Archive of Our Own

“...Chiyo-senpai?”

She heard Koharu timidly ask from behind her. She peeked behind her back towards Koharu, watching as Ena and Kanna slowly brought up the rear.

 “Hm? What, you scared? These types of missions are easyyyyy; you just have to go ‘bang bang,’ and then boom, you're done.” 

“No! I trust your judgement; it's just… I thought you guys said our physiology is different from humans.” She stammered, waving her hands wildly as she explained herself.

 “It is. You don't need to shower; you don't smell like gunpowder yet. I already told you you don't have to worry about odor.” Ena called from behind them, a deadpan expression on her face clashing with the concerned light in her eyes.

 “Right, right… But were your wings always this dull?” Koharu tilted her head, wringing her hands together as Kanna drew closer. Chiyo paused mid-stride at that, “No… It swung towards her front as she frowned. 

Huh. 

Guess they were getting a bit dull, but that could be from a lack of preening… or picking one too many fights with Ena. 

“Hm, really?” She questioned, motioning Koharu closer with a lazy motion. She made sure to keep her wing spread fully and held it open for the next step of her plan. Koharu drew closer, none the wiser to Chiyo's scheming. 

“How about…here!” She waited until Koharu was well within her wingspan and immediately drew them shut, effectively pinning her against her own body. 

She ignored the yelp and the way Koharu drew her arms up to shield her head. 

“How about now? Yah, Koharu-chan! How do they look from there? Come on!! You have to give me at least a full inspection!” She chided, flapping her wing against Koharu a few times for good measure. 

“Yes? I mean, yes! You're looking a bit dull even here…” Koharu yelped, holding Chiyo's wing up with one arm twisting to properly examine the rest of her wings. 

“See, that's what you get for picking so many fights. You get dust and who knows what else all over yourself, ruffian.” Ena shook her head, ignoring the fire that she unintentionally ignited in Chiyo's eyes.

“Ruffian?! I'll show you ruff—” A yelp cut off her very cool, very menacing threat to Ena, the sensation of fingers running down her feathers serving as an effective method to shut her up. She craned her head back down to witness Koharu's fingers lightly trail down a primary feather.

“....”

 “Do cupids preen? Is that something that would help?” Koharu questioned, raising her head to peer at Kanna, oblivious to how Chiyo was gaping at her.

 “Mm…we do, but that's to remove damaged or dead feathers, maintain cleanliness, and keep up appearances.” 

“But that's assuming Chiyo's dull appearance is just from being dusty; it could be due to a completely different biological and physiological process,” Ena added, watching their surroundings, the file in her hand serving as a reminder of why they were all out and about.

“You think she's molting?” Kanna snickered, ignoring Chiyo's sound of indignation. 

“Probably. How about it, Chiyo-san? Feel like you're going to go bald anytime soon?” Ena smirked, watching as Chiyo released Koharu from her clutches and strode toward her in rushed steps.

 “Don't you chiyo-san me! Don't act all polite and righteous, asking me a question like that!! What happened to respecting your elders?” Chiyo cracked her knuckles as she shouted, already distracted from the mission and on a warpath. 

“I—Hang on! Chiyo-senpai, I—if you're really…molting, there's nothing to be embarrassed about! It's perfectly natural!” Koharu tried to intervene even as Kanna wrapped an arm around her waist, effectively holding her in place.

 “The only perfectly natural occurrence here will be the pummeling I'm going to give Ena!” Chiyo shot back, irritation showing on her face as she readied herself to grab Ena's collar and show her the true meaning of ‘ruffian.’

 “Hang on! The mission, Senpai! The mission!” Koharu protested, as Ena grunted when Chiyo dragged them downwards.

 “In a minute!” Chiyo barked in response.

“But…your wings are going to get even dirtier…” Koharu deflated as she and Kanna stood by watching as the other two fought.

 “You can probably guilt-trip her into taking a bath later…maybe.” Kanna reassured, but her face twisted, and sweat beaded down her face. 

The fight was intensifying, and if they didn't intervene, Ena was surely going to walk away with more than minor bruises…

It wasn't even a matter of intervening to save Ena's ego but more so preventing Koharu from getting upset as a byproduct of their fighting. 

“...ok, maybe for the sake of the mission, we split that up.” Koharu shot forward as Kanna trailed behind, trying to figure out where best to grab Chiyo to pull her away. 

“Alright, all four of us will need a bath…”

Kanna already had her suspicions about what was going on when Chiyo was noticeably becoming… ”shyer”

It wasn't the most blatant change, but she could pick up on Chiyo seeming to hesitate slightly when picking fights or approaching any of them, and generally, she just seemed a bit more fatigued. 

That was the most blaring factor; for a cupid who claimed sleep was a waste of time, she was waking up just minutes before Ena, when previously she'd beat them by at least an hour. 

As for right now, Kanot was sitting on one end of the couch while Chiyo took up the other. It was a lazy day for the cupids, and Ena had chosen to spend it cooped up in bed, sleeping the day away, making her officially the last to wake. 

Koharu was in the kitchen, cutting up an apple for herself, and thus remained unaware of the ongoing situation. Chiyo was glancing at Kanna, doing her best to seem inconspicuous despite her mix of shuffling, shifting in place, and pausing mid-preen. 

She had set up a towel to help collect the fallen feathers and dust that fell, but she kept pausing midway and glancing around as if trying to track something invisible. 

Kanna stood up, decisively walking towards their room, ignoring how Chiyo's eyes trailed her as she did so. 

“Ena.” She whispered, knocking carefully on the wooden doorframe so as not to startle them when she stepped fully into the room. She waited until their breathing pattern changed and she could reasonably assume they were somewhat in the realm of the living.

 “Do you know where the preening oil is?” She whispered, watching as their backs rose and fell in peaceful motions. Their face was smashed into their pillow, masking their expression, but that was fine. A groggy hum of confusion was her reply, and she chuckled softly to herself.

 “The preening oil.” She repeated, watching as her arm slowly dragged itself from under their blankets and pointed towards their bathroom.

 “Thank you.” A grunt before, they were dragging their pillow over their head, their arm pressing it in place. 

She quietly shut the door and began making her way to their shared bathroom. They had a cabinet that held towels, toiletry essentials, and, of course, their personal items. She opened it wide open and began scanning its contents, trying to see where they ended up moving the preening oil. 

There was none. 

Meaning either they had forgotten to restock on it, OR Chiyo was preening at a higher frequency than normal. In this case, it really looks like the latter. 

