Work Text:
It was at this moment, Ena knew, she fucked up.
What was supposed to be the cake batter came out looking like pure obsidian. She stabs her spatula repeatedly into the mass, to no avail. It felt like she was mining a rock. Perhaps Ena could garner a few thousand yen if she were to auction this off and claim it was the real deal. Footsteps echo down the stairs before stopping abruptly.
“That looks like shit.” Ena fights literal demons as to not audibly screech at the very unwanted commentary.
“Shut it.” she says through gritted teeth as she swats Akito away like a pesky fly. She goes to ‘scoop’ the remaining cake batter into the trash bin, watching sadly as the batter falls from the pan and into the bottom of the bin with a thud. Akito only scoffs as he walks to the front door and puts his shoes on.
“Ya don’t really have a lotta time left, y’know. I’m heading out to meet my group so we can celebrate An’s birthday, but it was a pain in the ass comin’ up with a reason why we couldn’t eat cake right now.” He points a finger at her. “Ya owe me—“
“Yeah, yeah, cheesecake tax. You get half of my cheesecake or whatever, now get out, loser! I’m trying to bake and your entire existence is distracting me! You’re not my personal reminder app, damn it.” Akito only shakes his head, deciding not to object to that as he was, in fact, her personal alarm clock, as he shuts the front door with a soft click. Ena stares holes at the ingredients for the cake laying haphazardly about. Perhaps if she stared hard enough, the ingredients would be willing to instead do all the work themselves, and the cake will just magically come to life as though Ena were in some goddamn fantasy world. She runs a hand through her hair, sighing to herself at her grandiose delusions. She already spent half the morning attempting this, and the stupid recipe said this would only take 15 minutes or so, so then WHY on Earth does Ena have to learn the entire goddamn life story of this damn blogger?! She could feel her thumb getting sore as she scrolls for a goddamn eternity, finally getting the measurements and instructions—which she followed to a goddamn T—the cake batter still ended up like this! Ena groans in frustration, leaning pathetically against the counter. Is there really no hope for one Shinonome Ena? Won’t someone, anyone, rescue her from this godforsaken travesty people today call cooking?
*Ding!* perhaps Hatsune Miku herself pitied Ena in that moment, because she makes a mad dash to her phone she had placed on the side, manhandling it as she goes to hurriedly open the message she received.
[ 1 new message ]
From Hona_ApplePie:
< Hello Ena-san! It’s been awhile since we last spoke, I was wondering how you’ve been? >
She doesn’t even let Honami type any other message as she goes to send her distress signal.
Ena
—
< Please send help. SOS. I can’t cook for shit. >
Honami
—
< I’ll be right over. Just tell me your address. >
—
Ena swings the front door open with enough force to rip the damn thing out of its hinges, and Honami blinks at the flour-covered girl. She’s already gotten the details from text, but to think it was this bad…
“Please,” she grabs Honami firmly be the shoulders. “Help me.” Ena throws away any dignity she has left, for her struggle with this stupid cake recipe has rendered her completely powerless.
Honami nods, wearing a more serious expression. “Got it. How long do I have left?”
“Like eight hours max, I think even less.” Honami sets a reminder on her phone, and steps into the Shinonome household, taking off her shoes and rolling her sleeves up, a determined look on her face.
“Alright, I should be able to do this in roughly three to four hours. Would you mind helping me fetch some of the ingredients?” Tears well up in Ena’s eyes, as hope returns to her once more, for she is filled with the power of DETERMINATION.
“My savior…!” Honami shakes her head, giggling slightly.
“Just paying back a debt for when you tried to teach me how to draw. Now,” the drummer turns dramatically to the artist. “Come, let us bake this cake.”
•—————————•
Akito swirls endlessly into his parfait, grumbling as Toya takes a sip of his coffee.
“Ack!” A hand comes to his head, and MEIKO rounds the table, putting her hands to her hips and staring disappointedly at her creation now being swirled into nothingness.
