Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mafuyu’s school days weren’t nothing out of the ordinary today.

It’s the usual routine of waking up, getting ready, heading off to class, putting up her ‘good girl’ mask (at least that was what Ena and Mizuki call it) and dutifully listening and taking down notes, paying heed to her teacher’s monotonous droning.

The only thing that currently stands out from today is the current situation she’s in.

Which is namely staring blankly at her juniors with a plastered smile on her face after accidentally witnessing said juniors making out. In the middle of the staircase. Where someone could have passed through.

And in this case, Mafuyu is the unfortunate somebody.

It had been on accident, really. She had just been on her way back to class after discussing something with her teacher and had, very evidently, picked the wrong staircase to use and had witness Ichika and Saki kissing very enthusiastically in the middle of the staircase.

The moment they had spotted her, they had separated faster than what Mafuyu thought was humanly possible.

If she wasn’t in a very…awkward situation right now, she probably would have even felt impressed.

It wasn’t that she had anything against them kissing really, aside from it being in a public space, she wasn’t that kind of person.

She had suspected that neither of them were practically straight anyways so it wasn’t surprising in that faction.

Mafuyu was more so surprised that they had evidently started dating each other and she hadn’t even noticed.

Was she really that dense or blind?

Ena’s voice rang out in her mind, “You’re probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but also maybe one of the stupidest.”

Perhaps there was some truth to that now.

As she had gotten lost in her musing, Mafuyu had accidentally completely tuned out Saki and Ichika’s flustered stammerings until now, she amusedly noticed that both their faces were bright red and it almost looked like steam was rising out of their ears.

“A-Asahina-senpai! We’re so sorry oh my gosh this is so embarrassing—“ Ichika stammered out, hiding her face in her hands.

“Please don’t tell our homeroom teacher, we can’t get in trouble again!” Saki whined, hands clasped together in a pleading motion.

Again? When had they done this before?

Mafuyu shook that thought away before sighing at her juniors.

“You really should not be doing this in a public space, Hoshino and Tenma-san. As long as you don’t do this again, I’ll let you off the hook this time.” Mafuyu smiled fakely, letting her years of pretending take over automatically.

“Oh god, thank you Asahina-senpai. You can have my firstborn as an offering of gratitude.” Saki breathed out in relief, while Ichika still looked, in a graceful word, mortified.

“…That won’t be necessary, Tenma-san, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Mafuyu pretended to ponder for a minute before asking.

“How long have you been dating? If you don’t mind me asking of course!” Mafuyu smiled again, god her cheekbones hurt.

“Hmm, for about…8 months now?” Saki turned to Ichika for confirmation, who meekly nodded but still not looking up from where her face was hidden in her hands.

“Really?” Mafuyu didn’t even need to pretend to sound surprised, she geniuely was. Maybe she needed another eye prescription because clearly her current one wasn’t working if she didn’t notice this.

“Yeah, I thought it was actually pretty obvious!” Saki smiled, beaming widely and cutely.

“We were holding hands and everything—“

Yes, Mafuyu had seen Saki swinging Honami, Shiho and Ichika’s hands around frequently but she had assumed that was what normal friends did.

After all, she and the rest of Niigo did the same thing.

Mizuki would hold her hand when they walked around in malls or parks, Ena would hold her hand under the blanket when they had their weekly Niigo movie night, (named by the famous Akiyama Mizuki) and Kanade would sometimes hold her hands underneath the table when they ate together.

Everytime they let go of her hands, Mafuyu felt a small piece of her spirit break and the warmth that she felt whenever she was close to one of them would slowly dissipate, much to her displeasure.

But that was only because they were good friends, of course.

“—We would also go out on dates with just the four of us—“

It suddenly felt like a record screech in Mafuyu’s mind the moment she heard the word, ‘four’.

“Four?” She tilted her head in a show of curiosity. Of course she knew what polyamory was, but she had never really expected anyone she had met before to actually be in a polyamory relationship.

“Yeah! Me, Icchan, Shiho-chan and Hona-chan!” Saki explained, clearly excited to talk about her lovers.

Ah, I see. Mafuyu thought to herself. So people really do participate in polyamory.

Memories of her mother telling her that polyamory was nonsense and that monogamy was the only right answer in love suddenly flew into her mind.

If Saki seemed so happy then…it couldn’t have been such a bad thing, right?

“I see, continue please.” Mafuyu nodded.

“As I was saying, we went out on dates together—“

Certainly a more driving argument than her previous point but that was still vaguely counted within the ranges of friendship was it not?

Her and the rest of Niigo also went out together on outings with just the four of them and it wasn’t a date basically just an outing with a fancier title slapped onto it for couples?

“We constantly hug, cuddle and just maintain physical contact in general—“

Okay, this was definitely inching closer to the dating category but still not quite.

Like, she and Niigo did that too. Ena and Mizuki had practically moved into the Yoisaki household, and they all would squish together and cuddle in Kanade’s bed that was, admittedly, not made for four people to climb into all at once.

Especially not made for people to starfish the entire bed and kick others in the middle of the night and make Mafuyu fall off said bed in the middle of the night. Ahem, Mizuki and Ena.

“Saying I love you and stuff like that—“

Okay, yes. Definitely breaching romantic status now.

But she had to be saying the most basic things because once again, she and Nightcord also did it.

Mizuki would say it spontaneously, sometimes with a teasing glint in their eyes and voice or with a gentle tilt in their voice and a crinkle in their eyes.

Ena would say it accompanied with a, ‘You’re still an idiot though!’ But her voice always sounded sincere and soft.

Kanade said it usually when half-asleep or teetering on the edge of consciousness, mumbling small but honest ‘I love you’s but would also say it back when it was said to her.

“And uh, you know…the kissing? Like we don’t usually do it like…that, but we do like cheek and forehead kisses stuff like that!” Saki ended her speech with clapping her hands together while Mafuyu spotted Ichika mumbling something that sounded like a ritual summoning a eldritch horror while hitting her head on the wall gently and repeatedly.

But it didn’t make sense. She and the others did that too!

Every morning, they would wake up and give each other cheek kisses, and random kisses would also happen throughout the day—never on the lips like Saki and Ichika did though—always mainly on the forehead and cheeks.

Surely Saki was mistaken, because by her standards, that would mean that she, Kanade, Ena and Mizuki would be dating.

They weren’t. Right?

“Thank you, Tenma-san. That was very informative.” Mafuyu thanked her while her mind quietly raced with a billion thoughts per second.

“No problems Asahina-senpai!” Saki then turned to tug Ichika down the stairs and away from where they were previously making out to the canteen downstairs. “Come on Icchan! Let’s go get some melon buns!”

Ichika absentmindedly nodded while being dragged down by a whirlwind of blonde energy, eyes still looking sunken with horror.

And that was that.

Mafuyu looked at where her juniors were previously making out, then back to where they disappeared to.

They weren’t dating. Right?

Weakly, to nobody at all, Mafuyu mumbled, “Congrats on dating.”

———————————————————————

The moment Mafuyu got home, (Why was it so natural to call someplace that she had barely lived in for less than 1/4 of her life home? Shouldn’t the place she was birthed and raised be her home?) she threw down her bag without any grace and practically dove for her computer.

So all of that was romantic behaviour, huh?

If there was one thing could save her, there was only one answer.

It was the most revered and beloved thing in the universe, used by many in their daily lives. A sacred certainty that human society had built their lives on. Some would even say this was the most important and significant, hell even necessary thing in their lives.

Was it communication between her and her friends? Hell no.

It was Google.

Mafuyu pulled up as many sites as she could, reading through all of them with a precision that could only be known as the human emotion called, ‘Are me and my three friends dating?’

After two consecutive hours of research, (Thank Miku that Mizuki was actually at school for once and Ena and Kanade was outside with their respective friends, Momoi-san and Mochizuki-san.) Mafuyu had come to a very bewildering conclusion.

It was so obvious. How had she not seen it earlier? Maybe she was actually dense and blind at the same time. She’ll check up on that the next time she goes to the hospital.

Mafuyu and the rest of Nightcord were dating.

Did she just…miss it when they started dating? Perhaps she hadn’t noticed that one of the three of her friends—girlfriends?—had asked her and the others out. Was there some secret code she missed?

Mafuyu sighed, burying her face in her hands with a vigour that could only be described as embarrassingly awkward.

So those mall outings were dates, what they were doing was within the boundary of dating and she missed all of it.

Okay, she can’t admit that now. She doesn’t want to hurt their feelings.

So what now? What does she do now that she knows that she’s dating them?

Does she just—do what Saki said earlier but with more affection? Yes, that should be correct.

So that involves kissing, hugging, holding hands and going out more.

The thought of doing those things with the rest of Nightcord sends a rush of warmth pulsing through her entire body, running all the way from her fingertips to her chest.

She closes her laptop with a small smile on her face, lips quirking up just the tiniest bit and with warmth spreading everywhere in her heart.
______________________________________

“Mafuyu…are you okay?” Kanade asks.

Mafuyu wants to say that yes, she is fine. She’s actually more than fine now that she understands what’s been happening between the four of them.

But she’s too comfortable in her current position to speak so she just hums and nuzzles further into the crook of Kanade’s neck and tightens her arms around her waist in reply.

Kanade doesn’t seem to mind, if the hand touching her hair indicates anything.

Her hands are soft and warm. Not calloused and rough like her own hand but gentle instead. Every place they touch leave burning trails on Mafuyu’s skin and she likes it.

Kanade’s warm. Kanade is kind. Kanade is sweet. Kanade is her world.

“You seem really, ah, affectionate lately? I was just wondering if there was anything wrong.” Kanade whispers, turning back to face the koala draped over her back and it sends pleasant shivers down her spine.

Kanade is pretty. The light from the computer screen makes it look like she has a halo above her head and her deep blue eye twinkle with what looks like adoration and her hair is slightly messy but that’s okay.

Mafuyu thinks she’s an angel.

“No. I’m fine.” Mafuyu answers back and that’s that as she snuggles back into her makeshift pillow that is Kanade’s back and neck.

And she sits there for a while, with Kanade sitting in her lap, her back to Mafuyu’s chest while she composes. Humming melodies and hymns while Mafuyu dutifully looks, sometimes giving in her feedback every once in a while.

Mafuyu immensely regrets not noticing that they were dating earlier. She could have been doing this way earlier. Curse her blindness.

Actually now that she thinks of it, when’s their anniversary?

She doesn’t want to ask due to the fact she doesn’t want them to find out that she didn’t know they were dating. It would be too embarrassing.

It all started a few weeks after she moved into Kanade’s house right? During the period of time where Mizuki and Ena insisted they also somewhat move in to help her. So if Mafuyu’s correct, it should have been about 6 months ago.

She’ll take note of it in her calendar.
______________________________________

“Aww, Mafuyu’s holding my hand first! Truly character development. Enanan would be jealous.” Mizuki snickered, swinging their laced hands together in a back and forth motion.

Mafuyu wants to ask why Ena would be jealous when she’s also dating Mizuki and could do that whenever she wanted to but refrains from doing it, instead nodding to Mizuki’s words and making them laugh more.

“Do you not want me to?” Mafuyu tilts her head.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Mizuki grins at her, swinging their hands even harder.

It’s a beautiful sound in all honesty, one of the most mesmerising sounds Mafuyu has ever heard. It evokes a flutter of warmth in her stomach seeing them so carefree and happy. She feels slight warmth tinting her cheeks. Is she blushing? It isn’t a bad feeling.

Mizuki and her are headed to on a spontaneous trip to the aquarium. Mizuki is truly unpredictable and chaotic but it brings a sense of freedom to Mafuyu.

It’s a nice day, the leaves are falling down from the trees with tranquil peace in the way they breeze past the enby pair. The crunch of soil beneath their shoes and the slight swaying of trees is relaxing.

As Mizuki continues chattering about what kind of fish they’ll see and what to do at the aquarium and how much fun they’ll have, all Mafuyu can focus on is how beautiful they look. Wild pink hair, ribbons everywhere and frilly just like they like it, with pink eyes that shine with the purity of life itself.

In her element, free and chaotic and undeniably, uniquely herself.

Mafuyu feels like a moth drawn to a flame.

Except this flame is gentle and caring. Loving in all it approaches and brings light into Mafuyu’s monotonous life.

She shines brighter than the Sun, in Mafuyu’s humble opinion.

Cliche but true. She’s certainly not biased at all.

“I wanna see the jellyfish first! And I’m going to take a picture of the funniest fish I can find and send it to Lil’ Bro! Oh, he’s going to be so mad.” Mizuki giggles again and it feels like Mafuyu’s whole day has brightened.

“We can see the jellyfish first. We can do whatever you want.” Mafuyu answers back softly and Mizuki stops for a moment, looking back at her.

Mafuyu swears she sees a hint of pink on their cheeks but she can’t make sure of it as Mizuki’s already hidden their face in their scarf.

