Chapter Text
Yohane is certain some vile demon is attacking her while she sleeps. There is no other possible explanation for the sort of dreams she’s been having. Only a demon could cause her to have these kinds of dreams about her childhood friend. It’s Hanamaru! They’ve been friends for years! No way would she suddenly start thinking of her in that way, much less have such graphic dreams about her-
“Yoshiko-chan, is everything alright, zura?” Hanamaru asks, twisted around in the seat of the bus so she can look at the girl in the seat behind her.
Yohane lets out a surprised squeak at being so suddenly pulled away from her musings. Then the words catch up to her and she shouts: “It’s Yohane!”
Hanamaru, as is her way, only looks on fondly. It’s the way she’s always reacted to Yoshi- Yohane’s antics. There’s nothing different this time, it’s the same as it alway has been - except that’s a total lie, because Yohane now has vivid memories of that look on Hanamaru’s face in some very different contexts. The thought makes her blush. Embarrassed, she looks away. “And anyway, there’s nothing wrong. Yohane is an immortal being, after all, and therefore unaffected by mortal inconveniences such as illness.”
“Tell that to the cold you had last month,” Hanamaru mutters, low enough that she probably didn’t mean for anybody else to hear it. Gracious and merciful as she is, Yohane chooses to overlook her impiety. This time.
“That’s fine, then,” Hanamaru adds, this time in a normal volume, “You seemed to be really worried about something, so I just wanted to see if you were okay, zura”
Warmth blossoms in Yohane’s chest, but she pushes it violently away. Fallen angels are not meant to experience the human emotions that make ordinary people feel warm, like happiness - or, worse, love. “Your concern has been noted, but as I said: nothing is amiss. Perhaps what you saw was me concentrating on keeping the armies of Hell in contr- geh.”
Partway through Yohane’s speech, Hanamaru turns back around. Normally, Yohane would demand more of her attention, but this time she lets it slide. Truth is, she is worried about something. She’s going on a trip to the onsen with the rest of Aqours, where they’ll be staying overnight. If this demon is going to invade her dreams again tonight, and Hanamaru - or any of the other members, really - notices, that would be a problem.
She probably can’t get a seperate room for free and she doesn’t have money to pay for it, so that’s out of the question. Maybe she can stay up the entire night. Or at least wait until everybody else is asleep before she goes to bed as well. That way nobody will be awake to witness the demon corrupt her dreams.
Her plan decided, Yohane decides to try her best to enjoy the rest of their trip. She discusses her most recent stream with Lily, gets absolutely trashed by Ruby in a game of table tennis, and even manages to only stare at Hanamaru a little in the baths. It’s only when they’re all settling down to sleep that she realizes she may have enjoyed herself a little too much, because now she’s pretty tired. Tired enough that she won’t be able to stay up until everybody else has gone to sleep already.
Chika, You, and Kanan are still talking when Yohane starts to drift off. She does her best to stay awake, though she dozes a couple of times, only to be awakened by somebody - Mari, most often - shouting something. She barely manages to hang on until Dia declares they all need to go to sleep. As soon as the lights are turned off, she’s gone. It’s not that bad, though; some people may still be awake, but at least they’ll be asleep soon. It’s unlikely that they’ll notice that demon invading her dreams again.
Soon enough, she gets pulled from the void of sleep and into the land of dreams. She’s playing table tennis against Ruby again, but instead of squeaking in fear every time the ball comes her way, the redhead lets out a mighty roar. Yohane is being soundly beaten. She looks around desperately for something to help her, but all she can see is the other Aqours members, all cheering for Ruby. Only when she turns away from them does she see Hanamaru, standing there like a sturdy rock amidst a raging sea.
“Zuramaru!” Yohane shouts. He voice feels weak and far away. She’s afraid Hanamaru hasn’t heard her, but she does look up. “Please cheer for me!”
Hanamaru nods and smiles. Filled with new determination, Yohane turns back to the game and starts playing in ernest. She scores point after point until one of her shots nails Ruby right in the forehead and she falls backwards and disappears.
Yohane turns around with an elated smile. “I did it! I won!”
“Congratulations,” Hanamaru says. She takes a step closer and suddenly they’re all alone in the baths. “Now for your reward, zura.” And then her lips are on her; her mouth, her neck, other places. Her every touch makes Yoshiko squirm and gasp. It’s like she knows exactly what her sensitive spots are.
“Ha-ah-namaru,” Yoshiko gasps.
Hanamaru looks up at her, a sly smile on her face, but her voice, when she speaks, is worried. “Yoshiko-chan? Yoshiko-chan? Yo-”
“-shiko-chan?”
For a moment, Yoshiko thinks she’s still dreaming. Hanamaru is leaning over her as she was in her dream, lips plump and just shy of being closed. Then reality sets in; it is dark, she’s in a futon, and she can hear the rest of her friends breathing around her.
“Zuramaru?” Yoshiko whispers, so as not to wake the others up. “What’s wrong?” She pauses, then adds, sullenly. “And it’s Yohane, not Yoshiko.”
