After waking up and going through their day at school, Chris and Hibiki finally reach a particular café.
Friday, October 2044
With everything happening in my life since the death of my parents and up until not even two years ago, waking up in the middle of the night with a startle caused by recurrent nightmares was not uncommon to me. I consider myself lucky enough that those didn't negatively affect my health, hell, thank to them I'm now able to wake up on time without using any alarm no matter how tired I am. Though, recently, waking up without any is slowly becoming the norm to me
But this; slowly waking up with a comfortable warm presence by my side and feeling, I would say particularly content is fairly new to me. So, deciding to enjoy the feeling a little longer is certainly not that strange, right?
It's only after a moment, regardless of how long it was that I finally open my eyes, founding myself in a position quite different from what I remember falling asleep in. It seems that during my torpor I had turned around, now facing my bedmate and hugging her as well. Hibiki's hold on me was quite loose, allowing me to slowly extricate myself from her embrace without stirring her awake.
Now sitting on the edge of the bed, I look at the still asleep but gorgeous figure displayed, hearing faint mumbles as the girl was blindly trying to reach for my presence. I feel a smile creeping on my face as I place a pillow as a substitute, which the hugger cuddles against it when she took it before frowning a bit. 'Maybe she can tell the difference between a pillow and an actual body even in her sleepy state,' I muse over it a bit before getting up, letting the thought dies down.
I stretch myself a bit before checking my phone for the time. 'More than an hour left, enough to go by the bathroom, make breakfast, wake her up if she is still asleep, and ready ourselves for school.'
After a moment in the bathroom, I come out; teeth brushed and uniform on. I head then to the kitchen where I begin to take the ingredients out of the fridge in order to cook breakfast.
I hear the door of the bedroom opening over the sizzling sound of the pan, looking away from it, my eyes fall on a Hibiki with wild bed hair walking while rubbing her eyes. The sight was just too adorable for me to tear my eyes away from her.
"Morning, Chris-chan," she mumbles when she notices me.
Her greeting shakes me from my daze and the smell coming from the pan claims my attention back on it and its contents. "Yo, breakfast will be ready soon, don't take too long in the bathroom," I say to her, which she mumbles what seems to be a "yeah" as she walks toward the bathroom.
Minutes later Hibiki and I are seated at the table with scrambled eggs, sausages, and bacon on our plates with a glass of orange juice for breakfast.
The moment I dig in I stop myself upon hearing Hibiki's comment. "Is that possible, Chris-chan is not good with traditional cooking?"
I settle the fork back in my plate before averting my eyes, "It's not that I'm bad at it, I'm just more used to western cooking. But I can, just you wait, next time I will make sure to cook a traditional one, with a lot of rice in supplements." I tease her with the last sentence while I take a forkful of scrambled eggs before the both of us are eating in silence.
When our meal was done, the dishes were washed and left to dry alongside those of yesterday, a moment spent fighting and taming Hibiki's bed hair and finally putting on our winter coat, we leave my apartment to head to school.
The way to school is spent in silence, not that I mind. It's just a little strange when you're walking together with Hibiki, her staying silent for that long makes me turn my head to her, to realize that she was no longer walking beside me, but trailing a bit behind me, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "What's wrong with you?" I ask her, cringing internally at my tone. 'I clearly could have asked more gently.' Hibiki didn't seem to pay it any mind though, only lifting her head before shaking it as she tells me it was nothing, then catching up to me.
I wanted to dig a little more into it, but my attempt was foiled by the sound of a familiar voice. "Ah! Hibiki-san, Chris-senpai! Good morning-desu!" Our two kouhais were jogging toward us and rapidly engaging themselves on a new subject with Hibiki and me, which Hibiki glanced at me once before turning back to the conversation. With this strange behavior, I decided to leave it at rest, for now, listening to my kouhais chatting, only talking when they expected a reaction from me.
"By the way Chris-senpai, Hibiki-san. It's rare to see both of you coming to school together." The black-haired kouhai remarks and I see Hibiki stiffens a little at the remark as her steps stop, searching for what to say.
Seeing how uneasy she was, I choose to help her. "This one fell asleep on my couch after coming over. Since it was also late, I let her crash at my place." I glance at Hibiki after giving them an explanation, she seems relieved to the white lie I've just told to them and gives me a small smile in thank. 'Yep, I will confront her about what's going on with her later, she is acting a bit strange at moment.'
"S-so t-that's mean you two s-s-spent the evening alone together-desu!?" The blonde-haired stuttered, a hand in front of her mouth and pointing a shaking finger at us.
"Yeah. We did. Big deal," I reply, waving a hand off and furrowing my eyebrows lightly. 'So, it would be okay for them to crash at my place, but it would be strange that Hibiki to do it? Ahhh, I really don't understand them sometimes.' Letting her to her own thought, I turn around and grab Hibiki's wrist before heading toward school. "The lot better hurry before ending up late," I say as I leave before they could retort anything.
