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“Whew, that was a ride!”
Kohane smiled, turning to her partner.
“It truly was! I'm so glad that we got the audience that hyped up!”
She then glanced at Akito, who sighed, rummaging through his belongings.
“You two should worry a little more about our opponents, we were lucky tonight wasn't a competitive event”
“Exactly, it wasn't! You should enjoy yourself a little more, dude!”
An told him off as he annoyedly shook his empty bottle.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go refill my bottle outside”
“I'll come with you, Akito”
Kohane and An watched the two boys leave the dark backstage.
The space was crowded with people hurrying left and right to clean up the place and call it a day, music still playing from the speakers as the last guests left.
After the boy's sentence, Kohane would have expected him and Tōya to head anywhere but outside to refill their bottles. She turned to An with a puzzled look on her face.
“Where are they headed to?”
“Aaaah"
An smiled, always happy to teach something new about their world to her partner.
"You see, behind this livehouse there's a small fountain of potable water, they're headed there”
“Oh, I see! I'm also out of water, I think I'll check it out as well!”
“Great, then I'll walk you!”
“Thank you, An!”
Just as the two girls moved a couple of steps though, someone called out for An.
“Long time no see, An!”
“Is that..? So long indeed! I'm sorry Kohane I have to go say hi! Just head down the corridor, exit the grey door and turn right into the small opening! I'll wait for you guys here!”
A little anxious about being left alone on her journey but still willing to go on her own, Kohane nodded determined.
“Alright, see you later!”
“Down the corridor... Grey door...”
The girl exited the livehouse.
As soon as she walked past the door's threshold she felt a cold chill running over her exposed legs.
“Maybe it's time that I start wearing leggings...” She muttered as she looked up at the sky, staring at the barely visible stars timidly shining in the dark.
She snapped out of her state of awe after another cold gust of wind froze the tip of her nose.
She turned the building's corner as An had instructed her, and she saw no other than...
Akito turned to Kohane as he heard the sound of her metallic flask hitting the ground, letting go of Tōya's
shirt.
“K-Kohane, it's not-!”
But she was already running back to the livehouse, ignoring the guy's yelling.
“An!!!”
She threw herself on her partner, pulling her arm.
“K-Kohane!? What's wrong!?”
“Shinonome and Aoyagi are fighting again! Please stop them!!”
An immediately ran outside without even apologising to her interlocutors, Kohane following her.
“You two! Cut it out imm-!... ediately?”
She looked at the two guys silently standing there, then glanced at Kohane, puzzled.
“...You said that they were fighting?”
Kohane embarrassedly moved her stare from one boy to the other, then Tōya calmly approached her, crouching down and handing her her flask back.
“I'm sorry we scared you, Kohane. We've already settled everything on our own, there's nothing to worry about anymore”
Kohane looked at the bottle in her hands, then up at her interlocutor.
“Are you sure..?”
The boy softly smiled, reassuring her and inviting her to see where the fountain was as An let out an annoyed sigh, probably tired of both of their, but especially Akito's antics.
In response to her thoughts, Akito sneezed, holing himself deeper up in his jacket.
On their way home, An worriedly asked Kohane about what had happened.
They had already parted with the guys, so she figured it would have been a good timing to make her talk.
“Well, when I went outside and turned the corner, I saw Shinonome cornering Aoyagi, grabbing him from his shirt... It looked as if he was just about to punch him”
“...You did?”
“Hm”
“...What do you mean as in cornered?”
“Huh? Uhm... Like, Aoyagi was pushed against the wall? Shinonome was probably blocking his escape routes...”
An turned around, covering her mouth.
Kohane could have sworn that the girl had mumbled something, but when she asked her about it, she denied.
“As long as they're not fighting... I couldn't stand it happening again...”
An patted her back, smiling.
“Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine! Let's go, we're almost at our crossroads”
“Akito”
“Akitooooo”
“Aakiitoooooo”
“Aki-” “Leave me the fuck alone!”
“Get back here!!!”
Ken took a deep sigh, watching the two teenagers chasing each other inside the empty cafe, eventually ending up on two different sides of the counter.
“Kids, can you stop behaving like you're seven?”
