Chapter Text
Honami knocked gently on the door.
No answer.
She did it again.
No answer.
She rang the doorbell.
Still, no answer. She bit her lip, slowly beginning to rummage in her purse for the housekey.
She slowly creaked open the door. As usual the house was dark and even Mafuyu was nowhere to be seen. She sighed, it was still clean from her last visit. Except for the dust.
There was a lot of dust.
Kanade had tried to convince Honami that she couldn’t be her girlfriend and housekeeper, but Honami insisted otherwise. Every time she looked at Kanade she just wanted to kiss her and run her fingers through that long silvery hair and take care of her.
Speaking of, Honami should probably check in Kanade’s room. She noticed her room door was open, so Honami walked right in, careful not to step on the papers strewn across the floor. There, on the floor, sitting against her chair with her eyes closed was Kanade.
Honami had urged Kanade to take care of herself, and usually she would try her best. Sometimes, though she would get even more absorbed in her work than usual, and this seemed to be one of those times. Her hair was a mess and, Honami wrinkled her nose, she smelled like she hadn’t showered for at least a week.
Honami gently shook her shoulder, “Kanade-chan?”
Kanade’s eyes fluttered open, “Hm…?”
Realizing who it was, she turned red and sat up.
“Am I, did I…?” She said disorientedly.
Her girlfriend sighed, “Kanade-chan…”
Kanade looked away, still blushing, “I’m sorry…”
Honami smiled warmly and stroked Kanade’s knotted hair, “It’s okay,”
“Come on,” she said, holding her hand out.
Kanade bit her lip, eventually standing up. Honami noticed that there was a dark patch on the carpet, and as she looked at Kanade…
“I-I think I forgot…” Kanade whispered quietly, blinking back tears.
“Oh…it’s okay Kanade-chan, I can clean it up! Do you want to go shower first?” Honami asked gently.
Kanade simply stood there, looking down at the floor to avoid Honami’s gaze.
“Or…I could give you a bath?” Honami suggested.
Kanade gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Alright, you go ahead, let me clean this up first,”
“I’m sorry,” Kanade repeated.
Honami touched Kanade’s cheek, “It’s okay. Accidents happen, Kanade-chan,”
Eventually, Honami came to the bathroom holding her bag. She opened it and handed Kanade what seemed sort of like a towel but made from different material.
“It’s a shower wrap, so I can help you more, if you’d like,”
Kanade’s eyes widened, how was Honami so prepared? Either way it was extremely considerate of her. Honami turned around so Kanade could change into it and, once Kanade was changed, picked up her dirty clothes.
Honami started the bath, “How about I go put these away while the bath gets ready?”
Kanade nodded.
Eventually the bath was ready and Kanade let herself sink into the warm water.
“I brought some bubble bath if you want,” Honami said simply.
“O-okay…” Kanade responded hesitantly.
“The only one I have is apple pie scented, are you okay with that?”
Kanade gave a small smile, knowing Honami, she probably bought those in bulk, “Yes,”
It actually smelled really good, Kanade sighed and allowed herself to relax a bit as Honami carefully washed her.
“Okay, you can do the rest, then I’ll come back and wash your hair. I’ll go get you a robe and some nice pajamas.” Honami wasn’t sure if Kanade actually had pajamas. It was extremely probable that she solely wore her signature shirt, shorts, and jacket. Once Honami had opened her closet and found about 20 pairs of the same clothes, but she was sure if she looked carefully she could find one. Luckily, in one of her drawers there was a green nightgown with a white cap sitting untouched with the tags still on. There was a note on top of the nightgown.
Dear Kanade,
Hopefully these cute PJs will help you sleep!!
Love,
Mizuki <3
Honami smiled, it always pleased her to remember how much Kanade’s friends also cared for her. She picked up the nightgown and went to find a robe.
Kanade sat in the bath alone. She felt warm, yes, and almost joyful.
Almost, her stomach was churning.
How could she let this happen? How could she put the burden on Honami to take care of her, especially in the way she was, like Kanade was a little kid.
Of course, of course she loved it. She loved being pampered like that and remembering that she was this loved, but she felt like she was hurting her girlfriend, and that thought tortured her til the tears began leaking from her eyes, splashing into the bath water along with the drops from her wet hair.
Honami knocked on the door, “Kanade-chan, can I come in?”
Kanade didn’t say anything.
“Kanade-chan?”
Eventually, Honami opened the door to see the shower curtain closed.
“I brought your pajamas,” she said softly.
She was so nice, so sweet, always so kind…
Why was Kanade doing this to her? She let out a sob.
Honami, hearing it, slowly opened the curtain to see Kanade sitting in her shower wrap, head buried in her knees.
“Oh Kanade-chan…” Honami kissed her cheek, before putting shampoo in her long hair and gently massaging Kanade’s scalp.
Those soft hands felt like a bat was being swung against Kanade’s head.
“I’m so sorry.” She said once more, looking up at Honami.
“Kanade-chan, it’s okay, really,” Honami said, still working on Kanade’s hair.
“No it’s not. I shouldn’t be burdening you like this. It’s my fault I shouldn’t have-mmph-?!“
Honami had suddenly taken her hands off Kanade and kissed her right on the lips before saying, “You really shouldn’t say such things Kanade-chan. You’re not a burden at all. I want to take care of you,”
Kanade didn’t say anything.
“I do get extremely worried when you don’t care of yourself, but I understand it’s hard for you sometimes, and that’s okay. When it is, I’m here to help you,” she resumed shampooing Kanade’s head.
“I just need to keep composing…”
“Kanade. You’re always doing things to help others, just let me help you,”
“…”
“I’ll be honest, it’s for selfish reasons too. I love to take care of you like this. I was going to ask to give you a bath the next time I saw you forgot to wash yourself,”
“Why?”
“I told you, I just wanted to pamper my lovely girlfriend a bit…” she smiled.
Kanade let out a giggle.
She felt safe. She felt fresh.
She was loved.