Chapter Text
The streetlamps were still on. Kanade probably wouldn’t be awake for another hour or, well, knowing Kanade, more. And yet, Honami was here, carrying a whole bag of ingredients along an empty, grey sidewalk for the girl she loved.
Honami wasn’t really sure why she’d decided to take today, out of any day, to show up practically uninvited to the composer’s house. Kanade had mentioned once that she didn’t mind- she’d even given the girl a copy of her house key- but a part of her was still hesitant. It felt like overstepping, almost, but she was allowed to be worried, right?
Another part of her- the worst part of her- wondered if it was maybe just a tiny bit of jealousy, that was driving her to come here. If so, this was definitely overreach and she really didn’t deserve to be here at all, but she’d been fighting this feeling for days- surely she had a right to see Kanade, even if her thoughts were a little bit… wrong.
The walk to Kanade’s house was boring- just slightly foggy, streets lined with boring looking homes and flat buildings- there wasn’t a single ounce of entertainment to be found. Every once in a while she’d pass someone going on a run, or another person on an early morning walk. She would nod at these people with a smile- things like that, she’d learned, always made her happier, anyway.
Kanade’s apartment building was visible in the distance- barely, but still there. She lived on the second floor, which contained a couple of the slightly nicer flats, at least, from her knowledge. All Honami knew was that the girl was solely financed by a couple old royalties and her grandmother, who seemed decently wealthy, if distant. She’d never tried to monetize her music, but Honami had heard her think about the idea, simply to take some of the burden off of her grandmother. She thought it was a horrible idea- Kanade had an obvious distaste for keeping music behind a paywall, so making money off of it would most likely mean compromising her ideals, and Honami had seen firsthand with Mafuyu how that could destroy the girl.
Then again, it’s those same ideals that make her so difficult…
Honami shook off her negative thoughts with a quick shake of her head. It wasn’t Kanade’s fault that she was the way she was, and all Honami could do was make sure that she was taking care of herself to the best of her ability.
By the time she reached the staircase that lead to her flat, Honami’s stomach was, well, a little bit knotted. What if I’m not wanted? What if she doesn’t… No. She invited me, right?
But then again…
Honami stepped onto the second level, eyes down. She fiddled with the carabiner Saki had given her as she searched for the rather innocuous silvery key before she took the time to look up at the door she was about to enter.
Oh. It’s him.
She froze as he met her gaze. A part of her heart (unfairly, and against her will) froze a bit, too.
He looked at her with wide eyes, a bit of genuine concern working its way into his voice “Honami? What are you doing here so early?”
And just like that, her heart melted again.
Akito Shinonome was probably the most confusing person she had ever met. Some part of her inherently found herself pushing him away- he always came off, in the few times they’d met before- as an abrasive, brash musician whose determination to improve was rivaled only by Shiho’s. But every time she saw him with Kanade, he was suddenly the kindest, most considerate man Honami could have ASKED to be Kanade’s other partner.
But at the end of the day, they both loved the same girl, and so, every once in a while, they'd worked together. Only once, now that she thought of it, and it wasn’t even that intentional.
Hmm.. I could use another hand with my cooking… and Kanade would love for us to get along…
“Ah- I was going to cook something for Kanade. Do you want to help?”
Akito tilted his head. His eyes- did he have eyebags? Honami knew she should be used to it- Kanade was up too late more often than she’d like, but dealing with ANOTHER workaholic musician didn’t really strike her as the best for her mental health.
Besides that, well, he was pretty, she supposed. Aesthetically, at least. Honami didn’t really think about that too much, but his eyes had the same depth that she loved in Kanade’s, and his hair looked nice.
“I can help. I have time before practice.”
Oh- yeah. I guess it makes sense that he’s up this early, then.
Honami smiled, but she was worried it would come off as forced in the moment. She wasn’t sure why, but she was suddenly much more tired than she’d been just a minute ago. An increasingly demanding part of her wanted to find Kanade in her bed and just cling to her until she woke up.
She yawned as she watched Akito put his own key into the door- wait, he has her key too?
Before she could process that information, Akito was gesturing for her to go inside. Honami personally didn’t care for when people went out of their way to hold the door for her, but it was still a sweet gesture, at least coming from Akito.
She slipped her shoes off as quietly as she could before stepping inside. Kanade’s floors tended to creak more than she’d like, so it was often better to do so, anyway. She heard Akito quietly shut the door behind her with a slight creak, but no other sound came from behind her.
He’s quieter than I expected. I thought he’d completely fuck up my surprise… but Kanade is a pretty heavy sleeper, I guess.
