The night together
Lisa positioned Sayo’s hands on the neck and body of the bass. Her hands are soft, I like it. However, her back hurt due to bending over; Sayo was sitting on her bed, creating a fair height difference. Why does my bed have to be so low? “I’m not sure why you’re so worried about the way you hold it,” Lisa said, “the bass and guitar are both pretty similar~.”
Sayo frowned. “It’s just that I’ve never played a bass before, I want to make sure I don’t make a mistake.” She looked up to Lisa from her bed, “I can show you my guitar next time, right?”
“Totally! I like doing stuff like this with you.” Lisa sat next to Sayo. She turned to her, “This feels a lot more natural than a lot of the regular date stuff people tend to do, y’know?”
Sayo nodded. As if on cue, Lisa’s phone rumbled on the nightstand. “Just gimme one sec,” she said, standing up and walking over. She picked it up; her eyes scanned the screen. “Hm, it’s a text from Ako. Wonder what she needs…”
Sayo added, she was now on her phone too. “She messaged me as well.” She paused, “It seems that she would like us to sleepover at her house - to help us ‘bond,’ she put it. She also said we could go over our plans for future performances during our stay.” She sighed, “This is quite spontaneous of her…”
“That’s classic Ako for ya~,” Lisa hummed. She thought about it, although sudden, a night with Roselia sounded great; a night with Sayo sounded even better. They could spend all of their time together, it was perfect. “It sounds like a ton of fun! You wanna go, Sayo?”
Sayo smiled shyly. “A year ago, I would have declined. I was much more devoted to my studies and practices back then - I was a different me.” She stared at the neck of the bass and fiddled with one of the strings. “I want to try new things and gain new experiences. I... think it would be a fun time.”
Lisa stared at her girlfriend with soft eyes, she held pure admiration for her growth. I have a sudden urge to hug her. “Sounds like a plan~.” Keep your cool. “Let’s both let her know we’re good to go.” She asked, “When did she wanna hang out again?”
“Tomorrow night I believe.”
Lisa typed up her reply and hit send. She sat next to Sayo and placed her head on her shoulder. “Y’know,” she purred, “we’ll be able to spend the whole night together. Are you excited?”
Sayo’s face was coated with red. “I…” she gulped, “I am aware.” Her eyes turned away. “I’ve actually been looking forward to having time alone with you.”
“Is that so~?” Lisa smiled relaxingly, but her crimson face hinted to something else. She knew those words should only be taken at face value. “Do you wanna meet up at one of our houses before we head to Ako’s? We can walk over together.”
Sayo’s brow furrowed. “Would it not be suspicious? I wouldn’t want anyone knowing about…” She stared at Lisa as she abandoned the sentence. “I am fine as long as we meet up at your house - not mine. My parents are still not aware that we are…”
Lisa noticed Sayo’s hesitation. She placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t want to force her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with. “We can do this bit by bit, okay? We can go at a speed you’re cool with.”
“Thank you for understanding, Imai-san.”
“Of course~. We can pretend like we’re friends like usual when we go to Ako’s, no-one will suspect a thing!” Lisa smiled. “You wanna meet up at my house then? My mother would be cool with sleeping over, plus she likes you a lot~.”
Sayo smiled. “I’ll come over around dinner-time, we can head over then.” She looked down at Lisa’s bass - still in her lap, “Should we continue with my bass lesson?”
She smiled. “Sure thing!” She stood up and boasted, “Let’s see if scales are super easy for a pro like you~.”
“I will not be wavered by you, Imai-san.”
Lisa hummed, mischief thick in her voice. “Oh, I know~.”
-
Lisa danced her favourite cherry lipgloss over her bottom lip. She pucked her lips together and looked at herself in the mirror. She wanted to look nice - and she knew she always did - but this was different. Now, there was Sayo in mind; she loved her attention, doing things that would have her eyes on her. She felt needy, but the thrill of the attention outweighed it.
She giggled quietly to herself now realizing the tone of her thoughts. I must really like her.
“Lisa-chan!” she heard from downstairs, bringing her back to reality. It was her mother. “Your friend is here!”
“Coming!” Lisa shouted as she walked to her bed and holstered her bag over her shoulder. She had her clothes, make-up, hair supplies: she was set. She stepped out of her room and down the stairs. There, in the foyer of her home, stood Sayo. Her hair was more flowy - it was different - but Lisa loved it. She’s so pretty.
“Hello, Imai-san,” Sayo greeted formally. She also had a bag over her shoulder. “It is nice to see you. Are you ready to go?”
“Yup,” Lisa replied. She turned to her mother, “I should be back tomorrow afternoon. You’re still good staying home by yourself?”
