Work Text:
hey just a heads up i’m gonna be late
can u let the gremlin know
Ok want us to wait for you?
nah its cool
i gotta fill up on gas and stuff
go ahead and start practice without me
Are you sure?
yeh positive
rock some socks off y’hear?
Alright I will!!!
Love you <3
luv u 2
<3
Rokka clutched the phone to her chest and had to stop herself from falling onto the floor and rolling around. It was such a simple interaction, hardly worth a second glance to any outside observer… but to her, it meant the world. She and Masuki weren’t just saying that in that kinda ambiguously platonic way anymore--they were dating. They were girlfriends. And her heart was doing somersaults at the thought.
S-Sure, they’d only gone official the day before, but even in the stretch of time Rokka had known Masuki beforehand she could tell she was swiftly falling head over heels for her bandmate. Masuki just had this… maturity about her. Whether speaking politely at school or serving up a warm meal at the ramen shop or offering an encouraging shout during practice, every one of her actions was buttressed by an underlying kindness. Others might’ve seen a wild, untamable girl with no sense about her, but Rokka could tell--she was the coolest person she knew. And she was her girlfriend! Was she lucky or what? It was enough to make her squeal and shout it out loud from the rooftops!
Th-Though she shouldn’t do that, haha. Sure, nobody else was in the glass elevator up to Chu2’s penthouse right now, but she had a feeling that if she slipped even a little it would just happen to be at the moment when the doors hissed open at the top and the rest of the band would see her sobbing in a puddle on the floor over how much she loved her girlfriend. Heck, they didn’t even know about her relationship with Masuki yet, technically… she was still trying to figure out how to break the news. It wasn’t like coming out was a big deal or anything (Pareo and Chu2 had been conjoined at the hip since long before she’d met either of them, after all), but it would still shake up the group dynamic, so she had to be careful.
Not that she should be thinking about any of this right now--she should really be turning her mind towards practice. If Chu2 caught her daydreaming she’d get chewed out for sure… making sure she was standing up straight and that her glasses were clean, she strutted into the penthouse as casually as possible. Just play it cool, Rokka. Play it cool, and nobody will know a thing.
Rei, splayed out lackadaisically on the couch, turned to wave at her. “Yo, it’s the wife.”
The word stopped Rokka dead in her tracks, her body temperature immediately skyrocketing. “H-Huh?”
“Just a joke, just a joke.” Rei laughed it off before rising to her feet. “Seriously thought, congrats. I’m happy for you two.”
“Wh…” Rokka was about to choke on her own blood, but there was still plausible deniability! After all, nobody else could’ve possibly known, right? Right?! “What are you t-talking abou--”
“Loooooock!” Rokka was blindsided by an extremely huggy Pareo, who was practically in tears as she squeezed her abdomen with both arms. “Oh, it’s such a nice day! I can’t imagine how happy you must be!”
“PAREO!” Chu2 snapped her finger from the far-off easy chair, swirling her wine glass around like it was full of cognac instead of two sticks of jerky. “Get off the lovebird already! I need a refill!”
“Coming, Miss Chu2!” Wiping away her tears, Pareo dashed into the kitchen to grab more snacks, leaving Rokka frazzled out of her mind in the entryway.
“Wh-Why are you all…?”
“”No need to act modest,” said Rei breezily, stepping towards Rokka and clapping her on the shoulder. “We saw the news. You’re a lucky gal.”
“Wh-What news?!” Rokka asked, shrinking back. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! Me and Masuki-chan definitely aren’t dating!”
“And Pareo is cis.” Chu2 rolled her eyes as Pareo arrived by her side with more jerky. “Just keep it outside of practice, capice?”
“Cut her some slack,” said Rei. “She’s still finding her feet in the relationship, I’m sure.”
“I just think it’s lovely!” said Pareo, twining her fingers together and sighing dreamily. “RAS gets closer and closer every day!”
The three were exchanging commentary like a catty group of aunts watching their teenage niece experiencing her first crush. Rokka swiveled from person to person, her mind scrambling to catch up with the conversation. “H-Hold on. How did you all know?”
Rei chuckled. “I don’t think there’s a bird under the sun who hasn’t heard by now.”
