Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Tomori blinks, staring intently at the class list. Her eyes repeatedly dart between her name and the one below it in disbelief.

Takamatsu Tomori

Togawa Sakiko

She blinks again. That can’t possibly be real, right?

“Aghhhh, Tomorin!!!” An arm goes over her shoulder, and Tomori has to keep her body weight steady as Anon literally crashes into the vocalist. “We’re not in the same class together this year! How cruel is that??”

Tomori smiles. “It’s a shame, but your homeroom isn’t that far from mine, so you can always visit, Ano-chan.” Anon only weeps more.

“Yeah, but it’s not the same compared to last year, ahhhhhhritigkldodhahhh!! What if I got some super important stuff to talk about for MyGO??? Why do I have to walk to do so?!” The vocalist goes to awkwardly pat the other’s back, the wind picking up, and Tomori looks up to see someone familar.

“Eh?” There, one Togawa Sakiko stood, eyes wide as she stares at the class list. She blinks, feeling someone staring and meets Tomori’s gaze.

“Ah! Um,” Tomori does a bunch of hand motions, before finally settling on giving an awkward wave. “H-hi, Saki-chan…” the keyboardist gives a stiff nod in response.

“So—“ Sakiko glances between the list and her old bandmate. “We’re in the same class together.”

“…yes.”

“…”

Anon looks up, seemingly done with her groveling session, and she looks between the two girls. “What’s the matter with you both? You’re in the same class now, shouldn’t you be excited?? I sure as hell would be.” The pink-haired girl sighs, adjusting her glasses. “Well whatever, it wouldn’t hurt to make new connections this time. Heh, maybe I can mooch off some free tickets to one of the other aspiring girl bands here or something.” The guitarist glances at her phone. “C’mon guys, we’re gonna miss the opening ceremony or whatever, ugh. Can’t they get some cool makeup artist to announce whatever stuff they got over the principal??” Anon slouches off, and Sakiko and Tomori share a look before following suit. Well, this is gonna be an interesting school year for sure. The breeze seems to pick up a bit more as the two walk side by side to the gymnasium, the cherry blossoms petals seemingly dancing in the air.

—

“You may choose any seat you like. Once you’ve all done so, we’ll begin with introductions.” The students all go to choose their desks, and Sakiko goes to sit at the very back of the class near the windows. She takes a seat and stares at the cherry blossoms floating along the breeze.

“Pfft,” she blinks as she hears a small giggle, looking to her left to see Tomori going to take the seat next to her. “Ah, I’m sorry! Is it okay…?”

Sakiko smiles slightly. “Of course it is? We’re not strangers, now are we?”

“No, I guess not.” Tomori takes her seat.

“If I may ask, what was so funny earlier?” She watches as Tomori blushes slightly, the other realizing she wasn’t unheard, and the vocalist averts her gaze from the other.

“It was a bit funny to me that you chose the seat many main characters in anime like to take.”

“Really?” She leans against her palm, giving the vocalist her full attention. “Do tell me more.” She smiles inwardly upon seeing Tomori continually getting flustered for being put on the spot like this.

“Well—“

“Okay!” The teacher claps their hands. “Looks like everyone is in the seats they want. I’ll begin by introducing myself, then you’ll do the same, starting from the front until we end all the way to the back. My name is—“ Sakiko decides to tune the teacher out for a bit, pulling out her notebook as well as a mechanical pencil and eraser, and in the corner of her eye, she sees Tomori doing similarly, though the other is a bit frantic.

“Eh? Where is it…?” The girl mumbles to herself while searching through her pencil case, and Sakiko leans towards the other.

“What’s wrong?” The ash-brown haired girl jumps slightly.

“I-it’s just, uh, I don’t have my eraser. I must’ve forgot it at home.” Without hesitation, Sakiko goes to grab her own and offers it to the other. “Wha—? I can’t possibly—“

“Just take it,” Sakiko drops the eraser into Tomori’s hands as she blinks, relenting nonetheless. It was probably useless to try and push back anyways.

“Thanks, Saki-chan.” Tomori says with a soft smile, and Sakiko nods, glancing away at the window as a warmth fills her cheeks.

What…was that feeling just now? The keyboardist mulls in her head, thoughts stewing as she tries to reason it out. It’s probably just due to the fact that her and Tomori have barely seen each other in a while, and they weren’t on the best of terms for about two years now, so that’s probably it! Ha, ‘mortal feelings’ have got nothing on Togawa Sakiko, the god destined to transcend it all!

“My name is Takamatsu Tomori, it’s nice to meet you all, um,” Tomori’s soft voice pierces through her thoughts with ease. “Three things about me are that I, like many people here, am in a band, I like to visit the aquarium and planetarium on my days off, and I like collecting things, like rocks and bandaids.” She bows. “I’m looking forward to working with you all for this school year!” The students clap as Sakiko looks in astonishment.

Even despite everything, she’s so… Sakiko can’t help but stare, these confusing newfound feelings overtake her and swallow her whole like the pathetic person she is and seemingly always will be.

“Erm, Saki-chan?” Tomori tries to get the other’s attention. “Saki-chan, it’s your turn now!” The vocalist whispers, nudging the other, and Sakiko blinks.

“Ah, right.” she stands up, making sure to project her voice with confidence. “I’m Togawa Sakiko, and three things about me are…”

—

The light-blue haired girl taps the head of her pencil against her textbook, absentmindedly jotting down notes. She loosely writes the words on the board down as her gaze wanders to the vocalist, who was very much more focused on the lesson on hand than the keyboardist. She looks back down and realizes she added one too many words more than necessary to the current sentence she was copying down.

Sakiko goes to erase a word, patting the left corner of her desk to find nothing there. Right, she lent it to Tomori at the beginning of class. She reaches her hand out towards the other girl, making a grabby motion and catching Tomori’s attention, who blinks. She feels something rather cool get placed in her palm, and she barely feels the warmth of Tomori’s hand as it ever so slightly brushes against hers, ever so fleeting. As Sakiko finally goes to erase the error she made, her paper tears slightly, and she blinks as she looks closer to see a squarish rock in her hand in lieu of her eraser.

She blinks once, then twice. Her eyes don’t deceive her, it’s still a rock. As discreetly as she could, Sakiko leans over to the other girl.

“Tomori,” the vocalist blinks, looking at the other, and Sakiko holds up the rock. Tomori’s eyes widen, and she scrambled to give the other girl the proper item. The light-blue haired girl goes to erase the extra word and places the eraser back into the vocalist’s hand.

“Um, what about my rock…?”

“Hm,” the keyboardist puts her pencil to her chin, pretending to think. “I think not, actually.”

“Eh?” To be honest, she also didn’t know what the hell she was doing, but for some reason, Sakiko had an impulsive urge to keep the square rock, absurd as it was. After a few minutes, Tomori nods her head. “Alright. If you really like it that much, you can hold onto it. It should be fine in your hands.” As fleeting as it was, Tomori smiled a bit, and those troublesome feelings seem to resurface once more. They go back to copying down the writing on the board, but Sakiko’s gaze might have wandered a few more times after that.

•—————————•

“TOMORIN!~” Sakiko watches as Anon comes barreling into the classroom, lunging herself at Tomori like she hadn’t seen the other in years.

“A-Ano-chan, you’re crushing me…!” The guitarist lets go and makes a half apology, grabbing Tomori by the wrist and dragging her up from her seat.

“C’mon, we’ve got to get to RiNG early! I very accidentally totally not my own fault at all made a terrible bet with Rikki and Soyorin. Don’t you get it, my precious yen is on the line here!” She weaves past the students and desks. “Later, Sakiko-chan!!”

“Ah—bye?” Sakiko makes a half-hearted wave, though Anon and Tomori were already long gone by then. She makes her way down to the shoe lockers, swapping her indoor shoes with her outdoor ones as her phone buzzes in her pocket.

Uika
—
< sticker_WAVE!.jpeg >

< I’ll be waiting outside the school gate :) >

Sakiko goes to type a response, closing her shoe locker and making sure she has all her belongings before heading out. She spots Uika waving in the distance and picks up her pace.

“Saki-chan!” She greets Uika’s warm smile with one of her own. “How was your first day of this new school year?”

The keyboardist fidgets with the strap of her school bag, her thumb repeatedly dragging up and down the fabric. “It was alright, I suppose. Tomori and I are in the same class this year.” Uika suddenly stops walking, her mouth agape.

“Eh, really?! That’s—“ Uika expression turns into one of concern, and she’s about to speak, but Sakiko cuts her off.

“Like I said before, you all gave your lives to me, I will honor that no matter what. Don’t think I’d be so daft to commit the same mistake twice now.”

“No—it’s not that. Though I’m glad, of course.” The pale-blonde haired girl mulls over her words, rubbing a hand up and down her forearm. “It’s just, you and Tomori-chan are together again.”

Sakiko stares blankly. “…I don’t quite follow.”

“I mean, it’s been awhile since CRYCHIC, and since you two barely resolved things—“

“I felt as though my letter was sufficient enough in conveying my feelings.” Uika sighs softly.

“No, Saki-chan, I mean that you have another opportunity now, one that wasn’t there before.” Sakiko remains quiet. Truth be told she understood what Uika meant long before she verbalized it, but should she really try to fix something that honestly wasn’t meant to be in the first place? It’s not like she hated the oh so fleeting time she had with CRYCHIC, but when it comes to Tomori…

Uika only sighs again. “Listen, I’m sorry for bringing it up. I know it’s still a bit painful to reminisce on, but it just seems like a rare opportunity to potentially change things now, at least from my perspective.”

“I’ll sleep over it.” The guitarist frowns at that, and they continue walking back to their apartment, though the way back was filled with silence. Uika fishes out the keys, inserting them and unlocking the door, and upon entering

“SUUUR~PRISE!! HAPP—“

“AHHHHHHH!” Uika lets out a shriek, going to whack Nyamu with her school bag on the side and glances furiously around the apartment as the drummer crumples to the floor. She rushes back outside to a confused Sakiko, who blinks.

“…Uika, is everything alr—“

“Yep! Everything’s fine and dandy! Ha! Ha!” She quickly shuts the door, lest her band mate get a glimpse. They still hasn’t quite got around to telling the rest of Ave Mujica about Nyamu and her being an item…it’ll happen! One day! Not now! Definitely not now!

The pale-blonde haired girl blinks rapidly. “Here!” She shoves a crumpled up grocery list and a few yen into Sakiko’s hands. “I haven’t had the time yet to get all the ingredients for dinner, so would you be willing to go buy them for me.” Sakiko blinks, but doesn’t object, although, the way Uika phrased that sounded like it was more of a command than a request.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be back in a few.” The vocalist waves her off.

“Stay safe! If you need anything, just do the ‘call me beep me if you wanna reach me’ whole thing!” The light-blue haired girl nods, walking off as Uika sighs at Sakiko’s retreating figure. She braces herself, walking back into her apartment and closing the door behind her.

“Misumi Uika.” Ah shit, here we go. She shuts her eyes and braces herself as Nyamu staggers over, expecting a verbal tangent. A minute goes by. Then two. Then three. Uika slowly opens her eyes to see Nyamu standing there crossing her arms, and OH MY GOD IS SHE CRYING?! the pale-blonde girl panics as she sees the tears drip down her girlfriend’s face, and she pats herself aggressively for a spare handkerchief.

“Oh gosh, Nyamu-chan, I’m so sorry! I-I panicked!” The drummer only grumbles, sniffling.

“Seriously, we need to work on yer fight-or-flight response then if yer first resort is to hit someone. Geez girl, we’re not in a horror flick!”

“I’m sorry…it’s just, I got scared! We still haven’t told the rest yet.” she goes to dab the rest of the tears away, and Nyamu looks away.

“I know that, I—“ she runs a hand through her hair, a rare moment of vulnerability peeking through the drummer’s usual demeanor. “I just thought you were rejecting me there or sumthin’. I wanted to surprise you for our six months anniversary.”

“No, of course not! Honestly, I love the surprise a lot! It was just a set of bad coincidences, that’s all!” Uika pauses to think. “How can I make it up to you?” Nyamu eyes glint, and the vocalist gets a bad feeling.

“Then, be my model for my next video I’m makin’? A brand finally sponsored me, so I’ll be doing a full set of makeup on you! Heh, plus I’ll rake in so many views getting THE Misumi Uika, hehe. Ooooo, I can already imagine putting so much makeup on that cute face of yer’s!” Uika could only break into a nervous sweat seeing Nyamu’s smile turn devious.

“O-of course! Anything for you, darling…” she can only hope the purple-haired girl doesn’t go overboard when the time comes.

—

“Thank you for your purchase!” Sakiko exits the grocery store, plastic bags in her hands as she walks back to Uika’s apartment. She frowns a bit, attempting to keep her arms steady as she walks, but to no avail, as they sink closer and closer to the asphalt.

“Saki-chan?” She looks up to see Tomori jogging over to her, though she pauses midway, turning to her bandmates. “Ah, sorry guys. I’ll see you all tomorrow?”

Anon grins wide. “Same time, same place!” She spots the keyboardist and and waves enthusiastically. “Hiya Sakiko-chan!! Eh, wait a minute,” she gasps. “OH MY GOSH, WUH LUH WU—ACK!” The pink-haired winces as both a hand goes to her head and a shoulder hits her side hard, almost comedically so.

“Shut it.” Taki and Soyo speak in perfect unison, and Anon frowns, rubbing both her side and her head.

“No fair! This is bullying! Raana-chan—“ Anon turns to find the lead guitarist but no avail, the girl was already gone like the damn wind. She slowly turns back to the two. “Please have mercy on me.” She can practically feel herself shrinking as Taki and Soyo get closer. “WAHHH, RIKKI AND SOYORIN ARE MEANIES!! MEANIESSSSSSS!!!!” Anon dashes off, with Soyo right on her tail.

“YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME, CHIHAYA ANON.” Taki hurriedly turns back to the two, putting her hands together and bowing her head slightly in an apology.

“Sorry, Tomori! I’ve got to go deal with this absolute numbskull. I swear she has no brain! Sakiko, please take care of Tomori for me, will ya?” The drummer takes off runner before either girl has a chance to say anything, and they look at each other.

Tomori rubs the back of her head. “Sorry about that, I don’t really know what got into them there.” Sakiko shakes her head.

“There’s no need to apologize, it was actually quite amusing to watch.” They start walking, and Tomori looks up at the sky, watching the warm, colorful hues slowly fade and blend into one another into darker, cooler ones, signifying that the night was finally arriving.

“Mmph!” She hears Sakiko grunt, watching the latter wrestle with her groceries and her school bag at the same time. Carefully, she leans over and takes both of the bags in her hands, to the surprise of the keyboardist.

“Eh? Wait, you don’t need to—!”

Tomori firmly shakes her head. “I’m not going to let you struggle like that all the way back to your home, Saki-chan.” Sakiko relents, sighing a bit.

“Fine, but I’m only letting this happen because it’s you.”

The vocalist tilts her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sakiko only makes a swatting motion with her hand as they continue walking, and eventually Sakiko speaks again.

“Thanks…for both helping me now and for the square rock. I promise to take good care of it.”

Tomori chuckles. “It’s okay, I know you will.” The keyboardist adverts her gaze. Tomori really does place so much trust in her, it’s insane. What if she’s changed from the person the vocalist remembers her to have been? She bites her lip at such a thought. It’s not like her worries were unfounded though, it has been awhile since they’ve been together like this… change is inevitable, after all.

The rest of the walk back was silent, though strangely enough, it wasn’t the awkward kind at all. Sakiko feels rather at peace as she goes to gaze at the passing streetlights, occasionally hearing Tomori’s small wheezes cut through the air from trying to keep the bags steady. She tries not to giggle at the fact that the vocalist is trying her hardest to conceal her lack of strength to the other. Eventually, they make it back to Uika’s apartment.

