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A light pink envelope slid onto Umiri's desk. A thumb-sized red heart sticker sealed it on the front. Umiri looked up at the messenger.
“This is?”
“It’s NOT mine,” Taki responded instantly to Umiri’s questioning glance. “Some other student wanted me to deliver it to you.”
What the fuck am I doing.
Taki could imagine at least 500 different, more productive things she could be doing on this fine afternoon after class, instead of whatever this was. “This” being, delivering a confession letter to her classmate and (probably) friend Umiri on behalf of some other girl whose name Taki truthfully didn’t even remember (it started with an S , she thinks). But alas, here she was, eyes locked with Umiri and trying her best not to break her scowl, because Umiri was sure as hell going to tease her over any sign of embarrassment.
God, that girl is so damn lucky.
Taki obviously didn’t think this about Umiri, but about the letter’s writer, the forgettable Classmate S. After all, even Taki herself conceded that there was no way she was a generous enough person to accept Classmate S’s secondhand confession request on any average day.
But, fortunately for Classmate S, Taki was having quite the above-average day: MyGO!!!!! had an exceptional performance the previous night; she just had a perfect composition idea during math class; and Anon texted her an admittedly very well-shot selfie of Anon with Tomori right before classes ended (Taki contemplated cropping out Anon, but no, she was indeed feeling generous today). And right after this was of course when Classmate S found her in the hallway about to leave for band practice, asking the confused yet unusually unbothered Taki to deliver a confession letter to Umiri on her behalf.
What the hell is this cough syrup colored letter. And this corny sticker. Does this girl even know anything about Umiri? No way I’m doing this for someone who can’t even muster the courage to deliver it themselves. Taki thought, promptly rejecting Classmate S’s request.
That is, this would have been the case on any average day.
But of course, Taki had to be having one really nice day, had to be feeling really charitable for some reason. So instead…
Well, what the hell. Could be interesting to see how Umiri reacts to this kind of stuff. See if she ever expresses any other facial expression than that smug grin of her’s. Taki thought, promptly accepting Classmate S’s request to her absolute delight.
And I guess I can see if she’s into girls… Or just, humans, in any romantic capacity. Taki also mused for a split second, for reasons even she didn’t understand.
So like that, Taki was now standing by Umiri’s desk, telling the black-haired girl that this gaudy confession letter she was delivering was in fact, not actually her’s.
“From another student? Who would that be?” Umiri asked with her usual blank stare.
“Name should be on the letter inside,” Taki responded, then emphatically, “Her name.”
Taki and Umiri locked eyes, Taki trying her best to maintain her poker face and not slam her head into Umiri’s desk or the bass case by her chair.
“I see. Thanks for delivering this to me.”
Taki watched as Umiri cleanly detached the heart sticker with her fingernail, unfolded the letter inside, and scanned the writing in silence. Her eyes carefully examined each line, though her expression remained constant as she read the letter from the top to the name on the very bottom. She looked up at Taki, still standing by.
“Did you need something?”
“I didn’t waste my time giving this to you just to miss your reaction. Not that you really reacted. Also, I’m probably supposed to get your response for whoever wrote this, right?”
“Ah, I suppose that’s true,” Umiri responded as she folded the letter back into the envelope and tucked it away into her bag. Her voice was monotone as always. “Could you tell Sakura-san that I’ll unfortunately have to reject her confession? I still found her writing to be quite flattering, if you could also tell her that.”
“Heh, not into girls? You probably aren’t getting another one of these for the rest of your life you know.” Taki smirked as she took a jab at Umiri. They both knew that wasn’t true.
“Oh, I’m quite alright with dating women,” Umiri replied matter-of-factly. Then, a nuclear bomb. “I simply have another person I’m interested in at the moment. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a rehearsal to attend.”
Umiri left with her bass case, leaving a stunned Taki behind.
What.
The.
Fuck.
“Ricky, wasn’t my selfie with Tomori sooooo cute? I mean, Tomori’s actually a natural at posing for photos, who knew! Hey, I bet you’re jealous of me, right? Taking such a wonderful photo with your dear Tomorin, our faces all close and-”
Oh god my brain’s going to explode.
