Archive of Our Own

Ena groaned as the light hit her face while she slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head to the side to look at her clock and as much as she would’ve wanted to go back to sleep, it was already noon.

Ena sat up on her bed, started stretching and then got her phone and went through social media.

After a few more minutes of going through her phone and clearing notifications and emails, she got up and went to the kitchen to see nobody there, as she suspected Kanade wouldn’t be outside of her room anyways.

She sighed, wishing the girl’s living habits were better but she was trying her best so that was enough for Ena for the time being.

She met Kanade when the two were both in their second year of high school, they had met through the internet with Ena finding one of Kanade’s songs. She had drawn art for it and while it had got the bare minimum of attention, it caught Kanade’s attention and they had started a partnership and became friends who eventually became roommates. Luckily, Ena still draws art for Kanade.

Ena went through their fridge to find leftovers left by Honami, a mutual friend of Ena and Kanade who was Kanade’s caretaker when they were in highschool, thoughtfully stopping by every now and then to give both of them food.

She found some leftover curry and heated it up, Ena set up some plates with rice then once the curry was done being heated, she placed some in each plate.

Once Ena was done with that she knocked on Kanade’s door and as per usual doesn’t get a response, she opens the door to see Kanade who looks like she had only recently just woken up on her computer, most likely composing a new song.

Ena entered the room and closed the door, she made her way over to Kanade who hadn’t noticed her yet. She stood behind Kanade looking over at her monitors to see her composing a new song, classic Kanade.

Ena decided to bring Kanade out of her personal world by lightly tapping on her shoulders until she noticed and thankfully, she noticed quite quickly.

“Oh Ena. Good morning.” Kanade gave Ena a small smile which Ena returned. 

“Morning. You’ve been composing for a while right? We should have lunch together today.” Kanade seemed confused and turned her attention to the clock on her monitor and realized it’d been 12PM for about twenty minutes.

Ena sighs endearingly at that, Kanade really was the type of person to get really stuck in her own world. “So? Wanna eat lunch together?”

Kanade turned her head back towards Ena and nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had a meal together after all.” Ena smiled and started walking outside to the kitchen as Kanade followed her.

The two sat down as Ena started talking with Kanade listening, this was how most of their meals together went. While it may seem boring, it was the usual routine the two of them had.

“Oh that’s right, Kanade, when was the last time you went outside?” Kanade stiffened.

“Uh… maybe like a week ago?” Ena wishes she could be surprised but that was pretty much Kanade’s norm.

Ena sighed as Kanade let out a nervous chuckle. “Well would you mind going outside with me later? I’m pretty bored and Airi’s been busy.”

Kanade nodded in agreement and the two finished up their meal. Kanade started to wash the dishes whilst Ena got ready.

Ena finished up, went outside and knocked on Kanade’s door. Kanade opened and was wearing her hoodie and some shorts; at least it wasn’t the tracksuit she wore all the time.

“Ready to go?” Kanade let out a small ‘yeah’ and the two headed out.

Honestly, Ena didn’t really plan anything since she didn’t wanna tire Kanade out so she settled with a walk through the park first. Ena didn’t normally go to the park, whenever she went out it’d be shopping or simply hanging out at the cafe but the early spring provided some good vibes.

The two stopped by the flower beds, the ones that were filled with carnations that Kanade often liked visiting whenever she went out.

The two spent a few more minutes walking around the park before heading to a small cafe due to Ena wanting some cheesecake, she got it whilst the two of them bought iced tea

The two ate and drank whilst talking together, Ena was thinking of what to do next since she couldn’t exactly bring Kanade shopping unlike with Airi.

So after a few minutes of consideration she simply decided on going back home, the two had spent longer in the cafe than intended anyways so the sun had already started setting slightly.

The two exited the cafe and started walking towards the station but before getting there, the two had stumbled upon a street performance. Normally, Ena would walk past something like this but the distant guitar riffs caught Kanade’s attention, always attentive to something music related.

The two got a closer look and they had just ended a song. There were two players, a guitarist and a bassist. The bassist wore a mask while the guitarist had a black cap. Ena assumed that they were done performing and they should continue back home but the guitarist started speaking.

“Thank you everyone who’s come to see our street performance! We perform here every other Saturday so please stop by if you can! Now for our last song before evening, please lend us your ears!”

They inhaled and let out a sharp exhale before they started playing the guitar. It was an only instrumental performance, the music gave an intense vibe but not enough to overwhelm you. Honestly, what captivated Ena the most was the guitarist; they weren’t singing but from hearing them speak earlier she knew they’d be a good singer.

She also found them really pretty, she couldn’t see their face very well but in the moments she could, they looked ethereal.

The song had ended and everyone around the pair was clapping, Kanade was too, but Ena was too focused on the guitarist's smile as they ended the song. Ena was broken from her trance when she heard Kanade’s voice calling out to her.

“Ena? Are you okay?” Ena moved her attention over to Kanade in a panic.

“Ah— yeah I am, don't worry! I just spaced off, they were really good.” Ena chided herself for the sudden panic but Kanade didn’t seem to mind and just gave her a soft chuckle.

“We should head back home, although I think I’d like to see them perform again.” Ena gave a nervous smile.

“Yeah, me too.”

The entire walk back to the two’s shared apartment Ena was thinking about the guitarist; Kanade found it odd Ena didn’t speak at all but decided to not question it.

They reached their apartment and Ena immediately flopped onto the couch whilst Kanade looked at her curiously.

Kanade wanted to ask if they should go back to the same spot next week but Ena seemed like she was tired and decided to maybe ask tomorrow if she doesn’t forget.

Kanade headed back into her room, leaving Ena dead on the couch. Honestly, Ena wasn’t all that physically tired but emotionally, she probably was.

She’s not sure if it was the whiplash that the guitarist made her go through or the fact they made her feel so mesmerized and that she hadn’t even spoken to them properly, she’s thinking that it’s those cases she just finds someone pretty and she’ll forget about them in a week or so.

She hoped that was what would’ve happened but Ena was immediately proven wrong once Kanade asked the next day if the two of them could go back next week.

Ena would be lying if she wasn’t somewhat excited to see the guitarist perform again, although she’s just worried she wouldn’t even be able to pay attention to the actual performance and just gaze at the guitarist theirself. 

Ena was then laid down on her bed, while it’d be more productive of her to draw something instead of lying in bed, she scrolled through social media, looking for something to entertain her properly, but she stumbled upon a post that normally, she would’ve scrolled past immediately. However, this was different.

The caption was advertising a street performance at the same spot Kanade and Ena stopped by, the image in the post showed a guitar similar to the one the guitarist had as far as Ena could tell.

“Is this the guitarist’s social media?” Ena mumbled out to herself.

She clicked on their profile picture and scrolled through their account for a minute or two and she could tell that she had just found the guitarist’s social media.

She looked at their account name and saw that their name was ‘Amia’, but Ena figured it was just an online alias. Scrolling through their account there were multiple images with ‘Yuki’ the bassist although they were both wearing masks to hide their faces.

Ena wondered how she got there and if it was weird that she found going through their account pretty entertaining.

Ena lay there scrolling through their account for hours until she eventually noticed it was already pretty late; she sighed and sat up before deciding to leave a follow on their account.

It was the next Saturday and Ena was in her room getting ready to head out with Kanade. She had recently found out that the street performances of the guitarist and bassist normally happened just a bit after 4PM from the guitarist’s social media.

Ena had just finished her make-up before hearing a notification from her phone, it was from the guitarist.

The post had a video of Amia and Yuki walking to where they’d perform with inaudible voices in the background. Ena couldn’t really make out what the pair were saying, although it had mostly just been Amia speaking, but what Ena could hear loud and clear was their melodic laughter.

Even though she had never spoken to them in person, Ena was seriously interested in them.

Ena let out a heavy sigh before checking herself in the mirror and leaving her room to see Kanade already sitting on the couch in another hoodie and shorts.

“Oh Kanade, you’re outside of your room already.” Ena found this interesting; normally she’d have to knock on Kanade’s door before leaving.

“Yeah, I guess I’m looking forward to seeing them perform again.” Ena gave a smile and let out a chuckle; at least she wasn’t the only one excited.

The two headed outside of their apartment and started walking to the street performance. It was mostly silence since Ena was slightly glued to her phone checking Amia’s account for new posts: 10 page refreshes later, there was a new post.

Amia and Yuki had just reached the performance spot and were about to start performing in 10 minutes, hoping some of their followers would stop by and watch them perform. Luckily for Ena, by the time she was done staring at her phone, they had reached at their destination.

They were the first few people to arrive so there wasn’t a huge crowd, but Ena could tell that there were people piling up around them.

Ena noticed a new drum set which surprised her since in their last performance they didn’t have a drummer, nor did she ever see a mention of them in their social media. She could vaguely see a person chatting with Amia as Yuki tested out her bass a few steps next to them.

She watched as Amia checked their phone, typing something out before looking back at Yuki and the drummer signaling that they should start performing. Ena moved her focus back to her phone to see a notification from Amia’s account saying they’ll be starting the performance.

Amia stood in front of the mic they had set up and started speaking. 

