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What could even be said? It was a bad day. For everyone.
In some ways, Kita couldn't help but feel at fault. She was the one who had dragged them all out of the house when none of them had really wanted to be. Even after years of being together, some things never really changed. It usually took coercion to get any of her homebody girlfriends to even consider leaving the comfort of air conditioning and convenience.
At least Nijika often humored her wishes to go out, and that gave Hitori and Ryo more time alone which neither ever argued against. They loved their time alone too much. Especially when it involved being together.
Kita had never really worked that one out, but she didn't really think she was supposed to. That was their thing, and she was more than happy to let them have it.
She loved them all so much, equally as much. At times, frankly, it scared her how deeply she felt for them. Because sometimes she thought that if even one of them were somehow unable to be with her, she might as well be drawn and quartered. So really, could she be blamed for wanting to make memories with everyone?
How was she to know the day would turn out like this? It was just bad luck after bad luck, to the point she had seriously considered buying omamori and placing them around the house at some point. Or contacting an exorcist…
She couldn’t help but recount everything, and even recounting it all she was sure she was forgetting quite a few small things in favor of the rush of big things that had piled up.
The food she bought everyone was awful. It was too hot out and Ryo almost overheated in the sun. Nijika got scratched by a stray cat she bought food for at the convenience store. Then Hitori got yelled at by some old guy who wasn't watching where he was walking and was all but inconsolable, even after the three of them got in front of her to tell the guy to back off…
She tripped. Six times in an hour and skinned her knees up pretty badly. Ryo almost fell into a river. Nijika did fall into a river. Hitori dropped her cola and it basically exploded, and then to top it all off with a nice little cherry? They somehow all forgot their keys except for Nijika, who lost hers in the river, and spent the next hour trying to collectively remember where they hid the spare…
When they finally got back inside, after such a long day, the mood was just downright dreadful between all of them. No one said a word. Nijika went right to the bathroom to clean up, and Hitori and Ryo just went to their own private little areas to cool down…
Kita didn't know what to do. So she had simply laid on the couch until Nijika was done with the bathroom. Now she sat in silence, soaking in a bath that she had hoped would make her feel at least a little bit better about everything.
All it served to do was put her deeper in her own head. So she curled up, wrapping her arms around her roughed up knees and closing her eyes and just letting herself feel. Because there was no real way to make things right tonight, and she was sure of it.
It was just a bad day. A very, very bad day. She would just have to let it go and hope that tomorrow was better.
She was taken out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. She didn't even need to see the silhouette through the privacy glass to know who it was. The knocking gave it away instantly.
So light, as if her hands were fragile enough they would shatter if she knocked any harder. The sound brought a smile to her face and a flutter to her chest. She took a deep breath as a feeling of lightness filled her stomach. She uncurled and rested her arms on the edge of the bathtub before resting her chin on them.
“You can come in, Hitori,” she said softly. Her voice sounded off, even to her. She tried to put the usual energy into it and she hoped it wasn't too noticeable, but she already knew it wouldn't work anyway. Hitori was the first to notice when she was feeling down. Always.
The door opened with a little creak, and in stepped Hitori. Her lovely pink hair done up in a ponytail, surprisingly. Probably Nijika's doing. She always liked to spoil them to relieve stress, and she could see her in her mind rushing off to find Hitori, brush in hand. Hitori would probably see the brush and start running…
She almost chuckled at the thought, but the look on Hitori's face made her feel guilty again, and her smile fell.
“Are you okay, Ikuyo?” Hitori asked softly as she shut the door behind her. So softly, in fact, that Kita almost didn't hear her. Thankfully, after years of being together, her ears were attuned to Hitori's natural volume.
Kita smiled again. A forced and hollow smile. Her eyes smiled too. She had practiced for years to get that right. She knew that Hitori saw right through it though. She also knew she wouldn't believe her when she lied, but she was going to lie anyway.
“Yeah, of course! Why?” She internally winced. She was too enthusiastic, too plastic. The occasional white lie was one thing, but she never wanted to be so fake to her girls. Never. Especially not Hitori. She felt her insides twist up as yet more guilt began to eat up what was left.
She didn't think she could handle this right now. She just wanted the night to pass without incident, just wanted to make it to bed so she could wake up and forget that today ever even happened. She was good enough at burying things, she just wanted to bury this whole day more than anything.
But Hitori had other plans.
“Y-your baths never last this long…” Hitori said, clutching her hands close to her chest. It was a gesture she made to soothe herself sometimes, but it was devoid of the usual avoidance of eye contact. No, Hitori was looking her dead in the eyes, and while that wasn't necessarily unusual with her and the others, in situations like this… well, she knew exactly what it meant.
They were talking about this. It wasn't a demand, it was just… an expectation.