“Ena-chan,” she strode back into their room, disturbing the blanket-covered cupid once again. This time they sighed heavily before their arm lifted their pillow off their head a few centimeters.

 "Do you know if we have any extra preening oil anywhere?"

 “What…” Ena's voice was deep from lack of use, and she could almost feel how groggy they were.

 “The preening oil. There's none in the bathroom,” she explained, watching as they slowly rose, the blankets pooling at their waist as their pillow fell towards the side, useless now that their owner was awake. 

“You didn't need to get up…” She chuckled, watching as they squinted and rubbed at their face. 

Their bedhead was seriously something else…

For such an orderly person, sleeping in on a lazy day truly had them looking disheveled and messy in all the best ways. 

“It's not in the bathroom?” They yawned, standing up to accompany her out into the hallways. 

“Right.” She confirmed, stepping off the couch… ly to the side. The combination of her not being fully awake yet, the bright lights, and not wearing their glasses had them swaying on their feet and leaning against the wall as they walked towards the bathroom.

“I checked the usual spots, but who knows, I might have skipped over it.” She idly said, as Ena looked inside the cabinet, moving things around as they looked.

 “...think I…maybe…” They were mumbling too softly for Kanna to properly hear them, but they were already looking up towards the highest shelf.

 “Knew it.” Ena was reaching towards the very back, where Kanna couldn't reach, having found their extras. “I bought extras after that one time Koharu was having that allergic reaction to the fall weather. And when you tried teaching her how to fly." They lightly hummed to themselves, handing over the bottles to Kanna. 

“She got it in the end! You just needed to be more patient with her!” She argued, walking side by side as they laughed at her.  

“I don't want to hear it from you, Miss I-learned-by-bird-watching-and-getting-thrown-around.” Kanna objected, crossing her arms as Ena twisted to face her.

 “Who's the one who said they'd be watching her at all times and still almost said, 'Asshole, get a face full of branches?'” I got back. Kanna understood it was difficult." Iyo and she could get along so well. They both were the most annoying people to argue against; no wonder they butted heads so often.

 "...didn't you tell Koharu once that one time when you were trying to figure out flying, you got stuck in a tree and face-planted into a bird's nest so hard you wished you died again just so you wouldn't have to live with the embarrassment?"

 “That was said in confidence to her, and that was to make her feel better!” Ena hissed, now fully awake. Or how about that one time Ito told her about how you refused to go see the Sakura trees with her unless she bought you ice cream?” She followed up, ignoring the way a vein in their neck was popping out.

 “She only brought me along because she didn't want to go alone with Touma.” Ena gritted out, their glare lessened by the fact that she was squinting too hard in the low lighting.

“That girl was trying to ask you two out on a date, and you sat there and kept going, ‘She just doesn't want to be alone with Touma and his friends!’ She skipped school with you just a few weeks before!” She retorted, snickering, when they whipped away, their ears and neck going a scarlet red. 

They didn't say anything more until they had both reached the living room, where Chiyo was still preening the inner feathers of her wings, and Koharu was sitting on the other couch watching TV.

 “Koharu-san. Remember that one mission where you got worried about Kanna's karma collection, so we took that mission to Aki's college campus? The only reason it went by so slowly is because Kanna was actually watching Aki-san, and every time she did something Kanna didn't like, she kept glaring.” Ena said matter-of-factly, ignoring Kanna's protest.

 Lying down on the same couch Koharu was on and ignoring the chaos she had sown.

 “That is not true!" Kanna objected, taking the shirt and meaning to hand Chiyo the other bottle of preening oil. So far, she wasn't looking too scruffy or bald, but the preening was a good indicator of how far along she was in molting. 

“Koharu-san, are you going to believe her or me? Me, who's only told you nothing but the truth this entire time?” Ena laughed from where they were curled on the couch. Koharu paused, looking between the two, her brows furrowing slightly.

 “You omitted the fact that you were the classmate Ito was talking about on that field trip, and all Kanna has lied to me about is watching me while I flew… and even then, she did stop me from hitting all those branches.” Koharu slowly laid out a triumphant smile… They kiss Kanna's face.

 “But…she did later tell me that she cheated in her fight against Chiyo when I first became a cupid. And I haven't seen you use dirty tricks yet.” She finished, giving an apologetic look to Kanna. Ena smirked over her shoulder at Kanna, laughing at the way her irritation was visible.

 “But—Chiyo-senpai! Your wings are looking a bit more ragged. Are you sure you're ok?” Koharu tried to divert the attention, leaning forward in concern. Chiyo waved off her concerns, sitting cross-legged, and dragged a wing onto her lap. 

“It's a lazy day; I'm just preventing them from having a lack of better things to do.” She muttered, fiddling with a still strongly attached healthy feather. 

“Are you sure? I'm sure Kanna-chan wouldn't mind helping you! Or I could if you just told me how to!” She offered, wringing her hands together as she slowly reclined back. Ena was watching them both carefully from over her shoulder, curled firmly under the couch's armrest. Almost curious to see what excuse Chiyo will give them next.

 “Mm. We'll see.” She grunted out, twisting her entire body to reach towards the outer edges of her wings. She hadn't asked any of them for help yet, and for a brief moment, Kanna almost wanted to throw something at Ena just to have something to fill the background noise…

But they were already settling into the couch to continue sleeping the day away, and with Koharu close by, she didn't want to risk it. 

Besides, Ena was already trying to give Koharu as much space as possible, curling up in an uncomfortable lump on the couch. She still kept an arm wrapped over her head to help shield her face from the overhead lights, leaving only the back of her head and wings visible to Kanna. Koharu was looking at them, brows furrowing slightly, worrying even on their lazy day of Cupid.

Kanna tilted her head back and chuckled lightly to herself, letting the silence settle into the room.

 Koharu was already leaning towards the armrest, and Ena was completely out of it, already back to sleep. Chiyo still hadn't asked her for help yet, but she seemed to be doing alright.

 A tad bit antsy but fine. 

Chiyo, crouching beside them, wasn't a problem in their eyes; she was like a smaller, angrier version of Ito when she stood beside them. But an issue was how frequently she'd shift, stamp her wings against her back, and just not stand still. They peered over at her and watched; there was a cycle to her movements. 

She'd twitch, adjust how her wings were folded, then stamp them against her body before folding them once more. 

It was slightly concerning, and they almost wanted to ask if she was simply cold, but that couldn't make sense. Who gets cold on a warm 16°C day? With little wind as well. 

