Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Father please--"

"I'm not going to bend my beliefs just because you refuse to do the one thing I ask of you. Goodbye,"

"...Goodbye, father,"

He hangs up. The boy lets out a long sigh. Another fight ending back to square one once again. Not too uncommon for a conversation between Aoyagi Harumichi and his son. Toya would try not to bring up anything related to his singing group infront of him but it would always end up rearing it's head into the conversation one way or another. He's tried and tried but in the end, Toya gave up on trying to convince his father to accept it. He plops himself down on the bench, the bus stop's semi clear roof being the only thing protecting him from the pelting rain. The rain clouds that covered the last of the setting sun's light engulfed the streets in shadow, only adding to the melancholic tone that was suffocating him.

Toya haphazardly stuffs the plug into his phone and puts on his earphones, blocking out the sound of the rumbling skies and the droplets of rain that descended from it hitting the ground. He scrolls and scrolls through his phone's many tracks before hitting play. The quiet sound of rich melodies fills his ears, one of his father's many complaints and "advice" was to not blast music into his ears because it might leave him deaf one day, but Toya couldn't care less right now. He shifts the volume up to maximum, almost out of spite. As he lets himself sink into the bench he notices something out of the corner of his eye.

A stranger with purple hair. Her dark eyes stared at him with an unreadable expression. Toya almost jumps when he sees her, he's not sure when she got here but his gaze immediately shifts to the side in hopes of avoiding eye contact with the other. Yet, as the music continues to play, the stranger continues to stare at him. She finally stops after a few seconds and instead directs her gaze to his phone. Oh... Wait a minute. To Toya's great embarrassment, it seems his earphones weren't properly plugged in. He immediately pauses it and chokes out a barely audible "Sorry...," before plugging it in again, making sure it was inserted properly.

"...Is that song from OWN?" The girl asks,

her voice was almost in a whisper but he could make out what she was saying well enough. Toya's eyes widen a little as he processes what she just said.

"Uh... Yes... Well um... Do you also listen to them?" He replies.

Toya is half mortified and half surprised to see anyone around town who knows that name. OWN isn't necessarily niche per say but a lot of people who do know them would definitely be... concerned (or maybe confused) if they knew that he listened to it. Their music is definitely not for everyone. The girl's eyebrows almost seems to furrow upon hearing his reply. She looks towards the street.

"They're... okay," The stranger says.

The two continue to sit in uncomfortable silence for a long while until the rain finally clears and they go their seperate ways.

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"Yuki, you seem awfully quiet today," The voice says.

"Isn't she always quiet..?" Another voice replies to the other with an exasperated sigh.

The clicks and clacks of her stylus overlay the call, considering her tone Mafuyu would probably guess Ena's stuck on some arbitrary part of her drawing again.

"Yeah but she usually updates us on her progress no?" Mizuki says.

Mafuyu can hear the creek of their chair as they lay back into it. She finally speaks.

"... I met someone who listened to... My music,"

The clacking of Ena's stylus and Kanade's clicking of the mouse from Mafuyu's right side stop.

"Your music?? You mean OWN?" Mizuki's words break the long silence.

Though Mafuyu can't see their face nor Ena's, she can tell everyone has an expression similar to Kanade's; shock.

"I see... a fan then?" Kanade says,

looking at her with her usual calming smile. Though, the other's words cause a weird feeling to wriggle into her heart. Mafuyu didn't really expect anyone to like her work when she first posted it. To her, it was just a desperate attempt at finding something; a reason to keep going. To be honest, it's been pretty much a whole year since she's done anything to do with OWN, she pretty much forgot about it after everything she's gone through. Thinking of OWN... It sends her back to a place she never wanted to come back to. Her despair, her dark thoughts and her hopelessness. It was all funneled into such work. Yet now it eats at her mind wondering... "Why would anyone listen to this?". What attracted that boy to her music in the first place? Was he also in a state like hers? Mafuyu unclenched her hands that she didn't know were clenched in the first place. She speaks.

"I wouldn't call it that..,"

"Do you know who it was?" Ena asks in reply.

