a/n: how did this stupid crackfic reach 5k words. i wrote this with the bring me to life air horn cover playing on repeat. the original plan was for this to just be some goofy short thing where the band had a bad game of monopoly but then it ended up as...this, with asuka and midori having some weird rivalry and reina being a clexa shipper and i don't even know what else.
Hour 1
It had been Haruka's idea.
That was Kumiko's alibi, at least, for when this all inevitably fell apart, even if she had been the one to suggest a game day to Taki and the band's president had merely approved the idea alongside the teacher. It'd be a fun way to get the band to bond more, that was what she had figured. A few students would bring in some board games that Saturday, and they'd all share stories among Scrabble tiles and scattered cards. Soon, however, it became clear that packing a large group of musically inclined teenagers in a room full of board games and paper cups filled with hot chocolate could only end in disaster, and Kumiko wasn't quite willing to admit that she was really just looking for an excuse to see Reina that weekend.
There won't be too many people here, right? she thought, pushing open the door to the room with a stack of boxes tucked under her arm. There won't . . . there won't . . . oh, crap. The entire Kitauji High School concert band stared back at her, crouched on the ground as they looked at her expectantly. Someone had piled up the blankets from the closet and had built what appeared to be some kind of fort. Kumiko was pretty sure that Midori was trapped inside somewhere. Asuka, hunched over a bowl of popcorn, instantly perked up when she saw Kumiko.
"Oh, it looks like the main attraction is here!" she yelled, putting a firm hand on Kumiko's shoulder and snatching the stack of boxes from under her arm. The older girl looked through the titles, occasionally nodding approvingly or shaking her head. "Yes, yes, I think these'll do," she said, after much deliberation. Turning away from Kumiko and dropping the boxes on the floor with an unceremonious thump, Asuka clapped to grab the band's attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at the vice president. Kumiko noticed Reina watching from a corner, seeming rather bored as Asuka placed the board games in different parts of the room while sharing facts about the origin of the euphonium. Kumiko considered approaching her, but decided against the idea as Reina looked away, staring out the window with a hint of longing. The sun was still high up in the sky, and a few clouds drifted above the trees. Reina looked almost dreamlike in the light of the window, as if she belonged up in the sky with the sun and the clouds instead of in a music room surrounded by discarded stands. ". . . and Haruka here will oversee the activities of all of you, 'kay?" Asuka finished. Kumiko nearly jumped. She hadn't been listening. The students immediately began separating themselves into their sections as the room began to echo with sounds of instructions read aloud.
Hour 2
After several "bathroom breaks" (these were, in truth, actually just instances of Kumiko walking out into the hallway and banging her head against the wall repeatedly until she figured that the band would wonder where she was) Kumiko had found herself reading over the rules for a tattered game of Monopoly as Hazuki and Midori watched intently. Asuka had taken up residence atop several cushions, and Natsuki had joined the group with no real apparent motive. Kumiko was surprised that she had even come to the event.
"Why're ya sitting on those cushions, anyway?" Natsuki asked, casting a glance up at Asuka.
"Oh, don't you see?" she laughed. "It's my throne!"
"You're a queen, Asuka?" Midori squeaked, admiration in her quivering voice made apparent by the echoes of the room.
"Of course!"
"Don't listen to her, Kawashima!" Haruka called from across the room. She was busy with homework and sheet music, mulling over notes as she sat over a desk.
"S-so, uh, we've got five players, then?" Kumiko mumbled, passing out the paper money.
"It looks more like six," Natsuki grunted.
"Huh?"
"I want to be the dog." Kumiko turned to see Reina crouched beside her, pointing at the small brass piece.
"Reina?!" Kumiko yelped. She dropped the pile of false bills in surprise.
"Why aren't you with the other trumpets?" Hazuki inquired. Kumiko looked over at the trumpet players across the room, crowded around what appeared to be an impromptu game of poker. Reina didn't respond, simply picking up the tiny metal dog and placing it on the starting space. Asuka waggled her eyebrows at Kumiko.
"Well, regardless of the reason why Kousaka might be here-" she looked in Kumiko's direction again and gave her a wink "-it looks like we've got all of our players for the day. I'll elect . . . hmm . . . Sapphire here for the place of the banker. She seems to be the most fair-minded here, don't you all agree?" Midori didn't say anything, almost fuming, and silently scooted over to the box where the rest of the paper money was messily sorted.