“Y-yeah! Let’s do that then! Come on!” They quickly stammer out and pull Mafuyu closer towards the entrance of the aquarium.

(They end up seeing the jellyfish first.)
______________________________________

Mafuyu looks over to where Ena is sitting beside her.

Well, more accurately, Mafuyu’s sitting on the couch looking at Ena and Ena’s sitting on the floor looking at her art tablet that’s sitting on the coffee table right in front of her.

The brunette artist’s hands move with frustration evident in them. Her scowling expression and tense shoulders are frank giveaways of her frustration too.

“God damn it…fucking hell…I’m going to kill someone.” Ena grumbles, hands slightly pulling at her hair.

Mafuyu stoops down to her level and pulls her hands away from her hair.

“Don’t do that, you’ll tear your hair.” Mafuyu says, massaging on of Ena’s hands.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” Ena snarks but her scowl slightly softens at Mafuyu’s touch.

Both their hands are rough and calloused, though Ena’s are a bit smaller than hers.

Mafuyu’s sure Ena can feel the rough skin of her hands as she continues massaging her hands.

“You should take a break.” Mafuyu murmured. She doesn’t like seeing Ena like this. She understands that this is probably part of the process but Ena’s eyes are supposed to be filled with shining colours of passion and love for her art not this dull frustration and anger and hatred.

What draws Mafuyu to Ena is her drive, her passion, her determination and straightforwardness. She knows what she wants and she strives to achieve whatever goal she puts out for herself. She’s awfully passionate in everything she does and brings life to whatever she creates.

Mafuyu is still lost, wandering around in a foggy path of uncertainty. She doesn’t know what she wants, she doesn’t have the true drive that Ena has. She’s dull in comparison to the fire that’s been lit in Ena since birth.

She admires Ena. She’s so strong and doesn’t even know it herself. She wishes Ena would take care of herself more.

“…My deadline is almost reaching, I need to finish it.” Ena breathes out, relaxing even more with every movement of Mafuyu’s hands against hers.

“You can finish it later, just take a break?” Mafuyu’s not sure if her voice just sounds pleading or if it’s her expression but Ena’s face fully softens before she looks at Mafuyu and sighs.

“Fine. Just for a bit though.” Ena lets Mafuyu pull her up to couch and leans down to drop her head onto the purple-haired lyricist’s shoulder.

“That’s good.” Mafuyu leans down to drop a kiss onto Ena’s cheek, it only lasts a moment. This kind of thing should be ordinary to her right? After all, they’re dating.

So that’s why she feels surprised at Ena’s squeak of flustered shock, shouldn’t she also be used to this? Oh well, it’s fine. She’s always been easy to fluster anyway.
______________________________________

Being in a polyamory relationship means everyone loves each other.

Which is exactly why she’s shoved Ena and Kanade into a nice cafe she’s found for their own dates.

It’s honestly a really nice cafe, Mafuyu might bring all three of them here one day, it has everything they all like.

Kanade and Ena weakly protest she tugs them to go.

“What the hell Mafuyu?! Where are you taking us?” Ena yelps as she’s being strung along to go to the cafe.

Kanade has already given up, allowing herself to be pulled forward without resistance.

Mafuyu doesn’t get why she’s protesting, she and Kanade are also dating after all. It makes sense for them to go on dates together.

“It has pancakes.” Mafuyu answers, still unrelenting in pulling them.

That shuts Ena up for a moment as she thinks about her favourite treat. Bingo.

Luckily for Ena, she doesn’t need to think for long because they’re already at the cafe.

“Good luck, good bye and have a nice time.” The way Mafuyu says it sounds like she’s reciting her words from a script like a monotonous computer with no emotion.

She then gently pushes them into the cafe and dashes off, not leaving any room for Ena to argue anymore.

Mafuyu feels satisfied. Now she just needs to make sure her plans for all the other individual dates are in order. She’s can’t make them boring, can she?
______________________________________

Mafuyu’s eyes are still open. She’s been staring at the ceiling for a long time now, even though the rest have surely fallen asleep by now.

Ena’s spooning Mizuki, leaving small grumbles in wake of her sleep and occasionally tightening her arms around the pinkette in her hold.

Mizuki doesn’t seem to mind though, they’re sandwiched between Kanade and Ena, snuggling their head into the chest of their resident composer.

Kanade’s hand is slightly gripping onto Ena’s shirt and she breathes softly as Mafuyu hugs her from behind.

Their limbs are all entangled and their legs are basically locked together.

Surely it’ll be a nightmare to untangle from tomorrow, but Mafuyu finds that she doesn’t mind.

Mizuki’s hand is mirroring Kanade’s exact action, except her hand is laced with Mafuyu’s instead of her shirt.

This is warm, this is nice.

Mafuyu feels safe. Loved and secure.

And so she drifts off into sleep, holding onto her lovers and lets herself be carried away by the soft waves of the sleep.
______________________________________

Mafuyu wakes up remembering something.

She forgot to thank Ichika and Saki for helping her realise that she was dating Niigo.

So when she and Kanade are brushing their teeth at the sink, with Mizuki and Ena bickering at the side about whether mint toothpaste or bubblegum toothpaste is the best kind of toothpaste (Mafuyu has her own opinion that mint toothpaste is the better option due to its texture.) she asks Kanade.

“What gift should I get for Tenma-san?”

Kanade blinks, clearly surprised.

“I didn’t know you talked with Saki that often. What’s the occasion?”

“She helped me realise something and I want to give her something to express my gratitude.” Mafuyu blinks, spitting out her toothpaste.

“I see. Saki likes those sour cream and onion chip packets. Maybe get her a few of those?” Kanade’s voice is muffled by her toothbrush but Mafuyu can still decipher what she’s saying.

“Thank you.”

“Did she help you with a math equation or something?” Kanade asks, curiousity glimmering in her eyes.

“Not exactly.” Mafuyu leaves it at that and Kanade doesn’t push any further, opting to instead nod and turn back to Mizuki and Ena who are now splashing water droplets at one another.

Yep, Mafuyu thinks as she rinses her mouth. A normal week.
______________________________________

Mizuki thinks this is probably the weirdest week she’s had.

Actually scratch that, the weirdest week she’s had was that time she swears she saw two copies of Rui and Tsukasa on the rooftop with a huge machine behind them.

Mafuyu is being…way more affectionate than usual. Giving more cheek and forehead kisses, hugging and holding hands more. Acting more and more like a sopping wet bunny every time Mizuki or Ena has to go back to their respective houses.

They can’t lie, they thinks it’s absolutely adorable. But it’s a weird transition. Not that it’s unwelcome of course!

It’s almost like she’s acting like they’re dating.

Which they aren’t. Right?

Chapter Text

Okay, this is weird. Very weird. Extremely weird.

Mafuyu was acting really affectionate out of nowhere, more lingering touches and soft words. All of that made Mizuki’s heart absolutely go crazy, pulsing and beating at a speed that could probably be mistaken for a heart attack.

It was almost like those romance anime shows that they watch, with the main characters all doing exactly what Mafuyu is doing now.

But those characters are always dating! Not to mention Mafuyu’s behaviour doesn’t only extend to them, she’s also acting this way to Kanade and Ena!

It’s almost feels like all four of them are dating. Mizuki’s face flushes the exact same shade of pink as her hair and she buries her face in her hands, groaning.

This was more confusing than anything they had ever encountered.

And with this whole Mafuyu thing going on, they don’t even know anymore! Is this a friend thing or is she indicating something else?!

“And that’s why I need help.” Mizuki groaned, leaning their head back to accidentally hit the roof fencing. “Ow.”

An, Rui and Nene stared at them with a mix of horror, disbelief and surprise in their eyes and their jaws were practically dropping down to the floor.

All four siblings except for poor Ichika had decided to sit on the top of roof for lunch, Nene had been playing with her Nintendo with An adding on commentary while Rui worked on his inventions and Mizuki stewed in their own thoughts.

Until they blurted out their thoughts which led to the current moment.

Nothing short of absolute befuddlement and bafflement showed on their faces. An’s sandwich dropped from her hands for dramatic effect.

Was there something on their face? Did they say something wrong? Did the world pause or something?

“Wait.” An finally found her voice, hands grabbing Mizuki’s shoulders fiercely. “You’re telling me. That you, Ena, Yoisaki-san and Asahina-san aren’t fucking dating?!”

“N-no?? What—where the hell did you get that idea?!” Mizuki’s face exploded into a blush again, her eyes streaked red and her cheeks turning red like tomatoes.

Her heart beat erratically at the thought and her mind swirled with possibilities.

“You talk about them constantly.”

“As friends! It’s normal to talk to your friends about your friends!” Mizuki protested, whining as An shook them back and forth.

“I’ve seen you and Shinonome-san walk together to school holding hands.” Nene finally spoke up, gathering up An’s forgotten sandwich and throwing it into a plastic bag.

“That’s—that’s also normal! You and Emu also hold hands when you guys walk to school!” Mizuki argued, pointing an accusing finger at Nene.

“We’re dating.” Nene raised an eyebrow at Mizuki, dryness dripping from every syllable that came out of her mouth.

Mizuki zipped her mouth shut at that, lips pressing together in a wry line.

“You’re practically draped over Yoisaki-san everytime you guys visit the cafe.” An’s mouth quirked up to reveal a smirk. “I don’t think I’ve seen you without one of them for like two days maximum.”

“We just like spending time together!” The point sounded weak even to Mizuki’s ears. They were so not winning.

“I’ve seen you kiss Asahina-san’s cheek before.” Rui piped up, which was absolutely inot helping Mizuki’s case at the moment.

“A-as…friends…” Wow, was it really hot in here, it felt really hot. Hahaha, it was really hot. Ena, Kanade and Mafuyu were hot. Who said that?

“Oh god, even me and Kohane weren’t this bad.” An winced. “Also you said that out loud.”

“For once, An is right.” Nene nodded.

“The hell you mean for once, moss-haired bitch?”

“For the last time, I was born with this hair colour—!”

“W-wait! You can’t date three people at once!” Mizuki exclaimed, hands gripping their head in what was probably an existential crisis.

She did not reveal that she had dreamed about them dating several times. She would never live that down.

This time all three of them stared at her like she was the stupidest creature alive on Earth. Which she probably was.

“Have you not seen Ichi?” An asked, staring Mizuki down with the most patronising look Mizuki had ever seen.

“Who’s Ichi dating?!” Mizuki yelled, shock very evident in their expression.

“Oh my god, do you have brain damage?! She’s dating her bandmates!” Nene shouted back.

Mizuki’s mouth gaped for a long time. How did she not know?! She prided herself on being extremely observant! Oh Hastune Miku, save her please.

“Okay, wait. So I’ve been dating my friends?!”

“Yes.” Nene’s voice sounded so exhausted.

“Let me explain the intricacies of romance to you, Mizuki.” Rui said, though his voice sounded disappointed and he was shaking his head.

Mizuki scoffed, she had to help Rui with Tsukasa, his purple haired ass did not have a right to be disappointed.

“Okay,” Rui tapped into the first website, “So this is—“
______________________________________

Mizuki walked back home with a bright red face and a heart that still had yet to stop beating so loudly.

The moment they got into Kanade’s house, which they had a spare key to, they immediately beelined for the bathroom.

After splashing cold water onto their warm face, they looked at themselves in the mirror.

Oh god. She missed it. She absolutely missed all the obvious signs.

They were such a horrible girlfriend. Oh god, they were such a bad girlfriend.

And apparently everyone else knew except for her?! How?!

She’s been dating the girls she’s had a crushing on for like almost two whole years.

Well, SHE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT LET THEM KNOW NOW.

It was frankly embarrassing. Not only did she not know. She had to have another person with the density of a rock when it came to romance (An) explain it to her.

Okay, so what should she do now? God, no wonder Mafuyu was being so affectionate, it’s because they’re dating! All four of them are dating!

Her heart is absolutely screaming at her right now.

You’re so fucking stupid, Mizuki Akiyama.

Okay so what should she do? Be more affectionate like Mafuyu? More lovey-dovey nicknames? Kissing?

The last part sent her mind racing with thoughts of kissing the three most beautiful girls in the world. Yeah no, she needs to adjust first or she would absolutely explode.

Yeah, okay. Just, go with the flow? Follow Mafuyu?

Yeah she could do that. Totally! Hell yeah!

She’s going to be the best girlfriend ever!
______________________________________

“Good morning, ‘Fuyu!” Mizuki tackled the unsuspecting purple-haired girl who was cooking at the stove from behind.

It was the most glorious part of the week. The weekend, the perfect days known as Saturday and Sunday. Which meant no school!

The lyricist froze for a moment before lifting her hand up to gently pet Mizuki’s hair.

Thanks to the not so huge height difference between them, Mizuki could comfortably slot her head into the crook of Mafuyu’s neck without needing to lean down too much.

“Hello Mizuki, good morning.” Mafuyu replied, keeping her eyes on the pancakes to make sure they wouldn’t burn.