Mafuyu attempts to search her mind for a possible candidate but she can't seem to remember anyone who looked like him, but he did look familiar somehow.

"No... But, he was wearing a blue blazer with a black shirt underneath... his hair was two different colours, a light blue and black,"

"Ahah! Doesn't that sound like Aoyagi?" Mizuki abruptly yells out, almost startling Mafuyu.

"Aoyagi... Ah wait, I'm pretty sure he's my brother's partner or something," Ena joins in.

"Yeah, yeah! He and An are in the same group,"

"Hm... Who knew he would listen to OWN,"

Oh, so that was it. Though knowing who he is now didn't help the creeping feeling in her heart. Kanade looks at her and notices her hands fidgeting. Sensing Mafuyu's unease, Kanade resolves to move the conversation elsewhere.

"Ena, is the art complete yet?"

"Oh please, knowing her, she's probably still stuck on what pose to do~!" Mizuki interrupts before Ena could speak.

"How mean! Just so you know, I'm almost complete... I just need to finish up the details. Besides, it's not like you're anywhere near complete editing the music video, you anime obsessed procrastinator!"

The two continue to have their usual playful banter. Kanade simply chuckles and continues composing. For some reason, Mafuyu felt a warmth return in her chest.

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"...It's been pretty rainy these days, huh?"

Toya attempts to converse with the stranger he met once again in hopes of filling the awkward silence between them. He can't say he's very good at socializing, but he recalls Tsukasa telling him to just "say whatever is on your mind" when conversation dries up. Judging by how the stranger says nothing back, it doesn't seem to be working. He puts in his earphones, this time checking that it's plugged in properly and clicking on the track he listens to most of these days.

"...You're listening to it again?" she says.

Toya notices the strangers gaze on his phone. Talking about OWN isn't something he would really like to talk about with a stranger but he feels obliged to reply anyway.

"Yeah. I really like their works,"

The girl's eyebrows raise. She looks off to the street again.

"...What do you even like about it?"

The tone of her voice feels almost judgemental, but Toya reckons it could just be his nerves. Her expression was almost impossible to read anyway.

"Even though it's pretty... dark, it's almost calming in a way..,"

He looks up at the bus stop's roof. His foot tapping the ground.

"I think... A part of me feels understood by it. It helped me through a lot of hard times... I guess you could say... I felt "saved" by it..,"

This is stupid. Why is he going on like this to a complete stranger he's only met twice at the bus stop? He hopes the sound of the rain made it so his hushed voice was barely intelligible.

"...Saved?" She asks.

It was the first time Toya had seen any semblance of expression on the strangers face. Her gaze directly met his, there was a focus in her eyes that wasn't there before. He simply nods in agreement, setting his eyes on his shoes scratching against the rough pavement as his feet slid forward.

"I've... felt the same before," She continued, her hands fidgeting.

"When I heard their music... I felt like I was saved.. A little,"

Toya wasn't sure if she was talking about OWN or someone else. But it intrigued him a little. The girl continued.

"She-- They told me... Promised me that they would compose a song that could save me,"

She looks up at the pitch black sky covered in rain clouds, seemingly reminiscing about something.

"I think... Little by little... Maybe they already have," The stranger says, with something resembling a smile on her face.

Being saved by someone with music... Toya can't help but think back to a certain person.

"I think I understand... I have someone like that as well... They're very important to you, right?"

She turns her head to look at him again. The sudden action startling Toya a little. He didn't realize it, but the rain had already stopped. The stranger stands up and turns to the sidewalk before pausing.

"Yes. Very much,"

The stranger begins to walk away but without thinking, Toya stands up and calls to her.

"Wait!"

She pauses again and looks back at him.

"...May I know your name?"

He honestly has no idea why he felt the need to ask this but he supposed it's probably a good idea to atleast know the name of the person he's been talking to for the past two days. She raises her eyebrows.

"Asahina Mafuyu. You are... Aoyagi Toya, right?"

She knows his name..? Toya stands there, not really knowing what to do. But the stranger-- or more, Asahina's surname rings a bell in his head. As she's about to turn away, Toya awkwardly waves goodbye to her. She waves back.

