Kumiko was definitely not a party person.

And yet, here she was awkwardly making her way through someone's house, precariously balancing the contents of the drink in her hand. She was here thanks to her friend Natsuki—or, more accurately, Natsuki had forced her into giving her a ride here and coerced her into staying.

Natsuki's argument was now that Kumiko was a sophomore, she should try to mingle with more people outside of band (and maybe pick up some chicks in the process). Being the people-pleaser she was, Kumiko attempted to at least give the whole socializing-at-a-party thing a try. The only thing she had accomplished so far was trying the food.

It was only a couple of weeks into the school year and Kumiko was already feeling quite fatigued. Homework, band, overly enthusiastic friends… and now this party wasn't helping. She wandered down a hallway until she found a spare bedroom with a slightly open door. In an attempt to get some peace and quiet, she decided to slip into the room, hoping its usual occupant wouldn't mind.

However, someone else had the same idea. Sitting on the bed was none other than Reina Kousaka, looking bored and currently preoccupied with her phone.

The two girls were well-aware of each other's existences, having been in band together for a year now. There had been the occasional music-related conversation in passing between them, but not yet an opportunity for them to get to know each other better, being in different sections and no classes together as freshmen. Kumiko knew the other girl was quite smart, so she was probably in all AP classes. Reina fit the profile of a typical overachiever both in academics and music, being a ridiculously talented trumpet player quickly rising in the ranks of the concert band.

Kumiko also couldn't deny that she had been low-key crushing on the girl for a long while, but she couldn't help it. Reina was absolutely beautiful, and just her type. She had all the physical qualities Kumiko loved: light complexion, dark hair, pretty eyes, and a very attractive figure. Reina always dressed nicely too; her current outfit reminded Kumiko of a Catholic school girl's uniform… which ironically led to impure thoughts as her eyes zoned in on the gap between Reina's plaid skirt and thigh high socks.

"Ack," was the first sound that escaped Kumiko's mouth.

Now noticing the other girl's presence, Reina looked up. "What?"

"Ahah, nothing. Just wasn't expecting someone in here," Kumiko tried to answer calmly, but a nervous chuckle slipped out, closing the door behind her. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Reina sighed, also seeming socially exhausted. "I'm taking a break from the noise."

"Yeah, me too," Kumiko replied. As intimidated as she was to talk to such a pretty girl, this was her chance to have an actual conversation with Reina. She may not have been the brightest student, but she certainly wasn't stupid. Slowly making her way to the bed, she asked, "Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead." Reina scooted over to give Kumiko room to sit down, which she did.

Kumiko took a sip of her soda to prevent her mouth from running, thinking of what she wanted to say. "Actually…" she started, "You're the last person I expected to see at a party like this."

"Why's that?"

Kumiko couldn't tell by her tone if she was offended or not, but kept going. "Ah… you just don't seem the type, is all. But I'm not either. I hate parties. Natsuki forced me to bring her here."

"I hate parties too, but Yuuko dragged me here, saying that it would be 'good' for me."

"That's what Natsuki told me! I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't have it."

"I can relate," Reina smiled. Kumiko internally cheered at the fact that she already made Reina smile at her, considering that her default expression was often stoic. A curious expression crossed Reina's features. "Wait, if you drove here yourself, why haven't you left yet?" she asked.

"Well, I had to eat," Kumiko airily shrugged. "Can't pass up free food, right? And if I left too early, Natsuki would never let me hear the end of it."

Reina nodded. "It looks like we're both stuck."

"Seems that way," Kumiko grumbled. "There's gotta be something to do…"

There was a lull in the conversation. Reina looked back down at her phone and Kumiko started feeling more awkward as the silence lingered. Her eyes wandered around the room until they found an old and familiar game console sitting on the floor.

"Oh, sweet!" Kumiko broke the silence. "A Super Nintendo!" Reina looked back up to watch Kumiko excitedly make her way over to the faded system. "Do you think they'd mind if I turned it on?"

"I don't even know who lives here."

"Me neither." Kumiko then got what was possibly the best idea she's had in a long time. "You wanna play something?"

Playing a game definitely sounded more fun than mindlessly browsing Twitter, so Reina made her way down to the floor where Kumiko was sitting. Kumiko gathered the assorted cartridges that had been strewn about on the floor, laying them out and inspecting what games there were.

"Let's see if there's any two-player games… Hmm… Oh! Here's Kirby's Dream Course. How about that?"

"I've never played it before," Reina said.

"It's like a golf game, but with Kirby. It's a lot of fun and not too hard to play."

