Hey, are you surprised? For the first time in two years, I release a chapter for not-the-June-Marathon. Enjoy if you can.
July 8
16:12
Sunlight streamed through the clubroom windows, bathing the room with a warm, after-school glow. Accompanying it was the mild smell of freshly brewed tea, straight from the electric kettle.
"Tea, senpai?"
"Don't mind if I do."
Jun sat down at the table, thanking Sumire for the tea. As she took a sip, Sumire leaned in to whisper curiously.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why is Azusa-senpai so happy today?"
Jun managed not to choke on her drink, despite her surprise. Her kouhai always had the worst sense of timing, didn't they? She swallowed her mouthful of tea and lowered her cup back onto the table.
"It's… complicated." She glanced to the three on the other side of the table and sighed. "Okay, maybe it's not that complicated. But it'd be better if all of us were paying attention. I don't want to have to re-explain things for Nao when she inevitably starts grilling us for details."
Sumire sat down next to Jun and giggled, joining her senpai in staring at the three other Wakaba Girls. "I wouldn't have forced you, senpai. But I'm glad you were willing to talk."
Jun snorted. "Sure you wouldn't." She took another sip.
Oblivious to Jun and Sumire's hushed conversation, Azusa and Ui had their eyes trained on Nao's laptop screen. Each had an earphone in one ear and a hand covering the other, both listening intently to Nao's transcription of the previous day's improvisation.
A few minutes later, they relaxed, removing the earphones from their ears.
"You turned all of my parts into trumpets," Azusa muttered with a slight pout on her face.
"My guitar samples are not very good," Nao explained flatly and completely unapologetically. "It was either trumpet, violin, or piano."
"I really liked it, personally," Ui interjected.
Azusa sighed. "I guess it's okay." She turned to Jun and Sumire and called them over. "Your turn to listen, girls."
Both girls stood to take Azusa and Ui's place next to Nao. As they passed by, Sumire smiled at the two other senpai. "I took the liberty of pouring your drinks."
"Thanks."
"Thank you, Sumire."
Earphone in place, Jun listened to the song. Sure enough, the instrumentation was markedly different from their improv session. And, somewhat amusingly, more playful.
Jun grinned at Nao. "I don't remember Azusa's guitar solo sounding quite like this yesterday."
Nao shrugged. "I didn't know how to transcribe it. So I improvised. This was the result."
"The xylophone and keyboard patches were nice touches as well," Azusa added, taking a sip of her tea. "So what's the verdict, Jun? You're the one singing this."
"I'd say it's perfect. I can probably think up some lyrics by—wait wait wait!" Jun cut herself off with a panicked wave of her hands. "Did you just say I'm singing?"
Azusa stared dryly at her. "Well, I'm singing our first two songs and Ui's singing the third. It's only fair that you sing this fourth one."
"But my voice—"
"Your voice was fine during the freshman orientation show. What's the problem?"
Jun frowned, taking a step back. "I was just backing vocals, though."
"And now you're lead." Azusa stood and put a hand on Jun's shoulder, a wide smile on her face. There was something strangely intimidating about it. "You'll be fine."
Jun wanted to wince at Azusa's oft-spoken words of reassurance. No matter how many times she heard them, and how many times they proved right, they still never felt convincing.
"Do you really not want to?"
Ui's words pulled Jun's attention across the table, her hands folded around her cup and a small frown tensed on her lips. Jun's expression softened at the sight.
"I guess I just… I don't think I can do it, I guess?"
Azusa snorted. "You guess?"
Jun rolled her eyes, pushing Azusa's hand off her shoulder and pinching the smaller girl's cheeks. "Yeah. I guess."
The petite guitarist smiled kindly, even as she put her hands gingerly over where Jun was pinching. "For the record, I think your singing is good. Ui thinks so too. Right, Ui?" There was a sound of confirmation from Ui.
Jun averted her eyes and pursed her lips. "Mhmm."
"Ow! Pinching harder doesn't make it any less true, you know? I like your singing voice, Jun. I think you'd do a good job."
She pursed her lips tighter. "Really?"
"Really," Azusa insisted. "I want to hear you sing more."
Jun glanced back down to Azusa and was met with eyes of garnet. She could almost see her reflection in them as they caught the light from the window.
"Okay, this is really starting to hurt. Let go, please, Jun. I'm begging you."
Azusa rapidly tapped Jun's hands in surrender, snapping the bassist out of her apparent trance. Jun released the guitarist as soon as she came back to her senses.
"Jeez. I can feel the blood rushing to my face," Azusa mumbled, gently rubbing said face. She eyed Jun critically. "Is that how hard I normally pinch you?"
Jun shrugged noncommittally, once again averting her eyes. "More or less."
"That puts it into perspective, I guess."
Jun smirked. "You guess?"
Azusa didn't dignify the jab with a response, though the lack of response was enough for Jun to snicker.
