Chapter Text
It was half past eight and most of the members of Nightcord at 25:00 were on a voice call. For a while only typing could be heard within the chatroom as each member found their place, mostly. While it may have been early, unfortunately their muses have a similar sleep schedule to the group, only waking up at the dead of night. Not only that, Kanade was missing from the call as well.
“...Amia, did you get the resources I sent you?” Ena asked, bringing the microphone closer to her face.
“You sent me resources?” Mizuki replied, scrambling to find the ‘.zip’ file Ena sent through Nightcord.
“Did you not get the notification?” Ena asked, picking up the pen to her drawing tablet and opening Paint 3D, drawing several circles and shapes.
“I think I had our chat open, so it didn’t send me a ping, whoopsies,” Mizuki giggles, unzipping the file and transferring the contents onto their computer.
“Anyway, where is K? Yuki, do you know?” Ena prompted Mafuyu who had been sitting in the voice call silently.
“She came back from having dinner with Mochizuki—she’s talking to her right now,” Mafuyu replied, holding her phone close to her. “I don’t think she will be coming any time soon. When I finished my meal Kanade was only halfway,” Mafuyu whispered, adjusting her position on the bed Kanade provided for her.
“Strangely out of character for K,” Mizuki added, opening Final Cut Pro on their computer. “It’s usually Enanan who keeps us up,” Mizuki snickered.
“Hey! At least I’m not the one who didn’t notice a file package being sent being told it would be sent,” Ena pouted, drawing more circles viciously.
“You could have asked me if I got it a bit earlier, Enanan,” Mizuki whined, finally getting Final Cut Pro open.
“And you could have opened your editing software before then, but you’re probably doing that right now, aren’t you?” Ena crossed her arms.
“...No comment,” Mizuki replied, opening Chrome and searching ‘silly stock images’. “Just know that when you’re arguing with me, this is who you’re arguing with,” Mizuki sends an image of a lady in a business suit holding a gun to a goldfish.
“If you’re going to send me a stock photo, at least find one that I haven't seen,” Ena stated, opening the image. Just as Ena opened the image, someone entered the voice chat.
“Oh, K, you’re here,” Mizuki announced.
“Hello, K,” Ena added.
“Welcome,” Mafuyu whispered.
Kanade was silent, Mafuyu could see Kanade pondering as she got to her desktop where three CD’s she borrowed from Ichika laid with the album covers facing up. She’s had them for some months now. She acknowledged the CD’s, but proceeded to her Nightcord call, putting on her headphones and adjusting the microphone built onto them,“Hey guys…” Kanade finally spoke, quietly like she normally does, “How do I tell someone that I love them?”
“Ehhh!?” Mizuki gasped, accidentally clicking on a stock image of Justin Bieber looking appalled at a DSI.
“K, are you finally going to confess to Honami?” Ena asked, switching over to her Nightcord window.
“Just tell her that you love her,” Mafuyu stated bluntly, staring at Kanade adjusting her headphones while she blushed. “She’s red like a dragon,” Mafuyu added.
“I didn’t know my relationship with Mochizuki-san was of great interest to the group,” Kanade smiled, knowing that the only person who could see was Mafuyu.
“No duh! You talk about her like she is your god!” Mizuki yelled through the microphone.
“I wouldn’t say ‘god’ per say, but she truly means a lot to you. Doesn’t she, K?” Ena responded, prompting Kanade to answer.
“There are so many things I want to tell her,” Kanade glanced down to her fingers, fidgeting with the edges of her nails, “so many words spiral my head whenever I talk to her, it's like a riptide sweeping me into its chasmic void and forcing me to swim to shore with what little ability I have— so many emotions I never knew I had, whirring around my body like a blizzard of petals falling at the end of spring—with no place to call home yet always ending up on the ground,” Kanade continued, now playing with the cord to her headphones that leads to her desktop, “It hurts—it really hurts…to think of what she could say because she may never feel the same. How do I tell her? How do I tell her that I love her? How do I tell her that she means so much to me? How do I tell her that I want to be with her? How do I tell her that if there was a world without her, there would be a world without me!” Kanade belted, placing her hand to her heart. There was silence for a moment. A moment too long, reminiscent of an eternity—moving only forward, but only for so long before regret sinks in and retrospect desires a reversal.
Breathing from Ena’s microphone could be heard as well as the soft scratches of her pen making contact with the tablet on the table. Some desperate mouse clicks could be heard from Mizuki’s end. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to shift the atmosphere. I should have kept this to myself–”
“Make her a song,” Mafuyu interrupted, adjusting her earbuds in the same action.
“...I like that idea,” Mizuki responded, saving the Justin Bieber image they clicked on for another time.
“I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that in the first place,” Kanade replied, flustered.
“You’ve been so caught up in saving Mafuyu you forgot you could make music for other people,” Ena joked.
“Not saved, by the way,” Mafuyu answered, smiling ironically.
“Yuki, you are either the calmest person in the group or the out of pocket one, you can never strike a balance,” Mizuki observed.
“I’ve been trying to find extremes recently, no point in living in the moderate,” Mafuyu replied, now laying down on the bed face up, “If I can’t make everyone happy, then I should satisfy myself.”
Kanade smiled softly, “I’m sorry to ask…” Kanade felt the weight of her passion on her shoulders, somehow the only weight she has been able to sustain for so long besides that of her own guilt, “but is it okay if you guys could help with my song for Mochizuki-san.”
“Of course,” Ena replied, getting her tablet ready for actual art.
“How could we not? I already have an idea!” Mizuki replied, closing out Ena’s project resources and opening a Google Doc.
“If everyone else is doing it,” Mafuyu answered, looking over to Kanade, watching her curl up into a ball in her chair and explode with a grin on her face, “Kanade says 'thank you.'”