“Akito-kun, you shouldn’t play with your food like that! I spent an extra few minutes making it look all nice and special!” She huffs slightly, and Akito rubs the back of his head. It’s usually harder to get MEIKO angry, but it seems he’s on a faster track of pissing her off more than KAITO. He spots Toya staring at him from the corner of his eyes and sighs, saying something before his partner decides to chastise him.
“…Sorry, MEIKO. I know yer just as anxious as us—“
“Damn right I am!” MEIKO looks around haphazardly at all the party decor adorning the walls. “I really hope An-chan likes it, it’s not every day a birthday comes around.” He blinks, has MEIKO always been this panicky when it comes to their birthdays?
“Yes, actually. It’s a bit of a pain to deal with…just make sure to give it back tenfold when her anniversary comes, okay? She loves you guys as much as we all do.” Miku says quietly, as if reading his thoughts. She comes to their table as MEIKO goes to assess the party decor near the front of the cafe for a billionth time. She places lopsided party hats on both the boys’ heads, a satisfactory smile on her face as she does so. “There we go, now we just wait for the birthday guest to arriv—“
*Ding-a-ling!* Speak of the damn Vivid Devil, they turn their heads to a blindfolded An, with a slightly concerned Kohane and a rather carefree Luka standing on each side of the girl and guiding her before she slams her head into something. That would be very problematic for sure…
He gets up with Toya as they go to greet An, and Kohane silently puts her fingers up in a countdown. 5…4…3…2…1…
“Eh, what’s happening?? I’m so excited!” An could barely contain her excitement as Kohane gently releases the blindfold.
“SURPRISE!!” Everyone says, with Toya nudging Akito to put more emphasis into it. An blinks as she looks around somewhat confused.
“Cool!…So, whose birthday is it?” Everyone else falls silent and Akito does his best not to make a quip while simultaneously facepalming. How does this girl manage to have the talent of hyping the crowd up when she says crap like this?
MEIKO looks around awkwardly, being the first to leave. “Ara, I should go make some more coffee. You can never have too much of it.” She chastely walks away.
Miku grabs Luka’s arm and starts forcefully dragging her away. “You know, I think I hear KAITO calling for us.” She brings her free hand to her ear. “Ohhh, what’s that, KAITO? You’re saying Rin and Len need some help with the stereo upstairs. Oh dearie, what shall we do?” Akito blinks as he practically feels the sarcasm dripping from her voice. “I know! Why don’t we go check on them, Luka?” The pink-haired vocaloid only blinks slowly, before speaking in a carefree tone per usual, smiling all the while so.
“Alright, have fun you guys! But don’t have too much fun, we have a singing battle planned for later, hehe~” Miku forces Luka up the stairs, leaving only the remainder of the squad to gawk at the birthday girl.
Toya breaks the silence first, chuckling. He’s grown fond of these rather silly moments he’s shared with them. “Shiraishi-san, it’s yours, remember?” An blinks again, before realizing, eyes widening as she does so.
“Oh yeah!” To Miku, how fucking stupid could one person possibly be? An glances at Akito before making a mildly annoyed expression. “Your face looks like you want to say something rather mean, I can literally feel it in the air. Well, what is it? Spit it out already.” An demands and Akito grumbles under his breath, running a hand through his hair.
“Nope, absolutely nothin’. The jury is innocent, your Idiocy.” He does a mocking bow and turns away as An sticks her tongue out, and Kohane claps her hands together, excitedly talking about their plans for the next few hours, which Akito filters out, having heard all of it already hours earlier while devouring some pancakes.
“…and then we’re also going to do a piñata party!” Huh? A piñata party? He turns back towards his teammates. They never discussed this before, and it doesn’t help An’s eyes seem to widen even more with that. He sends multiple glances at Toya for an explanation.
“Oi, Toya. What the hell does she mean ‘piñata party’???” Toya only shrugs, a playful glint in his eyes as he steps away towards the girls, and it’s then Akito realizes: he’s been betrayed. He pales as Kohane places the blindfold back on An, with Toya handing her an inflated golden weapon of sorts.
“I think it would be best to start with the piñata party now, actually! Since An-chan did a far better job than Shinonome-kun did in the recent make-up exams, she deserves to have some fun! Don’t you think so, Aoyagi-kun?” Toya nods a bit too eagerly in agreement.
