AN: Happy Birthday to my dear friend Sessa (and her twin Candace 3) This is a special ot3 fic for her :'). Thank you for reading, reviewing and faving!
"TODAY'S THE DAY!" Rin shouts through the apartment.
Maki groans, pulling her pillow over her head and holding it there as the sound of feet padding towards their room reaches her ears. She mentally counts to three before the door slams open and in its place stands Rin, dressed in a tanktop, some slightly scruffy looking jeans she threw on and clutching onto an extra large cup. She bounds over to the bed, placing the coffee down on the side table before throwing herself on top of Maki.
"OOF! RIN!" Maki groans and tries to shove the younger girl off of her.
Rin laughs and hugs herself closer to the red haired girl, nuzzling her face against her.
"Rise and shine Maki-chan! Today's the big day!" Rin says with enthusiasm. "Look, I even picked up your regular!"
"I can't get up until you get off me." Maki mumbles and without a word Rin pushes herself off of Maki, grabbing the covers and pulling them back.
"There! Now you won't be tempted to sleep more~" Rin chants as Maki curls into herself for some more warmth.
There's several words muttered under Maki's breath before she sits up, the pillow falling into her lap and her tired, amethyst eyes searching for the coffee Rin spoke of. She grabs it immediately off the side table, opening the little tab and taking a big gulp of the hot liquid.
"Hmm." She hums in content, looking to Rin as she bounces lightly in the spot next to her.
'What time is it?' Maki wonders reaching for her phone seconds after. She's surprised to see it's only 8:30 in the morning, which is a good hour later than she expected to be awake by. She glances back to Rin as the ginger haired girl stands up excitedly.
"You remember the plan, right?!" Rin asks with a bit of enthusiasm. Maki nods without saying a word. "Good! Cause I got a call from Nico-chan and she'll be here in ten! You gotta be there for Kayo-chin when her flight lands!"
"Right. Is it still at 10?" Maki asks, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Kayo-chin's text says the flight was delayed a bit so it could be 10:30." the cat like girl answers, stretching a bit.
Maki nods again and sips more of her coffee before standing up. Rin follows her out of the room and the two make their way to the kitchen, Rin rambling about how excited she is to decorate the apartment and welcome home their missing companion. Two weeks without Hanayo is a long time and while Rin and Maki love each other plenty, there's nothing like waking up to Hanayo's lovely voice.
"You're sure you're not going to come with me to pick her up?" Maki asks, finishing her coffee and taking a bite of a piece of toast.
"But then I'd be leaving Nico-chan by herself to decorate the place." Rin pouts. "If I could drive I'd pick her up! But you're the one with the license."
Maki chuckles softly.
"Well, She'll be surprised when she gets home then." Maki decides. Rin nods enthusiastically as the toaster pops and she grabs the slice of bread, quickly spreading the spread of her choice onto it before taking a large bite.
"She's gunna be so happy!" Rin says, crumbs falling from her lips as she speaks. Maki wordlessly takes a paper towel and holds it out to Rin, letting her take it and wipe her face clean.
"She will be." The red haired girl agrees.
They finish their small toast breakfast and Maki has Rin repeat her plans before climbing into the shower and getting herself ready. Hanayo would arrive back in Japan soon and Maki wanted to be on time and stay on top of her side of their plans. Once she's finished, she gets dressed in the clothes she set out for herself last night, exiting their room to find Nico had arrived.
"Hey Maki-chan." Nico greets with a grin. "Looking good."
"Thanks." Maki returns Nico's grin with her own smile. "Will you still be here when I get back with Hanayo?"
"Nah, I'll see her tomorrow." The raven haired girl replies. "Besides, I'd want to spend the first day back with just my two losers if it was one of them coming back from vacation."
Rin snickers at Nico's 'pet' name for her girls and Maki shakes her head, the smile still on her face as she slips on her shoes. The other two watch and Rin walks over, giving Maki a quick kiss on the cheek. Maki blushes faintly as she stares at Rin's giant grin.