She takes the groceries from the other and bows slightly. “Thank you again for helping me with my groceries.”

“It—ugh—was really…no problem…at alL—!” Tomori bends down, attempting to catch her breathe as Sakiko pulls out her keys, going to unlock the door, but pauses.

“…See you in class, Tomori.” The vocalist looks surprised, but nods.

“Yeah, um, see you, Saki-chan!” She gives a wave, and Sakiko returns it with a small one of her own. She steps inside the apartment and is promptly greeted with a smirk.

“Gay, gay, homosexual, gay.” The keyboardist’s eyes narrow. She shoves the groceries in Uika’s face.

“Take these before I go and burn them alongside this entire place down to the very ground you stand.” Uika’s smirk only grows wider.

“Well, forgive me for wanting to tease my niece every once in while.” She goes to put the bags on the counter, ruffling through them. “Woah, you bought a lot of everything!”

Sakiko blinks. “…was I not supposed to?”

“Ah, no! It’s fine I just, um…” the vocalist ponders for a moment. “We’re probably gonna have a lot of potato-based sides the next few dinners is all.” Sakiko nods, going to set her school bag on the side.

“Wasn’t Nyamu going to stay over?” Uika hums.

“No, I told her to go home after…” her humming falters, and she slowly looks up. “H-how?”

The keyboardist stares at her bandmate. “Oh, pardon me then. I must’ve got the wrong impression. I thought you and Nyamu were a thing, no?” Uika’s face turns impossibly red, and she drops the potato she was inspecting. The spud makes a rather harsh thud against the wooden floor, rolling towards Sakiko, who picks it up. She turns the vegetable around in her hand, looking at it closely. “This looks fine to me.”

“H-how did you know?” Uika’s voice comes out as a squeak, and Sakiko looks up.

“I mean, you two are pretty obvious, to put it nicely. I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t noticed how close you two have gotten the past year.” The vocalist’s face turns redder.

“What about the others?”

“Both Mutsumi and Mortis know, though Mortis makes her grievances known verbally every time I see her, and I believe Umiri knows as well.” She feels a bit of sympathy watching Uika malfunction on the spot. “If anything, you two seem the most unaware of how obvious you are.”

The vocalist puts her head in her hands. “Agh, I can’t believe it, and we tried so hard not to be suspicious in the slightest!” Sakiko goes to pat the other’s shoulder.

“To be clear, I’m not against you, and I don’t believe the others are either. We all want you to be happy, even Mortis…I hope. I do sincerely wish the best for you both.” She hopes she sounds earnest enough as Uika looks up.

“…thanks, Saki-chan.” She goes back to scrutinizing the potatoes. “Just know I hope the same with you and Tomori-chan.” Sakiko coughs harshly, and Uika blinks. “Oh, sorry!”

The light-blue haired girl crosses her arms and gives her friend a look. “I really don’t get what you’re thinking when you say that. There’s nothing going on between me and her. We don’t stand a chance anyways! Not with the history between us.” Uika frowns, but doesn’t retort, as she finishes inspecting the potatoes.

“Alright, I won’t push your buttons if you really think that. Dinner will be ready in a bit, okay?” Sakiko walks away from the kitchen and towards the restroom, and Uika could only stare, her frown growing more.

*Ding!* her phone buzzes, and she looks to see a long awaited message.

“Took you long enough…” she goes to type a reply, pressing the send button.

•—————————•

“Saki-chan!” Sakiko looks up to see Tomori, who grows more flustered with each second. “Um, good morning—!”

“Woah, look at you being a champ and taking initiative first thing!” Anon places a hand around her bandmate, smiling wide. “Sorry to interrupt, but you left your notebook with me when we had practice over the weekend.” The ash-brown haired girl’s eyes go wide.

“Ah, I completely forgot! Thanks for reminding me!” She rushes out the classroom, and Sakiko blinks at the guitarist still standing there, and she swears she can see Anon’s smile morph into a smirk.

“…may I help you, Anon-san?” Within seconds, the pink-haired girl readily situates herself at the edge of Sakiko’s desk, to the other’s chagrin.

“You very much can! If you’re free later, why don’t ya meet me after school?”

“Um, sure. But if I may ask, for what exactly?” Anon looks a bit offended, putting a hand to her chest.

“I just think it would be fun to hang out with a longtime friend of Tomorin’s! Plus, there’s still a lot I don’t know about her, so perhaps you—”

“Ano-chan, don’t go harassing Saki-chan now… any info about me should come from me.” a notebook lightly hits the guitarist’s head, and she grumbles. The bell rings, and Anon gets up, waving wide.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t forget about our promise, Sakiko-chan! See ya later, Tomorin!!” Sakiko could only stare as the guitarist leaves the classroom, her brows furrowing.

“I made no such promise,” The light-blue haired girl mutters under her breathe, and hears Tomori giggle.

“I guess Ano-chan really does want to make more friends this year. Please let me know if she’s ever bothering you. I’ll set her straight.” The keyboardist nods, pink dusting her cheeks. It really wasn’t necessary for the vocalist to have said that, but for some reason, Sakiko doesn’t seem to mind at all.

—

“Okay, that’s everything…” Tomori goes to make sure she’s collected all her school supplies needed, stiffly turning to Sakiko and giving an even stiffer wave. “S-see you tomorrow, Saki-chan!” The keyboardist nods.

“See you, Tomori,” She watches as the vocalist rushes out of the classroom, almost colliding into Anon.

“Sheesh, don’t be in such a rush to go to your club, girl. You might fall and break your vocal cords! Then I’d have to be the lead singer for MyGO for a bit, that would be tragic indeed.” Sakiko blinks. Tomori was in a club? She doesn’t get a chance to dwell on that thought as she watches with dread as Anon oh so casually walks into the classroom, hands resting behind her head and whistling extra obnoxiously, and the keyboardist sighs in mild exasperation.

Anon grins. “Ready to have the most fun you’ve ever had in your life?”

“I’m having far more regrets than fun right now, thank you very much.” The quip seems to fly over Anon’s head as the pink-haired girl only smiles wider.

“Oh c’mon, don’t be such a downer! We haven’t even done anything yet!” They make their way down the stairs, and Anon opens her shoe locker. She goes to put her outdoor shoes on, before patting herself wildly, her face paling. “Oh no! I forgot I left my guitar composition with Tomorin to use as a reference, oh darn. I already put on my outdoor shoes too…” Sakiko watches as the pink-haired girl practically deflates over something rather trivial, and she decides to seize the opportunity at hand.

“Allow me to get it. I still have my indoor ones on, anyways. Do you happen to know where Tomori’s club would be situated at?” Anon’s eyes glimmer.

“My savior in this cruel, cruel world! Tomorin’s in the astronomy clubroom. Thanks a bunch!” Sakiko blinks as she’s nudged to the stairs. “Take all the time you need by the way, I’m in no hurry! ‘Kay, byeeee!~” the guitarist rushes off, leaving Sakiko to stand there.

“Wh-what? Then how will I give you your—oh forget it.” She slowly makes her way up the stairs, her vexation growing tenfold every step she takes.

—

“So? How did it go?” Anon smirks at the pale-blonde girl, the latter looking a bit anxious.

“Let’s just say,” Anon dusts herself off and adjusts her glasses for for dramatic effect. “History was just made by yours truly. No need to thank me, I handled it like a pro and saved us years worth of horribly agonizing yuri slowburn.” Uika makes a face.

“Well we don’t know that! I—“ she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m beginning to regret asking for your help, frankly speaking.”

“Ah ah ah!” The guitarist waves a finger around. “You didn’t ask me for help, you asked me to form an alliance with you, that’s not the same! Oh, tell Nyamuchi her acting lessons paid off!…even if they were a bit hard to follow...and also extremely rushed.” The vocalist vaguely remembers Nyamu looking rather exasperated after teaching Anon for only an hour, and she feels now she can understand why. “Anywho, we got this. THE ‘ANON AND UIKA SLAY-LIANCE’ IS BRINGING THE BAG, BABY!!!”

“Shhhh! Keep your voice down!!” The vocalist goes to cover Anon’s mouth as a few curious passerby look their way. “And don’t act like we’re playing matchmaker here! We’re just—pushing them in the right direction, that’s it.”

Anon crosses her arms. “Uh huh, yea no, totally hear ya.” They start walking towards the intersection. “I trust Sakiko-chan enough to get it all going, although Tomorin making a move either wouldn’t be so bad either, heheh. Soon, they’ll get married, and I’ll be the best woman for Tomorin where they dedicate a whole section of their marriage slideshow to me!! It’s genius! Chihaya Anon’s societal debut is a go go go!!” Uika only puts a hand to her forehead and sighs at the others grandiose delusions.

—

Sakiko makes her way to the top of the stair well, glancing through the different classrooms. Eventually, she spots an open door and walking up to it, the keyboardist finds what she’s been searching for.

“…this must be it.” She knocks on the side wall. “Tomori—“ her voice falters and her breathe hitches, as she takes in the sight before her. There, the ash-brown haired girl sat at the small desk of the club room, tapping her pencil to her head in a rhythmic matter, with the orange glow of the sun acting as a backdrop to it all. In all goodness, Tomori looked absolutely stunning in the moment, it almost brings Sakiko to her knees and reminds her of the weight of simply being a mortal above all else.

The light-blue haired girl inhales, as she forgot how to breathe the moment she laid eyes on the other. Perhaps she should’ve peered into the clubroom ahead of time had she known she were to be greeted with such a damn sight. Sakiko clears her throat, face red as she attempts to compose herself.

“Tomori.” The vocalist snaps out of her trance, looking up to meet Sakiko’s longing eyes.

“Ah, Saki-chan? Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” She gets up from the desk, meeting the keyboardist at the doorway. “Did you need something?”

She exhales. “Yeah…Anon-san said she accidentally left her guitar composition with you?” The vocalist’s expression turns into one of confusion.

“…I don’t believe so?” She rummages through her school bag, coming up empty handed, and Sakiko stares before finally connecting the dots.

For goodness sake, the keyboardist cursed internally. It was so obvious, even a baby would’ve been able to see through Anon’s rather terrible deception! Sakiko keeps her expression steady, masking her utter annoyance at the pink-haired girl’s bold-faced lie.

“My mistake then.” She looks around the clubroom, and Tomori smiles awkwardly, as if knowing what the other was going to ask.

“I’m the only member of the astronomy club. It’s been like this since last year since the old members left, but I don’t really mind, since it lets me focus on writing lyrics. Plus, they trust me to take care of it in their stead, and I don’t want to let them down.” Sakiko doesn’t hide her surprise.

“I would’ve thought this would be a more popular club, given the premise.” She rocks back and forth between the sole and heels of her shoes. “Say, could I join?”

“Eh?” Maybe there’s something wrong with her, or fate itself was toying with her like the ignorant pawn she was, but Sakiko always seems to blurt out her words instead of resigning them as thoughts when it comes to Tomori. It’s wildly absurd, but

Tomori’s soft smile buries any remaining worries she could possibly have. “Of course you can. Anyone is welcome to join, even you.” Sakiko’s heart feels like it does a million flips in her chest.

“G-great! That’s excellent!” She internally facepalms at her lack of suitable words in the moment. The keyboardist speed walks over to the couch and sits herself down, and Tomori goes back to sitting at the desk. Neither say a word, but the atmosphere felt…warmer, in a way. Where some may find it odd, Sakiko finds it comforting. It was like a reprieve from daily life, and part of her feels glad for doing so, though, Anon had nothing to do with this, of course. This was of her own volition, after all. She takes out her textbook and notes from the morning, reviewing them to pass the time and NOT stare at the vocalist like an idiot.

After about an hour or so, Tomori stands up. “Our meeting is adjourned for today…never thought I’d be able to say those words.” The ash-brown haired girl offers a hand to the other, which she easily takes. “E-even though are club hours are technically over by school standards, I was wondering if you’d like to visit the planetarium with me? Uh, it abides by club rules of course, because space!—”

“I’d love to,” Sakiko says with a smile, and Tomori blinks.

“Okay!” The vocalist finally says. Well, this was awkward. It didn’t help that Tomori’s hand was still holding hers, but who cares? They get to go see some astronomy stuff! Together! Platonically, of course! Sakiko picks up her pace a little more they leave the school entrance.

—

Uika takes a sip of tea as Anon endlessly yaps away.

“So anyways, I think we should revise Plan E as well, because—“

The vocalist sets her tea cup down, and it clinks against the plate. “Anon-chan, we’ve already revised plans A through D, are you sure we should continue forward with also adjusting plans E through H as well?” The guitarist pouts.

“Well there’s no harm in being over prepared, right? After all, Chihaya Anon’s amazing societal debut—trademark me—is going to happen as Tomorin and Sakiko-chan get together! Isn’t that right, Rikki?!” She points at Taki, who’s currently refilling Uika’s tea, and the girl is promptly met with a server tray to the head.

“Strike one. I told you not to bother me while I’m on shift. Your entire presence aggravates me and causes me to not do my job properly.”

Anon rubs the back of her head annoyed. “The hell you mean? There’s literally no one here but us right no—“ Another server tray slams into the guitarist, and Uika blinks as she watches the girl fall from her chair.

“Strike two. Those damn fashion glasses you wear really are useless, you should invest in actual ones. I’m very clearly attending to Misumi-san right now.” She turns her attention back to the pale-blonde girl and smiles. “Is there anything else you need, Misumi-san?” Uika doesn’t know whether to applaud or be frightened at Taki’s massive switch in tone in a matter of seconds. Was this the horrors of working in customer service?

“Um, no thank you, Shiina-san. Everything looks good to me here!” She attempts a double thumbs up and forces a smile back as Anon slowly comes up from the ground, grumbling. She waits until after Taki has left their table to resume speaking.

“Gosh, what’s her problem? I can practically exist and she’ll—“ Anon flinches, covering her head with her hands as Uika places a teaspoon of sugar into her tea, watching the sugar crystals dissolve into the liquid as she stirs, and the guitarist blinks. “Huh, weird. I would’ve thought—“ in the blink of an eye, three server trays all go flying at Anon, hitting the girl with enough force to send flying off her chair, but not enough for Uika’s tea to spill from the sides.

“Heh, bullseye,” The drummer pulls a chair out as she goes to join the duo. “Strike three. Your yapping’s been annoying me ever since I had the displeasure of seeing you and only you walk in, Anon. What’s with all this talk about Tomori and Sakiko anyways? If you of all people are involved, then it can’t be anything good.”

The vocalist goes to take a long sip of tea before speaking. “Well, we’re trying to give Tomori-chan and Saki-chan a little push on their—erm—love lives, you could say.” Taki’s brows raise slightly, and she leans against the table with one arm.

“Coming from you, that sounds interesting, but,” the dark-brown haired girl‘s expression turns complicated. “They’re both a bit, how do I put this nicely…stubborn as the rocks Tomori loves to collect. It’s gonna be impossible to intervene unless they figure it out themselves what they want.” Uika sighs.

“I’m aware, that’s why Anon-chan and I have a bunch of plans ready in case of any actuality. Today was the enactment of Plan A, part one: subsection one of five, where Anon-chan asks Saki-chan to hang out with her. Since Tomori-chan has her club today, Anon-chan will lie to Saki-chan about forgetting something with Tomori-chan, to which Saki-chan will end up volunteering to retrieve it. I’m sure you can tell the rest.”

“Eh, interesting. Though, I’m a bit surprised Sakiko was so readily agreeing to help Anon out considering they barely know each other.”

Anon hoists herself onto the chair. “I know right? It must be my charm, haha! Ladies surely want me! Ha, take that, Soyorin. Who’s the bitchless one now??” Taki and Uika share a look.

“Definitely not,” They both say in unison, and the guitarist grumbles. Taki taps her fingers against the table—as though she were playing the drums right now—going to speak.

