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Taki collapsed onto the bed, out of breath. The air conditioner kicked on, filling the bedroom with a low hum and evaporating the sweat that covered her skin. She shivered. An arm wrapped around her stomach, providing a small bastion of warmth. Fingers brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face.
“An excellent showing, as always,” a husky voice whispered into her ear.
She turned her head and found Umiri’s face millimeters away from her own. An infinitesimal upturn at the corner of her girlfriend’s mouth should have been a warning, but Taki’s brain was just a tad scrambled.
“You too,” she managed to say.
“I did not expect such a strong reaction to my slip of the tongue,” Umiri continued in a tone of pure innocence. “It would appear we have something new to try next time.”
A memory from earlier kicked Taki in the face, and her cheeks burst into a vibrant blush.
“We’re exploring nothing because there won’t be a next time.”
“Whatever you say, Taki-nee.”
“That’s it, I’m killing you in your sleep tonight.”
The doorbell interrupted any further banter. The couple shared a look, equal confusion written on both their faces.
“You expecting a package or something?” Taki asked.
Umiri shook her head. “I was about to ask you the same.”
Another ring filled their apartment.
“Probably a solicitor or something.”
“This late in the evening?” Umiri asked.
“Do you have a better explanation?”
Taki’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. In any other situation, she’d ignore it, but something in her gut made her think it could be related to the doorbell ringing. She rolled over and grabbed it. A message preview sat on her lock screen.
Stray Cat: door
The doorbell rang a third time. A heavy sigh escaped Taki’s lips. With incredible reluctance, she broke free of Umiri’s lazy embrace and sat up. The chill returned without her radiator of a girlfriend in such close proximity.
“Who was it?” Umiri asked, also sitting up.
“Apparently the stray cat is outside our door.”
“Kaname-san? What’s she doing here?”
“Y’know, she didn’t bother to say.” Taki let out another sigh and stood up. She grabbed her clothes from where they lay scattered around the floor and got dressed.
The doorbell rang yet again as she left the bedroom. Her frustration bubbled over, and she yelled, “I’m coming, I’m coming! Fuck! Hold your horses!”
“Strange; didn’t I just hear you yelling something similar?” Umiri asked, also emerging from the bedroom.
Taki froze and shot a glare behind her. “You shut the fuck up. Don’t be saying things like that around the stray cat or else she’ll start saying that shit, too.” The resulting grin on Umiri’s face told Taki she may have said exactly the wrong thing. She grumbled and continued stomping towards the door.
Throwing it open, she found Raana standing there with her guitar case on one shoulder and a small duffel bag on the other.
“What?” she asked, glaring up at her. Even after several years, it still pissed off Taki that she had to look up at the stupid cat now. In her first year of high school, Raana hit a growth spurt that shot her up almost as tall as Soyo, much to the chagrin of both Taki and Anon.
“Can I stay?”
Taki blinked. “Hah? Why? What happened?”
“Bored.”
Two blinks. “Haah?! You think you can just ask to bum on our couch because you’re bored?”
“Yeah.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but her brain couldn’t actually think of a response. The sheer gall to make such a request put Taki on her back foot.
“You’re more than welcome to stay the night,” Umiri said from over her shoulder.
Taki turned to look at her girlfriend and realized her mistake a fraction of a second too late. The instant her eyes left Raana, the younger woman slipped inside and shut the door behind her. Taki whipped back around to find her already taking her shoes off. Outvoted two to one, she huffed and got out of the entryway, giving Raana more room.
Hooking Umiri’s arm and dragging her away a few steps, Taki whispered, “Seriously?”
“I don’t see what the issue is. She just wants to stay the night.”
“Oh that’s hilarious that you think this’ll be the only time she shows up at our door unannounced.”
“If she needs somewhere to stay, I want to be that for her,” Umiri said.
Again, Taki opened her mouth to say something, and again, she stopped. Umiri had that… look in her eye. Upon noticing it, Taki heard the part her girlfriend had left unsaid. So she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Sometimes I think I taught you a little too well,” she muttered. Looking over her shoulder, she said at a normal volume, “Alright, stray cat. You can have the couch.” Raana bounded over to said couch and flopped onto it. “I meant when it was time to sleep….”
A mop of white hair peeked above the back of the couch. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Taki. Then she sat up straighter.
“Oh. Sex. You can keep going. I’ll be quiet.”
Taki’s face burned from the intensity of the blush that rose on her cheeks. She sputtered, unable to find any words.
“We had actually just finished right before you arrived,” Umiri said. Taki slapped her arm.
