a/n: the prompt: "hazuki teaches reina how to dab and the world is never the same"

this fic takes place in a sort of au where most of the events of finale oath didn't happen and kumiko and reina managed to figure out their feelings sooner rather than later

"No, see, you have to fold your arms like this." Hazuki made the motion again.

"I don't see why we're doing this in the first place." Reina tried, again, looking like she was about to sneeze. Kumiko had to hold back a laugh.

"Don't torture Kousaka, now," Natsuki grunted. "She's our best shot at getting in there."

"I thought it was all ages!" Midori squeaked, terrified. "Are we sneaking in?"

"Of course we're not!" Hazuki scolded. "It's just going to be crowded, right? And Kousaka-san's important-looking enough that people won't object to us all being there!"

"It's a karaoke bar, not the mob." Yuuko pinched one of the flaps of her ribbon in the mirror. "I don't know why I'm even going with you people."

"Because we need a break, probably. Taki-sensei's been running us ragged."

"Can I just show you?" Hazuki reached out, waiting for Reina's response. Reina nodded, a tiny little motion. "Okay, so you stick out the other arm behind you, right?" Hazuki took Reina's arm into her hands and pushed it back.

"Can you fit all of us in your truck, Natsuki?" Kumiko tore her eyes away from the spectacle of her girlfriend learning the dance to ask the question. Natsuki shrugged.

"Eh, probably not. You'll have to squeeze in." She leaned in a little closer, her untied bowtie dangling from her neck. "Up close with Kousaka. Won't that be something?" Despite everything - despite the fact that they were dating, had been dating for some time now, Kumiko found herself blushing at the thought.

"W-we could call a cab…" she mumbled. Natsuki looked at her for a moment.

"We won't, though."

"There, now you've got it! Sorta!" Hazuki clapped a bit at Reina's stilted attempt at a dance move.

"We're babysitting, I hope you understand that your version of a date night is babysitting," Yuuko hissed to Natsuki, who shrugged.

"Those four can hold their own. We'll have plenty of time, don't ya worry."

"Somehow, that doesn't relax me."

Natsuki, as it turned out, was right - her truck was not at all big enough to fit all six of them.

"Okay, who's going in the trunk?"

"Nobody!" Midori yelped. "We'll die!"

"Hey, hey, I was kidding. You'll just sorta have to sit on each other. I'll be up front with Yuuko."

This was how four teenagers ended up cramped in the back of a pickup truck held together largely through the power of duct tape and spite.

"We'll need to get back early," Reina said, seemingly unaffected by the tight quarters. Then again, that was just like her. Especially with all the others in the car, Kumiko wouldn't really have expected anything else. She was happy to see her getting along with Hazuki and Midori at all. "I still have homework."

"Forget homework for once, Kousaka!" Natsuki cranked up the radio. Some alt-pop song blasted from the crackly speakers.

"I'd prefer not to."

"Hey, I've never heard this one on the radio. Guess they're getting more popular."

"Oh, yeah, you showed me this." Yuuko turned up the volume. "With the weird music video, right?"

"Yeah."

"Is she a licensed driver?" Hazuki whispered, loudly.

"Y-yeah, she is," Kumiko whispered back, quieter.

"Okay, I figured, just wanted to make sure." Hazuki smiled to herself, rocking back and forth. "Natsuki-senpai's car. Somehow it's just what I thought it'd be!"

"How long until we reach this place, again?" Reina muttered, squashed against the window.

"Twenty minutes or so, Kousaka," Natsuki called from the front seat. "Just enjoy the ride!"

The truck bumped along the road, and nobody could accuse them of not trying.

The place was pulsing when they arrived.

"This feels like a rave," Hazuki whisper-shouted. "Did you really bring us to a rave?"

"You need to get better at being quiet," Yuuko said, breezily. "And no."

"There's a room in the back. It's a school night, nobody's gonna be here." Natsuki led the pack, and somehow the people parted. Kumiko didn't miss the way Reina's hand tightened around her own, and she let herself smile for a moment.

"Nobody's going to be staring at us in there," Reina whispered, smiling with that glint in her eye that always made Kumiko weak in the knees.

"Alright, lovebirds, move it along," Natsuki grunted. "We don't have all night."

The room was small - smaller than expected, given the size of the whole place, but then again Kumiko figured there must be several of these, scattered about, and that the giant TV probably took up half the room anyway. Midori immediately seized the microphone.

"They've got the Tuba-kun theme song on here!" she cried out, delighted. The machine crackled to life. "C'mon, we can all do it together!"

"I'm not singing the Tuba-kun theme song," Yuuko hissed under her breath. "What does she think we are, five?"

"It's catchy," Natsuki whispered back. "Have some fun, will ya?" Hazuki joined in with the song, leaning on Midori like they were a pop duo.

"I'm waiting for the next song," Reina told Kumiko, quiet. "Care for a duet?"

"I'd like nothing more, Madame Kousaka." Kumiko held her serious expression for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Ah, yeah, I'd love to, Reina. I'd love to."

And they did, and it was ridiculous and brilliant and wonderful, some old pop song about sticking together.

(And Reina did Hazuki's dance move, and it was awkward and terrible, and everyone collapsed into shaky laughter)

Kumiko and Reina stood outside, together, quiet.

"I never w-would've thought this could...happen," Kumiko murmured. Reina turned to her.

"Hmm?"

"This. Us. With the others, just openly...y'know. Together." Kumiko fidgeted with her hands, picking at a hangnail. She needed to moisturize them, they were starting to look like a lizard's, but she kept forgetting. Reina didn't seem to mind, but then again hers were calloused too, toughened by so many years of the trumpet.

They fit together perfectly, as one would expect. Kumiko felt a comfortable shiver run through her nonetheless.

"Nakagawa-senpai's going to be out in a moment," Reina said, staring out at the rainy street, the runny lights. A few droplets splashed onto the ground in front of them, the awning in front of the karaoke bar just barely protecting them. "I think Ka- Hazuki and Midori-san are on their way, too."

"Yeah." Kumiko took a deep breath.

"I wasn't expecting it either," Reina said, quiet. Kumiko turned to look at her and felt her heart flip over, the way it always did around her. "They were awfully adamant about you and Tsukamoto."

"Hah, don't remind me! It's, uh, it's a good thing we got that all cleared up sooner than later."

"Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to do this." Then, under the awning, Reina put her hand on Kumiko's cheek, pulled her in close, and kissed her.

It went without saying that the kiss was magical, and Kumiko felt her whole body light up like she was a neon display switched on at intervals, and she'd have liked to think she was a pretty good kisser now, too, now that she had some practice with someone she genuinely lo-

"Hey, lovebirds!" Natsuki crowed, Yuuko on her arm as Hazuki and Midori trailed close behind. "We're leaving now!" Kumiko and Reina hurriedly untangled themselves from each other, still holding hands when they followed the group to Natsuki's truck, still holding hands when they were crammed into the backseat along with Hazuki and Midori, still holding hands when they bid each other goodbye at the door to Kumiko's apartment while Natsuki grinned, likely to tease Reina when she drove her the rest of the way home.

Hazuki and Midori texted her, later, asking her how it was possible she and Reina were this cute together, how they'd already become a power couple so early on in their high school careers, and Kumiko fell asleep with her phone clasped to her chest and a smile on her face.

a/n: this was very soft