Archive of Our Own ^beta

- 7 PM -

“Oh, sHIT!”

Kohane jumped in place and frantically whipped her head around at her partner’s sudden exclamation, her mind already racing as to what could have possibly happened to make her cry out. An was staring restlessly down at her phone, a single drop of sweat dripping down the side of her (always beautiful) face. What happened? Did she get some kind of concerning text? Was someone threatening her? Was she hurt? Gonna get hurt? Did their show get canceled? Did they get canceled? What were they saying about her- about them? Did someone say something bad about An-chan? Oh no, no, no, she hopes no one is saying anything bad about An-chan…

“Language, Shiraishi.” Toya deadpanned.

“An-chanareyouokay?!” Kohane blurted out, hands shaking as she nervously gripped the hilt of her microphone closer to her body.

“Huh?” An whipped her head up from her phone and over to her team. The instant she got a look at Kohane’s pale face, she immediately began explaining herself. “Oh no, no, I’m fine! Don’t worry! Just got a text from dad, that’s all.”

Oh… thank goodness… Kohane let out a sigh of relief. There was no way Ken-san would say anything bad about An-chan. It would all be okay.

“Well what the hell was that for, then?” Akito glared at her, fingers tapping impatiently as he waited to restart the music.

“Dad texted me.”

“About?” He snarled.

“One of the servers for tonight called in sick earlier and dad asked me to cover for her. I totally forgot until just now.” An shrugged, completely unbothered by his hostility.

“Tonight? I thought you weren't supposed to work night shifts?” Toya questioned. Kohane nodded along. At nighttime Weekend Garage turned into a bar, and An-chan wasn’t supposed to work there. It’s illegal.

“Only technically.”

“I see.” He nodded. Kohane briefly wondered why he even bothered to ask. 

When push came to shove, apparently Ken-san just didn’t care about the dubious legality of his 16-year-old daughter serving alcohol in his store. Luckily An-chan is awfully responsible when it comes to serious things like that, and Ken-san is close with the officers around here personally, so it’s not like Kohane’s worried about An-chan getting drunk or Ken-san getting arrested or An-chan getting drunk then getting arrested or anything silly like that. But still, she really doesn’t think it’s such a great idea. But also running a restaurant is difficult, apparently. But also minors working with alcohol is very bad. But she also really doesn’t want to think less of Ken-san for letting An-chan, plus she trusts her not to do anything she’d regret. But also…

Kohane decided to stop thinking too hard about it before she thought herself into a panic.

Again.

“Welp.” An rolled her shoulders back and cracked her neck in a way that would be unpleasant if it were anyone but An-chan doing it. “This was fun and all, but I gotta go. See ya!”

“Wait, you're leaving now?” Akito exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. “We’ve still got over an hour of practice left, the hell?”

“Yeah dude it’s 7. Shift starts at 6, I’m super late.” An deadpanned, looking over her shoulder at him while haphazardly gathering her stuff. “If I don’t get over there in t-minus 5 minutes dad’s gonna flip.”

“Oh.” Yeah, okay. Kohane was a bit sad that An-chan would have to leave, but she supposed that sounded about right, based on what she knew about her cafe shifts. (Which, really, wasn’t much.) “Then you should hurry up and go. I can take your equipment and stuff back to Weekend Garage for you after we clean up.”

“Really?” An lit up, and Kohane felt herself melt a little bit inside. “Thanks Kohane, you’re the best!” She beamed at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered.

“Ehehe…” She fidgeted in place, an embarrassed smile breaking out across her face. She couldn’t stop the heat rising in her cheeks. The typical reaction, when it came to her partner. “You’re welcome, An-chan.” She replied, far softer than she meant to.

“Hm. If you're leaving, Shiraishi, would it be alright to walk back together?” Toya asked, breaking whatever moment was happening between the two of them. Kohane instantly sobered up, and once again, for what felt like the 100th time, wondered what it was about An-chan’s smile that made her feel the way she did.

“Wait, what?” Akito interrupted whatever An-chan was going to reply, her mouth left wide open. Not that Kohane was paying any attention to An-chan’s mouth! Um. “You’re leaving too?”

Toya looked over at him, confusion written all over his face. Even Kohane could tell that much, despite her general ineptitude at reading expressions. “Yes? I have a family dinner to get back to tonight, remember? I told you about it during lunch.”

“A family dinner?” Kohane frowned, mind already racing as to what horribly traumatic experiences that could possibly entail. “Is that… are you going to be okay?”

Toya nodded with a slight smile, his eyes softening at her stressed expression. “Yes, it will be just fine. More than fine actually. We’re going to the Tenma’s house for dinner tonight, so I’m sure Tsukasa-senpai, Saki-san, and I will get the chance to sneak away at some point while our parents are talking.”

“Oh.” Kohane smiled back, relief quickly replacing her previous worry. “That’s good then.”

“Oh yeah… I do remember that, actually… I thought you were gonna wait to leave until after practice ended?”

“Well,” Toya nodded towards An. “If Shiraishi needs to leave anyway, then there’s no harm in going in early to get ready. If I’m being honest, I was already going to be pushing it if I waited for practice to end.”

“Ah, in that case…” Akito scratched the back of his neck before swiftly nodding. “Yeah. Go ahead and go. I’ll take care of your stuff.”

“Thank you, Akito.” He smiled warmly at his partner before turning to An, who had already grabbed all of her and Toya’s things while they were talking. “Well then, shall we go, Shiraishi?”

“All good over here!” An waved at Kohane, who waved back with a shy smile. “See y'all tomorrow! Come on Toya.” She grabbed Toya by the arm and began unceremoniously dragging him away towards Vivid Street. Kohane simply watched them go fondly.

Then it was just her and Shinonome-kun.

Okay! She supposes it’s time to clean up, then. After that, she can just… go home. Admittedly, it is a bit early for that. She’s sure her parents would have a million questions as to why she broke her ever-consistent schedule, but it’s nothing that she couldn’t handle, even if it was a bit annoying to deal with.

She grabbed An-chan’s microphone from the bench it was lying on, carefully placed it inside its case, and moved to turn off the portable speaker it was connected to.

“Ah, hold on.” She stopped at the sound of Akito’s voice, soft but sudden in its intensity.

“Shinonome-kun?” She turned.

He waved her off. “You can leave that. Go home, it’s fine.”

“Oh… but…” She floundered, not too sure what he was trying to say. “I promised I’d help clean up, and…”

“No, it’s fine.” He shook his head, interrupting her train of thought. “I’m gonna keep practicing for a little while longer. I’ll clean up when I’m done.”

“Oh.” Kohane blinked. That makes sense. She thinks.

Shinonome-kun is always like that. He always stays later than everyone else, gets there earlier than everyone else, gets more invested in their day-to-day practice than everyone else. In fact, normally he would never tolerate ending practice early, so she was kind of wondering why he let An-chan go so easily today… but, she guesses that it makes sense if he was planning to stay behind himself. That way, he wouldn’t be missing out on any practice.

Oh, but…

Would that mean that if she left now, she would be the one missing out on practice?

Hm. That… that wouldn’t do. Kohane couldn’t do that. If she- she can’t… she can’t fall behind. She has to make up for the time she missed- the time that she lost during her middle school years; when she was lazing around doing nothing instead of practicing and training and learning like her teammates were.

Not that that was her fault or anything! She didn’t even know what street music was back then, of course she shouldn’t have been expected to practice it on the principle that she might be a singer one day. She had no way of knowing that it would completely take over her life.

But… that doesn’t mean it's not her responsibility. She’s just as much a member of this team as anyone else. And as said member, she has a responsibility to be just as good as An-chan, Shinonome-kun, and Aoyagi-kun. And since she doesn’t have as much experience, she has to work harder than anyone else. It’s her duty. Her duty to hurry up and get better, to catch up to their level. She can catch up, as long as she works hard. She has to tell herself that.

“Can I stay and practice too?” The words left her mouth before she even knew what she was saying. She blinked rapidly, her brain trying to decide if her impulsive words were something worth getting embarrassed over or not.

He stared at her. Blinked at her. Opened his mouth and closed it again. Stared some more. Kohane resisted the urge to look away. “...sure.”

“O- okay.” She sweat. It’s fine, right? She’s not… intruding? Because, he- he agreed, so it’s fine. Right? Surely it was fine. Shinonome-kun is blunt, he’s bold and not afraid to speak his mind. (Unlike her.) If he didn’t want her here he would have said so. (Right?) Perhaps it’s not worth worrying over. She doesn’t want to convince herself to leave- she needs the practice! OKAy! Okay. She flicked on the mic. “Do you… wanna work on the pre-chorus?” She asked in a small voice.

He blinked, hesitating for a second, then gave her a small, acknowledging nod. She decided to take that as a good sign. “Sounds good, let’s get started.”

- 9 PM -

Akito huffed, wiping the building sweat off his forehead and letting his hand drop to his side, wiping it off against his shirt. He looked up into the sky and frowned. It had gone dark a short while ago, which was usually the sign to start packing things up, but… 

He turned to the smaller girl crouching next to him, using her phone flashlight to go over the copious amount of notes on the sheet music that she had prepared, for what was probably the fifth time that night. He wondered how long it must have taken to write that much down. How much she must have practiced.

Shit.

He couldn’t lose to her.

He grabbed his own music sheet and glared down at it, as if willing his own nonexistent notes to direct him on how to fix his stagnant singing. Goddamn. Who even chose this god-awful song anyway? An? It had to be An. Wait, no. On second thought it was Toya, wasn’t it? Nevermind…

He squinted at the lines on the sheet. If Kohane wasn’t sitting Right There next to him he would have brought it up to his face like an actual idiot, but he had his dignity. In his head he could hear An telling him to hurry up and go get glasses already. In his head he told her to shut the fuck up. He still couldn’t read the notes. Not that it would have done anything for him anyways, since he literally hadn’t written any.

