Chapter Text
It all started when her apartment’s doorbell rang on a rainy night just as Chika was about to tuck herself to bed.
She opened the door and there she stood, like a freak of nature; muddied hair and soiled clothes and drenched to the bone with mascara trailing down her cheeks. Eyes red and puffy and worms sticking to the side of her shoes. Hugging herself, shivering on the spot, teeth grinding against each other as she choked out
“Can I crash here tonight?”
Chika liked Hayasaka enough to give her the new bar of soap and handle her laundry, which is more than what she could say for some like Ishigami; whom she ordered that he pay for his own laundry and demanded a ‘partial rental fee’ for the one week he stayed there. That was, until he locked himself in her bathroom and threatened that he’d run the water long enough for her water bill to amount to three months of rent if she didn’t can it.
When all was said and done they sat in awkward silence in the living room, Chika on the barcalounger and Hayasaka on the couch.
It was Hayasaka who broke the silence
“I can sleep here, or on your carpet, if you’d prefer that. You can go sleep, I’m sorry to have disturbed you at this hour”
Chika looked at the wall clock, it was quarter to 11.
“I’m not sleepy” which was true. Maybe she was earlier, but now after shoving all her filthy clothes in the washing machine and washing her hands thrice and changing out of her now muddied night suit, she felt a bit more awake. “I’ll pull out a futon for you”
“Thank you. Really” she smiled weakly, before going back to what she was doing before- which was staring at her phone and brooding. She wasn’t even mindlessly scrolling, she just had one app open and she was waiting for something to happen in it. Kind of like waiting for a crush’s text. But the mixture of pensive and irritation on her face made it feel like she had just rage texted her ex and was waiting for his reply to rage on him some more.
Actually, it did make sense; that she’d run away after a big blowup with her partner and wound up here for comfort. Kaguya was overseas studying and all her other friends lived at least one train ride away.
And Chika mindlessly asked as much. And then regretted it so much that she could crawl up in a hole and bury herself. Luckily for her, Hayasaka laughed.
“No! But did it really look like it was?”
Chika nodded as she lay out the futon next to the coffee table.
“Wow…” she breathed out. “Lots of unexpected things are happening today”
Chika sat down near her again, very curious and concerned why she was so distraught.
“What ‘unexpected thing’ happened?”
That made Hayasaka finally switch off the phone and keep it away from her. Hayasaka ran a hand through her hair and brought her knees closer to herself, snuggling against herself.
“Had a squabble with Father” she muttered.
Chika remained quiet, allowing space for her to continue. That, and she had no idea how to follow that up. She hardly knew of Hayasaka’s father, or anyone related to her. The only information she had about them was that they worked under the Shinomiyas. The family Hayasaka had recently gotten free from.
“Was it because you left the Shinomiyas?”
Hayasaka shook her head. “No…it didn’t take much for him to make peace with that, he was very understanding about that”
“Then what was it?”
Hayasaka bit her lip, and looked beyond the wall, thinking about something.
“He isn’t too happy with my decision of travelling right after graduation”
“Why not?”
“He wants me to enroll in college or something. Do some more studying, get a diploma, etc etc”
“And…you don’t want that”
“Nope” she straightened out her legs and swung them. “I mean…how can I do any of that? I don’t know what to study!” she flailed her arms around wildly, and Chika had the feeling that something in her house was going to be the victim of Hayasaka’s pent up anger “I’ve been slogging at the Shinomiya household for so long I have had no time to discover who I am! What I want! What my dreams or ambitions are! I don’t want to go to college to study something I’m not even sure I want to study”
Chika scooted closer and tears ran down her face again. She rubbed her hands across her back in soothing circles, like her dad always did when she was distressed.
“You know…I may not know too much about your family and all but I did have a similar experience”
Hayasaka looked at her. Chika continued
“When I decided I wanted to stop pursuing piano, my dad came around in less than a day. My mom, however, wasn’t too happy about my decision. She kept scolding me, saying I was making the biggest mistake of my life. Then she tried bribing me with all sorts of expemsive stuff. She and my piano teacher had kinda ganged up on me and tried their best to break me into playing again. This got worse when the International Stage selections began and they had their hopes set on me to qualify and eventually win that”
“Sounds tough” she was the one who scooted closer to Chika now, “I’m sorry you had to go through that”
“Yeah, well” she chuckled, “anyways, enough about me. The point I’m trying to say is, that…if you really want this then you shouldn’t give it up. I had to talk a lot with my mom and she stopped calling my piano teacher eventually. I still don’t know if she accepts that I let go of something I was very gifted in, but I realized that I was happier after that. And that mattered more to me”
Hayasaka drummed her fingers against her knee in thought. The silence wasn’t so awkward anymore. Hayasaka yawned and stretched her arms above her head.