“I absolutely concur, Azusawa-san. It would be in everyone’s best interest if we let Akito act as the piñata.” Who the fuck is everyone???? He pales even more, watching with terrified eyes as An step closer whilst waving her balloon weapon around like they’re all playing a round of ‘Sword Fight’ on Qii Sports Resort. Yep, Shinonome Akito is going to die today. Not even Hatsune Miku herself is going to grant this poor boy any mercy. The singer can feel his life flash before his eyes as An pauses right in front of him, a huge smirk appearing on her face.
“This might possibly be the best birthday ever! I can finally put my spinjitsu skills to the test and become the real Green Ninja!” Toya’s eyes seemed to sparkle a little more upon hearing that. Goddamn it, he knew he shouldn’t have let An convince Toya to watch all the seasons of Lego Ninja Master with her. He can only brace himself as An revs up her first swing of many.
•—————————•
Ena rubs her eyes in disbelief as she stares at the freshly baked cake. Her eyes don’t deceive her, it was, in fact, real and not the horrendous obsidian blocks she’s been mass producing since the morning. She turns happily towards Honami, who wipes her forehead with her arm.
“There we go! Now we just need to do the icing and decorations, and it’ll be all done!” The drummer turns towards the artist with a smile. “Interesting that you picked rum raisin ice cream as the flavor. It did make making the batter far easier, but if I may ask, is there any reason why?” Ena blinks, before looking away, face red. Honami only giggles. “I see. Well, I hope Shiraishi-san likes this cake.” Ena bows gratefully, face still red, as she looks through the various topping and icing options Honami laid out. Perhaps a whipped cream topping with some fruits would be the best way to go. Ena ponders, lost in thought as Honami feels her pocket buzz, smiling slightly as she goes to open a familiar group chat as she waits.
[ 1027 new messages from ‘Reson4te W1th Hearts :D’ group chat ]
Saki
—
< @Hona_ApplePie x100000 Hona-chan help me! (٭°̧̧̧ω°̧̧̧٭) I’m being attacked by a vicious monster conveniently named Shih-chan! ((유∀유|||)) >
Shiho
—
< @sakki_l/n!! ◑____________◑ >
Saki
—
< wwwwahhhh!!! See??!!1???!! Shih-chan is such a meanie!! (ू˃̣̣̣̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ ू) >
Shiho
—
< @sakki_l/n!! @sakki_l/n!! ɿ(｡･ɜ･)ɾ Ⓦⓗⓨ？ ɿ(｡･ɜ･)ɾ Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ？>
Ichika
—
< …you two… @Hona_ApplePie Don’t worry, Honami. These two are just ‘fighting’ over which Chiikawa character is cuter. Please don’t mind us, and tell Ena-san I say hello! :) >
Shiho
—
< @sakki_l/n!! @sakki_l/n!! @sakki_l/n!!ヽ(⌐■_■)ノ♪ bunnies are da best.ヽ(⌐■_■)ノ♪♬ Usagi 4 da win. >
Honami only stares fondly at the messages. She’ll have a handful to deal with once she finishes her business with Ena, but she loves them so dearly all the same. She looks up to see Ena smiling happily.
“It looks like you’ve decided.”
“Yep! I say let’s do a whipped cream topping alongside some peaches and apricots!” Her face turns slightly red as she speaks again, hesitating ever so slightly. “If it’s alright, I’d like to also write the birthday message.” Honami nods, attempting not to laugh. She can’t help it though! She’s seen so much of Ena’s goofy side today, it’s honestly hard not to laugh at such a thing.
“Of course you can. This is your cake after all!” Ena smiles happily, and Honami is reminded of the kids she taught art to that one time as she smiles as well. She turns towards the cake, picking up the whipped cream tube. “We’ll start by blanching the fruits, then placing it into cold water after 60 seconds of it in the boiling water. That way, they’re easier to peel.” Ena nods as she goes to grab a spare pot. “Now, apricots and peaches are considered stone fruits, meaning they have a pit in the middle, so make sure when you’re cutting, you cut a ring around the flesh…” Honami leads the brunette with careful instructions as she goes to decorate the cake with precision. She wants to make sure it’s the best cake ever for her friend to present.