“Thanks to everyone for stopping by! I’m noticing a few familiar faces from last week, I appreciate you for coming back to see us again.” 

Ena wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not but she felt like she could feel their gaze on her even for just a second.

“I’ll be singing today so I hope you’ll all enjoy our performance!” Ena wasn’t sure if anything was real anymore; did she just hear them say they would be singing…?

And on queue, Ena could hear the sounds of instruments playing into her ears and a few seconds after the song’s intro, their voice.

She’s not sure what she was expecting but she definitely wasn’t expecting them to sound so heavenly, was there anything about them that wasn’t pretty? Ena figures there probably wasn’t.

It’d probably be rude to stare at anyone but in this concert setting, Ena assumes it would probably be fine, right?

Ena’s not sure why she’s so captivated by them having never spoken to them. If cupid was real she’d figure that the second she saw them last week, she was immediately shot with an arrow. 

The first song ended and Ena kept her gaze on Amia but what she didn’t expect was that before they spoke up again, the pair made eye contact and suddenly Ena could feel her face heating up. Amia starts speaking, stumbling with their words at first, but at that point Ena was in her own little world.

She’s wondering if they intentionally looked at her or not but either way, it was embarrassing.

Ena is brought back to earth once she hears the trio playing their second song for the day. Unlike earlier, she could actually pay attention to the song although the biggest highlight to her were Amia’s vocals.

Ena averted her eyes off of Amia to look at Kanade by her side to see an expression on Kanade’s face she hadn't seen before, although she can tell they were both enjoying the performance, albeit for different reasons.

Time flies and after a while with the sun setting, their performance ends. Ena feels pretty happy and ready to go. She turned to Kanade who seemed tired, but happy nonetheless and as they turned to leave, the pair heard a voice call out to them.

“Ah, hey!” They both turned around to see the guitarist Amia nervously trying to reach out to them.

Ena froze as Kanade side eyed her, before kindly greeting the guitarist in front of them.

“Sorry for suddenly calling you two out, we don’t normally see people come to our performance twice in a row so I thought I’d try reaching out!” They seemed pretty enthusiastic as they spoke as far as Kanade could tell.

“Oh, you recognize us from last week?” Kanade was confused since when Kanade and Ena came last week they were pretty much at the last song.

“Yeah! Thanks for coming by again by the way!” Just as Ena stopped being frozen she’s immediately sent back into her own world as they give the two of them a grin.

“Oh right, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Akiyama Mizuki!” Ena’s inner monologue thought about how even their name was pretty. “I’m the guitarist slash vocalist as you just saw.”

Kanade was about to stand there and wait for Ena to start speaking for the both of them, but that did not happen so instead she was the one introducing the two of them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yoisaki Kanade and my friend here is Shinonome Ena.” Ena’s brought out of her world once she hears her name and realizes the position she’s in.

Ena and Mizuki made eye contact again except this time Mizuki seemed more composed and gave Ena a big grin, she’s wondering how everything they do is so pretty and if they want her dead.

“So Ena right?” The smile was still present on their face.

“Uh, yeah.” That was the most boring response Ena could’ve ever given.

They laughed, Ena’s not sure if she should be embarrassed or focus on how their laughter was much prettier to hear in person. “Honestly you’re a lot cuter than I thought.”

Did Ena hear that right?

She could feel her face heating up and just as she was about to respond.

“Mizuki.” The trio turn their attention to who Ena and Kanade could assume was the bassist. 

“Oh Mafuyu! I was just talking to these two, what’s up?”

Ena gets whiplash at how Mizuki changed their tone in talking so quickly. Mafuyu stood beside Mizuki then looked at Kanade and Ena before turning back to Mizuki.

“We need to head back: it’s getting dark out, also who are they?” Gesturing to Ena and Kanade.

“Oh, I noticed them from the show last week and since they came by again I thought I’d say hi. We don’t normally get people coming two weeks in a row y’know?”

Mafuyu gave Mizuki a deadpan look before sighing.

“I’m Asahina Mafuyu, the bassist, I’m sorry if our guitarist disturbed you two.” Mizuki looked at Mafuyu, offended.

Ena wanted to say something but Mizuki had beaten her to it. “Rude! I was simply greeting them.”

Mafuyu was unconvinced. “I’m not sure flirting with one of them counts as ‘simply greeting’”

Mizuki’s face reddened as they looked away from Mafuyu, before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Well you got me there.”

“Well enough of that. An’s waiting for us to head back now.” Mizuki let out a defeated sigh before looking at Kanade and Ena one more time with a smile.

“Sorry we couldn’t talk more, please come again next week!” Ena knew she wasn’t imagining it anymore as she could feel their gaze specifically on her.

Mafuyu dragged Mizuki away leaving Kanade and Ena alone. At that point, the sun had already set and it was dark out; the pair walked together to their apartment, exchanging a few words about what they had just gone through, although there was a lingering question in Ena’s head.

“So are we going back next week?” Kanade gave Ena a slightly concerned look before nodding and agreeing to it. “It’d be nice to go back, they asked us to come back too.”

They reached their apartment and immediately heated up one of the leftovers from Honami before both going to their respective rooms.

As soon as Ena went inside she was about to take a shower before hearing a notification from her phone.

She opens the notification to see a new post from Mizuki’s social media which was attached with an image of a drink and the caption says, “Good performance today! Thanks to everyone who stopped by, hope you can come again next week :) also @ShiraishiVBS thanks for drums and making me a drink”

Ena leaves a like on the post and closes her phone with a small smile on her face. If she was being completely honest, she’d never have expected to ever be able to speak to Mizuki, although she hadn’t exactly gotten to speak to them properly.

Ena had finished showering and normally she’d get into bed and scroll on her phone for hours until late, but she was feeling a bit inspired from the performance earlier so she sat on her chair and decided to draw something.

It’s not that Ena had stopped drawing, in fact she still did it pretty often. It’s not like she attended art school for nothing but it’s been a while since she’s drawn something for herself.

…Ena wasn’t sure what possessed her that night, but by the time she had looked up from her tablet after hours, the sun was about to rise. She looked at her phone which read ‘5:36’; it’s been ages since Ena had sat for several hours straight.

Before getting up from her seat, she gave one more look at her tablet and pink filled her vision once more. If she’s being honest she’s quite proud of this piece.

The week passed and Ena had a lot of new drawings filled with pink.

Ena will never understand how she’s gotten this deep into… whatever this was. She sighs and exits her room then is greeted by Kanade who agreed to head out.

They were in the streets now and Ena felt her phone vibrate indicating a notification, she opened up her phone and tapped on the notification, and as per usual, it was a post from Mizuki, this time saying how the performance would be delayed today.

Ena silently complained about how she wished they would have posted it sooner so she would have more time to relax at home.

Her annoyance was visible on her face, so Kanade questioned her. “Ena? What’s wrong?”

Ena finds herself confused, about to ask Kanade why before realizing. “Oh, it’s nothing. The performance will be delayed so should we stop at a cafe?”

Kanade accepted her answer and agreed to the cafe idea.

The cafe visit goes swiftly since after 30 minutes or so, Mizuki had posted once more indicating that they were almost there at their spot. Kanade and Ena talked about the guitarist’s and bassist’s performances as they walked to the spot.

They reached the spot quite earlier than intended, nowhere close to the actual time the performance would start but it had seemed like most stuff was already prepped and ready. Ena was confused to say the least, because if it had already been set up, why the delay?

Her thoughts were placed into a halt once she saw Mizuki waving at her with a smile on their face. Ena turned away as she could feel her face warming up, leaving Mizuki to giggle at her from a distance.

Mizuki decided to close that distance by walking to Ena, who had been left by Kanade somehow. She was now faced in front of Mizuki who had a playful smirk on their face. “Hey! Quite early today huh?”

“Am I really? Mafuyu looks like she’s about to drag you back so you guys should start performing.” Mizuki winced at the mention of Mafuyu, looking back to see if she was actually looking at them, and to Mizuki’s disappointment she was.

“Looks like I’ll have to bother you afterwards.” They mumbled, Ena’s brows furrowed and just as she was going to retort, they spoke first.

“Well see me after the live? I’d like to get to know you better.” They gave her one more huge smile before running away back to Mafuyu and the drummer.

Ena was short circuiting after that, so many questions she didn’t have answers to. Her biggest question was why they were so interested in her and how whatever they were doing worked so well on Ena.

Kanade came back, claiming that she went to get water from a vending machine, also giving Ena one since she got two. Ena was about to complain about what just happened to Kanade until the sound of Mizuki’s voice entered Ena’s ears.

“Thanks to everyone who decided to stop by! We got a bigger crowd than usual so I hope you’ll enjoy our performance!” Mizuki winked at Ena’s direction and at this point she wasn’t sure if she should’ve felt flattered or annoyed.

Mizuki started up their performance and as always, Ena found herself staring at them once more except it seemed like this time, Mizuki stared back at her.

Ena freezes as they maintain eye contact, if anything it felt like it was just the two of them.

The song ended and before speaking and moving onto the next song, Mizuki gave Ena an affectionate smile. She kept her gaze away from Mizuki, feeling as if she’d melt if she kept eye contact. She tried taking deep breaths to calm her rampant heartbeat but before she knew it, they were singing again.