He briefly debated asking to look at Kohane’s.

He shook his head, deciding against it on the principle of ‘not making a fool of himself’, and grabbed his mic, turning to Kohane, who had already put down her music sheet. “Ya ready to get back to it?”

She looked back up at him, eyes big and wide like a fucking mouse or hamster or whatever An calls her, then smiled, her eyes crinkling in the glow of the lamplight. “Uh huh!”

Akito couldn’t help but grin back.

- 12 AM -

Kohane sighed and gripped the mic a little harder. Her hands felt sore, her fingertips tingling against the cold metal. She almost had this part down. She could imagine exactly how she should be singing, how her voice needed to ebb and flow to properly carry through the melody, but every time she tried it was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, again - but in a different way each time. It was just so, so- frustrating. It was frustrating. “Just one more time.” She muttered, breath low and dark.

“No. No more times.” Shinonome-kun’s sudden interruption shook her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even realized he could hear her. That he was listening at all. He sighed, surely annoyed with her antics. It was time for practice, not sulking. She needed to get back to practice. “Let’s take a break.”

She swiveled her head over to him, surprised. Shinonome-kun advocating for a break? That wasn’t like him. That wasn’t like him at all. “But-”

“No buts. Break time.” He interrupted, unwilling to hear out her reasonable pleas. Kohane got the feeling that he wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.

And well… it’s not like she didn’t want a break herself. She really is pretty tired. Very tired, perhaps. So tired, in fact, that the floor was kinda tilting all around her. And her head was kinda… spinning, too. And… and she really was very tired. What time is it? How long have they been out here? How long has she been singing for?

She nodded her head in agreement, mumbling out a quiet “Mm’kay...” under her breath. She wasn’t looking, but she thinks Shinonome-kun nodded in some sort of satisfaction. On swaying legs she stumbled over to the nearby bench and eagerly plopped down, letting out a sigh of relief as she finally got off her aching legs. She hadn’t even realized that they were hurting up until just now. 

She blinked, eyelids heavy against the almost blinding light of the lamp, illuminating the side of the bench. It was almost torturous, the light in her eyes against the aching in her legs and the cricketing of cicadas in the distance. She squeezed her eyelids shut, willing the world to stop, for just a few moments. Hoping that perhaps that would be enough to get her back on her feet. 

Her thoughts lulled, drowning in the cicada’s cries. After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds, Kohane blinked her eyes open again, struggling to refocus them through her now-dry contacts.

“Shi-” She cleared her throat, “Shinonome-kun, do you think-”

Wait.

She blinked.

Where was Shinonome-kun?

“Shinonome-kun?” She whispered into the empty night. She turned her head this way and that, searching for a trace of her friend, but he was nowhere to be found. Wha- where did he go? Why wasn’t he here with her? Had she really been out of it for that long? Long enough for him to leave? Why would he… why did he leave her here? Alone?

It was dark.

Almost instinctively, Kohane curled up into a ball on the bench, her hands shaking around her legs. She stared a burning hole into her knees, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly the lamp’s light didn’t seem quite so bright. Suddenly it was far, far, too dark out for the lamp’s paltry light to do its job. It’s cold. She hadn’t realized it before, so caught up in the moment, too immersed in their song.

It’s cold out here, and it’s dark. It would be so easy. Kohane’s small, young, she can’t defend herself. It would be so easy for a stranger to come up to her, grab her, take off with her to god knows where, never to be seen again… Just the thought terrifies her to her core. It would be so easy for something to happen. So easy to lose everything, in a single moment. So incredibly, hopelessly easy-

No.

No, no. That wouldn't happen. Not on Vivid Street. Ah, well… she wasn’t necessarily on Vivid Street at the moment but still. It was close enough. Because… this was An-chan’s beloved home. She trusted it, them. No one on Vivid Street would do anything to hurt her. No, no. They’d never hurt her. She’s perfectly safe, logically she was absolutely completely perfectly safe… but… still…

She didn’t like being alone out here.

She really didn’t like being alone out here.

Shoot. She wasn’t gonna start crying here. She couldn’t she- she wasn’t a baby anymore. How much of a coward would she be if she started crying, just because her friend left her alone for a minute. No, no. She was gonna wait here and hope and pray that Shinonome-kun comes back soon and then they’ll go back to practicing and she’ll get to sing again and-

“Hey.”

“HYAA?!” Kohane screamed, jumping about 5 feet into the air as a familiar voice greeted her.

“WOAH- jesus.” Akito flinched back from where he had sat down beside her. “The hell was that for?”

“Oh! Shinonome-kun…” She sighed a deep sigh of relief as the tension that had been building in her heart disappeared in an instant. “You startled me.”

“Oh, my bad.” He shrugged.

Something flicked inside her. “Where did you go?” She rounded on him, not even bothering to hide her anger.

“Um. To grab a drink?” He lifted the soda can he had in his hand. She stared at it. At him. He awkwardly continued. “You know, at the vending machine?”

She did, in fact, know. The vending machine a few minutes away, where she got cookies and strawberry milk after practice some days. “You left me to get a drink?” She couldn’t stop the accusation in her voice.

“Chill. I was gone for like. 4 minutes.”

She leveled him with a glare. “It’s dark out here.”

“Okay?”

“And cold.”

“I guess.”

“I’m 16. A small, weak little girl. Anyone could have come. Anything could have happened.”

At that, he did look a little apologetic. “...Sorry.”

And just like that, all the anger left her body. “It’s okay.” She let herself relax, falling back onto the bench.

In the silence that followed, Akito simply sighed, flipping open the tab of his soda can. A sharp fizz could be heard through the quiet and the sound of cicadas echoing from somewhere faraway throughout the night. Kohane simply watched as he started eagerly guzzling down his drink.

Hm? Wait a second. She narrowed her eyes, double-checking to see if she’s seeing things right or if she needs to change her contacts. “Is that an energy drink?” She questioned, after having finally read the - actually quite obvious - label on the front. He stopped drinking, abruptly, and turned his head to her, looking almost offended. 

“Got some kind of problem with that?”

She jumped a bit, before remembering that she did not, in fact, have to feel intimidated by Shinonome-kun. Even if he was glaring at her quite meanly. “No, um. Is it okay? It’s pretty late.” She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, still unable to stop the nervous energy. “You won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“Whatever.” He scoffed. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well… if you’re sure.” She looked away, unwilling to debate him on the logistics of how caffeine affects sleep schedules and such. She's sure he knows.

He shrugged, before returning to his drink. She looked back. Stared at him. At the can. Wondered. Debated. Thought and backtracked. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Stared some more.

He paused, wiping his mouth and looking at her questionably. “...you got something to say?”

“Can I have some?”

…

He slowly turned his head to face her. She looked back, unflinching under his unreadable gaze.

“Sure.”

He handed her his drink- more than half already gone. Kohne stared at it. It was chilly in her already freezing cold hands. Her head felt a bit fuzzy, thoughts bouncing back and forth between overthinking and complete emptiness. She briefly wondered why he had handed this to her, before remembering her words from only a second earlier. She might be losing it a bit.

“You gonna-” She cut him off by taking a large swing of the drink. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. It was cold, far too cold for this chilly of a night- but it was nothing to the bubbles burning her throat. It was strangely effective at clearing the fog in her head.

“...that tastes better than I thought it would.” She mused, staring down into the now-empty can in her hands.

“...Yeah.” He raised an eyebrow, amused. “Why do you think I like them so much?”

“I always thought you just had a caffeine addiction.” She murmured.

“No that’s Toya.” He paused. “And An.”

“An-chan doesn’t have a caffeine addiction.”

“Could've fooled me.” He reached over to grab the can out of her hands, throwing his head back and letting a single drop drip onto his tongue. “Seriously?” He stared up into the empty can. “All of it?”

“Sorry.”

He glared at her, then suddenly gave it up, shrugging his shoulders. “Ugh, whatever.” He hoisted himself up off of the bench and started walking away.

Immediately, alarm bells began ringing in her head. “Where are you going?” She asked, gripping the edge of the bench with tense fingers.

“To get another drink.” He deadpanned. “Since someone decided to finish mine.”

Oh. Yeah, okay. That makes sense. But no, no, that wouldn’t do. She doesn’t wanna be left alone again. “Can you have me this time, too?” She pleaded. Akito stared at her. She stared back, mortified. “That’s not what I meant to say.”

His eye twitched, smirk barely concealing a laugh. “I- Yeah I- I figured.”

She frowned, heat rising in her cheeks. “I was trying to say ‘Can I come with you this time.’ but then I also started to say ‘Can you get me one, too’ and…” She sighed. “I’m really sorry…”

“Nah it’s.” He stifled another laugh. “It’s fine-.” His voice cracked a bit on the last word. Kohane wanted to die. “You can come with, if you want.”

“....thanks.”

It was the first time she had ever said ‘thank you’ so bitterly. It was kinda fun.

- 4 AM -

Approximately 4 hours and countless trips to the vending machine later, and Akito was feeling pretty good about himself. Sure, his legs were shaking worse than if he was running a literal marathon, his head was pounding, his throat was burning, and his eyes were blurring so bad he really was considering getting them checked, An be damned, but he was doing good. No, seriously, he was. Finally, finally , after what felt like a million years, they were getting the ending high note down consistently. And damn, did they sound good. The way their voices melded together, harmonizing in perfect pitch, was actually heavenly to his ears. Like, damn. Kohane sounded good. As in, really good. He knew she must be just as tired as him, but somehow it didn’t show in her voice at all. Well, that’s what raw talent does for you, he guesses.

