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"I boiled that." A young woman with teal-coloured hair said, her right index finger pointing to the kettle Moca was holding as she poured the hot water into her cup noodles. "You stole my boiled water.""Huh? Oh c'mon, all I did was to use it for my noodles! A girl's gotta eat y'know." Moca replied, placing the kettle down on the counter once she was done. The woman scowled, her features scrunching up such that she looked downright demonic. "Dude, I'm a college student. I need to eat.""We're all college students here! Why the fuck are you eating cup noodles at four in the morning?!""Touche." Moca coolly replied, her aqua-coloured eyes settling on a packet of instant coffee mix that the woman was holding. "Like, don't get me wrong and all... but I'm pretty sure drinking coffee at this hour ain't good for ya.""Who are you to tell me how to live my life?! Never mind, just pass me that bloody kettle already." Moca whistled, annoying the woman further. Smirking, Moca did what she was told, the kettle soon in the latter's hand. "Hmph, this is why I didn't want to live in a dorm.""Soooo... why are you living here then?" The woman quirked an eyebrow, which soon melted into furrowed brows as she grabbed a mug from the counter. 'Hey now that I look at her, she's quite a cutie. Too bad she's always angry, kinda like Ran...'"... Parents didn't want me living alone." The woman replied, opening the packet and pouring the coffee mix into the mug. Moca nodded, a mischievous smile forming on her lips as she turned away from the woman. "... You're not going to eat that... cancer-inducing meal here?""Eating my cup noodles in the dorm kitchen at 4 am isn't exactly my cup of tea. Or in your case, coffee." Moca grinned, leaving the kitchen. Once she was out, she broke into a run back towards her dorm room, not wanting to stick around for the woman's next move. 'Whoops, nearly spilled my precious soup!'"YOU BITCH, YOU USED UP ALL MY BOILED WATER!""Guys, I gotta tell you something." Moca announced, gathering her four friends' attention. Apart from one aloof expression, the rest looked genuinely curious to hear what Moca had to say. "So this morning, I met a cute girl.""Did you ask her out?!" Himari asked, sparkles in her emerald eyes as she jumped about gleefully. Tomoe and Tsugumi watched on awkwardly, not sharing their friend's enthusiasm. "Oh my god, how did you meet her?!""We met in our dorm kitchen at 4 am. I was there for cup noodles, she was there for coffee.""Moca-chan, you should really cut down on instant noodles... It's bad for you if you eat it every day!" Tsugumi commented, worried for Moca's health. Moca laughed, it wasn't as if she had a choice. She had to eat something while working on her numerous theses. "What happened afterwards?""Oh that. Well... she kinda yelled at me after I used the water she boiled for her coffee for my cup noodles.""Moca, go and apologise to her." Tomoe sighed, shaking her head as the response settled. Moca shrugged, ticking Tomoe off. "Seriously Moca, you guys live in the same dorm. She's bound to hunt you down if you don't apologise.""The more important question is how cute is she!" Himari interjected, shooting fingerguns in Moca's direction. Moca copied Himari's actions, a smirk plastered on her face. "Ooooh~ Seems like she's really hot!""Himari, aren't you still obsessed with that girl majoring in Theatre? What's her name again? Kanon?" Ran asked, with her friends shaking their heads in response. "Not Kanon?""Kanon-san's majoring in Marine Biology! You're talking about Kaoru-san." Tsugumi replied, holding up her phone for Ran to see. It depicted a picture with five women, including a tall woman with striking purple hair. "The one with purple hair's Kaoru-san.""Whatever. Himari, don't go after Moca's new crush." Ran shrugged, pointing a finger at Moca. "And you, cool it with the teasing.""Yes ma'am~""What the fuck, first my boiled water, now my jelly?!" Moca flinched, she wasn't expecting to see anyone at four in the morning, much less the same woman from before. Turning around, she was now face to face with the same demonic expression she was exposed to three mornings ago. "What are you, a food thief?!""That's me alright~" Moca grinned, holding up a cup of jelly in an offering gesture. "Jelly?""Hell no! That's my jelly, why should I take the one that you stole?!" The woman grumbled, yanking the refrigerator door hard. Once it was open, the refrigerator was revealed to be... "It's empty?! Where the fuck are my jelly?!""Oh about that, I ate them~" Moca replied, taking a bite out of the jelly she was holding. "Mmm~ I love cola jellies~""It took me hours to make them!""You left your jellies to fend for themselves in a college dorm fridge. Did you seriously expect them to last?""I'm pretty sure I indicated that the jellies belong to me." Moca blinked, she didn't recall seeing any mention of a name while stealing the jellies. All she saw was a drawing that resembled the woman standing before her, was that the indication she was referring to? "Whatever, did you seriously ate all 15 of my jellies?""No, just 14. This is the last one." Moca smirked, deliberately placing a spoonful of jelly into her mouth while locking eyes with the woman's emerald ones. "You have to take it from me if you want to savour your hard work~""... Not worth it." The woman sighed, reaching out for the kettle and filling it up with water. Afterwards, she turned on the kettle so that it would start boiling the water. "... So how was it?""How was what?""The fucking jelly you thief.""Ohhhh that? They were yum, though they're pretty sucky on the nutrition front so you should really cut down on them." Moca shrugged, waving the spoon in her mouth in a mocking manner. The woman rolled her eyes, aware of the irony in that situation."Funny how the one giving out advice couldn't seem to apply it to herself.""Like I said before, I'm a college student~""... I suppose I understand your implication that college students lead the unhealthiest lives." Moca raised both her eyebrows in surprise, she was half expecting the woman standing before her to take that opportunity to murder her. "... So. What's your major?""Hmm~" Moca hummed a song from the band she formed with her friends, pretending to ponder over the woman's question for a moment. The woman's eyes widened in recognition upon hearing the song, but that went unnoticed by Moca. "I dunno, whaddya think?""Psychology." The woman replied without missing a beat, her eyes focused on the steadily bubbling water in the kettle. Moca let out a low whistle, eliciting another response from the woman. "... What?""Nothing. Didn't expect ya to say that.""And what of it? For all I know, you could be using me as a subject for your thesis." Moca giggled, she couldn't believe that she was falling harder for the woman with every comeback from her. The woman huffed, her gaze returning to the kettle. "What's your real major then?""Food science, planning on being a nutritionist." Moca's reveal really grabbed the woman's attention, and despite the shrill whistle indicating that the kettle was done boiling the water, the latter couldn't tear away her attention from Moca. "Aw, I know I'm cute but you don't have to stare so hard~""You plan on being a nutritionist and yet your eating habits are shit?! You're a walking irony!" Moca said nothing, opening a cup of instant noodles she had left in the dorm kitchen. Within seconds, she had made her way towards the kettle and filled her cup with the boiled water, same as last time. "Y-You...!""Thanks for the boiled water~" Moca grinned, waving back at the woman as she sauntered out of the kitchen with a silent prayer that the latter wouldn't chase after her. 'She's just so fun to tease~ Hmm, maybe I should ask her out for coffee some time as an apology or something~'"Oh yeah Lisa-san, your band's performing on Sunday right? You think I could swing by?" Moca asked the brown-haired coworker beside her, a bored look on her face as she handed the change back to a customer. "Here's 800 yen, have a nice day~""I don't mind, but doesn't Ran have some kind of rivalry with Yukina?" Lisa replied, her olive-coloured eyes shifting about as she sneakily pulled out a textbook from under the counter. Moca chuckled at the sight, thankfully she didn't have to study while she was on the clock unlike Lisa. "Give me a heads-up if the manager comes. God, I swear that I'm going to fail my course at this rate!""Who asked you to want to become a Home Economics teacher?""I-I like cooking okay? Besides, teachers serve to pass on valuable lessons to students and I just wanna inspire others! What's wrong with that?""Meh, kids are all brats." Moca shrugged, lazily keeping an eye out for their manager. Minutes passed, and there was a surprising lack of customers at the convenience store they were working at. "Oh yeah, I think I got a lil' crush on someone.""You do? Wait, is it a guy or a girl? If it's the former, I can't help you because-""You're a gay baby, yes I know. Anyways, it's a girl. I'm not into guys anyways." Lisa nodded, her eyes never leaving the textbook as she frantically flipped through the pages in her attempt to study at work. "Okay so, we've been doing this bantering kinda