“Of course!” her mother joked. “You two should just focus on having fun with your friends, I’ll be perfectly fine~.
“Okay, okay~.” Lisa breathed out. She turned to Sayo, “Let’s head out”
“Alright,” she agreed. She turned to Lisa’s mother and bowed, “Thank you for letting me into your home.”
Lisa’s mother laughed, “Oh, it’s nothing you need to thank me for! If anything, I should be thanking you - I was starting to get worried Lisa-chan had no other friends than Yuki-”
Before her mother could utter another word, Sayo was pulled out on to the front steps. By the time she turned around, the door was closed. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” Lisa shouted through the door. “Jeez,” Lisa mumbled. “That was so embarrassing…”
Sayo chuckled as they began their walk to Ako’s home. “I thought it was endearing if it matters.”
Lisa smiled as red crept its way on to her face, “It does.” She stared at Sayo’s hands, “Do… you wanna?”
“I do.” She interlocked her right hand with Lisa’s left. “We did this after practice that one day, I don’t see why we shouldn’t do it now.”
Lisa giggled as her stomach flipped. “You’re great, you know that?”
Sayo chuckled to herself. “I know.”
-
Lisa wiped the sweat off her forehead with her free hand. The sun was still bright in the sky; the heat was almost unbearable. She could see a faint haze rise from the pavement. “Jeez, Ako lived farther away than I thought.” she sighed. “Are we close?”
“Actually,” Sayo replied, “her home should be just around this corner.” She looked away shyly, her hand shook, “Is it okay if…?”
Lisa let go of Sayo’s hand. “Totally, we don’t have to tell them yet.” But we will eventually, right? The couple turned a right, and they knew they had arrived at the correct place. The house planted right in front of them seemed average enough, however, Lisa could see her two silhouettes on the front porch. They walked up the front steps and Ako lept at Lisa.
“Lisa-nee, you’re here!” Ako squeezed her; Lisa said hello in return. She turned to Sayo as well, “And Sayo-san came too! Tonight’s gonna be amazing!”
“It is nice to see you, Udagawa-san,” Sayo said curtly. She turned to Yukina, “Hello, Minato-san.”
Yukina nodded in affirmation, preferring to respond with silence. She looked at Lisa, “It’s great to see you again, Lisa. Did you and Sayo walk here together?”
“You’re talking like we haven’t seen each other in ages,” Lisa cooed. She looked aside, “We actually ran into each other on the way here, so we just walked the rest of the way together~.”
Yukina opened her mouth to respond but Sayo interrupted, eager to diminish the suspicion. “I don’t mean to bud in, but where is Shirokane-san? Is she inside?”
Ako jumped around, “Yep! She brought her Nimtendo, so she’s just setting it up in the living room~. Oh, I almost forgot!” She snatched Sayo and Lisa’s bags; there was a balancing act happening between Ako’s arms, specifically, one that was far beyond her. “I know what you’re thinking, but I got it! I’ve got a super good sense of balance~. I’ll take your bags inside,” she turned to head inside, “I’ll be right back!”
Lisa sighed, “I hope she doesn’t hurt herself…”
“Ako makes up for her tall expectations with spirit,” Yukina said.
Sayo added, “That is one way to put it.”
Silence soon filled the patio; the atmosphere was awkward. Despite knowing her for so long, Lisa had nothing to talk to Yukina about - she was drawing blanks. The only sound heard was the sound of cars whirring by on a nearby busy street blended with the summer cicadas buzzing in the distance; it didn’t help with the tension. “The sun seems to be setting,” Yukina said blankly; she was always difficult to read.
Lisa looked at the trees, the sun was cutting through them. It was getting later in the day anyway, so it wasn’t anything new to her. Yukina is great at keeping the conversation alive as always, she thought. The three would normally have been able to converse without a problem, but there was an unspoken tension between the three. What happened ? Ako was normally the source of comedic relief, where was she?
As if someone was hearing over her, Ako poked her head through the front door. “Hey, uh, guys!” Ako shouted. “Rin-Rin has the game she wanted to play all set up! You’re all good to come inside now!”
Thank god. “Sounds good, Ako!” Lisa chirped. The three of them followed Ako through the front hallway. She noticed a collection of picture frames, as she squinted she noticed the majority of them were of a young Ako and Tomoe. A smile graced her face as she walked by, it was cute. When they entered the living room, Rinko was sitting in the middle of the floor.
Rinko smiled at them. “It’s... nice to see you all,” she said quietly. “I’ve got the game set up…” She reached into a nearby basket and retrieved five remote controllers, stacking them up in her left arm. She stood up and passed one to each girl. “If you click a button - any button - it should turn on your remote controller. Just… please don’t press anything else so I can finish setting it up please…”
The group agreed to Rinko’s terms and momentarily situated themselves on the couch in front of the television, it was a flat-screen; Ako was a serious gamer so it didn’t seem surprising. “By the way, Udagawa-san,” Sayo commented, “where is your sister?”