Honestly, Taki didn’t really get what she was feeling at the moment. Nor why she was feeling whatever she was feeling. What she did know was that right now, sitting on the RiNG lobby bench while staring at the ceiling was making the rapid onslaught of shock responses and conspiracy theories in her head feel a lot more manageable. That was, until Anon had to come ruin even this moment of respite.
“Ricky? why aren’t you saying anything…”
Ok so Umiri is lesbian, I get that. Or bi. That’s fine too.
“Ricky! There’s a giant purple panda walking through the door!”
Wait, why does knowing she’s into women make me feel… excited?
“Ricky, are you still upset that I stole your orange juice yesterday?”
So that’s where my juice disappeared to. That was from Umiri too.
“I promise I’ll buy you another one! I’ll buy you two more!”
But anyways… Umiri is… attracted to someone…?
“I’ll buy you up to… ten! But I think that’s about it unless you want me cutting into Raana’s weekly matcha parfait budget?”
She had to mean romantically… right? I don’t… get it… Why does my head hurt so-
“Ricky I’m going to poke your cheek if you keep ignoring me.”
“Anon I will smack you with my drum sticks.”
Taki finally sat up, turning towards a frowning Anon, her pointed index finger just centimeters away from Taki’s face. Anon was quick to respond with a smile.
“You okay, Ricky? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this… lifeless? Usually you just snap at me on a bad day, but you’re never this out of it, y’know?”
Despite Taki’s scowl, Anon continued smiling. Though Anon got on her nerves way more than any other human being, Taki knew Anon was right. And it was kind of her to notice. It was undoubtedly one of her strengths as a band member and as a person.
“Ugh,” Taki sighed. “It’s just…”
“Just…?” Anon slid closer to Taki.
Taki struggled to get the right words out. What could she really say when she didn’t even know what she was all weirded out over?
“Well, I think you’d have already mentioned it if it was something with me or the band… so, is it family stuff? Your sister? Or is it school? Is it… romance-”
“Shut up for a sec.” Taki tensed up as she faced Anon.
Wait, isn’t Anon popular in her school? I feel like she mentioned it a few times. Or was it Tomori? Anyways, wouldn’t she know what’s going on with me? Also, she’s met Umiri. Gah, I hate this, but whatever, I don’t want this distracting me during practice later.
“Anon, you remember Umiri? The emo bassist I brought into practice that one time?”
“Mhm! Yahata-san, right? She was like a cooler and nicer version of you.”
“So,” Taki ignored the comment and audibly exhaled before continuing. “Would it be surprising if she was… into someone?”
Anon tilted her head, expression undecipherable.
“Uh… no? Why would that be surprising?”
“Mm,” Taki crossed her arms and looked down at her legs.
The two sat for a few seconds, quiet.
“Wait, that’s it?” Anon broke the silence to no surprise.
Taki contemplated for a few seconds.
“Probably.”
“Ehhhhh!?”
“Pipe down.”
“Wait, that’s all it was!? You were acting like you gambled your life savings away because you’re surprised that your bestie has a crush on someone!?”
When Anon worded it like that, Taki felt like she was failing single digit addition problems in front of her whole class. Unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong.
“…Yeah. Probably.”
“Wait wait wait. That can’t be it. You’re probably hiding something like you always do. We’re getting to the bottom of this.”
Taki didn’t stop Anon. This conversation already had her drained as if she had just finished a performance at a packed concert.
“Well for one, did you think she was ace or something?”
Taki knew the answer immediately, though admitting it still took effort.
“…Yeah.”
“Uh, why?”
“She basically never emotes. She has like two facial expressions. Spends all her time playing for different rock bands. I never see her go out of her way to talk to people. You saw how distant she was when she was practicing with us. Yeah. I assumed she was ace.”
“Ricky… we need to work on your friendship skills…” Anon said with a disappointed stare. “She probably has a lot else going on in her life that you just don’t ever see or ask about. And it’s a stretch to assume she’s ace just because she’s not super expressive when you guys talk, which I assume isn’t even all that much knowing you.”
“Shut up. I know. My bad.”
Taki loosened up upon admitting that much. Anon relaxed too.
“Wait, so isn’t that it then? You were wrong to assume she was ace, she’s not, surprise, but good for her and all that. We’re cool, right?”
Wait, that’s really it, huh. Was I really this confused over something this trivial?