He paused at that thought. Nah. That felt unfair to Kohane, somehow. It’s what hard work does for you. He should know. He knows what hard work looks like, better than anyone else. He has to. And he knows Kohane works hard, just as much as he does. If he didn’t know it before he certainly does now. 

Somehow, even though with her talent it should have been intimidating, the thought that she was just as devoted as he was was actually really inspiring. He’s proud of her, knowing how far she’s come from the coward she used to be. 

She’ll surpass him one day.

Yeah. There’s no doubt about it. With her talent and (more importantly) her work ethic, it would only be a matter of time until she surpassed him. Till she surpassed them all. He’s not sure Toya’s fully gotten that yet, hell, he’s not sure even Kohane’s gotten it. But he knows An has, and it’s eating her up inside. Tearing her heart to little bits and spitting it back onto the pavement where no one can see. It should be doing the same for him, really. And it did hurt, the reality that she wouldn’t stay with them forever, but it wasn’t anything world-shattering. In the end, it would be Kohane’s choice to stay or to soar, and Kohane’s not really the type of person to wander off on her own. But even if she did decide to leave, when she does, he has no plans of being left in the dust. He’s gonna rise up to the top, just like she will. He’ll make sure of it.

That’s why it doesn’t bother him too much, the thought of Kohane leaving. He doesn’t blame An for her feelings, (god knows he would probably die if Toya decided to leave him,) but he doesn’t share them. It’s sad, of course. But he’s perfectly content to just appreciate the time they have left together. He doesn’t do that very often. He should. ‘Cause it’s nice, singing out here with her like this. Just the two of them against the world. He should spend more time with her, while he can. He’s sure he’ll regret it someday if he doesn’t. Plus, she’s fun. An idiot, for sure, but fun. It’s fun to hang out with her.

“Heh.” He couldn’t help but chuckle, uncharacteristically lost in his own thoughts.

“Hm?” Kohane turned to him quizzically, having heard him in the quiet of the night. “What is it, Shinonome-kun? Do you want to take another break?”

Haha, no. She was already shaking, if he let her have any more energy drinks she’ll probably pass out. Or he will. Either way, probably best to wait another hour or two. He shook his head. “Nah. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Us.” He blurted out without thinking, brain fog clogging up the part of his head that stops him from being an idiot.

“Huh?” She squeaked, face turning an embarrassing shade of red. “What… what about us?”

Oh. Shit. He could feel the heat rising on his own face. He didn’t mean to say that out loud. Uuuh, how does he phrase this without sounding like a weirdo, or even worse, like he’s hitting on her?

“Uuuuh. Okay stop me if I’m being weird, okay?” He started. She nodded approximately 6 times. (He wasn’t counting.) “I was just thinking… you know.” He scratched the back of his neck, where he must have at least 4 mosquito bites by now. Gotta stop doing that. “We don’t really hang out much, huh.”

She frowned, her blush immediately disappearing in her confusion. “We hang out every day?”

“No I mean like. Not practice. Or group hangouts. Or practice. I mean like. Just the two of us. We don’t hang out.”

She nodded. “I guess you're right.” Then she frowned. “That’s not funny though. Why did you laugh?”

“No I didn’t- let me finish.” He put a finger up to her face. She didn't even bother swiping it away, just staring at him, waiting for him to continue. “So we don’t hang out.”

“We don’t.” She agreed.

“What did I just say about letting me finish?”

“Sorry.”

“No don't be.”

“Okay.”

He sighed. “So we don’t hang out.” He paused, waiting for her to say something. She didn’t. “So I was just thinking, you know.” He paused, again. Was he really gonna say this? Out loud? For Kohane and the world to hear? Well okay no, the world is dead asleep at the moment. The only one listening to him is Kohane. He thinks that it would be fine for her to hear, pride be damned. “I like hanging out with you. It’s fun. We should do it more often.”

She blinked. He blinked. The silence stretched out between them. Akito was really contemplating ending himself right then and there if she didn’t say something soon. 

“Pft. Hehe.” She giggled. “Yeah.” She gave him a slightly loopy smile. “I’d like that.”

“Good.” His lips twitched upwards. “We should start soon. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Aren’t we already hanging out though? As in, now?” She questioned.

“No. We’re practicing right now. That doesn’t count.”

“Practicing doesn’t count as hanging out?” She tilted her head to the side. “Why not?”

“Because…” He didn’t have a good answer to that. “Because it’s not fun.”

She frowned, cheeks puffing out in irritation. Like a hamster. “Yes it is. Practicing is plenty fun.” She’s right, of course. Practicing is always fun.

“Okay let me rephrase that. Because it’s work. Hanging out is like…” How to phrase this? “Like getting pancakes together or drinking coffee at a shitty coffee shop - that isn’t Weekend Garage - or like, going clothes shopping together or somethin…” He fizzled out, belatedly realizing how embarrassing all his examples were.

“Hehe.” She giggled. “That’s cute. You have very cute ideas of hanging out, Shinonome-kun.”

“What. No. Shut the fuck up. I’m not cute.” He fired back on instinct, arguments with a certain Shiraishi playing on repeat in his mind. She only started giggling harder in return, completely immune to his hostility.

“Very cute.” She nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Let’s do it. Let’s hang out. Tomorrow. We can go um… to a coffee shop and get pancakes if you want.” She nodded again, a giddy smile on her lips. “Yummy pancakes.”

Hell yeah. Yummy pancakes. He fucking loves pancakes. “Sounds like a plan, Hammie.”

She stopped giggling abruptly. “Hammie?”

“Uh.” He blanked. Holy shit. Why did he say that. “Um. I was trying to say Hane I think. But um. Hamster.”

“Hamster?”

“Yeah.”

…

“Okay.” She grinned. “I can be Hammie, if you want.”

“...” Okay. Yeah. Sure. Why not. “Okay then, Hammie. Ready to get back to practicing, then?”

A smile lit up her face, and she ran over to grab her mic. “Sure!”

- 6 AM -

Kohane lifted her arms above her head, her back loudly cracking as she stretched. Wow. Is it tired in here or is it just her? She rubbed her blurry eyes, contacts already long discarded on the ground somewhere nearby, and suppressed her twelfth yawn of the hour. She thinks that means it’s time for another drink. Shinonome-kun’s been keeping them from her… she doesn’t know why, because they taste so good and make her feel so… um… she feels good, she thinks… no, no. She definitely feels good. Will feel good. When she gets her drink. 

“Shinononome, is it time for another drink yet?” As soon as her own voice, slurred almost beyond comprehension, hit her ears, she immediately sobered from whatever sleep-deprived-haze she was in. “Wow. What?”

“ What did you just say to me?” He turned to her with an incredulous expression, eyebags almost overshadowed by his wide-eyed stare.

“I don’t even know.”

He raised an eyebrow, gesturing over to the bench with his head. “Do you need to sit down or something?”

“No, no,” she shook her head, back and forth and back and forth, “I just need more drink. More to drink. Do you have any more energy drink left?”

He paused, then nodded, happy to indulge her completely normal and reasonable and well-adjusted request. “Here. I barely started this one.” He tossed his open energy drink to her. She raised her hands and stumbled backward a bit as she caught it, spilling some on her shirt as she did.

“...sorry.” He nodded toward the new stain on her shirt.

She sniffled a bit. She really likes this shirt too… “It’s okay.” And with that, immediately downed the rest of the drink. “Ugh. Uwaaa.” She shook herself all over, arms flailing out to her sides. “Okay. Okay.” She nodded to herself. “I’m alive again.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Alright now that you're alive it’s time to get back to singing.”

“Woo~!” She cheered, arm pumping up into the air.

“Okay. One two three and-” He started singing the first notes of the song. Their song. The one they had been practicing for who knows how long now. She’s long since memorized the way his voice carries through the air, bobbing and weaving through the melody like it was made to be singing. Created to sing. She could listen to him for hours. Had been. It was so nice. It really was just so nice.

If An-chan’s voice made her heart race, and Aoyagi-kun’s voice calmed it, then Shinonome-kun’s voice carried her forward. Beckoning to her from the faraway pedestal that he’s always stood. Encouraging her to reach his heights, without babying or mocking her. That’s the kind of voice he has. Something wonderful like that.

She was honored to be there with him. Up where he and An-chan and Aoyagi-kun were waiting. She was finally there too. Has been, she thinks. It’s just not all the time that she remembers it.

Here, now, singing together with Shinonome-kun? She remembers.

“Haah…” He sighed, wiping his forehead, even though she was pretty sure he wasn't even sweating anymore. “That was good. Nice. Great, even. Damn am I tired.” He rolled his shoulders back, cracking them loudly. “Alright let’s go one more time. We can get that scream before the chorus to be a little cleaner.”

She nodded and started up the music again. Song against song against melody. She loved singing. Azusawa Kohane loves to sing. She could sing for years. Wants to, even. Singing together with An-chan and Shinonome-kun and Aoyagi-kun for years and years to come. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The most perfect of endings for the most wonderful of stories.

She turned her eyes to the sky, basking in the joy of the moment, and the future moments that were sure to come, as long as she was with her beloved team and singing her beloved music. 

And felt her heart stop.

“Whaa-”

Akito’s voice immediately cut off at her startled exclamation, gasping for air and snapping his head over to hers. “What? What’s up? You good?”

She stared into the sky. The bright sky. Beautiful, really. Beautiful colors of purples and pinks and blues and orange hues mixing to create a landscape painting so stunning it brings actual tears to her eyes.

“Oh my god Shinonome-kun I can see the sun.”

“What.” He whipped his head around behind him and stared up at the sunrise before him. “Oh… wow.” His shoulders relaxed and a dizzy smile overtook his face. “That’s beautiful.”