“Yeah…it’s just disappointing, you know. The only time he decides to get involved in my life is to tell me that I can’t do the thing I’ve been wanting to do for so long. Of course, he never knew that. To know that he’d actually have to call me more than twice a year” she grumbled, throwing her scrunchie to the other side of the room.
“You have your visa approved?”
“Yeah, just got in the mail a week ago”
“Tickets booked?”
“...Not yet”
Chika huffed. “Let me get my laptop and so that you can-”
Hayasaka giggled- a genuine one, not borne of remorse and guilt- and pulled her back to the couch, and flung her arms around her in a tight hug.
“Thank you” she whispered softly. It included everything, from the shower, to the nightsuit, to the futon, to the comfort. It took Chika three seconds to reciprocate it, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, inhaling her own shampoo, strawberry. Strawberries suited Hayasaka. Now that she looked down, even her pajamas suited Hayasaka, a dark blue with pink bordering her sleeves. And she was warm from the shower.
“You know” Hayasaka whispered “This scenario is perfect for a kiss”
Hayasaka was rolling in laughter and Chika shoved her against the couch handle with face glowing redder than a stoplight.
“Care for some coffee?” Chika asked the next morning, as Hayasaka got her clothes back from the drying machines
“Sure” she said while ironing her clothes on the stand. “I hope it isn’t that Kopi Luwak stuff Kaguya told me about”
She gasped loudly, “It’s very good!! And not easy to come by! My dad always hides his stash so that mom or Moeha don’t finish his part; that’s how you know it’s exquisite! It’s only after people find out about its origins that they develop a dislike towards it. It’s all psychological” she pointed her finger to her head.
“That would mean I have a very weak mental front because I’m not taking it” she smirked. Chika rolled her eyes
“I wasn’t even preparing that one. It’s a new brand Toyomi got. It’s even better than that”
Curious, Hayasaka went over to the kitchen and perched her head on Chika’s shoulders as she reached out to read all about this marvel.
“That’s very expensive,” she noted the price tag.
“And that’s why Ishigami never got any” she snickered, as she pulled out two glasses.
“Miss Secretary, I’ll be fine with regular as well, you don’t need to spend–”
“I’ve already poured some now, so you can’t help it” she pointed at the mugs, now half filled. She brought the milk from the microwave and continued “Anyways, Toyomi got a whole stock for me as a Christmas present last year. It was a gift from a guy who tried to court her by bringing three huge boxes of the finest coffee of his family’s company; but the thing that is she absolutely detests coffee because it gives her major insomnia and she” she said in air quotes “‘needs her beauty sleep’”
“So…I’m guessing that guy never got greenlit?”
“He did for a while, because dad liked him and Toyomi found him funny enough. But they never really clicked in the end” Chika passed Hayasaka her mug “This one is decidedly better than most coffees I ever had. It’s rich, decadent, luxuriously bitter”
Hayasaka sniffed the wisps of heat coming from the cup, scrunched her nose and asked “How bitter are we talking?”
“Darker than dark chocolate” she smiled widely, taking a sip and revelling in the taste with a contended hum.
That was, until she caught Hayasaka opening the jar of sugar.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, snatching the jar away from her “I can’t believe you’re about to tarnish the exquisite flavour of this coffee with sugar. And that too the cheap one!”
“I’m sorry, I hate bitter things” Hayasaka joined her hands over the mug in apology. “And I didn’t want to waste this really great coffee you were praising so much. So please let me put at least half a teaspoon!”
“Half won’t mask the flavour!”
“Then one?”
“Wha- no, that’s just making it worse. This coffee is meant to be drunk in its purity”
Hayasaka stared at the mug like it was poison, and made her way to her doom by taking a huge gulp right off the bat. In reponse to the taste, she made the sourest face imaginable; horribly hidden by a wobbly smile and a thumbs up that only remained up for a split second.
(They compromised on one teaspoon, and Hayasaka took little sips as a smile danced on her lips. Chika tried not to focus on that smile too much)
Hayasaka left her scrunchie in her living room and pants on the ironing stand and Chika kept both of them safe in her closet.
Hayasaka was on her doorstep one and a half month later.
Unlike last time, she called her beforehand and checked if the time was right. Chika had to go through her planner; now that her semester exams had ended she had a lot more free time on her hands. She was free, so she gave her an obnoxious sticker of a bear dancing around saying ‘Yes’ as answer.
When she opened the door she quickly realized she hadn’t come to take her pants back.
