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Miku was on her laptop when Raika burst into her room bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"Miiikuuuu!" Excitedly she crouched down beside Miku's desk. "So, I've been watching this drama and reeeally wanna cover the opening with you!" She underscored her excitement by drumming on the desk several times.
Pulling out two earbuds from her jacket pocket, she presented one to Miku, the other she put in herself.
Well, let's give it a listen, Miku thought and put in the earbud. In the meantime Raika had fished out her phone and pressed play when Miku was ready.
The instrumental's pretty fun so far... maybe they could bring the others in for those backup vocals. Okay, first verse. This is... Is this a prank? Is Chieri gonna crash through the window with a camera any moment now? Was Raika waiting for her reaction to Those lyrics? Her eyes were closed, so no.
The girl was resting her hands and chin on the table while she bobbed her head from side to side along with the beat. She was genuinely enjoying herself. This was earnest, she really wanted to sing this with Miku.
With the last repetition of the riff Miku was thrown into to cold water as Raika's eyes shot open to look at her expectantly, grin even wider than before.
"What do you think? Sounds like a fun thing for us?"
"Well..."
Miku didn't know what to say. Sure, the song's catchy and would fit the band's sound, but just thinking about singing some of these lines with Raika—to Raika!— was giving her a major headache. Chieri's not gonna let her hear the end of it if they actually do it. She really should decline. However there was one problem: Raika's accursed puppy eyes, which were soulfully staring up at her. They were a weakness of Miku's she hadn't been able to get past despite her best efforts. One she feared Raika ever finding out about. By the look of it, she might have already lost that battle though.
"Alright..." was her sighed response.
"Yaaay!" Raika jumped up, both feet leaving the floor and her fists almost hitting the ceiling lamp. "Let's talk about the details later!"
As quickly as she had entered, Raika stormed off again, but not before flashing a big grin in Miku's direction. Her face beamed with innocent excitement, unlike the sun in the song title.
-
Later that day Raika came to Miku's room again, knocking beforehand this time. Miku thought she was here to retrieve the one earbud she had forgotten earlier, but Raika had some supplies in tow: a lyric sheet (from their shitty dorm printer) and two highlighters—orange and blue. She wanted to go over the lyrics together.
While Miku pored over the text, Raika swayed in her seat on the bed, singing the na-na-na's from the song.
Like the good bandmate that she was, Miku had repressed every memory of what the lyrics were until that moment. Forgotten in the whirlwind that was their last encounter. But they immediately hit her again. Right there in the third line: two words in katakana she could not possibly brush past.
"Raika... do you even know what these lyrics mean?" She lifted the paper and pointed at the uneven print.
"Hmm?" Raika leaned forward and squinted. "They're just english words that sound cool, right? No one knows what they mean."
Oh, how Miku wished for Raika to be right.
Raika jumping off from the bed with determination.
"But you're right! If we're gonna cover it, it should become OUR version of the song." She mimed some dramatic guitar strums. "We gotta think about this properly."
Oh, how Miku wished for Raika to be wrong.
"So, Miku, what do you think the song's about?"
There definitely was a hidden camera somewhere.
"W-well, it's hard to put into words..."
"Come on, at least try." After seeing Miku's weary expression in response, Raika added, "I'll try too!"
"I don't think all this is necessary, we can just sing the song. We'll be fine."
Miku had already ceded more ground than intended just by accepting to do the song, she had to cut her losses and at least get out of this discussion.
"Come on, you had a really intense look when you read through this." Raika lightly slapped the sheet. "You must feel strongly about it."
You could say that.
"You seem to care about the song a lot, so I was trying to see what you see." Miku averted her eyes.
"So you DID see something in there!" Raika slammed the paper back onto the desk. To Miku this started to feel like a criminal interrogation.
"I-I guess, but I mean it's a fun song, why wouldn't you like it?"
"Yup! I immediately thought of doing it with you when I heard it!"
Please don't phrase it like that...
Their proximity wasn't helping Miku's nerves either. Raika had been getting closer with every exchange.
"That's also why I really wanna hear your thoughts." Raika pressed on.
"Like I said, it's hard to put into words. I wouldn't know what to say about half of these."
Miku was barely holding the line. Her face was getting hotter the smaller the distance between them became. At this point Raika was basically trapping her in the chair with her hands on the armrests.
"Then how about you show me?"
Those few words sent a shock through Miku's body.
"The stuff you can't put into words, that's what music's all about!"
Now was not the time to get profound about a horny song.
"If we vibe it out the feelings might come across. Like, here." Raika finally backed off a little to point to the end of the pre-chorus on the lyric sheet. "That line's easy enough, right? If we re-create the moments we do understand, maybe we'll get what the other ones mean too."
Miku didn't quite follow the logic. There was no hidden meaning to uncover, this was all quite direct. But if it meant she could get some distance between them—even just for a moment—maybe she could steer this whole conversation back towards a place where she didn't have to analyze intimacy with Raika.
Raika plopped back down on her seat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. Miku reluctantly followed, mind spinning, trying to find a way out of this. Why did that girl have to be so persistent once she's made up her mind?
Miku put one hand on her forehead, trying to mend the throbbing in her head. With a suppressed sigh she deflating down into a slouch on the edge of the bed. The impact made Raika bounced up beside her as she did. It was just physics, but it felt representative of the whole conversation.
Miku lifted her hand a little to glance at Raika.
"Ready when you are. Show me what's on your mind." Raika smiled.
Miku might just be the first person in the world to receive mixed signals from an Orange Range song. She dragged her hand down her face, sat up straighter, and with a deep breath faced her fellow vocalist. She leaned in, then hesitated. Whatever Raika was expecting was anyone's guess, but that innocent sparkle in her eyes probably wasn't prepared for Miku's 'interpretation' of the text.
... Would this count as taking advantage?
...
"Actually, Raika, you should do this."
"Why?"
"...Because you're lead vocalist?" Yeah, sure, lets go with that.
Raika blinked at her a few times, then—as if the statement click into place in her mind—put her fist on her palm. "That's true."
Raika shifted around a bit, adjusting her position to better face Miku.
"Hmm," Raika hummed, considering the best approach, or maybe even just considering what action she's trying to approach in the first place.
This might give Miku enough time to think of a way out of this.
"How about we just-"
Miku was interrupted as Raika's hand brushed past her cheek to comb through her hair. The brief contact felt electric from the built up tension between them.
When Raika leaned in, Miku's rilled up mind expected a kiss. On reflex her eyes shut, but no kiss came. Instead Raika whispering into her ear.
"Hey, Miku, what do you feel?"
No way could she tell Raika how this quickened her heartbeat. In contrast Raika herself seemed surprisingly calm. Soft and subdued in both motions and voice. Was Miku the only one thinking of this whole thing more physically?
"Nothing of note."
"You're acting's bad." Raika put her other hand around Miku's back and rested her chin on Miku's shoulder. "It's been bad all day."
"What do you mean?" The syllables trembled along with Miku's lips.
"Here, I'll show you what I think."
A single kiss to the corner of her jaw followed. The heat Miku's been trying to suppress rushed to the surface, burning where Raika's lips had touched. Raika returning to her spot on Miku's shoulder, muffling her next words into her shirt.
"Y-you feel it too, right? It's not just me." Her embrace tightened. Not constricting, but seeking assurance. "The stuff you can't put into words."
"Yeah..." The word came out soft like an exhale. Miku also put her arms around Raika and gave a proper reply, not with words, but with a kiss to the ear.
This was definitely not something they needed for covering the song, but that reasoning won't stop the feelings inside them from burning hot like the sun.