—
“…you really are my savior, Honami. I seriously can’t thank you enough.” Ena stares in absolute awe once again, this time now at the finished version of the cake. It’s like her failed attempts never even happened in the first place! Though, she has to remember to take out the trash later.
“Eheh, thank you, Ena-san, but please, enough with the flattery! This was still a team effort, after all. Be proud of yourself too!” Ena only nods vigorously, as though Honami was a sensei and Ena was her disciple absorbing every word she’s saying right now. The artist carefully goes to grab the blue icing tube, steadying her arms to write the most eloquent ‘Happy Birthday’ message she possibly can. Honami feels her phone vibrate again as she pulls it out, frowning slightly at the reminder notification on her screen finally appears.
“Er, aren’t you supposed to go meet Shiraishi-san soon…?” Oh shit, is it already time? Ena slowly looks up as Honami frowns more. “You have one hour left.“ Ena, as humanly possible as she can, finishes the rest of the message with an ungodly amount of speed, before practically shoving the cake into the fridge. One hour left?! She still hasn’t changed, let alone prepare the actual gifts she has! She’s literally covered in flour, for Miku’s sake! She panics as Honami attempts to calm the other down, placing two hands on the other girl’s shoulders.
“Breathe.” She does. “Relax.” She does. “It’ll be okay, just go get ready, I can clean this all up.” Ena blinks, ready to protest, but one look from Honami shuts her up. She isn’t the renown housekeeper of THE Yoisaki Kanade for no reason. She simply nods and Honami lets go, smiling slightly. “It’ll be alright, Ena-san. I understand how you feel, it’s nerve-wracking and even terrifying at times, but things have a way of working out, that much I can promise.” She turns towards the mountain of dishes, rolling up her sleeves. Ena runs halfway up the stairs, before turning back.
“You really are a lifesaver, y’know!”
“You’ve said that multiple times today!”
“Geh—Um, well, I guess I really mean it. You really truly have helped me a ton.” She smiles a bit remembering what she told An on that camping trip with Minori and Shizuku.
Ena looks back at the sky, lost in thought. Recalling something, she starts looking towards the north. She then points at the sky, where a cluster of stars can be seen. Ena makes a mental note to thank Honami later for teaching her this.
“Over there, that ‘W’…I believe it’s called the Cassiopeia constellation,” she pauses, recollecting what Honami said. She points to the left. “That ‘K’ figure there, that’s Perseus.” She runs her finger up to the diagonal tip of the ‘K’. “Up there is Andromeda, Perseus’ lover. Um, I think he basically freed Andromeda from being eaten by a sea monster and since then, they’ve basically been inseparable.”
It really was only thanks to Honami she knew any of that. And it certainly helped create something for both her and An to find whenever they missed each other. “…How about this, I’ll treat you to some apple pie some time next weekend, how about it??”
Honami giggles. “Sure! We can even invite Emu-chan as well! She’ll be happy to see you. Now, go. You don’t want to be late, silly.” She hears footsteps rush up the remaining stairs and smiles to herself. It takes a lot of courage to be yourself after all.
•—————————•
Okay, I think this looks good. She adjusts the cuffs of her outfit and frowns as she inspects herself closely. She’s managed to get most the flour off her…she hopes. She smooths down her blouse as she nods to herself. “Alright, I have her first gift, now for the second one…” She pulls out her phone, pressing the play button to Composing the Future, and in seconds she’s transported from her room to Empty SEKAI.
Ena immediately starts running. To Miku herself, she will NOT fail to give An the other vastly more important gift she’s been working on for months now, nor will she be late to meeting up with her soon. She’s girlfailed too much in her pathetic excuse of a life, at least let her have this one damn win! She approaches Rin, who’s drawing with Len near her, playing with some toy blocks, and she can make out a conversation.
“…Len.” Len flinches slightly, and a block comes tumbling down. He stares at it sadly as Rin sighs. “You’re moving the blocks around too much. Any more and I’ll have to scrap this drawing.”