Ever since Ena and her had moved in, pancakes had basically become a staple due to the brunette’s insistence.

“Mm, that looks pretty good. Ena’s really influenced you, huh?” Mizuki giggled, pink locks tickling the back of Mafuyu’s neck and causing her to slightly squirm due to the sensation.

Mafuyu didn’t verbally reply, instead opting to instead hum absentmindedly. Her hand continued petting Mizuki’s head while her other hand held a spatula to flip the pancakes.

Her fingers offered little scratches to Mizuki’s scalp, making the fashion designer trill in pleasure and lean further into Mafuyu.

So this was the benefits of realising she was dating the three most important girls in her life. Man, this was amazing. They could express their affection freely without restraints.

Mafuyu was so kind and soft, Mizuki wanted to stay here forever.

They glanced up at the focused expression on her face, ears warming up as they kept staring at their beautiful girlfriend.

She was so amazing, so sweet and everything a person like Mizuki could wish for and more. How did they even deserve her?

She nuzzled Mafuyu’s nape, breathing in her warm scent of the lavender shampoo they had in the bathroom.

“I can see your eyes closing, don’t fall asleep here. I can’t carry you and pancakes at the same time.” Mafuyu blinked, finally glancing back at Mizuki.

“You can try…” Mizuki mumbled. This was like pure domestic bliss, doing this everyday seemed like paradise at its finest.

And they couldn’t lie, the thought of Mafuyu carrying them enticed them more than they thought.

“Go brush your teeth, then go and wake Kanade and Ena, breakfast’s almost ready.” Mafuyu said, her voice soft and gentle like a lullaby that Mizuki could hear for forever.

“Fine..” Mizuki whined, but not before standing up straight and planting a kiss on both Mafuyu’s temple and her cheek.

“I’ll be back!” They shouted back, a skip in their step as they bounded over to the bathroom to get ready, their heart bursting at the seams with love and joy.

Unbeknownst to Mizuki, a certain person’s deep purple eyes lingered at the spot where they previously stood hugging said certain person, their hand drifting up to touch the place where Mizuki’s lips had touched their skin, making their lips move up to form a small smile.
______________________________________

Mizuki and Ena were huddled together underneath a small shelter, watching as drizzles of rain dropped down from the soft clouds down to the ground, creating a blanket of water over land.

The sun had been starting to set, inky dark indigo bleeding into the warm blaze of orange that streaked across the sky.

Ena and Mizuki had been walking back home, hands interlocked together between the two of them, swinging back and forth in a display of lazy affection.

It was the usual jabs and bantering, Ena making an offhand comment about how cold Mizuki’s hands were.

Mizuki had replied, answering that it was precisely because her hands were cold that she liked to slip them under Ena’s shirt when they were cuddling. Leading to Ena bonking her on the head, telling her not to say that in public.

And it was exactly then that a raindrop decided to drop them onto both their heads before a small downpour of rain started dripping down.

Which led to their current predicament.

Ena had her phone out, texting Kanade and Mafuyu that they would be home a bit later due to the rain.

Once she put her phone back into her pocket, she looked back at the rain and sighed.

“The one day you and I both don’t bring an umbrella, this happens.” Ena grumbled, playing with her braid that rested at the side of her head.

Mizuki sighed too, but didn’t say anything more.

As Ena continued grumbling, a stray thought passed through Mizuki’s very brilliant mind.

“Hey Enanan!”

Ena turned to look at the pink-haired menace in the eyes, only to be tugged into the rain by a hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Hey! What the—“

“Let’s dance, Enanan!” Mizuki beamed, pulling the girl into a dancing position reminiscent to that of a ballroom dance.

One of Mizuki’s hands were wrapped around her waist, their other hand entangled with hers, slightly raised to the side.

“Seriously? We’re gonna get a cold, idiot.” Ena sighed, exasperated and fond at the same time in a way that made Ena so Ena-like.

But that didn’t stop the hand that wasn’t tightly laced with Mizuki’s to rest on their shoulder.

“Yet, you’re still going along with it.” Mizuki giggled, running off the high of adrenaline and happiness and the emotion that rang stronger than anything else, love.

“Shut up and move, dumbass.”

They waltzed and danced under the rain, twirling and laughing like they had all the time in the world.

The bubble of the world had become smaller, only encasing the two teenage girls who danced in the rain like carefree children. The rhythm of affection led the both of them through the dance, matching the beats of their hearts.

Ena had never looked more beautiful in Mizuki’s eyes. With raindrops dappling her face, laughter coming out of her mouth, her hair damp and messy, sticking to her face.

So unapologetically free and in her element.

Eventually the rhythm stopped and the two stood there for a moment, staring into the myriad of emotion in the other’s eyes.

Mizuki leaned in forward, taking note of the way Ena’s breath hitched, and stopped when their foreheads met and their noses were almost brushing against one another.

Mizuki could feel Ena’s breath on her lips, making her heartbeat intensify bit by bit.

“You look gorgeous.” Mizuki whispered. A sentence for the artist and the artist only, trapped a bubble with just the two of them.

Ena huffed, the exhale fanning over Mizuki’s warm cheeks.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Akiyama.”

Mizuki’s lips pressed together to form a grin.

“It’s not flattery, just the truth.”
______________________________________

The pink of Mizuki’s gaze swept over the variety of flowers that were kept on display at the window of a flower shop.

It was a particular flower though, one that reminded her of her dearest composer.

Carnations. The very same flower Mizuki knew that Kanade adored.

Mizuki knew what they symbolised. Love, admiration and gratitude. That fit all her feelings for the gentle silver-haired girl perfectly.

Love for Kanade for being so sweet and kind and for her being who she was.

Admiration for her selflessness, her compassion and commitment.

Gratitude for her accepting who Mizuki was and for supporting her and saving her.

I should get a bouquet just for her, Mizuki thought, walking up to the entrance of the flower shop.

After they had purchased the bouquet, they excitedly walked back to the Yoisaki Household.

They even had a little blue bow wrapped around the stems!

They couldn’t wait to see Kanade’s reaction! It would be so stupidly adorable, like everything else the girl did. The thought of it urged them to walk faster to the house.

As Mizuki reached the entrance of the house, they suddenly remembered something.

Mafuyu and Ena weren’t home right now, so that meant Mizuki could get a little creative with how she gave Kanade the flowers.

So Mizuki rang the doorbell, and when they heard the undeniable soft footsteps of Kanade, she hurriedly hid her face behind the bouquet, a grin stretching across her face.

As she heard the door click open, they exclaimed, “Hello! There’s a flower delivery order for the most adorable and precious girl in the whole wide world!”

They peeked out from behind the bouquet, wanting to gauge Kanade’s reaction.

And it did not disappoint!

Her face was bright red, a funny contrast to her usually pale skin. Pleasant surprise and shock and fondness was etched across her face as she lightly laughed at Mizuki’s antics.

“Thank you, Mizuki.” Her soft voice was like a blanket of fluff that wrapped around Mizuki’s ears, gentle and warm.

“No problem! Anything for the prettiest and cutest girl in the world!” They giggled, handing her the flowers and feeling a flash of love rush through them as they saw her looking adoringly at the flowers and then at them with exactly the same love and fondness.

“Oh, you have—wait a minute.” Her hand reached up and brushed away a stray petal that landed on their pink hair.

They blushed slightly at her gentle touch, especially as her hand slowly lowered to cup their face, caressing their cheeks.

With her silky locks framing her face and her kind-hearted eyes staring back at Mizuki, they felt like they had just won everything in the world.

“You’re cuter than me, though.” She smiled and Mizuki felt their world explode with so much love.

If this was the last moment on Earth, they think they would die happy.

“Aww, Kana!” They picked her up, careful not to crush the flowers and enclosed her in a bear hug, holding her close and picking her up slightly.

Kanade giggled along with them, letting herself relax in their warm and safe embrace.

“Thank you.” She whispered again.

“Anything for you.” Mizuki whispered back. Love shining so brightly through their pink eyes.

And she meant it.
______________________________________

All four of them were curled up on the couch, watching some cheesy rom-com that Ena had put up on the TV.

Mizuki wasn’t paying attention though, she was paying attention to the way Kanade leaned her head on their shoulder, the way Ena rambled about her newest art project, and on the small smile on Mafuyu’s lips.

This was what she had been wishing and wanting for so long. Miracles really do come true, Mizuki mused.

It’s a sea of love and she’s ready to absolutely drown in it, to let the gentle waves carry her further into this abyss of affection and happiness.

She’s addicted to this euphoria, she can’t get enough of it. It’s like a drug.

Ah, she loves her girlfriends so much.

Though she has to wonder. When’s their anniversary?

Mizuki wracked her brain for a bit. Must be the first time they all cuddled together in Kanade’s bed right?

So about…four and a half months! Yeah that makes sense. She’s so good at remembering things.

Mizuki sighs, curling up further into Kanade’s warmth.

With them beside her, she’s got it all figured out.

Eventually, they all retire to the bedroom and fall into a pile of limbs and laughter.

“Mizuki! Get your foot off my back!” Ena screams, shoving her hand in their face.

“Auwhh, Enananannan’s so mean…” she whined pitifully.

“No, I’m not! And what’s with that nickname?!”

“Sleep properly right now.” Mafuyu’s voice cuts through the air like a sharp knife and Mizuki could practically feel her murderous expression right behind them.

The rambunctious duo quickly scrambled into actual sleeping positions.

Kanade’s back was quickly leaned against Mizuki’s back while Mafuyu spooned said pink fashionista.

Ena curled up next to Kanade, resting her head on her collarbone and wrapping her arms securely around her midriff.

Kanade did the same to her, hugging her back and placing one hand on her hair while their legs tangled together.

Mizuki could feel Mafuyu’s breath on their nape, slowly and steadily in a balanced rhythm.

They hummed in pleasure, indulging themselves in the warmth of the moment and cherishing the feeling of love coursing through her veins.

Yeah, it would all be fine. Everything was as it should be.
______________________________________

“Hey! Lover loser!” An called out to Mizuki, Ichika, Rui and Nene following close behind her.

“Says you, how’s the little hamster doing?” Mizuki shoot back, sneering at An before their arm curled around her shoulders.

“That’s different and you know it.” An scowled.

“Whatever. How you’ve guys been?” Mizuki smiled, taking note of the way Ichika wasn’t present.

“Where’s Ichi?” Mizuki asked.

“Says she’s still recovering from something traumatic.” An said, “I texted Shiho about it, you know the short grey-haired bassist in Ichi’s group? Yeah, that one. Shiho says she and Saki got caught making out at school, it’s probably that.”

“…That aside, I want my promised crepes already. You promised to pay, Mizuki.” Nene jabbed their side.

“Yeah yeah, as thanks for helping me realise I was dating my girlfriends.” Mizuki sighed. Both them and their wallet was going to be crying after this.

“Fufu, let’s go then.” Rui smirked, following the three other girls to the nearby cafe.

All’s well that ends well.
______________________________________

Ena’s going insane right? This is some dream she’s been having for like two weeks. Wait, isn’t that a coma? Whatever.

Mizuki and Mafuyu were acting so loving lately, increased physical affection and glances at one another and her and Kanade.

If Ena was somebody else, she would probably even say that all four of them looked like they were dating. She and Kanade were also doing the same thing as Mizuki and Mafuyu, holding hands and cheek kisses and all that but they’re not dating!

She already pinched herself twice, this was not a dream or hallucination. Okay! Great!

They’re not dating. They’re not dating. Because if they were dating Ena would know right?!

Chapter Text

Ena needed help. Desperately.

What was with Mizuki and Mafuyu lately? It wasn’t a bad thing, per se. In fact, it even made her heart feel a bit warmer and lighter.

All of Nightcord was basically touch and affection-starved anyway, so it wasn’t like she was uncomfortable.

But they were acting like they were dating! Which they aren’t. Maybe. Ena doesn’t know! She doesn’t even know how to respond to this whole thing!

Flashes of memories pass by through her head.

Mizuki dancing with her in the rain, smiling so brightly and happily that it left her breathless.

Mafuyu’s soft care for her when she was frustrated with her art, the way her hands gently massaged hers with that unspoken care for her that made her heart flutter like a maiden in love.

Kanade’s compassionate words as she looked at Ena and her newest art piece.

“It’s perfect, Ena. Thank you.” Damn it, the way that made her face flush red like a damn love sick teenager!

Well, it’s Kanade, so Ena doesn’t mind much. She’s always had a soft spot for the soft-spoken composer.

It’s just—augh! Ena doesn’t know! Her mind’s racing and her heart is absolutely screaming and shouting about how adorable all three of them are.

How did it even get to this point?! Ughh, fuck her gay ass lesbian mind!

Ena sighed, there was only one way to figure this whole thing out.

Asking them directly? No, Ena wasn’t stupid. What a dumb idea.

It was obviously consult the second gayest person she knows.

Her sister, none other than Minori Hanasato.

“Minori, I need your help right now.” Ena knocked on her little sister’s door, which was better decorated than Akito’s door.

