Work Text:
“Hey, Chigaki, do you ever think about what we are to each other?”
“No. Shut up. Get back to work.”
Hibiki pouted a little. “Rude. You don’t think about that even a little?” She reached over and hugged Chikagi. “Well, we’ve been super super close for a while now, right? So instead of calling each other friends, wouldn’t g-”
“No.”
“Come on… Don’t you think that-”
“No.”
“Not even a l-”
“No.”
Chikagi started walking away. “Wait, Ch-” She kept walking. “I need to attend to customers.”
What Hibiki didn’t see was the blush covering Chikagi’s face. She hurried across the room, hoping that distractions would take her mind off things. It did, for a moment, as she picked up a few customers’ checks and cleared some plates away. But as she walked back to the counter with an order…
“All I’m saying is that it’s nice to define things sometimes. I l-”
“No.” Chikagi tore a piece of paper from her pad and thrust it towards Hibiki. “New order.” Before Hibiki could respond, she walked away.
A woman in a red dress with platinum blonde hair and a regal aura had come in and taken a seat by the door. Chikagi walked over, ready to take her order, but before she could speak, the woman preempted her. “I think your relationship with that girl is beautiful.” Chikagi gave her a strained smile. “It’s a beautiful friendship I’m glad you think so what’s your order.”
“Oh, no, you can’t call such a thing friendship. It deserves to be called something much more than that. It’s yuri, the most beautiful form of l-”
“Miss, what’s your order? The cafe has a ‘no loitering’ policy.” As soon as the lips, the manager yelled from behind the counter. “Let her talk, nya. You shouldn’t be so rude to customers, nya.”
“But she-” The manager jumped up to tap a sign behind the counter. “The customer is always right, nya.”
“But miss, I don’t think that applies to-” She pointed to the sign again. Chikagi did her best to force her face into a smile. She turned back to the customer and lifted her pad of paper. “And what will your order be, miss?”
“Look, I know this is a touchy subject for you, but-” Chikagi, having finally got the order out of the woman, had walked back to the counter. She tore off the order from her pad of paper and handed it to Hibiki, but- “I think I’m just the kind of person who likes things in defined terms!”
“And friendship is a defined term.”
Hibiki pouted and turned away. Chikagi felt a tinge of regret, but before that could settle in, she started walking away. There was a table nearby with a new guest, one with long purple hair.
“You know, I think your friendship is beautiful.” Chikagi practically jumped. “Yes, FRIendship. It’s a great thing. Thanks, ma’am. What’s your or-”
“I’m serious! You should treasure it. It seems like you’re having a disagreement, but despite that, I know you’re true besties.” Chikagi gritted her teeth. “Yes, we’re gal pals for the ages. Hey boss,” She called back to the counter, “I’m taking my break after this.”
“You’re not unionized, nya. You get your break when I say you do, nya.”
Chikagi turned back to the woman. “So what will you be having, then?” Instead of answering, the woman continued, “I wish I had friends as close as that at your age. All I had was my sister, but…” The woman’s face fell. “Well, we reconnected years later, but…”
“Miss, please. Give me your order.”
“Hibiki. New order.” Chikagi shoved a small piece of paper in Hibiki’s face, then started walking away before the other girl could respond. Unfortunately, the next table was right by the counter. Two girls, identical twins except for their skin tones, were sitting together.
“You should just kiss her.”
“W-what?”
Chikagi couldn’t believe her ears. Even Hibiki, behind the bar, blushed a little. The darker of the two girls smirked. “Yeah, just kiss her. Like, on the lips. Do you need an example? I can give it.” Without prompting, she turned and pulled the other girl into a kiss. She held that kiss for what seemed to Chikagi to be a rather long time. When she finally released it, she turned back to Chikagi and giggled. “Y’know, like that. Do that to her. It’s great. You won’t regret it.”
“I- Wh- Uh- I-” Chikagi could only stammer out fragments of sentences. The girl leaned forward. “I know you want to, underneath all that bluster.” She leaned back and grabbed the hand of the other girl, who was still recovering from the kiss. “Oh and we’ll take one large strawberry crepe, to share.”
Chikagi wrote that down, then turned around and tore off the paper. She handed it off to Hibiki, but rather than take it from her, Hibiki grabbed her hand. “Boss, we’re going on break.” Before the boss could respond, Hibiki had dragged Chikagi away and into the back room.
“Chikagi… I love you. And I know y-” Chikagi stood up and started walking away. “Wait, no!” She grabbed Chikagi’s arm. “I just… want things to be a little more solid. We’ve known each other for years and it feels like we’ve been dating just as long, but we still haven’t called it that. I don’t want to shout this from the rooftops, but I'd like to be able to say things like ‘my girlfriend’, y’know?”
Chikagi blushed and turned away, but for once she didn’t refute Hibiki, who took that as a sign to continue. “You don’t have to say anything here, or ever, if you don’t want to, but I’d like it if you… stopped fighting me on this. I don’t like phrasing it so aggressively, but…” Chikagi nodded. The pair stood in silence for a few moments, until Chikagi turned around. “We can talk after work.” Hibiki giggled and followed her. “Sure. I can’t wait!”