“A-ah! Sorry Rin. I’ll try not to mess with them anymore, so please don’t destroy your hard work!” He pleas, and Rin only nods. Curiosity eats at Len then, and he attempts to peak over the girl’s shoulder, trying to get a view of the work in progress she’s been at for awhile now, however, Rin immediately notices his gaze and obscures the drawing, holding it closer to her body.
“…”
“…” Len looks away, fidgeting awkwardly with his ribbon as he tries to find something else to do. He looks up and spots Ena coming towards them. “Ah, Ena…!” She stops in front of the vocaloids, attempting to catch her breath.
“Where…huff…is—ugh, KAITO…?”
Rin looks up. “He’s over by the lake area. Mizuki, Mafuyu, and Kanade are also there as well.” What? What were they all doing there, it’s still too early for Niigo to even meet now. She turns, ready to run over there, before turning swiftly back towards the two, a thought on her mind.
“Rin, you should be a bit nicer to Len, I think he wants to play with the blocks now, and your sketch already looks pretty developed to me, so why don’t you give him a chance to play?” Both look slightly surprised as Ena dashes off. Len turns awkwardly towards Rin and bows his head.
“S-sorry, Rin!” She blinks, before shaking her head.
“No, I should be. I could’ve chosen anything else to use as a reference, but I chose to disturb your playtime. You can go back to playing with your blocks if you’d like.” Len furiously shakes his head.
“A-actually!” Len looks down, fidgeting with his fingers. “I’d like to draw with you now! I’m not as good of an artist as you are, but, erm, I think it would be fun!” Rin looks mildly surprised, before smiling slightly.
“Okay,” she gently rips a blank page free from her notebook, and hands it to him. She’ll have to thank Ena later for intervening when she did. From what she’s heard about her and Len’s real life counterparts from Niigo, their Rin and Len they know of are a lot closer and practically do everything together. Her smile grows a bit wider seeing Len happily draw alongside her with a yellow crayon, and she goes to continue working on her sketch.
—
“Tsk, how annoying.” KAITO glares at the trio—more like Mizuki—currently making a lot of noise at the floating door.
“C’mon Kanade, you can do it!!” Mizuki waves her paper megaphone around and does random chants as Mafuyu gives a double thumbs up.
“Alright, here goes…” Kanade tries once more, pulling with all her to free the door, but to no avail. “Wuh—!” She accidentally looses her footing and slips, and Mafuyu catches her bridal style in mere seconds.
“SAFEEE!!!!” Mizuki cheers as Kanade blinks, smiling gratefully at Mafuyu.
“Thank you, Mafuyu. You really saved me there.” The lyricist seemed somewhat happy hearing that, a genuine smile on her face. KAITO frowns even more. What was even the point of trying to open that door anyways? He’s long made a hypothesis that the door is connected to all four of the girls’ feelings. It’s not like it would budge like that ‘Suzy Mei’ movie Mizuki made all the vocaloids watch for a ‘movie night’, nor was he willing to turn into a chair like the main male lead. He grumbles more as Ena approaches him, even more out of breath.
“Huff…wheeze…KAITO—“ he glares at her, and if Ena wasn’t so out of breath, she’d probably pick a fight from that look alone. But that didn’t matter now, she needs to hurry up. “The…drawing—!” She puts her hands on her knees as KAITO walks off, presumably doing as she requested. While he does so, the rest of Niigo approach the artist.
“Eh, Enaemon!! Whatcha’ doing here?? Aren’t you supposed to be on your little date with An~” Mizuki giggles a bit too much as Mafuyu trails behind her, Kanade still in her arms.
“Oh, shut it, you—“ she glances towards Kanade. “Eh? Kanade, are you okay??” Kanade only laughs.
“It’s alright, Ena, please don’t worry.” Ena looks at Mafuyu for an explanation, who stares blankly back at her.
“I’m now Batman.” Everyday is a new damn thing with this girl. She has no time to question it further as KAITO returns, somehow looking angrier.
