Work Text:
“What’re you doing up this late?”
The sound of Masuki’s voice startles Rei as she sits on the floor, surrounded by a pile of loose papers, binders, and sticky notes. The vocalist’s hands are loosely gripped around a pen as she leans against the wooden table in the middle of her bedroom.
“Oh, um… nothing important,” Rei responds, her voice coming out in a low whisper. Of course, she’s lying. What lies in front of her is everything to her, seemingly. A scatter-brained attempt to organize her life; an all too familiar song and dance that’s been plaguing her mind for years. The little imperfections in her plans are brighter than the stars dotting the night sky, jabbing into her until she takes the time to polish them. Band activities, homework, her social life, entrance exams… It was all just a never-ending balancing act. But of course, there’s no way she could ever explain any of these feelings to Masuki, so instead, she says this: “Did I wake you up?”
Masuki shrugs, turning onto her side. The drummer was staying the night in Rei’s cramped little apartment, an event that wasn’t much of an oddity these days. She blinks. “You’ve got something on your mind, don’t ya?”
Rei raises her eyebrows. “What tells you that?”
“Well, that, for one.” Masuki chuckles. “But it’s… you know. I can see it in your eyes.”
Rei stares at the drummer, twirling her pen between her fingers. She glances back down at the table: a messy trail of sticky note to-do lists and half-finished homework assignments. Her phone, a beacon of light in the middle of the dim bedroom, contains the draft of an impulse text to the RAS group chat. A bolt of lightning strikes the surface of her already clouded brain.
“Come to bed,” Masuki murmurs, and she frees one of her hands from under the blanket to pat the mattress. “I don’t know what’s got you all worried now, but it’ll be here for you tomorrow.”
Rei looks up at her girlfriend, then back down at the table. The lighting strikes again.
“Come on, dude. Practice is gonna be hell tomorrow if you stay up too late studyin’.” The blonde mumbles.
Rei sighs. She tucks her homework into her binder (you’re going to fail because you didn’t put it back properly) and places her phone on the charger (your bandmates are going to hate you if you don’t make plans with them), before climbing into the bed next to Masuki.
“That’s more like it,” Masuki says, a soft, sleepy smile painted across her face. She pulls the brunette towards her, planting a kiss on her forehead. Rei pulls the blanket over herself.
“I’m sorry,” Rei whispers, burying her face in Masuki’s chest.
“For what?” Masuki questions, raising an eyebrow.
“I… I don’t know.” Rei responds quietly. “Sometimes you just have to apologize, you know?”
The drummer still looks confused, but she doesn’t push further. “Sure. Just... try not to worry too much, okay?”
“Yeah, I will,” Rei utters, and in the moment, it almost feels true.