"Drive safe, Maki-chan! Bring our Kayo-chin home!"
Maki smiles warmly and nods.
"Will do."
The traffic there is a nightmare. Maki clutches her steering wheel tightly and looks exasperatedly at the time on the radio. 10:25. She internally screams. The airport is just off the next exit, but Maki's sure at the rate this traffic is moving that she won't be there until Hanayo returns from her next vacation. She has no idea what could possibly be holding up these cars but she knows she's already failing her side of the plan.
A piano medley of an old muse single plays and Maki grumbles as she reaches into the purse on the front seat, grabbing her phone and swiping the accept call button.
"Hello?" She mumbles, knowing only one voice would be on the other end.
"Maki, we've got a problem." She's surprised to hear Nico, especially since the specific ring tone was set for Rin's contact.
"Well, can't be as bad as me being stuck in a traffic jam." She mutters.
"What? There's traffic!? Why? The roads seemed fine when I was heading over." Nico sounds almost as displeased as she is and Maki shrugs, despite knowing Nico wouldn't be able to see the gesture.
"I don't know. Maybe everyone needs to get to the airport. Or near the airport. I have no idea at this point." Maki sighs and decides to change the topic. "Well, what is it?"
"Er- well, there's no putting this lightly, so I'll just come out with it." Maki says nothing and waits for Nico to continue.
"You not only don't have a rice cooker anymore, but I'm one hundred percent positive that Rin either blew a fuse, or the powers out in your whole building. Most likely the latter, since it sounds like your neighbours are checking on each other outside."
Maki slams her forehead into the steering wheel. What a great start to their carefully planned out day.
"I'll pick up a new one on the way home. Tell Rin there's a bunch of candles in the cupboard above the stove and to place them in spots they won't fall. I'll be back with Hanayo as soon as possible." The younger girl instructs, lifting her head to find traffic had begun moving again. "Gotta go, looks like the cars in front of me are finally able to move again."
"You got it. Rin says text us when you've got her."
With that, the two say good bye and Maki hangs up, putting her phone away and moving her car forward.
She hopes Hanayo doesn't end up waiting too long for her.
Maki makes it to the airport at 10:45, only to learn that Hanayo's flight had arrived but no passengers had departed from the plane yet. Knowing that comforts her as she waits in the arrivals area, holding a small sign Rin had packed into her purse the night before. It's decorated with plenty of stickers with Hanayo's name written fancily and with plenty of hearts. Maki feels embarrassed having to keep such a sign on her, but she promised Rin she'd welcome Hanayo home while holding it.
The doors to the gate open and passengers begin walking into the arrivals. Plenty of excited families are reunited and Maki can't help but watch with a fond gaze as a young mother and her daughter welcome home a man in a suit in tie. It brings back familiar memories of when she was a little girl and her father would leave for a rare work trip. A wave of nostalgia washes over her as the little girl hugs tightly to her Papa and she can't stop her smile. Maybe tomorrow she'd give him a call to see how he's doing.
The doors open again, letting out more passengers and Maki looks up, pleasantly surprised to see that familiar brown shade and the rectangular glasses of her missing companion. Her heart flutters and she stands straighter, holding the sign up in both her hands. Her expression lights up the moment Hanayo makes eye contact with her and they don't even hesitate to begin moving towards each other.
Hanayo excuses herself past a couple people and her carry on bag slides down her shoulder as she lifts her arms to wrap them around Maki in a tight embrace that the red head gladly returns. The familiar floral and rice scent that lingers on Hanayo surrounds Maki and she holds her closer, welcoming her back with the tight hug. Hanayo giggles lightly and pushes herself away, glancing around to look for the third member of their trio.
"Is Rin-chan at home?" Hanayo asks curiously. Maki nods.
"She's… she's busy." Is all Maki says. Hanayo raises her eyebrow curiously but doesn't question it.