Evidently, it was someone awful, absolutely awful, with cold weather. But looking over at Kanna, she didn't seem too cold… 

They shrugged off their buttoned-over shirt and handed it off to Chiyo. 

Compared to her bomber jacket, it was nothing, but if she was that cold, then so be it. 

“Here. You're going to give away our position to our targets with all that noise you're making.” They said, even as she took their overshirt and slipped it on, removing her bomber jacket as she did so.  It was confusing.

Even crouching down in the undershirt didn't have them shivering like it did Chiyo. They glanced towards where Koharu and Kanna sat crouched, unable to catch their eyes with how engrossed they seemed with studying their targets. Looking back towards Chiyo showed her crouching down tightly, holding her knees to her chest, still looking miserable as ever. 

“What's wrong?” They questioned with a frown. 

“Focus on the mission.” Chiyo merely grumbled, her feathers puffing themselves out. She was trying to generate heat while actively refusing their help? It was almost pitiful how ineffective it all truly was.

 “... you're looking scruffier than usual.” They commented, turning back to face their targets.

 It was true; her feathers looked like they were stacked on top of each other, and it was a very messy, puffed-out look. They could've sworn there were a few metaphorically hanging by threads. They wanted to grimace in sympathy; flying with them would certainly be a pain, with all that added weight dragging you down and the stacked old and new feathers layered on top of each other…

They'd have a short temper if they were in the same situation. Especially if their discomfort was shaping up to last for about a week now. 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious. Anything else to add? ‘Chiyo-san, you look cold! You're grouchy today!’” She sneered, her voice going high in an awful approximation of Ena's voice.

 They evidently did not have anything else to say. 

Choosing instead to wait and watch for Koharu to point out a good advancement and finally get this over with. It took a bit of patience and ignoring how Chiyo was still shivering beside her before they finally got somewhere. 

“Chiyo-senpai, I think now's a good moment to take a shot,” Koharu called out confidently before shrinking into herself when she saw how Chiyo was folded into herself. “Or Ena-senpai…”

 “It's fine. I'll do it.” Chiyo grumbled, standing up and weakly trying to take the skies. It took a bit for her to properly get in rhythm, and her wingbeats were still lagging behind by half a beat. 

Ena made the most logical choice, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back onto the ground.

 “Just use my gun. There's no point in flying down, then up, then back to base; you're making so many trips for nothing.” They shrugged off their own rifle, handing it over to Chiyo, mindful of how they snatched it without complaints. She expected maybe a kick to the shin or vocal complaint, but there was none. 

Looking past Chiyo, she could see Kanna's confused frown and Koharu's questioning gaze directed towards them. They simply held up a thumbs up and gave the most pronounced frown they could achieve. Hopefully, they could understand the meaning behind it. 

They did not understand them at all. 

Taking to the skies, remaining slightly ahead of both Ena and Chiyo. Even though they specifically did actions that would allude to the fact that Chiyo, while being fine in the moment, should be watched, especially whilst flying. 

Whatever. 

Ena was experienced enough to carry another person while flying and had confidence in being able to catch Chiyo should she falter. 

Speaking of faltering, Koharu was still struggling with maintaining a proper rhythm, but that was more so due to nerves versus a lack of fortitude. She had the stamina to keep up with their longer flights, but on occasion, she'd get in her head and think too hard about the rhythm of her wingbeats, causing her to slow down and then speed up without consistency. 

Reaching their base once more, they could already see the gears turning in Chiyo's head. Enter the house, set something on the stovetop to simmer, and then retreat into their room so she could avoid Ena's probing. 

“I didn't realize they were so close.” Ito had grumbled once when they were hanging out in front of the convenience store. 

Originally, she had just gone to buy candy, but then Touma managed to catch them as they were walking and offered to buy them snacks.

 ‘Since we're all heading there!’ 

What a joke. He was only offering all of them because it'd be impolite to exclude them. 

His real intent was to drag Ito away from hanging out with her so as to not tarnish her social standing. She could understand his sentiments, but really? What made him think Ito would want to hang out with a bully? 

Even Ito understood his hypocrisy, glancing up at them with a worried expression and a knitted brow. But nonetheless, they agreed, letting Touma pay for the Pocky they had grabbed and the ice cream Ito had chosen. 

He had barely finished paying for them both before one of his supposed friends approached, slinging an arm around his shoulders and dragging him outside the store.

 Ena had slowed down enough to grab the receipt and change that poured out of the machine while Ito grabbed their items, both resigning themselves to having to listen to the other two bicker amongst themselves. 

“Are you upset?” They had asked, holding their prized Pocky in hand, glancing down at Ito as she stood beside them. She certainly looked upset, but looks could be deceiving. 

“No… It's good he has friends.”

 She didn't miss the muttered-out “I guess” that followed. 

 She watched Ito's expression for a bit longer, watching the way she fiddled with the Papico wrapping. Gripping it tightly around the middle, shifting her hand towards the top as if to open it before sliding her hand back towards the middle. 

It screamed uncertainty.

 “You want the last one?” They blurted, holding their pocky out to her; she blinked, then sighed. A sigh of what they didn't know. They couldn't quite distinguish the emotion behind it, but she took the offered Pocky nonetheless.

Looking back up towards Touma, she could see him approaching, having bid his friend farewell. 

“Man, it's hot; don't you feel like it's heating up faster than usual?” He complained, settling into place next to her, effectively sandwiching her between him and Ito. 

“Yeah…it's a bit ridiculous. You bought cola, right?” Ito agreed slightly unsteadily, reaching into the bag she held to pull out his soda.

 “That’s right,” he smiled, leaning across Ena to grab it from her. 

“Hasumi-san, you should've bought something cold too; all this heat can't be good for you either.” Ito lightly admonished, looking up towards her in concern.

 “I didn't see any good flavors.” She instead shrugged, ignoring the loud pshhhhh as Touma cracked open his soda. 

“You can have some of my soda if you want; I don't know what settings they have for their fridges, but it's almost a slushie!” He offered, holding the now open bottle in her direction. 

She took it gingerly, careful not to touch his fingers as she did so.

 “I saw that! It's a whole trend in Thailand's street markets! They have entire troughs almost of ice and salt just to make soda into slushies right there!” Ito had excitedly said as they took a small sip from Touma's soda; it burned going down, and it did nothing to stop the mischievous fire that had ignited itself.

