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She flopped onto her bed face first, allowing the soft fabric to consume her.
She hasn't taken a bath yet, nor has she even brushed her teeth, but after their opening performance for Free Cluster, she felt like she deserved this.
Just a small nap, as a treat.
"Saki."
"Hm..?"
"Get off of my bed."
Oh, right.
She followed Shiho home.
Still, she wasn't going to get up, not after her bed had already wrapped her in chains, so she stayed silent, taking deep breaths in and out onto her pillow.
It smells like Shiho-chan.
"Hey." She lightly shook her shoulder. "Did you hear me?"
"Nope."
She sighed, and in a low voice, she said, "Why are you even here, anyway? Didn't you say you had homework to do?"
"Even if I did, I don't wanna do it, so I'm staying here. Plus, your house is closer, and my house isn't, so.."
"You're hopeless.."
After that, Saki felt she was going to walk away, so she turned her head and tugged on her sweater, keeping her still.
"What?" Her brows furrowed.
"I just felt like you were going to leave me."
"Well, I was, so can you let go?"
"Now I really don't want to let go."
Saki tightened her grip, but Shiho still managed to shake her hand off, leaving the room afterward with zero remorse.
So mean.
With nothing else to do, her eyes drifted to the ceiling, though it wasn't particularly interesting, so she instead looked around, observing a room that should've felt familiar to her.
A lot of things have stayed the same since elementary school.
For one, she still has the poster of her favorite girl band, Iolite, looking like it hadn't moved an inch since the last time she saw it. The bass kept in its stand was also the same. In fact, it still looked like it was in tip-top condition, almost as if it had been recently bought.
Still, there were some new additions. There was soundproof foam plastered across a corner of her room, and now she had her own composing setup — speakers and everything. She shouldn't be surprised, considering the files she sent to Shiho had to be edited somehow, but she still wondered if she composed anything herself.
And if she didn't, she might have to in the future.
She's really taking this dream seriously, huh?
Of course, Saki was too. There was no way she was going to take that back, even if she wanted to.
Recently, though, something has begun to gnaw at her.
She didn't know what it was, but she didn't like it. It was as if a hidden force buried deep within the confines of her mind had begun to seep out, reaching out to her heart and clutching onto it so tightly that it was on the cusp of being crushed, leaving nothing but an empty feeling.
"There's no need for you to feel scared."
Shindou had told her that once, and thought it was for a different situation, she'd always follow those words.
Now, it was hard to stay true to them.
I don't want to think about this.
This sucks.
Her face went back into Shiho's pillow, taking in the scent.
Just come back already.
The moment that desire ran through, she heard a knock on the door along with a voice on the other side.
"Saki, help me open the door."
She got off the bed, walking to the door with a slightly quickened pace and sliding it open, revealing Shiho and a tray with two bottles on one hand.
"Hey, you could've opened the door with your other hand!"
"I know. I called you over because I wanted to make sure you weren't falling asleep. Now, excuse me, please."
Saki lightly sulked before moving aside, allowing Shiho to set the tray on her bedside shelf. She sat back on the bed while Shiho sat at her desk.
"What's this?" she said, hinting at the bottles.
"Try it."
Seeing as she wasn't going to give an actual answer, Saki took one of the bottles and took a sip, immediately recognizing its taste.
"Hey, this is that new soda flavor that I've been talking about!"
"Mhm."
Saki downed about a half more before setting it back on the tray, feeling relieved that she didn’t have to go out and buy it for herself anymore. Afterwards, Shiho took a sip for herself.
“Blegh..” She stuck her tongue out. “Gross. It tastes like if you mixed orange juice with coffee.”
“Really? I kinda like it. Anyways, why’d you get this?”
“You’re not exactly smooth at switching topics.”
“Well, you never get soda for yourself, so I was a little curious why you got it now, especially since you don’t even like this flavor.”
Shiho slightly averted her gaze, and maybe Saki was imagining it, but she could make out a slight flush on her face.
“…No reason.”
With her sudden embarrassment, Saki could only assume that she had bought it solely to offer it to her, but she quickly denied it, knowing it wasn’t good to be too hopeful.
But when she looked back at Shiho, finding that her cheeks had turned evidently red and her gaze now glued to the floor, she couldn’t think otherwise.
