Work Text:
"Nijika."
"Yip?"
"Stop making out with your friends in such familial places," Seika barks. Nijika straightens like a board. "I can't keep walking in on you. It's not good for me."
"Th-That was one time!"
Ryo chuckles darkly in the corner as Hitori rots away a feckless husk. As Nijika wails and apologizes incoherently to her big sis, Kita meanders down the stairs into the venue. The singer stirs a moment, before making her way next to Ryo.
"What's going on?" she asks.
"Oh. Nothing." Ryo becomes an anchovy.
Nijika's brings her cymbal down hard on its stand. The sound clangs through the studio, making Hitori jump and yowl like a cat. Ryo and Kita's attention art to her. She huffs, clenching her eyes shut, blonde ponytail whipping about. "That big sister of mine! How can she come out and say such things!"
"I didn't know she walked in on us," Kita sighs. "Did she come in while I wasn't looking?"
"According to the last fic, she didn't," Ryo says. Kita sighs even deeper.
"D-Does this mean our relationship is over?" Hitori shivers. "I-If the manager doesn't like it then she'll put a stop to it, oh god, I knew this would happen, I knew it would--"
"She can't do shit, Bocchi," Nijika states matter-of-factly. She tests the set by kicking the bass drum, snapping Hitori out of it. "Nothing gets in the way of Polykessoku!"
"Polykessoku!" Kita parrots.
"Polykessoku...?" Ryo mumbles.
"Polykessoku..." Hitori fizzles.
"Okay-- Enough of this!" Nijika says. "We need to practice, gang!"
"We're not a gang."
"Ryo, you got a new song for us, or will it be the usual?"
"I've been jamming out to some new stuff, yeah."
"At the record store, or is it your own music?"
Ryo laughs. "I got something for you." She produces her phone and flips to an audio track. "Here."
Nerves and sinew fade as harmonious tones sink through the haze. Kessoku Band pants with instruments at hand. The last careening buzz of the stereo ducks in and out, and Hitori rounds a last strum of her guitar out with a loop, ending one lap of practice.
"Pretty damn good, princess," says Ryo, shooting a glance at Kita. Kita lights up, standing still at first, flushing a light Bocchi-pink.
"P-Princess?"
"Princess?" Hitori ebbs.
"Hey-y-y," Nijika glowers at the bassist, "I thought I was your princess."
"You can all be my princesses. That's how this Polykessoku thing works."
"I was joking."
"I'm Ryo's princess..."
"Ah, I'm honored," blips Hitori to Ryo, lending her guitar to resting position in her arms. Her eyes are wide and tactful.
"Anything for my mochi," Ryo says.
"That's Kita's nickname for her."
"Touchy-touchy."
"Beh. Sorry, Ryo," Nijika sighs. "I've been putting you on blast, haven't I?"
"It's cool." Her cadence is flat, but she means it.
"Gah. Seika really put a damper on my mood!"
"Should we take a break?" Kita wonders out loud. "I could sort of sense from your playing that you're angry, babe."
"We can take a break if you're angry, Nijika," Hitori says quietly. Kita nods in affirmation.
"Ah, fine. It's not like we have any concerts scheduled."
"I just don't know whether I come through to her or not! Sometimes it's like we're on different planets. You ever feel that way, Bocchi-san?"
"Ah, uhm, yeah."
"Just the way she says things like that. Walking in on us -- And right in the middle of the room!"
Hitori kneels with Nijika by her drum set. Kita is with Ryo, braiding her hair. Nijika's head pans down whilst Bocchi reaches forward for her hands.
"I-I mean," Hitori hesitates, gulping, "sometimes when Futari, my sister, is getting on my nerves, what I do is put a hand on her arm and say, uh, quietly, 'Futari, could you please tone it down?' Or something like that. Yeah."
"I just feel like that wouldn't work."
"Have you tried it?"
"No."
"Sometimes my sister doesn't hear me when I just, like, talk. Like how nobody hears me in class. So when I establish that tactile connection, it helps get her attention better, right?"
"I... I guess."
"Who knew Bocchi was so good at giving sisterly advice," Ryo observes.
"Mm. It's heartwarming," Kita says, resting her head on the bassist's shoulder.
"I guess I just keep coming back to what you said," Nijika says. "Earlier, about Seika disapproving of our relationship. What if you're right, Hitori-chan? W-What if that sudden comment about us was--"
"Hey, h-hey," Bocchi eases in, "I-I didn't mean it. I was just... stressing. I don't want you to think that."
"Whatever. It's not like she could stop us anyway."
For a moment, Hitori is silent. Then a little smile sprouts on her face. "She didn't seem very hostile towards any of us."
"Yeah. And if she disapproves, I'll just hit her with my bass," Ryo says, motioning with her arms, balancing Kita's head on her shoulder. The band laughs.
"I don't think she has a problem with us," Kita smiles. "Aren't PA-san and her girlfriends? She seems open-minded."
"They are," Nijika says. "I guess I was more talking about..."
"Hey... Polycules are rock?" Hitori says.
"Yeah. We are."
"Totally rock."
"It cements our ties as a band!" Kita pumps her fist, "that's what Seika was looking for!"
Nijika laughs, "Right!"
They all laughs synchronously. What follows is a moment of silence. Doting glares are exchanged among them. Hitori looks down at her legs and fidgets with her fingers before being pulled in by Nijika and brushing foreheads. Kita and Ryo scoot in and join in the hug.
"... Hey," utters Ryo from the warm, quiet place. "I know something else that'll help us establish ties as a band."
"Mm?"
"A four-way kiss."
"How do you come out and just say stuff like that?" It's Hitori saying that; Nijika and Kita just look at the bassist.
"It's not as stupid as it sounds," Ryo says. "Back in middle school, when I had two girlfriends, we used to do three-way kisses. But it never worked out. We should try."
They sit in silence. Doteful glances are exchanged for uncertain regards. Hitori shifts semi-uncomfortably, but then she's the first to lean in.
They sit with each other in a circular formation. Each member looks inward, and as Hitori leans in, she marks the centrifugal meeting point for their kiss. Ryo does the same. Then Nijika. Then Kita. They edge closer and closer to the precipice, the hypothetical point of tie-formation that Ryo had suggested, closer and closer, until Kita cracks under the pressure and pulls back laughing.
It only takes a second for the rest to do the same. Ryo leans backwards with a hand on her belly while Nijika chitters on the other end. Their laughter is so loud that it's comparable to the drone of the stereo just a few minutes prior.
Ryo is caught off guard by Nijika's kiss. Nijika takes her by both shoulders and pulls her into her lips, holding her earnestly and without tremor. She separates and mumbles, "I'm sorry for being mean to you," and brings it back in. Ryo's eyes flutter and come half-mast, and she pushes in deeper.
Kita regards Hitori. Hitori nods. She brings her in for a kiss delicately, starting with a quick peck on the lips before going full-in. Kita cups her chin and rubs it with her thumb as it goes on. The Polykessoku stays like that for a moment, kissing in silent, before the girls eventually separate again and resume laughing. And from the door of the studio, peering in through a crack eased quietly as the band made their attempt at a four-way kiss, Seika watches. As the group's giggles die down and plunge them into another group hug, Seika smiles, sliding the door shut without so much as a noise. On the other side she crosses her arms and huffs, making her way back to her station. Her girlfriend makes a mental note of her smile as she returns.