Work Text:
Warmth pools on her face, gently nudging her awake from sleep. Kanade sits up, preparing herself for the blinding sunlight she’ll be greeted with once she takes off her sleeping mask.
“Ugh…” she murmurs, pulling off the cloth fabric from her eyes and taking in her surroundings.
She’s in her room—her actual bedroom, not her father’s room-turned-workspace that she had lived in for three years. It’s been three months since the rest of Nightcord had started forcing Kanade to sleep in an actual bed, instead of periodically passing out at her desk, and although she had resisted at first, her back and shoulders had finally stopped complaining from always being hunched over her computer.
Despite her dislike of the sun, she does appreciate its warmth, and as she closes her eyes to appreciate its rays on her face, a melody bursts forth in her mind, sprinkling gentle arpeggios in her ears. Out of habit, she abruptly stands up, preparing to rush to her computer to start composing, when she remembers her promise to the rest of Nightcord.
Right… healthy work-life balance, Kanade reminds herself, instead grabbing a well-worn notebook perched on her nightstand. She opens it to a fresh page, covered in 5-line music staffs, and quickly jots down the melody. Then jots down the three other arrangements of the same melody she thought of right after. Then she forces herself to close her notebook, walk towards her bedroom door, and open it.
The aromatic scent of warm apple and cinnamon wafts toward her, and her stomach growls slightly. Mafuyu must have made breakfast, she thinks as she meanders her way into the kitchen.
Surely enough, she’s greeted with the sight of a small pot of apple oatmeal, sitting on the kitchen counter. Kanade looks around and spots a note perched on her kitchen table on a sheet of looseleaf.
Went to school. There’s apple oatmeal in the slow cooker. It should still be warm, but if it’s past noon, you should put it in a leftovers container, store it in the fridge, and eat lunch instead. Don’t forget to unplug the slow cooker when you’re done.
There’s no signature, but Kanade has memorized the smooth circles and sharp edges of Mafuyu’s neat print well enough to recognize her handwriting. She looks up at the clock on her microwave. To her relief, it’s 11:30. As much as Kanade appreciates all of the premade meals Mochizuki-san has helpfully cooked, there’s nothing quite like Mafuyu’s oatmeal.
She’s still not completely familiar with her kitchen, but a peek at the sticky notes Mochizuki-san had put on all of the drawers helps Kanade find a ladle for the oatmeal quickly enough. Half of the pot is already empty, so she spoons the remaining oatmeal into a bowl and sets it on the kitchen table. She doubles back to unplug the slow cooker and grab a spoon for herself, before sitting at the table.
“Thank you for the meal,” she says to nobody in particular, before putting a spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth.
It’s warm, the right blend of tart and sweet, and Kanade savors the first soft, fluffy bite of oatmeal interspersed with chunks of mushy apple. Mafuyu is a good cook, and Kanade wants to appreciate the breakfast she had prepared. Then she quickly digs into the rest of the meal, shoveling down oatmeal and apple until she’s struggling to scrape tiny bits of oats from the bottom of her bowl.
Meal finished, she takes her bowl and spoon and puts them in the kitchen sink. There’s a few dishes in there already: two pairs of chopsticks from eating midnight ramen, the oatmeal pot, and a second bowl and spoon with bits of oatmeal stuck to it that she assumes Mafuyu had left behind. She could wait until dinner, but washing too many dishes at once is a hassle. So instead, Kanade turns on the sink and picks up a bowl.
This arrangement—Mafuyu making breakfast before going to school, and Kanade washing the dishes afterwards—is part of their routine, carefully crafted with the help of Mizuki and Ena after they had learned just how bad Kanade’s self-care was. Even though Mochizuki-san was still visiting each week to help clean the house and prepare some dinners to make Kanade and Mafuyu’s lives a little easier, the two of them were accumulating too many dishes for them to get away with washing the dishes once a week.
Dishwashing is low on the list of activities Kanade enjoys (somewhere between cleaning and exercising). And yet there’s something oddly calming about the soft suds of the dish soap, the gentle sound of water running, and the repetitive motion of scrubbing the dishes that sets her at ease. Initially, she had agreed to the arrangement in a desire to appease the rest of Nightcord, particularly Mafuyu, who had disliked how messy the sink used to be. But now, she finds herself almost looking forward to the chore of doing the dishes.