She listened to their voice, although still looking away. To be completely honest, it gave her comfort; whilst the trio had acted more like a rock band, when Mizuki spoke it was like a melody.

They had more of a shorter live concert that day, only playing two songs; hopefully meaning that Kanade and Ena could head home earlier but they were wrong.

Ena was approached once more by Mizuki who had been staring the whole time they performed that day. Ena let out a groan as she watched the guitarist walk up to her, seeing Kanade walk a few steps away out of the corner of her eye.

“Glad to see you waiting for me after the live!” Mizuki stood confidently in front of Ena, only noticing now how much taller they were compared to her.

“You would’ve probably called out to me anyways. Might as well wait.” Ena tried her best to keep her gaze away from Mizuki, trying to look over to the side but it wasn’t working very well.

“I mean true? What’s so wrong with me trying to get to know someone from my audience?” Their voice was laced with innocence and genuine curiosity but Ena knew that Mizuki knew there’s probably plenty wrong with this.

“Maybe the fact you’re so clearly flirting and staring at me?” While Ena was more than open to getting to know Mizuki, this seemed a bit much.

Mizuki winced before letting out an embarrassed laugh, their cheeks visibly pink.

“That is true… sorry have I been making you uncomfortable?” Well Ena wasn’t expecting that. She was expecting them to be a lot more confident; in the end they’re always full of surprises.

“Uh… no, it’s fine really.” Ena mumbled, not sure on how to respond to their sincerity.

They perked up at her answer and the color on their cheeks darkened at the implication.

“…Wait really?” Ena gave them a shy nod and their eyes lit up.

The two stood in awkward silence, both way too embarrassed to speak to each other.

Their conversation was interrupted by Kanade and Mafuyu who walked up to the two of them, who ended up more confused at how this pair came to be. Just as they were about to part, Mizuki had one more request.

“Hey Ena, could I possibly… get your number?” Ena stood there as her whole body warmed up before agreeing and giving them her number.

Both were quite happy, yet embarrassed at the exchange and were dragged away by their respective friends. Mizuki gave Ena a grin before waving and running towards Mafuyu.

Kanade watched as Ena tried her best to hide her blush along with how giddy she felt. Kanade smiled at her as the two started walking back towards their shared apartment.

They entered their apartment and Ena rushed to her room immediately while still trying to not seem all that suspicious. She checked her phone and no new number had messaged her yet, so she changed and immediately got into bed, actively checking her phone.

She received a notification but to her disappointment, it was not a message from a random number but instead her good friend Airi who had been busy with a lot of stuff. The message read about how Airi was more vacant and if they should hang out soon, Ena left her on read.

It’s not like she was purposefully ignoring Airi, Ena simply has to reserve her energy for a different pink haired person.

Speaking of Mizuki, she had finally gotten a message request from an unknown number.

Unknown: enanan?

Well that’s a new one.

Ena: Hm, who are you again?

Unknown: aw it’s me your favorite guitarist!!

Ena: don’t have one

Mizuki: you wound me ena :(

Ena: sure i do

Ena: what’s up with the “enanan”?

Mizuki: cute isnt it? thought of it all by myself

Ena couldn’t believe how natural it felt to text Mizuki, she could imagine herself getting closer to them like this all things considered. She felt herself smiling and she let herself feel like a highschooler once more as she continued talking to Mizuki.

Every night Ena felt like she was spending more time in her room simply chatting with Mizuki, either through text or the random calls they’d ask for.

They had recently asked her if the two could call that night, and she had agreed so now she was simply waiting for night to come around. While they hadn’t been talking for long, she can tell they’d become a bright point on any of her days.

Ena’s phone got another notification and while they weren’t calling, they were still actively talking.

Mizuki: enanan will you come to our next street performance

Ena: whats in it for me

Mizuki: you get to see me perform, thats good enough right?

Ena blushed at that, well they weren’t wrong but to see them tell her so straightforwardly was really embarrassing to her.

She typed out a response and just like that, their usual back and forth happened. It was a ritual she’d gotten used to, their playful teases and her annoyed responses filled her with joy.

Before the pair knew it, night had already fallen. Ena had recently gotten out of the shower before she received a call from Mizuki. She went over to get her phone and picked up the call.

“Hey Enanan!” Mizuki’s voice rang out in Ena’s room.

“Hey Mizuki.” She smiled as she moved to lay down on her bed.

The two of them started talking about whatever topics came up, just letting time pass them by without a lot of worry for what was happening because whenever they called, to the two of them it was like they were the only people in the world.

It had been an hour or two since they had started calling, both slowly growing tired.

“Enanan, I already asked this earlier but you’ll come to our next street performance right?” Ena wasn’t sure if she was hearing it correctly but they seemed kinda worried she wouldn’t come.

“Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?” She could hear Mizuki laughing from the other side of the phone.

Ena huffed. “You’re annoying.”

“Ehh? Where’d that come from?” She could hear the pout in their voice.

“Nothing, you’re just annoying.”

“You don’t mean that Enanan, you just said you’d come to my street performance, you love me.” She hated how she could feel her cheeks becoming warm at the obvious smirk in their voice.

Not wanting to entertain Mizuki’s clear desire to see a flustered Ena, she focused on their street performance instead. “I’m actually going for Mafuyu, not you.” A clear lie, both of them knew it was.

“Aww, really? Want me to put Mafuyu on the phone then?” A fair threat from them honestly, the playfulness in their voice was still there.

“Don’t you dare.” It’s not like Ena hated Mafuyu, it’s just that she wouldn’t exactly prefer speaking to her.

Mizuki let out a chuckle. “It’s not like I’d want to disturb her either, she’d kill me if I woke her up now.”

The more time passed, the more tired and sluggish they got. It was around 4 in the morning and the pair hadn’t even noticed.

They didn’t really get anywhere with their conversation by now, mostly just silence but that was fine with them. Every now and then it would be broken either by a yawn or a random thought.

Right now it was both.

Mizuki yawned and they didn't exactly think about what came out of their mouth next. “Say Enanan…”

“Hmm?”

“Can I try taking you out on a date to a cafe?”

Blush appeared on Ena’s cheeks and she was more awake than when she was before Mizuki asked that. She’s not sure what prompted Mizuki to even ask this in the first place.

Before she can try formulating a response Mizuki spoke up again.

“I think we should both go to bed Enanan.” Ena wasn’t sure if she should reply or not, still quite confused.

But to nobody's surprise, they weren’t done. “But uh… please consider that date? Goodnight Ena.”

Mizuki hung up the call and Ena was now left alone in her room. She thought about sleeping it off but she wasn’t sure if she could do that anymore. She was tired, but with the many questions in her head filling her brain, she wasn’t confident she’d be getting much sleep that night.

Ena woke up the next day, although sleeping early in the morning left her waking up in the evening. She checked her phone and hadn’t received any new messages from Mizuki. She felt bothered over it; while the two haven’t been talking for long, they’ve already become her main highlight.

Although she’s not sure if she could blame them, especially with how their call ended the previous night. Just thinking about their offer made her feel warm.

She knew she should probably accept it, she wanted to. She thought that randomly texting them about it wouldn’t exactly be out of nowhere since that’s how the call ended, but to say it immediately with no warning also felt quite awkward to her.

She was considering opening with a hi and maybe stirring the conversation in that direction so she could respond, but during all this spiraling, the person who caused it had sent her a new message.

Mizuki: so, uh, what’s your answer? sorry if its sudden

She couldn’t tell if they were reading her mind, even though not being close to each other, because thankfully she wouldn’t have to bring it up herself.

Ena: I thought about it and sure, I accept

Mizuki: wait really

Ena: Yeah dumbass, do you really have to ask that every time I accept something from you?

Ena gave her answer and from there the topic drifted away from their cafe date, but one thing Ena realized that they probably didn’t notice was that they didn’t set a date, nor did they figure out which cafe to go to.

Ena: Wait Mizuki when are you taking me on this date and where?

Mizuki: shit i didnt think that far

Mizuki: does next week thursday sound good? i’ll just text you the address later

Ena: Yeah, and don’t forget about figuring out the cafe

Mizuki: rest assured enanan! i already have a few in mind

Ena decided to put her faith in them and either way, they wouldn’t take her bad qualities, they have high standards after all.

They both continued to chat, Mizuki soon asking if they could call again later and of course Ena agreed. Ena wore a smile on her face thinking about how next week might go, whilst also remembering how she’d be seeing them soon in person this Saturday for the street performance.

It looked like she had tons of things to look forward to, and they were all connected to Mizuki.

Saturday came by and Ena was pretty much ready to go, but wasn’t sure if Kanade was going since she didn’t exactly ask her.

Either way, Ena was fine going alone but chose to ask Kanade anyway just in case. She knocked on her door before entering to see Kanade sleeping on her chair. Not wanting to disturb the sleep she rarely gets, she left immediately.

She left her apartment room, opening her phone to see a rain warning. Well fuck.

Not sure if she should go out anymore, she messaged Mizuki.

Ena: Mizuki

Mizuki: hmmm? whats up enanan

Ena: It’s gonna rain, what are you gonna do for the street performance?