“Tell you what, let me in on this little operation of yours and I’ll provide my assistance as well. I can’t guarantee I can make miracles happen, but I certainly can pull a few strings here and there. We got a deal?” She extends a hand out to the vocalist, who accepts, shaking the drummer’s hand.

“Sure. I’ll even make a group chat with all of us in it right now if you’d like.” Anon looks flabbergasted.

“Hey! I’m right here?! Your number one amazing partner ever?! Don’t just go making deals without me!—“ she doesn’t get to say anything further as four server trays fly her way.

—

They walk out of the planetarium, and Sakiko looks up into the sky, attempting to see the stars.

Tomori chuckles. “Saki-chan, you won’t really be able to see much of the stars here because of the light pollution from the city.” The light-blue haired girl blinks.

“…I knew that! I was just mesmerized by the show today.” She tucks a portion of her hair behind her ear. “I really had a lot of fun today. Thank you, Tomori.” She watches as the other fidgets beneath the streetlight, her face flushing red.

“O-of course,” She wrings her hands together. “Um, Saki-chan. Is it alright if I have your LINE?”

“Ah, sure,” The light blue haired girl pulls out her phone, letting the other scan the QR code, and the corners of her mouth quirk up. “I’ll message you when I get home, alright?”

“There’s no rush. Take care going home.”

“You as well.” They wave and part, and Sakiko feels slightly giddy on the way back home. She makes her way back to the apartment, a newfound bounce in her step as she unlocks the door.

“I’m home.”

“Oh, welcome back!” Uika’s head pops out from the corner, and she points to the phone at her ear, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Sorry, I’m on a call right now, but dinner’s ready for you in the fridge.” The keyboardist nods gratefully. “Ah, sorry Nyamu-chan, I got a bit distracted there. Saki-chan just came home. What did you say that music group you recently found was called again? Nightcord at 25:00? I’ll go write it down.” The keyboardist goes to put her stuff away, pulling out her phone. With shaking hands she attempts to message Tomori.

Sakiko
—
< sticker_HelloSmileyFace.jpeg >

< Hello, Tomori, I just got back home. I hope you also arrived safely as well. Let us chat more on here in the future. Have a good night, and I’ll see you in class. >

Surely that wasn’t too formally, right? She blinks as Tomori responds rather quickly.

Tomori
—
< sticker_PenguinWaving.jpeg >

< I did get home safely, though I got a bit distracted staring at the moon. >

< imageofmoon.file >

< The moon was really shining bright as I was walking home, so I wanted to try and take a picture of it! Sorry if it’s a bit blurry… >

The keyboardist smiles a bit too wide to herself.

Sakiko
—
< Not at all, your picture is wonderful, Tomori. You managed to capture both the details on the moon and how bright it is all at once in your photo. >

< The moon really is beautiful tonight, isn’t it? >

She watches the text bubble repeatedly appear and disappear, and the keyboardist wonders if she had said something odd, so she hurriedly goes to type.

< Forgive me if I spoke out of turn there >

Tomori
—
< No! >

< You didn’t, it’s just >

< I’m actually a little sleepy now, so I think I’ll go call it a night, haha. I hope you have a good night, Saki-chan! >

< sticker_PenguinSleeping.jpeg >

Sakiko
—
< Alright, it is pretty late now. Good night, Tomori. I hope you dream of nice things. >

< sticker_CursiveGoodNight.jpeg >

The light-blue haired girl blinks. Curiously, she goes to search up phrases related to beauty and the moon and is promptly taken aback upon discovering the results.

“Oh dear,” her face turns warm. “What have I done?” The moonlight peaks from the window, scattering across the wooden floor as she goes to admire it, bringing her phone to her face. She can only hope Tomori perhaps didn’t know what that particular phrase meant.

•—————————•

“…”

“…heh.” Sakiko tries not to let her annoyance consume her as the guitarist stares down at the keyboardist with a smirk that rivaled a pink-haired psychic user’s own.

“Anon-san,” The girl continues smirking, and Sakiko could only hope Tomori gets here from the lunchroom faster. She can’t take it anymore! Not with this idiot’s shiteating grin blocking the light-blue haired girl’s view of the window! “Could you please move? Some of us are trying to enjoy the nice view today offers. To be frank, you’re ruining my lunch break.”

“And some of us inadvertently say love confessions out loud.~” Sakiko slams her hands on her desk, standing up to object like the ace attorney she was.

“How on Earth could you possibly know that? Tomori isn’t exactly the type to spout information to others in comparison to some people present with us now.” Anon leaps from the window still and pivots to Sakiko’s desk, leaning on it with a somehow wider smirk than before.

“I got a chance to look at Tomori’s phone in the morning when she wasn’t looking. I know her password and all that—cause I’m a great friend—and spotted your guys’ convo~ Look at you go, I’m so proud!” She suddenly starts sobbing. “I raised that girl.”

Sakiko remains unamused. “That’s an invasion of privacy.”

“It’s in the name of love! Besides, she probably doesn’t even know what that phrase means, that dense, rock-loving oaf.”

“Um, I’m back.” They both turn to see Tomori standing there awkwardly with their requested items in her hands, and Sakiko could only wonder how long the other was standing there for. “Here you go, Ano-chan. The fruit sandwich you asked for.”

“Yippee! Thanks! You’re the best friend ever!”

“And you’re the absolute worst.” Sakiko mumbles under her breathe, and Tomori goes to place the juice can down onto the keyboardist’s desk.

“And here’s the fruit juice you wanted, Saki-chan, though, are you sure you don’t want anything else?”

The light-blue haired girl smiles gratefully. “No, thank you.” Truth be told, her nerves are acting up waiting for next period to begin, so much so she can’t bother eating lunch.

Tomori nods, going to sit as Anon continues staring at Sakiko with a sandwich-eating grin. She finishes half of her sandwich, offering the other to the vocalist, who blinks.

“For my dearest friend. You deserve a treat for all your hard work!” The pink-haired girl begins to walk away smugly, and Sakiko does her best not to audibly seethe. If she could, she would totally incinerate Anon in a ball of flames then and there!

“You know exactly what you did, Anon-san.” Anon only sticks her tongue out, prancing out of the classroom as Tomori begins to eat.

“You two seem pretty close now.” Sakiko looks mortified upon hearing the other girl’s observation.

“We are not! She is more akin to a pesky fly!” The ash brown haired girl only giggles, taking another bite of her sandwich. “Ah, you got a bit of whipped cream on your face.” The keyboardist goes to wipe the other’s face with her handkerchief, lessening the space between them as she leans forward, and Tomori only stares with wide eyes as Sakiko takes a minute to process what she just did.

“…!” She immediately resigns back into her seat. “Forgive me for doing that, it was rather uncouth.” The vocalist shakes her head rather adamantly.

“Um, don’t be! I probably wouldn’t have noticed without you doing that, so thanks!” She bows her head at the other, and Sakiko does her best not to giggle. They really were stupid, weren’t they? Tomori goes to finish the last of the sandwich, crumpling up the wrapper. “I believe we have Home Ec after this…have you ever cooked before, Saki-chan?” The girl in question pales.

“Y-yes, of course I have!” Sakiko lies as so much she breathes, and the vocalist only nods, a bit unconvinced.

*Brr-ring!!* the light-blue haired girl jumps in her seat as the dreaded hour has come, and she painstakingly trails behind Tomori as they make their way over to their next class. Maybe this’ll go well! Sakiko goes to untie her pigtails, placing her hair into a ponytail and placing a large bandana over her hair. She ties her apron tight behind her back. This’ll be fine! She watches adamantly as the teacher explains step-by-step what to do, and Sakiko burns the demonstration into her memory. She’s determined to become a chocolate chip pancake master by the end of these fifty minutes!

[ A few moments later… ]

“…” Sakiko collapses on the stool in pure defeat, her group members going to comfort her.

“D-don’t mind, Togawa-san! It happens to the best of us!”

“Exactly! Burning all five pancakes in a row isn’t that uncommon, so hold your head up! We always have other chances!!” Seriously, she was blessed with such nice classmates.

She gives her best reassuring smile, burying her dejection. “Thank you girls, but these pancakes are the ones that have cooked me alive here. I truly am sorry for bringing the group down like this.” Her group members go to reassure her as Tomori looks over from a distance, and she watches at how subtly Sakiko’s hand turns into a fist, scrunching up her apron.

“…Saki-chan…” in a bold act, she motions the teacher over. “Um, sensei! Is it alright if I talk to you about something…”

—

“Ugh, that was the worst,” Sakiko goes to put her pencil case into her bag, sighing to herself. Being a burden to others like this is so frustrating! How can she claim to surpass her mortal reigns when she can’t even cook chocolate chip pancakes! It’s fine, she’ll just have to put a bit more time into studying the culinary world, she can manage! She looks up to see Tomori staring, and they lock eyes.

”…”

“…Is everything alright, Tomori?”

“I should be asking you that, Saki-chan. You looked a bit troubled during Home Ec.” So she did notice, huh? Sakiko grows a bit ashamed at such a thing. “I-if it’s alright with you, I’d like to help you!”

“Eh?” Tomori grows more embarrassed by the minute, waving her hands around, before settling them on her school bag, hands tightening around the strap.

“I asked the teacher earlier if it was alright to use the room later, and I was given permission to, so as long as we make sure to clean up the mess after.”

“I appreciate it, but what about your band? Don’t you have practice?” The vocalist shrugs.

“Anon-chan responded to me first, saying it was completely fine to move our practice to another day, and I’m sure Taki-chan will understand. I’m just not sure about Soyo-chan or Raana-chan…b-but—!” She goes to take the keyboardist’s hands in her own, and Sakiko blushes slightly. “I can’t let you struggle alone! I want to help you, so please” she stares into Sakiko’s eyes, pleading. “Let me help you, Saki-chan!” Sakiko grows increasingly more flustered. All this fuss over chocolate chip pancakes?! She wants to object, really, but decides against it, for better or for worse.

“Okay,” she relents far too easily, but seeing Tomori’s face light up made her decision a bit easier to justify. The vocalist tugs the other along, bringing them both back to the Home Ec room for round two. They enter the classroom, and they both go to put aprons on, with Tomori bringing out the necessary ingredients.

“Was there anything in particular that you were struggling with, or was it everything in general?” The vocalist sets the bag of flour on the counter with a huff, and Sakiko plays with the edge of her apron.

“If I’m being honest, everything was a bit confusing to me.” What with her rather wealthy upbringing, as well as Uika always cooking for the both of them, she hasn’t really been privy to the ways of cooking as much as she’d like to admit.

Tomori smiles. “Alright.” She places everything out in order, making sure there’s double so that both herself and Sakiko can participate. “I’ll make sure to take it slow, you can write notes down and mimic what I do afterwards.” The keyboardist nods, and they begin. Sakiko watches as Tomori slowly replicated the lesson from the morning, and she goes to do her best to replicate each action, with a bit of guidance from the other.

“Ah, that’s a bit too much flour, Saki-chan,” she goes behind the light-blue haired girl, gently grasping the other’s hand and guiding the measuring cup back over the bag of flour, dumping out a bit as Sakiko blushes. She grows a bit dizzy feeling Tomori’s body heat, and the keyboardist could only dare hope that the other girl somehow didn’t feel the erratic pounding of her heart right now. Just as quickly as she came close, Tomori steps back to Sakiko’s dismay, though she controls herself from forcibly dragging the other back. Part of her wonders what it would be like to feel a hug from the other, but that was too illogical of a wish, was it not? That would deem her human, and Sakiko resents that so.

“T-thank you Tomori, but I’ve got it, don’t worry.” The light-blue haired girl grows determined, and Tomori smiles. “If it’s alright, could you wait outside? I think I’d like to try making the pancakes on my own now. I’ll make sure to call you when it’s done.”

“Of course, take your time. If you need anything, just yell for me. I’ll be right outside the door working on some lyrics.” The keyboardist nods, watching as the vocalist exits the classroom, closing the door behind her, and Sakiko goes to roll up her sleeves.

“Right, you can do this, Sakiko. Remember what you were shown…”

[ One eternity later… ]

Tomori goes to write another sentence, though the door to the classroom opens, and a proud, flour-covered Sakiko peeks out.

“Tomori, you can come in now. I think I really outdid myself here.” The vocalist nods, getting up to enter the classroom, and she spies a stack of pancakes amidst the askew equipment and ingredients.

The ash-brown haired girl goes to pick up a fork and knife, and the keyboardist watches with anticipation as the girl goes to eat.

“It’s really good. I think you may have used too little batter though, the pancakes aren’t as big as they should be. Overall, not bad, Chef Togawa-san.” She leans towards the light-blue haired girl, going to place a yellow sticky note in the shape of a star on the top left of Sakiko’s person.

Sakiko blinks, touching her left hand against the sticky note. “A gold star?”

The vocalist shakes her head, smiling slightly. “It’s a Tomori star,” She explains. “It’s very different from a gold star, especially since only I can give it, making it super rare.”

“Hm,” Sakiko hums a beat. “I see. Well, I humbly thank you for your support.” She stares at the star, a mixture of pride and embarrassment overtaking her as the vocalist inspects the other.

“Saki-chan, you cut your finger?” The keyboardist snaps out of her trance.

“Yes, I was fiddling with the flour bag and accidentally gave myself a paper cut…I don’t think it drew blood or anything, however.” She keeps her shock in bay as Tomori goes to hold her left hand, frowning. She guides the other to the sink, running a bit of hot water before patting the area dry and pulling out a bandaid.

“Ah, I really don’t think that’s necessary, Tomori!” The look the vocalist gives shuts her up, and she allows the ash-brown haired girl to apply the bandaid on her finger. Once satisfied, Tomori lets go, and Sakiko goes to stare at the blue penguin speckled bandaid that now resided on her ring finger.

“J-just in case it does bleed,” Tomori rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, and they both stand there for a solid minute.

“Thank you, Tomori. I feel as though I’ve been saying that a lot lately, but really, you’re too good for me.”

“Well we’re friends, aren’t we?” She looks into Tomori’s rose-gold eyes, and for a brief second, they looked pained, as though she were reciting a lie.

“Yeah,” her voice comes out hushed. “We are.” She feels as though she betrayed something then, as Sakiko’s heart seems to ache, and she’s overcome with this sense of desperately wanting something that’s in front of her, yet cursed to never truly have it. Tomori breaks their staring contest, going to clean up the used equipment, as Sakiko goes to put all the ingredients back where they belong.

—

They walk out of Haneoka and out to the intersection.

“…h-have a good night, Saki-chan!” Tomori goes to leave but is stopped, and she looks down to see a hand grasping the fabric of her sleeve.

“Is it alright if I stay over for the night?” The vocalist’s eyes go wide. It was stupid, but for some reason, Sakiko didn’t want to leave it here. Selfishly, she once again chooses that of a human’s instinct, pathetic as she knows she is. She watches as Tomori glances away, nodding her head.

“S-sure.” They begin walking, with the keyboardist still holding onto the vocalist’s sleeve. She glances down at her ‘Tomori star’, and she wonders then, just how much of Tomori’s actions mess with her heart so. This overflowing kindness the other still shows for Sakiko despite everything between them…it was brutal, wasn’t it?

Yet even still, Sakiko desperately wants more. This ache in her heart doesn’t cease but rather intensifies the more she interacts with the ash brown haired girl. Is there such a name to put to these wretched feelings that tie her down so? She snaps out of her thoughts as Tomori stops walking, and Sakiko looks to see a familiar door. She goes to let go of Tomori’s sleeve, and the vocalist unlocks the door, beckoning the other inside.

“My parents are on a trip this week, so it’s just me as of now.” She goes to set her school bag to the side. “If you’d like, I’ll prepare the bath for you and find you some spare clothes you can use. Do you still need me to show you where my room is, or…?”