“Here.” Ena snatches the drawing away, muttering a thanks and bolting away, leaving the rest of Niigo and one angry NiiKai to stand there.
“Not even a bye, huh? Oh well, wanna go see how far the lake extends next?? I’ve always wanted to know if that thing is infinite like the main area of the SEKAI, and we could even try skipping some rocks on it!” Mizuki happily skips towards the lake as Mafuyu nods, and Kanade blinks.
“…Mafuyu, aren’t you going to set me down now…?” She looks down at her girlfriend, her expression turning ever slightly softer.
“No.” She says after a minute. “You might fall into the lake.”
“Eh?” Mafuyu follows Mizuki, and KAITO only glares at the trio’s descending figures.
“Tsk. Seriously, how troublesome. I’m not their babysitter.” KAITO says, wandering after them. Heavens forbid they try anything stupid under his damn watch.
•—————————•
Ena trifles through her things once more as she speedwalk-runs to the park. She feels her phone vibrate and she hastily pulls it out.
[ 1 new message ]
From Hona_ApplePie:
< Ena-san, I’ve cleaned everything up in the kitchen, and took out the trash for you :) The park you’re heading towards is the same one Leo/need and I would go stargazing, and there’s supposed to be a small meteor shower soon, so please enjoy it with Shiraishi-san! The view there is incredible > She’s gonna have to look up the best apple pies in the area later. She types a quick reply and shoves her phone in her pocket, Ena’s already kept An waiting.
She arrives at the park, catching An’s figure standing near a picnic table. Catching her breath, she slowly approaches the other girl, but An beats her to it.
“Ah, Ena-san!” She rushes over to the other with pure excitement, and Ena smiles even wider.
“Sorry if I kept you waiting long.”
“Nope, not at all, my Perseus, heh. You look absolutely gorgeous, by the way. Anywho,” she peers down at the plastic bag. “Whaddya got there?”
“I wasn’t able to wrap it like I intended, buuuut,” she brings out a cake box. “I, um, made you a cake! It’s a rum raisin ice cream flavored cake topped with whipped cream and some peaches and apricots.” She admires the way An’s orange eyes seem to glow even more in the dark blue hue of the night.
“A CAKE?!” She almost blows Ena’s eardrums off, and An apologizes profusely as she goes to take the cake box from the artist’s hands. “You really didn’t have to though!”
“Not have to, I wanted to. It’s your birthday, after all, I want to make it memorable…perhaps even the most memorable part of your birthday.” She shifts her weight between her flats and looks down, failing to see An’s surprised look. She probably sounds dumb right now, even borderline selfish, but part of her wishes for it to be true. An remains silent as she goes to open the cake box.
“…pfft.” The singer turns her head away, and Ena looks up in confusion, as the other desperately tries not to laugh.
“Wha-what? Is something wrong??” An puts her head down, shoulders visibly shaking as she points her free hand at the cake. Ena goes to see her cake, eyes growing wide.
‘Ha p Bi t h a A’ She pales. It must’ve been when she was running here that she neglected to properly take care of the cake. Everything else looked decently okay, but the birthday message…
“Ahahaha!—I’m sorry, ahah!!” An’s full on laughing now, as Ena grabs the cake box in horror. Can’t she go one damn day without being an absolute failure of a girlfriend??? An eventually calms down, wiping the tears from her eyes. “That was probably the most I’ve laughed in a day.” She smiles as she goes to sit down on the table, placing two paper plates and utensils out from Ena’s plastic bag. She looks up to see the artist gawking, and smiles even more.
“Sometimes there’s things that don’t go as planned. For instance, when I was hanging out with my team today, Kohane and Toya surprised me with a piñata party! I got to whack Akito a billion times with zero repercussions!” She finishes setting up the table and easily takes the cake box with one hand, doing a spin as she sets it down. Ena blinks as An grabs both her hands and squeezes them, a happy expression on her face. “Honestly, I’m super happy and honestly embarrassed you went out of your way to bake me a cake, Ena-san. If this is your gift, you already get a perfect score.”
“I—but, I,” An rolls her eyes and pushes Ena close to her, kissing her and preventing her from spiraling more.