"Are we going to start this, or what?" Natsuki muttered. With that, the group of six began their turns. Midori rolled the dice with more force than anyone thought she could even possess, and it looked like she was more intent on knocking down Asuka's cushion throne than getting a good number. Kumiko sighed and sunk into her spot. It was going to be a long day.
Hour 2 1/2
Things seemed to actually be going rather well, despite the overall slowness of the game. Kumiko regretted bringing Monopoly in the first place. One of the clarinet players had plugged in a speaker, and classical music wafted from the walls. Hazuki - who had, at this point, spent most of her money on every property she landed on - rolled the dice and cheered when she saw that she had landed on the GO space. Grabbing a wad of bills with a smug grin, she slid back into her spot.
"You're making a comeback, then, eh?" Natsuki grunted, looking at Hazuki's small pile of properties stacked next to her bills.
"It sure does seem like it, my dear Natsuki," Asuka chuckled from atop her 'throne.' "However, our dear friend here could very well end up losing everything. You can never tell in the game of life, after all."
"I think the percussion section is playing the game of Life, actually," Midori piped up. "You're welcome to join them."
"Oh, am I detecting a bit of hostility from you, esteemed banker?" Midori furrowed her brow.
"Yes."
"Hmm, would a few twenties change your mind, then?" Asuka waved the paper bills in front of the smaller girl's face. Midori was about to take the false money when Reina slapped her hand away.
"That's not in the rules," she muttered, reading over the instruction sheet. "Don't be lured by her temptations, Kawashima. They're nothing but lies. She's just a false ruler, playing us all like brass pieces on a instrumental board."
"Is she talking about music or the game?" Hazuki whispered. Kumiko shrugged. Reina had amassed a fair amount of money and properties herself, although she didn't seem particularly interested in the game. Kumiko caught her tugging at the ends of her skirt several times, seeming almost uncomfortable while Asuka rambled on about something or other. She would always look away every time that Kumiko noticed, however, so she did her best to ignore it.
Hour 3
The percussion section had abandoned their game of Life and seemed to be eagerly awaiting Knuckles' return from wherever he had gone. Kumiko was pretty sure that Midori and Natsuki were secretly plotting Asuka's demise, exchanging sly glances and aggressively tossing the dice at her oddly sturdy cushion pile whenever it was their turns. Hazuki looked mildly concerned at the events taking place as she rolled the dice and moved her metal shoe to the next space.
"You landed on that hotel. I believe that means you need to pay the rent, although I don't quite understand why a hotel would have rent in the first place," Reina deadpanned. "Staying fees, perhaps, but rent would imply that you lived there."
"Living at a hotel doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Asuka mused. "You'd get room service, and running in the lobby might be fun, hmm?"
"In any case, considering the fact that I bought that hotel earlier and the rules, meant to represent the capitalist establishment that governs us all, say that you need to pay me. I suppose that makes me the landlord, then." Hazuki took a few bills from her ever-shrinking pile of paper currency and handed them to Reina, who quickly shoved them underneath her bag.
"Why so defensive?" Asuka inquired, bending down to look Reina in the eye.
"You haven't considered the fact that this game could fall into a state of anarchy at any given moment," Reina replied evenly, putting a hand on her bag. "Even if you have, it would be most likely as an idea you yourself created, in an attempt to remain on top. You've surrounded yourself, quite literally, in a ring of money as a show of your power." Asuka had been meticulously placing her bills in a perfect circle around her 'throne,' careful not to let anything disturb it. Natsuki had tried to "accidentally" blow it over multiple times, but Asuka had somehow managed to put every scrap back where it had been in a matter of seconds. Nobody was willing to call out how unsettling it was.
"Well, well, it seems that you've discovered my ultimate plan," Asuka laughed.
"Geez, could ya try not to sound like a movie villain next time?" Natsuki sighed.
"Don't worry, I won't attempt anything outside of the rules until much later. It's best to keep the ace up my sleeve, isn't it?" Midori opened her mouth to retort, but Hazuki reassuringly squeezed her shoulder.
"You need to keep your own ace up your sleeve, too," she whispered. "Otherwise, all of the plans you and Natsuki seem to be forming would all be for nothing. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Midori shook her head. Kumiko sighed. Three hours in, and there were already alliances and hierarchies. She was regretting this more and more every second.
