even after she swung her curtains aggressively shut and was finally able to get ready in peace, she found that the fact that rin was watching her made her feel sicker than usual. her stomach ached at the idea of him seeing her watching him and his girlfriend, and she had gone as far as to take two ibuprofen before she left just in case.
she wasn't exactly sure what she had been invited to, just that some rich kid at gakugei was throwing his birthday party at his house and people wanted to see her there. she didn't plan to go, but when she heard talks of the band who played and even heard that kotone was going, she couldn't stay away.
y/n had fallen in love with kotone in a way. the girl was so shy and jumpy that it naturally surprised y/n when she found out that kotone was a drummer and one of the seven students who specialized in rock. she wanted to see what kotone was made of before she jumped to any conclusions and made any decisions, but she could see a future with kotone.
shaking away the lingering thoughts of rin, y/n walked to her car in her special parking spot and found the address of the party in her messages, though the plentiful accounts that sent it to her were unfamiliar. she hadn't met anyone besides kotone and rin on her first day, so any name besides them would be removed or blocked.
as she drove, she sat in the silence of her car and allowed the lack of noise to bring her inspiration. instead of listening to music by people that she liked, she found that she would prefer to create music based on what she would like to hear to fill the silence around her.
time passed by shockingly fast. the distance between the academy and the party wasn't all the far, and she actually spent more time fixing her outfit and makeup in the mirrors of her car than she did driving. if she knew anything from high school, she knew that there was sure to be alcohol available. because of that, she parked further down the street to avoid being attached to the party in case something went wrong.
as she neared the mansion situated on a hill within the rich neighborhood, she began to hear the electric sounds of guitars and heavy heart-shaking drums. she heard a voice sing along with it, and it seamlessly mixed into the chords and beat in a way that she had never heard.
her interest was quickly piqued, and she sped up the sidewalk until she was at the end of the large driveway, which was already packed with cars. the lawn was littered with red solo cups and tiny tropical umbrellas. the front door was closed, but the lights from inside flashed through the windows and the gap under the door.
y/n was shocked, as she wasn't exactly sure that a school with students who mostly studied classical music would know how to party like her friends did back home. the cheering and familiar smell of alcohol was enough to prove her otherwise.
she took the liberty of letting herself in, and the wide living room was easily visible just from the doorway. the long and comfortable-looking sofa was pushed up against a wall, and she saw multiple people getting personal with their significant others. she looked up the stairway to her right and heard more muffled chatter, and she made a mental note to herself to not go up the stairs. people drinking and dancing filled empty space from the front door to the kitchen, and in the very middle of the family room was the band that she'd heard so much about.
her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach as she looked at the front man of the group.
rin was covered in sweat and expertly dancing his fingers over his guitar strings while he sang into the microphone in front of him. to his left was makoto. he was quietly falling into the music as he put all of his focus into controlling the rhythm with his bass. to rin's right, haruka was similarly losing himself as he always did. he played more than anybody in the band, and while he wasn't as devoted to making a career out of it, he definitely felt most like himself when he played. behind the three of them, nagisa cheerfully and skillfully moved his sticks over the canvas tops of his drums, letting out all of the energy that he'd been storing up.
y/n huffed and turned on her heel to leave, but she was quickly stopped by the feeling of her hand held by someone else's. she turned back to them with a grimace, but she relaxed when she saw kotone's large eyes watching her.
kotone smiled at her new friend uncontrollably.
"oh my god! i'm so happy that you're here!" she shouted.
"i was just leaving!" y/n shouted back, trying to pull her hand out of kotone's grip.
"you can't!" kotone whined. "everybody has been asking me about you!"
y/n looked at kotone with an expression that read confusion. still, she was curious about this new and freer version of kotone, though she was visibly intoxicated.
when y/n didn't respond, kotone held her hand tighter and began to pull her through the crowd. y/n couldn't tell where she was being brought to until she was standing in front of a stainless steel refrigerator and a kitchen island covered in shot glasses and spills of an amber liquid.
rin and his band were still visible from the kitchen through an opening in the wall, so while kotone began to pour her and y/n drinks, y/n watched the man perform.
his movements were enchanting, and as much as she disliked rin she would be foolish to deny how impressive he was. his hair was just the right length for the flashy movements, and the sweat dripped down his maroon tresses and laid claim over the hardwood floor that he swayed on. his bated and heavy breaths were audible within every word that he sang, and y/n couldn't pull her eyes away as she watched his lips brush against the metal head of his microphone, as if he wanted everyone to know that only he could use it.
just before y/n took her first drink of the night, she took the chance to talk to kotone while the band was taking a break.
"what's his deal?" she asked as she nodded in rin's direction.
"who, matsuoka?"
y/n nodded.
"he's such a guy," kotone huffed. "super attractive. he used to do competitive swimming, but he randomly quit and he fully dedicated himself to music. he was really good, too. almost every girl here has at least a tiny crush on him, but naomi makes sure that nobody else can even get close."
"naomi?"
"kido naomi." kotone turned to point to a brown haired girl dancing with two other girls. "his girlfriend."
"i wouldn't think that she would be his type," y/n admitted lowly, poorly hiding her dislike of naomi.
kotone scoffed.
"you and everybody else. most people think he's being blackmailed to date her, and almost everybody except her little girlfriends hate her."
"and he's okay with those rumors floating around?"
"i don't think he cares!" she shouted again over the loud strum of haruka's guitar. "at the end of the day, he's all music."
y/n responded with a low hum, deciding to keep her thoughts to herself.
as the drums began to start again and an unfamiliar melody played, y/n accepted the toxic-looking shot that kotone held out to her and downed it at the same time that rin began to speak his mind.
"you guys know that new girl?"
