a/n: ooooookay so i finally found a translated version of one of the hibike books (which will probably form the basis for the plot of s2) and not two weeks later i found the manga, which is currently following the same plot, so yeah. don't read if you don't want potential s2 spoilers, i guess? really i just needed an excuse to write more of asuka being a butt
"Asuka? Y-yeah, she's here, why do you ask?"
Nozomi stood in the doorway, the very picture of determination, and Kumiko suddenly felt very small and vulnerable for reasons that she couldn't quite place. Reina had gone to polish her trumpet, Natsuki was nowhere to be found, and that left Kumiko to stand only with this stranger and the always-cold upperclassman.
"Good," Nozomi replied, flashing Kumiko a small grin before continuing on her way.
Don't follow her, Kumiko thought to herself. You shouldn't follow her, it's not your place. If Reina had been there, perhaps the sight of her would have stopped Kumiko from following Nozomi, but Reina wasn't there, and so Kumiko silently crept along the hallway in Nozomi's shadow, waiting for the other girl to speak up when she came face-to-face with Asuka.
"Hello," Nozomi curtly growled, nodding ever-so-slightly to Asuka. Kumiko pressed her back against the wall, hoping that the early-morning sunlight wasn't being cast directly onto her features. Asuka faced Nozomi with the sort of grim, unflinching expression that reminded Kumiko of why Haruka had been so reluctant to take on the role of leadership - anyone, really, could see that Asuka held a commanding presence, a definitive power indescribable outside of the band room. She was not the warm, sunny older friend Kumiko had half-expected to gain during her time in the band - no, she was a woman who pretended to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders while truly refusing to hold onto anything at all.
"Ah, you wanted something?" Asuka smiled, a crooked half-grin that made Kumiko's heart skip a beat.
Crap. I'm really gay.
"Y-yes!" Nozomi's voice shook, and Kumiko couldn't blame her. "I want you to let me back into the club, Asuka!" Asuka looked around, returning to her neutral expression.
"Nakagawa isn't with you, hmm?"
"No, she's not. I came here alone. I figured that hey, maybe if I didn't hide behind a friend, then maybe you'll take me more seriously, right?" It was Nozomi's turn to half-smile, waving her hands in some kind of desperate gesture.
"I told you, didn't I?" Asuka sighed, folding her arms behind her head. "You can ask Taki-sensei for a form, fill it out, and you'll be allowed back in the band. I'm not stopping you from doing that, nobody is."
"I want your approval!" Nozomi shot back as she angrily stamped her foot.
"It matters that much to you, huh?" Asuka's eyes were an icy blue in the light of the hallway, reflected by the gleam of sunlight on her glasses.
"Yes! It does!"
"Senseless desires to prove yourself will get you nowhere." Nozomi froze. Kumiko tried to creep away, but she feared that the sound of her shoes on the hardwood floor would too easily give away her position. "You want to return to the band? Fine, return to the band, but know that I don't want you here. If my approval means more to you than music, then perhaps you don't care for it at all, and in that case you're not one of my concerns." Asuka's expression was unreadable, cold, distant, and it was all Kumiko could do not to shiver. Nozomi shot her a glare before stalking down the hallway without another word, her shoulders hunched in defeat.
"T-that was needlessly t-terrible, Asuka," Kumiko mumbled, finally stepping out from her spot.
"Oh, it seems as if there's been a fly on the wall this whole time?" Asuka framed it like a question, but Kumiko didn't have any idea how to answer it. "Are you questioning your vice president, Oumae-chan?" The sun had almost completely risen, now, and Kumiko couldn't see Asuka's eyes behind the sunlight glinting on her glasses.
"You j-just shouldn't have been like that. D-do you always need to be this ruthless? She just wanted to come back to the band, Asuka, couldn't you . . . c-couldn't you have just given her a chance?" Asuka turned away, her feelings unknowable, and Kumiko hardly even registered it when Reina stepped out of the instrument room, holding her polished trumpet.
"Kumiko? Are you alright? You've been dully staring at the same spot for a few minutes now, did something happen?" Kumiko shook her head.
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "I'm fine."