Chapter Text
She let her left hand drop, mic to the side, and raised her right hand proudly, a finger pointed to the ceiling.
The crowd cheered, a surge of excited screams filling the venue. Sweat trickled down her head, but the ticklish sensation were not felt by her. Right now, she was in the zone.
"And there you have it, the final performance by sensational hip hop underground rapper Mori Calliope! That brings the show to an end, everyone please give it up for her!"
Calli felt her heart beat wildly, adrenaline pumping her heart. She did it, she'd successfully gotten through the live event, and everywhere, everyone was rooting for her.
She smiled. "Thank you everyone, thank you all! I hope you all have a great day!" she said as the other performers ran up on the stage and delivered their own final goodbyes.
Another wave of cheers as they made their retreat. She and her collaborators laughed, assistants coming to offer them a towel.
"Thank you," she told one of them. "I really need that."
"Hey, Calli, you wanna join us for some afterparty?" a fellow rapper asked. "We're thinking of going to a pub in the city over. Just a two stop train ride, apparently they've got some good stuff I was recommended. What you say?"
The pink haired rapper smiled, but shook her head. "Thank you, but I'm afraid I've got matters to attend to. Thanks for the invite though."
Her friend nodded. "Shame, but alright. Have a good day, yo!" Turning around, he motioned to the other rappers that had gathered for this live event. "Let's hit up some bars, yo!"
They cheered, and they made their exit, while Calli took a chug out a water bottle. She emptied half of it and twisted the lid shut, handing it back to an event staff. "Thanks, again. I'll be taking my leave now, please give my regards to the organizer."
After receiving a nod, she dressed herself and took her leave as well. In the wake of dying hype, she quietly departed from the premises and took a left turn, under a highway bridge.
People were walking around, those getting by their afternoons, those having just left the events. A hooded figure stood against a wall, a figure she recognized easily.
Calli couldn't help but smile, and made her way over to the figure, an arm raised, her hair tied into a ponytail, and a black-pink cap on her head. "Hey."
The hooded girl blinked and looked to her, then got off the wall. "Hey," she greeted. "How was the live?"
"I should be asking you that," the pinkette replied. "I saw you in the audience, Sora. What'd you think?"
Sora smiled. "I think you were amazing! You were so cool up there, I'm glad I got to attend this event as well as all the others!" It was so bright, the way she looked so genuinely happy. If looks could kill, this would be a bizarre case where cuteness kills her, or at least Calli thought exaggeratedly. "I'm glad you got me a ticket, but I still feel like I should pay the full price for that."
"It's fine, it's fine, I told you I'm allowed to do that," Calli replied with a chuckle. "It's good that you had fun watching the live. Did anyone bother you during the show?"
"It got a little cramped sometimes, but nope! It's an experience without any sour memories!" Sora chirped and took her hand in her own, causing the rapper to feel her cheeks burn red.
"Ye, yeah, uh. Good for you." She scratched her cheek with the other hand, looking away. The other girl definitely knew what she was doing, and she pulled Calli over out into the light, the city view brightening up. "So, uh. Any... any plans for today?" Calli asked.
Sora shook her head. "Nope. You?"
She shrugged. "Nothing else for today. I'm done after the live, so... what say we hit up some ramen? My treat."
At that, the other girl beamed. "Really? Let's go then! Oh, but I can pay for myself, so no paying for me!"
"Alright, whatever, I got ya." Calli rolled her eyes as she began walking, Sora in tow, quietly planning in her head to justify paying for the girl.
A couple of minutes later, after a peaceful train ride, they got off at an underground station and walked around a bit.
"This here's a pretty nice place," Calli said as she motioned to a store. "Me and my buddies come here a lot. Or, used to, before I became a rapper."
Sora stared, in awe. "Ooooh. So it's like a store from your past," she said.
"...that's, uh, one way to look at it, I guess," the rapper replied. It really wasn't all that big - she just came here a lot in the past, that was it.