Mizuki: oh really? i didnt know that

Mizuki: i’ll ask mafuyu

There was a pause before Mizuki’s next reply; Ena assumed they really did go ask Mafuyu. They came back a few minutes later.

Mizuki: mafuyu said we’re cancelling, sorry enanan :(

Mizuki: were you already heading out?

Of course she was, but she didn’t exactly want to say that due to the chances of them teasing her or them feeling bad, none of which she’d want.

She debated whether she should mention how she’d gotten ready already, but she wasn’t sure where that’d get her. She thought about it a little longer before deciding it was probably fine to say.

Ena: No, I did get ready though

Mizuki: do you wanna maybe hang out then?

They really were the most surprising person Ena had ever met. She should’ve been getting used to it by now, but alas she hasn’t. Not seeing that she had any other choice, she agreed.

Ena: Sure, where do you wanna go?

Mizuki: surprise? ill just tell you where we’ll meet up :)

Ena sent a ‘fine’ and grabbed an umbrella from a stand whilst actively checking her phone to see the address Mizuki sent her. It was to a mall she was familiar with due to outings by herself or with Airi.

She opened the umbrella and started walking. This was the first time Mizuki and Ena were going to hang out, it would’ve been the cafe date but she doesn’t mind this either, it’s not like they had gotten the chance to speak to each other often in person so this was a great chance to do so before their date.

She will say the thought of going on a date with Mizuki still brought a warmth to her cheeks. She arrived and placed the umbrella in the umbrella stand.

She entered the mall and saw Mizuki sitting down by one of the chairs placed around if you wished to rest. It seemed like they had brought their guitar with them for some odd reason. What Ena wouldn’t have expected though, was the type of clothes they’d be wearing.

She had only ever seen them wearing their normal outfit they’d wear to their street performances and occasionally simple baggy clothing, but now they were dressed in more feminine, yet comfortable clothing.

They noticed her and waved before walking up to her. “Yahoo Enanan!” She is once more reminded of their height difference as she stood in front of them. It wasn’t a big difference but Ena noticed it nonetheless.

“Mizuki.” Ena bit back a smile as she responded; if she was being honest, she was extremely happy about this.

“So, what are we doing today?” Ena asked as the two started walking side by side together.

“Hm, I was thinking about getting ice cream.. and an even bigger surprise.” There was a playful tone in Mizuki’s voice as they wore a smirk on their face. Whatever they were planning, Ena was sure she wouldn’t be ready for it.

Ena sighed. “You just never seem to run out of surprises huh?”

They gave her a laugh, one she’s heard a lot, but it was something she’d never get tired of.

“You can never have too many surprises, Enanan.” Ena just quietly huffed as Mizuki dragged her to the ice cream shop. They got there and were greeted with the challenge of picking a flavor.

They both pick simple flavors as Mizuki got strawberry while Ena got chocolate. They ordered it and Ena tried to open her purse to get out her wallet, before Mizuki stopped her.

“It’s fine Enanan, I can pay, I asked you out first after all.” Ena wanted to rebut, but instead simply let out a soft sigh.

“Can I at least pay you back?”

“Just hanging out with me today is good enough, unless you wanna buy me some merch?” Ena groaned in turn, they knew damn well whatever merch they wanted would be more expensive than two ice cream cups.

They laughed before actually paying for the ice creams and getting them. They received the ice creams and gave Ena hers.

Mizuki decided to tease Ena a little as they found somewhere to sit.

“Enanan, make sure to not finish the ice cream in one bite.”

“Hah?!” Mizuki gave her a playful smirk as they ran over to a spot to sit at, Ena followed them in turn.

Ena catched up with Mizuki who was already sitting down and eating their ice cream.

“You asshole.” Ena told them as she sat down beside them, whilst giving them a glare. Mizuki let out a nervous laugh.

“Enanan… your ice cream is gonna melt if you keep staring daggers at me…” Ena gave them another death stare, before focusing her attention on her slightly melting ice cream.

Mizuki watched her eat her ice cream, completely forgetting they had their own. As she ate it, Mizuki noticed the tiny smudge of ice cream on her face: they laughed at that quite openly.

Ena noticed the attention on her and was curious of what got Mizuki so giggly. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” they said as they already proceeded to grab some tissues from their bag. “You just got something on your cheek.” they smiled, delicately wiping it away with the tissue while their other hand slightly held. Ena’s cheek to steady her face.

What Mizuki didn’t notice despite all of this, was how Ena’s cheeks had heated up and how the tips of her ears were completely red.

Ena, pretty much dumbfounded as this all happens, focused on Mizuki in front of her who was staring at her. It leaves her face feeling hotter than it already was.

Mizuki finishes up and their hand that was once holding her cheek felt scalding to the touch. She felt the ghost of their fingers on her cheek and she wasn’t sure how she’d ever recover from that experience.

Mizuki looked at Ena confused, wondering what had gotten her so flustered before realizing they had quite literally held her cheek without prior warning either. They could feel their cheeks starting to heat up too, and decided to focus on their ice cream which they had placed on the bench to focus on Ena.

They sat in silence the entire time while eating their ice creams. It was awkward silence, but it wasn’t the type where’d you want to escape at all costs; somehow it had still provided the two of them comfort.

Not wanting to break the silence, Mizuki checked their phone and saw the time at 4:30PM. It was still raining but that wasn’t gonna stop them from doing their surprise. Mizuki stood up, much to Ena’s surprise, and offered their hand to her.

Were they really doing this after what had just happened?

The answer is yes because Ena happily accepted their hand as they picked up their guitar.

Ena, ever so curious, decided to ask where they were taking her. “Where are we going now?”

“That’s the surprise Enanan!” She wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but it was pretty much obvious she wasn’t getting a better one either.

Mizuki dragged her to a quiet area where there was practically no one. Mizuki saw the bench where they could sit and sat down, signaling her to do the same.

She sat down, looking at Mizuki curiously, wondering why they brought her here and where they had brought her. “Mizuki, what is this place..?”

“You don’t need the details Enanan.” They gave her a smirk before putting down their guitar case and opening it up, inside, instead of their usual electric guitar, it had been replaced with an acoustic guitar.

Now Ena was even more confused, although she had an idea of what they were about to do. “Why are you getting out your guitar?”

Their smirk intensified. “I’m so glad you asked Enanan! I couldn’t play you a street performance.. but I can do a private one.”

There it was. She can’t say she didn’t see it coming but either way, it made her blush. Not seeing Ena try formulating a response, they started strumming the guitar and singing.

Ena loves Mizuki’s voice. 

That was given, honestly, but the way they softly sung to her, and just her, while she could hear the distant rain pattering was mesmerizing. If she could describe their voice right then at that moment it would be melodic, beautiful, ethereal and so much more.

Fully captivated by the pink haired guitarist’s voice, she didn’t even notice herself staring at them with amazement and how Mizuki would sometimes look up and meet her gaze only to get flustered and look back down at their fingers.

They finished the first song. “Uh, how was it?” Seemingly quite nervous due to the intense gaze given by Ena earlier. Ena was out of her trance, but still quite dazed and before she knew it, she was speaking without thinking.

“You were amazing… everything about you is just… amazing.” Mizuki’s face was basically burning and they weren’t sure if she was done or not. Mizuki looked everywhere but at Ena, way too scared to see the face she was making.

Ena on the other hand, realized what she had said and was now looking away in embarrassment with her face feeling hot.

Mizuki tried to compose themselves and coughed into their fist, getting Ena’s attention who was trying her best to not make eye contact while still looking at the guitarist. “I’ll be playing the next song?” They asked, trying to steady their voice before singing as they looked at Ena, who simply nodded after she looked away as soon Mizuki moved their head to look at her.

They started strumming the guitar and singing once more; this time Ena truly looked at them admiringly. She wanted to appreciate everything about them whether it be their voice, their looks, anything.

As soon as they finished, they immediately looked up only to meet Ena’s eyes. The two froze before looking in every direction except towards each other. 

Both their faces extremely hot, Mizuki decided the two should head home before either of them said or did anything that would cross the boundary of platonic.

Not sure if they should’ve broken the silence or not, they instead moved to place their guitar back in the case and Ena pretty much got the idea, although she didn’t have much to pack up.

Mizuki finished up and looked at Ena who was just looking at the ground. “Let’s go?” Ena looked up to see Mizuki giving her a sheepish grin.

For a pretty short private concert, it certainly had a rollercoaster of emotions, Ena wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not though.

“Yeah.” Ena got up and the two started walking towards the mall exit. They were stuck in silence, paired with the few times Mizuki would break it, trying to get out a joke or two. It made Ena laugh quietly, so their efforts contributed to something.

During their earlier moment in Mizuki’s secret area, they had completely forgotten it was rainy; it wasn’t as heavy as earlier which helped but the two were met with the predicament of Mizuki not really having an umbrella.

“How are you getting home?”

“Great question… I’m sure I can just run under the rain and reach the station that way.” Ena wasn’t exactly fond of that idea which showed with how she furrowed her brows.

“I don’t want you getting sick,” She wasn’t sure if she’d regret this or not. “Do you wanna share an umbrella then?”

“Huh?” Mizuki looked at her as if they’d seen a ghost.