The two stiffened when they heard Nao clear her throat. "So, about the song," she said, eyeing them with a raised brow.
"S-sounds good," Jun said with a quick, cracking voice, slapping down whatever mortified reaction she'd have made otherwise. She turned to the other three. "Right, girls?" They all agreed.
"Brilliant, then. I'll send you a copy when I get home." Nao shut her laptop and quietly accepted the cup of tea that Sumire stepped forward with.
Jun sighed in relief and returned to her seat, taking a slow sip out of her own cup.
"The five of you are particularly in sync today," Sawako chirped, sounding pleased. The five in question collectively jumped to their feet, startled.
They still had no idea how Sawako kept appearing out of nowhere, but their club advisor had apparently been sitting at the table for who-knows-how-long now. Would they have noticed her if she'd never spoken? None of them could say. Jun certainly wouldn't bet on it.
After accepting an offered cup of tea from Sumire, Sawako shot Azusa a knowing smile. "I received a rather amusing message from one of my music contacts last night. Something about three Sakuragaoka students in the crowd of a livehouse at close to midnight?"
Azusa went wide-eyed and red-faced at Sawako's implicative words, shooting alarmed glances at Jun and Ui. Unfortunately, neither of them could save her. Jun could already feel the blood rushing to her own face and her mind growing blank with panic. Ui seemed equally speechless, a hand pressed to her mouth in shock.
Sawako turned to Jun and smirked. "Miss Suzuki, Miss Hirasawa? Would either of you care to explain why you were at a livehouse in a neighboring town at midnight? Miss Nakano here seems a little tongue-tied."
"Eep," Ui whined. Jun would have found it cute if her insides weren't clenched so tightly. All she could really do was chuckle weakly, a nervous smile tugging at her lips.
"Haha. Yeah… about that…"
Several minutes later, after an unbearably long scolding from Sawako, Azusa declared the club meeting adjourned.
16:44
"Huh. Other than Sawa-sensei, we didn't really get interrogated today," Jun muttered, hands in her pockets. "It's weird. Sumire already commented on us. Coulda' sworn they'd ask some sort of follow up."
Next to her, Azusa nudged her lightly with an elbow. "Is this about you know what?"
Jun quirked a brow. "I know what now?" Azusa pouted, elbowing her again but harder. Jun grinned slyly. "What? Be a bit more specific."
This earned an eye roll. "Never mind." She turned away in annoyed silence.
For a moment, Jun and Ui shared an amused glance, both of them suppressing giggles. "You know," Jun began. "You'll have to get used to talking about it at some point, Kitty-cat. We are dating now, after all."
Azusa stopped in her tracks, head turned down toward her feet. The other two stopped as well, a twinge of worry creeping at the edge of their smiles.
"Azusa?"
Upon closer inspection, however, they found nothing even remotely worrying about Azusa's abrupt stop. Between the red-tipped ears, the refusal to make eye contact, and the increasingly audible, dangerously cute, high-pitched, incomprehensible whining, it was clear that Azusa was merely embarrassed.
"Was it the nickname?" Jun asked with a chuckle, putting a hand on her hip. "If you don't like 'Kitty-cat,' I can call you something else."
Azusa shook her head and resumed walking, grabbing both Jun and Ui by the arms and dragging them behind her.
"Ah—! Azusa?"
"We are not having this conversation here!"
That shut both of them up. They continued to the Hirasawa household without further incident.
17:08
After arriving home, Azusa made a beeline for the bathroom. Immediately upon entering, she went to the sink and splashed water across her face, following up with a slap to both cheeks that echoed against the tiled walls. Her face stung from both the cold of the tap and the force of her palms. It was electrifying, though it paled in comparison to the storm that had rolled over her mind.
She still couldn't quite get over her decision to start dating Jun and Ui on the previous night. Okay, sure, they loved her. And, yes, she was absolutely certain she'd tell them that she loved them back during their date that night. Despite things not going anywhere near as planned, it had all worked out in the end. That was their happily-ever-after, wasn't it?
And yet…
Azusa splashed more water onto her face.
Her confession had taken a weight off of her shoulders. What had followed after had given her a high like she'd never experienced before—every kiss sending her flying further into the clouds. Jun's kisses were so soft, but raw and aggressive, daring—nay, demanding Azusa to fight back. Ui's were more gentle and controlled, mostly following Azusa's lead, but also perfectly willing to set the pace, sweeping her along like a leaf thrown helplessly into the wind. In those tender moments—the candid exchange of words, the wordless locking of lips, the unrepentant cuddling until sleep took them—it had felt so good—so right— that she almost couldn't believe it was real.