She had a huge box on her hands and a couple of smaller boxes in a stroller behind her. She apologetically smiled and asked for a small favour again.
“I just need to have these three last things from the outlet mall. Till then can you please store my stuff for me? I’ll surely pick them back when I’ll head home”
Chika’s jaw finally closed and she nodded as she opened the door fully open to let her in.
“How will you be taking all of this home? Have you arranged for, I don't know, a moving truck?”
Hayasaka grunted, trying to push the largest one into a neat corner of the room
“No, I was hoping I’d just buy another stroller, or book a large cab. But it’s nothing you should concern yourself with” she grabbed both of her hands in hers and leaned real close “I’m really grateful for your help. I can see why Kaguya befriended you so early”
Fujiwara was too red in the face and too stunned to speak anything in return, so she settled for a dumb and a incomprehensible squeak.
Somehow both ended up on her couch, again, scarfing down cheap takeout with fruit flavored soda that colored their tongues. Surprisingly, Hayasaka didn’t appreciate it when Chika pulled her cheeks and pried open her mouth to force her to show her blued tongue after revealing her wonderfully purple tongue. Hayasaka twisted her arm around her back and climbed on top of her, pinning her down and toppling the empty soda can off the coffee table.
She yelped in pain as Hayasaka kept pushing down on her, ruffling her hair and in between giggles demanding her to apologize.
“I give up! I’m sorry! I won’t try to have fun with you again!”
Hayasaka seemed content with that answer. She leaned back to her side of the couch and switched through the cable for 5 whole seconds before giving up.
“This is why everyone has switched to streaming services. It’s all so boring” she groaned. She turned to face Chika, who was combing her hair again “Why don’t you save a few bucks and cut off cable altogether?”
“I still need to watch the news, being the future Prime Minister and all” she giggled.
“I’m sure if you get a Smart TV you’ll have all these apps downloaded in it. So you can watch good shows on Netflix and download a news site too. I have one, and trust me it’s very convenient. Plus your family’s loaded, you shouldn’t have too much trouble asking for a mere TV”
“I guess…” she trailed off. “By the way, how do you have all of this? Like- this Smart TV, this Apple watch” she pointed to her wrist “These very expensive bluetooth speakers, and the money to go to America without any stress”
“Oh…” Now it was Hayasaka who trailed off, albeit in a more somber tone which made Chika worry. Hayasaka licked her lips and heaved a heavy sigh, sporting a faraway look; one that made her seem way more aged than she was. Like she was thinkging of grievous memory long repressed.
“I…don’t know how to say this, because…” she sniffed and looked away, making her friend even more concerned.”Here goes…
I used to sell drugs on the side”
Hayasaka looked over her shoulder with a catty grin and now it was her turn to get absolutely mauled by the biggest pillow Chika could get her hands on until seams tore apart and feathers covered their surroundings and stuck to their bodies.
“I’m sorry to have expected anything from you” Chika spat, crossing her arms and walking away to sit on the couch on the other side of the room, dusting off the feathers.
Hayasaka’s laughs seemed to have died down “I’m sorry, it must be the soda…but ok, here goes the actual, seriously, 100% foolproof answer– I’ve been working for a little more than 10 years as the personal attendant of the only daughter of the biggest business conglomerate of this country. I have enough cash in my bank to live my entire life without moving my butt away from bed if I want to”
“Wow…” she whispered in awe “Do you think you can manage to afford this sedentary lifestyle for two?”
Hayasaka tapped her chin and thought “I’ll have to see"
Chika’s laughter died down and she yawned. Hayasaka checked the watch.
“Oh shoot, it’s late. I’ll just book a cab and be out of your hair soon enough. May I use your washroom before that?”
Chika waved off as she stood to throw the empty cartons and cans into the trash “Yeah, yeah, go nuts”
Hayasaka left the room for one second and Chika already felt lonely.
Which was an absolutely bizarre feeling. Chika’s been living there for about a year all alone. And she was alright . She would have appreciated a dog for company but she couldn’t bear cheating on Pesu by showering her love onto another dog. So it was her choice to stay in a single apartment without a roommate and she was alright . So it should be alright if Hayasaka doesn’t sleep over that night. Chika slept alone all the time.
But now it’s been two minutes and Hayasaka finally emerged from the bathroom and Chika saw her gathering her bearings and tapping away on her phone for a cab; and the feeling that she was going to leave hits her, leading to a very abrupt and loud request—
“Wanna stay the night again?”
Hayasaka was so exhausted that the moment she hit the futon pillow and snoozed like a baby. She hadn’t even bothered brushing, much less taking the eyeliner off her eyes.