“Guess so,” Taki muttered out. Though somehow, she felt something was still off. She was still feeling something unusual, her head still feeling clouded. “It’s just… hmm. Nevermind.”
“Waaaiiit a second…”
Taki looked back at Anon with that unbearable smug grin of her’s.
“What.”
“So Yahata-san has a crush on someone…”
“That’s what she told me.”
“And this is why you were being all weird earlier?”
“I wasn’t being weird. But sure, I guess.”
“Did she tell you who she liked…?”
Taki unconsciously scowled as she readied her answer.
“No.”
Anon jolted up in her seat with a massive smile, sending shivers down Taki’s spine.
“I get it now! You just want to know who it is! And you’re probably jealous! Ahhh, I get you Ricky, this is totally normal but I bet you’ve never talked with enough people to experience these feelings, ahaha!”
“Haa!? Shut up. Why would I be jealous of Umiri? I don’t care if she likes someone.”
Anon pointed at the corner of Taki’s lips.
“Eh…? But look at this frown on your face! You sooo care! It’s ok to admit it, y’know. It’s normal to be curious about your friend, and it shows that you care about her.”
Taki clicked her tongue. She hated it when Anon was right, especially about her.
“Whatever, fine. I guess I care. A bit. I do owe her one for taking time off for our practice that time.”
“Ricky… you’re so cold to Yahata-san!” Anon faked crying and placed a hand on Taki’s shoulder (it was promptly swatted away). “You say she’s so emotionless, but she was so nice to Tomorin too, y’know? Tomorin still thinks that encouragement she gave at practice was super sweet of her! Tomorin brings it up occasionally even now. Anyways, Ricky, come on, don’t be shy about caring for her! Yahata-san’s pretty cool for all I know, so it’s okay if you’re thinking about who she’d be into. I kinda get it too, if you know-”
Anon’s chirping continued and faded into the background of Taki’s attention, though her point did get across. Taki realized that maybe it was worth admitting (at least to herself) that she wanted to know about Umiri’s crush.
Why though? She knows lots of people but she seems smart about her connections, so I’m not worried over her being into some dangerous weirdo. Is it just because I’m new to this side of her? She rarely talks about non-music stuff with me. I guess I never bring them up either. Now that I think about it, I do talk to her a lot compared to anyone else at school. I don’t know who else I can so easily talk to about band stuff. Damn, am I going to… miss talking to her… if she starts going out with some-
“Oh my god!” Anon’s hand once again landed on Taki’s shoulder, and was once again swatted away.
“What.”
“Is the reason you’re acting like you don’t care about Yahata-san’s crush-”
“Wait.”
“Is it because you’re maybe… into her…?”
Anon flashed a devious grin.
“Huh?”
Taki barely registered Anon’s question before the girl continued in rapid fire.
“Oh, you’re totally crushing on her and now you’re all worried about who she might be into! This makes total sense too, since she’s the only friend I’ve seen you with other than our band members, so maybe you were always into- wait, are you blushiNNNGF-”
Taki shoved her hand over Anon’s mouth. She could already feel her face heating up all the way to her ears.
“We’re done with this topic, understand!?”
Taki let Anon go with a light push, though she still saw Anon winking back with that toothy smirk of her’s. Taki crossed her arms and turned away. Processing what Anon had just said would ruin her whole flow for practice, so she figured she’d simply have to forget all about today’s incident(s), if somehow possible. She was going to try, at least.
“Ah!”
Taki heard Anon’s quiet gasp, not in Taki’s direction. She glanced over.
“What now.”
Anon was looking away. She turned back to Taki then pointed at one of the RiNG hallways.
“Look!” Anon whispered.
Taki looked towards where Anon was pointing to see a wild Yahata Umiri, walking by the other side of the RiNG lobby with chocolate milk in one hand and bass case in the other.
“Huh. Guess she’s done with her rehearsal.”
Taki turned away, expressionless. It wasn’t at all rare to see Umiri at RiNG, with how many bands she was in. Plus, Taki didn’t feel like seeing the sharply dressed girl at the moment, considering how much of a headache she had (probably entirely unwittingly) caused to Taki.
She turned back upon a poke on her shoulder to face Anon yet again, this time with a truly ominous smile.
“What.”
“I’m gonna go talk to her.”
