Work Text:
We had a live today.
I don’t really remember a lot of what we did, I was so focused on singing. But my body still held onto the groove of our music even as we left the live house. I could faintly feel it over this sensation of heaviness in my body as it pulsed in my veins and buzzed across every nerve.
Taki-chan walked me home after the event, like she’s always been doing. I asked if she wanted to stay the night and she had agreed. As we went, the space between us was filled by our performance, like a hearty meal.
The warmth of the setting sun had made an orange glow take to Taki-chan’s hair, illuminating every wayward strand with it. There was also a different warmth in my hand accented by the slight roughness of the calluses at the base of Taki-chan’s fingers. They tingled as they rubbed against my palm.
When we reached my apartment, I stepped in after taking off my shoes, mumbling out the customary ‘I’m home’. A distinctly earthy smell mixed with the scent of cleaning products wafted into my nose in greeting. I felt my body release tension which I didn’t know I was holding on to, like a balloon into the sky.
I went straight to my room. My room hasn’t changed much over the years, I still sleep on the bunk bed I slept on as a child. My desk remains below it, covered in shallow scratches from the times I would try my hand at some craftwork. The only thing which has really changed is the amount of trinkets I’ve accumulated. My parents sometimes say that I live in a storeroom rather than a bedroom.
“Um, T-Tomori…” Taki-chan’s gentle voice slipped in between my thoughts. Ah… I shouldn’t have let her presence slip my mind. Where were my manners? I awkwardly stumbled on my heel to face her.
“O-ouh… T-Taki-chan, can I get you anything?” I brought my gaze up to make eye contact with Taki-chan. Her eyes are always the first thing that catch my attention when I look at her. They’re so pretty… sparkling like a pair of twinkling violet stars.
“N-no, no. I-I’m just… a bit tired. Can I use your bed for a while?”
“M-mm…” I hummed in response.
“Thanks, Tomori.”
Taki-chan has been asking little things like that from me recently. It makes warmth bubble up in my chest. She’s already done so much for me and all of us. I want to help her in every way I can.
As I was thinking, the sound of gentle footsteps brought my attention back to Taki-chan, who was now at the ladder up to my bed.
“A-ah, T-Taki-chan… be careful.” I squeaked and brought my hand up as she took hold of it. The first two steps were quite creaky, I remember it scared her a bit when she first came over.
As I watched Taki-chan climb up onto my bed, I thought about joining her. I wasn’t very sleepy, but I didn’t really have the energy to do much else. Before I realised it, I was already climbing as well.
“U-uh-!? T-Tomori?” Taki-chan looked upon me with her mouth agape as my head came into her view. We looked at each other for a few long moments. Then my body moved by itself, as if it had a mind of its own.
I climbed into bed. It was a bit cramped. My bed is quite small and it was only really meant to have one person on it at a time, but two could fit if we tried.
In those short moments of silence, the usual static in my head, the kind that felt like pins and needles pricking my mind, melted away into nothingness, replaced by quiet breaths and a fuzzy warmth by my side.
By Taki-chan’s side, the world didn’t seem like such a scary place…
“Thank you… Taki-chan.” The gentle vibrations of my vocal cords surprised me a little, I was only thinking of those words.
“U-uh..! H-hah..?” Those brilliant eyes… they wobbled as they gazed away from mine. The face they belonged to became quite red, like a tomato. I still don’t understand why Taki-chan reacts this way to what I say sometimes. But at that moment, I felt my cheeks tighten as I smiled.
“M-mm… I-I mean- n-no problem?” Taki-chan squeaked, then paused. “U-uh… s-sorry. I don’t know what to say…”
“I-It’s okay.” I didn’t feel that Taki-chan needed to respond. I think I just wanted her to hear that, maybe that was why I spoke.
“E-eh? W-well…” Despite what I was thinking, Taki-chan still searched for her words.
At that moment, a surge of something strong rooted itself in my chest, threatening to spill forth. It wasn’t anger but… it felt almost like it. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to Taki-chan.
I hugged her.
That indescribable feeling went away as quickly as it came, leaving me with Taki-chan in my arms.
“Tomori…”
A hand gently cradled my head into the crook of Taki-chan’s neck. I closed my eyes and let her warmth envelop me. I could feel her rubbing me gently on the back of my head. Every stroke felt soothing, like the crashing of waves upon a shore. I lightly pressed my nose into her neck and nuzzled her.
As we held each other close, I thought that maybe, it wouldn’t be so terrible to stay like that for the evening. Even if my parents tell me it’s bad to laze around for too long…
It was only then I noticed a bit too late that a blanket of sleepiness had gradually draped itself upon me. Maybe I was more tired than I thought.
But I recall that in the last few moments of my conscious memory, everything… felt right.
…
I woke up not knowing the time, but it was dark outside.
I rubbed my eyes and squinted quite hard as I looked around. The light which we had left on attacked my eyes with the intensity of a million grains of coarse sand. The pins and needles started piercing my synapses again.
I had to turn it off. I hurried off the bed, the steps creaked loudly in protest. My foot caught on something and I stumbled to the ground. I darted to the lightswitch. In a few seconds, the light was switched off.
