Cross Stitch
Made on: 21 Apr, 2022
Word Count: 1,092
Relationship(s): Yuuki Tougou & Akane Kasai & Shino Kominami, Akane Kasai & Yuuki Tougou,
Characters of Focus: Yuuki Tougou, Akane Kasai, Shino Koinami, Akane's Stuffed Rabbit,
Metadata: Fluff, A bit bittersweet at the end, For General Audiences,
Setting Canon and post-canon,
Warnings: Spoilers for final chapter.
Beginning Authors Note: Vaguely related to my work "Sewing Kit" but it's not necessary to read it before this one. Just know that Yuuki's mom knows how to sew.
Also, after the (second) line break there are spoilers for the final chapter if you haven't read that yet.
It's a beautiful weekend, with clear skies and chirping birds. The window in Akane's room is open to let in fresh air. Warm breezes ruffle the curtains occasionally, adding to the general bliss of soft noise. All the needed supplies now rest on Akane's desk.
She thought of making her fellow club members gifts for their 1 year "friend-iversary" (as she has taken to calling it in her head) for a couple of weeks now, but today is the day she had enough allowance saved up to actually do it.
She's already gathered the felts — a nice faded green and purple — from the craft store nearby. The sewing supplies she got as a gift from Yuuki; which she suspects are just extras from his mother's extensive sewing supplies. That is all to say, she is all set to start!
With all the creative fever of a children's art museum, Akane starts sketching out patterns. She, of course, is looking at some patterns online to base them off of.
For the first plush, she watches a video for making a bird and, after determining that it's easy enough for her to do, she starts copying down the pattern.
Sewing, as it turns out, takes more than just a couple hours to get used to. However, after a while, the bird was almost finished, it just needed to be stuffed and the beak needed to be attached. Her fingers were also sore and sporting a couple of new bandages. All in all, what Akane would consider a good day's work and also deserving of one of those fancy crepes. She did have some money left over…
The next day, she jumped into sewing again with even more rigor than the last. Luckily, it being the start of the school year, there wasn't too much homework for her to put off, so she could work on this project to her heart's content without being weighed down with unnecessary frivolities such as that. The bird was easily finished, and so she moved on to the next plush.
Foxes, as it turned out, are a bit more complicated than birds. So complicated, in fact, that she had to go to the library to print out an actual pattern. She also had to look up a video on different stitches when she got back, which she promptly gave up on and decided to stick with the one stitch she knew. It was a bit difficult, but the video Akane found was meant for beginners, so it wasn't too terrible. She only had to redo one section! By the time that night was starting to creep over the horizon, the fox was done. She had to admit, when placing the two next to her stuffed bunny, the trio looked incredibly cute! If this wasn't made specifically for her best friends, she would be soooo tempted to keep them for herself.
Alas, all actions have consequences, and thus the stack of ignored homework was realized in full the next day by our hapless heroine.
"It's not even that much, Akane. Stop being so dramatic about it." Shino scolded.
Akane just groaned again, the noise being slightly muffled from how her face was laying on the club room's table. Yuuki patted her back in support.
Which reminds her… "Oh yeah! I made something for you guys!" Akane's head popped back up along with her 180 in demeanor.
She ignored Yuuki looking over her shoulder and Shino's raised eyebrows as she dug around in her bag. Eventually, she pulled out the prizes she was looking for and presented them to the group.
"Ta-da! What do you guys think?"
Shino slowly picked up the fox Akane shoved at her, while Yuuki started turning the bird around to observe it.
"It looks great, Akane! It reminds me of those little pet birds people have." Yuuki smiled at her.
"Thank you, Is there a special occasion for this?" Shino asks, holding the fox close to her chest.
"Yep! It's now been one year since we became friends!"
"How did you pick out the animals, anyway? I thought you would just make two of the same kind." Yuuki looked over at her.
Akane grinned sheepishly. "Well, I couldn't just ask what your favorite animal was because then you would ask questions… so I just guessed."
"My favorite animal is a wolf."
Shino looks up from the computer, "I'm partial to cats personally."
Akane waved her hand in a dismissal, "Potato, potahto! Hey! Let's go get moochi after this! There's a bunch of new flavors now that the weather's cooling down a bit."
Shino sighs, "Stop your mouth watering for a second, we do have a new rumor to look after."
Akane laughs.
The waiter smiled at them as she waved them out. Yuuki and Akane had become regulars at the cafe they were leaving, mostly because it was right between their two campuses. College was busy for both of them, but they've managed to meet almost every Saturday this far, excluding the weeks before finals, of course. Which is quite a feat considering it's Akane's third year.
This hangout session wasn't anything special.
They chatted about their classes and the silly things Yuuki's roommates do. Yuuki is currently working on a paper for his internship at the local newspaper, which was exciting. A lot of Akane's classes have been in a lull, so there's not much to say on her end yet, other than a small speech that she had to write in a couple of weeks for her public speaking class.
Yuuki waves at her as they part ways to get to their individual cars. "It was nice seeing you Akane! I'll see you next week!"
Akane waves back with twice as much energy as her kohai, "See you soon!"
Her roommate is visiting her boyfriend's family this weekend, so the apartment is quiet when she got back.
She shrugs off her shoes easily and pads into her room, pausing briefly before her dresser. The picture of the three of them is there next to her high school graduation photos and the picture of her only year heading the newspaper club. Her bunny is resting against it now, with the fox right next to it. Its purple fur, already light when she bought it, is further faded by being out in the sun. She picks the fox up.
It's nothing special, but Akane has always been the sappy one out of the three.
"I'm so happy I got to know you. Happy five years, Shino!"
End Author Notes: Akane's majoring in communication while Yuuki is majoring in journalism. I think they end up working at the same news company somewhere down the line.
I can't believe it's been five years??? I mean, the app was published in 2018 (even if the story takes place in 2017) so it's really only been 4, but still!!!! Man. I've been thinking about these kids for so long.
If your curious as to how I got April 21st, that's the day the club posts to the forum in chapter 6, which I'm assuming is the same day Yuuki and Akane joined the club!