Chika learnt that night that Hayasaka was a snorer. A soft one, nothing compared to her dad, but she did make all these little snorting and squeaking sounds and it was adorable. Like a little kitten purring. Chika stayed there for a good five minutes, committing everything about her sleep into her memory; before the realization hit that what she was doing was almost creepy. She hastily went to her own room and buried her face in a pillow in attempts of sleeping before she did could even think of anything more stupid.
They were back at the counter the next morning. Just as Fujiwara took out the milk from her fridge she saw Hayasaka making the second most pathetic pair of puppy eyes she ever saw, and she gave a long suffering sigh and opened the cabinet for that coffee and a jar of sugar.
“I should really leave now” Hayasaka said, just as they were done with the dishes. Chika insisted she didn’t really have to, but Hayasaka insisted that she did as a proper guest.
“Yeah, I have a lecture at the Uni in two hours”
Hayasaka loaded her stroller and browsed the cab options, only to frown at her phone.
“What happened?”
“I over shopped…I don’t think I can possibly bring all of these in a single trip. Would you mind if I take another round?”
“I have a lecture and then have to study at the library, so I’ll lock my place…” Chika didn’t have a spare key on her. The copies she made went to Kaguya, Kozue, her dad, and the one she had in her locker.
“I’m sorry” Hayasaka apologized. Chika gave a dismissive wave
“Don’t be sorry” then, her face lit up “Here’s an idea; buy me dinner tonight and take your crap afterwards. None of that cheap takeout. Order actual, high end food for me and consider your debts paid!”
After dinner was said and done, they didn’t sleep until 3 in the morning. They didn’t play games, they didn’t watch the TV, they didn’t do anything really, except talk.
Sometimes Chika asked her to recite fun stories of when Hayasaka lived her double life as maid and student. Sometimes Hayasaka asked her about her time in University, leading to Chika telling long winded tales about people in her class. Sometimes they recalled how much of a royal pain in the ass their mutual best friend Kaguya Shinomiya used to be. But also how sometimes they never felt luckier to be by her side. There was also a brief roasting session on Miyuki. At one point Chika admitted that she was seriously thinking about administering Iino the shovel talk after she and Ishigami made their relationship public for his sake, but retracted that decision the moment he accused her of cheating at a video game in front of the TGC alumni voice chat she had generously invited him to.
“I feel like the men of Student Council were always overhyped” she grumbled “I never found a single redeeming quality in any of them. They’re worse than industrial waste”
Hayasaka chuckled “Ok, question; if you had to date anyone from the Student Council, who would you date?”
Chika didn’t have to think twice before answering “Kaguya”
Hayasaka blinked “Why?”
“She is my best friend. I’ve loved her for the longest time. She changed my life. And she’s really beautiful. Do I need more reason?” the answer came out simple and clear.
Hayasaka shook her head “No. I can see why you’d like to date her. I can never imagine myself dating her, though”
“Because?”
“Because we basically grew up as sisters. I could never ever look at her that way. It’d just be very weird for me”
With an excited grin, she continued “How about Ishigami?”
“He either unironically thinks his bangs look cool or has some other convoluted reason that it’s been 3 years and he still hasn’t bothered cutting them. So big pass”
“I tried talking him out of that, but he just doesn’t listen . He gave me some bullshit about how it gives him character and how it’s his defining feature” she stuck her tongue out in disgust “ Bleh . Moving on, Miyuki?”
“He gave my ears lifelong trauma so I’ll pass” a shiver visibly ran down her spine “Sometimes I remember his singing and wonder what Kaguya ever saw in him. I suppose she hasn’t been to karaoke with him yet”
Fujiwara grimaced “Tell me about it. I trained him to sing the school anthem once. When he started, he was so tone deaf I thought I was going to die before he ended his song. Okay, Iino”
“She almost terrifies me. Something about her rubs me the wrong way”
“No! She’s like…a cute little puppy. Like Pesu when he was young” then a memory strikes her “Except when it comes to romance, I think. Then she becomes a bit shameless. But I liked playing with her regardless. She is fun”
“You shouldn’t talk about her like a toy, Fujiwara”
Chika shrugged, and asked “Okay, then how about me-”
Hayasaka gasped. Chika froze. She dug herself deeper into the futon, until her head was beneath the blanket. Hayasaka stuttered,
“Um…Ah! I- well you see- the thing about that is-”
Chika shook her hands in front of her, rolling to face her and continued hastily in one breath “No! You don’t have to answer that! In fact, let’s just forget that I even asked that in the first place. In fact, it’s very very late and we should definitely sleep or else our sleep schedules will be messed up”
“Good night Fujiwara” she whispered, burying herself in the blanket.