So that’s how it is..
“W-Why are you smiling at me like that?” Shiho said when she looked back up.
Saki grinned further.
“You’re just really cute.”
Shiho's eyes widened as her face turned beet red, standing up and facing the door, like she was going to explode if she took any more comments from Saki.
“I’m going to take a bath..”
Before she could take a step, Saki grabbed onto her sleeve.
“Wait.”
“No.”
“Please? You didn’t even hear me out yet!”
Shiho sighed, and with some clear reluctance, she looked back at Saki, not fully facing her. “What..?”
Still holding onto her sleeve, she patted the empty space on her bed beside her.
“Lie down with me.”
“I can’t. I need to take a bath.”
Well, she’s not outright denying it..
If that’s the case, then she just needs to push it a little further.
Putting on her puppy eyes, she lightened up her voice and tilted her head for maximum effect.
“Pleease..?”
Shiho immediately flinched at that, turning away to hide the blush that had started to resurface on her face. As Saki was about to push it one last time, however, Shiho spoke up in a quiet voice.
“Just for a bit..”
She internally cheered to herself.
So, Saki tugged on her sweater before letting go, moving close to the wall and lying down. When Shiho took up her space in the bed, Saki wrapped her arms around her waist without a second thought.
“H-Hey, I never said you could hug me.”
“Come on.. At least give me this! After all, I did so great during the opening performance, right?”
Instead of shooting back a complaint like she usually would, she wiggled out of her arms. As Saki was about to pout, Shiho said something so quietly that Saki wasn't sure she heard her correctly.
“At least let me take my hoodie off first..”
Shiho was being really generous today.
Of course, Saki was going to take full advantage of that.
When Shiho began taking her sweater off, her head covered in the process, her t-shirt slightly lifted, revealing her skin up to her stomach.
Saki poked her waist.
“Hey, quit it!” Shiho said, her voice muffled by her sweater. “I’m ticklish there.”
“I know.”
She poked it one more time.
“Saki!”
And then another.
“I swear to god- Do that one more time and I’m getting off this bed.”
Her finger stopped just inches away from her side when she said that, slowly setting her hand back by her side with much caution.
Poking her some more would've been preferred, especially when she's defenseless with a piece of cloth over her head, but getting on the same bed with Shiho, let alone being able to hug her, was too much to give up.
After taking her sweater off, she hung her head low, attempting to cover her face once more, showing just how much being tickled had worked her up.
Saki smiled to herself at that thought.
"Come on,” she said gently as she patted the bed. "Lay down."
She did as she was told, lying flat down next to her with the obedience you'd see in a trained cat.
"Can I hug you now?"
"What do you think I took off my hoodie for..?" She glared at her, though Saki found it cute more than anything.
Taking that glare as a yes, she brought her arms around her waist again. With a layer of clothing removed, her arms fitted into her waist as if it were natural, like they were always meant to be there.
The warmth was more prominent than ever, and with hardly any space between them, Shiho's scent was up in her face, stronger than the one she smelt from her pillow.
Having this rare opportunity to hug Shiho in bed made her heart race.
Not long after, her mind grew hazy from the amount of physical and internal warmth that she was receiving, and from Shiho's relaxed breathing, it must've been the same for her.
So, she closed her eyes — ready for Morpheus to take her away.
Yet, it never happened.
The truth of the matter is, with the silence hanging in the air, her mind drifted back to when she was left alone in the room.
Those thoughts were grabbing hold of her, and its claws had begun to pierce her heart.
I'm scared.
She pulled Shiho closer.
I don't want anything to change.
As if to seek an answer, she called out Shiho's name.
Despite that, she didn't really know what to ask.
"Shiho-chan?"
"Mm..” she grumbled as she slightly shifted, eyes still shut. “What is it..?"
Her voice was groggy, making Saki notice that they'd been lying together for quite a while now.
“Can we stay like this a little longer?”
“Weren’t we already planning on that..?”
That’s not what I meant.
“I guess so.”
“Then just go to sleep already..”
“Okay.”
She began to close her eyes.
The darkness made her body heavy.
“Good night,” she whispered, but no response was given.
Upon that, she realized Shiho was already asleep.