Chapter Text
‘Good morning, Tsumugi.’
Eichi turns in her seat when Tsumugi enters the classroom, smiling in the early morning sun. Tsumugi smiles back and begins laying out her books and stationery for their next class.
‘Tsumugi, can you home to my house this evening, after school? Your dress for the next live is ready for you try on.’
Tsumugi immediately looks up at this. She’s never been to Eichi’s house before; in fact, she’s never spent any time with Eichi after school, outside of unit practice. To be asked to her house is an exciting, if unexpected prospect.
‘Oh, sure!’
‘Also, I finally got my hands on that DVD I was telling you about, the one with performances from one of Yumenosaki’s sister schools. We’ll watch it together.’
Another thought enters her mind then, one that slightly dampens her enthusiasm.
‘Are Nagisa and Hiyori coming too?’
Eichi looks like she has to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the mentioning of their names.
‘No. I’d have to pay Hiyori to do anything extra-curricular, and I’m not even sure if Nagisa is in the country right now. It’ll just be you and I.’
Tsumugi feels relieved. She’s always had difficulty getting Hiyori to listen to her, and Nagisa seems to completely look down her nose at her. Spending time alone with Eichi is by far Tsumugi’s favorite unit activity.
Tsumugi meets Eichi outside the school gates. Her blue uniform blazer is covered by an expensive looking beige pea coat, and her face is half covered by a printed wool scarf. She waves at Tsumugi with gloved hands, steps off the pavement and opens the door of the large black car that’s been waiting for her there. Tsumugi follows without hesitation.
Tsumugi knew Eichi’s house would be big, but she could hardly have imagined it would be quite this massive. Acres upon acres of sprawling land, and in the centre a mansion that must have been five stories tall. Eichi leads her through the front door and up a few flights of spiral stairs to her bedroom. Eichi’s room is huge as well, with just about everything she could possibly need contained inside. Not wasting any time, she leads Tsumugi to a clothes rack in the centre of the room.
‘The skirt still isn’t finished, but I can at least try on the blouse for now.’
She plucks the blouse off the rack and holds it in front of her to examine it. Then, she hands it to Tsumugi and starts unbuttoning her own school shirt. Tsumugi stares at the floor until she’s finished changing. She takes the blouse back from her and slips it on; it's fitted, with a high neck and golden epaulettes on the shoulders. Even with no stage makeup and her school skirt, she still looks like an angel. Eichi examines herself in the mirror, nodding in silent approval. She neatly unbuttons her blouse and folds it on the table next to them. Tsumugi looks at her, standing in just her school skirt, stockings, and an expensive looking, lacy white bra.
Eichi is almost picture perfect; save for the scar that runs from her hip all the way up to her chest, she looks like something out of one of the magazines that Tsumugi sometimes flicks through. She’s tall, her skin is smooth, and her hair reaches all the way down to her narrow waist. Despite that, she knows from experience that Eichi doesn’t like changing in front of other people, and Tsumugi can only conclude it’s because of the scar. She doesn’t press the issue further- it’s fairly obvious that it came from one of the numerous surgeries that Eichi has undergone since her childhood. Still, Tsumugi finds it arresting, in its own way.
‘Tsumugi?’
Eichi interrupts Tsumugi’s musing. She feels her face heating up; just how long was she staring at her? Eichi smirks a little and turns to pick up a dress that’s draped over an armchair in the corner of the room.
‘Surely you weren’t planning on leaving me standing here half-undressed on my own? Try this on.’
She hands her the dress. Tsumugi thinks it’s lovely. Cream with gold embellishments, and sleeves made of lace so delicate it feels like it will break if she so much as looks at it the wrong way. The high-waisted skirt is layered and full bodied, to give it more movement during their dances. Tsumugi turns her back to Eichi and starts undressing. She’s glad she decided to wear tights to school today instead of knee high socks, so she doesn’t have to completely bare her lower half. She folds her uniform and leaves it on the sofa, and slides the dress over her chest hesitantly. She feels it tighten as she does so, but gets it on with no major slip-ups. Eichi comes behind her and zips it up in the back without being asked, and Tsumugi holds her hair in a makeshift ponytail to keep it out of her way.
Eichi tugs a little at the waist of the dress, eyes intently scanning Tsumugi’s body, mentally notating any improvements that need to be made. Tsumugi knows it’s the dress she’s examining, not Tsumugi herself; but still, every time she does this, she feels anxiety rising in the pit of her stomach. Thousands of eyes watching her on stage cannot compare to how intimidating Eichi can be all on her own. She’s seen Eichi stare others down, reduce them to nothing with just a few words and a look, but she’s never been on the receiving end of it. She worries every time that today’s going to be the day that Eichi does scold her, for forgetting a step, for being late, for gaining some weight- but it never happens.
Eichi steps back, hand fixed under her chin.
‘I think the neckline needs to be lower.’