“Shinonome-kun. We have practice tomorrow morning- today morning- we- we're gonna die. They’re gonna kill us.”

His face immediately flatlined. “Oh.” Kohane could see the exact moment he registered what that meant, since all the blood rushed out of his face, leaving him looking like a ghost in the soft morning light. “Oh, shit. We’re fucked, aren’t we?”

“What time is it?” She stumbled her way over to her phone, where it had been lying untouched in her bag since sunset. 6:37am. A goodnight message from An-chan. A million messages and missed calls from her parents. A notification for her tamagotchi game. Her wolf pet was hungry. They have practice at 8am. Oh my god.

“Sh-hinonome-kunwhat dowe do?” Her voice trembled. She was gonna get in so much trouble. She didn’t tell her parents. She didn’t tell them she was staying out or that she was staying over, she didn’t tell them anything! They must be freaking out! What if her parents called the police- oh my god what if Shinonome-kun’s goes to jail?! 

“Oh my god. Toya’s gonna murder me.” Oh my god An-chan’s gonna murder her. If her mind was working right she’d realize that An-chan would only be murdering one of them and his name starts with Aki and ends with To. But her mind is not in fact working right now. Her mind has not been working for some time now, actually.

“Ohno oh no ohonono…” She was shaking before she could stop herself. What- what should they do? What can they do? Police- she has to parents and- and An-chan and Toya-kun and… And she has to feed her wolf pet and take a sleep and maybe a shower and Practice is at 8!

“Hey.” 

If she leaves for home Right Now she might be able to make it in time for breakfast but she’ll miss practice and Shinonome-kun’s gonna get mad at her if she misses practice but she has to get home to feed Count Pearl tonight and-

“Hey.”

If she doesn’t get any sleep she’s gonna Die. She’s never pulled an all-nighter before and she doesn’t know if she can and if she does her parents are gonna get Mad at her and Shiho-chan’s gonna get Mad at her and Shinonononome-kun’s Aoyagi-kun’s gonna get MAD-

“Kohane!” Akito shouted at her, hands firmly gripping her shoulders, steadying her as she trembled in place. “Calm down. It’s fine.”

“Bu- but-”

“No. It’s Fine .” He repeated. “Breathe. We’ll be Just Fine. ”

“But… the police… I- I don’t want…” She breathed out, voice nothing more than a whisper in the cold night- morning- air.

He raised an eyebrow. “What? What the absolute fuck are you talking about? Why would the police get involved?”

“Um.” She had to think about that for a second. Why… was she worried about the police again? “Because… because I didn’t tell my parents I’d be out?”

He raised another eyebrow, so now he just looked surprised. For some reason, that was what finally succeeded in grounding her, bringing her back to reality as she watched his expression get more and more incredulous. “That makes no sense. Are you worried your parents are going to call the police on you?” The ‘idiot’ was implied, but he had very kindly referred from name calling. She appreciated his consideration for her fragile ego. 

But no, she wasn’t worried about getting the police called on her , that would be stupid. She was worried her parents had called the police on him . But… maybe he’s right. Maybe that doesn’t make any sense. How would they know she was with Shinonome-kun in the first place?

He took a look at her thinking expression and sighed. “Do you wanna call your parents?” He released his grip on her shoulders, hand gently patting the marks his fingers had made on her arms.

She looked up at him and nodded. “...I probably should.”

“Okay.” He reached over and handed her her phone, which she had dropped on the ground in her panic. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She clicked on her father’s contact, deliberately ignoring his messages, where it showed about 63 missed calls since 9pm last night. Typical dad, he was such a worrywart. She’d be more critical if she didn’t think she was even worse. She’s no hypocrite. He picked up on the first ring.

[Kohane? Is that you? Where are you?! Are you alright?!]

“Ah, y- yes. It’s me, I’m fine.” She sucked in a deep breath, ready to start explaining herself. “I’m really really sorry, I lost track of time while practicing last night and-” She briefly realized how bad it would sound to say that she’s been outside singing all night, even if it was true. He would probably… well no, he wouldn’t stop her from performing. But he would get very, very worried. She looked over to Shinonome-kun, who was looking at her expectantly. “...and so I decided to stay over at a friend’s house last night. I fell asleep as soon as we got there and didn’t wake up until now. I’m sorry.”

Silence. Akito was frowning at her white lie, but didn’t seem like he necessarily disapproved. [Ah- So that’s what happened. That’s alright. Your mother and I are just glad you’re safe. When will you get home?] 

She gave a mental sigh. Kohane didn’t like to lie, tried not to- really, she wasn’t the best liar in general. Actually, she was a very bad liar. But sometimes it was necessary, when it came to her parents. Not that she enjoyed it. But. “I’ll be home soon- er. I’ll be home at the usual time. After practice.” Because she couldn’t just skip practice.

[Alright. Do you need a change of clothes? Money for breakfast- have you had breakfast?] She had not. [Which friend are you staying with? Can you give the phone to their parents? I want to ask-]

“No no I’m okay thanks Dad love you goodbye!” She hung up the phone as fast as she could. Hopefully, he wouldn’t call back.

“...You’re a really bad liar.” Akito deadpanned.

Kohane could only sigh. “I know.”

He shook his head, disapproval evident in his gaze. “Well, if that’s what works, I guess.” He took a look at her, up and down. “Feeling any better?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out on you like that.”

“It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.” He waved off her concern.

“Oh. Okay.” She softly smiled. Shinonome-kun really was far too kind for his own good. He didn’t deserve to put up with someone like her. But he did anyway, because he’s kind and good and- “Oh! Do you need to call your parents? I bet they’re worried too.”

At that, for whatever reason, he frowned. His eyes darted to the ground, looking a bit uncomfortable. “Nah. It's fine.” He shrugged her off. 

Oh. She frowned. That didn’t sound… Um.

She doesn’t know a lot about Shinonome-kun’s family, but she’s sure that there was someone there missing him… right? She knows he doesn’t have a great relationship with his sister, but surely at least his mother and father… right? But well… If he doesn’t want to talk about it, then… “Well… if you’re sure.”

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Okay.” She nodded back. They stared at each other for a second. A very long, extended second. “So… what now? Do we… go home?”

“With practice in an hour? That’s not even enough time to get there and back.” He scoffed at her feeble suggestion.

“So… we just stay here then? Until practice starts?”

“I don’t see why not. We’ll just say we got here early.” He nodded. “They’ll never know.”

She nodded back very seriously. That sounds right to her! She’s so glad to have Shinonome-kun here. He knows what he’s doing. She smiled and said the words that she’s been repeating for what feels like the past 12 hours. “Okay, do you want to get back to singing, then?”

- 8 AM -

Akito does not know what he is doing. He’s honored that Hane seems to have so much faith in him. Really. But the honest truth is, he has absolutely no goddamn clue what the hell he should be doing right now.

Really, this whole situation has gotten so out of hand. All he wanted to do was to finish up practice at a reasonable time. A reasonable time, NOT an hour early like An wanted him to. But Kohane insisted on (read: asked to) join him and his stupid, dumb, useless pride wouldn’t let himself be the one to suggest they wrap things up. Not when Kohane was still okay to keep going. And now look at the situation they’ve found themselves in. Kohane doesn’t seem too worried about it anymore, not since Akito reassured her about it earlier, but frankly, Akito himself is about 2 seconds away from losing his shit. He has no clue what he should do.

So he sings.

Arguably, this is the exact attitude that landed him here, but he can’t help it. Shinonome Akito was simply born to sing. Denying that would be like denying his entire existence- and then some.

So he sings.

And really, there’s nothing wrong with that. If he wants to sing for 16 hours straight (and counting) then who’s to tell him off for it? Toya? An? Fuck them, he feels fine, great even! He’s not even tired, even if he can’t seem to think straight. Or be straight. He doesn’t think that has anything to do with his supposed tiredness though. Or his singing. An would probably disagree but he knows better (her opinions are always wrong).

And he sings.

Melting, melting, melting down into the music. He closes his eyes and surrenders himself to the melody. Truly, this is the reason he’s alive. The meaning of his life, his entire reason for being. If the proof of his meager existence is solely measured through this song - right here and now, with the cowardly girl he had once dismissed as nothing but a nuisance, tying his best friend down to earth when she was meant to fly, the girl who nowadays he had no doubt in his mind would be the one to pull them all up and onto the stage that would surpass a legend - he would be satisfied. Perfectly satisfied to live through this single song…

As the melody fades, the universe hangs on its edge, and Akito revels in the world brought about by the silence.

Until the moment is broken by the one person who somehow always seems to break everything.

“Woo~!” From what might as well have been thin air, Shiraishi An appeared, clapping her hands ecstatically and staring heart eyes at her partner. Said partner in question jumped back so far it was funny. Or it would have been, if Akito hadn’t just had the biggest heart attack of his goddamn life.

“WHAT- THe Fuck” He hissed, giving himself whiplash by how hard he turned his neck over to the asshole standing next to him. An, of course, didn’t even bother turning his way.

“A-a-an-An-chan?!” Kohane stuttered like a goddamn loser, her head turning here and there in a vain attempt to see where she came from, eventually settling on him, probably looking for some sort of guidance. He had none to give, of course.

“An what the hell you can’t just- you can't just do that. You can’t do that. You’re gonna give us a heart attack is that what you want? To see us dead on the ground, you want that?” He spit at her. She ignored him. At this point he’s sure it was on purpose too, the bitch.

“Akito,” Toya called his name from where he was standing beside his asshole of a teammate. Akito’s head snapped over to his partner. What the hell? How had he not- how did he not notice him earlier? “That was a wonderful performance.” Toya smiled at him warmly. Akito subsequently forgot everything that had ever happened in his entire goddamn life and melted into a puddle of Akito-soup.