Hour 4
Knuckles, as it turned out, had been looking for the old television and its cart, and he had dragged the machine all the way back to the music room for the sole purpose of playing two entire seasons of a series that, from what Kumiko could tell, involved a lot of teenagers from space yelling at each other and crying and punching things. Haruka had given up pretending to watch over the band in order to join the viewing party, which would have been disastrous if the room hadn't already dissolved into chaos. Yuuko was busy pelting Scrabble tiles at Kaori in an attempt to get her to notice. It didn't look like it was working.
"Ha!" Natsuki yelled as Asuka rolled the dice and moved her piece, landing on Natsuki's only property. "Who's the ruler now?"
"Oh, Natsuki, you beautiful, naive little mouse," Asuka purred, carefully plucking a few bills from her ring. "You shouldn't ever rely on luck, don't you know that? Skill, now, that's something that'll get you ahead."
"Quit making philosophical observations and just give me the damn money," Natsuki muttered under her breath, barely audible.
"I can't see any of this ending particularly well," Reina whispered. Kumiko nodded in agreement, tentatively reaching out to move closer to her hand. Reina didn't seem to notice.
Hour 6
The clarinets had stopped playing classical music on the speakers and were now blasting what appeared to be angry punk rock while engaged in a war with the percussion section as well as whoever else had joined the viewers. Reina looked back at the glowing screen every time it wasn't her turn.
"Are you sure you don't want to just go and watch the show with them?" Kumiko asked. Reina was currently cheering silently, pumping her fist as the main characters - or the people Kumiko assumed to be the main characters, at least - plotted out a battle plan. Reina turned, flustered, and slowly lowered her fist.
"I'm fine," she scoffed. "I was just looking for Taki-sensei, since he mentioned that he was going to check in on us in the middle of the day." Kumiko deflated. So that's why she came.
"You're just continuously checking the same exact spot for the teacher while the show just so happens to be wrapping up the romantic subplot between those two minor characters?" Natsuki grunted, raising an eyebrow. "The TV isn't even near the door."
"It wouldn't do us any good to simply release my vast amount of properties and fake money during a game against the all-seeing vice president, in any case, even if I wanted to . . . watch those teenagers . . . punch each other . . ." Reina trailed off.
"You should join us!" Midori squeaked.
"What?" Kumiko and Reina both said in unison.
"Join the rebellion against the evil ruler, the supposed 'queen' of our game!" Midori pointed to Asuka, who had since gathered even more cushions for her throne and was now spread across them luxuriously.
"I'm right here, you know!" she huffed, though she didn't seem to be particularly bothered. "My, my, you don't seem very happy with the way this has played out, Sa-" Midori silenced her with a glare. Kumiko honestly didn't know how someone with the intimidation skills of a teddy bear could manage to pull off any kind of glare, but Midori stared Asuka down until she scooted her cushion pile of a throne backwards.
"A rebellion, hmm?" Reina rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Asuka gave an overdramatic gasp, flopping over on another cushion.
"Betrayal! And from the most sensible of us all, too. I can't believe this."
"With all due respect, Commander- er, Queen, I don't believe I was ever part of your grand scheme to begin with," Reina retorted, drumming her fingers on the Monopoly board. There was something strangely off about Reina's voice, and it took Kumiko a moment to realize that she was imitating one of the characters from the show. She chuckled at the realization, all but forgetting the revelation just a few minutes prior, that Reina was only there for the band's advisor and, perhaps, a dystopian teenage drama. Neither was particularly comforting for Kumiko's own ego, but there was something unbelievably funny and unlike Reina about her thinly veiled enjoyment of the show that Kumiko couldn't help but laugh. She covered her mouth when Reina turned back to face her. It seemed like Reina was about to say something, but she was quickly cut off by Asuka, who was still lounging atop her cushions.
"Kumiko!" she gasped with mock surprise. "I would have assumed that you, at the very least, would keep a calm head throughout these treacherous times, instead of laughing at Kousaka's complete and utter betrayal."
"Is it just me, or is everyone getting way too into this?" Hazuki whispered to Midori, who promptly launched her brass wheelbarrow at Asuka in response.
Hour 7
The group of viewers, which had now expanded to include several other members of the band, seemed to be progressing through the show at an alarming rate - due in no small part to the fact that Yuuko insisted on fast-forwarding every time the lead's love interest showed up - and Reina still seemed engrossed in the fictional universe, hardly paying any attention to the sheer madness that Asuka was creating. Kumiko noticed Midori sneaking money from the "bank" multiple times, slipping it to Hazuki in secret. She didn't question why her meager pile of bills didn't get any smaller, but confusion was evident on her face as Asuka attempted to convince Kumiko to join her.