Tsumugi glances down at herself. To tell the truth, the neckline looks plenty low already.
‘Oh, did you even see yourself yet? Come here.’
Eichi ushers her to the full length mirror in the centre of the room, and Tsumugi follows. Looking at their reflections, she’s reminded of Eichi’s current state of undress. She swallows and steels herself to face her reflection.
‘What do you think?’
‘It’s pretty.’
Eichi smiles.
‘I agree. It suits you, Tsumugi.’ She pauses. ‘But the neckline does need to be lower.’
Tsumugi feels a knot forming in her stomach at the thought.
‘H-how much lower, Eichi-chan?’
Eichi turns to her and pensively traces her finger along Tsumugi’s chest, signalling where she thinks the adjustment should be made. She places a finger firmly in the centre of Tsumugi’s chest, just where her cleavage begins, which is currently covered by the fabric of the dress. Tsumugi immediately regrets asking Eichi that question, and with that contact is unable to form a coherent thought.
‘To about here.’
After a few seconds of spacing out, she manages to speak up.
‘Um...isn’t that a little too low?’
‘No, it’s just right. With how big your chest is, having such a high neckline looks stuffy. It’ll be much more youthful if we lower it.’
Eichi says this matter-of-factly, but Tsumugi feels her cheeks flush with shame at the mention of the size of her breasts. She feels so painfully out of place among Eichi, Nagisa and Hiyori. Their bodies compliment the designs, slender frames allowing the costumes to hang like they would on a mannequin. Tsumugi’s works against it, pushes out in all the wrong places, and leaves her feeling like an eyesore next to the other girls. Sometimes, it’s enough to make her wish the ground would just swallow her up. This is one of those times.
‘Is something the matter?’
Tsumugi snaps her head up to meet Eichi’s gaze. Her expression is mostly neutral, but Tsumugi hears a hint of concern in her voice.
‘N-no, I’m fine!’ Tsumugi all but squeaks.
Eichi only looks at her with her brow furrowed. There’s no point in trying to hide things from her, especially when Tsumugi finds it near impossible to conceal her emotions around her.
‘It’s just that...don’t you think that might look a little...vulgar?’
Eichi’s expression softens.
‘No, not at all. I’m the leader of fine, aren’t, I? Don’t you trust me to upkeep our image?’
Tsumugi knows from the lilt in her voice and the smile on her lips that Eichi’s chiding is playful, but she still can’t help but jump to make up for her blunder.
‘No! It’s not your fault, it’s mine!’
Eichi, who’s been pacing the room, flops down dramatically on the plush sofa and sighs.
‘Come here, Tsumugi.’
Tsumugi sits beside her. Eichi turns to look at her, her knee brushing against Tsumugi’s as she does so. Tsumugi really wishes Eichi were wearing more than a bra and a skirt right now.
‘There’s nothing wrong with your chest.’
For someone who’s notorious for her flowery, complicated soliloquies, Eichi really does not mince her words when it comes to these kinds of discussions. Tsumugi can’t quite decide if it’s straightforwardness or tactlessness, but whatever it is, it makes her practically squirm in her seat.
‘You need to have more confidence in yourself. You’re an idol, you know? That’s why I’m always telling you that you need to work on your presence.’
‘I know.’ Tsumugi mumbles, too embarrassed to look Eichi in the eye.
Eichi crosses her legs and folds her hands in her lap.
‘Your breasts are a part of your charm. Haven’t you ever noticed that I wear my skirts shorter than yours? It’s because I have long legs.’
Tsumugi’s eyes inevitably land on Eichi’s legs, inevitably ends up noticing how soft her thighs look.
‘There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of these things. In this industry, you have to be shameless.’
Eichi’s words aren’t doing much to ease Tsumugi’s embarrassment, but she feels that, at the very least, she can tell Eichi the things that eat away at her sometimes. That’s more than she can say for Nagisa and Hiyori.
‘I just think I look a little out of place sometimes, compared to you three.’
Eichi just shakes her head.
‘Not at all.’
She pauses for a moment, her eyes scanning Tsumugi from head to toe. Tsumugi feels herself shrinking under her gaze. When their eyes finally meet again, she’s smiling.
‘If you ask me, Tsumugi, you’re very attractive.’
There’s no hint of a joke in her voice. She stands, and waits for Tsumugi to follow. Tsumugi, however, is to preoccupied with willing herself not to turn bright red to notice.
‘Tsumugi? Come on. You need to change out of that dress before it gets creased.’
‘O-oh! Right!’
She goes to change back into her uniform, before Eichi interrupts her.
‘Didn’t you bring something more comfortable to wear? I thought we were going to watch that DVD together.’
‘Ah...I forgot.’
Tsumugi didn’t forget- Eichi didn’t tell her about this plan until the morning of, so she didn’t have a chance to bring a change of clothes. However, Tsumugi doesn’t like to point out Eichi’s mistakes.