It's only when I brought Hibiki to her classroom that I realized what I was doing and hurriedly scram away saying a 'see you later' while ignoring the students' whispers. I succeed in making it to my classroom right before the bell ring, yet still attracting the attention of my classmates. I ignore the quizzical stares as I reach for my seat, taking out what I need for today's lesson, and waiting for the teacher.
Kyūdō Club
I draw an arrow before taking a deep breath, clearing my mind, and then shooting. The arrow leaves the bows, follows the trajectory I have given to it before ending its course into the center of the target with the usual sound. "Chossei,"I mutter in success, my mouth forming a slight grin.
"Yukine-buchō! Nagisa and I are the last ones leaving, have a nice weekend." I look toward the direction of the voice, where two kouhais are standing side by side, waving their hands at me.
"Yeah, see you next week and be careful on your way home," I say to them while twirling the arrow around my fingers, my eyes refocusing on the target once they left.
How I became the club president is still a wonder to me, I basically joined the club halfway through my second year and only focused on shooting the days I would attend. The other members pretty much left me alone at first the new batch of first years came, they suddenly began talking to me. I never asked, and they never hinted up to why so. 'Well, whatever, we took care of the crazy alchemist exhibitionist leader of an international organization weeks ago and things are still fairly calm. I should just act like one while I can… Before the next enemy pops up.'
As exit my thought, I look around to check that the girls are well gone and that no one else is here. Once certain, I quickly put things in motion for my special time. And, after setting a table next to my shooting position, spreading out arrows on it in one direction as well as switching the usual traditional Kyūdō bow for my personal one; a red with yellow-orange strips recurve bow, I take a look at my target while testing my grip on my bow and shooting an arrow to familiarize myself once again with it.
I now take another look at the arrows spread out on the table, checking roughly their number with the kanji I have in mind before beginning.
I fetch the first arrow, drawing it a little as I take another breath before shooting. The very moment the arrow left the bow that I'm already fetching another one and shooting it without pause and keeping the cadence. After shooting consecutively the two dozen arrows I set, I finally take the two last ones, draw them together with the bow before shooting them, the arrows ending both their course where I wanted, forming the kanji "立" (Tachi).
I release the tension in my muscles as I put my hands on my hips while recovering, admiring my handiwork until I hear applause from behind me.
"You were so cool, Chris-chan! They all hit the target," Hibiki excitedly says to me.
I have to fight the blush threatening my cheeks before I could ask. "Since when are you here?"
Hibiki tilts her head to the side while putting a finger on her chin, she then walks toward me. "Well, I would say in during the shooting. It took me a little longer because I met Nagisa-chan and Honoka-chan on the way," she answers, leaning toward me and smiling sweetly with her hands behind her back. Her eyes then land on the bow in my hand, "Hmm? It's not the bow you guys usually use," she ponders briefly, locking eyes with me once again, waiting for my reply.
I tear myself from her gaze before I lost myself in it as I draw her attention to the bow in my hand. "Yeah, it's a recurve bow. I got myself one to train with, once the other members are not here. Perks of being the club's president." I grin at the last sentence. "You're actually the only one who sees it."
She hums a little while taking a closer look. "Chris-buchō has a really nice ring to it, never tired of hearing it." She smiles before asking me if I was done with my club activities.
"Yeah, just need to put everything where they belong, switching outfits and I'm ready to go," I say, waving at the place.
"What can I do to help you?" Hibiki asks, always in to lend a hand when and where she can.
Knowing she will certainly not stand still if she sees me doing it alone, I decide to take on her offer. "Well, in this case, while I change myself, I will ask you to put the table against this wall and to put away the arrows I used in the empty ground quiver in the storage." I point the different emplacements for each item. "I will help you once I'm done changing."
"Understood, Chris-buchō!" She replies while performing a mock salute 'So she's fine with calling me 'buchō' but not 'senpai'… Well, whatever.' I thought while heading to the changing room.
To my slight surprise, once I'm done and exit with my schoolbag, I see Hibiki waiting for me at the door entrance holding hers in front of her with both hands. I take a look around to check if anything was left forgotten and seeing there were none, I join her. "You clearly didn't take your time, are you that eager to go in that café?" I tease her, nudging her side with my elbow.
She fidgets a bit before answering. "It's just…" She hesitates, searching her words before reluctantly saying. "That's lately, we don't hang out much with just the two of us, there's always Miku or Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan with us. Actually, we spend more time together during missions than outside of them."
'True, the idols mostly hang out together since senpai's graduation and I'm with either Hibiki and her friend/friends or the two kouhais, if not all of them at once.' I let out a sigh at the thought. "We managed yesterday to be just the two of us… So, there's no reason that we can't do the same today either… Unless you invited someone else when I was not looking?" I nudge her side once more while smiling.
She laughs adorably before saying. "Nope, no one, Chris-chan, just you and me. And whatever the café has on their menu."
My heart flutters hearing her words. "Then, let's quickly hand over the key to the teacher and we will be on our way," I smile, walking with a little spring in my steps, trying not to look too happy about it.