“Do you wanna share an umbrella or not?” Frustration in her voice was evident, but she was mostly worried about them.

“We can share.” Their voice wasn’t very confident but took the umbrella anyways, since they were the taller one out of the pair.

Before exiting the mall Mizuki had one more question. “Can I walk you home?”

“Hah?” They probably knew that wouldn’t make sense considering she was the one who owned the umbrella, but it seemed like they didn’t exactly care.

She couldn’t bring herself to care either.

“I’ll return your umbrella just please?” She didn’t need to look up at them to know they had puppy eyes out.

“Fine.” She accepted that a little too fast.

They smiled and the two finally started walking and exited the mall, now under the rain.

It was quiet but comfortable. Ena looked at Mizuki, who in turn was already staring at her, both of them could feel their cheeks burning.

Mizuki looked away, but Ena didn’t. She should've probably stopped staring before they had another awkward situation, but she can’t seem to.

After a few more minutes, she looked away and looked in front of her. The rain seemed never ending but it wasn’t like she minded it now unlike earlier. It added more comfort to the comfort Mizuki had given her.

Soon, she could see her apartment building and their walk was coming to a close. Ena pointed at said building and they walk towards it.

“Here we are.” Ena says entering the building to get out of the cold rain, Mizuki did the same, although keeping the umbrella semi-open since they needed to head home themselves.

“Mhm,” Mizuki hums, “Y’know I really enjoyed today Enanan, thank you.” Giving Ena a soft smile, she thought they were everything she’d ever needed.

Face red, Ena responded. “Why are you thanking me? You were the one who invited me out.”

“Ahaha, that’s true,” The soft grin on their face now was replaced with playful laughing. “But you accepted and gave me one of the best days I’ve had in ages.” Their voice dripped with sincerity and gentleness as the soft smile reappeared on their face.

Ena let out a soft huff. “Whatever… thank you too though, I enjoyed today a lot.” Ena looked away as Mizuki’s cheeks were now tinted with pink, giving her a dumbfounded look before smiling once more.

Both were brought out of their moment when they heard the rain pouring harder. Mizuki figured they should head out soon.

They let out a sigh. “Well, I should get going. I promise I’ll bring back your umbrella!” Mizuki was already standing back in the rain under the mentioned umbrella.

“You better bring it back. Stay safe Mizuki.” Ena said as Mizuki gave her a smile and a wave.

“I will, I’ll text you when I get home!” And just right after, Mizuki was already running back home.

Ena got onto the elevator then to the floor with her apartment, before entering the said apartment and collapsing on the couch. She’d be more worried of getting caught like this, but luckily her roommate is Kanade, who doesn’t leave her room unless she needs water or food.

Feeling like she should bring this to her room, she got up and walked the few steps and entered her room before locking the door, dropping everything and then collapsing onto her bed.

She felt like a mess emotionally. Something about the moments that had happened that day just felt so intimate. From the ice cream to the private concert to just walking together under the rain.

Ena didn’t really know what to feel other than the thought that she was probably fucked.

Ena looked at her phone to see a notification from Mizuki saying that they arrived home safely, she replied with a ‘that’s good’ and left it at that before returning to her mental breakdown.

She groans. She’s not sure how in the one month of knowing Mizuki, she’s pretty much in love with them. This doesn’t exactly surprise her, but just noticing it, despite being extremely obvious, made her feel warm.

After what felt like hours, but had only been a few minutes, of staring at her ceiling, Ena decided she should stop lying in bed and do something productive, like drawing.

Getting up then sitting on her chair in front of her desk, she realized she’d never really mentioned how she did art to Mizuki. She wasn’t sure what their reaction would be and for some reason that scared her.

She shook her head, deciding not to dwell on those possibilities and started thinking about whether she should tell them. She thought it’d be nice to give Mizuki this piece of information about herself, but she wasn’t sure what she’d do if they asked to see her art. In her recent years, she’s definitely grown to develop some works she’s proud of, but with what she’s been drawing lately, she’s not sure if she’d wanna show anything.

She slapped herself mentally and started drawing. She got into the zone and once more, she drew a pink filled canvas. It was Mizuki playing the guitar and singing, drawn from what Ena had seen which was them being the most beautiful sight Ena had ever gazed her eyes upon.

Deciding that was enough, she moved to her bed, quickly falling asleep. Her dreams were filled with a specific pink haired guitarist.

It was the day Ena had thought of in her recent sleepless nights, the day she and Mizuki went on a cafe date. Technically, the time they went to the mall could’ve been counted as their first date, but that wasn’t planned. This was, and for some odd reason that made her even more nervous.

She decided to bring her sketchbook in case she was early and didn’t feel like scrolling through social media. And she didn’t want to bring her iPad due to all her… recent drawings.

She looked at herself once more, before leaving her apartment and the building. The cafe that Mizuki chose had a simple yet cozy look to it.

Before Ena knew it, she arrived at the cafe. She got a table and she was, in fact, earlier than Mizuki, so she settled down and got out her sketchbook. Sketching whatever caught her eye in the cafe whether it may be a potted plant, one of the cakes in the display or just drawing the cafe itself.

She wasn’t in extreme focus due to needing to look up for a subject to draw but she was somewhat in the zone. She was in the middle of drawing a corner of the cafe until she heard Mizuki call for her attention.

“Yahoo Enanan!” Ena looked up from her sketchbook, and was greeted with Mizuki who quickly moved to sit down in front of her.

“Hey Mizuki.” She smiled, in the process of putting her sketchbook away to focus on the guitarist in front of her.

Mizuki noticed the sketchbook and decided to shine light on it. “You draw?”

“Yeah, I went to art university, I graduated last year.” Mizuki looked at her with interest. It was embarrassing, to say the least, to have their attention like this, but she wasn’t complaining.

“That’s amazing! Can you show me some of your artworks? No pressure though.” She knew they’d ask that.

 “Sure.” She handed them the sketchbook, Mizuki took it and started looking at her sketches. Normally, she didn’t really like showing people her sketches, but there wasn’t anything special in this one so she found it  okay.

Ena couldn’t really figure out what their expression was, but it seemed like they were having fun.

They looked up from the sketchbook to look back at Ena with a grin on their face.

“These are great Enanan!” Ena felt heat rising to her cheeks. Compliments always made Ena feel happy, this time wasn’t any different, but she felt happier than she normally would. Maybe it was because it was from Mizuki.

“Thanks.” She responded as she took back her sketchbook and placed it in her bag.

“Have you ordered yet?” Mizuki asked, then looked at the menu.

“No, not yet. I was waiting for you.” They nodded and showed Ena the menu, who simply picked a cheesecake with iced tea.

Mizuki themselves took a few more minutes before deciding and settled on a cake with strawberries and iced tea.

The two ordered and started waiting for their food whilst talking to each other.

“So Enanan, what got you into drawing?” Mizuki looked at Ena with curious eyes. With how she’s never mentioned it before, she figured it was valid that they wanted to know more.

“I’ve been doing it ever since I was a kid and it grew to become what I’m passionate for.” There was more to it, but Ena didn’t feel like springing all her past baggage on Mizuki.

“Ooh, I see.” Mizuki hummed.

Now Ena was quite curious about Mizuki and their hobbies other than playing the guitar, although she’d like to know more about that too.

“How about you?” Ena decided to ask and shifted the topic towards them.

“Huh? What about me?” Mizuki looked at Ena, confused.

“I’m curious what you do other than guitar, but I’d still love to hear about why you got into guitar.” Mizuki’s expression showed surprise before going to a sheepish grin.

 “Well it was something I decided to pick up during middle school.” Mizuki let out an awkward laugh, and their conversation was interrupted by the waiters who gave them their food. The pair thanked them before returning to the topic at hand.

“That’s a pretty long time to play guitar.” Ena says before taking a bite of her cheesecake.

“I could say the same for you and art.” Giving Ena an amused grin, all prior nervousness ignored.

“Yeah, well enough about me. Anything else you like doing?” Ena wanted to know a lot about Mizuki and despite talking to them over the phone for a whole week, she felt like there was still a lot to discover about them.

“You could say I like fashion I guess,” Taking a sip from their iced tea. “Altering and designing clothes are stuff I enjoy doing to pass the time other than maybe practicing guitar.”

“Oh? I’d love to see one of your alterations one day. I’m sure they look great Mizuki.” A faint pink appeared on Mizuki’s face as they let out a flustered laugh.

“Thank you Ena. I think I’d like to show them too, one day.” Mizuki smiled and Ena thinks it’s a sight she wanted to see everyday.

The two continued chatting while eating, slowly learning more and more about each other. Two hours passed by and they figured that they probably should leave soon, considering they had finished their food an hour ago.

They got up and headed over to the cash register to pay. Ena tried to get out her wallet, but Mizuki stopped her once more.

“I’ll pay Enanan, you don’t have to worry.” Ena’s brows furrowed.

“You paid for our ice cream on our last date.” The idea of calling their last outing a date made her face flush, but the main idea was how they kept paying.

“Like I said Enanan, I invited you out so I’ll pay.” Mizuki says giving the cashier their card.

“Jeez, you’re such a pain.” Ena rolled her eyes and huffed.

Mizuki, who was taking back their card, laughed in return.

