Author Notes
Fourth Chapter dayo! :D
May you enjoy~
Maki can't help but stare. Maki can't help but steal glances and glimpses and at times a few seconds too long of taking in all of Muse's leader dancing at the front.
Honoka has a really good figure...
Maki blinks away from Honoka's arched and sweaty back, swallows and lets out a pant, she is participating in dance practice just like the rest of her fellow group mates are after all.
I wonder how it will feel to hold her waist...or have her lean against my front...
"Kotori, you were slow to turn there." Eli's voice made Maki's thoughts fall back to reality and she forgot her next dance move.
What was I even thinking?! Why would I...Honoka...
"Maki, hands to your right for that part..." Eli claps twice with finality and an understanding smile. "Alright, enough for today's practice."
"Haa..." Maki places a hand to her hip as she steadied her breathing, violet eyes inadvertently landing on the sweaty gingerhead a few steps in front, the back of the gingerhead's hand wiping at the perspiration dripping down her head to her cheeks, jaw bone, chin and neck.
I could pass Honoka her towel... It'll be nice...
Maki's thoughts strays into a possibility of receiving a sweet smile and a word of thanks, and maybe, just maybe, a hug from the leader of Muse.
What am I even thinking of? I'm not passing the towel to Honoka because of that! It's because she's sweaty. And it isn't good to use her delicate and swe- Sweaty hands to wipe sweat!
Maki attempted to delete 'delicate' from the description of Honoka's hands as she found herself by their belongings; Honoka's and her bag by a stroke of luck placed beside each other, and the composer reaches for it-
Delicate and sweaty.
Maki pressed her lips tightly together as her mind processed what she just reached out for.
Those are not appropriate adjectives for a face towel...
The redhead stares at the hand she was touching. Holding. Feeling.
Honoka's hand...
Maki didn't move her hand away; she doesn't understand why she didn't. But Honoka didn't pull away either, so it's okay right? Maki looks up to see Honoka just waiting with a small smile, almost unsure.
Her hands are really soft...kinda smooth...
Maki subconsciously squeezes Honoka's hand lightly and smooth a finger over the side of Honoka's palms causing Honoka to blush bright red and let out a surprised gasp, effectively breaking Maki out of her trance and pull away flustered.
What was I doing?!
"Sorry." Maki says so quickly in a barely audible voice and runs off before Honoka could react properly. Also blocking out whatever Honoka was saying to her as she grabbed her stuff and rushed out the roof.
"Hm... ... It's like magic." Honoka states after a really long time of staring at the pianist's hands on the piano keys.
Maki-chan's hands are so amazing!
The first-year sighs. "What is?"
Contrasting to the first-year's unenergetic tone, the second-year beamed brightly. "Your hands, Maki-chan!"
Maki coughed and her hands tensed above the black and white. "W-What are you saying so suddenly, Honoka?!"
Honoka does not see anything wrong with what she just said, and also does not understand why Maki raised her voice, though it hardly affected Honoka. "That your hands are like magic, Maki-chan~"
I really like them.
Honoka blinks away the hint of embarrassment from thinking that she likes Maki's hands with such affirmation, and slides onto the piano bench unabashedly, scooting close to Maki even as the redhead grumbles a protest.
Hehe~ Maki-chan is so warm~
"Can I hug you, Maki-chan~?" The gingerhead sing-songs.
"You're already hugging me. Now let go." Maki pushes against Honoka's shoulders, her grip rather tight. Honoka doesn't mind.
"But you're warm~ I like warm~" Honoka proceeds to rub her cheeks against the blushing redhead's cheeks; fifty percent of that warmth the daft gingerhead likes was certain to be from the heat of embarrassment the redhead felt thanks to Honoka.
Maki's heart might pound out of her ribcage if she allowed herself to relish in Honoka's relaxing warmth and addictive softness and how much she loves the way Honoka's body presses seemingly perfectly against her own (and it's just her arm and barely a quarter of her front), so she mustered the strength to push Honoka an arm's length away.
Honoka whines for half a minute but changes mood in the next as she bounces on the bench, bum bumping Maki's (the redhead's reaction unnoticed) and faces the piano with a childish smile. "Teach me to play, Maki-chan!"
"Whatever for?" Maki misses the feeling of Honoka against her but tells herself otherwise as she put on an aloof front.
"I want to learn." Honoka says without looking at the first-year.
Perhaps I could help with composing next time… Perhaps I just want to be close and spend more time with Maki-chan…
Honoka's cheeks reddened a little at the reasons in her head.
"Why should I?" Maki wanted to, but couldn't bring herself to be honest. Her stomach was doing flips and her heart drummed faster at the sight of the gingerhead being docile and the slight blush on Honoka's squishy cheeks brought Maki to be in a state of 'falling in love', not that the redhead will acknowledge it (right now).
