Chapter Text
Nagisa loved Saori with all her heart, but sometimes, her blood pressure wished she didn't.
Curled up on her bed and trying to ignore the text messages waiting for her, Nagisa couldn't help her self pitying bitchfest as she screamed all her woes into her pillow—after she locked her door, anyway. Her first complaint had brought her brother around the corner, telling her to keep it down.
She threw her other pillow at him; the one that felt like a glorified rock.
And then went back to miserating.
Last night was maybe the third instance Nagisa could remember where she tried to flirt with her, and had it fly over Saori's head. It wasn't for a lack of boldness—no, Nagisa made some pointed suggestions, nudge nudge, wink wink, and what did Saori do?
Flush? Get all flustered like she does whenever a cute girl touches her? Get astonishingly tongue-tied like when Aoi breathes in her direction?
Nope. Much like Aoi herself, hilariously enough, Saori's brain seemed to be made of the same dense foam; the only difference is that Nagisa figured Saori had a few more neurons bouncing around in there. Not much, but some.
"For crying out loud," Nagisa grumbled as she came up for air, "does she really think people just randomly comment on their friend's boobs?"
Hold up. Okay, maybe there were some people—Rika being one of them. Fuck. God dammit. Maybe that was the problem! Maybe Rika burned out Saori's flirtation sensors!
Nagisa didn't know how to fix them, but she supposed trying a little harder with a different angle wouldn't be the worst plan to attempt first.
Her chance came during a Saturday lunch. With Hiiro out of town for a convention, and Aoi kidnapped to go along with her, Nagisa had to fend for herself. Luckily, there was a small ramen shop not too far from the music center she'd stopped in at—and though her luck had seemed pretty bad when she couldn't find any of the strings she needed… Saori was also there, leaving her with a different sort of fortune.
So, naturally, Nagisa pouted in Saori's direction until the woman gave in to ramen.
It only took a couple minutes for them to find a seat and place an order. Encouraging Saori to grab a window booth, Nagisa flopped into the seat across from her, leaning on the table. Despite the bright scenery beside them, Nagisa's eyes were locked onto one thing, and one thing only—Saori, in all her modest glory.
Even if she was wearing a simple sweatshirt, the comfortable subtlety was all the more… Saori-y. It looked just as soft as the woman herself was, and Nagisa had to punt the urge to squeeze her in a death-inducing hug to the curb; they hadn't even gotten their order yet, so scaring Saori off wasn't off the table.
Didn't mean Nagisa could ignore it entirely, though. Pointedly jerking her head in Saori's direction, she asked, "That shirt new? Cause it looks crisp."
"C-crisp?" Saori looked down at herself in alarm, brushing herself off. "I washed this shirt—sorry, does it really look that bad?"
"What? No! I mean it looks cool on you!" Nagisa slapped a hand over her eyes. "Like, it makes you look clean. As in the style. Well put together."
Saori still seemed frozen. God damnit, this woman…
"As in, you look nice," Nagisa clarified. Man, she bungled it already? Fuck. She should've asked for some pointers on this whole thing. Maybe Dalia would have some insight?
That would require her asking Dalia, though. And when it was Saori she was trying to seduce… Yeah, it would be quicker to throw herself into the river on her own. Save everyone some time and trouble that way, Nagisa supposed—and save her from the looming embarrassment of having to go through Saori's obliviousness again.
No wonder Tsubaki wanted to strangle someone at all times.
"Uh," Saori quietly broke in, "thanks?"
"No problem."
Ah, fuck. That didn't seem like the right script to use, but Nagisa couldn't remember which ones she had stored in her head most days. Deciding to save face by blowing past her embarrassment, Nagisa reached for her lemon soda, taking a long sip that was maybe just as unbearable as the silence before. Gave her time to think of a different conversation to have, at least.
"You got any plans this week?"
"Rika's dragging us out of town next week, since she found a booking for us that totally isn't in a whole other prefecture or anything," Saori started with a sigh, "so I'm trying to get ahead with everything else. At least most of my papers aren't due until the end of the month, but Professor Nakajima still wants a draft of it in her inbox before Wednesday... Ah, I'm screwed…"
"That all just sounds like work to me." Nagisa frowned. Surely Saori wasn't going to do nothing but grind her ass down to dust? "Like, you really don't have anything else planned?"