Kanade’s house was dark, with the only light coming in through the small kitchen window and a bit of blue light from the crack in her door. It smelled- at least normal, which was a contrast from when Honami had first been here. It wasn’t that Kanade was necessarily bad at taking care of herself, more that she always did the absolute bare minimum, and rushed the hell out of it to get back to her music. The more Honami had started visiting her, though, the better the house seemed to be every time. She hoped it was a sign of Kanade’s improving mental health, and not just a result of some attempt at keeping her happy. Kanade cared far too much about how other people felt sometimes…
“I’m going to check on her. Uh- you wanna start in the kitchen?”
Honami shot him a look that obviously communicated exactly how she felt about that proposition, considering his sharp jolt backwards.
“We can check on her together” Honami whispered. “I want to see what position she fell asleep in, this time.”
Akito nodded.
The two of them crept, ever so softly, to Kanade’s door. Honami wasn’t too worried about the noise they were making, and she’d already oiled the hinges on her door about a week ago just for a situation like this, so there wasn’t much worry about that waking her up either. Despite that, she was still incredibly careful to avoid making noise as she slowly pushed open the door.
Kanade’s room was less of a mess than she was used to. Paper covered in the scribbles of sheet music covered her desk, and there was at least one visible instant ramen container, but this was honestly better than normal for Kanade. Her biggest complaint was that she’d left the computer on, and Nightcord’s chat was visible from the entrance to her room.
It took her a second to locate Kanade herself, and when she did, she heard Akito sigh softly from behind her. She had a bit of an inclination to do the same herself.
Kanade’s face was barely visible from underneath the heavy blanket Akito had gifted her on his last visit. She was breathing softly, but the rise and fall of her chest was enough to make Honami’s heart absolutely explode with affection. Her hair was completely covering most of the rest of the bed, to the point that a large part of it was on the floor, and she internally cringed a little- she couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to untangle Kanade’s hair every morning.
“At least she’s on her bed…” Akito remarked, still whispering.
Honami nodded, but she was only kind of paying attention to him at this point.
“She’s so…” Honami began, before cutting herself off.
“Beautiful.” Akito said- exactly what Honami wanted to say.
Honami pulled the door shut, lightly pushing Akito out of her way as she did so. With the slight click of the door, she began to relax a little.
“Alright, I brought ingredients for a meal and a dessert. We are making mapo tofu and an orange cheesecake.”
“Cheesecake?” Akito’s eyes widened until Honami swore they were going to pop out of his head like a cartoon character.
Honami smiled slightly “Uh- oh yeah. I guess you and your sister are similar, then?”
He glared back at her, but without any real anger in his stare. “No. We just so happen to agree on a few things.”
Whatever you say.
Honami grabbed her bag from the front and started unloading it. She no longer had to worry about cutting the vegetables- Akito should be able to help with that, even if she was a little worried that she’d have to walk him through it. If he was at least competent, it’d be fine, but she had a bit of doubt.
“Do you have the recipe on you? I can give you my number.”
“Oh- I forgot I don’t have yours… yeah, I’ll send it over.”
Honami shuffled her way next to Akito before grabbing his phone. He already had the screen open for her, so she put in her first name and number to go along with it. After a quick confirmation text, she sent the recipe over.
“I got it.” Akito confirmed “Where do you need me to start?”
Honami put the rest of the bags on the table and pulled out everything they’d need to cut. She already knew where all the cutting boards and knives at Kanade’s house were, but she always worried about the knives due to how seldom they were used.
“The ginger and the garlic is pre-minced. We need to chop the mushrooms and the chilies, and I’ll probably do the tofu too- not that I don’t trust you, I just want to make sure it’s cut right myself.”
Akito nodded wordlessly, before he immediately got to work. Honami had been a little worried, but considering how fast he had started, she decided to just let him do his thing as she brought out the tofu. She moved as carefully as she could- one mistake would mean one more squished piece that would make the final product look worse overall. She wasn’t as big on taking pictures of her food as Saki was, but she always tried to take pictures of her own cooking.
She finished the tofu right as Akito grabbed the chilies. Not wanting to be left empty-handed, she took some of them off his board and began to cut them herself.
Am I being mean? I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I just want it to be perfect for Kanade, after all.
Both Akito and Honami finished at the same time. Honami laid out the remaining ingredients on the small counter space she had, while Akito seemed to watch, either out of uncertainty or, in an odd way, almost fear.
“Hey, you okay? I don’t remember you being so… quiet.”
Honami turned Kanade’s stove on and began simmering the peppercorns while she waited for Akito’s response. 30 seconds later, as she began adding the ginger, Akito finally sighed and slumped his shoulders.
“Kanade wants us to get along, but I hardly know you.” Akito exhaled sharply. “I’m just worried I never will get the chance to, y’know?”
Honami tilted her head. “I guess that’s fair. I haven’t given you much of a chance, have I.”
Oh, I think I put too much garlic in… whatever.
She turned herself so she was half-facing Akito while still having the ability to stir the pan.
