Chapter Text
Saki Tenma vs The Forces of Evil
Shiho-pyon: Does anyone want to hang out at my place later?
Shiho-pyon: Shizuku has schedules all day so I'm alone at home.
Star Tenma: sorry shiho i already have plans with kasa today :(
Hona-chan: I have to go to Yoisaki's place today, sorry Shiho
Icchan: I'm free shiho
Icchan: when should I come over?
Shiho-pyon: Just after practice is fine.
Icchan: okay ❤️
4️⃣=1️⃣
Ichika waved at Saki as she exited the practice room. Honami had already left for her housekeeping “job” (it hasn’t been her job for years), and Shiho stepped out to sort out their practice room bookings for the next couple of weeks. Deciding to not linger in the room much longer, Ichika slung her guitar case onto her back and headed to the reception area of the studio building. Conveniently, Shiho had just finished booking their rooms and turned to Ichika as soon as she heard her.
“Ready to go?” Shiho asked, putting a hand out for Ichika to grab. She, along with the rest of her group, were pleasantly surprised by how openly affectionate Shiho was with them, always looking to hold their hands or glue herself to their sides in an attempt to meld her body with theirs.
Ichika grabbed her hand, answering “yeah, let’s go.”
The walk to Shiho’s home was quiet, but comfortable. They spoke a little about how practice went that day, but otherwise they chose to just enjoy the serenity twilight brought. Ichika and Shiho soon arrived at the Hinomori residence, none of its residents home to see it.
“So…” Ichika started. “What do you want to do now that we’re here?” Shiho thought about it for a little bit, then looked back at Ichika.
“Let’s cook dinner together, then we’ll figure that out” was her final response as she slipped into her house slippers.
Shiho’s idea of dinner today was instant ramen, something Ichika was not against as soon as she pulled out a pot of yakisoba instant noodles and a hot dog bun - she knew her girlfriend too well. The yakisoba cup noodle wasn’t exactly the best brand of noodles, but Ichika is grateful nonetheless. Cup noodle had one of the better flavours anyway, so she’s not complaining. They start eating in silence, enjoying the simplistic but delicious food in good company, before Ichika remembered she had a question for Shiho.
“Oh yeah, Shiho,” Ichika asked, said girl looking up from her ramen pot. “I need a bit of help with a melody I’m writing and I need a second opinion. Could you give it a listen and tell me what you think?” She simply nodded in response, immediately returning to her food as if disinterested. Ichika could read her expressions though, the speed Shiho ate at increasing and her eyes holding a glimmer they only had when thinking about music. By the time Ichika took another bite from her yakisoba-pan, Shiho cleared the rest of her ramen, now staring intensely at Ichika as if she could make her eat faster. Unfortunately for Ichika, she is a slave to her girls' commands, so she ate the yakisoba-pan like she’d die if it’s not finished in the next minute.
As soon as the last bite was consumed, both girls grabbed their instruments, Ichika pulling out some sheet paper that was underneath her guitar. She improvised a music stand out of books on the coffee table and propped up the sheet, then plugged her guitar into her mini-amp.
“So I’m trying to make this sound a little soft?” Ichika explained, tone slightly unsure. “I want the song to make you feel like cuddling with a loved one under the stars, but I feel like it’s missing something.” She started playing the draft song, not looking up to see Shiho’s reaction until she finished playing. Her eyes were squinted, brows furrowed in thought, though Ichika could see her usual fondness every time she watched a member play.
“Hmm… I see what you mean by there being something missing,” is what she finally responded with. Suddenly, the bassist had a playful glint in her eyes. “Have you got… experience with the feeling you want to portray?”
Ichika could already tell where this was going. “Not really,” she blatantly lied, a smirk slowly growing on her face. It had only been a few days since she drove out with all her girlfriends to cuddle under the stars for Honami’s birthday. “I hear that the stars are visible tonight, and it isn’t too chilly outside either.”
Shiho’s expression changed to match Ichika’s smirk. “Are you propositioning me, Ichika?” Instantly, Ichika lost their very short game of chicken, flustering and kicking Shiho’s shin.
“No, Shiho, don’t be weird about it, oh my god.” Ichika exasperated, getting up to grab a blanket to go outside. Not even the reddest of tomatoes could compare to Ichika’s blush, the girl doing everything in her power to not look at Shiho. Shiho cackled at her response, getting up to grab a blanket and unlocking the door to the back garden. They took their instruments out with them but put them to a side, Shiho laying down her bigger blanket for them to place the guitar and bass on. Once they settled, Shiho resting her head on Ichika’s chest and the latter’s arms circling the former’s waist, Ichika pulled the blanket over them and looked up to the sky.
“Well,” Ichika sighed. “Tokyo’s light pollution has ruined the entire-” a hand was shoved unceremoniously at her mouth, the rest of her sentence being muffled as Shiho glared at her.
“Shush, we both know we’re just cuddling and wanted a work excuse to do that.” They both also choose to pretend this isn’t more for Shiho’s clingy tendencies otherwise she would kick her out early. They sat in silence for a little while, just enjoying each other’s company while thinking about the other half of their partners.
“I’m surprised Saki was able to lock Tsukasa down for an evening,” Ichika spoke up. “That man has been doing nothing but work for months, even Emu told me she hardly gets a chance to see him at home.”
Shiho’s responding hum vibrated through Ichika, like a cat purring. She didn’t say anything else on that matter, face scrunched up in thought.
“Do you think Honami will open up about her dates with Kanade?”
A question that they all knew had been on Shiho’s mind the longest: the rhythm squad were closest to each other, and if there was a secret one of them was keeping, the other would almost always know it.
Almost.
Honami had already communicated her wish to date Kanade, and Kanade had also spoken to them about it, all parties making it clear that it was okay and setting their boundaries for each other. However, while Ichika frequently gets messages from Kanade talking about Honami and their dates, Honami had been acting as if nothing was going on. It was agitating Shiho especially, but she didn’t want to confront the drummer when she knew they weren’t ready to. They all knew, trusted that she would talk about her actions sometime in the near future, but Shiho couldn’t help getting impatient about it.
“Give her a bit more time, Shiho” was what Ichika finally settled on. “I trust her to come to us eventually, and I’m sure you do too. She’s probably just trying to figure out how to word her feelings at this point, I doubt she’ll drag it on any longer.”
Both girls fall silent, letting the words settle in their skin. Slowly, as to not disturb the atmosphere too much, Shiho sat up from her position, moving to grab her bass.
“I think I know why your melody feels like it’s missing something.” Ichika stared at her in confusion before remembering why they had even gone outside in the first place. “I think the melody sounds fine, but the reason you’re not quite getting the feeling you want is because it’s missing the ‘loved one’ you’re meant to be cuddling.”
Ichika was awestruck watching Shiho, her skilled hand flying across the fretboard, strumming a simple bassline. Her face glowed in the light of the moon, a soft smile on her face and even softer eyes looking down at her hands. It felt like time moved in slow motion when she lifted her head a bit to look at Ichika, and she hadn’t realised there was a drop for her heart to fall even further in love with the bassist until this moment. As if in a trance, she grabbed her guitar and played the melody she was working on, Shiho seamlessly changing up the way she was playing to match with the melody.
Ichika couldn’t be paid to change anything about this moment they shared under the light of the moon.