(Chika almost believed it was a figment of her imagination that she heard “I wouldn’t mind” right as she drifted off)
Hands on top of their coffee mugs, they sat in comfortable silence on her balcony, hearing the cars honk and birds chirp near afternoon. Kaguya texted Hayasaka some photos of this rare bird she found near Stanford campus earlier, and they both got to enjoy it in awe. That is, before Chika droned on for about 15 minutes how unfair it was that Hayasaka got pictures and she didn’t.
“I thought I was her best friend!!” she wailed, shaking Hayasaka like a ketchup bottle.
“Why are you troubling me, then? Give her an earful for all I care!” she groaned, peeling her off herself.
“Fine” Chika crossed her arms across her torso, huffing like a toddler “I’ve got other friends too!!”
Hayasaka shrugged nonchalantly, and as if on cue, Chika’s phone buzzed.She picked it up excitedly, muttering something on the lines of “Finally Kaguya”, before taking a look at her notification. With a tired sigh, she threw the phone on the table. Hayasaka raised an eyebrow
“Who was it?”
Chika took another sip “Giggako’s instalive notification. She’s doing a special unboxing of the board game we made in high school for this month’s special live video. She tagged me in her story. Man” she pinched her temple “my notifications are going to be such a pain today”
“I thought you’d like being tagged by a popular gamer” she smiled, opening Giggako’s Twitch for herself.
“Last time she tagged me I had to delete my instagram because the notifications were overheating my phone and slowing it down!” Fujiwara clicked her tongue in annoyance, but her eyes looked fondly at her previous senior, smiling at the camera with a familiar, very badly decorated box in her hands.
“So many sponsors…and so many donations. And that’s not including her youtube revenue" Hayasaka gasped "She’s the real fucking deal. And somehow I hadn’t heard her name much in high school. Wow”
Chika shrugged “TGC was only popular for making mischief. And for guys she was more like friend material because of her gaming, despite being super pretty. And she started streaming seriously only after High School” Chika popped a chip into her mouth “You know what, Hayasaka? You should try it”
“Huh?”
“Streaming. Like” she crossed her legs and faced her “You’re going to travel, right? You can open a blog and show people what you’re doing on these trips. And you’ll get a bunch of money”
“I told you how much I have in my bank account”
“Never hurts to have more. There is a different kind of satisfaction in earning your own money. Plus, if you hit it big then I’ll get at least 10% of the huge profits you’ll make as your inspiration” she giggled mischievously. Hayasaka smacked her face with one of the small pillows
“And you wonder why Kaguya doesn’t share things with your selfish ass”
Hayasaka stayed that night. Again.
And the night after that.
And that night after that.
And the entirety of the next week except for that one day when she went home to bring her old controller for the playstation and it started storming and a curfew was held for the night.
In Chika’s defense, Hayasaka was fun to be around with. They never really talked as much before, considering everything, but now Chika truly thought she’s one of the best people in the world. Hayasaka was always brimming with energy, always ready to drag her around for some adventure. One time they pranked Shirogane by posing as the officials from The American Idol and had him sing in the middle of his living room with Kaguya beside him. As they cut the call they could hear her wince.
And Hayasaka was beautiful . Chika saw her own blue eyes every day, both her sisters and her mother had blue eyes, and she spent a great deal with Shirogane who also had blue eyes; and yet Hayasaka bore the prettiest pair of blue eyes she’s ever seen. Like sapphires. Rich, immaculately cut and polished sapphires. And when they went to the bath together she took long glances at her figure and god did she have a smoking hot one . Lean muscle on her arms and legs, skin that seems to go on for days, not to mention that butterfly tattoo on her hip that drove her completely insane and immediately turn the shower settings from hot to cold.
One night they were lying down on Chika’s single bed. Hayasaka had already dozed off and Chika said she would sleep after doing some reading for an assignment. She lost track of time and probably would have not slept the entire night if it wouldn’t have been for Hayasaka tugging on her shirt at 3 am and sleepily mumbling “Get some sleep Secretary” . Chika waved her off, insisting it’d just take 5 more minutes, which eventually turned into an hour and before she knew it she was forced under the covers.
Hayasaka threw a leg over her waist and her arms around her shoulders and locked her in place, burying her face in her neck as she went “You’re not going anywhere before sleeping”. And Chika was essentially immobilized. And very captured in her hold, in her scent, in her warmth.
And the realization hit her for the first time in her life.
She might like Hayasaka.
A realization which, in retrospect, was practically inevitable.
She couldn’t sleep a wink that night.