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"Haa... That was a good show,"

Akito plops himself down besides his partner. He wipes off the sweat from his forehead and gladly accepts the bottle of water offered by Toya.

"Yeah, you were great as always!"

"Thanks dude, but I'd say you were totally the who stole the show there!" Akito replies, placing  a firm hand on his shoulder and leaning into him a little.

Toya chuckles in reply. Across from them was An drowning Kohane with compliments and hugging her despite both of them being covered in sweat.

"A-An chan!"

"An, if you keep smothering her like that she might die of heat stroke," Akito jokes, taking a step towards them after throwing the emptied out water bottle into the trash.

"Ah, sorry! I can't help it! You were amazing there Kohane! I'm so glad to be your partner!" An's eyes light up with a passion fueled fire as she gives Kohane one last squeeze.

Toya can't help but wonder how she has so much energy even after performing. They begin walking through Vivid Street, though Toya and Akito follow behind the other two.

"Man, I'm almost as hyped as when we had our first show together," Akito says, stretching his arms out.

"Haha, it's been a long time since we became partners huh?"

The memories of them as Bad Dogs passed through Toya's mind. Their show today really made him reminisce about their time as rookies and how they first became partners... "being saved by someone with music" That thought suddenly occured to him again. Toya looked at the winding paths of Vivid Street.

"Toya..? What's up?"

His train of thought is abruptly interrupted by Akito's voice. He only then realized he was standing still and spacing off.

"Nothing it's just..," He pauses, shuffling his feet before meeting his partner's gaze with a smile.

"I've been thinking and... I realized that you kind of saved me,"

"Saved... you?" Akito responds, giving an inquisitive look at the other.

"Back then, I didn't really know what to do. I felt... trapped I guess. But when you asked me to become partners with you... You helped me realize how much I loved singing... So thank you for that, partner,"

Akito's eyes widen, not expecting that reply. A grin stretches across his face.

"What's got you in a sappy mood today?" Akito laughs, taking a step towards him and ruffling his partners hair.

It's become a habit of his to do so when he's happy and thinks no one is looking. Toya can't help but laugh with him. The walk doesn't take too long but it's still enough to tire out Toya a bit. As the  group finally arrive to the main street, An turns to Toya to ask him a question.

"Toya, are you gonna go home today?"

"Yeah, I need to complete my school work,"

"Awww! I was just about to invite you guys to eat in the sekai with me," An replies with a sad expression. She leans against the wall of one of the buildings.

"Hasn't it been raining a lot in the evening these days? Are you sure you're okay without an umbrella?" Akito interjects.

"I'll be fine, I can just wait at the bus stop for the rain to clear,"

To be honest, part of Toya doesn't want to come home at all and wants to stay with the group. But if it means avoiding another ceaseless argument with his father, it's probably worth coming home early. Though, speaking of the bus stop...

"There's actually a girl there that knows the artist I've been listening to.. Her name is Asahina Mafuyu, it seems familiar to me for some reason,"

"Ah! You mean Asahina senpai? She's a third year at my school," Kohane replies, she seems to know her well then.

"Asahina... Does she have purple hair?" Akito asks scratching the back of his neck.

"Yes... Why?"

"She's in the same music group as my sister,"

Shinonome's group... Toya recalls Akiyama being in that group too. He mulls over these details as he walks home again. He notices raindrops splattering onto the pavement the sky darkening. Toya quickens his pace.

Chapter Text

"Oh. Hi again, Asahina,"

Toya waves at her and sits down on the edge of the bench. Asahina waves back. The rain today is a little less heavy, but its still enough to form puddles of water that fill up the cracks of the sidewalk. The street infront of the bus stop was wet enough to reflect light off of it like a mirror. Asahina brought her phone this time and is seemingly texting someone. Toya puts on his earphones and listens to music as per his usual routine.

Some of OWN's music is almost chaotic despite a lot of it being dark and quiet. Though with each arranged note a bellowing chaos is overlayed underneath. A sinking feeling, that's what he would describe it as. You've already given up on swimming to shore, so now you're sinking further down into the endlessly deep sea as you're waiting to die. Despite how grim it feels, Toya finds it calming.