“Unfortunately…” Chu2 grumbled, her hand unconsciously moving to pet Pareo’s lowered head. “If she keeps it up, the band’s reputation may suffer.”
“R-Reputation? What do you mean?”
Rei raised an eyebrow. “Do you really not know? Have you not been on Twitter this weekend or something?”
Twitter? “Ah, well, I don’t really have any social media… I just message my friends on Line, mostly.”
...Why was Rei wincing at her so hard? Why was Pareo cupping her mouth in surprise? Why was Chu2 now giving her that goblin-esque grin she got when she engaged in schadenfreude? And why, oh why, did she feel a horrible lurching dread brewing in the pit of her stomach? “I-Is something wrong?”
“Show her,” Chu2 commanded, snapping a finger.
“Roger!” Pareo zoomed over, the Pastel*Palettes keychains attached to her phone whizzing through the air as she thrust the device into Rokka’s hands. “Take a look!”
“And, er, brace yourself,” Rei advised quietly.
Unsure why the air was suddenly so thick with tension, Rokka glanced at the Pareo’s phone screen to see…
@drumminginthe90s - I HAV A GF NOW AAAAAAAA
@drumminginthe90s - SHE’SSS SOFTT AND CUDDLEE AND I LUV HER
@drumminginthe90s - sbsbbeeffbebbebfb 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
@drumminginthe90s - rrokka 🥰🥰🥰 kissie 🥰🥰🥰
If Rokka was having a heart attack before, then now her body was experiencing an outright exorcism. Was… was this really…?
“She’s tweeted about you at least a hundred times over the past 24 hours,” said Rei with a half-amused and half-bewildered sigh. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s so sweet!” Pareo exclaimed, hands clasped around her cheeks in pure fangirling mode. “Miss Massu loves Miss Lock so so much!”
“It’s a spectacle in every sense of the word,” said Chu2, stuffing a particularly brittle meat stick into her mouth. “Now let’s forget about that and get to prac--”
“You said hundreds?” Rokka blurted out, scrolling through more.
@drumminginthe90s - do u think rokkaa knows i care her
@drumminginthe90s - r
@drumminginthe90s - ro
@drumminginthe90s - rokka
@drumminginthe90s - rokka is very cute.
@drumminginthe90s - ireallly loke a girl
@drumminginthe90s - customers asking me for help well im thinggking about rokka outt of the way gayboys
Rokka just couldn’t quite process it. She knew the way Masuki expressed affection--it was quietly, delicately, in long and tender looks or the little smirk she’d give after they rode somewhere together. This was much more… open. And explosive. ...Actually on second thought maybe this wasn’t as far off from the Masuki she knew as she initially thought.
“You should see what she’s like when she’s sleepy,” said Rei. “She becomes an entirely different beast then.”
Rokka told herself to resist, but her curious fingers were already scrolling further down:
@drumminginthe90s - vani yalk avout hoe mucj i lovr rokka
@drumminginthe90s - im valling asleep but she js sk nice and co andasks me if j took my medicine and j love to hold hrr hand and tell them nice tbinfs bc they feserver to hesr them
@drumminginthe90s - goofnite lock
@drumminginthe90s - *rock
@drumminginthe90s - rokkkkkkaandrroll heeeee
“Quite the charade, isn’t it?” said Chu2, rising to her feet. “Sometimes when she sees you mentioned she’ll just start barking.”
@ToyamaAsuka - Oh I should ask Rokka if she’s free to hang out after school
@drumminginthe90s - GRRR WOOOF WOOF BARK BARK
@ToyamaAsuka - What the actual fuck
“Is that why she’s called the Mad Dog?” asked Pareo.
“Ahaha, sure, let’s go with that,” said Rei.
Rokka scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, her blank vision growing more and more glazed over until she finally hit the top--and with it, tweets made not two minutes ago.
@drumminginthe90s - uuuuuuuuuuughhhh wnna fill the suptid TANK so i can see ROKKAA
@drumminginthe90s - gasoline is homophobic
@drumminginthe90s - mygf is soft nd ilikeher
@drumminginthe90s - my ggiirrllffeind is at prracitece and imiss her
“She… She seems kinda sad…” said Rokka.
“Maybe you should reply to her!” said Pareo. “Make her feel less lonely.”