Besides, she’s gotten better at it. Where there had once been bits of food still stuck to the dishes (which Mafuyu or Mochizuki-san would have to scrub off on her behalf), there were now squeaky clean bowls, chopsticks, and spoons. She thought the others would laugh when she accidentally let it slip that she was proud of her improved dishwashing skills, but Mizuki and Ena had both said they were proud of Kanade too, and that they were glad that the transition to having Mafuyu as a roommate was going so smoothly.
Kanade puts the last spoon in the dish rack, turns off the sink, and grabs a towel to dry her hands. The dishes are done.
Today, Kanade has decided to visit the new bakery that had opened up on the opposite side of town—it’s a little over a mile away, and she had promised Miku and Luka that she would buy some buns for everyone in SEKAI to share. She’s still too weak to properly exercise, but the past three months had improved her stamina enough for her to walk a full mile without needing to rest.
Shibuya is busy in the early afternoon. The sidewalks are filled with dozens of pedestrians going about their day, just like Kanade. It’s chilly, but the bright sun shining high in the sky prevents the air from getting too cold, despite the gentle breeze blowing through the air. It’s tempting to get lost in her thoughts, just mindlessly walking in the direction of the bakery, but instead, Kanade tries to pay attention to her surroundings. The leafless trees spread out across the sidewalk, the sounds of cars driving by, and the feeling of the breeze blowing through her hair—she supposes that these small things would be mundane to most people, but after spending three years indoors, frantically composing, she’s learned to treasure the few moments she would spend outside. Even if those moments were now a daily affair, thanks to the interference of Nightcord, Kanade could never take them for granted anymore.
Kanade stops at a red light and is surprised to find that the bakery is across the street from her. She’s not sure how long she’s been walking, but she’s barely out of breath. Part of her is even disappointed that the walk wasn’t longer. She taps her foot to an imaginary rhythm in her head as she counts down the seconds before she can cross. One-and-two-and-three-and-four-and…
The light turns green. Kanade resumes her walk, striding across the street and into the open doors of the bakery.
Several customers are waiting to order, but thankfully, it doesn’t take too long for Kanade to reach the front of the line.
“Hi, how may I help you today?” asks the employee at the cash register.
“Hello, I’d like the box of assorted buns.”
“Got it, which size would you like? The half dozen, full dozen, or two dozen?”
She thinks for a second. There are six virtual singers in SEKAI, but she wants some buns too. It’s also hard to believe that Ena and Mizuki wouldn’t want to try some, and she wants Mafuyu to also experience the simple joy of biting into a warm steamed bun on a chilly winter day.
“One dozen, please,” Kanade says.
“Got it. Please wait a moment.”
It takes seventy-two seconds for the employee to prepare Kanade’s order and carry it over to the counter. “Will that be all?”
Kanade thinks for a moment. “That’s all.”
“Your total will be 3000 yen.”
She fumbles with her wallet for six excruciating seconds before she’s able to fish out the appropriate amount of money. Luckily, the employee doesn’t seem to care.
“Have a nice day!”
“Thank you.” She takes the bag with the box of buns from the countertop and exits the bakery.
The walk back home is less enjoyable than the walk to the bakery—the bag of buns is more unwieldy than she was expecting, and she was already tired from the mile she had walked previously—but it’s largely uneventful, and Kanade arrives home tired, but otherwise okay.
She takes a moment to set down the bag of buns on her kitchen table before sinking into a chair, thoroughly winded. Then she remembers that Mizuki and Ena insisted that Kanade drink a glass of water after exercising, so she stands up, takes a glass from a cupboard, fills it in the kitchen sink, and downs it in one go. Maybe Mizuki was right when they said that Kanade was too dehydrated.
At least her vision had stopped blacking out whenever she stands up too quickly…
“Hello, Kanade,” Miku greets her as Kanade arrives in SEKAI.
“Hello, everyone,” she responds, smiling.
As usual, Miku is there to greet her with a small smile. A few steps away, Rin is walking towards Kanade. To her surprise, Len is standing next to Rin—usually, Len would stick with Miku—but she quickly reasons that Len is trying to stay as far away from Luka as possible, who is on the opposite side of Miku and smiling as teasingly as usual.
Even more surprisingly, Meiko and Kaito are standing next to Luka. Sure, Kaito is glaring at some fixed point behind Kanade, and Meiko seems on the verge of turning around and walking away from the entire group, but the fact that they’re there at all speaks volumes about how much things had changed over the past year and a half.
“I brought buns today,” Kanade says, holding up the bag with the box of buns.
“Mm… sounds delicious…” Luka says, before trailing off thoughtfully. “Meiko, Kaito, have you tried steamed buns before?”