“Wait wha-”
Before Taki could even grab at Anon’s arms, she had already sprung out of the bench and was running over towards Umiri by the RiNG front door. Taki could only watch with wide eyes as Anon stopped Umiri, looking indifferent as always.
Oh god what the fuck was that stupid smile. She better just be saying hi. I swear to god if she even thinks about mentioning what we were just talking about she’ll have to pray that Tomori shows up before I can smash her own guitar over her head. Oh god fuck shit hell-
Taki’s internal bomb sirens blared as she watched Anon and Umiri from her seat on the bench, one she quietly sunk into hoping Umiri wouldn’t notice her in her periphery. From her place in the lobby, she couldn’t even hear what the two were saying aside from a few shrill syllables from Anon. All she could do was guess at what they were talking about, something she quickly realized was more than just greetings based on how much Anon was talking.
Huh, Umiri’s drinking mid-conversation. Anon must be saying something interesting.
Somehow, unconsciously, Taki realized she could tell how Umiri felt about the conversation at hand based on odd body cues. Just a bit. For how expressionless Umiri tended to be, she still had her physical tells.
Hm. Was Umiri always this emotive? Or am I just used to her…
As for Anon, even a baby could tell her emotions just based on her expressions, not to forget her wild gesturing.
Anon sure is yapping. What’s she all excited over. She barely even knows Umiri.
Like that, the conversation continued for a few minutes.
Oh, Umiri’s hand’s on her chin. Anon already has her joking around!? Damn extrovert.
Soon enough, Umiri adjusted her grip on her bass case, then muttered a quick phrase to Anon, one which left Anon hopping around the entrance. Umiri left with a quick nod. Taki watched her walk out the RiNG door, only to be interrupted by Anon rushing towards her with a blinding smile.
“What’d you two-”
“I asked her who she liked!”
“-talk abouHAAA!?”
“And she told me too!”
It took all of Taki’s strength not to immediately commit homicide right there and then. Instead, she just stared in disbelief at the blissfully excited Anon.
“What did you do!?”
“I mean, I was first just going to say hi. But you know, she gave this whole happy-to-listen counselor vibe so I ended up mentioning the stuff about her having a crush and well… I figured she might be the type to just give people honest answers to straightforward questions sooo-”
“SO YOU JUST ASKED HER WHO SHE LIKED!?”
“Woah, quiet Ricky! But yeah, I did. And now I know!”
Taki felt like her head was under a hydraulic press. Not only was this scatterbrained babbling idiot in front of her having an honest and seemingly entertaining conversation with her notoriously aloof friend, she also learned about the source of Taki’s headache for the entire afternoon immediately!?
Shit. Why is this pissing me off so much! Deep breaths Taki, deep breaths.
Taki inhaled and exhaled as Anon watched, head tilted but still grinning like a child. Once she felt her headache calm down, Taki couldn’t stop herself from asking Anon.
“So?”
“Eh?”
“Who is it? That Umiri likes.”
Anon’s expression quickly turned from one of confusion to one of pure satisfaction.
“Hehe, so you are curious!”
“Shut up. I’m just asking because you know.”
“Aww, are you jelly? I bet you’re totally jelly!”
“Shut. Up. Who is it.”
“Are you jelly that I know? Or are you jelly of who it is? Ricky, come on, you tell me first!”
“No. You. Tell me. Before practice. Now.”
The two locked eyes, piercing gazes, both with their arms crossed. It was a deadlock. Yet Anon soon loosened up, perhaps knowing she had the upper hand.
“You know what Ricky? Since I’m such a good friend, I’ll tell you.”
“Okay, talk.”
“I’ll tell you… to just ask her!”
“Haa?”
“Hey, I mean, she told me without a problem. I don’t think she’d hide it from you if you two are close and all.”
“Anon.”
“I’m being serious! Plus, I think it’s kinda rude for me to tell you in her place. You really should ask her! Yahata-san seems pretty chill about this sort of stuff, so I’m sure she’ll give you a quick answer.”
Taki sighed. Anon was stubborn when it came to these things, and Taki wasn’t the one who could coerce Anon into speaking (that was Tomori).
And well, she’s not wrong about Umiri. Fuck, I hate this.
“… Fine.”
Like that, the two wrapped up their hectic conversation for the day. This, of course, didn’t stop Anon from grinning at Taki during the entire practice session later in the afternoon, distracting the already frazzled Taki to insanity by night.