‘Hold on. I’m sure I have something you can borrow.’
Eichi returns momentarily and tosses a sweater dress to Tsumugi. It’s clearly meant to be worn oversized, but Tsumugi has a feeling it’ll fit her a lot more snugly than it would Eichi.
‘Are you sure this is okay, Eichi-chan? I don’t want to stretch it, or anything.’
‘It’s fine.’ Eichi just shrugs nonchalantly, more concerned with getting her laptop to play the DVD than with the logistics of Tsumugi’s clothing. Tsumugi is at once relieved and disappointed to see that Eichi has finally put a shirt on.
She hurriedly puts on the dress and sits beside Eichi on the canopy bed. She sits stiffly behind Eichi, who’s lying flat on her stomach. Tsumugi has wanted them to hang out like this for a long time, but Eichi has always turned down her requests. Somehow, Eichi has unwittingly made Tsumugi’s wishes come true by inviting her to watch a DVD together after their fitting; but in typical Eichi fashion, it’s all business, and they’re only watching it together to learn ways to improve. Still, sitting on her bed seems like a breaching of a barrier of some kind, given the distance that Eichi makes sure to maintain between them.
‘You can make yourself comfortable, you know.’
Eichi looks back at her over her shoulder, before shifting so that she’s lying on her back with her head on the pillows, laptop precariously balanced on her stomach. Tsumugi moves back so she can rest by the pillows too. She has to lean in a little to fully see the laptop screen. Given that she’s sitting while Eichi is lying, it’s difficult to focus on watching the screen when she can so easily just watch Eichi instead, how her long lashes flicker when she blinks, the light smell of floral shampoo from her hair.
After about half an hour, Tsumugi notices that Eichi has been very still. She glances away from the screen to look at her. Her head is lolling to her side, and her eyes are closed. Her mouth has fallen open slightly, and her breathing is deep. It’s only 8pm, but Eichi has fallen asleep. Tsumugi had made plans to leave at nine, but seeing that Eichi is fast asleep, she figures it’d be better to leave now than wait an hour. She stands from the bed and goes to take her phone from the table in the centre of the room.
‘Mmmmmph…’
The shifting of the weight on the bed was enough to wake Eichi up. Tsumugi glances back at her; her eyes are still shut, and she looks only half conscious. She decides not to wake her up any more, hoping that she’ll just fall back to sleep if she isn’t any further disturbed.
‘Tsumugi...’
Her voice is gravelly, and not much higher than a murmur. Tsumugi sheepishly casts a look her way. She’s placed the laptop down, and is now fully wrapped up underneath the covers. Tsumugi has no idea why she’s calling her name, but she would never think of ignoring Eichi, so she moves to her side.
‘Eichi-chan?’
The only response Tsumugi gets is a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and forcefully pulling her onto the bed. Tsumugi lets out a squeak in surprise, but Eichi only lifts the covers so that they’re both underneath.
‘Wh-what are you doing?!’
They’re lying side by side now, with Tsumugi’s back pressed against Eichi’s chest. Eichi wraps her legs around Tsumugi’s and presses her face to Tsumugi’s shoulder.
‘It’s cold, so stay here for the night.’
‘I...I’ll have to tell my parents…’
Tsumugi’s face burns bright red when she comes to the realization that she and Eichi are spooning. Eichi fumbles behind her for her phone on the bedside table.
‘Use mine.’
Tsumugi hurriedly writes a text to her parents and sets the phone down. Eichi wraps her arms around Tsumugi’s waist again. Tsumugi can feel her breath on her neck.
‘Tsumugi?’
‘Y-yes?’
‘Can I have a good night kiss?’
Tsumugi can practically hear the smirk in her voice. She laughs breathlessly, a thousand butterflies dancing in her stomach.
‘I’m serious.’
Eichi’s voice is low. Tsumugi has to keep herself from shuddering when she starts tracing her finger up and down her arm. Tsumugi shifts so that they’re facing each other, but she’s far too embarrassed to look Eichi in the eye. She stares down and quickly plants a peck on Eichi’s cheek, and then withdraws.
‘Can’t I have one on the lips?’
Tsumugi winces a little, but feels her stomach flip with excitement nonetheless. Being around Eichi is both exhilarating and exhausting.
‘Okay.’ She whispers, trying to sound as confident as possible.
She runs a shaky hand through Eichi’s hair, closes her eyes, and purses her lips. She knows her kiss is childish, clumsy, nothing like the open-mouthed, passionate ones that she sees in movies, but it’s all that Tsumugi knows. Eichi, however, seems to have more experience in that area, and effortlessly deepens the kiss until their tongues meet. When she finally pulls away, it feels like an eternity has passed. Tsumugi lies there, equal parts mortified and thrilled beyond words.
‘Thank you, Tsumugi.’ Eichi smiles. ‘I’m sure I’ll sleep better much better now.’