 They turned to face Touma and schooled their expression into the most deadpan one they could manage as they handed his soda back. “Yah. You better not start acting crazy over some ‘indirect kiss thing.’ I'll seriously get annoyed.”

His face immediately turned into the most scarlet red any human has ever achieved, and they couldn't help it. Leaning forward to laugh, their shoulders rose and fell as they did while Ito stood in shock beside them. 

 “I—that—why are you like this?! Stop being weird! Why would you say that?? I wouldn't even say that to Ito!?” He sputtered, and it was all too much. 

Combined with Ito's flustered sputterings, they couldn't stop laughing. “Hasumi-san, that's too much!”

“He's the one who made himself an easy target!” They shot back, pausing their laughter enough to see Ito stop and chew her lip thoughtfully.

 “He does…but still! You didn't have to call him out so loudly!” Her voice softened, then strengthened as she gathered her resolve. “I DO NOT.” Touma had shouted loudly, his face and neck a deep flush, and all it did was reignite their laughter. Even Ito's resolve had crumbled at the sight of his expression. 

She had leaned into them as she laughed, her cheek brushing against their shoulder with how close she had been. With how close she had gotten to her, grabbing the back of their shirt to steady herself as she laughed…

Back then, they had let the moment pass, instead choosing to stand back up with their arms crossed when they calmed once more, only uncrossing them to grab the offered Papico Ito had given them when she finally opened the package. The frozen snack you can share with a friend, or whatever the slogan said. The point being, it truly lived up to being the snack you could share.

“Touma, do you want some? Maybe it'll help with all the heat going to your head?” She had giggled still as Ena tore off the opening with slight difficulty, holding out her opened half with a smile.

 Still smiling even when Touma effectively snatched it from her, his face still red with a stern “Don't say it.” Directed to Ena.

That memory… 

They watched as Chiyo removed her shoes in a messy, fatigued fashion. Unlike her usual chaotic but orderly fashion.

 They did what they should've done in that moment with Ito, striding forward to catch Chiyo before she could get too far ahead and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, careful to avoid her sensitive wings. 

“Let me help with lunch today.” They had said, not missing the tired light in Chiyo's eyes and the way she rolled her eyes.

 “You better not burn anything. And if I tell you to do something, you listen.” She sternly warned, her shoulders relaxing as she accepted the help.

 “Yeah. Let's make something with steak in it; Koharu could use the extra protein and vitamins.” 

Chiyo had woken up at her usual time, but nothing about her was normal. She still felt fatigued, her wings were being sensitive, making her be sensitive and short by extension, and she wanted to be alone. Instead, she tried her best to be normal, preparing breakfast for the others, turning on the TV to have an alibi, and doing her best to fall back asleep on the couch. Chanting a few quick mental “wake up before Ena does” as she tried to get comfortable. 

How Ena could comfortably contort themself to nap on the couch was beyond her. It had to be magic, because she had been stuck shifting and moving closer to the edge of the cushions without any hope of falling back asleep anytime soon. The small pile of fallen feathers seemed to almost taunt her as she got progressively more annoyed with her own wings.

 It was supposed to be an aid to all cupids to help them get their job done more efficiently, but Chiyo could only think of them as being a pain in the rear. The skin on her wings was sensitive beyond all belief because her stupid body decided now was the best time to settle down and molt. 

Choosing to focus on growing new stronger feathers and pushing out the old without consulting her.

 She shifted again, almost falling off the couch with how unbalanced she was, her wings hanging and dropping towards the ground. She caught herself at the last minute, gripping the cushion beneath her and using it to inch forward slightly just once, now properly balanced. 

It seemed the universe took mercy on her, and going back to sleep was much easier than getting comfortable. The rest of the house had yet to wake, but that was fine. 

They knew the routine; breakfast was on the stove for them, and they could heat it up when they woke. 

For now, she was going to drown out her misery with the TV playing the news channel behind her and curl up into the world's saddest ball on the couch. It thankfully didn't take too long for her to fall back asleep, but there were a few moments when she woke up briefly. 

“...don't…me….there…perfect.” She felt a hand push at her shoulder, pushing her forward and onto the couch more. 

“...ok? …take…want…” That may have been Koharu? She wasn't paying attention, her fatigue making her eyelids heavier than usual. 

“Told… pin feathers… grouch…” Kanna? 

When she finally woke up again, it was around midday, judging from how hot the living room felt. She groaned softly and rubbed at her eyes, ignoring the footsteps down the hall. She could hear the shower running in the background, and she almost wanted to groan again.

She did not want to do anything but stay home and stay on the couch…The others could go do missions without her; it wasn't like they needed her supervision. Which is exactly why she gave voice to said thought when the footsteps settled right behind her.

“Go without me; I'll sit this mission out.” She gruffly said, covering her eyes firmly with one arm and using the other to pillow her head. “Get up.” Ena's voice rang out, far too loud for Chiyo's tastes. 

“I already said I'll sit this one out.” She shot back, irritation flaring as she repeated herself. 

“Come on.” A poke, then a prod to her shoulder, a tad bit too close to her sensitive wings for Chiyo's taste.

“Damn it, ■■■■■■!” She barked out loud, uncaring of how her voice distorted itself, as a punishment for daring to say a surname that belonged to a human to a cupid instead. 

“Yeah, yeah, damn it. Now get up.” Ena said much firmer, clapping down at her shoulder, doing their best to be patient.That had Chiyo's anger boiling over. How hard was it to take a simple no for an answer? 

She shot up, forcefully throwing herself into an upright position, ignoring how her wings twinged with pain because it was more satisfying to see Ena's wince as they struck her side and face. 

“There, I'm up, happy? Asshole, I said I'll sit this mission out." I don't know why you're being difficult.” The words just flew out of her mouth, uncaring of how Ena froze and the slight hurt dancing in her eyes.

 If she were less irritable, she would've seen how Ena's freezing was directly because they were trying to think over their proposed idea. They did that a lot, hesitated to act whenever it came to doing something nice for someone else on their own accord. Maybe it was a byproduct of their human years spent being bullied or being labeled socially inept from a young age. 

Whatever it was, Chiyo was usually more aware of how to behave and how to pick up on the signs. But right now, she was just being sensitive. Everything hurt, her skin felt bruised, and there were hundreds of little feathers trying to push out the old all at once. So excuse her for being short with everyone. 

“What? What do you want?!” She snapped, annoyed with the silence. Ena didn't say anything, instead reaching forward slowly, then faster, driving their shoulder down and in one fluid motion, picking her up and over.