The rest of the band figured Taki was just battling some sickness.
In Ancient Greece, an olive branch was extended as a symbol of peace during tense confrontations. 25 centuries later in Hanasakigawa High School’s Classroom 1-B, Taki extended a box of chocolate milk to Umiri with similar symbolic intent.
“Did you have something you wanted to discuss?” Umiri asked as she took her peace offering.
“Yeah. You got time right now?”
Since the previous day’s catastrophic talk with Anon at RiNG, Taki had spent pretty much the entire night afterwards thinking over what she was feeling and what Anon had said.
Whatever. At this point, I might as well ask. And Umiri was the one who brought up her crush in the first place. If anything it’s normal that I’d be asking. I’m sure she’s not into anyone I know or someone dangerous, so I’ll ask, get my answer, and wish her luck. Then I can return to normal life and stop thinking about all this stupid stuff.
Eventually, these were the conclusions Taki came to. She proceeded to spend most of classes today thinking about how to ask Umiri about her crush without seeming overly interested (i.e. insane (like Anon )). The fact that Umiri sat two seats behind Taki made thinking rather difficult, but since Umiri didn’t mention Taki looking “stressed” or “distracted” (something she always caught on to, somehow ) all day, Taki figured she did a good enough job hiding her internal turmoil.
God, what am I doing caring this much about dumb Umiri’s silly crush anyways. Why am I getting all nervous over who the answer is. I probably won’t know the person anyways! Gah. Let’s get this over with.
“I have a few minutes before I have to head to practice,” Umiri checked her phone and responded.
The classroom was already fairly empty, most of the students already heading off to clubs or home. It was just Umiri looking up from her desk, bass case at her side, and Taki looking back. Umiri was already sipping her chocolate milk. By the relaxed gaze of her turquoise eyes, Taki could tell Umiri was in a pretty good mood. For some reason.
“Good enough.”
Taki then lowered her voice and began the questioning she had simulated all day long in her head. She kept her back straight and face expressionless, a professional discussion as she had envisioned.
No embarrassment to be had here. Just asking. Normally.
“You mentioned you were interested in someone yesterday, after class. I was wondering who it was.”
“Ah, that,” Umiri’s face softened, then returned the slightest smile. She cupped her chin between her thumb and the curve of her index finger, and lightly hummed her response. “I didn’t think you’d be so interested in my love life.”
“Hmph, I’m not,” Despite expecting Umiri to sneak in a clever jab into their conversation, Taki could feel herself blush immediately. “It just crossed my mind seeing you. You brought it up first after all.”
I just know she wasn’t making it all weird like this with Anon when she was asking!
“Hm, I suppose I did,” Umiri’s smile remained, her eyes locked to Taki’s. “Shiina Taki.”
“Yeah?” Taki glared back. She quietly tapped her foot, letting out some excitement in stealth.
“That’s my answer.”
“Haa?”
“Taki-san,” Umiri sipped her chocolate milk. “You are the person I was, and am, interested in. I thought it was rather obvious, actually.”
“Oh, huh.”
Taki crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. Her face did not change expressions. Her ears did not become red. To anyone else in the class, she was simply existing as always.
What the fuck.
“Umiri are you fucking with me.”
“I’m not.”
Umiri let out a quiet sigh, an unusual reaction.
“Fine.”
WHAT THE FUCK.
Taki felt her brain combust as it attempted to accept this new information. Her heartbeat was like machine gun fire. Her ears burned up like molotov cocktails. She kept a straight face not in an attempt to look composed, but because her body just wasn’t responding anymore.
That doesn’t make any sense. Umiri has a crush on me? What the hell? Why!?
“Why?”
The question escaped from Taki’s mouth. Her tone was stiff and low, almost angry in a way that surprised even herself.
“Why indeed,” Umiri hummed out. At this point Taki was gripping on to Umiri’s desk as if it was the only thing holding her on to Earth. “I suppose I simply find it easy to talk to you. Perhaps because we are so similar, or so I believe.”
Oh god what’s going on. I think my eyes aren’t working anymore. Head hurts like hell. But I get what she’s saying, I think? Shit. I feel like I’m going to fall over.
“Since when?” Tak muttered.