We are now outside, on our way to the café, Hibiki in front, leading while walking backward and me following her.
"So, how was school?" I ask her, curious about how she handled the chaos I accidentally created.
"Well, after you left, some classmates quickly surrounded me and were asking about you, how I knew Chris-chan or our relationships until I was saved by the bell and the teacher entering the class. Then with the help of Yumi-chan and the others, we managed to more or less diffuse the whole thing. Still, it's amazing how Chris-chan is still famous despite being almost a year since the school festival." She says, looking at me with amazement.
"Only around the thirds years and second years, the first years don't even know about it."
"From what Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan told me; their classmates are pretty jealous of them to be able to spend so much time with you while they can only catch a glimpse. And I think there are some among them that enrolled at Lydian because they heard you sing that day."
"Seriously…" I sigh heavily. "I can't wait for me to graduate and leave this behind," I said absently.
"Don't be like that Chris-chan, you should enjoy it while you can. You took Tsubasa's place as the most famous third year in the school," she rambles excitedly while spinning around.
Those spins weren't the safest way to move around, so, I warn her. "You will fall if you keep up like that."
As she stops, she resumes walking backward. "No worries, Chris-chan, I can still totally avoid other peop- Whoa!" She trips, interrupting herself mid-sentence.
I react before the thought even forms in my mind as I step forward, grabbing Hibiki's by a flaying wrist and pulling her toward me before she could drag me in her fall. She ends up leaning against me, my breast pressing against her back and my other hand on her waist, steadying her. We froze at the unexpected intimate position we end up in, attracting glances from other passerby and I could swear that I saw a woman snickering and winking at me when our eyes met.
We rapidly break apart, with Hibiki bowing and apologizing to me with what I think is a blush on her face, but at the same time being oblivious to mine with her head down.
I recover my composure during her apology. "Your apology will be you treating me to anything I want on the menu," I tell her while resuming our walk, this time with Hibiki walking by my side normally.
"There is it Chris-chan!" Hibiki says pointing to the café.
Looking at the storefront I saw the name; 'Calamity Crowe Café' written in black and blood-red letters. 'Whoa… As much as red is pretty much my color and that I don't have anything against black, the use of both makes the place look a bit… threatening?' I comment internally upon seeing the color code.
"I didn't pay much attention the first time, but the scheme color reminds me of Chris-chan in Ignite module," Hibiki voices her thoughts.
Nodding to her words, we enter the place. "Welcome to the 'Calamity Crow Café' where the staff is everything but ordinary!"
Once inside we are welcomed by a woman… or girl. She is just a bit taller than Hibiki with long light blonde hair with a thick strand of hair across her face, green eyes full of mischief, wearing a sleeveless pink and purple dress shirt, black dress pants, and a black waist apron with the word 'Witch' written on it in white letters.
"Oh my, you are the girl from yesterday!" She says once her eyes land on Hibiki.
"Eh!? You remember me?"
"Of course! I could never forget a troubled girl who, just after tasting one of our products has her whole face brightened like the sun and then ordered half dozen before running like she suddenly remembers she had a hot date with her special someone." The server recounts her first encounter with Hibiki, waving exaggeratedly and changing the tone of her voice, ending by patting Hibiki's head. The concerned girl be totally embarrassed and blushing during the whole thing.
The witch resumes. "I also knew that you would come again today with said someone," she finishes, eying me a moment, then looking at me from head to toes, her hand on her chin as if appraising me before smiling, nodding approvingly, and then calling for someone. "Velvet-dear! Come quickly, there's something interesting for you," she winks at us once her call made.
Mere seconds later, a woman appeared from the door that leads to the kitchen; she was taller than the blond-haired woman, taller than senpai, maybe as tall as Maria. She has black hair so long that they almost touch the ground, strands of her hair across her forehead, a small braid on the left side of her face reaching her collarbone, and burning amber eyes. she wears the same outfit as her coworker, but her shirt has short sleeves and the color is a red so deep that it could have been dyed with real blood, her apron has 'Lord of Calamity' on it and her left arm is entirely bandaged to her very fingertips.
"What is it, Magilou?" The black-haired woman asks with a scowl on her face.
"Look, look! That's the girl from yesterday, and as I said, she came back with her girlfriend, meaninnng," she drags the last syllable. "I won the bet, now pay up!" The witch announces with a grin and a small bounce of her self.
Said 'Lord of Calamity' gives her coworker an irritated look before shifting it on Hibiki, who squeal a bit and immediately grab my arm, almost hiding behind me when it happens. 'How can you face head-on immortal beings and other crazy things but be scared of a simple woman,' I thought before turning toward the woman, gulping once I meet her eyes and quickly averting them. 'Nevermind! She's scarier than any villains we fought and I'm sure her anger instills fear to anyone fool enough to try.'
"My, my, Velvet-dear. No need to take it out on them, you were the one who accepts the bet after all," the witch says with a coy smile while patting her coworker's back.