The light-blue haired girl shakes her head. “I still remember, don’t worry. Thank you again for letting me stay over on such short notice.” Tomori nods, turning around to go make haste, as Sakiko glances around the home. She remembers the time she’s spent here getting to know Tomori, and she so selfishly wishes she could hold those moments close to her once more.

But such things should be forgotten, after all. she laments internally. It was useless to try and stay in the past. She heads to Tomori’s room, opening the door and taking in the sight. The room seemed a bit more decorated than when she was last in here, and she spots more boxes of notebooks scattered about. Sakiko spies a rock collection sitting on Tomori’s desk, and she sees something familiar.

“Is that my letter?” She goes to pick up the picture frame, admiring her letter she had given to the other detailing her resolve and best wishes in regard to the future. Sakiko notes how rather fancy the frame is and that the vocalist even kept the actual envelope as well. Pink dusts the light-blue haired girl’s face as she sets the frame back down where it belongs, and she goes to look at the posters occupying the wall curiously.

“Togenari Togenashi, Kessoku Band, Leo/Need… these are quite the notable girl band groups…”

“Mm, I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting TogeToge personally. Iseri-san is a nice person to talk to.” Sakiko jumps, and Tomori blinks. “Ah, sorry, Saki-chan! You seem so immersed in the posters that I didn’t feel like disrupting you about the bath being ready.”

“Right, the bath…” The keyboardist face flushes a bit. Just who was she to just storm into her friend’s room and inspect everything like some weirdo?! Seriously, today must be a cursed day or something. The vocalist hands her some spare clothes and a bandaid.

“We seem the same size, so these clothes should fit, and the bandaid is for if you want change the other one… um, but you don’t have to if you don’t need it.” Sakiko smiles gratefully, accepting the items into her arms.

“Thank you. I’ll try not to take too long so you can use it as well.” She walks into the bathroom, closing the door, and Sakiko goes to hit her head against it in embarrassment.

—

Sakiko steps out of the bathroom, towel draped over her shoulders as she wanders around Tomori’s house.

“Tomori, the bath is free now if you’d like to—“ she enters the vocalist’s room, only to find it empty. She looks around the apartment, but no figure, she couldn’t find the girl anywhere. “Where could you be… ah, right.” She turns to the window of the living room, opening the door to the balcony, and there, she finds Tomori adjusting her telescope.

“It’s a nice day for viewing the stars,” Tomori explains, fiddling with a knob to adjust the height. “There we go. Have a look.” She motions for the other to come over. Sakiko takes a step forward shutting the sliding door behind her, and going to look into the eyepiece.

“Is there anything of note tonight?” Tomori fidgets a little in place as the keyboardist’s gaze lands on her.

“Yes, actually,” She steps forward, turning the telescope to the East. “Usually you’re able to see this asterism—oh, uh, a noticeable pattern of stars per se—during the summer, but it’s a rare occasion this time.” The keyboardist goes to stare back into the telescope while Tomori continues speaking. “That sparkling blueish-white star, that’s Orihi—“ she catches herself, hurriedly going to clear her throat. “That’s Vega, who’s part of the constellation ‘Lyra the Harp’. If you look to the lower right,” Sakiko adjusts the telescope as so. “You can see Altair, which is part of the constellation ‘Aquila the Eagle’.”

“Is there any significance between the two?” Tomori pauses.

“…no, not really. They form the Summer Triangle with another star, Deneb, if you look to the lower left of Vega.” The keyboardist’s eyes sparkle.

“Ah, I see it! How fascinating!” Tomori looks at the sky, staring at Vega and Altair.

“It really is.” She says quietly, directing her gaze at the other, and she spots the newly applied bandaid that she had given the other earlier on Sakiko’s ring finger. Tomori adverts her eyes. “Are you hungry, Saki-chan? There’s some leftover curry in the fridge if you’d like to have some with me for dinner?” Sakiko turns to the other, and Tomori blinks as the girl is encapsulated by the moonlight.

“Sure. In the meantime, you should go use the bath before the water gets cold.” Tomori blinks at the reminder.

“…right.” She opens the door, letting Sakiko in first, and she stares at the two twinkling stars one last time before heading inside. “Oh, if you want, you could listen to some music. I got lots of different artists, like Kanzaki Iori, *Luna, Tsumiki…I also have albums from the bands’ posters you were staring at earlier if you’d like? Oh wait,” she rushes to her room, pulling out a box full of albums. “Here, you can look through these.”

“Which artist do you like the most?”

“Um, Kanzaki Iori’s way with lyrics really resonate with me, Tsumiki’s music style makes it so that no two songs sound that alike, and their lyrics are very profound in a way you might like, and *Luna has a similar feel to what I want MyGO’s songs to be like. They’re very encouraging songs about struggling during youth.” The light-blue haired girl ponders for a moment.

“I’d like to listen to some of *Luna’s songs, then, if you don’t mind.” Tomori smiles.

“Alright, I’ll—“ she goes to reach for the ‘Bed Time Story’ album the same time Sakiko does, and their hands touch.

“...!” Both girls blink as their hands now rest on top of each other, and slowly, Sakiko retracts hers.

“My apologies, that was uncalled for.” She coughs lightly onto her fist, face warm. Wordlessly, the vocalist hands her the album with shaking hands as she stiffly walks to the bathroom. In truth, Sakiko’s curiosity was peaked the moment Tomori mentioned this particular artist resonated with MyGO’s music, so how could she not take the opportunity? She goes to insert the record on the player, watching as the melody slowly comes to life, and as the keyboardist goes to fetch the curry from the fridge, she smiles a bit imagining how Tomori must’ve felt listening to these songs.

•—————————•

“You WHAT?!” Nyamu puts a bite of yogurt in her mouth, watching as Uika goes to shake Sakiko like the latter had told her the world was ending tomorrow yet Ave Mujica still needed to meet the deadline for a new song.

“I—just—stayed—over—at—her—house—!” She finally breaks free from the pale-blonde girl’s grip.

“Did you also want to go to a party soon?! DID YOU HAVE A HANDSHAKE WITH HER TOO?! ‘CAUSE YOU REALLY WANTED TO STAY AT HER HOUSE?!?!??”

“What are you?—no! All we did was chat a bit about music…well, Tomori did show me some stars too, but—“

“WHAT STARS??!??” The purple-haired girl blinks at her girlfriend. She’s never quite seen the other so intense before, and she narrows her gaze, analyzing the other.

Sakiko sighs, crossing her arms. “If I recall correctly, Tomori pointed out the stars called ‘Vega’ and ‘Altair’ to me last night.” Nyamu watches as Uika’s jaw practically drops, and she wonders if it would unhinge itself from the girl’s face.

“She pointed out—!” The vocalist catches herself mid crashout, and Sakiko could only stare in confusion.

“I really don’t understand what the big deal is.” She glances at her phone, going to pick up her school bag. “Forget it, I’m going to school now, Uika. See you for practice, Nyamu.”

“Bye-bye, Sakikuu!~” she turns her attention to the shocked vocalist, watching her pull out her phone with a shaking hand and opening her group chat with Anon and Taki. “So, what even is the significance of those stars, anyways?” She tries not to jump seeing Uika’s head whip up, her gaze intense.

“We better know those specific stars during the Tanabata festival, as that’s when Orihime and Hikoboshi reunite. Vega is Orihime while Altair is Hikoboshi respectively.” The purple-haired girl blinks.

“Shit, yer telling me that our dear Tomoriri here pointed out one of the most famous love stories in Japanese folklore?? That’s crazy!” The vocalist nods.

“Crazy indeed, but to someone like Saki-chan who may not know much about Orihime and Hikoboshi’s origins, Tomori-chan must’ve passed it off as a cool star viewing experience instead. Gosh, these two… just how long will you two continue to dance around each other like this?” The drummer goes to pat the other’s shoulder, glancing at the clock.

“Ya should really get goin’ to school now or you’ll be late, Uiko.” She hands the other her school bag, giving the pale-blonde girl a kiss on the cheek.

“You got the keys?” Nyamu dangles them with a smirk.

“I’ll give it back during practice.” Uika smiles.

“I know you will. I’ll be off now.” The purple-haired girl gives a wave, as Uika rushes out the door.

—

“Ah right, I forgot to mention to Uika that…” she stares at the window with a frown, sighing to herself. “Forget it, I can go alone.”

“Hm? Are you alright, Saki-chan?” She looks to see Tomori staring at her. “Er, sorry, you just seem like something’s bothering you.” The vocalist sits up a little straighter. “Y-you can always rely on me if you need to, Saki-chan! I’m not much, but I can try to help, erm, no wait…” she smiles at the vocalist.

“Thank you, Tomori, but—“ she catches herself. Right, Tomori has been over before…along with an unwanted guest, so it wouldn’t be too odd to ask the ash-brown haired girl, right? “…Actually, I’ve been meaning to go to my old house to collect an item, and I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me there over the weekend?” She so dearly has a desire to pick up that binder full of sticky notes, even more so ever since the school year begun.

“Your old house…ah, the manor, right?”

“Yes, the one you and a certain someone tagged along with uninvited.” She watches as the vocalist flinches.

“Eheh, yeah… I still don’t really know what Ano-chan was thinking then, but I’ll gladly join you, um, if you’ll have me.”

“Great, I’ll message you the details later in the week.” They watch as their teacher finally arrives in homeroom, and thus, the school day begins.

—

“Uika-san,” the girl in question looks up from her lunch to see Taki walking towards her.

“Taki-san! Are you looking for Nagasaki-san? If that’s the case, she’s having lunch with Mutsumi-chan right now.” The dark-brown haired girl shakes her head.

“Thank you, but no. I’m here to give you these.” She places two tickets on Uika’s desk, to which the other looks surprised. “I went to the mall with Anon the other day, and she wanted to ‘go gambling’, so we went up to one of those lottery stands, and she happened to get the winning ball. Tomori loves aquariums, so I figured you could give this to Sakiko?”

“Oh I see, an aquarium date doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all! Thank you very much, Taki-san, I’ll keep these in my care.” They fist bump, and both blink as their phones buzz.

Anon
—
< Hey! Are you two talking to each other right now?! I felt a force in the universe that told me you two are speaking. If you have something to share, spill it with the rest, please??? Some of us are forced to attend different schools! >:( >

Taki and Uika share a look, and the drummer goes to respond.

Taki
—
< No. >

< I haven’t even seen Uika-san today. >

Anon
—
< LIARW >

< I CAN FEL IT YOU TWO JUSTR DIDF SOMETHINH WITHPUT MEEDJF >

< SER YOURET MAKING MY T KEYBEORD MALFUCNTITKN RIKIIR >

< ANDD WHEN DID YOUT TWOE GET ONB FIRTS NAME BASISJ?!???;!:?2!2!2 >

Taki puts her phone back in her pocket, and Uika could only stare at the continuous messages that keep appearing in her notifications.

“Anyways, I gotta go meet up with Umiri. Catch you sometime later?” The pale-blonde girl nods.

“Yep, see you later!” She gives a friendly wave, ignoring the sound of her phone still horrendously buzzing against the wood grain of her desk.

—

“Tomori, over here!” The vocalist rushes over to the other.

“I’m looking forward to properly going to your house this time.” Sakiko giggles.

“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic, but,” the light-blue haired girl pulls out two tickets from her purse. “Uika gave me these recently. They’re supposed to be tickets to a jellyfish-themed show at the aquarium you like to visit. So, I was wondering if you’d like to do that first before anything else?” She watches as Tomori’s face practically lights up upon hearing those words.

“As soon as I heard you mention aquarium I was already in.” They walk towards the building, with Tomori excitedly going a few paces faster than Sakiko, and they enter. Upon checking in their tickets, they’re given the directions to the particular location the jellyfish exhibit would be at, and the girls decide to kill some time staring at the other areas along the way.

“Tomori, you’re going to fall into the habitat if you keep leaning forward like that.” the keyboardist watches rather closely as the ash-brown haired girl continually keeps leaning over the edge.

“And what if I wanted to? The penguins look so, so cute right now! I wouldn’t mind becoming one of them.” Tomori does little hops up and down, her hands still on the metal railing as she goes to speak. “These are actually Magellanic penguins! They’re mostly native to South America’s coasts—like Argentina, Chile, and the Falklands—and their fur pattern is really cool! You can tell they’re the Magellanic species in particular because of their notable white bellies and two black chest bands they have, and their overall ‘tuxedo’ pattern helps them avoid predators since their back is black fur and their front is white fur, it makes them so much harder to see when they’re swimming in the ocean when viewed from both the top or bottom! It’s known as counter-shading, I believe. Oh, um, their calls also tend to sound similar to a donkey—“ The vocalist blinks, turning to the other. “Ah, sorry, Saki-chan, I got carried away with my infodumping there. That must’ve been boring—“

“No!” They both look surprised at Sakiko’s tone of voice then, but she keeps going regardless. “No, Tomori. If anything, I’d like to keep hearing more actually. I’m not quite familiar with many penguin species, if any, s-so you can continue if you’d like. Please.” The keyboardist’s face turns redder with every word spoken, and she looks down to the floor, not meeting Tomori’s eyes, as she fidgets with the helm of her skirt.

“Saki-chan,” she looks up, and Tomori gently goes to take one of Sakiko’s hands in hers. “Thanks. It means a lot hearing that from you.” The vocalist’s smile then was so radiant, Sakiko thinks it’s brighter than the bright white ceiling lights themselves.

“O-of course! I cannot just stand and let you wallow in pity like that!” Her heart does literal leaps and bounds in her chest as Tomori goes to guide them towards the thing they were initially here for, making commentary along the way. Eventually, they reach the exhibit, and both are left stunned. The exhibit was really just a hallway, with the aquarium filling the sides of the walls and even the ceilings in a dome-like structure. The area was dimly-lit, making the real star of the show shine.

“They’re so pretty…” Tomori mutters, and the girls watch as the different jellyfish seemingly dance around in the indigo depths of the water. The vocalist turns her attention to a nearby jellyfish, who seems to stray near the two, and the ash-brown haired girl smiles a bit.

“This jellyfish here kind of reminds me of you.” The keyboardist is a bit taken back.

“Reminds you of me? How so?” The vocalist places a hand on top of the glass, watching as the jellyfish bumps its body against it, as though it were trying to reach the girl.

“To me, jellyfish seem so ethereal, yet so fleeting at the same time. They lay away in the dark depths of the sea, lighting up the refines with just their bioluminescence. They’re surrounded by the shrouded darkness, thrust within the unknown, yet they still shine so brilliantly.” Sakiko spies Tomori’s soft smile in the reflection of the glass. “It reminds of you, in a way.” She simply says, leaving it there, and the light-blue haired girl mulls over the words spoken.

“I…believe I understand. That’s very sweet of you to think I’m as resilient as this sea creature, however,” she pauses, stepping up to meet Tomori at the glass. “I’m really not as incredible as you might think. After all, I too am but a pathetic person residing on Earth.” She hates it so, but admitting that made her ego slightly more at ease.

“…” The vocalist remains silent, and they watch as the jellyfish lingers for just a few moments longer before swimming up and away. They exit the aquarium, neither daring to speak. Eventually Sakiko breaks the silence.

“…I believe the car to take us to the manor will arrive soon…um.” She twirls a strand of hair, unable to know what to say next. “T-Tomori, regarding earlier, I didn’t mean to downplay your comment like that.”

“Mhm, I know what you meant, Saki-chan.” The ash-brown haired girl puts her hands behind her back, shifting back and forth, as though she wanted to say more, but Tomori keeps silent. They stand awkwardly, waiting. Sakiko directs her gaze to the sky, frowning as she sees a few storm clouds appearing in the distance. A limo finally pulls up.

“Togawa-sama, friend of Togawa-sama.” The driver greets them, going to open the door and lets the two girls in, and they make the drive to the manor.