"Some of us like to get things done on time, Nagisa," Saori grumbled, "without having to cram three separate essays into the night before they're due."
"Hey, that was one time!"
"You do know Aoi says otherwise, right?"
Nagisa narrowed her eyes. Traitor. "...She's a hypocrite."
Saori huffed at that, fighting a tiny grin. "Yeah, why do you think she brought it up? She said you enable the worst habits, and that you both got yelled at by Hiiro for that."
"Hiiro yells at her for a lot of things—err, well, it's mostly the one thing she does. A lot. Lot a lot—like, sheesh, you'd think she'd remember to check the clock every once in a while…"
"Kinda hypocritical of you, too."
"I'm not that bad."
"Says the girl who fell asleep in class because she spent the night awake playing Mario kart."
"Hrk—!" Nagisa didn't have a retort for that one. Not when she did that exact thing that Thursday. "Okay, okay, fine. You win."
Saori smiled with the smallest bit of mischief. It eased the sting—slightly.
Unfortunately that didn't help her with the 'not staying awake at night' thing, when she kept thinking about it whenever she closed her eyes. Dammit. She was going to have to enact the plan of laying it on thick, and soon.
Preferably before she failed a semester.
Sunday. Nagisa missed her chance to try on Sunday, between popping in on Shinobu—listen, she had to make sure her cousin hadn't died of anemia yet—trying to find replacement strings—the nickel on her acoustic just wasn't doing it—and actually following through on her promise to help Aoi re-do all the cables in her work room.
It was a shame, but not necessarily a wasted day. Shinobu wasn't dead, and Aoi wouldn't be for at least a couple more days. And hey, she got paid with free pizza and a comfy couch to sleep on.
Which she would've immediately fallen asleep on, had she not decided to poke Saori over DMs.
[You] — 12:22 AM
yoooo saori how tf do u survive like tech cables tthis shit sucks
like i help aoi for one day and already i feel my brain melting, this shit is insane
also i see what people mean by spaghetti now bc holy fuck was that just a knot..One big knot. two hours just to untangle ittttt I'm gonna kms
[Saori] — 12:24 AM
Um
I guess I got used to it?
[You] — 12:24 AM
howwww
my brain hurts. oh my god saori ur brain is huge to deal with this and survive
[Saori] — 12:24 AM
I think it's less that and more that you never paid attention to setup, Nagisa…
[You] — 12:25 AM
yeah bc i thought it was like plug a into b and u have sound. maybe u get some fancy sliders or something
but no. holy shit aoi has so many cablesss
and she just laughed at me when i said that it was bonkers bc apparently!!! she's seen WORSE?
how do you get worse than a plate of spaghetti connected to your computer
[Saori] — 12:26 AM
You'd be surprised.
I have pictures of some setups I've had to re-do if you want
[You] — 12:27 AM
oh my god I'm gonna hate it but show me anyway
im a sucker for punishment or whatever u wanna call it
[You] — 12:46 AM
saori? u get stuck in ur cables? u don't need to be shy LMAO
[You] — 1:01 AM
hello???
[You] — 1:32 AM
im gonna wait until tomorrow to assume you died so gn i guess
Sighing, Nagisa rolled into her back, turning her phone off. "Guess she got busy," she muttered, taking a bored look around the workroom. If she weren't so tired, she might've tried thinking about a better way to proposition Saori.
As it was, her thoughts seemed much like the knots of noodles from earlier, and blended together into an indecipherable mess. It felt like hours passed until the darkness melted into sleep, leaving her with just one question:
How the fuck am I gonna swing this?
Saori thought Mondays sucked, and today was no different. First, Saori realized she'd fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation with Nagisa; second, she realized that she'd slept through her alarm; and third, the strap on her bag tore, spilling the contents of her bag down the stairs. It was truly shaping up to be a Week—capitalized and trademarked—and it brought back several memories of highschool.
Unfortunately, Nagisa wasn't here to help her pick up her stuff this time…
The thought dragged her down the entire way to the cafeteria, where she found an abandoned seat and slumped into it, wishing she had the desire to get up and actually get lunch. Or some coffee. One of the two—or both would be better, actually. The school's cafeteria didn't accept tap-to-pay from phones, though, and to make her Monday even more Monday—also capitalized and trademarked—she'd forgotten her wallet at home.