Ugh, that cringy ‘Don’t enter’ sign that rested on his door handle made Ena physically cringe everytime she saw it. She still can’t believe Minori and Akito are actually twins with how different they act.

“Minori?” Ena knocked again, but there was still no answer, only muffled noises Ena couldn’t make out from behind the door.

“Minori!” Another knock, still no answer. Ena was beginning to get worried, what if something had happened? She would never admit it, but she cared deeply for her siblings. Even dumb Akito.

“That’s it, I’m coming in.” Ena barged into the room, only to feel like her worry immediately dissipate, like a cold bucket of water being splashed onto a flame, and immediately turn into disgust.

“What the FUCK! AIRI! MINORI!” Ena yelled, pointing at the two girls, who looked up from where they were previously kissing. “WHAT THE HELL?! WHEN DID AIRI EVEN GET HERE?!”

“Nee-chan! It’s not what it looks like!” Minori waved her hands frantically, accidentally slapping Airi in the nose. Her face was practically the same shade as Airi’s hair and Ena could swear she could see steam rising out of her ears.

Deserved, Ena wryly thought.

“Ugh, what—Airi! Stop making out with my sister in the house!” Ena shouted at the pink-haired girl, whose hair was a different shade than Mizuki’s but honestly, Ena really liked Mizuki’s hair.

The way it looked so silky and smooth under the warm glow of the Sun and how pretty she was—FOCUS, ENA!

“Can’t help it, go make out with your girlfriends instead of complaining about it.” Airi stuck out her tongue at Ena, who walked over and slapped her on the head.

“Me, Mizuki, Kanade and Mafuyu are not dating! And this is my house, I can complain about it whenever I want!” Ena scowled, it did nothing to hide the red colour showing at the tips of her ears.

“Yeah, and pigs fly in the air now. You’re gay as hell for them.” Airi snickered.

“Shut up!” Ena glared at the deviant idol, raising a fist at her.

“W-wait! Don’t fight!” Minori jumped in, separating the two girls from one another.

Ena calmed down slightly at seeing her little sister, sighing before sitting down on Minori’s desk which was cluttered with Haruka merch.

“I came in to get Minori’s help on something, but if you’re here, might as well get your opinion too.” Ena grumbled, slouching in Minori’s chair.

“I’ll help you with anything you need, Nee-chan!” Minori grinned while Airi gave a nod.

“I’ll help you too, spill the beans.”

Ena sighed, god she felt like she aged twenty whole years.

“Mafuyu and Mizuki have been acting really affectionate lately, like more affectionate than usual.” Ena thumped her head onto the table, groaning.

“And, well—I don’t know! It’s almost like we’re dating?! Kind of?! Like they’re doing all that couple stuff you see on those stupid romance television shows!”

Completely focused on her rambling, Ena did not manage to look at the faces of disbelief that adorned the faces of Minori and Airi.

“They’re both holding me and Kanade’s hands, hugging us more often, giving us more kisses, shit like that! And I don’t know anymore, what should I do?!”

At this point, she had finally turned her head to look at the extremely stupefied expressions of her sister and her middle school friend.

“What?” Ena raised an eyebrow. “Say something.”

“YOU GUYS ARENT DATING?!” Minori screamed.

“What the actual fuck, is this a dream.” Airi deadpanned, looking horrified. “What the fuck, what the fuck.”

“No, we aren’t. Why does everyone keep saying that?” Ena huffed, scratching her head.

“You talk about them like they hung the stars and planets in the galaxy.” Airi slapped her own forehead with the fervour of an exhausted woman.

“As friends.” Ena affirmed.

“You LITERALLY talk about how gorgeous, cute, pretty and amazing and kind and basically every single adjective about how they’re so good.”

“As friends, yes. It’s very normal to compliment your friends.” Ena scoffed, fingers impatiently tapping at Minori’s desk.

Where was Airi getting at this?

“You draw them constantly. I’ve seen your sketchbook. You’re basically all over Yoisaki-san like a dog on a leash, you flirt with Mizuki like there’s no tomorrow and you keep talking about how amazing Asahina-san is.”

Ena’s face exploded into beet red, stuttering and mumbling out excuses.

“Friends! Just as friends! Nothing else! Because if we were dating I would know!”

“Ena, that’s because you’re stupid.”

“Excuse me?! The hell’s with that?!”

“Have you seen the way they look at you and the way you look at them?!” Airi exclaimed, exasperation and frustration present in her voice.

“I-“ Ena fumbled.

“You guys are literally dating. How do you not know this?! You’re holding hands, cuddling in the same bed, kissing one another!” Airi groaned, burying her face in Minori’s neck, eliciting a squeak from the brunette.

“Friends do that!” Ena exclaimed, wringing her wrists together.

“Yeah, girlfriends do that.” Airi scoffed. “Minori, you have a dumbass sister.”

“Don’t be mean, Airi-chan.” Minori chided while Ena was wrapping her head around all of Airi’s words.

“I-we, oh my god. We’ve been dating. And I didn’t even know.” Ena gasped, jumping up from Minori’s chair and running to her room, shouting a small, “Thank you!” Behind her.

Minori and Airi looked at where the door was still slightly agape from where Ena had slammed it open then back at each other.

“Wanna cuddle then call Shizuku and Haruka about what happened?” Airi grinned at Minori, snaggletooth showing in her bright smile.

“Yeah.” Minori giggled, pulling Airi down to cuddle with her on the bed.
______________________________________

The moment Ena got into her room, she did what any normal, sane and perfectly well adjusted human being would do.

She screamed into her pillow for five minutes straight, mentally cursing herself over and over again.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay. No, it was not okay. Fuck.

She was dating them. And they all probably knew EXCEPT for her. Oh god, oh god.

Okay, calm down. You’re just dating the three most important people in your life that you’ve been dreaming about kissing for like years now and turns out you’re actually dating them but you didn’t know! Great, awesome, absolutely marvellous!

So what does she do now?! If they’re already dating and somehow none of them have called her out on not knowing, then that means she’s been doing what couples do with them.

Ena groaned, flipping herself over to land on her back.

“Okay, I just…need to keep doing this whole lovey-dovey crap then I’ll be fine. No one will even know!” Ena laughed crazily like a maniac, looking like a psychopath.

She decides to ignore her absolutely pounding heart that’s beating against her ribcage like a hammer and the very hot warmth she can feel on her cheeks.

Yeah, she can do this.
______________________________________

No, she cannot do this.

Ena was currently cuddling Kanade on her bed.

Carding through her composer’s untangled hair as the shorter girl rests her head on Ena’s chest, softly breathing in and out rhythmically and shifting, making her ankles brush against Ena’s while the artist’s heart pulsed irritatingly fast.

She cannot do this, her gay heart cannot take this. She’ll explode if anything more happens. Kanade is just way too cute for her, oh god above.

“Hey, Ena?” Kanade’s soft voice cut through her racing thoughts as a smooth-skinned hand languidly brushed against her jawline, no more than a feather-light touch, tracing the small brown strands of hair near Ena’s ear.

And what can Ena do except for lean into the warm touch of the girl she’s admired for years now?

And so she closes her eyes, humming as she leans into the warmth of Kanade’s palm, pressing a light kiss in the middle of it and feeling her heartbeat slowly calm down. Contrary to how her heart was fluttering earlier.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Ena hummed.

“Are you sick?” Kanade asked, concern and worry evident in the slight crease in her brow.

“No, why?” Ena tilted her head, incidentally leaning her weight more on Kanade’s palm.

“Your face is red and your heart is beating was really quickly. More than 100bpm.” Kanade pressed her ear harder against Ena’s chest, furrowing her brows as she continued to listen to Ena’s heartbeat while one of her hands travelled up to cup Ena’s forehead.

As much as she enjoyed Kanade’s touch on her face, Ena couldn’t continue letting Kanade be worried about her all because she was being the gayest lesbian on Earth.

“I’m fine, Kana. Don’t need to worry your cute little head off.” Ena smiled, clasping her hands around Kanade’s smaller ones and kissing every one of her knuckles and her palms.

“Are you sure?” Kanade asked again, still slightly worried.

Ena knew Kanade was always scared when one of them had a medical emergency, even if it was something as little as a cold or a persisting cough.

And after all Kanade had gone through, Ena couldn’t blame her.

She felt slightly guilty from making her girlfriend (Oh god, they’re dating.) worry about her over something as small as Ena herself having a gay panic.

“I’m fine! Seriously, Kanade.” Ena smiled again, as soft and comfortingly as she could.

Her hands travelled up to Kanade’s shoulder and cheek, resting on both of them comfortably as Ena pulled her closer.

“I’m fine.” And “You don’t need to worry.” And “It’s alright” were murmured from Ena’s lips in between small pecks to Kanade’s cheeks, nose, forehead and basically almost every where Ena could reach.

Except for her lips, though Ena would sneak glances at them everytime she pulled away.

Kanade laughed at the ticklish sensation, squirming a bit under Ena’s overflowing affection.

They stayed like that for a while, laughing and giving one another the affection they craved and yearned for.

Eventually, Ena flipped Kanade over onto her back and wiggled her fingers menacingly before descending on her, tickling her ribs and stomach, making Kanade cry out in laughter and surprise.

“E-Ena! That—that tickles!” Kanade giggled, trying to shield her stomach from Ena’s hands.

Ena only snickered in return, continuing her assault on Kanade’s midriff.

Eventually, they both calmed down and Ena looked down at Kanade who was pinned underneath her, shirt slightly wrinkled from their roughhousing and her hair was messily spread across the pillows.

Perfection, absolutely stunning. Ena was sure nothing, absolutely nothing could beat this view. No painting her father or her could ever create, no sky view, no landscape could ever hold a candle to this beauty in front of her.

Ena’s cheeks flushed red again with a scathing heat, lighting up a fire within her stomach.

“Ena?” Kanade looked up at her, hands cupping her cheeks, tracing the expanse of her jawline.

“Hm?” Ena continued staring at the radiant silver-haired girl beneath her, stuck in a trance.

“Are you okay?”

Ena shook herself out of her love struck daze, focusing on the most important person right in front of her that had captured her heart. Fully and wholly, there was no question about it.

“Yeah. You’re here with me, after all. I’m better than fine.”
______________________________________

Ena looked out the window of the fast-moving train, staring out at all the beautiful landscape framed by the glaring light of the Sun, casting a beautiful glow over everything in its path.

The train rumbled with every track it passed through, the slight tremor could be felt on the train floor that Ena’s feet rested on.

The train was relatively empty, except for a stragglers here and there, all enamoured by the bright glares of their phones.

“It looks pretty, huh?” Mizuki yawned, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand.

“I told you, you should have slept earlier last night.” Ena sighed, turning her head to look at the editor sitting right next to her, shopping bags on both their laps.

They had a successful shopping trip, or was it called a date now? Going from shop to shop, joking and laughing and bantering with one another and probably killing their wallets with the amount they had spent on clothes and make up.

“Well, the music video wasn’t going to edit itself…” Mizuki mumbled, eyelids fluttering every now and then as they spoke before their lips parted again in another yawn, one that they were too tired to shield with their hand.

“Take better care of yourself, dumbass. All because you can pull all-nighters doesn’t mean you should.” Ena chided, pinching their cheek.

“Ow! And you’re being a hypocrite, you do it more than me!” Mizuki whined, pulling Ena’s hand away from their red and throbbing cheek.

“Shut up, that’s a totally different matter.” Mizuki was right, of course. They were almost always annoyingly right for some reason.

The artist herself had pulled many all-nighters before, only fixated on drawing and creating the best she could for a career many had advised her to not take.

Mizuki stuck out their tongue at her, and she knew they also knew that it was in fact, not different at all.

Ena sighed, leaning her head back to look at the view provided by the window.

After a few minutes of listlessly staring out the window without anymore noise from Mizuki, Ena felt a sudden weight on her shoulder that landed with a dull thump.

Ena looked back toward where the weight was, only to find her view blocked by pink.

Pink. Pink, pink, pink. Mizuki’s signature colour that followed her everywhere. In her outfits, in her stupid frilly handwriting that she used pink, glittery ink for, in her alluring eyes that always drew Ena in and her luscious hair.

Mizuki’s head rested on her shoulder as the fore-mentioned girl dozed off into whatever dream she was having.

Her expression was so peaceful. So tranquil, and relaxed without any of the stress from her every day life. It made Ena’s heart ache with affection and love at the sight. What she would give to ensure this expression on Mizuki’s face every single day.

Nothing but pure serenity and beauty gazed back at Ena.

Under her eyes were slight creases and skin was slightly bruised, tell-tale signs of her exhaustion from working all night long during the previous night.

Her body was limp, her right arm basically almost sprawled on Ena’s lap while the rest of her body leaned into Ena.

She could feel the warmth of their body, even through two layers of fabric, their shoulders and thighs brushed against one another in a complete act of trust and comfort.