"I see," Reina smiled, the enthusiasm infectious. "Okay, let's try it."

Kumiko turned the game on and handed Reina the second controller. While the demo screen played, she turned to Reina and joked, "I must warn you that I played this game a lot as a kid, so I'm practically a master."

Reina gave her a challenging smirk. "Is that so? Then I should warn you that I'm very competitive."

Kumiko smirked back. "Oh, I know. You do keep fighting with the upperclassmen—ack. I didn't mean to say… Uh…"

Reina looked surprised for a second. "Wow," she said, but quickly recovered. "So how do you play?"

Relieved that Reina wasn't mad about bringing up band drama, Kumiko explained the game's objective, "Basically, you hit Kirby around different courses, trying to hit enemies and collecting stars. Whoever gets the most stars wins."

After a bit of trial-and-error with the controls, they managed to get the hang of how to play, figuring things out as they went. Reina managed to win the first round (out of eight) by a small margin.

"What the heck!" Kumiko exclaimed. "I thought you never played this before."

"I guess I'm just a natural."

"Hm. More like beginner's luck. I'll get you next round."

"Bring it on."

It was only five minutes into the game and they had already started bantering between turns, even throwing in some friendly smack talk. This was the longest time the two girls had spent in one place together alone before, but it was a comfortable atmosphere, as if they had been friends for years.

Kumiko barely managed to squeeze out a win in round two, making the current overall star count very close. "Ha!" she laughed, looking overly smug. "Looks like my skills are coming back to me."

"You got lucky," Reina retorted.

"We'll see!"

Whether it was now bad luck or a lack of skill, Kumiko started having a difficult time with the next course. Her Kirby continuously kept being sent over the edge of the map, she was missing in general, and kept losing turns. Every time her Kirby met a terrible fate or she flubbed a shot, she yelped or made one of her typical strange noises, which made Reina laugh a little harder each time.

Kumiko was definitely losing this particular round, but she still felt like a winner for making Reina laugh. The girl usually looked so serious, so seeing her openly smiling and giggling was a whole new experience Kumiko felt honored to witness. It was always great to make cute girls laugh, even if it was at her sheer ineptitude.

It was nearing the end of round four. Since their star count was very close, the deciding factor would be whoever made the final shot, but the hole spawned in a precarious spot on an incline at the edge of the map. Both of them were having trouble getting their shots just right, going back and forth between turns trying to finish the round.

"You're not gonna get this shot," Kumiko teased, trying to psych her out.

"Watch me get it," Reina taunted back. She missed. "Oops."

"Ha! Now watch this—ah, damn it."

"I've got it this time."

"Yeah, sure."

Reina missed again, just barely. "Aw, not again. This is tough."

"It's not that hard—"

"Says the one who also keeps missing."

"—cause check. This. Out. Got it!" Kumiko overshot it and her Kirby flew over the edge of the map again. "No! Auuugh!"

Reina laughed again. Before taking her turn, she looked over at Kumiko and said, "You're really funny."

Kumiko felt like she could have ascended into the heavens right then and there.

The moment was broken by Yuuko entering the room. "There you are. I can hear you guys shouting from outside," she said, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"We're just playing a game," Reina answered matter-of-factly.

"Geez, Reina," Yuuko lightly scolded, one hand on the doorknob, the other on her hip. "I brought you here so you could have fun and mingle, not play video games."

"We are having fun, though," Kumiko spoke up.

"Whatever," Yuuko sighed before addressing her friend, "I wanted to hang out here a couple more hours. Is that okay?"

"Actually…" Reina said as she placed her hand on Kumiko's arm. "Kumiko was going to drive me home."

Kumiko whipped her head around to look at her. "Huh?"

"You were just leaving, right?" Reina asked innocently.

"Uh…" Kumiko's capacity for thought was slightly impaired by the feeling of the other girl touching her, but she managed to make things click anyway. "Right! Yeah, we're gonna head out."

"After we finish this game," Reina clarified. "Because I'm winning."

"Well, okay," Yuuko relented. It clearly wasn't her own idea of fun at a party, but she didn't want to argue. Leaving the room, she called over her shoulder, "Bye, then! I'll text you later."

Reina bid her friend farewell before quickly focusing back on the game. "So where were we?"

"You were about to mess up your next shot," Kumiko replied, not missing a beat. "So I'm your ride home now?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Ah… not at all."

Natsuki could figure out her own way home. Maybe Yuuko could give her a lift.