 Effectively slinging her over their shoulder as if she were a misbehaving cat. 

She didn't protest beyond grabbing ahold of their shirt and gripping tightly, keeping her wings folded tightly against her back. They were holding her steady, keeping a good grasp on her legs as the sound of rushing water grew louder. She didn't understand what they were trying to get at until the bathroom door opened and steam slowly inched out. She twisted in their hold, just far enough that she could see into the bathroom, and oh. 

They had prepared a lot actually…She could see multiple sets of towels, a change of clothes, and essential oils, and Ena had gone ahead and attached one of those handheld spray nozzles to their actual shower. 

They paused only to set her down gingerly on the thankfully shut toilet and to hand her a shirt.It looked long, longer than Chiyo's own usual shirts, and there were huge gaping slits cut into them. She took them in one hand, confusion forcing the anger off her face.

“You…you should change. It'll make everything else easier.” They muttered, already facing away from her, a hand firmly slapped over their eyes as if taking off their fogged-up glasses wasn't enough. For a moment, she took in the sight of Ena facing the wall, glasses off in one hand with the other hand firmly covering their eyes, and then she looked down at the shirt in her hands

 She held it out in front of her, letting gravity unfold it for her, and oh.

 It was one of Ena's plain shirts they used for pajamas…they had even cut longer slits for her wings. 

“You know you don't have to guard the door; I'm not going anywhere.” She tried to joke, though it fell flat when Ena didn't react. 

She grimaced slightly before changing into Ena's shirt, wincing when the fabrics would catch on sensitive pin feathers. 

“You're good,” She leaned forward to lightly tap their ankle with her foot, smiling when Ena waited a few more seconds to remove her hand.

Ena put her glasses on with one hand and grabbed two towels with the other, somehow making their fumbling look charming instead of pathetic. It took a few tries to get their glasses to go on properly and not risk gouging out their eyes, but Chiyo was patient.

“Lift your wings up,” Ena quietly asked, standing before her with one towel held open. 

She did as Ena asked, a confused frown overtaking her expression as a towel was wrapped around her waist. Ena was very gentle pushing her larger primary feathers away from the towel and attentive when it came to tucking in the ends of towels. Moving carefully so as to not pinch skin but making sure everything stayed secure.

 Chiyo focused on watching her face as she worked, the furrowed brow as they worked, and their avoidant gaze as she tried to stay focused on her task and ignore how Chiyo was watching them. She took it all in, her fatigued brain taking ages to connect the dots. 

“You like me~” She teased right as Ena's hands drifted up towards her shoulders, draping a second towel over her, making sure to fold it in a way that it would rest above where her wings started. 

“Shut up.” Ena shut down, her face flushing in response even though in the future they'd swear up and down it was simply due to the steam and how their human body reacted to heat. 

Kanna would question the specifics of it by turning their cupid birth situation against them, and Ena would grow too frustrated by the two of them; they'd settle for fuming in silence later. 

“Tell me if it's too hot” was the only warning she got before a torrent of warm water covered her right wing. At first her feathers repelled the water, but under the constant stream they soon would get saturated. Chiyo sighed in pleasant surprise, having braced herself for the worst based on Ena's warnings. She felt Ena's other hand slowly card through her feathers, gentle and slow, testing the waters rather than doing anything effective. 

But Chiyo didn't care; Ena could do all this glorified petting if it meant staying under the warm water for longer. She leaned against Ena's frame and sighed. Their actions were so slow and meticulous, carefully avoiding where it hurt and was too sensitive, while maintaining a steady spray of water on her wings. 

She let her eyes fall shut, content to let Ena do as they pleased, and she let instincts control her wings. Her body was already naturally flapping her wings, trying to get water to reach the underside of her wings and her back, only to be thwarted by the towels Ena had wrapped around her.

 Ena, for the most part, took the flapping in stride, adjusting their angle to help Chiyo in her mission. If she had opened her eyes, she could've seen the waterlogged feathers sticking to every surface imaginable, even Ena's arms. Instead, she kept them carefully shut and only sighed or shuddered when Ena hit a spot that felt particularly good or was overtly sensitive. 

Having her eyes shut meant her other senses heightened, and she couldn't help but whine when the warm sensation left her wing briefly. She could hear the hose and handle hitting the shower wall as Ena tried to place it onto its holder in order to free up both hands. One hand bracing, holding her wing steady, as the other worked. 

Slowly and carefully moving from the top to bottom to shake out loose feathers and carefully sandwich stuck dead feathers in between their fingers and their palm with a soft rocking motion without hurting healthy ones.

 “You should let Koharu help you preen…” Ena's voice cut through the silence, echoing slightly against the shower walls. “Are you trying to say my preening skills are bad?” She laughed slightly, tilting her head to peek at their face. She shook her head in response. 

“I’m saying you have short arms, everything's all bunched up together, and you look scruffy… No wonder you've been in a bad mood all week.” Ena elaborated, their focus faltering as they took the chance to shake off the feathers sticking to them. 

Chiyo didn't have a response to that. She stayed mute and didn't move until Ena's hands returned back to her wing. Her face felt warm, but it didn't stop her from leaning against them once more. She didn't know how long it took for them to finish working on her right wing, but she did know that she was so close to falling asleep then and there.

 It took Ena saying something to jolt her awake, and even then she was still deep into slumber's hold.

 “I'll try to be gentle, but please don't hit me if it hurts too much.” 

She let out a confused hum, but she didn't try fighting them at all. Not even when her wings violently jerked open, nor when her skin twitched as the muscle underneath tensed so abruptly it almost cramped. That same warm torrent of water that had been previously on her feathers was now on keratin-covered pin feathers and bare skin. It was sensitive, and every droplet of water made her want to whine as it pelted her bruised skin, but she didn't protest. 

Not when soon after Ena moved the nozzles away, angling them away from the sensitive area. She was cupping handfuls of water and letting it slide onto bare skin with a gentleness that made Chiyo want to whine again. 

It was slow work, mainly due to Ena not wanting to be hit again and not wanting to hurt Chiyo either. She let herself get lost in the mixed sensations of the warm water, her skin finally not screaming at her, and Ena's presence in front of her.

 She twisted to watch Ena work, curious when yet again, the nozzle was placed back onto the holder and water was hitting their shower floor and not her feathers. Ena had one pin feather pinched carefully in between her fingers, and with a slow rolling motion, Chiyo watched as the keratin shell broke off and flaked onto her skin. Ena slowly pulled back with a quiet “Ok…” sounding relieved. 