The melodic trance is quickly interrupted by his headphones getting pulled out as Toya's phone falls to the ground. Before he could pick it back up, Asahina grabs it for him and gives it back.

"Ah, thank you..,"

She nods and continues texting. She seems... calmer than usual. Maybe it's his own imagination, but during their prior meetings, she always looked a little restless, constantly looking at the sky and checking to see if the rain had stopped or not.

"...Asahina, you're... in a music group right?"

She turns to him with a sort of shocked expression. She pauses for a moment before talking.

"Yes... How did you know?"

"One of my friends is your groupmate's brother,"

"Oh, yes. He's your singing partner right?"

Toya guessed she probably knew this from Shinonome. It's surprising how they knew eachother's friends already. He supposes it's probably because they live in the same general area.

"I'm... also interested in composing. I've tried making some short tunes here and there," Toya says, attempting to continue the conversation.

Asahina opens her mouth to speak but suddenly, a figure walks up to the bus stop. It's another girl, looking about the same age as Asahina with long silver hair almost reaching the ground. She abruptly stops when she gets startled by her black umbrella hitting the bus stop's low roof.

"Ah, Mafuyu! Sorry I came a little late. The umbrella was stuck closed...,"

Asahina's expression softens when she sees her. The long haired girl notices Toya, he meets her curious gaze.

"You are... Aoyagi right?"

He's surprised her friend also recognized him despite not remembering ever meeting her.

"Yes... What's your name?"

"My name is Yoisaki Kanade. It's nice to meet you," She introduces herself with an awkward smile.

The two of them talk for a bit before Asahina gets up and walks away with her after saying their goodbyes to Toya.

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Mafuyu shuts the door as Kanade takes of her shoes and places them besides Mafuyu's shoes.

"Are you hungry? Honami said she dropped off some food earlier," Kanade asks her, slowly making her way through the small and crowded kitchen.

Mafuyu nods in reply. The only reason there isn't a pile up of plates in the sink is because Mochizuki came in earlier and washed them. Mafuyu's not quite sure what to feel about making her do all the housework. Of course it's her job but perhaps she's too used to doing all the chores she does around her old house. She still tenses up a little when she thinks that place and the people within it.

Her train of thought is interrupted by Kanade's yelp followed by the sound of her and the tupperware hitting the ground. Mafuyu swiftly comes over to help her up.

"Ouch...Thank you... Fortunately the food is okay,"

Kanade picks up the fallen tupperware and puts it in the microwave, she gestures to Mafuyu to take a seat. The two wait for the food in comfortable silence. Even though it's not really her own house, she felt at home. There was no act to be played here, she could just sit in the company of someone that asked nothing of her. She felt safe and warm.

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The amount of rain was the same as usual, Toya actually thought of bringing an umbrella next time but he ended up forgetting. Besides him was the same person with the same demeanor as always. He's gotten used to the silence, he'd like to think. Music blasts through his ears as he taps his foot to the rhythm. The current track that was playing was the first song from OWN that he had heard. It managed to capture him immediately and soon began his journey of listening to every single one of them. He wonders what the composer's process with every one of these was, composing had always intrigued him.

"...You said you composed a little right?"

Toya turns to the source of the voice. It's a little unexpected of her to talk first. He takes off one of his earphones to converse with Asahina better.

"Mhm..,"

"...Can I hear some of it?"

Her reply surprised Toya. "Well... It's probably no where near as good as the songs your group does but...,"

Toya contemplates as he stares at his phone. He searches through it again and picks one of the tracks he made. Unplugging the earphone from it, he lets it play. A short melodic arrangement streams out of the phone's speakers, Asahina closes her eyes as she listens.Though Toya has let others listen to his music before, he still can't help but feel nervous.

"...It's nice, it's quite different from Kanade's... My groupmate's composing," She says, filling up the silent air after the track had finished playing.

Speaking of that groupmate, "Is that... The person who saved you?"

Asahina's gaze flashes to his, a little surprised.

"...Why do you think so?"

"I saw that you always looked... Relaxed around her. When you saw her your expression softened...,"

Toya trails off, not sure what else to say. He opens his mouth to speak but is cut off my Asahina.

