"Pardon the intrusion..."

"Aww, Maki-chan! You don't have to be so formal!" Rin gives Maki a hearty thump to the back, making the other girl nearly fall over as she leans over to remove her shoes. Maki stumbles, snaps at Rin with something about going easy on the enthusiastic slapping, and Rin only sheepishly laughs and kicks off her own shoes.

Somehow, even though they've known each other for a long time by now, it's her first time actually visiting. Rin's house is small, certainly incomparable to the grandeur of Maki's own residence, but it has a cozy feeling all the same. There's a clock shaped like a round, fat cat on the wall. Maki wonders if Rin picked it out or if her parents are cat people as well. Some sort of lively rock music is drifting from the kitchen to overlay the sound of dishes clinking together as well.

"Oh, Rin! Welcome home!" A woman who looks almost too young to be the mother of a high schooler emerges from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel. She's got a slight bounce to her step and exudes too much energy for an adult, like a taller and slightly toned down Rin with longer hair. "And you brought... well, that's not Hanayo-chan! Another friend from your idol group?"

"Yep! It's Maki-chan!" Before Maki can say anything or offer a polite bow, Rin's got her hands on her shoulder and shoves her in front like she's something to display. "Maki-chan said her parents are gonna work super late tonight, so I invited her over for dinner!"

"Wait, Rin. You didn't check with your parents first to see if it's okay?" Maki wrenches her shoulders free and tries to resist the urge to chop Rin on the head. Her mother is right there, after all. "I'm sorry, Hoshizora-san, I didn't—"

"Hey, hey, no problem, nice to finally meet you! Having guests over is always fun for us!" God, even her smile looks like Rin's. "You two can go ahead to Rin's room. I'll call you down once dinner's ready!"

Rin shoves through loose papers in her bookbag, a pencil dropping to the floor and rolling away. It's doomed to be lost beneath the couch until someone decides to sweep or vacuum down there. "Wait, Mom, we got our math tests back today! Look what Rin got!"

That's right, their math test results came out. Maki nervously twirls her hair out of habit, thinking of the 89 she'd gotten. Her parents are gonna look at her with that kind of look, Mama smiling comfortingly to ease the blow (but not enough), and Papa will frown and remind Maki to take her studies more seriously if she wants to continue being a school idol. And she'd seen Rin's grade too. It's abysmal. It'd send Maki's father into a rampage if his own daughter ever got a score that low. Why is Rin so eager to show it off to her mother, anyway? Maki holds her breath as she watches Mrs. Hoshizora scan the paper, Rin swaying back and forth on her heels beside her in time with the rock music coming from the kitchen, and Maki's prepared for the scolding to follow but.

"Rin... you did even better than last time! A seventy eight, I'm so proud of you! C'mere!"

What.

"Moooom, you're smothering Rin-!"

They're so... what? That kind of reaction over a seventy eight? Maki suddenly feels self-conscious and baffled, standing there as Rin's mother hugs her daughter tight and ruffles her hair. Now she at least knows where Rin gets her overly affectionate tendencies from.

"So guess what we're having for dinner tonight?"

"You mean..."

"Rin-chan's favorite homemade ramen!"

"Yaaay!"

Her own mother would set time aside to make this certain pasta dish with tomato sauce whenever Maki scored more exceptionally than usual. But going beyond exemplary is difficult, so she could count the times it happened on one hand, and Maki's mother is too busy to cook most of the time anyway. Their chefs could make it just as easily on request, but eating something her mother makes tastes better even if she's not nearly as skilled as the cooks they hire.

Does it still count as homemade if it's made at home by professional chefs? Maki never really thought about it.

"Maki-chan, Maki-chan, you've gotta try my mom's ramen! It's sooo good!" Rin's bouncing back over to Maki, grabbing her hand. "Well, we'll be going upstairs now! Love you, Mom!"

"Love you too! Let me know if you need anything!"

Not until they're halfway up the stairs (Rin excitedly dragging her along by the hand) does Maki realize she owes the warmth in her face to a blush. Maybe she just isn't accustomed to that level of familial comfort. As caring as her own parents are, they're always subtle and composed and never make a fuss about things like Rin's mother had.

She can't quite place a word on that pinching feeling in her chest.

"Sorry, Rin didn't have time to clean up! Uhhh, if I push these things over here, you could have room to sit there..." Rin's room has the same exact atmosphere as the cozy one downstairs. Maki notes the cat-themed decor on her walls and shelves with a wry little smile and the pile of clothes on Rin's bed. Her desk is small and simple with a computer monitor and manga volumes lined up in no particular order. There's also no sign of any textbooks, probably shoved away out of sight, but it doesn't surprise Maki at all.

"Your mother is really nice, Rin."

"Yeah! She's the best!" Rin pats the little cleared space on her bed, motioning for Maki to sit. "My dad travels around for work and my sisters are busy with university, so it's just me and my mom in the house right now."

"Sisters? You never mentioned you have sisters."

"Yep, two older sisters! They're super pretty and smart. Kinda like you, Maki-chan!"

She says it way too matter-of-factly and Maki looks away, pretending to scrutinize a poster of a cat above Rin's bed.

"You- your household still seems really lively, even if it's just you and your mom." Maki thinks about her own spacious home and how small she used to feel as a little girl. It was never empty, not with their housekeeper watching over Maki whenever her parents weren't available and other hired services darting around to keep dust off their expensive furniture and chefs cooking in the kitchen, but it was quiet. Mama always told Maki that loud noises were unbecoming.

"Hehe, you should see it when the whole family's together! You should come over again when Dad's home and my sisters visit." Rin stretches out on the bed beside Maki, her head by her lap. "I bet they'd love to meet you! I told Mom and Dad all about you and the rest of Muse, and my sisters really want to see one of our live shows someday. They've seen videos of us but it's not the same, y'know?"

