Work Text
“Ahh, that really hits the spot!” Twirling the back scratcher she held in her hand, Anon threaded it through the gap between the collar of her school uniform and the back of her neck, guiding it right to the itchy area between her shoulder blades. “This thing is the best!”
Taki clicked her tongue. “Stop grooming yourself in public like a stray cat!” She slammed the bowl of ice cream down onto the table, causing the silverware to clatter. “You’re bothering the other customers.”
Glancing around, Anon noticed that she herself was currently the only customer in RiNG’s cafe. “Take a good look, Rikki,” she said, with a sweep of her arm. “See all these empty chairs? This is what your funeral will look like.”
“As long as you aren’t there, I’ll be happy,” Taki said, “even in the afterlife.” She took a towel out from her belt and went to wipe down the table, then her eyes traced up Anon’s arm to the back scratcher she still held in her hand. “Hang on. Why are you using a drumstick as a back scratcher, and where did you get it?” Standing up to her full height, Taki wore an intimidating expression on her face. “Let me remind you, there’s only one drummer in this band, and it isn’t you.”
Anon casually twirled the drumstick between her fingers. “Oh, this old thing?” she said casually, nearly dropping it once before catching it. “After school ended, I was standing next to the shoe lockers, and I had a wicked itch on my back that I just couldn’t scratch, so Udagawa-senpai gave me one of her drumsticks, saying that it always does the trick. And she was right!” Tracing her thumb down the length of the drumstick, Anon stopped just short of a set of characters scrawled into the wood, just above the end of the shaft. “Plus, she said she writes her name on her drumsticks so they don’t get mixed up with her little sister’s, so it’s literally autographed.”
“Udagawa-senpai… Little sister…” Taki crossed her arms, looking deep in thought. Suddenly, she gasped, her face flush with realization. “Wait! That means that drumstick came from Tomoe-san!” She reached over and grasped Anon’s wrist in a strong grip. “Give it to me! Give it to me, or I’ll replace your guitar strings with nylon thread!” she said, leaning over close enough that Anon could feel the heat of her breath on her cheeks.
“Ehh~. That would be extortion, Rikki,” Anon said, holding her drumstick tightly in her hand. “Ah, that’s right,” she said, drawing a connection in her own mind, “you love Afterglow, don’t you?” She pressed a finger from the hand that currently wasn’t being squeezed to her lips. “How about we trade? Come over to my house and cook me dinner while wearing a frilly maid apron, and I’ll give it to you!”
“No deal.” Taki roughly released Anon’s arm and threw it down. “I’d sooner dig through Tomoe-san’s trash than debase myself like that in front of you.” She began to walk away, towards RiNG’s counter.
Leaning back in her chair, Anon said, “I guess she’s not really your idol, then, if you’re not willing to go all the way for one of her drumsticks.”
Taki stopped in her tracks. “At least I have someone I look up to,” she said, over her shoulder. “Unlike you, who only started playing a guitar because you thought it was your ticket to being popular.” She turned around to face Anon, hands on her hips. “I bet you couldn’t name a single famous guitarist.”
“Um.” Anon sat up a little straighter. “W-Well, there’s Hendrix, right… Oh! And that girl from that band who wears the frilly maid uniforms! She’s pretty cool, right? She also sings and plays guitar and designs their uniforms, so she’s a lot like me, right?”
Frowning, Taki said, “You mean Kobato Miku from Band-Maid?” Closing her eyes, Taki rubbed her temple with a finger. “She’s a total pro and can actually play the guitar properly and sing without flubbing the words, so you’re nothing like her.” Opening her eyes again, she pointed her finger at Anon. “If she’s a galaxy, then you’re just an atom. You’re not even in the same universe as her.”
“If I’m an atom, then you’re just an electron!” Anon waved a hand around her own head. “You just orbit me!”
“Huh?!” Clenching her jaw, Taki said, “Electrons are a part of atoms, you moron!” A pulsing vein appeared over her forehead. “Do you even pay attention in school at all? I bet Haneoka regrets letting you enroll every morning you walk through the doors.”
Leaning over the back of the chair, Anon rested her cheek on her arm. “You’re just jealous that I get to sit next to Tomorin every day.”
“Why, you-” With her lips pulled back, exposing white teeth, Taki stomped towards Anon.
I’m in danger! Thinking quickly, Anon held her drumstick aloft. “Listen, Rikki! I’ll give you this if you feed me a scoop of ice cream!”
Taki stopped in front of Anon, her facial features relaxing somewhat. “...Just one scoop?”
“Yep, just one,” Anon said, nodding quickly.
Taki seemed to consider this for a heartbeat. “...I suppose that’s acceptable,” she said, mumbling. She pulled out a chair and sat down, then grabbed the bowl of melting ice cream from in front of Anon’s face and slid it over towards herself. Pursing her lips, she looked as serious as a student about to take a college entrance examination. She held the spoon in a grip so tight that her fingertips turned white. “Say ahn.”
Not really believing that this was actually happening, Anon demurely placed her hands in her lap, feeling the sweat beginning to bead off her skin dampen the wooden drumstick in her hand. She licked her dry lips and opened her mouth, closing her eyes at the same time, feeling her cheeks heat up. Are my lips chapped? Is anything stuck in my teeth? Does the back of my throat look weird? While her mind raced, she felt the cold metal of the spoon touch the middle of her tongue, then she closed her lips. Taki deftly maneuvered the spoon out of her mouth without even clanging it off one of her teeth. I guess she’s not a drummer for nothing, she thought, so overwhelmed with the surreal experience that she couldn’t even taste the ice cream as it melted from the heat of her mouth. She swallowed, then opened her eyes and handed over the drumstick to an overjoyed Taki. “At least no one saw that,” Anon said quietly, turning her head towards the entrance. Soyo met her gaze, her phone clutched in her pretty hand. Tomori stood next to her, her notebook held high enough that it covered all of her face below her eyes.
“Taki-chan…” Tomori said in a breathless voice. “I’ll… start collecting drumsticks! And I’ll give you the best ones! And maybe… someday… you can feed me, too!”
Taki’s chair scraped against the floor as she quickly stood up. “Tomori!” She quickly hustled Tomori into the empty chair, then slid a menu in front of Tomori’s face with the hand that wasn’t holding the drumstick. “I’ll feed you whenever you want, just say the word! We can do it right now!”
While Taki and Tomori fussed over the menu, Soyo sat herself down next to Anon. “Uh, hey,” Anon said, trying to look anywhere but at Soyo’s unreadable expression. “Soyorin, wanna feed me, too? It’s… Feed Anon-chan Day! Ahaha!” Anon felt a drop of sweat run down the back of her neck. Soyo took the ice cream from across the table, grabbed the spoon, and began to eat it herself. In silence, Anon watched as her ice cream disappeared down Soyo’s pale throat. “I already paid for that with my points card, too,” Anon said, dejected. Slumping in her chair, she took her phone out of her pocket. Browsing social media always cheered her up, and she really didn’t want to look at either Soyo’s piercing gaze or the bizarre spectacle of Taki feeding Tomori a hot dog. She tapped around and opened MyGO’s official social media page, and felt rather confused when she saw a new photo had been posted. When did that happen? Her vision swam when she saw that Soyo had uploaded a photo of Taki guiding the spoon into Anon’s mouth, with the hashtag #gettingalong. Anon made a sour face. “Oh, man! They’re gonna tease me about this at school until we graduate!”
Soyo smiled sweetly. “Well,” she said, in her usual sugar-sweet voice, “seems to me like you got your just desserts.”