Chapter Text
In the privacy of the Hanasakigawa student council room sat Rinko and Sayo side by side as they did their homework. Not a single word was exchanged between them, and the room would have been completely quiet if not for the music Sayo was playing from her phone and the scratching of pens on paper, yet Rinko completely felt at ease with just the two of them together. They didn’t have any student council activities for the day, nor did they have any band practice thereafter, yet somehow they naturally decided to stay back after school in the student council room - their little haven - to complete their homework.
A little over a year and a half ago, this would not have been an option for Rinko - she’d head straight home after school, and would never have talked to this serious, brooding girl in her class more than needed. And now she was sitting next to that same girl, enjoying her company even if they were just doing, well, things on their own .
“Shirokane-san-”
Just then, Sayo spoke and Rinko promptly looked up. Gone was that stern look whenever Sayo was around with her, and in fact her expression seemed especially soft at that moment. How things have changed since then…
Rinko’s first impression of Sayo was formed when she first joined Roselia in the second year of high school. Ako introduced her to the band, and she realised that the guitarist happened to be one of her classmates. Being the shy and reserved girl she was, she never really talked to Sayo prior to this, especially because she too was a relatively reserved girl in class and came across to be extremely no-nonsense.
Thereafter, they started to interact more while in Roselia, but it was only strictly about band-related matters, like their playing during band practice and rehearsals, or when Rinko had to take measurements for their new costumes or when Sayo had to discuss the band’s budget. For a while, Rinko only really made small talk with Ako between practice, and occasionally Lisa, who was the most social and cordial out of all of them. Even in school, Rinko’s relationship with Sayo didn’t change much, other than an occasional nod of acknowledgement when they crossed paths in class and the rare passing conversation once in a while. They didn’t even travel to the studio together after school on practice days, partly because Sayo was sometimes busy with archery or the disciplinary committee, and partly because Rinko sometimes met Ako first to hang out for a while.
Then, one day, out of the blue, Sayo approached her at her desk in between classes. “Shirokane-san. Do you want to go for band practice together later?”
Rinko was caught off-guard by that sudden gesture and was momentarily flustered. “Umm...I...uh…”
“You have plans beforehand? No worries, just thought I’d ask first.”
“No...I don’t...I was just surprised. We can go together…”
“Sure, let’s meet at the homeroom after school ends.”
The trip to the studio after school was incredibly uncomfortable at first. Both of them didn’t exchange a word while they walked to the bus stop, as Sayo intermittently checked her phone while Rinko was internally sweating at the sheer awkwardness of the situation.
When they boarded the bus, Sayo finally broke the ice.
“Shirokane-san, have you been playing the keyboard for a long time?”
“...Yes, sort of...I’ve played the piano since young…”
“I see. You’re actually really good, you learn your parts really quickly and can also play whatever changes Minato-san proposes on the spot.”
Rinko blushed at that unexpected compliment. “T-thank you, Hikawa-san... You’re a really good guitarist too.”
A small smile broke on Sayo’s serious face. “Thanks. I’m not that good at it yet since I’ve only been playing for a couple of years but I’m working hard on it.”
Then the remaining of the bus journey continued in silence, interspersed with pockets of off-hand comments about schoolwork and practice schedules. But it was their first proper conversation outside band practice and school, and Rinko felt a sense of achievement - she was starting to get closer to another band member, the very member she spends practically half the day together on a regular basis but never got to know personally about until that point.
As time passed, Roselia set out to achieve more and more ambitious goals, and after various incidents and conflicts that happened between them, they started to grow closer as a band. They talked about their feelings with each other more, and hung out together even outside of practices, and naturally everyone grew much closer to one another. Of course, Rinko did get a lot closer to Sayo as they talked more often, and she started to discover some endearing sides to her as well. Like for example, her dislike for carrots (which she was slightly embarrassed about that Rinko found kinda cute) despite the mature and serious air she gave off, as well as an out-of-character love of fries. At the same time, Rinko found Sayo’s reliability and presence to be especially comforting during performances - while Rinko tended to get nervous right before going on stage, Sayo was always calm and confident, maintaining her mantra of “playing on stage the same as you did during practice”.
“When Hikawa-san’s on stage, I feel a lot calmer.” Rinko shyly mentioned once during a post-live show evaluation with the band.
Sayo seemed to momentarily flush at her comment, but quickly regained composure. “You’ve gotten a lot more confident on stage too, Shirokane-san.”
On one occasion, Ako somehow convinced all of Roselia to play NFO together as a band. At first, Rinko thought that Sayo wouldn’t take to playing MMORPGs very well, since she was so serious and focused on guitar only. However, she was taken by surprise when she saw Sayo occasionally logging in to the server she and Ako played.
“Can’t help but to finish what I’d left off,” Sayo quipped, brushing her interest off with her sense of obligation. But Rinko knew Sayo secretly enjoyed playing NFO, for every once in a while she’d message Rinko in the game for tips on completing quests and collecting rare items. Rinko didn’t mind it one bit, it gave them another topic of discussion outside of band activities.