Reina ended up utterly destroying Kumiko at Kirby's Dream Course, but the latter didn't mind one bit since Reina looked so pleased with herself. "I went easy on you," she had said, but of course Reina didn't believe her even if she was telling the truth (and she wasn't). Kumiko was about to take Reina home, but the latter suggested going a nearby diner to talk more and get some milkshakes.

Kumiko pushed the fries she also ordered towards the other girl. "You want some?" she offered.

Reina smiled before grabbing one. "Thank you. You're still hungry?"

"Hey, I'm a growing girl."

"Hm. You are pretty tall," she commented.

"Nah, you're just short. Er—I mean…"

"Ouch," Reina replied, knowing the truth. A couple fries later, she said, "I suppose going to that party wasn't so bad, after all."

"Why's that?"

"I've been looking for an excuse to talk to you."

"Really?" Kumiko replied, wide-eyed and still chewing.

"Yes. You seem pretty popular. I've seen you talking with a lot of our bandmates often."

"Ah, not really," Kumiko waved her hand dismissively. There was also a slight flutter in her chest at the thought of Reina watching her. "They're all just in my section."

"Still, it's nice to get along with everyone in your section," Reina said almost somberly.

From where Kumiko was standing, it did seem like Yuuko was the only one Reina would refer to as a close friend in the band. Even then, she was also aware that the two trumpeters had started off on bad terms due to Reina's long-standing rivalry with a now-senior named Kaori, whom Yuuko greatly admired (sometimes a little too much, in her opinion). That drama—or a least the talks of it—calmed down after Reina and Yuuko had apparently made amends and started becoming friends, but there seemed to be a general tension that still lingered in that section.

"Yeah," Kumiko replied with a non-committal hum, unable to disagree. Her verbal filter failed her again as she asked, "So is it true that trumpet players have big egos?"

Again, Reina was taken back, but then giggled. "Wow. First you call me short, then ask me that. You really don't mince words, do you?"

Kumiko smiled sheepishly and nervously scratched the back of her head. "Ahaha… Sorry…"

"It's alright. I like it."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's refreshing."

Kumiko wasn't quite sure how to interpret that, but if Reina said she liked it, then she certainly wouldn't complain.

The two ended up chatting about various topics—their classes, the current happenings in the band, how they ended up playing their respective instruments, among other things. They hadn't realized how much time had passed until Reina's phone rang.

"Uh oh," she said, noticing the current time before answering. "Hello, mom?" Kumiko could hear concerned mutterings from the other end. "Yes, I'm alright," Reina replied apologetically. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time. I'm with a friend right now. She's driving me home, so I'll be there soon."

As Reina said bye to her mother, Kumiko also checked the time. "What the—? When did it get so late?"

"We should get going."

Most of the conversation on the way back consisted of directions, and they soon pulled up outside the Kousaka household. Kumiko learned that Reina didn't live too far away from her. The neighborhood she lived in was closer to their school, but also looked much nicer. The homes had matching mailboxes and well-manicured lawns and everything.

Before getting out, Reina turned to Kumiko to say, "Thank you again for the ride home."

"No problem."

Both girls tried to say something else, but ended up speaking at the same time.

"You first," Reina offered.

"No, go ahead," Kumiko said.

"I was going to say that we should hang out more often."

Kumiko grinned, thinking the exact same thing. She was now shaking with excitement and really hoped that it was well-hidden by the darkness. "Yeah!" she managed to say.

Reina smiled at her again before opening the car door. "Good night."

"Night!"

Kumiko watched her walk to the door to make sure she got in okay. Before entering the house, Reina turned and gave Kumiko a tiny wave goodbye. Kumiko wasn't sure if the other girl could see her, but she waved back anyway. The dark-haired beauty disappeared into the warm light of her home.

Kumiko sat there for a moment, starting to process the night's events. She couldn't believe that she spent such a great evening with a cute girl who seemed to enjoy her company enough that she wanted to hang out again. This was the happiest she had felt in forever. She would've jumped up with glee if she wasn't currently strapped in, so she settled for quietly screaming into the steering wheel.

On the other hand, that meant that the crush she already had on Reina wouldn't be going away any time soon, but she didn't even care at that moment. Kumiko proceeded to crank up her music way too loud and drive home way too fast, fueled by pure joy.

a/n: When you have ideas and scenes already written for a bunch of unfinished one-shots, why not combine everything into one story that will span multiple chapters? Oh, and make it an AU too. Surely, this is a great idea that will not become its own big project in itself. Yes. Let's do this. I hope you enjoy it.

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