Ako gave a toothy grin, “She’s just chilling upstairs in her bedroom! She promised to not interrupt us~.”
“That was kind of her!” Lisa added. “And also,” she continued, “thanks for having us over! We always spend time together as band-mates; I’m glad you suggested a sleepover so we can just hang out as friends~.” She fiddled with her red controller. “I feel like it’s always so serious whenever we meet up…”
Ako glowed up, “Oh, you shouldn’t thank me!” She raised her arms towards Yukina as if she was a prize, “This sleepover was all Yukina-san’s idea!”
Lisa arched a brow. “Really? That’s… not something I would have expected.”
Sayo agreed. “I must agree with Imai-san, it is unlike you to suggest an event like this.”
“I have my reasons,” is all that Yukina said. Despite Ako and Rinko’s benign attitudes, Sayo and Lisa were confused. However, all concerns vanished when a small squeal came from Rinko. “It is… ready…” She instructed carefully, “Once we get to the character selection screen, I’ll be player one, Ako-chan will be player two, and you can all claim whatever is left…”
“You take which players we are incredibly serious, don’t you Shirokane-san?” Sayo asked.
Rinko nodded sheepishly, unwilling to elaborate. “So,” Yukina budded in, “what is it that we are playing?”
“Ooh, ooh~!” Ako cooed. “It’s a fighting game,” she moved her hands around dramatically, “the kind where you go WAPOW and KACHOW! You just wanna beat everyone up.”
Sayo sweated, “That sounds quite crude…”
“It’s… quite fun once you start playing…” Rinko added, “It’s all cartoonish violence… so it shouldn’t be that bad.”
“I will take your word for it.”
As if on cue, the television screen lit up; Rinko weaved through the various screens with ease - Lisa didn’t even have a chance to see the title of the game. However, Sayo managed to catch it. “Super Smash Brothers…? I think I’ve played it before with Hina.”
“It is…” Rinko trailed off. “It’s... a lot of fun to play with a group. That’s why I’m glad we’re together like this...”
‘Free-for-all!’ promptly rang from the television. Sayo murmured to herself, “I guess this really is a fighting game, hm… I always play as a tank in Neo-Fantasy Online - will that translate well here…?” Lisa looked at her girlfriend in the corner of her eye. The two sat beside each other, giving Lisa a clear view of Sayo’s focused face. She found it adorable watching her in deep thought, especially when it was over the smallest things.
She watched two cursors roll across the screen, “Palutena!” the screen shouted, “Bayonetta!” followed soon after. Lisa sighed, I have no clue how to play. She figured she would just learn how to play as the game went on.
“It’s just you three now, Ako-chan and I have picked our characters.”
Sayo mumbled, “My apologies.” The screen chimed with the sound of ‘Kirby!’.
Lisa giggled, “I would’ve never pegged you as the type to pick the small puffball, Sayo~.”
“Believe it or not, I have a love for small, fluffy things,” the guitarist said in reply, blushing. “Imai-san, Minato-san - please choose your characters so we may begin.”
Ako shouted, “Yeah, hurry up!”
“Sorry!” Lisa hummed. She glided her cursor towards Princess Peach and clicked A - the television chimed the princess’ name. “Now it’s just you Yuk-”
‘King K. Rool!’ the screen shouted. All of the girls besides Yukina sat with confused expressions. Did she want to play as the obese reptile? “Yukina-san… I think you might have accidentally selected the wrong character? If you want to select someone else just hold-”
“I have selected my character,” Yukina deadpanned. “Please proceed with the match.”
“If you’re certain, Yukina-san…”
The screen faded away, and five characters came to view. Lisa only recognized Princess Peach and Kirby - her and Sayo respectively - the others were mysteries. She found it adorable that they were both matching in pink - although it was a minor detail, she felt unified. She made a point to keep her and Sayo’s shoulders pressed together. She hoped Sayo noticed.
The screen lit up as five characters spawned on the stage. As the announcer began counting down, Ako hunched her body forward in focus, her purple pigtails hung over her shoulders. “You’re all going down…”
3…
Rinko bit her lower lip, anticipation rushing through her veins. This is my moment… my chance to show my worth.
2…
Sayo gripped her hands around the remote controller with newfound vigour. I must win, I must impress Lisa.
1…
Yukina noticed a bird fly by the nearby window. It was a cute bird. Her eyes fell back to the screen. Why is everyone taking this so seriously?
GO!
The free-for-all had begun.