Huffing, the black-haired woman fetches her phone from her pocket while holding out the palm of her other hand toward the witch.
Understanding the gesture, the witch hand over her own phone before addressing us with a smile. "Thank a lot, girls. You just brightened my day, and for this, you get a special discount for couples".
"We are not dating!"
"I'm not her girlfriend!"
Both Hibiki and I said at the same time while blushing, finally catching up with everything the two women were 'talking' about.
The two women as well as some customers were now looking at us with quizzical and curious expressions. The witch's look rapidly transforms into one of realization and then of dread while the Lord of Calamity's face formed an amused smile while eying her coworker. Once their eyes met the black-haired woman lift an eyebrow. "Oh? They just said they were not dating Magilou."
Whimpering and whining a little, the witch throws her hands in the air. "Fine! You win, happy!?"
"Very much," the black-haired women respond with a flat tone while tapping on both phones before throwing her coworker's back to her. "Now, I will recall you that those two girls are customers, and bet aside, you have a duty of serving them."
Grumping a little while pocketing her phone, the witch tells us to follow her, away from most customers to let the attention drawn on us die down.
Once seated at a table for two, winter coats and schoolbags hanging on our chair, the witch withdraws a notebook and a pen from her pocket. "I will let you take a look, taking the time to get a feel of the menu first."
We do as ask and after reading something curious, I turn my head toward the woman to ask a question but was cut out before any word left my mouth. "Oh right! Each staff members here have a signature dish in which the customer can order depending on the day and which staff members are present. Most of them are meal, but we have dessert too, by the way, mine is the 'Heavenly Fruit Parfait'."
I close the menu right away having already make up my mind, I know my eyes probably lighten up at the last words she said, and I honestly don't care. "I will have the parfait, what about you?" I look at Hibiki.
She looks a little more before smiling, a sign that she finds what she wants. "I will take two plates of Mitarashi Dango"
"A Heavenly Fruit Parfait and two plates of Mitarashi Dango, coming right away!" the witch exclaims as walking away.
Looking around the place and taking in its decoration, I meet the eyes of some customers who immediately averts them afterward. When Hibiki and I lock eyes after taking into our surroundings and the curious look of other customers, we both release a sigh before we begin to giggle, then laugh at the whole situation.
"Sorry for all this Chris-chan," she begins through fits of laughter.
"Don't be, can't believe she thought we were together when you already have a girlfriend," I say, waving off and managing to subdue my laughter.
Her laughter suddenly stops. "Eh!? I don't have a one, Chris-chan!" Her face wears a look of confusion on it, and I can feel some kind of hope blossoming inside me, hearing she doesn't have one before frowning at the blatant lie.
"Come on, you don't need to hide it, not that you did it very well by the way, but we all pretty much know. Hell, even senpai noticed it on her own," I insist a little, not really knowing where I was trying to do by saying that.
"Wait, Chris-chan. Are you talking about Miku?"
I look at her completely flabbergasted. "Who else!?" I said a little louder than I attended, attracting a few more glances on us, for which I apologize.
"Here is your order, two plates of Mitarashi Dango for this one and a Heavenly Fruit Parfait for you, they are on the house for the trouble caused." The arrival of our order interrupts the flow of our conversation, which I think was the objective from the witch, seeing how well-timed it was. She then left as swiftly as she came with a simple 'enjoy!'
Trying to gather my thoughts about what was said beforehand, I quickly take a spoonful from my parfait, shoving ice cream and a piece of banana in my mouth and releasing a moan when the taste hits my tongue. I take spoonful after another, only stopping when I notice Hibiki staring at me with a fond smile, her elbows on the table and cradling her chin in one hand.
Spoon still held in my mouth I ask her a bit defensively. "What with that look, shouldn't' you be eating too?"
She shakes her head. "Sorry, you just looked so happy while eating that I couldn't stop watching for a moment," Hibiki responds before taking a skewer and eating a Dango. Her whole face suddenly lights up, one hand on her cheek and the other still holding the skewer while she hums happily before taking another one. "They're awesome Chris-chan!"
It's my turn to look at her while she enjoys herself. As I take another spoonful, I decide to revive our previous conversation, "So, what's that about the two of you not dating, and what kind of relationship the two of you have then?"
"Miku and I are really nothing more than friends, best friends. We knew each other since we were kids, so childhood friends too, but there was never anything romantic between us."
"Then, how do you explain how close the two of you are? She's basically taking care of you all the time to the point you would look helpless without her," I say a bit puzzled.
"Hey! Aside from homework, I'm not that helpless without Miku." She denies vehemently before settling herself and sighs. "Well, things between us changed after the Zwei Wings Concert incident; with the bullying, dad leaving and all, she was the only friend who stays by my side and rapidly became the person I was relying on the most at that time. She was always trying to take care of me when she could; walking home with me, the increasing number of sleepovers, coming to my help when I would fall in the stairs even if I was brushing the thing off." the last part was said with a humorless laugh.