—

“We’ve arrived, Togawa-sama, however, I’d advise you’d not dwell lomg, lest you want to run into unwanted company.”

Sakiko nods, going to bow. “Got it. Thank you very much.” She turns to the vocalist, and they make their way inside the manor, where they’re greeted by several of the staff of the manor in a rather warm way. She leads Tomori towards a room, and the ash-brown haired girl blinks upon remembering being here with Anon before. Sakiko walks to a table, picking up the binder.

“Ah, there it is.” She’s thankful it was still left where it was before, and she cradled the binder snug in her arms. She turns to see Tomori staring rather intently at something. “Did my doll happen to catch your eye?”

“Eh? Um, yeah. Is it alright if I…?”

“Go ahead.” The vocalist gently takes the doll in her hands, admiring the craftsmanship of it. “I loved that doll dearly. It was a gift from my mother, and I’d often bring it around the house, especially here in the piano room, and I’d have it watch me play piano.” She smiles wistfully. “Quite silly, is it not? But alas, such things should be left in the past.”

“No, not at all…” Tomori stares at the doll, brow furrowed, and Sakiko is about to ask the other what’s wrong, but

“Ojou-sama, pardon me, but it’s best you not dwell too long here. I heard he’ll be arriving in a few.”

“Right,” the light-blue haired girl mutters to herself, and she bows at the maid. She goes to grab the vocalist’s hand as they make their way out of the house and back to the limo accordingly.

“Have you got everything you need, Togawa-sama?” The driver glances at Tomori, though he says nothing.

The keyboardist nods. “Yes, thank you. If you’d drive us back to the city, that’d be wonderful.”

“Of course, Togawa-sama.” The driver bows, and he takes them back to the city. Once back, the driver opens the door for them.

“It was nice to see you again, Togawa-sama…if it’s possible, please do visit again. The staff all so dearly miss you. This may break professional code, but we all keep up with Ave Mujica’s activities regularly, Togawa-sama, so please keep up the good work.” Sakiko smiles.

“I won’t let you all down. Thank you all for the support.” She bows at the driver, walking off, and Tomori goes to do the same, but the driver stops her.

“Ah, just a moment, friend of Togawa-sama.” The vocalist turns around, and he beckons her closer, lowering his voice. “Thank you. That’s a very precious item to the young miss, as much as she wants to leave it behind. I hope you can treat her well in our stead.” He pats Tomori’s shoulders, and she spots a small smile on the driver’s face as he goes to adjust his cap. “Feel free to visit again with the young miss anytime you want.”

“Ah!—mhm, thank you.” She bows at the driver, waving him off, and she goes to catch up to the light-blue haired girl, who’s staring in confusion, the storm clouds seemingly rolling in faster now.

“Tomori, Is everything alright?” Tomori only stares downward, and the keyboardist blinks. “Eh, is that my…?”

“…!” Tomori hugs the doll closely, her ears ringing. Her heartbeat quickens as she slowly takes a few steps away from the other.

“Tomori?” A few raindrops fall from the sky.

“S-sorry, Saki-chan—!” The vocalist turns on her heel, sprinting away, and the keyboardist.

“Eh? Wait, Tomori!” She reaches a hand out, attempting to grab the other, but to no avail. She just barsly misses the fabric of the ash-brown haired girl’s jacket, stumbling forward, the rain pelting on both of them now. “There’s no way I’m letting you get away from me, not after all this—!” She starts running, easily catching up to the other. She attempts to figure out a way to stop her, so Sakiko does something rather stupid.

“Ah—!” The keyboardist rams her head against the back of the vocalist, and Tomori falls, tumbling to the side and hitting the wall of the bridge rather harshly, while Sakiko slips on the wet ground and falls on her face, the binder flying out of her hands behind her and falling a few feet away. “Ugh…” Tomori slowly gets up, and she spots the other face down. “Saki-chan!” She rushes to the other girl, helping her get up, and the keyboardist firmly grasps the collar of the other’s jacket, preventing the other from bolting away again.

“Tomori,” her voice comes out rather hoarse, and she looks into Tomori’s eyes, her own pleading, as the rain now continuously pours down on the both of them. “Why were you trying to run away? Was it something I said?—or it something I did? D-did I do something?” The vocalist averts her gaze, a bitter smile appearing on her face.

“…no, Saki-chan. It wasn’t—it’s just,” she holds the doll closer to her, trying her best to not get it wet. “Why do you want to forget the past so much?”

“Eh?” She lets go of Tomori, and the girl slowly walks to the side, lowering herself down and going to lean against the wall of the bridge. Sakiko follows suit, pulling her knees up to her chest, and they stare at the cars in the distance driving past. Eventually, Tomori speaks, looking up at the gray rain clouds above.

“What I mean is, why are you okay with just forgetting everything? Why is it wrong to want to stay in the past? I know there’s things that should be forgotten, but there are other, precious things you should hold onto as well. I don’t think it’s right to cast the important things aside and forget they ever happened.” She hugs the doll a little closer. “Like your doll for example. Isn’t it dear to you because your mom had given it to you as a gift? Why does it have to be cleft behind as an old memory and nothing more? Why must we appear strong to others? Wh—“ her voice breaks, and a few stray tears roll down her cheeks. “What’s wrong with remembering, Saki-chan?”

“…” The light-blue haired girl looks down, and she has to dab at her cheeks, blinking, upon realizing she too was also crying right now. Just how long has it been since she’s shed tears like this? She muses that the last time she’s truly cried was when CRYCHIC disbanded. Sakiko gives up wiping her tears, instead getting up from the ground and walking towards the other side of bridge, to the confusion of the other. Tomori watches as Sakiko takes a breath in, leaning against the edge, then

“I WANT TO BE HUMAN!!!” It was so gratifying then, screaming out to this stupid hindrance of a world, within the confines of this thing they called ‘living’. Tomori blinks.

“Saki-chan…” a small smile forms on the ash-brown haired girl’s face, and she comes to an understanding. “Don’t be so loud…”

Sakiko matches the other’s smile with one of her own as she shrugs. “The traffic is so loud, no one can hear me. You can scream as loud as you want on this pedestrian bridge.” She walks over to the other girl, extending her hand. “Come on, Tomori, let's scream together!” Back then, the vocalist showed initial hesitation upon hearing those words.

This time, however, she reaches for the other’s hand. She goes to inhale.

“I WANT TO LIVE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!! I WANT TO BE HUMAN!!!!!” Sakiko goes to place a hand on the other’s shoulder.

“Let’s keep trying. There’s no harm in keeping it up, right?”

“R-right!” The keyboardist turns her entire body to face the other, and she looks down.

“Listen, Tomori, allow me to apologize again. I must have learned nothing after the letter I gave you that time, as I’ve only continued to show you my embarrassing side through and through. Once again, I’m sorry for constantly hurting you.” She bows her head. “I think I grasp what you mean, and I thank you for caring for me so much, you’re honestly too good for me, to the point where I sounds like a broken record saying that over and over again. I…I suppose you’re right. There isn’t anything wrong with remembering the past or staying in it. I think I’ve just deluded myself to try and repress the past because of the people I’ve hurt, including you. I chose to take the easy route once again without truly thinking about it properly, and as a result, I’ve grown ignorant, diluting myself into thinking in such a stupid manner. I’m a weak person, I claim things I cannot achieve at times often, but,” she looks up. “I want to start over once more. I know we share a past full of both joy and sadness, but I do not want to keep having regrets in my life that I can very easily rectify, so, um,” she extends a hand out to the other, and it shakes slightly.

“Could we perhaps try again once more? It’s completely understandable if you’d rather not—“ she feels a warm hand grip her own and meets Tomori’s gaze.

“Of course we can, Saki-chan. This time, I’ll try not to let go of your hand.” The keyboardist has to withhold herself from literally bursting into tears then and there, but a few drip down her face anyways.

“Thank you, Tomori. You truly are too kind.” They both squint as small rays of sunlight shines down on them, the clouds parting ever so slightly, and the rain finally lets up. Tomori goes to make sure the doll isn’t damaged, to her relief.

“It’s a miracle, it barely got wet.” The vocalist mumbles in astonishment, before hurriedly glancing around. “Wait, what about your binder, Saki-chan?? You went out of your way to get it—ah!” She rushes over to a spot, picking up the wet binder, and Sakiko blinks, realizing.

“W-wait, Tomori! That’s—“ Tomori goes to open the binder, and is left stunned. She blinks as she recognizes her own handwriting, turning the pages to see the colorful sticky notes that adorn the pages, each so vastly different in both shape and question.

“You’ve…kept them all this time?” Sakiko grows embarrassed.

“Why wouldn’t I??” She goes to snatch the binder out of Tomori’s hands, face flushed as she faces away from the other, and the ash-brown haired girl smiles.

“I’m glad you did. I’m glad they did reach you. You felt so distant then, and I had hoped then that my words got through to you instead.”

“And they did,” She turns back around. “They really did. I wanted it back because I actually wanted to give it to you—er, rather, give it back to you.”

“Why’s that?” Sakiko’s face turns even redder, and she wonders if it was even possibly to be this flustered.

“B-because! You’re by my side now! I don’t have such a use for this anymore, now do I?” She watches as Tomori’s face turns red in silent understanding, and she fidgets in place.

“A-actually, I think you should just keep it for a little while longer. Y’know, to reminisce, if you’d like. You can give it to me in class.”

The light-blue haired girl nods. “Alright, if that’s what you want. You can take good care of my doll then, and we can trade for our astronomy club meeting, if that’s fine?”

“Mhmm, that’s—achoo!” Within seconds, Sakiko produces a handkerchief.

“Oh dear. Well, we were out in the rain for awhile, and we are soaking wet. You should hurry on home before you catch a cold. Hurry now!” They keyboardist practically pushed the other, and she goes along, though she turns to the other and waves in the distance, with Sakiko doing one of her own. She feels a slight breeze then, and something flutters past her head, to which she grabs.

“Ah, this is…” she twirls the white flower in her hand with a slight smile. “At least it isn’t dead this time…I wonder if I could get it pressed for a bookmark?” She starts walking back to Uika’s apartment, pondering all the while so. While Tomori and Sakiko’s relationship is now undefined, she hopes this time she doesn’t want to forget everything. Not anymore.

Remembering isn’t quite a bad thing after all. The light-blue haired girl muses to herself, as the clouds continue to part.

—

Tomori
—
< Sorry, Saki-chan. I won’t be in class today since I don’t really feel well :( have fun with Ano-chan in my stead! >

< sticker_SickPenguin.jpeg >

I am most certainly not. Sakiko thinks with a frown. She goes to type a reply as Anon bursts into the classroom.

“Yo yo yo!” The keyboardist blinks. Heavens above, are those sunglasses on the other girl’s face?! Sakiko briefly wonders how high up they are right now to see if she could escape from the window as the pink-haired girl menacingly approaches. “Wassup, Sakiko-chan! I heard Tomorin is sick, yo! She must’ve gotten a bad cold if she’s unable to come, yo! I figured you might be lonely af without your girlfriend, yo!” Well, there goes her lunch break. The keyboardist sighs. There’s far too many things to counter within this idiot’s ramblings alone.

“The only thing ‘up’, Anon-san, is your incredible ability to constantly keep interacting with me as though we are good friends, yo. You have tricked me multiple times both now and in the past and have continued to meddle within affairs that ONLY involve Tomori and I, yo. And for the record, I am not lonely without Tomori here, nor are we dating, yo.” Anon only does a horrendous dance in front of the other.

“Ah c’mon girlie, don’t act so slick! We both know you love Tomori and want to pursue her romantically!” Sakiko feels her ears turn red.

“T-that is preposterous! We’re just—!” She pauses. Right, she can’t exactly say they’re friends, now can she? The light-blue haired girl sighs internally. Perhaps she should have cleared it up with Tomori about what exactly their connection is now, but would it be right to define their relationship as just ‘being friends?’

The guitarist smirks. “Someone’s at a loss of words. That means I’m right, haha!” Sakiko doesn’t bother objecting, getting increasingly loss in her thoughts. The bell rings, and Anon goes to rush out of the classroom, saying nothing further, leaving the keyboardist to stew alone. She goes to open her textbook, going to take extra good notes as she goes to at what the idea of love even means, as she plays with the square rock in her left palm.

—

She goes to knock on the door but hesitates. It’s fine, Sakiko’s just visiting because she’s a good classmate and friend! Why should she be so embarrassed doing such a thing? Gathering her nerves, Sakiko goes to knock on the door, and it opens.

A familiar face pops out to greet her. “Ah, Sakiko-chan! Welcome! I didn’t know you’d be dropping by!” She smiles at Tomori’s mother.

“Hello, Hikari-san. Long time no see.” She holds up a plastic bag. “I brought some stuff for Tomori, as well as the schoolwork she missed. I do hope that’s alright…?”

Hikari giggles, and she steps aside, letting the other enter. “Of course it is, dear. You still remember where Tomori’s room is?” Sakiko nods, and as Hikari goes to close the door, she speaks again. “You’re such a great friend. Please keep looking after her, alright?” The keyboardist blinks, going to nod as she feels her face warm. She heads up the stairs, going to knock on Tomori’s door.

“Tomori? It’s me, Sakiko. I’m coming in now,” she gently opens the door, and she spies the ash-brown haired girl under a bundle of sheets. Carefully, she enters the room and places the plastic bag down and as quietly as she could, she walks over to the other’s side. “Oh you poor thing, you have a fever…” she goes to move the wipe cloth, placing the dorsal side of her head to the other’s forehead. “…you’re really burning up.” She mumbles, and she goes over to the table, staring at the medicine intently.

“Let’s see… take every two or so hours…hold on, did she only take one today?!” Sakiko panics.

[ NEW QUEST UNLOCKED: ]

- give Tomori the fever-reducing medicine!

Rewards: Entrance to the Pink Pony Club! Hurray for lesbians!

Exp gain: 1122 total exp (+ an increase in the ‘gay panic’ stat.)

Calm down, Sakiko! You’re literally the leader of Ave Mujica and have done many things. Why would this be a challenge?! she thinks, going to grab the plastic water bottle she bought at a nearby store and pondering over her best choices. Her face turns redder upon settling on one particular choice she had so recently read in a yuri manga Anon so obnoxiously lent her one time. She walks over to the bed, pops the capsule into her mouth, and ever so gently, she goes to kiss the other, placing the capsule into the other girl’s mouth and quickly retreating. She speed walks back to the table, grabbing the water with a hand to her mouth.

“…I ought to apologize to Tomori once she’s better, that felt practically illegal to do.” The keyboardist mutters, her face reddening, going to tilt the vocalist’s head slightly and slowly giving her water. She watches as Tomori swallows, sighing in relief as she goes to wring out the wash cloth. Sakiko steps into the bathroom and promptly hits her head against the sink multiple times in succession, feeling the cold water running through her hands.

Seriously, screw you and your ‘Futaribeya: A Room For Two’ manga you shoved in my face that time, Anon-san! I would NOT have had that absurd idea if not for that!! she goes to turn off the faucet, wringing the cloth slightly and heading back into Tomori’s room to place the newly wet cloth on the ash-brown haired girl’s forehead.

Sakiko pulls out her phone. “Right, I should message Tomori that I stopped by…” she pauses, noticing a stack of colorful sticky notes on the vocalist’s desk. As she goes to pick one up, an idea comes to mind. She grabs a spare pen, going to write.

Dear Tomori,

I took a trip to your home and left you some goods in the plastic bag. You’ll also find the notes for today’s class, as I took the time to copy down an extra one for you. and I was allowed to bring you the school work you had missed as well. I hope you feel better soon, Tomori, and I’m once again sorry for being the cause of your sickness since I kept you out in the rain for so long.

With kind regards,
- Sakiko

The keyboardist frowns. This doesn’t seem right at all, so she goes to correct herself.