“Relatively recently, I’d say,” The draining sound of her straw disrupted the momentary silence as Umiri finished her drink. “We haven’t known each other for long, after all. Unfortunately.”
What the hell’s that? But… yeah. I feel that. I wish I always had someone to talk to about band stuff back before high school. Gah. What am I even thinking right now. This is all that stupid Anon’s fault for telling me to ask…
“Does- does Anon know about this?”
Umiri’s expression turned stiff. Taki noticed instantly.
She’s… bored? Unimpressed?
“Chihaya-san? Yes, I did tell her yesterday,” Umiri responded quickly, monotone. “It seems that’s all there is to say on this matter, so if you’ll excuse me-”
“Wait.”
Umiri looked up to meet Taki’s gaze, her face a bright red, her lips trembling.
“Yes?”
“I,” Taki’s words were slow, uncertain. Her thoughts scrambled to come up with each syllable. “I’m… surprised. I didn’t know.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“I don’t know… what to say…” Taki continued, voice waning.
Fuck. I’m messing this all up! This is where I’m supposed to tell her my answer, or at least say… thank you, right? I just want this to be normal but I just… don’t get it… stay calm…
“I mean, Umiri, you’re just… nice to everyone. So I thought you were being polite with me too. I didn’t realize you… liked me.”
Umiri’s eyebrows furrowed in response, an instant sign to Taki that she was getting pissed off. Her green eyes glared back, cutting through the still air between them.
Shit shit shit. It’s all coming out wrong! What do I even say! Why the hell would anyone like me at all!?
“Umiri, why…” Taki’s voice quivered. She hated herself for this. Never able to say the right words. Always harsh on everyone. She felt her head splitting open.
Umiri glanced down at Taki’s hands, which she had unwittingly clenched into tight fists, pale white as the blood drained from them. She looked back up, expression back to her usual blank stare.
Umiri’s lips curved ever so slightly. So slight that only Taki would notice. A smile.
“Taki-san,” The two locked eyes. “It’s rare that I initiate conversations with others, especially outside of band matters. There’s always so much that gets in the way of honesty, from how I look to them to the way I speak so directly to the way people so often hide their intentions behind sugary words. It’s all rather irritating.”
Umiri’s eyes were wide open, unassuming. Taki had never been so entranced by them.
“But with you, it’s always quite refreshing to talk. You understand what I do, you don’t find issues with my tone, you simply speak your thoughts and make yourself clear to me, as I can with you. I’ve found that part of you to be truly lovely.”
Taki held her breath. She felt her heartbeats slow, the heat in her face dissipate. This was a common feeling with Umiri, she realized.
“Now, Taki-san. How do you feel about me?”
Umiri’s gaze was unwavering, but not overwhelming. Taki could tell that Umiri didn’t want a specific answer, just Taki’s truth. She always liked this clarity between them. Taki took a deep breath, then began.
“I feel… the same. I’m so used to stressing about everything. But with you, when I’m talking with you… it always feels more manageable. Like I can breathe again. And I could always talk to you. Even when I didn’t know that I wanted to talk, or complain, or just be miserable, whatever… even then you were always there, by my side. Even when MyGO!!!!! was going through all that shit, you were there. Always. It was comforting. It felt right. It felt so natural that I guess I… took you for granted.”
Taki felt the headache from the past day’s events fading away.
Yeah. Like this. Talking to her does this to me, huh.
“Umiri, I’m a dumbass for not realizing earlier. About how you were always there for me. About that, I’m…”
Taki knew she should apologize. For never seeing why Umiri was always by her side. For somehow never even realizing that she really was always by her side. But Taki had always been terrible at apologizing. Everyone knew this. Anon knew it. She herself knew it. And she assumed Umiri knew as much too.
So, she figured she didn’t need to. Umiri would get it.
“Umiri, I want you to continue being by my side, always,” Taki spoke with her usual declarative voice. “Because I like you too.”
The two looked into each other’s eyes, purple to green, green to purple. They saw the faintest of smiles on each other’s faces, ones a bit different from their usual teasing smirks. Taki saw that even Umiri had a light blush, a completely new sight.
One of many to come, I hope.
Suddenly, a text tone from Umiri’s phone interrupted their moment of peace.
“Ah,” Umiri muttered as she looked at the notification and time on her phone.
