holding hands wasn't an unknown gesture of affection between these two. They had walked through the empty sekai on small adventures while holding each other so that they wouldn't get lost. That was a friend thing, but this was just not about friendship anymore. This was way more personal.
Maybe it was the few days she went with no sleep, or the incredible power stupid teen feelings had over her and people her age, but she gave impulse a try over her conflicting thoughts. Her hand searches for Mizuki's, careful not to wake them up, but unfortunately for Ena, she was shaking enough to wake Mizuki up at the slightest brush of their hands.
Two fuchsia eyes locked onto hers from the same place they had been before she even conceived the idea of making a move. Fear overwhelmed the girl, who quickly turned the other way, not pulling her hand away, yet not moving it closer either. She was exposed, in the open. She felt vulnerable and out of control like she usually felt when things wouldn't go as planned.
Now she wasn't drifting away, she was already floating in a limbo all alone until the gentle touch of Mizuki's hand brought her back to earth. Fingers intertwined with hers so confidently and shamelessly it felt like Mizuki was just mocking Ena for being a coward. Nevertheless, it surprised the older Shinonome who held her breath in disbelief. Her eyes were closed tight; if she were to open them now, she would have to face Mizuki and their stupid court jester smile. Or maybe she would have to deal with rejection... Either way, it was all the same if it was a matter of good or worse.
A mumbling of words became an unintelligible phrase, and that phrase grew into a burst of laughter. Mizuki was laughing at her?
She left a sigh of relief out before immediately burying her face on her free hand. This was just embarrassing.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Ena, you are shaking like a leaf in a tornado... Are you okay?" She had yet to realize that she was indeed shivering a bit; she had completely lost her cool in front of Mizuki like that, huh? Well, they knew very well they had that effect on her.
"I am not! Shut up!" The two of them burst into laughter in unison.
Tensions and suspense broken, Ena felt extremely lighter than before, like a weight was pulled off from her shoulders, and finally at ease, though no words were ever said, this was way more effective than a full book of words where she could explain her conflicted feelings. She turned to face Mizuki. The pink eyelashes framed the same eyes that stared at her lovingly. They were honest.
Shyly, Ena looked down at their hands locked together; if she didn't confirm what just befell, she could've sworn she was dreaming. Mizuki caught her eyes and smiled back at her.
"Do you want to talk about this?" Mizuki's grasp tightens a bit to emphasize what they were trying to say, even if it was evident.
"Isn't it obvious?" A weak and humble laugh tries to hide the nerves of the artist, who starts playing with her friend's fingers.
"How long has it been since you know?"
"I am still not sure of things, but I'd say months" Being as blunt as she usually was when it came to her own feelings was a trial as a whole, but she wasn't lying. On the real, she still had to sort out what her feelings were like. She knew she wanted to be with them, and for now, that sufficed.
Mizuki was better hiding the truth when it came to their feelings as well. They for long had waited for something to let them know their feelings were not unrequited, and the wait proved fruitful.
"We don't have to figure things out just yet"
Those were the words Ena needed to hear... Until Mizuki Akiyama decided to bring their charm to their own words. "It's 4am and I gotta look good if you want to confess to me in the morning~"
There was the Mizuki Ena grew to love-and hate, now that the occasion proved itself opportune for both emotions-that much.
"I regret giving you this much power, you little shit" Ena's tone snapped out of the shyness and nervousness she trapped herself in before, just to spice her last words with her famous and incomparable snide.
"So I am right, then~" The playful banter they were so used to felt like it had more meaning now, and in reality, it might have this whole time.
And within laughter and soft-spoken words, they both went back to their sleep at the very end. Hand in hand, heart to heart. Within promises, the two of them found comfort in each other's close presence. And now a step closer to understanding all of these feelings, the artist found a new muse, a new dream. A canvas dyed in pink hues would be home for the stars of her firmament.