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"Ehh? Bocchi-chan wasn't at school?"
"That's right! I didn't see her at all today!"
"Hmm... and you're sure she wasn't just hiding in a different corner than usual?"
Kita frowned at Nijika's suggestion, and slumped over with a sigh. It's not as if Hitori had perfect attendance, far from it, but her absences were usually accompanied by an explanatory text in the morning.
Did she just forget to mention she'd be busy? Or did something happen?
She buried her face into her arms at the thought, trying to ignore that her texts to Hitori throughout the day had gone unopened.
"She's not working today, but she hasn't texted me at all about missing tomorrow's practice, so I'm sure it's nothing serious-" Nijika started, before taking a look at Kita.
"Actually, it can't hurt to check," she smiled. "I'll ask Seika to call her parents."
It was both a comfort and a torment for Kita to discover that Hitori was sick.
If she had been sleeping off a cold all day, it makes sense she wouldn't be on her phone to respond to Kita's texts. In fact, it's probably better for her not to be on her phone, she knew better than anyone that once Hitori started a YouTube marathon, sleep was no longer part of the picture.
But on the other hand, to be sick enough to not even check her phone once?
Well, her parents said it wasn't serious enough to go to the hospital at least.
After the phone call confirming Hitori's current ailment, Kita had grilled Seika for any information she could get.
"Well? What did they say? Is she okay?"
"Relax, she's just been sleeping all day, should be fine again by tomorrow at this rate." Seika replied, waving her off.
Kita persisted, "Did they say what she caught? If it's the flu I have some medicine in my bag I could give her at school, I know it's allergy season too so if she needs-"
"She didn't catch anything, just sleep-deprived or something, you don't need to worry about her." Seika interrupted.
Kita simply stood, deep in thought, for a second before Seika saw the lightbulb turn on in her head.
"So nothing contagious?" Kita asked, with a hint of slyness in her tone.
"Oh god..." Seika uttered, already rubbing her temples as she could feel the headache brewing. "At least let your parents know."
Kita softly knocks on the Gotoh household door. The sun had already nearly set by the time her shift ended and the train could bring her over, so she was thankful that Hitori's parents were willing to let her stay over on such short notice.
"She's been in and out of sleep all day, she managed to eat some dinner a couple hours ago so she might be awake still, but feel free to wake her up if she's not!" Hitori's dad said as she made her way to her room.
As she opened the door into the dark room, her eyes settled on the pile of Hitori curled on her futon, deep in sleep. She smiled as she dropped her bag by the door and sat down next to her. It wasn't her first time seeing Hitori's sleeping face, but it was still a rare enough sight that she made sure to take it in fully. As she breathed in and out, Kita noticed that some of Hitori's bangs were starting to skim her nose. Hesitating for a moment, she slowly reached forward to brush them away as-
"Kita-san?" Hitori grumbled, eyes slowly opening.
Kita startled back, only remembering to retreat her hand away from Hitori's face after stumbling over her words for a minute.
"A-ah, Hitori-chan! You know, I was just, uh, I-I saw that-"
"Wow, this is the best dream I've had all day." Hitori said to herself, rolling over to face Kita.
"...Dream?" Kita questioned.
"This isn't-" she stopped herself, realizing the opportunity that had presented itself. With a smug grin forming on her face she decided to play around for just a little bit before Hitori inevitably realizing what was going on.
"Ah, really? Me being here makes this is a good dream, not a bad dream?"
"Definitely a good dream, I was so sad that I wouldn't get to see you at school, it's a lot lonelier when I don't see you." Hitori said, absentmindedly fiddling with her hands as she rolled over again to stare at the ceiling.
Kita's grin was quickly replaced with a blush that reached her ears. This had very rapidly shifted from something she thought would be funny to hearing words she probably shouldn't be hearing.
"I wish this could've been a dream at school or Starry or something though, sorry that we're stuck in my messy room. I bet your room is much prettier, I'd like to have one of our sleepovers there some time." Hitori continued, deepening Kita's blush with every word.
"Ah, me too, but I like your room too, Hitori-chan! It has a cool vibe, I like it." Kita managed to piece together, trying to hide the fluster in her face.
Hitori nodded, "It helps me calm down, I like it too."
"What else do you like?" Kita asked, scooting over to sit close to Hitori again.
Hitori lowered her hands as she thought for a second. "Hmm, our band practices, video essays about space, watching reactions to movies I like, indie horror game streamers, when I get to see you at school-"
"Ah-" Kita's mouth opened involuntarily, making Hitori turn towards her.
"Kita-san?" she asked, seemingly confused at the interruption.
"Ah, it's just, why don't you tell me things like that outside of dreams?"
Hitori looked almost perplexed by the idea before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. "I don't think Kita-san would want to hear about that, she doesn't seem like she'd be interested in reaction channels and horror games".
Not what I was asking about.
"Y'know, I-" Kita paused. "I bet Kita would love hearing about anything you're interested in, even if it's not something she'd normally be interested in." Hitori turned towards her as Kita continued. "It's not about whether she's interested in it herself, she'll care because she can tell that you care a lot about the things you like."
Hitori looked up at Kita in awe. "Wow... Kita-san is so outgoing even in my imagination. I wish she just could overhear this conversation so I wouldn't have to tell her myself. It's so much easier with you starting the conversation instead of me."
"What else do you wish she would know about you, Hitori-chan?" Kita asked, laying down beside her so their eyes were aligned.