I bit my lower lip at this, knowing well the person responsible for the big change in Hibiki's life, but deciding to remain silent as she continues. "Things increased a little more since living in the dorm as well as me becoming a Symphogear User; knowing I was out there fighting whatever current threat made her a little more restless and… clingy? So, I just let her do it; cooking, waking me up, almost everything, it was her way to cope up with the situation, knowing she could do nothing when I was on a mission. She tried in her own way to make sure I was as much as ease possible. It was how much worrying about me in those moments was eating at her."
"To the point to accept getting manipulated to create a world where you wouldn't have to fight," I said in understanding.
"Yeah, fortunately, she has given up on that idea. I don't want to fight her again."
"It makes the two of us, even if she didn't land a single hit on me, fighting her was still the hardest and painful fight I ever had," I say, waving my spoon at her.
A silence takes place between us, Hibiki going through more Dango and spoonsful of frozen treats for me before I decide to ask her.
"Di-"
"Ne, Chris-chan, can we switch?"
I blink dumbly before repeating what she asked of me. "Switch?"
Holding her second plate of Dango, "I want to switch the rest of my Dango with your parfait, can we?"
'Well, I was curious about the taste of these Dango myself after seeing how much she enjoyed them.' Sighing, I push the rest of my parfait toward her as I take her plate of remaining Dango.
Once each of us took a bite of each other dish and voiced our compliment, I finally ask her, "Did the two of you ever talk about it?"
"We did recently, actually. And we both agreed that we may rely on each other too much, Miku even more than me." She pauses, taking another spoonful of the parfait. "While taking the Lydian Academy entrance exam meant for me to get away from the drama of my hometown and maybe meeting Tsubasa-san in person. It was mostly to begin anew in a new environment, I'm really grateful that Miku came along with me, but now I realize that she may have chosen Lydian with me in mind rather than for herself." She finishes, her head hanging down.
"And you fear in doing so, she closes herself to other possibilities and maybe what she wanted to do originally," I elaborate.
She nods before smiling a bit. "You know, Miku is really good at the piano, she was always praised by the teachers in middle school, took extra lessons, and even won first place in some competitions. But she began to go less and less after the incident, saying she had rescheduled them when she was walking me home before just stopping altogether." She pauses again. "I didn't question it much in the past but now…" she sighs once more.
"She obviously stopped to stay by your side, and now you're feeling guilty for not questioning it because you could have pushed her to keep playing." she nods while finishing the remaining of my parfait.
Seeing this, I quickly get the attention of a staff member; a very tall man, taller than senpai's manager, but less than the old man, still built the same. He has short blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, a black dress shirt, and 'Reaper' written on his apron. He highly recommends us his signature dish; the 'Berserker's Palmier' accompanied by the tea of the day, which we both take before he left.
"So… Where was I?" Hibiki mutters to herself.
"You were talking about how much the two of you rely on each other, her, giving up the piano and you feeling guilty for not pushing her to continue," I summarize.
"Yeah, so the thing is Miku still loves playing it, she told me that she resumed playing and practicing it more since entering Lydian. And so, we agreed that she should practice for the upcoming competition, she's actually spending the weekend with her parents to speak to them about it and if she could make it a career out of it."
"That way she has to use her personal time for herself to get ready for it and that will serve the purpose of putting some distance between you two," I say, finally clueing everything together.
"Yep," she answers with a smile.
'So, the two of them were not dating, they were just accustomed to being around each other. While it doesn't seem to be a bad thing, it suddenly became one on Hibiki's side, the constant worry of her friend makes her realize that if something really bad were to happen to her, she will, without hesitation throw away her life to take care of Hibiki, which Hibiki wouldn't want.' It's during my musing that the reaper comes back with a tray holding two cups of tea and a plate of the aforementioned Palmier biscuits in it, leaving after telling us that the order was also on the house.
'This place really knows how to take care of their customers.' I thought before reaching for one of the cups of tea, bringing close to my nose to breathe in its fragrance. 'Smell like cinnamon, apple cinnamon tea?'
"Then I hope things will go well for the both of you."
Hibiki nods her head while she nibbles on a Palmier. I take a sip of the tea after blowing a little on it to cool it down. "Yep, apple cinnamon tea," I mumble in confirmation at the sweet taste as I feel my body warming up. I turn my gaze to see Hibiki dipping her Palmier in the tea before taking another bite.
Using the comfortable atmosphere, I rethink to what Hibiki divulged until now. And with it, end up with three facts; one; Hibiki is not dating anyone. Two; with her childhood friend visiting her parents and staying the weekend, Hibiki will be alone. And three; there is no fucking way I let this golden opportunity pass on.
'With everything cleared up, I know she's available but… Damn, everything became simpler and complicated at the same time, it's not like I can just confess my feelings to her, especially if things with her childhood friend are changing. I will just add more drama to them with this timing… I should wait, no! I have to wait, at least for them to be more at ease with their situation and new dynamic before anything. I will just act like usual, maybe testing the water and trying to leave some hints.'