But the other girl's excitement made it hard to point that out, for her enthusiasm guaranteed the girl was going to enjoy her time here.
"Hey, come on now. Best not stand around in people's way like this." Calli led the brunette over to the store, stopping short in front of a selection machine. "I'll get myself a spicy one. You?"
Sora looked over the buttons and smiled. "I'll have the same one as you!" Nodding, Calli pressed her option and put in some coins, grabbing her ticket. She pressed the same option again, put in the change she received, and took the second ticket. "How spicy is it?"
"...ya should've asked that before," the pink haired artist muttered. "It's not all that bad, I guess. Unless you're, like, really weak to spices."
"I can handle spicy. Kinda." They took their seats, next to one another, and handed the ticket over to the chef. "So you came here often, huh?"
Calli shrugged. "It's nice and cheap. Me and the others loved it."
"That's nice. I'm having some expectations for this place now that you recommend it," Sora replied with a grin. "If you love it, I'm sure I'll love it too."
Her cheeks reddened again. "Stop that, that's embarrassing," Calli muttered. "PDA..."
"Nothing wrong with a little flirting," Sora teased. "I hope you didn't come here for all three meals a day, though. That would be a fast way to get bored of something supposedly so good."
Oop. "Well, I've... never done that, of course," the rapper said. "...I might've sometimes just skipped eating entirely except for coming here at night to recharge." On second thoughts, maybe I shouldn't have said that.
"Calli..." Sora frowned. "That's not healthy."
"I... I know, I know. I already got chewed out a lot when I tell others about that," Calli said.
With a huff, Sora looked away. "Good. Maybe that should teach you to take better care of yourself."
"Oh, come on, I'm trying," the pink haired artist sighed.
"At least you're not still doing that."
"..." The ensuing stare was not heartwarming.
Sora gasped, shocked. "Really?"
She brought her hands up defensively. "It's... it's a work in progress."
"...Calli, do you have any plans tonight?" she asked.
The girl gulped. "...I might be writing some new raps."
"And dinner?" Her eyes were cold, no room for jokes.
"...onigiri from Seven's and a can of beer?"
Sora sighed. "We're going out somewhere tonight."
"B-but my raps..."
The brunette put a finger to the rapper's lips, shutting her up. "We're having dinner together, that's that."
"Yes ma'am."
As if by the grace of gods, the chefs finally delivered them their bowls of noodles, and Calli almost felt relieved. Amost. Thank god.
Sora, immediately distracted by the food, pulled a pair of chopsticks and stared at the broth. "Wow, it's... a bit orange. I can sort of smell the spiciness."
"Want to order something cold to down it with?" Calli asked. "Or, something else, and I can have that for you."
"No, it's fine, I can handle a little bit of spice," Sora replied and tied her hair up, in similar fashion to the rapper. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to call myself an idol."
Completely irrelevant, but okay. Calli proceeded to request two cups of iced cola from the chefs anyways, and began to dive into her meal.
The brunette next to her did the same, but unlike her, she could not shelve her reaction to the spice and pulled back with a cute yelp. "Hah... th, thash shpicyh..."
Calli chuckled as she swallowed. She held up Sora's cup of iced cola. "Here."
She watched as Sora began fluttering her hand to her mouth, as if to fan the hotness away. Cute. "Y-you said it wasn't that spicy...!" she rasped weakly.
"I said it wasn't all that bad," the rapper replied. "...for me."
"You're mean sometimes," Sora muttered, forming a pout.
"Come on now, I'll finish it for you if you can't take it anymore."
The girl shook her head. "No, I can do this. I will do this! ...just, uh, don't eat too fast. I'll take a while."
Calli nodded, smiling. "Yes, yes. I'll take it easy."
Although she'd already been used to the spice, as she watched Sora down her meal at a snail's pace, Calli found herself charmed all over again.
Her mouth may not be burning now, but her heart melted all the same.