"Is there something keeping you with them?" the older girl inquired, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"With who?"
"With the rebels, of course."
"I, uh, I don't think that there's really any rebellion here. I mean, it's just a game, right?"
"That sounds like the kind of excuse someone with ties to the other side would say. Are you sure that it doesn't have anything to do with a certain someone, hmm?" Asuka cast a meaningful glance in Reina's direction. Kumiko stiffened.
"N-no, of course not!" she yelped. She was actually telling the truth this time - she honestly had no idea what Asuka was going on about - but it couldn't be denied that Reina was very much there, and very much a motivator for Kumiko, if not the entire band. Kumiko briefly wondered if Asuka had ever known anyone like Reina, or if she had just forced herself to become special on her own, without anyone else to guide her.
"Fine, then," Asuka sighed. "I suppose I'll just keep on running this kingdom on its own as the subjects slowly rebel against me. I wouldn't be too surprised if there was even an assassination attempt of some sort." Haruka managed to tear her eyes away from the emotional reunion occurring on the television to respond to the comment.
"Nobody's going to get assassinated on board game day!"
"That's what you think!" Asuka shot back. "I'm almost certain that Kawashima's plotting against me right this minute!" Midori awkwardly shuffled out of Haruka's line of vision. The band's president shrugged and went back to watching the main character muse over her past choices.
Hour 8
The sun had long since gone down over the horizon (not that anyone noticed, since Shuichi had drawn the blinds in order to allow the band to see the television better) and Kumiko could see that the Monopoly game was slowly leaning towards anarchy. Natsuki fidgeted in her spot, rolling the dice in her hand nervously as she took her turn.
"What're you so worried about, co-leader?" Midori asked. The dice clattered to the board.
"I'm supposed to leave soon." Natsuki slid her piece over to the next space. Asuka perked up.
"Oh, so it seems like you'll be running this alone, then, hmm?" she inquired.
"I won't be alone!" Midori squeaked. "I won't be!" The small girl turned to Hazuki, grabbing her arm. "You'll join me, won't you? You won't let her win, right?" Hazuki looked to Midori, then to Asuka, then to the board. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife (or a sword, such as the one that a character was currently using on the show in the background).
"Why're you both so tense?" Hazuki asked. "This is just a game, right?" Midori and Asuka both glared at her. Kumiko sent her silent regards.
"It's not just a game anymore!" they both yelled. Kumiko flinched. Reina squeezed her hand reassuringly, and Kumiko looked at her in surprise. She moved it away when she caught Kumiko's gaze. Natsuki checked her watch.
"Yeah, I have to go," she sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder and waving to the group. "Don't let her win, okay?"
"I won't!" Midori clenched her fist.
Hour 8 1/2
Kumiko had called in Haruka to decide on what to do with Natsuki's remaining money. She promptly decided to spread it evenly among the group, much to Midori's disdain.
"You don't know what she'll do with it!" the smaller girl yelled, frantic.
"This is the most fair thing to do," Haruka responded. "I wouldn't want any of you to have an unfair advantage just because somebody had to leave."
"She's right, Kawashima," Asuka purred, flashing a sharp grin. "This is the most fair way." Midori scowled. Reina was slowly inching towards the television, but Midori pulled her back.
"We can't afford to lose anyone else, especially now that you've got the most money out of everybody right now." It was true. Reina's lack of caring about the game and extraordinary luck had caused her to somehow end up with stacks upon stacks of bills, still crisp and pristine due to her close protection. Kumiko couldn't help but feel as if there was something wrong with the image of Reina next to such flat money, but she pushed the thought away. Midori and Asuka looked just about ready to fight each other, Hazuki seemed deeply uncomfortable, and something had happened in the show that was causing half of the audience to cry while Yuuko just scoffed. Kumiko had more important things to deal with than some fake bills - namely, making sure that the Monopoly game didn't dissolve into chaos, since Haruka was busy tearfully clinging to Kaori, who struggled to remain neutral while Yuuko attempted to convince her that the love interest didn't deserve the protagonist in any case.