Finally coming to terms with myself and how to act around her, I take another Palmier and dip it, taking the first step. "You should spend the weekend with me."
'Smooth much, I couldn't have been more direct.' I berate myself.
"Eh!?"
'Of course, she would react like that, I'm shocked enough at how assertive I am myself.'
I rapidly try to provide an excuse. "I mean you will obviously be on your own, which frankly worried me a bit. I don't know about your cooking skills and I'm sure your friend will be more than grateful to come back with the place still intact. Even if I'm sure you would be fine with just eating anything outside." the last sentence was muttered while my eyes stare at the table.
I see Hibiki cocking her head to the side while munching and the last Palmier, closing her eyes and thinking about it. "I'm really happy that you are worried about me, Chris-chan. But are you really okay with me spending the weekend with you?"
"We spent a whole evening together just yesterday and it was pretty fun. Plus, you are the one who said we don't spend much time together, we will just extend it to the whole weekend, so what do you think?" I quickly say, easing her worry. 'Come on! Just say yes!'
"Yesterday was really fun, even the homework part," she says at first before adding. "I would love to... If it's fine with you Chris-chan."
I feel a tension in my shoulders, that I didn't even realize was here, easing upon heating her words. "I would not have proposed it in the first place if I was not fine with it," I reply. 'YES! You just don't know how fine I am with it,' I thought happily while finishing the remaining of my tea and Hibiki doing the same.
"We should definitely try lunch here next time, I'm curious about what other kinds of signature dish they have," Hibiki says as we exit the C3.
"How about tomorrow? We could have a late lunch there and try whatever signature dish they have available," I propose.
"Sure thing. Then, I will go make a fast trip to the dorm to take what I need and then be at your place, Chris-chan."
"I need to do some grocery shopping first. I will see you at my apart… And use the key this time."
'Never thought I will tell her that one day.'
"Later Chris-chan." Taking my schoolbag with her, she takes off running.
'She really seems eager to spend the evening with me. Like I could talk, I'm probably more than her.'
It's on my way to the grocery store that I text her to bring her textbooks and that she will not escape doing her homework while being at my place. Her answer was several emojis to show she was not happy about it.
Smiling at it, I pocket my phone and keep walking, making a mental list of what we will need.
Grocery Store
'Why did they move it higher!?' I angrily thought, trying to reach for the shelf of Anpan and failing at it despite wearing heels. "The previous location was just fine, so why did they. Fucking. Move it?!" I spat angrily at each jump I take. I ultimately lose my balance at my last jump, beginning to fall backwards before being steadied by a pair of hands holding me by the shoulders. I turn my head to see who my savior was but to suddenly lock eyes with a smiling Hibiki.
"You okay, Chris-chan?" she asks me before eyeing what I was trying to get, "Ahhh… They move them higher," she adds before leaving my side and jumping a bit to get some, then dumping them in the basket.
"How come you are here? Didn't we agree to meet up at my apart?"
"I already made the trip back and I also wanted to buy some things for us," she explains, pointing at her own basket filled with groceries.
I take a look at what she got. 'Snacks, candy, beef, mushrooms, onions… is she planning on cooking something?' As I turn my eyes back to her to ask what she is planning with those ingredients that she shushes me by shaking a finger at me.
"Surprise, surprise, Chris-chan. You will have to either guess or wait when I'm done," She grins widely at the end, provoking a blank stare from me, then letting out a sigh before smiling.
"Well, thank for the Anpan. And with this, I have everything we will need now, let's go" I walk toward the cashiers with Hibiki in tow.
Chris' apartment
Once the groceries were paid, in which Hibiki wholly insists that she paid mine as well for the sole reason she couldn't treat me at the café, we finally end up in my apartment.
As I head to the kitchen to put the groceries on the counter, I see that our schoolbags as well as another one are settled on the couch. 'She really brought it. She would surely rather do what I told her than face what I could do to her if she didn't.'
Telling me she wanted to change out of her uniform for something more comfortable, Hibiki takes the extra bag with her as she heads toward my bedroom while I begin to stock the fridge.
She emerges back when I was going to put the eggs, which almost fell from my hands when my eyes land on her. Hibiki was wearing navy blue lounge shorts and a yellow tank top exposing her toned arms and legs. Her hips swayed slightly with each step she took toward me as my eyes shift briefly downward to notice she was walking bare feet before coming back on her legs and hips.
It's when she stops in front of me, calling my name while waving a hand in front of my face that I realize I was ogling her quite openly. I quickly tear my gaze from her body to lock eyes with her, stammering a bit. "S-sorry, what were you saying?" my face must be completely red at this point, I mean she obviously caught me staring intensely at her physique.
And yet, she didn't mention it. Instead, she just looks at me in confusion. "Your face is pretty red Chris-chan, are you okay?" Before I had the time to provide an answer that she cradles my face in her hands and leans her forehead against mine, the sudden contact and very close proximity fry my brain and leave me in a daze, I see her lips move but can't register a single word or sound.