Meiko looks away. Kaito glares at Luka, unimpressed.
“Hm. Just what I thought.” Luka grabs their arms and sits down, dragging a stoic Meiko and annoyed Kaito along with her. After a second, Miku, Rin, and Len sit down as well.
Kanade sits down opposite the virtual singers and takes the box out of the bag. On top is a small slip of paper, with the list of buns in the box and pictures to go along with them.
“Let’s see…” she says, reading the paper carefully. “There’s six types of buns, two of each type: pork, cheese, curry, egg custard, red bean, and sesame. What do you all want to try?”
In the end, each virtual singer ends up with a different kind of bun, and Kanade takes the second pork bun. They eat mostly in silence. Aside from Luka, none of the virtual singers are particularly chatty, and Kanade appreciates the companionable silence between them.
“Hey, let me try some of your curry bun,” Luka says to Meiko once she’s wolfed down her own sesame bun.
Meiko turns away defensively. “No.”
“Please?”
“There’s a second curry bun in the box. Just have that one and let me have my bun in peace.”
“Boo, you’re no fun.” Luka gets up to grab the second curry bun, before freezing at the sound of someone entering the SEKAI.
“Ah, Mizuki,” she says, without turning around. “Kanade brought buns to share today.”
“How did you know it was me?” Mizuki says, walking towards the group and bending down to inspect the box for buns.
“I have my ways,” Luka says. She tears her curry bun in half and holds out one of the halves to Mizuki. “Here, have half of my curry bun.”
“Thanks, Luka,” they say, taking the half and biting into it.
“You’re welcome,” Luka says, grinning. “How was school?”
“Didn’t go,” they say. “I stayed up late binging the latest episode of that magical girl anime I was telling you and Meiko about the other day, and overslept.”
“You could always register for online classes like I do,” Kanade points out.
“Yeah, I know, but honestly…? School can be fun sometimes. Besides, when else would I see Rui and An? Or Lil’ Bro?”
“I still don’t know how you ended up being friends with Akito,” Ena interjects, exasperated. Kanade startles. She didn’t hear her enter SEKAI. “And you know he hates being called Lil’ Bro.”
“I know,” Mizuki says with a grin, before switching the topic. “Did you just wake up?”
“I’ll have you know I woke up at a reasonable ten o’clock in the morning,” Ena says. “Can I take a bun?”
“Yes, of course,” Kanade says. “I bought them to share with everyone.”
“Thanks, Kanade,” Ena says, taking an egg custard bun. “Where’s Mafuyu?”
“She was at school when I came to SEKAI… I’m not sure if she’s going to stay late or not, but we should save the second red bean bun for her.”
“Why the red bean one?” asks Mizuki.
“I think Mafuyu likes red bean,” Kanade says. She’s not completely certain that red bean is Mafuyu’s favorite, but she does know that whenever Mochizuki-san brings pastries over to the Yoisaki household, Mafuyu gravitates towards the red bean-flavored ones.
“Red bean is good,” Miku says in agreement, staring down at her own red bean bun.
Kanade, Mizuki, Ena, and the virtual singers continue to chat aimlessly as they continue to finish eating their buns until the sound of a person entering SEKAI interrupts the conversation.
“Hello, Mafuyu,” Kanade says, turning to look at Mafuyu. “I bought buns for everyone to share.”
“I see.” Mafuyu walks over to stare at the mostly-empty box of buns. “What flavor is this one?” she asks, holding up a bun.
“Red bean.”
“Okay.” Mafuyu sits down and starts nibbling on the red bean bun.
“Mafuyu, do you like red bean?” Mizuki asks.
A contemplative expression crosses Mafuyu’s face, as she thinks about Mizuki’s question. “Maybe,” she says eventually. “I’m not entirely sure.”
“I see,” Mizuki says. “Kanade, you might’ve been onto something.”
Mafuyu stares at her questioningly.
“I was saying that I thought you liked red bean-flavored things,” Kanade explains. “I wasn’t sure, but I noticed that you always prefer the red bean-flavored pastries that Mochizuki-san brings over.”
“I didn’t realize,” Mafuyu says, her expression thoughtful. “Maybe I do.”
Kanade smiles. She knows that Mafuyu still struggles with identifying when she likes or dislikes something, so even realizing that she likes red bean is a small victory.
All of Nightcord at 25:00 has been achieving these small victories, nowadays. Mafuyu realizing that she likes red bean, Mizuki realizing that they like seeing their friends at school, and Ena waking up before noon may be minor to most people, but she knows that these achievements are monumental for them. She’s not exempt, either—she thinks back to washing the dishes, taking walks outside, and the fact that she hasn’t even attempted to compose anything yet today.