- Sakiko :)

“Mhm, that should do.” The light-blue haired girl goes to place the sticky note on the table, quietly exiting the room once she’s done. Sakiko heads down the stairs to wish Hikari off.

“I’ll be going now, Hikari-san. Please do give Yoshiji-san my regards.” Tomori’s mother smiles warmly.

“As you wish. Please feel free to come over anytime you’d like, Sakiko-chan! We’d love to have you over for dinner like before.” Sakiko smiles a bit sheepishly. Right, she had forgotten those brief moments where she’d stay over at Tomori’s house for far longer than expected. She waves, going to exit the apartment and make her way back to Uika’s. She goes to admire the faint stars in the sky, smiling a bit upon seeing two particular ones shine a bit brighter.

•—————————•

*Thump* Anon’s forehead meets the table as she groans, and Uika goes to take a long sip of tea.

“A-Anon-chan, don’t give up! I was merely suggesting that our plans weren’t working, not straight up saying they aren’t…!” She trails off as Anon goes to lift her head up, letting it fall back down to hit the table again repeatedly.

“Ugh, but everything we’ve done so far hasn’t worked at all! They’ve barely gotten closer! You could tell me that they’ve managed to have some sorta ‘heart-to-heart’ type of ordeal a few paragraphs ago and I wouldn’t believe you! You can tell me the exact numeric count of how many ‘thank you’s’ they’ve said to one another and my brain wouldn’t comprehend it unless I’ve seen it happen myself!” Her head hits the table once more. “So much for all our plans…ughhhhhh.”

Taki walks over to the duo, teapot in hand. “Maybe you should take this as a sign to stop interfering. You’ve done actually nothing compared to Uika-san and I! You’re literally useless!” She goes to refill the vocalist’s tea. “‘Sides, you’re actually stupid if you think that they haven’t gotten closer, plans aside.” The pink-haired girl’s head whips up.

“What the hell are you talking about??” The dark-brown haired girl gives a glare in response, and Uika watches as her teacup starts to overflow.

“Um, Taki-san—“

“They’ve very obviously been getting closer! I’ve seen Tomori rush to Sakiko like a magnet after practice! Not to mention, Sakiko tends to plan out Ave Mujica’s activities often when Tomori is busy, see!” She shoves her phone in the guitarist’s face, as the screen displays Ave Mujica’s recently posted schedule. “Is that not screaming how much these two have gotten closer with one another??”

“Taki-san—“

“Oh yeah?! So what?! For all we know, they could very easily have a confession scene from the damn roof of this building, yet we would be none the damn wiser about it! Real eyes realize real lies, Rikki.”

”Taki-sa—oh forget it.” Uika gets up, going to find a mop as the tea continuously spills out of the cup, the two MyGO members going at it. The pale-blonde girl gets to work mopping as the last of the tea is poured and spilled out of the teacup, tuning out the argument unfolding in front of her in real time.

“—RIKKI. WHEN I CATCH YOU, RIKKI. RIKKI. YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW.“ Anon and Taki continue to go at it, as Uika finishes cleaning up the last of the mess. She goes to drink the remaining tea left, putting the dishes in the sink and bowing.

“I’ve got to get to practice myself. I’ll text you guys in the group chat later.” She goes unheard by the two, so Uika goes to put on her cap and collect her things, right as the rest of MyGO enter RiNG. She gives a friendly nod to the trio, and Tomori blinks.

“Eh, was that Uika-chan?” Soyo frowns at Taki and Anon’s argument, and she goes to smack both of them in the head.”

“OW!”

“Ouch—eh, what are you all doing here?” Taki looks around. “Where did Uika-san go? Ugh, damn it, Anon! You LITERALLY made time go faster! The hell did you do, use ‘Made in Heaven’?!”

The guitarist gasps. “Don’t you dare accuse me of doing something like that! My stand would be far better than that! You’re the one who started the argument, Rikki! If anything, YOU—“ they go on and on, and Raana cheerfully skips inside, going into their practice room as Tomori follows suit.

“You two are pathetic,” Soyo goes to grab the two by the ears, dragging them along to the practice room as both band members continue to argue nonsense.

—

“Wow, that was such a fun practice!” Anon exclaims, doing a twirl. “I especially liked the part when Rikki shut her mouth because she was busy playing the drums!!” She steps to the side, dodging Taki’s school bag by a few meters.

“It’s not my fault that you can’t take constructive criticism. You’re so self-centered it actually physically hurts me.”

“Hah?! I’m self-centered??” The pink-haired girl snaps her fingers. “Waiter, waiter!” She calls out to no one in particular. “Pull up that clip where Rikki tells Soyorin how selfish she also was for using MyGO as an excuse to closer to Tomorin!! If. You. Would.” Taki’s face reddens.

“How do you even—nevermind.” She throws her hands up, and Anon sticks her tongue out at the other as they all make their way towards Anon’s house.

Tomori muses. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been to your house, Ano-chan.”

“I know right!” The guitarist pauses, going to walk backwards to face her friends. “Y’know, I still think Anon Tokyo would make a good—“

“Absolutely not.”

“Hell no.” The drummer and bassist’s voices pierce through the night.

“Fine.” Anon turns back around, and Tomori stifles a giggle as Raana goes to eat a matcha parfait that she happened to take when no one was looking. They all enter Anon’s home, going to the guitarist’s room to discuss their band activities.

“I’ll be right back guys, I’m gonna go get some tea!” Taki makes a face.

“I swear, if you give us that crappy tea you have again, I’m taking Tomori and leaving the band for good.”

“Hah! You’re funny. You should become a comedian, Rikki. I’ll even do the honors of throwing the tomatoes at you. Ehehahahaha.” She deadpans, going to quickly leave the room, and the atmosphere falls into a cozy one.

“…” Tomori fidgets in place, and Taki looks up from the paper schedule.

“Tomori? What’s wrong?” The ash-brown haired girl jumps. “Are you not able to write any lyrics? Gosh, I knew we shouldn’t have come here tonight, damn you Anon.” She feels both Soyo and Raana’s gazes on her, and she looks down at her lap.

“Um, no, it’s not that.” She repeatedly wrings her fingers together. “…uh, I like Saki-chan.” The vocalist’s voice comes out quiet, and she breaks into a sweat. “…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—“

Taki throws an arm around the vocalist’s shoulder, going to speak. “Eh, is that so? So you’re saying you have a crush, is that it?” Tomori’s face turns redder.

“Mhm.”

The dark-brown haired girl smiles knowingly, going to pat the other’s shoulder reassuringly and winks. “Well, I support ya. Your happiness is also mine, Tomori, remember that.” The vocalist grows happy hearing that.

“Taki-chan…thanks. It means a lot.” She turns to the bassist, not able to meet Soyo’s eyes. “Erm, Soyo-chan…?” She watches as her bandmate puts the composition down on the table.

“While I have my qualms with Saki-chan,” Tomori flinches. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all. She goes to speak, but Soyo puts her hand up, and the other lets her continue. “—that’s largely my own problem to deal with, not yours. It doesn’t concern you, therefore you shouldn’t have to hold yourself back.” Soyo mulls over her next choice words. “Go ahead and do what makes you happy, Tomori-chan. Don’t let me or anyone else withhold you from the things you want.” The ash-brown haired girl’s eyes widen, and she looks up to meet Soyo’s small smile. She goes to bow her head at the other.

“T-thank you, Soyo-chan!”

“What are you thanking me for? I’m not your mom…” Soyo huffs under her breathe, and Tomori smiles as the door bursts open.

“I’m back!~” she looks between all the band members. “Huh? Did I miss something??” Taki snickers.

“While you were busy getting tea, we were actually given some tea, haha!” Anon’s face falls.

“WHAT?!” She sets the tea tray down harshly, going to grab Tomori by the shoulders. “Girl, REPEAT YOURSELF. WHAT DID YOU SAY WHILE I WAS GONE?? SPILL THE TEA, DAMN IT!!! I DID NOT SPEND SIXTY-NINE THOUSAND YEARS WASTING AWAY AT YURI SLOWBURN FOR THIS.”

“A-Ano-chan—! You’re shaking me too hard—“ she doesn’t get a chance to say more as the pink-haired girl goes to shake her friend as much as possibly, sobbing hysterically as she does so. Soyo only rolls her eyes while Taki wheezes in fits of laughter.

“Heh, what an interesting development.” Raana says with a chuckle.

—

“Have a good night, everyone. I’ll see you when practice time comes again.” Ave Mujica all bid their goodbyes to one another, and Sakiko and Uika start walking back to their apartment.

*Bzzt!* The pale-blonde girl blinks, going to take her phone out of her pocket and opening the group chat.

Anon
—
< Gif_LiveLaughLoveLesbiansForever.jpeg >

“What?” Uika blinks multiple times. What on Earth did this mean? Why did Anon send this with zero refusal to elaborate? While Uika stands there confused, gawking at her phone screen, Sakiko goes to look back at the other.

“Uika? Is something the matter?” The vocalist looks up, leaving Anon on read.

“N-nope! Nothing at all!” She hurriedly goes to put her phone in her pocket, going to catch up to the keyboardist.

•—————————•

Sakiko frowns at her phone, staring at the message on her notification screen.

[ From Togawa Kiyotsugu ]

< When you have a chance, is it alright if we meet up and discuss some things? >

She curls a hand into a fist, rereading the message over and over again. While she didn’t exactly hate her father, she still has the image of him laying there drunken every single time she’d come home, and that dread eats away at her.

The light-blue haired girl blinks as a can of juice was set on the table, with Tomori going to sit next to her. The ash-brown haired girl catches the other’s gaze and panics.

“Oh, sorry! I just thought I’d sit here on the couch today as opposed to the desk! I can leave—!” Sakiko goes to grab the vocalist’s arm before she goes fleeing off into oblivion.

“And leave little old me here all by myself in the clubroom? Now that’s just rude.”

“Geh…you’re right…”

“Pfft, I jest, Tomori. I’d actually prefer if you sat here with me. Makes it feel like a real club meeting...despite being only us present.” Tomori nods, situating herself back into the cushions. “Tomori, would you being willing to accompany me someplace over the weekend?” The vocalist looks surprised as she goes to take a sip of juice.

“Sure, I can make some time. If it’s okay to ask, what for?” Sakiko looks down, the words stuck in her throat. “You don’t have to force yourself to tell me if you can’t right now, Saki-chan.”

The keyboardist shakes her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just my father had reached out to me recently.” Tomori frowns a bit.

“Ah, I see.” She recalls what she’s learned before, and part of her was saddened at the fact that she couldn’t do anything then.

But things were different now. She’s able to be by Sakiko’s side once more. The vocalist sets her drink down, and she goes to take Sakiko’s hand within her own.

The light-blue haired girl smiles slightly, going to squeeze the other’s hand. Nervously, she goes to open the message from her father and types a response out.

—

Tomori checks the map once, then twice. “This seems to be it…” they stare at the restaurant, and Sakiko shuffles her feet.

“Eugh, it’s aggravating, yet why do I feel so nervous right now?” Tomori smiles, a bit amused.

“It’ll be okay, Saki-chan. I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay? Um, I don’t really believe your dad has any bad intentions or anything, I really do think he wants to apologize about everything.”

”Yes, I think that as well.” She takes a deep breathe in and out, steeling herself. “Alright, I’ll be off.”

The vocalist smiles. “Good luck, Saki-chan.” She watches as the other girl enters the restaurant, looking around, before finally finding her dad. She turns back around, going to find a bench to sit at, staring at the colorful billboards on display.

‘Ave Mujica Live Show Soon!—‘ Tomori blinks, reading the rest of the advertisement. It details that the metal band will be performing again after awhile, and the vocalist ponders to herself. She’s never really been to one of their lives, now has she? She’s gotten so intertwined with Sakiko’s life, yet she hasn’t even attended one of Ave Mujica’s lives before. Can she even call herself a good frie—

“No, that doesn’t seem right to say anymore…” the ash-brown haired girl mutters to herself. She’s already grown to accept that she likes Sakiko romantically, but would acting on these feelings break the relationship they’ve finally established? Is it so wrong that she wants to define their relationship as something romantic? She goes to fiddle with her thumbs, adverting her eyes to stare at the different shops across the street. “Ah, that’s the flower shop I like going to!” An idea comes to mind, and so Tomori hurriedly goes to stand at the crosswalk, going to race across the street.

—

“Sakiko—!” The light-blue haired girl stops in her tracks as she turns around, seeing her dad bowing her head. “I understand if you don’t want to move back home and would rather continue stay with Uika, but—“

Sakiko smiles slightly. “I know, father. I’ll do my best to visit when I can.” She bows her head in a similar fashion at Kiyotsugu. “Thank you for meeting with me today…I wish you well.”

“Likewise, Sakiko.” He awkwardly steps forward to give a hug, and the keyboardist awkwardly returns it. “And just know, I’m very proud of you. I’m sure your mother is as well.”

“Ah…” Sakiko tears up a little, and she goes to hug her dad a little tighter. After a bit, they part from the embrace, and the keyboardist goes to wave as Kiyotsugu descends down the street.

“Huff…Saki-chan—!” Sakiko blinks, turning to see a wheezing Tomori come into view.

“T-Tomori?! Are you okay?” The vocalist goes to rapidly nod her head, her hands behind her back.

“Uh, I got you something.” Her face turns a little redder as Tomori brings her arms forward, revealing a bouquet and handing it to the other, who’s shocked.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have…” Sakiko mutters, going to place a petal between her thumb and index finger.

“But I wanted to! You deserve the bes—um, I mean!” She coughs into her fist, her blush growing. “T-the bouquet is filled with chamomiles, gladiolus, and forget-me-nots…the forget-me-nots especially reminded me of your hair and eyes.” She goes to meet the other’s gaze, and her eyes widen slightly upon being meet with Sakiko’s soft smile.

“Thank you, Tomori. I’ll make sure to take good care of these.” Hopefully Uika has some sort of vase back at home…or two. This bouquet was rather massive, and Sakiko could only wonder if these particular flowers had any significance.

“That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure if you’d like it or not.” She rubs the back of her neck. “How did your meeting with your dad go?”

“Not bad at all, actually. I don’t plan on moving back in with him anytime soon, but,” she looks up at the high rise buildings. “I’m glad I was able to talk to him after all this time. He’s doing his best to change and move forward with no regrets as well, it seems.”

“That’s good to hear, Saki-chan. I’m happy it went well.” Tomori goes to stare at the ground. “Is there anything you’d like to do right now? Uh, we still have a bit of time to kill.”

“We could walk around for a bit, if you’d like.” The vocalist nods, and they pass by a few stores, watching the crowds come and go.

“Right, it’s almost wintertime—huh?” Tomori eyes a store’s sale with skepticism. “Seventy percent off? There’s no way—“ the vocalist gasps then. “S-Saki-chan—!” She goes to point at one of the items on display, and Sakiko instantly recognizes it.

“Seems like they came out with a limited edition version of the notebook you like to use. A penguin design, how cute.” She watches as Tomori bounces up and down, and she smiles. “We can stop inside this store if you’d like.” Tomori’s head looks like it could fly off at any moment the way she nodded then, and they enter the store, with Sakiko noting how the interior seemed to largely be a music store.

“Um, I’m guessing the notebook is on the second floor.” She turns to the light-blue haired girl. “I’ll try not to take too long—!”

Sakiko giggles. “Take all the time you want, Tomori. I’m not desperate to go anywhere in particular at the moment. If anything, you should consider buying out their whole stock of notebooks.” She teases.

“I-I can’t possibly do that!” The vocalist’s face at the moment surely says otherwise. “I’ll be back soon!” She waves as the vocalist goes to rush up the stairs, and the keyboardist decides to stare at some music albums for the time being.