Their breath ghosted her collarbone, Ena could feel more than see their exhales against her now slightly flushed skin like the soft flutters of a bird’s wings as she lightly shivered at the sensation.

Her brown doe eyes traced the scape of their pretty face, pink locks framing their jaw just right and their eyeliner and makeup was so immaculately done well.

Ena couldn’t get that many chances of staring freely at Mizuki without being teased to Mars and beyond so she might as well cherish this moment.

With the soft, warm glow of the setting sun peering down on the sleeping beauty right next to her, it made Mizuki look absolutely ethereal.

A vision of beauty. A mural that could only be created by the gods above.

Yeah, some god above decided one day to ship Ena off with three other girls and then decide to make Ena the insanely oblivious one and not tell her that they were all dating.

“I told you to sleep.” Ena grumbled, but didn’t move in order not to wake Mizuki up. The pink-haired girl deserved the rest, Ena supposed.

And with a slightly trembling hand, Ena moved stray hairs that were brushing against Mizuki’s cheek, gently curling her fingers to place them behind her ears.

She could help but linger there a bit longer than necessary, fingernails idly brushing against her soft cheekbones.

As Mizuki began to stir slightly at the movement, Ena’s whole body tensed for a moment before they quickly succumbed back to the soft clasp of unconsciousness.

She let out a soft sigh of relief before facing the opposite side of the train instead, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the divine beauty beside her.

It would be their stop soon, so she would have no choice but to wake Mizuki from their soft dreams, and lure them back into the world of the living, a cruel reality itself.

And as the train kept moving forward, Ena kept still, only moving to manoeuvre Mizuki to a safe position lest they fall from their seat at the sudden abrupt stops the train made at each station.

They slumbered peacefully, and for a moment, Ena felt that this was all she ever needed. Peace and quiet with her lover, someone she would hold and cherish forever, even if something split them apart.

Ena was sure they would always find their way back to one another. No matter how many worlds, no matter how much effort and sacrifice.

Mizuki was her soulmate and she was theirs. Nothing would ever change that. Nothing would ever make her love Mizuki any less. The idea itself was incomprehensible.

“You’ve got me being all cheesy like you now.” Ena scoffed. But her voice was laced with all the affection and love she had.

She might not be ready to express all that love yet but one day she will be able to. She knows it.

And as the train slowly rolled into their destination, Ena lightly shook Mizuki’s shoulder, whispering as her lips curled into a loving smile.

“Wake up, Mizuki. We’re at our stop.”
______________________________________

Ena was walking back home from art classes, saying goodbye to Futaba as she walked back to Kanade’s house.

She shivered as the cold winter air hit like an ice wall, drifting through the fabric of her navy jacket and brown cardigan.

Ena pulled her scarf closer, huffing as she trudged through the cold winter breeze.

People around her were hurriedly walking, desperate to get away from the biting cold that felt like tiny needles on Ena’s warm cheeks.

As her gaze lazily scanned the crowd of people wandering around the streets of Tokyo, her eyes caught a glimpse of familiar purple.

“Mafuyu?” Ena called out, and the lyricist immediately turned around, head perked up like a rabbit hearing their owner call for them.

It was so adorable, Ena’s heart immediately swelled, hammering against her ribcage irrationally.

She hurriedly walked over to Mafuyu, only to stop upon noticing something amiss with her store.

“What the hell are you doing out here without a scarf or gloves?!” Ena exclaimed, holding one of Mafuyu’s hands to check her body temperature.

“Your hands are freezing cold, idiot.” Ena scoffed.

“I forgot to grab them when I left the house, I was going to warm up once I got back home from club activities.”Mafuyu answered simply, as if walking out of the house without any extra layers in the coldest season of the year was a reasonable and normal thing to do.

“Aren’t you cold?” Ena asked, absolutely incredulous at the stupidity that Mafuyu apparently had. Must have got it from Mizuki.

Ena internally sighed, why was she attracted to so many idiots? If this was her type, she obviously had something wrong wired in her brain.

Ena carefully unwrapped her scarf from her neck, shivering slightly as the cool air hit the back of her neck, making the little hairs on her nap jump up slightly from the freezing sensation.

She then proceeded to wrap it around both her and Mafuyu’s shoulders in a cozy embrace and acted as protection against the cold weather. Mafuyu’s surprised eyes traced over Ena’s hands, watching as she carefully tightened it around both of them.

She also took off one of her gloves, a set that Mizuki had knitted for her and the rest of Niigo, ensuring that they all had matching pairs, and wrapped her hand around Mafuyu’s wrist, making her fit her hand within the warm glove.

And in a bold move, she clasped Mafuyu’s un-gloved hand in her own un-gloved one, stuttering out a weak excuse.

“It-it’s because this way, our hands won’t be cold! That’s all..” She trailed off, hiding her blazing cheeks in the now shared scarf.

“…” Mafuyu remained speechless, still staring at Ena like a stupefied rabbit, unmoving with slightly wild eyes and a slightly agape mouth.

“What? Spit it out.” Ena barked, not angry at all in the slightest and getting more and more increasingly flustered the more Mafuyu’s unblinking eyes stared within her soul.

“…You’re short. You’re pulling the scarf down.” Mafuyu commented, still unblinking.

And with that, all of Ena’s affection and shyness was immediately replaced with absolute annoyance.

“Huh?! What’s with that?! This wouldn’t even be happening if some dumbass didn’t forget to bring their scarf and gloves! And you could stand to lean down a little, not everyone’s as tall as you and ‘Zuki. Ungrateful, I swear.” Ena rambled, pulling her hand away and grumbling cursed under her breath.

Mafuyu immediately pulled back her hand, gripping it slightly as she mumbled a small sorry.

Oh god, she looked like a kick puppy. Ena’s heart really couldn’t handle it.

She sighed, lacing their fingers together.

“It’s fine. Just remember to bring your scarf out next time, okay?”

Mafuyu nodded, leaning just a bit closer to Ena, bumping their shoulders together in a show of thanks.

Ena smiled, leaning in closer too.

“I love you.” Mafuyu mumbled.

“I love you too, even if you’re kinda dumb sometimes.” Ena chuckled, squeezing her hand a bit tighter.

It’s fine. This was her idiot, and she loved her.
______________________________________

All four of them sat at a diner together, celebrating a new music video release.

Like routine, they went to the diner near Kanade’s house, with all of them arguing over who was going to be paying this time round and each of them insisting to be the one to pay.

“Geez, I said I’ll pay already!” Ena exclaimed, smacking Mizuki’s shoulder.

“Aww, is little Enanan mad? For someone so short, you’ve got a ton of temper in that little body, you know?” Mizuki sneered, patting Ena’s head patronisingly.

“I will actually choke you tonight.”

“Kinky—urgh!” Mizuki made the noises of a dying walrus, struggling against Ena’s hands wrapped around their windpipe.

“Ena, please don’t kill them…” Kanade looked at the both of them with a mix of amusement, worry and concern.

Ena’s hands decided to spare them, but not without sending them a middle finger which Mizuki returned completely.

“You both are public nuisances.” Mafuyu remarked, walking ahead of them with her hand intertwined with the composer’s.

“Don’t blame me, Enanan’s the violent one.” Mizuki mumbled, still coughing up spit that flew down the wrong pipe.

“Deserved.” Ena shot back, though her pinkie brushed against Mizuki’s in a small apology.

As Mizuki’s knowing grin faced her, she knew that the pink-haired girl wasn’t actually angry and instead lifted up Ena’s hand to kiss the back of it gently before tugging her to run toward the purple and silver-haired duo.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Ena laughed, running alongside her pink lover.

This was where she belonged. She was sure of it. She was safe and loved here, and she would love them back just as fiercely as she could.
______________________________________

“Yeah, so that’s been happening for the past week.” Ena chewed on her pancake, savouring the sweet and syrupy taste on her tongue.

“Woah, so all it took was me and your sister making out to find out you’re dating your unit mates and you’re now reaping the rewards hard. You should thank me more.” Airi snickered, sipping her lemon ice tea, which was generously bought by Ena herself.

“I still can’t get that image out of my head, thank you. How do you even get into the house?” Ena asked, pointing her fork at Airi.

“I climb the tree next to Minori’s window.” Airi explained, casually. Like that was normal human behaviour.

“You’re so weird, why am I friends with you?” Ena sighed, hiding her badly restrained smile behind her fork.

“Because you love me.” Airi simply answered.

“No.” Ena deadpanned.

“Tough crowd. When’s your anniversary anyway?” Airi asked, stealing a bit of Ena’s pancake.

“Hmm…” Ena wondered for a moment. “I think like…about…uh…when did you start noticing that we were dating?”

“Like four months ago.” Airi replied, trying to take Ena’s plate.

“Yeah, should be around there then.”

“You’re so bad at this.”

“Shut up, and eat your own pancakes! Stop taking my plate!”
______________________________________

Ena was casually sitting at the dining table, drinking tea from her brown mug.

Mizuki sat next to her, with Kanade sitting next to them and Mafuyu sitting next to Kanade.

Honami was sitting with the four of them, drinking her chamomile tea from a spare cup they had.

Honami regularly had evening tea parties with them every time she came over to clean Kanade’s house, which was beginning to slowly decrease, with Mizuki, Ena and Mafuyu being able to help Kanade clean up and her own busy music career as being a drummer in a pro band.

“Hmm, I still can’t believe you guys are dating and all living together. Me and the rest of Leo/need have been talking about it for a while now but the most we can do is sleepovers until we all move out.” Honami hummed, laughing a bit.

Ena noted Kanade looked slightly confused but chalked it up to her usual grogginess.

Mizuki laughed, “You know what they say, lesbians move fast.”

Honami chuckled before leaning forward with interest sparking in her eyes.

“So when’s your dating anniversary? I don’t think I actually ever asked.” Honami took a sip from her cup in a graceful manner.

“Six months.” Mafuyu answered.

“Five months!” Mizuki exclaimed, beaming with joy.

“Four months, I think.” Ena tapped her fingers against the wood of the table.

“We have a dating anniversary? What for? We aren’t dating?” Kanade tilted her head, confusion scribbled all over her face.

Honami promptly spit out her tea in the most ungraceful manner Ena ever had the pleasure to see while all four members of Nightcord looked at one another with the most dumbfounded looks on their faces.

“WE AREN’T DATING?!” Mizuki screamed, eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“WHAT?! And where are you both getting five and six months from?!” Ena shouted in unison, standing up from her chair.

“First you both are wrong, it’s six months. And aren’t we dating, Kanade? I thought I was the last one to know.” Mafuyu turned to look at the stupefied composer.

“I thought I was the last one to know!” Both Ena and Mizuki shouted again.

“…Huh?” Kanade’s mouth went agape.

Ena stared at all three of them, then back at Honami who looked liked she had just witnessed a natural disaster. Maybe she had.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Chapter Text

Kanade had honestly been really happy the past three weeks.

Mizuki had been hugging her more often, holding her hands at every chance she could and giving her a huge ton of kisses, basically showering her with a waterfall of affection that made Kanade feel like a mushy puddle.

Ena was the same, taking more approaches in physical touch and affection too. Cuddling her more often and being more caring and gentle than she usually was.

Mafuyu had definitely changed too. But in a good way. She seemed like she actually wanted to be closer to the rest of Niigo, which made Kanade’s heart feel all warm and gooey. She was so happy that Mafuyu was being more relaxed and comfortable with them.

They had been so affectionate lately and Kanade was happy about it, assuming that they were getting even closer to one another.

As a friend group, should. Of course!

It wasn’t like Kanade thought of Mafuyu pulling her close and kissing her.

Or about Ena hugging her tighter and holding her with so much gentleness and warmth.

Or about Mizuki carrying her in their arms, their pink, bright eyes looking back at her with adoration.

No, not at all.

Kanade had known she had feelings for them, and just—merely did not know how to approach it.

Getting all this affection from them was honestly what Kanade could have ever dreamed of and more.

But it was honestly an out of the blue development, Kanade was curious on what had caused it.

Hell, she had even went on Reddit, asking whether there could have been motives under the new development.

Everyone had just told her that they seemed like they were dating and she possibly didn’t know but Kanade didn’t believe that.

Because the rest of Niigo would tell her if they were dating, she trusted them.

But irregardless, Kanade was enjoying it. And she was sure nothing nefarious was going on behind it! Just friends becoming more friendly with one another. Because that’s what friends do, right?
______________________________________

Nope, turns out there was something behind it.

Kanade was still shell-shocked, looking at all of their faces.

The silence was so thick that a knife could have probably cut through it. Kanade swore she could hear crickets chirping from all the way from the other side of Shibuya.

“I…am going to leave. Goodbye! Have a nice day!” Honami smiled, an expression that looked like plastic stretched too wide and far and way too fake, before shuffling toward the door slowly.

The silence she left in her wake was absolutely deafening. Leaving four dumb, oblivious lesbians staring at one another.

Mizuki and Ena slowly sat down, both staring at the floor like they hoped a black hole would engulf them fully.