"Do I..?"

Her expression was that of someone who was struck by an important realization. She looks to the puddle filled sidewalk. After a moment, she speaks.

"Yes... She was... You said you had someone like that. Who was it?"

Toya blinks twice, caught of guard by the sudden ask. He looks to the street as he clasps his hands together resting his elbows on his thighs.

"He's... my partner. I owe a lot to him. Even when I felt like giving up... He never left my side. Everyone else in my group too. They really helped me out when I needed it," A smile stretches across his face, he gazes at his hands as he fidgets with them.

"...I guess we're in the same boat then," She says in reply leaning back into the bench.

The both of them let the sound of the rain fill the silence between them.

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Toya arrives home. As usual, the living room is dead quiet by the time he arrives yet it doesn't make the air here any less suffocating. The house is filled with trophies and medals, some from his father, some from his other siblings. It more like a trophy room then a living room at this point. He goes straight upstairs and into his room, not wanting to risk an encounter with his father. Of course not every one of them is unpleasant, sometimes he shows up just to tell him that he's off to some overseas place or that one of his siblings was coming home. Sometimes however, a single ill timed comment from him would be blown up into another argument; something thats 10x more likely whenever he gets home after practice. He'd rather not risk it.

Toya collapses himself onto his bed. His room felt like a safe haven in the cold golden cage that was his household. He takes out his phone and checks his messages. Sometimes whenever An is feeling especially bored, she would spam him pictures of hamsters and Toya would spam pictures of cats at her in reply. For some it might be annoying but for him it's a fun thing they like to do. But it seems theres no new messages from her or from anyone else. Though the Vivid Bad Squad groupchat had notifications in the dozens. He opens it up.

↺☆✭Vivid Bad Squad✭☆ ↻

Shinonome Akito: anyone up to eat at a cafe tmrw?

Shiraishi An: is that just another excuse for you to get a discount on pancakes?

Shinonome Akito: come onnn cant you just think of it as payback for me cleaning up the cafe that day?

Shiraishi An: no way dude, you got paid for that stuff

Azusawa Kohane: I'd like to come! (＾∇＾)ﾉ♪

Shiraishi An: im free after school wbu guys?

Shinonome Akito: all you do is follow kohane around huh?

Shiraishi An: like you dont do the same with toya !!

Shinonome Akito: shut up

Azusawa Kohane: Guys dont fight! (´;︵;`)

Toya let out a soft chuckle as he read the messages. He rolls to his side as he types.

You: I'm free after school too :)

Yes. For him, this is home.

Chapter Text

"I'm sorry...,"

"Yet you're still doing the same things. If you were truly sorry, you'd stop wasting time on silly things and go back to practicing piano,"

"I dont want to- Why can't you let this go? I'm your child, not your puppet! I... I just want to do the things that I'm passionate about! Don't you feel the same way about classical music?"

The man on the other side of the line pauses before letting out a long sigh.

"Come home and stop this foolishness,"

Aoyagi Harumichi hangs up. Toya feels nauseous, almost. He leans against the bus stop's stupports, running his hands through his hair. The pavement beneath him twists and turns and the thundering storm threatens to drown him in it's rain water. He feels that he should let it.

"... Are you okay?"

Toya jumps at the sudden voice coming from bus stop. He looks to his right to see Asahina standing there, her gaze focused on his with a hint of a worry. Did she overhear that? God he hopes not. Toya almost collapses into the bench as he attempts to regain composure. The empty streets and heavy rain incase the two in an isolated void. For some reason, Toya let the words that built up in his mind spill out of his mouth.

"My father... He-- I wish he would understand...I wish he would atleast try to understand..I wanted to sing. I'm tired of doing classical music,"

Toya buries his face into his hands. He probably shouldn't tell her this but he's at a loss for what to do anyway. He continues.

"I hate it... A part of me wishes I could just be the child he wanted... Sometimes I just want to go back to those grueling sessions again. Then atleast I wouldn't see that look in his eyes. I-I wish everytime I did anything I wanted to do I didn't feel like I was dissapointing him,"

Silence fills the air. Not an uncommon occurance. He can't help but immediately regret speaking. Why is he dumping all of his problems on a person he barely even knows? He's tempted to just run away into the rain. To where? Who knows.