"The guy was absolutely obsessed with her!" the girl snapped, her ribbon bobbing with her furious motions. "He kept on following her around, idolizing her skills, heck, he was willing to do whatever it took to impress her no matter how unhealthy it was- wait . . ." Yuuko got up and shuffled away, quietly picking up her bag and leaving the room. She didn't come back. Kumiko stifled a chuckle.
"Natsuki would've loved to see that," Midori murmured.
"It doesn't do well to dwell upon your fallen comrades, Kawashima," Asuka replied. "I had assumed that eight hours on the battlefield had taught you that."
"Battlefield? I thought that this was a little rebellion, not a full-blown war!" Hazuki rolled the dice and moved her piece with an exasperated sigh. "This is getting out of hand."
"I'll say," Reina muttered. "She's not even crying, she's just looking at his ghost. I know that if I was forced to kill the one I loved, I wouldn't waste any time grieving. I'd carry out their last wishes, that's what I'd do. I suppose we have different strategies for getting over emotional trauma in the midst of such an uncertain time, though." It took Kumiko a longer time than it should have for her to realize that Reina was talking about the show.
Hour 9
Midori and Asuka seemed to be mere seconds away from ripping apart each other's faces. Haruka and Kaori had gotten over their sadness for the love interest almost as quickly as the protagonist had, and were now engrossed in the secondary character's witty one-liners. The clarinets had accepted defeat and were watching alongside the rest of the band - the small group of Monopoly players were now the only people actually playing board games.
"Wasn't Taki-sensei supposed to come and check on us in the middle of the day or something?" Hazuki wondered.
"He's abandoned us," Reina murmured. "They all do, eventually."
"Hey, save the high-stakes emotions for the final battle, Kousaka!" Asuka snapped. "You're siding with those rebels, after all. I could only expect the best from you, when it all comes down to-"
"'Why is everyone taking this children's game so seriously?!'" Everyone turned. Hazuki clutched her game piece in her hand, breathing heavily. "It's a game. It's about buying stuff and running out of money. There's no grand meaning behind it. I give up. Midori, you can take my bills. It's getting late." Hazuki trudged out.
"Geez, what a drama queen," Asuka sighed, flopping back over on her throne of cushions while delicately placing a pale hand on her forehead. "I can't believe she'd just be so overdramatic about all of this." She kicked out a leg. "It's unbelievable, really." A hair flip. "Ridiculous." Kumiko wouldn't have been surprised if she had doused herself with rose petals. If looks could kill, Midori would almost certainly be sending Asuka to join the ghostly love interest of the show.
"I won't let Hazuki's sacrifice go to waste!" Midori squeaked, grabbing the leftover bills and shoving them behind her.
"It's just down to the four of us, then," Asuka noted. "You, me, and the two lovebirds over there." Kumiko's face turned red.
"We're not-"
"That's not important right now," Asuka stopped her. Reina didn't seem to have any objections. "Right now, it's the battle that matters, and I do think that this has gotten rather interesting."
Hour 10
Several of the band members had left, but Asuka and Midori remained as focused on their game as ever, rolling the dice with enough force to nearly push a hole through one of Asuka's cushions. Both murmured to themselves between turns, figuring out elaborate strategies. The last remaining clarinet had turned on some strangely fitting music, and Kumiko could practically see the tinted internal monologues of some strange crime thriller cast over the two. Reina had briefly abandoned her post to try and turn down the music so that she could hear the protagonist and her . . . friend fight off a gorilla.
"I've got the advantage here," Midori squeaked. "Hazuki may have left us, but that doesn't mean that she's forgotten! I've got her remaining money, which puts me ahead!" Asuka smirked.
"That's what you think. You may have the power of friendship on your side, but I've got something much more useful."
"What's that?"
"Experience. I've been around here longer than you, Kawashima. I know my way around. You can't win against me." Midori gritted her teeth.
"I won't lose! I can't!"
"Hmm? Oh, it seems as if you've got a bit more determination than I had assumed. This'll be fun."
Hour 10 1/2
Asuka and Midori were down to their last small piles of money, and Kumiko was not-so-secretly hoping that the game would end soon. Reina had stopped pretending to ignore the call of the TV and was watching intently, only absentmindedly moving her piece when it was her turn. The rest of the band had left, leaving just the four players.
"If either of us lands on an owned property, we're finished," Midori murmured. Her voice had taken on a deep, ominous tone that sent shivers down Kumiko's spine. "It's the end, isn't it? All of this turmoil, all of this fighting, it's all come down to this."