“R-really?” He gulped, scratching his mosquito-ridden neck. “Thanks.”

“Kohane! You sounded so good! How long have you guys been practicing that?” An jumped her partner. From the looks of it, only months and months of training to withstand Shiraishi Hugs™ kept her from falling down to a heap on the floor.

“UM.” Kohane froze in An’s arms, head whipping around to Akito in the most obvious ‘HELP ME’ sign he had ever seen in his life. Shit. They had not planned for this. They didn't even have a proper cover story. Why didn’t they have a cover story? They’re fucking idiots is what they are, holy shit. Unaware of their panicking inner monologues, An looked at her partner with an expectant smile. “For- a while.” Kohane finished, pathetically.

“Is that so?” Toya tilted his head, expression unchanging. Akito fought the urge to gulp. It’s fine. That was a perfectly fine answer. There is nothing wrong. Everything is just. Fine.

“Yup.” He stiffly nodded. “We were gonna surprise y’all, but uh… well you caught us I guess haha.” He shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner.

“HaHaHa.” Kohane mirthlessly laughed.

“Awwww! You were gonna surprise us?” An squeezed her partner, seemingly immune to any suspicious words or actions she may or may not or may definitely be saying.

“It… was Shinonome-kun’s idea.” She coughed out. This was objectively true. The idea that they were practicing to surprise their partners had indeed come out of Akito’s mouth. If he had decided so approximately 3 seconds beforehand was between him, Kohane, and god. 

But honestly, god could suck it for all he cared, so he’s cool with keeping it between him and Kohane.

An turned her head, finally acknowledging him for the first time that morning, to grace him with a glare. “Really? This guy's idea? Are you sure?”

“Fuck you too.”

“Akito, please, language.” Toya gave his obligatory objection. Unfortunately, Akito was weak as hell to anything Toya said. So.

“Shit. Sorry, I uh, forgot.”

“Akito.” Toya gave him a strained look.

Oh. Uh. Oops? “I swear I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You sure did ‘swear’ alright lmao.” An snickered, her grip on Kohane never fading. Kohane looked like she was choking in her arms. But her face was red and she was looking at An like she was the only thing that existed so he’s pretty sure she’s fine. In Shiraishi-liker heaven (can’t relate). Or maybe it was because she was actively choking. One of the two. 

Akito decided not to worry about it. She was probably fine.

“Shiraishi, please.” Toya shook his head.

“Whaaat? I didn’t even say anything!” She complained.

“You made a pun very badly. I wouldn’t call that ‘nothing’.” He shook his head, dead serious. What? Where the hell had he even learned that word? An? Of course, it had to be An. He’d beat her up for that later. (He would never. He would never even dream of it. He had enough of punching teammates for a million lifetimes, thank you very much. He regretted that first time plenty he did not need to do it again. Even if she deserved it sometimes. All of the times.)

“Who even taught you that?” An shook her head. Akito rethought his previous inner monologue, silently apologizing to An for his hasty accusation.

Toya smiled brightly, looking almost proud of himself. “Tsukasa-senpai and Saki-san taught me. Did I use it correctly?” Akito made a mental note to beat up Tenma-senpai later. (Tenma was not a teammate and therefore did not count as someone he shouldn’t punch.)

“Uh… sure buddy.” An nodded. Akito was pretty sure Toya had not, in fact, used it right. But hell, he wasn’t about to say so. Distantly, in the background, he heard the sound of Kohane trying to tap out of An’s (still ongoing) hug. 

They all ignored her.

“Thank you.” Toya nodded, a blinding smile on his face. Holy smokes. This might just be the most brilliant thing Akito’s ever seen in his life, right up there with cheesecake-flavored pancakes and Rad Weekend. Yeah. That bright. Like, there are actual sparkles and shit. Toya’s power is insane. Akito resisted the urge to cover his eyes, instead deciding to commit the view to memory. A completely sane and well-adjusted and straight course of action.

Akito remembered that he was not, in fact, straight. He felt a little better about himself.

“Uuuh, you’re welcome.” An nodded. “Never use it again.”

“Hey.” He warned. Who was she to tell Toya what he can and can’t do?

“Use it for as long and as many times as you want.” She gave him a big thumbs up with the blankest expression he’d ever seen from her written across her face.

Akito nodded his head in agreement. Good. She knows her place.

“Thank you. I will.”

“Don’t worry about it. Seriously. Don’t.” Toya nodded seriously, her double meaning flying right over his head. Akito once again debated punching An.

“Hngchnn-pleas-” Kohane murmured in the background, face far beyond red and knees looking like they were about to collapse in. Coming to the conclusion that she was, in fact, probably not cool with getting the life choked out of her, Akito finally decided to take pity on the poor girl.

“Hey An.” She looked over to him. He nodded to Kohane in her arms. “You gonna let her breathe or no?”

As if realizing that big hug = no air for the very first time in her miserable life, she immediately let go of her poor singing partner with the most mortified face she’d made since she realized that her room is not, in fact, soundproof. (Her poor, poor neighbors.) Kohane, for her part, immediately crumpled, hands on her knees, and gasped in some well-needed air. Her face was well past red, now a concerning shade of purple, looking like she had just survived an explosion in a blush factory, or ate 200 tomatoes, or stayed awake for 24 consecutive hours or something crazy like that.

“Oh my god Kohane are you okay I’m so sorry I didn’t even realize holy shit are you alright?!?” An spit out in a single breath, as if SHE was the one who couldn’t breathe.

Kohane held up a finger, asking them to “please just give her a second” in the universal gesture for “give me ONE fucking minute.” Like the good teammates and friends they are, they did just that, patiently waiting for her to catch her breath. In approximately 12 seconds (Akito wasn’t counting) she raised her head with a lopsided smile. “It’s… it’s okay An-chan. You’re good. I’m just a bit tired and… and you caught me off guard a bit. That’s all.”

“Oh thank god.” An let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m so sorry. Tell me next time, okay?” Kohane nodded happily. Akito distinctly remembered her doing just that, multiple times in fact, but decided against pointing it out.

If Hane’s happy with it, then like, whatever. He looked at the two of them together, faces flushed and smiling at each other like love-sick idiots. Well. Can’t account for taste.

“They’re cute together.” Toya whispered to him, having made his way over while the two of them were flirting.

“Sure.” He whispered back, “When they’re not talking. Or hugging. Or together with An.”

Toya shook his head with an exasperated smile. “That makes no sense, Akito.”

“Whatever.” Akito scoffed, annoyed but unable to hide the smile in his voice or on his face. “They’d be a lot cuter if th- hhah” Akito bit back the rest of a yawn, his mind going blank as the night's activities caught up with him all at once. “S- sorry partner. What was I saying?”

Toya looked at him strangely. “Are you alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah.” He stopped himself from saying yeah for a third or fourth time. “Just tired, that’s all.”

“Hm.” Toya looked at him, studied him, blank-faced. “Is that so?”

Akito got the distinct feeling that Toya was looking for something in him, and Akito wasn’t gonna like what he found. In response, he quickly turned 180 degrees and strode up to the girls, who were staring hearts into each other’s eyes in place of talking. 

“Hey.” He didn’t know what he had come over here for.

They didn’t even bother looking at him. “We’re kinda having a moment here? Go away.” An shooed him off with her hand.

“Yeah… we’re havin a moment…” Kohane mumbled. To be honest, Akito wasn’t even sure if she was even looking at An as much as looking… in her general direction. 

“Well stop.”

“No? We let you two have your moment so give us ours.” An suddenly smirked, and Akito got the feeling he wasn’t gonna like what she was about to say. “If you’re lonely go back to your boyfriend.”

Back to his- Akito’s mind blanked. The world spun on its axis, his vision collapsing in on itself as he struggled to stay upright. Shit. Wait. Wait wait wait. What were they talking about? In the back of his mind, he was actually starting to get genuinely frustrated. Seriously, what was up with him? God, he needs to get a grip. He rapidly blinked and forced back the darkness that was starting to overtake his vision by sheer willpower alone, forcing himself to refocus on his confused teammate, watching as her mouth moved and made no sound.

An had turned towards him at this point, looking at him with something that almost looked like genuine concern. As his vision cleared and his balance stabilized, the rest of his senses were quick to follow. “...kito- Akito? Hey, uh, are you alright?”

“Fine.” He grit out, forcing himself to look her in the eyes. “Just. Tired.”

She raised an eyebrow, but seemingly decided against arguing. “...okay.” Kohane was still staring at where An had been standing, eyes unfocused and hazy. She was fine, he’s sure. Probably. Hopefully.

“Welp.” An shrugged her shoulders and nodded to Toya, who had walked up to them. “Do you guys wanna start practicing, then?”

The second the word “practice” left her mouth, as if by some kind of pavlovian response, Akito felt another intense wave of dizziness fly over his head. The world spun around him as his head pounded so hard he could hear it. He had about 2 choices: faint to the floor or deal with it. So there was only one answer, really. That is, of course, to grit his teeth and stand his ground. As he was actively staring holes into the bench behind An and Hane, trying desperately not to fall over through the haze of dizziness and heat, he got first-row seats to see Kohane’s knees buckle beneath her, only able to simply watch as she crumpled to a heap on the floor.

Luckily for her though, Akito was not the only one standing in that park, and no one else seemed to be struck with the world-ending paralysis that he currently was. 

An, the good partner that she is, practically swan-dived over to catch her partner before she could do much more than simply collapse, leaving her in some weird seated position with An’s grip on her arms and body keeping her upright, barely even having fallen to the floor.

