Work Text:
Ena drew the last few lines on her rough draft of the newest song’s cover.
She definitely wouldn’t say she was proud of the sketch so far…
But it’s started, at least.
Ena glanced at the time on her computer. She froze as she did.
Crap… It’s almost time for her night classes!
“Aaah! I completely forgot about my night classes! I have to leave in like, 20 minutes!” Ena shouted.
“Oh no, Ena! 20 minutes is no-where near enough time to get ready!” Mizuki shouted back.
They sounded sarcastic, but they were 100% serious. Mizuki could spend 15 hours just doing light make-up.
“I think 20 minutes is fine…” Kanade responded.
“Kanade, you don’t know the struggle of being Ena! She takes way too long just getting her eyeliner straight!” Mizuki let out a small, quiet giggle.
“Hey! Mizuki, watch your mouth!”
“Ooooh! Ena’s denying the obvious again!” Mizuki teased, unaware how fast the time was flying by.
“Could you two stop arguing? I’m trying to focus.” Mafuyu interrupted, stopping what could have been another random fight.
It reminded her of the “Seafood and Curry” argument Ena and Mizuki had a few months back.
“Ah, you’re right! I need to go!” Ena jumped up from her chair and dashed to get her uniform and make-up.
“Jeez, Ena… At least leave the call.” Mizuki complained.
“I can still hear you! I haven’t left my room yet!” Barked a angry Ena. Without a doubt, she was definitely rushing all of this.
After 15 minutes, Ena was for the most part ready.
Sure, her make-up looked awful, but she needed to leave for school more than she needed to complain about that. She just had to get her shoes, and then she’d be ready.
Ena hurried back to her room and left the Nightcord call without a goodbye. She was way too busy to talk more.
She didn’t need to say goodbye to Akito either. She’ll just text him or something on the way.
She slammed the front door open and darted out of the house like she was running for her life.
She ran for a while, but started sweating like crazy. It’s been way too hot for an October.
Eventually, Ena arrived at Kamiyama while the sunset glimpsed upon her.
She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of it.
It could make a good post, or a good art reference!
Ena shoved her phone back into her bag, she continued to walk towards the school so she wouldn’t be late for class.
The classes went faster than usual. Ena did her best to not fall asleep during any
of them.
Hours later, she walked out of Kamiyama. The sunset had turned into a night sky, blue and full of stars.
The moonlight reminded her of Kanade.
It shimmered upon her, gently glistening across the city.
Ena pulled out her phone again and snapped another picture, admiring the sky’s beauty.
Sadly, phones never got the same view of the night sky as an eye’s vision did.
The quality was never good, the moon looked like some blurry orb. It made Ena a bit angry.
But at the same time, she could see it as some kind of special moment.
Something you don’t see too often, and you can’t capture your love for it with only a photo.
Maybe a painting could be better? Who knows.
Ena had way too many ideas for paintings. Which idea was this one? Number 436?
Ena kept walking as she attempted to gather her thoughts.
Maybe she should stop by the local convenience store near Kamiyama. she could probably use a snack or a beauty product.
Ena knew the location by memory, so she began to walk near the convenience store.
Her thoughts trailed off once again. It was as if the sky was hypnotizing her.
She didn’t want to forget the sky that night. It was way too amazing to not be in a painting.
The nearly full moon, partially covered by the clouds. It drew Ena in.
She was still upset that she couldn’t capture it in a photo, but it’s not like there was anything she could do about it.
Ena looked back down, realizing the store was only a block away now.
She took her phone out of her bag again,
and texted Akito:
- i’m coming home late tonight, i’m going to the convenience store rn
Akito read Ena’s message as soon as it sent, he texted back:
- K. I’ll see you later then.
Hah, Akito’s a dry texter. Ena could tease him for ages about it.
But really, she didn’t care all that much. Even if she acted like she did.
She shoved her phone back into her bag and stared at the store, not taking her eyes off of it.
Ena later stepped into the convenience store.
A beep came from a speaker as the door opened.
The lights kind of burned her eyes, even though the city was much brighter.
She walked over to the snacks isle, recognizing the person there quickly.
Kanade.
She was buying some ramen.
However, her arms were full. She looked like she was trying her best not to drop them all.
“Oh, Ena?”
