Work Text
It did not matter how old she was, Rimi never felt like she was adult enough to be in a bar.Not even as the sober one.Arisa slammed another glass down before mumbling something into the table.“Win!” Tae threw her arms up in the air. With her arms were her hands. With one hand was her drink.Rimi ducked as the alcohol was slung over her head.“Not yet!”“You two should calm down.” Saaya might have seemed fine, but after the amount she had put away, Rimi knew better than to trust it. There was a dreamy expression on her face she never had while sober.She stroked Kasumi’s hair. Other than Rimi, Kasumi was the lightweight. She had fallen asleep about half an hour ago. Rimi was paying attention.Rimi drank a soda. She didn’t mind being with the others while they were like this, but she never felt comfortable enough letting loose while they were in a public place. She could never understand how Arisa and Saaya managed.Kasumi and Tae made perfect sense.“I win,” Tae told Rimi.“I noticed.” Rimi smiled at her. “Good job.”“Yes.” Tae nodded, deadly serious. “What did I win?”“You didn’t win,” Arisa protested again.“I swear, you two share some sort of wavelength while you’re drunk.” Saaya giggled. “Are you okay, Rimi-rin?”“Yeah, I’m good.” She was a little envious of Kasumi. Kasumi looked so comfortable. “O-Tae-chan and Arisa-chan are on the same wavelength while they are drunk, aren’t they?”Saaya hummed. “I didn’t notice when their competition even started.”“Ah.” Rimi had thought she missed it, but perhaps it had been more subtle a start than she had thought.“What did I win though?” Tae repeated.“You can stroke Kasumi’s hair.” Saaya leaned Kasumi into Tae’s shoulder.With a big smile, Tae started to play with Kasumi’s hair.Rimi reached over to Arisa’s shoulder. “Are you okay, Arisa-chan? You should really drink some water.”“Not until… ‘ve won.”When Rimi thought about it, it was probably the first time Tae had legitimately won a drinking contest with Arisa. No wonder she wanted a prize.Saaya was staring out the window. Except the lights on the inside made the window a mirror which reflected them. She did not seem to be looking at her reflection, but Rimi couldn’t tell.“You think we should wrap up for the night?” Rimi asked.Saaya snapped out of it. “Probably. With Kasumi and Arisa down for the count…”She did not finish her sentence. Rimi took the agreement and decided to lead the way. It wasn’t the first time. She set Tae to help with Arisa, as Arisa could still walk under her own power, while she and Saaya walked Kasumi out.Kasumi mumbled something, but like most of the time when she dozed off, she did not wake up.“At least this time we weren’t a train stop away from home,” Saaya said with a big smile on her face.Actually it was the time before last they had made such a mistake, but Rimi wouldn’t bother correcting her. Saaya would remember later.“O-Tae-chan! Arisa-chan! This way.”Through her voice, Rimi managed to lead the two in the right direction. With her shoulder, she directed Kasumi (and therefore Saaya) not to drift into a bush.It was a longer walk to Arisa’s than it had been to leave it. There was no way anyone else was getting home tonight. But the Ichigaya residence was as much home to any of them as it was to Arisa.Rimi was about to struggle with the gate when Mami opened it for her.“Oh! I’m sorry. Did we make too much noise?” Rimi asked Arisa’s grandmother. The answer should have been yes, because Tae was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Saaya hummed along.“Not at all. I thought you might need some assistance, dear.” Mami smiled at her. “Come on now.”Slipping a hand under Arisa’s arm, she led Arisa and Tae inside. Rimi did the same for Saaya and Kasumi. They didn’t make it to Arisa’s room, but inside was good enough.“Thank you, Ichigaya-san.”“You are always so good to these silly girls,” Mami said. Arisa was slumped on the couch with Kasumi. Saaya had stumbled to the bathroom. Tae had spread out on the floor. “You are having fun too, yes?”“Even when having to help after,” Rimi promised. “I can take care of them from here too. You should get some sleep.”“As long as you do too.” Mami patted the back of Rimi’s hand.Rimi nodded.She might not get too much sleep tonight, but it was time to mitigate the pain of the morning. Rimi got Tae to sit up and drink some water before Saaya got back.“Sorry, Rimi-rin. I think I went overboard tonight.”“You were having fun,” Rimi insisted.Saaya wrapped an arm around her. “I always have fun with you.”Tae gargled the last of her water before swallowing it. With a groan, Arisa hid her head under a couch cushion.