"...But in the end, if you did go back... If you did continue practicing piano... You'd be killing off your feelings,"

Asahina's unexpected reply catches him off guard. Toya looks up to the source of the voice, she sits down on the bench beside him, a little closer than usual. She looks into the street once again. The difference between the town and the sky is barely visible.

"When I did it-- When I did everything they asked me to... When I killed off my feelings for it... I forgot the reason why i was even still here,"

She stares intensely at the void, barely holding back tears, it's the most expressive Toya had seen of her. She rests her forehead on her interlocked hands.

"I wish... I could keep meeting their expectations too,"

"...Yet we can't," He replies.

The two sit in silence once again. But it didn't feel lonely at all. Neither of them knew what eachother's life was like, nor what they had went through. But they felt understood by eachother. The rain was clearing.

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Crowded. Extremely crowded. Of course, it's no surprise that a shopping mall would be crowded on weekends yet the sheer amount of people hear made Mafuyu think there was some holiday she didn't know of. Though atleast keeping track of Mizuki wasnt a hard task. Their bright pink hair stands out against the sea of black and brown.

"Mafuyu! Isn't this dress so cute? It fits you so well!" Mizuki excitedly exclaims, pointing at one of the black dresses in the display window.

"I guess it matches my eyes well..," Mafuyu dryly replies.

"Ah with this frilly hat too? You'd look like an idol~!"

Mafuyu has no knowledge of fashion nor the jargon that Mizuki throws at her sometimes. But she knows Mizuki is obsessed with it. Everytime they see a particularly cute item of clothing their eyes light up with a passion intangible for her. It's the main reason they like dragging her around malls. But it's not like she particularly minds so she let's them.

Mafuyu attempts to take a step back before accidentally bumping into someone.

"Ah sorry--"

"...Asahina?"

That someone was Aoyagi.

"Ah, Aoyagi! Fancy seeing you here," Mizuki walks up to the both of them, waving at Aoyagi.

"Hello Akiyama," He replies with a smile.

Aoyagi isn't wearing his usual get up, but he looks to be in a better state than the last time Mafuyu has seen him. She greets him and he greets her back.

"Who knew we'd be running into your fan here," Mizuki teases to the confusion of Aoyagi.

They look at Mafuyu with a sly grin but the other replies with an uneasy expression.

"Your fan..?"

Mizuki pauses at Aoyagi's words. They look to the tensed up Mafuyu who shakes her head, eyes glued to the ground. After a moment, Mizuki seemed to have realized something and their eyes widened a bit. They swiftly change the topic.

"Well--- Woahh! Look at that blouse! It's super cute. Sorry we have to go now. See ya Aoyagi!"

Mizuki guides-- or more pushes Mafuyu to a random store, hastily waving goodbye to the very much confused Aoyagi.

"You didn't tell him?" Mizuki asks, furrowing their brows as they continue pushing Mafuyu to the direction of the store.

"...Why would I want to?

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Another day, another long moment of sitting with Asahina in silence at the bus stop. However, thankfully today the rain isn't too heavy so it'll probably clear up soon. Toya sits in silence, listening to another one of OWN's tracks... Well about that... There has been something that's been bugging Toya lately. "Your fan". It may seem like a meaningless joke but considering Asahina's reaction to it... Another thing, he thinks he overheard Mizuki asking her something about not telling him. Is he "her fan" because he talks to him a lot? Or maybe its more literal, though Toya can't recall ever listening to her groups music... Which has led him to think of the possibility that;

Asahina is OWN

Of course it's an insane assumption but it could explain that prior interaction and her unease yet fixation with OWN. Perhaps against his better judgement, he decides to try and find out by asking her.

"Asahina... How did you discover OWN,"

The girl is startled by Toya's question. Perhaps she just got caught of guard by him suddenly talking. She stares at the cracked pavement beneath her.

"I...I just... Happen to see it on the front page," She mumbles out.