He was right. She had known that from the start, she just hadn’t really processed it properly.
When Kanade first asked her out, she had kind of assumed that it would be be just them. She hadn’t really expected Akito to also be involved in the way he was- and while at her core she had no real issue with it, morally or even as a romantic relationship, it still threw her off that this- guy she hardly knew would be sharing her girlfriend, in any way. It surprised her when she first learned about it- but Kanade honestly had sounded a little confused when Honami first told her that this might not work out- it was almost as if she never really could even imagine there being any conflicts, at all. And Honami, not really seeing much of an issue with it at a second glance,, agreed. Since that day, they’d both been with Kanade, but not with each other. The implicit idea that they were technically “in a relationship” made her feel odd- they weren’t and she wanted it to stay that way. Akito didn’t interest her beyond how he supported Kanade.
Then again, Akito did do a very good job at supporting Kanade. But AGAIN, it was due to him that their relationship was a total secret. For some reason unknown to her, he hadn’t wanted anyone to know he was dating anyone. Kanade was okay with that- but Honami had her reservations. With Leo/Need especially, she told them everything- they were her best friends, after all. Withholding such crucial information from them was not fair when they would never do the same to her.
Honami added the mushrooms while she thought about things, but she almost missed the timer she’d set to do so. She hadn’t realized how far she’d retreated into her mind until she caught Akito looking at her expectantly.
“Alright, uh, Akito. We should go out sometime.”
Akito tilted his head. “Oh, like a date? Or, uh…”
Honami felt her face flush a little. “No! Not a date!”
She caught the smallest smirk at the corner of his mouth and frowned slightly- she would have found it a bit more humorous if she wasn’t trying to take this seriously.
Honami sighed, putting all the energy of a disappointed teacher into her inflection. “Not a date. But we should probably figure each other out.”
Akito’s hand moved to his forehead as he brushed a strand of hair out of his face. “For Kanade? Or…”
“For Kanade. And, well, you deserve it, I think. We can figure this out after we finish cooking.”
Akito nodded.
The two of them moved through most of the rest of the cooking in sync. She directed Akito to start on the cheesecake, which he did eagerly, and, as far as she could tell, competently. She was confident enough in his baking skillset by this point to turn her full attention towards the main dish, and so she found herself ignoring him up until the final moments.
“Cheesecake is in the oven, by the way. Just need to give it time.”
Honami smiled at Akito brightly as she turned off the stove. “You seem like you know what you’re doing- it was nice to not have to micromanage you.”
Akito flushed, but he also frowned slightly “Well- er- thanks. I work in the Weekend garage whenever Ken needs me to. It’s where I picked most of this up.”
She supposed that made sense, even if she hardly knew what he was talking about. She’d seen the Weekend garage before on some of Leo/Need’s trips to live houses in the area, but she’d never been. It would be a good idea to visit, though, if Akito went there. He was slowly growing on her, just a little bit, especially since the vague hostility she’d first seen from him months ago was entirely gone now.
The slight creak of the floorboards behind them almost made Honami’s heart leap out of her chest- not out of fear, more out of concern.
If that’s Kanade, then she NEEDS to go back to sleep…
A soft yawn all but confirmed her fears, as she turned around sheepishly to catch the exhausted-looking Kanade Yoisaki rubbing her eyes, obviously barely awake.
“What’s that wonderful smell…” Kanade said, yawning again.
“K-Kanade! You shouldn’t be awake!” Akito called out, jolting Honami out of her enamored stare.
Honami quickly nodded, but Kanade just smiled sleepily. “Well, I am. Sorry.”
Honami rushed to her side with speed even she didn’t know she had in her, all her attention focused on helping tha ailing girl stay standing. “We need to get you back to bed! I don’t know how little sleep you got, but knowing you…”
“Ah, fine, but only if you follow me”
Honami stopped, blushing furiously. Kanade looked over to Akito and motioned for him to follow. Akito sighed and took out his phone, probably to message someone. Knowing Kanade, they probably wouldn’t be sleeping for much longer, but it would still be nice to warn her friends about it.
Her phone buzzed, and Honami used her free hand to pull it out of her pocket.
(Akito Shinonome) I want you to come to our next concert, if you can.
(Akito Shinonome) Attachment: 1 image
The image was of a ticket, with her name on it. Honami shot a glance at him, but his expression was unreadable.
Honami typed out a quick response, in full view of Kanade, but the girl didn’t seem to notice (or care)
(Hona) Alright, but only if you come to one of ours, too.
(Akito Shinonome) On it. Your next one is in two weeks, right?
Honami blinked.
(Hona) Yes. You follow us?
(Akito Shinonome) Only since I met you.
Honami blushed a little, but she doubted anyone would notice but her. She was already so red with Kanade’s arm around her, anyway.
Hmm… maybe he’s worth something, after all.