”That perfectionist side of you really is a shithead, isn’t it?” An mumbles as they part, leaning her forehead against her girlfriend’s. “On my own damn soul, it’s okay, Ena. It’s genuinely no big deal to me that a generic happy birthday message got ruined. You sent me 20 amazing ones earlier at exactly 12 am, remember?” She smirks as she guides Ena to the table, sitting her down and cutting them both slices before sitting herself and shoving almost half the slice into her mouth. “Man, this cake is great! I fricking love cake!!!” She goes to shovel the rest in her mouth, before cutting herself another slice, as Ena goes to take her first bite. She couldn’t quite tell if the cake was delicious simply because it was, or if it was because An was also present with her.
“…thank you, An. Seriously I’m so pathetic. It’s your birthday, and you’re the one comforting me!” An smiles.
“I’ll comfort you anytime, honeycakes, I swear on my soul!—no wait, I already did swear on my soul earlier, um…” An grows lost in thought as Ena giggles. She goes to take another bite of cake before stopping.
“Wait, did you say ‘Ena’ earlier?” An almost drops her fork, and the singer directs her gaze at anywhere but the other girl.
“H-huh? Whatever do you mean, Ena-sa—“
“Quit it. I know what I heard, you finally dropped the honorific.” Ena feels the warmth radiating from her cheeks, but she couldn’t care less. An gives up feigning innocence and sighs slightly.
“…Sorry, I thought I would try just saying your name as is, since it’s been awhile since we’ve started dating. If you want, I’ll stop—“
“No.” One look told An everything, and she relents.
“Alright.” She looks down, fiddling with her beanie hat as she speaks. “Thanks, Ena…ugh, this’ll take awhile to get used to…” An sighs as Ena laughs again. “Though, people may think I’m actually the older one now that—agh, not the shin!” An pouts as Ena finishes the rest of her cake. She pushes her plate to the side as she pulls out her first gift, handing the small rectangular box to the other girl. She watches with baited breath as An eagerly opens the box, taking out the necklace nestled inside.
“It’s beautiful,” An mumbles, pointing the glass star up towards the moon and admiring the way the glass reflected back in a light blue hue. Ena gets up and sweeps the girl’s hair to the side, placing the necklace on her.
“I saw it at the mall while shopping for some make up. It reminded me of you, and I figured it’d match the star aesthetic you have going on.” She goes to sit back down. “Well, like it?”
“Like it? I absolutely love it!” She gives Ena her brightest smile of the night, one that could easily turn this drowsy scene into a bright blue sky. “I’ll make sure to treasure it forever and ever and ever!”
“Well, don’t get too excited yet, I have another gift for you.” She pulls out her drawing face down, placing it down towards the blue-haired girl.
“Ah, is this?” Ena nods.
“From that one time Akito came home early,” Ena confirms. “Proud to say I finished it, hehe.” She lets her ego inflate as An slowly turns the drawing around, in awe of the portrait of herself.
“You really are an amazing artist, Ena. Thank you.” An’s still smiling wide, but the softness it now has feels as though it could pierce Ena’s heart with ease. She gives her girlfriend one of her own, and in the corner of her eye, she spots something familiar shining faintly in the north.
“That reminds me,” Ena glances at her wristwatch “There’s supposed to be a small meteor shower right about now…” A flash of light reflects from her watch, and she looks up to see a brilliant array of stars shining.
“…It’s a stunning view, but I still think I should be allowed to make my mint plant army already. That would easily solve the light pollution problem Sunrise city has!” Ena scoffs at that, and they fall into a comfortable silence as they watch the stars shoot past. She wonders then, if An made a wish, as she makes a wish of her own. The meteor shower ends as briefly as it started, and they sit, gazes still locked onto the sky and the few shining stars that pierce the night sky.
“What did you wish for, birthday girl?” The singer turns her gaze towards the artist, smiling wider.
“You really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” An gets up and joins Ena on her side of the table, playfully bumping shoulders with her as she does so.
“I wished…” she gazes up at the sky once more. “I wished to able to remember this moment, and every moment we’ve had together for a lifetime.”