She laughed softly, tilting her head back to be able to look up at them properly. “Didn’t expect it to work, or are you scared I was going to sucker punch you?” She grinned, watching Ena shake off bits of keratin from her fingers. 

“A bit of both. It's hard to tell which feathers are ready and which aren't… You aren't exactly a parrot.” She hummed in response, using the back of her hand to push her glasses up. 

“...what?” It felt as though someone poured freezing cold water over her, the confusion spreading through her body in waves.

 “Mm, video sharing platforms have been on the rise lately, and I saw a video of a lady helping her elderly bird preen its feathers once. The subtitles were a bit funky, and the translation wasn't the most accurate, but it meant I could practice my English listening skills, so I didn't mind.” Ena easily explained, pushing her to lean forward and to the side with one hand as the other picked up the spray nozzle once more. This time the warm water was rushing over her left wing, and Chiyo could hear the door opening in the far room. 

“Enaaaaa-channnnn, have you gotten punched yet!?” Kanna called from the front door, and immediately Chiyo frowned. 

“No, don't jinx it.” Ena said slightly louder than their usual speaking voice. It was a quirk of theirs; they hated loud noises, never yelled—at least by traditional standards—and kept their voice at a firm, quiet speaking level. She's heard a few others once describe them as being soft-spoken, but she couldn't disagree more. 

They spoke low or mumbled their way through life, but not once would she consider Ena soft-spoken. 

“I will if you want me to, Kanna!” Chiyo decided to shout, getting sprayed in the face directly as punishment. Her sputtering must've been loud enough that Kanna could hear it and laugh at her misfortune. 

“Don’t egg her on; I’ve barely started removing all your dead feathers on this side.” They groused, leaning back to stretch their neck and shoulders. 

It was curious; Chiyo knew exactly how they died, yet not once had they seen where her scar was. It was a shared trait between cupids that their moment of death would be visualized by a scar, a weak point to their armor, but Chiyo had yet to see Ena's. Even with all the consistent stretching and craning downwards to look at them, she hadn't seen it. 

But…she could be vulnerable with her at a different time. It didn't matter, not to Chiyo at least. She had her secrets, and Ito may have shared stories of the times they hung out, but she didn't share all of them. Understanding and guarding Ena's secrets even in the face of a possible new friend. 

It was sweet; even despite her dislike for Touma, they could agree on one thing. Ito and Ena, the two of them being friends, it just worked. They balanced each other out, and Ito was precisely the kind of person Chiyo would've set Ena up with had they met sooner.

“Hey,” She leaned forward, bumping Ena's arm with her head. “Think this is the perfect time to teach Koharu how to preen, you know?” 

Ena paused, their fingers tangled in Chiyo's feathers, scanning Chiyo's face for any uncertainty. They slowly retracted them, wiping and drying once more, seconds after they had just wiped feathers off their arms. She'd feel bad for it, but Koharu could benefit from this learning process, and Ena could use the break.

“Koharu-san!” Ena leaned backwards towards the door, calling out for their shared kouhai to come join them.  “Come here, please!” 

They sat in silence for a bit, listening for Koharu's footsteps as she drew closer. 

“What’s wrong?” She peeked her head inside, watching as Ena stepped back and Chiyo looked up at her. 

“Nothing's wrong.” Chiyo shook her head, that girl… She was going to worry herself into an early death one of these days. 

“Have you ever seen those videos of that lady helping her bird preen?” Ena questioned Koharu as she walked to stand beside her in their cramped bathroom space. 

“You and I are on different sides of the internet.” Koharu shook her head with a rueful smile. “I only really saw art and manga videos like Skip and Loafer.” 

“Mm, not my personal preference,” Ena hummed, taking a seat on the closed toilet, crossing their ankles over each other. 

“Chiyo’s molting; her feathers are all over each other, and she got pin feathers trying to cover up the bald spots. I already did the other wing; you get this one. Have fun.” They gestured towards Chiyo and her waterlogged wings sagging behind her. 

Koharu carefully stepped forward, leaning over her with a soft apology, stroking the wet feathers with a gentle slow motion. “How—how do I know which ones to remove? Won't it hurt?” She asked Ena, who was supervising her carefully. 

“It shouldn't; the dead feathers will look all dull and fall at the slightest touch. If you have to tug at them, then they're not ready. As for her pin feathers, just get the keratin all warmed and soft.” Ena explained, leaning backwards and drawing their legs closer towards themself to give her more room to work. 

“Can—is this ok?” Koharu fumbled, hovering her hands over Chiyo's wing without touching it fully. Chiyo blinked in confusion at that. 

She could touch her feathers all she wanted, but when it came to preening, now she got shy? Chiyo just lifted her wing up in response, watching both Ena's and Koharu's expressions carefully. 

Koharu slowly dropped her hand into Chiyo's feathers, trying to comb them straight like one would a cat. Chiyo did her best not to react in a negative way and instead coached her, but it was a bit hard.

It had been a while since she took on a newbie cupid, and Kanna hadn't been particularly interested in the intricacies of preening, her goal at the time being to reincarnate as fast as possible. 

“Here, keep your hand flush with the skin and do a little back and forth motion, like how those kids in high school tousle their hair,” she encouraged, internally heaving a sigh of relief when Koharu did exactly as she was told, and feathers fell in waves off her back. 

Ena shifted and stood up, assigning themselves to cleanup duty as Chiyo helped guide Koharu even more. 

“Yeah, listen to Chiyo; she's been doing this thing for such a long time I'm certain she saw the tiger smoke.” Ena said, snickering to themselves when it took Chiyo a while to sift through her internal dictionary, trying to remember which era the slang belonged to. 

“I am not that old!” She shot forward to kick at Ena's shin, as Koharu ducked out of the way, a smile on her face as she watched their antics. “And that's a Korean phrase, idiot!” 

“Could've had me and Koharu fooled. With your white hair, short slumped posture, and grandma slang…you’re not painting a good defense for yourself, Chiyo-san.” Ena continued, ignoring what she said with a laugh, and even managed to draw one out from Koharu before she silenced herself. 

“Hang on, hang on,” Koharu intervened, watching Ena as she slowly stepped closer, carefully watching out for any attack Chiyo might try to launch. “The food is going to get cold, and I don't think Kanna-senpai will be so laid back if we make her wait any longer…” 

“Hear that, Chiyo? It means get more cooperative and quit picking fights.” 

