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By the time Miu returned to the dorm kitchen to get another cup of coffee—her third or fourth of the night, she couldn’t remember—she realized that she wasn’t the only one in her class who was still awake.
“You’re up late,” Kaede yawned from her spot at the small table in the corner of the room, scaring the ever-loving shit out of Miu as she filled the measuring cup with water for the coffeemaker. Water would go everywhere otherwise, and it almost did anyway as Miu whirled around. Given it was about to be her coffee, it would’ve been a waste if she’d spilled it. “And coffee, too?”
“You’re not one to judge,” Miu said once she regained her senses, nodding to the mug in Kaede’s hands. Didn’t smell like tea or hot cocoa, that was for sure. If it were anyone who were less straight-laced, she would’ve immediately guessed alcohol—in which case she would ask for some—but Kaede would never. “What’re you up for?”
Kaede shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. Cinnamon, that was what Miu smelled in it. Interesting choice. Same as the interesting choice of a braid and a tank top and shorts as pajamas. Obviously she was too good to get knots in her hair like everyone else. “Stayed up too long practicing and it’s too close to morning to give up now.” She shrugged again and stood, leaning against the counter so she was closer to Miu. “I’m guessing you were up inventing something?”
Normally that would be a good guess, but she couldn’t stand that tonight. “Not exactly.” She pressed the power button on the coffeemaker with a little more force than was necessary. “You know that shit online that’s like ‘caffeinate and hope for the best?’ That’s me.”
Kaede laughed into her mug before taking another sip. “One of those nights.” Miu turned and leaned against the counter as well, stretching out her back as much as she could. She should invent something that makes coffee while she slept, if she ever managed to sleep again. Her eyes burned, but she wasn’t going to quit. She couldn’t even if she wanted to; her body wouldn’t let her. “Something you want to talk about?”
“Fuck no.” Miu laughed her normal, loud laugh, only somewhat uncaring if she woke anyone up. The kitchen was far enough away that the sound shouldn’t travel much. If they weren’t woken up by the loud-ass coffeemaker, they wouldn’t be woken up by her. Probably. She quieted down quickly just in case. “Not worth the breath.”
Nothing was said between them until Miu’s coffee finished. She took a long sip of it without adding cream just yet, burning her tongue and her throat and tasking much too bitter. She added a fuck-ton of creamer to it after that. Whoever kept getting the hazelnut creamer had the right idea. She willed the warmth of the drink to work in ways she logically knew it didn’t, willed it to travel to her back to ease the pain of her muscles. Fuck, she would love it if coffee worked like that. She rolled her shoulders back, wincing as they settled with that uncomfortable tightness that kept her up all night. Stupid changing weather. That always made the pain worse.
“You seem tense,” Kaede noted, transferring back to the table. She motioned for Miu to join her. The pain didn’t really change either way. She sat. “You’re sure it’s nothing you want to talk about?”
Yeah, right. Miu promised herself that she didn’t even want to think about the pain, let alone the cause of it, but it kept jabbing at her. “...My back fuckin’ hurts. That’s all.” She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage, leaning back a touch so the back of the chair jammed between her shoulder blades. Somehow, that helped a little. She never understood that part. She gulped down more of her coffee, ignoring the burn once again.
“Oh.” Kaede looked down at her mug, then up at Miu. “Well, do you want a back rub?”
Miu nearly choked on her coffee. “Do I what?”
“Well, sometimes if I sit and play piano for a long time, my shoulders get sore, and a shoulder rub always helps that, so I figure that if your back is sore, then a back rub will help!” Kaede looked hopeful for whatever reason, but Miu was definitely skeptical. Usually, like she said, she had coffee or a different warm drink and waited for it to pass. It always would, but with the weather…
“Fuck it. Fine.” She rolled her shoulders back again; still no difference. “But no funny business!”
