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Maki hadn’t expected anything all that interesting to happen today. She had a torturous class at nine, which killed most of her energy, but thankfully her school day ended relatively early with her last class ending at three. She figured she could just spend the extra time studying or, what was more likely, watching god awful romance movies with Nobara until they both fell asleep on the couch, as was per their weekly tradition. Maybe they would order a pizza.
She opened the door to the apartment, kicking off her shoes and setting down her backpack near the door. She called out an, “I’m home,” as always, listening for Nobara’s typical response of, “Welcome back!” but was met with silence.
Nobara didn’t have classes on Thursdays, so unless she was out on an errand, she should have been home. She rarely missed movie night—she actually made it a point not to—so Maki made her way towards Nobara’s room, just to check. The door was cracked, so Maki slowly pushed it open, not wanting to disturb her roommate if she was home or trespass if she wasn’t.
As it turned out, Nobara was most definitely home, lying on her bed in a cocoon on blankets, most of which were Maki’s. Her head of copper hair was barely peeking out, but Maki could see that she had on a pair of old, oversized headphones that were playing something at max volume. Maki heard the muffled sound of the music bleed out into the almost-silent bedroom.
She rapped her knuckles on the doorframe, not knowing if Nobara was awake but trying not to startle her. The pile of blankets shifted before Nobara sat up and recognized Maki standing there. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, yawning and pulling her headphones down around her neck.
“Did I wake you?” Maki asked with a smile, before fully entering the room and taking a seat at Nobara’s desk.
“Not really. I’ve been feeling kind of sick so I’ve been half asleep most of the day.” She yawned again before giving Maki a weak smile. “What’s for dinner?”
Maki couldn’t help but laugh at Nobara’s renewed enthusiasm at the topic of food. “I was thinking we could do pizza? Or maybe I could make some soup, since you’re sick. I think we still have some carrots in the fridge…”
Nobara hummed in response and her eyes slid shut from drowsiness. She looked cute like that, Maki thought, swaddled up in her blankets with no bravado, no image to upkeep when it was just the two of them.
Maki sighed and stood, walking over to the side of Nobara’s bed where her roommate was quickly submitting to the pull of sleep. “Okay,” she smiled, “Get some rest. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” She reached forwards, pulling Nobara’s headphones off and setting them on the side table. “You’ll break these if you sleep with them on,” she reprimanded softly.
Nobara hummed again, letting out a soft, “Sorry,” before falling back asleep in her makeshift cocoon. Maki shook her head, a fond smile forming on her face at her roommate’s childish but endearing behavior.
She reached to disconnect the cord for the headphones from Nobara’s phone, instead plugging it into the charging cable beside the bed. The screen flashed on once it connected, showing the song Nobara had been listening to when Maki arrived: it was “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood. Maki’s eyes widened just a bit before she smiled and set the phone back down on the nightstand. She would have a few questions for Nobara at dinner.
◈
The soup was easy enough to make—just some chicken stock, carrots, and noodles—and soon enough Maki was back in Nobara’s room, shaking her awake so she could eat something before inevitably passing out again. Nobara scrubbed at her eyes and muttered a sleepy, “Hello?” before looking up at her roommate.
Maki had to practically pull Nobara out of bed, forcing her to sit at the kitchen island and stay awake long enough to finish her meal. They were about halfway through dinner when Maki decided to ask about what she had seen earlier.
“So you’ve been listening to ‘Sweater Weather?’ Is that just a coincidence, or is there something you want to tell me?” She smiled in a way that hopefully assured Nobara that she could tell Maki anything. She was, after all, bisexual herself, so her roommate at least had to know that there would be no judgement.
Nobara looked up from her soup with a confused expression, brows scrunching together as her eyes asked Maki exactly what the fuck she was talking about. “Huh?”
Maki’s mouth dropped into a pout as she stared back at her roommate. She had thought that living with someone who was bisexual meant that Nobara knew most of the queer nuances, but apparently she had been wrong.
“That song. It’s like… the bisexual anthem.”
Nobara’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, any traces of sleep completely erased from her expression as she understood the implication. “No! Nonono, no,” she laughed awkwardly, dropping her gaze back to her dinner. “N-not that there’s anything wrong with that!” she stuttered as her eyes snapped back up to Maki’s. “Um… obviously, I just—it’s just… n-not me.” She looked practically mortified, shifting nervously in her seat like she was awaiting judgement from the gods.