“I’m a pain for paying for all of our dates?” They questioned, amused by Ena’s comment as she walked to the door following her.

“Yes.” Ena said, walking out the glass door and was greeted by the wind as Mizuki’s airy laughter filled her ears.

“Sorry…?” The amusement in their voice was evident.

“You better be. I’ll make sure I’ll be paying for our next date.” Mizuki perked up at that.

“So we’ll have another date?” Ena could feel herself blushing for the umpteenth time around Mizuki.

“I mean… well— if you’ll have me.” Ena stumbled with her words and Mizuki found it cute, not like they’d ever tell her that.

“Of course. I’ll take you up on that offer soon!” Mizuki was pretty enthusiastic to go on a second, or rather third, date with Ena.

The two started walking towards the station before Mizuki brought up a new topic.

“Hm, Enanan, have you ever had a partner?” Ena jumped at the sudden question and looked at Mizuki dumbfounded.

“Eh? Where is this coming from?” Mizuki didn’t look in Ena’s direction and had a nervous grin on their face.

“Well you mentioned you only live with Kanade right? I'm just curious, are you guys the type of roommates to more freely go out with others and stuff or…?” Mizuki finally looked in Ena’s direction and their nervousness was no longer evident.

Ena huffed.

“Well, we both wouldn't mind seeing other people, it's not like we don't allow each other to. We just... don't really have anyone to see…” It felt so much more embarrassing to say it aloud than it was in her head.

“So what you're saying is, you're a loner Enanan?” Mizuki smirked at Ena, who gave them an angry expression.

“Hah!?” Mizuki laughed at Ena’s reaction. Ena in return gave Mizuki a death stare.

“I'm just kidding, I swear! Besides, you're seeing me right now, so you can go home and proudly say that you're seeing someone else now!” Was Mizuki hearing themselves right now? Ena felt her face burning.

“That's actually— wait.. as in seeing someone else you— you mean..” Ena was sure that she looked extremely red as she stumbled on all her words, but they were the one who said something she could never have expected.

“Huh? Enanan? Is everything o—“ ...ah. They realized the problem now. Mizuki could now also feel their face burning.

Ena stayed silent as she looked everywhere except at Mizuki, who had just realized the implications of what they’ve said.

“…Forget I ever said anything! You get the point...” Mizuki panicked and rushed through their words.

Ena did not get the point.

Neither wanted to push the topic since both of them were clearly not in any state to speak to each other. They were both equally a mess and equally as red. Neither of them wanted to look in the other’s direction.

Before the two of them realized it, they were standing in front of the station.

Mizuki coughed into their fist, still not looking at Ena. “This is my stop.”

“Alright… text me when you get home?” Ena hated how awkward this situation was.

“Mhm.” Mizuki hummed. “Text me when you get home too.” Mizuki’s voice had some sort of gentleness. Ena appreciated it.

“Yeah, I will. Talk to you soon Mizuki.” Ena’s voice filled with warmth as she built up the confidence to look at Mizuki since the blush on her cheeks disappeared.

Mizuki hesitated but looked back at Ena. “Talk to you soon Ena.” Even if she had only seen their soft smile for a few seconds, it didn’t stop her cheeks from slightly heating up at the sight in front of her.

They gave her a small wave before running off. 

God she was fucked.

Ena reached her apartment and the whole time she walked back there, she was wondering what the hell just happened and what to do now. She sent them a message on how she made it home safely before heading into her room and tossing her bag and phone away as she jumped onto her bed.

She figured that at this point they were both pining for each other, and everyday it got horribly obvious. Although after today, she wasn’t sure how Mizuki might be around her anymore.

She was grateful they weren’t full on ignoring her and was now trying her best to be hopeful that most things hadn’t changed. But maybe they would both need a little change, especially considering their feelings for each other.

Honestly, thinking about it in the first place made Ena’s face feel warm. Mizuki definitely liked her back, but Ena wasn’t sure what she should do with this information. It would be stupid to just leave it as it was and while she’s a straightforward person, she had no idea how to go about these feelings.

She groaned into her pillow before moving to sit back up instead of moping all night, doing nothing. She’d get some sleep. It wasn’t a foolproof plan but it’d be a way to get rid of the time.

She took a quick bath and then after changing, picked up her phone to see numerous messages from Mizuki. Well at least that hadn’t changed. They were really taking the ‘forget anything I said’ seriously because they were not mentioning it in the slightest.

It left Ena sighing; she thought that they both wouldn’t get anywhere like this and that was true to say the least. Ena replied to Mizuki’s messages and ended it off with an ‘I’m going to sleep’. She watched them respond with a ‘goodnight’ and it left a smile on her face.

Lying down once more on her bed, she tried to push away all of her messy thoughts of the situation with Mizuki. After a few more minutes, Ena found herself drifting to sleep. Although, the pink haired guitarist still appeared in her dreams.

A few weeks had passed and their relationship had been normal as ever. Ena would still go to Mizuki’s street performances, sometimes accompanied by Kanade, who would talk with Mafuyu. This had grown to become their norm; there would be times where they’d also go on dates which was normally Mizuki inviting Ena out and her agreeing.

But the one thing she wished would’ve changed hasn’t, and they’re both still pining for each other. Or at least that’s how Ena sees it, she’d watch as they’d make romantic remarks before quickly taking them back and claiming they were jokes. It doesn’t feel wrong to assume Mizuki likes her but that doesn’t stop her from doubting.

Currently, Ena was lying down on her bed, looking through her phone. She’s been doing this a lot more often to distract her from the crisis in her head.

Most of the time she’d be distracted by the main source of her crisis, Mizuki. But right now, they were busy with Mafuyu. Going from random posts on social media to just play some stupid mobile game.

In the middle of playing a game from an ad, she received a notification, this time it wasn’t from Mizuki but Airi. She felt like she was getting deja vu but dismissed that thought and decided it was probably better to text Airi than play games all day.

Ena opened Airi’s message, and it was a cat sticker with a hello.

Now that Ena thought about it, Airi was quite responsible and usually dealt with stuff like this. Maybe she could offer Ena some advice?

Airi: So, you got any new friends recently? Or are you still just hanging out with Kanade?

Was Airi just checking up on Ena because she thought she was still lonely? Well it was the perfect set up for the conversation Ena was going for.

Ena: It’s so nice of you to check up on me Airi

It was sarcasm, but Ena did appreciate Airi’s consideration.

Ena: And actually, I have met someone new…

Airi: wait what

Before Ena could respond to Airi’s message, Airi was calling her. Was her meeting a new person this surprising?

She answered the call and was instantly hit with Airi’s voice.

“Ena! What the hell do you mean by that!?” Ena sighed as she could hear shuffling from Airi’s side of the call. Ena didn’t mind the sudden call considering it’d be easier to talk about her situation this way.

“Hello to you too Airi.” Ena moved to sit up and lean on the wall next to her bed.

“Ena when you say meet someone new do you mean like…” There was a pause, Airi picked out the words she used to ask this. “Like a significant other?”

Ena suddenly wanted to bash her head into the wall she was leaning on.

“No!—“ She hated how her voice went up an octave due to her sudden panic. “I mean… it’s complicated.” She realized now how embarrassing it was gonna be to explain everything.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about them.” Ena could hear Airi humming.

“Okay well I’m free all afternoon and Shizuku isn’t home so I’m all yours.” Ena smiled, grateful for how considerate Airi was.

She tried her best to explain everything that had happened in the past few weeks, with Airi humming and dropping some comments at times. When she talked about the mall and cafe, her face heated up and she could hear Airi snickering at some parts. She finished off with how their relationship was now and how they hadn’t made much progress.

“Wow Ena you’re really hopeless.” Muffled laughing from Airi’s end was heard.

“Shut up.” Ena grumbled, not finding this amusing in any way.

“Although from what you’re telling me, they’re just as down bad for you as you are for them.” Ena let out a whine; honestly hearing it from another person made her embarrassed.

“That doesn’t help. Anyways, what do I do?” There was silence, Ena assumed she was really taking her time to think about this.

“Hm, I’m sure if you just confess it’ll be fine. I mean you two clearly like each other.” A groan escaped from Ena’s lips.

“I don’t have the courage for this Airi.” Ena mumbled out.

“Would you rather pine forever?” There was a slight tease in Airi’s voice.

“You don’t have to do it immediately, Ena.” Ena thought about it, she was right.

Ena doesn’t remember the last time she was this into a person and she’s sure Airi doesn’t either. She really didn’t wanna mess this up, not with Mizuki.

“I guess you’re right. I’ll think about it, thank you Airi.” But to be honest, all Ena’s been doing lately was thinking of Mizuki and how to deal with them. She originally wasn’t making any progress so maybe Airi’s advice would help her.

“No problem! Anything to help. Call me if you need more help or you two successfully got together.” Ena gave a soft smile, she really didn’t deserve Airi.

“Will do. Bye Airi.” 

Airi said goodbye and Ena was back to thinking by herself. That’s what she would've done, if she didn’t see the new message Mizuki sent her.

Mizuki: you’re coming this saturday right?

Ena: Mizuki I’ve gone to all your performances, should you really ask anymore?