Predictably, Hanamaru ignores that last comment. “I should be asking you what’s wrong. You were talking in your sleep.”
Yohane’s blood goes cold. “What… what did I say?”
Hanamaru hesitates. Her eyes shift to the side, then back to Yohane again. “My name, zura. I thought…” She swallows; Yohane can see the movement of her neck the action causes. “I thought maybe you were having a nightmare?”
It doesn’t sound convincing, even to Yohane. It’s made even less convincing by the blush staining Hanamaru’s cheeks. Clearly, Hanamaru knows - or at the very least suspects - the real reason Yohane said her name. Still, if Hanamaru is willing to pretend this never happened, Yohane is all too happy to play along. “Y-yeah, exactly. It was a nightmare.”
“Will you be able to go back to sleep, zura?”
Yohane thinks about it for a moment. She’s too embarrassed to fall asleep again anytime soon, but she can at least attempt until Hanamaru falls asleep. “I’ll be fine. Go back to sleep, Zuramaru.”
Hanamaru hesitates a moment longer, then finally leaves to go back to her own futon. Once she’s heard the rustling of sheets that means Hanamaru has settled back in to sleep, Yohane sighs and turns onto her side. She’s going to have to do something about this if she wants to be able to sleep normally again, without that demon assaulting her. Maybe she should have just fessed up, instead of going along with Hanamaru’s excuse.
Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.
Chapter Text
Maru is by no means an expert on love. Her parents have always been rather reserved with physical displays of affection, so her only reference is what she’s read in books. Butterflies in your stomach, an accidental brushing of hands, the soft touch of lips against another’s - these are all things she’s never experienced before. By all rights she shouldn’t be able to recognize that she’s falling in love.
The thing is, though: while Maru may not know much about love, she does have plenty of experience falling. She’s fallen off of swings and jungle gyms, slipped on wet rocks by the river, and tripped over her own feet more times than she can count. The feel of it, that strange weightlessness of being suspended in the air for a split second without anything to tether you to the earth, is intimately familiar to her - as is the landing impact.
She’s heard it often enough: it’s not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end. It’s this part that terrifies her. Right now she’s enjoying the sensation of falling, of flying, but she knows it has to end sometime. Eventually, she’ll crash into the ground, and have to feel all the pain that comes with it.
If Maru had her way, she’d make sure she’d never touch down. Keep falling forever. Fall, flow, melt. Dissolve before she ever hits the ground. This is why she lied to Yoshiko last night. Well, she didn’t lie, exactly; she only omitted certain truths. It’s not a problem. If Yoshiko minded, she wouldn’t have looked so panicked when Maru woke her up, and she certainly wouldn’t have gone along with her stupid excuse.
It’s better this way. Like this, Yoshiko can get through this phase of hers without feeling too embarrassed, and Maru won’t have to get hurt. If she did admit her feelings to Yoshiko - even if she reciprocated, it could only ever end in disaster. A fall is a fall, and the landing is going to hurt no matter how soft it is.
Suddenly, Maru is torn from her thoughts by Mari slinging an arm around her shoulder. Maru had seen her changing seats every now and then, but she hadn’t even noticed that she’d sat down next to her.
“Maru-chan!” Mari says, loud as ever. At least she has the grace to lean away from Maru’s ear as she does. “How did you sleep?”
Maru has to fight not to frown. It’s an oddly specific question to ask… Does Mari know what happened between her and Yoshiko last night? She almost has to.
Then again, maybe she’s reading too much into this. Mari could have noticed that she was reading under the sheets of her futon long after Dia had told everybody to go to sleep, or maybe she genuinely wants to know. She doesn’t have any reason to be suspicious. “The futon was very comfortable, zura. I slept well.” Even though it wasn’t very long. “How did you sleep, Mari-chan?”
“Fine, fine,” Mari says, with an air of casualness that is clearly forced, “The futons here aren’t as comfortable as my bed at home, but a change of pace is still appreciated.” She turns to Maru with wide eyes full of faked innocence. “Though, something did happen that made it difficult to sleep.”
Maru is suddenly acutely aware that she’s cornered. She’s sitting in the window seat, with Mari blocking the way to the rest of the bus. She can’t escape. “What was that, zura?”
Mari’s lips curl into what can only be called a leer. Suddenly, Maru starts to fear for her life. “I woke up to Yoshiko-chan making some very interesting noises. At first I thought it was nothing, but then I looked up and I saw you next to Yoshiko-chan’s futon.”
“Oh?” Maru squeaks, pressing herself against the wall of the bus as closely as she can.
“Mhm. I thought that was curious, because it sounded like Yoshiko-chan was moaning, and you two were awfully close.” She leans in, looming above Maru. This is the first time she’s really noticed how scary Mari really is. “Maru-chan, were you can Yoshiko-chan ki-”
“Zura!” Maru shouts. She places her hands against Mari’s shoulders and pushes her away with a mighty heave. Mari topples backwards and off her seat, laughing all the while.
