Chapter Text
The sound that heralded the biggest change in their lives was the tomato bisque soup can. The front door had just opened, a normal occurrence. What wasn’t normal was the person who opened the door. The newest of the four roommates to move in, Miss Shouko was quiet and polite. Unassuming. Her other three roommates were loud, vivacious and always in the common spaces. She stayed hidden in the sanctity of her own room as much as she could.
But when Komi Shouko shrieked, it was a sign from the Gods. The sound penetrated walls and thick skulls, dragging all three of her roommates from their own rooms to see what had happened. The first had short hair, a platinum color. She was the shortest in the house, perhaps. But no one doubted her curves, which seemed to come around corners before she did. Shorter than her by half a centimeter, the tanned girl had ink black hair and a disinterested look on her face.
“What’s the racket? You hurt?”
Komi turned, her eyes wide and her face frozen. She was wearing a white woolen turtleneck that day, prepared for a date. She was going to see Tadano for lunch! But when her body turned to face the two other girls, they too gasped. The entire front of her sweater was stained red. Not with blood, but chunks of tomato and a thick paste. “Oh, get that off! Before it stains!” The last member of their apartment practically screamed. The loudest and second tallest of the group with her pale appearance. Blonde hair with pink tips fluttered as she pushed past the others to fuss and hold Komi’s hands. “Someone shut the front door!”
“Komi, are you alright?”
“She barely talks.”
“That’s not true, Nagatoro! Be nice!”
“What is on her sweater!” The blonde charged right into her personal space, Komi almost flinching from how close she was. One of her fingers deftly swiped the red stain covering the front of the sweater. “Tomato paste!”
Now all of them started crowding her and the front door, before the platinum haired girl grabbed her by the hand and started leading her inside. “Stop crowding her! Come on, Komi-san!” Almost forcefully, the shorter woman led Komi back inside. “Are you okay?”
“No.” The word was a harsh whisper. This was her favorite sweater. Tadano helped her pick it out last summer! She didn’t have another white turtleneck or sweater to go with the rest of her outfit! “I have a date!” The words were shaky, but full of feeling. It had taken time to select the perfect colors. Tadano wanted to get some pictures together near a shrine, and a white sweater would be the best to match the torii gates behind them!
Near the front door, the vehicle for all of this chaos was revealed. A trap had been set at the door, a string to let an open can of tomato paste swing to hit someone. Nagatoro had a frown on her face as she measured the distance, realizing that it would have hit someone her height square in the nose and mouth. On the taller Komi, it hit in the middle of the chest. Kanji on the can simply meant ‘karma’. Whoever did this was aiming to get back at one of them.
The blonde was steaming mad. “This is a crime! I should call the police! Start an investigation!”
“They won’t do anything serious for tomato bisque.” Nagatoro, the tanned one brought up. “Sorry, Komi.” She said, looking apologetic. “I think I know who did this.”
“Why does that matter!” The platinum blonde yelled at the other two. “She’s missing a date right now!” She stood up, making Nagatoro duck back to avoid getting knocked to the side by her wider hips. “Marin-chan! Get the baking soda! Nagatoro, fill the tub! We need to save her sweater!”
“Right!” Both declared. “Uzaki! Bring the sweater!” Komi squeaked as the now named Uzaki helped her off of the couch. She had introduced herself to her roommates, but in the days since she moved in they had barely interacted. She had spent all of her time figuring out courses or spending time with Tadano.
“Thank you.” Komi said carefully. Years spent with Tadano had given her a voice. Not a loud one, but she could speak as long as the room wasn’t too overwhelming. “But my date is still ruined.”
“It hasn’t started yet, Komi-san!” Marin, the blonde with pink tips get into her personal space once more. “I’ve got one of these too! Take that off, I’ll have another in a moment!” Marin marched forwards, nudging her door open with a foot. Even from across the hall it was clear that Marin’s room was stuffed to the gills with fabric. She had more clothes than anyone else.
Komi removed her sweater, as Nagatoro stood ready with baking soda and a brush. “You go on that date of yours, Komi-san. I’ll fix your sweater. It’s only fair.”
“It’s not your fault.” Uzaki started saying.
“Yes it is!” Nagatoro insisted. “Quick, before it fully stains.”
Komi handed it over, before something blinded her. It was white, and fluffy. “Ah!”
“We’re the same waist! This is gonna be perfect!” Marin declared, forcing Komi’s head through the high neck of the sweater. But blinking, she saw that indeed Marin had another perfectly white sweater. It went with her whole outfit. Her eyes widened, looking around at her roommates. One hand reached out, almost touching the mirror as she pushed it through the sleeve. It was almost a near perfect fit. “This is great!” Marin cheered.
Uzaki was sighing in relief. Nagatoro was already soaking the tomato stain and hand scrubbing out any kind of blemishes. “T-thank you.” Komi whispered to all of them. “You’re saving me.”
“Didn’t know you had a boyfriend, Komi!” Uzaki said with a big smile. “We all have one too!”
“Just one.” Nagatoro insisted.
“Go on.” Marin gave a winning smile. “We’re totes friends now, since we can share clothes.” Again the woman got into her personal space, but this time it was to look at the mirror together and smile. She was only slightly shorter than Komi, and was looking entirely too giggly.
Komi smiled. Friends. These were her friends now. With slight upturned lips, she almost skipped out the door. The moment that the door shut, Marin and Uzaki turned to look at Nagatoro.
“Your fault?” Marin asked carefully.
“Sometimes I can be mean.” Nagatoro grumbled. “Sometimes people don’t take it well.” The tanned girl didn’t stop scrubbing. “You wanna help me find out who did it?”
Uzaki and Marin grinned. “Do we! Hell yes!” Marin cheered. “I’ll make some food!”
Marin’s cooking was not the best. Uzaki grabbed hold of the taller woman’s arm. “Marin-san, why don’t I make something sweet and you grab a board for us to make a chart of everyone that Nagatoro-san thinks might have done this.”
“Oh yeah! It’s time for vengeance!” Marin was hyped up, even as Nagatoro did her absolute best to fix the sweater. Uzaki was humming a tune, and both of them joined in.
“Vengeance!” Uzaki and Nagatoro cheered back.
Food and wild rumors flew for hours, before the three of them heard the front door open. Komi had returned! The tallest of the food roommates was smiling very much, and holding a small bag. “Komi-san’s back!” Uzaki practically screamed. “How was your date with,” Uzaki frowned. She hadn’t mentioned her boyfriend’s name.
“Tadano.” Komi said his name clearly, with pride. “Tadano and I had the best day! We got pictures in front of the harbor.” It was clear that she wanted to say more, but the shy girl wasn’t sure how to follow it up. So instead she held up the contents of the bag. Four vending machine cakes. “I wanted to thank-”
Whatever she was going to say was drowned out by cheers. “Come sit down! Bring the cake! Nagatoro was just telling us about a friend named Gamo!”
Komi wavered for a moment. But then she happily joined them.
This marks the first event that brought together these four friends. This begins the adventures of the Girls in Apartment 4k.