“Your daughter started this!”
“I just want to talk! You're the one avoiding me so childishly!”
After a bit of convincing and some of Ken's aid, Akito gave up, joining An at a table to at least exchange a couple of words before the other members of their squad would have arrived.
“I'll be doing inventory in the back”
“Thank you dad”
Left alone, An intensely looked at the boy.
“...What”
“Are you and Tōya going out?”
“Huh!?”
Akito quickly pulled back into his seat, his fight or flight instincts awakening.
“Why the fuck are you asking me such a thing?”
“Akito, I've unluckily known you for so long that I think I can say that I know you”
“Kohane might have misread what happened in the alley as you being about to punch Tōya again, but by how she described the scene to me, it seems more like you had just or were about to kiss him”
Akito bit his lip, looking away.
“You can tell me, Akito”
“I don't know what you're talking about”
“Why are you like this...”
An leaned back in her chair, sighing.
“Fine, if you have to be this stubborn I'll tell you something that might ease things on you”
“...You see, I...”
“Like girls”
Akito looked up at her.
She didn't seem too upset or scared in telling him, just...
Embarrassed.
“...You do?”
“Yeah, I do”
“...I see”
Reassured by the new information, Akito's tensed up muscles began relaxing.
“...Fine”
“But I'm going to kill you if you tell someone”
“...I am dating Tōya”
An smiled, reaching out for his hand and gently placing hers over it.
“Thank you for telling me”
“...But you will have to tell Kohane as well”
Akito quickly retrieved his hand, his discomfort showing on his face.
“And why should I?”
“If she keeps worrying about you guys being on the brink of war, she won't perform at her full potential, will she?”
“...It makes sense, but...”
“I'm sure she'll be fine with it!”
“I can't know for sure”
“I trust her, believe in her a little more! She never let us down, has she?”
“...”
“Do it for our team! For RAD WEEKEND!”
“Then why haven't you told her that you like girls, if you trust her so much?”
An turned silent, a vacant smile plastered on her face.
“...Because I like her”
“I don't know if that's an acceptable answer for you, though”
Akito sighed, seriously nodding his head.
“No, I get it. Tōya, he... already knew that he wasn't straight, but he didn't tell me anything out of sure, fear, but also not to conditionate my feelings or... something”
“Yeah, yeah! It's exactly that... I mean, what if I tell her I like girls and she starts thinking ≪ What if I do as well? Maybe I should try with her since she does for sure?≫ ? It wouldn't be a... genuine feeling? Towards me”
“You could have worded it better but yeah, that”
“Yeah...”
The two sat in silence for a while, or at least that was until Akito broke it.
“Fine, I'll talk about it with Tōya after practice if Kohane acts weird”
An thankfully smiled, but before she could properly express her gratitude, they heard the door's bell ringing.
They both looked up at Kohane, who approached them with a smile.
“Hi An, Shinonome”
“Yo”
“Hi Kohane!! How was your day?”
“It was fine, thank you for asking. What about yours?”
“Uuugh long!!! You know, there are these two guys at my school who do nothing but cause trouble and I'm always the one who has to stop them... they're upperclassmen, too...”
“Such people really do exist then...”
After Tōya's arrival Vivid BAD SQUAD commenced their rehearsals.
Everything went smooth as usual, but ever since Akito and Tōya's performance done while dancing at a summer festival, the duo at first and then the whole group had decided to step up their game, including dancing routines in some of their shows.
“–––♪ ––♪ ––––♪ -Ack!”
Akito stumbled, Tōya promptly grabbing him by his shirt, stopping him from falling.
“Are you alright, Shinonome!?”
“I am so sorry, Akito, it was my fault”
“Stop it, both of you, I'm fine...”
He stood back up, straightening his shirt.
“Tōya, watch your leg when I have to step forward or I'll trip again, take another step to the right if needed”
“I will, I apologise, Akito”
“I said it's fine...”
Akito subconsciously glanced at Kohane, who was worriedly moving her eyes from one boy to another, probably praying for a fight not to break out again.
“–––♪ ––♪ ––––♪ -..!!!”
Akito found himself on his knees and hands, the rest of the group worriedly approaching him.