Mizuki: just wanted to clarify enanan, is that too bad??

Ena: Anything special happening for you to ask me?

Mizuki: wouldn’t you like to know

Ena: I would that’s why I’m asking dumbass

Mizuki: it’s a surprise enanan! just wait for two more days

Ena: whatever

Whatever they were planning, she wasn’t prepared for it in any way. She let out a heavy sigh and placed her phone down. Saturday better be special for Mizuki to randomly ask that again.

She lay down and closed her eyes, thinking of ways she could try telling Mizuki she liked them. Maybe straightforwardly? She’s always been that type of person so maybe it could work. Although like Airi said, she didn’t have to rush it.

She opened her eyes to check the time.

2:54AM.

Ena thought it’d be better to think about it in the morning, so she decided to sleep.

It was not better for her to think about it in the morning because unlike when she was tired, she didn’t overthink anything. Now she was overthinking everything.

It wasn’t like Ena to overthink like this, but for something she’s so inexperienced for, she couldn’t help but worry.

Airi’s words rung in her head as she groaned into her pillow. As per usual, she had woken up during the afternoon and it had been hours since she had first started her thinking spiral, so it was already night.

Saturday seemed to be coming closer everyday.

The surprise Mizuki mentioned plagued Ena’s mind. What the hell were they planning? If it was from Mizuki, she could expect anything and she’d still be wrong.

Ena shook her head and stopped herself to stop thinking about whatever Mizuki was doing and how she should go about their relationship.

Maybe after the concert that Saturday, or would that be too sudden?

Ena felt like she was about to pull out all her hair. She let out another groan before deciding she’d just meet Mizuki that Saturday; seeing the cause of all her spiraling will probably help her. Right?

It was Saturday and Ena didn't know if she should have been excited or not. She was going to the street performance alone this week due to Kanade being busy with composing as per usual. But Ena would admit: she’d been going out more. so she saw it as an improvement.

Ena’s life had been much more lively since Mizuki entered it and she couldn’t ask for anything more than the pink haired guitarist she stumbled upon that one evening.

She checked her outfit in the mirror, happy with what she chose she left the apartment room, but not before telling Kanade she was heading out.

The wind blew through her hair as she walked and took a moment to look at the sky. Currently it was blue, but in an hour or so it’d become orange fading to a variety of colors. A month and a few weeks ago, it had just been early spring, now it was in full swing.

Ena arrived exactly on time and saw Mizuki, who looked like they were just about to start the live show. They gave her a smile and a wave, and started speaking into the microphone.

“Thank you everyone who stopped by! Hope you’ll enjoy our performance!” And just like that, their performance started. It was like every other performance they’ve done, but it’s too early for Ena to question where the surprise was.

Although speaking of the performance, she would admit Mizuki’s voice still made her heart race. She always stood at the front of the crowds to see Mizuki best, but she tried her best to not stand directly in front of them because of how embarrassing it’d be, but Mizuki’s gaze always found her anyway.

The song ended; there were a few cheers and claps, pleased with the performance, but Ena couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than the surprise Mizuki had in store.

Mizuki talked again before the next song started. Honestly if Mizuki was messing with her and getting her all worried for nothing, she was gonna be pissed at them.

She sighed softly, deciding to just focus on the performance and be surprised for whatever Mizuki did, if it would even happen at all. 

She let herself get absorbed in their performance. Appreciating the sound of their voice, the guitar riffs, all Ena thought about was Mizuki but she’ll admit: Mafuyu and the drummer An, were both really good at playing.

The second song was over and now Ena was left wondering what would happen now,  because they usually only played two songs and the rare occasion of three.

That is, until Mizuki started speaking.

“Normally I’d say we’re done but uh…” they paused to breathe and it was obvious they were nervous. “…today I have a special performance or rather, it’ll be for someone special…” 

Mizuki’s eyes took a glance at Ena before turning away, blush rising onto their cheeks. Ena noticed and looked at them as she started blushing herself.

There’s no way they’re seriously doing this.

“Anyways! Please enjoy our last song for the night.” Their embarrassment was evident in their voice; they took a deep breath and started singing.

It was a melody Ena wasn’t familiar with; she was wondering if this was an original song. The way Mizuki was singing with such a gentle tone in their voice made her heart skip a beat, or multiple. The lyrics caught her eye too, this was definitely a love song.

Ena had no clue what was happening other than this is Mizuki probably confessing to her. Why were they so embarrassingly cute?

Ena was sure her face was burning red, and Mizuki’s was too.

The song ended and Mizuki and Ena locked eyes. Even for just a moment, it felt like it had just been the two of them and that Mizuki had privately sung her this song. Although that was not the case, since not even 3 seconds later Mizuki looked away.

They definitely had to talk about this.

The crowd started thinning up and it was only really Ena standing there. She watched Mizuki shoot her numerous glances at her from a distance.

Ena let out a sigh before going up to Mizuki who visibly sweated as they noticed Ena coming closer.

They hesitantly waved whilst awkwardly laughing. “Yahoo Enan—“

“Can we talk?” Ena cut off Mizuki, who was clearly not ready for anything that was about to happen.

Mizuki looked in every direction except Ena’s. For someone who just had the guts to do all that, they were far more nervous about this.

They spared a glance at Ena who was trying her best to stay calm. Seeing as Ena wouldn’t leave until they got to talk, they let out a heavy sigh.

“…Okay, fine.” Mizuki murmured.

Ena, seeing that she was successful, took Mizuki’s hand, whose breath hitched, and dragged them to somewhere more private, leaving Mafuyu and An in the process.

If she was being honest, she had no idea where she was heading; she’d assumed it had been around 5 minutes before they stopped walking.

Ena sighs before realizing she had been holding Mizuki’s hand this whole time. Heat rose into her cheeks as she quickly took her hand away, as if she had just touched a hot stovetop.

Mizuki already missed the warmth of her hand until they remembered the situation they were stuck in.

Mizuki was already looking away from Ena who had turned her head around to look at them.

“So?” Ena said as she raised a brow.

“…so?” Mizuki retorted weakly.

“Are we gonna talk about what just happened?” She groaned, clearly not amused.

“Do we have to…?” Mizuki whined.

“You were the one who pulled that stunt.” Ena was just waiting for Mizuki to give in and explain everything. Because if she was being honest, they would make her life easier by confessing first.

Mizuki groaned. They accepted defeat and started fidgeting while thinking of how and where to start. Ena decided she’d help with their thinking process.

“You can just say you like me back.” Mizuki owlishly blinked at her.

Back?

“Enanan what do you mean by like you… back?” Mizuki asked sheepishly, the redness on their face not leaving.

Ena let out a sigh, blush spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. “You really are a dumbass.”

“Hu—“ They were quickly cut off when they felt a weight of soft lips pressing onto theirs.

Oh. Ena was kissing them.

They didn’t know what to do when she moved closer to them, but they could feel her hands gently cupping their jaw. They subconsciously kissed back and wrapped their arms around her waist, pulling her in closer as Ena moved her arms around Mizuki’s neck.

After what felt like hours, they broke off the kiss. Both of them were extremely dazed before they were both asking themselves what the hell they were doing.

Neither of them pulled away from the embrace they had gotten themselves into. They stared at each other, both admiring the other’s facial features whilst matching the same shade of red blush.

They appreciated each other for what felt like forever until Ena decided to break the silence. “So?”

“…so.” Mizuki was surprised at the fact they had just kissed, but still felt quite nervous.

“Seriously, don't make me kiss you again just for us to make some progress.” Mizuki’s eyes lit up. Ena gave Mizuki a blank expression at their clear desire to kiss her again when the two of them hadn’t even talked about anything.

Ena sighed, changing her previous statement. “We are not kissing again until you and I talk about whatever feelings we have for each other.”

Mizuki pouted. Considering the two were still in their embrace, Mizuki could’ve just given her another kiss right there and then, but instead they sighed.

“That special performance was for you. Is that what you wanted to hear…?” Mizuki looked over to the side, mumbling.

“Mmm.” Ena hummed in slight agreement, lightly playing with Mizuki’s hair. “Anything else you wanna share?”

“Come on Enanan! Why have I been doing all the talking? Don’t you have to tell me something too?” Mizuki complained. Ena had to bite back a smile at how Mizuki was acting, she found it cute.

“Fine, I like you.” She watched as Mizuki’s face became redder.

“…I like you too.” They say before hiding their face in Ena’s shoulder, forcing Ena to move her arms down to their waist instead of around their neck.

Mizuki was normally the more confident one who teased her, so seeing this vulnerable side of them was rare. Although it wasn’t like Ena minded.

“We should properly talk about this, y’know.” Mizuki made a sound of agreement but made no effort to move and instead made themselves more comfortable, nuzzling their head closer to the crook of Ena’s neck.

“Mizuki I can’t stand here all night just because you’re comfortable.” Ena said whilst subconsciously bringing them closer.

“We like each other Enanan. What more is there to do?” Mizuki mumbled against her neck.

“I mean what are we?“ Ena said before leaning her head against Mizuki’s. Mizuki stayed silent, carefully picking out their words.

The few seconds that were gone thinking felt like hours had passed. Hesitantly, Mizuki spoke up.