As she takes my winter coat off my shoulder, I follow her as she guides me to the couch where she sits me before returning to the kitchen, leaving me there for who knows how long.
I finally come out of my daze by the feeling of something warm against my cheek. Jerking away from the sudden sensation, my surroundings steadily came back into focus. My eyes then land on Hibiki holding two mugs while handing one to me. "Here, Chris-chan. It will warm you up."
Opting to ignore whatever happened since I saw Hibiki in her loungewear and the daze that followed, I gingerly take the mug offered from Hibiki's hand.
She then joins me on the couch, legs in the lotus position and holding her mug with both hands, smiling widely at me and urging me to taste the beverage. Following her lead, I take a sip, licking the excess on my upper lip.
"It tastes… nutty?" I say, looking at the content, which, no matter how I look at it is seems to be plain hot chocolate. 'Then where does the nutty taste come from?' I ponder.
Hibiki gives me the answers before I have much chance to think about it. "Almond milk, that's the nutty taste," she grins widely before taking another sip.
Taking another sip as well, I furrow my eyebrow. "Wait I don't have any almond milk and saw most of the content of your basket. There were none as well, so where does it come from?"
"I just brought the carton I had from the dorm, I took it out from my bag after I changed, didn't you see it?" she asks, cocking her head to the side.
I avert my eyes. 'I can't tell her! There is no way I can tell her that I was too busy looking at her body that I didn't see her holding anything in her hands.' I shake the thought away for the sake of providing a reasonable excuse. "I must have zoned out and not paid attention."
Hibiki hums at my lame excuse, she shrugs as she resumes drinking, which I gladly follow. The silence in which we finish our drink was quite comfortable.
Once done, Hibiki stands up and takes my mug to put it in the sink. She then proceeds, surprisingly, to take out her textbooks from her schoolbag and set everything on the table. I didn't even voice my astonishment that she beat me to whatever I could say. "From what we did yesterday as well as you, saying that I'm not escaping them, I thought that I better get going at them as soon as I can."
"And you're fine with it?" I ask with bewilderment.
She pouts, she actually, really pouts before averting her eyes, saying that it's not like I'm giving her much of a choice. 'If she knows that all she has to do to get whatever she wants from me is to look straight at me while pouting. I would be done for. Thankfully, I don't attend for her to know this weakness anytime soon, if not ever, so I'm safe.' I thought as I slip off of the couch to join Hibiki at the table, grabbing my textbooks out as well. "Then like we did yesterday. Do what you can, then I will help you with whatever once I'm done with mine," I smile at her which she returns it.
"Finally over!" I watch Hibiki now laying on her back, arms spread before she turns her head toward me. "Thanks for the help, Chris-chan," she says as she closes her eyes.
"You're welcome," I utter as I look at her for a moment before shifting my gaze to check the time. "Let's make dinner," I say, realizing how close it was for us to eat.
This sentence seems to spring something in my kouhai as Hibiki's eyes shot opens before she quickly stands up, gently pushing me until I'm seated on the couch, where I could only look at her face in confusion.
She cuts me before I say anything. "Nope, Chris-chan. I'm cooking dinner this time, you either stay put and wait or you go take a bath and put on something comfier than the school uniform."
Stunned by how Hibiki is taking control and watching her heading toward the kitchen, I remain put with a racing mind. 'What the hell is happening? I can't explain her current behavior.' I bite my lower lip while trying to understand the situation. 'While I certainly appreciate the attention, I'm the one supposed to take care of her, not the other way around!' As I throw a glance in the kitchen, I see that Hibiki is already at work, cutting various ingredients.
Resigning myself and certainly not looking to start an argument on the first day, I stand up from my position and head to my bedroom but stop in my track upon a realization. "Ne, Hib-" I snap my mouth shut, almost biting my tongue in the process.
"Did you say something Chris-chan?"
I breathe in relief, thankful that she didn't hear me slip up. "You said that I could either wait or take a bath, but-"
She interrupts me again, which she has been doing a lot lately. "Oh, the bath is ready," The statement causes me to look at her suspiciously, I know for a fact that I didn't go to the bathroom since coming back home, so there is no way that the bath could possibly be ready.
Hibiki must have sensed my disbelief because she follows right away. "I made it when I first brought our bags here."
As I register her words, I quickly go into the bathroom, sliding the door open, and like she just said; the bathtub was filled with still hot water. It was at this moment I decided to give up and accept the fact that Hibiki was currently taking care of me. 'She put away the groceries, made me a hot chocolate in which I can still feel the aftertaste lingering in my mouth. While I help her with her homework, now she is cooking dinner and even sent me to take a bath, which she already prepared beforehand.'
I shake my head once again at the situation, finally heading to my bedroom to retrieve my nightwear and back to the bathroom to take my bath.
Once I exit the bathroom, I see Hibiki serving two plates on the table, and as if sensing my presence, she quickly tells me to sit the time she brought the drinks.
Since I had just come out from a bath, I was going to tell her that I was in a mood for a Ramune, but she was already coming back and to my surprise, again, she was holding exactly what I wanted, to the point I was wondering if she suddenly became an ESPER.