Mafuyu took one more sip of her tea before putting her cup down in a controlled motion.

Kanade just stayed silent, mind racing with questions and confusion.

So all those outings, all that affection and love that made Kanade’s heart soar and beat like the fleshy organ it was…was all affection that was given under the assumption that all four of them had been dating.

Those outings were actually dates. Dates between the four of them. Oh Miku above.

Now that she had went through all the memories of the last three weeks, Kanade had realised so many important things.

The flirting that she had absolutely discarded as friendly talk between friends, the obvious and apparent love in all three of their eyes when they looked at her, the physical affection that they showered her with at every opportunity.

Miku above, how could she have missed all of that? Was she that oblivious?!

She wanted to scream into her pillow right now, she wanted the ground to swallow her off the face of the Earth and never resurface ever again. Maybe she should do that. Dig a hole all the way to the other side of the continent and never show her face in Japan ever again.

“…” All four of them sat with what was an unnecessary amount of time, tension sparkling between them.

But maybe there was something that could happen from that spark of tension, something could bloom and change between all four of them.

“So what now?” Mizuki asked, face fully flushed red with embarrassment.

Ena exhaled, a small sigh that seemed to break the silence between all of them.

“I like you guys. No, I love you guys. And, I want to date all of you. For real this time and with no hiding or anything. You guys are everything to me and I really want this. I don’t usually say this but you guys are everything to me and I want to show it to you.” She declared, love and determination strong and clear in her voice.

Mafuyu nodded, clearing her throat before speaking.

“Me too. You all make me feel warm inside, and I want to find out how I am with all of you beside me. I’m sure I have romantic feelings for all of you, and I want to expand more on them, if you all agree, of course.” Kanade almost laughed a bit, it sounded like a robotic romantic resume coming out of Mafuyu’s mouth.

But all three of them understood that she was fully and wholly sincere with them, only ever speaking the truth. It was her way of announcing her own love for them. And they loved it. Just like the way they loved her.

“This is just one whole big mess, isn’t it?” Mizuki chuckled, fidgeting with the hem of their skirt. “But yeah, I feel the same. You guys accepted me for who I was when so few people would and you guys were always there for me. I love all of you and I want to make this real.”

With that, they all turned to look at Kanade, patiently awaiting her answer.

“…Me too. I’ve loved all of you for longer than I think I’ve even realized…and I want to be with all of you. You’re all so kind and thoughtful toward me, I just hope I can return the favour to you guys.” Kanade gently smiled, a small blush decorating her cheeks.

“Aww, Kana! You big ol’ sap!” All three of them clustered around her, pulling her into a tight and loving and blissful embrace.

They stayed like that for a few moments, relishing their new found relationship and the love they all had for one another.

“So, just to make sure we’re on the same page,” Mizuki grinned. “We’re all dating now, right?”

“Yes.” Kanade giggled, leaning further into their arms.

“Duh, did that conversation not that happen?” Ena snarked, but the smile on her face spoke volumes about how happy she was.

“Correct.” Mafuyu smiled, a small one, but it was worth everything in the world to the other three.

Kanade sighed, this really was everything she could have ever hoped for and more.
______________________________________

As they all got ready for bed after the very long afternoon they had, Kanade and Mizuki sat on the bed together, having already brushed finished their teeth. They didn’t want to squeeze into the cramped bathroom with Ena and Mafuyu and so they ended up patiently waiting for their partners to come join them after they were done getting ready for bed.

Mizuki’s hand traced through the sheets of the bed before it found Kanade’s one and squeezing it tightly before pulling her down to lay on her back on the bed.

“You know, I can’t believe I’m actually dating you guys now.” Mizuki grinned, a small sharp tooth peeking out of their smile that made Kanade’s heart go wild.

“Me too.” Kanade hummed, gently tracing Mizuki’s knuckles with her thumb , feeling all the small ridges from the veins and eyes bones of her hand.

“I’ve been dreaming about this for so long.” Mizuki laughed, bumping their foreheads together like how a little cat would bump their head against their owner’s hand.

“Me too.” Kanade whispered, giggling at their show of affection.

They continued looking within one another’s eyes, both looking at a whirlwind of barely contained joy and excitement for what was to come out of their new relationship.

Their faces inched closer and closer until—

“Oi, we’re done. Quit hogging the entire bed.” A familar grumpy voice interrupted their very nice moment, prompting them to separate faster than Ena or Mafuyu could blink.

“Hahah! What, we weren’t doing anything!” Mizuki smiled very convincingly, giving the other pair a weak thumbs up.

“Just say you were going to kiss Kanade.” Mafuyu huffed, gesturing the pair on the bed together scoot so she and Ena could lie on it too.

“Can’t blame me, can you? I know you two also want to kiss her.” Mizuki pouted, shuffling backward so Mafuyu and Ena could join them on the bed and under the warm duvet covers.

“Correct.” Mafuyu nodded, wrapping her arms around Kanade’s waist and pulling bet toward her chest.

“Kanade hogger.” Ena muttered, hugging Mafuyu from behind.

“I’m right here, guys…” Kanade laughed nervously as Mizuki also moved in to nuzzle her nape from behind.

“It’s true.” All three of them said in unison before huddling together in their small, shared little bubble of warmth under Kanade’s duvet.

Ankles and skin brushing against each other with the warmth of the sheets shielding them from the cold breeze of the air conditioner in Kanade’s room.

Slowly, but surely, their whispered voices gently turned into deep and even rhythms of breathing, all slowly submitting to the call of sleep.

It was like a beautiful melody to Kanade. The sounds of breathing all intertwined to form a song that told her that the people she loved were alive, that their hearts were beating. Alive and well and beside her, with the reassurance that they loved her as much as she loved them.

And as she gently shut her eyes, a stray thought caught her attention before her eyelids fluttered and shut as she succumbed to the soft melody of unconsciousness.

When were they going to have their first kiss?
______________________________________

Well, if she’s being honest, Kanade doesn’t really have to wonder long.

It’s Mizuki and her alone again, both sitting on the couch, watching some anime that Kanade has completely lost the plot of but Mizuki’s still seemed engrossed in it, so she stayed silent and continued watching.

She vaguely knew this was about, in Mizuki’s words, lesbians fighting musical style in stages controlled by a giraffe.

This was a perfectly nice way to spend her morning.

And if she was being honest, she had been more engrossed in the way Mizuki’s eyes sparkled as they rambled and chattered on and on about the anime itself, hands waving around like a bird’s wings.

They looked so excited and happy, even looking up wiki pages on their phone to show Kanade about each of the characters, animatedly and pointing at paragraphs that blurred together like the gales of a hurricane as Mizuki’s finger swiped through them in an excited frenzy.

After the episode, Mizuki sighed happily.

“That was such a good episode! What did you think Kanade?” The aforementioned composer quite literally felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her temple at that question.

She had absolutely NOT been listening to like basically the entire episode or trilogy at all. The only part she focused on was actually the part where they sang.

The purple-haired girl with the bow actually had a similar voice to Mizuki’s, she quite liked that character. Not of out of biasedness or anything, no.

…no.

“Yes..?” Kanade weakly smiled at the pink enby, giving them a small thumbs up that did not convince anyone of anything.

Mizuki sighed, giving her a small smile ruffling her hair slightly and making strands of it pop out.

“It’s fine if you didn’t listen, you know? I know this isn’t really up your usual lane.” They murmured, lithe fingers gently carding through her thick curtain of hair before their hand eventually rested on her cheek, cupping it softly.

“No, no! I was listening, the songs were really good, I mean, the lyrics matched well with the characters and the melody was very well-structured! The crescendo was perfectly—“ Kanade scrambled to answer, not wanting offend Mizuki, she knew how much her anime shows meant to her and she didn’t want to hurt Mizuki’s feelings or anything.

Mizuki burst out laughing, which was not the reaction Kanade was expecting at all.

“It’s fine, Kana! It’s actually kinda adorable.” Mizuki nuzzled her forehead against the composer’s, giggling sweetly.

For a moment, it’s just them. For a moment, Kanade can pretend that Mizuki is all there is in her small world that’s become so full of love.

And Mizuki is looking at her the same way too. Like Kanade hung the stars and the moon and the galaxy and everything precious in it.

It’s exhilarating in the best way possible, just enough to get Kanade’s heart racing from a normal 65 bpm to a whooping 110 bpm.

It’s not a bad feeling at all, Kanade concludes.

And their faces slowly inch closer to one another, until their breaths are now shared and the air around them suddenly turns scorching hot.

Maybe it’s just the blazing heat on Kanade’s cheeks.

But it doesn’t matter now.

What matters now is the soft feeling of Mizuki’s lips on her own, their hands on her cheeks and the warmth and the ever-more blazing heat that strikes Kanade to her heart.

It’s a slow dance, an exploration of something new. It’s too much, it’s too little, it’s more than enough, and yet it’s not enough, she wants more.

Because in the end, Kanade is nothing more than a lovestruck fool whose’s waltz through the intricacies of romance is merely nothing more than entertainment for the deities that rested upon heaven.

But let them give her more of this then, Kanade thinks absentmindedly.

It’s fireworks, it’s sparklers bursting with colour of vividness.

Technicolour busting everywhere at the seams of her soul, letting up her world in a soft pink glow.

She thinks no words can describe how absolutely awestruck she is at the moment.

And as Kanade pulls back, eyes half-lidded and lips still tingling and cheeks set ablaze, she can only think about how she wants more.

Mizuki isn’t faring much better, they’re practically vibrating with how much they’re smiling and the redness on their cheeks is brighter than apples.

“Wowzers.” They blurt out, and then immediately look mortified at what they just said.

Kanade giggled, laughing at her partner’s silliness.

“That was amazing.” They breathe out, and Kanade can feel it on her cheeks.

She hums in agreement, before looping her arms around her shoulders and pulling them close to her as they fall into a heap on the couch.

Mizuki’s giggling like a child and Kanade is too.

“I love you, Kana.” And they’re nuzzling her neck like a small pink, fluffy cat drunk off affection.

“Me too.” And that’s all Kanade really needs.
______________________________________

Ena is explosive. She knows this.

Always wearing her heart on her sleeves, terribly loud and abrasive, straightforward no matter the situation and is the fiercest person you’ll ever meet when it comes to her loved ones.

But Ena thinks, she quite likes quiet moments too.

Like right now, her in Kanade’s room sitting beside the composer.

The silent ambiance of the room is filled with the scratches of Ena’s stylus against her art tablet, screen worn with years of use, and the sounds of Kanade’s fingers dancing across the keyboard of her computer with her eyes glued to the screen of her PC.

Light that poured from the peeks of the curtain blinds that Kanade had installed on her windowsills illuminated both their dimly-lit screens and their bodies.

Ena peeked at Kanade from the corner of her eye, glancing at the composer who was hard at work.

The sunlight pouring in did an excellent job at framing her features.

The soft curve of her jawline, her smooth and unblemished skin, the strands of hair that poked out of its usual up-do, it made the soft blue of her eyes glow a bit brighter.

A portrait of beauty indeed, a canvas woven by human flesh and blood that formed a mural of the girl that sat beside Ena.

It’s this soft moment that keeps Ena enamoured and entranced like a butterfly trapped with a spider’s web.

Except this butterfly let herself get trapped in it on purpose, drawn to the glistening silk of the web drawn up by the spider.

And as she continues looking at her beloved partner, something she doesn’t expect is the the same face she was staring at to look right back at with pleasantly surprised eyes.

“Ena?” Kanade tilted her head in that adorable way that she does, looking like a fluffy blue dog looking curiously at a foreign object.

With said foreign object being her cute, amazing and adorable girlfriend.

And Ena is an artist, built and designed to see the world through beauty and colour and everything beguiling.

And Kanade fits exactly within that category, like a puzzle piece in the puzzle of Ena’s heart.

So Ena has no other excuse when she brings her hand up to the back of Kanade’s neck to help her lean up and forward toward Ena while the brunette leaned down toward her, because she, as a artist, is designed to admire beauty.

The kiss is soft and gentle and it sends Ena to the highest levels of heaven that could ever exist. Gay Nirvana, gay fountain of youth, whatever level of paradise this was, it definitely unlocked something in the brunette artist.

It leaves her wanting more and more, because Ena is a greedy person. An utterly, devastatingly and horribly greedy person to her core.

Always wanting more in everything she does.

Wanting to be better in art, wanting her father’s approval, wanting to love and be loved back by her unit circle, and wanting to continue the kiss for forever.

An utterly greedy and infatuated girl, that’s what Ena is.

But who can blame her? Ena thinks as she pulls away. It’s Kanade of all people.

And Kanade looked like she’s short-circuiting. Ena’s sure that if she was a PC, twenty programs would have already crashed.

Adorable, absolutely adorable.

She eventually wakes up from her daze, staring at Ena with wide eyes.

“What was that for?” Kanade asked, eyes flicking between Ena and her hands on her lap.