“What do you want us to be Ena…?” She could feel Mizuki hugging her tighter. Their voice was delicate and fragile like glass that could break at any moment if something went wrong.

“I mean I’d like us to start dating in some sort of way... but what do you wanna do Mizuki?” Ena could feel Mizuki letting out a soft chuckle.

“So quick to turn it back on me huh?” They teased before a slight pause. “I mean if you’re fine with it… I’d love to start dating you…”

“Of course I’d be fine with it. I just said I’d like us to start dating, dumbass.” Mizuki smiled and let out another small laugh before going back to being comfortable in the two’s shared embrace.

Ena on the other hand, although enjoying their warmth, was not having it.

“Oi. Just ‘cause I said that we could start dating doesn’t mean you could go back to being all comfortable like that.”

“You’re just so comfy Enanan. Is it so wrong for me to cuddle my girlfriend?” Ena wondered if they had even reached that point of labels when all they agreed on was that they were okay with dating.

“Yeah but not in some random street. And girlfriend? I don’t remember either of us finalizing this.”

Mizuki hummed as they started thinking. “Well fine then, Enanan will you be my girlfriend?”

It was now Ena’s turn to become all flustered. Honestly, they were acting all embarrassed just a second ago too.

Mizuki noticed Ena’s silence and pulled away from the crook of her neck to look back at Ena, who was blushing furiously red.

Mizuki saw this as the perfect opportunity to tease her. “Hmm? Enanan, cat got your tongue?”

She groaned as she looked away. “You’re insufferable.”

“You love me all the same. So, what’s your answer?” Mizuki looked at Ena with expectant eyes.

“Yeah whatever.” Ena grumbled, but honestly, she was really happy.

Mizuki gave her a cheeky grin, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

The two finally broke off their embrace after around 20 minutes.

“Where should we go now?” Mizuki looked at Ena, who just gave them a tired look.

“You have way too much energy.” Ena sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“I’ll take that as a compliment!”

Mizuki smirked at Ena quickly after they said that. “Although, are you sure it’s not just because you stay up late every night?”

“I wonder why I’m dating you.” Not even 10 minutes after solidifying their relationship, it was already being threatened.

“Enanan… don’t say that…” Mizuki whined out.

She let out the heaviest sigh, quite tired from today. She offered her hand to Mizuki who happily took it and the pair started walking.

The walk was surrounded by comfortable silence, the only few things breaking it was the laughter of Mizuki and the murmuring of Ena. Ena, being quite tired, slightly leant onto Mizuki’s shoulder for some support, Mizuki laughed at her and found it amusing.

The new couple didn’t really know where they were heading, most likely Ena’s apartment complex.

After a while, they reached the apartment and the two were left to part once more, although they’d most likely spend tonight on call with each other.

“This is your stop Enanan.” Ena stopped leaning on Mizuki’s shoulder and stood up straight to the best of her ability.

As she moved to take away her hand, Mizuki quickly pulled it back. She looked at them, confused and about to ask why until they brought her hand to their lips and pressed a few soft kisses onto her hand.

Heat rose upon her cheeks again as she looked at the source of her embarrassment. “What’s this for?”

“No reason.” Mizuki smirked, pulling her hand away from their lips and letting go of it.

She sighed for the umpteenth time that day, and walked closer to Mizuki. Grabbing their shoulders, she tiptoed and gave them a peck on the lips.

They stood still, dumbfounded before giving a sheepish grin. Ena smiled back at the pretty sight in front of her.

“Bye Mizuki, don’t forget to text me when you get home.” Ena said as she pulled away from Mizuki.

They gave her a nod. “Will do. Bye Enanan!” Giving her a wave as she walked into the complex.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Mizuki slowly leaving and with that, she headed over to her apartment room.

She opened the door, quickly locking it before getting into her own room and closing it.

She collapsed onto bed due to the mental ride she’d gone through that day. It all felt surreal to Ena, but she wasn’t complaining as she still felt the ghost of Mizuki’s warmth on her hand.

Everything that had happened left Ena dizzy, but she wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.

Finally getting to date Mizuki was anything Ena could’ve asked for.

Ena stood there, waiting for Mizuki to finish packing up everything for the street performance, although nowadays it’d just be Mafuyu carrying it all home with the help of An.

They finished and ran up to her straight away after waving goodbye to Mafuyu and An.

“Let’s go?” Ena looked at Mizuki, who currently had a guitar case with an extra bag behind their back. She was left wondering if that was the electric guitar they had used that day, or the acoustic one they used when they went to the mall for a date.

“Yep!” Today Mizuki was going to spend the night over at Ena’s apartment.

“You said Kanade was away for the weekend right?” Mizuki looked at Ena curiously.

“Yeah, she’s visiting her dad’s house.” Mizuki nodded and grabbed Ena’s hand as they both started walking towards Ena’s apartment.

“I’ve been staying over at your place a lot ever since we started dating huh?”

“Yeah and I haven’t really been to your place a lot at all.” Ena complained which got a laugh out of Mizuki.

“Hey, it’s not my fault Mafuyu isn’t a big fan of people coming over.” Ena just sighed as she accepted the fact that she’d never really get to see Mizuki’s room in person.

They reached the apartment building and headed straight to Ena’s apartment room. Ena opened it and let Mizuki inside before locking the door and flopping onto the couch, which Mizuki laughed at.

“Tired Enanan?” They smiled as they put down their stuff, before walking to sit down next to Ena who noticed Mizuki and moved to place her head on their lap.

“Mmm.” Ena hummed; she wasn’t that tired, but Mizuki was comfortable.

“If you wanna sleep we could always go to your bed and cuddle.” Mizuki suggested as they start playing with Ena’s hair.

“I don’t wanna sleep yet, you’re just comfy.” Mizuki hummed in response, continuing to play with Ena’s hair as she closed her eyes, although not yet asleep.

They stayed like that for a while, until Mizuki remembered an idea they had. “Enanan, can I get up?”

Ena groaned but got up anyway, missing Mizuki’s warmth immediately. Mizuki got up to grab their guitar case, and placed it down to get the acoustic guitar sitting inside.

Ena looked at her partner confused, on what they planned on doing as they tuned the guitar. “What are you doing?”

“Well… I thought it’d be fun if I privately sang you the song I sang during the special performance!” They looked up from their guitar to give Ena a smile.

A pink tint appeared on Ena’s cheeks. They could be so affectionately cute sometimes.

Mizuki finished tuning the guitar and looked up at Ena. “I’ll be starting now.” Ena quietly hummed and Mizuki started strumming their guitar and sang out the tune.

Their voice was gentle and soft, just like when they had performed it at the street performance. Ena loved all sides of Mizuki but she’ll admit; she liked seeing this one a lot, the one where it was just the two of them and when they were being extremely affectionate to Ena.

They always were loving and affectionate, but when they were like this, it felt slightly different but in the best way possible.

She listened to how much their voice sounded like a beautiful melody, how the guitar sounded along with the said voice.

She watched them as they sang and she found herself staring at Mizuki’s lips. They finished the song and Ena moved herself closer to kiss Mizuki.

She closed the distance and her lips were met with Mizuki’s soft ones. She cupped their jaw with one hand, and used the other to try and pull them closer, which was proven to be difficult with their guitar still laying in their arms.

They pressed back on the kiss, carefully holding their guitar with one arm as they moved their other one to Ena’s waist.

Mizuki pulled back after a few more seconds, as Ena moved to hide herself in the crook of their neck, moving her arms around their waist in the process.

That made a laugh escape out of Mizuki as they discarded the guitar back into its case, before wrapping their arms around Ena pulling her closer.

“You really like kissing me when I least expect it y’know?” Mizuki teased. She didn’t retort, but instead let out a groan against their neck.

A few moments passed before Ena looked up again, her eyes darting to the guitar that lay in the case beside them. 

“Mizuki, will you play another song?” She mumbled, wanting to hear the enticing melodies of their songs again.

“Ehhh? You sure make me do a lot of work Enanan.. alright.” Their joking tone faded into one of sincerity, smiling sweetly at their slightly drowsy partner as they picked up the guitar once more.

“Any requests?”

“Whatever you think would suit best.”

With that response, Mizuki thought about it for a bit, before nodding and preparing to start.

It was one of their most commonly played songs during their street performances, and also happened to be the first one Ena had heard from them. With the memories of their first meeting flowing back to her, Ena felt happy waves of nostalgia enter her brain.

The sun was setting, leaving a gradient of warm orange and pink tints in the sky outside, the rays of color filling the room through the window, matching the atmosphere created from Mizuki’s performance.

As they reached the final chorus of the song, Mizuki looked up at Ena with a caring gaze, to which Ena reciprocated. At that point in time, both of their visions were full of one another, both of their ears listening to the same, sweet tune.

Mizuki strummed the final chord of the song, their vocals dying down into a comfortable silence as the performance ended.

They held the guitar against their chest, looking up again to see Ena’s reaction, which consisted of a warm smile and a bright light glistening in her eyes.

Both of them just silently gazed at each other, which was broken off by their soft bursts of laughter that made the world feel like their oyster.

At that very moment, they were both content to the fullest, as the sun’s final rays before night shone on the pair tied together by love, music and chance.