God.
What a week, and it's only just started, Saori's mini mental Saori whined.
"Hey, there you are! Saori, what's up, girl? You seem all… Mopey." Rika popped into Saori's vision upside down. Grabbing Saori's cheeks, Rika shook her head a little, ignoring the protest as she continued, "you didn't forget your theory exams, did you?"
"Le' go 'a me."
"Hm?"
Groaning, Saori smacked Rika's hands away. "Rika," she whined, "don't do that—that hurt!"
"Oh! Sorry!" Scooting around to grab a chair like a normal person—well, as normal as Rika got, anyway—she propped herself up on the table. "Seriously, though. What's up with you? I haven't seen you so… So… Hm…"
"Please don't finish that sentence," Saori sighed, hiding her panda eyes behind her hands. "It's Nagisa. She's been acting strange lately, and I can't figure out why."
"Yeah, she's been all over you lately, hasn't she?" Rika stuck a french fry in her mouth, signaling Saori to begin the tangent.
"That's putting it lightly! I keep running into her, but she doesn't seem to get tired of bugging me to go with her—or letting her go with me—and she won't stop saying the weirdest things!" Saori frantically gestured to herself. "Do I really look that crusty?!"
Rika blinked.
"I mean, I took a shower and all, and my clothes were clean—"
"Saori, I don't think—"
"—and it's not like I'd gone anywhere, so I wouldn't be crusty, right? Which is a really weird thing to say after she commented on my bust, y'know, which is already pretty weird—"
"Wait, wait, wait, back up a minute," Rika cut in, holding her hands up, "she told you what now?"
"That my shirt 'really compliments my boobs'," Saori air quoted, "and that everything I wear does? I… I didn't get that one…"
Rika blinked again. Took a deep breath. Gave her an awkward grin. "So, uh, let's recap."
Oh boy. Here it comes. Saori sighed, but gestured for Rika to continue.
And continue, she did! "Nagisa has told you that you look hot on several occasions."
"I guess..."
"On top of the fact she thinks you're a fun person to spend time with."
"Apparently."
"She also says she likes watching you put on makeup."
"Yeah, I didn't get that one…"
Rika muttered something under her breath, then leaned on the table, scarily urgent. "And she wants to treat you to dinner. A lot. Saori… None of this is adding up into anything for you? Nothing?"
God, therein lay the problem. Saori fell forward with a soft 'thunk' of her chin on her laptop. Burying herself into her arms, she shook her head. "No, it is. I know what she's trying to do."
"Really?"
"She's just trying to be nice, I get that. I mean, look at me—it's not that I want to be such a downer! But I just… I know I'm not that great of a catch. I'm okay with that. She doesn't need to pity me like that…"
"You know," Rika mumbled, "I'm starting to see the problem here. Saori!"
"Eh?!"
Rika jumped out of her seat, gripping Saori by the shoulders to shake her. Vigorously. "You gotta snap outta that funk, girl! Do you really think Nagisa's the kind of person to say nice things out of pity?"
"Rika—"
"No! She's not!" Rika shook her some more. "If you don't get what she means, ask her! You gotta speak up for yourself—you know she wants you to!"
"—Ow—"
"Don't you think she's trying to tell you something?"
"—Rika, stop shaking me!"
Rika froze, then let go. "Sorry! Got kinda carried away there…"
"You're telling me," Saori groaned, rubbing her now-sore neck and glared. "Can you repeat that, with less whiplash?"
"The TLDR is that you're not listening to her, and you should go ask her what she's trying to tell you!" Rika sat back down, contrite but so damnably smug. "Seriously. I don't think she's just trying to make you feel better. She's trying to make you feel good—and for a reason!"
God, could she get any more cryptic? Saori scrubbed her face, trying to break down any sort of meaning from that mess.
It didn't work.
"You act like that makes any sense," she grumbled, shooting a glare across the table.
Rika was markedly less contrite on that one. "That's 'cause it does, Saori! I don't know how to make it more obvious to you without taking the words out of Nagisa's mouth—and I don't think she'd like that."
"What, and I should?"
"Nope," Rika chirped, "so you should go ask her!"
What an enlightening conversation. Seeing as she wasn't going to get any useful advice out of Rika, Saori changed the subject—and to her surprise, Rika let her.
Things were becoming all the more fishy…