Prompt from Ao3 user OuMiyuki: "No, wait, don't-!" HonoKotoUmi
"Honoka-chan, I miss Umi-chan…" Kotori whimpered as she turned on the stove to heat the tea kettle. She turned around and slumped on the kitchen counter, looking at Honoka who was just across in the living room with pleading eyes as if she had the powers to summon their missing partner.
"I miss her too, Kotori-chan," Honoka frowned deeply as she absentmindedly locked and unlocked her phone, hoping that a text from Umi would show up next time the screen lit up. Her hope diminished each time there wasn't any sign of her, leading eventually to Honoka pocketing her phone. "I don't remember when was the last time we all spent time together, she keeps leaving so early and coming back home so late and tired that she just bathes and dies in bed."
"She's missed or skipped dinner for two months now," Kotori sighed defeatedly, imagining how much of a hard time Umi must go at work. "Has my cooking been off, Honoka-chan?"
"What? No way! Your cooking's amazing as always. She's just too tired to do anything, like eat dinner," the ginger explained and quickly got off her chair to hold Kotori's hands tightly in an attempt to reassure her.
"I just hope she's eating well…" Kotori sighed, worried that Umi at least wasn't eating instant food or anything of the sort. Honoka kept holding her hands and caressing them, trying to comfort her.
They were both caught off guard by the sound of the door unlocking and squeaking open. Never would they have expected to hear Umi say "I'm home" after so many nights had been spent on their own. Umi dropped her bag and almost got knocked down when she suddenly felt the weight of her two housemates. When she was tightly embraced by two pairs of arms, she almost felt compelled to reprimand them both, but Umi too longed for them and hugged them back. Or at least tried to with how restrained her arms were, managing to just pat each of their sides.
"Umi-chan! You never told us you'd be coming home early!" Honoka looked up at her, brandishing a wide and warm smile. Umi couldn't help but to smile as well, already feeling part of her exhaustion going away by Honoka's radiance. The ginger let go and Kotori did too after a few more moments.
"I'm sorry, I forgot my phone so I couldn't contact you. But don't worry, I'll be coming home early every day now." Umi gave them both an apologetic look. "I promise I'll make it up to both you."
"If you needed extra money we could've pitched in Umi-chan, why did you have to work those extra hours for so long?" Kotori didn't mean to weigh down the mood, but after having half of her most important people away for so long she needed to know.
"I couldn't ask you for the money. It wouldn't have been right," Umi shook her head.
"We all put our money together for this apartment, what makes it so different now?" Honoka took a step forward trying to look demanding, but she ended up stepping on Umi's bag. "Wah-! Sorry! Let me pick that up," she chuckled and rubbed the back of head before leaning down to pick up the bag. If she had looked at where she picked up the bag from however, Honoka would've have spilled all the contents are she lifted it.
"Wait! No, Honoka, that's-!" Umi's rebuttal came too late when all of contents of her bag poured out: her wallet, an umbrella, her portable power bank, and two small felt-covered boxes. Kotori gasped loudly and covered her mouth as soon as she spotted those foreign objects on the ground.
"Hey Umi-chan, what are these?" Honoka tilted her head, picking up the small containers and promptly ignoring everything else.
"H-Honoka-chan! I think I have a really good guess on what they are," Kotori could barely keep her composure or keep her voice from cracking.
"These," Umi took the small boxes from Honoka's hand and opened them, revealing snugly fit golden rings with three precious stones embedded on each, "were the reason I put so many hours at work."
"Honoka, Kotori. I know we've promised to always stay together, but I want to solidify that promise. Would you two marr-"
The loud whistle from the tea kettle blasted through the small apartment, interrupting Umi before she could finish.
"No! I can't let the moment I've been waiting for for years get interrupted!" Kotori rushed back to the kitchen the turn off the stove. The other two were flabbergasted, hearing Kotori quietly curse at the tea kettle. Honoka bursted out laughing as Kotori came back with a frown of mixed anger and disappointment. Umi joined with a quieter laugh of her own, both of the eventually managing to make Kotori's frown completely disappear.
"Wanna try that again?" Honoka asked as she wiped off a tear in the corner of her eye, which she wasn't sure if it had gotten there out of the laugh or something else.
"Honoka, Kotori… would you two marry me?"