The static in my head stopped as if I had put my finger on a ringing guitar string. I found myself in silence, bathed in the dim light of the streetlamps and the darkness of the long shadows they cast from my window. It was only then that I felt the return of the haze of sleepiness.
“Tomori…? D-did something happen?” Taki-chan’s voice abruptly caught my attention. She spoke weakly, at a half whisper. I must’ve woken her up in my rush to turn the light off.
“A-ah- no… s-sorry, T-Taki-chan… um- I… wanted to t-turn off the light…” As I clutched the hem of my sweater in embarrassment, something else tugged on my thoughts in the back of my head. Ah-… that’s right, we hadn’t changed for bed.
“...A-actually, T-Taki-chan… we should get changed.”
“Heh-? But… I don’t have anything…”
“Mm… c-come down.” I meekly waved my hand downwards. It would’ve been rude of me to not give her any clothes to sleep in.
Taki-chan sat up as I went to my wardrobe and retrieved two sets of my pajamas from the bottom left. As I did, I heard the ladder creak as she came down. I set one aside and handed the other to her.
“Oh… thank you, Tomori.”
“Mm-mm…”
Maybe it was because I was too sleepy to go elsewhere and change, but without a second thought, I pulled my sweater by the neck up and off me after stepping back. I noticed that my undershirt got pulled off with it when the cool air bit my skin like many tiny icicles. I shivered for a moment.
“H-Hah-? W-w-wait- T-Tomori! This is-!” Taki-chan made a noise as if she choked on something and looked away from me. The sting of shame I thought would come never did.
“I-I trust Taki-chan…” For some reason, that felt like the most natural reply.
“E-eh?” Taki-chan looked at me. Her gaze suddenly felt like a heat ray, I felt a lot of warmth and a strange tingly sensation under my skin. It… simultaneously felt like a warm bath and a thousand ants crawling all over me. A small part of me wanted to bask in it, but the rest of my brain screamed at me to claw my way out.
The next few moments were a bit of a blur. I frantically threw my shorts off. Then I roughly put on my pajamas, my hands fumbling with the buttons on my top, slipping and missing the button holes as if my fingers were slathered in butter.
The ants disappeared as soon as I finished, leaving just the feeling of a warm bath in my core. I noticed then that I was blushing.
“U-um-! T-Taki-chan… I-I’m done!”
“O-oh.” Taki-chan was looking away again, still holding on to the clothes I gave her. I wonder what she was feeling then, looking at me…
“Th-then, I-I’m just g-g-going to- ah- uhm- d-don’t look… please.” Taki-chan said as she turned her back on me.
I looked away as she started undressing. That strange tingling crept itself onto my face as I heard fabric rustle like leaves falling on a windy day. The compulsion to take a peek tugged on the puppet strings of my mind.
Whatever sense I had crumbled under the weight of that compulsion. I took a peek.
Her shoulders were round and narrow, more so than mine. They bracketed the long locks of hair that ran downwards, my eyes traced where they flowed. I saw how the dim light highlighted all the little contours of her back, then I saw how it silhouetted her slender legs…
Taki-chan is so beautiful.
Had I thought that aloud? Before I could process that question further, I quickly pulled my head away. The ants were all over my face in full force. My blush had grown to burn so hot that I thought my face would glow in the dark. I rubbed and swiped at my face, as if it would wipe away all of those sensations.
“T-T-T-Tomori…?!”
That must’ve been the confirmation. I forced my hands down with the same effort as it takes to scratch my nails across a chalkboard. When I looked up, I saw that Taki-chan was now facing me, haphazardly dressed in my pajamas.
An alien language trickled out of my mouth before I could recompose myself enough to speak. My veins froze instantly, uncomfortably contrasting with the heat on my cheeks.
“A-ah- Taki-chan…-” My heart thumped deafeningly loud in my ears. I could barely hear what I was saying.
“I-I-It’s okay! U-u-um..!” Taki-chan’s voice shattered the ice in my veins. Then, there was a long silence. It did little to soothe the tight unease in my chest. Seconds started to feel like hours.
“...L-let’s just go back to b-bed… it’s late.” Taki-chan finally declared.
“M-mm…” I took the lead in climbing back up. Taki-chan followed after. We could deal with our clothes on the ground tomorrow morning.
We settled back onto my bed for the night, remembering to tuck ourselves under the sheets this time. As we laid there side by side waiting for sleep to claim us once more, I still couldn’t help but wonder if Taki-chan was mad at me for peeking at her in her underwear.
“Hey, Tomori… am I… really beautiful to you?”
I turned my head to see Taki-chan looking back at me. I imagined I could see her eyes twinkle. I exhaled.
“Mm. Yes.” I bravely reached my hand out.
“O-oh…” Taki-chan took it.
“Th-Thank you, Tomori… I’m r-really happy…”
I hadn’t seen Taki-chan smile like that before. She smiled so widely that I could make out all the little crinkles of her face as she did.
“...Sorry to disturb you, Tomori. Good night.”
“G-good night.” I replied.
I couldn’t see that smile anymore as she turned her head away and closed her eyes.
I hope I can make Taki-chan smile like that again one day.