There were certain things that just had to be done in a relationship like theirs. Communication was important in any relationship, sure, but when you had three girlfriends, suddenly it was a constant necessity. It was something she had to learn early on. Something they all had to learn. Hitori, honestly, was somehow the best at it out of all of them. If a conversation needed to happen, she would make it happen.
It was impossible to say no to her. One look at her face, one gaze into her beautiful blue eyes, and you just give in. That was a truth that was shared with Nijika and Ryo both, but for Kita, it felt particularly true.
“Oh,” Kita exclaimed breathlessly, instantly dropping her act. She hadn't realized it had even been long, it felt like she had just gotten in. “How long have I-”
“J-just about over an hour.”
Hitori finally turned her eyes away, tightening in on herself as the silence in the room stretched on a bit too uncomfortably long for her liking.
Of course she had been counting the minutes. Or maybe it was just Hitori's Ikuyo-senses tingling. It was always like this, even back before they were with Ryo and Nijika.
Hitori had always been so observant when it came to her, and back when it was just the two of them it had almost given her a heart attack from just how many times her attentiveness made it skip beats. She was just a teenage girl who didn't quite know how to handle how strongly she loved, and being loved back so intensely was dangerous.
It's funny to think she was so naive. She didn't even know how strongly she really could love, nor, really, just how much love would be thrown her way.
Hitori, though, never really seemed to have a problem with the love she felt. Expressing it aside. Not back then, and definitely not now. It always seemed to come so naturally for her, oddly enough. Maybe she was just a natural lover.
Kita had seen it a million times after all, she was sure she'd see it a million more. The way Hitori just knew what to do, or where to be. Maybe she never really knew what to say in the moment, but somehow she always eventually said the right things.
Kita wasn't entirely sure she had ever known what to say at any point. Communication always felt like it suffered. She'd rather avoid the problem if the problem was her own, even if it required lying. Saying she was fine if it meant they could skip right on past any heavy conversations.
And if the problem was something like what happened earlier today, when she so desperately wanted to say something, anything at all to bring a smile to everyone’s faces?
What could even be said? It was a bad day. For everyone.
She sighed deeply and laid back, the vibrant red of her hair ran down and over her shoulders before floating on top of the water around her chest.
“I guess today just got to me,” Kita said softly, her eyes downtrodden and staring into the water as if it would have some kind of answer. “I’m sure I'll be fine and back to normal tomorrow, Hitori.”
She wasn't even convincing herself with her words. In fact, she was painfully aware that her track record of getting over bad days was pitifully low.
Tomorrow would be the same and she knew it. She would wake up in a haze not truly feeling the fresh start, and that mood would persist. It would stick around and manifest in so many different ways until she felt like she was drowning in negativity; and the entire time she would hide it, but everyone would know because they all knew her too well to not.
Kita sunk down a little deeper into the water, now just a floating head in the tub. She pouted, blowing a bit of hair out of her face.
Hitori, suddenly feeling as if words would not be enough, closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and without saying a word began to strip out of her clothes. As the white shirt she wore around the house hit the floor, Kita's eyes widened and her head snapped back to her, and as Hitori's bra followed suit Kita's cheeks burned a deep scarlet.
“Woah, hey…!” Kita exclaimed, the bath suddenly feeling a lot warmer than it was at this point. She sat up fast, splashing the water wildly as she did.
It was steamy in the room, but she could see everything clear as day and her eyes took in every inch of exposed skin as if it were the first time she was seeing it. As the rest was cast aside she instinctively made to occupy less space in the tub, then Hitori climbed in to join her.
This was not the first time they had shared a bath, but it was the first time Hitori had joined without being asked. And the first time she had completely foregone showering beforehand…
But as the water was displaced over the side of the tub, Kita wasn't even thinking of that. She wasn't really thinking about much of anything at all, actually, she was almost certain her brain was fried.
Her heart was beating so fast, but somehow she managed to tear her gaze away as Hitori settled into a comfortable position across from her.
Kita had to take a moment to breathe, lamenting how much of a lightweight she was when it came to things like this. She could pout and moan all she liked, but if Hitori did something like this? It wasn't fair play.
But fair play aside, she was more upset that Hitori's gambit had paid off. Because how in the world was anyone expected to stay moody and pouty when such a beautiful girl was sharing a bath with them? Especially her. She’s been borderline addicted to this girl since they were in high school.
Which might not seem so long ago in terms of memory, but time had a funny habit of stretching and distorting in the mind.
“H-Hitori, you can’t just do that to me…” Kita mumbled, wishing desperately that she could sink into the water. The way her face was lit up, she was almost certain the water would boil the second her cheeks made contact.
“Sorry…” Bocchi replied. But Kita could hear the small amount of cheek behind her words. She wasn’t sorry in the least bit. In fact, she was even a little proud of herself. That sort of thing was usually written all over her face, but Kita couldn’t bring herself to look over. Because if she did, she knew it was over.