“Or maybe we should leave her alone and get to practice already,” Chu2 grumbled before clapping her hands. “¡Ándale, Ándale! Music won’t perform itself!”
“Says the DJ,” Rei quipped. “At least shoot her some reassurance, Lock.”
“R-Right!” Rokka hastened to find the quickest way to give Masuki some encouragement. Unfortunately for her, panic and lesbianism had short-circuited her brain, making her message on the phone in her hands instead of the one in her pocket:
@PasupareNo1Fan - It’s okay Masuki! It’s me Rokka! I’ll see you soon!
@drumminginthe90s - ur not rrokka ur pareo
@drumminginthe90s - ur still cute but not my gf
@PasupareNo1Fan - BABE IT’S ME
@drumminginthe90s - proov it
@drumminginthe90s - wat was the movie we saw wheen we started datin
@PasupareNo1Fan - Ready Player One!
@drumminginthe90s - .
@drumminginthe90s - luccky guess
@PasupareNo1Fan - You wear tube socks, love MLP Friendship is Magic, and have a deep burning hatred for Alfred Hitchcock that I still don’t quite understand
@drumminginthe90s - . . .
@drumminginthe90s - rokka??????
@PasupareNo1Fan - HI
@drumminginthe90s - why are you pareo
It was only now that Rokka was cooled down enough to realize her mistake. She pulled out her phone and forgoed texting entirely to punch in Masuki’s number. After a couple rings, she heard a familiarly gruff voice pick up. “Hello?”
“Masuki!” Rokka yelped, relieved to hear that her tone was the same one she’d grown accustomed to. “S-Sorry, I didn’t realize you missed me that much…”
“‘S fine.” In contrast to her hyper-emotive tweets, Masuki’s voice was curt and quiet. “I’m about to hit the road. See you soon.”
“See you soon.” Rokka took a deep breath--all of the tension seemed to have disappeared from her lungs at once. “Um, Masuki?”
“Hm?”
“...I love you.”
She hears a breath catch on the other end. In her mind Rokka could picture the pink on Masuki’s cheeks as clear as day. “Y-Yeah. You too.”
The click comes quickly, but Rokka doesn’t feel spurned. If anything, her heart warms at the sound of her voice, her hand tightening around her phone as if to hold Masuki’s presence closer.
And in her other hand... Pareo’s phone began whirring with timeline updates.
@drumminginthe90s - ORKKA CALLDE ME
@drumminginthe90s - LOVIVING ROOKKA HOURS 💕💗😍✨💖
@drumminginthe90S - AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
...Rokka only now realized that she really was dating a dog. Or at least someone with dogbrain.
Unfortunately, now was also the moment where she realized Chu2 was staring at her with the intensity of a cat denied its dinner. “We. Are. Going. To. PRACTICE!!!!! MACH SCHNELL!!!”
The intensity of her yelling was enough to make Rokka scamper off towards the studio room as fast as her little legs would carry her. Rei, rubbing the back of her head with an easygoing sigh, followed suit.
“Feh.” Chu2 slumped down in her chair, her feet finally hitting the carpet. “Nobody around here takes anything seriously anymore.”
“That’s not true, Miss Chu2!” said Pareo, looking into her with beaming eyes. “I take my relationship with you very seriously!!”
Chu2 felt her heart skip a beat. “P-Pareo…”
Pareo bent down-- way down--to give her honey a quick little peck on the lips. “Take a second if you want to wait for Miss Massu! We’ll get started!” And with a little wave, hop, skip, and jump, she joined the others.
Chu2 sat in total and utter paralysis, feeling the sweet cotton candy flavor of Pareo’s lip gloss linger on her tongue. Without hesitation she pulled out her phone:
@Chu2ForYou - PAAREOOO IS THE CUUTTTESST BEAN IN THEWORLD
@Chu2ForYou - AAAAAAHHHHH IFSDLFDASL I’M LOVE HERRRRRR
@Chu2ForYou - when sheee gets me jerky I <3 <3 <3
@OTaePopipa - quiet down small man
@YukinaMinatoTwitterAccount - I own 3 pairs of crocs
@Breadlover42069 - gender
@Chu2ForYou - MRRRR HIISSSSS MEOW MEOW
@YukinaMinatoTwitterAccount - Lisa why is the cat girl barking at me