"Hmm... I wish she knew that I really like going out to places with her, even if I seem nervous. She always helps me get over the hurdles I have with busy places."
Kita smiled to herself. "Maybe we'll be out somewhere in your next dream."
"I also wish she knew that her name was pretty, I never want to call her by her first name since I know she doesn't like it, but I've always wanted to ever since she started calling me by mine..."
Kita averted her eyes as she gained a second reason for her blush. It's true that she disliked her first name, but... "Well we're in a dream anyways, how about you try it now?"
"A-ah. Then... Ikuyo". Hitori said, starting to blush herself.
Wow, no honourifics even.
"Yes, Hitori?"
"Heheh..." Hitori started giggling to herself. "Nothing, Ikuyo."
They both sat in silence for a moment, smiling.
I don't mind it when Hitori says it. And Ryo-senpai already calls me that anyways, maybe it's not so bad.
"And maybe this is selfish of me..." Hitori started, looking down. "I'm really impressed at how quickly she's been improving during our one-on-one practices, but..."
"...But?" Kita asked, a small tang of worry growing in her stomach.
"...But when she doesn't need as much help from me, I don't get to touch her hand as much when I correct her finger placements."
Holy shit, this girl is cute.
Kita could hardly contain whatever she was currently feeling, even if she was unable to put it into words.
As she calmed down, she reached out and grabbed Hitori's hand, locking their fingers. The yelp that Hitori let out made Kita worry she had broken her from her fake-dreaming state, but at this point she didn't really care.
"How's this then?" she asked with a smile.
"A-ah, it's, uh, it's good." Hitori sputtered out, starting to resemble the usual Hitori that Kita was used to a little more.
"You know, if you miss holding my hand, you can always just ask, Hitori. Dream or no dream."
"Th-then, can I make one request before I wake up?" Hitori said quietly, fidgeting but not letting go of Kita's hand.
Kita nodded, but Hitori didn't say anything. Kita watched her struggle with her words and was about to help her find them when Hitori finally met her eyes again.
"I..." she started and Kita's blush grew once again. "I-I want to do this."
Hitori scooted closer to Kita, until her head was resting on Kita's chest and her free arm was wrapped around her. Kita's heart was beating so hard and fast she was worried that Hitori's head would start bouncing up and down.
"Is th-this okay, Ikuyo?" Hitori asked quietly. Kita couldn't see her face, but for the sake of her heart, realized it might be for the better.
"Of course, Hitori. It'll always be okay." Kita assured her, and even though she couldn't see it, she could feel Hitori smile.
The two lay in comfortable silence for what felt like minutes before Kita broke it, simply asking "Hitori?". After receiving no response, Kita looked down to see Hitori sound asleep, hopefully deep in some real dreams. She smiled to herself and ran her free hand through Hitori's hair for a minute before closing her own eyes.
"Hitori, we're gonna be late for school if we don't get up soon." Kita whispered, slowly waking Hitori from her slumber.
"Ah, thank you Kita-san..." she replied, opening her eyes to see Kita's face within inches of her own.
"K-Kita-san!" she yelped, breaking free from their intertwined-arrangement and jumping up to her knees. "W-what are you, when did-"
"Hey, I thought you were gonna call me by my first name now." Kita replied with a frown as she sat herself up and stretched her arms.
"F-first name... Ah, my dream-" Hitori stopped. "Am I still dreaming?"
"I'd humour you if we had more time but we really have to start getting ready soon if we're gonna make it to school on time, I don't know how you get up so early." Kita said. "Crap, plus I didn't get to take my makeup off last night before we fell asleep."
"Fell asleep... Ah, I-I didn't mean to fall asleep on you! I'm sorry if I drooled or if-"
Kita grabbed Hitori by the shoulders and snapped her out of the episode in the making. "Hitori, we can talk about it on the ride to school, but we need to get ready first."
"R-right!"
"You can stop apologizing, Hitori. I mean it."
"A-ah, but-" Kita grabbed Hitori's hand, interrupting her.
"Why were you so tired yesterday anyways? Seika said something about you being sleep-deprived, that's not healthy, yknow." Kita asked with a pout. Hitori never realized that Kit-aura was possible even without a smile.
"Well, uh, I've just been staying up really late without realizing the last few days trying to figure out our next song, a-and I guess it finally caught up to me." Hitori could tell by her face that Kita was not happy with that explanation. "I'm sorry if I worried you, um, I-Ikuyo." Kita's mood seemed to brighten a bit after that.
"Geez, we all appreciate how hard you work, but you shouldn't overwork yourself, Hitori." Kita rested her head on Hitori's shoulder. "I don't know how helpful I'd be, but if I can help out at all, you can always call me or I can come over. Anything to help take some of the load off."
"Y-you don't need to do that, I don't want to be a burden-"
"You're never a burden." Kita interrupted with a firm tone, raising her head from Hitori's shoulder before turning to face her. "You can always ask me for help when you need it. I care a lot about the things I like too." she said with a smile. The rest of the world seemed irrelevant as they looked into each others eyes.
"Too?"
"Eh?"
"The things you like too?"
"Geez, are you forgetting our conversation last night already? That line would've been really smooth." Kita let out with an exasperated sigh.
"I-I'm sorry, I was very tired-"
"No more apologizing!"
"Ah, I'm sorry for- Ah, I mean, uh!"
Kita laughed as she rested her head back onto Hitori's shoulder, and their ride together continued.