“You’re the one instigating! Koharu-chan, tell her something; you both are friends of the same age!” Chiyo protested, straightening to face Koharu with a mischievous glance. “No, no, actually. Chronologically, you're their senior! You hold all the power here!” 

She grinned at Koharu, curious to see how Koharu would take the news of being technically Ena's senior. Her hands had taken their place back on her wings, and she had been removing the dead feathers from the inside portion of her wings, but now she stood frozen. 

Her brows were furrowing lower and lower, and this was it! Chiyo would finally see Koharu pull out the senior card and get one over on Ena! 

Except…

Her brows may have been furrowing, but her lip was also trembling. And this wasn't going where Chiyo wanted it to go. 

“But I like being in your guys’ care… It feels weird being called senpai… I don't want to boss Ena-senpai around… I don't like it…” Her shoulders were drawing themselves higher as her voice grew smaller. 

“Personally I don't care for the semantics or hierarchical things,” Ena spoke up, peering over her glasses towards both of them. 

“We know.” Chiyo shot her a dirty look before reaching behind to pat Koharu's arm. 

“But look on the bright side, you can still call me and Kanna senpai! Just not Ena… It'll be like having your own little kouhai while being Kanna's little precious kouhai too!” She tried to comfort, even as Koharu's face twisted. 

“You won't make me call you senpai, will you?” She asked Ena, looking like a sopping wet cupid. 

“Call me whatever you want,” Ena reassured, leaning against the wall. “Chiyo, stop being mean.”

“That's Chiyo-senpai to you!” 

“See?” Ena rolled their eyes, giving Koharu an awkward pat on the shoulder as comfort. 

“Fine, fine, you guys can keep up your backwards dynamic, not like it's bor—” She cut herself off with a yelp. 

“See, now you're getting it; that's a good way to shut her up.” Ena flipped up a thumbs-up motion even as Koharu frantically ducked her head in apology. 

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! It's just they were so tangled together, and I swear I didn't do it on purpose!” Frantic apologies were spilling out of Koharu's lips, even as she tried to pat and rub at their area. 

She had tugged on a very healthy feather trying to remove one of the shedding dead feathers tangled beside it, and Chiyo had never felt something so miniscule burn so much. 

“It's ok.” She managed to choke out, bracing herself against Koharu, as the pain settled in. 

Curse her, curse the Goddess of Love for creating cupids and making them molt, curse her stupid feathers, and curse her stupid skin for being hypersensitive. 

"I'm really sorry. Look, we're almost done. I—Ena-senpai—can step back in, and I'll go help Kanna-senpai. I'm really sorry!" 

Chiyo took a slow, steadying breath before sitting back upright. 

“Everything's fine; you can keep going. There's only a little bit left.” She said, deadly calm, even reaching back out to Koharu's back. 

“I—are you sure?” Koharu timidly asked, glancing in between her and Ena, who was also blinking down at Chiyo in slight confusion. 

“Yes. It's fine. Everything's fine.” 

“Hm, thought she would've blown a fuse, but guess it comes with the kouhai perks.” Ena shrugged, mirth glinting in her eyes as Koharu gave a shy smile. 

“The primaries might be a little difficult; honestly speaking, I wouldn't do much beyond giving them a quick shakedown.” Ena leaned forward, peeking over Koharu's shoulder at Chiyo's wing. “Didn't realize you had that many feathers on you, Chiyo-san.” 

“You'd be surprised… Kanna has a lot more than me; when she molts, she looks like a puffed-up dandelion for a little bit until she hits that ugly bald stage.” She confirmed, leaning to the side to give Koharu a better vantage point. 

“The stage your upper half is on, you mean.” Ena smiled, spraying down the tub as Koharu did her finishing touches, lightly scratching Chiyo's wing. 

“Do you even have a bag ready for all those feathers? They absolutely cannot go down the drain.” Chiyo did her best to frown, but between Koharu's scratching and Ena's strange angle, it was difficult to maintain. 

“Yes, Mother. There's a bag ready outside of the bathroom; focus on drying your wings first. You are not going to track water all the way into the kitchen.” Ena snarked in response, smiling despite Chiyo being unable to see them.

Koharu helped unwrap the towels from around Chiyo's waist and shoulders, stepping back to give Chiyo space to stand up. 

Chiyo stretched and grinned mischievously, giving her wings a few tentative flaps to see just how far she could push the boundary. 

Then, without warning, she gave herself a harsh shake, making sure to fling water everywhere, ignoring Koharu's shocked yelp and Ena's silent growing anger. 

“Man, that felt good!” She boasted, beaming up at them both, when she saw the fruits of her labor. 

“...I'm glad you're happy, Chiyo-san.” Koharu smiled stiffly, shockingly still not frowning. 

“Very happy.” Ena's clipped tone rang out, and Chiyo turned around to watch them remove their glasses with barely concealed irritation, wiping off the water droplets in stiff swipes. 

“Mm, I feel better now that all that weight is off my back! Well, Koharu-chan, let's leave Enacchi all the boring stuff, and you can show me what you and Kanna decided we should have for lunch today!” She threw an arm over Koharu's shoulder as she drew closer, intending to help towel-dry Chiyo's wings. 

“If you track water through the entire house, I will throw you outside.” Ena stuck her head up to threaten, managing to look intimidating even with a handful of feathers. 

“I'm not the one holding the towels, am I? You can't hold me accountable for that.” She stuck out her tongue at them. 

Koharu took that as a sign to hand over one of the towels and begin to towel-dry Chiyo's feathers without causing any more undue pain to her senpai. Ena was working right beside them, throwing Chiyo's shed feathers into the prepared bag while Chiyo and Koharu worked to get her wings less soaking wet and more damp. 

It took a few minutes of just working in silence, but finally they had all finished their tasks. 

And in all her glory, there Chiyo stood dressed in Ena's oversized pajama shirt with holes cut on the back and damp wings that she had fluffed open to help air dry. 

“Aw, Chiyo-senpai, you look like those Pomeranian dogs I see on the internet, with your wings all puffed out and all those dead feathers off of you!” Koharu cooed, running an appreciative hand along said feathers. 

“Mhm! Isn't it just great?” She puffed her chest out, relishing in the praise as she exited the bathroom and made her way towards the living room area. Leaving the cleanup and subsequently turning the lights off to Ena, who was trailing behind them. 