"Yeah," Maki allows herself a little smile and rests a hand on Rin's head, unable to swallow back the little bit of sadness that rises up to her eyes. Her mother only seems fleetingly interested in Maki's idol activities but her father won't even sit down and listen to a song. He's too busy, he says, but Maki knows how much he still hopes his daughter would stop being foolish and go back to studying to be a doctor.

"... Hey, Maki-chan, are you alright?"

Rin shifts a little closer, now looking quizzically up at Maki.

"Do your parents mind you being an idol?" she blurts out without thinking. Rin seems confused by the question, but only for a second.

"Hmm, not really. Mom's happy that Rin is having fun and, you know, my dad's actually in a band! That's why he travels around so much. We used to sing together when I was smaller. When he heard about Muse he called me and said he'd like to sing with me again, the next time he comes home."

Jealous. That's the word. Maki slowly lets out a shuddering breath and removes her hand from Rin's head. "That sounds so nice... I think I may be a little jealous, Rin."

"Nya?! But Maki-chan! You're... Maki-chan! Smart and beautiful and talented Maki-chan!"

"But what does that even matter?! If, if..."

Oh, damn. Now she's choking up on her words. Literally, too.

Rin sits up, observing her with an unusually serious look on her face. It looks so un-Rin-like that Maki could laugh if she could breathe.

"Now I remember, your dad didn't want you to be part of Muse. All of us went to your house that one time to convince him to let you stay." Rin hums in contemplation, and Maki's face burns at the memory. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan."

"Sorry for what?" Maki snaps more harshly than intended.

"Here I am, talking about Rin's easygoing family life, when Maki-chan must be under a lot of pressure and stress because of the kind of family you come from. Right?"

"That... is surprisingly perceptive for someone like you."

"Rin's not smart at all! I know that much!" Rin leans in close to bump shoulders with Maki. She doesn't try to move away. "But I can tell by the look on your face when you're unhappy. Sometimes you're pretty easy to read, even to someone as dense as Rin!"

A single tear drips down Maki's cheek and she hastily wipes it away, letting out a breathy laugh to ease the choking. "Jeez, you don't have to keep putting yourself down to make me feel better. And seriously, don't apologize. It's my own fault for getting jealous. Your mother is so accepting of you, and your father as well, and you've got two big sisters to look up to... my family is all about reputation and success."

Their hands somehow find each other, fingers intertwining. Rin makes that thoughtful humming sound again and rests her head against Maki's shoulder.

"... I've got an idea! Let's just get married!"

"Wh-what?!"

"Yeah!" Rin looks up at Maki, grinning brightly. "That way you can be an official part of Rin's family so you won't have to feel like that anymore!"

"Rin, do you even have any idea what you're saying?!"

"It's alright, we don't have to get married right away! Let's wait until after college or something!"

"You can't just think about something like that so far ahead!" Maki tries to pull her hand away, but Rin has a firm grip on it.

"Well, why not? All we gotta do is promise and wait. Rin hates waiting! But Rin wouldn't mind waiting for something like this."

Maki bites her lip even though she knows she could just dismiss it as Rin being childishly naive, or play along to humor her. Marriage... her parents are probably expecting her to marry some rich son of another wealthy family. She can't imagine the look on her father's face if she declared her intent to marry the dumb, silly, messy daughter of a rockstar and a mother who is too satisfied with mediocre grades.

Though it might be a funny expression, if that's the case.

"Riiiin-chan, Maki-chan! Dinner's ready!" Ah, it's Mrs. Hoshizora. Rin pats Maki's leg expectantly, still holding onto her hand.

"You can give me an answer after we eat! No rush!"

That's right, no rush. No rush at all. It must be nice to live such a free-spirited life with homemade ramen and average test scores.

"Yes."

Maki's shoulders tremble with silent laughter. She can't believe this.

"... Really?!"

"Yes," she repeats more clearly, lifting her head to look at Rin properly with a teary smile. It's just a dumb fleeting teenage promise that they'll probably forget about once Maki's parents set her up with a rich young man and Rin finds someone who won't hold her back so much (someone who actually deserves her), but maybe, just maybe. "Let's get married. Why not."

Rin's glowing brighter than she's ever glowed before and she flings her arms around Maki, hugging her for a few seconds before pulling them both up to their feet. "Then it's settled! Let's go down to eat— I'm starving!"

This girl, sheesh. The tight pinch in her chest is gone and Maki can smell the ramen as Rin leads her down the stairs. Muse is their family too, she should've mentioned when Rin brought up that nonsensical marriage idea. Maki already knows what it's like to love and be loved, thanks to their friends, so what was the point of being jealous in the first place? What was the point of that promise of marriage? Still, she can't stop trying to imagine what her father would say if she married this moron, this lovable loving moron.

The whole thing is giving her a kind of thrilling feeling, if she has to be honest.

"Mom, guess what?! Maki-chan and I are getting married!"

"Hey-! You don't have to tell your mother that!"

"Wow, really? Congrats, girls!"

"Ahhhh...! It's useless..."

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A/N:
(1) I was reading Maki's SID. Various info in this story was taken from there such as how Rin's family actually does celebrate whenever she gets average test scores lmao.
(2) Rin apparently has 2 older sisters and even though there's no confirmed source for that I like that idea anyway.
(3) I also wish there was just more info on Rin's family in general. I think it'd be cool if her dad's a musician who taught Rin a little bit of singing which would explain Rin's amazing singing voice, and her mom's a former pro athlete but I didn't incorporate that idea in here.
(4) If there actually is some info out there on her family that I missed and this story/my headcanon contradicts I'm sorry, whoops.