And now, the day after…
It genuinely felt like it wasn't real anymore. When she'd woken up, her morning routine had gone the way it normally did: Jun had taken most of the blanket again; Ui's breakfast was delicious as always; the walk to school was still uneventful; the conversations during the wait for homeroom were no less inane. Nothing had changed. It was as if that night of happiness and affection that they'd shared was all in her head—nothing more than a half-forgotten dream…
And then Sawako had reminded her of their date the previous night, and it all came rushing back.
Azusa shut off the faucet and looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks hadn't bruised. They certainly looked a little sore, but the flushed skin was already returning to normal. The same couldn't be said for her eyes—they looked uncomfortably red. Water must have gotten into them and she just hadn't noticed. Jun and Ui were sure to comment on it once she emerged from the bathroom.
There was a knock on the door. She went rigid, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Azusa?"
It was Ui, voice muffled but clearly concerned. Azusa slowly let out a deep, trembling sigh, closing her eyes.
"It's not locked."
There was a moment of hesitation before the door opened.
"You've been in here a while. Is everything okay?"
Azusa opened her eyes to look at Ui. From the suddenly-raised brows and hand that darted to her mouth, it was clear that she'd noticed Azusa's frazzled state. She rushed forward with a handkerchief.
"What happened? Have you been crying?"
Azusa shook her head as Ui dabbed the soft cloth against her face. The foreign touch made her sore cheeks ache more than before, but she ignored it.
"I've been thinking, Ui…"
Ui turned her head, curious yet wary. She still continued to rub with her handkerchief. "About what?"
Azusa took Ui's hand and gently pushed it away from her face. She gave her a nervous smile. "Last night… it actually happened, right? I didn't just dream it?"
Ui blinked, staring at her distantly. Despite the lack of focus in her eyes, it was clear that she was thinking deeply on Azusa's words. She pursed her lips before she next spoke.
"What's wrong?" she asked again.
Azusa looked away. "It doesn't feel real," she muttered. "It feels like it was all a dream, right up until Miss Sawako scolded us."
"I see," Ui whispered.
With startling speed, Ui pulled Azusa into a kiss. The high of excitement from the previous night immediately returned in full force, her stomach clenching as if she were being launched into space.
"Did that feel real enough for you?" Ui asked with a proud, almost mischievous smile. It was a shame that the kiss had knocked Azusa's mind so out of sorts—she would have told Ui how cute that smile looked.
"Wow," Azusa said, not really coherent enough to say anything else.
Ui could only giggle. "I'll take that as a yes." She took Azusa's arms and dragged her out of the bathroom. "Come on. I think you need more convincing. And it wouldn't be fair to Jun if I hogged you all for myself."
Azusa tried to say something along the lines of "I'm already convinced," but all that came out of her mouth was incomprehensible gibberish.
Though, thinking about it, she wasn't exactly against receiving more kisses.
Thus, she wordlessly allowed Ui to drag her to the kitchen, where Jun and Ui proceeded to shower her with affection. Had Jun not been making fun of her, she would have honestly believed this was a dream too.
22:01
Azusa suppressed a shiver as Ui nibbled her ear. "Enough already. Give it a rest," she muttered into the blanket. Ui giggled but didn't stop.
On the other side of the bed, Jun giggled as well. "Just accept it already, Azusa. We're spoiling you rotten until you're absolutely certain this is real."
Azusa whined as Ui moved to kiss her neck. "I'm already convinced. I was convinced hours ago."
"Sure you were."
"I was!" Azusa insisted. She let out another embarrassing noise as Ui moved back to nibbling her ear. "Ui, I'm begging you to stop. I won't be able to sleep."
Jun snickered. "See how she reacts if you kiss the base of her neck."
"Juuuuun!" Azusa whined once more as a shiver ran down her spine, radiating from where Ui's lips pressed against her skin.
"You know, with the way you squeak and squirm, it's not very hard to see why Yui-senpai loved cuddling you so much."
Azusa only managed a whimper.
"For the record, me and Ui wanted to do this for a while now." Azusa felt Jun's arms snaking around Ui, tapping Azusa's sides. They made her jolt. "Think of it as making up for lost time."
Another whimper. "If I was enjoying myself any less, I'd definitely be regretting my decision to confess to you two."
"Then it's a good thing you're enjoying yourself. Ain't that right Ui?"
Ui made a sound of confirmation as she nuzzled the crook between Azusa's neck and shoulder.
Azusa took a shaky breath and steeled herself for at least another hour of tickling and kisses.
She wasn't sure for how long it actually went, but when sleep finally took her, it did so swiftly.
End of chapter
Thank you to picardyThird for beta-reading this chapter."
So, this chapter is technically filler.
It's between the Tanabata arc and the next big event I plan to revolve the chapters to follow, that event being the start to summer break. I'm saving my big ideas for when I get there. Stuff like Yui going back home for break and the Wakaba Girls having their first summer training camp.
Until then, I hope you enjoyed the fluffy filler! There will be more.
Probably.