Chapter Text
For most people, it was hard to get accustomed to a new routine, or new people in this case.
But for Honami it isn't like that at all. Sure, it was a small surprise, but she has always been a quick person to adapt to other people. Both a blessing and a curse, but not at the same time.
She has always been like water in that subject, a wave that slowly moves with serenity. Even if she sometimes internally thinks of herself as more like a nervous, trembling wave. But she's working on it, and that's what counts, she tends to remind herself.
Even so, she found herself a bit disconcerted when she knocked on Yoisaki's door and was greeted by the sight of her purple haired upperclassman. She assumes she should of had expected it a little, Asahina-senpai had told her that she visited Yoisaki-san's house from time to time.
Still, her surprise had apparently when apparent, as Asahina-senpai's expression suddenly morphed from deadpan to her usual expression seen on school. But...her senpai ended up shaking her head and going back to her blank expression.
Yoisaki-san had been really uneasy at the interaction, almost like she had been hiding it. That made Honami realize that no, Asahina-senpai wasn't just visiting, she was the one that Yoisaki told her very subtly that was staying in her house.
The drummer had been confused. It was rumoured that the 3rd year honor student had been absent at school because she was sick. Yet if she stared at her for a while, she didn't look exactly sick, just...exhausted.
Even after all of that, all the questions she wanted to ask. She decided to not overwhelmed the two of them.
Yoisaki-san ended up explaining a little later.
So that's what had happened...even if the composer didn't give her that much information, she could at least have an idea of what happened. The two of them seemed very uneasy the whole time...it made Honami a bit concerned, so she decided that she will try her best to take care of them. Now that she knows Asahina-senpai is staying there, Yoisaki-san doesn't have to be careful to not reveal anything and Honami can have an idea of what to do better when housekeeping.
Now that she really thinks about it...she doesn't know at all what Asahina-senpai likes to eat. She assumes she could ask Yoisaki-san when she goes to her house later today.
She wants to do her best for them.
1: Helping/Clumsiness - Kanade
Honami knocks on the door once again. This time she decided to come again in the same week, since last time she didn't have time to do a lot...because of well, everything.
She only has to wait a few moments, because Yoisaki-san opens the door with a confused expression. It quickly changes when she sees it's just her.
The composer smiles at her. "Hello Mochizuki-san...come in." she moves to a side to let her in, Honami quickly enters, not wanting to lose much time. The white haired girl doesn't comment on it and just closes the door.
Honami returns the smile, "Hello Yoisaki-san! have you two eaten today the food I made?" the drummer asks subtly, wanting to know how she feels.
Kanade tenses and her eyes widen slightly.
Honami frowns. "Yoisaki-san..." she murmurs, concerned.
The composer smiles apologetically. "Ah. I think I forgot." she admits with embarrassment, twirling a strand of her hair.
Honami hums, "Didn't Asahina-senpai remind you? isn't she here now?" she decides to ask. Surely she tried to make the white haired girl remember, Asahina-senpai is just kind like that.
Kanade thinks mutely. "Mhm...I think Mafuyu also forgot to eat. Mafuyu is doing archery right now. Er...that isn't good." she mumbles as she looks down.
Honami sighs. Right, she doesn't know how she forgot that her senpai does archery with Shizuku-san. She assumes the purple haired girl will come to Yoisaki-san's house later. Right now, she needs to get the older girl in front of her to eat something.
"I see. Then, how about I cook something for you two?" she offers gently, although she's already walking towards the kitchen. Kanade nods wordlessly.
Mhm. Honami notices that Kanade looks more at ease today, that's good. She looks...softer? Honami isn't sure on how to explain.
Honami finally reaches the kitchen and she smiles. It a little more cleaner than the other day, she assumes it must've been Asahina-senpai's courtesy. She really likes Yoisaki-san's kitchen, it's nice, one of the lighter places of the house.
Usually, she would start cleaning first, but since Yoisaki-san didn't eat today (probably also not yesterday) she can change her routine a little.
Hm. She learned a while ago about how to prepare dishes that had strong nutritional value, since Yoisaki-san doesn't eat too often, she needs at least to have a good meal every once in a while. But now that she also needs to prepare food for Asahina-senpai, she needs to think it through. The purple haired girl is considerably taller than the composer, but only a few centimeters shorter than Honami. But she also is more fit than Yoisaki-san by a lot, so maybe...maybe something more similar to what she eats?