flirting ya know? Like she wants to spill my blood but I know she just wants to bone me kinda flirting. We've been doing this for about two months now and I say that it's working fine.""Moca, I'm not sure if that's considered flirting.""Oh c'mon, who can resist the ol' Moca charm?" Lisa tore her attention from her book to give her coworker a pointed stare before going back to the book. "Okay sheesh, you're an exception. And I suppose my friends are too. What do you see in your girlfriend anyways?""Yukina may look like a grouch, but she's really sweet deep down." Now it was Moca's turn to give Lisa a pointed stare, which went noticed by said person. "Fine! Deeeeep down, she's a sweetie! She's just passionate about music which makes her easily misunderstood!""Uh huh, and yet she majors in Literature with Ran.""You had no idea how hard it was to convince her to attend college." Lisa sighed, not wanting to relive memories of her persuading her best friend slash girlfriend to get a college education. "If you want someone more serious, you should meet Sayo. Even I have a hard time reading her at times.""Sayo? Who's that? Is she pretty?""She plays guitar for Roselia. She's really good at it too, and yes she's super hot.""Huh, doesn't ring a bell.""That's because you've never attended any of our lives unlike me and Yukina." Lisa replied, snapping the book shut as a faint clacking on the store's tiled floor grew louder. Chucking the book back under the counter, she shot up to attention just as their manager passed by. "Good evening manager!""Hm." The manager gave them a curt nod, slinking back to his office where he would skive off by watching porn. Not that the employees needed to know that bit. The moment the door to his office clicked shut, Moca turned to face Lisa, her usual bored expression present on her face."What time does Roselia start anyways? I think I would like to see if this Sayo's in my strike zone~""Oh good god, is there anything that you won't steal?!" The woman groaned, her hands cradling her head as Moca opened a packet of the woman's instant coffee mix and poured it into a mug. "You just had to steal my favourite coffee mix!""Sharing's caring yeah?" Moca grinned, going over to the kettle so that she could boil water. The woman sighed, opening up the cabinet that contained numerous types of instant coffee mix. "I took the last one.""I figured. I'm actually planning to make tea this time." The woman replied, easily reaching a box of tea bags from the cabinet. "Damn it, not chamomile.""I thought you like staying awake Ms 'my blood's coffee'." Moca teased, wagging her eyebrows as she waited for the woman to respond. To her surprise, the woman smiled back. 'Whoa, I already knew she was hella pretty but she's even prettier when she smiles.'"Well Ms 'my blood is soup', I need to sleep early for an event I'm participating tomorrow." The woman teased back, the steely look on her face having the opposite intended effect."Ooooh~ What is it, can I tag along?""Absolutely not." Moca faked a pout, which softened the woman's features slightly. "... I'm not saying that I'm opposed to hanging out with you apart from our morning sessions in the kitchen but...""But what~?""Let's... Let's just say that tomorrow's pretty important for me and I can't exactly bring a plus one.""Aw c'mon, lemme crash on your date~" The woman raised both her eyebrows in surprise, while Moca clamped both hands over her mouth. 'Did not mean to say that!'"... You are harbouring a crush on me." The woman said, her lips tugging upwards as Moca's mouth flapped like a dying goldfish. Sure, Moca was indeed serious while they were bantering, but she didn't expect the woman to correctly guess her feelings simply because she had accidentally assumed that it was a date. "You might not realise this, but you surprisingly wear your heart on your sleeve.""I-I...""I didn't know you can go speechless. It's a fetching look on you.""I-I... Are you enjoying this?" Moca gasped, having managed to regain most of her composure. The woman continued to smile, the shrill whistle of the kettle the only sound in the kitchen. In a fluid motion, the woman reached out for the kettle and poured the boiled water into a mug that Moca didn't realise the woman was holding. She then did a show of tapping the kettle onto the mug's rim, indicating to Moca that it was out of water."Thanks for boiling the water." Within seconds, Moca was left alone in the kitchen to clutch at her hammering heart while she replayed the conversation over and over.
'Holy shit, that was definitely a power move and I'm falling harder for a woman whose name I still
don't know!'