Rinko started to really enjoy those conversations with Sayo, both offline and online (especially the latter, as she was a lot more comfortable communicating in text messages). Ako was also an avid NFO player of course, but somehow Sayo seemed to prefer talking to Rinko about it, and Rinko wondered why. Did Sayo really enjoy her company and their conversations the same way she did? ...was she doing all this to get closer to her?
“Sorry for always bothering you about NFO,” Sayo replied after Rinko sent her a series of lengthy messages in the game on the most efficient method to clear a map she was stuck on. “I’ve asked Udagawa-san for help a few times, but she’d often sidetrack or type things I don’t understand. Your explanations are always so comprehensive and helpful.”
Ah, that made a lot more sense to Rinko.
“Haha it’s ok (^_^)||| It’s my pleasure to help!”
Later on during the year, Rinko felt compelled to try something new for a change and decided to attend school club tryouts in the hope of finding a club that suited her. When Sayo offered to follow her along, she was pleasantly surprised. Was it the first time Sayo went out of her way to do something...just for her ?
Rinko tried out a plethora of clubs, from tennis to kendo to tea ceremony and even Sayo’s own club, archery. Whilst Rinko was contemplating on every decision, she couldn’t notice how serious and wholeheartedly Sayo was taking part in the activities as well, and even suggesting new clubs for her to try out.
When they were at the archery range, at that moment when she saw Sayo taking aim with her bow, her concentration fully focused on the target board, her heart fluttered. Perhaps the one trait she liked the most about Sayo was how she did everything with such determination and commitment, it was admirable and almost...kinda cool.
“Hikawa-san...thank you so much for following me around...you really didn’t have to trouble yourself.”
“Don’t say that, it’s no trouble at all. After all, isn’t that what friends do?”
Friends. Rinko finally realised that they weren’t just merely bandmates and classmates; they were actually already behaving just like friends.”
“Yeah, we are friends…”
Another school year had passed. In her final year of high school, Rinko somehow ended up making the decision to run for student council president and actually got elected. It was an extremely overwhelming role for an introvert and socially awkward girl like herself, but Sayo was also on the committee, and that made her feel a lot more comforted. Sayo had always been her pillar of strength in Roselia, and now she was also going to be that in the student council as well.
The fact that she and Sayo continued to be in the same class, ramped up their activities in Roselia, and worked together in the student council meant that they were together for practically the whole day. Granted, they weren’t usually alone most of the time, since they were either attending classes, rehearsing with the other band members, or working alongside other student council members like Arisa. Nevertheless, somehow or rather, they increasingly spent time with each other alone after those activities.
Rinko was good at literature and average at math, while Sayo was great at math but weak in literature, so upon discovering their complementing strengths and weaknesses, they sometimes stayed back after classes to help each other with assignments. Outside band practice, she and Sayo sometimes discussed arrangements for each other’s parts, or even worked on song ideas together. As for student council work, Sayo was always the last to leave the meeting sessions with her, lingering a little longer to finish up some paperwork or discuss issues with her.
Rinko always felt that it was just Sayo and her strong sense of responsibility and commitment that led her to follow through with things and go the extra mile, but she couldn’t help but realise how much she enjoyed just spending time with her. The way her eyebrows furrowed when in deep thought, the way she listened so intently whenever Rinko was speaking, the way she eagerly put out new ideas in her own calm, rational manner - it was admirable yet so endearing to her. Subconsciously, Sayo started occupying Rinko’s thoughts more and more.
At the same time, because they were working with each other so closely, they were texting each other more often. At first, their texts were mostly centred around Roselia or council work, but gradually, they’d talk about anything under the sun. Rinko enjoyed texting a lot more, and she felt that brought her a lot closer to Sayo.
“Can you believe it,” Sayo messaged her one day. “Hina went out and bought 5 packs of gummies just because it was on sale. How’s she ever going to finish it??!”
Rinko chuckled at the message and typed out a reply. “She knows you’ll like it and definitely take some of it too. Both of you will finish it in no time :3”
“Why are you laughing at your phone, Rinrin?” Ako commented. The both of them were out together for lunch that day.
“Um, it’s nothing...just a funny text…”
“You’ve been getting a lot of these ‘funny texts’ recently...is it your crush? Or a lover?” Ako giggled teasingly.
“A cru- No…? None of that sort…”
Rinko paused for a moment. Maybe she did have a bit of a crush on Sayo for a while. Sayo was always especially nice to her (although she didn’t express her feelings outright, her actions spoke louder), she always thought Sayo was a pretty girl with her brooding teal eyes and long flowing hair, and every little gesture and action from Sayo made her heart race a little faster.
“Actually...yeah, it’s sort of a crush...I guess…”
Ako’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Really? Who is it?”
Rinko smiled bashfully. “Promise to keep it a secret between the both of us, okay?”