Toya, for his part, had also jumped over to help catch her, but without An’s instincts or speed, was just left looking like a worried lost puppy without anything to do.

“Kohane! Are you okay?!” An gasped, face white with worry.

“Yes!” Kohane gasped back, eyes wide and blinking rapidly. “I- I’m so sorry- I’m tired and- I don’t know what came over me.”

“Hey- hey it’s okay.” An immediately switched to ‘comfort mode’, helping her up and pulling her close, supporting her from her waist with a soft grip.  “Come ’ere, let’s go sit down.” She maneuvered her over to the oh-so-familiar bench, setting her down gently.

“...thanks…” Kohane looked at her like she was the sun. An could only smile back warmly, though her face betrayed her intense worry.

“Shinonome-kun?” Kohane turned to him, for some reason.

“Hm?” He startled, not expecting to be mentioned.

“Do you wanna sit down too?” She looked over at him like an innocent doe, and gently pat the seat beside her, becoming him to join her in bench-filled bliss.

Ah, he wasn’t doing a good job at hiding it then. Or at the very least, not to Kohane. He should have known. If anyone could guess just how tired he is right now it would be the one person who stayed up all night with him. He scratched his cheek, debating whether it was worth it to swallow his pride and sit down or if that would make him look like a pussy. As he was thinking, another wave of dizziness almost knocked him over, and before he knew it he was stumbling over to his spot next to Kohane on the bench.

And holy fuck. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. God did it feel good to sit down. Finally felt like he could breathe properly again without feeling the ground spin beneath him every time he so much as blinked. He pried his eyes open and, perhaps unsurprisingly, was met with the disbelieving eyes of his teammates.

Well, shit. Toya was giving him that look again. Like he was onto him, almost, barely there but unable to connect the dots in the way he wanted to. An, for her part, just looked plain old confused. To be fair, it is confusing. Under normal circumstances, he never would have willingly decided to sit down. Under normal circumstances, Kohane never would have offered. He had the excuse of “I’m tired”, but really there’s only so far that gets you.

“What time did you say you went to bed last night?” An raised an eyebrow at him. 

“I didn’t.” He deflected. “Say.” He quickly added, realizing how that sounded on its own. “I didn’t say.”

“What time did you go to bed last night?” She deadpanned back.

He didn’t. That’s the problem. “That’s none of your business.”

“Shinonome Akito I swear to god-”

“Akito, Azusawa.” Toya interrupted. Akito felt his blood run cold at his tone of voice. “What time did you get here this morning?”

“Not long.” “We’ve been here a few hours.”

They snapped their heads toward each other, ‘Oh shit.’ written across both of their faces.

“Well actually it might have been a bit longer-” “But that’s really only if you add in last night’s practice-”

Well. Hm. You know, they really should have figured out that cover story of theirs before Toya and An got here.

“Last night’s practice?” An repeated. “You didn’t go home when we did?”

“Um.” Kohane stiffened up, obviously not meaning to let that fact slip out. “...Maybe?” Her voice cracked as her face contorted in a way that screamed ‘I’m suspicious!’ She really was a shitty liar. Akito was starting to regret letting her talk at all.

“Yeah we stayed back to practice a bit, but it’s not a big deal or anything. Don’t worry about it.” Akito quickly explained, hoping to cover up anything she might say with his own words.

“...I wasn’t worried?” An looked very confused. Shit. Wait. That’s not- that’s not anything to be worried about, is it? He’s losing his goddamn mind. “...should I be?”

“No.” “Don’t be worried An-chan!” 

She raised a single eyebrow at them. Needless to say, she didn’t look convinced.

“Really!” Kohane frantically insisted. “It was just a little bit! Really! Nothing to be worried about it’s really okay!”

“Really.” Akito unconsciously parroted.

“Really?” An raised an eyebrow.

“Really.” Kohane nodded and nodded and nodded back.

“What the hell are we doing?” An asked the question they were all thinking.

“I have no goddamn clue.”

“Akito and Azusawa are sitting down.” Toya helpfully supplied.

“Right,” An nodded. “But why though?”

“Well Azusawa collapsed, for whatever reason, and Akito is…” He looked over to Akito, an unsaid question written on his face.

“...tired.” Akito supplied.

“...Akito is tired.” Toya pathetically finished. “As is Azusawa. Probably because they stayed late for practice and came in early today.” 

“Oh yeah they did.” An noted. Akito felt like he was sweating bullets. Kohane looked like she was about to spontaneously combust. “Geez. How long did y’all even get to sleep last night?”

“UM.” Kohane stiffened. “That is- it’s a- that’s a very complicated-” She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

“Um-” An began to protest.

“We’re fine.” Akito cut off before she could get another word in. “Sleep doesn’t matter.”

“I’d beg to differ?”

“It’s really fine An-chan.”

“Don’t even worry about it.”

“What the goddamn hell is wrong with you two?” An threw her arms up in the air, frustration evident in her voice. “It’s just a question! An easy one to answer too! Work with me here!” Kohane turned her head away, no doubt terribly ashamed to have made her partner upset. A Tuesday for Akito.

“True.” Toya nodded, a strict glare in his eyes. “Really there’s no need to get defensive over something so simple. We won’t get mad. We’re just worried. After all, it isn’t as if…” His eyes widened almost comically. “No. Akito. You didn’t.”

“I didn’t.”

His head snapped over to Kohane sitting next to him, lightbulbs visibly going off in his head as he once again took in their appearances, eyebags and all. “You did. Seriously? Again? And you dragged poor Azusawa into it too?”

“No!” Kohane jumped up and off the bench. “Shinonome-kun didn’t drag me into anything! I was the one who asked to stay, he didn’t- Hm!” She slapped her hands over her mouth, all but confirming what Toya had surely caught onto by now.

“Akito.” Shiiiit. That was Toya’s mad voice. He was fucked. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m sorry.” He immediately backed down in the face of his furious partner. If he was lucky Toya would forgive him now. If he was unlucky, he would be banned from practice for a week. Shit. He didn’t wanna get banned from practice again.

“I’m really sorry too Aoyagi-kun we didn’t mean to it was a mistake.” Kohane looked like she was on the verge of another panic attack. “We just got so into it we didn't even realize and, and-” Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke together with a part of his heart. “I’m so sorry -”

Now Toya, who had been focusing all of his anger onto his own partner, was looking more than a little uncomfortable. “No, Azusawa, it wasn’t your fault. Akito should have known better.” Akito frowned. What the hell. Why’s it gotta be his fault? Isn’t Hane literally older than him by like- more than half a year? The world is so unfair.

“B- but…” She still looked like she was about to burst into tears. “It, it wasn’t his fault…”

“No- fuck- it is. I shouldn’t have- I should have known better.” Akito immediately backtracked. The world may be unfair but if unfair means Hane isn’t getting in trouble for their mistakes then he’ll take responsibility every single time.

“Okay, okay, stop ! What is happening , why is Kohane crying, what did you guys even do ?” An suddenly cried out. Kohane subsequently paled ten shades whiter and turned her head away from her very confused partner. Obviously, she had not gotten caught up to the program yet. Typical An. Always so slow. (He insulted her because at this point it was the only control he had left in his life. But it’s not as funny if he thinks about it that way, so.)

“Yes Akito. Why don’t you explain to Shiraishi exactly what you did?” Toya glared at him. For the first time in almost two years, Akito genuinely wanted to kill himself.

“...” Akito shut his mouth, unwilling to humor him. If he doesn’t say anything he can pretend that nothing is wrong and everything is all good forever.

Toya didn’t even bother to nag him about it, simply leveling him with a disappointed glare. “Fine then. Azusawa?” She jumped in place, head snapping over to them with an expression of pure terror on her face. “Why don’t you answer a question for your partner. What time did you get here this morning?”

“I- I didn’t…” She shook her head, pleading with him not to make her explain it out loud.

“Kohane?” An turned to her, a genuine question in her eyes. Akito could feel Kohane’s resolve crumbling away. He sent out a silent prayer to his poor, poor teammate.

“Ye-yes?”

“Can you tell me when you got here?”

She whimpered, shaking her head. “N- no.”

“But-”

“Watch it,” Akito growled. “We got here an hour ago. Happy?” He lied out of his teeth.

An turned to Toya, confused. “I don’t get it.”

Toya glared at Akito and his white lie. “I don’t believe you.” He said simply. “Shiraishi? My apologies. Why don’t you ask her when she left then, instead?”

“Um. Okay?” An shrugged. Kohane trembled. Toya glared. Akito gave up on life itself. “Kohane? What time did you leave last night?”

A tear fell out of her eye. “I’m sorry.”

“H- hey, don’t cry! It’s okay, I’m not gonna get mad, no matter what you tell me.”

“...promise?”

“Promise.” An nodded. They stared at each other for a second. “Will you tell me? When you left?”

“...” Kohane looked down. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because.” Toya brutally interrupted whatever moment they were sharing. “They didn’t.”

“Huh?” An turned to him. Akito let out a long and tired sigh. Welp. The gig is up then. That was a good effort, them.

“They didn’t leave last night. And they couldn’t say what time they got here because they didn’t get here. They’ve been here.” He glared. “All night. Likely practicing, if the song we heard has anything to say about it.”

“Huh.” An blinked. “Practicing… all night?” Akito watched the gears turning in her head, her single brain cell working overtime to come to the conclusion that was literally spelled out in front of her. Akito pitied her homeroom teacher. She gasped. “What the hell?!?? Without me???”

Toya snapped his head over to An. “ That’s what you’re upset about?!”

“Duh?! What the hell you two? If you were gonna practice you should’ve called! I totally could’ve popped over after work.”

“Shiraishi.” Toya pleaded. “No. Use your head. They’ve been practicing for nearly 16 hours straight. Without sleep. That’s insane . Be more worried.”