“You don’t have to tell her that!”
“Oh. Kay.” And with that, Raana turned around towards the TV and turned it on.
Taki glared at her girlfriend, to which Umiri just shrugged before joining Raana on the couch. When she looked back over her shoulder, Taki spotted the smirk but couldn’t stop it.
“Aren’t you going to join us, Taki-nee?”
Raana perked up and whipped around. Her eyes shone. “Taki-nee!”
Several conflicting emotions wracked Taki’s body at once. After a moment, though, her glare returned in full force. “That’s it, I’m killing you both in your sleep tonight.”
“How could you say such a thing to your precious stray cat?” Umiri asked, ruffling Raana’s hair. Raana leaned into the touch with a satisfied smile.
Taki hated how much that sight defused her frustration.
With one last huff, Taki joined them on the couch. Though of course Raana had taken the middle, forcing the couple to separate and sit on either side of her. The instant Taki sat down, Raana turned to her and scrunched her face.
“Ew, stinky.”
“Haaah?!”
“Stinky Rikki.”
“It’s your fault for showing up when you did!”
“I think you smell wonderful, dear,” Umiri said, reaching behind Raana to touch Taki’s arm.
Raana made another face. “Stinky Umirin, too.”
“That does tend to happen when people have sex for that long.”
Taki shot up from the couch, face on fire. “Alright, we’re taking a shower,” she said, grabbing Umiri as she walked by. Her girlfriend put up no resistance.
“Have fun with more sex,” Raana called out as the bathroom door shut behind them.
“You’re the worst,” Taki said to her girlfriend, stripping off her clothes.
“But you still love me, right?”
“Obviously.”
It took several minutes for the shower to actually start.
When they eventually re-emerged from the bathroom, they found Raana curled up on the couch, fast asleep. The TV continued to drone on—some animal documentary—so Taki turned it off. The couple spent a moment looking at their friend. Despite herself, Taki smiled at the sight. That damned stray cat really could be cute when she tried.
“Do you really think she came here just because she was bored?” Umiri whispered.
The unspoken question behind that had also crossed Taki’s mind. She sighed. “Knowing her, probably. Hopefully.”
“We’ll let her stay as long as she needs, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. Still, I give it about two nights before she gets bored again and leaves.”
“Three nights.”
“Oh?” Taki said, quirking an eyebrow. “You making a bet out of it?”
“The usual stakes?” Umiri asked, meeting Taki’s question with a smirk.
“You’re on.” She yawned. “Now let’s follow her lead and go to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“You’re welcome.”
Taki slapped her girlfriend’s arm as they turned and went to bed.
####################
Raana ended up staying four nights, leaving the couple’s bet a draw. Oh well, next time.
Having the stray cat around for that long wasn’t as bad as Taki had anticipated. She disappeared each morning before either Taki or Umiri woke up—taking her guitar but leaving her duffel bag—and didn’t normally return until well after dinner. If it weren’t for the extra toothbrush in the bathroom, the aforementioned duffle bag, and the occasional stray article of clothing on the floor, Taki could have convinced herself that Raana wasn’t there at all.
On the third night, Umiri tried asking her what she got up to all day, but Raana responded with a shrug and a simple, “Playing.” Whether that meant playing guitar, playing with cats, or something else, Taki had no idea, and Raana didn’t elaborate.
And then on the fifth morning after she had shown up, the couple awoke to find her duffel bag gone, too.
She left her toothbrush, though. Taki returned it to her at MyGO!!!!!’s next practice.
With that brief blip behind them, Taki and Umiri fell back into their usual routine: work, lectures, and bands. Because they didn’t go to the same university and their work and band activities rarely overlapped, their time together at the cozy home they had made for themselves meant the world to Taki. It was a time just for them.
Until Raana showed up again two weeks later.
It happened the exact same way as the first (minus the sex part). Their doorbell rang late at night as Taki and Umiri watched a movie together, followed by a text from Raana just saying door. Taki sighed from the depths of her soul and got up to let her in.
This time she only stayed for two nights (meaning Taki won the bet, even though Umiri argued it didn’t apply anymore), following a similar pattern to the first time.
It all became its own sort of pattern. Raana would appear at their doorstep, stay for a few nights, then disappear for a week or two before reappearing once more. She still showed up to MyGO!!!!! practices and shows, so Taki figured nothing serious was going on. And the longer it went on, the more convinced she was of Raana’s initial claim of boredom.
“Why do you always come back so late?” Taki asked one evening as the trio sat on the couch half-watching some dumb variety show. Almost three months had passed since that first impromptu visit.