“Hm, they have quite the assortment here.” Her eyes drift between the different sections, finally landing in the vocaloid section. While there is much she still isn’t quite aware about in the vocaloid realm of music, some of the music artists Tomori likes seem to be with this area. She looks between the different singles, spotting one of interest, and she goes to reach a hand out to it.

“Ah,” she blinks as someone else’s hand comes up the same time as hers, and she looks to her left to see a shorter girl. Sakiko notes at how long the other girl’s hair is, and part of her wonders what it would feel like if she touched it then and there.

“Er—my apologies,” the white-haired girl goes to bow, and the keyboardist blinks at how soft the other girl’s voice is. “You can take the single if you’d like.”

“Oh, um,” Sakiko goes to do just that. “Thank you, you’re very kind.” She bows at the stranger, who smiles sheepishly.

“That’s a nice assortment of flowers you have there.” The composer notes. “I have a friend who knows flowers far better than me, but whoever picked these out for you knows their flower language well.”

The light-blue haired girl blinks. “Really? Is it alright to ask what these mean then?” The white-haired girl nods.

“Um, if I recall correctly…” she goes to point at the chamomiles first. “These are chamomiles. They’re known to represent endurance and strength in the face of adversity, and they’re often able to survive in places most plants would die off at. Chamomiles are also often used in teas and such to help you relax…” She then points to the gladiolus. “These are gladiolus. Similar to the chamomile, these represent something similarly in tune with strength. It has another meaning though. Sometimes, it’s given as a symbol of affection, where the person who receives these has ‘pierced the heart’ of the giver.” Sakiko blinks, her face turning a bit red. No, there’s no possible way, right? She controls her emotions as the white-haired girl goes to point at the last flower. “These are forget-me-nots. They tie in heavily with the idea of remembrance. They also have associations with true love as well, meaning whoever gave these to you wants you to know about their loyalty towards you.” Okay, if the keyboardist wasn’t blushing before, then she sure is now. She puts a hand to her cheek, noting how her skin burns.

“Well, thank you for the explanation. That was…very helpful.” Sakiko definitely has a lot to ponder on now. The composer chuckles.

“Of course. I’m glad I was able to help. Ah, also, ‘Love Letter For An Imaginary Girl’, the single you picked up, is very good. The piano component especially is the highlight of that song, so I hope you enjoy it.” The keyboardist goes to speak, however

“Kanade-san! Where are—oh!” They both blink as a girl with yellowish-pink pigtails comes bobbing into view, and Sakiko feels as though she recognizes the cheery girl coming towards them from somewhere. “There you are! I was looking everywhere!!” The composer smiles sheepishly.

“Sorry, Tenma-san. I was busy chatting with someone here.” The white-haired girl blinks as she’s being dragged along by her friend via her arm.

“We don’t have a lot of time! The noodle place we’re here for closes soon! We have to get the noodles, Kanade-san!! The noodles!! Otherwise our trip was for nothing!!!”

“Eh? Ah, right.” The composer goes to wave at Sakiko. “It was nice chatting with you!—“ the girl doesn’t get to say anymore as her friend picks up the pace, leaving the keyboardist to stand there.

Somehow, that felt like a super rare chance encounter. Sakiko thinks to herself, as Tomori finally comes downstairs.

“Saki-chan—“ she tries to balance herself, and Sakiko blinks at the massive haul of stuff the other has in her arms. “I’m ready to check out now.”

“Are you, perchance, buying something, or do you plan to rob the store?”

“I-it’s just a few items!” The five pairs of notebooks says otherwise, but the light-blue haired girl keeps her musings internal as they go to check out their items.

—

“It’s already this late…?” Tomori looks up to the sky as nightfall approaches, and Sakiko giggles.

“I guess we were too busy shopping and chatting amongst ourselves to notice how fast the time was going.” She stares at the ground. “I had a lot of fun today, Tomori, and thank you again for accompanying me. As payback,” she trifles through her purse, the other girl watching curiously, and Sakiko goes to pull out two tickets. “Ave Mujica’s having a live show soon, and I was hoping you’d attend.” She holds out the tickets to the other, and the vocalist goes to take them. “There’s two so you can bring a plus one if you’d like…just not Anon-san, please.” Goodness knows she gets enough of that girl in school already.

“Yeah, um, of course I’ll go! I was actually thinking about how I’ve never gone to one of your shows before, so this works out.” Tomori places the tickets in her pockets, going to secure them. “Have a good night, Saki-chan. I’ll message you later!”

The light-blue haired girl waves. “I’m looking forward to it. Get home safe, Tomori.” They part ways, though for some reason, Sakiko’s heart can’t stop frantically beating in her chest.

Hopefully everything goes well when the time comes… She exhales a puff of air, watching it disperses against the cold night.

•—————————•

“Geez, this line is long,” Taki peers past the people in front of her, tracing the line of people. “It goes all the way back to the dang restaurant two blocks down, damn!” Tomori giggles.

“Well, they are popular. I saw an advertisement for them on a billboard recently.”

“They already got to that level?” The dark-brown haired girl puts a hand to her chin. “I really gotta ask Uika-san for advice next time I see her.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you two were close.“ The drummer blinks. Shit, she almost blew her cover there. This is all Anon’s fault!

“Uh, no! We’re just classmates! What’s a friend…haha.” The vocalist blinks.

“Didn’t you say you’re classmates with Mutsumi-chan this year?”

“HAHAHAH! Er—“ Taki looks around, trying to find something to stall the other. “Oh—look! The line is moving! C’mon Tomori, we need to keep up or we’ll get left behind!!” She forcibly drags the other, making sure the vocalist has no time to ask about anything else.

—

Mutsumi watches Nyamu and Uika chatter away about the props on stage, her gaze sharp.

“Lovey-dovey,” she whispers to herself, as Umiri walks up to the other, juice box in hand. The rhythm guitarist turns to see Sakiko standing at the center of the stage, seemingly staring at something.

“…” the light-blue haired girl stares at the seats, gaze flicking between each individual seat as though it was her lifeline.

“Saki-chan? Why are you staring at the seats so intensely? Is there a ghost?” The keyboardist blinks as her fellow band member makes her way over, hands behind her back, with Umiri trailing along behind her.

“N-no! That’s preposterous!” The keyboardist glances away, not meeting her childhood friend’s eyes. “Ahem. I was just…trying to find a particular seat, that’s all.”

“Saki-chan! Do you need my help?!” Within seconds, Uika is at the other’s side, and before Sakiko could even say anything, the girl jumps off the stage. “MANAGER! LIGHTS.” A spotlight is directed on the vocalist, and she yells out. “Alright Saki-chan! What’s the seat you’re looking for?!” Uika does a bunch of exaggerated gestures, and the light-blue haired girl could only stare bewildered.

< “I’d like to see Uika-san get any of this right.” > the manager’s voice booms from the speakers.

“Um, it’s seat 12, row e.”

“Hm, gotcha!” The pale-blonde girl starts running up and down the stands, and the rest of Ave Mujica can only watch as the scene unfolds in front of them.

“This one!”

< “Nope!” >

“This one here!”

< “That’s literally incorrect, Uika-san. How many times have you guys performed here now???” >

“Uh, this one right here!!”

< “…I pity you.” >

“Eurgh, come on, this is for Saki-chan…” Uika rushes over to the very end of the seats. “This one!”

< “NO!” > They all jump as the manager’s voice booms from the speakers.

“Tsk tsk tsk, Uiko.” The spotlight goes over Nyamu. “Ya can’t even find a simple seat! How tragic is that?” The purple-haired girl strikes a pose, going to point. “It’s that one right there.” The spotlight leaves the drummer and illuminates a seat towards the center of the stage, and Uika could only blink.

“I-I knew that!” The pale-blonde girl crosses her arms in an attempt to protect her dignity.

< “Well done, Nyamu-san! See Uika-san? Your own girlfriend managed to get it right the first try!” > Both girls faces go red.

“Wha—!” The vocalist sputters nonsense, and even the ever confident Nyamu seems to be at a loss.

“Huh, even Manager-san knows.” Mutsumi muses, as Umiri goes to finish the last of her juice.

“Oh, my juice...” The bassist says sadly, going to throw the box away, and Sakiko could only stare at the illuminated seat. This has got to go well, otherwise she’ll never live it down!

“‘n-nough about Uiko and I, it’s not relevant at all!” She quickly waltzes over to the keyboardist. “Why do ya care about sum seat, anyways?” She blinks, before realizing. “Ohhh, I see! It’s because of the script for today, ain’t it?” Sakiko’s face flushes.

“What? Absolutely not! There is zero correlation between the script I had written for today’s show and the seat at all! Frankly, you are out of your mind for even sayi—“

—

”Attention all guests! Ave Mujica’s live show: ‘Amor meus amplior quam verba es’, is beginning shortly! Please make your way towards the designated seat area!” the loud speaker clicks off, and Taki repeatedly glances at the rows and tickets in her hands.

“Row 10…row 11…ah, here we are. Row 12, seats d and e.” Taki enters first, and Tomori follows, going to sit. “I’m quite interested in seeing how they do things. From what Anon told me, they center around being broken dolls. Gosh, could she be anymore vague??” The ash-brown haired girl giggles.

“From what Saki-chan told me, she handles all the script writing and overall lore for Ave Mujica, so if you want, I could get that info from her next time I see her?” The drummer holds back a sob.

“Seriously, you’re the best, Tomori.” The girl in question only tilts her head in confusion as the buzzer blares, signifying the show was starting. They turn their attention to the stage, the red curtains slowly rising.

“I am Doloris!” The vocalist’s voice comes booming in first. “I do not fear sorrow.” She goes to bow, but is interrupted, as Amoris walks on stage, clapping rather loudly.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know who you are, but who actually cares about that?” Suddenly, the purple-haired girl pulls out a bunch of swords from seemingly nowhere. “I have a better question, Doloris. What is it you devote yourself to?” the pale-blonde haired girl blinks, confused.

“I do not quite understand what you mean, Amoris.” Amoris suddenly tosses a sword the other girl’s way, who barely catches it.

“I mean, if you were in a sort of life or death situation,” her eyes gleam dangerously, even beneath the mask, and Tomori is left astonished by the acting. “Then what would you want your final remembrance to be?”

“I…” she closes her eyes, holding the sword close to her chest. Suddenly, she thrusts the sword up, taking on a righteous pose, as though she were challenging the sky itself, as Amoris takes a step back. “I devote myself to challenging the sky itself, the one that shackles me so and exhausts me of my wings!” The audience gasps, clearly entranced, as Doloris’ sword seems to gleam under the lights.

“Bravo, bravo!!” Amoris fake claps, as she tosses a sword at Mortis. “Next.” The girl walks to the side of the stage, standing a few feet from Doloris.

“…I am Mortis. I do not fear death.” She takes a breathe in and out, going to hold the sword near her face, covering one side of it with the blunt side of the sword facing out. “I devote myself to the other me, who’s protected me for so long. They are a part of me, no matter what.” She moves the sword to the other half of her face, closing her eyes.

Amoris smirks. “Yet another brilliant act, Mortis. You truly are something. Next.” Timoris catches the sword with one hand, going to stand similarly to Mortis, however, she leaves a gap in the middle.

“I am Timoris. I do not fear being afraid.” Within seconds, she puts her sword downwards into the ground, a resonant clang echoing. She goes to rest her hands against the hilt. “I devote myself to those who wander for a place to belong. Eventually, all things will lead to one, whether it be the ground, roads, or even ourselves.”

“Wow! Very poetic! Anyways, my turn!~ Let’s see…” Amoris goes to take a sword, twirling it around in one hand as though it were a staff, smirking all the while so as she goes to stand towards the end of the stage near Timoris. “I am Amoris, I do not fear love. And I devote myself to…” she gives the sword one final twirl before going to hold it up to my neck. “Myself! There’s no such need to bother caring about others, now is there? All you truly need is yourself, hehehahahah!” Amoris falls into a fit of laughter, going to the touch the pointy end of the sword with her finger tips.

“…?” Timoris blinks. “Aren’t we missing Oblivionis?” Amoris scoffs.

“She said she would run late for some reason, perhaps it would be better if she didn’t show up at all—!” The loud sound of heels across the floor ushers Amoris into silence, as Oblivionis slowly comes walking in. “Tsk, I’m never speaking again.”

“Really, Amoris, you think you could simply get rid of me like that?” She extends her arms out. “We are all but broken dolls here, discarded with no further purpose left other than to struggle pathetically against the fate we were bestowed. Remember that well.” She glances between each doll. “Pray tell, what is egregious display I am witnessing?”

Amoris breaks from her spot, twirling her sword as she walks up to other, getting in her face.

“Oblivionis, sweet Oblivionis. You truly live up to your name, don’t you? Well, don’t keep us all waiting! Is there something you devote yourself to?” she leans in closer, and Nyamu goes to cover her mic. “Or is it a someone?” Sakiko’s eyes go wide.

Nyamu, this wasn’t part of the script! she’s lucky they’re all wearing masks for this particular show, or the audience would have had the absolute displeasure of seeing Sakiko’s intense glare right now. Just who does Nyamu think she is?! She pointedly ignores Nyamu’s massive smirk as the other steps back, resuming the role of Amoris.

“Fine, if you so desperately want to know,” Oblivionis goes to stand in the center of the stage as Amoris walks back to her position. She walks to the center of the stage, facing the audience, going to take a sword and grasping the handle. Oblivionis takes a breathe in an out, closing her eyes, and the audience buzzes with excitement.

“Oh my gosh, it’s Oblivionis!!” Tomori hears two girls squeal a row behind them.

“I wonder what she’s gonna say?? Man, I can’t wait to use my glow sticks!!” Another group excitedly whispers to one another.

“L-O-V-E Ave Mujica!!!”

“When are they going to play Fein??”

Taki blinks. “Dang, she really got the attention of everyone here, it’s insane.” The drummer notes, and the vocalist nods.

“I wonder if she’s nervous right now…”

“Huh? How could you tell?” Tomori smiles a bit.

“Saki-chan sometimes pauses like that when she’s about to do something big.”

“Hm, interesting.” She directs her gaze back towards the stage. “Well, it probably won’t be anything intense or whatever.”

Okay, Sakiko. You can do this. Sakiko breathes in and out. Admittedly, she had left this portion of the script blank, to the surprise of the others, though none of them objected upon rehearsing it in the dressing room.

”Whatever you do then, good luck, Saki-chan. I’m sure she’ll understand.” Uika had told her knowingly, going to pat her friend on the back.

Nyamu waves a dismissive hand, not getting up from the couch. “Yeah, yeah. Go be gay or whatever, girl.”

She feels a tug on her sleeve, turning around to see Mutsumi. “U-um, Saki-chan! I don’t really know what you plan to do, but good luck with your part!” She hurries away, and she looks to see Umiri giving a thumbs up. Even their manager had given a cheerful ‘good luck!’ right before they were due on stage.

Sakiko opens her eyes, and in one swift motion, she cuts through the air, a dazzle of light reflecting the motion back as she holds the sword away from her body.

“I am Oblivionis, I do not fear forgetting.” Her voice booms across the auditorium. In a flash, she thrusts the sword outward towards the audience fencing-style, pointing the blade at a specific seat. “I devote myself to you!” She tries to keep her arm steady, forcing her body not to falter then and there, as the sword is pointed at Tomori.

Taki pales. “Oi, oi, oi!” She hisses under her breathe. “Sakiko, you cannot be serious right now!” The drummer watches as Tomori’s eyes widen, a massive blush appearing on her face as Sakiko holds her gaze on the other.

Tomori, you may believe that the sword is generally aimed at the audience, but in reality, it really is aimed at you. Please, please understand me in this moment. Please let me get through to you. Please understand my maddening descent into humanity, one that only you have brought on and made me realize my limitations so. Please Tomori, let me pierce your heart as you’ve done mine. I may not be able to catch your heart as you did mine with your wonderful words, but please, let this pitiful declaration of my stupid mess of feelings get to you! She directs the sword downwards, going to rest a hand on the hilt as Oblivionis brings another hand up.