"Heyo Yukina-san~" Moca greeted a woman with lavender hair falling to just above her waist, the latter's golden eyes narrowing slightly. "Lisa-san said that I could come watch Roselia's live today so here I am!""... Is Mitake-san with you?" Yukina asked, her head tilting slightly to peer over Moca's shoulder. Moca chuckled, it wasn't every day that she would witness Yukina being nervous."Nope, just me today." Yukina breathed out a sigh of relief, soon resuming to a familiar steely gaze. "Ya know, you don't have to worry about what Ran thinks about Roselia. Even if you do, know that she's a secret fan~""... Even I take my rival's opinion to heart from time to time." Yukina replied, turning her back on Moca. "I hope you enjoy our live Aoba-san.""Yeppers~" Moca nodded, going back to where the audience were supposed to be standing. She winced at the neon purple LED glow sticks most of the audience were holding, she felt that she was about to watching a LED glow stick convention instead of a live."Do you want to buy one?" A woman had approached her, offering a selection of LED glow sticks for Moca to purchase from. It came in an array of colours, ranging from neon purple to a simple white one. Her eyes settled on a LED glow stick that would emit neon turquoise, reminding her of her crush."Yeah, I wanna have this one." Moca said, holding up said glow stick. After paying, Moca managed to make her way to a spot that wasn't relatively close to the stage, but offered a decent view. Moca held at the glow stick awkwardly, sure she was used to seeing glow sticks at Afterglow's lives but she was definitely not used to using them. 'I can't believe I bought this simply because it reminded me of her... when the fuck do I use this glowy thingy?'"It's starting!" Hushed whispers could be heard in the enclosed room they were in as the lights flickered off. Moments later, heavy guitar strumming could be heard from the stage, signalling the start of Roselia's first song. "Oh my god, they're playing 'LOUDER' first!"'That's one of Roselia's famous songs... This Sayo person Lisa-san mentioned at work is hella good, not as good as Moca-chan though~' Moca thought to herself, mesmerised by the music. The lights dramatically flickered on the very instant Yukina started singing, shining on all five members of Roselia. Her attention was soon captured by the woman who turned out to be the very guitarist Lisa spoke of once in a while. "Holy shit-""...!" The woman had locked eyes with Moca, her eyes brimming with shock as her fingers continued to play the guitar. Her shock was gone as quickly as it came, her voice throwing its all in the song's chorus. "You're my everything!""Aw fuck, she's hot even when she sings. I'm a dead Moca-chan...""You! What are you doing here?!" Moca was dragged into the band's waiting room after the concert, and was currently being interrogated by Sayo. "First you steal my food, now you're stalking me?! We've established that you have a crush on me, but don't you think you're trying a little too hard to grab my attention?!""Sayo, is there something wrong?" Yukina entered the room, her eyes widening in surprise as her gaze settled on Moca. "Aoba-san, I didn't know you were acquainted with Sayo.""Wait, you know her?!" Sayo asked in disbelief, her emerald eyes flitting from Yukina to Moca and back to Yukina. Yukina nodded back as though it was the most thing in the world, which sent Sayo reeling. "H-How...?""She's my coworker~" Lisa cheerily replied, having entered the room shortly after Yukina. Now it was Moca's turn to gape in disbelief, she had basically revealed to her coworker that she had the hots for Sayo. In hindsight, it was probably both a good and a bad thing that Moca had never once asked for Sayo's name. "Sayo! You should have told me that you knew Moca!""I-I... how should I put this? We... didn't exactly ask for each other's name..." Sayo sheepishly admitted, receiving looks of admonishment from Lisa. "You shut up, it's hard to ask for her name when all she does is to piss me off.""You didn't seem to hate it though~" Moca commented, earning herself a steely glare from Sayo and a sigh from Lisa. Yukina said nothing, choosing to only shake her head in disapproval. "Had I known that you're also in a band, I didn't have to banter with ya to get your adoration~""Band?""She's in a band with Mitake-san. It's called Afterglow." Yukina commented, pushing Moca off the chair which made her land on the floor unceremoniously along with a soft 'oof'. "I'm sure you remember Hazawa-san from the cafe you frequent?""... So that's why the song you hummed the time you stole my jellies was so familiar..." Sayo remarked, a look of realisation crossing her face. Shaking her head, she started packing her blue guitar into her guitar bag. "Anyways, I have to go study for an upcoming exam.""Can't be helped, vet exams are pretty tough..." Lisa sighed, offering a hand to Moca which the latter accepted. Before Sayo could leave, Lisa let out a loud gasp which startled her. "Ah!""What is it Imai-san?""Since you both like each other, you guys can be the bridge between Afterglow and Roselia!" Sayo blanched, her head slowly turning around only to meet Moca's wide smile. Yukina offered Sayo a sympathetic glance while Lisa started gushing about how cute it would be if Sayo and Moca started dating. Moca could only smile at the implication, her cheeks turning a faint red as Lisa continued to gush about them dating."Aw, Sacchan loves me too~""I don't think we're at the pet name stage yet Aoba-san." Sayo emphasised Moca's name, a smug smile forming as Moca pouted. "I suppose I'll see you later at four then. Boil some water for me will you?""Oh my god Yukina, it's gonna be SayoMoca." Lisa muttered, shaking Yukina's frame while the latter was groaning for her girlfriend to stop. "I called it. I totally called it.""Lisa, if you stop shaking me right now, I'll let LisaYuki be a thing tonight."