Her train of thought gets interrupted by soft, anxious humming behind her. Honami raises an eyebrow and turns around to find Yoisaki-san looking at the floor.
"Yoisaki-san...?"
"C-can I help today with preparing the food?" the composer asks in a quiet voice, but her eyes are filled with some type of determination.
Honami blinks, but nods. "Of course. But...I thought you didn't like cooking?" she questions, curious about the change of opinion.
Kanade chuckles weakly. "I don't. But I thought that maybe with Mafuyu staying here, I may need to try and get the hang of it." she admits, hands already travelling to tie her hair in a ponytail. She doesn't want to relive one of the first times she tried to cook with Honami and ended up almost burning a chunk of her hair.
Honami nods, accepting the answer. Even if she has the feeling that Asahina-senpai is the one that would probably do the cooking if the food she made didn't last enough. Even so, she'll try to avoid that happening.
Honami smiles gently at the blue eyed girl. "Alright then. How about you cut some of the vegetables?" she gestures at the bag of vegetables that she settled on the counter.
Kanade nods curtly, eyes fixed on the task, and begins to chop.
It goes like that for a while, they talk a little while the composer prepares the vegetables and the drummer prepares the meat. It's comfortable, she really enjoys the short talks she has with Yoisaki-san every once in a while. It always makes her remember how much closer she is with her now, a while ago, the composer girl wouldn't even say more than five words to her. After a few moments, their conversation quiets down, instead replaced by fingertips tapping on the counter (Honami) and soft humming (Kanade).
That serenity gets quickly interrupted by a small gasp. Alarmed, Honami turns around to look at the composer clutching her hand. Honami doesn't wait any longer before setting down the meat and running towards her for the shorter girl's aid.
"Y-Yoisaki-san?!" her hands hover Kanade, concerned for her wellbeing. As a response, the composer just smiles a little, apologetical.
She shows her the oh so bad injury. It's just a small cut to the pad of her finger. "I– um...I think I hold it wrong." she giggles weakly.
Honami exhales a small breath of relief. At least it was small...Yoisaki-san always manages to get herself hurt in someway. It's always because her mind wanders somewhere else except of the present, Honami thinks that maybe when she was humming she got an idea for a new song.
She shakes her head affectionately. "It's okay. I'll get you a band-aid." she turns her heel around to walk towards the first aid kit they have in the kitchen, just in case.
"Tell her to wash the blood off her finger and the sink."
A low voice says in a bored whisper. Only making her presence known just now.
Honami squeaks at the sudden appearance. Meanwhile Kanade smiles softly, "Welcome home Mafuyu..."
The purple haired girl nods. "I'm going to do my schoolwork. Keep doing your thing." she stares at the both of them, before walking out of the kitchen without saying anything else.
Honami blinks, still not having adapted to the unmasked Asahina-senpai. Still, she shakes her head and grabs a band aid. She walks towards the injured girl and then hesitates. Should Honami put the band-aid on her or just give it to her so she can put it herself...?
Honami sighs, knowing that trying to put a bandaid on yourself is kind of difficult. She tries to put on her most encouraging smile, even if her next action makes her nervous. "Yoisaki-san...c-can you give me your hand?" she forces herself to ask, already feeling her cheeks beginning to heat up.
Kanade's eyes widen. She looks away with embarrassment but holds her hand out for her to take.
Okay. She can do this. She grabs the composer's hand with a hand. Immediately jumping at the borderline coldness from it.
The white haired girl squeaks. "A-ah! sorry...I just washed my hands so they're kind of cold right now...well, they're always cold." she murmurs, uninjured hand going to play with the hem of her sweater.
Shaking her shock away, Honami nods. "It's okay. I just got a little surprised, sorry." she apologizes, now a bit more prepared when she reaches out once again and feels the cool feeling. She opens the band-aid in a swift motion, she gently plasters it with care on the pad of Kanade's finger.
She smiles as she manages to place it perfectly.
Honami hears a quiet giggle, so she looks up to find Kanade chuckling, a soft expression on her face.
The drummer tilts her head. "Yoisaki-san...?" her tone hold curiosity.