“Kanade! It’s nice to see you.” Ena greeted Kanade with a small wave.
Kanade waved back, 2 cups of ramen falling to the ground when she did.
“Err… Need some help with that?”
Ena watched as Kanade crouched and tried to pick the cups of ramen back up. More cups kept falling whenever she picked another up.
“I guess so… Thanks.” Kanade quietly replied, her voice sounding like a whisper.
Ena forgot all about her snacks without being aware of it.
In this case, Kanade was much more important!
Ena took half of the cups, (Which was a insane amount of cups for only being half of them all) while Kanade took the other half.
They walked up to the front counter together and set the gallery of ramen on it.
Ena pulled some money out of her pocket, she looked to her right and saw Kanade digging through her own pockets of her jacket.
“Kanade, don’t worry. I can pay for this.” Ena smiled at Kanade as she handed her money up to the cashier.
“Thanks…” Kanade mumbled in reply.
When the cashier finished scanning all of the cups, Ena and Kanade scooped them back up and walked out together.
“Ena, thanks again. You didn’t need to do that, though…” Kanade looked at the ground.
“Eh, it’s nothing! I don’t mind helping you out.” Ena reassured.
Kanade looked back up at Ena and faintly smiled at her. Ena did the same.
“Oh, are you walking me back home?” Kanade questioned, only realizing just then.
“Mhm! I wanna make sure you get home safely.”
Kanade looked back at the ground, her cheeks flushing a little.
“Thanks.” Kanade reiterated once again. Ena didn’t mind.
The two discussed their next song as they walked to Kanade’s house together, arriving quicker than they would have expected.
“Alright, so this is it?” Ena questioned, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah.” Kanade replied.
“I’ll help you get the noodles to your room, and then I’ll go.” Ena stood closely behind Kanade as she opened the door.
The house was messy, but Ena couldn’t blame Kanade at all for it. She was just happy to help her out.
They made their way over to Kanade’s room. Kanade pointed to the top of the microwave.
It was really dark in Kanade’s room.
Ena remembered Kanade mentioning a few times before that her eyes were sensitive to light, so she couldn’t judge.
“So, they all go right here?” Ena asked, setting down the cups of ramen right after Kanade did.
“Yeah. This is the place I usually set them in.” Kanade answered, walking over to her chair.
“Alright, I’ll leave then. See you later, Kanade!” Ena waved at Kanade again and walked over to the door.
Ena set the locks on the door before closing it, and shut it behind her.
She got her phone out again and glanced at the time.
Jeez, 23:00 already? That’s way too late.
She went over to Akito’s contact and texted him again.
- heading back home now, i was helping a friend out with something
Akito didn’t reply that time. Maybe he fell asleep or something.
Ena turned her phone off and once again set it in her bag.
She looked up at the moon again while she walked.
It looked the same as it did earlier. Just as magestic and ethereal as before.
She smiled at the moon, something she didn’t do too often.
Ena arrived back at her house, opening the unlocked door.
Looks like she was in such a rush that she couldn’t even remember to lock it.
The house was dark, everyone was probably asleep by now. The clock was close to 0:00.
Ena did her best to quietly walk back to her room.
She opened the door and flopped onto her bed, exhausted from all that walking.
The school halls were a lot to handle, but walking across the town was a lot more.
Ena hadn’t gotten a snack from the store. She didn’t realize how hungry she was when she helped out Kanade.
Kanade had kind of distracted her, but that was alright.
After all, it was nice to see her. Ena didn’t mind getting distracted if it was for Kanade.
Ena had to log back on to Nightcord in a hour, she got up from her bed and went to turn her computer back on.
She entered her login information and waited for a bit while the computer processed it all.
Nightcord was the only app open.
Ena had left the call, but she didn’t close out of Nightcord.
Kanade’s profile had the green “Online” dot on it. She was definitely working hard.
Ena thought about Kanade as she sat in her office chair.
Kanade was just like the moon.
It shined across the city, bringing joy and comfort to many prople.
It always had a blue tint, similar to Kanade’s jacket or her hair.
The moon was gentle and sweet. It came back every night, full or not.
It always shined across the city. No matter how much light shined from it, it never failed to keep shining.
Ena realized she was smiling.
Oh?