Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You hums as she opens the door of the washing machine, taking out diving gear and dropping it into a pile on the floor. The melody is soft and calming; it's one her father used to sing to her before he went out on another voyage, a spell that worked every time without fail to stop her tears. Chika's family would then take her out for a shopping spree in Numazu to treat her for being so strong and such a good friend.

She catches herself smiling at the memory, and realises she hasn't moved to fold the gear up.

"So are you gonna sit there all day looking like someone who just won the lottery?" Kanan says, approaching her from behind. "Please tell me if you do win the lottery. I want to go on a cruise," she adds on jokingly.

You sighs. "I wish," she replies, picking up a suit and zipping it up, laying it on the table.

"Or," Kanan continues, with a hint of a smirk on her face, "you're thinking about your lovely girlfriend and how you'd like to go on a cruise with her." She grabs a pair of goggles and hangs them on the railing just outside to dry. She can definitely be mischievous at times. It must be the result of being attached to Mari for so long.

You makes quick work of folding the suit, handing it to Kanan without so much as a blink. She's learnt not to blush so often around her friends upon any mention of Chika over the last few days, and it's surprising that she's already been doing this for almost an entire week. However, Chika's getting restless, and You can only guess it's because they haven't done anything major yet.

Like a date.

"Oh, I wouldn't forget to take you with us on a cruise, Kanan-chan," You says. "You'd make a great third wheel for once." She casts a sly glance towards her friend, who pouts.

"Just so you know, I will confess to Mari and Dia. Sometime."

You giggles. It's cute to see Kanan flustered and even more unusual to see her being anything less than a brave warrior who charges into things without a sweat. "Keep telling yourself that and it might come true."

Walking back inside, Kanan pats You on the head and goes back to putting diving suits in the washing machine, turning it on. There's a small whirr as it powers on and starts spinning, the oranges and blues and pinks and blacks mixing together in one messy spiral. "We're not here to talk about my love endeavours. Yours are more important." She winks at You.

"Yeah, well, there's not much to say except we don't know how to go on dates," You replies, heading out onto the deck and leaning over the railing. There's an urge to jump into the water, that is hard for her to resist, so she turns away and puts her back against the railing. It's like she loses all control when she's near water.

This reminds her of something. "Hey, remember the time Chika-chan got so excited waving the ship off that she fell over the pier?"

Kanan stands straighter, smiling fondly at the memory. She joins You and tosses her a can of orange juice from her fridge, cracking her own one open. "Yeah. Then we jumped in to get her out and we all got our clothes soaked. Then Mum told me off because that was my best skirt."

"But we couldn't help it. Chika just has a knack for getting us into things."

"Like your relationship."

If Kanan wasn't such a good friend, You might consider chucking her into the water. She frowns, tapping her finger against the can. "Not everything is about that, you know."

Kanan sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, I do. I'm just proud that you guys aren't as dense as we thought and you're finally together. It's exciting."

“Anyway, please tell me why you asked for me to help you out today when you look like you don’t even need it.”

There’s a short pause, and You bursts out laughing, knowing she’s caught Kanan out. Apparently Kanan wants to spend their time gushing over how cute You and Chika are as a couple, even though everyone does that already at school. “Yeah, but it’s different for me. I’ve known you guys basically forever,” Kanan says whenever one of them bring it up.

Today however, Chika is busy helping out at the inn, leaving You to be the unwitting guest to Kanan’s ramblings, as much as she prides herself on being the mum friend. Or at least, that’s how Mari refers to her.

“You’re pretty clever, huh? Maybe try putting the same amount of thought into your school work,” Kanan says.

“As if you can talk! Dia-san always speaks about how you’re usually asleep during class!”

They break into giggles again, and it’s at times like this when You is truly grateful for her friends. They watch the calm ripples of the water as the sky gradually dims.

—-

Hanamaru stands at the end of the table, setting her bag down purposefully on it before everyone is even ready. All heads turn to her.

“Something wrong?” Yoshiko asks through a mouth full of bread. Dia sends her a disapproving frown.

“Yes. Big news.”

Before anyone can respond, she zips open her bag and takes out two rectangular pieces of paper, both with a colourful photograph on them.

“Tickets?” Ruby says.

“Yep! I won a reading contest while back and forgot about it, but these tickets arrived over the weekend! It’s for a contemporary romance though, so it’s not really up my alley.” Riko almost spits out her drink.

“Really? I thought you liked all kinds of books,” she says, frowning.

Hanamaru laughs. “I do, but as far as movies go, this genre really isn’t my thing. I prefer historical or war movies. Stuff with gruesome battles and fights to the death!” She claps her hands together, her eyes sparkling. Yoshiko slowly edges away, her perception of the kind bookworm now tainted forever. “Anyway, I wanna give these tickets to someone here. Does anyone want them?”

As if on cue, everyone turns to You and Chika, who are sitting beside each other, not really concerned about the tickets. “Eh?” Chika says. “Us?”

Mari’s shit-eating grin doesn’t fade. “You guys said you were stuck on date ideas, right? This is perfect!”

“Yeah, but...” You begins, but her voice trails off when she notices how eager everyone is. What she doesn’t say is that she and Chika have a history of falling asleep at these kinds of movies. Wouldn’t the tickets just be wasted on them? And Chika is also intent on finding a date idea for herself. She looks over to Chika, who is tapping on the table in thought.

“Sure, why not!” she eventually replies. You blinks in surprise. Chika grabs her hand. “This’ll be super fun!”

There are gasps of awe from everyone, including Dia, who is secretly into hearing about their relationship, as much as she tries to deny it.

“Perfect!” Hanamaru high-fives Mari, before handing the tickets to Chika.

“We look forward to hearing all about it!” Mari adds on.

Chika’s smile wavers as she looks at the tickets. “Huh... so it’s one of those boring love stories,” she mutters to herself. Luckily, nobody hears it. "We'll enjoy it! Thanks, Hanamaru-chan!" she says to the group, tucking the tickets safely into the pocket of her bag.

"When's the movie?" Kanan asks.

"It's on Sunday," Hanamaru replies. "You'll be able to spend as much time as you want out together!"

Chika nods excitedly, her anticipation of spending more time with her fake girlfriend overtaking her distaste for the movie.

You leans back in her seat, smiling to herself, and she fails to notice the wink Hanamaru directs at Mari.

There'll be a lot to do before the date. Find clothes, look for a place to eat, maybe a surprise for Chika to top it all off.

To be honest, You's looking forward to it.