Ena blinks. “For a lifetime?”
An smiles at her. “For a lifetime. I don’t ever want to forget anything, and I certainly don’t want to forget about this moment right now.” She’s sure her face is oh so red in this moment, and she can tell An’s is as well, but really, who cares. She meets An’s lips halfway as she thinks back to the very first moment they met, when she took the leap of faith then after An had walked her to her house after being stuck in the closet of utter doom and despair.
“Ah, we’re here,” Ena mumbles, surprised at seeing her own house right in front of her. An gives her a look.
“Is this not your house? Damn, you should come over to mine then! We have lots of room!” Ena rolls her eyes affectionately, this girl and her stupid quips. She turns to the singer with a look of gratitude, though…
An speaks up first. “Before you go, um, remember what I said earlier? That I’d make it up to you? Well, you can request anything you want, y’know, I’ll try my best to fulfill it!” An does a little salute, and Ena can’t help but giggle. Anything she wants, huh? The artist looks up to meet the singer’s gaze.
“Well then, I have two things I want.” She holds up one finger. “One, I want your contact info,” An looks surprised at that.
“Eh, my contact info?”
“Did I stutter?”
“Agh, no ma’am,” An hastily pulls out her phone, and Ena inputs the singer’s info. Once satisfied, Ena puts her own phone away and raises two fingers.
“Two, take me out on a date.”
“Alright, gotcha. I just need…to…take you…out on…” If An was surprised earlier, then she certainly is shocked now. “A DATE?!”
“Shhhh, keep your voice down, I don’t need Akito to hear this!” She covers An’s mouth, the latter still looking like Ena spoke some ancient language. “But yes, I’d like you to take me out on a date. And then we become girlfriends. Ahem.”
She awkwardly stares at the other girl, as both their faces turn red.
“I,uh, I…okay.” An simply says, though from the look of her eyes, she was real happy with what Ena said. “It’s getting late, you must be tired, I’ll—um—leave you to it—“
“Ah, wait!” Ena gently tugs on An’s arm. The artists ever so briefly hesitates for a millisecond, however, she decides to go through with it and kiss An’s cheek.
“…!” The singer stares at Ena’s own red face and promptly malfunctions.
“Well! See you! Soon!” Ena forces herself to say, waving at the singer. She all too quickly enters her own house and closes the door before An could even blink.
It was laughable, really. They both acted like stupid, awkward idiots in that moment, but Ena wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, and she knows for a fact An wouldn’t either. They’ve both come so far then, and they both continue to grow as the days pass. The future is uncertain, downright scary even, but it’s okay. Neither will forgot this moment, nor the other moments they’ve shared with each other. Not now, not ever.
•—————————•
Akito stares daggers at the front door to WEEKEND GARAGE. After the way An practically tried to kill him with that impromptu piñata party for her birthday, he’s been ten times more on edge.
“Hm? Akito, what are you doing glaring at the front door for? I made sure the sign says closed!” He jumps and slowly turns around as An crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “What? Dude, you look like we’re back at the haunted house Kohane’s class put together last year, get a grip.” She slaps him forcefully on the shoulder, and he grumbles, about to say something, but decides against it. A flash of blue catches his eye, and he squints slightly.
“What ya got there?” An turns around, grinning wide as she does so.
“It’s a secret! I won’t tell ya, even if you keep pestering me ‘bout it!” The door rings, and he hears Kohane and Toya say their hellos as An bounces over to greet them. He could really give less of a shit about the necklace itself, but he could’ve sworn he saw Ena having something similar a few days ago, so does that mean then…
*Ding!* He feels his phone buzz, and he fishes it from his jacket, wincing at the horrible message now occupying his lock screen.
[ 1 new message ]
From (nickname set for user: Cheesecak430) ANNOYINGDUMBSISTER:
< Whatever the fuck you’re thinking about right now, stop it. I got some fuckass premonition you’re trying to play detective and I’ll have you know I will eat all the damn cheesecake mom bought today even with your stupid cheesecake tax in place so help me Akito, knock. it. off. >
He sighs, looks like his intuition was on point after all.
