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"Come on, we obviously need a distraction, and we need the support of the fans." Rumi's voice was a low whisper as she leaned across the sticky table.
"No, we need to stick together."
"There's so many," Rumi insisted. "This was just supposed to be maintenance. And with Zoey is visiting her parents, we're off-balance to begin with. I'll start singing. You get them from the back with the scythe. We've done stuff this way before—"
"Not without Zoey."
"—and it's our best bet," Rumi finished.
"Ok, what happened to keeping this one 'on the down-low?' This isn't an official concert. Even if our media team manages to convince everyone that this is special effects, or volunteers, we'll need to have some kind of reason to break hiatus at some random-ass bar in Gwangju when we're based in Seoul. Especially since everyone knows we're almost never seen without all three of us around.'" Mira hated arguing with her girlfriend, but she had to push back on this. The mid-sized bar was a hotspot for demons, so they had to deal with it tonight— and while they were easily outnumbered, their odds were always better as a team.
"We'll come up with some news. That's Bobby's problem." Rumi paused, tilting her head. Her eyes were unreadable in the dim light. Her hand reached for the back of Mira's neck. "If you're so worried, we could give them something more to talk about."
"Rumi, don't— you know how hard it was for me, my parents barely talk to me, you've seen how the media treats me. I want everyone to know you're my girl, and shout from the rooftops how much I love you, but this isn't something to take lightly." She wasn't willing to be the reason Rumi had to go through all of that. It didn't matter how ready Rumi said she was— Mira still faced backlash every day, and she'd been out since well before she joined Huntrix. Maybe someday she wouldn't be so scared of how much Rumi would stress over their ratings, or their odds of turning the Honmoon golden, or alienating their fanbase.
Someday. It was a promise to both of them. One Mira really hoped that she could keep.
"We can take them together. I know it's a lot, but—"
"Hear me out," Rumi interrupted. Mira bit down the annoyance in her gut. "We tell Bobby it's to promote that festival appearance we have coming up, right? And that we hired people to dress up like demons to lean into the band's theme."
This would be so much easier with Zoey here. She had no doubt the three of them could do it. With only two, the support from their fans could make or break the fight. It was tempting to just agree. Mira let her forehead against Rumi's, their mouths inches from each other. "That would work," she conceded. "You sure you're ready? Don't you need to warm up?"
"I'll be fine." Before hopping onstage, before shedding their disguises, Rumi pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Mira's mouth. Her cheeks burned.
Even in the middle of an intense battle, Rumi's voice was gorgeous enough to stop Mira in her tracks. She'd loved it when she first heard it on some late-night show, with Celine showing off as part of some throwback Thursday theme. When she'd met Rumi, she'd dreaded the day she'd get sick of it— but that day was yet to come, if it ever could.
Rumi's forearms flexed as she sliced demons necks. She was graceful and coordinated, yet still deadly and efficient. No wonder it grabbed everyone's attention so well. Mira had to hold in a sigh; how did she get this lucky? At times Rumi seemed to glow with how ethereal she was. She loved seeing Rumi start having fun mid-fight, loved hearing Rumi do what she did best.
As the crowd started getting into the song— one of their newer ones, but nothing they hadn't performed on tour— Mira broke out her scythe. The wave of demons was growing denser as they swarmed the stage. As long as she reaped the outer edges, she trusted Rumi to keep swinging and not get overwhelmed. It may as well have been muscle memory with how many times Mira had done this. Draw the scythe. Lock your target. Attack. Repeat. Mira was aware that her body was moving on beat to the music, and hoped it looked natural. She'd always be a dancer before a hunter, even if the latter had grown more important to her.
At long last, the song came to a close. Almost every demon was dead or gone. Mira was sweaty and a little gross, but it felt incredible to let loose.
Huntrix had sung in so many actual venues lately. There was no point where they were a tiny group: the three of them, just starting out, playing in bars for pennies. Mira had gone from dance, to training, to the group. Hearing so many people screaming and jumping, in such a small space… it was one thing when the crowd was there for her, and another thing when any crowd would have fans of her. As Rumi talked to the audience, Mira got a few stragglers on her way to water. She sang the familiar backup vocals. Without Zoey there, their chords were incomplete, but maybe that was alright. Not for a real concert, but for this, it was plenty.
"Any suggestions?" Rumi called out. Mira didn't catch the song, but Rumi seemed to know it, and she pulled up the backing track with a quick search on YouTube. For two choruses, Mira lingered near the back, content to watch how excited Rumi was getting and sing along with the background. It was rare that Mira sang a major part of their songs— so it was definitely weird when Rumi turned back and grabbed Mira's wrist. (She hoped the audience didn't see the way Rumi was rubbing soothing circles into her arm.)
"Come on, you sing the last chorus!"
"You're the lead—"
"I wanna do the banking vocals." There was a mischievous turn in her smile as she looked out at the crowd. "Everyone, listen up! Who wants her to sing?"
It was difficult for Mira to argue with the deafening cheers. Sure, undoubtedly this would get posted, but Huntrix only had a few hit songs anyway. There wasn't even that many people here, not after they got rid of the demons, and anyone who wasn't a fan had meandered away. It was still a lot of people, but…
She could do it. For Rumi.
"Alright, alright," she agreed. Just repeating what Rumi had been saying, right? She cleared her throat. Rumi unpaused the backing track and walked across the makeshift stage with a skip in her step.
"All the diamonds in the world couldn't faze me— they don't shine as bright as you," Mira sang. Wasn't that the truth? Huntrix had brought her to fame and fortune, sure, but that was a lucky side effect. She'd do this for the satisfaction of killing demons alone, and if not that, for the incredible people she'd met.
"All I want, all I want is you." The only people she'd put above the Honmoon were Zoey and Rumi. Besides: Mira had seen plenty of diamonds. She could confirm, firsthand, that Rumi's smile really did beat them all.
"All the riches and the pearls don't amaze me, couldn't buy me a love like you. All I want, all I want is you," she finished, handing the mic back to Rumi for the outro.
Mira hoped the crowd didn't notice the way she'd stared at Rumi, or how her eyes went soft as the lyrics left her mouth— lyrics about loving someone as much as she loved Rumi. She especially hoped the internet wouldn't pick apart the way her eyes had locked with Rumi's on that last line. She hoped it wasn't noticeable that when Rumi looked at her like that, Mira felt like the only girl in the world. She hoped her touch didn't linger on Rumi's hand for too long as she passed back the mic.
It was impossible not to think of Rumi while singing something like that. Was that why Rumi had wanted Mira to do it?
In that moment, all she wanted was to kiss Rumi. She couldn't keep her eyes away from the glossed shine of Rumi's lips, no matter how hard she tried to focus on the eyes. She wished she could just tell everyone, wished she could start bragging about her girlfriend and never stopped.
There were a few simple facts in the way: Rumi was still performing, the fate of the Honmoon depended on Huntrix's popularity, and she didn't want her first public kiss with her girlfriend to be out of desperation. Maybe one member could be a lesbian, but all the critics and the homophobia would get even much louder whenever Rumi came out— not even to mention when Zoey did. She couldn't put Rumi through that. Mira loved her too much.
So she stepped backwards, and bottled up those feelings. She left them on the shelf right between her family and that feeling that there was something Rumi was hiding. As they performed a few more songs. Mira pointedly did not think about her relationship. Her chest did not ache with yearning. She did not think about how she'd seen two women in the crowd, and certainly wasn't jealous.
Hurting Rumi was intolerable. Mira could power through anything else, right?