Kanade is hesitant to call this healing, but she thinks that all of them are taking steps toward it.
“Bye, everyone,” Kanade says, as she exits SEKAI several hours later.
It’s now just her and Mafuyu, standing in Kanade’s kitchen, fingers interlaced. Kanade treasures the warmth of Mafuyu’s fingers, before carefully loosening her grip.
“Dinner time?” she asks.
Mafuyu nods, expressionless as always. “Dinner,” she says.
It only takes a few minutes for Mafuyu to set out two sets of bowls and spoons, while Kanade warms some tofu fried rice that Mochizuki-san had made at the beginning of the week.
“Is this enough?” Kanade asks as she spoons rice into a bowl.
Mafuyu nods silently. Kanade spoons some rice into her own bowl, before sitting down at the table.
The two of them sit across from each other.
“Let’s eat,” Kanade says quietly. Mafuyu echos her, before the two of them dig into the fried rice.
Mochizuki-san’s cooking is delicious as always. It’s simple, but Kanade appreciates the blend of soft rice with crunchy vegetables and slippery tofu. It’s the right mix of salty with a hint of vinegar to balance out the strong flavor of soy sauce.
“What do you think of the food?” she asks Mafuyu. It’s a new dish, so Kanade is curious about what Mafuyu makes of the meal.
Mafuyu thinks for a second. “I think it’s good,” she eventually says. Kanade knows just how much it took for Mafuyu to be able to say those words, and stores it in her memory to report to Mochizuki-san next time she comes over.
Aside from this brief exchange, the two of them eat quietly, with only the clinks of metal against porcelain breaking the silence. Some might have found it stifling, but for Kanade, it’s a comforting silence, filled with the warmth of Mochizuki-san’s cooking and Mafuyu’s presence.
“Thank you for the meal,” Mafuyu says, after swallowing the last spoonful of rice. There’s a gentle smile on her face, and Kanade knows that Mafuyu feels the same way she does. She stands up and puts her bowl and spoon in the sink, before moving to turn the sink on.
“I can do the dishes tonight,” Kanade finds herself saying out loud.
Mafuyu freezes. “You did the breakfast dishes.”
“I know.” Kanade pauses, before admitting out loud the realization she made earlier. “I don’t mind doing the dishes, though.”
Mafuyu turns around and looks at Kanade. She’s not sure what Mafuyu is looking for, but she eventually nods in Kanade’s direction. “Okay,” she says, before leaving the kitchen.
Kanade gets up and puts her bowl and spoon in the sink. It’s true, after all. She doesn’t mind dishwashing.
In fact, she muses, as she turns on the sink and begins to hum, I think I like doing the dishes.
In the past, Kanade would’ve been horrified at the way she spent her day today. Waking up, doing the dishes, going on a walk, and spending time in SEKAI with the virtual singers isn’t particularly related to composing music, after all. But when Kanade finally sits down in front of her father’s computer for the first time today, she finds that she’s—well, proud of herself.
She voices this thought, hours later, at 25:00, with the rest of N25.
“I know it sounds strange…” Kanade says, trailing off, after describing her day and the way she hadn’t even thought about composing until around eight o’clock in the evening.
“It’s not strange,” Mizuki responds. “Kanade, it used to be hard for you to take a break for an hour. You spent pretty much all of today taking a break! That’s a pretty big deal, right?”
“Yes, exactly,” Ena says in agreement. “Of course, we care about composing music as N25, but it’s even more important that you don’t burn yourself out in the process. It’s not strange to be proud of putting yourself first for once.”
“Plus, getting to eat steamed buns in SEKAI with the virtual singers was super fun,” Mizuki adds. “Right, Mafuyu?”
Mafuyu nods silently from where she’s sitting next to Kanade, before remembering that Mizuki and Ena can’t see her. “Yes,” she says, so certain that Kanade is startled by her certainty.
“Mafuyu…” Kanade says, trailing off. She really has changed, from the days of being completely unsure about what she liked and didn’t like.
“You’ve saved me already, Kanade,” Mafuyu says softly, letting herself lean on Kanade slightly. “It’s okay to take a break.”
“Healthy work-life balance, am I right?” Mizuki asks.
Healthy work-life balance indeed, Kanade thinks to herself, as she lets Mafuyu lay her head on her shoulder. Maybe this is okay.