A/N: Welcome to Bandori Rarepair Week! If you wanna follow all the festivities of this grand ol' week, go see /BandoriRPWeek on twitter. We also have a link to our discord server on there, too!
Fair warning, this week may or may not end up as a TomoKao all you can eat fluff buffet, cause I love these disaster lesbians. It'll also be beta-less cause we die like warriors. This one is vaguely inspired from two Blink-182 songs: Rock Show (Kaoru) and First Date (Tomoe).
This was far from Kaoru's first time watching the summer festival's taiko performances, but it was certainly the first time she felt as if she had truly experienced it. Even with the vibrant chants and beating of drums ringing in her ears, Kaoru could only tune into admiring the raw power that emanated from the group's redheaded leader. How she had never before noticed the virtuosity of Tomoe's performance in previous years, she wasn't quite sure, but just the sight of the drummer performing her heart out set something in Kaoru's chest ablaze.
"Tomo-chin's so cool! " Hagumi commented enthusiastically with a glint in her eyes.
"That was even better than the New Year's Festival performance!" Himari added.
Kaoru's trance only broke when she realized that the group's last song had finished. The passage of time didn't even occur to her, but the half hour taiko performance came to a close as she vaguely made out Tomoe's bolstering voice thanking the audience one final time. "How truly fleeting…"
As the crowd around them cleared out, Hagumi stood beside her waving ecstatically at Tomoe to come over. Kaoru couldn't help but swallow nervously as the drummer approached with a tired but cheerful grin. Himari crashed into Tomoe's side with a crushing hug and Hagumi jumped to give Tomoe an overhead high five. Kaoru only stool nearby awkwardly, not exactly sure what the protocol was for her. So instead she waited until the two bassists exhausted their arsenal of admirational comments. Finally, Tomoe's hearty laughs settled down and blue eyes caught red.
"Hey, you made it!" Tomoe greeted with a slightly more relaxed smile, but it still just as animated.
"Wouldn't miss it," was all that Kaoru could manage to reply with. Though in all honesty, she almost did miss it, had it not been for Hagumi reminding her that morning. And then spending the rest of said morning debating whether or not it was actually a good idea for her to attend. They were… acquaintances at best. It wasn't like the two of them were super close—in comparison to Hagumi's or Himari's friendship that is. But it was also good to support each other's music performances as fellow musicians. That's the reason Kaoru ended up coming along; not because of some trivial crush she's been harboring for the drummer as of late. Definitely not that reason at all.
In the awkwardness of the conversation dying, Himari quickly nudged Hagumi as she took out her phone. "Oh! Rimi's at the Yamabuki Bakery stall! She said they just brought out fresh choco cornets!"
The two shared a look before Hagumi took Himari by the wrist and began running off to where the food stalls were. "We better get one while they're warm!"
Himari allowed herself to be led away, only managing an apologetic wave as they didn't even have the chance to say their goodbyes.
"What just happened?" Kaoru asked in surprise of the unraveling of recent events.
"I don't know, quite honestly," Tomoe said with a similar dumbfounded look.
Their shared confused gaze only broke when Tomoe flinched at the feeling of her phone vibrating in her pocket. She quickly fished the device out and read the notification. A beat or two later, she exhaled in what seemed like defeat.
"Guess we've been ditched," Tomoe explained.
"Is that so?" Kaoru answered, shifting her weight slightly. The air around them was thick with awkwardness, neither quite sure what to say to the other.
"I was planning on checking out the Artists' Alley before the end of the day," Tomoe finally suggested. "I dunno if you wanted to tag along or something."
Kaoru cleared her throat, unnerved by the sudden proposal. "Seeing as we've been ditched… I suppose I don't have anywhere else to go. If that's not a problem with you."
"Not a problem at all!" Tomoe blurted out. "I mean… I wouldn't offer if it was a problem. But it's not. So…"
"Artists' Alley it is then?" Kaoru asked sheepishly, hopeful of the prospect of enjoying an afternoon with Tomoe.
"Yeah, sure. Let's do that."
Perhaps it was a good idea for her to have come to the Taiko show afterall.
How could Himari just leave her?! Alone! With Kaoru Seta, of all people! To say that Tomoe was internally panicking was the understatement of the century. She wished for the earth to consume her. Tomoe wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to Himari (especially not Himari), that she—the cool, calm, and collected Tomoe Udagawa—had a crush on one Kaoru Seta, prince of Haneoka.
She's seen it all—the way girls swooned at the mere sight of Kaoru. Tomoe thought it was absurd at first, and especially so when Himari jumped on that bandwagon. Tomoe wasn't going to be another fangirl in the masses that revered Kaoru's very existence, she had more self-control than that. She really thought she could resist being affected by that thespian charm. Except she was very much affected, and it sucked. A lot.
It was one thing for Himari to get dragged off by Hagumi; they were all friends here. But when Tomoe opened up her messaging app and read what her best friend—the person she trusted the most—had just sent her, she knew she was utterly screwed.
Himari [Today at 3:46 pm]: Have fun with Kaoru-senpai! ?
Himari [Today at 3:46 pm]: Don't think you've escaped festival games though! By this time tomorrow, I will be the victor and you're going to have to accept this fact!
Betrayal—that's what it was. Of course Himari would figure it out even without Tomoe saying a word about it. She'd get her revenge tomorrow, but she had to get through today somehow first.
"Guess we've been ditched," Tomoe explained, hoping the nerves didn't leak into her voice.
"Is that so?" Kaoru answered, clearly uncomfortable by the awkwardness of the situation as well.
Tension was high between them, but Tomoe resolved that couldn't pass up this opportunity. Sure, it was all a setup and she had been caught completely off-guard. It didn't help her situation either that she was basically drenched in sweat from the Taiko performance and her hair was probably sticking up in weird ways. But, it was an excuse for her to potentially spend some time with Kaoru without it seeming like it came entirely out of the blue. So Tomoe took her chance and threw the ball into Kaoru's court. "I was planning on checking out the Artists' Alley before the end of the day. I dunno if you wanted to tag along or something."
Kaoru cleared her throat, seeming to ponder the offer. "Seeing as we've been ditched… I suppose I don't have anywhere else to go. If that's not a problem with you."
"Not a problem at all!" Tomoe blurted out suddenly, but immediately berated herself internally for answering so hastily. "I mean… I wouldn't offer if it was a problem. But it's not. So…"
Another awkward silence fell upon them. This was going to be a long day for both of them.
"Artists' Alley it is then?" Kaoru asked sheepishly.
"Yeah, sure. Let's do that." Tomoe answered, hoping that by the end of today she would stop tripping over her useless gay nerves and make the best out of the day.