“Okay. Okay, relax, it’s alright. I was just asking.” Maki stood to clear the table, knowing Nobara’s appetite was lost. She looked so, so nervous and Maki felt guilty by even putting the thought into her head. She put the bowls into the sink, leaving them to clean later, before returning to the side of the table and reaching out to tilt Nobara’s chin up, forcing her to meet Maki’s eyes. “I’m sorry for making you anxious. Go get some rest, you’re still sick. And let me know if you need anything.” She let her fingers drop from Nobara’s face, and her roommate shook her head before heading back to her bedroom. Maki sighed and returned to the kitchen, turning on the faucet to start washing the dishes.
◈
Nobara spent the next few days almost entirely in bed, recovering from her illness. Maki barely saw her roommate, although she tried to help her back to health in any way possible. So by the time movie night rolled back around on Thursday, she was feeling much better and was back to her usual childish antics.
Maki opened the door at half past three, kicking off her shoes and dropping off her backpack. Her day was tiring and she was overworked, ready for the weekly return of shitty food and shitty movies. She closed the turning, turning to announce her usual, “I’m home!” before recognizing the song that was blasting through the space of the apartment, probably disturbing the neighbors through their thin walls. Maki made her way to Nobara’s room, the source of the sound, and opened the door without knocking only to be greeted by “Sweater Weather” pounding at full volume through Nobara’s bluetooth speaker.
Maki sucked in a breath, preparing to shout over the music to turn that shit down, before realizing that Nobara was lying on her bed with her face pressed into the pillow, the volume of her sobs nearly matching that of the speaker. Maki immediately went to sit on the side of the bed, placing a hand on Nobara’s shoulder and rubbing soothing circles into her back.
Nobara turned up to look at her with watery eyes and tears staining her cheeks. She rarely showed her vulnerable side to anyone, not even her roommate of over a year, so Maki didn’t quite know how to comfort her. Luckily, Nobara took a shaky breath and turned down the music before confiding in Maki.
“Maki-san… I’m—I think I’m bisexual.” She burst into another fit of tears, covering her hands with her eyes and hopelessly trying to steady her breathing. Maki’s hand continued to draw repeating patterns over her shoulder, attempting to calm her if only just a bit.
“Nobara, listen. Listen, it’s okay. Take some deep breaths for me, alright? You’re fine, it’s nothing bad.” Maki tried to remember what she had wanted to hear when she came out, but Nobara’s sobs were distracting her from the memory. She had never been the most sympathetic person in the world, but she could definitely relate to her roommates situation. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Nobara did as she said, inhaling slowly and exhaling deeply. Her eyes stopped overflowing, allowing her to look up at Maki, wearing a fond smile. She took another deep breath, and shook her head.
“I don’t know, I… I never really thought much about it until I started rooming with you. A-and then you told me what it was—I mean, being bisexual—and I was like ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ but never anything more than that. And that stupid song—I can’t get it out of my head now. And every time I listen to it I think, ‘Wow, Maki-san would love this. She’s so comforting, and kind, and I like being around her so much.’ And then I realized that maybe I just like you, more than—”
Nobara slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening as she realized the confession that had just overflowed from her mouth. Maki matched her shocked expression, not expecting the statement to go in that direction. The two sat on Nobara’s bed for a moment, simply staring at each other, stunned, with the soft, repeating music filtering in from the background.
Oh, she knows what I think about
And what I think about
One love, two mouths
One love, one house
Maki sighed, reaching out to wipe the tears from Noabra’s cheeks before cupping her face with both hands. She dipped her head low, hesitating for just a second to silently ask her roommate for permission. Nobara inhaled an expectant breath, eyes pleading, before Maki closed the gap between them and sealed her lips to Nobara’s.
Nobara pressed back against her mouth, humming against her roommate’s lips before reaching up, winding her fingers into Maki’s hair. She licked against Nobara’s lips in response, finding that they opened easily, and slowly pressed her tongue to every surface of the girl’s mouth, eliciting a whimper in response. She ran her tongue behind Nobara’s teeth, biting on her roommate’s lip before pulling back, with a smile on her face somewhere between content and mischievous.
“So, Nobara, how do you feel about ordering a pizza for tonight?”