“I’m sorry, did you not want to..?” Ena whispered, a crack in her voice.

“No, no! Never! I was just surprised.” Kanade frantically waved her hands, assuring Ena. “I liked it.”

“Really?” And Ena feels like a kid begging for candy at the moment.

“Yeah. Could we do it again, actually?” Kanade’s embarrassed, eyes wandering everywhere but Ena.

And the hunger in Ena ignites once more, a starving animal.

Whatever Kanade wants, she’ll get, Ena supposes as she giggles at her response and leans back in.
______________________________________

Mafuyu felt warm. She always did when she entered the Yoisaki Household. It felt even warmer now that she could enter in and walk into the arms of her partners.

She gracefully kicked off her shoes, and took out her key that jingled with a rabbit keychain.

All four of them had matching animal keychains. Mizuki had a cat, Ena had a hedgehog and Kanade a dog.

She opened the door, setting down her bag with a polite, “I’m home.”

The smell of curry and rice wafted through the apartment, along with the clanging of pans from the kitchen.

A head of brown hair poked out from the kitchen, wearing a brown apron over a paint-stained shirt.

“Oh, welcome home. I’m making curry.” Ena greeted her before returning to cooking.

Mafuyu walked closer to her, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with her.

“Where’s Mizuki and Kanade?”

“They’re both sleeping in Kanade’s room, look.” Ena took out her phone, showing her a picture of the two girls entangled together on the composer’s messy bed.

“Mm.” Mafuyu hummed as Ena turned back to cooking.

On an impulsive move, she wrapped her arms around her waist, plopping her head down on her shoulder. It was warm and nice.

“M-Mafuyu!” Ena jumped, almost dripping curry everywhere.

“The curry’s going to burn. Focus.” Mafuyu warned.

“Fine! Jeez, always scaring me like that…” Ena grumbled, huffing and puffing while she continued to cook.

All of them could cook except for Kanade, but she was learning from both them and Honami, so she would probably be able to cook in ample time.

They stayed like that for a while, with Mafuyu glancing up at Ena every now and then while the brunette concentrated on not burning anything.

Mafuyu kept glancing up at her lips, wondering how they would feel against hers. Would it be soft and warm? Or would it encase her like the fiery passion that burned in Ena’s eyes?

She had heard about Ena and Mizuki kissing Kanade and she had to admit, she was a bit curious about how it would feel.

She had read an article about kissing, stating that one of the ways you could hint that you wanted a kiss was to look at your partner’s lips.

So that was what Mafuyu was doing. This was not creepy at all.

And this continued on until Ena finally turned off the heat on the stove and turned to Mafuyu.

“I can see you looking at my mouth.” She deadpanned.

“Wikipedia said it was the most effective way to get your partner to kiss you.” Mafuyu replied, still looking intently at her mouth.

“What the—we need to get you off the internet, you’ll be spouting nonsense like Mizuki soon.” Ena huffed, wiping her hands on a nearby towel.

“I think the ‘Cringe Karens’ compilations they watch on YouTube is mildly entertaining.” Mafuyu nodded, hair brushing against Ena’s collarbone.

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Ena mumbled, delivering a small poke to Mafuyu’s forehead.

“Hm.” Mafuyu hummed, swatting Ena’s hand away.

They stayed silent for a few moments before Ena turned toward her again, face flushing a slight red.

“You know, you could just ask me..” Her eyes glanced away from Mafuyu.

“Ah, is that so. Okay then.” Well, that was easy. Wikipedia was truly an amazing tool, technology was very interesting nowadays.

Mafuyu straightened up, turned Ena around and put her hands on her shoulders.

“So how do I do this?” She enquired.

“What the fuck—okay, that’s it.” Ena grabbed Mafuyu and pulled her down by the collar roughly, pressing their lips together in a heated frenzy.

And well, if the burning pit in Mafuyu’s stomach that lit the moment their lips touched was hunger, then Mafuyu was a damn starving human being right then.

Warmth lit up in her chest and went all the way down to her knees as Ena leaned in closer to the kiss, tilting her head to get a better angle.

Mafuyu grabbed Ena by the waist again and pulled her in closer, enjoying the satisfied sigh made by the brunette artist against her lips.

Goosebumps littered Ena’s skin at that, lightly jumping at the new contact of skin on her waist.

It was awfully domestic, awfully blissful and beautiful in every way possible.

The first touch of Mafuyu’s lips against hers sent a ripple through chest, right and warm and slow. It was everything right in the world and Mafuyu felt like she was truly free with Ena right there in her arms.

Mafuyu’s eyes were still wide open, blankly staring at Ena’s closed ones as they slowly kissed.

Why were her eyes closed? The Wikipedia did not say anything about this.

Time stilled for a few moments before Ena’s eyes opened and eventually pulled away and the scathing heat in Mafuyu’s head slowly pulled away, replaced by a fuzzy warmth that felt like cotton in her chest.

“What the hell. Why were your eyes open.” Ena looked at her in disbelief, incredulously.

“Were you supposed do that?” Mafuyu tilted her head, looking like a lost rabbit who had lost their way to their burrow.

“Oh my god, yes?! That’s creepy, don’t do that.” Ena let out a confused squawk at that, she couldn’t believe her fricking purple partner was so damn dense.

“There. Now you have your kiss.” Ena grumbled, hand still holding Mafuyu’s collar.

Mafuyu blinked once, twice, three times.

“Can we do it again—“

“GO WAKE UP MIZUKI AND KANADE! DINNER’S READY!” Ena’s flustered expression took over her face as she pushed Mafuyu to the direction of Kanade’s room, grumbling about a stupid purple gremlin.

Mafuyu blinked again, before slowly complying and shuffling toward the room.

Wikipedia was truly the instrumental core of humanity.
______________________________________

“Hey, Mafuyu! Look at this!” Mizuki bumped her shoulder onto Mafuyu’s, showing her a small manga panel of the two manga protagonist’s kissing.

“What about it?” Mafuyu raised an eyebrow at the panel.

“It’s Yuri! Peak Yuri! They finally get together after a emotional and heartbreaking story! It’s touching, you know~?” Mizuki sing-songed, moving from being next to Mafuyu’s shoulder to leaning down and placing her head plushly on Mafuyu’s lap.

“Ah, I see. Have you showed me this one before?” Mafuyu’s hand patted Mizuki’s head, carding her hands through her hair.

“Mm…I don’t think so!” Mizuki grinned, “You wanna read it?”

“I don’t mind.” Mafuyu blinked, adjusting the blanket around Mizuki’s stomach.

“Yahoo!” Mizuki cheered, puffing out their chest. “I’m truly introducing you to the world of Yuri, I’m so good at this.”

“Are we not Yuri?” Mafuyu asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” Mizuki shrugged, “Girl’s love and all that. We’re all girls so it fits.”

“Is this where you get that tsundere nickname for Ena?” The brunette always got snappy when Mizuki called her that, stating that she in fact was not a so-called tsundere.

“Nah, that’s just from manga in general.” Mizuki explained.

“I see.” Mafuyu fell silent again, her curiosity being fulfilled by Mizuki’s answers.

They lapsed into comfortable silence, only interrupted by the rustle of paper as Mizuki flipped through their hard-copy manga.

“Do you want to kiss?” Mafuyu blankly said, out of nowhere, in Mizuki’s humble opinion.

“Man, Mafuyu how do you ever get these absolutely amazing ideas?” Mizuki smirked at her from the purple haired lyricist’s lap, setting down their manga.

“I’ve been told that I have excellent ideas.” Mafuyu answered seriously, even holding up a finger. It reminded Mizuki of a meme they saw somewhere.

“Certainly not by Ena.” Mizuki snorted.

“No.” Mafuyu deflated at that, Mizuki swore they could see two ears drooping sadly at the sides of her head.

“Aww, don’t be sad, Mafuyu! Lil Ol’ Mizuki can give you all the love that mean, grumpy Enanan won’t!” They gently caressed her cheeks with their palms, bringing her face closer to theirs.

“That would be greatly appreciated.” Mafuyu nodded.

“You speak like a gentleman from the Victorian Era.” Mizuki giggled, pressing their foreheads together.

“Hm.” Mafuyu made a serious thinking face at that, prompting Mizuki to giggle even more.

“Does this gentlemen want his kiss?” Mizuki grinned wolfishly, eyes glimmering with mirth and mischief.

“Yes.” Mafuyu replied, and without another thought, leaned down even more.

Their lips crashed together like waves in a raging sea. Heat flooded both their brains, bodies, hands and lungs.

It was a bit messy, their front teeth accidentally crashed together, their noses bumped against one another, but to Mizuki it was absolutely perfect. A excellent kind of messy that was addictive.

Every thought only being about each other, hands pulling tighter around each other’s skin, lips moving against one another in a dance of heat of love.

Also, wow. Mafuyu was really good at this.

It was amazingly addictive. Love was an addictive drug to Mizuki and so was Mafuyu. And so was the feeling of her lips against theirs.

But all good things eventually needed to end, and by that, Mizuki meant that both she and Mafuyu needed to breathe.

Mafuyu pulled away and looked down at Mizuki, who was beaming so wildly it hurt.

“Ena was right, you are a good kisser.” Mizuki pinched their cheeks affectionately, and before Mafuyu could respond, they brought her face back down to pepper kisses all over her face.

Compliment and praise were showered in between every kiss, each one making the heat on Mafuyu’s cheeks more and more apparent.

And that was how the purple and pink-haired duo spent their afternoon, cuddled up in love and many, many kisses.
______________________________________

“Seriously, always making me wait…fucking Mizuki…” Ena grumbled, waiting outside the gates of Kamikou.

Her pink lover was unusually late for when Ena would normally pick her up before walking her back home and hurriedly rushing off to night class.

Today’s class was cancelled for Ena though, something about an explosion happening near the art room that apparently desecrated the hallway connecting it to the stairway.

Not that Ena was complaining, it saved her the hassle of having to sit through a whole set of boring classes.

But aside from that, Mizuki was being late and it was starting to slightly! Only slightly! Worry Ena.

Did she get held back by a teacher? Was she being bullied by those classmates of hers again?

“Ah, fuck it.” Ena stepped through the gates, only to stop a mere two footsteps in.

There Mizuki was, half walking and half trudging toward the gate with her uniform slightly torn and creased with dirt and dust.

Her cardigan was hanging off one of her shoulders, with her arm looking limp, as she dragged her feet toward the gate with a small bruise on her cheek.

“Hey, Enanan. I’m sorry, did I keep you waiting?” Mizuki smiled listlessly at her, eyes slightly dazed and unfocused as if she wasn’t really focusing on the girl infront of her.

“Mizuki!” Ena ran toward the girl before their knees buckled slightly and they immediately fell into the brunette’s arms. “The hell happened to you?”

Her heart was pounding against her ribcage like a hammer, her breath was quickening at the sight of the beaten fashionista.

“Just the usual, you know…” They murmured, head falling deeper in the crook of her neck as she held them tightly, as if they would disappear if she didn’t hold them tightly enough.

“This shouldn’t even be a usual!” Ena gripped the back of their cardigan even tighter, pulling them closer to her chest.
“What the hell?!”

“I shouldn’t have stayed in the classroom that long…that’s all.” Their voice sounded dry and emotionless, an empty void where energy and joy used to be.

“Don’t defend those fucking bastards, Mizuki.” Ena growled, using what little arm strength she had to lift Mizuki up.

The girl was lighter than she expected, which was surprising, Ena expected her to have more muscle mass considering the fact that the fashion designer could princess carry all of them without breaking a sweat.

“Can you walk on that leg?” Ena pointed at the leg without a limp while she looped Mizuki’s arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah.” Mizuki replied, tone clipped and dull.

“Come on. We’re going back home.” The two trudged together on the path back to Kanade’s house, sometimes stopping because Mizuki was in too much pain to walk.

The entire walk back was just Ena either cursing or telling Mizuki that it would be alright and that she loved her.

When they finally made it back to Kanade’s house, Ena helped Mizuki take off their shoes and led them to the couch.

She pulled out her phone and texted Mafuyu and Kanade to come home from their date earlier, stating that Mizuki had been hurt.

Both the composer and lyricist had sent back a few worried messages, eventually replying that they would be home soon.

After that, the brunette briskly walked to the bathroom and took out the first aid kit they kept during emergencies that belonged to Mafuyu.

She took out bandages and alcohol patches, along with some ointment before she got some ice packs to help with the swelling on Mizuki’s cheek.

“Hold still.” Although her voice was firm, it was also soft and kind. Ena looked up, trying to get Mizuki to look at her but the pink-haired girl remained unresponsive, blank pink eyes looking at her shoes only.

She carefully bandaged her scraps and scratches, making sure to clean them with the alcohol patches as gently as she could without causing Mizuki more pain than she was already in.

But the editor did not respond, only merely giving small grunts every now and then.

Ena was getting really worried, it wasn’t like Mizuki to be so silent, though considering the situation they were in, it made sense.

