Chapter Text
“I wanna try something,” Amber said casually as she flopped onto the grass hill next to Yoimiya, like she always did every Thursday afternoon. In her hand was a carton of strawberry milk, the pink, red and white packaging matching her red attire. Slung on her other arm was a black sports bag, with a red bunny keychain plush to complete the look.
When Yoimiya turned to look at her friend, she saw a painting. The warmth of the imagery before her radiated like the comfort of home. Everything altogether, from the brown hair and red ribbon to the sunset of orange hues and the strawberry milk carton just fit together to create a painting. A piece of art.
A piece of art that looked ahead, and not at her.
“Mm?” Yoimiya hummed in response, returning to her phone, though the image still burned in her mind. She couldn’t concentrate on the posts she was scrolling past without a second thought.
“I wanna start a band.”
Those were the words that made her pause and look back up.
“A- a band? Isn’t that kinda hard?”
“Yeah, keyword being try,” scoffed Amber, now looking down and playing with the straw of her drink, spinning it with her fingers. “Like- you know I like dancing, and stuff like that, right?”
Yoimiya nodded, casting a brief glance at the sports bag to her left.
“I’ve been…” Amber scratched at her head, groaning as she buried her gaze further into the floor. “Argh, this is so embarrassing to say. But… I’ve been trying to sing a lot more, and- and I looked at making my own music… and y’know, Lisa says my voice sounds really good…” her voice trailed off.
“That’s really great!” Yoimiya responded in earnest, though unsure of how to respond to her feelings. Was she meant to tell her to try her best? To give her advice? She’d never been in a band before, why was Amber coming to tell her? “I’m sure your voice sounds as lovely as Lisa says it is—she’s not the type to sugarcoat words.“
Amber perked up a bit. “I- Thanks.” Why did she seem so down?
Yoimiya shook her head. “No, thanks for telling me, I’m kinda glad that you told me at all really, and… yeah. I wish you good luck in starting one!”
She inwardly hit herself for not knowing the right words to say. Goddamnit, now you just made things awkward.
“I…” Amber unburied her head from her arms briefly. “Do you want to join me?”
For the second time that day, Yoimiya froze, though this time she bore a comical look of incredulity on her face. The sun had basically fully set by now, and the air was getting a lot cooler, now that the afternoon warmth had disappeared. The streetlamps flickered on, and Yoimiya swore she could hear the electric buzz in the silence that followed Amber’s question.
“I mean, I can,” she finally said slowly. “But why? I don’t really…” she looked down at herself. “I don’t offer much, it’s not like I know how to dance or sing or even compose music or anything like that- like, I’m an art student, you know. But like, the visual kind. Definitely not the audio kind.”
Perhaps by misfortune, but it was at this moment that a gentle breeze swept over the pair, with it carrying a whirlwind of leaves that had settled into the girls’ hair.
Amber giggled a bit at the last comment, before getting on her knees to tower slightly over Yoimiya, leaning over to pick out the leaves from her hair. “No, silly. Is it so surprising that I value you as a friend and want you to join me because I want you there?”
Yoimiya blinked, a little distracted by the girl that was, perhaps unintentionally, leaning her chest into her face in order to get closer to brush the leaves out of the bush that was her hair, what with the many clips and decorations. Fearing that she was invading her friend’s privacy, she shut her eyes. “I- er- a little? I mean, like, I kinda assumed that I wouldn’t be much help but, uh, if you’d like me there, I’d be happy to help in whatever way I can? Oh! I can be like a manager right? That’s a thing that bands have that I can help with! I mean, granted I’m-”
Her eyes opened again as she felt warm (and admittedly sweaty) palms cup her face, meeting Amber’s own brown eyes, staring with utmost seriousness at her. “Yoi. Yoimiya. My best friend. I want you to form a band with me as a member.”
Yoimiya’s chest hurt. Her heartbeat was too fast, too loud in her ears, and Amber was too, too close. Breathe, Yoi. It’s just Amber. Praying that the heat she could feel on her cheeks weren’t visible in the dark, she nodded.
“Ah!” Amber jumped back, seemingly suddenly aware of the close proximity to Yoimiya. Just like that, the moment was over. “Sorry! I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to! If you wanna focus on your studies or your family business that’s totally fine too! I just- I just wanted to invite you first.”
Amber sat back down from her kneeling position, sipping at the previously-forgotten strawberry milk, staring down at it, her mood back down. That won’t do.
Now it was Yoimiya’s turn to get on her knees and turn to her friend. She was significantly taller, so she didn’t have to lean over as much (to her relief), but she still gently brushed off the leaves that were still caught on Amber’s hair.
“I’d love to,” she smiled, tilting her head to one side expectantly to get a better look at Amber’s expression.
“Really?!” came Amber’s explosive reply, jumping up to give Yoimiya a hug. “That’s amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I won’t get in the way of Naganohara Fireworks!”
Yoimiya gently patted Amber’s back. “Sure, sure.” She melted into the warmth of the hug, all the more significant in the cool night. If only it could be like this forever.
Finally, Amber pulled away, though Yoimiya could’ve sworn that the hand that rested on her shoulder was there for a touch longer than she imagined.
“Well!” she proclaimed, standing up with a proclamation (and maybe an attempt to distract herself from whatever that moment was), reaching over for the bag to her side. “It’s getting cold, and you can’t exactly sing if you have a sore throat, can you? Let’s head to a diner, maybe we can talk about this more in depth there.”
“Right! Right, yeah. I’ll just…” Amber scooped the sports bag onto her shoulder, and looking around for a bin, conveniently found one a few meters away. Glancing at Yoimiya to get her attention, she winked, putting on her best imitation of a teenage boy’s voice: “Hey babe, this one’s for you~”
With that, she aimed, and threw the strawberry milk carton in the direction of the bin, and Yoimiya watched as the cardboard box soared through the sky, remnants of the pink milk spilling out slightly, before landing right into the bin with a thunk.
“YES!” Amber whooped, jumping and spinning to meet Yoimiya’s gaze. “Tell me you saw that, right?”
Laughing as she walked towards the city lights, Yoimiya nodded, clapping her hands while she strolled onwards. “Your aim’s incredible.”
“Well,” Amber sniffed, the night air clearly getting to her now, as she sprinted to catch up “Three years of basketball does that to you.”