Kaede stiffened, then remembered that it was Miu talking and rolled her eyes. Miu noticed that Kaede never took comments like that seriously anymore if they came from her. Maybe she’d have to step up her game. “Yeah, yeah.” She stood up and took Miu’s hand. “Come on, I can’t exactly get to your back here.”
All of a sudden, Miu felt a bit nervous. She had no reason to be, Kaede was the one who was lucky to get this chance. “Where? I’m not goin’ to your room or anything.”
Kaede laughed, just quiet enough to not wake anyone up. “No, the couch in the common room works just fine!” She tugged on Miu’s hand, pulling her up and out of the chair, abandoning their coffee. It’d probably be cold by the time they got back, then Miu would have to make a fourth (fifth?) cup. Kaede pointed to the couch. “There. Lay down on your stomach.”
Miu suppressed a good couple of comments—she would save those for when she felt more awake and alert so she could properly appreciate them—before doing as Kaede said. She tried not to feel too exposed in her sleep shirt and pants, folding her arms so her head was resting on them. “This better not make it worse,” she muttered into her arms, the sound probably muffled.
“It won’t, I promise!” The instant she put her hands on Miu’s shoulders, Miu tensed. “Relax! It won’t even hurt a little, I promise.”
Miu chose not to say anything, but forced herself to relax more. Okay...so she’d never been given a back rub before. She was sure it was going to feel weird, and she hated feeling weird. Feeling weird was almost worse than feeling sore, and anything having to do with her back always felt like one of those two things.
The instant Kaede started, Miu practically melted. It...actually felt pretty good. She made a small noise when Kaede pressed on one of many sore spots, but it didn’t make the soreness any worse, like Kaede had promised. “See? Feels good, right?” Kaede asked, bending over so she was talking softly next to Miu’s ear. The end of her braid tickled Miu’s neck. Miu didn’t trust herself to answer. She couldn’t remember the last time her back felt so good. She closed her eyes, trusting herself to not fall asleep, so she could savor it. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned having back pain before, is this a new thing?”
“No. Been a few years.” She shifted her position a little so her head was turned to the side. Her eyelids were already growing heavier. She’d have to return to her coffee soon. “Hurts more than it should, but I’ve learned how to deal.”
“Does it have to do with…?” Kaede trailed off, a bit uncertain, but Miu knew what she was talking about. She nodded. Kaede didn’t say anything for another moment, still at work. “There, is that alright?”
Miu made another small noise. “Can you help me sit up?” She always found her back to be more stiff after she’d been on her stomach. She pushed herself onto her side and up as Kaede helped by pulling her arm.
“So?” Kaede prompted, smiling wide like it wasn’t past midnight. “That was good, right?”
Now, Miu wouldn’t want to admit to that, would she? “It—yeah.” She must’ve been too tired to think straight. “I guess I owe ya one.”
Both of them were taken a bit off-guard by that; Miu hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but still Kaede kept smiling. “I might take you up on that sometime! But really, I like doing this and I think I’m pretty good at it, so you don’t have to hesitate if you want another!” She stretched her arms over her head, humming a little and closing her eyes momentarily. “Our coffee’s probably cold. We should go finish it.”
Only...Miu didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to spoil how good her back felt, because she knew that as soon as she moved, the soreness would return until she either forgot about it or it went away. She never could tell which was the reason she stopped noticing it. She slumped to the side a little, leaning on Kaede’s shoulder, then noticed she hadn’t said much in a while. “One more minute,” she said, glancing up at Kaede’s face. She was blushing, a but flustered that, what, Miu was being a bit clingy? It was late, she was tired, and she finally felt comfortable. She had to take advantage of the good feeling while it lasted.
Kaede nodded, putting her arm around Miu’s shoulders and laying her head on top of Miu’s adjusting so they were closer and more comfortable. Miu thought she’d only closed her eyes for a second, but when she woke up hours later, the coffee she and Kaede had left in the kitchen had grown cold and some of their classmates were smirking or hiding laughter at the sight of them. Normally she would be mad or at least embarrassed. Honestly, she was just relieved that the pain hadn’t returned.