Honoka turns to face Maki, blue eyes large and watery and pleading, pink lips pouty and distracting, voice that can't be tuned out or ignored. "Prwease~~ Maki-chan~~"
I wanna learn to play the piano from you!
Maki instinctively averts her gaze the best she could in that moment, and fingers to her hair to twirl them nervously, but Honoka grabs Maki's hands into her own; Maki was freaking out inside, while Honoka continues putting on the best puppy dog expression.
Please, please, please!
"Alright! Alright. Sheesh. Put your hands on the piano." Maki commanded, glad her voice did not come out squeaky or a stutter.
Yay! Maki-chan will teach me!
"Yay!" Honoka immediately does as told, though her hands knocked into some of the keys causing an awful mix of notes to sound. "Sorry!"
Maki takes Honoka's hands with her own to place it in a correct position above the grand instrument without thinking. "Here. It's this way. Are your fingers feeling okay? Not too stiff?"
Honoka nods. "Mmph, they feel okay." The gingerhead flexes her fingers under Maki's to confirm it.
Hehe, Maki-chan's talented hands are right above mine~
"Okay. Try pressing with your pointer finger." Maki instructs as she nudges Honoka's right pointer finger with her own.
"L-Like this?" Honoka moves her finger as requested.
Though the chord only sounded when Maki helped pressed on Honoka's finger since the gingerhead forgot that she had to push it all the way down. "Like this."
"Ooh! It made a sound!" Honoka turns to smile at Maki, proud of her first sound with the piano, with Maki.
Maki however found their faces really close at the moment, and was hyperconscious of Honoka's delicate and smooth hands below hers which she realized was slightly smaller than her own too and she likes that. That realization only led to Maki getting flustered though.
"Yeah. Ah…Um…Your hands…" Maki couldn't keep eye contact with the gingerhead's straightforward blue, she left her hands lingering and hovering above Honoka's as her mind and heart battled.
"M-Mmph…" Honoka found herself feeling a bit self-conscious and nervous too.
I like how your hands are on mine though… Is that bad?
Everyone else was late to arrive in the club room, Maki observes from her seat, unable to concentrate on the book she was reading as she watched the leader of Muse moved around the room restlessly till she sits, rests her head to her arm on the table and falls asleep.
Honoka fell asleep?
The redhead lowers her book to the table, violet eyes memorizing the way the sleeping girl's silky hair lands slightly over her calm, slumbering face, to the ginger's button nose that wriggled a little at times, to the rosy lips that was slightly parted as the ginger breathed in and out.
Honoka looks so beautiful when sleeping…
Maki found herself standing beside the second-year and a hand reaching over.
What am I doing? I shouldn't be doing this. Why do I even want to touch Honoka when she's sleeping? It's not like I find her sleeping face cute or anything!
The first-year holds her breath as she caresses Honoka's soft cheeks which weren't covered by hair with the back of her hand.
… Honoka's cheek…makes me want to hold them more…
Maki tugs the ginger locks that fell across Honoka's peaceful face behind her ear.
Better… Not that I wanted to see all of Honoka's sleeping face…
The redhead cups the second-year's now exposed cheeks with her hand that has been touching Honoka; pinky softly grazing the back of Honoka's ears, ring finger near Honoka's ear lobe, pointer near Honoka's eye, and thumb rubbing close to Honoka's lips and the curve of her warm and red cheeks.
…
Maki leaned closer.
Honoka…
Violet eyes looked into blue eyes.
…
Alarmed violet eyes looked into sleepy, innocent blue eyes.
What am I doing?! What did I do?!
Maki jumped away, hand that loved the contact with Honoka now clasped in her own shaky ones.
"I-I thought there was something on your face." Maki lied, not looking into Honoka's eyes anymore.
Something about your face…
"Thank you." Honoka stretched her back a little as she smiled to Maki, clearly not minding that she woke to the redhead holding part of her face in a rather intimate manner.
Thank you?
Maki dared to look at Honoka and she almost, almost, lunged forward to hold Honoka, to feel the warmth and acceptance and love that Honoka's expression was radiating with that simple smile, but Maki held back.
You make me want to hold you close and not let anyone have a chance to have you or hurt you.
Maki hurriedly paced back to her seat.
Ugh, what am I even thinking?
Maki obscures the sight of the gingerhead sitting across her with her book, while Honoka sat up with a hand pressed lightly to her cheek, feeling the lingering warmth of Maki's hand, missing that touch.
Author Notes
It's been a while hasn't it? :P
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! :D Maki gets into various situations in which she gets in contact with Honoka~ XD And slowly but surely the two of them are realizing something~ :P
Leave a comment if you like~ OwO Tell me how you feel about Honoka and Maki touching each other! XD (mostly Maki touching. Hahas. XD)
See ya~ *w*