He refused everyone's help to stand up as he did so alone, turning to his partner.
He didn't even need to speak as Tōya guiltily lowered his head, mumbling “a step to the right...”
“–––♪ ––♪ ––––♪ –––♪”
Akito smiled while finally singing his next part, Tōya also letting out a sigh of relief... but as soon as they did, they heard a loud thud and saw Kohane's legs up in the air, her body off of the stage.
“Kohane!”
“Azusawa!”
The group helped her up as she held her face with a pained expression.
“Are you alright!?”
“I am! I'm sorry, I wasn't watching my steps...”
When she lowered her hands An's face turned pale.
“BLOOD!!!” “Could you!? Not scream in my fucking ear!?!? I'll go get some ice!”
Kohane gloomily held the ice over her nose, the tissue in her nostrils slowly turning red.
“Hold your head back, it'll slow down the blood”
“Are you stupid? Don't do that, that's shit advice”
“Are you feeling better, Azusawa?”
“I am... I apologise, everyone...”
An and Akito quieted down, worriedly looking at her.
“I just...”
She lowered the ice pack, looking at Akito and Tōya.
“I was worried you would've tripped again and get angry at Aoyagi, Shinonome...”
Akito looked away uncomfortable, biting his lip when feeling Tōya's hand over his under the table.
Despite not having told him anything about what he and An had talked about, Tōya had probably thought the same thing as the girl and was now inviting Akito to make his decision and speak up.
Akito glanced at him, then back at Kohane.
“Kohane”
The girl stiffened up.
“Are you still worried about... what you saw in the alley? Is that why you think me and Tōya are up in arms?”
She slowly nodded, ready to apologise for sticking her nose in their business, but Akito held up his hand, stopping her.
“...There's been a misunderstanding”
“You see, uhm...”
“We weren't fighting, I wasn't going to punch him”
“I don't want that to happen again either, because...”
“Well...”
“We're dating”
“And you wouldn't want to hit your partner, so...”
“You get what I mean, don't you?”
Kohane looked at both boys surprised.
“Really?”
“Yes, we have for quite some time now, too”
Akito nodded at Tōya's statement.
Kohane let out a sigh of relief, smiling.
“I'm so glad..! I'd hate it if you two were to fight again..!”
Akito looked at her baffled, soon distracted by a friendly buff coming from An and a pat on the shoulder from his partner.
He embarrassedly smirked, mumbling something about needing to give An more credit, which angered the girl.
“What do you think, Kohane?”
“Hm?”
An and Kohane were walking home, and Kohane didn't know what An was addressing.
“About what?”
“About Akito and Tōya”
“Oh”
She looked up at the orange sky, bringing the tips of her fingers to her lips unsure.
“Well... I'm happy for them?”
“Ahah yeah, same”
An awkwardly scratched her neck, then mimicked the other girl.
“But I meant as in like, what do you think about the whole gay thing?”
“Hm... I don't know, it's my first time actually talking about it with someone... but as long as two people are happy that's all that matters, isn't it?”
An happily smiled.
”Yup! Exactly that”
“...Say, Kohane,”
“have you ever liked a girl?”
The addressed girl blushed.
“I-I!... Don't know? It's more complex for girls to figure out, isn't it..?”
Surprised by the unexpected answer, An almost tripped on her steps.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean like...”
Kohane started to fidget embarrassed.
“For girls it's normal to be very close, to compliment each other, have physical contact and all... the line between friendship and love is so blurred out that if I liked girls I wouldn't even realize, would I?
Do I get palpitations when a girl hugs me just because it's embarrassing or is it because I like her? I wish someone could teach me how to differentiate such feelings...”
Kohane sounded... Awfully serious.
An swallowed the knot in her throath.
Noticing her partner having slowed down her pace, Kohane turned around, stopping when noticing An had as well.
“What's wrong, An?”
She looked up at her, then shook her head, smiling.
“Nothing! I was just thinking you're right, love is a complicated matter”
Kohane smiled.
“What about you, An?”
“Have you ever liked a girl?”
An felt her heart beat faster and her cheeks fluster.
She took a step forward.
“Kohane, the truth is...”