“Shit,” Taki also checked her phone’s clock. They had talked for far longer than she had expected. “You’re off to practice?”
Umiri put her phone back into her pocket, then gave a smug grin to Taki.
“Not quite,” she hummed. “We’re going on a date.”
“Haa?” Taki responded, deadpan. “Go to your 30 different practices, Umiri.”
Umiri stood up in response, her height just a bit taller than Taki. Umiri rubbed her chin, grin still there. Her eyes, though, had an unusual sharpness to them.
“Taki-san, you believed I was the same amount of nice and polite with you as with everyone else, yes? Today, I’ll prove to you how wrong you were.”
“Wha-”
“Shall we go?”
Umiri took her bass case and began walking out of the classroom, leaving Taki to scramble for her things and trail behind.
“Umiri!?”
“We have a long night ahead of us, Taki.”
“We’re sure lucky that the cafe employees didn’t toss it out, right Tomorin?”
Tomori returned a curt nod to Anon as she continued to inspect her collection of unusually shaped erasers, methodically laid out over their RiNG cafe table. Raana was also seated next to them, happily indulging on her weekly (second of the week, actually!) matcha parfait.
Anon nodded off to the sunlight basking her through the cafe window. This was a rare, relaxing afternoon for her. MyGO!!!!! wasn’t meeting for practice today (Soyo had something come up), yet Anon was still at RiNG, originally just to help Tomori find an eraser she had lost at the cafe. After a successful search, Anon relaxed at the cafe at their usual table, Tomori seated next to her in deep concentration, and Raana on the other side in a different type of deep concentration. Raana wasn’t even with them initially (she just materialized by their table at some point), but Anon didn’t mind.
Anon gazed at the clear skies outside as she reminisced on the past week’s events. A wonderful performance, several fruitful practice sessions, and of course… the juicy conversations from yesterday. Anon smiled as she thought about how Taki was probably going insane over Anon knowing Umiri’s crush even at this very moment, wherever that cranky drummer was.
And to think that Taki was the one being crushed on? This was just all so adorable!
“Ahhh! I still can’t believe it, good for her!!!” An unfamiliar voice exclaimed.
Anon was suddenly jolted awake by nearby chatter. It was a group of three girls, seemingly from another band by their instrument cases, huddled around another table all looking at their phones. One of the girls’ guitar cases had a giant sticker reading “Jasmine & Husky” on it.
The girls continued their heated conversation, seemingly unaware of how loud they were getting. Anon didn’t mind at all though.
“I wanted to practice today, but this is insane! To think Yahata-san had someone she was interested in? I never would’ve guessed!”
“I know, right? This is the best reason we could have for a day off. I really hope it all goes well for her!”
“Here, I’m going to text her to send us some photos! She’s so mysterious and professional about everything, so I bet her boyfriend’s a really calm, polite guy too! Or maybe he’s a super fluffy cute type? I just have to know more!”
Anon grinned as she continued to eavesdrop on the girls’ chatter.
“Heh, it’s a girlfriend, actually. Confidential information for me only, hehe,” Anon talked under her breath. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Good going Ricky, you lucky dork.”
“Ano-chan?” Tomori looked up with concern at Anon’s muttering. Raana was preoccupied with her parfait.
“Tomorin,” Anon whispered with a grin. “You know how Ricky’s always so protective of you like she’s your mom or something?”
Tomori blinked in response.
“Well, looks like you’ll get a new dad soon too. Isn’t that awesome?”
“Eh.” Tomori looked down, replying quietly. “B-but I like my dad…”
“Oh, I mean, uh… I’m joking, Tomorin! What I meant to say was… that Ricky got herself a girlfriend!”
“Ah, Taki-chan… is she… leaving us…?”
“Wait, no no no Tomorin! What I mean is, uhhh-”
“Not funny at all…” Raana muttered to no one in particular between bites of her parfait.
“Hey I heard that! Anyways, uh… Tomorin, don’t worry! Let me explain…”
And like that, Anon spent the rest of the afternoon untangling her admittedly forced joke attempt, also explaining the deep (one-day-old) lore of Shiina Taki’s love life to one confused bestie and a stray cat. She figured there would be consequences to follow at the next MyGO!!!!! practice, but Anon figured the best way to enjoy good news was to share it.
It was a joy to see a friend find her direction in life, even in unexpected ways.