The composer shakes her head. "Sorry Mochizuki-san...you just looked really proud of yourself. It was nice." she mentioned, a soft smile on her lips.
It certainly doesn't help with the warmth that's quickly spreading across Honami's cheeks. She chuckles airily, "H-haha...really? I'm glad." Honami smiles back without any hesitation.
"Yeah..."
A comfortable silence falls upon them, but they don't wish to break it at all. Even if being silent with other people tend to make them nervous, it isn't the same when they're with eachother.
Unfortunately, the silence it's broken by a small grumble coming out of someone's stomach.
"U-urk..." the composer looks away in shame. "I-I totally ruined the moment, didn't I...?" she mumbles, considering to hide her face in her hands but not being to able to. Honami still didn't let go of her, and she wasn't going to protest.
Honami's eyes widen and she scrambles to let go of her hand, to the other's dismay.
She feels her knees go weak at the tingling feeling that remains in her hand, she feels cold...but it feels nice.
Still, she clears her throat, a bit sad to see that the older girl has a guilty expression on her face.
So Honami smiles, hoping to look comforting. "Don't worry Yoisaki-san. After all, we need to keep making the food." she corrects. "We got um- kind of sidetracked." she giggles, prompting Kanade to do the same.
Kanade smiles back, dusting herself off. Then she grabs the knife again, this time more carefully. She turns around to lock eyes with Honami, and she gives her signature soft smile, making the brunette look away, flustered.
2: Music/Thank you - Kanade
Honami was once again cleaning Yoisaki-san's house. Adding another person in the place had proven to mean more food, more clothes to clean, more things to do. So Yoisaki-san and her grandmother asked if she could come at least two times per week, of course she would be payed a bit more.
Even after insisting that she would of had accepted even without mentioning her paycheck, Yoisaki-san had remained serious about Honami accepting the money. In the end she did, but it's not like the brunette does this for the money, sure, it's a good bonus, but she genuinely enjoys taking care of people, especially Yoisaki-san.
So that's why she's cleaning the kitchen's floor on a weekend. Asahina-senpai and Yoisaki-san are composing a new song for their group. One would think that the noise would travel through the walls, but it doesn't. Instead, it just feels like a faint vibration and the quietest of sounds.
It's nice. She's really glad that her and Yoisaki-san have one thing in common; music.
After she finishes cleaning the kitchen, she notices that the music quieted down a considerable amount.
That's interesting. Maybe they already finished? how quick, Honami is sure Ichika and Saki would be a bit jealous.
The drummer takes a last look at the now clean kitchen. Hm...she could heat one of the meals she prepared the other day and maybe make some apple pie. She should ask the composer.
Honami silently starts walking towards the white haired girl room/studio. She hesitates to walk, because if Kanade is with her headphones, she wouldn't be able to hear the knocking on her door. Still, she tries to test her luck and knock.
Surprisingly, she hears the composer's muffled squeak, before after a while a small voice tells her to come in.
Honami stops in her tracks, completely stunned. Yoisaki-san almost never lets her enter her room, insisting that she can clean it herself or that she feels more comfortable with all the messy papers of her room. Even so, she takes a deep breath and opens the door.
She blinks as her eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the darkness of the room.
As she takes in her surroundings, she notices that Yoisaki-san is curled up in her chair without her headphones, staring blankly at her monitor. The second thing that she notices is that Asahina-senpai is sitting on the floor with her back to the bed, presumedly sleeping.
She takes a couple of steps into the room, but not before closing the door behind her. Not wanting to wake up the purplenette, she gets as close as she can to the composer.
"Yoisaki-san, what's wrong...?" Honami ends up asking, worry leaking off her tongue.
Kanade proceeds to lightly chew on her lip, a nervous habit. "Well...I was um-...trying to compose something, but I couldn't get the drums to sound good." she confesses, like it's the most horrible crime. "Mafuyu told me to um-...ask you for help but I didn't want to bother. I told her that I would try to get it right by myself and she decided to go to sleep a little." she continues, fingers playing with the headphones that rest on her neck.
She looks at Honami, guilty about asking for help. "Err...since you're here...w-would you mind helping me a little? you must know how to make it sound better."