Part of Maki wonders if it's because Hanayo would be able to see through any lie she tried to say.
"Here, I'll take your bag." Maki decides, grabbing Hanayo's suitcase. "Was your flight alright?"
Hanayo smiles and begins to retell the story of the flight back and they make their way to Maki's car with their free hands linked together.
The ride back to the apartment is much smoother than the ride to the airport and the girls are surprised to see the powers out in not just their building, but the surrounding houses and stores. Clearly there was some kind of power outage on their block. Maki hoists Hanayo's suitcase up the steps and she carries the brand new rice cooker as well as both hers and Maki's purses (she was a bit upset to hear about the fate of their old rice cooker, but picking out a new one was an exciting endeavor for both her and the salesperson.) They reach their door and Maki slips her keys into the lock, turning it and announcing their arrival with a click.
The door opens only about a foot and before Maki can even announce their arrival, Rin pounces out of the door and right onto the unsuspecting Hanayo, who almost shrieks from the sudden contact.
"KAAAYOOOO-CHIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN" Rin shouts happily, almost causing the both of them to lose their footing.
"Rin!" Maki tries to scold, but the smile on her face grows as the ginger haired girl nuzzles and peppers kisses all over Hanayo's face.
"Rin-chan!" Hanayo says through giggles, trying to get the rice cooker out of her hands so she can return the embrace. Maki helps her out, wiggling the object out of her hands and allowing her to get her arms wrapped around Rin.
"I missed you so so sooooo much! More than anything!" Rin practically sobs. Hanayo smiles and uses her hand to reach up and brush some messy strands of hair from Rin's face.
"Really?" She asks. "Even though you still had Maki-chan with you?"
Rin pouts.
"Maki-chan doesn't wake up before me and give me sweet good morning kisses! I have to do that to her!"
"Well it isn't like you do it for Hanayo either." Maki points out, opening the door and bringing Hanayo's luggage inside their place.
Rin wants to object but to her horror, Maki is right. She gives Hanayo a heartbroken look and hugs her tighter.
"I WILL GIVE YOU GOOD MORNING KISSES FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER, KAYO-CHIN!" She announces loud enough for their whole apartment complex to hear.
Hanayo smiles and leads Rin back inside, making sure she still has both the purses on her shoulder.
"You don't have to do that Rin-chan," the brunette smiles. "Helping you both wake up and falling asleep with you is enough for me."
Maki and Rin blush from the honest statement. Rin leans her head onto the shorter girl and hugging herself to her once again.
"I LOVE YOU KAYO-CHIN!" Rin cries and Hanayo laughs, patting Rin and leaning into her embrace.
"I-I love you too Rin-chan."
In the dim light the candles give off, Hanayo can make out a small paper sign with an arrow pointing its way towards the living room. She raises an eyebrow curiously, squinting to see if she could make out the arrow right. She watches as Maki goes off towards the kitchen and places the rice cooker on the counter while Rin pulls herself away from Hanayo.
"Come on Kayo-chin! Come to the living room!" Rin declares, slipping her hand into Hanayo's and pulling her in before she even has the chance to take her shoes off. "There's not a lot we could do with the power suddenly going out but we did what we could!"
"R-Rin! D-did what?!" Hanayo tries to object but she's pulled in anyway, greeted by the sight of the living room illuminated by the majority of the candles their apartment had.
Hanayo can tell it's neat and tidy and all around the room are a variety of helium balloons, being held down by small weights. On the coffee table is a plate of fresh, white rice (cooked to the best of Rin's ability with a pot and the candle light in the kitchen on their gas stove), a few bottles of water and a special, handmade card from Rin herself. She smiles wider as she takes in the appearance of everything in the dimly lit room. To make the moment better, Rin runs into the kitchen to pull Maki out. They both stand in front of her and with a mental count to three, they speak at the exact same time.
"Welcome home!"
Hanayo claps her hands together before stepping over and pulling the two of them into a small, happy hug.
"I'm home!"