“You guys get Chiyo all cleaned up?” Kanna asked them with a smile when she saw them approach, having taken it upon herself to set their coffee table up with the takeout she had gone to buy and lounge on the couch to wait for them. 

“Yep! No more grouchy, itchy Chiyo-san!” Koharu excitedly exclaimed, ushering Chiyo forward. 

“She has mites, by the way, so I'd be careful there, Kanna-san.” Ena decidedly warned Kanna too late, choosing to wait until Chiyo had flung herself into Kanna's side intentionally.

“Hah…” Kanna froze, the soul seemingly leaving her body, as she processed where Chiyo was and Ena's warning. 

“I do not! Koharu! Tell your senpai something before I turn this peaceful arrangement into something violent!” Chiyo spat, pointing harshly in Ena's direction, whirling around to glare at them and their stupid smirk. 

“Ena-senpai, that's too mean!” Koharu protested immediately, settling onto the other couch beside them. Their scolding does little to wipe the smirk off their face. 

“Well... Koharu and I went out and got a lot of food, so…eat it while it's fresh!” Kanna slowly recovered, a shaky smile pulling at her lips before it strengthened, watching Koharu excitedly lean forward. 

“Kanna-chan said she wasn't too sure if your favorite foods were still the same, so we just went through the list of all your previous ones!” She beamed, too focused on Chiyo's expression to notice Kanna's dopey smile and the way she melted at the way she said “Kanna-chan.” 

“We got duck dry ramen, yakisoba, yakitori, and all kinds of meats and stir-fried veggies, so take your pick,” Kanna smiled down at Chiyo, who had settled back down onto her side. 

Chiyo shot forward at that, grabbing a plate and loading it with virtually every option in sight. Kanna and Koharu were right behind her, moving at a slower, less eager pace. 

Chiyo waited until Kanna was sitting back upright before tucking herself back into her side, angling herself for the maximum comfort without suffocating her wings. 

It seemed Kanna had put on a movie while she waited for them to exit the bathroom; they had missed the beginning, but none of them particularly cared enough to rewind it. 

Ena was the only one truly immersed in it, their half-lidded gaze locked on the TV, and Chiyo quickly took notice of two things. The lack of their own plate on their lap and the bag of candy on the coffee table positioned directly in front of their usual spot on the couch. 

She reached to her side, grabbing one of their throw pillows while Kanna carefully set Chiyo and her plate to the side to keep them safe from the upcoming action. 

With careful precision, Chiyo threw the pillow in her hand directly into Ena's chest, producing a solid thump as it landed true to its target. 

“Eat real food! Just because Ito lets you keep your bad habit of eating candy all day doesn't mean we will!” 

That seemed to jolt them from their dazed stupor, and she watched as they settled their hand on top of the pillow now sitting neatly on her lap.

An incredulous look towards her was all they did in response before leaning forward and doing exactly as Chiyo asked. 

They had taken a smaller portion than Chiyo would've liked to see, but she had to take the win where she could. Even Koharu was frowning at their portion size, but she didn't say anything. Instead of choosing to let her actions speak for her, she shifted to be closer to Ena as they ate. 

Chiyo settled back into her spot, satisfied now that everyone was properly eating. 

She was content. Overtly so. 

Sitting there with everyone, her wings feeling less heavy, her skin a little less sensitive now that she let them in and let them help. 

She let out a soft sigh of contentment, and she was too focused on watching Ena and Koharu on the other couch to catch the smile on Kanna's face. 

She didn't know when exactly it was that they all [it was just the 3 of them; Ena was still stubbornly awake] had hit that food coma stage, but she did wake up briefly to witness Ena, in an attempt to clean up, get trapped by Koharu slumping over in her sleep and leaning on their shoulder heavily. 

They had frozen completely, every part of their body, all of their muscles tensing at once. She watched with a small laugh as they settled back into place, their bodies tense as they tried not to wake or disturb Koharu.

“Haha, now you're trapped!” She teased, her voice thick with sleep, as Ena glanced over at her with a resigned expression. 

She stood up, managing to pull Kanna up from the couch, and walked them both over to where the others were. Kanna had woken up during the journey and quickly settled against Koharu's other side while Chiyo chose an alternate route. 

Splaying herself across all of their laps and monopolizing the space for herself. She grinned up at Ena proudly before wrapping her arms around their waist, pointedly ignoring the resigned sigh that escaped them. 

One of their hands dropped down to undo her signature ponytail and tangled itself in Chiyo's hair as the other held the remote, deciding on another movie to watch while they were still awake. 

Chiyo let herself be lulled back to sleep by the combination of Ena running her hand through her hair and the soft movie playing in the background. Drifting back to sleep and snoring into Ena's shirt as the sunlight escaped them and the moonlight slowly began its embrace. 

She only woke up once more in the middle of the night, a quick cursory glance in the room telling her it was well past midnight. She glanced towards the three other cupids in the room and found them all asleep. Kanna and Koharu slumped against each other, and Ena leaned forward with their arms crossed, their glasses hanging off their faces by a metaphorical thread. 

She slowly got up and off their laps, reaching upwards to pull Ena's glasses off her face and set them on the coffee table gently. She did her best to stay quiet as she worked, carefully packing up the covered food and putting it in the fridge. 

She was grateful; it seemed like Ena had a good opportunity to slip out from under them to at least throw the covers over all of their containers. At least their food had been covered even if it sat out on the table for an extended period of time. 

Chiyo carefully stepped over to their room, carefully pulling out the blankets they kept in the closet, and made her way back towards the living room. Pausing occasionally to listen in case anyone woke up in the middle of her quest for comfort. 

She carefully unfolded the two blankets she brought out and laid one over top of Ena before settling back onto their laps, this time letting her legs fall into Ena's lap while her head remained closer to Kanna and Koharu. 

She settled down carefully before throwing the remaining blanket over the three of them, sighing once more as she shifted to wedge an arm in between Kanna and the couch in order to properly wrap her arms around her waist. 

When they'd all wake up the next morning, it would be to the sound of Chiyo making breakfast and her boisterous laughter as Ena, ‘notorious couch sleeper extraordinaire,’ sat up rubbing at their neck because they had woken up sore from sleeping on the couch with them. 

Those moments of joy, so early in the morning, held a special place in Chiyo's heart, and she certainly wouldn't trade them for anything. Especially not the three cupids who entered her life so roughly and cared for her in their own special ways. Uncaring of her stubborn, brash attitude and behaviors.