"We've both fought valiantly," Asuka whispered. "No matter the outcome, you were a worthy opponent."
"I won't lose. I can't. Natsuki, Hazuki . . . they may be gone, but they live on within me." Reina tentatively raised her hand.
"Actually, I think that they both just-"
"Silence, Kousaka! I thought you were on our side!"
"I've stopped taking sides." Kumiko hadn't noticed it before, but Reina's hair was slightly tousled, the dim glow of the television highlighting her features. Kumiko wondered why she had stayed - the show could provide entertainment, sure, but she could've just as well watched it at home, and she had hardly talked to anyone the whole day. Asuka's voice snapped Kumiko out of her thoughts, excitedly rocking back and forth on her cushions.
"Oh, a six, hmm? Doesn't that mean . . ."
"You miscalculated. I just landed on the GO space. I'm ahead, now. Your move."
"Oh, you've grown cocky, have you? I wouldn't advise that, you know."
"We're not looking for your approval." Midori's voice was hardened, bitter. It seemed to be making Reina just as uncomfortable as it was making everyone else.
"The stiff, dangerous times can change us all, it seems," Reina murmured. The protagonist of the show was starting to exchange long glances with her raccoon-like . . . friend, and Kumiko couldn't help but think that there could be something more between them.
Hour 11
Midori was stubbornly clinging to her very last bill after a rash decision to purchase one of the few unclaimed properties left on the board, and Asuka seemed pleased, to say the least.
"Your confidence has outgrown you, Kawashima," she snickered, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I should've known that you were just an amateur." Midori's eyes blazed with a ferocity that Kumiko didn't know she possessed.
"I dare you to say that again," she muttered.
"What?"
"Say that again to my face, you-" The girl was interrupted by a cheerful ringing from her pocket. She pulled out her phone and listened to whoever was on the other end.
". . ."
"What? Oh, hi, Mom."
". . ."
"Right now? Really?"
". . ."
"What if I just stayed for fifteen more minutes?"
". . ."
"Please?"
". . ."
"Fine." Midori stood up, her shoulders hanging heavy, and walked out the door without so much as a goodbye. Asuka immediately relaxed as soon as the smaller girl had left.
"Finally," she sighed, stretching as if she had just awaken from a long nap. "I was getting kind of tired of that whole charade, weren't you?" Kumiko was awestruck.
"W-wait . . . y-you mean . . . you weren't serious about that? You were just playing along?" Asuka let out a hearty laugh.
"Of course I was! What did you think, I was seriously being that intense about a game? Well, anyway, I guess that means I can leave now. The two of you, go back to making out or whatever. I won't tell." Asuka gave Kumiko and Reina a wink before skipping out the door. Kumiko turned red for what must have been the tenth time that day.
"S-so, I guess we could, uh, go now?" she mumbled. Reina turned to face her.
"Don't you want to see how the episode ends?" she asked.
Reina Kousaka was asking to stay with her. Reina Kousaka was asking to stay with her. The strange events of the day were forgotten in an instant as Kumiko knocked down Asuka's throne to assemble a comfortable pile of cushions for the two to rest in as the main character and her friend- no, she must have been more than friends, they were so, so close, friends don't look into each other's eyes like that, they don't, they don't-
"Here it comes," Reina murmured. Kumiko looked up at the television just in time to see the two characters onscreen kiss each other as the music played softly in the background. Kumiko's breath caught in her throat. She didn't dare look away until the protagonist stepped back. The girl turned to Reina to see if there was any surprise, any hint of something, but she just seemed content, a small smile dancing across her lips. "It was obvious," she explained. "They had been hinting at it ever since the middle of the season, it would have been more surprising if they didn't end up together."
"Oh."
"I know that it's getting late, but I believe that there are still two more episodes," Reina continued. "You can leave if you want, but I'm going to stay here and finish the season."
"O-of course I'll stay with you!" Kumiko yelped. Reina settled further into the cushions, nonchalantly squeezing Kumiko's hand.
"I suppose we'll both get to witness whatever this season finale has in store for us, then."
"Yeah."
"I don't think it'll end very happily, but at least there's more later on." Reina leaned her head into Kumiko's shoulder, and the two girls found themselves all but cuddling a few minutes later as the booming theme played on the television, the Monopoly game forgotten.
This, at least, had not been Haruka's idea.