“Oh.”

“We took breaks!” Kohane blurted out. “A lot of breaks!”

“It's not insane. It’s effective.” Akito protested.  “We can sleep it off later.”

“Guys. Please .”

“Wait wait wait.” An interrupted. “You pulled an all-nighter to practice? Like, an all-nighter all-nighter? How are you two still awake?”

“Um.”

“That would be thanks to these, most likely.” Toya walked over to Kohane’s bag, and in one swift motion, turned it upside down, spilling out approximately 9 different energy drink cans as well as the entire rest of the inside of her bag. They all stared at the junk that had fallen, cans rolling across the dirt. “I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.” Toya kneeled down and began picking up Kohane’s stuff before she could even protest how he’d spilled them.

Ignoring Toya, An leaned down and picked up an empty can. “Holy shit. How many of these did you guys have?”

“Um.” They looked at each other. “Four?”

“Plus the one we shared,” Akito added. “So four and a half. Each.”

“How are you two still alive ?” He couldn’t tell if her tone was one of awe or pure, unadulterated horror. He answered in the only way he could.

“I ask myself that question every single day.” Akito deadpanned.

“We’re fine! Really!” Kohane nodded enthusiastically, the adrenaline doing wonders for her mental state, as is his.

Toya raised a single eyebrow at that. “You almost passed out.”

“But I’m fine now.” She nodded. “Shinonome-kun too!”

“Actually I still feel like shit.” She whipped her head over to him. ‘E tu Akito-kun?’ written all over her face. “What?” He shrugged. “The gig’s up. I’m not gonna lie anymore. I feel like. Shit.” He raised an eyebrow. “And 20 bucks says you do too.”

“Um.” He could imagine the sweat drop rolling down her face. “No I'm really fine.” She lied.

“Uh huh, sure.” He shrugged. “Well I, for one, feel like shit. After practice I am going right home and taking a very long nap.”

“Woah, woah, woah! What the hell do you mean ‘after practice?’”

“I mean after we practice? What the hell else would I mean?”

“We are not practicing today. Are you insane ?” An nearly yelled.

“What. No.” He turned to his partner. “Toya tell her she’s full of shit.”

“No, I agree with her. I refuse to let you two practice today, Akito.”

“Kohane tell them they're full of shit.”

“You’re full of it.” She fired back. “We can practice. Really. We’re fine.”

“Absolutely the hell not.” “No. Sorry.” They replied in unison.

“But-”

“No buts.” An cut her off. “You will not be practicing. As your partner, I refuse to let you. In fact, we are going to go to my house Right Now and you will not be able to refuse.”

“But-”

- 9 AM -

Kohane was sitting in An-chan’s house, on An-chan’s couch, with An-chan’s blanket lying on her lap, in front of An-chan’s TV, with absolutely no idea what she was doing there. Shinonome-kun was also sitting next to her, if that counted for anything. She didn’t think he knew what he was doing there either.

“Drama or romcom?” An-chan trotted up to them from behind, a wide smile on her face, her jacket thrown onto the floor somewhere. Kohane tried not to stare at her bare arms. She didn’t do a very good job.

“What are we doing here?” Shinonome-kun simply stated, absolutely not mesmerized by the (always stunning) girl before him. Some days she envied him for that. Most days she didn’t. What a sad life he must live, to not be able to appreciate An-chan in her entirety.

Instead of replying, An turned to Kohane. “Drama or romcom?”

Oh. An-chan was talking to her, wasn’t she? Um. Kohane had to kickstart her hazy brain from ‘appreciate An-chan mode’ into ‘human being mode’. What were they talking about again? “Um. An-chan?”

“Yes?”

“What… exactly are we doing right now?” Kohane questioned.

“Um. Watching a movie?” An shrugged. “Toya’s in the kitchen making popcorn but I’m not sure if it’s gonna end up edible or not so let’s just pretend he’s not.”

“But, um, are you really sure it’s okay to skip practice?”

An-chan gave her a look. “Kohane. Dearest. Love of my life.” Just at those words, her ‘An-chan brain’ immediately flickered back on, her throat going dry, face feeling like it was on fire. Oh, An-chan. She always said stuff like that. Sometimes Kohane wished that she really meant it. “We are not practicing today. Seriously. You gotta stop this.”

Ah. Kohane blinked back to reality. An-chan was disappointed in her. She looked down to the floor in shame. Kohane hated disappointing An-chan. An-chan believed in her. She always… she was the only one who had always believed in her…

Kohane hates disappointing An.

“Besides, it’s not like we can’t practice again tomorrow.” Kohane blinked back her depressing thoughts as An’s words brought her back to reality. Oh dear. She thought she had gotten better about that. She should be better than that, by now… Darn. Heck. She frowned at her own ineptitude. An-chan, through some kind of emotional sixth sense, chose that moment to lean over and softly pat her head, easing all her anguish away in a single moment. And her mind was empty again, solely focused on the feeling of her partner’s hand on her head. She smiled softly at her expression. “After a good night’s rest. We can skip a day. Rad Weekend will wait for us.”

“Rad Weekend isn’t waiting for anyone.” Akito scoffed, almost certainly protesting just to protest.

“It will wait.” An insisted. “For us.” She sighed, signaling the end of the conversation. “Let’s just watch our movie, okay?”

“But-”

“Drama. Or romcom.” An interrupted. “Personally I’ve got this drama that I wanna see but-”

“Romcom.” Akito interrupted. If Kohane didn’t know better, she would think he was saying so just because An-chan said she wanted to watch a drama. But Kohane does know better. And she was pretty sure he actually just wanted to see a romcom himself.

“I’ll watch a romcom.” Kohane backed him up, watching with a vague amusement as An’s face fell when she realized she was outvoted.

An sighed a deep and tired sigh. “Alright then, romcom it is. Just for you, Kohane.” She reached over the couch and grabbed the remote off the couch, flipping the channel to a familiar-looking movie. Ah. Kohane had seen this one with her parents before. She didn’t have the heart or energy (or will) to say that she already knew it. Or that the ending is kinda crappy, actually. The entire thing is pretty crappy, really. Though perhaps that’s the fun of romcoms, she’s not sure. She’s always preferred manga over movies anyways.

“Alrighty then. Do you want me to-”

“Shiraishi?” Toya called from the kitchen, sounding far too casual for the bizarre words he spoke. “Do you add the butter before the corn is cooked or after?”

“Aaaaand I think that’s my cue to get over there before Toya burns down the kitchen! Later!” An gave them a brilliant smile before turning 180 degrees and sprinting into the kitchen.

And then it was her and Shinonome-kun.

Again.

“Why is he cooking the corn?” She mumbled, barely enough strength left in her to do even that.

“I think he’s popping it?” Akito replied, always willing to defend his precious partner.

“But then why add the butter first?”

Akito sighed, unable to make a proper argument. “I don’t know, man. Let the guy do what he wants.”

Kohane sighed back, eyelids heavy. Her voice felt thick… like she was talking through molasses. “Okay… as long as he doesn’t burn the kitchen…” 

“He won’t. He’s smart like that. He’d… outsmart the fire.” In her mind, she imagined Aoyagi-kun setting the kitchen aflame, a book in hand, quite literally outsmarting the flame. In her head, An-chan was cowering in the corner. An-chan isn’t afraid of fire though, she’s brave. No, no… she’s scared of the algebra, of course.

She giggled like an idiot, smiling to herself a bit as she leaned back on the couch. It all felt so… well, not fake, per se… but not real. It didn’t feel real. Everything felt so… distant. The movie, playing in the background, familiar voices spilling out cliches she had no interest in paying attention to. Heat, radiating out from her side… Shinonome-kun’s always been oh-so warm. Faraway voices, frantically talking about who knows what. It doesn’t matter what, because she’s just happy to listen to them. She could listen to her for all eternity. She was warm. She was floating. She felt like she was drunk off the moment. She felt… nice. Everything felt so nice.

A soft sigh fell out of her mouth as her eyes fluttered closed, the warmth surrounding her and the soft sound of the TV all too much to her. Too much to keep her aware, too little to keep her alert. She leaned against something warm on her side, felt the sensation of something soft being pulled against her tired body. Against her better judgment, she surrendered herself to the sweet call of unconsciousness.

- 9 AM -

Akito chuckled at the absolutely braindead idiots chattering on the TV screen. God, this shit fucking sucks. He would never admit it, but this was the stuff that really got him going. He could watch this forever. He wished the world was a romcom. He could laugh at the stupid shit the main characters get into every single day of his life. Maybe the world was a romcom. Maybe that’s why An and Kohane couldn’t function around each other. Maybe it’s just not time for the dramatic confession yet. Gotta do that one after the Act 3 fight. On second thought, that doesn’t sound like them at all. Maybe the world isn’t a romcom. 

Either way, as long as he’s not one of the main characters, he’s all good. Him or Toya. As long as they stayed out of the bullshit, everything would be okay.

He snorted as one of the characters pulled out a mouse from nowhere and started spinning it around and hugging it. Kinda reminded him of An. If the mouse were a hamster and the hamster was Kohane, that is.

He was about to mention to the Hammie in question when he noticed a soft something leaning against his shoulder. He blinked, turning his head, only to find a familiar blonde pigtail pushed up against his face. “Hng..? Hane?” He mumbled. No response. She must be asleep.

She wriggled a bit, mumbling a bit as she reacted to him calling. “Shinnanan-chhn…” She muttered. Akito’s eyes narrowed. What in the ever-loving fuck did she just say? No. You know what? He doesn’t wanna know.