“Tried coming back early once. Door was locked. Now I wait till I know you’re home.”
“Would you like a spare key so you’re not stuck out so late?” Umiri asked.
Raana blinked twice then looked at Taki, as if for approval. Taki shrugged. This had gone on long enough, and giving her a spare key would make all of their lives easier.
“Sure,” Raana said, turning back to Umiri. “…Thanks.”
Umiri ruffled her hair, and the three of them went back to half-watching TV.
The next day on her way home from work, Taki had a spare key made.
This became the new new normal. Every few weeks, Raana would walk in and flop on the couch, regardless of what Taki and Umiri happened to be doing at the time. One time, they even returned home from a date to find Raana already there. It didn’t bother Taki as much as she’d feared. (Sure, it made sex a little more difficult, but Raana quickly developed her own patterns that they could reliably plan around.)
After a month or so, Raana simply became part of their home. Taki didn’t even bother returning her toothbrush anymore; it lived next to the sink with Taki’s and Umiri’s.
Almost half a year after that first night, Taki and Raana walked into RiNG together. MyGO!!!!! had a pretty big concert coming up, and they’d spent almost every moment of free time in the practice studio together.
“Y’know, Rikki, you and Raana-chan have been showing up together a lot lately,” Anon said as the five of them set up. That dumb smirk appeared on her face, flashing that stupid fang of hers. “There something you wanna tell us?”
Taki flipped her off and said, “Get your mind out of the gutter. She’s just been staying with me and Umiri for a while.” A long while, relatively speaking—nearing a full week!
“Wait, really?” She looked towards Raana. “Is that why you haven’t been to our place lately? Soyorin and I have been wondering where you’ve been!”
Raana shrugged. Meanwhile, Taki also turned to look at her.
“Hold on, you crash at their place, too?” she asked.
“Umm… she also stays with me sometimes,” Tomori said.
The rest of the band stared at their stray cat of a guitarist. Completely unphased, she pulled a lanyard out of her pocket. Six keys jingled together on the end of it. Taki blinked and ran through a mental list. Obviously one key was her own, and one was from Umiri and Taki. Presumably, then, that meant one from Tomori and one from Anon and Soyo. But that left….
“Wait a minute, six keys?” she asked out loud. “Who are the other two from?”
Holding up a specific key, Raana said, “Mortis.”
“Mutsumi-chan gave you a key?” Tomori asked.
Raana shook her head. “Mortis gave it to me.”
“Does Mutsumi-chan know?” Soyo asked. Raana shrugged again. “So then what happens if you arrive when Mutsumi-chan is fronting?”
“I don’t.”
“How—” Taki stopped herself, remembering how Raana had always somehow known at a glance. “Never mind. As long as you’re not causing them trouble, it’s not my problem.”
“Why would it be your problem if she were?” Soyo asked. The ghost of a smirk tugged at her lips.
“Quiet, you.” Taki refocused on Raana. “Alright, then who’s the sixth key?”
“Tsugumi.”
“…HAAH?!”
“Wait, Tsugumi as in Tsugumi Hazawa?” Anon asked as Taki’s brain pulled a soft reboot.
Raana nodded.
Taki opened and closed her mouth several times in rapid succession, looking like a fish out of water. That stupid stray had a key to Tsugumi Hazawa’s home?! Tsugumi Hazawa! Keyboardist for Afterglow! And Raana had a key to her place, implying she was allowed to come and go as she pleased.
The others looked at her, awaiting what her response would be.
“How?” Taki eventually managed to ask.
“Like to play guitar at Hazawa Coffee,” Raana said. “Tsugu gave me a key one day. Don’t spend the night that much. UmiTaki, AnoSoyo, and Tomori are my favorites.”
“D’aww, isn’t that cute, Rikki?” Anon said. “She likes us the best!”
“I would certainly hope so,” Soyo muttered.
“Raana-chan—!” Tomori started, clutching her hands in front of her, “I always have a lot of fun during our sleepovers!”
One of Raana’s rare genuine smiles lit up the room. “Me too.”
The sight brought matching smiles to the rest of the band, even Soyo. MyGO!!!!! basked in the mutual comfort they had found in each other. They had come such a long way through all their years together, and despite their continued capacity to infuriate her, Taki couldn’t imagine her life without them. She reached up to pat their stray cat’s head.
“Alright, that was enough distraction,” she said, taking a seat at her drums. “Let’s get practice started.”
Raana held up another key on her ring. “This one is Yukina.”
“HAAAH?!?!”