“And by ‘devotion to you’, I mean all of you, for are we not all but broken dolls to this disgusting masquerade of life?” Oblivionis raises her free head to the stage lights, going to grasp the endlessly unattainable light source in the palm of her hand. “Now, come! Let us sing for those broken hearts and usher in the new era to come!” The audience erupts into cheers as the curtains fall, and Taki could only blink.

“Uh huh, yeah. Nice cover up there, Sakiko…” the dark-brown haired girl grumbles under her breathe. “Well that was crazy, wasn’t it, Tomori?—TOMORI!” The drummer is at shock seeing her bandmate had promptly fainted on the spot, watching the other’s soul leave her body. “Tomori, NO. STAY WITH ME NOW. TOMORI??? TOMORI!!!” She shakes the ash-brown haired girl by the shoulders, attempting to get the other back to reality.

“…!” Sakiko falls to her knees upon setting up her keyboard, and Uika and Mutsumi rush to her side.

“Saki-chan! Are you alright??” Uika and Mutsumi go to help the keyboardist up, and she smiles gratefully.

“Ah…yes. My nerves just got to me is all,” she glances away. “I really hope Tomori understood what I meant.” The rhythm guitarist sighs in relief as the vocalist smiles.

“Geez, don’t go scaring me like that! I don’t think Tomori-chan would miss a massive hint like that.”

“Of course she got the damn hint!” Sakiko goes to glare at the approaching Nyamu, with Umiri right behind her. “Did ya see her face! Girl was blushing like a madman after yer display!” Sakiko only puts a hand to her head.

“Why on Earth did you have to tease me there, Nyamu?”

The purple-haired girl goes to feign innocence. “Huh? Whatever do you mean, Sakikuu? It’s called improve acting.”

“That was very clearly NOT—“

< “Girls, you’re on in ten.” > their manager reminds from their mics. < “Also, Nyamu-san, you have no right to talk when we all know how your real devotion is to Uika-sa—“ >

“That’s enough.” Nyamu turns away, face red, and after Uika checks to make sure Sakiko is fine, they all head to their positions.

—

“…”

“…Well, that was certainly a show, wasn’t it, Tomori?” Her voice trails off as she’s unable to see the other girl’s face despite the bright street lights. They walk out to the intersection, though Tomori pauses.

“Actually, Taki-chan, you don’t need to walk me home tonight.” The drummer blinks.

“…Are you sure?” Tomori lifts her head up, and Taki blinks seeing the look on the other’s face. She smiles. “Alright, if you say so. Good luck with Sakiko.” She does a wave, going to walk across the crosswalk, and the vocalist slowly makes her way back to the live house, pressing her back to the wall as she waits.

“Tomori!” She blinks, seeing Sakiko rush out of the live house, and the keyboardist spots the other. “Oh good, I thought you had left already.” She plays with the edge of her scarf, pulling at the fabric. “Um, so about earlier, during that one moment—!” The keyboardist blinks as she looks down, seeing a fist extend out to her person, just barely to the left of her chest, and the vocalist goes to bump the keyboardist’s heart, as though she were trying to pierce it in similar fashion to the stunt Sakiko did earlier. She looks up to meet the other’s expression, eyes widening to see the massive blush on Tomori’s face then and there, and she catches the small smile on the vocalist’s face.

Ah, so you did… she wipes the stray tears threatening to fall with a smile, going to hold Tomori’s hand in both of hers.

“I’m glad,” Sakiko whispers, tightening her hold. “I’m glad you understood, however, please just wait a little longer. I don’t think it’s quite the time yet for me to verbalize it fully.” The light-blue haired girl feels a pang of guilt then, having to force the other to wait, but

“Of course, Saki-chan. I’ll wait a bit longer.” Gradually, she lets go of Tomori’s hand, waving the other off into the night. Sakiko goes to place a hand on her chest, feeling her heart pound, a reminder that she was human.

•—————————•

“Aw man!” Anon deflates against the counter, birthday hat crooked, as Uika goes to join her. “It really is useless after all. What were we thinking, going to make a ‘slay-liance’ when nothing even happened!!” Uika goes to pat the pink-haired girl on the shoulder, sliding her a shot of tea.

“There, there, Anon-chan. It’s alright!” The guitarist looks up to see the pale-blonde girl’s bright smile. “At least we managed to become better friends because of the ‘slay-liance’, wouldn’t you agree?”

Anon immediately perks up. “Huh, you’re right! Oh my gosh, I was so consumed by yuri that I forgot about the friends we made along the way!” Anon goes to grab her tea shot, raising it up on the air. “To friendship!” Uika follows suit.

“To friendship,” they clink glasses, going to drink as Taki blinks.

“This is possibly the stupidest development I’ve seen on Anon’s side,” the girl in question grumbles. “But I’m happy for you, Uika-san.”

“Thank you, Taki-san, but I think the same applies to you as well! Haven’t we gotten a bit closer now thanks to this?”

“Oh yeah!” The drummer produces her own tea shot, and she cheers with Uika.

“To friendship!”

“To friendship and dissing Anon’s entire pathetic existence!”

“Hey! You two wouldn’t even have become better friends if it wasn’t for me, pack it up!” Taki’s expression turns annoyed.

“Oh yeah? Well—“ Anon and Taki start arguing, with Uika caught in between as Soyo and Mutsumi stare on from a distance.

“Gosh, can’t they help us set up the decor instead sitting around and uselessly arguing?” The bassist says with a huff, and Mutsumi giggles.

“We’re back!” Nyamu and Umiri enter RiNG, a karaoke machine in tow as the purple-haired girl goes to take a few selfies.

Taki walks over to the duo, ignoring Anon’s ‘hey!’. “I’m glad it did manage to come after all. Have you tested it yet?” Umiri shakes her head.

“Not yet, however,” she holds a mic out to her friend’s face. “I was thinking we have a singing battle? Y’know, to test it?” Taki matches Umiri’s grin with one of her own, and they rush to a corner for their impromptu singing match as Nyamu joins Uika at the counter.

“So,” Nyamu leans against the table smug. “You come here often?”

“Yes, yes I do.” Anon gets between them, and Nyamu withholds herself from getting angry. “Nya-mu-chiiiiii!!~” the pink-haired girl goes to latch herself onto the other, Nyamu growing increasingly annoyed as Anon goes to sob on the other’s shirt. “Please give me your autograph, wahhhhhh!!”

“Hah?! That’s it? Why didn’t ya just ask me like a normal person??” She pulls out a marker from her purse, pushing Anon’s bangs to the side as she writes ‘NYAMUCHI ♡’ right over the pink-haired girl’s face. “There! Ya happy now?” Anon goes to look at herself through her phone camera.

“Oh my god, it’s,” Uika puts a hand to her head, sighing. “BEAUTIFUL!!!” Huh? The pale-blonde haired girl blinks rapidly as she watches Anon thank Nyamu multiple times. The pink-haired girl then walks over to Soyo and Mutsumi, gloating, and she can practically see the sparks coming from the bassist.

*Ding!* She pulls out her phone, going to see a message from Sakiko.

Sakiko
—
< Apologies, Uika, but I might be a tad bit late to Tomori’s birthday party. The special konpeito I had reserved apparently isn’t available anymore, so now I have to go ahead and order multiple batches of multi-colored ones to sort out and pick out the correct ones I wanted. Please tell Tomori I will be arriving a bit later to her party. >

“Wow, going all out here, huh?” Uika goes to type a response, putting her phone as she gets up and inspects the decor carefully. “Taki-san! How’s the karaoke set-up?” The drummer grins.

“Works like a charm. The projector’s running smoothly, though, it’s a bit loud, so we might want to tone it down a bit—“ Anon goes to snatch the mic from her bandmate, who scowls.

“WHO’S READY TO PARTY?!” Everyone remains silent, but the pink-haired girl doesn’t take the hint, going to hop around the mini-stage. “WOOOOO YEAHHHH!! ANON TOKYO IS MAKING ITS PROFESSIONAL DEBUT AS SOON AS TOMORIN APPEARS, WOOOOOO!!”

“How do I get you off the damn stage?” Taki grumbles, and Uika only sighs in agreement. She stares at the clock on the wall, any minute now…

*Ding-a-ling!* the doors swing open, with Raana guiding a blindfolded Tomori inside.

“Agh—!” Tomori accidentally hits her shin against a table leg, and Uika blinks. Maybe she should’ve been the one to have gotten the ash-brown haired girl. The lead guitarist clumsily guides Tomori to the center of the room, where everyone is waiting.

“Okay, you can take your blindfold off now.” Raana says, and Tomori does just that, and there, she is greeted to the sight of her fellow band mates and friends alike.

“Happy birthday, Tomori!” They all go to say, smiles on their faces, and Tomori grows surprised.

“Wow, thank y—“

“Happy biiiIiIrrRrRrRrrRrRtHdayyyyyyy toooOOOOOooooooOOoOO youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Tomorinnnnnn ♫♪” Anon’s mic receives a small bit of feedback, and everyone winces a bit.

“…Er, thanks guys! I cannot believe there’s so many people here…” Uika smiles.

“I thought it would be fun to surprise you, as it was a joint collab between Taki-san and I.” Anon goes to speak, but Taki immediately plasters tape on the pink-haired girl’s mouth. She leans closer to the other, lowering her voice. “And don’t worry, Saki-chan’s coming a bit later.” She leans back forward. “Anyways, what do you say we get this party started?” Everyone cheers in agreement.

“Okay, okay! I’ll go first!!” Taki clicks her tongue.

“I need to invest in better tape.” They go to take their seats, with Tomori sitting near Mutsumi and Taki, and they watch as Anon finally picks out a song.

“MISUMI UIKA,” The pale-blonde girl jumps at the volume. “COME UP HERE NOW! LET US SING OF OUR UNBREAKABLE BOND!!” Uika sighs, relenting, as Anon shoves a mic in the other’s hands. Uika carefully reads the song title, blinking.

“Eh? Anon-chan, this is a foreign song!”

“Girl, just sing your heart out. There’s no harm in it. No one’s gonna judge you for it either!” She skips a bit of the song. “Here we go, it’s the best part!!” Uika goes to ready herself as the lyrics appear, with Anon not missing a beat.

♫♪ I would’ve stayed at home, ‘cause I was doing better alone ♫♪

♫♪ But when you said, "Hello", I knew that was the end of it all ♫♪ She signals at Uika, who hurriedly stares at the next lines.

♫♪ I should've stayed at home
'Cause now there ain't no letting you go ♫♪

“Woo!” Anon jumps up and down.

♫♪ Am I falling in love with the one that could break my heart? ♫♪

Uika and Anon grin at each other.

♫♪ OH NO!! ♫♪ they go to sing in sync, and Tomori smiles at the sight. She gets up, and Taki blinks.

“Tomori? Are you okay?? Is the music too loud?? Is the party not good??” She shakes the ash-brown haired girl slightly, berating the other with more questions.

“Eheh, no, Taki-chan. Everything’s great.” She looks down. “I…just have something to talk about with Saki-chan, so I’m going to head to the rooftop for a bit. When she comes, please tell her I’m there.” Taki nods.

“If you say so. I’ll make sure to.” Tomori opens the door, going to the roof as Anon and Uika continue singing their hearts out.

—

Sakiko hurriedly enters RiNG, bag in hand as she searches frantically.

“Sakiko, over here!” She goes up to Taki. “She’s on the roof right now. She’s been waiting for ya.” Taki smiles. “Good luck.”

The keyboardist nods, rushing up to the roof. She opens the door, seeing Tomori’s figure leaning against the balcony, bathed in the moonlight’s glow.

“Tomori,” the ash-brown haired girl turns, meeting Sakiko’s eyes. “Sorry I was late. Hope this could make up for it?” She holds up the small gift bag, handing it to the other, and Tomori carefully takes out each gift one by one.

“Ah, a pill bug plushie!” She goes to squeeze the stuffed toy in her arms, smiling happily. She takes out a velvet box next, opening it and picking up the bookmark carefully. “A bookmark of that flower I tried to get when we first met…”

“It wasn’t dead when I saw it, just for clarification, but I figured you could use that bookmark for your lyric notebook.” Tomori only shakes her head with a smile. She picks up the next gift, going to hold the candy against the moon and watching how the clear blue konpeito pieces seemed to glow.

“Woah…”

“That’s the reason I was late. I had intended to get a custom order of only blue konpeito, but they had cancelled last minute, sooo I did the next best thing and bought a ton of those and picked out the blue ones myself.”

“They’re really pretty.” She picks up the final gift, a simple pair of tickets. “This is…”

“Two tickets to go rock mining. I tried searching for suitable gifts for rock lovers, and upon my research, this seemed like the best fit.” A second goes by. Then two. Suddenly, Tomori starts laughing. “Wh-what’s so funny?” She goes to point at the ticket, and Sakiko blinks. “Valid in…ten years?! That’s preposterous!!” She snatched the tickets from Tomori’s hands, the other full-on laughing. “Oh goodness, I’m so sorry! If I had read the tickets properly, then—argh!”

“It’s—okay, ehehe!” Tomori looks at the tickets front and back. “They seem legit, you just bought them…a decade too early.” The keyboardist puts a hand to her head as the vocalist sets the gift bag down to the side. Eventually, Sakiko goes to join her at the balcony.

“So, erm,” the light-blue haired girl goes to twirl a strand of hair. “About before—or, honestly—everything.” She shakily exhales. “I’ve been…having these feelings of sorts. My heart would palpitate, I feel my face burning up, and often times, I can’t get you off my mind. It pained me so, because I didn’t want to accept the fact that I am human, and that I do feel these sorts of feelings alongside other people. In a way, I resented that so.” She puts a hand to her chest, facing the other. “But I’ve come to embrace it all now. And it’s all thanks to you, Tomori. Truly, its thanks to you that I’ve…become human…even if I do not quite now what these feelings are called.”

“…Saki-chan,” the ash-brown haired girl looks down. “I think what you’re describing is ‘love’? Of course, I don’t really know much about it myself to properly define it, but…”

“Ah.” Everything seemed to click then, stupid as it was. “I see. Now I know what love is.” She goes to gently caress the other’s cheek, her breathe coming out as small puffs of clouds and dispersing into the cold air.

“Tomori, I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for awhile now, and if you’ll so have me,” Her voice falters slightly, and Sakiko tears up, her voice coming out quieter. “Then I’ll gladly be yours. I can’t say I’ll offer you a lifetime since we both know how that went originally, but I can offer an eternity instead.” The vocalist’s face turns so red in the moment, and Sakiko knows that hers is too even despite the cold.  It honestly felt cathartic to finally be able to vocalize those damn feelings that have been plaguing her all the while so.

“I-I’ve also loved you for awhile now, actually, um,” She looks into Sakiko’s eyes. “I love you, Saki-chan. I love you so much, and I-I’m not the best with speaking out my words but I truly do mean it.” Sakiko steps closer, their faces mere inches apart, and she moves her grip to her scarf, pulling the other even closer than ever.

“Hey, Tomori,” Sakiko asks, her voice breathless. “May I kiss you?”

“Yes, please do.” She pulls Tomori in, and they share a long, passionate kiss. Eventually, they part, both out of breathe and their faces oh so red.

“For a…birthday present…this wasn’t so bad.” Sakiko blinks.

“Are you insinuating that our first kiss wasn’t good enough for you?” She pulls the other closer once more. “Or do you perhaps want more?”

Tomori’s face reddens, though she stands her ground. “A-and if I said I did want more…what then?” Sakiko only smiles, tugging Tomori back in for another kiss, the moonlight beaming down on both of them as both find the word to define their relationship. If one were to look close enough, they could spot a certain Summer Triangle formation faintly glowing above the two lovers.