Their usually bright irises were devoid of colour, of the light of life that made Mizuki so vibrant in everyday life. So bright that she put the Sun and stars to shame.

Once she was done bandaging them, she slowly patted their knees and lifted herself up to sit next to them.

She cupped their cheek, angling their face toward her. They still didn’t look at her, almost like a child who had done something wrong, but Mizuki hadn’t done anything. It was never and would never be their fault.

The artist placed the ice pack that she had grabbed from the fridge and placed it on the area where Mizuki’s cheek was swelling.

The bruise was an angry mix of bright red and purple, no doubt caused by a strong punch.

Ena kept glancing at Mizuki, who was staring at her hands now, slumped against the couch like a limp corpse of a person. A shell of what they usually were. It was killing Ena to see her lover like this.

“Mizuki.” The girl gave a short grunt, a small acknowledgment that she knew she was being addressed. Okay, Ena could work with that. “What happened?”

At this, Mizuki finally looked up, shifting the ice pack against her cheek a bit.

“They found me on the rooftop. Decided I was a good target, like usual.” They let out a humourless giggle, glancing at their injuries. “Did a good job, eh?”

“Don’t joke about this.” Ena snapped, immediately noticing the way Mizuki’s eyes went downcast again.

“Wait, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that-“ Ena waved her free hand frantically before sighing. She was just digging her grave.

She put down the ice pack, placing both her hands gently on both sides of their face, wiping away stray tears that had started to form on the corners of their eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Ena murmured, bringing Mizuki’s face up to let them look at her. “I just hate seeing you like this.”

Mizuki sniffled at that, slightly shifting to hide their face in Ena’s left palm, weakly nuzzling against it like an affection starved cat.

“I don’t want to be a burden.” They sniffed, letting Ena’s gentle touch unravel the bottled-up feelings in their heart.

“You’re never going to be a burden. You’re my Mizuki.” Ena cooed in a soft voice, bringing their face closer to hers.

“My pretty girl.” One kiss on their temple.

“E-Ena—“ Mizuki stuttered.

“The most cutest girl in the whole entire world.” Another on the bridge of their nose.

“The strongest person I know.” One more on their eyelids.

“Ena, I—“ Mizuki sniffled, tears dropping down faster at a rapid rate.

“Shh, you’re going to be loved by me, okay?” A kiss in between their brows.

Mizuki eventually fell silent, letting Ena pepper her face with kisses upon kisses upon kisses.

Slowly, Ena pulled away, admiring Mizuki’s face.

“You are so strong, Mizuki.” And with that, swooped in and kissed her right on the lips, being as soft and gentle as she could.

There were explosions behind Ena’s ribcage, but also a warm and soft comfort behind the blinding heat. It was an act of comfort, of affection, of her trying to convey that she was there for them.

Mizuki kissed her back too, slightly wrapping her arms around her back.

She felt loved, so absolutely and undeniably adored. It was the greatest comfort she had experienced. The feeling of someone wanting to be there for you and take care of you was so overwhelmingly amazing to Mizuki.

It was what she desperately needed in times like this, it was what she had craved for so many years. It was what would fill the cracks in her poor, fragile heart that had experienced too much.

And once they pulled away, it was like a damn had broken and all the tears that Mizuki thought had been dried up came rushing back with a new intensity.

Ena pulled her close, allowing Mizuki to bury herself in her chest, not minding that her shirt would be badly wrinkled if Mizuki’s tight grip on it had anything to say.

“I hate it. I hate it. I hate it, Ena. Why can’t they leave me alone?” Mizuki sobbed, tears staining Ena’s top.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.” Ena stroked her hair softly, like one would to a sleeping cat, comforting her and keeping her close in a protective hold.

They stayed like that, with Ena comforting her and Mizuki crying into her chest, all until Mizuki’s crying turned into exhausted sniffling and eventually into a deep rhythm of breathing that indicated that the girl was asleep.

“I love you, Mizuki.” Ena pressed a light kiss into her pink, fluffy hair while gently stroking up and down her back in a comforting motion.

She could stay like this until Kanade and Mafuyu came back. Anything to comfort her Mizuki. Her beautiful, strong, amazing and sweet Mizuki that deserved the world. It would be fine, Ena would always chase after her if she ran. And if she ran too far, Ena would always know that, eventually, they would run back into her arms.
______________________________________

Kanade was down with the flu. Yes, the great composer who basically lived on cup noodles and will to compose had been reduced to a sniffling and coughing mess on the bed. Not even the gods could have predicted this. Truly an unexpected development.

Mizuki had work, Ena had art classes, which left Mafuyu to take care of her.

“Drink up.” Mafuyu held out a spoonful of hot chicken soup toward’s Kanade’s mouth, making sure not to spill any on the shorter girl’s bed.

Kanade groaned, sitting up and slowly sipping the soup. Her body ached, her head was killing her and everything felt stuffy and hot.

Kanade was going to compose a—what was it again? What had Mizuki called it?—ah, yes. She was going to compose a hate song on whoever had done this to her. Wow, she felt delirious.

Also her nose felt really congested. And her body felt really heavy. And she felt really really sick.

She was so good at being sick. She was so proud of herself.

Mafuyu gently continued feeding her soup, lightly blowing on each spoonful to make sure the soup would not accidentally burn the shorter girl’s tongue.

Once she was done, Mafuyu gently placed down the bowl and got to work.

She went to the bathroom to wet a rag with cold water to lower Kanade’s body temperature. She grabbed a thermometer while she was at it, along with a packet of medicine and a cup of hot green tea with honey.

“I have medicine. Here, there’s tea.” Mafuyu dropped the medicine tablets in Kanade’s hand. “If they’re hard to swallow, I can get those thin jelly slices that Mizuki gets when they have to swallow medicine.”

“Ah, it’s fine. Thank you, Mafuyu.” Kanade smiled gently at her, quickly swallowing the medicine and grimacing at the bitter aftertaste.

“Here, there’s tea has honey.” Mafuyu tipped the cup toward Kanade’s mouth, helping her drink it.

“Thank you.” Kanade’s soft, raspy voice sent small shivers down Mafuyu’s nape, it felt slightly warm to her.

Mafuyu cleared her throat, shaking away anything thoughts.

She beckoned Kanade to lie down, gently playing the rag on her forehead, and fluffing the blanket around her shoulders.

Mafuyu gently took care of her like she was a fragile, precious thing. Murmuring comforts, gently stroking her hair, helping her sip water when her voice got too raspy and scratchy.

Kanade felt pampered, in a good way. It wasn’t so bad to be taken care of every once in a while, she supposed.

She looked up at Mafuyu, grinning deliriously. “You look pretty.”

Mafuyu’s ears turned slightly red at the compliment, murmuring out a small thank you.

Kanade sat up slowly, Mafuyu was about to tell her to continue resting before Kanade cupped her cheeks and giggled. “I wanna kiss you.”

And before Mafuyu could respond, the composer pulled Mafuyu down. Well, the girl didn’t have much strength but it wasn’t as if Mafuyu was resisting either, if she was being honest.

The kiss was soft and warm, the heat radiating from Kanade’s body was very warm and it probably wasn’t a good idea to be kissing a sick person, but Mafuyu didn’t mind.

When it came to her lovers, Mafuyu didn’t mind anything.

It was soft and fleeting, yet infinitely warmer than anything Mafuyu had ever felt. Which was also possibly due to Kanade’s high body temperature.

It was casual, a soft fleeting action of affection that was so overwhelmingly—normal.

This was Mafuyu’s normal now. Not studying endlessly until her hands developed blisters from writing so much. Not always holding her breath whenever her mother so much as breathed in her direction. Not always pretending to be a puppet anymore.

This casual love and warmth was her normal now. She was—happy.

That realisation was like a whole brick wall slamming into her. She was happy. This was happiness. She was happy. It felt so foreign yet so right.

By the time Mafuyu had broken out of her reverie, Kanade had fallen asleep on her bed, completely out cold.

Mafuyu sighed, a small smile gracing her lips.

She made sure the blanket was fully covering Kanade, planting a small kiss on her forehead.

The purple-haired enby walked out the door, giving one more loving glance at Kanade before rolling up her sleeves and walking to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Mizuki and Ena would be starving once they got back, and Kanade needed the added nutrition anyway.

She loved them so much.
______________________________________

All of Nightcord were preparing for their weekly Nightcord movie nights, just another one of Mizuki’s dumb namings.

“I got the blankets!” Mizuki charged into the living room with blankets heaped onto heir back and in their arms.

While walking over to the couch, they had tripped a total of a seven times, as counted by Kanade.

“Oi, dumbass! Don’t trip and fall! I’m not bringing you to the emergency room at 9pm and explaining to the nurse that my girlfriend tripped and fell over twenty blankets.” Ena yelled from the kitchen where she and Mafuyu were preparing snacks.

“Aww, I’m your girlfriend! That’s kind of gay, Ena.” Mizuki teased, grinning as she plopped down next to Kanade, who was giggling at the pink-haired editor’s antics.

“We are gay! You’re gay!! What the hell?!” Ena faced her with an incredulous expression, looking like she had just aged ten years.

“Damn, I didn’t know.” Mizuki smiled before turning to Kanade and wrapping her up in a full-body bear hug.

“We need to break up with them.” Ena said to Mafuyu, scowling as she waited impatiently for the popcorn to be ready.

“Outvoted. Three to one.” Mafuyu replied, not even sparing her a glance as she poured green tea into all their assigned cups.

“You didn’t even ask for Kanade’s opinion!” Ena cried out.

“No thank you.” Kanade said from where she was situated on Mizuki’s lap.

“See?” Mafuyu looked at Ena, giving her finger guns.

“Where did you learn that.” Ena deadpanned, looking horrified.

“Mizuki said it was ‘cool’ and that I should do it whenever I proved a point to you.” Mafuyu shrugged, placing all their cups on the tray and walking over to the couch.

And Mizuki was damn lucky that the microwave suddenly started beeping and that Kanade was sitting on her lap, or not the brunette would have leapt over the counter to tackle her.

“I’m dating idiots.” Ena grumbled, tearing open the popcorn bag and pouring it all a purple bowl that they had.

“Even me?” Kanade pouted.

“No, not you.” Ena’s voice softened and so did her expression as she ruffled the composer’s hair.

“This is favouritism.” Mizuki grumbled, sticking out their tongue at the brunette artist.

“Yes, yes it is.” Ena smirked, flicking their nose with her middle and pointer finger, causing them to scrunch it up in a cute and an absolutely adorable way.

“Hmph.” They pouted, facing away from Ena.

“You big ass baby.” Ena huffed, revealing a poorly hidden smile as she pinched Mizuki’s cheek before kissing it lightly.

The pinkette’s face flushed slightly red, turning away and burying her face in Kanade’s face instead.

Mafuyu glanced over them with a fond smile before turning on the television, flipping through their list of shows.

They eventually all picked a show after a bunch of arguing, mostly from Mizuki and Ena, settling on a rom-com they had been working through for the past few weeks Nightcord movie nights.

The night settled into laughter and jokes, familiar warmth coursing through all their hearts and bodies.

Mizuki was laughing, fully embracing who they were and being free and accepted where they were.

Ena was grinning, no longer bound by the everyday stress of people’s expectations of her art and work, and being able to full relax for once.

Mafuyu was smiling, finally free from her mother’s control and ready to find who she truly was with the help of her loved ones.

Kanade was…free. She wasn’t trapped by the chains of her duty. She was free to be happy, free to enjoy and free to be someone to be taken care of and loved.

They were happy.

And as the night calmed down and the chatter and buzz of love and excitement calmed down, they all settled in a comfortable tangle of limbs and legs, settling beside one another in a bubble of happiness and warmth.

Snuggling into each other’s shoulders and chests, arms wrapped around one another’s bodies, breaths puffing onto one another’s skin and being comfortably wrapped under a fluffy duvet.

It was love, trust and friendship all wrapped together.

They would surely face more hardships in the future. They would surely suffer heartbreak and sadness one day. Cracks in their hearts and tears would form eventually. Pain was an inevitable part of their future.

But for now, they could stay like this. Wrapped in each other’s warmth and love. Safe and secure from the harsh reality they would have to face the next day when they’d wake.

And it would be alright. They would always have each other, now and forever.
______________________________________

Honami sat down at the living room of the Yoisaki Household. Staring at all of the four girls in front of her.

“So..” Honami raised an eyebrow, taking an obnoxiously long and deep sip of her tea.

“We’re dating!” Mizuki giggled, wrapping their arms around Mafuyu’s neck and flashing her a peace sign.

Thank the gods, Honami sighed.

“I’m glad you guys managed to clear up the situation.” Honami smiled.

“Yeah, and now we’re all dating!” Mizuki giggled happily.

Honami sighed again. Thanks the heavens above for that.

She looked at the sight of the four of them laughing and smiling at each other like they were the only people on Earth.

I’m sure Saki-chan will be very happy to hear that they’re dating now, Honami mused.