Looking at her taking a seat as well, she crosses her arms below her chest, looking at me with smugness before grinning and leaning forward a little. "So?" she asks me, to which I can only answer by showing my confusion to her question.
Leaning back against her chair and spreading her arms, presenting the meal she has cooked, she resumes. "I want to know what you think. Not that helpless without Miku, eh?"
Thinking about what she meant, realization finally come to me. 'She fucking did everything to prove to me that she could take care of herself even if her roommate wasn't here?' I put my face in my hands, groaning a little before laughing softly at the situation. Taking a glimpse at my friend, Hibiki has still the same grin splattered on her face.
Once I finally subdue my laugh, I acknowledge her efforts. "Fine, I'm sorry," I begin. "You're definitely not helpless without your friend around." I then look at the plate's content, a Beef Stroganoff over pasta to my surprise, again. 'Better get used to it, I doubt that will be the last I will get from her.'
Hibiki looks anxiously at me, waiting for something when her gaze falls over my plate before coming back on me. I understood why, but before taking a forkful I ask her a single question. "So, why Beef Stroganoff?"
"I vow to myself to successfully conquer the challenge that is the Beef Stroganoff," she answers dramatically, earning a blank stare from me while I take the forkful to my lips, carefully chewing the piece of beef in my mouth.
Once I swallow, I lean my back against the chair, closing my eyes. I open them to Hibiki's expectant gaze, then I smile before taking another forkful. "Then, I'm happy to tell you, that your Beef Stroganoff is delicious," I say while carrying the fork to my mouth. I hear her sighing in relief before her sound of cutlery adds to mine.
Hibiki exit the bathroom, clad in her usual pajama composed of orange shorts and her shirt with an oversized yellow chick on it while using a towel to dry her hair. Setting the controller of the game on the table aside, I sign her to come closer before making her sit on the floor, her back facing me against the couch. I then take the towel from her hands and proceed to finish drying her hair, telling her to stay put as I make a quick trip to the bathroom, coming back with a brush. A little unknotting and brushing later, I use the occasion to pass my hands through Hibiki's hair as she purrs cutely at the beginning, followed by a low moan which froze us still.
I was the one to break the intimate as well as embarrassing moment by tapping gently on her head. "Here's, done," I said before standing up, taking the brush and towel as I head to the bathroom to put them away.
When I come back, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the two of us averting each other eyes and still blushing over what happened mere seconds ago. The awkwardness dragged for a moment longer until Hibiki's voice pierce the silence.
"Chris-chan, catch!"
As I whip my attention toward Hibiki, I took notice of the flying item zooming toward me, which I caught swiftly in one hand. The item revealed itself to be a game controller. I glare at the girl, ready to give her a piece of my mind on throwing something quite sensitive like that out of the blue.
"Ready to lose, Chris-chan?" she counters smugly while waving the other controller.
Thought of scolding her simply melt away, my lips forming a grin. "Bring it! I will make you remember who the best is."
The two of us end up on the couch, seated closer than ever, eyes on the large screen and staring intensely as our battle unfolds. I threw a few glances at Hibiki between two battles, until she caught me, locking eyes with me for a moment before smiling and then returning to the game trying her best to defeat me.
She won't.
After some more rounds, we are in my bedroom, ready to turn in for the night.
"Are you really okay with sleeping together, Chris-chan?" Hibiki ask me again.
I sigh, "I'm beginning to think that you're the one who doesn't want us sleeping in the same bed."
That's prompted Hibiki to shake both head and hands vehemently. "I'm really fine with it, I swear, it's just…" She didn't finish her last sentence and end up laying on her side of the bed, her back facing me.
Finishing putting my hair in a ponytail and plugging in my phone to charge, I lay on my side of the bed, my back facing Hibiki as well.
After spending several minutes in silence still awake, I was going to check if Hibiki was already asleep when I hear her call my name softly enough to not wake me up in case I was indeed, asleep.
"What is it?" I ask her with my back still facing her.
"Can I hug you?" she asks me as I felt the sheets rustling from her rolling on her other side.
Without uttering a word, I simply got near her. She then gets closer to me herself before tentatively putting her arms around me, pressing a little more until I could feel her chest against my back as well as her body heat. Intertwining her legs with mines, I relish in the extra heat they provide to mine as I feel my body relaxing and on the verge of falling asleep.
"Hehehe, Chris-chan's legs are cold."
"Well, sorry for not being the warmest person to sleep with."
"I actually like it a lot, it's soothing in its own way," she says while nuzzling into my hair.
"Stop that," I mutter since the little movements keep me awake.
"Sorry, your hairs are just so soft and smell good," she whispers her compliment, before settling to put her nose in my hair. "Good night, Chris."
I open my eyes, hearing her say my name without honorific causing a fluttering feeling in me. Too tired to deal with it, I close my eyes once again. "Good night, Hibiki." Her body heat relaxes me further as I fall asleep.