Honami processes the information slowly... Yoisaki-san needs her help for a song? that's rather new, the music prodigy tends to make every single song sound amazing (from the little bits she hears coming out of her room). But she can understand, a little, everyone can get stuck when making music.
So Honami nods affirmatively, relieved at the fact that it's something that can be fixed and it's not that Yoisaki-san needs an emotional advice. Or maybe she does and she's just being hard on herself, it wouldn't be the first time.
The drummer smiles gently. "Sure. I would be happy to help, Yoisaki-san." she hesitates a little to sit down on the chair besides Kanade, who she assumes belongs to the purple haired girl.
Kanade smiles weakly. "I'm glad. Then, here, put this on." she breathes out, offering the brunette her headphones.
Honami's eyes widen. Oh! that's so...trusting of her. Then she starts to really understand that Yoisaki-san is showing her that she trusts her enough to share her music with her.
She accepts the headphones, holding them with so much care, acting like their gold. "U-um..." she tries to put them on quickly, but she has a feeling that that's isn't how it's wore.
Judging by the muffled chuckle of the composer girl, it isn't.
"Mochizuki-san." she looks at her with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "You need to wear it the other way. Let me help." Kanade reaches out to grab the headphones, iced fingers lightly grazing the brunette's head and ears. Causing Honami to twitch in place.
Like a deer in headlights, Kanade retracts her hand immediately. "A-ah sorry. I'll be more careful." she murmurs, blush creeping to her cheeks. She moves her hand towards Honami ears, this time more careful not to touch her as she slowly grabs the headphones, rotates them and and puts them back.
Ah, that's better. Honami giggles, embarrassed at making such a silly mistake, she guesses it must have been because she was too focused on being gentle with it.
Kanade looks at her intently, before her finger goes to click on the mouse, making the headphones reproduce the music. Honami can feel the older girl's eyes fixed on her, but she does her best to focus on the sound she's hearing.
Ah. She found the problem.
She smiles a little at Kanade. Hands moving to take off the headphones, deciding to put them on the composer.
The white haired girl looks at her with confusion.
Honami sighs, wondering on how to explain it. She points at a part of the lines of the girl's composing program. "Um- on this part, the drums mix with all the other sounds, it feels...a little overwhelming. N-not that it's a bad thing! but..." she points at a line a few seconds later. "Here. The drums feel the opposite, they're too quiet." she asserted while her hands move to copy the rhythm on the desk. "And well...maybe you could had a few more sounds on that part."
She turns around to look at Yoisaki-san, only to find her staring at her with shining eyes.
Honami feels a shiver run down her spine. "A-ah well...that's just my opinion." she whispers, worried about accidentally making Kanade cry.
Instead she greeted with a relieved chuckle. The composer shakes her head, "Of course, thank you Mochizuki-san. Now that I think about it, it's kind of silly that I didn't ask you to help." she mumbles to herself, then she grins at Honami. "I know what to do now, thank you again." she places her hand on the mouse, already preparing herself to resume her work.
Honami smiles at her determination. She knows that the composer will keep composing till she tires herself out, so she decides that she can leave.
As she's halfway out of the room, a soft whisper stops her.
"Mochizuki-san?"
She turns around, locking eyes with the shorter girl. "Yes, Yoisaki-san?"
The composer looks away for a second, but her express gets serious as she mumbles the next words. "Can you call me by my first name?" she asks quietly.
Honami's eyes widen. It's been more than a year since they knew each other, yet they never called the other their first name. She takes a deep breath, but smiles.
"Of course, Kanade."
Kanade smile gets even softer. "Hearing you say it makes me feel happy."
The drummer feels her heart almost explode at that. But she wills herself not to scream till she's outside of Yoi- Kanade's house.
"I-I'm glad. Y-you can call me Honami, too. Only if you want to." she stammers, hoping she doesn't sound as nervous as she feels.
Kanade, for her part, also looks flustered. But she nods slowly, smile becoming more big. "O-okay. Then...thank you again, for everything, Honami." she says impossibly softer.
Honami feels herself melt, forcing herself to answer. "Y-you're welcome, Kanade." she smiles one last time, and closes the door.
Not even five steps happen till she doubles over and muffles a squeal with the back of her hand. Finally! Ahh she has been waiting for as long as she can remember.
She needs to talk to her friends about it, someone needs to hear her happiness.