She tilted forward a bit, falling down and off his shoulder. Before he knew it, he was reaching out his hand, keeping her in place at his side. She let out a soft “hm”, and nuzzled into it. Even with his brain so foggy he could cut through it with a knife, he could admit. This was really fucking cute. 

Shit. He’s losing it.

He sighed, and pushed her back into place on his shoulder, reaching over her to pull up the blanket around her own. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Before he knew it, he was closing his eyes. A dangerous game, for sure. But honestly…?

Who really cares?

Because right here, right now, with his best friend at his side, the people he trusts most chatting softly in the distance, in the place he calls home, with the people that feel like home… Akito feels safe. Loved. Dare he say… happy.

Shit… a soft chuckle fell from his lips as they traced the form of a smile. Maybe An’s right… maybe he is just one big sap. Somehow, he can’t even be bothered to insult her, in his head or out of it. Maybe he should be a bit kinder to her in general…

Nah…

A soft sigh fell from his mouth as he leaned against Kohane. She’s warm. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all…

He drifted away before he could begin to think of why that might be.

(Epilogue)

- 9 AM -

“Guys! Popcorn’s finally done aaand the kitchen isn’t even-” Before An could even get to finish her sentence, Toya put up a hand to stop her in her tracks. She stumbled, reaching up and over his arm to keep the popcorn from spilling out of the bowl she held in her hands. “What the hell Toya? You almost made me-”

“Shh.” He put a finger up to her mouth, effectively silencing her. An fought the urge to lick it. Before she could lose to her demons, though, he pointed over to where their partners were sitting and- 

“Oh…” She breathed.

There they were. Nuzzled up against each other, heads leaning on each other. An’s blanket had been pulled up against Kohanes shoulder, Akito’s hand resting on her legs, and she could take a pretty good guess who had covered her. A small line of drool fell from Kohane’s mouth as she softly mumbled something far too quiet for An to hear. She hadn’t even realized she talked in her sleep. She looked like an angel personified, no, she was an angel, her hair falling out of her pigtails and a slightly flushed cheek from where she was pressing into Akito’s shoulder.

The thief.

An quickly looked over to the offender, not because she necessarily wanted to, but because she was starting to feel lightheaded from the amount of serotonin rushing her brain. If she kept looking at Kohane, she would probably explode. Or just faint. Or both. She needed something to calm her down, to ground her to reality, to-

Huh.

She stared at Akito’s face. No, at his expression. He looked… calm. Relaxed. Dare she say… happy. She hadn’t seen that expression on him (without Toya around, at least) in… god. Years.

Hmm… she couldn’t help but smile. That’s… really nice, actually. She guesses Kohane just has that effect on people, huh? God knows she has that effect on her. The pettier part of her was (more than) a bit jealous that he was monopolizing her precious partner’s side… but the bigger, and sappier, part of her was just happy to see them resting.

God knows they deserve it.

“They look so peaceful.” Toya whispered, eyes shining as he softly gazed at his partner’s sleeping form.

“Yeah…” An whispered back. “They really do.” She silently handed over the popcorn bowl to Toya, who accepted it without a second thought, and walked over to them. 

As quietly and gently as she could, she reached up and pulled the blanket over to cover Akito’s other shoulder, grabbed the remote, and turned off the movie. “Goodnight.” She smiled, barely a whisper in the silence of the morning.

She trotted back to Toya, doing her best to avoid the floorboards she knew would creek. The perks of knowing her home. “What now?” He whispered.

Uuuhhh…. She thought long and hard about that question. Her original plan was to watch a movie, hopefully convince them to take a nap or something along the way, and see where it goes from there. She was not expecting them to fall asleep so fast. Not that she was complaining, but what were they supposed to do now? What is there to do? “Um…” She dug the depths of her brain. “Wanna play mario kart?”

He tilted his head. “Mario’s… cart?”

Oh. An blinked. Oh, this would not stand.

- ??? -

Akito blinked open his eyes to a dark room, a slight crick in his neck, and a soreness in his throat that he’s positive won’t be going away. Ugh. He’s gonna need some tea later. Well, he’s sure dad has some around here somewhere… wait no… he’s in Ken-san’s house, right? Ah, whatever… same difference…

Wait.

He jolted up, heart in his head. He’s in Ken-san’s house. An’s house. Same thing. When did he get here? He got here earlier. Then they watched a movie, and Kohane fell asleep, and- 

Shiit, he fell asleep.

“Whaugh?” Kohane jolted up at his sudden movement, detaching from where she was nestled into his side. It felt kinda cold in her absence. He suppressed a shiver. “Who- what- Shinonome-kun??” She looked around wildly, eyes hazy and unfocused.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Yeah, that’s Kohane alright. For whatever reason, seeing her freak out calmed him down more than anything.

“Hey.” He croaked out.

“Wha…” She seemed to visibly calm down as she took in her surroundings. “...Did I fall asleep…? How long have I been out?”

“Good question. Let’s find out.” He rolled onto his feet, wincing as his body stretched and cracked in all kinds of uncomfortable ways. He held out a hand to help Hane up. She took it without hesitation, stumbling a bit as she stood.

They looked this way and that, searching for anything to tell the time in the dark room. Nothing stood out though, only the humming of the fridge and a soft sound in the distance. They turned their heads in tandem to the whispers of a hushed conversation happening in the other room. They looked at each other and made their way there without a word.

“This is bullshit. How the hell are you so good at this?” A frustrated-sounding Shiraishi An whispered to Toya, who looked just about as smug as he possibly could. They were sitting facing away from them, An’s switch set up leaning against the wall. They each had a controller in hand, and from the look of things they had been playing for quite some time. Or so he would guess by the empty bowl of popcorn lying across the room.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Toya whispered back. “Perhaps it’s just that you’re not as good as you think you are, Shiraishi.” It was only then that Akito noticed the dry-erase board in between them. There were 6 tallies on An’s side. There were 27 on Toya’s. “Also, language.”

“Oh, fuck off. We’re doing one more. This time I’m winning for sure.” She tightened the grip on her controller, a determined expression flashing across her face. One that he’s sure had no place being there, if those tally marks had anything to say about it.

“An-chan? Aoyagi-kun?” Kohane broke their silence, apparently having gotten tired of waiting for them to notice their presence.

“HOly-” An jumped, controller flying out of her hands, barely saved by the strap that was tied tight around her wrist.

“Ah, good morning you two. I see you’re awake.” Toya nodded at them with a smile, completely unfazed.

“Jesus christ you two- you scared the crap out of me.” An sighed, leaning back on her hands. Akito suppressed a wince at the clank of the controller hitting the floor.

“Ah- I’m sorry.” Kohane folded immediately, as she tends to do.

“I’m not. What’s up.” He nodded to his partner, turning back to An. “How long have we been out?” He asked.

They looked at each other, a silent conversation taking place between them. “Good question.” Toya nodded. “What time is it now?”

An dished her phone out of her pocket and visibly winced. “Uuuh…9?”

“Oh,” Kohane sighed, clearly relieved. “Not very long at all then.”

Akito frowned. That didn’t seem right, somehow. They got here at 8, so… There was no way he felt like this after barely getting an hour’s sleep. “Am or Pm.”

“...” An scratched her face. “Pm.”

“Oh, already?” Toya commented.

“Nine at night?!” Kohane gasped. “That’s so- that’s- we’ve been asleep for 12 hours?!” How the hell did she do the math so quick? “Why didn’t you wake us up?!”

“Well,” An laughed. “You looked so peaceful and tired and cute aand… we couldn’t bring ourselves to.”

“Plus, you needed the sleep.” Toya nodded. “Though, I suppose your sleep schedules must be quite messed up now. Our apologies.”

“Nah, that’s not- don’t worry about that.” Akito shook his head. “I’m more worried about you guys. What the hell have you been doing all this time?” Kohane nodded up and down.

“Um.” They looked at each other, confused. “This and that? We played video games, got lunch, Toya tried to get me to work on math, keyword: tried, we worked on our set list, sang a bit, ate dinner, played more video games… you know, normal stuff?”

“And… how did that go?” Akito tensed. An was a bundle of stupidity and Toya, tragically, listened to her. They were like oil and water. Surely nothing good could come of them together all day without his (or Kohane’s) supervision.

“Um, fine?” An raised an eyebrow. “You know we can take care of ourselves, right? We’re not totally helpless.”

“Uh… right.” He scratched his neck.

“But…” Kohane sighed. “I’m sorry we spent all day asleep. It must have been boring, right?”

“Not at all.” Toya shook his head. “Shiraishi and I had plenty of fun together.”

“Oh. Well.” Akito frowned. “That’s good.” He was glad. But… it was kinda frustrating. To think that he was really so unnecessary. Or maybe that was just the lingering sleepiness talking.

As if reading his mind, An grinned. “But you know what? It would’ve been even more fun if we were all together.” Without a single warning, in one movement she popped off the floor, grabbed Kohane, spun her around, and plopped her right back down onto her lap. “With my Kohane here now, there’s no way I can lose!”

“A- An-chan!” Kohane squealed, face flushed with what Akito tragically knew was pure, unadulterated joy.

“Well in that case.” Akito wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. “Akito. Come here please.”

“I am not sitting in your lap.”

“Please?”

…

Shit.

And to no one’s surprise, the next thing he knew he was sitting in his partner’s lap, red as a tomato, watching as he beat An in super smash bros for what was more likely than not the 28th time in a row.

He turned his head to his idiot of a friend, who was in the middle of miserably losing, and suddenly met eyes with a similarly flushed Kohane.

Her eyes shone bright in the light of the monitor. ‘This is fun.” She mouthed to him with a brilliant smile.

Heh. ‘Yeah.’ He mouthed back, ‘It really is.’

And as he turned to the screen, the reflection that bounced back at him was smiling brighter than he had ever seen before.