So she held fast until her heart stopped beating so hard and her breathing had steadied. When she finally did manage to look Hitori in the eyes, the girl had a self-satisfied smile. It was absolutely the sweetest, most radiant thing Kita had ever seen. Amplified by the ponytail, it was almost enough to knock her into another fit of gay panic.
The two of them just stared across from one another, their knees resting against the other’s as the situation truly sunk in; and sink in it did, as Kita tried to hold back a small laugh. Hitori, still smiling that lovely smile, laughed as well. Soon enough, the two of them were both just giggling like they were still under that stairwell at school, trying not to get caught as they got a little too enthusiastic.
Hitori would probably die on the spot if she remembered all the times she was the one to push things further, especially since she was always so reticent about their extracurricular activities.
As the laughter settled down into a sweet silence, the two of them just let it fall. This sort of ambience was nice, once in a while. Even if Kita did prefer a nice conversation. Maybe, she felt, she was one step closer to understanding what Ryo and Hitori liked about this.
It was nice.
Until the door exploded open and Ryo ran into the room, followed by Nijika with brush in hand.
“You two have to help me, she won't stop brushing my hair!” Ryo pleaded, her eyes wide and clearly frazzled.
“If you would just sit still and quit complaining I'd have been done like twenty minutes ago!” Nijika said, scrunchie between her teeth as she grabbed the girl by the neck in a choke hold. The brush was still in her hand as she started pulling her back out through the door.
“Nijika, wait, no more…!” Ryo begged. Her begging fell on deaf ears, however, as both Hitori and Kita looked away, knowing better than to get in Nijika's way when it came to her sometimes overzealous pampering.
“Sorry, girls, we'll get out of your hair now,” Nijika said with a wink, still talking over the scrunchie. She shut the door behind her with her foot as Ryo just continued complaining.
As the sounds of struggle receded, Kita shook her head and laughed again.
“You know, it's not fair,” she said with a smile. She sniffled and then wiped her eyes, trying to squash down a burst of emotion that surged through her before it could sink its teeth in.
“W-what's not fair?” Hitori asked.
“That,” Kita replied, motioning towards the door. “This,” she said, motioning towards Hitori, and then to herself. “Everything.” Her hands waved about, exasperated. But she was still smiling, and now she was sure she would be all night long. “Today was horrible, the absolute worst. But how can I ever stay upset when you girls just…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, instead, yet another burst of laughter forced its way out.
Hitori just smiled back, a little confused. It was unclear to her what exactly she was talking about, but she was just happy to see her smiling again.
She pulled the plug up, and as the water started to drain she stood and stretched her arms over her head. Hitori blushed as she gazed up at her, almost completely ignoring the hand she was offering to help her up.
As soon as she took it, she realized it was a trap. She was pulled into a kiss, deep and sensual and torturously long and drawn out in the best way. She shivered as Kita's hands gently pressed into her cheeks before she wrapped her arms around her neck. She pressed her forehead into Hitori's as they both pulled away for air, and with a sultry gaze she leaned to whisper in her ear.
“Once Nijika is done with my hair, let's go to bed early, hmm? Just you and me for tonight… We can make it all up to our girls tomorrow. Besides, I'm feeling a little nostalgic.” She giggled after accentuating the word, all but ensuring that Hitori's heart stopped beating for a moment as her entire system rebooted.
“Y-y-yes! Yes. Yes… Yes!” Hitori nodded her head excitedly, her inner puppy coming out at the promise conveyed in that word.
Hitori stepped out first, eager to dry off and speed the process up. But just as she reached for a towel, Kita's arms wrapped around her from behind and another more gentle kiss was placed on the back of her neck.
“I love you, Hitori. So much.”
Hitori would have melted if it wouldn't have impacted her ability to respond.
“I love you too, Ikuyo.”
“Ugh, Ryo! Stop moving! It's just pigtails!” Nijika growled, putting everything she had into stopping Ryo from making a run for it as she worked her hair. She was almost done, just a bit more was all that was left…
“That's why I'm trying to get away!” Ryo replied, more aggressively than she usually would. She was sure she could break free, if she could just make one… last… push…
But all of her hopes faded as Nijika finally let go of her and she turned to see that she was very pleased with herself.
Ryo's stomach dropped, she didn't need a mirror to know that it was one hundred percent over. She felt absolutely ridiculous, and she didn't even know how it looked.
She turned as the sound of footsteps signaled the return of Hitori and Ikuyo. Her eyes were wide and wet, her lip quivering as her cheeks burned in embarrassment. She didn't mean to, but her hands clasped together as if she were begging.
“I-it's not too bad, is it?” She asked, her voice soft and unusually high pitched.
Kita fainted on the spot.
It really, truly was not fair.