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They were at it again.
Kohane would almost think An and Shinonome were siblings, with how often they bickered.
She remembered the time she’d run into Shinonome at the mall with his sister and knowing how he behaved around his sister, that comparison probably wasn’t all that far off.
“The music on their newest album is a lot more experimental! They did an incredible job and it sounds lively!” An protested, holding up the cd case.
Shinonome waved his hands as he refuted, “Yeah, but it was just experimental. They were experimenting, so it isn’t nearly as polished as their older stuff, when they knew what they were doing. It’s sloppy.”
They were arguing in a corner of the music store, turning a few heads, though the woman at the cash register simply smiled at them, clearly used to spats like this in the store.
Aoyagi was in the store as well, but somewhere on the other side of it, looking for a specific album.
“Ughh,” An groaned, pulling her head back in frustration, “Stop being so afraid of changes, Akito. It sounds good, you just don’t want to admit it because it’s different.”
Shinonome crossed his arms and furrowed his brows as he scoffed, “Why the hell would I do that? You know I only ever speak my mind. They sound clunky. Maybe they won’t if they keep going with this genre of music, but it’s their first time, so of course it sounds off.”
“Your taste in music is off,” An stuck her tongue out at him.
“Yeah, you really got me there,” Shinonome rolled his eyes sarcastically.
Kohane couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up in her chest and escaped under her breath, drawing both of their attention to her.
“What’s so funny?” Shinonome asked with an eyebrow raised, that rough, steeled look on his face that he always managed to pull off so well.
Kohane jumped slightly - she hadn’t expected Shinonome to even hear her quiet laugh.
She shook her head quickly as she explained, “No, I just think this is so… you. Both of you, I mean.”
Shinonome’s face contorted in confusion, opening his mouth like he wanted to ask, but unwilling to.
An grinned as she turned to Kohane with a serious face as she handed a pair of headphones that were hooked up to the music players to Kohane.
“Kohane, you listen to some of the music and tell me what you think,” she said as she began scrolling through the music players for the album.
Kohane looked down at the headphones, and just as she was about to slide them over her ears, Shinonome scoffed.
“That’s not fair, you can’t recruit someone to your side just to gang up on me,” he pointed out.
“I’m not!” An insisted, “She can make her own opinion after she listens to it.”
She nodded towards An to put the headphones on as she hit play on the music player.
Kohane closed her eyes and listened carefully as the music began.
Kohane hadn’t heard much of the artist’s usual music, only their most popular songs that An had showed her, but the music that played through the headphones was definitely different.
It was electronic and fast-paced in contrast to their pop-punk sound of their hit songs, making her heart race, electricity coursing through her.
There were parts that she could definitely tell were a tad bit messier than others, but the overall sound of the three songs that An played for her sounded incredible despite that.
If the artist were to continue with a genre like that, Kohane could easily see herself listening on a regular basis.
When she opened her eyes, both An and Shinonome were staring at her, eagerly awaiting her verdict.
At some point, Aoyagi had joined them as well, and though he wasn’t watching her as intently as the other two, he looked at her from behind them.
Her cheeks instantly flushed with all the sudden eyes on her, but as she took the headphones off, she thought carefully how to express her feelings.
“Um… it sounded electrifying. It's clear that it’s a new sound for the band, but it’s a good first step if they want to go in this direction. It made my heart race… I think I might be a fan,” she grinned sweetly, still clutching the headphones to her chest.
An pumped her fist, clearly the decided winner of the argument as Shinonome groaned, hand on his hips.
“See, what’d I tell you? That’s not fair,” he huffed. “She’s your partner, of course she’s going to have the same taste as you.”
“I’m telling you, it’s perfectly fair!” An pouted, “Kohane came up with her own opinion that just happened to clash with yours. Stop being such a sore loser.”
“I’m not-!” Shinonome began, but Aoyagi clapped a hand on his shoulder, signaling for him to leave it.
Shinonome scoffed again, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pocket and pouting.
It was a fairly uncommon expression for him, and Kohane thought the way he hunched his shoulder and jut his lip out was kind of cute.
Even Shinonome could be a little childish.
A small snort, and Shinonome was glaring at her again.
Though his glower was a tad intimidating, it seemed to have lost most of the bite that it used to have, and it only made Kohane chuckle more.
As the four of them left the music store together, An grinned at Kohane.
“Kohane, let’s go to their next concert together!”
“That sounds fun!” Kohane agreed with a smile.
“Toya, you’ll come too, right?” An asked with a nudge to his arm.
Aoyagi smiled softly as he nodded. “Of course. I’d like to hear them live for myself.”
“Great! Aww, I’m so excited!” An hummed eagerly.
“What about you, Shinonome-kun?” Kohane turned to him, a slight tilt of her head.
An waved her hand dismissively and shrugged. “Don’t bother with him, he’ll just stand there and critique them while we’re trying to have fun.”
Shinonome shot An one of his glares before turning back to Kohane with an unreadable expression.
When he finally answered, he glanced away, avoiding her gaze.
“I probably won’t have fun, anyway,” he shrugged.
“Awww, are you sure?” Kohane frowned. “It would be nice if we could all go together…”
Shinonome’s eyes glanced back to hers with something resembling regret and after a brief pause, he heaved a sigh and a groan as he placed his hands on his hips.
“Aaargh, fine! I’ll go, but it’s only to compare how they sound in front of a live audience to their album release.”
Kohane lit up, beaming at him while An shook her head incredulously.
An put a hand on her own hip as she said, “No one’s twisting your arm, dude.”
Shinonome jabbed a finger in Kohane’s direction as he protested, “Like you’d say no to that cute face! I don’t wanna hear it from you! Whatever, I don’t have anything going on anyway, and if Toya’s going, I… might as…”
Shinonome trailed off as he noticed the wide-eyed stares aimed at him.
Kohane’s face felt particularly hot, and she was sure she was blushing more than she ever had, even though all eyes were on Shinonome instead of her.
Was I just… complimented? That was a compliment, right? were the only things running through her head.
Even though she felt like she could melt down into the cracks of the mall’s tile floor, she strangely felt incredibly happy.
“Hey, uh… Akito?” An began cautiously, but Shinonome seemed to have realized what he’d said, and he quickly turned around so his face was out of view.
Shinonome cleared his throat harshly, but his voice was trembling when he spoke, “I-I’ve got a lot of practicing to do, so I’m leaving. Bye.”
It was a hasty retreat, but Kohane supposed she probably would have done the same.
“I’ll… go with him,” Aoyagi slowly decided. He tossed a wave back to the girls as he said, “See you guys later.”
Once the boys had left, Kohane was left with An, standing in the middle of the mall’s first floor, people walking around them, still in shock.
“Well,” An scratched the back of her neck, “This concert’s gonna be awkward as hell.”