Even though Asahina has always been impossible to read to Toya, he definitely feels like there's something that she's hiding. After a short breath of silence, he continues questioning her.

"...Why did Mizuki call me "your fan"?"

She tenses up as she hears his question. Perhaps Toya started off a little strong, but such a question would definitely clear any misunderstanding.

"...Just...Some weird joke of theirs,"

A long drawn out silence fills the space between them. Toya pauses and contemplates as he stares at the space behind Asahina very much unconvinced. After a moment, he takes a breath in and resolved to ask what's been on his mind this whole time.

"...Are you OWN?"

Asahina's expression morphs into somewhere between mortified and shocked. Her hands grip the fabric of her pants. She clenches her jaw and sighs before regaining composure. The girl takes out her phone, seemingly searching for something. She finds it and shows it to him. It's OWN's account with an edit and post button only accessible to the owner.

"...Yes," She says. Firm but somewhat defeated.

Toya attempted to hide it but his face betrayed him. His jaw was practically on the ground. And now that he's fully processing it, he realizes he is now standing infront of the composer behind the songs he religiously listens to. He freezes, unsure of what to say or do.

"... What's your thought process when you make songs?" He begins letting out every question that comes to his mind as if Asahina was about to walk away and disappear.

"I.. Just do whatever fits my feelings," She awkwardly answers.

"When...did you think of composing as OWN?"

"...When I felt like I had nowhere to go," Asahina tries her best to answer genuinely.

Toya pauses, he meets her gaze with a glint of something Asahina had never seen prior.

"Thank you... A lot," He shuffles one of his feet.

"When I needed it... It calmed me down," He looks down at his fidgeting hands.

"... You're welcome," She stands up, avoiding eye contact.

She fidgets with her hand before giving a Swift wave goodbye to Toya and walking away from the bus stop at a brisk pace. The rain hasn't fully cleared up yet, but it isn't enough to get you soaking wet if you walk in it. Toya stares at OWN's tracks on his phone, contemplating on what just happened.

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At first, Mafuyu felt conflicted. OWN had always been a last resort to her, one shot at trying to find a reason to keep going. Her songs, they were her wretched feelings in sound form. When she first heard it being played on someone else's phone, she felt like her heart was ripped out and was being dissected. But she can't really blame Aoyagi, she posted it online after all. She wonders if what she's feeling is anywhere near similar to what Kanade felt when she met Ichika.

Mafuyu never intended for anyone to like OWN nor even care for it. But hearing about it, hearing what he felt when he listened to it... It felt odd, but not unpleasant. On that night, he looked like he was on the verge of tears, when she gazed at him she saw her reflection in his eyes as he saw his in hers. It was strange. They knew what the other was feeling yet they barely know a thing about eachothers personal lives. Now... She feels strangely glad about it.

"Haha! I wish I could've seen his face!"

Mafuyu's surge of thoughts were interrupted by Mizuki's hearty laughter filling the call.

"I'm sure he was shocked," Kanade replies smiling as she gazed thoughtfully at her arrangement.

"He was," Mafuyu answered with a neutral expression.

"Ah I can't believe you didn't tell him for the longest time, he must've been confused to all hell," Ena chuckles.

Mafuyu continued doing her work as the chatter of the call slowly died down.

"Yes... I suppose these lyrics will reach someone too one day,"

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"She was OWN the whole time??" An yelled out, standing up as she slammed her hand against the table almost spilling the drinks that were on it.

"I couldn't imagine what it would be like to talk to someone for a long time only to find out they were the artist you've been listening to daily..," Kohane says, holding down the drinks so to avoid them from spilling because of her partner's hyperactive tendencies.

"It would probably be like the first time I met Shiraishi huh," Akito takes a sip of his drink while scowling at An for almost spilling it.

"Haha! Imagining your face back then on Toya is just plain priceless!" An's laugh fill the cafe.

Toya lets out a quiet giggle, smiling as he rests his head on his hand. Thinking back to every interaction he's had with Asahina... He can't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"I'm surprised Asahina liked composing in that style... She's always cheery at school," Kohane puts a hand on her chin.

He hums in agreement as he takes a sip of his drink. "I hope I can compose music like her's one day,"