4 is for "happiness" and doesn't mean "to die"

Prologue

I'm not sure when it all started.

It being the thing where my eyes lock with Yui's for more than a moment during interviews.

I tried to read Yui's mind when we held eye contact at first. Because she often correctly knows what I'm thinking, which is amazing as I believe I can be pretty unreadable for many others, and I want to continue in doing the same with her.

But then I realise that Yui may not be thinking anything at all, as she gives me that sly smile that is starting to look more beautiful than cute as she becomes older.

Ah, she really is a beauty.

Her cheeks are becoming slender and yet still look so soft, and her jaw is becoming refined. When we rehearsing, she's more likely to pull a funny face at me and Su. She's really becoming more expressive and I wonder if those acting classes that she takes with Hinata are bringing back the energetic Yui that was controlled by the cool and collected YUIMETAL.

Or it's maybe because she's seen first-hand how goofy other Metal artists can be, so now she knows she can be goofy too. I know how strongly Yui feels about keeping her YUIMETAL image despite wanting so badly to show the Mizuno-ness (as Mori-sensei had called it) to the world. I mean, I'm the same, hiding some of my interests like anime to keep my MOAMETAL image as-is whenever we travel abroad.

"Moa-chan?" comes Su's voice.

I'm startled from my thoughts and spin to meet Su's face. "Hm? What's up?"

Su laughs. "You're starting to zone out like Yui-chan. C'mon, let's go change."

Su has picked up her gear and is already walking off to the female changing rooms.

"Ah, wait up!" I pick up my bags and waddle after her.

Yui's in the changing room, already taking off her shirt. She's wearing a cute crop top underneath. Su nudges my shoulder, and I turn to glare at her. Su smirks and starts to change too.

I huff and strip off my shirt, pants and undergarments before wrapping myself with a towel to keep warm. I take my bundle of clean clothes and head towards the shower stalls. Yui's ahead of me so I call out to her.

"Yui, can you help wash my hair?"

Yui looks over her shoulder. "Sure. Can you wash mine?"

"Of course."

Yui smiles. I return it.

Su coughs behind us. "How come no one washes my hair?"

Just when I'm about to offer my help, Su adds, "I'm kidding. I can wash my own hair, children."

I stick out my tongue at Su as she passes me. Su pulls a funny face and leaves us behind with her laughter.

I catch up with Yui, who's quietly waiting for me, and we continue on. We pick a stall and set down our clean clothes in a safe, dry area. Yui goes to fiddle with the taps to get her ideal temperature to fill up the bucket with water that will rinse her hair. I slather my hands with some shampoo and set to work on Yui's hair after she has soaked it.

I love watching Yui's face during these moments. She looks so content as I massage her scalp and gather all her hair in a temporary bun so I can cover them with suds. My arms used to ache from this, especially after a hard dancing rehearsal like today, but I think my endurance is getting much better and I really don't want to ask Yui to bend down a bit because she's taller than me. I don't really care about being short nowadays, but she's always so infuriatingly smug whenever both our heights are concerned.

"And done," I announce as I pick up the bucket of water. "About to rinse now."

"Thanks, Moa."

"You want me to put conditioner on too?"

"Oh, yes please." Yui grins with her eyes still closed as rivulets of water run down her face.

Such a beauty.

I want to kiss her.

I quickly put down the empty bucket and slather my hands with conditioner. As I work on Yui's hair from bottom to top, Yui hums a song that sounds very familiar.

"What song is that?" I ask.

Yui pauses her humming to murmur, "True Colors."

"Ah. Is it English?"

"Uh huh. It's what I sang during our last Song Archaeology class actually."

"Ah...! I remember now. You sang it beautifully. I remember your translation for the lyrics too. It's amazing."

Yui's voice rises. "Haa ... thank you."

Yui's cheeks are pink and I resist the urge to greet them with my lips. I reach out with my hands instead to rub at them.

"Ah! Moa...! Condition my hair, not my cheeks!"

"Your hair is done!"

"Then go and fill the bucket already." Yui pouts.

So cute.

"Okay, okay." I grin and we switch spots. I raise the temperature a bit and quickly soak my hair as I refill the bucket. When I'm done, Yui's hands immediately latches onto my head and her fingers work their magic.

I close my eyes in content. I keep them closed when Yui lets me know she's done and I carefully rinse my hair under the splashes of water. When I open my eyes again, I see Yui's eyes.

But they aren't meeting mine. She seems fixated where my neck is and I look down, wondering what's there. My neck is clean and seem unnoteworthy. When I look up, Yui meets my gaze with an expression I cannot read.

It's becoming so hard to read her these days.

"Can you condition my hair too?" I whisper, suddenly finding it hard to breathe without doing something stupid. Like kissing her.

Yui nods and quietly proceeds to do so.

The rest of the shower goes without further incident, and by the time we are dressed up we're chatting casually about our plans for the rest of the day.

"I'm going to see Fumika later. She's having rehearsal today too so she's nearby."

Yui raises her brow as she neatly ties back her hair into a ponytail, exposing her neck. I try not to gape at her. "Oh okay. I'm probably going to shop around before I go home."

I look at my phone to check for emails. There are none. Fumika said she was going to call when she was done and I'm tempted to ask Yui if we can go and grab a meal together. But I also do not want to be late when Fumika's done and ready to meet up.

"Sounds fun," Su comments as she appears right next to us. "I need to go and buy enough food for Monika to last the US tour."

"Oh, can I come with?" Yui asks.

"Sure. If you don't mind grocery shopping."

"I don't mind." Yui smiles at Su and I frown to myself, not liking the sudden and strange feeling in my stomach.

For some reason, I think it'd be petty if I asked whether I could join too. I check my phone again. And then amazingly, a call comes through with Fumika's name showing as the caller ID.

I walk away from Yui and Su and pick up the call.

"Hello, Fumika?"

By the time I'm done in agreeing on where to meet with my friend, Yui and Su are gone.

I try to squash the feeling of loneliness.

四 四 四 四

A/N: The mentioned Hinata is Hinata Sato who was also in Sakura Gakuin, Mori-sensei is still the teacher in Sakura Gakuin, Monika is Su's dog, and the mentioned Fumika is Fumika Kikuchi (lol, Kikuchi) from Party Rockets GT.