Abyssmare and Unichord Rarepair Week 2023

Tsubaki/Hayate/Kokoa/Aoi (Tsubayakokoi)

Prompt: Pet names/magic/"I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?"

AN: I just HAD to pair the canon lesbians with the canon lesbians, LOL! (Remember, everyone's the same age in this whole fic unless stated otherwise).

"Oh, honestly, Hayate, you've been spending too much time around Hiiro!" Tsubaki sighed and shook her head, arms crossed.

"Too much time? But we've only seen each other for about 26 minutes this week." Hayate tilted her head and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I didn't mean literally!" Tsubaki cried. Good grief! "It just sounds like she's filling your head with nonsense! All this talk of magic and whatnot!"

"But it has filled me with inspiration as well." Hayate smiled. "I've been having trouble thinking of a new song to write, and she helped! Better to have a head filled with new perspectives rather than one as hollow as a bamboo stalk, right?"

Tsubaki blinked. She didn't even know how to respond to that one. And I thought Aoi was enigmatic!

As if on cue, Aoi chimed in. "I don't think it's total nonsense," she said, tone as frank and oblivious as always. "After all, was our very bond not forged in the fires of fate? Our red threads were destined to be tied after our fateful first encounters!"

Tsubaki sighed again, but she felt her heart flutter as Aoi referenced their fateful first encounter. Tsubaki had been singing "Prayer" in the chapel when Aoi snuck up on her and sent her flying. But then Aoi tracked her down all the way across the city just to see her again.

"Kokoa and I's fateful first encounter was much the same!" Hayate said. As in Tsubaki's case, Hayate fell in love with Kokoa after hearing her sing just once. Then, like Aoi, she tracked the object of her affection down across the city just to speak with her in-person. The one difference between her story and Tsubaki's was that she only needed a few days to win Kokoa's heart while Aoi and Tsubaki danced around one another for half a year before finally dating. A month after that, the four of them met at a music festival where both of their units were performing.

It was a connection none of them expected, but somehow, they synchronized perfectly. As Aoi said, it was a bond forged in the fires of fate, magic, and music. Next thing Tsubaki knew, she had two more girlfriends. Hayate moved quickly, didn't she?

That girl is smooth, whether she knows it or not. Tsubaki thought. She would never admit it, even to herself, but she was a little jealous of Hayate.

"Well, of course I had to move quickly!" Hayate laughed. "I had to lay claim to Kokoa before anyone else could! Guess that just carried over to you and Aoi, too. My romantic intuition is like a ninja around the people my heart loves, swift and sure!" She flashed two peace signs and, again, Tsubaki gave her a befuddled look.

Well, Hayate's words certainly weren't wrong. After all, it was only thanks to her that the four of them became one. She'd asked and Aoi casually agreed, seeing no issue with the offer. The rest was history.

Beside Tsubaki, Kokoa had since grabbed the collar of her coat and started pulling it upward to conceal a steadily growing blush.

"Aww, is my poor little love cold?" Hayate tilted her head, eyes compassionate and affectionate.

"N-no!" Kokoa snapped, eyes darting away from Hayate nervously. Quite the opposite, in fact... Ugh! She's so infuriating sometimes!

Hayate, however, was lost in her own little world again. "Ah, my Kokoa, just like Neapolitan ice cream! Cold and sweet!"

"H-hey! Knock it off! Quit teasing me!" Kokoa complained, turning even redder inside her coat.

"And there's the cherry on top!" Hayate gestured to Kokoa's scarlet face, which somehow became even redder after Hayate leaned in to kiss the part of Kokoa's face still outside of the coat. Kokoa muffled a scream inside the coat.

"What an adorable pet name," Tsubaki teased, quirking an eyebrow. If there was one thing she really appreciated about Kokoa, it was that with her now part of Tsubaki's family, Tsubaki was no longer the most reactive, blushy one of the quartet. The only proof any of them needed was Kokoa's reaction any time she was kissed by any of them, not just Hayate.

"Tsubakiiii!" Kokoa pleaded. I thought you were supposed to be on my side! The cool, rational one! I respected you! And you betrayed me...

"Oh, Tsubaki, did you want a pet name too?" Aoi's eyes widened in surprise, a pensive looking washing over her.

"Huh? What?! Uhhh, no?!" Tsubaki reared back, smile quickly fading into mortification. Kokoa, meanwhile, suddenly perked up.

"Ohh, Aoi, that's a great idea!" She finally dropped the front of her coat, smiling sweetly up at the much taller girl. "What did you have in mind?"

"No, no, we don't need to hear it!" Tsubaki waved her hands, but it was too late.

"I guess... if we're keeping on the food theme... I could call Tsubaki... honey!" Aoi said, and Tsubaki made a strangled gurgle.

"Hmm, I know you really like to make jam, Aoi," said Hayate, also getting far too invested in something that was only meant to be a deflection from Kokoa. "Did you have a favorite kind of fruit to make jam out of?"

"We are not naming me after jam!" Tsubaki cried, but still she was ignored by her other three girlfriends.

"Why not? It sure would be a cute and sweet pet name for you, Tsubaki!" Kokoa kept smiling that smug, infuriating little smile.

"Whatever you say, Neapolitan!" Tsubaki crossed her arms and rolled her eyes while Kokoa scoffed in indignation.

"Hmm... Ice cream and jam! Sounds yummy! Fruit and jam are great on top of ice cream!" Hayate licked her lips.

"Did you have to say it like that?!" Kokoa cried despairingly, smirk vanishing. Tsubaki looked equally embarrassed. Both her and Kokoa couldn't stop staring at Hayate's lips after her tongue had snaked out to run over them.

"Hmmm, maybe I can write my song about that!" Hayate said suddenly.

"What? Jam and ice cream?!" Tsubaki and Kokoa were both incredulous.

"Yeah!" Hayate nodded enthusiastically. "It would be very different from what our units normally do, so I think it could be exciting!"

"Hmm, I think I like that idea!" Aoi said. Tsubaki and Kokoa could only stare at both of them in disbelief.

"Magic, and music, and fruity jam, and ice cream!" Hayate clapped.

"A song about lovers as sweet as all the most delicious things!" Aoi nodded.

"Yes!" Hayate's eyes lit up. "You understand!" Though in her mind, the other three tasted far better than any jam or ice cream!

Curse her... Tsubaki and Kokoa thought in unison, both of them thinking about both of their other two girlfriends. Hayate wasn't the only effortlessly smooth one, just as Tsubaki was every bit as reactive as Kokoa, even if she wanted to think otherwise. In fact, all anyone needed for proof was to see what happened when any of the three kissed her, including Kokoa. She could fluster Tsubaki too, you know?!

Hayate opened her arms and beamed at all three of her partners. "I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?" Ah! She'd done it! Her writer's block was cured, and she was back to her old, lyrical, poetic self again! Yay!

"It's a form of magic all its own!" Aoi declared. Although two of them were too prideful and flustered to admit it, all four of them agreed.

Maybe magic was real. What other word could describe how they felt when they were together? And what else could explain how a ragtag quartet of musicians could go from writer's block to a silly song about ice cream, jam, and girlfriends all in just one conversation? There was never a dull moment when the four of them were together, and hopefully, they would be together for a long time more.