For a while since that day, Rinko continued mulling about her sort-of crush on Sayo. Was she really attracted to her? Or was it just a deeper sort of friendship she hadn’t experienced before because she never really made that many close friends in the first place. These thoughts followed her all the way into the next band practice session.
“Can we pause for a moment,” Sayo piped up after a playthrough of one of their new songs. “Shirokane-san, I was thinking maybe it’d sound nicer if the guitar and the keyboard switched lines during the part between the pre-chorus and chorus.”
“Where’s that? Which bars are you talking about…?”
“Bars 89 to- hold on a moment, I’ll just come over and show it to you.”
Sayo put down her guitar and walked towards Rinko, score in hand. Approaching Rinko from behind, she leant in closely from the back, pointing out the bars on both their scores while explaining her idea.
All of a sudden, all Rinko could think about was how close Sayo was to her. She could feel Sayo’s hair brushing against her cheeks as her face nestled against her shoulders, she could feel the warmth of their bodies so close together, and she noticed those hands. Sayo had such soft and beautiful-looking hands, especially for a guitarist. For a fleeting moment, Rinko thought about how it would feel just holding it-
“-you got it? Do you need me to repeat it again?”
Rinko promptly snapped out of her daydream-like state with the realisation that she hadn’t been paying attention to Sayo’s words the whole time.
“I’m sorry...could you repeat it again? I didn’t catch it all…” Oh god, Rinko thought. I hope my face isn’t completely red right now.
So maybe Rinko’s “sort-of crush” on Sayo was more serious than she’d thought. But should she act on it? Right now, Rinko was completely happy with the friendship she had with Sayo. Never would she have thought that they’d be texting each other about NFO late into the night, or casually grab a drink and hang out together after school. If anything, she reasoned, it was more likely that her feelings for Sayo were one-sided - Sayo helped her grow so much confidence performing in Roselia, and assisted in so many tasks in the student council that she was incapable of doing on her own, but what was she to Sayo? A bumbling, awkward mess that she somehow cared for time and time again.
It was another long day at the student council. Rinko and her committee had just concluded a lengthy meeting with the presidents of the various student clubs in Hanasakigawa, and everyone was packing up and leaving. The orange glow of the sunset was streaming in from the windows - it was getting late - and eventually, it was just Rinko and Sayo left as usual, slowly packing up after a short post-meeting discussion.
“Hikawa-san,” Rinko softly spoke. “Thank you for all your help today. Speaking to a lot of people isn’t my strong suit and I couldn’t get my ideas across at some points… But you helped to articulate them so well…”
“No problem, all in a day’s work.”
“Actually...I really want to thank you for helping me so much in the student council all this while. Although I’m the president I struggle with so many things… Without Hikawa-san by my side, I’d be nothing.”
Sayo smiled; it was a gentle smile yet so warm. As the soft rays of the setting sun hit her face, Rinko felt she looked especially beautiful.
“Don’t say that about yourself, Shirokane-san. You’re always so responsible and reliable as president, everyone looks up to you even if you don’t notice it. In fact, I really, really do respect you both as a president and as an individual.”
Hearing Sayo speak so frankly about her thoughts about her suddenly filled Rinko with a burst of courage. Maybe she’d test the waters a little and reveal a bit about her feelings for her...
“T-this may seem a bit sudden,” Rinko lowered her voice, tugging the hem of her skirt nervously, “But having you by my side helping me with everything from homework, band stuff, student council stuff, and even talking about mundane things...it makes me really happy…”
Sayo ran her fingers through her hair shyly, a rare moment in which her strong front was replaced with a bashful, bumbling one. “Being with you...makes me really happy too.”
Rinko’s heart was pounding hard against her chest, her breath shortening in anticipation of what she was going to say next. “Hikawa-san, you’re really special to me…”
Rinko, who was avoiding Sayo’s direct gaze the entire time, glanced upwards, watching her face. Did her expression change in anticipation of what she was about to say? Was she going to reciprocate with her feelings about Rinko?
There was a pregnant pause between the both of them. Sayo’s expression remained the same as she didn’t seem to want to say anything in response, instead waiting for Rinko to continue.
“...you really are one of my closest friends I’ve ever made.” In the end, Rinko backed out of the confession at the last moment. There’s no way Sayo had romantic feelings for her, she thought.
“Same, you’re one of my closest friends as well,” Sayo replied. Just as expected.
It was kind of a downer for Rinko, but at least she knew Sayo’s feelings now, and she had a sense of closure. She was perfectly fine with them continuing as friends while she had a one-sided crush on her.
That night, Rinko messaged Ako while they were grinding an event on NFO together.
“I backed out on the confession in the end.”
“Awwwww really?? Ako was really supporting you :’((((((“
“It’s okay, at least I found out how Hikawa-san feels about me, and I’m okay with things remaining this way. We’ll still be friends and members of Roselia after all.”